Author Archive: Gareth

HTC Fights Back to Apple’s Claims

At Apple’s press conference on Friday, Steve Jobs showed 3 phones that had the same antenna problems as the iPhone 4. This made Nokia and RIM retaliate to what Steve Jobs said about their phones. (Read here) But the third phone shown was the Droid Eris, and this had the most drastic drop of signal. It went straight from 4 bars all the way down to 0 bars.

HTC have not acted like Nokia and RIM to Apple’s claims, but they have given a percentage of the people calling technical suport about the Droid Eris’s antenna problem. Apple claimed that 0.55% of customers called AppleCare about the antenna issue but HTC is claiming that the Droid Eris technical support line received only 0.016% of people calling about the antenna issue. About thirty-four times lower than Apple’s claim.

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RIM and Nokia Not Happy with Apple

At yesterday’s press conference, Steve Jobs defended it’s iPhone 4 antenna issue by saying that all smartphones had this problem and by showing several devices from Nokia, HTC and RIM having the same problem. Now as you can expect, you wouldn’t be very happy if Steve Jobs bashes your device on stage, so RIM and Nokia have retaliated to what Steve said yesterday and they are not happy.

RIM:

Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.

R.I.P Nexus One

Widely believed  to be the best phone among the geek community, the Nexus One is coming the end of its life. As Google is no longer going to make its own Android handset and they have just received its last shipment of handsets. The Nexus One never really caught on outside of the android and geek community, even though it is a great handset and probably the one of the best phones available at the moment.

However, Google will keep selling them in the UK through Vodafone, and through KI in Korea. But in N.America, it will no longer be available unless you are a registered Google developer, then you can get it through Google’s partners. It will still be the official Google developer phone and it will still get the latest Android OS before any other phone.

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Apple Offers Free Cases!

Today, at Apple’s press conference about the iPhone 4 antenna problem, Steve Jobs explained everything that was wrong with the iPhone 4.

Steve began the keynote by saying that their phones aren’t perfect. But then continued saying that the iPhone 4 was the biggest phone launch ever and that the iPhone 4 has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any any smartphone.

Android Marketplace has 70k Apps

The Android marketplace has just passed the 70,000 apps. Now this was to be expected as the popularity of Android has skyrocketed in the past year. Also it only took 3 months to get from 50,000 apps to 70,000.

However, the big news is that AndroLib is saying that Android users have downloaded more than 1 billion apps from the android marketplace. That’s an very impressive number, but is only an estimate and it has not been confirmed by Google.

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HTC 1 takes breath away

Designer Andrew Kim has cooked up a concept smartphone for HTC dubbed the "1" that makes the company’s current offerings look, well… last generation. The device, built from a brass housing (coated in silver) eschews the phone-maker’s recent crop of fairly standard looking mobile devices for something decidedly more sophisticated — and cans the familiar Sense interface in the process. Not only is the shell of the phone rethought, the new UI (Sense mono) takes a cleaner, more thoughtful, high-end approach as well, joining Synergy like functions (combined messaging) with a Helvetica heavy interface that looks streamlined and mature. Some notable features of the hardware include stereo speakers (located at the top and bottom of the phone), a kickstand which is actually the bottom portion of the casing, and the lofty concept of a built-in UV light which kills germs on the surface of the phone while you charge up. As far as concepts go, this is one of the finest we’ve seen, so hit the source link below and take a look at the full spread.

[Source Engadget]

Apple signal the arrival of iOS 4.0.1

As expected, this minor iOS 4 update comes with an improved formula to display signal strength more accurately, but apart from that, based on what they’ve disclosed and what we’re hearing so far, there’s nothing else new this software update brings to the iPhone.

LogMeIn leaves Beta behind on Android

One of the most powerful remote access apps has arrived with for good on the Android platform. Having spent a while in Beta LogMeIn Ignition arrived today to get you access to you home or work desktop or Laptop without being in the room.

You’re never more than a click away.

With one click, you can connect and control your computer right from your smartphone or smartbook. With unlimited access to your work and home computers, you can go mobile without worrying about leaving something behind. Now, what to do with that newfound freedom? Hiking. Biking. Napping.

Expand the possibilities.

Your Android device can do more with LogMeIn Ignition. Because now, it can run all applications, and access your email and every file on your computer. Even your robust photo library of your new labradoodle that everybody wants to see.

Get technical.

IT Pros, Ignition for Android is just what you’ve been waiting for. Bring up a server in a matter of seconds, wherever you happen to be. You’ll minimize travel and maximize your capabilities. There’s no need to configure routers or VPN, and Ignition works seamlessly with LogMeIn Free and Pro2. Holla.

Mobile industry is shafting customers on contract cancellations

Over half of UK Punters aren’t told that they can cancel their mobile phone contacts if their local coverage is rubbish. The Communications Consumer Panel in the UK published a report saying that. The results of its research state that most customers simply aren’t given the low-down on cancellation policies from mobile contractors if coverage is dodgy.

Using a mystery shopper, the research found that 56 per cent of people who bought at a retail store weren’t given the correct information about their rights of cancellation. The report also revealed that different operators and retailers have completely different policies on cancellations. Some operators point blank refuse to cancel contracts even if there wasn’t any coverage. That’s not limited coverage, it’s no coverage at all.

If punters were allowed to annul their contact, the length of time varied on when they were allowed to cancel. The Communications Consumer Panel recommended giving punters a minimum 14-day cancellation policy for poor coverage and consistent policies for all. It seems only fair.

[Original Article]

iOS 4.1 Available to Developers

After only 3 weeks after launch, iOS4 is getting its the first major update. Many people thought it would be 4.0.1 to fix the antenna problems with the iPhone 4, but Apple have jumped all the way to 4.1.

It seems like there is some change to Game Center but no iPad support in 4.1. However, there seems to be nothing too major like fixing the antenna problem on the iPhone 4, which could mean that it is a hardware problem.

Stay tuned to find out more as we know.