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  • Apple Rumored to Acquire German TV Maker Loewe

    Loewe, a luxury German TV brand, saw stock prices soar after a trader claimed that Apple was in the market to bid 4 euros a share for the company.

    The rumor set off a chain reaction, causing stock prices to go as high as 3.93, an increase of 44.5 percent from February 12th's closing 2.72 closing price. The price fluctuated throughout the day and eventually closed out at 3.35 on February 13th, an increase of 23.6 percent in just a day.

    Rumors of Apple's interest in the company have been around since May of 2012. Despite reports on AppleInside, Loewe refuted the rumors and Apple never commented on it. With Loewe's capitalization reaching nearly $58 million, a buyout could be a smart move for Apple. However, the company would also have to persuade Loewe's executives and Sharp, a major shareholder.

    The buyout would be a way out of the difficult TV market that Loewe has found itself in. The company experienced a loss of $39 million in 2012 and is now attempting to cut 1,000 jobs to lower expenses. In an effort to expand its market, Loewe has also branched out into manufacturing Blu-ray Player, multiroom systems, speakers, racks and DVD recorders.

    But rumors are just that, rumors and we have yet to see if anything will come of all the speculation. But who knows, maybe Apple is in the market to purchase Loewe and expand into the TV market. We will just have to wait and see if all the hype that increased stock prices is just talk or fact.

  • Seagate Vows to Bring Shingles and More Storage in 2014

    Seagate hopes to deliver to its customers, shingled magnetic recording disk drives with enhanced storage set releasing later in 2013 and in 2014. They plan to introduce HAMR, or heat-assisted magnetic recording technology, which will be released two years ahead of schedule. This early release could be due to Seagate's reaction to the helium gas attack prepared by the WD division HGST.

    Shingled magnetic recording functions by overlapping data tracks to create extra space. SMR will be issued on disk drives as revealed to Rocky Pimental, primary marketing and sales executive, at Stifel Tech conference by Andy Rakers, an analyst for Stifle Nicolaus. Perpendicular Magnetic technology for disk drives is entering the final stages of development since any additional reduction of magnetized bits causes them to be unstable, which means that storage companies should proceed to a more modern technology.

    Pimental stated the new technology would give the drives an extra 20-25% raise in density. Upgrading the disk drive to SMR would increase space to 5 TB. He also mentioned Seagate will begin distributing the 5mm dense 2.5 inch dual disk drive with a hybrid form in tablet PCs and other lightweight notebooks later in 2013. Last March, Seagate talked about a decade of HAMR technology which could generate a 3.5 inch drive with storage capacities of 60TB. Western Digital and Toshiba have made no announcements about the technology they prefer, though, a contest can be expected between HGST applying helium plus SMR and Seagate using HAMR and SMR. Pimental said the premium cost will not be important for shipping over one million hard drives

  • Radvision Unveils eVident and Scopia Elite 6000 MCUs

    Unveiled by Avaya's Radvision, the software-based multipoint control unit (MCU) Scopia Elite 6000 Series, is the newest monitoring tool available for video networking and video conferences.

    This MCU supplies 1080/60fps double channels that provide content and video, with synchronized H.264 high profile bandwidth effectiveness, and H.264 video coding. The unit operates on an Intel server, and provides an interoperable, multi-stream, engaging telepresence system.

    Centered on hybrid architecture the MCU offers 40 ports with live video resolutions up to 1080p from one 1U system. Users will also be able to regulate meetings through a series of on screen menus compatible with the Scopia iPad application, and other equipment.

    Bob Romano, the global vice president of marketing at Radvision, reported to Fierce Enterprise Communications that, "there has been a real trend toward desktop mobility and BYOD" among the video conference market. Romano feels that potential customers want the ability to join a conference remotely without having to consider what type of device they have.

    Ramano goes on to say, "What we are seeing is a real desire for more capacity because as you extend video conferencing out to mobile and desktop users, that draws on a bigger user base". With Radvisions new Scopia desktop and mobile platform, plus the new MCU support, remote involvement is now possible.

    Also launched this year by Radvision is the eVident video monitoring tools set. These tools allow the administrators to ensure that their networks are ready for video conferencing preceding operation. The tools including Prevideo, RVMON, and VQInsider, provide measurement and analysis of quality monitoring, audio and video metrics, and codec parameters.

    Even though 1,000 influential firms interested in the mobile conferencing market agreed that they would embrace desktop video conferencing, the revenue produced in the market fell by 6 percent in the second quarter. Service providers must find innovative ways to encourage firms that the use of video conferencing is necessary, or these enterprises will look for other options.

  • HTC announces the 4.7-inch HTC One

    HTC has just announced a new smartphone, the HTC One, which brings additional competition for Apple and Samsung on the war of the smartphones with the bigger displays.

    There is a trend lately with bigger displays for our smartphone and that is why HTC chose to launch HTC One with a 4.7-inch 1080p display. Apart from the bigger screen, HTC One will have a new imaging sensor, UltraPixel camera as they call it, which has a f/2.0 lens, gathers 300% more light than the usual sensors, but is of only 4MP. However, they are confident enough that their brand new UltraPixel Camera will enhance the pictures taken from smartphones, featuring optical image stabilization and adding the ability to share short videos.

    Moreover, HTC is presenting BoomSound, an audio experience that they think it is the best in the market, which is justified by the two front stereo speakers. As for the technical features, it has a quad-core Snapdragon 600, running at 1.7GHz, having a 2GB RAM and allowing storage of 32GB or 64GB. Not to mention that it will support 4G connectivity, as every smartphone that is competitive nowadays. Last but not least, HTC One will sport the new Android Jelly Bean (4.1.2), called Sense 5, which makes the interface simple and nice.

    It seems that HTC is determined to get back on the track of Apple and Samsung, trying to fit in between their endless war. And they seem capable of boosting their sales for 2013 with smartphones like this one. They just have to convince the users to trust them once again, instead of choosing Apple or Samsung.

    HTC one is expected during March and it will be launched globally, with HTC having already signed with 185 carriers all over the world. We might not know about the price yet, but its launch it's not that far. If you are convinced from the first presentation, just be patient for a while.

  • Net2Phone’s SIP Trunking Solution Now Rated “Avaya Compliant”

    Net2Phone, one of the largest distributor-based VoIP providers in the world, today announced that its SIP Trunking solution is compliant with key small and medium enterprise solutions from Avaya, a global provider of business collaboration systems, software and services.

    The Net2Phone SIP Trunking solution helps businesses reduce their overall telecommunications costs while providing high-quality call origination and termination. The application is now compliance-tested by Avaya for compatibility with Avaya IP Office 8.1.  It is supported for use with both IP Office 500 and IP Office Server Edition.  

    “Net2Phone's Business VoIP solution enables Avaya customers to make outbound and receive inbound calls from anywhere across the globe using their existing Avaya IP Office system,” says Jonah Fink, senior vice president, Net2Phone. “Our solution is based on open, standard-based platforms, which helps business customers incorporate new technology easily and cost effectively and uncover new possibilities for getting more out of their communications infrastructure.” 

    Net2Phone is a Technology Partner in the Avaya DevConnect program—an initiative to develop, market and sell innovative third-party products that interoperate with Avaya technology and extend the value of a company’s investment in its network.  

    As a Technology Partner, Net2Phone is eligible to submit products for compliance testing by the Avaya Solution Interoperability and Test Lab. There, a team of Avaya engineers develops a comprehensive test plan for each application to verify whether it is Avaya compatible. Doing so enables businesses to confidently add best-in-class capabilities to their network without having to replace their existing infrastructure—speeding deployment of new applications and reducing both network complexity and implementation costs.  

    “Technology partners like Net2Phone are helping Avaya by providing VoIP services to our customers, helping them to reduce inefficiencies and complexities in their networks,” said Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations, Avaya. “This enables organizations to be more productive and responsive, and helps accelerate operational and development processes.”

    About Avaya
    Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com. For more information on the Avaya DevConnect program, visit www.avaya.com/devconnect.

    About Net2Phone
    Net2Phone provides a full suite of VoIP solutions in over 160 countries.  As the largest distributor-based VoIP provider in the world, Net2Phone routes millions of minutes daily over data networks, offering high quality voice services and saving consumers and businesses up to 90% off international calling rates.  For more information about Net2Phone’s products and services, please visit www.net2phone.com. Net2Phone is a subsidiary of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT).  Through its Telecom division, IDT provides telecommunications and financial services.  IDT Telecom’s retail products allow people to communicate and share financial resources around the world while its carrier services business is a global leader in wholesale voice termination.  For more information, visit www.idt.net.

  • Mobile Phone Sales Fell in 2012 While Smartphones Thrived

    Half of last year, the research and market analysis company Gartner warned that sales of handsets are in decline, the final report for last year, which was published today, confirming the trend observed in August.

    The unfavorable economic climate that people from Gartner blame for this negative trend, has affected the sales figure for mobile phones. Producers managed to sell 1.75 billion pieces, a 1.7 percent decrease compared to performances recorded in 2011.

    The least demanded products were the featurephones, in the last three months they managing to attract only 264.4 million customers, a figure that marks a sharp drop of 19.3 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

    In the same three months of last year, smartphone sales reached a record level, the 207.7 million units representing a jump of 38.3 percent compared to the last quarter of 2011. In 2013, Gartner estimates that sales of smartphones will reach one billion and the entire mobile phone market will recover and reach a figure of approximately 1.9 billion pieces.

    Rivals Samsung and Apple have captured 52 percent of the market. South Koreans last year sold 386.4 million mobile phones, of which 53.3% were smartphones, while Apple, which is only selling smartphones, has sold 130 million handsets, an increase of 22 percent from 2011.

    According to Gartner, the Android platform has captured nearly 70 percent of smartphone market in the last quarter, followed by the iOS, down nearly 3 percent, BlackBerry OS, also in decrease, and Windows Phone, which managed to reach a modest market share of only 3 percent, but which represents almost double compared to the situation in late 2011.

  • Verizon names data and battery hogs

    Verizon Wireless in a relatively unprecedented move by a carrier has started a campaign of rating and reviewing of apps for both Android and iPhone. On whats grounds?

    • Respect for users' privacy,
    • User battery drain while on use,
    • Data plan usage while on use.

    Verizon has not made any friends by opening this can of worms, although its usefulness to users is relatively unquestioned among experts. The worst rated apps have been popular games (among them OMGPOPs Draw Something and Halfbrick's Fruit Ninja,) and even heavyweights like Facebook and MSN Messenger have got low grades for its persistent connection.

    It remains to be seen how this impacts users and Verizon's network. Will this be the beginning of a recommendation scheme to alleviate carriers' nightmares?

  • Apple Launches iOS 6.1: Short List of Improvements

    Apple has released an update package for the 6.1 version of its iOS software platform, bringing few improvements. iOS 6.1 is a minor update designed to improve the LTE compatibility and to repair a series of vulnerabilities.

    iOS 6.1 expands the LTE support for 36 operators in 17 countries, this feature being offered to the iPhone 5, iPad 4th generation tablets and iPad Mini. Those who are using the 3rd generation of iPad will be limited by the LTE support of the modem used by Apple.

    The list of software innovations includes the integration within Siri of the possibility of purchasing movie tickets through Fandalgo, feature limited to the United States, and the possibility of individual downloading and deleting music tracks downloaded from iTunes Match, option that existed in iOS 5, but which disappeared from iOS 6 until this new version.

    iOS 6.1 brings improvements and strengthens the security in the operating system kernel and the modules WebKit, StoreKit and Identity Services, as well as eliminating a security vulnerability discovered in the Broadcom wireless drivers that affected the models iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4th generation and iPad 2.

    The list of minor innovations also includes the possibility of removing identification codes used by advertisers, option available in the General/About/Advertising menu, and small changes in the interface, such as redesign of audio playback control buttons in Lock Screen.

    According to Apple, of the 600 million Apple products running the iOS, half of them are using the latest major release of the operating system.

  • RIM to license its technology out to other hardware manufacturers?

    Research in Motion is thinking ahead, while the Blackberry 10 is about to hit the market. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins told Die Welt that they are examining the possibility of selling their hardware to other hardware manufacturers in the future. This means that they could license their technologies and provide them to others, leaving behind their exclusivity, which had its advantages, but also its disadvantages.

    More specifically, he mentioned:

    "There are several options, including the sale of the hardware production is as much as licensing our software. But there is no reason for us to decide in hectic. It is important first of all, BlackBerry 10 successfully putting them on the market. Then we shall see."

    Altough it is still early to predict the future of RIM, it could be a good choice, which could significantly expand their audience. Especially now with the release of Blackberry 10 that they have put all their hopes on, it could be a wise move indeed for such a thought.

    For the time being they are focusing on the promotion of BB10, enlarging its hype and raising the anticipation level. For example, RIM's stock is following the general hype that favors RIM, jumping more than 10% the last week. And BB10 has not even launched to justify the general optimism.

    If it is a success, as they wish, why not plan for bigger things?

  • LG Optimus G Pro: a new generation of LG Optimus handsets

    LG is already planning to release the next generation of LG Optimus G, hoping that it will be successful, too. Optimus G was a decent choice for a smartphone and it has received relatively good reviews. Now it is rumored that Optimus G Pro will be the new generation of Optimus handsets, coming as the upgrade of the older version.

    Optimus G was a decent choice for a smartphone and it has received relatively good reviews. Now it is rumored that Optimus G Pro will be the new generation of Optimus handsets, coming as the upgrade of the older version. Optimus G Pro will have a 5-inch display, a 1080p resolution, 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and LTE in order to reach 4G speeds.

    What's more, it will have 2GB RAM, 32GB memory and it will run on Android Jelly Bean. It will weigh 160g and it will have a 13MP camera and a 2.4MP front camera. Judging by the rumored specifications, it seems that it LG Optimus G Pro has the potential to sell even more handsets than Optimus G. The main disadvantage for Optimus G was the old version of Android it was running, but as it seems LG is planning to fix it with Optimus G Pro and the Android Jelly Bean.

    Thus, a similar but improved version of Optimus G and (hopefully) at a similar price might be a good choice for a smartphone and possibly a good competitor for Samsung and Nexus phones.