Category: Brands and Companies

All Brands and Company Names

Leaked : Sony Xperia U ‘Kumquat’
Sony’s first handset, after their major split with counterpart Ericsson, might be rolling into the Mobile domain. the Sony Xperia U “Kumquat” might just have shown itself before purported launch at MWC 2012 next week. Specs include
- 3.5-inch FWVGA (854 x 480) Reality Display
- 1GHz dual-core CPU
- 8 MP Exmor R sensor with 720p video capture
- 1,290mAh battery
- Android 2.3.7
While the battery is replaceable, the OS is rumored. This phone could possibly be placed at a lower bracket compared to exiting SE phones. Oh the wonders of a new breakup.
February 21, 2012
EDIT : 2012 Another Year of the iPad

Its been 2 years since Steve Jobs got up on stage with a device that would change the way we look at portable computing forever. Since it launch, the iPad has held the crown as the most loved Tablet, with multimillion units sold each quarter. Now with the iPad 3, around the corner one can only wonder if Apple will continue to hold the lead over the competition. A kind of competition that never hindered them, there has been no real problem for Apple except the launch of the Amazon Kindle, but thats a story for another day.

Lets look at why we feel the iPad 3, if keeps up with claims, will be another tablet of the year.

Build and Form Factor

Since the beginning the iPad has been the only tablet in a unibody aluminum shell, the sheer feel of the tablet exudes to the effect of a premium device. Slim and well weighted the tablet is robust in construction and not easily destroyed, especially if you take care of the 9.7 inch display in front which can be extremely fragile.

The iPad was a wonderful device to hold in the hand, typing was easy – better in portrait and possible in landscape, it was not the most comfortable device to hold single handedly. The iPad 2 changed that completely, with a newer design that fit better, was lighter and had improvements to software which also made single hand operation easy ( gestures).

The iPad 3 is supposedly going to be built on the same platform as the iPad 2 with a small thickness increase, something that will not bother the buyer.

OS and Apps

When the original iPad was launched people called it an oversized iPod touch, possibly because the iOS was the same iOS as on an iPhone or iPod touch. Things have changed since then and Apple has added a bucket load of goodies to make the OS more a powerhouse for the best selling tablet. The OS is streamlined to make the iPad a pseudo-personal computer, with iCloud – data handling and synchronization has never been easier.

iOS for iPad also has better custom apps including professional creative apps from companies like Adobe, including Photoshop, Office apps from Apple themselves: iWork with pages, keynote and numbers for easy as pie office documentation.

Customizations to the OS, like a split keyboard and gesture navigation, make it really easy to use the tablet and no other company has been able to replicate the process in an easy streamlined manner.

The iOS platform also has the largest number of Apps on a mobile OS platform, with mostly all apps compatible with the iPad the entertainment and quality of games on the iPad still remains unmatched.

The iPad 3 is said to feature a major OS upgrades for the tablet including a main feature that is Siri on the iPad, which is already possible if you own a jailbroken iPad, but an official version will be well accepted and appreciated.

Hardware

The new iPad 3 is supposedly coming with a bumped up processor(A6 or the rumored A5X), which is supposedly carrying a new quad core processor with an advanced GPU, which will -or should improve performance by atleast 10 times. The new display will be a retina display (246 ppi : not true retina) with a double resolution ( 2048 x 1536 px) compared to the existing iPad /iPad 2, which will not only improve the media quality on the iPad, but also make it an excellent Book Reader, especially considering the new iBooks upgrade.

There are also claims of a network capability boost in the iPad 3, where some rumors point to a 4G/ LTE equipped iPad chipset, others claim that it will be a unified global device capable of CDMA/GSM network capabilities in the same device.

Apart from the above obvious upgrades, speculations of more ram and upgraded camera optics along with better speakers are also in the mix. So expect HD FaceTime and better speakers for your iPad 3s.

Games and Apps will perform better and open faster, seamless integration with iCloud will sync all your devices and keep them up to date. Apple may also bump to storage capacities to a possible 128 GB iPad.

Availability

The industry is buzzing with news of the iPad 3s release date, almost everyone claims that its going to be announced on the 7th of March 2012 with availability within 2 weeks.

Conclusion

Arguably, the iPad is not the best tablet in the market, but truly its the only one that has sold units in numbers close to PC sales. The Apple ecosystem developed by iOS – iCloud and Mac OS make it an Apple owners delight, somethings are just better on the iPad. Agreed Android offers more flexibility but the platform is still very fragmented. Even with ICS, android is laggy and the overall interface is not nearly as smooth as iOS.

If Amazon does come out with a 10 inch tablet, you can expect it to eat heavily into Apple’s share of the profit pie, only because Amazon will price it aggressively. Windows 8 / Windows Phone Apollo Tabs could also be another factor ( if ever released) .

Unless something truly unique is outed by manufacturers ( possibly a 10 inch Galaxy Note) no one will be able to bother Apple iPad sales, and the new iPad 3 will continue to lead the way through 2012.

What do you think?

[polldaddy poll=5963093]

February 21, 2012
Galaxy Nexus Launch in India Delayed to Feb 20th : Update delayed further ?

Exclusive news coming in for iGyaan, As per various sources including some top level executives at Samsung, we have been able to confirm that the much awaited Galaxy Nexus will not be coming to India in January. Although confirmed reports of the handsets being available in warehouses of the company. For some reason Samsung is not selling the devices just as yet.

The Galaxy Nexus is expected to be launched on Feb 20th 2012, availability should follow soon after. The Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to officially get ICS out of the box, but is the last phone to arrive to India in the recent times.

The phone features a impressive spec list, plus excellent features including Android Beam, Face unlock, Siri type voice dictation. The Nexus has a 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.65 inch curved Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen.

The device has been more than well awaited, so much so, that it may actually be too late for the device to hit India. With the rumors of a Galaxy S3 abound MWC 2012, we can only hope the Indian consumer still wants a 6 month old phone. The pricing on this phone rumored to hit Rs. 30,000 during launch, although we have personally seen packaged boxes with a price of Rs. 27,000/- . It is said that these phones were brought in the initial lot, before pricing was revised.

The booking form for registration, has been up on google.co.in/nexus for some time, hopefully not for much longer.

Stay tuned for updates.

Update :

The news of the Galaxy Nexus launch has been bothersome to a lot of people, especially those looking forward to buying one. There are several claims for the Nexus and we are unable to get a official quote from the company as to why its taking so long.

According to our sources, the company has got the stocks of the Nexus, but is speculating even placing the product in the market due to forex fluctuations. It could be possible that Samsung never launches the Galaxy Nexus in India (oh the disappointment), on the flip side : first week of March also seems like a probability.

We will get an update by the end of the week.

February 21, 2012
Intel ‘Lynx Point’ chipsets leaked

Intel plans on releasing Haswell architecture-based microprocessors, sometime in 2013, these chipsets will replace the existing Sandy Bridge lineup. The upcoming chipset plans have been leaked courtesy a chinese website. The new platform will be based on a new socket the LGA 1150 that will replace the existing LGA 1155 socket. Existing coolers will be compatible with the socket however the pin count will be different. The chipset will now handle only analog video signals, whereas the digital signals, like DisplayPort is moved to the CPU.

The chipset will support six USB 3.0 ports as well as power and performance optimizations for Rapid Storage Technology driver and vPro enhancements. The new design will cause less power consumption and hence less heat.

Intel has not confirmed any of these tidbits, so its safe to say that they can be had with a pick of salt and a late glass of soda to gulp it down, till the official announcement is made.

[ZOL]

February 20, 2012
Result : 32 % people would like a 4 inch Retina iPhone

There are always many rumors when it comes to Apple devices, especially the iPhone. Recently we asked you guys if you would like the screen size of the iPhone to be different from the existing 3.5 inch which has started to seem puny in front of ever increasing competition.

While only 12% argued that the screen size remains perfect, 17% said if the larger screen could be fit in the same size it would be impressive. 15% said that since its an iPhone 5 it should have a 5 inch screen, another 15 % aimed for the 4.3-4.9 inch bracket.

A whopping 32% sided with the 4inch idea, where if Apple would increase the size of the screen to 4 inches and retain the Retina it would make a perfect device.

Well we won’t know till Apple holds the event this year ( if at all ) But, lets hope that they do get a larger iPhone out this year.

[polldaddy poll=5881989]

February 17, 2012
Apple granted injunction in German patent suit against Motorola

Apple has been granted an injunction in the patent suit against Motorola at the German court. The case originally focused on three separate applications of this gesture tech two for phones and one for Tablets, but for now, the one used on the Xoom has been deemed outside of Apple’s purview. This win could cause a further blow to Moto’s already dying numbers. Apple has been in the front race this past year for their Patent wars on a number of handset manufacturers.

February 17, 2012
Messages Beta available for Mac OS X Lion

If you heard about the recent launch of the new OS X Mountain Lion from Apple, you would have heard of their iMessage client for Mac – messages. The folks at cupertino have seeded a beta download for all those on Mac Lion to preview and test out the upcoming Messages on OS X Mountain Lion. Hit the link below to begin the download if you are already on Lion.

[Apple]

February 17, 2012
Apple developers get Mac OS X Mountain Lion downloads

If you continue to stay on the Apple Developer program then you can have yourself a developer preview download of the new exciting Mac OS X Lion. The new versions of Reminders , messages , gatekeeper, Notification center and iCloud and sharing capabilities can be experienced in this preview. Hit the link below to sign into your member area and begin the download.

[Apple]

February 17, 2012
Apple shows off OS X Mountain Lion

Apple has already begun the next update cycle of the OS X platform with just over a year ago Apple unleashed OS X Lion on Mac owners. This time around the number is bumped to 10.8 and the name to Mountain Lion. The overall outlook of the OS remains the same with more integrations and basic app changes in tow.

The biggest add-on for the OS has to be the Notification centre that has been inspired from the iOS notification centre.

Notification Centre.

The spotlight icon on the far top right of the screen is replaced with a circle with a dot in the centre, which lights up when you receive a message or a notification even a calendar reminder.

Messages

The other major release in OS X mountain lain will be the replacement of iChat with messages, which will allow you to message all iOS devices on iMessage and other macs on Messages. Using the service, you can send messages, documents, HD videos and photos (up to 100MB apiece) to one person or several, using phone numbers or email addresses as points of contact. Messages on Mac still incorporates chat services like AIM and GChat. Messages sent through the service are encrypted, and the app also uses a notification to let you know when messages have been delivered / read.

Reminders

The next cool thing of our liking that has been ported from iOS to Mac is Reminders. For those who don’t know , this is more of a glorified to-do list. It will sync with iOS reminders keeping the seamless architecture intact.

Notes

Another addition to the Mac OS X Mountain Lion is the Notes app, which not only completely resembles the on on iOS but also syncs up with all your devices and email addresses via iCloud.

Apple has added deeper integration of iCloud on Mountain Lion, allowing users to sync up and back up more data, also allowing seamless interconnectivity with all other Apple devices owned by a user. The other additions to Lion include Airplay mirroring, integrated Game center and included sharing – allowing you to instantly share content from your desktop via email, message, AirDrop and third-party services like Twitter, Flickr and Vimeo.

February 17, 2012
Apple vs Samsung Heats up : new complaint : 17 devices infringe 8 patents.

With the old lawsuit not yet over, Apple has filed a new complaint that attack 18 new Samsung devices. According to Apple the devices infringe 8 patents that are currently owned by Apple. Four of the patents in question having been granted since the last time Apple filed suit against the Korean firm including missed call management, slide-to-unlock and data-syncing technology.

The devices infringing the patent include the new Galaxy Nexus along with all variants of the Galaxy SII, Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy Tab 8.9.

Looks like this battle is going to be a never ending one, or at least till cupertino gets some korean slaves in its undertone.

[Complaint (PDF)]

February 16, 2012
Hong Kong Court clears Apple in the Name Dispute

The Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in the Proview Technology vs Apple case, the former owns the iPad name in China. Apple claims that a Hong Kong court has sided with it in a similar battle

“Apple bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago, Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple.”

Proview’s lawyer said that the court ruled that the trademark couldn’t be sold to a third party before hearing ends, meaning that it has no real affect on the dispute in China. Its like one way or another Apple is surrounded by Lawsuits.

[China Daily]

February 16, 2012
Sony Ericsson split complete : Sony Mobile Communication is the new name
The big split is finally, final. Sony and Ericsson have finally spilt up, to name the new company Sony Mobile Communications. Sony has finally taken over Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson’s 50-percent stake in the pair’s former joint venture, reported to have cost €1.05 billion ($1.37 billion). The reports of this split started to appear in the last months of 2011.

PRESS RELESE :
- The previously announced divestment of Ericsson’s share of Sony Ericsson to Sony, including the broad IP cross-licensing agreement, completed on February 15, 2012
- Ericsson’s gain on the transaction will be approximately SEK 7.5 billion and reported as ‘Other operating income’
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has today completed the divestment of its 50 percent stake in Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (“Sony Ericsson”), including the broad IP cross-licensing agreement, jointly announced by Sony Corporation (“Sony”) and Ericsson on October 27, 2011. This makes Sony Ericsson a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. The agreed cash consideration for the transaction is EUR 1.05 billion.

Ericsson’s gain on the transaction will be approximately SEK 7.5 billion and will be reported in the first quarter result on April 25, 2012, as ‘Other operating income’ in the income statement.

[via]

[Sony]
February 16, 2012
Gartner: Apple leads, Android level dips

According to a recent report by Gartner Apple leads as the world’s top smartphone vendor by market share (19 percent), majorly thanks to the holiday quarter. During the season Apple sold some 35.5 million handsets to end users, a 121.4 percent increase from Q4 2010.

Apple now also overtook LG as the Third largest seller of mobile handsets with 7.4 percent market share in the past holiday quarter right behind Nokia (23.4 percent) and Samsung (19.4 percent).

[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]

Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Soared in Fourth Quarter of 2011

Apple Became Top Smartphone Vendor in Fourth Quarter of 2011 and in 2011 as a Whole

Egham, UK, February 15, 2012-

Worldwide smartphone sales to end users soared to 149 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 47.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. Total smartphone sales in 2011 reached 472 million units and accounted for 31 percent of all mobile devices sales, up 58 percent from 2010.

Smartphone volumes during the quarter rose due to record sales of Apple iPhones. As a result, Apple became the third-largest mobile phone vendor in the world, overtaking LG. Apple also became the world’s top smartphone vendor, with a market share of 23.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, and the top smartphone vendor for 2011 as a whole, with a 19 percent market share. “Western Europe and North America led most of the smartphone growth for Apple during the fourth quarter of 2011,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. “In Western Europe the spike in iPhone sales in the fourth quarter saved the overall smartphone market after two consecutive quarters of slow sales.”

The quarter saw Samsung and Apple cement their positions further at the top of the market as their brands and new products clearly stood out. LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Research In Motion (RIM) again recorded disappointing results as they struggled to improve volumes and profits significantly. These vendors were also exposed to a much stronger threat from the midrange and low end of the smartphone market as ZTE and Huawei continued to gain share during the quarter.

Worldwide mobile device sales to end users totaled 476.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 5.4 percent increase from the same period in 2010 (see Table 1). In 2011 as a whole, end users bought 1.8 billion units, an 11.1 percent increase from 2010 (see Table 2). “Expectations for 2012 are for the overall market to grow by about 7 percent, while smartphone growth is expected to slow to around 39 percent,” said Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, Nokia’s mobile phone sales numbered 111.7 million units, an 8.7 percent decrease from last year. “Samsung closed the gap with Nokia in overall market share,” said Ms. Cozza. “Samsung profited from strong smartphone sales of 34 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. The troubled economic environment in Europe and Nokia’s weakened brand status posed challenges that were hard to overcome in just one quarter. However, Nokia proved its ability to execute and deliver on time with its new Lumia 710 and 800 handsets. Nokia will have to continue to offer aggressive prices to encourage communications service providers (CSPs) to add its products to portfolios currently dominated by Android-based devices.”

Apple had an exceptional fourth quarter, selling 35.5 million smartphones to end users, a 121.4 percent increase year on year. Apple’s continued attention to channel management helped it take full advantage of the strong quarter to further close the gap with Samsung, which saw some inventory build up for its smartphone range. Apple’s strong performance will continue into the first quarter of 2012 as availability of the iPhone 4S widens. However, since Apple will not benefit from delayed purchases as it did in the fourth quarter of 2011, Gartner analysts expect its sales to decline quarter-on-quarter.

After Apple, ZTE and Huawei were the fastest-growing vendors in the fourth quarter of 2011. “These vendors expanded their market reach and kept on improving the user experience of their Android devices,” said Ms. Cozza.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, ZTE moved into fourth place in the global handset market. ZTE posted a strong smartphone sales increase of 71 percent sequentially. The company was able to extend its portfolio to three CSPs in its home market and benefited from consumers’ interest in low-cost smartphones. Huawei moved ahead of LG in the Android marketplace to become a top-four Android manufacturer, thanks to strong smartphone growth in the quarter. Huawei has made significant progress in moving to its own-branded devices, and it has continued to expand its portfolio into higher tiers as its tries to build more iconic products.

RIM dropped to the No. 7 spot in the fourth quarter of 2011, with a 10.7 percent decline. RIM’s delay with its BlackBerry 10 platform will further impair its ability to retain users. However, RIM’s biggest challenge is still to expand the developer base around its ecosystem and convince developers to work and innovate with BlackBerry 10.

In the smartphone OS market (see Table 3), competition between Google and Apple intensified. Android’s share declined slightly sequentially. This was due to strong iPhone sales, driven in particular by the iPhone 4S in mature markets and the weakness of key Android vendors as they struggled to create unique and differentiated devices. Samsung remained the main contributor to Android share gains in the second half of 2011. iOS’s market share grew 8 percentage points year-on-year, but Gartner analysts expect Apple’s share to drop in the next couple of quarters as the upgrade cycle to the iPhone 4S slows. Nokia’s first Windows Phone smartphones, the Lumia 710 and 800, made their debut, but, as expected, sales were not enough to prevent a fall in Microsoft’s smartphone market share.[/box]

February 16, 2012
Leaked : Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 is actually Galaxy Note 10.1

Holy unthinkable Batman! The next version of the Galaxy Tab which is supposedly coming out next month may actually turn out to be a large size Galaxy Note. A 10.1 inch tablet with a S-pen stylus.

The unconfirmed device was listed on the Samsung site, alongside the standard Note, Wave 3 and Wave Y as being highlighted at a developer event at MWC. Its possible that the total effect was a typo, But considering the overall response and success of the Galaxy Note it won’t be surprising that the company releases a larger tablet.

A ten inch tablet with a pen would do wonders for a user potentially attacking sales of the upcoming iPad 3. If this device was to exist, we call out a quad core processor, a high def screen Android 4.0.1 and a newer version of Touch Wiz UI. But hey there is no harm in hoping, right?

February 16, 2012
Samsung launches Galaxy Ace Duos , Y Duos and Y Pro Duos in India

Samsung has finally brought the three well awaited phones to the Indian market, the Y duos and Y pro duos are dual sim versions of the existing Y and Y pro, with a slight bit of difference between the two the physical keyboard, a 2.6-inch LQVGA display and 1,350mAh battery in the Galaxy Y Pro Duos. Both devices feature 832MHz processor, Android 2.3 OS, 3MP fixed-focus camera, front-facing VGA camera (Pro Duos only), TouchWiz UI, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Samsung Apps, Social Hub and ChatON support. Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos are priced at Rs. 10,490 and Rs. 11,090 respectively.

The Ace Duos will feature CDMA/GSM capability with active standby. Powered by an 832MHz processor, Android 2.3 OS, 3.5-inch HVGA display, EVDO Rev. A support and 1650mAh battery. It is priced at Rs. 16,900.

Finally a commendable CDMA/GSM phone from a promising vendor.

February 15, 2012