ViewSonic to launch First 7-Inch Android Honeycomb Tablet

Big screen Android tablets with Honeycomb 3.0 were all the rage, while smaller tablets were stuck with older smartphone versions of the OS-until now. The first 7-inch tablet featuring Honeycomb is set to arrive later this month from ViewSonic, and it will be dubbed the ViewPad 7x.

Because Google rushed Android 3.0 to the market to counter the popularity of the Apple iPad, the company was unable to optimize the OS for different-sized tablets fast enough. This meant that you could get Android 3.0 Honeycomb on 10-inch tablets such as the Motorola Xoom, but not on 7-inch tablets such as the HTC Flyer.

Now it seems that ViewSonic will be the first to get on the market a 7-inch Honeycomb tablet at the end of May, if Pocket-Lint's sources are accurate. The tablet will be called the ViewPad 7x, and will reportedly be sold alongside the ViewPad 7. Pricing and exact availability are unknown by this time for the ViewPad 7x.

While the details on the ViewPad 7x are sketchy, it runs on a 600MHz processor and has 512MB of RAM and 512MB of on-board storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD card). The 7-inch screen has 800 by 480 pixel resolution, and the tablet also features 3G antennas along Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The original ViewPad 7 sells for around $400.

Twitter releases new app for mobiles

The folks at Twitter have been working hard towards developing a new interface for mobile browsers – and the San Francisco company has began to roll it out.

The company said, “This web app allows us to provide a high-quality and consistent Twitter experience on high-end touchscreen devices – whether or not an official Twitter application is available.”

It further said: “It was built from the ground up for smartphones and tablets, which have more advanced browsers that support the latest web technologies, including HTML5.”

The new app replaces the previous rather cumbersome version with an interface that closely resembles the iPhone app, for example, the introduction of icons for @mentions, messages, stream and search – something the old mobile browser lacked. In the case of the new mobile web interface, however, the icons are at the top, not the bottom. Android users will be more familiar with the icons-on-top look.

The designers of the new interface say they have made something quick to use – quick to scroll through the timeline, quick to move between tabs and quick to compose tweets - although we think that rather depends on your typing prowess. The blog post says that the new interface “takes advantage of capabilities that high-end device browsers offer, such as touch gestures and a large screen. And it’s simple – it’s easy-to-use and has the features you’d expect from a Twitter application, including your timeline, @mentions, messages that you can read in conversation view, search, trending topics, lists, and more.”

The new application for mobile browsers is being rolled out gradually. Twitter says it is releasing it “to a small percentage of users on iPhone, iPod touch, and Android smartphones, and we’ll be rolling it out to additional folks with those devices in the coming weeks.” In the meantime, the old mobile interface will remain available to users.

Google to pay $500 mn to settle US ad probe

Internet giant Google has set aside $500 million in anticipation of the results of a US government investigation into the practices of some of its advertisers.

"In May 2011, in connection with a potential resolution of an investigation by the United States Department of Justice into the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers, we accrued $500 million for the three month period ended March 31, 2011," the company said.

"Although we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of this matter, we believe it will not have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows."

The statement, which was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), did not provide further details on the practices in question or what legal consequences the company might face.

The provision reduced Google's net income for the first quarter to $1.798 billion from $2.298 billion announced on April 14. Advertising accounted for 97 percent of the company's $8.575 billion revenue during the same period.

7th gen iPod Nano to regain camera

Taiwanese Apple.pro blog, known for leaking photos of apple products, has released photo of the next generation iPod Nano. The blog claims that the hole in the upper left corner will house a camera with a low-resolution 1.3 megapixel lens, perfect for the Nano screen’s size.

The site also says that the seventh generation Nano will retain its multi-touch screen but will have to ditch the clip because it will cover the camera lens. The Nano used to have a camera in its fifth-generation model back in 2009, and critics were unhappy when the current smaller model phased the camera out.

Apple Insider says that the Taiwanese blog had already released a photo of the Nano case in early April which suggested a camera, but that photo came around the time of April Fools’ and the authenticity wasn’t verified.

Apple Insider also says that the blog was right about the sixth-generation Nano, revealing the tiny screen of the multi-touch display before the device was officially released. Apple.pro also leaked photos of the iPhone 4G in early 2010 but they’ve had their share of misses, such as the false 15-inch Macbook Air.

Microsoft to buy Internet phone company Skype

US software giant Microsoft is all set to buy the Internet phone company Skype for $8.5 billion in cash as it battles to stay relevant in an online world dominated by Google and Apple.

Buying Skype is giving Microsoft Corp. a potentially valuable communications tool as it tries to make a bigger splash on the Internet and become a bigger force in the increasingly important smartphone market.

Skype boasts about 663 million users worldwide who make voice and video calls over the Internet.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer reportedly championed the deal, which was estimated to have a price tag of $8.5 billion in what would be the decades-old technology company's most expensive acquisition to date.

Skype was launched in 2003 by Estonian software developers who were part of the group that created peer-to-peer file-sharing service Kazaa.

Millions of people use Skype to make low cost or free phone calls over the Internet using their computers or smartphones.

Buying Skype could be a way for Microsoft to shed some of its business software image and gain momentum in a hot smartphone market at a time when Internet lifestyles are going mobile.

Skype in January closed a deal to buy Qik, a California startup that specializes in allowing people to use smartphones to stream video to Internet-linked friends in real time.

The acquisition came amid surging popularity of video chat using smartphones, tablets and desktop computers.

Skype handled 24.7 percent of all minutes spent on international phone calls last year and 40 percent of calls between Skype users were video, Skype chief executive Tony Bates said while announcing the Qik takeover.

Bates said Skype was also continuing its push into living rooms, expanding a line of televisions embedded with its Internet telephony service and even infusing the software in a Blu-ray player made by Panasonic.

Online auction giant eBay in 2009 sold most of its stake in Skype to an investment group that includes the two founders of the Web communications company. That deal valued Skype at $2.75 billion.

The firm, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg, bypasses the standard telephone network by channeling voice and video calls over the Internet.

It allows users to call others free of charge and provides the ability to connect with land lines or mobile devices at low rates.

Skype last year announced plans for an initial public offering of stock and appeared on its way to profitability, but investors are evidently eager for a pay-off.

Vaunted technology blogger Om Malik wrote that Facebook could benefit greatly from Microsoft buying Skype. Microsoft owns a minor share of Facebook and powers Internet searches at the social networking service.

Facebook members would likely get access to Skype tools while Microsoft keeps the telephony service out of the hands of competitor Google, Malik said.

A Skype version 5.0 for Windows unveiled in October included a Facebook tab and integrated Facebook's news feed and phonebook into the Internet communications service.

A Skype buy could also play into Microsoft's efforts to promote its new Windows Phone 7 mobile software in a fierce smartphone market.

Microsoft joined forces in February with Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker. In an effort to radically change course and fight off encroaching competition, Nokia smartphones will be powered by Microsoft software, according to Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop.

Google all set to launch online music

Google could launch a new online music service as early as Tuesday, which will be similar to a service recently started by Amazon.com Inc, The Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Journal said Google is likely to announce the service at its annual Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco, adding that the service will operate in a testing mode initially and not be available to the public at large.

In April, Amazon unveiled a service that allows customers to store about 1,000 songs on its web servers for free instead of their own hard drives and play them over an Internet connection directly from web browsers.

The Journal said Google has not sought licenses from the four major recorded-music companies and the new feature is likely to include a system that functions much like a remote hard drive.

Users could listen to songs they have uploaded to the service in a "streaming" mode, but will not be able to download the files.

Google-owned YouTube said it will add more than 3,000 mainstream movies for users.

Apple becomes World’s Most Valuable Brand

According to a new study by global brands agency Millward Brown, Apple has overtaken Google as the world's most valuable brand, ending a four-year reign by the Internet search leader.

The iPhone and iPad maker's brand is now worth $153 billion, almost half Apple's market capitalization, says the annual BrandZ study of the world's top 100 brands.

Apple's portfolio of coveted consumer goods propelled it past Microsoft to become the world's most valuable technology company last year.

Peter Walshe, global brands director of Millward Brown, says Apple's meticulous attention to detail, along with an increasing presence of its gadgets in corporate environments, have allowed it to behave differently from other consumer-electronics makers.

"Apple is breaking the rules in terms of its pricing model. It's doing what luxury brands do, where the higher price the brand is, the more it seems to underpin and reinforce the desire."

"Obviously, it has to be allied to great products and a great experience, and Apple has nurtured that."

Of the top 10 brands in the report, six were technology and telecoms companies: Google at number two, IBM at number three, Microsoft at number five, AT&T at number seven and China Mobile at number nine.

McDonald's rose two places to number four, as fast food became the fastest-growing category, Coca-Cola slipped one place to number six, Marlboro was also down one to number eight, and General Electric was number 10.

Nineteen of the top 100 brands came from emerging markets, up from 13 last year.

Facebook entered the top 100 at number 35 with a brand valued at $19.1 billion, while Chinese search engine Baidu rose to number 29 from 46.

Toyota reclaimed its position as the world's most valuable car brand, as it recovered from a bungled 2010 product recall. The survey was carried out before the March earthquake that caused massive disruption to Japanese supply chains.

The total value of the top 100 brands rose by 17 percent to $2.4 trillion, as the global economy shifted to growth.

HP offers 3G Mobile Broadband Service to Business Laptops

Hewlett-Packard said it will start offering pay-as-you-go 3G mobile broadband services for its business laptops as the company looks to package more services with PCs.

HP is offering the DataPass mobile broadband service with its new 3G-enabled Elitebook business laptops, which were also announced on Monday. The service provides access to 3G data networks in the U.S., and does not require a user to sign a monthly or yearly contract with a wireless carrier.

The DataPass service can be purchased easily in blocks through the laptop, and users don't need to pay any activation fee, said Mike Hockey, an HP spokesman. With plans starting at US$5, the service is good for quick access to the Internet for different durations at places like airports or hotels, where Internet access could otherwise be expensive.

Users can buy a US$5 data plan for 75MB of data over 5 hours, $10 for 150MB of data over 3 days, $20 for 450MB of data over 14 days, or $30 for 1GB of data over 30 days.

The service is available in the U.S. only and worldwide availability is being explored. The service is 3G-only, and access to 4G networks is not yet offered through the service.

The service is available only with HP laptops, which could include optional hardware such as a modem to access 3G networks. Software on the laptop shows availability of a DataPass network at the user's location.

The company does not intend to become a telecom service provider, and the service is being provided as a convenience to customers. Users can continue using mobile broadband services from other network providers such as Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile.

The service will be available with new Elitebook business laptops announced by HP on Monday. The laptops provide longer battery life than older models and are equipped with Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processors.

The Elitebook 5330m is less than 1 inch (25.4 millimeters) thick and weighs less than four pounds (1.81 kilograms). It includes a 13.3-inch screen and will be available with Intel's latest Core i5 and i3 processors. With a four-cell battery and solid-state drive storage, the laptop can provide up to 6.5 hours of battery life, according to the company. The laptop is priced starting at $799 and will become available worldwide this month.

HP also announced the Elitebook 2560p ultraportable and 2760p convertible tablets. The laptops come with Intel's latest Core i5 and i7 processors.

The 2560p weighs 3.68 pounds and comes with a 12.5-inch screen, which is the same size as the display on Lenovo's latest ThinkPad X220 tablet that is available since April. The Elitebook 2560p is priced starting at $1,099.

The 2760p is a convertible laptop with a 12.1-inch convertible screen that flips around for users to take notes using a pen input. With a six-cell battery and a hard drive, the laptop provides 8.5 hours of battery life. The laptop will become available worldwide this month starting at $1,499.

Lenovo infuses laptops with more fun

Chinese computer colossus Lenovo is infusing its leading business laptops with more fun features as Internet Age lifestyles blur lines between work and play.

Lenovo was at the San Francisco headquarters of Dolby Laboratories this week to show off theater quality sound, rich viewing and quick graphics handling in a ThinkPad laptop computer line that has become a top choice for businesses.

"We are adding elements that are more relevant and interesting to consumers," ThinkPad marketing director Tom Butler said while demonstrating new features that included audio enhanced with Dolby Home Theater 4.

Long popular with big corporations, Lenovo recently launched ThinkPad models aimed at small businesses whose operators tend to shop for gear at retail shops and whose employees increasingly make work computers part of home lives.

"We see a clear merger of consumer and business in the small business space," Butler said.
"At the same time workers are using systems 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are taking them home and checking personal email, searching the Web, playing music videos and other multi-media."

Dolby software added to freshly released ThinkPad laptop models dramatically ramps up the quality of any audio from film soundtracks or music to Internet conference calls.

Lenovo is the first to put Dolby Home Theater 4 on a business computer, according to Brennan.

Digital lifestyle enhancements included game-speed graphics, vivid screens, and HDMI ports for routing films or other data-rich digital content to high-definition television screens or muscular speakers.

ThinkPad laptops had keys devoted to quickly launching multimedia and slot-loading for DVDs.
Lenovo is the world's top seller of business laptops and the fourth largest computer company overall.

Lenovo's Bill Dominici provided an early look at an Edge 91Z all-in-one desktop computer hitting the market.

All the computing hardware was built into a sleek 2.5-inch (6.4 centimeter) thick black monitor with a 21.5-inch (54.6 centimeter) screen boasting high-definition imagery.

The starting price will be $699 with a "rich configuration" to be sold for $1,100.

Samsung infuses AT&T with 4G Smartphone

AT&T Wireless and Samsung Mobile announced the thin and light Infuse 4G smartphone during a press event in New York.

The phone is 8.99 millimeters (0.35 inches) thick - a fraction thinner than Apple's iPhone 4 - and has a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED display, one of Samsung's most advanced, said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president for devices at AT&T Wireless.

The device weighs 133 grams (4.7 ounces) and is powered by a single-core ARM processor running at 1.2GHz. It runs Google's Android 2.2 OS and will go on sale in the U.S. on May 15, priced at US$199 with a two-year wireless contract. It runs on AT&T's HSPA+ (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access) network, which AT&T considers a 4G service.

The display shows more pixels than Samsung's previous AMOLED smartphone screens offered on the AT&T network, Bradley said. Infuse also has an 8-megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash.

It's the latest addition to Samsung's portfolio, which also includes the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. The new phone was previewed in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, where AT&T said it would introduce multiple 4G and Android devices this year.

Samsung and AT&T have partnered with mobile gaming company Rovio to include a special Angry Birds edition for the smartphone.

Warner Music sold for $1.3 bn

The world's No. 3 recording company, Warner Music, is being acquired by Access Industries, which agreed to pay $8.25 a share and take on $2 bil in debt as well as $320 mil in cash. The deal comes as CD sales continue to drop and digital sales have flattened. Warner Music Group, known for artists like Eric Clapton and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is now seen making steep cuts, after trimming its workforce to 3,700 from 5,100 in 2003.

Dell to bring a New Ultra-Thin Laptop

Dell steps up to challenge Apple's MacBook Air again, this time with a large-screen ultra-thin laptop and promises of better performance than the discontinued Dell Adamo.

Sources say that the initial 15.6-inch screen model will debut in the coming weeks for under $1,000-another big improvement on the ultra-premium price of the Adamo.

Before the Dell Adamo was launched earlier this year, it drew a lot of interest as a Windows alternative to the MacBook Air, but the high-style laptop was widely criticized for being overpriced (a deluxe version started at $2,700) and under-performing.

Now the company is back for more and determined to roll out a whole line of ultra-performance, ultra-thin laptops.

The debut model will be positioned as the first larger-screen ultra-thin laptop and will be targeted towards "prosumers". There's been a long and steady march of MacBook Air-rivals this year, from the business-oriented ThinkPad X1 to the curvy Samsung Series 9, but all of them, like the Adamo, copied the Air's 13.3-inch form factor.

Besides boasting a larger, high-resolution display, Dell's upcoming laptop will use Intel's second-generation Core i5 and i7 processors. Dell is also still emphasizing "style and beauty" for this new premium laptop, which will be crafted from special materials.