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  • Google expanding Android team as HTC handset approved

    More designers needed as first Android-powered handset passed by FCC

    The team responsible for Google’s Android open-source operating system is to be enlarged with openings for designers, engineers, and developers.

    Ads from the search giant ask for people who can work in areas as diverse as “innovative” hardware user interface design, battery life, RF issues, and handset-security software.

    The expansion of the phone project in Mountain View, California, comes as an Android-powered handset from High Tech Computer Corp (HTC) passed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements.

    The HTC Dream is expected to be available in the US through T-Mobile sometime between October and the end of the year – making it the first to launch with the open-source operating system.

    Although details remain scant on the Dream, the FCC listing confirmed that the HTC model will be the Dream as the handset was labeled the “DREA100”. It has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and runs on the 850/1700/1900MHz bands.

    For candidates hopeful of joining Google’s Android team, the key job ad word is “collaboration”, with the stress on the need for people to work with the company’s multiple partners in the Open Handset Alliance.

    “The Google Android team offers a collaborative environment in which we help partners across the globe to create world-class hand held products,” says the ad copy.

    Competition shouldn’t be long in coming as the open-source Linux handset front is pushing for its first launch – perhaps by early next year. Verizon Wireless is reported to be preparing its first handsets from the LiMo Foundation.

  • Speedway latest sport to benefit from demand for HD coverage

    Sky HD coverage extended to speedway while Singapore’s nighttime F1 to be lit up

    Sport is proving to be a great catalyst in expanding the availability of HD coverage around the world.

    NBC’s impressive US viewing figures for its coverage of the Olympics are in no small part down to the fact that for the first time the Games are being shown entirely in high def.

    Now Arqiva has announced it has upgraded Sky’s coverage of key international speedway events to HD.

    Two HD outside broadcasts trucks were deployed to both the UK Speedway Grand Prix in Cardiff and the UK Speedway World Cup in Coventry.

    Working closely with Sky each event involved around 65 Arqiva crew and 27 HD cameras including seven radio cameras for comprehensive interview coverage.

    The move to HD represents an important step up for Sky’s speedway offering which Arqiva has serviced continuously for the past nine years.

    Darren Long, Head of Sky Sports Operations, said Arqiva provided Sky with standard-definition coverage of over 40 speedway meetings each year.

    “The decision to upgrade key speedway events to high definition has been driven by demand from Eastern European countries where the sport is particularly popular and where HD technology is increasingly available,” he said.

    Michael Bass, managing director of outside broadcasts at Arqiva, said speedway bikes accelerated as fast as Formula 1 cars.

    “HD picture and sound perfectly captures all the atmosphere of this adrenalin fuelled sport,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Philips have announced that its projectors have been selected to light up the first ever Formula One night race in Singapore.

    By creating near-daylight conditions at night, the lighting not only allows drivers to race safely at speeds of more than 300km per hour, but also gives ideal conditions for film and photography.

    Philips say this will enable camera crews to capture sharper images that comply with HDTV standards for viewers around the world.

    The company was selected by Valerio Maioli SpA, the Italian consultant company appointed by Singapore GP Pte Ltd, to light up the race on 28 September.

    Philips worked with Maiolo to develop a dedicated reflector for the system.

    The lighting system avoids glare by projecting the light beams at different angles rather than vertically. This is to prevent glare in wet weather conditions.

    The Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore is fitted with nearly 1,500 lighting projectors, illuminating the 5.067km track with light that is four times brighter than a football stadium at night.

  • Microsoft claims first with native Blu-ray support


    Microsoft has announced that it is the first operating system developer to more completely incorporate Blu-ray support into its platform, with the addition of the Windows Feature Pack for Storage.

    This will allow Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008 users to burn Blu-ray discs directly from the OS without the need for usually expensive third party applications.

    The software giant says the upgraded storage patch will add the ability to “lock down removable storage with a certificate or password to prevent the theft of secure material”.

    It also says it will add new forms of Smart Card support for government workers and others that depend on the standard to access networks and data.

    The pack has been in non-disclosure laced beta testing for quite some time, but can now be seen on the Microsoft Connect website.

    When released, it will upgrade Windows XP and Vista, as well as Server 2003 and 2008.
    No release date has been announced for the Feature Pack.

  • US$10 discount for trading up from DVD to Blu-ray

    Paramount is to provide a $10 rebate on titles upgraded to Blu-ray as figures show BD sales up 300 per cent

    Blu-ray still has some way to go before it fulfills the hype and replaces DVD – but one Hollywood studio has come up with a novel way of geeing it along.

    Paramount will provide a US$10 rebate to consumers to upgrading their DVD titles with Blu-ray versions of the same movie.
    The rebate will be offered for select Paramount and DreamWorks titles.

    While owners of Blu-ray equipment are arguably more likely to buy new Blu-ray titles, the Paramount rebate might be sufficiently attractive to entice viewers to upgrade their favorite DVDs to Blu-ray.

    If other studios follow Paramount’s lead, the drive to take Blu-ray mainstream may come about far sooner.

    Certificates will be placed in the packaging of the Paramount Blu-ray products, which must be filled out and mailed in along with the proof-of-purchase tabs from both the DVD and Blu-ray versions. The receipt for the new Blu-ray title is also required.

    The rebate applies to purchases of the chosen titles before December 31st, 2009, and all rebate claims must be postmarked by January 31st, 2010.

    Meanwhile, in a further boost to Blu-ray’s fortunes, a report from the Redhill Group suggests that Blu-ray sales are actually quite solid for the year, and up 300 per cent year-on-year from 2007.

    According Redhill’s Home Media Research, Blu-ray movies are selling at about 1.14 million per month on average for the year, for a total of about 8 million.

    The combined total for 2006 and 2007 was about 6 million discs sold.

  • T-Mobile to launch first Android smartphone

    Google’s Android operating system to be offered on HTC phone

    T-Mobile is to be the first carrier to offer a mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software.

    The phone will be made by HTC, one of the largest makers of mobile phones in the world, and is expected to go on sale in the United States before Christmas, according to reports.

    Google is making the Android operating system software available free to an alliance of companies, including mobile phone carriers and manufacturers who have agreed to provide devices which, like personal computers, allow users to decide which applications run on them.

    Google thinks that many consumers will want to personalise their mobile phones with unique applications and services.

    The mobile Web is seen as vital to the long-term growth of Google’s digital advertising business.

    Flagged as a worthy rival to Apple’s 3G iPhone, the HTC smartphone will have a touch screen.
    But the screen can slide out to expose a full five-row keyboard.

    While other carriers and manufacturers have plans to offer phones based on Google’s software, the T-Mobile-HTC phone is expected to be the only Android phone available in the US this year.

    Some makers of mobile software programs have complained that creating applications for Android has been difficult.
    They claim Google has continued to make changes to the operating system and at times has been too busy to provide support to developers.

  • Funai announce LCD TVs with built in Blu-ray

    Japanese firm to follow Sony’s lead and combine Blu-ray player with LCD TV

    Funai is to launch an LCD TV with an integrated Blu-ray player in a move that is certain to widen the appeal of the format with consumers.

    From next summer the company is to combine the two products into one unit.

    Sony recently said that it plans to put Blu-ray into a variety of CE products.

    Around a fifth of Funai’s current US TV sales are based on TV/DVD combos, so it is an area in which the company has a good track record.

    The Japanese firm is the parent company for discount brands such as Symphonic, Emerson and Sylvania.

    In the US their products can be found in a range of electronic retailers. Wal-Mart currently has their Sylvania Blu-ray player for US$299.

    Funai has released no details as yet, but a 42-inch LCD/Blu-ray combo is expected to cost between US$1,100 and US$1,300.
    Is this combination going to turn more consumers onto Blu-ray? Your views please.

  • Details emerge on Sony's first WHDI device

    Information is beginning to emerge about Sony’s first device harnessing the new standard for wireless high-definition video connectivity – WHDI.

    According to Sony Insider, the DMX-WL1T will allow uncompressed 1080p HD video and audio signal to be transmitted to any Dmex compatible Sony Bravia HDTV.

    WHDI is claimed to be capable of data rates up to 3GB per second, transmitted on a 40mhz channel in the 5Ghz unlicensed band.

    The range for the DMX-WL1T is said to be 5 feet, a distance Sony Insider points out is significantly less than Sony’s claims of the distance WHDI technology is capable of communicating.

    However, as the technology has a range of 100 feet, this is expected to rise as more details emerge.

    The interface will have four HDMI inputs, one component input, one digital audio input and a stereo audio input. A receiver base station and transmitter will also be included on the DMX. Other components may be controlled using three IR blaster ports.

    The DMX has an anticipated release in September or October. More information is expected to be made available at IFA 2008 in Berlin. No price has not been given for the interface.

  • Tethering to get cheaper with Sprint

    Tethering may still be an unofficial no-no on the iPhone but US telecom company Sprint seem determined to encourage it on their own handsets.

    Sprint are understood to be considering dropping the price of Phone As Modem (PAM) add-ons on new plans to US$15, down from the previous US$40 per month paid by current plan holders.

    Tethering enables customers to use their cellphones as wireless modems “tethered” to their laptops.

    Earlier this month, Nullriver’s Netshare application that turns an iPhone into a portable WiFi hotspot was pulled from Apple’s App Store shortly after being made available.

    Tethering is one of the most requested apps for the iPhone and is only available for jailbroken iPhone handsets – and in a more complicated form.

    Sprint’s price drop appears to be part of an effort to lure customers over from older plans.

    It will only take effect on current offerings – Sprint’s Simply Everything, Sprint Everything, and Everything Plus plans.

    While Sprint’s plans of today typically cost more the discounted PAM can make up for the difference.

  • iPhone's growing corporate appeal threatens Blackberry

    Questions remain about battery life, security and email options but it would seem Apple’s 3G iPhone is attracting increasing interest from the business world.

    HSBC is considering equipping its employees with some 200,000 iPhones, according to HSBC’s Australia and New Zealand chief information officer Brenton Hush.
    Research in Motion’s BlackBerry is currently the firm’s standard issue handset.

    In the US, the handset commands 46 per cent of the US smartphone, according to a recent report by Synergy Research Group.

    Hush told ZDNet.com.au that the world’s largest banking group was reviewing iPhones from an HSBC Group perspective.

    If such reports are accurate, then RIM’s BlackBerry could see its dominant position as the enterprise smartphone leader weakened.

    A report by IT researchers Gartner further weakens the perception that the iPhone is completely unsuited to the demands of the corporate world.

    While it stresses there’s still room for improvement on everything from application support to security to calendar access, the study says Apple’s latest handset is now viewed as a legitimate enterprise mobile device.

    Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner, said: “It’s acceptable for enterprise use if the security it provides is the same as other handsets in play.

    The iPhone features a complex password system for Microsoft Exchange users and a “wipe” feature that clears the phone’s contents when a password is violated. Neither security aspect was provided on the initial firmware, according to Gartner.

    Apple’s second handset, which debuted in July, also supports a small set of enterprise applications such as voice mail, personal information manager, Web browsing and e-mail.

    Still, some big enterprise-level functionality gaps remain when compared with BlackBerry, including shorter battery life, the ability to edit mail attachments and issues over calendar functionality.

    Gartner also said the iPhone’s bandwidth is lacking when it comes to using e-mail over a network, and there is still no cut and paste functionality.

    However, with Best Buy now poised to start selling the iPhone in the US there is no doubt that Apple’s priority remains the consumer market.

    The agreement is expected to help make already strong estimates for Apple’s device sales seem all too modest.

    It will also help ensure that Apple’s market value remains greater than Google, which it has just surpassed.
    The current market capitalisation of Apple is US$159.37 billion, just a little higher than Google’s market cap of US$157.56 billion.

  • Nokia leads China smartphone sales boom

    Sales of smartphones in China grew 32 per cent on year to 15 million units in the first half of 2008, according to data released from China-based CCID Consulting.

    The analysts said Symbian-based models accounted for over 70 per cent of smartphones sold in the China during the January-June period, followed by Linux-based smartphones with a 15 per cent share and Windows Mobile-based models with a 10 per cent share.

    Nokia saw its shipments of Symbian-based smartphones in China surge over 40 per cent on year to more than 10 million units in the first six months, according the CCID, and the company alone took up a 68.5 per cent share in the smartphone segment.

    Motorola, which focuses on Linux smartphones, was ranked the second largest smartphone vendor in China in the first half with a 15-16 per cent market share, CCID added.

    Dopod International and Amoi Electronics, the two major vendors of Windows Mobile-based smartphones, each took a less than 5 per cent share.