Seasoned tech blogger. Host of the Tech Addicts podcast.
Gareth, James and Donkey meet up to see what’s happening in the mobile tech world on this Monday night podcast. Blackberry dominates with the announcement that they have, for the second year running, come out tops in the smartphone sales list. T-Mobile launch a new unlimited plan and Samsung revamp an old favourite with the Galaxy S Advance. Oh, and Donkey says “hee-haw”
It’s Gareth and James this week for an adventure through the world of mobile news. The CEO shuffle at Blackberry is examined by James, Gareth’s reveals his thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Donkey has his say and Nokia raises some interest this week
Sony claims that it’s distinctive Android tablets are leading the race to dominate sales in a crowded market. A company spokesman said that Sony’s products accounted for 26% of the UK market in October, the most recent period for which independent data is available. Sony also claims it has had a successful Christmas, but conceded that it was likely to have been beaten on tablet sales by aggressively priced BlackBerry Playbooks.
Wonder if they will learn anything from Blackberry on that strategy?
Posted by: Gareth
Google look to be changing their privacy agreement, whether you like it or not. Google said on Tuesday it will require users to allow the company to follow their activities across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of its privacy and competitive practices.
Consumers will have no choice but to accept the changes. The policy will take effect March 1 and will also impact Android mobile phone users, who are required to log in to Google accounts when they activate their phones.
The change to its privacy policies come as Google is facing competition for the attention of Web users. It recently disappointed investors for the first time in a couple of years, failing last week to meet earnings predictions. Apple,for the same period, reported record earnings on Tuesday that blew past even the most optimistic expectations.
Some said Google’s move is aimed squarely at Apple and Facebook, which have been more successful at capture people’s attention. A Google executive said in an interview that the company wants to create a much more seamless environment across its various offerings. Alma Whitten, Google’s director of privacy for product and engineering, wrote in a blog post.
If you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.
Posted by: Gareth
Apple appears to be up to their same shenanigans, and this time it is something that has been speculated would eventually happen. Apple just filed a lawsuit in the Mannheim Regional Court, claiming that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus violates a utility model by copying their slide-to-unlock motion. Here’s a quote from Electronista with specifics,
The iPhone designer alleged on Friday that the Android 4.0 leader violated a slide-to-unlock motion from iOS that was given the utility model status in Germany in 2006. Apple argued that it couldn’t use the model until now as other phones, even ones years old, were too new for the claim, look at this web-site if you need an attorney.
What is more interesting is that if you look deeper and “read between the lines” this is a new tactic for Apple. In the past most of their lawsuits have been aimed at minor customizations rather than directly at Android functions. This time, by going directly after a primary feature of Android 4.0, Apple is making a statement against Google themselves. This is further reinforced by the fact that the Galaxy Nexus uses a completely stock version of Android rather than one “tweaked” by the OEMs. It’s important not to dismiss this claims outright, because the potential is significant for Android if the court rules in favour of Apple.
Interestingly, this is the exact same court where one of Samsung’s counter-claims against Apple was recently lost. There is a hearing scheduled for March 16. Speculation is that Samsung will likely base their defence around claims of “prior art” from a company called Neonode, which dealt with phones briefly in the past. This is the same strategy that Samsung used against Apple in the Netherlands in 2011.
What really makes a person scratch their head on this one is that the way the Galaxy Nexus’ slide-to-unlock works is very “loose” compared to other phones in the past. Certainly, someone could swipe their fingers in a manner that is similar to what Apple is claiming, but that doesn’t mean they will do it all the time.
Posted by: Gareth
At the end of 2011 Google introduced their third Nexus phone and second collaboration with Samsung. Making headlines this device has proved to be one of the important phones of the year and yet another contender to know the iPhone from the mantle. Has Google and Samsung hit a home run or is this their a lacklustre hardware attempt to unleash the latest version of Google’s mobile phone platform, Android?
It’s Gareth, Matt and James this week looking at the Blackberry Curve 9380 and the HTC Explorer. Also a bunch of new updates for tablets, a new JCB phone and Matt impresses all with his knowledge of OLED TV’s.
LG has been really stepped up their game on OLED technology. Apparently, Google sees some potential here. A new report from Bloomberg suggests that Google and LG are in talks to potentially partner up on a Nexus-style TV. Basically they are considering developing a Google TV-powered HDTV together in order to compete directly with Apple if Apple does indeed come out with some type of Apple TV. This would also be a boon for Google’s fledgling Google TV efforts, as it would provide a Nexus-style Google branded piece of hardware that consumers could identify with, like the Nexus phones for Android.
In fact, LG just showcased a brand new OLED 55-Inch TV at CES recently that features some Google software powering it. This is something to watch out for!
Posted by: Gareth
Now, here is some exciting news for Xoom owners… Motorola has begun pushing a new update out to the Xoom for users in the soaktest, and it isn’t just a series of bug fixes and feature improvements like a typical update. This is the full on Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich update! Soon, these lucky folks will be running with the latest and greatest from Google, and then, barring any big issues, they will be sending it out OTA for everyone else too! It won’t be long now!
Source: XoomForums via AndroidPolice
Posted by: Gareth
According to their press release, Huawei is sticking to a fast Android OS upgrade special for their MediaPad Android tablets. They indicate that starting toward the end of the first quarter all new MediaPads will come pre-loaded with Ice Cream Sandwich, and all older ones will receive the ICS update not long after that, still during the first quarter. They also added that their new line of MediaPad tablets will add shadow black, classic brown, and passion pink to their current colour scheme. Here’s the full press release below:
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