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  • 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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    CES 2012: Intel Sets New Standards in Smartphones and Tablets
    LG Optimus 3D and Nokia X7: The Battle Continues!
    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
    LG Optimus 3D and Nokia X7: The Battle Continues!
    The Year in Which the World Divided Between Samsung and Apple

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

  • 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.

  • LG Unveils World’s Largest OLED TV

    LG will present the future of TV technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with the unveiling of the world’s largest OLED TV with a display size of 55 inches. By incorporating the company’s 4-Color Pixels and Color Refiner features with LG Display’s advanced OLED panels, LG OLED TV generates the most natural colors of any TV set at a much lower price point than could have been achieved using the standard manufacturing process.

    “Working closely with LG Display, we have a product which not only delivers on all the advantages of OLED over LCD but at a significantly lower cost than what could be achieved using existing OLED manufacturing technologies,” said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Electronics Home Entertainment Company. “OLED is clearly the future of home TV entertainment and LG is very focused on making this exciting technology as easy as possible for consumers to embrace.”

    What sets LG’s TV picture apart from other OLED TVs is 4-Color Pixels and Color Refiner which work together to generate natural and accurate colors that are sharp and consistent. The 4-Color Pixels feature allows for more accurate color depiction by using a set of four colors (red, green blue and white) in comparison to the RGB setup used by other OLED TV manufacturers. Color Refiner ensures consistency in colors from a wider viewing angle via an LG algorithm which improves and refines hues and tones. This is in contrast to other OLED TVs which often exhibit drastic changes in hues from different viewing angles and abnormal color gamut.

    Boasting an infinite contrast ratio, LG’s OLED TV exhibits vivid colors and the smallest details regardless of the overall luminance of the on-screen image. In turn, colors and details throughout an entire image are preserved with utmost clarity and sharpness, even when displaying scenes with dark lighting. Such color capabilities are technically impossible with LED and LCD display panels. And at 1,000 times faster than LED/LCD displays, LG’s OLED TV shows crystal clear motion without any blurring or bleeding.

    And LG’s OLED TV is as aesthetically pleasing as it is technologically sophisticated. LG’s Slim and Narrow Bezel design gives the TV a sleek, minimal look and at only 4 mm thin and a mere 7.5 kg, LG’s OLED TV practically blends into the wall.

  • 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.

  • RIM Takeover: Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon Are Interested

    Bosses of Microsoft and Nokia have carried out several discussions in the recent months with the Canadians from RIM (Research in Motion), the manufacturer of BlackBerry phones, in an attempt to build extensive partnerships regarding the future of RIM, company whose shares have reached the minimum value of the last eight years.

    Amazon was also interested in the RIM takeover, but Canadians are determined to reject all the bids, following the idea that they can solve the company problems on their own.

    Discussions status is unknown, but the fact that this kind of discussions took place highlights the severity of the problems faced lately by RIM.

    The company posted results below expectations in Q4, while RIM shares are trading now at a value of more than four times less than 12 months ago.

    Currently, RIM capitalization is 2.83 times the annual income, the figure being the lowest among all players in the telecommunications industry with a value of over $ 1 billion.

    RIM is facing lately with a lot of problems, the company announcing recently that it will delay the launch of its latest BlackBerry handsets.

    In addition, BlackBerry smartphones have steadily lost market share against its competitors, Apple’s iPhone or terminals equipped with Android.

    RIM has failed on the tablets market too. Its 7-inch Playbook tablet launched this year by the Canadian company, recorded sales well below expectations. In order to counter this fail, the device was gradually reduced in pricing from about $ 500 to about $ 200, another fact proving the delicate situation faced by the Canadians at RIM.

  • Realizing the Connected Car: The Consumer Telematics Show 2012, Las Vegas

    [PRESS RELEASE]

    Leaders and innovators from consumer telematics industry will gather in Las Vegas, Jan 9, 2012 to bridge the connected lifestyle gap by positioning the car as a highly personalized and intuitive mobility service.

    Until now embedded wireless connectivity has been the preserve of the premium vehicle ranges. However, with Glen Lurie, President of AT&T’s Emerging Devices Division recent prediction that, “all cars will have embedded wireless in 3-4 years”,  factory fitted connected infotainment services seem within reach of all vehicle classes  for the first time.

    The race to bring the connected car to the masses just hotted up

    At this lucrative tipping point for connected vehicle services, The Consumer Telematics Show 2012 (Jan 9, Las Vegas, NV) marks the start of a critical year in the development of the consumer telematics industry. With embedded connectivity on the horizon within the next automotive development cycle, it is imperative that the connected vehicle ecosystem unites at the start of 2012 to answer the technological and business questions that will put the industry on the roadmap towards mainstream connectivity.

    Kevin Link, Senior VP at Hughes Telematics states, “CTS is a great opportunity to kick start the year by bringing together the thought leaders related to automotive, telematics, and consumer electronics.” Now in its 10th year, CTS is the largest forum dedicated to automotive infotainment in the USA and is once again set to feature exclusive keynote OEM announcements of brand new services for 2012. Henry Bzeih, National Manager – Connected Car at KIA, who will be making a major telematics announcement at the conference states, “CTS’ role as a major node in the Connected Car information line is a must stop”.

    Other senior-level speakers  at CTS 2012 include BMW, Ford, General Motors, Audi, Toyota, Panasonic, Continental, Wireless Car, Hughes Telematics, Gartner, KIA, Mercedes-Benz and many more, will address key infotainment focused topics such as:

    • OEMs make exclusive next-gen service announcements 
    • Innovative models for monetizing the commercial telematics business case
    • Harnessing dynamic content and apps for a highly personalized services package
    • Key HMI tech. developments in creating an intuitive user experience

    With 2 exclusive OEM presentations, 300+ exec delegates, 25+ senior-level telematics speakers and 12 businesses-focussed sessions, CTS 2012 is the premiere infotainment business intelligence and networking forum.

    For the complete CTS 2012 conference program and speaker line-up, access the e-brochure at
    https://www.telematicsupdate.com/cts/download-brochure.shtml, or contact the Telematics Update team at [email protected]

    Register today to join the 300+ senior delegates already registered, via the secure link below: https://secure.telematicsupdate.com/cts/register.shtml

    About Telematics Update:
    Telematics Update Conferences are the most prestigious in the industry. We produce the largest telematics events in North America, Europe & Asia, and attract the most influential speakers providing a rich environment for establishing strategic relationships and networking.

    Contact:
    Gareth Ragg
    Conference Director | Telematics Update
    T: (UStf) 1 800 814 3459 ext 7589 | (Global) +44 (0)20 7375 7532
    E: [email protected]
    W: www.telematicsupdate.com/cts

  • Google, Sued by the British Telecom Operator BT

    British telecom operator BT sued Google in the United States for infringement of patents in areas such as mobile access to maps, Reuters.

    BT has launched the action in a court in Delaware. The complaint refers to six patents that would have been violated by https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Google, according to BT, by services such as https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Android, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Google Maps, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Google Music, Advertising, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Gmail and other products.

    "It’s about protecting BT’s investment in intellectual property and innovation. We think we have a solid case," said in a statement the British group.

    In the telecommunications industry are currently taking place numerous conflicts on patents, while the number of operators, mobile phone manufacturers and content providers try to offer attractive services such as accessing the maps or entertainment.

    Google Group is already involved in several disputes with companies such as https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Apple, https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Microsoft and https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Oracle. A Google spokesman said the allegations are without foundation.

    BT announced that it has a total portfolio of approximately 5,600 patents and applications in the past financial year and demanded protection by patents of 62 inventions.

    The British group is the fifth largest company that sued Google for patent infringement.

    In August, Google announced that an agreement was reached regarding the takeover of https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Motorola Mobility for $ 12.5 billion, the largest acquisition in its history, partly to protect themselves from aggressive legal attacks. Motorola is one of the largest portfolios of patents in the mobile phone industry.