Tech Readers » Mobiles

Samsung Confirms Separate Launch Event for Galaxy S III

Mikey Mell — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:10:53 +0000

As expected, Samsung Galaxy S III is not going to launch at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress. Samsung has recently issued a statement claiming that the new device will be launched at a separate dedicated launch event.

The official statement that confirms Samsung intentions is released by Techradar saying:

“Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012.

The successor to the GALAXY S II smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.

Samsung stays committed to providing the best possible mobile experiences for customers around the world.”

It was just recently reported the South Korean electronics giant was ‘still reviewing’ the launch of the Galaxy S III. The Senior Vice President of Marketing, Younghee Lee while answering a question during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call, said that the company is ‘still reviewing’ when to launch the next model of its most successful Galaxy range. Lee was also asked whether the company has any intentions to delay a launch to coincide with the release of Apple’s next generation iPhone.

Sources close to the company said that although Samsung continues to enjoy the prosperity of its current smartphone range, it figured out to launch its flagship handset at a dedicated launch event would be more advantageous. The recent announcement fully conforms to company’s plans to launch its next smartphone at dedicated launch event.

Sources have also suggested that Samsung while enjoying healthy sales with its Galaxy S II all over the world, the company will never opt to cannibalize sales of a product that is already doing well in the market against strong competition. It is also obvious through the Samsung’s anti-Apple marketing campaign that the company is not afraid of promoting its current range of smartphone.

We can expect to have new Samsung tablet and smartphone devices in the upcoming Mobile World Congress at Barcelona, but Samsung’s next flagship smartphone device won’t be revealed until later in the year in some dedicated launch event.

Samsung Galaxy S Advance Features Dual-Core and a 4-inch Screen

Mikey Mell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:01:30 +0000

Samsung is planning to launch to launch its new smartphone handset in Philippines, named the Galaxy S Advance GT-i9070.

Reportedly, the handset will be Samsung’s mid-range smartphone with a curved, 4-inch, and 800 × 480 pixel display. The device has a dual-core processor and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash.

Currently, the device is running Android 2.3.6 (codenamed: Gingerbread). Samsung hopes to reveal its new handset at forthcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. We also hope that the device will be upgradable to Google’s latest mobile operating system Android 4.0 (codenamed: Ice Cream Sandwich or ICS).

Also, there was a recent leak at the company’s website that forced us to believe that the South Korean electronics giant will also reveal another new flagship device, the Galaxy S III, in the same event. However, company has not yet disclosed any details about this mysterious handset device.

The Galaxy S Advance has been officially confirmed by the company. The company said that the device will feature a storage memory up to 16GB. The device will also have a support for HSPA and features 768MB of RAM.

The most unfortunate thing about this device is perhaps it is running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Though, there are high chances of possible upgrade to Android 4.0. The device will be launched in Russia next month. Later, the global rollout will continue to Europe, China, Africa, Middle East, Southeast and Southwest Asia, and Latin America. No plans to launch Galaxy S Advance in United States. Samsung has not said anything about its price yet.

If you want to have a look at the Samsung’s new smartphone, the Galaxy S Advance, you can visit hardwarezone.com.ph.

Nokia to Push Retail for Lumia Line

Mikey Mell — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:43:17 +0000

Steven Elop, CEO of Nokia announced that the company is planning to battle both iOS and Android handsets. The company is also devising a new strategy that it is going to employ in the United States. We are in fact talking about how the Lumia handsets will be processed in a retail setting.

The advice or guidance is an important step that a customer will get when he/she approaches a sales representative at a carrier outlet and asking what smartphone should select. Here two factors are extremely important, cash and opinion. A sales representative who is an Android fan will most probably not recommend an iPhone or any other smartphone to customer. In addition to this, there are several OEMs put a payout on their phones, presenting any salesperson ten dollars or so if they sale their product. It is a common practice than you might even think.

Steven Elop had this to say on a call:

We need to increase the engagement of the retail sales associates in the stores, because it is the retail associate who speaks with our consumers and puts the Lumia device in their hands. For example, in the United Kingdom, where competitive ecosystems are firmly entrenched, we have seen mixed retail execution around Lumia devices with a range of results among different locations, different chains, different stores and so on.

What actually Elop means by saying this is to develop a strong bond with retail employees, or else they will strangle the sales of new smartphones. The Redmond-based software giant has some similar sort of thoughts as well. We already know that the company has programs to lead a $200 million push for Windows Phone in US.

A per-unit sales incentive for retail employees that sell a Windows Phone handset. This, a solution of a sort to the ‘last mile’ issue that has long plagued the smartphone line, could be the largest functional change to the sales prospects of Windows Phone that we have yet heard of. By directly making Windows Phone more attractive to salespeople, Microsoft et al is using cash to buy friends, a strategy that works so long as the money keeps coming; $200 million goes a long way.

Both Nokia and Microsoft believes that money can buy you love, the Beatles be damned. The goal of both the companies is also same, sell oodles of Windows Phones. The memory is in place, handsets are just about competitive, and the final challenge is to boost off the marketing campaign about the handsets. This year could possibly be the year of Windows Phone.

Samsung Still Reviewing the Launch of Galaxy S III

Mikey Mell — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:11:46 +0000

Mobile World Congress is just around the corner and rumors begin to surface regarding the Samsung’s new flagship device launch, the Galaxy S III.

Younghee Lee, Senior Vice President of Marketing in Samsung said that the company is ‘still reviewing’ when will be the next model of one of its super-successful range of Galaxy S smartphones revealed. However, company still not overrules the option to launch its device in the forthcoming mobile-focused event in Barcelona.

A recording has been shared by Sammyhub regarding earnings call in which Mrs. Lee responds to questions about the launch of the Galaxy S III in regards to rivaling Apple’s next generation smartphone.

However, there are reports surfaced previously hinting the delayed launch of the Galaxy S III expected at Mobile World Congress:

It’s unclear when or where the new announcement will be, but we’re told that it’ll still be out there “before summer.”

The information seems to fall in line with what we’ve been hearing, but the South Korean company might not choose to postpone the launch of its product.

According to sources, Samsung where enjoying the popularity and success of its current smartphone range, it also thinks that launching its latest flagship device at a dedicated launch event would be even more favorable for it.

Estimates shows that the South Korean electronics titan has shipped about 36.35 million smartphones in previous quarter that helped company to announce record fourth quarter operating profits of 5.3 trillion won ($4.72 billion) which was 76% up from the last year.

It seems that the company is a bit ambivalent about the launch of its latest smartphone, which means that we cannot ignore the possibility of change in plan. Meanwhile, analysts have suggested that Apple’s concerned iPhone 4S launch in China could possibly influence iPhones sales in the first quarter, giving Samsung a chance to continue to offer its Galaxy S II and Galaxy Nexus to boost sales.

Analysts Appraise Nokia Sold Approximately 1.3 Million Lumia Phones

Mikey Mell — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:17:18 +0000

Regardless of the company, estimates are always handy to have a fair idea of how the company is progressing. These estimates from analysts become even more important when they belong to any major firm, such as Apple, Nokia or Microsoft. Here in this report, we are going to see what analysts are predicting about the sales of Nokia’s Windows Phone Lumia.

Rather than analyzing the progress of the Finnish company with its Lumia handsets over a single analyst, we have compared estimates from different analysts which are ranged from 800,000 to 2 million. However, Bloomberg based its report on the predictions made by 22 analysts, suggesting that Nokia sold 1.3 million handsets all over the world to carriers and retailers by the end of last year.

Initially, a good number of experts disregarded the Espoo-based company, while many considered its decision of selling Windows Phone a big gamble. However, worldwide market responded quite well to the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710.

Official numbers are yet not disclosed by the company, though analysts believe that anything above 1 million for the two Windows Phone handsets within a span of two months is certainly impressive. The growth puts the Finnish company back on the track and also helps clearing up the doubts of investors as well.

RIM’s co-CEOs Exit, Former COO Takes the Authority

Mikey Mell — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:55:21 +0000

Research in Motion, a struggling Canadian mobile company is going to get a major change in leadership as its much defamed co-CEOs Jim Ballsillie and Mike Lazaridis are quitting, according to The Wall Street Journal. This is certainly big news coming out of the Waterloo-based company. The former COO of the company, Throsten Heins will be one replacing the co-CEOs.

It’s been quite some time that company’s board of directors and major stock holders calling up for the move. RIM was once the big name in the smartphone industry, but now it accounts for only 6% of the market share all over the world.

Both Lazaridis and Ballsillie remained in job for more than 20 years. However, both will remain the directors of the company for the fact that they hold big shares of the company.

Heins will certainly have its own plan for the company. RIM has been under a lot of trouble after getting a bad publicity over the recent few years because of certain missed dates and poor product performance as in case of PlayBook. One can clearly suggest that the company is handing over its enterprise market to Apple on a silver platter.

The company has made couple of other changes to the board as well – appointing new member Prem Wastsa, the CEO of Fairfax Financial, a large RIM shareholder. However, he cleared that he was not included in the ones who expelled out Lazaridis and Ballsillie.

The Globe and Mail reports that Heins has its own plans regarding the future of the company and one such act would be to appoint new CMO. Heins said “It’s a fantastic growth story and it’s not coming to an end. What you will see with me is rigour and flawless execution.”

Now the question arises, whether Heins will be able to bring back the lost image of the company. The company closed at $17 per share on Friday, which is over $50 down from its 52 week high. There are rumors surfacing over the recent few days that the company is considering to sell out Samsung.

For now all eyes are on the Heins and he is pretty hopeful to take company back to its lost status. Here is what RIM’s new CEO has to say:

iPhone 4S Launch Pushes iOS Market Share by 20%

Mikey Mell — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:25:12 +0000

The marketing firm Nielsen recently released some results that reveal that since the launch of iPhone 4S back on October 2011, Apple has seen a massive growth in its iOS market share in the last quarter. However, Android did have a stronghold on the mobile market in that month with a striking 61.6% shares, but its shares dropped sharply to stand at 46.9% in the month December because of a rapid growth of iOS, the market share of which rose to 20%.

AppleInsider claims that the mobile platform of Cupertino-based Company peaked at 44.5% in market share that put both Android and iOS in a strong competition.

The Cupertino tech giant is trying hard through its popular iPhone handset to minimize the gap, but Android still manages to remain one of the most sought-after mobile platforms among the Americans. Yet, it seems that Apple is not of much concerned about its Waterloo-based rival.

Research in Motion known for introducing BlackBerry seems to be much affected as its progress continues to decline over the past few months or so. Its market share was decreased to stand as low as 4.5% in the month of December compared to its 7.7% share recorded three months earlier. The rest of the 5% are shared by the mobile platforms including Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile platforms, Nokia’s Symbian and HP’s webOS.

Instagram Client Coming to Windows Phone

Mikey Mell — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:22:08 +0000

A good number of people having smartphones are interested in capturing photographs and sharing photos with their mates. It won’t be surprising to tell you that majority of apps in different app stores and marketplaces reside in the photo and video sharing category. One such most popular app that you must be familiar with is Instagram, which is available in the app stores for free.

The application is available in the iOS App Store. It supports iPhone, iPad and iPod touch which are running iOS version 3.1.2 or above. Instagram is marked as one of the earliest apps that let users to take photographs and add several different filters to them before sharing it across the Instagram network for people to view, like, and comment on them. Moreover, there are extra features available to create a profile that in turn enables users to share the photographs to popular social networking sites, such as Twitter, Flickr and Facebook.

The application is available only on iOS devices at the moment, though there are other apps available for other mobile OS, but those don’t let users to share photographs on other social networks. There is good news for those who are in possession of Windows Phone and like the Instagram application.

According to WPcentral, Bill Simser, a developer is working on a process that will bring an Instagram application to Windows Phone handsets. It is said that his version of application will named as ‘Metrogram’, which suggests that the version, however, is an official one. Earlier, it was rumored that Simser is hired by the company to port Instagram app to Windows Phone, but recent reports telling a completely different story.

A tweet from developer describes the unofficial version of the app as a ‘fully functional’ client that initially forced us to believe that we are dealing with a fully functional app enabling users to deal with all of the options we see in the official application. Another developer M. Saleh Esmaelli indicates that the Instagram API only lets developers to create viewing-only apps.

Despite the fact that the Metrogram will offer Windows Phone users a viewing-only experience. What makes the whole thing more shocking is the time developer took to produce Metrogram as the tweet suggests:

58 minutes later an a new wp7 Instagram client is born. I think that’s a record for me” “Writing the Instagram client for #wp7 has been so freaking easy. 2 hours and I have a fully functional client.

We are expecting to have more information to be released soon by the developer. Stay tuned.

China Mobile’s App Store Hits 150 Million Users

Mikey Mell — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:51:27 +0000

China Mobile is the world largest carrier company and it is still growing in size. According to recent figures announced by the operator, the company’s Mobile Market (MM) app store is not something to be ignored either. The announcement clearly shows that it had 150 million registered users in November 2011, reports Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting.

Regardless of the fact that the operator managed to hit 149 million users, Mobile Market experienced a decline in growth in November, however, it still managed to see massive 10 million new users during that month. Currently, MM houses 102,000 games and apps on sale and until now these have been downloaded 490 million times. Over 30 million items were downloaded from the store in the month of November alone.

A good number of items downloaded are priced around 3RMB ($0.50) or free. Such items made up for 87% of the total purchases/downloads in November. However, the average cost of a download was 2 RMB ($0.30) that goes up to 6.3 RMB ($1) for games and goes as low as 0.8 RMB ($0.13) for theme apps.

The app store of China Mobile is standard in China and a good number of smartphones users visit through a range of sources to have apps of their choice. However, the industry titans like Apple and Android Market already had problems in the country. Android Market previously encountered web access problems, while Apple’s app store was banned in for the Chinese users for some time.

It is the 640 million subscribers that make the operator world’s largest operator, and the company announced earlier that it is planning to extend its app store to reach users all across the country.

It was rumored earlier by Distimo that Apple is quickly growing in the region, whereas Flurry revealed that the mobile users in the country are the world’s second largest downloaders, after the US, and have seen an annual increase of about 870 percent. If we consider the recent figures that reveals that China has surpassed US market to become the world’s largest smartphone market, this increase won’t appear to be surprise for us.

In order to make its App Store more accessible to Chinese customers, Apple has included support for pre-payments and the Chinese Renminbi. This clearly shows Apple’s intentions to get maximum advantage out of this potential market.

The recent reports of Apple’s bringing its most popular smartphone in the country will certainly keep the Chinese smartphone market to grow. We also cannot forget the role of Apple’s mid- and low-range devices in a competition against the products of competitors.

Nokia Introduces a Luna Bluetooth Headset

Mikey Mell — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:15:25 +0000

There are many who really don’t like the idea to use Bluetooth headsets devices. Using a wired headset or a phone to your ear while driving, certainly not liked by many and therefore don’t practice it all particularly when they are driving.

Although, in the prevailing conditions, it is not possible to stay out of reach to the important calls, it is preferred to have a headset device which is small enough, look impressive and function fairly smoothly. Nokia realizing the problems faced by many has planned to launch the Nokia Luna Headset, a new headset device designed to entertain its new Lumia range of smartphones. The device is scheduled to launch by the end of this month.

The Luna is in fact a little triangular unit that boasts a 2-hour talk time and resides into a base that offers an extra 6 hours talk of charge, lifting your total mobile talk time up to 8 hours. The entire kit uses Micro-USB to recharge.

Moreover, the Nokia Luna headset has support for 2.1 + EDR, Handsfree profile 1.5 and Headset Profile 1.1 advanced multipoint, which means users will be able to connect multiple handsets to a single device, if users choose to do so.

It is available in a number of different colors to suit users’ choice, including white, black, yellow, and fuchsia. The initial price set for the Luna is $79 and scheduled to hit the US market by the end of this month.

(Video Courtesy: The Next Web)

Hands-On with the HTC Titan II

Mikey Mell — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:36:57 +0000

HTC has announced its latest LTE-enabled Windows Phone, HTC Titan II. The most prominent feature of the smartphone is its 16-megapixel camera. This feature is more than enough to draw the attention of the crowd from the Microsoft keynote.

The current release is in fact an upgrade over its predecessor HTC Titan, which was released last year. It is first of its kind featuring LTE and running Microsoft’s smartphone operating system. The Titan II sports a 4.7-inch WVGA Super LCD display, dual cameras (12-megapixel primary camera on the rear, while 1.3-megapixel secondary camera on the front for video calling). The handset device features a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor.

The 12-megapixel camera is offered with a host of attractive features, such as a 28mm f2.6 wide-angle lens, autofocus, image stabilization, a panorama mode for landscapes, a burst shot mode, red-eye reduction and a dual-LED flash. Moreover, it only takes 720p and not 1080p video.

For heavy multimedia and Internet users, the LTE support will make this handset a top choice for them as this will offer super fast data transfer on AT&T network.

If you hold the Titan II in your hand, it feels really good. Its aluminum casing and impressive speaker bar gives it a smooth feel. Moreover, the device has perfect weight, neither too heavy nor too light. It’s is just about perfect. Frankly speaking, Titan II is one of the best devices produced by HTC.

According to HTC, the Titan II will hit the shelves in the coming months and is available through AT&T network. The pricing plan of the device has not yet been disclosed by the company.

We have embedded a video below that will give you a better idea of the HTC’s new smartphone device Titan II. Let us have a look at it:

(Video Courtesy: The Next Web)

Microsoft Roll Outs Windows Phone Update

Mikey Mell — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:09:39 +0000

In order to address some of the most common bugs in its mobile OS, Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows Phone update.

In a blog post, the company announced that it is rolling out its new Windows Phone update, 8107, beginning this week.

The new update includes a fix for six issues including the one that avoids the touchscreen keyboard from vanishing at times when typing a text. Moreover, with the latest update, users will be able to send their information to local Wi-Fi hotspots. Earlier reports suggest that the information was automatically sent previously.

Some other improvements made include an update to the Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server for Email and to the digital certificates and encryption issues. It has also been noticed that update information is no longer provided to users through the website.

General Manager of Customer Experience Engineering for Microsoft, Eric Hautala said, “In the months ahead, we’ll continue to send out firmware and maintenance updates as needed. These will be available across the globe — although not everybody will receive or require them. It depends on your country, carrier and phone model. But remember that you’ll never have to guess when a Windows Phone update is waiting: Just watch for the pop up notification on your device.”

It seems that carriers will have to request update information to be pushed out to customer as Hautala explained, “The update, available to all carriers that request it, is part of our ongoing maintenance of Windows Phone.”

The Redmond Company is also preparing to announce its T-Mobile Lumia 710, which will hit the shelves in United States somewhere this week. The device will be launched with a price tag of $100 and is supposed to target the budget-minded smartphone consumers in the US. It is also entitled for a $50 rebate.

The Nokia Lumia 900 and The Ace are Same

Mikey Mell — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:47:03 +0000

We have encountered a lot of reports regarding Nokia upcoming Nokia Lumia 900 and Nokia Ace. Until now, we were not clear whether these are two separate devices or the two names given to a single device. What we have come to know that Nokia Lumia 900 and Nokia Ace are in fact same device. This brings an end to rapidly surfacing rumors and speculations.

To remind you, the Ace is an LTE enabled handset scheduled to hit US market via AT&T earlier this year. More than likely, Nokia will reveal this handset at CES and may also announce the formal launch date of the device. As for today, PocketNow revealed the claimed specifications for the Ace. Remember, from now on every mention of the Ace will also mean Nokia Lumia 900. The expected specs in the Ace are:

Instead of Tango, the handset will launch with Mango operating system.
A 4.3-inch WVGA display
512 MB of RAM
8 megapixel camera
Will be unlockable to work on T-Mobile 3G
As thick as the Lumia 800

Its larger display clearly suggests that the handset is larger one. According to Nokia, the Ace is supposed to be a completely new, high-end handset, merging the specs of both Lumia 800 and the low-end Lumia 710. The intentions of Nokia with the launch of the Ace are to have a complete range of devices that the company can sell at a different price ranges. All we are waiting for the CES event. Stay tuned with us as we will bring more information straight through the event.

LTE-Capable Windows Phone Launch Scheduled For Next Year

Mikey Mell — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:31:07 +0000

A good majority of people don’t prefer to go for Windows Phone platform. It is a little unfortunate for the platform that people don’t even give it a chance over other OS. Perhaps, the major reason for this is that majority of the customers equate cost with quality and in this sense Windows Phone are inexpensive.

It seems that Redmond Company has taken this into consideration and planning to launch some higher-end devices in the coming year.

Microsoft and its partners will reportedly launch three new LTE-capable Windows Phones earlier next year, reports WinSupersite’s Paul Thurrott (it has yet to disclose the sources, but also ensures that the news is authentic).

The three LTE-capable devices will include the Nokia Ace, HTC Radiant and Samsung Mendel, which are all run on AT&T’s 4G LTE network during the first half of 2012, with Ace hitting the market on March 18. Similarly, Thurrott also reports that the recently introduced Nokia Lumia 710, which doesn’t support 4G LTE, will arrive at Verizon camp in April, just three months after hitting T-Mo shelves in January 2012.

However, factually speaking, we don’t have much information available regarding the new LTE Windows Phone, such as “Will they run Mango or Tango?” The leaked road map about the Microsoft’s plans provided by WMPoweruser indicates that Apollo is nowhere near to make its debut until late 2012. It is also not clear whether the next line of Windows Phone would be eligible for Tango update or not.

Whatever the approach Microsoft used, the good thing is that the company is now ready to take on Android with LTE support. If this is going to be true, then Apple would be the last to offer 4G LTE network support in its iOS devices.

Fix for Windows Phone 7 SMS Bug in Works

Mikey Mell — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:46:30 +0000

Windows Phone fans will be glad to know that Microsoft security team has successfully found the root cause of the SMS bug annoying a good number of Windows Phones users. The team is currently testing the fix – a sigh of relief for all those Windows Phone owners who are experiencing SMS problems.

The bug is in fact a received text that not only reboots your handset but also damage its ‘Messaging’ hub. The bug is really very annoying for the users. Users began to report this bug somewhere in the middle of this month and within few days Microsoft has announced that it seems that we are close to solution of the problem. However, the company don’t announce when actually the fix will be available.

Such types of issues not only damage the image of the company but also results in a huge question mark on company’s future prospects., such as any such thing will cause people to think how long will it be repeated in the products in future and they feel reluctant in buying company’s products, particularly for the companies which are smaller and younger in the market.

What we are expecting that Microsoft will hopefully complete its testing of the fix by this week and we can perhaps be able to see the release of the fix to the Windows Phone 7 users by the start of New Year. This may be far too late for the users affected by the bug, but Microsoft is certainly quick enough to respond to the complaints lodged by affectees of the SMS bug. It is also important to note here that not all the Windows Phone users are experiencing this problem. The SMS bug is bothering only a number of WP7 users.

Samsung Likely to Launch Galaxy S III in February

Mikey Mell — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:50:35 +0000

Samsung, the Korean electronics giant is allegedly planning to announce the successor to its Galaxy S II in form of Galaxy S III. The new Android-powered smartphone is hoped to launch at the upcoming Mobile World Congress event together with the new 3D-capable devices in the Q1 of 2012.

According to ETNews, Samsung will more likely opt to announce its Galaxy S line in Barcelona, almost exactly the same time it launched its Galaxy S II just year ago. Galaxy S II is the world’s most successful Android-powered handset up to now.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is assumed to launch with a quad-core processing technology and most likely be entertained with 3D technology because the Korean company is working hard to differentiate its handsets from Apple’s most popular iPhone. If the company introduces its new smartphone at MWC, one can expect to have Galaxy S III by the second quarter in 2012.

It is also assumed that the 3D photo and video recording capabilities will likely be introduced in supplementary Samsung smartphones in the coming year, referred to as Galaxy S 3D. This will allow users to stream their content on their televisions. This product is also assumed to make its debut in the Q2 of 2012.

The report is nothing more than a rumor at this stage, but we cannot deny the fact that the Samsung introduced the Galaxy S II in the similar event earlier this year. We can’t completely rule out the possibility of Samsung bringing its new smartphone in the event. Stay tuned.

LG Announces Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS Upgrade Schedule

Mikey Mell — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:11:18 +0000

LG has finally announced the schedule for upgrading its portfolio of Android handsets to Google’s latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. According to the company, the worldwide upgrade will start in the Q2 and Q3 of 2012 and will be rollout globally short after.

The upgrade will begin with the LG Optimus LTE, Prada phone by LG 3.0, the LG Optimus 2X, the LG Optimus Sol, the LG my Touch Q and the LG Eclipse in the second quarter of next year. Shortly after the upgrade of the above mentioned handsets, the upgrade will begin for the LG Optimus 3D, the LG Optimus Black, the LG Optimus Big, the LG Optimus Q2 and the LG Optimus EX in the third quarter of 2012.

LG said in an announcement that it is working hard to make sure that the upgrade will be smooth and available at the scheduled time. However, the beginning of upgrade will vary from market to market for the fact that each and every market has different requirements, based on their carriers and smartphone models offered.

It is important to note here that LG has not mentioned any of the American versions of these handsets, including T-Mobile G2x, AT&T Thrill 4G and Nitro HD. It is not yet known when these handsets will able to get their share of OS upgrade.

LG through its statement say thanks to its customers for their loyalty and support. It also said that the exact dates will be announced before the beginning of the ICS OS upgrade. We will get back to you as soon as LG release any further details. Stay tuned.

Nokia Opens Pre-Orders for Lumia 800 in South Korea

Mikey Mell — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 07:09:30 +0000

Chosunilbo reports that Nokia and Microsoft have started taking pre-orders for the new Lumia 800 in South Korea. Both the companies are inclined to take the advantage of the potential smartphone market of the country.

Interestingly, the gadget will be the first Mango-based phone to arrive in the region on December 26. The KT Telecom is the only carrier to launch Windows Phone 7 in the region under its deal with Nokia.

Another report surfaced earlier this week claiming that Microsoft is also testing its device in the China. This is pretty much in line with Nokia’s and Microsoft’s intentions to release the device in more and more Asian countries before the end of this year. It is important to note here that Nokia has already launched its Lumia 800 last month.

The interesting fact about the device is it comes with 4G LTE mobile technology and customer will have to make a wise decision to choose between different available options such as Apple and other foreign companies. Another noticeable point is that Apple and other available manufacturers are not yet able to launch LTE support in their devices. So, customers have to make smart decision between the locally made LTE-supporting phone and modern western devices.

In addition to this, the Korean electronics giant Samsung is also offering 4G LTE technology support in a number of its smartphones, such as Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II HD. It is also rumored that Nokia is planning to launch its LTE-supported Lumia lineup in the US market as well, though it is not yet clear exactly when. LTE devices at the moment have an edge over the iPhone devices which is yet failed to bring next generation network support in it.

Apple’s App Store Now Worth More Than RIM

Mikey Mell — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:28:12 +0000

The BlackBerry manufacturer RIM (Research in Motion) seems to be in lot of trouble for recent few months. The company failed to produce a feasible smartphone competitor for the market. Also, recent outages further pushed the company to the new lows. To confirm this, Brain Hall recently reveals that Apple’s App Store alone worth more than RIM.

According to Hall, the current share price of RIM stands at $13.44, with total estimated worth stood at $7.04 billion. Moreover, Hall also highlight the fact that Apple worth over $354 billion at the moment. This clearly suggests that the Cupertino Company worth about 50 times more than the Canadian smartphone maker.

If we consider the analytics from Trefis, it gives us a clear picture of iTunes and App Store revenues that hardly make 2% of Apple’s total market, while App Store alone accounts for $7.08 billion to Apple’s entire market – slightly over RIM’s.

Hall describes it as:

Harder to believe is that the App Store is probably worth more than Blackberry. All of Blackberry. Just the App Store. Nothing else. Not the iPhone or iPod. Not Mac. Just the App Store.

It was the last quarter that revealed the real picture of the RIM’s progress. According to RIM, it hardly managed to sell 150,000 BlackBerry Playbooks during the last quarter. The company also announced that its next generation BlackBerry 10-powered smartphones won’t be available until late next year.

Contrary to this, Apple manages to sell over 11 million iPads in last quarter, which forced RIM’s investors to review their investment plans for investing in RIM.

A comparison between the two companies certainly suggests that RIM has to work really hard to gain its lost market. It has to perform well in every quarter to regain the lost trust of users in its product range. However, the survival of the company is at stake and it has to introduce a row of alternative measures before the arrival of the BlackBerry 10 to ensure its presence in the smartphone market.

It is the time to realize that the competition is getting harder and harder with each passing day. Companies which don’t keep face with the changing scenario of the market will certainly be pushed out by the rival manufacturers.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Available on Verizon for $299.99

Mikey Mell — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:46:38 +0000

The long awaited Samsung Galaxy Nexus is finally official as the Samsung’s latest Galaxy Nexus smartphone’s orders have gone live on Verizon website. The smartphone is available with a two-year contract at $299.99.

The latest smartphone from Samsung has a support for 4G LTE network, which means that the lucky users will be able to download data rate of 5 to 12 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload data at rate of 2 to 5 Mbps. However, the 4G LTE network is only available at the selected states at the moment. In layman terms, the users will be able to get the Internet speed similar to what they get for home broadband with 4G LTE.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus features Google’s latest mobile operating system Android 4.0 (codenamed: Ice Cream Sandwich). Other than that, the smartphone sports a 4.65-inch, 1280×720, Super AMOLED HD display; 0.01 MS response time; 1.2 GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4460 processor; 1GB of RAM; 16GB or 32GB internal storage; dual cameras – 5-megapixel rear camera, capable of 1080p video and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera; built-in image stabilization; NFC; Accelerometer; Compass; Gyro; and Barometer.

Apart from two-year contract subscription, users are required to opt for a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan with pricing plan starting from $39.99 per month. Also, users are required to choose a data plan that priced at a minimum $30 per month for 2GB of data.

Users are required to apply a bit of mathematics to figure out the total expenses they need to spend on new Galaxy Nexus. We have done calculations for our users to make their task easy. The total amount of sum you need to have a Galaxy Nexus is $1979.75, or $82.48 per month, exclusive of taxes and fees. Smartphones are expensive, so be prepared to spend some money if you are willing to have a smartphone for you.

Tech Readers » Mobiles

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