Archive for July, 2011

HTC Vows to Win Fight with Apple

As we’ve reported a few times over the past few weeks, HTC’s fight with Apple is going to get messy. We’ve already heard that Google are likely to get drawn in to the battle and will be in HTC’s corner but the ITC have provisionally ruled in favour of Apple’s claims on two items.

HTC’s CEO, Peter Chou has made a number of bold statements over the past few days with such sound bites as “We will win” and the claim that HTC has been making smartphones long before Apple.

In speaking to the BBC Mr Chou said "We have enough patents to make a stand," He added that the "war" for smartphone dominance should be fought in the market place and not the courts.

The ITC’s finial decision will be made at the beginning of December. The decision will be made by a panel of judges rather than just one as per the prelim.

"What it means, we started making smartphones before him… (Apple) We don’t want to copy anyone; we want to be a premium product. This world, this market is very big… is for all of us. Nobody should tell other people to leave and we should compete in the market place, let consumers decide… rather than in court."

Personally speaking, I like both HTC and Apple products and accept that neither are perfect but I cant help feeling that Apple’s claims against HTC merely validate HTC’s presence in the market and puts HTC’s name in the same headlines as Apple. A win here for HTC will be a valuable one!

Posted by: Matt

iOS 5 beta 4 lands, updates OTA

In keeping with previous fortnightly updates Apple have made the latest Beta version of iOS 5 available to members of their developer programme. Unlike past updates this latest, beta 4, is the first to be made available via the over-the-air (OTA) update system which iOS 5 promises.

If you tried earlier today you’ll have found the OTA update giving nothing but an error message: ‘Unable to check for Update’. However later this afternoon the OTA update seems to have started working. I’m currently downloading on my iPhone 4 as we speak. However the OTA update doesn’t appear to be the most efficient means of delivery. It has been ‘downloading’ for the past 3 hours whereas downloading the update through the traditional method from the developer site took far less time.

There’s a full list of changes to be found on the Apple dev site but the headline items are so far:

• The aforementioned OTA installation support
• Video content in all applications and websites should now be AirPlay-enabled by default
• Wireless syncing now works with Windows

I’m hoping that the stability of iOS 5 is improved in this release!

Posted by: Matt

Archos G9 tablets get priced

Whilst they are all priced in that currency that’s Americaland like to use this give us a bit of an idea of what to expect from the devices. The last generation of Archos tablets were a little disappointing when it came to the build quality with numerous returns. This incarnation might be priced a little higher but the high specs might mean that some cuts have to be made in the quality of the manufacturing process.

They are certainly good looking and the idea of a 1.5GHz dual core processor is on top of the rest of the market.

Archos 80 G9

• 8 GB – 1 GHz $299
• 16 GB – 1.5 GHz $329
• 250 GB – 1.5 GHz $369

Archos 101 G9

• 8 GB – 1 GHz $369
• 16 GB – 1.0 GHz $399
• 250 GB – 1.5 GHz $469

Posted by: Gareth

Lenovo Ideapad and Thinkpad announced

While Lenovo does not have much experience with Android, it has managed to bring some good quality Honeycomb tablets to the table. These tablets are sporting some good specs, whilst not being anything particularly out of the norm, as well as bringing some good Android tablet options for both the general consumer and the businessman.

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 Specifications

• Android 3.1 Honeycomb
• 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor
• 10.1-inch screen (1280×800)
• Internal Storage: 32 GB

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet

• Android 3.1 Honeycomb
• 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor
• 1 GB of RAM
• 10.1-inch screen (1280×800)
• Internal Storage: 16/32 GB
• Enterprise Ready
• Full-sized SD Card slot, full-sized USB port, and mini HDMI port

Posted: by Gareth

Pantech Vega No.5, 5 Inch Android Tablet With a Dual Core 1.5GHz

This model mustn’t be confused with the Pantech Vega Racer smartphone, that was recently launched and also packs a dual core 1.5GHz CPU. If you’re curious about the looks of the product, you have the pics right here and if you want specs, here’s a list:

• CPU: dual core, 1.5GHz, Qualcomm Snapdragon (MSM8x60)
• Display: 5 inch, 800 x 480 pixels
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 RAM, 16GB internal storage, SDHC card slot
• Camera: 8MP, LED flash, 1080p video capture, front camera
• Connectivity: DLNA, WiFi, DMB, NFC, HSDPA

Android 2.3 is running on the tablet and we sure hope to see Honeycomb on it and maybe a future version with better resolution. We expect the device to go on sale in Korea and China this month. Here’s some hands on action with it.

LG road map for the rest of the year leaked

PocketNow, have details of a line of new LG phones that shows the rest of the company’s 2011 Android line-up.  There looks to be something for everyone here with model in the top middle of the bottom.

We see the Prada name back however Optimus is strangely lack, I guess these are codenames at this point and will probably be rebranded for the worldwide market. There isn’t any hints towards a Nexus device, some might say thankfully, however Specs for two of the device would fit a new Nexus quite nicely.

BlackBerry PlayBook heading to the U.S. government

The BlackBerry PlayBook is now the first tablet now certified for deployment with the U.S. federal government. RIM have announced that the PlayBook has received FIPS 140-2 certification, whatever that is. No other tablet on the market has gained FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA)

“RIM is pleased to announce that the BlackBerry PlayBook is the first tablet approved under FIPS for use within the U.S. federal government,” said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security at Research In Motion. “This certification demonstrates our continued commitment to meeting the needs of security-conscious organisations and enables the U.S. federal government to buy with confidence knowing that the PlayBook meets their computing policy requirements for protecting sensitive information.”

BlackBerry PlayBook is a powerful, ultra-portable tablet that fits comfortably in one hand. It has a stunning 7-inch high resolution display, offers true multi-tasking capabilities and a high-fidelity web experience. It also allows for secure pairing with BlackBerry smartphones via the BlackBerry Bridge app, which enables users to access their BlackBerry smartphone’s email, calendar, address book, memo pad, task list, BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) and browsing functionality using the larger display on the tablet.
The FIPS-certified BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is being showcased this week in Washington DC at FOSE – the largest Federal government information technology conference in the U.S. – where BlackBerry PlayBook has just been awarded Best in Show, and also Best of FOSE in the Handheld Devices category.
More information about the BlackBerry PlayBook is available at www.blackberry.com/playbook

Posted by: James