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Microsoft applies for a High Performance Touchscreen Patent

Microsoft Recently demonstrated a high performance touchscreen prototype, that would reduce the touch lag of a device from 100ms to 1ms. Microsoft has filed a patent protecting its endless research on the subject.

The Effect of touch response lag once reduced will bring the experience of touchscreen devices to a brilliant level. Instead of a laying line , users if drawing on a touch screen tablet, will experience almost no lag as if the ink was coming from the finger.

Micrososft may throw these screens into future Microsoft Tablets, if they do, expect them to be superiorly responsive.

[USPTO]

July 6, 2012
Amazon may be planning a Smartphone

If popular media company “Bloomberg” is to be believed Amazon is planning a smartphone to be launched this year. Amazon is apparently already in pursuit of wireless patents and a production agreement with major OEM Foxconn for manufacturing the said Smartphone.

No further details on the matter are available, although Amazon is very capable of delivering a smartphone to the market, with their ecosystem already in place, the App Store, the Cloud services, the Music streaming and Kindle. The only thing you can be sure of is, that if Amazon does make a Smartphone there is almost a 100% chance that it will be an Android ICS 4.0 or Jelly Bean 4.1 device and it is likely to be skinned by Amazon to match the Kindle Fire UI.

[Bloomberg]

July 6, 2012
Apple planning smaller iPad to rival Nexus 7?

Hot on the heels of Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, rumours have resurfaced of an iPad Mini. According to Bloomberg, citing “two people with knowledge of the plans”, the smaller tablet will have a screen size of between 7 and 8 inches – less than the 9.7-inch iPad currently out now.

The tablet could be announced in October and won’t have a Retina Display on-board, one of the sources purportedly said.

A cheaper iPad tablet could pose a formidable challenge to Google’s $199 Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire slates. Microsoft has also introduced a new Surface tablet range, complete with a keyboard cover and Windows 8.

Since the iPad went on sale in April 2010, Apple has dominated the tablet market, which is predicted by Display-Search to reach $66.4 billion this year. Apple has 61% of the market share.

July 5, 2012
Apple loses patent war with HTC

Taiwan’s HTC on Wednesday won a London court ruling against US tech giant Apple over a series of patent infringement claims linked to technology used in its mobile devices.

London’s High Court said in a ruling carried on its website that HTC’s devices did not infringe four Apple technology patents.

Along with the slide-to-unlock mechanism, HTC challenged Apple’s patents on the iPhone’s “multi-touch” system. Both are prize features in the American company’s portfolio, according to intellectual property experts. The other patents in the case related to the way the iPhone manages photographs, and the use of different character sets in text messaging.

A HTC spokesman welcomed the London court’s ruling, which said parts of the slide-to-unlock patented were too “obvious” or foreshadowed by earlier patents.

July 5, 2012
Nexus 7 infringes our patents : Nokia

Google’s Nexus 7 is fast, slick, and cheap, but Nokia claims it also infringes some of its patents in the process.

Nokia has announced that the tablet infringes a number of its patents connected with the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard. In fact, most mobile device manufacturers license the patents from Nokia; currently, neither Google nor Asus is on the list of licensees.

A Nokia spokesperson told The Inquirer that “companies who are not yet licensed under our standard essential patents should simply approach us and sign up for a license.” Hence, Google and Asus can almost certainly approach them to get their paperwork in order—if they think they need to.

Asus replied by saying “at the moment, Asus will not be providing any response/comment related.”

July 5, 2012
Google Indoor Maps come to UK

Google Indoor maps was launched in the US last year mapping all the insides of malls, hotels, etc. But now Google has started to expand the reach of indoor maps, extending to more than 40 indoor venues in the UK including a mix of museums, stations, malls and airports in the main mostly in London. With building owners being able to upload their own maps, however, this should / could expand quickly. Hit the Google Lat-Lon blog for more info.

[Google Lat-Lon]

July 4, 2012
Google’s Nexus 7 Gets the iFixit Treatment – Teardown
Google’s Nexus 7 Tab joins the iFixit list of tear downs, with the tablet being torn apart by the experts. Several discoveries were made during the teardown, including the fact that the display is permanently attached to the gorilla glass front. The 7-inch, 1280×800 HD display is manufactured by Hydis and designated model HV070WX2.

for parts
- Kingston KE44B-26BN/8GB 8GB flash
- Realtek ALC5642
- ELAN eKTF36248WS
- ELAN eKTH10368WS
- Texas Instruments 22C96ST SN75LVDS83B (www.ti.com/product/sn75lvds83b)
- TI20 MI60
- Hynix HTC2G83CFR DDR3 RAM
Motherboard Parts:
- NVIDIA T30L Tegra 3 processor
- Hynix HTC2G83CFR DDR3 RAM
- Max 77612A inverting switching regulator
- AzureWave AW-NH665 wireless module
- Broadcom BCM4751 integrated monolithic GPS receiver
- NXP 65N04
- Invensense MPU-6050 gyro and accelerometer
We Are soon going Hands on with the Nexus 7 , Stay Tuned

[iFixit]
July 4, 2012
Is Microsoft Testing a New Keyboard for Windows Phone 8

According to several reports and a bunch of leaked images, Microsoft may be testing a special arched keyboard for use with Windows phone 8 devices. A keyboard that makes typing with one hand/thumb easier on touchscreen phones.

This special arched keyboard surfaced due to a leaked Microsoft Research presentation and appears to be a one-handed soft keyboard for Windows Phone 8 that Microsoft has been testing for a while now.

There are no keyboard replacements on the Windows Phone interface as of now, so a keyboard of said nature might be welcomed well.

July 3, 2012
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean comes to HTC One X – Unofficially

An XDA user “tgascoigne” has been able to port Nexus Jelly Bean to the HTC One X and has made it available as a ROM on the XDA website. With a lot of things currently not working. Including Wifi, Radio, Audio and Camera the OS itself is very stable and can be felt including those greasy project butter tweaks.

The ROM is originally based on CyanogenMOD and the developer states that he seems to have found a fix for most of the errors and bugs and is in the testing phase.

Once the radio and wifi do get working, expect a full hands on from iGyaan, till then check out the screenshots below and if you are feeling the excitement then rush to the link below to give it a try yourself.

[XDA]

July 3, 2012
AT&T’s exec Mike Woodward is HTC’s new North America President (Pr)

AT&T’s former phone portfolio VP Mike Woodward is now HTC’s president of its North American division, reporting directly to worldwide sales head Jason Mackenzie. This step seems to be taken in an attempt to save HTC from being ejected and rejected by North American carriers, whose sale totals over 50% of HTC net income.

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HTC Announces Mike Woodward as President of North America

Former AT&T Executive to Lead HTC in U.S. and Canada

BELLEVUE, Wash., July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today announced that Mike Woodward has joined as the new president of North America, effective immediately. The role, which is responsible for HTC’s sales, marketing and operations for the United States and Canada, reports to Jason Mackenzie, the president of global sales and marketing at HTC.

“With solid business acumen and expertise in product planning, marketing, sales and business development, Mike brings strong leadership and vision to our North America business,” said Mackenzie. “I welcome Mike to HTC, one of the leading smartphone brands in the U.S. and Canada.”

Woodward said, “I have been fortunate to witness first-hand HTC’s leadership in mobile innovation, design and consumer experiences, and am proud to be joining a team known for putting consumers at the center of everything they do. During my career in the rapidly evolving mobile industry, I’ve participated in some of the most significant phone launches across the globe, and I’m glad to combine that experience with the talents and culture of HTC.”

Before joining HTC, Woodward held a succession of positions with AT&T, formerly Cingular and AT&T Wireless, concluding with vice president, consumer wireless device and accessory portfolio. Woodward has also held positions at PacketVideo and Motorola and as an intelligence officer for the U.S. Navy. Woodward has a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Arizona, an MBA from Chapman University’s George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics, and completed an executive strategic marketing management program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Woodward is based in HTC’s North American headquarters in Bellevue, Wash.

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July 3, 2012
Microsoft announces $39.99 Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer for existing Windows users

Ready to jump to Windows 8 ? Microsoft is following in Apple’s footsteps by making the upgrade to Win 8 more pocket friendly. If you have an existing installation of Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 will able to download a Windows 8 Pro upgrade for just $39.99 (IN Rs. 2200/-).

That’s a big drop from the company’s earlier upgrade prices, which were as high as US $ 99 (In Rs. 5500-7500) . If you want the DVD you can purchase it for a price of US $ 69.99. According to Microsoft the prices will increase when the promotion ends on January 31st 2013.

Each OS will have a different upgrade option, some bringing only personal files and some only files and settings to Windows 8. In most cases legacy apps will not be ported.

[The Windows Blog]

July 3, 2012
Apple Pays USD 60M for iPad Trademark in China

Apple has agreed to pay US$60 million for ownership of the iPad trademark in China, as part of a settlement with a little-known Chinese firm called Proview that had tried to ban sales of the tablet in the country, according to a local court.

The Guangdong Province Higher People’s Court announced the settlement on Monday, and stated that the legal dispute had been put to rest. Following the payment to Proview, Chinese authorities transferred the “IPAD” trademark to Apple.

The two companies have been locked in a legal dispute to determine ownership of the iPad trademark, with Apple claiming to have bought the iPad trademarks for China from Proview in 2009.

The Guangdong court was originally expected to rule on the case. But Apple and Proview were in recent months in talks to settle the dispute, at the initiative of the court.

Proview had wanted as much as $400 million in settlement from Apple in order to help clear its debts. Eight banks have taken over Proview’s assets and are owed $180 million.

Li Su, the head of the consultancy representing the eight banks, said Apple initially wanted to pay only a few million dollars for the iPad trademark. But over time, Apple negotiated in good faith, realizing the dispute would linger in Chinese courts unless a settlement was reached, he added.

Su said he did not know how the $60 million received from Apple would be spent.

July 2, 2012
Chrome No. 1 free app on iTunes

Chrome for iOS features tab-syncing and incognito mode.

Within days of it being announced for Apple’s iOS, Google Chrome rocketed to the top by becoming the no. 1 free app on the iTunes app store.

It’s getting decent reviews from users who so far have cumulatively ranked it at 4.5 stars, although the biggest complaint they seem to have is the browser is slow compared with Apple’s Safari which is due to the fact that Apple restricts the use of its Nitro JavaScript engine to Safari and other apps don’t have access to it.

We will be coming out with the Chrome’s review soon, stay tuned.

July 2, 2012
Samsung Galaxy Beam up for pre-order at INR 29,900

The Galaxy Beam has a 15 lumens projector.

Samsung is all set to introduce its new projector smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Beam, in India. The phone is available online for pre-order on the Samsung India e-store. Available for Rs 29,900, the entire amount has to be payed upfront.

The Samsung Galaxy Beam’s 15 lumens projector allows users to display and share multimedia content anywhere on a large luminous projector screen – walls, ceilings or improvised flat surfaces. It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, has an internal memory of 8GB, which is expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card. The Samsung Galaxy Beam has 768MB RAM. and a 4.0-inch (480×800) TFT display along with a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera with flash and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera.

July 2, 2012
Chrome Users cross 310 Million Users, 1 TB data downloaded daily & 13 Years of browsing time saved

Google at the I/O Conference has announced that the usage of their web browser Chrome has almost doubled since last year and now tops 310 Million users. 1 TB of data is downloaded daily by these users, and according to Google the speedy browser has saved users 13 years of total browsing time.

June 29, 2012