Business News Holding

Category: smartphone

  • NFC Payments USA hones in on the most controversial topics for NFC-lovers – yet

    With less than four weeks to go to the event NFC Payments USA (Oct 29-30, Boston) M for Mobile are pulling NFC out from under the carpet and are looking at its strengths, pitfalls, longevity and where it will exist in the future. Press around why it was not included in Apple’s iPhone 5 has shaken peoples trust in NFC and this event is here to expose and resolve all.

    With top speakers from Barclaycard, Bank of America, PayPal, T-Mobile, AT&T, Best Buy, Verizon Wireless, Samsung, MasterCard, VISA, Capital One, CIBC, Citi – and more, the event has gained huge hype and is set to offer a stark comparison of NFC versus all other types of mobile payments.  Alongside case studies from retailers, banks and MNOs, topics include the most lucrative and efficient business models to employ, methods to reach mass adoption, international lessons in NFC and the future of NFC.

    Naomi Hands, Global Head of Marketing at M for Mobile says, “If someone is there that you want to meet, I guarantee you will be able to reach out and exchange business cards with them.  With such a high calibre of attendees it really is an exceptional opportunity to get ahead with NFC.”

    Terri Prince, Director of Mobile Product Solutions at Clairmail suggests what to expect this year, “The sessions were great and informative.  I enjoyed the excellent variety of speakers with their various viewpoints (i.e. merchants, financial institutions, device manufacturers, TSMs etc)”, while Qualcomm added, “There were many excellent speakers, industry experts and multiple opportunities for high quality networking.”

    To find out more about the event or to register and secure your place among the industry’s top thought leaders, click here for more information.

  • HTC One X+ Released with 1.7GHz Processor and Beats Audio

    HTC has announced today the newest and advanced smartphone of the company’s portfolio. HTC One X+ is an updated version of the One X model, featuring a 1.7GHz Tegra 3 processor, a storage capacity of 64 GB and the interface Sense+.

    “We are taking the HTC One™ X to a new level with the introduction of the new HTC One™ X+,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. “Our customers will have super-fast browsing, an even better camera and more immersive entertainment with Beats Audio.”

    Designed to be very fast, HTC One X+ allows fluid navigation, exciting gaming experience and superior graphics rendering, but also high speed download, for an easy operation regardless of location.

    In addition to the increased computing power, HTC One X+ offers improved performance due to the 2100 mAh battery which provides up to 50% (6 hours) more autonomy for voice use, for navigation and for multimedia content playback.

    By combining the features of the 8-megapixel camera of its predecessor with a series of smart features included into the new interface Sense 4 +, HTC One X+ stands out for its complete experience. The newly launched Self Portrait, associated to the front camera, helps the user capture high quality images by detecting human figure from different angles and subtle retouching skin and eyes.

    Available exclusively on HTC phones, the technology Beats Audio offers authentic sound in studio quality, delivering an audio experience that surrounds the with the optimized profile, clearer voice and more detailed high notes for the entire multimedia experience.

    HTC One X+ will be available in Europe and Asia starting from October. This month is also scheduled the upgrade to Android Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+ for HTC One S and HTC One X.

  • Microsoft to Release Windows-Based Smartphone

    Microsoft prepares a Windows smartphone under its own brand. Designed for the premium segment, the prototype is already operational, currently being under testing, according to sources inside the company, quoted by wpcentral.com, which reinforce the rumors previously circulated in the Chinese media.

    The Microsoft phone is different from other models that run the Windows operating system on the market, being a single product, said a source inside the company, who did not provide information on the smartphone’s features, prices or expected date of release.

    The cited person added that the phone already exists as a prototype and is being tested.

    China Times wrote on Monday, without sourcing the information, that Microsoft is working on a Windows phone.

    Microsoft introduced this spring the Surface tablet, proving that it has the resources to create their own completely new hardware product. The company avoided leaking information to the press shortly before disclosing the tablet. Surface will be available after the release of Windows 8, scheduled for October 26.
    Windows Phone 8 was adopted by Nokia, the main hardware partner of Microsoft, but also by Samsung and HTC, which presented their own competing models. Windows Phone 8 phones will be available somewhere in November, after the release of the operating system.

    Redmond company may choose to sell their hardware products on Microsoft Store, in order to don’t bother hardware partners, which largely depend on the sales by telecom operators at subsidized prices with the signing of a subscription for a period of time, usually two years.

    At the same time, preparing its own smartphone could represent a “plan B” for Microsoft to promote Windows Phone 8, if Nokia’s models will not be successful.

    Another possibility circulated in specialized media would be an alleged state of discontent in Microsoft’s management board regarding Nokia’s marketing strategy, which would focus too much on Lumia brand and too little on Windows. This variant seems to be reinforced by Microsoft’s participation at the recent event held in New York and organized by HTC, which showed its Windows Phone 8 models, a competition for Nokia’s Lumia range.

  • RIM anticipates for the Blackberry 10

    RIM seems to be very excited about the forthcoming release of the Blackberry 10 and it decided to present the phone to developers, by exhibiting some Dev Alpha devices to a series of "Blackberry Jam" events. It is a way to get the first impressions on Blackberry 10, until its final release for consumers during the first months of 2013.

    According to the CEO of RIM, Thorsten Heins:

    “With BB10 we’re at the start of a new era of mobile computing,”

    “BB10 introduces a shift to true mobile computing, and that is why we’ve built a whole new platform, a new architecture, from the ground up."

    Blackberry 10 is expected to have many new features, while surprises are not denied. From what we already know, we are expecting an update on Blackberry Messenger (BBM), which is going to have a better look that will allow an easier conversation. The home screen is also expected to change, with RIM naming it "Blackberry Flow" and allowing the user to browse the pages with the apps. The inbox is also going to change, integrating BBM, text messages and any update from social networks. From now on, it will be known as "Blackberry Hub" and it will be one of your most frequent visits. What's more, the camera will be more functional, while there will also be active frames, which remind us of the live tiles on the Windows Phone.

    All these features indicate that RIM is trying hard to prove that they are still in the game and they seem to be aware of what the consumers want lately. Will Blackberry 10 be their rebound to the smartphone market? We just have to wait a few months to answer that question.

  • iPhone 5 reaches 5 million sales in just 2 days

    iPhone 5 was destined to be a successful release, even before reaching in our hands. Apple knows very well that every new iPhone handset will attract significant popularity, which means that it will eventually boost their annual sales.

    It is a circle that goes on the last few years and is justified one more time with the sales of iPhone 5. Apple's brand new release, the iPhone 5, has already reached 5 million sales in just the first weekend of its release. Although it is not yet sold throughout the whole world, not even in half of it, it managed to surpass the sales of iPhone 4S, which reached 4 million sales in its first two days.

    These first stats remind us of the estimates that analysts made even before the release of iPhone 5 claiming that it will be the best selling iPhone of all time. More specifically, they estimated that Apple will sell 58 million iPhone 5 units until the end of this year, which means that it can bring to Apple a revenue of $36.2 billion! And if they sound like they are exaggerating, just consider their prediction of the 10 million sales during the first month. Considering the 5 million sales of the first weekend, not only is a feasible goal, but it can also reach even higher numbers.

    In addition, there are still many countries that anticipate for the release of the iPhone 5, with all the queuing that comes along with this anticipation. Thus, Apple should feel really confident about the sales of the next quarter and even the one following it. Their fans keep buying their products and even Samsung's disregard of the iPhone 5 didn't seem to work that well. Galaxy S III might be a very successful product, but Samsung still has a long way until reaching the level of loyalty that Apple has with iPhones. Till then, we are just waiting for the next stats that are related to the iPhone 5.

  • iPhone 5 jailbroken from day 1, while breaking a pre-order record

    iPhone 5 kept busy the homepage of every smartphone website the last week and it is not surprising that there were so many things to write about it. Since the announcement of it, every Apple fan anticipated for the big news. Since its sale, every Apple fan pre-ordered it and by the time it was finally on stores, a skillful hacker managed to jailbreak it, in just a single day!

    The fact that iPhone 5 has been pre-ordered in 3 days 96% as the purchases of iPhone 4S for the whole first month, proves how big the anticipation was from every Apple fan. And this is not just an estimated number, but the stats that were released from Comscore. As it seems, Apple's fans have been greatly increased, with the promotion of iPhone 5 being successful. The difference between the sales of iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 is significant, which raises the expectations of its general sales even more.  As for the carriers, the majority of the pre-orders was recorded at AT&T, holding 68% of them, with Verizon following with 24%.

    And just when we were all impressed by the pre-orders of iPhone 5, a hacker managed to jailbreak it, even from the first day! Grant Paul posted a picture on Twitter showing an iPhone 5 that was running Cydia Store, which is for jailbroken phones. Although many were suspicious about the validity of his claim, he eventually posted additional pictures, in order to prove his claim. As it seems, he did manage to jailbreak iPhone 5 from day one, which gave him a lot of buzz the last few days.

    iPhone 5 is here to stay and it seems, we are all part of this mania. At least until the release of the next generation of iPhone.

  • Blackberry services down for 3 hours

    Blackberry has experienced a major service problem in Europe, Middle East and Africa some days ago, which could not be ignored.

    Research in Motion does not seem to relax lately, since problems never seem to end. After the worries that Blackberries might be staying behind the needs of the modern smartphone user, an outage in their services in various areas was just another blow. It was September 21 when a 3-hour outage at the Blackberry services was widely discussed in social media, with RIM making two announcements related to the issue.

    The first one was when the problem was spotted, with RIM stating:

    "We are currently experiencing a BlackBerry service issue impacting some users in Europe, Middle East & Africa. All relevant support teams are working to resolve the issue. We apologize to any customers who may be affected."

    Afterwards, just when the problem was resolved, RIM CEO, Thorsten Heins made the following announcement:

    “I want to apologize to those BlackBerry customers in Europe and Africa who experienced an impact in their quality of service earlier this morning,”

    “The BlackBerry service is now fully restored and I can report that no data or messages were lost.”

    It is not the first network outage recorded for Blackberries, with the most serious one being almost a year ago, when email, browsing and instant messaging did not work around the world for 3 days!

    Although the stock of RIM has been affected by the outage, they still remain confident over the release of the new line of Blackberries. They are optimistic about their future and they reassure all the Blackberry fans that they are still alive in the competition of smartphones.

  • iOS 6 already adopted 25-35% after 48 hours

    After the iPhone 5 mania the previous week, we now have the iOS 6 mania. Every iPhone user was expecting for this update, hoping that it will boost the performance of their phones.

    The update from iOS 5 to iOS 6 was rather smooth for most iPhone holders, since its adoption was fast, comparing to the previous updates.

    It is estimated that iOS 6 has been adopted by the 25%-35% of the iPhone holders in just 48 hours. David Smith, a developer of popular apps, measures the adoption of iOS and his data show an adoption of 35.4% for iOS 6, with iOS 5 being still at the top with 71.5%. Apart from Smith, Chitika, which is an iOS ad network, measured the adoption of iOS 6 at 25%, while iOS 5 reached the 21% adoption rate in 21 days.

    iOS 6 was a highly anticipated update. It was the time when Apple decided to get rid of Google Maps, Siri has also improved, but what's even more important, iOS 6 is the first update for iPhone that does not require the use of a computer. All you have to do is plug your iPhone in the charge, click on update and leave it do its magic for the next 30 minutes. Your pc is no longer needed when updating your iPhone, which means it is getting easier.

    According to the first reviews, the iOS 6 was a positive step for iPhone updates. It might need some improvements, but we didn't expect from a single update to fix everything. As always, there are lovers and haters and iOS 6 was not an exception. We just have to wait and see then how the iPhones perform now, in order to judge after using them extensively.

  • Samsung proudly compares Galaxy S III with iPhone 5

    The battle has just started between iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III, or else, between Apple and Samsung. Apple might have won the patent case over Samsung, but Samsung proudly advertises Galaxy S III as the phone that has what iPhone 5 presents as novelties.

    It was when Samsung launched the Galaxy series of smartphones that Apple realised that there was a serious opponent there. When Samsung Galaxy S III was released, many tech fans were so excited about it that they even considered replacing the much hyped iPhone. Now that the iPhone 5 has finally been presented by Apple, it is even more obvious that Galaxy S III has nothing to be jealous of the first one. What's more, it might even have more features. That's what Samsung took advantage at their latest ad, in which they compare the features of iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III, using the caption: "The next big thing is already here."

    More specifically, the features listed for Galaxy S III in the ad are more than these of the iPhone 5. Galaxy S III seems to win iPhone 5 in terms of RAM, talk time, HD resolution, while it also has NFC technology, which replaces your wallet with your smartphone. They even make fun of Apple's decision to create a new plug for the iPhone 5, by mentioning for Galaxy S III that it has a standard micro USB plug, which gets more convenient when having an older handset. In addition, Samsung mentions Smart Stay, S-Beam, Shareshot, Group Cast, Direct Call, Palm Touch Mute Pause and so many other features.

    Even though Apple is still far more popular than Samsung in the mobile market, the future might be more uncertain, now that the monopoly is broken. At least Samsung found a way to question iPhone's superiority. Is Apple finally threatened then? Time will tell.

  • iPhone 5 to sell 58 million iPhones this year?

    iPhone craze hasn't stopped yet, with every tech fan discussing the announcement of the iPhone 5 and its features. Apple knows very well that this release will significantly boost their annual sales and this is what they are expecting anyway.

    However, who would have thought that iPhone 5 could become the fastest selling handset of all time? That's what analysts claim on Bloomberg, estimating that iPhone 5 is expected to sell 58 million units by the end of the year. This could bring a profit of 36.2$ billion for Apple, which is way higher than the initial sales of iPhone 4S, which had sold in the first quarter 37 million units.

    What's more, FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger had already estimated that iPhone 5 will sell 250 million handsets in total, increasing Apple's profit by 144$ billion. Although this estimate seems rather optimistic, since it's three times the total revenue of iPhones in the last 5 years, it cannot be ignored. Apple is about to explore the Chinese market even more and due to the size of the market, the estimated 144$ billion profit might not be exaggerating.

    On the other hand, there are reviews that were not that positive about iPhone 5, since it has disappointed part of the loyal Apple fans. Apart from this, there is also Samsung that advertises Galaxy S III as a much better smartphone than iPhone 5, which might affect the estimated sales. Apple still dominates the smartphone market and it's time to prove they keep on selling handsets the way they did in the past. If the clients are still consistent in buying every iPhone product, there is no need to worry. All they need is to design the next generation of iPhone.