Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top mobile phone carrier, and its smaller rival Aircel separately said they would launch Apple's iPhone 4 in India in the coming months. Bharti and Vodafone Essar already sell earlier models of the iPhone in India. With nearly 800 million mobile subscribers, India is the world's second-biggest market for mobile phone services and is also the fastest-growing. But smartphones are estimated to account for just over 5 percent of the mobile handset sales. Indian carriers have recently started rolling out high-speed third-generation (3G) mobile networks, which is expected to boost sales of smart-phones. As of end-February, Bharti had 159 million mobile subscribers, while Aircel had 53.5 million.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The world's largest phone maker by volume, Nokia, has unveiled two new smartphone models running on a new version of its Symbian software platform. The new models, the E6 and the X7, will go on sale for 340 euros ($491.6) and 380 euros respectively excluding subsidies and taxes, later this quarter. In February, Nokia's new chief executive Stephen Elop dumped Symbian software - which lost most of its lead on the smartphone market last year - saying the company would instead use Microsoft Corp's unproven software as its primary platform. Elop compared Symbian to a burning platform in a widely leaked internal memo, saying it was not good enough for Nokia's future. Nokia unveiled a new version of Symbian software, with new icons, improved text input, faster Internet browsing and a refreshed Ovi Maps application. "Several Nokia executives have attempted to walk back from Elop's February comments and limit the damage he did to Symbian products. It's just a bit too late to put Humpty Dumpty back together. Developers are bailing out in droves," said Tero Kuittinen, analyst at MKM Partners.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Acer's first tablet based on Google's Android 3.0 OS will ship later this month for US$449. The Acer Iconia Tab A500 will have a 10.1-inch screen and Wi-Fi capabilities and will ship for the U.S. market on April 24, an Acer spokeswoman said. The A500's price is lower than the $499 entry-level price for Apple's iPad 2. Acer has said that the A500 will ship worldwide starting in April. The company has also announced an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) version of the A500 and a W500 model that will run Windows 7. Shipment dates for the tablets were not disclosed. The company announced the shipment date for the Acer Iconia Tab a week after President and CEO Gianfranco Lanci resigned over disagreements with the board about the company's future direction. Analysts said reasons for Lanci's resignation included the company's unwavering commitment to the PC market and lack of aggression expanding in the burgeoning tablet market. The Iconia Tab A500 was first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January. The tablet is powered by a Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor running at 1GHz, a chip that is also used in Motorola's Xoom and LG's G-Slate tablets. The Tegra processor has a powerful graphics core that will allow users to play high-definition games and 1080p video, Acer said in a statement. Users will be able to watch 720p video on the tablet, with an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) port to connect to TVs to watch 1080p video. The tablet will handle up to eight hours of gaming or high-definition video time, or 10 hours of Wi-Fi Internet browsing, on one battery charge, Acer said. The A500 weighs around 1.69 pounds (0.76 kilograms) and measures 0.52 inches at its thinnest point. It includes a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 16GB of internal storage and a Micro SD card slot for up to 32GB of extended storage. The Android 3.0 OS is Google's tablet operating system with a specialized user interface optimized for larger screens. The OS lets users navigate back and forth between multiple applications and has features that enable tablets to be used as gaming consoles.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The difference between Sprint's two prepaid brands, Boost and Virgin Mobile, just got a little more confusing with the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, a midrange CDMA Android smartphone for Boost. The Prevail is a bit like a stripped-down version of one of Samsung's popular Galaxy S smartphones. Like the Galaxy S line, it's a sleek black plastic slab running Android 2.2. But all the specs are knocked down a notch: there's a 3.2-inch, 320-by-480 screen, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 2GB MicroSD card for storage. The lower specifications let Sprint sell the phone for less: $179.99 prepaid, with Boost's $50 unlimited plan on Sprint's 3G network. Even better, for every six months a customer pays on time, Boost reduces the monthly fee by $5 until it's only $35. This is very competitive with devices like the LG Optimus M and LG Optimus C on MetroPCS and Cricket's $40-50/month unlimited plans. Sprint's two prepaid brands, Boost and Virgin, differ in tone but they also used to differ in technology. Boost ran iDen phones with the Nextel push-to-talk system; Virgin ran CDMA phones on Sprint's nationwide network. Boost then started getting CDMA phones, but Virgin got some smartphones, which appeared to shift their focus into Boost being a more talk/text-centric versus Virgin being a more data-heavy brand.
Quark has announced a 30-day Test Drive of QuarkXPress 9, the upcoming new version of its flagship page-layout and graphic design software. The test drive is available for download from Quark's Website. With the evaluation software which is actually the gold master shipping version that will be commercially available on April 26th, users can try out the new features of QuarkXPress 9 before committing to a purchase. Any projects created in the Test Drive version will be compatible with the retail version of QuarkXPress 9, which will cost $799. Upgrades from QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 7 are $299. The software will be available for purchase through authorized Quark resellers and through the Quark Store. The Test Drive software is fully functional for 30 days, and includes the ability to save and print, as well as open QuarkXPress documents from version 3 and above. After 30 days (or beginning on April 26th), users will be able to convert the Test Drive version into a full retail copy by purchasing QuarkXPress 9 and entering their validation code. QuarkXPress 9 features new tools for advanced design automation as well as the ability to create content for delivery to digital devices like the iPad. Within 90 days of April 26th, App Studio for QuarkXPress 9 will also be available as a free update to all QuarkXPress 9 users. App Studio for QuarkXPress will give designers a dedicated environment within QuarkXPress 9 for creating content for the iPad. With QuarkXPress 9, designers have multiple options for publishing to digital devices, including all devices pre-installed with the Blio eReader. The Blio e-reader is a free multiplatform, multi-device application that viewers can use to read full-color e-books and multimedia-enhanced content on a wide variety of devices. It is not yet available on the Mac, but is slated for release on the Mac platform sometime this year. Similarly, an iOS version of Blio is under review with the Apple App Store, but there's no indication of when it will be available. Designers can also convert QuarkXPress print files into reflowable e-books using the ePub format to publish to Apple’s iBooks, the Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle, and others. The new Quark version also includes new features that help automate the design process by eliminating a number of manual and time-consuming tasks. These include the ability to set automated styling rules; Microsoft Word-compatible bullet and numbering features; and advanced callout and linking functionality. QuarkXPress 9 also makes it easier to edit text, clone design elements, create image grids, and duplicate objects or entire pages.
Paying for things with your cell phone could soon become a reality, at least if you live in Salt Lake City. That's where Isis, a coalition formed by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile to bring mobile payments to the masses, plans to begin its rollout its platform early next year. Isis chose Salt Lake City because its transit system, run by the Utah Transportation Authority (UTA), is already equipped with near-field communication (NFC) - the key to any mobile-payment system. Both the customer's phone and the merchant's equipment must have NFC in order for it to work. In Salt Lake, half of that battle is already won. Just having NFC in the city's transit system is far from having a complete infrastructure, however. Over the next year, Isis plans to work with merchants in Salt Lake City so that when the service debuts, consumers will be able to use the system for more than just taking a bus or train. The Isis platform, which includes apps, payment integration, and other factors, is still baking as well, with Johnson describing it as still "in build." On top of that, there are scant few NFC devices currently available in the U.S. market. "The biggest challenge is working with the local merchant community to take the NFC infrastructure outside of transit and into everyday shops, and get to a critical mass." Isis is one of many efforts underway to bring NFC and mobile payments to the U.S. The technology is already common overseas in places like Japan, but it's had many false starts here. Sprint, the only major carrier not involved with Isis, is planning to launch its own mobile-payment system later this year. Both American Express and MasterCard are also spearheading efforts into NFC, and it's been rumored that Google and Apple are getting into the NFC game as well. Despite all the competition, Johnson says Isis brings to the table scale that the other players don't. Between the three carriers involved, Isis will be able to reach more than 200 million wireless customers. "Scale is essential," Johnson says. "For merchants to invest, they need to know there will be critical mass o the consumer side. For consumers to find it relevant, they need to know there's critical mass on the merchant side. The only way to solve that chicken-and-the-egg scenario is if you have a catalyst like Isis that can readily step forward with enough scale to ensure both sides of the ecosystem are going to be there. That's really what I think will separate winners and losers in this market." On top of that, the carriers can put pressure on phone makers to come to market with phones equipped with NFC, though so far there's little evidence of that happening. Nevertheless, Johnson says the carriers "are committed" to NFC handsets. Johnson says that Salt Lake City will be just the beginning. While many NFC pilot programs have come and gone in the U.S. with little to show for them, he says the 2012 deployment of Isis isn't a tentative "wait and see" launch. "Salt Lake is the first of many markets. We are committed to full commercial availability."
Monday, April 4, 2011
Late Friday, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer accidentally revealed a budding relationship between Sony and Apple. At a Wall Street Journal speaking event Stringer made an off-handed comment that may indicate that the next-generation iPhone will come loaded with an 8MP camera - a significant boost from the iPhone 4′s 5MP camera. He mentioned that one of Sony's best camera sensor factories in Sendai, Japan was damaged by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The damage, he noted, would delay shipments of sensors to Apple for its iPhones or iPads. The fact that he specifically mentioned iPhones is leading Apple-watchers to believe that Apple is ditching OmniVision, the company currently producing the 5-megapixel sensor on the iPhone 4, in favor of Sony, which has made 8-megapixel camera sensors for the Sony Ericsson smartphones, including the Xperia Arc. Last September rumours suggested that Samsung would make an offer for OmniVision but nothing ever came of it; perhaps this slip-up gives credence to a merger of Sony and OmniVision. Or perhaps Apple just wanted the best camera to compete with what's new on competing smartphones, and Sony prudently picked up another business opportunity despite its phones being in direct competition with Apple's.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The seventh-generation iPod nano might have some new bells and whistles. According to a report from 9to5Mac, the forthcoming iPod nano could feature a camera. The report came from a post originally published to Chinese site Apple.pro that said Apple would retain the same compact size of the sixth-generation nano, but would add a camera to the music player. The fifth-generation iPod nano was larger; it included a video camera, widescreen display, and video playback. For the current sixth generation nano, Apple stripped the device of the aforementioned features, made it smaller, and added a belt clip and a multitouch display. For the seventh generation device, Apple will maintain the smaller design, but will add a camera again, 9to5Mac says. Apple.pro reportedly obtained the image two days ago. 9to5Mac notes that Apple.pro has been accurate in the past. Previously, it has leaked images of the Verizon iPhone 4 from Foxconn, photos of the miniature touchscreen currently found in the iPod nano, details about the recently released iPad 2, and other rumors that later proved to be true. 9to5Mac also speculated that the addition of a camera in the nano would mean that Apple would have to rethink the position of the belt clip. The images show that the camera would be located similarly to where the belt clip is fixed in the current device. In other Apple rumor news, remarks from Sony CEO Howard Stringer have led many to believe that the iPhone 5 will have an 8-megapixel camera produced by Sony. Although Apple usually sticks to an annual product update cycle, there has been speculation that the next iPhone won't be released until this fall, rather than the summer debut that has been expected.
Cablevision Systems Corp is launching an app for customers using its Optimum package to watch television on their iPads at home. The service, available at no extra charge, will allow the cable operator's more than 3 million customers to watch some 300 channels, search programming by genre and enable customers to record programs. The system uses Cablevision's digital cable television network to deliver programing to the iPad, so customers do not need to have Internet access on their devices to use the app. "This application allows the iPad to function as a television, delivering the full richness and diversity of our cable television service to a display device in the home," said Tom Rutledge, Cablevision chief operating officer. The move by New York-based Cablevision comes weeks after Time Warner Cable launched its own iPad app in mid-March. The Time Warner version allows users to watch live programing from 32 networks so long as they are at home using their Wi-Fi network. But Time Warner's app sparked controversy. A few days ago, after getting several "cease and desist" notices, the No. 2 U.S. cable company said it would no longer carry networks owned by News Corp's Fox, Viacom and Discovery Communications. The media companies believe the cable company needs to pay for new licenses in order for customers to use the iPad app.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Materials available from HP’s U.S. and Japanese Web sites indicate computer maker Hewlett-Packard is preparing new versions of its EliteBook ultraportable notebooks, including power-sipping versions of Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors and USB 3.0 for fast connectivity to peripherals. Although the EliteBooks have historically been oriented at business and enterprise users, they’ve also been embraced by road warriors and travelers, who value their performance-per-ounce ratio. According to information that’s come out of HP so far, the new EliteBook models - the 2560p and 2760p convertible tablet PC will feature second-generation Intel Core processors, including the Core i5-2537M and Core i7-2617M, matching processors already available in the 15-inch EliteBook model. HP’s ultraportable EliteBooks typically have 12.1-inch displays; however, material on HP’s Japanese site suggests HP might be offering a model with a 13-inch display with up to 1,440 by 900-pixel native resolution. Reports also have the new ultraportable EliteBooks offering integrated 33G connectivity as an option; the current EliteBook 3540p offers 3G service from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint as an option in the United States.
Taiwan’s AsusTek has brought its Eee Pad Transformer to U.S. consumers by April by launching the device at electronics retailer Best Buy for a starting price of $399.99. The availability of the Eee Pad Transformer not only increases the number of Android tablet devices on the market running Android 3.0 “Honeycomb,” but also hits a very important price point: it undercuts the Apple iPad 2. The Eee Pad Transformer features a 10.1-inch display with a 1,280 by 800-pixel resolution, so it has more pixels than an iPad, and is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 1 GB of LPDDR2 memory. Rather than relying on flash storage, the Eee Pad Transformer carriers a 16 GB hard drive but the device still measures just half and inch thick, although it weighs a rather un-svelte 2.2 pounds. The Eee Pad Transformer features a 1.2 megapixel webcam with mic, a 4-in-1 media card reader, two USB 2.0 ports, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 wireless networking, and is available in brown or black. The Transformer’s claim to fame is that it can dock with an optional keyboard and that keyboard contains a whole separate battery system, so the combined devices can run 16 hours rather than the 8 hours users can expect from the tablet alone. The keyboard is optional and Best Buy doesn’t seem to have it in stock yet but even with the keyboard dock the Eee Pad might give an iPad-and-keyboard combination some serious price competition. Asus is also launching the Eee Pad Transformer in France and the United Kingdom. In the UK, the 16 GB edition will apparently sell for £379, with a 32 GB edition selling for £50 more, with keyboard docking stations going for another £50. In France, the 16 GB version will apparently be priced at €399, but won’t be available until May.Friday, April 1, 2011
HTC has posted a new promotional video for its upcoming Android tablet, which will either be named the Flyer -its moniker in the video -or the smartphone-like Evo View 4G when it arrives this summer. As tablets go, the specifications for the Flyer are impressive but far from unique: a 7-inch, 1024-by-600 display; 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor; 1GB of RAM; 32GB of internal memory; a microSD card slot; and dual cameras (5-megapixel rear, 1.3-megapixel front). What makes the Flyer unique is its pen-input feature. Despite the woeful history of pen-based tablets, HTC is giving it another go with the Flyer. If one can trust HTC's promo video, the Flyer's pen implementation looks pretty slick. The abilities to notate in eBooks, comment on documents and Web pages, and sign contracts with a stylus add a new layer of functionality to today's tablets. A pen is also better for many drawing and photo-editing tasks, as the video carefully illustrates. It'll be interesting to see if HTC's pen-input makes the Flyer a standout in an increasingly crowded tablet market.
