Sunday, February 20, 2011
Customers waited in line to buy the latest iPhone at the flagship Apple store in New York in June.
But contrary to published reports, Apple is not currently developing a smaller iPhone, according to people briefed on Apple’s plans who requested anonymity because the plans are confidential.
Apple’s engineers are currently focused on finishing the next version of the iPhone, which is likely to be similar in size to the current iPhone 4, said one of the people. The person said Apple was not planning to introduce a smaller iPhone any time soon. Analysts expect the new iPhone to be ready this summer.
Another person who is in direct contact with Apple also said that the company would not make a smaller iPhone at this time, in part because a smaller device would not necessarily be much cheaper to manufacture and because it would be more difficult to operate.
More important, a phone with a smaller screen would force many developers to rewrite their apps, which Apple wants to avoid, the person said.
Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, appeared to reinforce that last point recently when he praised the iPhone’s uniformity, contrasting it with phones based on Google’s Android software, which come in many formats.
“We think Android is very, very fragmented and getting more fragmented by the day,” Mr. Jobs told financial analysts in October. “We think this is a huge strength of our approach compared to Google’s.”
Another senior Apple executive said during a private meeting recently that it did not make sense for the company to make multiple iPhone models, noting that Apple would stick with its practice of dropping the price of older models when it introduced a new one.
The iPhone 3GS is now available for $49 with a two-year contract that helps subsidize the price of the device in the United States.
As part of its effort to find new customers for the iPhone, Apple plans to make it easier to operate the device through voice commands, removing an obstacle for people who do not like using a virtual keyboard, said another person with knowledge of Apple’s plans.
Apple is also considering changing internal components of the device to bring costs down. “Although the innards of the phone, including memory size or camera quality, could change to offer a less expensive model, the size of the device would not vary,” said the person, who has worked on multiple versions of the device.
Another person with knowledge of Apple’s plans said that the company was actively building a more versatile version of its MobileMe service, which allows users to store music, photos and files online and have them accessible on all their devices.
The current version of MobileMe, which costs $100 a year, has failed to catch on with consumers. Rivals like Google and others offer similar services free.
The new version of MobileMe is expected to be free and would allow users to synch their files without using a cable.
“The goal is that your photos and other media content will eventually just sync across all your Apple devices without people having to do anything,” the person said. If more iPhone users stored files online, Apple could make cheaper devices with less storage. Flash storage is one of the iPhone’s most expensive components.
Apple has dominated the high end of the smartphone market, but the company is facing increasing competition from devices running Google’s Android, which collectively outsell the iPhone. Analysts said it would make sense for Apple to introduce a cheaper iPhone, especially in overseas markets where carriers do not subsidize handsets. Unsubsidized handsets are often called “prepaid.”
“If they are going to be a player in the global market they have to have a prepaid option,” said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray. But Mr. Munster said that to be successful, a prepaid iPhone would have to be able to run the more than 300,000 apps available in the App Store.
A. M. Sacconaghi Jr., an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, said that a low-priced iPhone could help Apple expand its unit sales of the device sixfold.
In recent days, some published reports, citing anonymous sources, said that Apple was building a smaller iPhone. One report gave the code name of the project as N97. Several people with knowledge of Apple’s plans said that N97 was the code name for the Verizon iPhone 4, which was introduced this month.
Sunday, February 20, 2011 0
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Sony on Wednesday issued an edict: if a user hacks the PlayStation 3, that user will be banned for life from Sony's online services, permanently.
Sony Computer Entertainment posted the message on its PlayStation blog, along with some additional explanation. If a user uses some device, utility, or other methods to circumvent the copy protection used by the PlayStation 3, and Sony detects it, that user will be banned from the PlayStation Network and the Qriocity movie-streaming service permanently.
Sony's notice reads:
"Notice: Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers. These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software. Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the "System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System" and the "Terms of Services and User Agreement" for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions. Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates the consumer guarantee for that system. In addition, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws. Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently. To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems."
The company said that its users have asked about how the company will respond to incidents that have been reported in the press, including the discovery of the root key to the PlayStation 3, and the subsequent saga of George "geoh0t" Hotz, "Bushing," Hector Martin Cantero, Sven Peter, and others alleged to be part of the FAIL0VERFLOW group of hackers that contributed to the release of the PlayStation 3's root key.
In that case, Sony sued, accusing Hotz and the others with violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, plus breaches of California copyright law, breach of contract, and other violations. The company was granted an injunction preventing Hotz and the others from distributing its software, and Hotz was also ordered to turn over his hard drives. Unfortunately, a Sony affiliate then tweeted the root key again.The case is ongoing.
After issuing its statement regarding the strict enforcement of its anti-piracy restrictions, Sony then followed up with a slightly warmer tone.
"By identifying PlayStation 3 systems that breach our guidelines and terminating their ability to connect to PlayStation Network, we are protecting our business and preserving the honest gameplay experiences that you expect and deserve," Sony's PlayStation blog added.
"Rest assured, this message does not apply to the overwhelming majority of our users who enjoy the world of entertainment PlayStation 3 has to offer without breaching the guidelines detailed above, and we urge you to continue doing so without fear."
Saturday, February 19, 2011 0
Nokia has launched two new entry-level phones, C1-01 (left) and C1-02, in the Indian market. Priced at Rs. 2,789 and Rs. 2,394 respectively, the C1-01 and C1-02 offer Ovi Life Tools capability with one month free access, aiming to bring education, entertainment, and news to consumers from both rural and urban regions. The service is available in 11 languages.
Interestingly, the phones do not offer dual-SIM capabilities, unlike some of their recent brethren, however, they do provide up to 32GB of storage expandability with microSD cards - something rare at the price range.
The Nokia C1-01 is being specially launched with an exclusive offer from Bharti Airtel, where users can get local and STD call rates of 40p/min, 250 night minutes of Airtel-to-Airtel talktime, as well as 50 MB data usage and 500 SMSes (local & national), all of which are valid for 30 days.
The two new phones are meant to appeal to variety of users, featuring a variety of colours, built-in music players, as well as FM radio with recording. The Nokia C1-01 in addition as has VGA camera. Common offerings of the Nokia C1-01 and the C1-02 feature phones include GPRS/EDGE connectivity for mobile internet, MMS support, as well as microUSB and Bluetooth connectivity.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Nokia has revealed that the deal with Microsoft enables them to heavily customize the Windows Phone 7 platform on their devices.
However, they are not going to take this route. Instead, they are going to try to make updates that can be sent back to Microsoft for inclusion in the standard WP7 editions so that every operator can benefit from it.
The basic idea is to prevent the fragmentation that is happening in the Android ecosystem. Heavy customization would result in delayed releases of updates.
This means that Nokia would have to differentiate themselves on the basis of hardware quality and features when it comes to WP7 based smartphones.
Thursday, February 17, 2011 0
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Worried that Dell's Streak 10 might pull a Streak 5 and ship with a aging, smartphone-specific OS? Fear no more -- Dell told investors that the 10.1-inch Android tablet will arrive later this year with Honeycomb safely nestled inside. Also, it seems Dell may looking to consolidate the number of form factors and software platforms it supports, as an executive stated during today's Q4 earnings call that the company's other 10.1-inch tablet -- a Windows device -- could have the same shell. When asked broadly about the company's tablet strategy with regards to other operating systems, this was the answer Dell had on tap:
For tablets, it's Android Honeycomb and Windows, and we have customers with a preference for either one. We can create platforms that share a great degree of hardware commonality that can run both -- or either -- operating system, and we don't see any other options that are worthy of consideration.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 1
IT major, Tech Mahindra, has entered into an alliance with Microsoft Corp to offer Business Intelligence (BI) solutions for telecom service providers.
As part of the initiative, Tech Mahindra will deploy Mahindra Satyam's 'iDecisionsTM for telecom' onto a Microsoft platform which will enable both companies to offer customisable BI solutions to their customers, a press release issued here today stated.
The BI solutions cover all major aspects of the telecom industry decision-making spectrum and would be available on a single platform consisting of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 with a defined road-map to move this to a cloud-based offering using Windows Azure later this year, the release said.
"As a global player with a strong foothold in the telecommunication sector, Tech Mahindra is pleased to be working with Microsoft to provide BI that supports the unique needs of this sector. Together, we will help customers to respond quickly to market trends and tailor products and services to their needs. We are confident that iDecisionsTM for Telecom using Microsoft technology will empower informed decision-making for our customers" Tech Mahindra's Senior Vice-President and Europe Business Head, Vivek Agarwal, said.
"We are very pleased with Tech Mahindra's decision to extend their relationship with Microsoft and offer Business Intelligence solutions that address the specific needs of our telco customers," Industry Managing Director, Communications Sector at Microsoft Corp, Jim Dietrich, said.
Take heart Windows 7 users, the first W7 service pack finally has an official mass-market release date: February 22nd.
If you are a MSDN or TechNet Subscriber, or a Volume License customer, you can get your hands on the final software straight out of Redmond on February 16th.
The February 22nd launch date is right on time, squaring with our previous knowledge that the service pack would be released in the first quarter of 2011. There have been various leaks throughout the history of Service Pack 1, but at long last the official software will be released.
What should you expect? RemoteFX, a tool to help boost the 3-D graphical experience for users who are remote will be included alongside a host of minor (read: incremental) upgrades and improvements. Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 will be released at the same time.
The release of various service packs for different versions of Windows often mark their ‘coming of age’ for certain corporate customers who only want to bet on proven tools. Not that Windows 7 is selling poorly, the opposite, in fact, but this can only help boost already strong numbers.
The Mobile World Congress has now brought news of some much-needed Windows Phone 7 updates, but we wonder if these would be enough to fill all the gaps of the platform’s glaring omissions. Steve Ballmer announced two updates – but not many details were in tow, with no exact release date, or list of features.
We do know that this first update will be due in the first two weeks of March, and will include the much-vaunted ability to copy and paste, apart from performance enhancements. There will also be an improved Windows Marketplace app for the ecosystem. With CDMA-support promised, carriers in India might be just start getting excited about at the implications of a Nokia Windows Phone 7 in the Indian market.
The next update will include some very essential features, with true multitasking including third party programs, using a task switcher ‘inspired’ by the acclaimed webOS card-style. Along with native Twitter support, the update will also bring IE9 to WP7 – implying a degree of built-in hardware-acceleration.
The second, larger update, due sometime in the second half of the year, will apparently offer more than what we know of now, features that will hopefully bring it onto a more level playing field with its tried and tested competitors. The update will be revealed in more detail at developer-centric MIX11 conference scheduled for April – as well as a list of SDK features. Other features were demonstrated, but not detailed, including a WP7 being used to interface with an Xbox 360 Kinect game.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Don't ever say Ma Bell lacks cahones. On the same day that existing Verizon customers began pre-ordering the CDMA'd iPhone 4, AT&T has come clean with what's next on America's largest GSM network. While announced at CES 2011, pricing and release information had eluded the luscious Atrix 4G... until now, that is. AT&T will begin pre-sales for the Froyo-powered Motorola Atrix 4G Android superphone on February 13th, with the standard $199.99 + two-year contract ($50 more than we were led to believe, mind you) getting one into your grubby mitts. We're told to expect general availability on March 6th "or earlier," putting it just about in line with the date we'd heard rumored. Moreover, those looking to buy will should have a difficult time laying off of the Laptop Dock bundle, which nets you an Atrix 4G as well as a $499.99 dock for the grand total of $499.99 on contract. You heard right -- those who opt to buy the dock at a later time will be asked to shell out five Benjamins, whereas that same tally on day one will also include the phone. It should be noted, however, that the bundle only applies if you also sign your name to a Data Pro plan and tethering add-on, so be sure you're down for that monthly hit before committing in haste. Oh, and just in case you simply can't stop spending, the carrier is also offering an Entertainment Access Kit for Atrix 4G customers which includes the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock, a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a remote control for $189.99.
Friday, February 4, 2011 1
Admit it, you know you want one of those wild N-Control Avenger controller attachments: there's no shame in that, I want it too! It looks so cool and certainly can make go gaga.
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