Apple to receive $10 for every Android phone sold?

We all know that Apple is going all guns blazing in the war against patent infringement (read: Android). Now, as reported by Phone Arena, Kevin Rivette, managing partner at an intellectual property firm called 3LP Advisors LLC has mentioned in a conversation with Bloomberg that if things do go Apple’s way in this patent war, there’s a good chance that they might get $10 for every Android device that has been sold. This figure is close to twice of what Microsoft receives from its licensing deal with Android manufacturers. It seems like Apple is gearing to become foes with a lot of companies in the tech world.

So, what do we think about this? For the love of technology, definitely not good, because these two are fighting like Optimus Prime vs Megatron! We, on the other hand, are peace lovers and have happily installed the MIUI iOS themed ROM on our Android phones.

Source : Apple to receive $10 for every Android phone sold?

Samsung Smartphones leading in India

Though the popularity of Nokia is declining, it has played a key role in introducing the Indian terrain to mobile phones. The Finnish player has now been taken over by Samsung in India. According to TOI, in November the volume market share and value share were 38 percent and 35.2 percent for Samsung as per GfK research firm. It is for the first time that it has exceeded these figures to overtake Nokia.

Samsung Mobile and IT country head, Ranjit Yadav said, "At Samsung, we believe in offering our consumers innovative smart mobile devices across different operating systems and different price points, and giving them more choice. This has helped Samsung emerge as the preferred brand in the smartphone market in India."

Samsung witnessed the highest share in October in value, while Nokia was leading in terms of volume. In India, we saw a surge in the market as the month of November contributed 6 percent of the overall phones of the year. Reportedly, CyberMedia Research claims that smartphone shipments reached 7.9 million units from January to September in 2011. It also says that Samsung appears as the market leader with larger value share in September. Nokia has been striving to bounce back and this year we saw it put forth the Lumia range.

Source : Samsung Smartphones leading in India

Samsung Wave M available in India, at Rs. 12,500

The Samsung Wave M S7250 was recently officially launched in India, priced at roughly Rs. 12,500. The Bada 2.0-based Wave M is also retailing for Rs. 11,900 for now, at Letsbuy.com.

The Wave M S7250 has a 3.65-inch HVGA (320x480) display, 832MHz processor, 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash, front-facing VGA camera, 150MB built in storage, expandable via microSD (2GB card bundled), and a 1,500 mAh battery that is rated to deliver up to 6 hour 30 minutes of talktime, and 480 hours of standby time.

The Samsung Wave M also has such connectivity options as HSDPA 7.2Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS with A-GPS support, stereo FM with RDS, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, and microUSB 2.0.

Bundled onboard, is the TouchWiz UI, Samsung ChatON instant messaging platform, push email, and an image editor. The Wave M weighs in at 121 grams, and has a 12.2mm thickness. Notably, the Wave M S7250 also features DNSe (Digital Natural Sound Engine) audio.

Source : Samsung Wave M available in India, at Rs. 12,500

Samsung Galaxy S III expected in February 2012

As the year comes to an end, it’s time to look forward to 2012 and mobile fanatics will be excited to hear about Samsung’s plans for early next year. Unwiredview is carrying a news that claims Samsung will most likely be launching their next big handset - Galaxy S III in February, this coming year. The hardware likely to power the S III will be a quad-core processor. The last round of rumours claimed that Samsung would use a dual-core processor, like the S II, but one that operates at 1.8 GHz. It’s known that Samsung is already working on a quad-core processor, which will be part of the Exynos series of SoCs. There are other improvements expected as well - a 1280x720 Super AMOLED display and LTE support. It will ship with the latest Android - Ice Cream Sandwich.

There’s more from Samsung. A 3D version of the Galaxy is expected and it’s likely to be called the Galaxy S 3D. A 3D display is likely along with support for 3D video and photo shooting. The 3D fever seems to be hitting mobile phones and Samsung hadn’t jumped onboard the bandwagon. LG was one of the few companies to make the move to 3D phones earlier with their Optimus 3D. A whole bunch of phones will be shown off at MWC 2012 (Mobile World Congress 2012) in early February and Samsung will most definitely show off their new hardware then.

Source : Samsung Galaxy S III expected in February 2012

Samsung Galaxy devices to get Android 4 ICS update by Q1 2012

Samsung has already announced its plans to roll out Ice Cream Sandwich update to its Galaxy devices. However, it did not then provide any time-table for the roll-out. According to the latest reports, the company has now confirmed that it will update the Samsung S II and Galaxy Note to the latest Android OS by the first quarter of 2012. Apart from the S II and Note, Samsung will be rolling out Android 4.0 ICS update to the he Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

Meanwhile, SlashGear reports that Samsung has held back Android 4.0 updates for Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus. It further says that the company was holding the update to “monitor feedback”, after several users complained about the high battery drain. The reported glitch can also be associated with a recent update to Android 4.0 Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy Nexus users had earlier complained about similar problems.

Earlier this month, Motorola said that it would announce next month which of its devices would be getting the upgrade and when. Back in November, LG had announced that the ICS update would be available for the Optimus 2X, the Optimus Black, the Optimus 3D and the Optimus LTE, but did not reveal exactly when that would take place. Huawei Honor is also arriving in February with the ICS OS.

It appears that all the smartphone players are pushing for most of their top handsets to get the ICS. It will be interesting to see which of the manufacturers make most of the ICS update in near future.

Source : Samsung Galaxy devices to get Android 4 ICS update by Q1 2012

Samsung announces dual-SIM versions of Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro

Last week’s leak has turned out to be real, with Samsung announcing not one, but two new dual-SIM devices in the Galaxy family - the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos, and the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos. For now, no information about pricing or availability has been revealed. Notably, the single-SIM Galaxy Y Pro has not yet been officially launched in India.

Both devices are roughly identical two their single-SIM counterparts, with the exception of the Duos branding, as well as slightly larger batteries, slightly different displays, and more RAM. Both Galaxy devices have Android 2.3 Gingerbread onboard, ~830MHz processers, 384MB of RAM, 512MB of ROM, 2GB microSD card (supports up to 32GB), and 3.15MP cameras.

The Galaxy Y Duos has a slightly larger 3.14-inch display compared to its single-SIM variant, with the same 320x240 pixel resolution. It has a 1,300 mAh battery, compared to the earlier 1,200 mAh one, and weighs in 109 grams.

The Galaxy Y Pro Duos on the other hand, has the same sized screen, with a higher resolution than its single-SIM variant, at 400x240 pixels. It also has a front-facing VGA camera in addition, as well as 1,350 mAh battery, and weighs in at roughly 112 grams.

Other common specifications between the two devices include such connectivity options with 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot functionality, GPS with A-GPS support, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, microUSB v2.0, a 3.5mm audio jack, and stereo FM radio with RDS.

Both Duos phones also come with the ChatON instant messaging app, as well as Samsung's Social Hub, on the TouchWiz UI. Also onboard, is the Polaris Office document editor, as well as Find My Mobile, for locating or remote locking/wiping the devices.

Source : Samsung announces dual-SIM versions of Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro

Samsung will announce Windows 8 tablet next week

Korean electronics giant, Samsung has partnered with Microsoft to launch the first tablet running Windows 8 OS. This announcement should take place during Microsoft’s developers’ conference in California next week. Android tablets aren’t exactly flying off the shelves, which is primarily due to the limitations of Honeycomb. So, it makes sense to expand one's product base with a different OS, which is exactly what Samsung is trying to do. Who knows, maybe Windows 8 could be the next best thing after iOS in the tablet world.

We still don’t know anything about what the tablet will look like or its specifications, but I think it’s safe to assume it won’t be far off from their current offerings. With Apple harrowing Samsung at every turn with lawsuits, it’s not a bad idea to plan for the future. Being a Windows-based tablet, we should be able to expect certain things like a USB port, more than 1GB RAM and possibly HDMI. Samsung may just go with their Super AMOLED Plus screens like the ones used on the Note. The conference will be held from the 13th to the 16th of September, this year. So, I guess we wait till then for more news to pour in.

Source : Samsung will announce Windows 8 tablet next week

Samsung Announces the W200 Pocket Camcorder

If you’re still in shock and grief for the Flip Cam’s passing away, here’s something to make you feel a lot better. Samsung has announced a pocket camcorder for outdoor full high definition filming, called the W200.

The camera is said to be shock, water and dust-proof, thanks to the rugged body that it boasts of. It’s specially devised for taking videos and pictures underwater, which means that the W200 is also capable of submerging underwater to a maximum level of three meters.

The W200 has a built-in USB arm that can help transfer movies and videos to and from a PC or a laptop. The pocket camcorder is integrated with a 5 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and an F2.2 Bright Lens. It has a special Aqua mode setting which automatically realizes the environment for underwater videos. The camcorder has an anti-water coating which is meant to keep the 2.3-inch LCD screen away from condensation. The W200’s embedded lens is also said to have an anti-fog coating which is supposed to help in getting blur-free pictures.

The pocket camcorder also has a Record Pause feature that lets the user pause the recording and then resume it later from that particular point. It has some extra features like Smart Filter and Fish-Eye Settings meant to add some more options while taking pictures or videos.

The W200 will be no sale from next month and is said to be priced at $159 (approx Rs. 7,100). We definitely hope to see this pocket camcorder hit Indian shores soon, especially because it might survive after hitting the shore as well!

Source : Samsung Announces the W200 Pocket Camcorder

Samsung Unveils Notebook Series 9

Samsung showed off a deluge of products yesterday. One of those products was the new Series 9 notebook range. The new range of notebooks are powered by the Core i5 processors from Sandy Bridge family. They come with a 13-inch screen that supports a resolution of 1366x768 and weigh a meagre 1.31 kg, much like a netbook and only 16.3 mm in thickness. The notebook is built using an alloy called duralumin, which means lighter but a strong body.

The storage drive on the Notebook Series 9 is a 128GB SSD but that can be extended to 256GB. Samsung claims that their SuperBright Plus is two times brighter than traditional displays and that the new series of notebooks were designed and tested to ensure that they could be used at home and also while on the go. Although, the new notebooks weigh the same as a netbook, the attractive sleek design and performance from the Sandy Bridge processors should make this a notebook to look forward to.

Source : Samsung Unveils Notebook Series 9

Samsung to launch desktop-replacement 2GHz dual-core smartphone

While the world is still looking forward to the first 1.2GHz dual-core phone to launch with the Samsung Galaxy S II, it seems Samsung is hard at work designing a 2GHz dual-core phone for 2012.

The rumour was apparently sourced from a high-ranking Samsung executive, who said the upcoming smartphone would have "data processing capacities of a regular PC". While nothing has been confirmed, it is more than probable than Samsung would be using a new version of its ARM-based Exynos processors.

As always, the clockspeed is not everything, and a truly polished and optimized UI experience is a must for the advantages of a 2GHz dual-core processor to be apparent, something the world's first dual-core phone,the LG Optimus 2X, didn't do very well.

For now, we simply can’t imagine mobile applications, whether software or hardware, to use 1.2GHz dual-core processors completely, and so, it’s not inconceivable that at least in the near future, a 2GHz dual-core phone is complete overkill for all practical purposes.

Source : Samsung to launch desktop-replacement 2GHz dual-core smartphone in 2012

Samsung Galaxy S Gets the Taste of Gingerbread

It’s official now! Samsung Galaxy S finally gets its Gingerbread update. As per its promise of an update a while ago, it has finally rolled out the 2.3 update to Samsung Galaxy S.

Around this time, the Kies servers of the Korean manufacturer have begun doling out a fresh batch of updates to the smartphone. It first announced the official update’s tentative time, just a few days ago and just as if in a sweep it begins with its promised task. Although, the dishing out of Gingerbread has just begun in Europe and other Nordic countries like Holland and Germany, it should soon spread out for others, too. Samsung, though, has mentioned this update to be a limited edition one. 

Taking cue is the HTC Desire camp that intends to roll out a Gingerbread update by the end of this month, as well.

  

Source : Samsung Galaxy S Gets the Taste of Gingerbread

LG rumoured to make Google Nexus S tablet, possible lead device of Android 2.4

There is a distinct purpose served by the Google Nexus phones, they are the lead devices for their platforms at release, showcasing just what the new versions can do – its features, its capabilities – in a completely vanilla form.

To that end, it is not very surprising that a Google Nexus tablet is rumoured to be in the pipeline. The rumours are quite fair – after HTC and Samsung, Google has given LG the chance to make the Google Nexus tablet.

LG has shown it can handle the hardware with the LG Optimus Pad – being the first to squeeze in a 3D camera, a hi-res 1280x768 resolution 3D-capable display, 4G connectivity, and a dual-core processor in a Honeycomb tablet. That leaves all the fine-tuning of an all-vanilla Nexus tablet up to the geeks at Google.

Since Honeycomb is already out, it stands to reason the LG Google Nexus tablet will run the rumoured phone-tablet OS – Ice Cream Sandwich or, version 2.4. This is the OS that Google seems to be prepping the Nexus One and S for, with the Android 2.3.3 update. 

Source : LG rumoured to make Google Nexus S tablet, possible lead device of Android 2.4

Samsung shows off new super slim Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1

The Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 CTIA event was meant to introduce the world to just the Galaxy Tab 8.9, but Samsung had a surprise in store – a completely new Galaxy Tab 10.1 than it had shown off at MWC 2011, with a fancy new slim design that’s thinner than Apple’s latest iPad. Admittedly, the iPad 2 is the device to beat, and this isn’t the first time Samsung has taken a pill from Apple’s diet designs - the MacBook Air openly inspired the Samsung 9 Series laptops after all.

The two Honeycomb tablets have been given competitive prices pegged to the iPad 2, with the 16GB WiFi-only 10.1-inch model priced at $499 and the 32GB model at $599, while the 16GB WiFi-only 8.9-inch model will retail for $469, and the 32GB model for $569. For now, only WiFi models of the two tablets have been announced, though 3G and 4G HSPA+ tablets were detailed. The WiFi-only Galaxy Tab 10.1 is scheduled to hit shelves in the U.S. on June 8th, and the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab 8.9 has been given an ‘early summer’ or July-August arrival.

While Samsung has still not revealed exact nature of the 1GHz dual-core application processor that powers both tablets, it’s still assumed to be Nvidia’s Tegra 2 offering. Both tablets are thinner than the 8.8mm thick iPad 2, measuring just 8.6mm. The large 6000 mAh and 6860 mAh batteries that power the devices are expected to give about 10 hours of video playback. Both tablets also pack Wi-Fi a/b/g/n connectivity, will support Flash 10.2, and have dual speakers for stereo surround sound.

As confirmed in yesterday’s leak, both the 10.1 and 8.9-inch tablet have an impressive WXGA 1280x800 resolution screen, and both feature Samsung’s TouchWiz 4.0 UI onboard. While this last fact has bothered many, Engadget reports that a few additions and features were actually quite useful, such as the ability to resize widgets, both its own Live Panel and Google’s native widgets. The Mini Apps Tray was also deemed useful, but redundant in the fact of Google’s app launcher. Samsung has also thoroughly customized the native apps in the Galaxy S-style. The CTIA event also showcased some TouchWiz 4.0 features like Readers Hub, Social Hub, and Games Hub. Some regions can expect vanilla versions of the tablets however.

Source : Samsung shows off new super slim Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1