Is iCloud going to be the new iTunes?

As WWDC 2011 draws near, it gets less and less likely that a new iPhone will be released, but instead the Apple event is to bring a trio of announcements: a new Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud. We've dubbed iCloud a music service before as Cupertino has been hard at work to sign up the four major music labels and grant us with loads of music, but if we are to believe Daring Fireball's John Gruber, an influential blogger focused on Apple, the new service will aim to replace iTunes as an all-around cloud-based solution.

“Don’t think of iCloud as the new MobileMe; think of iCloud as the new iTunes,” Gruber quoted “fourth-hand information, at best,” but his sources have proven right on several occasions.

It certainly makes sense to us – a single service that will take away the need for syncing iTunes and hooking up to a PC even to start your mobile iDevice seems the right way to go. “iCloud might be a major, dare I say game-changing, step away from USB tethering between iOS devices and iTunes running on your Mac/PC,” the blogger adds. Gruber points out that currently iTunes offers a number of features which iCloud might inherit:

• 

  iCloud will be one of the three big announcements of WWDC 2011

  audio,
• movies,
• TV shows,
• iBooks e-books,
• App Store apps,
• contacts,
• calendars,
• bookmarks,
• notes,
• files shared between iOS apps.

At the same time, except for handling email, the $99-a-year MobileMe service, doubles on a few of those:

• bookmarks,
• contacts,
• calendars,
• files.

Given rumors about a $25 yearly subscription fee for iCloud, MobileMe might well turn out to be kicked out of Apple's paradigm. Spice all this up with the possibility of Apple striking a deal on storing movies on the cloud, you could see something the iOS ecosystem has been missing in its couple of year of existence - a true transformation. WWDC kicks off at 10 PM PT | 1:00 PM ET, so make sure to check back around then for all the final information.

source: Daring Fireball via AppleInsider

Sony S2 dual-screen Android tablet makes a pass through the FCC

For what it's worth, that innovative Sony S2 Android tablet that sports a dual-screen design, has now made its way into the FCC labs, and sports AT&T frequencies.

Moreover, the filing hints at 21Mbps HSPA+ chip, which only makes sakes, since Sony said in April they will be 3G/4G, and also a removable battery is listed, of the 3080mAh capacity.

Until recently Sony were taking their sweet time to bring gadgets to market, but nothing speeds you up like a few bad quarters, so let's hope this tablet sees the light of day sooner rather than later.

Sony S2 dual-screen tablet FCC filing

From what is known about the Sony S2, it sports a clamshell design which very much reminds us of a high-tech reading glasses case. Inside are two 5.5" displays with 1024x480 pixels a piece, and the whole thing will be running Android Honeycomb, powered by NVIDIA Tegra 2. Sony's interface overlay and apps have been optimized for the dual-screen setup, like the email client, which allows you to type on one of the displays, while previewing the email body on another, and so on.

Sony is also preparing a sort of cloud service for its Android tablets, as PlayStation Certified gear, with apps, syncing and storage tailored for them, so they don't feel left out in the cold. The company already secured its own little corner of Android Market recently for its phones, and is evidently planning on taking things to the next level for the upcoming slates as well.

source: Engadget

Sprint offers NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ID pack for Sprint ID enabled phones

Over the weekend, Sprint announced that it is now offering a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ID pack exclusively for the carrier's customers with Sprint ID enabled phones. For those who are racing fans, the features of this ID pack will allow them to follow their favorite driver, follow the radio call of live races and watch video.

Among the features is a special NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile Widget that gives details on the next race such as location, date, time and the broadcast network that will be carrying the event. During races, the widget will display the top 5, number of laps remaining and your favorite driver's leaderboard position. NASCAR on SPEED links you to live racing action on the SPEED channel on Sprint TV. Besides being able to view qualifying sessions and Sprint Cup series practice, this link will let you watch certain races (the Gatorade Duel at Daytona in February, the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge in May) live.

NASCAR Video on Demand lets you watch the latest NASCAR.com video including Final Laps, Race Rewind, Press Pass, Sights and Sounds, NASCAR Preview and the Fantasy Showdown. The Miss Sprint Cup Widget displays photos from Miss Sprint Cup with links to social media posts. Another must-have Widget for NASCAR fans is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series News Widget which will show you the latest headlines with links to the full story and additional stories. And the Countdown and Weather Widget counts down the time until the next race while showing you the weather at the next venue.

Also available to those with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ID pack is a number of racing related wallpaper choices including pictures of tracks, and NASCAR Sprint Cup related ringtones. Sprint phones that are enabled for Sprint ID include the LG Optimus S, Sanyo Zio, Samsung Transform, Samsung Epic 4G and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. With an Everything Data plan from the carrier, ID packs are free to download. Up to 5 ID packs can be installed on the above Sprint models along with My ID. A complete list of available ID packs can be found at this link.

source: Sprint via AndroidCentral

SuVolta may cut down on our devices' power consumption by 50%

Our mobile devices have enjoyed significant gains in power, performance, and miniaturization. But there is still one thing holding the technology back: power consumption. To that end, SuVolta Inc. will be announcing a new set of methods that will reportedly improve processor efficiency by 30 to 50%.

As our processors become smaller and more complex, electrical current is more likely to leak from the components. That leakage is caused by increased variability between transistors. SuVolta has developed unnamed techniques to refine the manufacturing process, and produce less leak-prone processors.

Intel, in contrast, is looking into 3D architecture to increase power, while controlling power consumption. But that would require a radical shift in both manufacturing and implementation in devices. SuVolta's solution would provide a smooth transition for current semiconductor and device manufacturers.

On Monday, SuVolta will announce that Fujitsu's semiconductor arm will begin producing chips using their processes. They report that they've already produced working prototypes with the processes, but there's still no word on what they intend to charge for the licenses. We can't say how long it will take to see these improvements in our own devices. But more efficient processors could lead to smaller batteries, and slimmer device dimensions. And everybody loves a thin smartphone.

source: Wall Street Journal

Tech evangelist touts Windows Phone 7 as the "most secure" smartphone OS

Android and iOS have Windows Phone 7 squarely beaten when it comes to adoption rates. But the recent security threats and privacy issues surrounding Android and iOS may work in Microsoft's favor. Dave Northey of Microsoft Ireland explained to Silicon Republic why he thinks Windows Phone 7 is the "most secure" smartphone OS on the market.

Northey explains that WP7 is inherently more secure, because of memory compartmentalization: "We keep applications away from the bones of the OS. When an application fires up, the OS will give it a dynamically allocated security bubble, for lack of a better word, and every app has its own one of those."

These 'security bubbles' are in contrast to both Android and iOS, in which some apps have been found to steal information from one another. Northey says that "there's no other smartphone on the market that's as secure."

When WP7 was released, it was promoted as a multimedia device for the average consumer. But Northey is optimistic about the announcement of more enterprise features in the Mango update. But will it be enough to make Windows Phone 7 competitive with iOS and Android? Given the increasing concerns about mobile security, this could convert a lot of enterprise customers. And then we'll see the average consumer follow suit, a la BlackBerry.

source: Silicon Republic via WMPoweruser

Microsoft shows off the new music features of the Mango update

Windows Phone 7 is a great starting point for a mobile operating system. But with certain industry-standard features missing, Microsoft has failed to convert the Android and iOS lovers. While Microsoft's earlier previews touched on features like multitasking, conversation threads, and Internet Explorer 9, multimedia was left out.

Now, via a blog post, Microsoft has posted more details about the music features of the Mango update. One of those features is Smart DJ, which functions much like Apple's Genius. Smart DJ will assemble playlists based on a single song, album, or artist, and find new music in the Zune catalog for download.

They have also added native podcast support. With the current build, you need to transfer the podcasts from your PC via Zune. With Mango, you can search, download, and enjoy podcasts from a dedicated menu within the Marketplace. There is also the option to stream the podcast, instead of downloading it. One very cool addition is how WP7 will manage automatically downloaded podcasts. To save battery, it will only do so (automatically) if you're connected to a power supply. And to conserve data usage, it will use Wi-Fi as the default method for download.

There are a number of other little visual tweaks and reorganizations. Check out the Microsoft link below for the full rundown. Is Windows Phone 7 capturing your interest yet?

source: Microsoft via Electronista

Samsung Trender quietly appears on Sprint's lineup for $29.99 on-contract

Besides the new Motorola XPRT Android powered smartphone being offered starting today, Sprint is still catering to those customers who prefer something less complicated in the form of feature phones. Flying under the radar for the most part, the Samsung Trender is now available for purchase for the 2-year contract price of $29.99.

Almost similar to the previous Samsung Seek, the Trender is packing a physical landscape-sliding keyboard, but more importantly, it’s Sprint’s very first CDMA device that will run on the ESMR band (817-824MHz and 862-869MHz). Naturally, the availability of the ESMR brand comes along as Sprint intends to phase out the iDEN technology they inherited from Nextel.

Mainly focusing on the messaging side of things, some of the Trender’s other notable features include a touchscreen, 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, social networking focused apps, and a 1,000 mAh. If you’re not too interested in picking this one up on-contract, you can always buy it outright for the price of $229.99.

source: Sprint