Next iPhone to have Over-the-Air Updates

The day is getting closer when you don't need to plug your iPhone, iPad or iPod into your computer to update its operating system. There's a report that iOS 5 will be capable of over-the-air updates. According to 9to5 Mac's multiple sources, Apple has been negotiating with Verizon Wireless to provide the over-the-air updates.

For iOS updates to be delivered over-the-air, Apple will need to make fundamental changes in the way its updates work. For one thing, Apple will need to stop requiring a download of the entire operating system for a simple update.

Perhaps Apple will let these updates take place only over Wi-Fi connections, as it does for some large app downloads. Even if that's the case, just for the sake of efficiency it would be a good idea to send incremental updates, similar to the way Microsoft has been updating its operating systems for years, in small pieces as they become available.

This would be a long-awaited and welcome capability - a feature that's commonplace in the Android operating system. So how longer must we wait? According to a general consensus, iOS 5 will launch when the iPhone 5 ships, and now the latest iPhone rumor is that it won't be happening in June or July. The next iPhone is expected to ship in September.

Amazon preparing its own tablet

According to a source, Amazon may be preparing to launch its own tablet. Taiwan's tech newspaper DigiTimes, claims that Amazon has placed orders for the device with Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese manufacturer supposedly tapped to crank out the tablets.

Quanta estimated that production of the forthcoming Amazon tablets would peak at 700,000 to 800,000 units a month and that the devices would begin shipping in the second half of 2011. The report also indicated that Amazon would be working with the company behind the Kindle's E Ink display, suggesting that a colorful screen readable in bright light could be in the cards.

While news that trickles out from Asian component product lines isn't historically the most reliable, these aren't the first murmurings of a tablet from the web retail giant. Amazon may be a name synonymous with online shopping, but it's also an aggressively innovative company that already has a gadget success story with its own e-reader, the Kindle.

The retailer has been expanding its horizons as of late and it appears that Amazon wants to get a foot in every door, from storage in the cloud with Amazon Cloud Drive to its own Android app store. Readying an Amazon-branded tablet would mean one more experiment, this time in the white-hot tablet market.

BlackBerry unveils Thinnest Smartphones

Research in Motion has unveiled two new BlackBerry Bold smartphones and BlackBerry 7 OS, in addition to announcing new Facebook and video chat apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 smartphones look like the most competitive offerings RIM has had in years. RIM has upgraded the aging processor on existing Torch and Bold phones to 1.2 Ghz, added 8 GB of onboard memory, support for 720p HD video recording and support for 4G HSPA+ networks.

The 9900 and 9930 phones are also the thinnest BlackBerry smartphones yet - each measuring just 10.5mm thick. RIM has also added bells and whistles like dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC support, and the classic BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard in addition to a touch LCD screen.

This is the most competitive offering that RIM has produced since 2008. The design, while still classic BlackBerry, is thinner than in the past and the processor and onboard memory requirements are no longer embarrassingly passe.

As for the new BlackBerry 7 OS, RIM says that it features a better browser (with better HTML5 support), the ability to keep personal and corporate content separate and built-in productivity apps.
Sight unseen, we're still not convinced RIM can compete against the latest crop of Android and Windows Phone devices -- not to mention the next iPhone. Still, the newest BlackBerry Bold at least looks like a step in the right direction.

According to RIM, BlackBerry 9900 and 9930 will be available later this summer.

RIM brings Angry Birds to PlayBook

The widely popular mobile game Angry Birds will be available soon on Research In Motion's PlayBook tablet, the company said.

The game, which features birds destroying the pigs which stole their eggs with the help of a slingshot, is developed by Rovio, which plans to list on the Nasdaq within five years.

Google brings video chat to Android devices

Google has announced the imminent arrival of its video chat software for Android phones, Google Talk with video. While some apps for Android phones already allow you to video chat (eg. Fring and Tango), Google Talk will become part of the forthcoming Android OS update (2.3.4).

Google Talk with video will allow users to video chat with others using either the same software or Gmail with Google Talk on computers. It’ll be possible to make calls over 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi - unlike, for example, Apple’s FaceTime, which currently only works over Wi-Fi.

Google explains: “In your Google Talk friends list, a video or voice chat button will appear next to your contacts and you can simply touch the button to connect with them. Any text chats from the person you’re talking with will be overlaid on your phone’s screen so you can read them without having to leave the video. And, if you need to check something else, the video pauses automatically so you can go back to your phone’s home screen or another app. The audio will keep going even though the video has paused.”

Google Talk for Android isn’t available just yet. It’ll be coming to Samsung Nexus S devices over the next few weeks as part of the Android 2.3.4 over-the-air update, and then to other Android 2.3+ devices after that.

White iPhone 4 available at Apple Online Store

After an extended period of downtime, the white iPhone 4 is now available in Apple Online Store. The device should also become available in Apple retail stores as well as AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores and at select Apple authorized resellers.

The price and functionality of the white iPhone 4 is exactly the same as the black version, but the thrill of finally having the often delayed device should be enough to prompt quite a few customers to spend their hard-earned cash. Bear in mind that the shipping time for the black iPhone 4 is "within 24 hours," while the white version ships in "3-5 business days."

Nokia to slash 7000 jobs worldwide

Nokia Corp. said it will slash 7,000 jobs worldwide, through both layoffs and outsourcing, as it strives to cut costs and catch up with its top rivals in the smartphone market.

Most of the 4,000 layoffs, due by the end of 2012, will be in Denmark, Finland and Britain. It also plans to transfer 3,000 workers in China, Finland, India, Britain and the United States to Accenture PLC as it outsources Symbian platform operations to the global management-consulting firm, in a major shift of strategy.

The announcements came as the world's top cellphone maker seeks to cut operating expenses by euro1 billion ($1.5 billion) by 2013 amid fierce competition that has seen its market share plunge and its profits plummet.

Markets had been eagerly expecting signals about company policy from Nokia's new CEO Stephen Elop since he took over in September and even more so since the Feb. 11 announcement that Nokia and Microsoft Corp. were teaming up to challenge rivals such as Research in Motion, Apple Inc. and Google.

The announcements came as Nokia, which has 13,000 employees in Finland but indirectly provides work for more than 20,000 people, had called workers for company briefings in several cities.

Elop said that none of the employees will lose their jobs this year, and that the personnel transfers would be made "over time."

Recently, Nokia has faced stiff competition from Research in Motion's Blackberry, Apple's iPhone and Google's Android at the top end of the market, as well as feeling the pinch from numerous Asian handset makers that produce cheaper phones in emerging markets.

It has been the world's largest handset maker since 1998, selling 432 million devices last year - more than its three closest rivals combined. But its market share continues to fall, to 29 percent in this year's first quarter - its lowest level since the late 1990s.

Even more damaging has been Nokia's inability to meet the challenges of new smartphones, a field where it used to be the leading innovator.

Today, the iPhone has set the standard for smartphones while BlackBerrys have become the favorite of the corporate set. And on the software front, Android has emerged as the top choice for phone makers that want to challenge the iPhone.

According to industry experts, Nokia's future depends a lot on the success of its partnership with Microsoft and the type of phone they launch, expected late this year or in 2012.

The Espoo-based company, near Helsinki, employs 132,500 people - 7 percent more than a year ago.

HTC Flyer Tablet Priced at $499

The 7-inch Android tablet, HTC's Flyer goes up for pre-order in Best Buy stores. The tablet will cost $499 for a 16 GB model with Wi-Fi, but there's no firm release date. For now, Best Buy is going ahead with a vague timeline of "later this spring." A 4G model will launch on Sprint this summer as the HTC Evo View.

The Flyer's claim to fame is an optional pen-HTC calls it the "Scribe"-that doesn't quite behave like a stylus. The Scribe isn't used for navigation, but for marking up web pages and creating handwritten notes. A built-in notebook app allows the user to record audio. Eventually, HTC will open up Scribe to third-party developers who want to add notation to their own apps. No word on HTC Scribe pricing just yet.

It's a neat-sounding feature that distracts somewhat from the Flyer's potential drawbacks. Instead of Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the Flyer will ship with Android 2.4 and tablet optimizations through HTC's Sense interface although HTC's Flyer only matches it. The Flyer is also a bit chunky, at 0.51 inches thick.

Best Buy is taking pre-orders for HTC Flyer at $499.

Sony enters tablet PC market with S1, S2

Sony launched its first tablet computers in an ambitious attempt to grab the No.2 spot from Samsung in a fast-growing market dominated by Apple's year-old iPad.

The gadgets, based on Google's Android 3.0 operating system, could be some of the Japanese company's most important new products since the Playstation game console made its debut in 1994.

Sony, also the inventor of the Walkman and once a symbol of Japan's high-tech, is now struggling to come up with hit devices and improve profit margins as it competes with Apple, Samsung Electronics and Nintendo.

Sony's tablets join more than 100 iPad challengers based on Android, and may struggle to differentiate themselves, although Sony does have the advantage of being able to link the tablets to its gaming and entertainment offerings.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab is Apple's strongest competitor while Motorola, LG Electronics and HTC are flooding the market with tablets running Android.

Sony's black, glossy devices, code-named S1 and S2, will be the first tablets to enable the use of PlayStation games.

Sony is banking on the unusual, off-center design of the S1 and access to first generation PlayStation games and its other networked content to differentiate the products from the flood of tablets in the market.

RIM has priced its PlayBook to match the iPad, has struggled to win consumer fans since launching the device last week. Hewlett-Packard Co unveiled its entrant in the tablet race in February.

Sony's tablets will be WiFi and 3G/4G compatible. S1 has a 9.4-inch display and a curved design that Sony said makes it easier to hold for long periods of time. The S2 has two 5.5-inch displays in a clamshell design.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 available for $450 at Best Buy

Acer's Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet has arrived on schedule, bringing an interesting array of features for a very competitive price.

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 features a 10.1-inch screen 1280×800 TFT WXGA screen, an Nvidia Tegra 250 1GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of flash storage with the possibility of extending the storage capacity up to 32 GB via a Micro-SD card. It's got a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front one for video chats, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a USB 2.0 port and a battery that should last around 10 hours if you're using the device for browsing the web.

While those specifications sound very similar to those of another Android 3.0 tablet, the Motorola Xoom, Acer's tablet does have the advantage of a brushed aluminum back and a much lower price.

The Acer Iconia Tab is available at Best Buy for $450..

T-Mobile launches new Android phones: LG G2x and Samsung Sidekick 4G

T-Mobile is in full-swing, as they recently launched two new Android smartphones, the LG G2x and the Samsung Sidekick 4G as well as a tablet, the LG-Slate.

The Sidekick 4G is the first edition of the handset to be powered by Android (2.2) and features a 3.5-inch display with a forward-facing camera and a 3-megapixel on its rear. The Sidekick also has Cloud Text, in which users can access their text messages via phone or PC.

After a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract with unlimited data, the handset costs about $100, but for those who opt for the two-year contract and go with a lower-end data plan will have to pay $149.99.

As for the LG G2X, you can buy it from Amazon Wireless for $149, or any T-Mobile retailer. It’s described as long and lean and the touchscreen measures in at 4-inches. The front camera is 1.3 megapixels and an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash are on the rear of the smartphone.

Amazon selling HTC ThunderBolt for $129.99

The mobile division of Amazon is currently selling the HTC ThunderBolt 4G for $129.99 to all new customers who sign up for a plan on Verizon. Those looking to upgrade and renew their contract aren’t as fortunate. The renewal price is $199.99. Those who are interested will have to act fast. It expires at midnight on Monday, April 25.

The ThunderBolt, which normally retails for $249.99, is the first phone on Verizon to take advantage of the carrier’s new 4G LTE network. It has performed very well, selling 260,000 units in its first two weeks on the market. We have no complaints about the Android device except for its battery, which tends to drain very quickly due to the demands of Verizon’s 4G network.