MWC 2012: What events to expect on Sunday

Our ragtag geeky crew is strolling the confines of the MWC show floors in Barcelona today, and, despite that the show kicks off officially tomorrow, there is plenty of interesting events scheduled for the lazy Sunday.

The Huawei event already kicked off, and the Chinese are stealing the spotlight by introducing quad-core phones with their own proprietary chipsets

CoPilot Live breaks the mould, to introduce free offline navigation for Android and iOS by mid-March

CoPilot live has been one of the very good alternatives to the Google Maps GPS software on Android handsets so far, but you had to pay for its offline navigation.

Not any more - taking a page from Nokia Maps, the CoPilot app today introduces free downloadable maps for the whole wide world, coupled with millions POI. They don't require an Internet connection to show you the way, since they are stored on your handset.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is real, more evidence surfaces

If that spy shot from earlier was not enough of an evidence proving that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 exists, just check the image below. Clearly, evidence can't get any more overwhelming than that.

Although an official announcement has yet to be made, the huge banner showing off the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is already on display at Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona. The tablet comes equipped with a stylus, which we assume is no different from the S Pen found on the 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note.

Samsung Galaxy Beam announced, smartphone meets projector

So, imagine having a 50-inch display that fits inside your pocket. Sounds like an idea belonging to the realm of sci-fi movies, right? Well, the new Samsung Galaxy Beam Android smartphone makes that possible with its built-in projector. With a brightness output of 15 lumens (as compared to the 6 lumens delivered by its predecessor), it should be able to display high definition images up to 50 inches wide.

Samsung's new GALAXY Tab 2 (10.1) tablet comes with ICS and rich multimedia formats support

Samsung just announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1), as the second member of its GALAXY Tab 2 series, after the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0). It's a 10" tablet with design that differs a bit from the current 10-incher of the company, and, of course, the biggest difference is that it ships directly with Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Apple's stock market value adds up to 3.7% of the entire S&P 500

We remember in the mid 1980's when Apple's stock was down to $12 during the John Sculley years. More recently, we can recall pre-Apple iPhone days when the stock was under $40. Now, years later, the Apple iPhone is almost 5 years old with 5 generations of the device having been launched. The company is on the verge of  launching its third generation tablet and the Apple iPad has become as much as an international hit as the iPhone has. Apple's stock has risen nearly in a straight line as more and more profits are filing up the Apple vault. Today, Apple is trading at $522.

Apple makes up 3.7% of the S&P 500

The amazing thing about Apple's stock is that with the sensational rise it has had, the value of the company's shares now makes up 3.7% of the entire S&P 500. J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz says that Apple is no longer a company, but is its own sector of the market. Looking at the stock this way, Apple would be the 8th largest sector in the U.S., ahead of materials and utilities. Ironically, thanks to Apple, the tech sector leads the way by making up 20.2% of the stateside market.

Apple has $98 billion in cash and could buy any company it wants to. But the stock market works in cycles and stocks don't go straight up. Companies that in the past looked like it would rise forever eventually turned course and there will come a time when Apple's stock moves lower. But for now, the Cupertino based company is on an amazing roll that makes it the most valuable company in the S&P 500, worth more than Google and Microsoft combined and topping ExxonMobil by $60 billion.

Can the stock go higher? Back in January 2011, with the stock trading at a then all-time high of $329, not too many traders could imagine the company's market cap of $273 billion, which then put it $60 billion ahead of Microsoft, moving higher. As long as there is skepticism that Apple can go higher, the stock should continue to make new high. Once everyone is in agreement that there is no place for the stock to go  but up, that is the time to sell.

source: TUAW

The last 5 years of Apple's stock value

Full HTC one x specs reveal a true flagship

HTC onex (no longer the One X) rumors have been plentiful over the past few weeks as the device nears launch, but FullGSM looks to have a full spec sheet on it and there are still plenty of surprises.  As reported earlier, the  HTC onex will feature a Super 4+1 Quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board memory (26GB available to the user.)  In addition to on-board

Sprint's Board said MetroPCS merger "didn't feel right"

Why did Sprint's board of directors decide to vote against the $8 billion purchase of contract carrier MetroPCS? The deal had apparently been in the works for some time, perhaps all the way back to the early days of AT&T's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile. According to CNBC, the $8 billion represented a 30% premium to the current value of MetroPCS and would have brought 9.3 million new customers to Sprint. More importantly, the deal would have brought some much needed spectrum, including some LTE pipeline, to Sprint.

10 cool tower defense games for Android

Tower defense games – once you are hooked there is no turning back! There is just something mesmerizing about laying waste to hoards of bad guys with an array of cleverly placed towers. Thankfully, the Android Market is full of tower defense games to feed our addiction to the popular genre. However, while some of the titles there are really enjoyable, others are just not really worth your time.

Accessory Fail: Retro 2 Go handset holster

Some ideas should stay in the idea zone – forever. You may have noticed those retro handsets that can be plugged into your cell phone floating around various websites. As if that isn’t horrible enough, an accessory for your accessory (cell accessory inception, yes) has been release to allow you to schlep your ironic, throwback with you everywhere you go.

Lumia 800 available on Telus March 2nd

As Nokia brings its Windows Phones around the world, Telus has just announced that it will be offering the Nokia Lumia 800. Canadians can get their hands on the Lumia 800 as soon as March 2, 2012.

New Samsung Galaxy Tab and 2 unannounced phones caught on camera

As we get closer to Samsung’s mystery announcement on Monday, many have been anticipating the announcement of the Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 tablet. German tech blog, BestBoyz, posted a shot of two people in Samsung shirts posing with 3 devices.

LG Optimus 4X HD, Vu, 3D Max, L7, and L3 are previewed earlier than expected

Well people, we don’t have to wait until tomorrow to scope out LG’s upcoming smartphones set for their official unveiling at the MWC floor tomorrow, February 26th – that’s because they’ve already gotten the preview treatment by the folks over at Telefonino. From the looks of it all, the hands-on treatment has been given to the recently announced L Series that consists of the LG L3 and L7, the successor of the Optimus 3D, the LG Optimus 3D Max, the note taking LG Optimus Vu, and the mightiest one of them all, the quad-core smoking LG Optimus 4X HD.

Study says Android apps are more expensive than the competition

A new study by canalys looked at the top 100 apps in the Android Market and Apple AppStore and found that, on average, Android apps cost $3.47 while iOS apps cost just $1.47.  Similar disparities were shown when comparing just the top 10 or 20 apps in the stores, showing that there was not a handful of apps skewing the numbers.  Canalys Managing Director Rachel Lashford pointed out that it is a positive for Android that developers can charge so much and make it into the top 100, but that they are often forced to do so because Android users are more likely to search for a free app.  Yesterday we told you about the Amazon App Store closing the gap between itself and the Market, and this analysis seems to fit right in.

Alleged HTC One X and One S renders plus full specifications leak prematurely

We will be firmly planted in out seats at the HTC event tomorrow, where the company is expected to unveil this season's Android goodness, but alleged renders of the HTC One X (aka Endeavor) and HTC One S (aka Ville) were leaked along with the full specs laundry list.

New PJs can track your baby's trends, text you alerts

From the "news of the weird" department, a Virgina-based company has created a washable fabric that contains conductive fibers which can monitor your baby's heart rate, emotional state and behavior.  With the data gathered by these pajamas and input from caregivers, the provided software can learn trends about your baby and predict their emotional state or tell you when a diaper needs to be changed.  Alerts can be sent via email or text, and a smartphone app allows parents to see real-time data about their baby's heart rate, emotional state and activity level.

Are Android apps going to BlackBerry App World without developer's permission?

It's great for BlackBerry users, RIM, and most Android developers that Android apps can be used on BlackBerry PlayBook. Unfortunately, there seems to be something happening that is unfair to the original developer of an Android app. Take for example the Dolphin Browser HD. One of the best third party browsers for the Android platform, the Dolphin Browser HD has been made available for those using BlackBerry PlayBook with the updated OS 2.0. The problem is that the developer of the browser, MoboTap, was not the one that submitted the app to App World. Ironically, the company behind the submission, Handster, is owned by Opera.

Proview keeps the pressure up, sues Apple in the US

With a back and forth battle going on in China, Proview has decided to file suit against Apple in the US over the latter's use of the iPad name.  As a quick recap, Proview trademarked the iPad name in 2000, but their Taiwanese affiliate sold the rights to Apple in 2010.  Proview is claiming that this deal was good only in Taiwan, and so far Chinese courts have largely sided with Proview on the matter, though not entirely.  Struggling to stay afloat and feeling they are in the right, Proview has now filed suit in the Superior Court in California.  The move is curious, as we're not sure if a Chinese trademark holds any ground in the US, but nevertheless Proview is likely looking for a large settlement as they continue to pressure Apple.

Source: eWeek

Google patents new search gesture

Expect mobile searching to get much easier very soon.  Google has been granted patent protection for a new gesture that will allow you to search content on a touchscreen device simply by writing "go" on your device.  The search is initiated by drawing a lowercase g and extending the tail to circle the content you want to search.  Other search engines could be used by drawing an s instead, or w for Wikipedia.  It is a very simple idea, but in a mobile world where cutting, pasting and searching can be cumbersome this could be a real time saver.  Google hasn't commented on it yet, but we'd expect to see it in mobile versions of Chrome in the future.

Source: Patently Apple