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Category: smartphone

  • The 2012 Global Mobile Awards Nominations

    The GSMA announced nominees for the 17th annual Global Mobile Awards. The winners will be presented on Tuesday, 28th February at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. In total, 158 nominees have been shortlisted.

    For 2012, the GSMA introduced 18 new awards, with notable developments in categories such as ‘Apps of the Year’, ‘Mobile Innovation’, ‘Mobile Marketing and Advertising’, and ‘Social and Economic Development’. In addition, the ‘Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at the Mobile World Congress’ will be selected from those on show at the annual mobile event.

    Here are the nominees:

    Best smartphone
    Apple iPhone 4S
    HTC Desire S
    Nokia Lumia 800
    Samsung Galaxy Nexus
    Samsung Galaxy S II

    Best Feature or Entry Level Phone
    Nokia C2-03
    Nokia C3-00
    Nokia C3-01
    Samsung Ch@t 335 (Samsung S3350)

    Best Mobile Tablet
    Acer Iconia Tab A500/501
    Amazon Kindle Fire
    Apple iPad 2
    Asus Eee Pad Transformer
    Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

    Best Consumer Application
    Facebook Messenger
    Talking Tom Cat 2
    Angry Birds Rio
    Blast Monkeys
    Hanging With Friends

    Best Enterprise Application
    Cisco AnyConnect
    GoToMeeting
    Citrix Receiver
    Share Plus: SharePoint Mobile Client
    Forsquare

    Best Application – jury selection
    Evernote
    FlipBoard
    Google Maps
    LinkedIn
    WhatsApp

    Most Innovative Application
    biNu
    Divide
    Google Wallet
    Thrutu (TM)
    Shazam App
    SwiftKey X

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    New Samsung Smartphones with One Single Recharge a Day
    Apple iPhone, Partly Built By 13-Year-Olders for 70 Cents per Hour
    2012 Brings 2.5 Million New Viruses. The Main Target: Android Smartphones

  • New Samsung Smartphones with One Single Recharge a Day

    Samsung has made some promises this year at CES 2012. Let’s see if they are able to keep them until the end of this year. Many, if not almost all the smartphones of today fail to stay charged even a day-light.

    Since the processors have become dual-core or even quad-core, the amount of memory and the display size have increased as well as internet access speeds, it is increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for a mobile phone to resist even 6-8 hours on a single recharge. How many of you carry in your pocket the battery charger or have at least 2 – one at work and one at home?

    "The company's goal for all smartphones launched this year is to last a whole day on a single recharge for a moderate to extensive use," said Kevin Packingham, Vice President of Samsung on the segment of Innovations, during an interview with CNET at CES 2012. Good news, right? We understand that the new models allow surfing the Internet for 2-3 hours, calls of at least 1-2 hours and probably 1-2 hours of music without getting discharged by the afternoon?

    Packinham said the steps are quite simple; first it will move to a bigger battery for all the models and it will be working on a new way of managing resources when the phone is not used directly by the user. Since the modification time in which the phone goes from WiFi on 3G or how many applications will be open in the background, along with the size of the battery, it is assumed that they will reach a far better average than before. Packingham says that power-users will still have problems with the battery.

  • Apple iPhone, Partly Built By 13-Year-Olders for 70 Cents per Hour

    Not many people know that the popular iPhone and iPad are made in unbelievable working conditions. According to a report conducted by NPR, some of those working in production are 12, 13 or 14 years old.

    Foxconn, the factory where parts of Apple terminals are made, is located in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, with a population that exceeds New York – over 13 million people. Factory workers are more than 430,000.

    What surprised NPR reporters is that they met many children at the entrance. Apparently, Foxconn employers ignore age when hiring, even when they have less than 14 years old. The reporters  estimated that 5% of Chinese people working in manufacturing are minors. They suspect that Apple's U.S. representatives must know this or, if they don't, it's because they don't want to know being concerned about the price of production to remain as low as possible.

    According to NPR, at the Foxconn factory as well as other factories in Shenzhen, employees are working in halls with a capacity of 30,000 people. Work is done exclusively by hand, and the room is always quiet, because people are not allowed to speak. Workers are watched by cameras and have no right to create trade unions.

    On the move, reporters saw a former employee of Foxconn factory. He has broken his hand in a metal press, but has not been provided with medical care. Moreover, when he got back to work he did not have the same dexterity, so the man was fired. One reporter showed an iPad to the former employee and despite the fact that he worked for years in production the man had never seen such a device.

    NPR reporters claim that Foxconn employees earn about $250 per month. According to Reuters, their salary is $298 per month. Considering the fact that they are working over 15 hours a day, they are paid with less than 1 dollar per hour.

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    LG Optimus 3D and Nokia X7: The Battle Continues!

  • Samsung Wants to Improve the Autonomy of Its Smartphones

    For a user of the latest smartphones, several-day autonomy is an impossible to achieve ideal. Components have been miniaturized and ought to be more space for the battery. Unfortunately, the market demands phones as thin as possible, so that the battery still cannot exceed a certain physical limit.

    Moreover, processors have gained extra megahertz and cores, the autonomy being sacrificed at the expense of performance as high as possible. In conditions of moderate to intense use, the owner of a top smartphone can end the day with low battery, although it was charged the night before.

    https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Samsung has decided that in 2012 will do something in this regard. The main ways of dealing with this problem will be to increase battery capacity and to increase the smartphone’s radio modules efficiency. An example in this regard is being given by the https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Motorola RAZR MAXX, which differs from the previous model by the fact that the 1780 mAh battery has been replaced with one of 3,300 mAh. We definitely applaud this move, but we cannot ignore the fact that the terminal thickness increased by 2 mm and the weight with 18 g.

    Even sadder is the fact that an entry-level or mainstream smartphone doesn’t come with a better autonomy.  You would expect that a phone with 1 GHz processor and 3.2-inch display to offer a higher working time than a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and a 4.3-inch screen. In reality, things are different, because rarely can be found an affordable smartphone that it’s being charged at every two days.

  • 2012 Brings 2.5 Million New Viruses. The Main Target: Android Smartphones

    2012 will bring a total of over 2.5 million new viruses, a marked increase in malware dedicated to mobile devices and attacks against large organizations, according to the report released by the German IT security company G Data.

    "One of the emerging issues from 2011, which will develop over the next 12 months, is malware for mobile platforms," said Eddy Willems, Security Evangelist at G Data.

    "Devices with the Android operating system will be increasingly under fire as cyber-criminals are constantly finding new ways to attack its vulnerabilities. 2011 saw a rise in social engineering, where users installed infected apps on their devices, causing many to lose money and personal data. 2012 will be the year of banking Trojans as more people migrate to mobile platforms for online banking facilities. The banking Trojan malware can be bought quite easily and created individually by the attackers, which makes it a widespread threat," he said.

    G Data also predicts an increase in attacks on companies and organizations. Duqu worm appearance in 2011 showed that criminals are interested in spying any company and are not targeting only high level companies as did the emergence of Stuxnet.

    Duqu can be used in different ways to compromise data and to infiltrate a network with specialized attacks. Thus, the possibilities of using it to steal data or key information are vast, from spam to espionage, specialized targeted attacks or sophisticated phishing attacks, the report also shows.

    Major events of the year, such as the Olympic Games, the 2012 Football European Championship or the U.S. presidential elections, will provide a perfect environment for offenders.

    "We expect to see a steep incline in fake online ticket shops, website defacements, attacks at the venue sites and much more," says Willems.

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    Top Smartphones of 2011

  • CES 2012: Intel Sets New Standards in Smartphones and Tablets

    Intel has announced a series of progresses on its entire activity in the smartphones industry, including the signing of a partnership for several years on many devices with Motorola Mobility and provided information on a Lenovo smartphone based on the new platform of the Intel Atom processor. More Intel Atom-based smartphones are to hit the market in 2012.

    Paul Otellini, President and CEO of Intel, made the announcements during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Also, Intel CEO has offered information on the way Ultrabook is seen by users and has described the way the company develops products and technologies in order to provide high performance to a wide range of computing devices.

    Intel Computing Technologies Integrated into Smartphones and Tablets

    Intel CEO also talked about the Intel Atom Z2460 processor, formerly codenamed “Medfield”, which has been created specifically for smartphones and tablets, which is now offering high performance and greater energy efficiency.

    Sanjay Jha, Chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility, joined Otellini on stage and they together detailed the strategic relationship between the two companies. The partnership includes the smartphones that Motorola will start to deliver in the second half of this year, terminal that will integrate Intel Atom processors and will run the Android platform. Collaboration, which also covers tablets, combines Intel’s leadership in terms of technology based on silicon and innovations in the computer industry with Motorola’s experience in terms of design for mobile equipments.

    Liu Jun, Lenovo’s Senior Vice President and President of Mobile Internet and Digital Home, also went along with Otellini on stage and presented the smartphone Lenovo K800, based on Intel technology and which uses the Android OS. Liu Jun said that the K800 will be available in China starting from the second quarter and will work on the 21 Mbps network of China Unicom. Lenovo K800 uses the Z2640 Intel Atom processor with Intel Hyper-Threading technology, supports HSPA and features Intel’s XMM 6260 platform. As interface, the model uses Lenovo LeOS.

    Otellini said the development of the best mobile experiences is a priority for Intel. Michael Bell, General Manager of Mobile and Communications Group at Intel, has also joined Otellini on stage and he has presented the Intel Smartphone Reference Design technology, which wants to reduce production time and cost for mobile developers and operators. The two Intel officials presented a smartphone with multiple functions, slim and which has a 4.03” touchscreen as well as two 8-megapixel cameras with advanced capabilities, including the “burst” mode, which allows users to take 15 photos in less than a second.

    By presenting the Angry Birds app on the phone, Bell showed that the smartphone equipped with Intel technology can run lots of applications for Android, but also for other operating systems.

    Otellini said that Intel will set new standards in the Tablet PC segment through the compatibility with millions of applications and devices already on the market. On stage at CES 2012 has been presented for the first time the 32nm Intel Atom processor for Tablet PCs and other hybrid devices running on Windows 8, codenamed "Clover Trail."

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    RIM Cuts Off Prices, Likely to Name Barbara Stymiest as Chairman
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  • RIM Cuts Off Prices, Likely to Name Barbara Stymiest as Chairman

    We have been talking lately about the problems faced by the Canadian company Research in Motion and here’s that the first days of 2012 are also bringing the first strategy changes: changes in management board as well as in marketing section.

    Thus, after the pressures exerted by an important group of shareholders of the company, it seems that both Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie – the two co-founders of RIM – will lose their executive functions. The two co-CEO of the company will most likely be replaced by Barbara Stymiest, director recruited by the company in 2007, which is believed to have the necessary qualities to recover the Canadian company.

    Until then, a committee composed of seven directors in charge at the company (including Ms. Stymiest) examined the decision-making structure and the advantages or disadvantages that would be in case of keeping the couple Lazaridis – Balsillie at the helm of RIM.

    The second measure taken by RIM officials aims at boosting sales on tablet segment, where the results were far below expectations. Under these conditions, the price of all Playbook tablets (regardless of the storage capacity offered) remained unsold was reduced to $299 – until February 4 or until stocks run out.

    The reduction is significant, given that one 64GB tablet was initially costing $700, the version with 32 GB – $ 599 and the 16GB – $499. Despite the fact that in these conditions, the company's profits will be almost zero, RIM could this way get rid of significant stocks of unsold products.

    As we have already mentioned, several manufacturers have shown their interest in taking over Research in Motion, but the company said it will try to resolve their problems on their own first.

  • LG Optimus 3D and Nokia X7: The Battle Continues!

    Apple, HTC and Samsung are very popular brands among users, but LG, Nokia and even Sony Ericsson do not even think to give up the fight to attract customers. In terms of smartphones, some would say that Apple is the benchmark, the most successful competitors being Samsung and HTC. But, as past experience shows, this classification does not remain the same forever.

    Four years ago mobile phones were the latest fashion, and one of the producers which is now criticized by analysts, was then the absolute leader of the mobile phones market. It is about Nokia. Finns have not yet given up the pursuit of success in the touchscreen segment, which are coming up with the X7 model, a smartphone described as a powerful and aesthetic smartphone, running the latest version of Symbian 3, namely Anna.

    LG wants to succeed too and tries through innovative powers to emphasize: LG P920 Optimus 3D is the first mobile phone that can capture images and record video in 3D and play it on display without requiring special glasses. This is definitely a premiere.

    But are they offering enough novelties in order to come closer to the success recorded by the renowned producers?

    LG Optimus 3D

    If there would have been any competition, then LG would have won: South Koreans were able to release the first 3D mobile on the market. The technical benchmark P920 Optimus 3D is available on the market for around $ 800. In addition, in exchange for that price, the customer is offered more than a standard smartphone with 3D functions. Optimus is part of the new upper class mobile telecom.

    Nokia X7

    With the X7, Nokia enters a scene where are already several candidates. Only HTC has five smartphones with 4-inch or larger screens. Large displays’ charm is revealed very quickly in practice. Whether it’s about games, movies or surfing the Internet, those who held in hand a smartphone with a 4-inch display will hardly like a smaller display. Not only playing multimedia content is more pleasant but also writing and editing text with a virtual keyboard takes advantage of the large surface.

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  • Apple’s New iPad to be Launched in January Rumors Say

    If two weeks ago a probable launch date was set for March 2012, we are now hearing that Apple has scheduled the launch of its next-generation iPad, in two versions, in January, according to sources close to the matter..

    More precisely, during the iWorld event that will take place on January 26, the new tablets will be launched  and will be put up for sale along with he current line of iPad 2 – which will be cheapened and will continue to compete directly with Amazon’s Kindle Fire (currently sold at a price of $199).

    In contrast, the two new models will target mid-range and high-end segments. Sources believe that both tablets will offer the same 9.7-inched dual-LED screen and QXGA resolution of 1536×2084 pixels – contrary to previous rumors that were aiming a smaller format version of only 7.85 inches.

    Sharp will be the main supplier of panels for the next-generation Apple iPad series, while Samsung and LG will also be responsible for a part of the order. In the supply chain was also included Minebea, a manufacturer from which Sharp gets the backlight units (BLUs), sources stressed.

    Apple continues its contract with Samsung for the production of quad-core A6 processors, which will be used in the next-generation iPad – unlike the current iPad 2 based on dual-core A5 processors.

    Samsung is also among the suppliers for the CMOS image sensor used in the first of the new versions of iPad, which comes with a 5-megapixel lens. Another Apple supplier for image sensors will be Sony, namely for the model with an 8-megapixel lens.

    Finally, Simplo Technology and Dynapack International Technology will supply batteries for the new tablets – with a double capacity than those used in iPad 2.

  • The Year in Which the World Divided Between Samsung and Apple

    South Koreans have surpassed the U.S. in sales of smartphones in 2011, but the holidays can bring Apple into the top.

    "For Europe, the fourth quarter is not marked by the usual craziness of the holidays. Economic problems made users more demanding," said Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Gartner. In this context, difficult from the economic point of view, experts have estimated that in the last quarter of 2011 will be sold over 140 million smartphones. The absolute leaders are Samsung and Apple, while Nokia, HTC and Research in Motion are only collecting the crumbs.

    Regarding the latter, analysts are not too confident. "Basically, it’s only about the iPhone family and the Samsung Galaxy family. Only they are flying off the shelves. The rest gather what's left," said a specialist at the analysis firm Strategy Analytics.

    In fact, 2011 marked a radical change of the mobile phone market, the third quarter being the one when the South Korean manufacturer Samsung has come first in top sales of smartphones. Apple responded with iPhone 4S, but the results of the final battle will appear at the beginning of 2012, when manufacturers will make the sales stock. South Koreans have counted on the two flagships – Samsung Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Nexus – while Apple has had success with the new 4S. According to Reuters, the company founded by Steve Jobs estimates the sales during the holiday season will reach almost 28 million units, an increase of 70% over the fourth quarter of last year.

    At the same time, although being leader at the total number of terminals sold, Samsung is unable to compete with the Americans in terms of individual sales. Thus, the Galaxy SII – the most valuable product of Asians – has reached this year 10 million units sold, well below iPhone’s. Holidays will be defining and stabilizing the market position of Galaxy Nexus, the first phone with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and with technical specifications far better than those seen on the iPhone 4S.

    2011 has brought Nokia’s decline

    Although has introduced new Windows phones, Nokia is not able to regain the leadership lost in the second quarter of 2011. Although still in the top with the total number of terminals sold, Finns are particularly preferred for their very cheap devices, but that do not reinforce the commercial power of the Finnish producer. According to latest data, in the UK, Nokia Lumia 800 is only the sixth most popular phone. The bad news continues: in the last quarter, Finns’ sales will fall by 31% compared to the same period last year.