Sprint offers discount in an attempt to get AT&T, T-Mobile enterprise customers to switch

Recently, Sprint was so interested in taking customers away from merger partners AT&T and T-Mobile, that they offered to pay the customer's $175 Early Termination Fee if they would switch while still under contract to either mobile operator. Now, a leaked photo of a Sprint internal document reveals that the nation's third largest carrier will send a mailer out to AT&T and T-Mobile enterprise customers, offering them a 12% discount, a deal on two phones and a $175 port-in credit.

According to the document, Sprint is aiming the mailer to business customers with 1-99 employees in Chicago, Miami, Colorado, Phoenix, Utah, Houston, Tampa, Minnesota, Kansas, East Michigan, Orange County, L.A. Metro, Orlando, New York City and Dallas/Ft. Worth. Those receiving the offer can pick up the recently launched Motorola XPRT, a BlackBerry-esque Android handset that is similar to the Motorola DROID Pro at Verizon, or the BlackBerry Style, a flip phone loaded with BlackBerry 6 OS and a WebKit browser. The BlackBerry Style is a free device with the offer, while the Motorola XPRT is discounted to $129.99 for those taking advantage of the deal.

The document says that the mailer will be sent out late this month, and that the deal is available through July 23rd. As we closer to government approval of AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile, the more desperate Sprint seems to get.

source: Spantechular via BGR

N.O.V.A. 2 HD is now available in Android Market for $6.99

With mobile gaming exploding at a rapid rate, it’s only natural to have some high expectations with certain recognizable games.  We had the fine opportunity of reviewing Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. game a while back, which was an exciting first person shooter, but now we’re now just finally seeing its successor arriving on the scene.

Available now in the Android Market for $6.99, N.O.V.A. 2 HD is the sequel to the popular game that’s set in a bloody civil war fought between the central government of the Terran Orbitals and the Human-Alien Alliance. Naturally, there’s plenty of action to be experienced by yourself, or with others through its multiplayer online games. Additionally, it’s just one of those titles that seem to come together with its action packed game play, tight controls, and graphical eye candy to keep you engaged on the go.

Considering that it’s only $6.99, that’s pretty impressive when you compare it to the cost generally associated with portable console games. Either way, we’re certain that you’ll be killing plenty of time between your work shifts with this one.

source: Android Market via Android Authority

Card.io looking to take a different path in the mobile payment race

It seems fairly inevitable at this point that our mobile devices will be our wallets as we move forward, but we have to remember that there are two different types of mobile payments and both are taking a different path. The big buzz right now is for NFC which seems poised to dominate the point-of-sale (POS) transactions, but there is also e-commerce transactions to consider.

The difference is fairly simple really: POS transactions are for when you are in a store and need to pay for something, while e-commerce transactions are those which occur on the web or through an app. So, you can use NFC if you want to pay for your groceries, but maybe you need an easier way to input your credit card info for a purchase on Amazon. That's where card.io is looking to step in. And, their solution is simple: most smartphones have a camera, so why not just scan your credit card?

The way it would work is that developers would use the card.io SDK to add the system to their app, then once in the app when you want to pay for your purchase, you just hold your credit card up to your phone's camera, the card will be scanned and the info entered and sent securely. Card.io wouldn't give numbers, but said that the "vast majority" of card scans will be accurate. And, as far as security, your card info would be sent with 128-bit SSL encryption, and the scanned image of your card would never be stored. 

Right now, the card.io SDK is available for iOS, with an Android SDK coming soon. Card.io is most interested in developers in e-commerce, local, travel, ticketing and daily deals to add the functionality to their apps first. 

source: Card.io via ReadWriteWeb

Card.io looking to take a different path in the mobile payment race

It seems fairly inevitable at this point that our mobile devices will be our wallets as we move forward, but we have to remember that there are two different types of mobile payments and both are taking a different path. The big buzz right now is for NFC which seems poised to dominate the point-of-sale (POS) transactions, but there is also e-commerce transactions to consider. 

The difference is fairly simple really: POS transactions are for when you are in a store and need to pay for something, while e-commerce transactions are those which occur on the web or through an app. So, you can use NFC if you want to pay for your groceries, but maybe you need an easier way to input your credit card info for a purchase on Amazon. That's where card.io is looking to step in. And, their solution is simple: most smartphones have a camera, so why not just scan your credit card?

The way it would work is that developers would use the card.io SDK to add the system to their app, then once in the app when you want to pay for your purchase, you just hold your credit card up to your phone's camera, the card will be scanned and the info entered and sent securely. Card.io wouldn't give numbers, but said that the "vast majority" of card scans will be accurate. And, as far as security, your card info would be sent with 128-bit SSL encryption, and the scanned image of your card would never be stored. 

Right now, the card.io SDK is available for iOS, with an Android SDK coming soon. Card.io is most interested in developers in e-commerce, local, travel, ticketing and daily deals to add the functionality to their apps first. 

source: Card.io via ReadWriteWeb

Microsoft's developer incentives for WP7

Windows Phone 7 was a little late to the smartphone game, but Microsoft has shown that they are dedicated to making it competitive. Apple and Google love to point to the app numbers when talking about their systems, and Apple even likes to point to Google's app numbers, or lack of tablet apps as it were. The apps available on a platform are directly related to the success of the platform, just ask Palm. So, Microsoft knows that one of the fastest ways to gain support is through developers, and they are pulling out all the stops to get developers on their side with a number of incentives to foster growth in their WP7 app marketplace. 

Apple's App Store has just over 400,000 apps available. The Android Market has just under 400,000. And, the WP7 Marketplace has about 23,500. Microsoft knows that they have to close that gap as quickly as possible. In order to do that, they are reportedly offering incentives to developers in the form of revenue sharing deals, app visibility and hands-on support. 

These benefits are given to a select few who are invited to "code camps", given handsets and one-on-one time with Microsoft engineers to help design apps. In some cases, Microsoft is even waiving their 30% commission on in-app ads for up to a year for these developers. And, maybe best of all, each developer chosen to attend a camp will have their app showcased in the Marketplace, giving them prime visibility which is always in demand in mobile app stores. 

Given the number of developers invited to the camps, this move alone won't do much to impact the overall number of apps for WP7. But, maybe the quality of the apps and word of mouth in the developer community can help bring more coders to the WP7 shores. 

source: CNet

Angry Birds “Summer Pignic” will keep you from melting throughout the summer

Are you one of the many to beat every episode of Rovio’s popular Angry Birds game and starving for some new challenge? Well, you’re in for a special treat this summer, and the timing couldn’t have been any sweeter.

With summer officially here, it doesn’t mean that those Angry Birds are going to be jetting off to some cool vacation resort and hiding low, but instead, they’re jumping right back into action with their sixth holiday themed episode – Summer Pignic. This new episode features 30 new summer themed levels that will keep you at it against those baddies that are trying to keep summer from being fun. Additionally, the new update for Angry Birds Seasons brings along an in-game summer themed greeting cards system that allows players to send to their friends.

Still, you’ll more than likely keep a good pace with this one mainly because it follows in line with other levels of Angry Birds Seasons – meaning, you can only unlock one new level per day. So what are you waiting for? Get the new version of Angry Birds Season to jump start your summer!

via Geek

Lenovo Ideapad Honeycomb tablet to be $499 at Office Depot

Android Honeycomb tablets are starting to hit the shelves quicker now, and Lenovo wants in on the game too. A leak shows a product listing for the upcoming Lenovo Ideapad Tablet K1, which will be coming to Office Depot and retailing for $499. Unfortunately, there is no firm release date yet.

The Lenovo Ideapad K1 will be pretty much what you'd expect from a Honeycomb tablet at this point. Rumor has the processor as a Tegra 2, but the leaked listing gives the other confirmed specs: 10" (1280x800) LCD screen, 32 GB storage, front and rear cameras, full Flash support, 10 hours of battery life, an aluminum back casing, and a weight of 1.6 pounds (725g). Earlier reports also show the K1 to have a microSD card slot and a micro HDMI-out port. All that is pretty good for a tablet clocking in at $500.

The one caveat here is that this will be the first Honeycomb tablet to ship with a custom UI overlay, so you will not be getting stock Android. Given that all Android tablets are following the same design scheme, we knew it wouldn't be long before custom UIs began creeping in. Even Samsung has said that there will be an OTA update for their Galaxy Tab 10.1 which will bring the TouchWiz UI.

Custom UIs are a good way for manufacturers to differentiate and bring new features, but they are also known to considerably slow down system updates, so we'll have to see how this one works out for Lenovo.

source: Engadget via Android Authority

Asus is planning to have a Tegra 3 & Ice Cream Sandwich powered Transformer in the fall?

Asus doesn’t appear to be backing down any time soon with their tablet offerings, especially when the Eee Pad Transformer is selling very well, but as we all know, they’re pushing ahead in their attempt at becoming the market leader in this competitive market.

We’ve already heard about the Windows 8 powered Asus Eee Pad Transformer 2 coming down in the pipelines, but for those who are interested more with their Android lineup, we have some news regarding an upcoming new one. In fact, this new model of the Eee Pad Transformer appears to be the likely successor to the original one – mostly because it’s going to be featuring an NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset and Android Ice Cream Sandwich. This time around, the news about it comes from “sources” that originate with their supplier chain in Taiwan. In fact, they mention that Asus is actually making large orders for Tegra parts – thus, beating out Acer as being NVIDIA’s largest customer.

From the sound of it all, the sources say that this new Transformer will arrive sometime in the October or November time frame, which should be nice in time for the busy holiday season. Surprisingly enough, the source make the bold claim that Asus will be breaking even and won’t make a bit of profit with the new tablet, but rather, they’re aiming to make their profit margins with their useful notebook dock.

via Slashgear

Samsung updates Kies sync software for Mac

One of the most important pieces of companion software to a mobile device is the desktop syncing solution. Apple has iTunes, Microsoft has Zune, RIM has BlackBerry Media Sync, and Android has a number of 3rd party solutions including the popular doubleTwist. Regardless of mobile OS, if you have a Samsung phone, the solution for you is Kies. It took a few days since the launch, but Kies Beta for Mac finally has support for the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The Kies software helps users sync contacts to various services including Google, Outlook and Yahoo. It also helps transfer music, video and photos between your mobile and desktop. Kies even lets you buy apps for bada and Windows Mobile (<6.5) devices. In general, Kies will also notify you if there are any firmware updates for your device, but unfortunately that feature doesn't work with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 just yet, although you can still get updates over-the-air, so it's not such a big issue.

Still Kies is a nice solution for controlling the media on your device, so definitely give it a go if you've got a Samsung.

source: Samsung Hub via Android Police
Kies Mac direct download

Google Earth helps reveal prey-predator relations

While most of us rely on Google Earth for checking out on holiday destinations, scientists have shown it can reveal a lot about the behaviour of marine life.

University of Technology-Sydney (UTS) marine biologist Elizabeth Madin, along with colleagues, used Google Earth satellite images to observe the indirect effects of the interface between predators and prey in the lagoon habitat at Heron island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Google can now translate five Indian languages

Google has extended its translation services to five more Indian languages - Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu - besides Hindi potentially increasing its reach to over 500 million people.

"Beginning today, you can explore the linguistic diversity of the Indian sub-continent with Google translate, which now supports five new experimental alpha languages", the Internet search engine announced on the Google blog.

According to Google, more than 500 million people speak these five languages in India and Bangladesh alone. Having launched over 11 alpha languages since 2009, the current number of languages supported by Google Translate is around 63.

The translations for these five alpha languages are expected to be less fluent and might include many more un-translated words than languages like Spanish or Chinese, with more of web content that powers Google's statistical machine translation approach.

"Indic languages differ from English in many ways, presenting several exciting challenges when developing their respective translation systems," said Google research scientist Ashish Venugopal.

"Indian languages often use the Subject Object Verb (SOV) ordering to form sentences, unlike English, which uses Subject Verb Object (SVO) ordering.

"This difference in sentence structure makes it harder to produce fluent translations; the more words that need to be reordered, the more chance there is to make mistakes when moving them."

"Tamil, Telugu and Kannada are also highly agglutinative, meaning a single word often includes affixes that represent additional meaning, like tense or number," he wrote.

As these languages have their own unique scripts, Google translate has enabled a transliterated input method for the users who do not have Indian language keyboards.
Google has also requested the users to improve the quality of the translations, by correcting errors and providing feedback.

Despite the challenges involved in the translation of Indian languages, Google feels it's important to translate these languages in order to help people gain better access to the multilingual web, and encourage the publication of new content in Indic languages.

"We hope that the launch of these new alpha languages will help you better understand the Indic web and encourage the publication of new content in Indic languages, taking us five alpha steps closer to a web without language barriers," Venugopal said.
 

Indian parents wary of kids getting hooked online: Survey

Increasing use of Internet and access to a host of mobile devices are making Indian parents wary of their kids being exposed to the risks of the virtual world, a survey by global security technology firm McAfee revealed.

"A survey we undertook recently in 10 major cities across the country showed that 62 per cent of affluent kids in the age group of 4-12 years have an e-mail ID, while 58 per cent of them have an account on social networking sites," McAfee India director V. Krishnapur told reporters on Wednesday.

Nokia's new flagship N9 gets mixed reviews

Nokia's latest attempt to win back market share with its N9 phone received mixed reviews on Wednesday but analysts said the real test will come when it releases new models using the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

Fans lauded the N9's ease of use without any "home" button -- a feature of the iPhone and other rivals -- while detractors mocked what they saw as its outdated Meego operating system.

Unveiled by Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop at the CommunicAsia telecoms fair in Singapore this week, fans crowded around the company's booth to try out the device.

Android phones to pit vampires against slayers

Facial recognition startup Viewdle on Wednesday began letting Android smartphone users see which of the people around them are vampires and which are vampire slayers.
A "Third Eye" augmented reality game released by the San Francisco company online at viewdle.com is the first installment in a trilogy that will culminate in a battle between the undead and defenders of the living.

It was also intended as a fun demonstration of a powerful software platform that lets smartphone cameras recognize what they see and potentially support services such as sight for the blind or memories for the forgetful.

Camera lets people shoot first focus later

Startup Lytro is promising to deliver by year's end a camera that lets people adjust the focus on photos after they take them.

Work that Ren Ng started in a lab while working on a PhD at Stanford University about eight years ago has led to the creation of what was billed as the first camera that captures the entire light field in a scene.

Software was then designed to use the light data to allow points of focus to be easily shifted in digital images, according to Northern California-based Lytro.

"Shoot now, focus later," the startup said on Wednesday in a blog post describing its innovation.

"A Lytro can also help you remember more of what happened at that party last weekend," the message continued playfully.

Lytro has tested prototypes of the camera with photographers and was asking people interested in the gadgets to sign up at its website to measure interest.

Ng referred to Lytro camera images as "living pictures" because they allow whoever is looking at them, say as a post on a Facebook page, to shift the focus between people or objects captured in photos.

"Our mission is to change photography forever, making conventional cameras a thing of the past," Ng said in a blog post. "Light field cameras are the next big step in that picture revolution."

Lytro is having the cameras made itself and did not disclose the planned price. Most of the reported $50 million in funding for the startup has come from Andreessen Horowitz.

US tablet users paid $53 for apps: study

More than 90 percent of US tablet computer users have downloaded applications and most have bought apps, spending over $50 on average during the past 12 months, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Twelve percent of the total US population own or use a tablet, the study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) found, with the number expected to rise to 23 percent, or 54 million people, by early 2012.

Nokia to transfer 2,800 staff to Accenture

Nokia Corp. said on Wednesday that it has completed a deal to outsource Symbian software development to Accenture, including the transfer of 2,800 workers to the global management-consulting firm.

The announcement came two months after Nokia disclosed the plan as part of its aim to cut costs by $1.5 billion (euro1 billion) by 2013, including 7,000 global layoffs, and catch up with top rivals in the tough smartphone market.

The Finland-based company faces strong competition from Research in Motion's Blackberry, Apple's iPhone and Google's Android, as it continues to see market share fall. Last month it issued a big profits warning.

Sony Ericsson eyes Android market with new phones

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson unveiled two new Android models on Wednesday in a bid to grab more of the burgeoning smartphone market.

The company, a joint venture between L.M. Ericsson and Sony Corp., plans to launch the Xperia ray and Xperia active models during the third quarter, Chief Marketing Officer Steve Walker announced in Singapore.

The new models should help the company expand its 11 percent market share of the Android segment, Walker said.

"Android smartphones is a rapidly growing part of the market, and we see our share within that market growing," Walker told The Associated Press.

London-based Sony Ericsson, which saw its phone unit sales drop 23 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, is moving away from cheaper phone models and seeking to take on Apple Inc.'s iPhone, Research in Motion's Blackberry and Nokia Corp.'s N9 in the higher-priced smartphone market.

By 2015, about 60 percent of mobile phones sold in the Asia-Pacific region will likely be smartphones, up from 20 percent in 2010, Walker said.

"We made quite a fundamental shift in strategy and decided to focus a large part of our efforts into smartphones, to focus on the mid- and high-end part of the business," Walker said. "In many markets, we see a dramatic shift from feature phones to smartphones."

The company said in April that smartphones accounted for more than 60 percent of its sales during the first quarter.

Sony Ericsson's latest models that run on Goggle Inc.'s Android platform, the Xperia ray and active, will likely be priced below the high-end Xperia arc, Walker said.

Xperia active is water resistant and works if fingers are wet or sweaty, while the Xperia ray seeks to combine a sleek design with a device that is 9.4 millimeters thick (about 1/3 inch-thick).

Sony Ericsson also plans to introduce a less expensive model that highlights texting service and is aimed at teenagers, Walker said.

Apple removes anti-Israel app from App Store

Apple Inc. says it has removed an application called "ThirdIntifada" from its App Store following complaints that it glorified violence against Israel.

Israel's information minister, Yuli Edelstein, requested the company remove the app in an email he sent to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jewish human rights group The Simon Wiesenthal Center also complained to Apple.

"Intifada" is the Arabic term for two violent uprisings against Israel over the past two decades. The free application encouraged followers to share opinions and organize protests against Israel.

It linked to a website that helped organize violent clashes with Israeli troops recently along Israel's frontiers with Lebanon and Syria.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said on Wednesday that the app was removed "because it violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people."

Twins drop Facebook lawsuit detailed in hit movie

The Harvard University classmates of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are ending the legal battle made famous by the Hollywood movie "The Social Network."

In a one-paragraph court filing on Wednesday, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said they would accept a settlement that was worth $65 million when agreed upon in 2008.

The twins had sought to undo the settlement of $20 million cash and $45 million in stock.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the twins, saying they had been represented by a squadron of Silicon Valley lawyers and their father, a noted business professor.

The twins said Wednesday they would forgo a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Their stock is now worth more than $100 million.

AT&T Status is HTC's ChaCha Facebook-centric handset; launch coming in one week?

This story is supported by HTC. HTC Flyer is a 7" Android tablet exclusively available at Best Buy. With HTC Scribe Technology and Scribe Pen, you can write naturally like pen on paper on the tablet's screen. Learn more and buy now

A source for BGR says that the first Facebook-centric handset, the HTC ChaCha will be launched possibly as soon as next week as the AT&T Status. At the same time, the source says that the Taiwan based firm's second Facebook integrated model, the HTC Salsa, will not be coming to AT&T.

Just the other day, we showed you some pictures of the ChaCha AT&T Status, showing off some changes in the device including a more rounded "Facebook button" at the bottom of the phone. With the target audience for the phone made up by social networking teens, the specs are mid-end as you might expect. The 3G only model is powered by an 800MHz processor with a 2.6 inch landscape oriented display offering HVGA resolution. A 5MP camera with AF and flash is on the back and yes, there is a .3MP VGA front-facing camera. Android 2.3.3 comes pre-installed on the device. A physical QWERTY keyboard graces the front of the phone.

The Facebook button at the lower right of the phone allows you to integrate whatever you have on in the background with your Facebook account. If you are listening to a tune and click the button, that song goes right to your Facebook profile. If you are checking out some of your pictures in the Gallery, click the Facebook button for the images to get added to your wall. See a golden opportunity to take a photo for your Facebook page? Use the button as a shutter when in camera mode and your picture will focus, get taken, and uploaded to Facebook all in one quick step. Facebook chat opens through a widget on your home screen, listing your contacts. Open the app and you can start chatting away using the physical QWERTY keyboard. As the AT&T Status is still an HTC phone, Sense 2.1 is aboard, re-designed for the landscape facing display.

You can check out our brand new review of this U.S. version of the HTC ChaCha. 

source: BGR

Electronic Arts to acquire PopCap Games

PopCap Games, the maker of such popular titles like Plants vs Zombies, Peggle and Bejeweled, is rumored ripe for acquisition by games juggernaut Electronic Arts for a cool one billion dollars.

Electronic Arts has been entering the casual games industry lately, and the acquisition would only solidify that trend. It is mostly known for big budget titles, rather than casual mobile gaming, so there would be good reasoning behind that acquisition, since time-wasting on your mobile is exploding in popularity.

Zynga, which was also rumored to express interest in PopCap Games, might have very well given up the race, considering the hefty price tag mentioned. PopCap makes $100 to $150 million in revenue a year, so the billion seems a little steep, but it's all just speculation for now anyway.

via ZDNet

T-Mobile retail stores are starting to close

We've spent a lot of time talking about what will happen to our T-Mobile contracts, and the overall U.S. wireless market when the AT&T/T-Mobile deal is approved. But we've neglected to talk about what happens to the thousands of T-Mobile retailers and their employees. Apparently, many independent T-Mobile retailers are already throwing in the towel in anticipation of the acquisition.

One such retailer is Kirk Brundage, who owned 8 T-Mobile locations in Idaho and Utah. After he heard about the deal, he decided to sell his locations to an unnamed competitor, rather than wait for the hammer to drop. Brundage explains that there was "little hope for a dealer of [his] size".

This sentiment is rightly shared by many T-Mobile retail owners. AT&T has already promised to 'rationalize' their retail chains in order to make the acquisition more efficient. Combined, the two carriers have 9,200 retail locations, and given the waning performance of physical retail locations, that's way too many. Forty-one percent of AT&T stores are within one mile of a T-Mobile store. And those T-Mobile stores will probably be seen as redundant.

Even if retailers aren't cutting stores, they are at least shelving their expansion plans for the time being. Unfortunately, those retailers aren't allowed to discuss retail plans with AT&T, while the deal is still being reviewed. That adds particular uncertainty to the smaller retail owners, that will likely be overlooked by the Ma Bell giant.

source: Wall Street Journal

Review of Samsung Exhibit 4G

Introduction:

For the longest time now, smartphones packing along WVGA displays and 1GHz processors are normally designated as high-end devices, but as technology continues to advance, these once perceived top shelf handsets are now being positioned in the mid-range category. Interestingly enough, that’s exactly where the Samsung Exhibit 4G finds itself at, with its affordable $79.99 on-contract price to make it a clear contender in its product space. Featuring some contemporary hardware under the hood, it combines some of the lovable characteristics that can make any device instantly admired, but more importantly, it needs to excel highly in all aspects to prove itself as a strong contender against its higher-end counterparts.

The package contains:

• Samsung Exhibit 4G
• microUSB Cable
• Wall Charger
• 4GB microSD card
• Stereo headphones
• Start Guide

Review of HTC ChaCha

This is a global GSM phone. It can be used with T-Mobile USA and AT&T, but without 3G.

Introduction:

One, two, cha cha cha, three four, cha cha cha, HTC, ChaCha [Cha]. Doesn't it make you want to jump to the Facebook beat? No? Oh well, never mind. Whether they make you want to update your status or roll your eyes, Latin dances have inspired the names of both of HTC's new social phones with Facebook buttons, hoping to draw some excitement and buzz from the vivacious Latin culture into these sociable smartphones. With our review of the Salsa being less than spicy, largely thanks to the price, with similar specs and a physical QWERTY, all at a lower price-point, we're hopeful the HTC ChaCha's the Facebook phone with all the right moves.

Apple is awarded a potentially industry-altering patent on touchscreens

Apple filed for this touchscreen patent back in 2007. But now that it has finally been awarded, it could have sweeping effects on the wireless landscape in the U.S. The patent covers nearly every industry-standard feature of the capacitive interface, which would affect every device maker.

The patent states, most generally, that it covers "a computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, [that] comprises displaying a portion of page content, including a frame displaying a portion of frame content and also including other content of the page, on the touch screen display."

The patent also extends to multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom, which have become ubiquitous among touchscreen devices. Florian Mueller of Foss Patents says that Apple could use this patent award to bully other device makers out of the U.S. market: "This patent covers a kind of functionality without which it would be hard to build a competitive smartphone."

Experts suggest that the patent could be interpreted as only applying to the web browser. But even that would prove problematic. Unless the patent is invalidated, Apple could legitimately sue every smartphone and tablet maker, as well as makers of touchscreen music players. On the other hand, the volume of support against the patent could make it easier to invalidate.

source: PCMag

Nokia demonstrates its very first Windows Phone device

Wow, Nokia has been making quite a lot of headlines lately. Only days after the announcement of the Nokia N9 – a supposedly “market disrupting” device powered by the MeeGo platform, the company has lifted the veil off its very first Windows Phone handset. It was Stephen Elop himself who introduced the smartphone in front of an unsuspecting audience, after which Jukka Kiiskinen, a services sales manager at Nokia, demonstrated Microsoft's mobile platform running on the device.

The smartphone is only known by its Sea Ray codename so far, and if Nokia's plans unfold as expected, it should hit the market by the end of this year. Little details have been mentioned about the device, but what we know is that it will launch running Windows Phone with the Mango update on top, which packs goodies like deeper SkyDrive integration and Internet Explorer 9. What we also have confirmed about the smartphone is that it will boast an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and a Gorilla Glass-protected touchscreen display.

During the presentation, Stephen Elop later added that “other devices completely different from that” were already running so it wouldn't be surprising for Nokia to treat us to another unexpected announcement like today's in the near future. In the meantime, if you are curious to see Nokia's first Windows Phone device in action, feel free to check out the video embedded below where it shows up around the 2-minute mark.

source: technet.hu (translated) via Gizmodo

Over a million unlocked iPhones roaming the T-Mobile network, the carrier is working on a Micro SIM of its own

There was a survey posted yesterday, based on a 250 store sample, which claimed that more than a half of AT&T and Verizon stores surveyed had the iPhone as their best-selling device.

Now in a spokespeople meeting it turns out that T-Mobile, which doesn't even officially offer the iPhone, has more than one million unlocked devices roaming the ether on its network too.

Most of them are iPhone 3GSs, the representative clarified, because of the regular SIM size, but he had also confirmed T-Mobile is working on a Micro SIM card module of its own, although he hadn't didn't specified when can we see it.

The T-Mobile person that relayed this data however said that a significant number of customers have already "taken the scissors" to adapt the regular-sized T-Mobile SIM card for their unlocked iPhone 4s. Asked when can we see the iPhone officially on T-Mobile's network, the carrier spokesman said there was nothing to announce at this time.

source: 9to5Mac

HTC EVO 4G+ quietly announced: 4.3” qHD screen, 1.2GHz dual-core chip

The HTC EVO 4G+ has just made one of the quietest debuts we've seen recently. The reason might lie in the fact that it was launched far east in South Korea, advertized as the phone that is “everything you can imagine,” but hopefully HTC's imagination doesn't mean Korea-only availability. The EVO 4G+ mimics the looks of Sprint's HTC EVO 3D, but replaces the 3D feature with a single 8 megapixel camera capable of 1080p full HD recording. The 3D switch on the side has been replaced with a button toggling between video recording and still capture.

On the inside, a powerful 1.2GHz dual-core chip matched by 1GB of RAM helps run the latest of HTC Sense skinning on top of Android. The screen is pretty spacious measuring 4.3 inches in diagonal and boasting 540 x 960 pixels of resolution. It's not the slimmest of phones with girth of 0.47 inches (12.05mm) and it adds some solid heft with its 5.64oz (160 g) of weight. 

The price and release date of the HTC EVO 4G+ are yet unknown, but judging from a recent FCC filing about an HTC Sensation lookalike equipped with CDMA and WiMAX, there is some chance that this could land on Sprint.

source: HTC via Engadget

Sample video taken with the Nokia N9 emerges

The Nokia N9 carries an 8MP camera with the Carl Zeiss brand, a logo that the German optics maker gives only after rigorous testing of the picture quality. The Texas Instruments chipset and the 8MP shooter working in tandem process HD 720p video, which is about the norm for 1GHz handsets.

Nokia also claims that the camera on the N9 is the fastest around on a smartphone, and the interface sports touch-to-focus and continuous autofocus while filming. All these merits are on paper, though - until you see real samples of pictures and videos made with said shooter, every tech detail is in the realm of theory or marketing.

Luckily, the Italians over at HDblog have captured a few seconds of raw footage from the preproduction units Nokia is sending out these days, and, from the looks of it, the colors are lively plus continuous autofocus seems snappy, making the Nokia N9 a nice pocket camcorder, especially its 64GB version.

source: HDblog via DailyMobile

If iPhone gets NFC, Google ports Wallet

Google Wallet seems like a significant step forward towards NFC adoption, but until now, the service was expected to work only on devices running Android – the Google-backed mobile OS. However, it must have been clear to the Mountain View-based company that without Wallet being accessible on as many handsets on the market as possible, it would have a bumpy road ahead of it.

Probably because of that, at the Cannes Lions ad festival this Wednesday, Google ex-CEO Eric Schmidt confirmed that if the next iPhone has an NFC chip inside of it, the search giant will do its best to make the service usable on Apple's finest as well.

Until now though, we've seen some rumors claim that the next iPhone will have NFC, as well as such that state exactly the opposite, so whether or not near-field communications are coming to the handset is still anybody's guess. Unfortunately, when we're going to know for sure is also an unknown, since unofficial sources are just as inconsistent when it comes to the eventual iPhone 5 release date.

via: Electronista

Motorola's CEO says the phone is going to be the best computer, best camera, best music player

Motorola's chief executive Sanjay Jha took over Moto when the company was literally falling apart in 2008 and now he has the freedom to run Motorola Mobility, the part of Motorola responsible for its mobile business after the company split earlier in the year. Motorola's financial results however haven't exactly flourished in the last few quarters as competition in Android smartphones becomes more fierce. 

One of the biggest problems that Moto is facing seems to be differentiation and Jha noted that his company will continue focusing on the consumer experiences. Jha also noted that the company will also concentrate on design and a lot of testing. The company has had troubles releasing some of its phones like the Motorola DROID BIONIC, but it has also been slow in bringing its current smartphones to their maximum potential as the update allowing 1080p full HD recording for the Motorola ATRIX 4G is still in tow.

But at the same time, he couldn't ignore the competition which can leverage more scale. While he acknowledged that Moto will focus on innovating and meeting consumer expectations, he did admit that in the light of recent acquisitions, nothing is certain about the future: “Do we expect Motorola to be an independent company? I don't know yet. I hope very much that we are.”  

It depends a lot on whether the company can come up with something innovative, but the CEO wasn't at all concerned with smartphone growth. He seemed convinced that the phone will become the best computer, camera and music player.  In fact, it seems to have become such an indispensable part of our lives. Jha concludes: “We do surveys and sometimes take phones away from people, and they start crying. They have that amount of personal investment in the relationship. It becomes the digital hub of your life.”

source: CNN

Watch Nokia borrow Apple's rhetoric for the N9 announcement: it feels "supernatural"

The Nokia N9 was announced in the early hours on June 21st, but in the couple of days after Espoo lifted the curtain over its first MeeGo device, it has only confused us as it seemed surprisingly good. Too good to be the first and last of the MeeGo mohicans. To help us get even further confused, Nokia posted the full video of the announcement where Nokia’s Marko Ahtisaari, SVP Design and User Experience, presents the enchanting device highlighting its functionality. 

You already know most of the facts about the N9 – a 1GHz TI OMAP3630 CPU matched with the PowerVRSGX530 GPU, a 3.9-inch WVGA AMOLED screen. But it's not the hardware that matters with this device. Actually, designer Anton Fahlgren mentions: “What’s important for us is that if this becomes a hardware story, we’ve failed. It needs to be in context with the UI.”

And that's what the video below demonstrates. Smooth navigation and intuitive, swipe-dominated navigation on a beautifully colorful device. It almost feels like an Apple presentation – one focusing more on functions and innovation than on anything else. To cement that feeling Ahtisaari concluded the event: “So there it is, the Nokia N9. A design for a better way to use a phone. I urge you to try it here in Singapore and I trust that you see how natural, how even supernatural it feels.”

source: Nokia Conversations

Nokia N9 goes on sale in Sweden September 23rd, NFC capabilities demoed on video

The Swedish carrier Three announced that it will start selling the Nokia N9 on September 23rd. That's a far cry from "it's a month away" we heard yesterday, but still much better than Nokia's flagships of late, which sometimes shipped more than a year since announcement.

It might be worth the wait, if the phone is subsidized by your local carrier, since the preliminary prices for an unlocked handset bandied around sound a bit steep, if true. The unique MeeGo UI and the cool human interaction concepts behind it alone might be too enticing for some, since the Nokia N9 might be the best piece that has come out of the Finns' factories in a while, in terms of hardware/software fusion.

To add to the excitement being built around the phone, Nokia did tout its NFC capability as well. It will work not only with Nokia phones, but also with any other device that has NFC chip inside it. Besides mobile payments, NFC can be used for exchanging information between the phones, like contacts, pics or videos, and, further down the road, documents or URLs. Have a look at the NFC-enabled Nokia N9 in action in the video below:

via UnwiredView & YouTube

Plants vs. Zombies arrives on Windows Phone 7 shores

One of the most successful casual games recently, Plants vs. Zombies, has now been released for yet another mobile platform – Windows Phone 7. It's available now at a price of $7 (EUR 4.99), bringing two exclusive game modes along the way.

Plants vs. Zombies managed to make a name for itself on a number of operating systems, largely due to its addictive and polished gameplay, as well as cute graphics. Its main game mode puts you in control of an army of plants, which has to defend your house from the hordes of zombies coming your way, with the noble intention of eating your brain.

The game was recently updated for the iPhone, which brought a number of mini games and a new game mode. These, in addition to two new game modes (Vasebreaker and iZombie) will also be included with the Windows Phone 7 title. Finally, the game will be Xbox LIVE enabled, which will allow players to enjoy themselves with leaderboards and achievements.

So, who's giving it a try?

source: PopCap

Samsung Galaxy S II will be launched to the stratosphere on July 15th, just to prove a point

Now we don't have to be told that the Samsung Galaxy S II is already at stratospheric levels as far as Android handsets go, but for those who are not aware, Samsung decided to literally send the gizmo 20 miles high on July 15th, just to prove a point.

The Samsung Galaxy S II will be tied to a space balloon and sent to the stratosphere as part of the promotional festivities for the handset in Japan, proving once again that Samsung is all-out marketing its finest example of cell phone making. Our own editor Basil Kronfli was literally hanging off a cliff while trying to unbox the dual-core goodness as part of an Extreme Unboxing event in the Snowdonia mountain range in Wales, so we know extreme marketing when we see it.

This, however, takes the Galaxy S II promotion to a whole new level, many miles above ground, and it will be broadcasted live on Ustream, plus it will be showing tweets and messages live. Google tried something similar with the Nexus S, excusing itself it was for scientific purposes instead of pure unaltered fun, so we might be having some pictures from the Galaxy S II, while floating 20 miles above ground next month as well.

via SamsungHub

Grand Prix Story for Android Review

Introduction:

Who needs flashy 3D graphics and ultra-realistic physics anyway? At the end of the day, it is the fun and challenging gameplay that really turns an ordinary video game into a well-selling title. Introducing Grand Prix Story for Android (version 1.6 and above) – a seemingly innocent, yet highly addicting  video game that puts you in the shoes of a racing team manager. We cannot omit mentioning that the title comes straight from Kairosoft – the creators of the increasingly popular Game Dev Story, so if you are a fan of their management video games, chances are you are going to like this one as well. This time, your goal is to transform your racing team from an underdog into a front-runner, and the best thing about it is that you will be having lots of fun getting there. So, here is how the story goes...

The next iPhone might feature a dual LED flash

At this point it is pretty clear that the next iPhone will have an upgraded camera. The rumor for an 8MP iPhone shooter started in April last year way before the iPhone 4 was introduced with its 5MP one, and has kept steady since then, with the only variable being the supplier of the camera sensor.

Last summer it was Sony, possibly with its 8MP Exmor R sensor, but the latest rumor pegged the majority supplier to be good ol' OmniVision, which makes the current 5MP sensor, with Sony scooping up just 10% of the orders. Does that mean we will have two versions like it's rumored - one with Sprint's frequencies, and one with AT&T and Verizon basebands, is anyone's guess.

Nothing was said about a flash upgrade, though, until now, when rumors surfaced that Apple is switching from Philips's Lumileds LED flash to dual LED modules by Taiwanese component suppliers. The ones most likely to be on tap for the LED flash orders are Everlight Electronics, Edison Opto or Lite-On. All three companies are shipping such products to the supply chains of major handset manufacturers, but Edison Opto seems to be the most likely pick, as a traditional maker of high-power LEDs.

So an 8MP sensor with enhanced low-light capabilities via sensor backlighting and dual LED flash to help illuminate darker scenes might be the dynamic camera duo in the next iPhone. Hopefully we'll know more come late summer or September.

source: Digitimes via Electronista