Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • AT&T Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II Skyrocket Get Android 4.0 Update

    Good news finally for all the AT&T Galaxy Note and Skyrocket users! According to a report, an ICS update for the AT&T Galaxy Note and Skyrocket is ready and would be distributed starting today July 10th 2012. What it means is that users who were hitherto stuck with the older versions of the Android OS will finally get a taste of the relatively new ICS.

    So what does the update have in store for the users of these two smartphones? For the Samsung Galaxy Note users, the update will have apart from the major version change and the tiny bits and pieces changes that come with it is the one major addition of the Premium Suite. This means the S-Memo and the S-Note along with the integrated Wolphram Alpha update. This allows better functionality with the pen which should give users of the Samsung Galaxy Note more reasons to cheer. The remaining bits and pieces updates will also ensure that the phones upgrading from the older Gingerbread will have plenty of goodies to keep their users engaged for a while. For those users who are familiar with the S-Beam, S-Voice and Smart Stay features of the Samsung Galaxy S3, there is however bad news as these changes will not be available in the update.

    Some of the users are expected to get an advance access to the update, but the majority will get it sometime on the 10th. For Skyrocket users they can download the I727UCLF6 update patch from Kies and install it.

    At this point there is a simple piece of advice, just keep your wireless connections on and wait for that alert to appear and enjoy the new ICS when it gets successfully downloaded and installed on your smartphone.

  • Deal Alert: HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for $99 On Wirefly

    The HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE was launched by Verizon on July 5th. On a two-year contract at Verizon, the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE will be available to its customers for only $150. However, WireFly has this fantastic offer for the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for $99 only. This offer is available for both existing and new users and immediately knocks off $50 from the Verizon offer.

    The HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE is an Android phone featuring the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) version. It is powered by the 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chip and has 1 GB of internal memory. The rear camera is a 28mm 8-megapixel one and the front facing camera is just suitable enough for making those video calls to your friends and family. The camera and the display of this red and black smartphone are not the very best in the market. The display is a 4” super LCD qHD but yet leaves a lot to be expected from it. it features the Beats Audio technology from HTC which has not lived up to its billing to produce great sound. This phone is the third in the Incredible line following the Incredible 1 and the Incredible 2 but does not compare with the other range of smartphones from the HTC stable.

    Really at $150 it was still stiff for the users to opt for this phone, but the $99 offer from Wirefly does make you at least to consider it. Some of the other features of the phone include the ability to use the 4G LTE connection of Verizon and share it with up to ten Wi-Fi enabled devices. The camera has a 28mm lens, LED flash and auto-focus. It draws power from a lithium-ion batter pack rated 1700 mAh and can support a 32 GB MicroSD memory card.

  • Samsung Expects to Sell Over 10 Million Galaxy S3 Smartphones by July

    Samsung, the world's largest mobile phone maker, expects the Galaxy S3, the most advanced smartphone in its portfolio, to sell faster than previous models and to exceed 10 million units by July, informs Bloomberg.

    The company estimates that these sales will make the revenues of the mobile division in the second quarter of this year to exceed those recorded in the previous quarter. Samsung shares on the stock market in Seoul are dropping, due to the speculations according to which the results will be under estimated by some analysts.

    Galaxy S3, the most advanced smartphone produced by Samsung and the most important rival to Apple’s iPhone began to be sold in Europe in late May and in the U.S. on June 21.

    As regards global phones sales (not only smartphones), estimates made on April 27 by the research company Strategy Analytics show that Samsung would have sold 93.5 million phones in the first quarter of this year, up by 36% from a year earlier. In the same period, Nokia would have sold 82.7 million phones, down by 24% and Apple would have sold 35.1 million terminals, up by 89% over the same period in 2011.

    Samsung would have sold 44.5 million smartphones in the first three months of this year, according to the same research company.

    South Korean manufacturer is currently investigating a complaint made on an online forum in Ireland regarding a Galaxy S3 model that would have unexpectedly caught fire, possibly due to the battery overheating. Samsung officials insist that preliminary data show that the destruction of the phone would not have been caused by the explosion of the battery.

  • No Windows Phone 8 Upgrade for Current Nokia Lumnia Phones

    One of the significant hits given yesterday by Microsoft refers to the lack of possibility to upgrade to the new OS – Windows Phone 8 – for the owners of Lumia smartphones, even for the owners of high-end models such as Nokia Lumia 900.

    Although Windows Phone 7.8 will be a significant sample of the functionality of WP8, the guys at The Verge consulted Kevin Shields from Nokia to hear an official opinion regarding the company’s trust or distrust in the Lumia.

    "I definitely think it's more than enough. I think that ultimately your typical customer probably isn't all that aware of this upgrade thing," said Shields. When asked about the upgrade prospects for Lumia 900, the same Kevin Shields said that he definitely thinks that with “products like the Lumia 900, where a consumer walks in and buys that product they're getting great value and they're getting a great offering that's going to have a long lifetime of innovation”.

    Although there will exist new applications that would take advantage of the functions implemented exclusively in WP8, Nokia representative was keen to ensure that users will constantly get new features through updates and applications made in house by the company. Applications like Camera Extras, which will reach on all the Lumia terminals until the end of July, represent a clear proof of these statements. Camera Extras will allow users to capture intelligent panoramic and group pictures.

    As a subjective note, we think that Nokia undermines users’ intelligence with such statements and, although Lumia 900 is a sensational terminal, in the world we live increasingly more people think about the future and put in balance the free upgrade options and the extended support. Since these elements are missing from all Lumia terminals on the market, we believe that Nokia has received a new hit in this period.

  • Nokia Launches Three New Phones: Asha 305, Asha 306 and Asha 311

    Nokia expands its Asha range with three new models: Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 306 and Nokia Asha 311, phones with touchscreen that try to get closer as much as possible of the smartphone experience, while keeping a price as low as possible.

    The Asha range, launched in October 2011, gets to 10 phone models, available in over 130 countries.

    Nokia Asha 311

    Colorful and compact, weighing 95 grams, Asha 311 offers a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, a 1 GHz processor, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.

    In terms of software, users will enjoy the Nokia Browser 2.0, which promises fast loading websites, Nokia Maps, WhatsApp Messenger, client for Facebook and Twitter, and a lot of games preinstalled, including Angry Birds plus 40 free games from Electronic Arts. The operating system is S40 Asha.

    Asha Nokia 311 will cost about € 92.

    Nokia Asha 305 and 306

    Asha 305 is a dual-SIM phone with Easy Swap function, 3-inch WQVGA resistive display, touch sensitive, 2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth and Dual Band connections. Colorful and compact, Nokia Asha 305, as the 311 model, features Nokia Maps, Nokia Browser and free games from EA.

    Asha 305’s big brother, Nokia Asha 306, additionally offers a WLAN connection, as well as the possibility to make video streaming through GPRS or WLAN.

    Nokia Asha 305 will cost about € 63, while Nokia Asha 306 will be priced around € 68. Both arrive in the third quarter of this year.

  • Nokia Prepares New PureView Smartphones

    Nokia 808 PureView is just the beginning: the Finnish manufacturer making plans for an entire range of PureView smartphones with various forms of design and prices, all recommended by the camera’s excellent performances.

    As always, future models of Nokia PureView will have high-resolution image sensors, optical ensemble of high performance with Carl Zeiss and hardware and software adaptations for processing photos at the highest quality standards. The difference is that the new smartphones will incorporate these features into a more flexible housing, thus entering in line with the competition, which currently promotes slim phones – highly appreciated by customers, despite the poorer performance in terms of autonomy.

    Unfortunately, as regards the new Nokia PureView smartphones, for a more flexible housing we will have to accept not only reduced battery autonomy, but also the use of image sensors inferior to the 41-megapixel currently installed on the 808 PureView model. Even so, the new technologies developed by Nokia will help maintain pictures at a high enough level of quality that the PureView series to not lose its main advantage over the competition.

    Given the incorporation of technologies under development for several years, Nokia 808 PureView comes equipped with Symbian Belle OS. The WP version has been excluded so far, because the PureView technologies need to be adapted to the new software platform – time and resource consuming operation. However, it is possible that at least one part of the future Nokia PureView models to be delivered with the operating system developed by Microsoft – Windows Phone.

  • Sonetel to Give All Customers iNum Numbers From Voxbone

    Voxbone announced today that Sonetel, a Swedish VoIP provider with users in more than 200 countries, has begun giving all of its subscribers free iNum numbers from Voxbone. The agreement to provide iNums expands Sonetel's relationship with Voxbone, which has provided the certified reseller more than 17,000 geographical phone numbers since 2010.

    iNums are global phone numbers that Voxbone launched in 2008 to support IP communications. Using the international number range of +883 5100 assigned to Voxbone, iNums enable a customer to establish a local presence in new locations with a single, portable number. By providing every customer an iNum, Sonetel will extend the subscriber's range of free calling to include communications with all other iNum users, anywhere in the world.

    Sonetel offers a free hosted PBX solution that is particularly popular with small and medium businesses (SMBs) in price-sensitive regions, such as Africa and Asia. The company then upsells those customers on call termination and Voxbone-provided premium origination services. Together, Sonetel and Voxbone help business owners cost-effectively add local phone numbers, as well as launch virtual offices in any country where they see a market opportunity.

    Sonetel has begun providing iNums to its more than 40,000 existing users and will assign them to the 200 to 300 customers that sign up for service each day. In the process, Sonetel is helping enhance the value of iNums by expanding the number of businesses and other organizations worldwide that can be reached for free via iNums.

    iNums are distributed and routed by a growing list of service providers. Where not routed by a local provider, iNums also can be reached by the iNum initiative's local access numbers in 45 countries.

    "Sonetel's decision to provide free iNums to all of its customers is the latest example of increasing adoption of these flexible, global numbers that support IP communications features," said Voxbone CEO Rod Ullens. "The addition of iNums to Sonetel's innovative freemium PBX solution will enable a business to create a professional, global presence quickly and cost-effectively."

    "The iNum concept is ideally suited to the needs of our SMB customers and a natural complement to our existing offerings," said Sonetel CEO Henrik Thomé. "Providing free iNums will add value to our solution, making it easier for our customers to drive global growth."

  • Microsoft Compels You to Update – Windows Phone 7.5 Will No Longer Be Optional

    Microsoft makes final preparations prior to compel its users to switch from Windows Phone 7 to Windows Phone 7.5.

    Shortly, Windows Phone 7.5 will not be optional. If you have a smartphone running WP 7 and refuse to make the update to WP 7.5, you will lose the possibility to buy new apps from the Marketplace. Moreover, you will risk being unable to update the ones that you already have. Although this information has been circulated in the past, a new blog post on WindowsTeam confirms the proximity of the event.

    The update does not come without problems. Although some users have had the opportunity to update the operating system for the smartphones with WP, many users have knowingly avoided the upgrade to Windows Phone 7.5. The reason?

    Many of those who have installed the update complained that their virtual keyboard disappears. A user said on one of the Microsoft forums that the problem with the keyboard that disappears is absurd.

    Microsoft partners are also guilty for this issue. After being notified for the first time about the virtual keyboard problem, Microsoft has tried to be operative and worked on an update. Unfortunately, the 8107 update from Microsoft had to go through the mobile operators before reaching the terminal, which is why there have been recorded terrible delays. The AT&T users of Windows Phone 7.5 – the most important mobile operator partner with Microsoft in the U.S. – even today, after 3-4 months after the event have not received the patch.

    On Apple’s terminals this thing would not happen, thanks to the centralized system of updates, which is delivered to the iOS users on the entire planet in one day.

    Ultimately, is worth to note that there will be a prior notice a few days before the “D-Day”, announced on the same WindowsTeamBlog.

  • Vonage Reports First Quarter 2012 Results

    Vonage announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. Reflecting the company's previously stated plans to increase investment in its strategic growth initiatives, Vonage reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $32 million which includes $7 million in growth initiative funding.

    Adjusted EBITDA is down from $40 million sequentially and $43 million in the year ago quarter. Similarly, income from operations was $21 million, a decrease from $28 million sequentially and $30 million in the year ago quarter.

    Net income was $19 million or $0.08 per share excluding adjustments(1), a decline from $26 million or $0.11 per share sequentially, and a decline from $23 million or $0.10 per share in the year ago quarter.

    GAAP net income was $14 million or $0.06 per share, down from $350 million or $1.55 per share sequentially due to a one-time non-cash income tax benefit recognized in the fourth quarter, and down from $21 million or $0.10 per share a year ago.

    Revenue totaled $216 million, flat sequentially and down from $220 million the prior year.

    Marc Lefar, Vonage Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our financial results were consistent with previous guidance as we increased investment in our strategic growth initiatives. Our core business is stable and generated EBITDA which was in line with recent quarters."

    Vonage also announced its first international partnership with Globe in the Philippines. The partnership marks a significant milestone in Vonage's strategy to expand its services beyond North America and the United Kingdom. The company remains actively involved in discussions with several prospective partners and expects to announce additional alliances before the end of this year.

    On April 18, 2012, Vonage announced key milestones for its Vonage Mobile and Extensions products. Launched in February 2012, the Vonage Mobile app surpassed one million downloads in approximately eight weeks, with usage now approaching 10 million minutes per month. Since launch, the company has steadily updated the app to enhance ease of use and performance and has implemented new releases for iOS and Android addressing top priorities including connection quality, latency load times when opening the app and battery life. Most recently, the company yesterday updated the app to enhance its messaging capability to allow photo and location sharing and sharing of the app with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

  • It's Official! Samsung Galaxy S3 to Be Launched on May 3

    The Samsung Galaxy S3 release date has been officially confirmed by Samsung. The smartphone, initially announced at the 2012 Mobile World Congress (MWC 2012) in Barcelona will be presented by the South Korean company on May 3 in London, as the gadget is being promoted as the official smartphone of the 2012 Olympic Games.

    Samsung on Monday sent the invites for the press conference during which will be presented the much-awaited smartphone. Although on the invitation is not specified the launch of the smartphone, international press’ opinion is unanimous, anticipating the launch of the new gadget. Samsung Galaxy S3 will be launched simultaneously in New York, Seoul and Dubai.

    The upcoming Galaxy smartphone will probably run Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, rumors say, with the special interface Samsung TouchWiz 4.0. Speculations emerged once with the announcement focused on all its specs, but nothing has been confirmed by Samsung so far, which preferred to let the Galaxy fans to promote the smartphone.

    According to androidadvices.com, the phone will have a 4.65” AMOLED SuperPlus HD display, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, a quad-core 1.5 GHz Exynos processor, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB storage capacity and two cameras – one of 2 megapixels in front and another one of 8 megapixels capable to record in Full HD. The phone will support the 4G LTE technology, the same source adds.

    The new S3 is expected to have a thickness of only 7 mm, 1 mm thinner than HTC Ville and 0.1 mm from the Moto RAZR. The phone will weigh 118 grams, will come in two colors – black and blue – and will have a battery of 1750 mAh.

    The launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S3 will be held at Earl’s Court in London, on May 3.