Monday, October 8, 2012

Android Authority

Android Authority


48% of all the money spent on mobile chips during H1 2012 went to Qualcomm

Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:11 AM PDT

Have you ever wondered why nearly every mobile phone on the market uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips? From a logistical perspective, Qualcomm is an awesome company to deal with. They sell nearly everything you need to make a phone. The newest S4 has a pair of fast CPUs, and incredibly quick GPU, WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth support, 4G LTE of course, and there are even power management components in there too. According to new research published by Strategy Analytics, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Qualcomm captured 48% of the revenues of the smartphone chip market during the first half of 2012. The next four popular chip companies are (in order): Samsung, MediaTek, Broadcom, and Texas Instruments.

Now Samsung is a tricky company to wrap your head around. We know that Samsung sells a majority of the Android smartphones out there, but not all of them use the company’s in-house developed Exynos chips. Take the budget Galaxy Chat for example, that has a Broadcom chip inside. And the Galaxy Nexus, that uses a Texas Instruments chip. The American Galaxy S III variants, they all use Qualcomm’s chips. In other words, Samsung likes to support damn near everyone.

Looking at MediaTek, we’re a little shocked to see them ranked so high. For those who don’t know, MediaTek makes chips that are usually found in budget smartphones meant for the Chinese, Indian, and Russian markets. It’s damn near impossible to find a phone in Europe or America using a MediaTek chip because of intellectual property issues. That’s not to say MediaTek’s chips are bad; without them there wouldn’t be $100 Android phones.

The key point that Strategy Analytics wants to highlight with their report is that Intel is finally in the phone game. Sure, they captured just 0.2% of the revenues in the chip market, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

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This article, 48% of all the money spent on mobile chips during H1 2012 went to Qualcomm , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


HTC’s Q3 2012 profits down 79%, looks like the market doesn’t like the One series

Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:29 AM PDT

HTC has just reported that profits for Q3 2012 are down 79% from the same quarter a year ago. That’s brutal, but it gets worse. They say that revenues for the quarter, meaning how much money they’ve taken in from selling hardware, are down a whopping 48%. Why is this happening? Let’s take a step back to early 2011 when HTC announced the Sensation and Samsung announced the Galaxy S II. Samsung’s device was clearly superior, so HTC, which made a name for themselves with the Desire back in 2010, saw their market share decline. The same thing happened in 2012. HTC announced the One X, Samsung announced the Galaxy S III, and consumers decided that the Galaxy was simply better.

Is the recently announced HTC One X+ going to fix things? Not really. It’s the same One X from February, but with a black case and 4G LTE support. There’s also a bigger battery, but forget about that for a second. Samsung’s Galaxy Note II is just now launching in Europe, and it’s going to land in the US in the next few weeks. How many people are going to pick that up instead of an HTC device?

Several months ago, an email written by HTC’s CEO, Peter Chou, leaked out. It said bureaucracy is taking over the company and slowing it down. That’s obviously what’s happening here. HTC just isn’t moving fast enough, but then again can they? Qualcomm, who owns a share of HTC, simply can’t move as quickly as Samsung, who not only designs their own chips, but also manufactures them using their own fabs. In other words, Samsung already has a supply chain setup, from chips to devices, whereas HTC has to depend on multiple external parties. Each additional party just adds delays.

Can HTC turn things around in 2013? We don’t think so, but we do hope we’re wrong.

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This article, HTC’s Q3 2012 profits down 79%, looks like the market doesn’t like the One series , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


The Jame Bond Sony Xperia T is now available on O2 UK, martini not included

Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:51 AM PDT

James Bond is an incredibly promiscuous man. In each one of the Bond flicks he sleeps with at least one new woman, and his brand loyalty is highly questionable. Sometimes he uses a Sony phone, sometimes he uses a Nokia, sometimes he drives an Aston Martin, other times he’s driving a BMW. The reality is that there is no James Bond, and all the stuff he uses is the result of companies throwing millions of dollars at Hollywood studios to get their products onto the silver screen. This newest Bond movie, “Skyfall“, will see our favorite man of mystery sporting the Sony Xperia T. For those of you who don’t remember that device, it’s the company’s Android flagship. It has a 4.6 inch 720p screen, dual core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, NFC, though surprisingly there’s no 4G LTE. It’ll ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, and we can only hope that it’ll get Jelly Bean before the year is out.

Today O2 UK is announcing that the Xperia T is now available for purchase. It has custom ringtones, custom wallpapers, and basically everything about it is meant to make Bond fans open up their wallets and give away their money.

Let’s be realistic for a second, what would a spy with an unlimited budget actually use? He’d want to be inconspicuous, so chances are he’d use something that’s a bit “old”. Bond should be using a Samsung Galaxy S II with a completely custom ROM that was written from the ground up by the British government. The ROM would have hardcore encryption built-in, apps that can hack into nearby phones via Bluetooth, and other crazy features.

What say you, should Bond carry an Xperia T or should he have something more menacing?

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This article, The Jame Bond Sony Xperia T is now available on O2 UK, martini not included , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


US government wants to ban businesses from dealing with Huawei and ZTE

Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:10 AM PDT

china-cell-phone Tavis Coburn

Ask your parents what Americans thought of Russia when they were growing up. Chances are you’ll hear horrible stories about communism, nuclear weapons, and espionage. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, America stopped being scared of Mother Russia. The new enemy became China. It’s easy to see why. China makes a lot of stuff, they’re communist, and they have absolutely no respect for intellectual property. The thing is, China isn’t a scary monster. It’s actually a very innovative country that’s rapidly growing and is in the process of transitioning from a rural society where everyone is a farmer, into a place that’s much more urban. The second largest PC maker, Lenovo, is Chinese. The second largest maker of telecommunications equipment, Huawei, is Chinese. ZTE, another Chinese company, is among one of the top five mobile phone makers.

None of this matters though, because the people in power, better known as the government, simply don’t trust the Chinese. Later today, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee will issue a report urging American businesses to stop dealing with Huawei and ZTE. Why? Because they’re supposedly building back doors into their products that will let the Chinese government spy on millions of Americans.

We really can’t make this stuff up.

ZTE says they have no idea what America is thinking. Huawei says the rumors being spread about them are “baseless”. In fact, Huawei is thinking about becoming a publicly listed company just so America gets off their back. Worst case scenario, these two companies get shut out of a market that serves roughly 350 million people. That means no more cheap infrastructure equipment, and potentially no more budget Android smartphones. Best case scenario, America grows up, stops being paranoid, and learns to do business with the Chinese.

That’s highly unlikely though.

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This article, US government wants to ban businesses from dealing with Huawei and ZTE , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Looks like some of those Android 4.2 rumors floating around were made up

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:27 PM PDT

If you’ve been keeping up with Android news, then you’ve likely heard a rumor or two about the next version of the operating system and the next Nexus device. One site that has been feeding the internets with a ton of information, Android and Me, has recently issued an apology, saying that some of what they’ve said has been purely made up. Here’s the exact quote:

“It was brought to our attention that the details contained in the post ‘Rumor: Android 4.2 to feature Project Roadrunner, new Play store, Customization Center, enhanced Google Now’ were fake. A rumor is a rumor, but we try to post only the ones that we can verify with multiple sources and we believe to be true. I apologize for failing to confirm this rumor with multiple sources and spreading false information.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. People like to mess with the press. It’s the job of the press to figure out what the truth is and what’s simply fabricated nonsense. Sometimes the press gets it right, and sometimes it gets things horribly wrong.

With this new news in mind, what, if anything, do we actually “know” to be correct? We know that LG is going to make the next Nexus. That’s been confirmed by multiple sources, including C|Net and Paul O’Brien from MoDaCo. Andy Rubin, who can best be described as the man who gave birth to Android, is going to be interviewed at the Dive Into Mobile conference hosted by AllThingsD, which is sceduled to take place between October 29th and October 30th. We don’t know if he’s going to show off the next Nexus at that event, but we’d like to point out that he demoed the Nexus S at the 2010 Dive Into Mobile conference.

If we broke your heart today, we’re sorry. All we can say to console you is that there’s a very high probability that Google will make all this stuff official within the next few weeks.

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This article, Looks like some of those Android 4.2 rumors floating around were made up , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Philippines’ Globe Telecom to offer Galaxy Note 2 free at P2,500 per month

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 06:12 PM PDT

galaxy-note-2-n7100 hands on

Carriers around the globe are picking up the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and here’s yet another international telco that’s offering Samsung’s latest phablet. The Philippines is just about to get a taste of the Note 2 through Globe Telecom.

Now the Note 2 is actually in the country already, care of the grey market, although if you want to go the official/carrier route, you can get it from Globe Telecom for free at a contract plan of PhP 2,499 per month. Now that’s about US$ 60 per month, which comes out as reasonable, compared with US and other carriers around the globe. This plan gets you unlimited data and a consumable of PhP 1,500 per month (which can be converted into unlimited calls and SMS through registration promos).

Users can also avail of a lower monthly plan of PhP 1,799 (US$ 43) per month, although you’d have to shell out PhP 6,000 or US$ $146 for the Galaxy Note 2. This plan gets you unlimited data and PhP 800 consumable, which can be used towards calls, SMS or to register to unlimited services.

No word whether the data plans will support LTE speeds, though. While Globe is already supporting LTE in key cities, this requires a separate add-on plan, and the carrier usually offers a separate dongle/mobile router for LTE access.

Globe is set to release the Note 2 on October 17, 2012.

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This article, Philippines’ Globe Telecom to offer Galaxy Note 2 free at P2,500 per month , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Uber car and taxi service faces more litigation, this time in Chicago

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 02:44 PM PDT

Car and taxi service Uber has seen its fair share of legal problems, and now Chicago can be counted among the cities in which the company is being sued.

If you haven’t heard of Uber before, what they do is fairly simple: it’s like another car service, except it’s tightly integrated with apps for you Android or iOS device. Using the app you can request a car, see where it is while it is on its way and rate the driver. Uber even handles the payment details, so paying and tipping the driver are all done directly through the app.

Even though there are a lot of interesting things about the service, it receives its share of criticism and, not surprisingly, a lot of this criticism comes from other taxi companies and car services. Most recently, companies in Chicago are claiming that Uber is violating laws at the city and state level relating to safety and customer protection. Specifically, the charges being leveled against Uber claim that the company fails to properly inspect vehicles to make sure that they are up to code regarding city and state regulations.

The lawsuit also states that of the the 20% gratuity Uber charges, only half of it goes to the driver. Uber claims that the half of this gratuity going to them is a service fee, charged for bringing the driver business that they wouldn’t see otherwise.

While it is understandable that companies who are losing business to Uber are pointing out possible misdeeds on Uber’s part, it’s also a shame that they seem intent on putting a stop to Uber instead of adopting its features for themselves. Ordering a car from an Android app and being made aware of any delays while it is on the way to you seems like the kind of thing that should have been around as soon as we had the ability to implement it, but other companies seem slow to pick it up for themselves.

While the validity of these recent claims as well as what they would mean to Uber if they are true is uncertain, it seems that they are on to a good thing, and it would be a shame to see them shut down before the full promise of what they’re trying to do is fulfilled.

Do you think that the companies suing Uber are in the right here? Or do you think that they are trying to keep Uber from taking the lead while they try to come up with their own ways to add Uber-like features to their businesses?

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This article, Uber car and taxi service faces more litigation, this time in Chicago , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Fujitsu’s new ad transmission technology allows smart phone owners to pull data from their TV

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 12:00 PM PDT

Fujitsu We currently have a plethora of ways to get data to our smart phones. We can use QR codes, messages and email, and even NFC. At this year’s CEATEC, Fujitsu has demonstrated a new way to get data from the world to our smart phones. This method uses our televisions.

It’s much the same premise as a QR code. When a TV commercial prompts you to, you open up your camera and point it at the screen. The TV advertisement then transmits a coupon or a website where you can learn more details. Where you point your camera doesn’t matter, although it is recommended you get your whole screen in the viewfinder.

Once the data is obtained, the phone should just open up the coupon or the website and you do with it what you please. Fujitsu’s new ad transmission has a boatload of applications, especially for companies who want to advertise their products. Instead of prompting viewers to check their website or to call them on a toll free number, people interested can just point their cameras at the TV. This could result in shorter, less obnoxious commercials.

Is Fujitsu’s technology only applicable to commercial use?

No, it is not. Any TV commercial can use Fujitsu’s technology to link you wherever it wants you to go. Non profit organizations can direct you to their websites and petitions. There doesn’t seem to be any limits as to what a commercial can transmit to you.

There is also the chance that companies can use Fujitsu’s new advertising for special offers only available if you use this method. Much like the special offers you can get by checking into a place on Foursquare.

What is interesting is that this may not be limited to just commercial use. Since it has no effect on the picture, this technology could theoretically be used by TV shows or TV stations in general to embed cool Easter eggs into their shows. If anyone remembers the TV show Heroes, there was a whole comic series that went with the TV show. How cool would it have been to point your phone at the TV while the show was on to open the website with the comics?

Fujitsu may be on to something big here. Companies from every industry are always looking for new ways to advertise and Fujitsu is doing something no one has really done before. Would you use Fujitsu’s technology if it were available to you? Let us know what you think.

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This article, Fujitsu’s new ad transmission technology allows smart phone owners to pull data from their TV , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Google’s virtual brain gets smarter and helps out on other projects

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT


Over this last summer, Google has been cooking up a lot of interesting things. We saw Google Glasses get another awesome demo, Google get a patent on a smart watch, and a patent on smart gloves. They are but one layer of clothing away from smart undergarments. Google isn’t just working on smart cloths and smart accessories, though. They are also working on building a virtual brain.

According to technologyreview.com, Google has spent the last summer teaching a virtual brain how to recognize things. By watching YouTube videos, the virtual brain has learned how to identify and remember things like humans and cats. The virtual brain is more about learning, though, and will be used in a variety of different ways.

This kind of technology can be wildly useful in a variety of areas. For instance, Google’s Smart Car benefits greatly from a self-taught AI as it can learn to recognize traffic patterns, traffic lights, and street layouts. Google’s pending technology, like the inventions mentioned above, would also benefit from this type of software.

Virtual Brain

Will the virtual brain have any affect on Android?

It actually already has. The self-taught virtual brain has already helped improve several parts of Android. Most notably the voice search and Google Now. By implementing software that’s always learning, these voice searches can learn your voice and your preferences. This can lead to better speech recognition, fewer wrong words, and better search results.

There’s a very bright future for the like’s of Google’s virtual brain. It recognizes living things, it helps with speech recognition, and it has the potential to do so much more. Unfortunately, it only operates in English as the Google engineers haven’t gotten other languages working. Rest assured, though, they are working on it.

Science is improving all the time but it’s not often we get to see it in our mobile technology. Keep in mind that Google’s virtual brain is still in its early stages and is only slated to get better. You can likely expect it to start making improvements on other Google services as well, like Google+. Needless to say, having this kind of technology improving our electronics promises some amazing stuff in the future. Eventually, this might even be able to do things like perform surgery, but is that something you would let it do? Tell us your thoughts.

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This article, Google’s virtual brain gets smarter and helps out on other projects , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini now available in Canada and the U.K.

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:21 AM PDT

Two new e-readers from Kobo, the Kobo Glo and the Kobo Mini, are now available in Canada and the U.K., selling for $130 and $80 respectively.

The larger Kobo Glo is the big brother of the two, and while it may not be as fancy as the Kindle Paperwhite, its ComfortLight technology aims for the same level of reading comfort as the Paperwhite’s front-lit screen. It has a 1 GHZ processor, 2 GB of internal storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD, and a 6-inch e-ink screen with a resolution of 1024 x 758 and 16-level gray scale. Kobo claims that the Glo’s battery will last over 1 month with Wi-Fi and the light turned off.

The smaller Kobo Mini cuts the light and a few other features, but it also cuts the price. It features an 800 MHz processor, 2 GB of internal storage, and a 5-inch e-ink display. As with the Kobo Glo, Kobo is claiming over 1 month of battery life. It is available in black or white, and features interchangable backs available in ruby, purple and teal for those who want to personalize their reader with a dash of color.

Both e-readers access books via the Kobo store, and while it may not be as popular as Amazon or Barnes and Noble’s stores, the level of reading material available seems roughly on par with either service. As with the other stores, newspapers, magazines and comic books are available in addition to e-books.

While it announced the availability of the Glo and Mini, Kobo also announced that its upcoming 7-inch Android tablet, the Kobo Arc, would be available for purchase in November. The tablet starts at $199, and is spec’d well enough that it could bring some competition to Amazon’s Kindle Fire line.

Do either of these e-readers interest you? Which one of them would you be more likely to buy?

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This article, Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini now available in Canada and the U.K. , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.


Android and Me

Android and Me


Retraction: Recent Android 4.2 rumors were fake

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 07:16 PM PDT

We now know why Google was laughing at recent rumor reports. It was brought to our attention that the details contained in the post Rumor: Android 4.2 to feature Project Roadrunner, new Play store, Customization Center, enhanced Google Now were fake. A rumor is a rumor, but we try to post only the...

Visit our site to read the full article.


Android Central

Android Central


Jelly Bean leaks for some Tegra 3 One X variants

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 02:47 PM PDT

Android Central

The ever-resourceful fellows over at the XDA forums have posted a leaked Jelly Bean ROM for some variants of the HTC One X. Based on the shipping software that will be coming on the One X+, this Android 4.1.1 and Sense 4+ ROM is ready for flashing, but only on specific models of the One X running Tegra 3 processors. The following CIDs -- and only these CIDs -- are supported:

  • cidnum: HTC__001
  • cidnum: HTC__E11
  • cidnum: HTC__203
  • cidnum: HTC__102
  • cidnum: HTC__405
  • cidnum: HTC__Y13
  • cidnum: HTC__A07
  • cidnum: HTC__304
  • cidnum: HTC__M27
  • cidnum: HTC__032
  • cidnum: HTC__016
  • cidnum: HTC__J15

If your device is included in the above list and you want to get a sneak peek at the upcoming software version for the device, head to the source link below and check it out, and let us know in the comments how it goes. Oh, do yourself a favor and back up before flashing, will ya?

Source: XDA ; via Android Central forums



O2 UK launches Xperia T 'Bond Phone' variant

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Android Central

As we reported last month, O2 UK secured an exclusive deal with Sony to launch its own 'Bond Phone' branded version of the Sony Xperia T. Now the 007-themed handset is actually available from O2, priced from free at £36 per month on O2's "On & On" tariff. The On & On deal gets you unlimited minutes and texts, and 1GB of UK data. If you want to up your data limit, there's a 2GB On & On plan available for £46 per month. Cheaper monthly plans are available, though you'll pay an up-front fee for the phone.

The bond phone is externally idential to the vanilla Xperia T offered by other networks, but comes pre-loaded with Bond-themed ringtones, wallpapers, "screensavers" and geotagged photos from the production of the upcoming Skyfall. In case you missed the memo, the Xperia T will feature in the upcoming Bond flick.

In addition, the Bond Phone functions as deadly garrote wire, a short-range laser cutting tool and an orbital satellite weapons system, or so we're told.

Source: O2



And we're glad to have you, too

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:59 AM PDT

Android Central

Have you registered with us yet? It's the only way to get in on the conversation -- and be eligible for loads of free stuff!



From the Editor's Desk: Some quick thoughts ahead of MobileCON

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 05:49 AM PDT

Phil Nickinson

We're headed to sunny San Diego this week -- one of my new favorite cities -- for the fall CTIA event. The past several years it's been called CTIA "Enterprise and Applications," which pretty much was exactly what it sounded like. Put it this way -- it's no CES or MWC, that's for sure.

The fall event has been rebranded "MobileCON," which basically can mean anything the wireless industry organization wants it to. On the other hand, with bullet points like "Enterprise Industry Spotlight" and a keynote address from the BlackBerry CIO and a U.S. Air Force IT type, it's pretty safe to say we're still knee-deep in enterprise here.

Anyhoo, we'll be bringing it all to you this week.

A few other thoughts to get things going:

  • Speaking of CTIA, that means the Samsung Stratosphere turns 1. And it's having growing pains.
  • Nexus rumors sure are exciting, aren't they! Know what really excites me, though? What really tickles my fancy? Facts. I'm funny like that.
  • Even less exciting is seeing rumor reports hedged to within the last inch of their life. Either own the rumor, or don't publish it. Hedging is such sweet bullshit.
  • Is there a dearth of actual devices to cover or something? Did I miss the memo?
  • How much of these next-Android-version rumors are simply rehashed from what Google told us was coming at Google IO developer conference this summer? I've got some videos to watch again.
  • Why do we act like it's so surprising to see a new version of Android starting to peek out? It's not like work suddenly stopped and nobody was told, was it?
  • I'm all about getting a 32- or 64-gigabyte Nexus 7 tablet. (Or any other device for that matter.) That's not to say there's not a place in this world for cloud-storage-centric devices. I think it comes down to personal usage. I'm in airplanes a lot. I need local storage. I need both, actually, but I need the choice.
  • It was nice to actually podcast two weeks in a row. Forgot how much fun that can be. We don't make money on them. Hell, they cost money, and they're time-consuming. But they're also a lot of fun. And we're about to pass 2.5 million downloads, which just floors me.
  • And if you didn't catch the end of this past week's podcast ...
  • Plague Inc. is fun, and I'm surprised the prospect of ending all human life on Earth didn't bother me in the slightest. But it seems to be another one of those games that's trying just a little too hard for the in-app purchases. This sucker's tough.

That's it for today. See ya'll from San Diego.