Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • Apple Strikes Again: Galaxy Tab 7.7 Out From IFA

    The war Apple takes against Samsung is reaching a new milestone: the tablet Galaxy Tab 7.7, presented last week at IFA 2011, has been removed from Samsung’s stand after a court order, the reason being violation of patents owned by Apple.

    The Court in Dusseldorf, the same that has also decided to ban Galaxy Tab 10.1, was the decision-maker in this case.

    Apple has legally obtained an order according to which Samsung is prohibited from marketing and promoting this product.

    James Chung, a spokesman for Samsung Seoul declined to comment on the court decision, but said that Samsung will respect the legal order, despite the fact that it is severely limiting the consumer. Furthermore, the company will defend itself in court.

    Samsung and Apple have been in disputes over time, because Apple claims that the Galaxy products from Samsung are copying their iPad and iPhone. Just a month ago, the court from Dusseldorf has temporarily banned Samsung to promote their Galaxy Tab 10.1 in 26 out of the 27 EU member states. The first trial in this series took place in April, in the United States.

    The legal order received late last week comes with losses of over half the units, according to Strategy Analytics. In the first quarter, Samsung had a market share of 16%, well below the iPhone's 69%.

    Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been released last week in Berlin. The first tablet in the world with Super AMOLED screen resolution of 1280X800 has a thickness of 7.89 mm, weighs 335 grams and comes equipped with a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM. The tablet is running Android 3.2 Honeycomb and has WiFi, HSPA + 21 Mbps and 2 cameras of 2 and 3 megapixels, respectively.

    Samsung had no details about the price of the tablet and when it will arrive in stores.

    Further reading:

  • Samsung Presents Galaxy Note

    Samsung has introduced on Thursday at the IFA 2011 fair, in Berlin, the new Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone, a huge device with a 5.3-inch touchscreen, which reminds of "the deceased" Dell Streak 5.

    Galaxy Note has a Super AMOLED touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. "It is the biggest and has the highest quality display of the smartphone industry," said JK Shin, President of the Mobile Communications Business Division of Samsung.

    The phone comes with a 1.4GHz processor, running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has two cameras, one of 8 megapixels and the other of 2 megapixels, especially designed for conferences. The phone has a battery of 2500 mAh.

    Despite the screen size, the phone weighs only 178 grams. Interestingly, Samsung has equipped this new smartphone with a stylus, which reminds of the phones seen in the past years. Samsung did not provide information about the phone's release date or price.

    Who has the biggest phone?
    If Dell gave up, without comment, the production of the Streak 5, despite the fact that the phone was not moving bad at all, the other big players in the industry scrambling to develop such terminals.
    Sony has announced on Wednesday, in Berlin, the phone-tablet – Tablet P – with two screens, both of 5.5 inches, while Acer is preparing this month, the launch of their new phone Iconium Smart, 4.8-inch touchscreen, 1.1GHz Snapdragon 8255 processor, 512 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM, storage capacity of 8 GB and micro SDHC card slot. Acer seems convinced that on the market is enough room for the smartphones with over 4 inches screens, in fact, a kind of mini-tablets.

    Will Acer, Sony and Samsung succeed to convince consumers that such big smartphones can be a better choice than a tablet? It remains to be seen.

    Further reading:

  • Samsung Announces Galaxy S II LTE, With 1.5GHz Processor and Larger Screen and the new ChatOn Service

    Samsung has officially announced the versions equipped with the LTE 4G technology of its Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone, but also of its Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.

    Beyond the higher speed of data transfer, Samsung’s new Galaxy S II comes with very important changes to the standard version, such as the more powerful dual core processor, at 1.5 GHz.

    The screen of the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE has also increased from 4.3 inches to a WVGA Super AMOLED Plus of 4.5 inches. The casing has also suffered several modifications. Its textured back, made of plastic, seems to have been replaced by a metal surface, while the form of Home key is also different.

    Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE will also offer higher data transfer speed in the network and will come, as in the case of Galaxy S II LTE, with a better processor – a 1.5GHz dual core.

    While more details about the new Samsung gadgets will definitely be disclosed during the IFA 2011, we should turn our attention to another announcement Samsung has made today, namely the launch of free communication service that allows users to interact with any mobile phone.

    Samsung Electronics has launched today the ChatOn application, a global communication service of Samsung, compatible with most of the current smartphones and platforms. ChatOn allows users to interact with anyone regardless of the platform used by the phone. Users can form groups of conversation, while the Web client will provide an easy data transfer and conversations between smartphones and PCs.

    ChatOn is available in over 120 countries and in over 62 languages and presents two function options. The baseline option is available for those who prefer an easy use, allowing them to share text, images, events and contacts.

    This service will be launched progressively for the main types of smartphones, tablets, notebooks and phones that are currently available on market, including future devices presented at IFA 2011.

    Further reading:

  • OFFICIAL: Nokia Announces Symbian Belle Along With Three New Smartphones

    Although the news of a new update for Symbian OS, called Belle, has come to our years since Monday, only today has officially been announced by Nokia. But with this announcement, has also come another one of three new smartphones that comes with this OS: Nokia 600, Nokia 700 and Nokia 701. All three are scheduled to appear in the third quarter of this year, which means that we will find them in stores soon.

    The new software brings three new homescreens, doubling up the area the widgets and the shortcuts can be spread, a drop-down menu for notifications and quick access to functions such as turning on the WiFi antenna, support for the NFC technology (also present on Symbian Anna) and software updates directly from the phone. Probably you’ll be amused to see that this update looks like a custom Android skin, which is not such a bad thing for Nokia, thus bringing the Symbian software closer to a modern operating system.

    If we talked a bit about software, let’s say few words about the new handsets, starting with Nokia 700. This one has a 1GHz processor, 3.2-inch AMOLED “ClearBlack display, Gorilla Glass protected, a 5-megapixel camera, pent band antenna, a battery providing 7.3 hours of talk and a design made of recycled materials. The price of this phone will be $ 390.

    Nokia 701 will include a slightly larger display, of 3.5 inches, based on the IPS technology. Also, this display is part of the “ClearBlack” range and is protected by Gorilla Glass. The same 1 GHz processor is also used in the 701 model, but the camera offers a higher resolution, of 8 megapixels and also has a flash with two leds. A camera on the front of the phone is also included, along with an NFC chip. Its internal memory is only 8 GB, but can be increased to 40 through the microSD slot. The battery is also more powerful, Nokia praising this terminal with 17 hours of talk on 2G and 8.8 on 3G calls. The suggested retail price for this phone will be $ 420.

    In the end we talk about the Nokia 600, which is a multimedia-based phone. It includes a 3.2-inch display nHD, 1 GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera (which also shoots in 720p), NFC, FM transmitter and receiver and also 2 GB of internal memory. The phone also has a microSD slot, and is the "noisy" phone company. The battery of this terminal is not that bad, Nokia announcing 15 hours of talk autonomy. Price for the 600 model of the Finnish manufacturer is $ 240.

    Read more:

  • Samsung To Launch Four New Galaxy Smartphones

    The four phones are called Galaxy M Pro, Galaxy W, Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro.

    • Galaxy W is for those who want fast devices, having a 1.4 GHz processor and 14.4 Mbps HSDPA connectivity. The phone has a touch screen of 9.4 inches.
    • Galaxy M Pro is addressed especially to those who want to socialize because of the QWERTY keyboard that allows the access to contacts and fast editing of documents and messages.
    • Galaxy Y is a device that targets young consumers. This one includes Samsung Social Hub, which allows users to stay connected in their online social circles.
    • Galaxy Y Pro is equipped with a QWERTY keyboard, the smartphone address to young professionals seeking to easily manage their professional, but also personal life. Users can stay connected to Social Hub Premium that allows emails, social networks integration and instant messaging.

    Additionally, the company changed the method of naming smartphones, the new structure grouping all devices in five classes identified by a letter of the alphabet. The devices will then be appointed to an additional indicator that will define a specific function.

    The new names are:

    • S (super smart),
    • R (royal / refined),
    • W (wonder),
    • M (Magic) and
    • Y (Young).

    Also, additional qualificators are:

    • Pro (when the device includes QWERTY keyboard)
    • Plus (the phone is the upgraded version of an existing model)
    • LTE (the phone can use the LTE connectivity (Long-Term Evolution), a 4G standard through which the mobile Internet speed can reach 100 Mbps, five times higher than today).

    Related news:

  • Google to Launch Nexus Prime in October

    The first official phone with Android was HTC Dream, also called T-Mobile G1. After over one year since the launch of HTC Dream, has appeared Nexus One, and after some time came Nexus S. These three terminals are the only Android devices branded Google, although they were produced by HTC and Samsung, respectively.

    Even if there were no significant differentiation from other Android smartphones, they were closer to the soul of giant Google, regardless of the producing company. Each brought a new version of the so popular operating system and along with the approaching of 4.0 version of Android, the company seems to prepare a new version of the popular Nexus series under the name of Nexus Prime.

    The next smartphone from Google will be produced by Samsung. South Korean corporation is going to put on the Nexus Prime impressive hardware: Super AMOLED screen of 4.5 inches with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution and dual-core processor at 1.5 GHz. The 8-megapixel camera will have capabilities of shooting Full HD 1080p as Samsung Galaxy S II. Internal storage capacity will be 16 GB.

    The great preview related to this terminal will be the operating system, rumors suggesting that it will be the first smartphone running on Android 4.0, codenamed “Ice Cream Sandwich". Samsung & Google's Nexus Prime could be officially presented during the IFA meeting (September 2-7, 2011), and a month later would hit the stores.

    A launch in October makes us think of one thing: the fierce competition with iPhone 5, which will reach the stores in the same period. It will be a race against time for the long-awaited Apple smartphone versus the new Nexus handset, though if Google follows its usual strategy we won’t see too many operators selling the dual-core handset.

    Latest related news:

  • HTC Sues Apple

      HTC, the second largest Asian producer of mobile phones, filed a complaint against Apple, claiming the U.S. giant has infringed three patents.

    The movement made by HTC aims at blocking the imports of gadgets such as iPhone and Mac computers. The Taiwanese company accuses Apple that has infringed three patents related to wireless technology. The General Counsel of HTC, Grace Lei, said that Apple needs to stop violating HTC invention rights. She says HTC started this action against the U.S. company in order to protect their intellectual property, their partners and, most importantly, their customers.

    Apple immediately came with a response to accusations, a spokesman for Apple saying that their competitors have to create their own original technology, not to steal theirs.

    In July this year, HTC made several acquisitions, a trend Google has followed by buying Motorola Mobility in order to maintain their market position in IT & C. The Asian company has bought S3 Graphics Co. This was a successful move for HTC, which won the lawsuit against Apple after a judge found that the U.S. company's operating system, Mac OS X, violated two patents of S3 Graphics Co.

    Another judge  discovered last month that HTC had violated two rights of invention from Apple. If this accusation is confirmed, it could lead to blocking the imports of certain mobile phones of the Taiwanese company.

    Apple filed a separate complaint this month that targets the phones and Flayer tablet from HTC. Motorola, Nokia, HTC, Apple, Google and Samsung are currently involved in one or more trials related to the violation of certain patented technologies.

    Related news:

  • Google Buys Motorola Mobility

    After everyone was watching Microsoft and Nokia (mobile unit) to see whether Steve Ballmer will buy the largest European manufacturer of phones or not, the bomb came even from the rival. $ 12.5 billion will pay Google on Motorola Mobility!

    Google officials are likely to know much more about the acquisition of Nokia, so they strengthened their position in the mobile phone market in order to counteract the effect of the possible competition offered by the new phones branded Microsoft.

    Today, Motorola is one of the 39 manufacturers that use Google's operating system, Android. Buying a hardware company is a very unusual move for Google, but it seems that by the end of 2011 or early 2012 we will witness to a big fight in the IT market.

    The confirmation of the acquisition was disclosed by Larry Page in a posting on the Internet saying that the U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one of the auctions related to patents in order to protect the competition and the innovation in the free software community and, currently, is analyzing the results of the Nortel auction.

    The boss of Google has also said the acquisition of Motorola was made in order to increase the competition on the market and at the same time to improve Google's portfolio of patents, a fact which will allow Google to better protect their Android platform from the threats coming from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

  • According to Nokia, Windows Phone 7 Excels Against the Android and iOS Popularity

    Nokia President Chris Weber has come up with a greatest insight into the Nokia’s latest strategy in an interview with VentureBeat. He made an astonishing comment saying that interfaces and app-based models such as Android and iOS will “outdate” soon.

    Nokia recently associated with Microsoft for its Windows Phone 7 mobile platform and coming up with some latest smartphone models pretty soon to regain its dominance like earlier. Nokia is seriously concentrating on a new strategy to gain upper hand over the currently popular Android and iOS. The new strategy of the upcoming smartphones from Nokia will be unique through arranging everything around the contacts unlike its competitors, which are based on the navigation among various apps.

    Windows Phone 7 coming up with a new interaction procedure known as “Live tiles and Hubs”. This feature offers all the key contacts along with mode of communication through dynamic tiles, which alters display as soon as a contact posts an update. Also, contacting someone is enabled through various options just through tapping, which will return back with various communication options including calling, Facebook, Twitter, email and many more. Definitely, this kind of approach is quite unique and away from the present popular mobile operating systems.

    The streamlined communication feature arranged in the Windows Phone 7 OS is quite novice and unlike apps based phones. Nokia thinking that this can gain back the throne like earlier. In fact, the mentioned feature success is mainly dependent on the mobile phone hardware. Perhaps, Nokia can succeed well to arrange require hardware for these feature through their devices, but other manufacturers such as LG, Samsung and HTC will think about this as they’re all already well associated with Android for their smartphones.

    Nokia is very well panning to make maximum out of Windows Phone 7 and planning for biggest marketing campaign for all their WP7 based upcoming smartphones. According to Weber’s latest interview, the upcoming smartphones will be available in the U.S. market “in volume” in 2012.

    You may also want to read:
    Mobile Internet Connections – Reliable Targets for Hackers
    Apple Launches New Lawsuit Against Motorola Regarding its Xoom Tablet
    Fujitsu-Toshiba Announced IS12T, the World’s First Windows Mango Phone

  • Mobile Internet Connections – Reliable Targets for Hackers

    Researcher Karsten Nohl, an expert in data security, started a campaign against the major mobile operators in order to determine the adoption of more stringent measures to secure data traffic created by the users of mobile internet services.

    To demonstrate how vulnerable users of mobile Internet connections are to hackers interested in spying them, he created a software application that once installed on the mobile phone allows us to monitor all data traffic carried by GPRS.

    The owner of such a GPRS interceptor can track Web surfing habits of other people and even intercept sensitive data, such as passwords or credit card details.

    The whole demonstration was made possible thanks to a cheap Motorola smartphone and some free applications, modified to allow the interception and decryption of data traffic transmitted in the mobile networks using GPRS.

    The researcher wanted to point out that the encryption algorithms used for secure connections in mobile networks cannot provide effective protection even in the face of attackers poorly trained and are even lacking in some operators.

    Apparently, mobile phone operators choose not to implement the algorithms performance for secure connections in order to monitor data traffic carried out by users, to facilitate the detection and blocking the viruses that spread inside the network and the detection and blocking of Skype connections.

    Two years ago, the same researcher revealed the algorithms required for decrypting the calls carried by GSM networks. Last year he launched an application that allows users to verify if the calls initiated in the telephone networks can be bugged or not by malevolent persons.

    You may also want to read:
    Apple Launches New Lawsuit Against Motorola Regarding its Xoom Tablet
    Fujitsu-Toshiba Announced IS12T, the World’s First Windows Mango Phone
    Apple Took Two Thirds of Available Mobile Phone Profits in Q2