Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Lodsys hits devs with lawsuit, $1,000 offer, and 1,000 words of eloquent prose

Are you sick of hearing from Lodsys? We know devs are, but the rather outspoken patent troll is at it again, hitting the blog to defend its good name. Hidden among today's posts is an announcement that the firm is taking the next steps with its accusations, filing a lawsuit against some of the developers it previously targeted and, get this, blaming Apple. It explains: "Lodsys chose to move its litigation timing to an earlier date than originally planned, in response to Apple's threat, in order to preserve its legal options." We're not sure which developers are targeted by this suit, specifically, but the firm has promised a $1,000 payment to each dev, "if it turns out that the scope of Apple's existing license rights apply to fully license you with respect to our claim relating to your App on Apple iOS." Devs may be tempted to spend that promised gift on a well-deserved vacation (or a WWDC conference pass), but with layers of LLCs protecting the man behind the curtain at Lodsys, we wouldn't be surprised it the firm disappeared before anyone sees a cent (or 99) of payment. Unfortunately, it appears that the saga continues, so if you've had enough of the patent troll, feel free to enjoy the rest of our content, Lodsys free.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Update: We've been told that the list of devs named in the lawsuit include: Combay, Iconfactory, Illusion Labs, Shovelmate, Quickoffice, Richard Shinderman, and Wulven Game Studios.

BlackBerry finally sees competition within US government

Despite our commander-in-chief's seemingly undying allegiance to BlackBerry, it looks like the federal government could be ready to make a break from RIM. According to a Washington Post article published yesterday, a number of agencies within the federal government are questioning their attachment to the standard-issue BlackBerry devices, and allowing government employees to bring in their own preferred methods of communication -- among other things, Congress now allows the use of iPads and iPhones on the House floor and use of BlackBerrys at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has dropped from 1,000 to 700 in the past year. What's more, the General Services Administration is currently shifting 17,000 employees to Gmail, a move it says could reduce expenses by 50 percent in the next five years. Likewise, the USDA will also move its email services to the cloud with Microsoft's services, claiming $6 million in annual savings. Now, we doubt Obama's going to turn a blind eye to RIM entirely, but he has been getting awfully cozy with that iPad.

New Gigabyte Notebook announced at Computex 2011

Computex 2011 is kicking off this week and some new hardware has already been unveiled. Gigabyte has already announced a new notebook computer that has a cool docking station called the Booktop M2432. The machine has Intel Core i5 processor under the hood.
Gigabyte M2432 Notebook New Gigabyte Notebook announced at Computex 2011

Other features of the notebook include USB 3.0 ports, THX TruStudio Pro, and a lot more. The screen of the notebook is a 14-inch LED backlit unit with 1366 x 768 resolution. It has Intel HD 3000 graphics onboard the notebook supporting HD movies and more. The machine weighs 1.81 kg and is 27.6 mm thick.

The docking station is included and has its own NVIDIA GT 440 GPU inside with 1GB of DDR5 RAM. The machine also has six USB ports, HDMI, D-Sub, DVI, and other ports that are normally found on desktop computers. The notebook also has a FlexiBay that allows the user to swap the optical drive for an extra battery. Pricing and availability are unknown.

4G Tablet by Samsung this year

According to Samsung’s president of their mobile division, JK Shin, the company plans to launch a 4G tablet later this year, although we don’t know if it will be a 4G version of one of Samsung’s new tablets that have already been announced, like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or a completely new tablet.
Samsung Tablets 4G Tablet by Samsung this year

He also mentioned that we can expect to see the new Samsung Galaxy S III in the first half of 2012, so probably some time around April in 2012 as that would be one year on from the launch of the new Galaxy S II which was introduced recently.

Samsung are obviously hoping to build on their Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets, which have been a great success for the company to date, and we have already heard that the new Galaxy S II is becoming popular amongst Android fans.

ZiiLABS Announce JAGUAR Family of Android 3.X Reference Platforms

ZiiLABS Announce JAGUAR Family of Android 3.X Reference Platforms ZiiLABS Announce JAGUAR Family of Android 3.X Reference PlatformsZiiLABS today introduced its JAGUAR family of high-performance, energy-efficient Android tablet reference platforms. The modular 7″ and 10″ tablets are designed for the latest Android 3.X compliance and leverage the superior performance, low-power consumption and rich-feature set of the latest ZiiLABS ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 StemCell Processors.

Engineered for high-quality, connected and immersive tablet computing, the JAGUAR platforms enable OEMs to meet the growing demand for next-generation Android tablets that deliver stunning 1080p high profile video playback, immersive OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics, high-quality HD video calling and a rich desktop browsing experience including Adobe Flash Player.

 

Based on a motherboard concept, the JAGUAR allows an OEM or ODM to bring to market their own Android 3.X tablets in the shortest possible time. The JAGUAR platforms combine the sleek Industrial Design templates (ID), proven high-speed system design and peripheral modularity required to enable OEMs and their ODM partners to innovate and differentiate critical components such as the LCD display, touch controller, cameras, ID and modem connectivity.

 

JAGUAR reference tablets based on the ZMS-20 will be shown in the ZiiLABS suite (Grand Hyatt Hotel Taipei, Grand Room, #1137) at the Computex 2011 tradeshow in Taipei, Taiwan between 31 May and 4 June. The ZMS-20 features 48 StemCell media processing cores and dual 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 MPCores.

 

“As consumer demand for a wide-range of smarter, more connected tablets increases, so do the OEMs’ needs to innovate while also shrinking their time-to-market” said Hock Leow, president of ZiiLABS. “The JAGUAR platform combines our deep understanding and experience working on consumer devices and tablets with our ZMS processors, reference platforms, software and certification know-how to deliver a state-of-the-art platform that minimizes the complexities of introducing next-generation tablets.”

 

“Timing is everything and a frenzied land-grab is taking place in the tablet computing market,” said Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology. “Android 3.X and ZMS-20 are designed and engineered specifically for this new and exciting tablet market where growth is expected to approach 100 million next year. The JAGUAR platforms based on ZiiLABS’ ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 processors push performances to a new level that the world has never seen before and OEMs and ODMs can leverage this with JAGUAR to quickly stake a sizeable claim in this explosive market.”

 

Existing JAGUAR based tablet designs will be able to take advantage of 6 GHz of quad-core computing by migrating to the compatible quad ARM-Cortex-A9 based ZMS-40.

 

JAGUAR Platforms – Key Features

Powered by ZiiLABS ZMS-20 and ZMS-40

Dual and Quad Core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores with Neon

48 and 96 core floating point StemCell media processors

Robust Android BSP and Middleware

Designed for Android 3.0+ Compliance

Modular Motherboard Design to enable OEM/ODM Customization

Wide-angle 7”(1024×600) and 10” (1280×800) LCD options

Capacitive and Resistive LCD touch options

Up to 2GB high-speed 64-bit memory

High performance and low-power LPDDR2-800 for super high memory bandwidth of 6.4GBytes per second

DDR2/DDR3 for low cost

5MP rear and HD front facing camera as standard

Wi-Fi b/g/n, 3G/4G/WiMax and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR

GPS, accelerometer, digital compass and gyroscope

Stereo speakers and dual Microphone array

Up to 64GB internal storage

USB 2.0 port

SDHC Card sl

Extended battery life with robust dynamic power management

Instantaneous On feature

 

Availability

 

The JAGUAR Android reference tablets are sampling now.

 

Monday, May 30, 2011

TELUS introduces Future Friendly Office to simplify communications for Canadian SMBs

TELUS introduces Future Friendly Office to simplify communications for Canadian SMBs TELUS introduces Future Friendly Office to simplify communications for Canadian SMBs

TELUS Future Friendly Office, Canadian SMBs, communication solution, TELUS wireline, Cell phone, Mobile news, phone news, mobile plan, telecom news, new release, Cool Gadget, latest gadget, Cisco Unified Communications 540, Cisco Unified Communications 320W

TELUS today announced an economical, end-to-end, communication solution designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The TELUS Future Friendly Office is a complete suite of products and services that gives small and mid-sized customers a communications system that is easy to manage and easy on the pocketbook. The suite is built in collaboration with Cisco and features Cisco Unified Communications technology that is purpose-built for companies with less than 100 employees.

 

Key Facts/ Highlights

 

The TELUS Future Friendly Office gives small and mid-sized businesses the chance to use communication technologies to help their businesses grow without having to manage a complex system. Future Friendly Office includes TELUS-supported Cisco office systems linked to TELUS wireline and wireless network services. The solution is now available nationwide.

Future Friendly Office is based on three of Cisco’s latest small business product offerings – Cisco Unified Communications 320W, Cisco Unified Communications 540 and Cisco Unified Communications 560. These products are purpose-built for small and mid-sized businesses and offer enterprise-class features such as wi-fi capability and extension mobility.

Both TELUS and Cisco have invested significant resources to help ensure Future Friendly Office customers have a quality experience in using technology to grow their business. Also, customers can take advantage of special offers for ordering multiple services and flexible payment options.

TELUS offers office and mobile communications solutions to more than 250,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Canada. SMBs doing business with TELUS can count on a large team dedicated to meeting their business needs 24/7, access to Canada’s fastest coast-to-coast 4G wireless network, Clear and Simple wireless rate plans, the most network and business device choices in Canada and customized solutions that enable them to work wherever they are.

 

NVIDIA Introduces New 3D Vision Wired Glasses for Only $99

NVIDIA Introduces New 3D Vision Wired Glasses for Only 99 NVIDIA Introduces New 3D Vision Wired Glasses for Only $99 NVIDIA today announced a new addition to the NVIDIA 3D Vision product family: NVIDIA 3D Vision wired glasses. The new glasses make the world’s best 3D PC experience more affordable at $99 (U.S. MSRP), and offer the same award-winning 3D quality and features of 3D Vision wireless glasses.

NVIDIA 3D Vision wired glasses, which feature NVIDIA’s advanced active-shutter technology, allow gamers and 3D enthusiasts to access the broadest selection of high-quality 3D content available today, including more than 525 full-HD 3D games, Blu-ray 3D movies, and streaming 3D video from YouTube and 3DVisionLive.com. NVIDIA 3D Vision wired glasses also support more than 65 different 3D Vision monitors, notebooks, and projectors, giving users complete flexibility in configuring their 3D Vision PCs.

 

NVIDIA 3D Vision wired glasses include a 10-foot USB 2.0 cable for direct, easy connection to a 3D Vision PC or notebook. This makes it ideal for LAN gaming events and iCafe gaming centers, as it does not require batteries and the cable can easily be secured to a PC with an optional computer lock to minimize theft.

 

“3D Vision provides gamers and enthusiasts with the world’s largest ecosystem of 3D products and features,” said Phil Eisler, general manager of 3D Vision at NVIDIA. “3D fans have been waiting for more affordable glasses, and we’re expecting our new 3D Vision wired glasses to hit the sweet spot for them.”

 

NVIDIA 3D Vision wired glasses are expected to be available beginning in late-June 2011 from the NVIDIA Store, as well as from leading retailers and e-tailers. For more information about 3D Vision visit www.nvidia.com/3dvision.

 

About NVIDIA 3D Vision

NVIDIA is the worldwide leader in 3D technology for personal computers. NVIDIA 3D Vision technology, which includes 3D Vision software and advanced active shutter glasses, delivers breathtaking stereoscopic 3D images for gamers, movie-lovers and photo enthusiasts when configured with NVIDIA GPUs and a 3D display or projector. NVIDIA 3D Vision technology supports the richest array of 3D content available, including more than 525 3D games, Blu-ray 3D movies, 3D photos and streaming Web video. It also enables users to upload, share and view full-resolution 3D photos, as well as enjoy 3D movies at NVIDIA 3DVisionLive.com, the world’s first 3D Vision online community. In addition, NVIDIA 3DTV Play software enables consumers to attach their PC or notebook to 3D HDTVs and HDMI 1.4-capable audio/video receivers and enjoy all the latest 3D content in the comfort of their living rooms in full HD 3D, and with HD surround sound audio.

 

NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro technology is a combination of wireless active shutter glasses and advanced software, which automatically transform business-oriented applications into full stereoscopic 3D to improve the usefulness of the applications and increase productivity. 3D Vision Pro technology is designed for multi-user, collaborative viewing and production environments, and features long-range, bi-directional 2.4GHz radio communication.

 

NVIDIA's quad-core Kal-El used to demo next-gen mobile graphics, blow minds (video)

You might think yourself too grown-up to be wowed by shiny, glittery things, but we doubt many will be able to watch NVIDIA's new Glow Ball tech demo without a smidgen of childlike glee. Built to run on the company's quad-core Kal-El processor, it shows us the first example of true dynamic lighting on mobile devices and also throws in some impressive physics calculations like fully modeled cloth motion. Instead of the pre-canned, static lights that we see on mobile games today, NVIDIA's new hardware will make it possible to create lighting that moves, fluctuates in intensity, and responds realistically to its environment -- all rendered in real time. The titular glow ball can be skinned with different textures, each one allowing a different amount and hue of illumination to escape to surrounding objects, and is directed around the screen using the accelerometer in your tablet or smartphone.

NVIDIA demoed the new goodness on a Honeycomb slate with 1280 x 800 resolution and the frame rates remained smooth throughout. In order to emphasize the generational leap that we can expect with Kal-El, the company switched off two of the four cores momentarily, which plunged performance down to less than 10fps. That means the simulations we're watching require a full quartet of processing cores on top of the 12-core GPU NVIDIA has in Kal-El. Mind-boggling stuff. Glow Ball will be available as a game on Android tablets once this crazy new chip makes its way into retail devices -- which are still expected in the latter half of this year, August if everything goes perfectly to plan. One final note if you're still feeling jaded: NVIDIA promises the production chip will be 25 to 30 percent faster than the one on display today. Full video demo follows after the break.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

This is the ASUS PadFone

Wow, so our theory and mockup turned out to be pretty much spot on: indeed, the oddly named ASUS PadFone does tuck itself into a shielded docking bay on the back of its companion tablet, and the latter's hinged cover appears to pop up upon releasing the latch. You can also just about make out the two ports inside which are likely to be HDMI and micro-USB -- one for driving the larger display, and the other for taking care of touch input while possibly sipping juice from an extra battery somewhere. Now, what we really like to know is which version of Android will be shipped (if ever) with this split-personality phone -- our money's on Ice Cream Sandwich, given that this flavor will happily cater both phone and tablet form factors later this year. That said, given the uniqueness of this product, ASUS could probably still get away with taking a step back and launch this as a Gingerbread tablet. Well, we shall dig up more answers for y'all tomorrow, and stay tuned for some sweet hands-on time.

Industry Leading Motorola XOOM with Wi-Fi Taking Canada by Storm

Industry Leading Motorola XOOM with Wi Fi Taking Canada by Storm Industry Leading Motorola XOOM with Wi Fi Taking Canada by Storm

Motorola Mobility Canada today announced the industry leading Motorola XOOM with Wi-Fi is now widely available to Canadians through channels such as Walmart, London Drugs, Bureau En Gros, Staples, Sears Canada, Amazon.ca, Best Buy, Future Shop, TELUS and Costco (Downtown Vancouver, BC; South Calgary, AB; Ajax, ON; Gatineau, QC). Providing higher resolution and more screen size in a smaller package than the leading competitor, and the first device in Canada to run on the Android 3.0, Honeycomb, the Motorola XOOM with Wi-Fi features a 1GHz-dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, front-facing and rear-facing cameras, true multi-tasking functionality and the latest Google Mobile services on a 10.1-inch widescreen HD display. 

Called the “the most potentially disruptive technology” by CNET at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, The Motorola XOOM with Wi-Fi showcases the innovations of the Honeycomb user experience – including widgets, true multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization – on a 10.1-inch widescreen HD display, enabling video content that’s richer and clearer than ever before. Support for HDMI enables viewing of videos and movies on larger screens, such as HD televisions. A 5MP rear-facing camera captures HD video and 2MP front-facing camera enables clear video chats using Google Talk.

 

The Motorola XOOM with Wi-Fi also features a built-in gyroscope, barometer, e-compass, accelerometer and adaptive lighting; Motorola XOOM is leading the tablet revolution. Motorola XOOM supports up to 10 hours of video playback and charges in nearly half the time of competitive tablets on the market.

 

The latest Google Mobile services include Google Maps 5.0 with 3D interaction, Gmail, and access to more than 200,000 apps from Android Market. Motorola XOOM with Wi-Fi also supports Adobe Flash Player 10.2 downloadable from Android Market, enabling the delivery of Flash based web content including videos, casual games and rich Internet applications.

 

Motorola Smart Accessories

 

Motorola XOOM features an ecosystem of intelligent accessories to enhance the tablet experience:

 

A Standard Dock for watching video or listening to music through external speakers as the device charges. Available now for $49.95.

A Speaker HD Dock for sending HD content directly to a TV or clearly listening to music through two built-in speakers – eliminating the need to attach external speakers. Available now for $129.95.

A custom keyboard with Bluetooth wireless technology and special Android shortcut keys. Available now for $69.95.

 

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Mount iPad 2 anywhere by MountMe Freedom II

When it comes to mounting your iPad 2 so that it stays nice and safe there are a lot of options. A new option has surfaced that is worth a look thanks to the fact that it will keep your iPad 2 in place with multiple mount types. The product is from a company called MountMe and is the Freedom II.
The mounting device is a clip on case style and it has four suction cups on the back for mounting it to smooth surfaces. It also has a flap that kicks back to allow it to stand up on a desk. The mount can also be screwed to the wall for watching in any room hands free.
MountMe Freedom II Mount iPad 2 anywhere by MountMe Freedom II

The mount will even keep the iPad 2 in place on the dash of your car for navigation. It also comes with a strap for mounting the iPad 2 in a car to the headrest or other location. The case allows the iPad to rotate when mounting and will ship this month for $49.99.

Updates of downloads on Google’s Android Market

Research firm Distimo has been looking into app downloads on Google’s Android Market, and has come up with some interesting figures. According to the research, 80 percent of all paid Android apps have been downloaded 100 times or less.
This compares to just 25 percent of free Android apps that have been downloaded 100 times or less, they also noted that only 96 Android applications have been downloaded more than five million times, with Google Maps being the top one with a total of 50 million downloads.
LG Optimus Black1 Updates of downloads on Google’s Android Market

They also looked at gaming app downloads and found out that there are just 5 game apps in the Android market which have been downloaded 250,000 times or more.

PSA: Get Everything Off Your Old T-Mobile Sidekick By June 30th, Or It’s Gone

As we found out a few months back, all of the old T-Mobile/Danger Sidekicks out there are headed for greener pastures early next week. Come May 31st, the ol’ Danger data servers will given a belly rub, one last defrag, then will be unceremoniously taken out back and shot.

Here’s something we didn’t know, though: if you’ve still got any important photos, contacts, calendars, or notes on that Sidekick floating around in your sock drawer, you’ll want to get them off your device by May 31st. After that point, any Sidekicks that completely lose power (say, if the battery drains to 0%) will lose access to that personal data. You’ll still be able to pull it down from the myT-Mobile backend until June 30th, at which point all that stuff is gone forever. The number for that cute chick you’ve been promising yourself you’d call for like 3 years now? Poof!

Always remember, folks: clouds don’t last forever.

(Note: Don’t worry about any of this if you’ve got the new Sidekick 4G. Name aside, those have very little to do with the old Danger-built models, and aren’t affected by this stuff. Bet T-Mobile’s customer service team is just loving explaining that.)

RIM Plans “Vigorous” Defense For “Meritless” Class-Action Suit

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is not having the best year so far. The April launch of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook received mixed reviews, to put it nicely, of what many called a “half-baked” product. And just a few days earlier, co-CEO Mike Lazaridis shut down an interview half-way through after a BBC reporter pushed questions on Indian security. Today, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dropped a cherry on top of that unlucky sundae, in the form of a class-action suit.

The lawsuit accuses RIM and certain executives of providing materially false and misleading statements with regard to the company’s financial condition and business prospects. “Specifically, the company failed to inform investors that its aging product line and inability to introduce new products to the market was negatively impacting the company’s business and margins,” the legal document read. The allegations cover a period between December, when RIM reported its third quarter results, to April. The suit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of a group of shareholders during this period.

Named in the suit were RIM’s co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, along with CFO Brian Bidulka. RIM released a statement this morning promising to “vigorously defend” itself against the suit, allegations the company deems to be “without merit.”

Top 10 iPad 2 Apps

SkyNew

This is the one that app pundits are calling ‘The Big Yin’. Launched with many a self-congratulatory hurrah, Sky News’ app involves a team of millions, a pot of cash and some of the slickest feed-swapping we’ve ever seen.

Garageband

One of the flagship apps for the launch of iPad 2, GarageBand is a must-have for musos with its multi-track recording. It’s also a tonic for the congenitally tone deaf, thanks to its ineptitude-reducing Smart Instruments.

CameraBag For iPad

Previously a brilliant-screened but blind tablet, the iPad has now been given eyes. Apps such as Camera Bag make the most of the weedy resolution, letting you muck around with your photos in a big-screen optimized way.

WebEx

Who’d have thought something as simple as adding a camera to the iPad would actually mean you end up doing more work? Now, instead of waiting to get back to the office, you can host video conference calls on your tablet.

PocketBooth HD

Why is it that retro machinery looks so good on the iPad? Perhaps it’s the anachronism. Whatever, this vintage photo booth app would remind us of cramming into real booths with beautiful girls, if we ever had.

Superbrothers:

Ah, apps like this make us happy to be geeks, Retrospective, yet beautifully designed, this pixel! a ted point ‘n’ click adventure will make you smile all day long. Check its iTunes ratings for proof,

Twittelator

Developing Twitter clients is a fly-by-night business, and you need Lo move fast. These guys have, quickly incorporating the iPad 2′s camera API into their retro-styled, stationery-based Twitter app. Twapp. Whatever.

Dead Space HD

Great. We were embarrassed enough jumping and gibbering at the creepy Dead Spoce games franchise in the relative seclusion of our own homes. Now fellow commuters get to see our fear faces, too.

You Gotta See This!

This compiles multiple images from the iPad 2′s camera into a collage, using the gyroscope to keep the images in sync. Clever and impressive: search Twitter for the hashtag #SeeThis for a look at others’ creations,

dJay

Nearly one of those apps you only actually see people using in iPad adverts, this iPod-accessing, AirPlay-using DJ app is in actual fact so captivating you’ll find that not only have you missed your stop, you’re in the bus garage.

Friday, May 27, 2011

HTC Sensation review

A hotly anticipated smartphone with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a "Super" 4.3-inch screen, and a manufacturer-skinned version of Android 2.3 -- we must be talking about the Samsung Galaxy S II, right? Not on this occasion, squire. Today we're taking a gander at HTC's Sensation, a handset that's just begun shipping in Europe under a short-term Vodafone exclusive and which should be making its way to T-Mobile in the USA early next month. By beating its stablemate the EVO 3D and Moto's Droid X2 to the market, the Sensation becomes the world's first 4.3-inch smartphone with qHD resolution, while also serving as the debut phone for HTC's Watch movie streaming service and Sense 3.0 UI customizations. That leaves us with an abundance of newness to review, so what are we waiting for?

HTC Sensation unboxing and hands-on

Hardware

Before delving into the minutiae of the Sensation's construction, let's take a moment to address its most outstanding physical asset: it feels small. 4.3-inch smartphones, starting with HTC's own HD2, have always been impressive beasts, but beasts is what they were -- ungainly, crude, and occasionally harder to handle than an angry carp. Not so with the Sensation. This handset is only 6mm taller, a single millimeter wider, and -- at 11.3mm -- actually slightly thinner than the 4-inch HTC Incredible S. Putting aside the measuring tape and grappling with the pair confirms what those numbers suggest: the 4.3-inch Sensation is nigh indistinguishable from its more modest family mate.

That's been achieved with a shrinking of the top and bottom bezels framing the screen and few other changes. You'll still find an extra-large volume rocker on the Sensation's left side, as you would on the Incredible S, accompanied by a micro-USB input a little further down. The bottom of each phone is home to a microphone and a notch for opening up the back cover, the right sides are left barren, and the tops feature headphone jacks and power / lock buttons. Also functionally identical are the rear layouts, with an 8 megapixel autofocus camera sat next to a dual LED flash and a single loudspeaker grille. All these design similarities are hardly coincidental, HTC sees that arrangement and styling as a winning combination and we have to agree.

The Sensation is a simple and untainted joy in the hand. Its 148g (5.22 ounce) weight is perfectly balanced, the curvature that starts at the sides and rolls all the way through the back is spot on, and there are almost no issues of fit and finish. Almost. Our review handset had a small crevice in its lower left side that allowed the backlight intended for the capacitive Android keys to leak out. This is a problem that will only matter to you if you're actively looking for it, but it does detract from the phone's otherwise sterling build quality.

Praise is due for the aluminum frame that HTC has wrapped around the sides, back, and even a small portion of the Sensation's front. It's rigid, shaped from a single slab of metal, and makes this a sturdy and creak-free handset. A pair of soft-touch plastic inserts take up a third of the rear cover each, with the upper one protruding a little bit in front of the camera lens and LEDs, lending them an extra bit of protection. You should be mindful that that also creates a niche where dust and debris can snuggle up. Speaking of snuggling, the very design of the Sensation's wraparound enclosure makes it a bit of a pest to pry open. Nothing quite so maddening as what HTC served up with the Inspire 4G (then again, what is?), but this is definitely not the case for you if you're inclined to perform quick and dirty SIM swaps between your phones. A microSD card slot also lurks under the Sensation's skin, and it's filled by default with an 8GB unit, which augments the 1GB of onboard storage. It's accessible without removing the battery from its silo, though the SIM card slot is not.

We'd be remiss not to compare the Sensation against the most clear and present danger to its quest for smartphone supremacy: Samsung's Galaxy S II. The latter is clearly a stupendously thin device, whose admittedly plastic construction left us with few complaints. Still, when faced with the question of which phone we'd trust to last us the full 24 months of a typical contract, we have to hand it to the Sensation. It isn't flawless, but its aluminum shell is sturdier, and we found its curves more ergonomic and natural, which should help make accidental drops that extra bit less likely.

Battery life

As is true of all battery-powered devices, your time away from the wall plug with the Sensation will be determined by what you use the handset for. We found recording 1080p video to be particularly taxing, closely followed by shooting still photographs. An hour's walk through London intermixing the two ate up a third of the Sensation's 1520mAh charge. Angry Birds gaming sessions, on the other hand, are handled with no greater difficulty than casual web browsing -- neither caused any significant dent in our battery reserves. What really stands out about the Sensation is its energy frugality when left to idle. We left our Gmail and Twitter updates to push themselves to the phone as and when they were available, but in spite of that activity the Sensation barely uses any juice at all when not in our hands and doing awesome, futuristic things. This is a major asset that turns it into more than just a plaything for power users. Folks that don't care to recharge their phone every single night can buy the Sensation safe in the knowledge that it'll last for a good couple of days of casual use, while those who want to squeeze all the power out of it can do their thing as well, accepting the relevant diminution in endurance.

We'll get to the Sensation's performance further on in the review, but suffice it to say that what you're getting here is an extremely versatile handset. Neither the 4.3-inch screen size nor the dual-core processor pose challenges to using the Sensation as your daily phone, but they do expand on what you can do with it when the fancy strikes you. The Galaxy S II is again the obvious competitor here, and it too acquitted itself well in our battery tests. Our testing, however, showed the Sensation to be more efficient when not actively in use -- which, even for intensive smartphone users, tends to be the majority of the time -- granting it a higher ceiling for battery life. The Super LCD on board also seems to be consuming energy with restraint, making that frankly average 1520mAh cell look very good indeed. If battery life is an important consideration in your spec-for-spec comparison with the Galaxy S II, score this as a win for the Sensation.

Display

In our review of the Galaxy S II, we opined that though its display was of superlative quality, its pixel density left a little something to be desired. The Sensation gives us that extra flourish with a 960 x 540 resolution (35 percent more pixels than on Samsung's 800 x 480 panel) on a Super LCD screen that fails to match the vivid output or viewing angles of its Super AMOLED Plus competitor, but at least maintains a similarly hyperbolic naming scheme. There are two significant advantages to moving up to qHD resolution. The first and most tangible is that you get more of everything: Gmail displays more missives, the browser fits more of your favorite blog's content at a time, the calendar includes more agenda items, and you get to see more of your contacts without having to scroll (11 on the Sensation versus 9 on the WVGA Incredible S screen). Additionally, though the user interface sticks to the standard 16 grid slots for your icons and widgets, having them all in higher resolution lends an extra layer of visual polish, if nothing else. The camera and gallery apps benefit from having more dots to display your compositions and resulting images.

Video is where the second big advantage of qHD emerges. 960 x 540 pixels provide a native 16:9 screen ratio and thereby sends those pesky black bars off into oblivion. You'll be able to watch both content you've downloaded and recorded yourself in full screen without resorting to any compromises such as zooming the picture in and cutting off the widest portions. And if you're really a lover of the widescreen experience, there's an option in the camera app to let you shoot 16:9 as well. That'll help keep your content optimized for a vast range of desktop monitors and the great majority of HDTVs. Small considerations, perhaps, but good to have nonetheless.

In terms of the Sensation's output quality, it merits noting that in spite of its 4.3-inch display bearing the same branding as the 4- and 3.7-inch ones on the Incredible S and Desire S, it is not up to the same standard. Viewing angles are the first giveaway, as they're nowhere near as expansive on the Sensation. At 45 degrees away from center, the Sensation's picture washes out, whereas the Incredible S maintains color fidelity until laid almost flat. Additionally, the smaller handset is brighter and better saturated than its newcomer buddy. None of this is to say that HTC has installed a poor LCD on the Sensation, we'd just refrain from calling it a Super one. As to our running tally against the Galaxy S II, the Sensation wins out on resolution, but loses by a big margin when it comes to quality and the sheer feeling of luxury that the GSII provides.

Oh, we almost forgot to mention the peculiar contouring that HTC has applied to the edges of the glass screen. They're ever so slightly higher than the rest of display, with a tiny little slope lending the whole screen a subtle concavity. As a result, most of the glass never makes contact with surfaces when the phone is laid face down, adding a smidgen extra protection against scuffs and the like. Not that you're terribly likely to mar this expansive screen, which has been given the Gorilla Glass treatment just like the rest of HTC's recent line. Needless to say, that's a marked improvement from last year's Nexus One, which HTC had the gall to claim wasn't supposed to go into pockets.

Reception, earpiece and loudspeaker

Calls on the Sensation were for the most part clear and competently handled. HTC has an extra microphone on the back of the handset, whose job we presume is to analyze external noise and nullify its effects. In voice calls, the other party heard us even on a busy street where we had our own struggles keeping up with what they were saying to us. The earpiece is neither excellent nor poor, it just does the job. Its position at the very top of the phone means that you'll generally place the sound source up above (rather than next to) your ear when taking a call, but then it's not like HTC had a lot of flexibility as to where to put it. Guess this is just the price we have to pay for the aggressively thin bezels on this handset.

Moseying through our usual testing area revealed no aberrant behavior from the Sensation's 2G and 3G radios and reception was on par with what we would generally expect. This phone can actually reach HSPA+ speeds of 14.4Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up (hence why it'll be known as the Sensation 4G in the US), but we didn't have the requisite network to test it out. The Sensation's antenna is built into the plastic parts of its rear cover, a recurring trend in HTC's recent handsets.

As to aural performance, the loudspeaker on the back does a decent job and output to headphones is particularly pleasing. The solo speaker doesn't lose much when the Sensation is put down on a flat surface and though a stray finger pressed against its opening will muffle a large proportion of the sound, those aforementioned microphone holes help to leak it out of the case. Overall, it's an aspect of the phone that we consider simply satisfactory, it's not going to be the thing that sways your decision in either direction. HTC's bundled earphones are attractively styled, but generally disappointing. They were a poor fit for us, offered next to no sound isolation (an asset when trying to listen to music on the move), and their in-line remote control is the very definition of cheap plastic. The latter's also susceptible to recognizing accidental bumps as input, adding to our impression that you should keep the headset in its wrapping, just in case you decide to resell the handset down the line -- yes, the maintenance of resale value is the best thing we can say about these earphones.

If you plug in your own set of ear blasters, on the other hand, you'll be treated to some very nice output indeed. SRS virtual surround sound enhancements baked into the phone make a tangible difference by widening the sound stage and creating a more intimate feel to whatever you're listening to. For a smartphone that aspires to woo customers with top tier multimedia performance, getting audio right is a big deal and the Sensation thankfully delivers. Top marks on that, HTC, but if you can't bundle good headphones of your own, just don't bother next time. We'll take stickers instead.

Camera

HTC Sensation camera samples

The unnecessarily capitalized feature that HTC is introducing with the Sensation's camera software is a little something dubbed Instant Capture. It's not a setting that you can toggle; HTC rightly presumes that you'll always want to minimize lag between telling the phone to snap a photo and the actual capture, and it works almost quickly enough to justify its name. Low light conditions will slow you down some as the autofocus isn't as fast, plus the flash might need to pop on and do its job, but responsiveness on the whole is very impressive indeed. We thought the Galaxy S II was fast to shoot and reload, but the Sensation is at least as quick.

Also helpful is a little preview window in the bottom left corner (when the phone's held in landscape mode), which shows the last photograph taken. This isn't a novelty for Android, but it wasn't available on the recent Incredible S and Desire S and makes particularly good use of the increased visual detail afforded by the size and pixel density of the Sensation's display. You can obtain enough information about a captured image from it to disable full screen image review after snapping a shot, leaving the camera free and ready to record another masterpiece. A sweet shrinking animation transitions taken photos into the smaller window and gives a visual clue to newbies that they'll find their photographic archives by tapping on it.

Image quality, the meat and potatoes of camera work, is usually high on the Sensation, though some software irregularities do undermine the evident strength of the hardware on board. What you see above is a 100 percent crop from this image, exhibiting a great deal of sharpness given the full 8 megapixel size at which the Sensation records its images, but also an unsightly blotch of blurriness right in the middle of the flower. The latter is caused by HTC's penchant for applying noise-reducing blur -- essentially melting neighboring areas of like color into one so as to reduce graininess.

Even with the company's auto-enhance option turned off (our whole sample gallery was shot this way), the software will automatically choose where to blur things out to deliver more visually appealing imagery at lower resolutions. That's the key, really. Looking at the pictures in our sample gallery, you'll be hard pressed to pick out any softness, because they've been shrunken down to a mere 800 x 600 pixels in size, a situation that's mirrored when viewing pictures on the phone, so you can definitely see HTC's motivation for optimizing its software to make things look good at lower resolutions. It's just that photography purists (and just people who expect 8 megapixels to mean 8 megapixels) will scoff at the idea that full-size quality should be sacrified for improvements at lower resolution.

Another issue caused by the software is that it'll occassionally get its color balance pretty badly wrong. Perusing our gallery, you'll find London buses looking slightly pink and black fencing shading toward a dark (deep?) purple. Thankfully, there's a decent selection of tweaks you can play around with, including exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and a set of white balance presets.

The predictably limited dynamic range of the Sensation's camera does mean that in high contrast situations you'll end up with either blown-out skies or overcast landscapes, depending on what you choose to focus on and how the camera meters the available light, but that needn't be a tragedy -- it can lead to more artsy and interesting imagery. Overall, we reckon the Sensation is equipped with a mighty fine imager that might require you to be just a little more hands-on in controlling its settings in order to obtain the best results.

We must commend HTC for the intelligently designed dual LED flash. It's bright enough to illuminate group portrait shots and yet subtle enough not to whitewash a subject that's placed immediately in front of the camera lens. The front-facing VGA camera, on the other hand, didn't impress us much. It produced murky and grainy results and continues to be a tool primarily intended for video calls.

Video recording on the Sensation is simply effortless. Thirty frames of glorious 1080p can be filled each second and it seems to be done with utter ease. The camcorder's ability to keep up with motion on screen is markedly superior to what we're used to as well. There's a fluidity to the Sensation's output that's rare to find. Make no mistake about it, folks, this is where your dual-core processor will run circles, squares, and trapezoids around the competition. Though performance is sublime, we must note that actual visual quality of the Sensation's video leaves some room for improvement. HTC again seems to be fiddling with the recording -- by blurring some parts and sharpening others for a more uniform look -- which can sometimes deliver unnatural-looking results.

Sound is recorded in stereo, another feather in the Sensation's multimedia hat, though we found the phone unusually prone to picking up wind noise. In our estimation, this is owing to the position of the microphone used for voice calls, which unfortunately gets exposed directly to oncoming wind when the phone's held horizontally to shoot movies. Aside from that, quality of sound recording was pretty much middle of the road; it's certainly a far cry from the tinny stuff the HTC Flyer recently treated us to. If the two vids above aren't enough for you, you'll find a couple more samples here and here.

Software

Many of you might gaze upon the HTC Sensation and see your ideal hacking phone -- tons of hardware potential, great ergonomics, and an almost spotless bill of physical health. All you need now is a nice community-built ROM for it and you'll be flying... but oh wait, that's right, HTC developed a weird allergy to custom Android ROM installations this year and has been locking down the bootloaders on its 2011 phones to prevent such chicanery. Company CEO Peter Chou announced yesterday that this unpopular policy will be done away with in the future -- a welcome decision that may be enacted with retroactive effect and lead to the full unleashing of the Sensation -- but as it stands today, this lovely new handset's only option is HTC's Sense-tweaked Android 2.3.3 install. You can polish it up by overlaying custom app launchers or UI skins from the Android Market, but customization purists will have to look elsewhere.

Sense 3.0

With such an introduction, you might surmise that HTC's latest version of Sense, 3.0, hasn't treated us quite the way it should and you'd be right. It isn't that the user experience suffers from any glaring flaws or omissions -- it is generally smooth, responsive and pleasing to the eye -- but we're left disappointed by the indolent pace of innovation that HTC has exhibited with this supposedly major new release. Unfortunately, the Sense 3.0 tweaks have proven to be mostly superficial and there's little in the way of added functionality over and above what you can obtain on a Gingerbread-sporting Incredible S.

HTC Sensation software

Let's start off with the bright spots. The overhauled lockscreen is by far and away the biggest and handiest improvement in the latest Sense. It now offers four customizable app shortcuts, which can be dragged into a so-called activation ring and thereby unlock the phone straight into the app. Above the shortcuts, you can have some spectacularly animated weather animations signifying the current weather, or stock updates, or a floating array of your pictures, which too can be dragged into that ring for a closer look. On the whole, it takes the previously dormant, borderline nuisance of a screen and it turns it into a much more dynamic and useful part of the user interface. We like the way that selecting an app shortcut creates an outline of it inside the activation ring, which in itself moves up from the bottom of the screen and closer to the app. These subtle visual clues, along with other hints and animations, help newcomers to smartphones find their way around with little difficulty.

There's no denying the fact that, superficially, Sense 3.0 is a clear step ahead of its predecessors. Navigation between homescreens is executed with a three-dimensional animation, implying a carousel arrangement, and there are tons of little visual tweaks suggesting depth in, around, and behind UI elements. Moving left of the left-most homescreen sends you to the right-most one, while skipping in a single direction too quickly pulls your view back, exposes the full carousel, and gives it a rapid spin in that direction. Unlocking the phone in the conventional way spins your first homescreen into view in a similar fashion. This is all well and good, and it certainly makes for a good exhibition of the underlying graphical prowess, but it's purely cosmetic. There's no utilitarian reason for why you'd want to send your homescreens into a washing machine cycle -- that actually takes control of the phone away from you, whereas we'd have thought the whole point of customizing Android was to improve and enhance it, not make it more unwieldy.

HTC's obsession with weather follows the same path. The Sensation comes with a set of splendid visuals for the common weather conditions, which are actually accompanied by fitting sound effects as well (yes, there are small audio recordings for sunny, windy, and rainy weather). Alas, those get annoying very quickly indeed and you'll soon find yourself trying to either turn them off or disposing with the offending widgets. HTC's weather widget will allow you to mute the sound, but the expansive animations aren't optional. For all its glitz and glamor, the weather app on the Sensation is actually rather dumb. It allows you to cycle through a number of cities while still on the homescreen, but it's pretty much a matter of luck whether tapping on your selected city will bring its weather up. Sometimes the app reloads itself and sends you to the correct metropolis, but on other occasions it just loads up the last city you were on. Ergo, tapping on Paris doesn't guarantee you won't get sent to Tokyo. Similarly, attempting to see weather for upcoming days by tapping on them on the home widget just brings you to conditions for the current day.

Overall, the new Sense UI is designed to make a great first impression, but scratch below the surface and you'll find little substance. We still aren't great fans of the onscreen keyboard, in spite of the extra room on this larger-display handset, and though HTC explicitly promised to improve its input prediction algorithms, we weren't struck by any great improvements there either. Precise text selection and cursor placements are also uniquely challenging on HTC devices, with the execution being arguably worse than on the default Android Gingerbread software. Finally, the move to a more graphically intensive UI does ocassionally take its toll on the phone's otherwise exemplary responsiveness, with detectable traces of lag cropping up here and there.

Having said that, let's also give an approving nod to HTC's integration of a Quick Settings menu in the drop-down Android menu (it sits alongside the usual Notifications area) and the nice app switcher that appears when you hold down the Home button. Moreover, the company does a good job of juggling resource use by background tasks, a valuable trait. The reason we're not more enthused about these items is that they're also present and accounted for in the company's other Gingerbread handsets, making the Sensation just another in a succession of phones rather than the singular and outstanding device that its former codename of Pyramid suggested.

Performance

We've danced around and hinted at the Sensation's performance long enough, now how about we address it head on? As already pointed out in the camera section, this handset's biggest struggle is in finding things that can challenge it. Dragging the camera icon into the unlocking ring on the lockscreen and taking your first snapshot is a spectacularly quick affair, certainly faster than on the 1.5GHz Flyer, HTC's only other Sense 3.0 device so far. Google Maps and the web browser are almost dripping with lubricant, they're so slick. Flash videos embedded online load up as quickly on the Sensation as we've seen on any other smartphone. The limits to this handset's abilities are found when trying to play back 1080p Flash video -- it turns into a slideshow -- but 720p is no problem at all.

HTC Watch, the company's newly launched online movie store / rental kiosk, is available on the Sensation, having made its debut on the Flyer. It works on a progressive download basis that's practically indiscernible from streaming, you just end up with the trailer, TV episode, or movie fully downloaded on your phone after you've watched it. There's a small buffering delay before you can start playback, but again, that's part for the streaming course. Although we aren't sure of the actual resolution at which movies are played on the Sensation, they look (and yes, we've been saving this adjective for just the right moment) sensational. That 16:9 screen ratio and the processing power within the phone pair up to deliver a supreme movie-watching experience. If you weren't convinced smartphones were big or good enough to make films enjoyable, you owe it to yourself to check out what HTC has to offer here.

App launching in general is nearly instantaneous. HTC claims opening apps is now twice as fast as on its previous handsets, but we ran a little side-by-side test with the Sensation and Incredible S and would argue that "twice" is an overly ambitious thing to say. The fact is that a number of recent Android phones, including those from HTC's own stable, have reached a very high level of responsiveness, so differentiating from them is hard. The Sensation definitely comes out ahead of all bar the Galaxy S II, just don't expect it to be a mindblowing improvement on the currently high standard.

Naturally, you'll be wanting some benchmarks to go with your serving of hands-on impressions. We ran the Sensation through the usual gauntlet, however our usual warning about screen resolution affecting scores must be reiterated here. Quadrant's 3D graphics tests are done at native resolution, which as we mentioned above is a 35 percent more intensive workload for the qHD Sensation than it is for, say, the WVGA Galaxy S II. Don't be shocked, therefore, to hear that the Sensation's scores coalesced around 2,000. Linpack typically gave us around 46MFLOPS, matching the Galaxy S II. Other graphical tests were hamstrung by a 60fps cap, giving us average scores of 58fps in Neocore and 42fps in Nenamark. Needless to say, the full power of that Adreno 220 GPU will need some nice and intensive new games to push it to its limits. It'll still be a good long while, however, before there's anything on Android capable of choking up the hardware inside the Sensation.

Wrap-up

The HTC Sensation is an extremely accomplished device, but there's no getting around the feeling that it underwhelms. While it is indeed a dual-core speed demon like the Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC's latest doesn't exhibit quite the same level of UI responsiveness and is furthermore saddled with a signed bootloader that prevents users from improving things themselves. Our biggest issue is with Sense, whose fancy new graphics and improved lockscreen utility can't hide the fact that the core UX hasn't materially changed from the days of the Hero.

In terms of design language, HTC is a monoglot and proud of it. The Sensation doesn't break with the company's established styling, yet its subtle physical refinements add up to make it a veritable pleasure to hold and to operate. Combining these excellent ergonomics with the phone's superior battery efficiency and generous qHD display resolution makes the Sensation a formidable foe for Samsung's celebrated new flagship. Given the choice between the two, we'd opt for the Galaxy S II for its brilliant display and snappier performance, but that's just a matter of preference. Ultimately, you'll have to decide what it is you value most in your Android superphone and pick the one that fits those needs best.

Samsung Galaxy S II to Strike Germany and the UK in May

Going back to February, there were rumours that the Samsung Galaxy S II i9100 would be available in the UK starting March. However, that didn’t happen, and it looks like the handset won’t be out this month, either.

Online retailer Clove (which had previously announced the March availability), now says the Galaxy S II will only be out sometime in May. May also seems to be the month when the new Android 2.3 smartphone will be released in Germany – Amazon has it that the handset should be shipped starting May 2.

However I don’t think we will see the S II hitting any shelves this month. And yes, that does mean Son Ericsson and HTC beat Samsung to the punch in launching high-end Gingerbread smartphones across Europe.

Source: Unwiredview

Traning app for android

Push Ups

Very popular traning app for your android phone, it just hit over 250,000 downloads.

Getting you to doing 50, 75, 100 or 125 push ups in a row — that is what the Push Ups fitness app is all about.

Think of the Push Ups app as your personal fitness trainer that is going to help you build up the strength to complete those 50, 75, 100 or 125 continuous push ups within a short few days or weeks, depending on your level of fitness.

Just like a real personal fitness trainer, the Push Ups app adjusts the exercise regimen based on your feedback how taxing you think the individual exercises are. That way, you can continue towards your fitness goal at your very own pace.

Google Nexus S 4G Unveiled by Sprint for $199 on Contract, Best Buy put up for sale it for $149

Unsurprisingly, today Sprint launched the Nexus S 4G, which has become the carrier’s first Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone. Sprint is selling the Nexus S 4G for $199.99 with a new 2-year contract agreement.

To get the handset at this price, you need to plump for one of Sprint’s plans with unlimited data and the $10/month Premium Data add-on charge.

If you don’t want to buy the Samsung-made smartphone directly from Sprint, you can also get it at Best Buy, which offers it for only $149 on contract. Apart from featuring support for Sprint’s CDMA / WiMax (4G) network, the Nexus S 4G isn’t different from the handset you can buy with a T-Mobile contract.

Thus, it comes with a 5MP rear camera, VGA front facing camera, a 4 inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC, GPS, 1GHZ single core processor, and also with a 16GB of on board memory.

Source: Unwiredview

Sony Ericsson boosts Xperia Arc and Play to 2.3.3, includes Facebook integration

Well, Sony Ericsson might just deserve a gold star for effort. A week ago we reported that a possible rollout of the long-rumored Facebook integration update would come to select Xperia series phones this week, and we're seeing the process begin today. The recipients of this particular push are the Arc and Play, though it will come to all new Xperia devices down the road. While the download includes Android 2.3.3, the major focus is on "Facebook Inside Xperia," another way for you to sync your social media with other aspects of your phone, such as contacts, calendar, and photo gallery. Other improvements in the package include WiFi stability, improved battery performance, HD video recording performance (Arc only), and bug fixes. Don't stress if your phone hasn't seen the update yet; Sony Ericsson says it's rolling it out gradually due to issues with individual markets and carrier branding. No specific timeframe was given, though the company mentioned that "it can take a while." Should you be one of the lucky recipients to get it today, however, sound off in the comments below.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

AT&T to Launch LTE Service in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio

The key to delivering the best possible mobile broadband experience to our customers is to consistently evolve our network with the latest innovations.

AT&T has delivered five mobile broadband speed upgrades in recent years, including our HSPA+ deployment last year. And average nationwide speeds on the AT&T network have increased – more than 40 percent over the past two years alone.

The next network evolution will arrive this summer with the addition of LTE in five markets – Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio. We plan to add another 10 or more markets in the second half of the year, and cover 70 million Americans with LTE by year-end. We also have plans to add 20 4G devices to our robust device portfolio this year, with some of those being LTE capable.

Cutting Room: Location trails are the least of my privacy concerns

Ian White is at a loss to understand the fuss surrounding the iPhone tracking our movements, as it’s something that happens on a daily basis anyway

I am at a loss to understand the shock-horror headlines over the possibility that the smartphone in your pocket can reveal your location, so some malevolent Big Brother can track your every movement.

Apparently a couple of researchers discovered that my iPhone can assemble a log of Wi-Fi router locations it passes on its travels.

This data is stored as an obscure file on the iPhone and the computer it syncs to, and can only be accessed by downloading and activating a complex app that throws up a graphic representation of my movements (see main pic).

Call me cynical but I suspect the widespread media outrage about this is due to ulterior motives.

Apple is gold dust to the media. Populate your website with the words ‘iPhone’, and ‘Apple’ and watch your hit-count soar as Google’s algorithms send thousands of new clicks your way.

My initial reaction to this latest Apple revelation was, “So what?”

Each day every one of us leaves a digital and photographic trail of our activities.

By the time my iPhone (or Android and Windows 7 device) builds up a location co-ordinates file, my movements will have already been tracked by one of 4.2 million CCTV cameras on this septic isle. That’s one camera for every 14 of us and a fifth of all the cameras in the entire world.

Visa and MasterCard know exactly what I have purchased and where and when I purchased it.

My Oyster card reports all my movements on public transport in London.

Anyone with a spare 2.50 can obtain from the DVLC my home address details from my car registration.

My internet service provider knows the contents of my emails and my web browsing habits.

Sky TV knows exactly what programmes I enjoy watching. Amazon regularly sends me special offers of stuff it knows I am interested in.

And, if I had joined Sony’s PlayStation Network, any number of crooks and scammers would now have my email address and passwords.

The least of my worries is that Steve Jobs may discover I went on a day-trip to Brighton.

The benefits of location-based technology outweigh the slight chance that I may become an international terrorist, whose movements can be tracked when my smartphone is turned on.

I’d rather exit the Gare du Nord in Paris and have Google Maps guide me to my hotel, than wrestle with a paper street-map and chance my arm seeking directions from a bolshie Parisian.

I’ll take my chances that somewhere, someone may eventually find out I was strolling around La Pigalle at 2am.

If you’re a lawbreaker, there is already enough technology ranged against you, unless you manage to avoid using any 20th-century device and only deal in cash.

Mobile industry veterans can recall the shock-horror headlines when it was revealed that conversations on the old-style ETACS analogue mobiles could be eavesdropped with ease.

All you needed was a cheap scanning device obtainable over the counter at any high street electronics store.

Anyone remember ‘Squidgygate’? Computers and mobiles are the first thing the coppers will grab as they break your door down at 3am.

Recent events demonstrate that if ‘they’ are out to get you ‘they’ probably will (whether you use an iPhone or not).

Mr Bin Laden hadn’t used a mobile phone in years. Look what happened to him.

His body had barely hit the floor before the rest of the Captain America Team had dismantled all the computers in the house and spirited the hard drives away.

The fact is that none of us can maintain our privacy in any sort of ‘wired world’.

All our personal information will eventually move to the Cloud. Apple accessing my latest location trail is going to be the least of my privacy concerns.

Business Watch: Vodafone remains the star in the UK

Dominic White discusses Vodafone’s financial results and reckons more encouraging signs lay ahead

Vodafone UK was again the European star of the mobile giant’s latest results announcement.

Britain was the only major European country where Vodafone increased profits, revenue or operating cash-flow.

It’s quite a turnaround from a couple of years back when Vodafone was having a wretched time in its native land.

The UK operations more than doubled its operating profit to 348 million in the 12 months to March 31, and generated almost a billion for the company’s coffers.

Vodafone UK’s profit and cash contribution remains a fraction of that of Vodafone Germany and Spain, a reflection in part of the fiercely competitive nature of the UK mobile market. But the UK’s financial figures are traveling in the right direction.

The UK business also increased service revenue – which excludes handset sales – by an impressive 4.7 per cent over the full year.

The company put it down to “increasing penetration of smartphones and mobile internet bundles, and strong net contract-customer additions, which more than offset continued competitive pressures and weaker prepaid revenue”.

Margins increased, too, by 0.7 per cent, reflecting the higher service revenue, but partially offset by higher customer acquisition and retention costs. But it seems the regulator may spoil the party this year, with Vodafone warning that “the termination-rate cuts announced in March 2011 are expected to have a significant impact on revenue growth during the 2012 financial year”.

That wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of Vodafone investors, however. Having seen the shares bounce back from just above a pound last year to 172.45p at the time of writing, they seem pretty pleased with the group’s overall results.

Network quality
Vodafone also gave the market a pleasant surprise with a bullish outlook for 2012.

Analysts had been poised for a cautious outlook. Vodafone shares had eased six per cent since April 20, the day before Dutch rival KPM cut its forecast and warned about the state of the mobile market.

But Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said the UK-based group was holding its own or adding share in most of its big markets.

He told reporters the group was benefiting from its early push into data revenues generated from mobile internet access, and the development of integrated and tiered pricing plans.

And he reckoned that customers are increasingly basing their choice of operator on the quality of the network, putting Vodafone in a strong position.

“Continuing network investment is an important differentiator for Vodafone, improving the customer experience and giving us leadership in smartphone penetration and in customer take-up of data plans,” he said.

“We enter the new financial year well-positioned.” Shares rose on Tuesday, the day of the announcement, which showed revenues and adjusted operating profits both up over three per cent.

The free cash-flow number also pleased investors, coming in at more than 7 billion, compared with a forecast of 6.7 billion.

Analysts say Vodafone is leading the shift to smartphones in many markets. “Vodafone’s historic performance as a serial underperformer versus peers appears to be a thing of the past,” said Bernstein analyst Robin Bienenstock.

But the results were nevertheless dented by the economic slump in southern Europe, which contributed heavily to a 6.1 billion writedown to the value of the company’s assets in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland.

That means in all those countries Vodafone now expects to make less money in future years than it had previously expected to, an accounting calculation that automatically triggers a write-down.

O2’s owner Telefonica also reported difficult trading in Spain, while Deutsche Telekom showed weakness in Greece.

Elsewhere, Vodafone performed strongly in key emerging markets India and South Africa. India reported growth of 16.2 percent and Vodacom, which operates mostly in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, grew 5.8 per cent.

Under pressure from shareholders, Colao has overseen a series of corporate retreats from the old Vodafone empire.

He has also put a stop to Vodafone’s old expansionist habits, which were most evident under his predecessors Arun Sarin and Sir Christopher Gent, which often ended in tears and even bigger write-downs.

This week he signalled that Vodafone could go back on the acquisition trail, indicating that it would consider consolidating existing European markets.

Asked if Vodafone would buy rivals in European markets, Colao replied: “Consolidation would be a good thing. There are situations where I can see consolidation being beneficial to all.”

He said Vodafone was prepared to be an “active” participant in consolidation in Europe. I wonder if Three UK could be on his potential target list?

O2 also strong
Meanwhile, O2 UK has put in a decent performance of its own, sustaining its market-leading churn figures and growing the customer base by five per cent.

According to the latest results of its Spanish parent Telefnica, the company’s mobile customer base (excluding Tesco Mobile) reached 22.3 million at the end of March (up four per cent), underpinned by strong contract growth (up nine per cent).

But most impressive was the underlying margins, which rose two percentage points to 27.3 per cent in the fourth quarter.

That was helped by higher hardware revenues, as more punters shelled out for fancy smartphones and others chose to sign up for fixed-line services.

As a result, revenues rose by a solid-looking 5.3 per cent to 1,788 million while underlying profits grew by 13.7 per cent to 430 million in the quarter.

But whereas Vodafone continued to increase its capital expenditure in the UK over the last financial year (from 494 million to 516 million), O2 is scaling back its investment.

Its capital expenditure declined 3.2 per cent to 144 million in the quarter and it said it would be “continuing to improve its mobile network from a coverage and capacity perspective mainly through the re-farming of 900MHz spectrum”.

If Colao is right, and punters are increasingly choosing operators based on the quality of its network, it will be fascinating to see how the different players invest in the coming years, as 4G comes on stream.

Cutting Room: How a glamour model’s phone cost CPW its credibility

Ian White reckons The Carphone Warehouse’s reputation is in ruins following a series of errors exposed in a BBC1 programme

Psst… Want to hear some lawyer jokes? Why won’t sharks attack lawyers? Professional courtesy. What’s the definition of mixed emotions? Watching your lawyer drive over a cliff in your new car. Heard about the lawyers’ word processor? Everything comes out in fine print.

Mildly amusing as they may be, they are not nearly as hilarious as the cruel joke Carphone Warehouse’s lawyers played on their famous client.

On national BBC1 television, on the evening of May 9, the company’s legal eagles ensured Carphone’s once proud reputation as a customer champion was thoroughly trashed.

The punch line of this bad joke is how an original demand for 2,500 compensation spiralled into a 150,000 bill for legal costs
and damages.

The cost in lost goodwill must be in the millions of pounds, as most of the viewers who saw the episode of See You In Court – the BBC1 series on legal grievances – probably vowed they would never set foot in a Carphone store.

The programme may still be on BBC iPlayer, so you can watch the entire car crash at your leisure. Or you can ask Tim Whiting for a copy. I’m guessing the Phones 4U boss has been playing re-runs all week, scarcely believing how his arch-rival not only shot itself in the foot, but blew both its legs off.

Here’s what happened. Around 18 months ago glamour puss and top tabloid totty Danielle Lloyd bought a new phone from Carphone’s Harlow shop.

The helpful chap behind the counter allegedly offered to transfer the content of Lloyd’s old phone to her new device.

According to Lloyd, he found pictures in the memory of her old phone showing her in a state of undress, which revealed scars on her breasts caused by a medical procedure.

At this point, you would think the lads in the shop would have had a snigger and that would be the end of it. Nope.

The ‘entrepreneur’ who discovered the pix reportedly attempted to tout them to the tabloids for 100,000.

Lloyd got wind of this. She called her lawyer, who immediately fired off letters to editors warning them not to touch the stolen pics.

At this stage her legal costs were a piffling 2,500. And there the matter should have ended – with the staffer responsible sacked or disciplined and a 2,500 cheque and apology winging its way to the aggrieved celeb. You would think.

What followed was an extraordinary tussle of legal obfuscation and refusal by Carphone to give Lloyd a penny.

Eventually, after 18 months of trying to intimidate Lloyd into giving up her claim, Carphone coughed up 150,000 in legal costs for both sides and 10,000 out-of-court damage settlement for Lloyd.

Who knows the damage to Carphone’s reputation, though? The BBC programme portrayed the company as utterly failing to condemn a possibly criminal act of theft and blackmail, carried out by one of its employees in the course of his duties.

Here’s Lloyd’s solicitor speaking on camera: “You’d think Carphone Warehouse, as a brand, would be saying, ‘Gosh, if something awful happens to you at the hands of one of our employees we are so sorry and we take full responsibility.’But absolutely not.”

We have no idea what Carphone’s point of view was, as no spokesperson was fielded to give an explanation. As a case study in how to screw up a famous brand, it comes close to Gerald Ratner’s infamous company-killing “total crap” speech of 1991.

We can only imagine the horror that Charles Dunstone felt when he saw his oncegrand temple to customer care being demolished by a wrecking crew of bone-headed lawyers, whose knowledge of law and process was in inverse proportion to their common sense.

Dunstone’s jaw probably dropped as he watched his organisation’s reputation eviscerated on camera by Lloyd and her solicitor. I would be surprised if he hasn’t ordered an enquiry into why his people failed to kick the lawyers into touch and take control.

Carphone broke every rule in the crisis management book.

Surely the words ‘topless’, ‘model’, ‘tabloids’ , ‘bare’, ‘breasts’ and ‘BBC’ must have rung at least one alarm bell?

Anyone who had read the first chapter of PR For Dummies would have nailed this within five minutes: fulsome apology, costs paid, donation to a charity of her choice, grovelling statement (“Lessons have been learned… Procedures in place… Thanks to Danielle for bringing this to our attention”), etc.

Brownie points all round. Instead, for no reason that can be discerned, Carphone’s reputation is in tatters. And that’s the sickest lawyer joke of all.

Re-Tales: Deal makers (23/05/11)

A round-up of deals available from mobile retailers online and on the high street

CARPHONE
There’s a sale on HTC handsets at Carphone. The Desire S is available for 18.50 a month on an O2 deal, with 100 minutes, 500 texts and 100MB of data – a saving of 159.99. Those looking to boost their allowance can get the phone on a 20 a month Orange deal that offers 200 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data. The Wildfire is cheaper still and is now available for 13.50 a month on an O2 deal that comes with 50 minutes, 250 texts and 100MB of data. Similarly, opting for the 15-a-month Orange deal will boost allowances to 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data. The Samsung Galaxy Apollo has had 105 knocked o its prepay price and now costs 74.95. A top-up of 15 is required when purchased.

O2
Anyone buying the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini (169.99), X10 Mini Pro in pink (119.99) or X8 (109.99) on prepay will pick up a set of free MS450 speakers and Pocket DJ Vintage app on purchase. The price of the Apple iPhone 3G S has also been slashed and is now available for free on a 21.50-a-month deal that comes with 100 minutes and 500 texts. Customers will have to pay an additional 3 for 100MB of monthly data, 6 for 500MB or 10 for 1GB.

PHONES 4U
Customers can take advantage of 250 of automatic cashback if they opt for the Samsung Chat S3350 on a 35-a-month Vodafone deal that offers 300 minutes and 3,000 texts. Customers can also pick up 180 by redemption when choosing the BlackBerry Curve 9300 on a 30-a-month Vodafone deal, o ering 100 minutes and 500 texts. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play has had 5 knocked off its monthly line-rental price and it now costs 25 a month on a Vodafone deal that comes with 100 minutes, 500 texts and 500MB of data.

VODAFONE
Four BlackBerry smartphones are given a nudge on contract. The Torch 9800 is available for 30 a month, Bold 9780 for 25 a month, Curve 9300 for 20 a month and Curve 8520 for 15 a month. There are also three Samsung handsets being pushed on prepay deals. The Chat now costs 75, Genio Qwerty 55 and the E2550 35.

FONEHOUSE
The Nokia E7 on T-Mobile is being pushed. It’s free from 30.64 a month with 900 minutes, 500 texts and a Flexible Booster. Paying an additional 5.10 a month will give the customer 300 extra minutes. The HTC Desire S is the “Phone of the year. Evolved” according to Fonehouse. That is being heavily pushed on the Vodafone Your Plan + Internet tariff for 26.67 a month, which comes with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data. This also comes with 80 automatic cashback.

ORANGE
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is now free on a Dolphin 30 deal having previously been priced at 149.99. It comes with 500 minutes, unlimited texts and a data allowance. There’s also a prepay sale ongoing at Orange. Customers can save 40 when buying the HTC Wildfire Black Edition for 139.99 and a saving of20 when buying the LG Optimus Me for 99.99.

Opera Software Releases Updates Opera Mobile Emulator

Today, life just became easier for web designers and developers. Opera Software has released the latest version of its Opera Mobile Emulator, an essential tool for anyone creating websites and web content.

Mobile testing is the new black in modern day web development. However, testing on phones and tablets is rarely straightforward: you have to buy several devices or install complex software development kits. With Opera’s new mobile emulator, this hassle is now history. We have made it easier than ever to install and run the Opera Mobile Emulator on your PC or Mac and tweak all kinds of environment settings, going from screen sizes and densities to input modes and much more.

Today’s release is a developer companion to our earlier Opera Mobile 11 release for Symbian and Android phones and tablets. 

LG Revolution coming to Verizon tomorrow for $250 on contract

That's right, kids, and we have the press release to prove it: the LG Revolution that we got our hands on at CES is coming to Verizon tomorrow for $250 (with a new, two year customer agreement). Sadly, this handset won't bring you any closer to overthrowing the established social order, as LG seems to think that "revolution" has more to do with such niceties as HDMI out, the Android 2.2 mobile OS, and a 16GB microSD card. But hey, that pre-installed Netflix app sure does seem nice. Interested? The Nationwide Talk plans begin at $40 a month, with unlimited data for $30. Mobile Hotspot is also included for free -- for a limited time. Check out all the important info after the break.

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Revolution by LG Arrives for Verizon Wireless

Dynamic Trio of 4G LTE, Entertainment and Power Combine to Make Revolution™ by LG

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and SAN DIEGO, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless and LG Mobile Phones today announced Revolution™ by LG will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com on May 26.

An entertainment powerhouse, Revolution by LG is the first Android™ smartphone preloaded with the Neflix application, allowing Netflix subscribers access to movies and television shows. Revolution customers can capture and share HD images or videos on a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen. Built-in HDMI output and SmartShare capability allow customers to share multimedia content with HDMI capable displays, creating an exceptional entertainment experience.

Key features:

* 4G LTE – customers can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage areas
* 1 GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon® processor
* Android™ 2.2 platform
* Access to more than 200,000 apps available to download from Android Market™
* Bing® Search and Maps
* Adobe® Flash® Player
* Rear-facing 5.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash
* 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat
* 720p HD video recording and playback
* Wi-Fi connectivity 802.11 b/g/n
* Mobile Hotspot capability allows customers to share 4G LTE with up to 8 Wi-Fi-enabled devices or a 3G connection with up to 5 devices
* Bluetooth® Version 3.0 Support Profiles: headset, hands-free, object push, advanced audio distribution (stereo), audio/video remote control, file transfer, phone book access

Additional features:

* V CAST Apps
* Virtual QWERTY keyboard with SWYPE technology
* Equipped with Dolby® Mobile for a rich listening experience
* Extensive image editor includes: crop, rotate, resize, apply filters, image adjustments, draw, write, erase and add stamps
* 16 GB preinstalled microSD card™

Pricing and availability:

Revolution by LG will be available in Verizon Wireless Communication Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $249.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Revolution customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan and a data package. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access. An unlimited data package is available for $29.99 for monthly access. The Mobile Hotspot feature will be included for a limited time at no additional charge.

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network, launched in December 2010, is the fastest, most advanced 4G network in the United States, providing speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon Wireless' 3G network. Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network currently reaches one-third of all Americans, with plans to expand the network to the company's entire 3G coverage area over the next three years.

For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

BT and Everything Everywhere will start LTE trial in rural UK this September

Some of the UK's most remote parts still don't have access to broadband of any kind, but later this year, they might have the sort that makes us look on in envy. BT and Everything Everywhere are planning to start an LTE trial in Cornwall, England's most southerly county, which will last from the 1st of September through to the end of December. Connection speeds could scale as high as 40Mbps, though the typical rate is expected to be closer to 10Mbps. Volunteers are now being sought to participate in the trial, though they have to reside (or be willing to move, we presume) in the pretty tiny 4G coverage area near Newquay. BT and T-MOrange have been allowed a temporary slice of 800MHz spectrum to do their experimenting in, which will likely be up for grabs in the LTE spectrum auction that's set for next year. First we take Newquay, then we take the world.

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Everything Everywhere and BT Wholesale to deliver the UK's first live customer trial of 4G high speed broadband technology

· Trial to showcase the benefits and potential of 4G LTE¹ mobile technology for customers

· The collaboration will see mobile and fixed broadband coming together for the first time in the UK

· The field trial will be launched in Cornwall, and will be the first of its kind in the UK to involve customers

May 25th, 2011 - United Kingdom. Everything Everywhere and BT Wholesale have today announced a collaboration that will see the first live trial of next generation 4G LTE¹ high speed broadband to customers. The live proof of concept trial is the first of its kind in the UK and will see the two companies sharing their fixed telecommunications and mobile technology to provide high speed wireless broadband to customers in rural Cornwall.

An initial test at BT's laboratories at Adastral Park in Suffolk is already underway, with the field trial set to test realistic 4G broadband data speeds outside of laboratory conditions. The field trial will start this September and run to early next year, involving up to 100 mobile and 100 fixed line customers living around the St Newlyn East area of South Newquay, Cornwall. Both the laboratory and live field phases will test the application of 4G LTE as a shared fixed and mobile platform.

The field trial will utilise 2 x 10MHz of test 800MHz spectrum and will test its capability as a compelling and long term complementary solution to fixed broadband technology for customers who currently get low speeds or are unable to get broadband altogether. These customers are typically in rural areas of the country, which can be extremely difficult to reach with fixed broadband technology.

The trial will take place at test sites south of Newquay in Cornwall, providing a combined coverage area of 25 square kilometres, with approximately 700 premises which have no or limited access to broadband services today. Everything Everywhere will also look to test 4G enabled mobile handsets and broadband dongles as part of the trial.

Residents in the St Newlyn East and surrounding areas who wish to learn more or who may want to participate in the trial can register their interest at www.4Gwirelessbroadbandtrial.co.uk. The trial will be free of charge to all triallists, and is being implemented with support from technology partners Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei. The Cornwall Development Company is also supporting the trial.

Tom Alexander, CEO, Everything Everywhere, said: "Our ambition is to have the best 4G network and be pioneers in enabling Britain's superfast wireless future.

"We strongly believe that, by sharing our network and mobile assets in this way, we can make a valuable contribution to the economics of rural broadband services. Our work with BT is providing a test bed for new technologies such as 4G LTE which, with the correct allocation of sub 1GHz spectrum from the Government, has the potential to make a real impact on the way in which we communicate in the future. The Government has previously stated its desire for the UK to have the best in class superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015, and we hope to help this vision become a reality."

Sally Davis, CEO of BT Wholesale, said: "BT is committed to bringing the highest speed broadband to everyone in the UK, whether that's over fibre, copper or airwaves. This is a great mixed economy example of innovation and collaboration by two organisations pushing the boundaries of technology for the benefit of customers. The expectation of what we will learn is truly exciting, as much for the customers who are unable to get a broadband service in a number of rural communities across the country."