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Tag: android

  • LG Optimus 3D Officially Launched in Europe

    Starting today, LG Optimus 3D, the 3D phone offered by LG, is available in the Old Continent’s markets. The much awaited gadget, which debuted in February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, offers a fully 3D experience: recording, playback and the possibility to a video to all your friends.

    LG Optimus 3D also has a Tri-Dual architecture, about which, the President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company, Park Jong-Seok said the following: "We believe that the Tri-Dual architecture opens a new chapter in the performance of a smartphone”.

    What exactly the Tri-Dual technology is? The Korean company explains the unique architecture of their new smartphone during a press conference. "Unlike other smartphones – those with dual-core processors and of high speed – that are not using these technologies because of the inefficiency of the single-channel configurations, LG Optimus 3D has a dual-channel configuration, the transfer of the material can be made simultaneously between dual-core and dual-memory, resulting in a high performance.”

    In addition to the Tri-Dual architecture and the ability to record 3D videos in 720p at 30 frames per second, the smartphone has other attractive specifications: a 4.3 inch WVGA screen, HDMI 1.4 connection, a double 5-megapixel camera and will be running on Google’s Android 2.2 Froyo.

    Moreover, the owners of the tri-dimensional phone will be able to upload 3D content on the YouTube page dedicated to these types of videos.

    LG Optimus 3D has firstly been released in Europe, but it will be available in a few weeks in more than 60 other markets in the world.

    You may also want to read:
    What You Should Keep in Mind When Buying a Smartphone
    Windows Phone Will Dictate the Smartphone World Soon?
    New Mobile Malware Droid Dream Affected around 120,000 Android Users Badly

  • Windows Phone Will Dictate the Smartphone World Soon?

    There is a huge race among smartphones as currently Apple and Android leading this market. The prevailing interest for smartphone is making much famous research firms to conduct various researches on this market on constant basis and coming up various predictions. The latest research and results from IDC lifted a new veil for these predictions.

    This IDC research revealed that Windows Phone will pretty soon lead the market almost all over shadowing the current popular contenders Apple and Android.

    This research also started soothsaying that by 2015 the Windows Phone occupies the throne successfully. The research result said the there will be one out of five smartphones sold will result from Microsoft. Is it really necessary for Apple and Android to react to this research?

    Coming to the facts, some people really find it tough to get along with Apple’s monopoly and Android’s beyond levels flexibility as a threat. Nokia was already in huge turmoil through its recent partnership with Microsoft. Nokia is no longer looking into the further developments for their Symbian as there is no such desired sales growth for it. Perhaps, all these conditions might fuel up the growth for Windows Phone besides the huge popularity for Microsoft. Practically speaking the IDC results are going to be true until and unless Apple and Android change their approach towards their customer base.

    The recent security threat at Android Market is still warning many smartphone users and asking them to take a wise decision. Apple is still trying to control its customer base through its strong iOS and iTunes. Market is always against to the controls and all of the sudden there is chances to cut lose and start to go against to the limitations through available choices. This is clearly indicating that the Apple and Android is the people to reconsider their approach keeping in mind the possible threat.

    Above details are released by the IDC basing on their research. Just look into those jaw dropping predictions.

    There is one more vital factor to be remembered by everyone. The 2015 predictions mentioned 23.7% as Android share and in fact this is a commanding figure when compared with other contenders. But, reality is Google will not be making any thing out of this success. The Android’s major success share will goes to Oracle for its java-related patent suit issues. This is according to the Google’s acquisition agreement of Sun Microsystems in January. Microsoft too got its share in Google’s success to bite, through Android original equipment manufacturer and gets a part of share on sold out every HTC device. It is clearly indicating how the Google is going to be squeezed and what it is going to make out of its own success. This kind of squeezing might make Google to neglect from concentrating much on Android’s developments and stays happy with whatever is coming through.

    All the mentioned situations are really supporting the IDC perditions and definitely a success path started to lay down on own for Windows Phone’s future.

  • New Mobile Malware Droid Dream Affected around 120,000 Android Users Badly

    It is informed that approximately from 30,000 to 120,000 Android smartphone users are recently affected by a malware named as Droid Dream. It is believed that this malware is not a new thing and it is the same one that affected 50 applications earlier in March. According to Lookout Security, the latest malware was found in 25 and above mobile applications, which were removed earlier from Android Market by Google.

    Lookout Security also informed that this Droid Dream variant is a naked version of the original Droid Dream. This malware will be automatically active whenever user invokes the receipt of “android,intent.action.PHONE_STATE intent” like an incoming call. This is indicating that this variant doesn’t need any manual response in order get triggered into action. This malware is more malicious and requires no user actions to launch.

    The malware was seen light through a tip informed by a developer. This tip enabled security team of Lookout to verify instantly and found the malicious code which is almost as same earlier Droid Dream sample. It is identified that this malware was distributed from four different developers’ accounts. Some of apps that were affected due to this malware are below:

    Magic Photo Studio:
    • Sexy Girls: Hot Japanese.
    • Sexy Legs.
    • Hot Girls 4.
    • Beauty Breasts.
    • Sex Sound.
    • Sex Sound: Japanese.
    • HOT Girls 1.
    • HOT Girls 2.
    • HOT Girls 3.

    Mango Studio:
    • Floating Image Free
    • System Monitor
    • Super StopWatch and Timer
    • System Info Manager.

    E.T Tean:
    • Call End Vibrate.

    BeeGoo:
    • Quick Photo Grid.
    • Delete Contacts.
    • Quick Uninstaller.
    • Contact Master.
    • Brightness Settings.
    • Volume Manager.
    • Super Photo Enhance.
    • Super Color Flashlight.
    • Paint master.

    As a precautionary measure, it is suggested every Android smartphone user to consider installation of apps from trusted source and it is essential to verify the reviews and developer name. It is essential to give more concern towards the permissions that are prompted by the app during its installation process. It is also vital to observe the unusual behavior of the phone and keep the device well equipped with a mobile security app.

    The latest situations with Android Market is clearly informing all the Android smartphone users the necessity of a mobile security app. Definitely end user is suffering a lot though the situation is affecting badly the developers too. Developers are automatically kept at responsibility when their apps’ were ripped off and used for the malware distribution.

    You may also want to read:
    iOS 5 Launched at WWDC 2011, 200 New Features
    Apple Presented the iCloud Service
    Nokia E6 and X7 Ready for Delivery in Europe
    ASUS PadFone – a hybrid between smartphone and tablet

  • Google Movies Blocked on Modified Versions of Android

    Google has decided to block the access to Google Movies for all devices running on any unofficial versions of the Android operating system, modified through the process known as Android root.

    This type of intervention provides users with administrative rights on the operating system installed on the phone, thus removing all the restrictions which protected the Android platform against any unauthorized interferences on system’s components.

    From the explanations given by Google Support results that the Google Movies is blocked for all unofficial versions of the Android operating system, due to restrictions imposed by the terms of copyright licensing for media content distribution. Thus, users who have modified their smartphone or tablet devices by installing an unsupported version of Android, will be welcomed by the error message "Failed to fetch license for [movie title] (error 49).", every time when trying to watch content distributed via Google Movies.

    The position taken by Google is somewhat ironic, considering the fact that Android is an open source, which, by definition, should have fewer restrictions than the alternatives of the competition. In contrast, Apple iPhone devices which passed through the jailbreak process can now easily download movies from iTunes.

    The users of Motorola Xoom tablet, running on the 3.1 version of the Android Honeycomb operating system, continue to have access to Google Movies as long as it does not interfere with the Android root process.

    Once the Google Movies service will also be released for the users of the Android 2.2 – 2.3 platform, during the coming weeks, the access will only be allowed for the devices running on the OEM version of the Android operating system, such as the one delivered when buying a smartphone or tablet.

  • Nokia, At the Lowest Rate in 14 Years, on a Growing Market

    Nokia mobile phone market share dropped from 30.6% to 25.1%, reaching its lowest level since 1997, selling in the first quarter of 2011 107.6 million units, according to a study made by the research firm Gartner.

    At the same time, Samsung’s sales increased from 64.9 to 68.8 million units, and the producer has a market share of 16.1%.

    The list is completed by LG, which has sold in the first quarter of 2011 27.2 million mobile phones, representing 7.6% of market.

    Apple is ranked four in the mobile phones top, but also in the operating system top, with 16.9 million iPhones sold worldwide, double value than in the first quarter of last year. The company’s market share, both in smartphones and operating systems, increased from 2.3% to 3.9%.

    The sales of the Canadians from Research In Motion, the Blackberry manufacturer, have increased in the same period from 10.8 to 13 million units, the company having a market share of 3%.

    In the operating systems, Android has become the most popular platform in the world, increasing its last year market share from 9.6% to 36%.

    The market share of Symbian, at which Nokia will renounce in favor of Windows Mobile, has decreased in the last year from 44.2% to 27.4%.

    In total, in the first quarter of 2011 were sold 427.9 million mobile phones, an increase with 19% over the number recorded in the first three months of 2010. Gartner says that, despite this 19-percent increase in sales, would have been sold even more smartphones, but several companies have announced the launch of new terminals for the current quarter, and many customers have waited them and haven’t bought any phone in the first three months of the year.

    Smartphone sales have doubled up in the period mentioned, to 100.8 million units, according to the source.

  • Information Leaks at 99.7% of Android Smartphones

    Researchers at the German University of Ulm have uncovered a vulnerability that exposes most of the Android mobile operating systems to attacks that may stole the personal data stored in the memory of the smartphone.

    The discovered vulnerability allows attackers to obtain authentication data needed to access the calendar function, the contacts and other information stored on Google servers.

    The blame for this security flaw is the poor implementation of an authentication protocol called ClientLogin used by all versions of the Android operating system, including the recently released Gingerbread 2.3.3.

    At each login, the relevant information to access Google Calendar and Contacts applications are sent in unencrypted format, with the possibility to be intercepted before reaching its destination, which can then be used to access the personal data of the targeted user for 14 days.

    Attacks carried out by stealing the authentication data are very easy, especially if the users targeted are connected to an unsecured wireless network, such as those found in public places. The systematic obtaining of the authentication data from multiple users is possible by creating a Wi-Fi access point with same SSID identification code as one of the nearest public network, where mobile visitors are already configured to connect automatically and the new entrants have no reason to doubt the security of the network.

    In most cases the applications installed on Android phones are configured to automatically synchronize with Google’s servers as soon as an Internet connection is available. While the syncing with such a hotspot phantom probably it would fail, the initiation of the operation being sufficient for attackers to obtain authentication data for any of the applications that have tried to contact Google’s servers.

    Given the facts that you probably are in the 99%-area of vulnerability, it’s good to know how you can protect:
    1. Temporarily disable the function of synchronizing contacts and calendar (Settings, Accounts & sync, choose the current account – and there uncheck Gmail or ActiveSync synchronization for contacts and calendar). Reactivate the sync when you’re confident that there aren’t any eyes that spies your traffic;
    2. Use as less as possible the free WiFi connections;
    3. Take a quick update to the newer version of Android;
    4. Even if more expensive, choose to synchronize via 3G.

  • Apple Gaining Control over Android’s Dominant Features Speech and Navigation

    Apple is nowadays concentrating high over the things that are really causing hindrances to overtake the acceleration of Android. Android’s major plus points are Speech and Navigation features that are really gaining upper hand over the Apple’s iPhone. These two features are always successful at keeping intact their customer base and helping to improve further too.

    Most of the major features on Android such as SMS, email, search box and many more are speech-enabled. Here, iPhone successfully enabled their devices with “voice control commands” which allows user to perform few functions such as making call, playing music etc. In fact, this narrower facility on iPhone is failing to result as a match for the facilities that are available with Android. Here, it is essential to recognize that the voice search facility on iPhone over Google and Bing is supported through Microsoft and Google technologies and nothing to do with Apple.

    Recently some rumors and news floating all around mentioning that Apple is under talks with popular speech firm Nuance in this aspect. Nuance was the front-end speech facility provider for Siri, which was recently acquired by Apple. Also, Nuance provided speech-enabled keyboard in FlexT9 for Android and Dragon Search apps for the iPhone. This is clearly indicating that the Apple is moving its cards safely towards the “speech enablement”, which has been a competitive weakness for the iPhone since very long. Pretty soon Apple is going to conclude a deal with Nuance in this aspect.

    Smartphones mapping and directions is another vital factor that is ruling the market currently. Currently, Apple is using Google maps for this purpose. Here, the Google maps and direction experience over the iPhone is quite anemic when compared with Maps and Navigation with Android. Also, Google withheld releasing a latest Navigation version for iPhone keeping in mind the prevailing competition.

    Apple is calmly witnessing every development in the Maps and Navigation spectrum and slowly moving its steps towards the right direction. Recently, apple bought Placebase, which is a Google maps current competitor. In June 2010, Apple bought Poly 9 which is almost similar type as Google-Earth and offers 3D mapping successfully. Recently, Apple announced its interest for “locationgate”, which is mainly emphasizes over “crowd sourced traffic database…and will be available within coming two years.

    So, the current scenario is clearly indicating the major interest of Apple and perhaps intended to announce these specialities along with upcoming iPhone 5. It is definitely indicating that the Apple is intended to achieve upper hand over the lacking Maps and navigation aspects and trying to achieve the next level in it.

  • Smartphone Sales Surge As Prices Plummet

    The smartphone market is on an upward surge, according to IDC, the market research firm. The market has witnessed an outbreak of cutthroat competition among the major smartphone companies, leading to a fall in phone prices. Low cost coupled with the innovative marketing strategies has led to the growth in the smartphone market.

    The first quarter of 2011 witnessed a sale of 99.6 million smartphones, which is almost double the quantity that was sold in the previous quarter. The sales figures registered a 79.6 percent growth in this period. Senior analyst of Mobile phone Technology and Trends team of IDC, Ramon L lamas, attributed this growth to the prevailing smartphone market conditions.

    Fall of smartphone prices is the major factor that has contributed to the rise in sales. The market is flooded with new models from different companies, which has forced a slash in the rates of even expensive models. The corporate rat race has benefited the consumer market as expensive models are now within the reach of more people.

    The upward trend in the purchase of mobile phones has given companies a fillip in taking their wireless expense management further. IT departments all over the country are concerned about their employees’ demands to provide high-end smartphones.

    The IDC report has forecasted a bright future for Android phones. Google’s Android technology reinstated itself on the top in the first quarter of 2011. The demand for Android based phones has encouraged several phone manufacturers to come with phones that work on Android technology. Samsung registered a profit of 350% and HTC recorded a 229.6% growth in its sales owing to their Android based phones.

    A report by Global Industry Analysts has named enterprise mobility as the force behind the surging smartphone market. By 2017, the smartphone sales are expected to go beyond 1.6 billion units.

  • Discover More Easily The Best Apps In Android Market

    Google continues its string of good news for Android fans, revealing the new Android Market, in the second day of the Google I/O conference in Moscone Center, San Francisco.

    Google’s application store has always been criticized for its cumbersome and obscure system of presenting the applications, in contrast with Apple’s App Store, so the IT giant has decided to take action.

    Android Market has now five new functions that will help any user find games and applications more easily. First is Top Apps that comes in a more complex shape, with recommendations by country, a top of both free and paid applications, and also a top of applications with the highest revenues.

    The second novelty is the Editor’s Choice, which contains a collection of the best applications at the moment, carefully selected by the Android Market’s reps.

    Next is Top Developers that will reward the best designers of applications with a special icon, which will ensure quality, they also being present in a special list in the Android Market. Currently the list contains 150 companies.

    Another innovation will give the user a recommendation of any downloaded software by other users who have also viewed the same program analyzed at that time. For example, if you’re using ScoreMobile, an application that gives you the latest scores in sports, you will be advised of other similar applications that sports fans have downloaded.

    The last section introduced is Trending Apps and will contain the applications and the games that are recording an upward trend in terms of download, in other words, the most promising titles of the moment.

    The new features of the Android Market are currently available only for the online version, but Google promises that the mobile version will be upgraded pretty soon.

  • Google Ice Cream Sandwich, Android 3.1, Movies and Music, Announced At Google I/O

    Google moves on with their global domination plans, announcing a lot of operating systems and services from the Google Ice Cream Sandwich to the new Android 3.1, Google Music and the possibility of renting movies on Android Market, all in one single day at the Google I/O 2011 event held at Moscone Center, San Francisco.

    Although it is difficult to say that a story would be more important than another, the operating system called Google Ice Cream Sandwich is certainly a highly awaited announcement. A combination between the Android software for tablets, Honeycomb and for smartphones, Gingerbread, the new Sandwich will be a universal version that will run on smart gadgets, from the smallest cell phones to the most generous tablets. It will offer a series of revolutionary features and is scheduled for the end of 2011.

    Google has decided that it’s time to enter the game of emphasizing the multimedia content and has launched Google Music service, which allows a server to store up to 20,000 songs, from its own collection, which will be played then by streaming on notebook, smartphone or other device. Google Music Beta is already live.

    The video part could not be absent from the equation, Google being able to offer us a service that allows users to rent movies directly from Android Market, at very good prices.

    Another thing that deserves to be noted from the Google I/O conference, which is still ongoing, is the launch of Android 3.1, the new version of the most popular operating system, which brings, among others, the possibility to resize the widgets and to import photos from digital cameras via USB host.

    Stay tuned for more details and fresh news from the Google I/O conference.