Author: Shivaank Rana

BlackBerry Z10 Sales ‘Exceeding Expectations’ So Far

BlackBerry, the company formerly known as RIM, has said that demand for the BlackBerry Z10 has exceeded expectations since the full touchscreen device went on sale in the UK last week.

Whilst BlackBerry did not release any details on how many of their Z10 smartphone they have sold since launch, the company’s UK MD Stephen Bates had the following to say about the device.

[quote]

“The response we’ve seen exceeded all of our launch partners’ expectations. Customers are choosing to buy the BlackBerry Z10 in large numbers,” said Bates. “In fact some of our partners have told us that they sold out over the weekend in some of their key retail locations.

“The partners’ call centres are also flooded with calls, as people phone to ask for more information about the device, and also where and how to buy it.”

[/quote]

The Blackberry Z10 will launch in Canada today and also in a number of European countries this week which include France, Germany, Spain and more. We expect it to land in India sometime around 25th February.

Alongside giving its first indication on sales for the Z10, BlackBerry has also today (February 5) announced a partnership with Unity to bring more games to the BlackBerry 10 platform.

February 5, 2013
Report : Dell Buyout Deal Nearing Completion

Talks between Dell and a consortium led by its founder and chief executive Michael Dell to take the world’s No.3 PC maker private were still on track on Monday, with negotiations focusing on a price of between $13.50 and $13.75 per share, a person familiar with the matter said. This makes the total value of the deal almost $24 million.

If the transaction goes ahead it will be the largest leveraged takeover since the onset of the banking crisis in 2007, worth around $20bn (£12.7bn). Microsoft is expected to invest about $2bn in the deal, while the private equity firm Silver Lake – which has previously invested in Skype – is expected to put in about $1bn, the source said.

The prospect of Microsoft — which is a long-time Dell partner — holding sway over a major hardware player continues to raise eyebrows. Cozying up with one supplier — say Dell, over others such as HP, Lenovo, Acer etc…. could obviously cause problems. But Microsoft appears to be losing leverage over its traditional PC partners, most of which could be counted on to pre-load Windows on virtually all of their laptops and desktops.

As a sign of changing times, HP on Monday announced its first Chromebook, a laptop that ships with Google’s Chrome OS, not Windows. Whether that is a reaction to all this Dell-Microsoft talk or was just an inevitable hedging of bets is unclear.

Michael Dell is expected to roll over his roughly 16% stake and put in some of his own cash for control of the emerging private company.

He intends to convert the business from a computer company to a business which provides a range of information technology services. The PC market is in sharp decline, and at present PCs account for 70% of Dell’s earnings and more than half of its profits.

[Wall Street Journal]

February 5, 2013
BlackBerry Rewards App Developers With A Limited Edition Red Z10

Image Courtesy : CrackBerry

In order to thank the developers who had supported BlackBerry 10 platform before it went live last month, BlackBerry decided to offer them limited edition BlackBerry Z10 devices.

According to CrackBerry, there will be only 12,000 limited edition BlackBerry Z10 devices specially manufactured for developers. They will be red and will be etched with special serial numbers.

The BlackBerry Z10 is an all-touch device with a 4.2-inch display, a dual-core Qualcomm S4 Processor, 2GB of RAM, and multi-band LTE-support.

Announcing the move at the BlackBerry Jam developer conference in Amsterdam today, BlackBerry’s VP of developer relations Alec Saunders said that early developers will be “the only ones that will have these devices because they’re the ones that earned them”.

He did however, say the phone will also be made available to new developers, provided they get their apps accepted by 28 February, so there’s still a chance you can get your hands on one if you act quickly.

Image Courtesy : N4BB

Media is also getting a hands-on with the new Dev Alpha C device, which will become available in the coming months as developers adjust their apps to work on the 1:1 ratio 720×720 screen of the BlackBerry Q10. The Dev Alpha C may not be pretty — it’s boxy in the same way as the Alpha and Alpha B devices were — but it’s meant to do a job, and it comes with that excellent fretted QWERTY keyboard.

[CrackBerry, N4BB]

February 5, 2013
Facebook Turns 9 Today!

The few Ivy Leaguers privileged enough to join “Thefacebook” nine years ago would hardly recognize the site today. It celebrates its birthday today!

Zuckerberg started with an invite only Ivy League college website, from where he took Facebook to a different level. These nine years for Facebook brought many changes to the social media platform bringing in features like social networking games, business pages and of course relationship status.

In nine years, the company has overshadowed the mobile platforms for not just social networking but also messaging. Change being its fixed feature, Facebook came up with an application called Poke which self-destroys message once it’s read. Facebook has proved its worth when it reached to a remarkable milestone of one billion users which many biggies like My space, Twitter and Orkut had only dreamt about.

According to a report by GlobalWebIndex, in Q4 alone last year, Facebook saw 693 million users globally, with a growth rate of 33 per cent.

In 2012 Facebook floated its IPO and the company went public with a peak market capitalisation of over $104 billion. The hype was short-lived and the stock of the company soon took a battering.

In January, this year Facebook announced the launch of Graph Search that allows users to search the site for photos, places, likes, people on the site.

February 4, 2013
Kodak Transaction Related To Digital Imaging Patents Closed At $527 Million

Eastman Kodak Co. said Friday it has completed the transaction for the sale and licensing of its digital imaging patents for net proceeds of $527 million.

The transaction, which achieves one of Kodak’s key restructuring objectives, continues its momentum toward emergence from bankruptcy midyear, the company said.

A portion of the $527 million was paid by 12 intellectual property licensees organized by Intellectual Ventures Management LLC and RPX Corp. Another portion was paid by Intellectual Ventures, which acquired a substantial majority of the digital imaging patent portfolio subject to these new licenses, as well as previously existing licenses, Kodak said.

The consortium includes industry giants Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

Kodak originally had hoped to receive more than $2 billion for the patents.

The deal includes an agreement to settle current patent-related litigation between the participants. Kodak retains the rights to use the 1,100 digital imaging patents sold in the transaction.

“The licensing and sale of our digital imaging patents is another major milestone toward successful emergence,” said Chairman and CEO Antonio Perez in a statement. “We are on track to emerge as a profitable, sustainable company.”

The completion of the sale enables Kodak to repay a substantial amount of its initial debtor in possession loan, satisfies a key condition for its newly approved financing facility and positions its core Commercial Imaging business for future growth and success, the company said. Kodak maintains ownership of some 9,600 patents.

[RBJ]

February 4, 2013
HP Unveils Pavilion 14, Its First Chromebook

HP has launched the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook, which it’s calling “the first full-size 14-inch Chromebook.”

Having been leaked at the end of January, HP has now officially taken the wraps off its new Google OS laptop.

[quote]”Google’s Chrome OS is showing great appeal to a growing customer base,” said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager, Consumer PCs, Printing and Personal Systems, HP. “With HP’s Chromebook, customers can get the best of the Google experience on a full-sized laptop — all backed up by our service and brand.[/quote]

The HP Pavilion 14 itself only has a 16 GB solid-state drive, whose whole purpose is to hold the Chrome operating system and ensure fast boot-up and run times.

Everything else, including the programs and data storage, is done in the Cloud. That is to say, on Google’s servers, over the web.

HP Pavilion 14 has a 14-inch panel, which is about 2 inches wider (diagonally) than the few other Chromebooks on the market.

An Intel Celeron CPU with Intel HD integrated graphics runs the whole device, while security is ensured by constant OS updates and a built-in Trusted Platform Module (TPM).

Other specs include HDMI, USB 2.0, Ethernet and a mixed headphone/microphone jack.

The Chromebook will be available in the United States at a starting price of $329.99. Indian pricing will be updated soon.

With the launch of the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook, the company joins the likes of Samsung, Lenovo and Acer in providing a lightweight alternative to the divisive Windows 8 OS.

February 4, 2013
Samsung And LG Resolve Their OLED Patent Dispute

The only reason the patent war between LG and Samsung hasn’t become more notorious is because it has been mostly overshadowed by the ongoing fight between the latter and Apple.

It turns out that was a good thing. The IT world could definitely do with a bit less drama, and a government ministry from South Korea helped eliminate this particular source of it.

Long story short, LG and Samsung have agreed to settle their patent disputes without pushing anything further through courts.

The decision was reached after the aforementioned government ministry persuaded the chief executive officers (CEOs) of Samsung Display and LG Display to meet.

The meeting took place in a Seoul hotel and ended with the legal stalemate being broken at last.

LG had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against fellow South Korean electronics giant Samsung over the latter’s use of advanced OLED display technology in smartphones and tablets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The paper reported that alleged patent infringements include the design of OLED panels, driver circuitry and device design, and said LG intended to seek damages and a permanent injunction against the sale of accused devices in South Korea.

Devices accused of infringing LG’s patents include Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy SIII, along with the Galaxy Note phablet and the Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet.

February 4, 2013
Motorola X Smartphone To Feature Great Battery Life And Kevlar Backing

If you’re a fan of Android devices then you will probably already have heard the rumors surrounding a new X Phone from the Google/Motorola stable. This has also been referred to as the Google X or Motorola X although the name will probably be changed before release. It’s rumored that this X Phone will be the first device to launch running the next overhaul of the Android operating system, 5.0 Key Lime Pie and today we have some snippets of specs claimed to be coming to the X Phone.

To start it looks like Google’s I/O event on May 15th is when the Motorola X-Phone will be revealed to the world, but read on for more details.

Rumors have been floating around on the X-Phone since the WSJ originally leaked the details, and today sources claim to actually have a friend using and testing the new smartphone. Yup, according to PhoneArena’s tipster the device is in the wild and being tested by a few lucky souls.

This source says Motorola and Google have decided on a 4.8-inch 1920 x 1080p full HD display, will reveal it at I/O on May 15th, and it will even sport the impressive Sony Exmor camera sensor. Apple’s exclusivity contract has ended, and we can expect that camera sensor to make its way into multiple handsets early this year.

Google’s big focus lately on Android smartphones has been for durability, and battery life. The X-Phone will address both of those. Using Motorola’s excellent Kevlar design for extreme durability and splash-guard water-resistance mixed in with a battery like the RAZR MAXX HD (3,300 mAh) the new X-Phone will reportedly rock. It will have the latest and greatest hardware on all levels, the newest Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, amazing battery life, be extremely durable, support up to 128GB of internal storage and come with a micro-SD slot, and all of this will hit multiple carriers. Not to mention be sold on the Google Play Store.

Looks like a winner to us!

[Android Community]

February 3, 2013
Apple Still Leader In Tablet Market, But Samsung Closing In

Apple’s share of the tablet market declined again in the fourth quarter of 2012 but the company still has twice the share of its nearest rival, Samsung.

Research firm IDC and their latest numbers are showing that current market leader Apple with their iPad are losing tablet market share. Apple’s tablet market share dropped from 51.7% to 43.6%, where in the last three months of 2012 Samsung jumped up to 15.1%.

When taking in consideration the year-over-year numbers, Samsung’s growth has been huge where a year ago they sold just 2.2 million tablets, and twelve months later they’re seeing sales of 7.9 million units.

IDC said the strongest growth came from Android, including tablets made by South Korea’s Samsung and Taiwan’s Asus, which makes a Google-branded Nexus tablet.

The survey found that Microsoft, which launched its new Surface tablet in the quarter, failed to break into the top five sellers and shipped a modest 900,000 of the devices in the quarter.

IDC said Amazon, which does not provide its own sales data, delivered some six million tablets in the quarter to retain its spot as the number three vendor.

That represented 26.8 percent growth, giving Amazon a market share of 11.5 percent, IDC said.

Fourth place belonged to Asus, which sold 3.1 million tablets, year-on-year growth of more than 400 percent. That gave the Taiwan-based firm a 5.8 percent market share. Barnes & Noble sold one million of its Nook tablets and accounted to 1.9 percent of the market, the survey found.

The tablet market is expected to get much more serious this year, with multiple Nexus tablets from Google, as well as Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Pro slate.

February 3, 2013
Finally! Your Normal Data Plans Will Work With Blackberry 10 Devices, No Need For BIS

The BlackBerry Z10 is coming out soon — so close! — and just in case you were wondering, no, you won’t have to change your current plan.

Unlike older BlackBerries, the Z10 does not require an explicit BIS plan; in fact, it requires a regular data plan. BlackBerry-only plans such as Blackberry Personal E-mail Plans, BlackBerry Social Plans and BBM only will not work with the new Z10. The same is true of all other carriers as well.

This means that if you’re transitioning over from an iPhone or an Android with a data plan, just stick your SIM card in the Z10 and everything from the browser to BBM will work without issue. Of course, you’ll need a microSIM in order to connect to the network, so older devices (or iPhone 5 users) will need a new one.

When it comes to enterprise users who will be running their BlackBerry 10 phones via a BES10 server, a special BlackBerry BES plan will be required – so nothing has changed there. Being on BES10 is what enables features like BlackBerry Balance to function. However, if you’re in a business where you’re going to be running your BlackBerry 10 phones alongside iOS and Android devices with no BES in place, then no BlackBerry data plan is required – you’re in the same situation as a consumer.

[Mobile Syrup]

February 3, 2013
7-Inch Videocon VT71 Launched For Rs. 4,799
Videocon has launched another budget Android tablet in the Indian market – Videocon VT71. The tablet is available online for Rs 4,799/-

The tablet runs on 1.2GHz processor and is powered by Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS out-of-the-box.

The all-new Videocon VT71 tablet features a 7-inch screen with resolution of 800x480p. It has 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB with microSDcard. The device’s connectivity features include Wi-Fi, microUSB and 3G (via dongle). The tablet has a 3200 mAh battery.

[quote]Khalid Zamir, Head Product Planning and Development, Videocon Mobile Phone, said, “The Videocon VT71 is aimed towards the emerging tablet market of the country which is on an unprecedented growth spiral as of today, and will become one of the lead generators of revenue in the telecommunications market, going forward. Through the engaged device, we seek to create an immersive tablet experience for the discerning consumer, and afford him the best of multimedia experience on a 7-inch device. The announcement of the VT71 is an endeavour to expand the product portfolio of the segment and embark upon a pertinent customer engagement program wherein by affording them the range of tablet devices, we seek to bring about an engaged tablet experience to them.”[/quote]

The company had launched the VT10 with a 10-inch IPS display last month for Rs. 10,999. Its 10-incher also showed a decent spec sheet including 8GB internal memory, 32Gb expandable memory with microSD card slot, support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and HDMI.

Videocon VT71 Specifications
- 7-inch (800 x 480 pixels) capacitive multi-touch display
- 1.2 GHz Rockchip RK2918 processor
- Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS
- 12.5 mm thick, weight 181 grams
- 0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
- 512MB RAM, 4 GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with micro SD
- 3G (via USB Dongle), WiFi b/g/n, USB 2.0, USB OTG support, HDMI out
- 3200 mAh battery
February 2, 2013
Angry Birds Star Wars Gains 20 New Mynock Pigs Filled Stages

The popular Angry Birds Star Wars game by Rovio has been updated with 20 additional free levels, where players must navigate an asteroid field.

Version 1.1.2 of Angry Birds Star Wars is set after the Battle of Hoth seen in the last game update, with the Rebel Birds being chased by the PigTroopers through an asteroid field.

The 20 new “nail-biting” levels feature new characters, the Mynock Pigs, found deep in the belly of the asteroid the Rebel Birds have flown into trying to find cover.

The update also includes 2 additional bonus levels and a new boss level you’ll have to “make a daring escape” from.

[quote]The update reads: “After the epic Battle of Hoth, the Rebel Birds have barely escaped the ice planet with the Pigtroopers in close pursuit! There’s an asteroid field close by that could provide some cover… but watch out, there’s more to it than meets the eye!”[/quote]

For those who haven’t played it yet, Angry Birds Star Wars is well worth a download, if just for the nostalgia factor. Straying all the way out into space, the game combines the best of all the Angry Birds games into one. This 20-level update costs nothing and is a nice little content boost to an already enjoyable app.

Angry Birds Star Wars is available on iOS, Mac, Android and Windows platforms costing up to £1.99 for the HD version. The 1.1.2 version update will be available free to all those who already have the app.

February 2, 2013
HTC CEO Brandishes White M7, Starts “HTC M7!” Chant!

Ever woken up the day after a killer party and everyone but you knows you messed up last night? HTC CEO Peter Chou might be that guy when he wakes up, unless he intentionally showed off the new HTC M7 smartphone just a few days before the official launch.

The cordial and savvy CEO was seen taking photos of a crowd during a news broadcast, and though we don’t see much detail of the white version of the phone, we’re happy to see it. The HTC M7 is expected to come in both black and white at launch, and may be released in early March according to the latest rumours.

[quote]”This event today is a great opportunity for testing [the camera],” Chou, as translated by Engadget, said. “I was still testing it just now.”[/quote]

Aside from the fact that he was so juiced he had gave the world its first real look at the HTC M7, Chou’s excitement came pouring out as he led the room in spirited chants of “HTC” and “M7.”

The device appears to be longer and narrower than the popular One X, with a centred camera module and a barely-perceptible HTC logo on the back.

As for the phone itself, rumors say this phone will have a 4.7-inch 1080p display with a 1.7Ghz Snapdragon S4 Pro and 2GB of RAM. Add in a 13MP camera in the back and a 2.1MP wide frame camera in the front and you’ve got yourself a pretty solid phone. If HTC is, in fact, about to release a beefier HTC Butterfly that is a little easier for most people to actually hold and use with one hand, the M7 will be a force to be reckoned with this spring.

You can watch Chou let it all out in the clip below:

February 2, 2013
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Benchmarks Leaked, Tipped To Launch At Mobile World Congress

Today a few benchmark results have appeared on the web showing off a Samsung tablet device that will likely be appearing at Mobile World Congress 2013 for the first time in full. This device appears to be one of 3 or 4 new models appearing soon according to SamMobile, their tipster letting it be known that “Santos” is the code-name attached to the whole new Galaxy Tab 3 lineup.

This model could be the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, though the last entry on this list has also reportedly been dropped from final production.

With these benchmark results in effect we’ve got a 7-inch display on a tablet with 800 x 1280 pixel resolution, not all that fantastic, but certainly not low-end. You’ve also got Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean and a processor (with an unknown amount of cores) running at 1.5Ghz. This machine will likely be an incremental update resting on the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 which we reviewed mid-2012.

Additionally, Samsung is also making efforts to bring the Android-based Galaxy Tab 3 Plus or P8200 to the market. This is the high-end tablet we reported earlier that is expected to come in 16 and 32GB variants. Furthermore, a second generation Galaxy Note 10.1 codenamed Vienna may also be in the works.

February 2, 2013
Rumour : HTC To Follow M7 With M4 and G2

Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC Corporation is reportedly gearing up for the release of new Android-based handsets in the near future, including the newly leaked HTC M4 and HTC G2 smartphones, which will complement the previously spotted HTC M7, it seems.

These could very well be announced at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in a few weeks. First up is the “M4? – a device that will come with specs just under the M7 – and sport a 4.3-inch 720p display, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 2GB RAM, 13MP camera and a 1.6MP front-facing camera, 1,700 mAh battery, plus run Android OS 4.2 Jellybean with the new Sense 5.0.

Next is another code-name device called the “G2.” This is an entry level Android that might feature specs that were popular on devices last year. The “G2? is rumoured to come with a 1GHz processor, 3.5-inch HVGA display, 5 MP camera, runs OS 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich The main difference, 512 RAM and a 1,400 mAh battery.

On the specs front, the HTC M7 is expected to be powered by 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor paired with 2GB of RAM. The device would come with a 4.7-inch Full-HD display, amounting to a pixel density of 468ppi. The M7 will most probable sport a 13 megapixel snapper at the back along with a 2 megapixel camera at the front and 32GB of on-board storage.

The HTC “M4? and “G2? are rumoured to be available “sometime during the spring.

[Unwired View]

February 1, 2013