How to Sync iTunes to Your Android Phone

If you have iTunes, and you don’t have an iPhone – but an Android phone instead, syncing iTunes to your phone can be frustrating. So here are some tips to sync iTunes and make sure your cover art works well on your Android phone.

Syncing iTunes

Salling Media offers a complete solution for syncing your iTunes media to Android. On top of that it is really user friendly and super fast.

It will ask you to mount your phone as a disk drive when you launch it; so pick up your phone, swipe down the notification bar, and tap the disk drive option.

Once you mount your phone as a disk drive, Salling Media immediately detects your phone as an external storage media. Head over to the music tab, click the sync button, and you’ll find all your iTunes music in your Android; quick and easy.

If you happen to subscribe to podcasts, and you want to listen to them in your phone, Salling Media got you covered. You can sync all your podcasts

… or simply select those you want to listen. Click the sync button once you have made up your selection, and you’ll get all your podcast in your phone.

Download Salling Media

Managing Cover Art

Although iTunes music comes with cover arts, we like to pick our own images for our musics with “cover art downloader”. It’s not only free, it also has an awesome batch cover art feature that download missing cover arts for your music.

Check your cover arts, and tap any one of them which you want to change.

Tap the search button to look for alternatives cover arts online.

Tap the one that you want, and cover art downloader will replace your current cover with the one you want.

Feel free to share any other tips on syncing iTunes and managing cover arts in the comments section.

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Tip

Amazon Cloud Player: First Impressions

Amazon has made its triumphant entry into the music streaming world with Amazon Cloud Player. Rather than stream a library of predetermined music (e.g. Pandora, Spotify), Cloud Player lets you upload your existing music library and stream it from any computer or Android device.

For the last 30 minutes, I’ve been testing out Cloud Player. While it’s impossible to get the full experience in half an hour (mostly because Amazon estimates it will be another 12 hours before my first 1,262 songs are uploaded), I’ve had enough time to play with it to write a preliminary evaluation of Amazon’s new streaming music service.

Here are some of my initial thoughts about Amazon Cloud Player and its companion Android app:

• Uploading: When you first install Cloud Drive on your computer, it searches your entire hard drive for your music and your playlists. While this takes a while (10 minutes), once the process is complete, it makes uploading songs a snap. It pulled my iTunes playlists and let me choose which ones I wanted to upload, a very welcomed feature.
• Usability: The web-based cloud player is really intuitive. The layout makes it easy to select songs, search your music archives and organize your music. The player itself is quick to load, responsive, and even lets you skip around to different points in your music, something not possible with most of the streaming music players on the market today.

• Music Quality: While I’m no audiophile, I really can’t tell any difference between Cloud Player and a streaming service like Pandora. Playing music from your hard drive is going to give you a better acoustic experience, but the vast majority of consumers won’t be able to tell the difference.
• Features: Cloud Player doesn’t have a lot of frills, but you will be able to do almost everything you want within it. It doesn’t have iTunes’ ability to automatically download podcasts or Genius recommendation feature, but they’re not necessary features for a great music experience.
• Android: I also took Amazon’s Cloud Player app for spin on a Motorola Atrix 4G phone. After signing in with my Amazon account, it quickly found my uploaded music and played it flawlessly. Again, I was able to skip around to different points in my music, create playlists and search my Cloud Drive for uploaded music. The player even lets you access your on-device music, essentially rendering Google’s official Music player useless.
• Price: You start with 5 GB of free storage, but for the vast majority of people, that won’t be enough. Without a second thought, I upgraded to 20 GB for $20/year, though in retrospect I should’ve bought a cheap album instead. The pricing plan is very simple: 1 GB per dollar. I paid more for Pandora One ($36)than I did for 20 GB of Cloud Player storage, so overall I’d say Amazon’s giving everybody a good deal.

Even from my short test, it became apparent that Amazon wasn’t launching some half-baked product; Cloud Player is a fully-functional, very usable streaming music player that could even make iTunes obsolete for many people, and its ability to play on-device and cloud-based music could quickly make it Android’s killer app.

Amazon has thrown down the gauntlet and set a high bar for cloud-based music streaming. Apple and Google, which are expected to launch their own cloud players sometime this year, will have to match Amazon on usability and price if they’re going to compete.

Amazon can’t rest on its laurels though; Apple will surely harness its control of iPhone, iTunes and iOS to boost its own offering and give the shopping giant a run for its money.

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Amazon,Android,Entertainment

BlackBerry PlayBook Will Run Android Apps

When the long-awaited BlackBerry tablet hits the U.S. and Canada on April 19, Research in Motion (RIM) has a surprise up its sleeve: support for Android apps.

The company announced today that in addition to its new native SDK, the BlackBerry PlayBook will support apps written for Android 2.3 and BlackBerry Java. RIM also announced that it is bringing the Airplay and Unity 3 game engines to the PlayBook.
Android support on a BlackBerry-branded device is a big deal. Rumors about this sort of arrangement have been ongoing since early 2011, but it seemed an unlikely development until now. In a statement, RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said: “The upcoming addition of BlackBerry Java and Android apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook on BlackBerry App World will provide our users with an even greater choice of apps and will also showcase the versatility of the platform.”

The technical details surrounding Android-compatibility aren’t clear. We assume RIM is using a virtual machine that can support Android code. This method is likely similar to what the QNX-based tablet will do to run apps written for older BlackBerry handset devices.

RIM says developers will just need to repackage, code sign and submit existing Android apps to the Blackberry App World.

For developers that want to create native apps for the PlayBook, RIM says its BlackBerry Tablet OS Native Development Kit will be in open Beta by this summer. It seems odd to release a device to consumers before the native development kit is even in open beta, but we guess that’s why RIM is expanding its options to also include apps written for BlackBerry Java, Android and Adobe Air.

The big question is: how will Android apps be presented on the PlayBook? Our guess is they will appear in home-screen widgets with a full-screen option, given the differences in orientation and resolution. That could actually be an interesting experience, depending on execution.

To be clear, the apps that the PlayBook supports will be Android 2.3 — not Android 3.0. So this means that developers that want an easy port of a utility or basic game will have an easy time moving to the PlayBook. Developers building new tablet apps from the ground-up for Honeycomb, however, will still need to consider alternate development paths for PlayBook.

What do you think of the PlayBook and its Android app compatibility? Does it make the device more attractive? Let us know in the comments.

 [via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,BLACKBERRY

Motorola XOOM Android 3.0 Tablet Review, Tech Specs, Pricing and Availability details

The world’s first Android 3.0 Honeycomb powered Tablet PC – MOTO XOOM by Motorola is just an amazing craft of technology. Motorola’s new innovation looks very nice and slim – only 12.9mm thick, 10.1-inch touch screen with 1280×800 screen resolution, and the built-in microphone, stereo speakers, 3.5mm headset jack, support for HDMI, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.1, transmission and other functions makes this tablet - A Complete Device.

In addition, MOTO XOOM is also equipped with built-in 32GB memory capacity, and an expansion slot for the use of memory cards up to 32GB. This is something which you really want to hold in your hands. Let’s dive in more depth about the features and specs of the device, here is the detailed review of insanely powerful device.

Equipped with Powerful Hardware

MOTO XOOM, in addition to emphasizing the use of Android 3.0 operating system also has a powerful hardware, combined with NVIDIA Tegra 2, dual-core 1GHz processor and 1GB DDR2 RAM, can make an excellent operating environment and is showing the effects of different levels. On the network side, MOTO XOOM has a mainstream 3G network support, you can also upgrade to the 4G LTE; other connectivity functions include Wi-Fi wireless networks, Bluetooth 2.1, Mobile Hotspot function – to create a personal and exclusive virtual wireless network.

Power of New OS and Apps

MOTO XOOM comes with Android 3.0 – Honeycomb, the latest and specifically designed OS for Tablets. It harnesses the full power of Tablet PC hardware and gives you a new experience level. The new Apps are also coming for this version which are more extensible and gives more features and functionalities.

Outstanding Multimedia Entertainment

MOTO XOOM is equipped with 10.1-inch touch screen having 1280 x 800 screen resolution and 16:10 Aspect Ratio which gives you a superb movie watching experience. It have a 5 Megapixel rear end camera and 2 Megapixel front facing camera, dual LED flash provides a static shot and 720p HD video recording. On the other hand, MOTO XOOM has also designed a display base where in addition to a charge use, you can also add speakers, HDMI output connector and can also be used as audio and video output to enjoy your stuff at high-definition TV.

It supports a wide variety of file formats for playback including AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, ACC+ Enhanced, OGG, MIDI, AMR NB, AAC+ and comes with pre-installed Video Editing Software Movie Studio.

Tech Specs

• 10.1 inches Multi Touch Screen, WXGA 1280 x 800 Screen Resolution with 16:10 Aspect Ratio .
• Android 3.0 Honeycomb Operating System.
• 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 Processor.
• 1 GB DDR2 RAM
• 32GB in-built Memory capacity with 32 GB Micro SD card slot.
• CDMA 800 /1900 LTE 700, Rx diversity in all Network bands.
• 5 MP Rear and 2 MP Front Camera with dual LED flash.
• 720p HD video camera.
• 1080P Full HD support for high-definition video playback.
• Flash Player 10.1 Support
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.
• HDMI, USB 2.0 interface, GPS and Location Services.
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n wireless network.
• Built-in microphone and stereo speakers.
• 3.5mm headphone jack.
• 249.1 x 167.8 x 12.9 mm in Size and 730 Grams in Weight.
• Sensors: Proximity, Ambient light, Barometer, Gyroscope.

Introducing Motorola XOOM Video

Accessories

Motorola introduced a wide variety of new accessories for MOTO XOOM to enhance the functionality of device. The main accessory includes Standard Dock, Wireless Keyboard, Car  Charger, Speaker Dock, Protective Gel Case and many more are there. To show and view full range of accessories visit the link available below.

Pricing & Availability

The base retail price of device is marked at $799.99 and available with Verizon Wireless in USA. You can buy it either from Motorola Store or from BestBuy.com or Verizon Store. Verizon is offering XOOM is $599.99 with 2 year contract and free shipping.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that Motorola XOOM is the most powerful tablet PC currently available in market but the question here is, do we currently able to utilize this power?

Apple also recently launched the iPad 2, though it don’t have so powerful hardware specs as XOOM is packed with but iPad 2 have iOS in it and 65,000 Apps available in App Store which makes it far more useful than any other Android powered tablet. MOTO XOOM comes with latest version of Android OS, so there are not much apps available in the market which can really harness the power of this device. It is also costly than Apple iPad2 and offers almost same functionality as iPad 2 but XOOM can promise some great use later on as some outstanding apps for Android 3.0 will come in market.

Useful Links

Official Product Website | Accessories Store | Product Guide (PDF).

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Motorola,Tablet

Report says Android browser is faster than iPhone browser

The competition between Apple iPhone and Android Phones is not only in the number of users or quality of applications, but there is some aspects other than that , and one of these aspects is the performance of Browser.

As we know browsers of both phones works with Webkit engine. Despite the issuance of these browsers from the same engine but Android browser is faster than the iPhone browser. In a study submitted by Blaze inc. (a company specializing in improving the performance of Web sites) Android browser is faster than the iPhone browser by 52% in the load of 45 thousand page has been tested by the company.

Overall, the company found that Android browser loads pages faster than the iPhone by 84% and this is a big difference for the benefit of Android.

The report showed that the time that it takes Android browser to load the pages is less by one second of the iPhone browser and the second in the world of browsers is a big difference.

Finally, the company said an important point is that this difference does not occur with sites devoted to phones.

Read full comparison report here.

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Entertainment,iPhone

HTC Thunderbolt Available March 17 [REPORT]

HTC Thunderbolt, the first LTE-supporting smartphone on Verizon’s network, will be available starting March 17 for $199.99 with a two-year contract, according to online retailer Wirefly.
Without a contract, the device will cost $669.99.

Wirefly’s site showcases several photos of the device, as well as a full list of specifications: 4.3-inch touchscreen, 8-megapixel camera with LED flash on the back and another 1.3-megapixel camera on the front, 8 GB of built-in memory and 32 GB of additional memory on a microSD card, and a single core 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU.

As far as Android smartphones go, the HTC Thunderbolt is not a groundbreaking device, but its support for LTE makes it special. LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the widely adopted 4G-ready mobile network standard that will enable previously unattainable data transfer speeds (up to theoretical peak download rates of 326.4 Mbit/s) on mobile phones.

[via Computerworld]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,HTC,Smartphone,Verizon

Google Reader Finally Gets an Android App

Google Reader has finally arrived on Android, with an app that allows users to access most of the features of the popular RSS tool from their smartphones.

It’s a bit curious that it took so long for Google to develop an app for Android – its own operating system – but it’s well-worth the wait (iOS users have enjoyed an optimized version of Reader for several years).

It syncs up with your existing Google Reader account, such that your unread counts, starred items and subscriptions are consistent from desktop to mobile. Each news item can be starred, liked, or shared, and you can even add “Notes,” just as you can in the web app.There’s also integrated search as well as a “send” feature that integrates with the applications on your device. With the latter, for example, I can share out a Mashable article to Twitter using Seesmic – my Twitter Android app of choice – or to Facebook using Facebook’s native app.

Overall, Google Reader for Android does exactly what you’d expect it to, and potentially puts a big dent in the future prospects of third-party clients like NewsRob. It’s now available in Android Market or you can use the QR code below:

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Google

Google CEO: Android Is for Touch, Chrome OS Is for Keyboards

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has finally made it clear what differentiates Google’s Android OS from the soon-to-be-released Chrome OS: keyboards.

That’s a rather simplified expression of the bigger picture, but ultimately, Google sees Chrome OS as the operating system for traditional computers, such as PCs, netbooks and laptops, which may include touch interfaces but always include keyboards; and the company sees Android as an operating system best suited to mobile devices, which may include keyboards but almost always include touch interfaces.During his talk at Web 2.0 Summit, Schmidt was asked by a member of the audience about Android’s perceived fragmentation. In addition, Schmidt was asked about where Chrome OS should be used vs. Android and where they overlap. The audience member professed that he was confused about Google’s strategy surrounding both platforms.

Schmidt responded in a few parts. His first point was that Android isn’t fragmented, stating that you can still run the same app on all Android phones — a point which our readers are welcome to dispute in the comments. However, Schmidt emphasized that he wants to make sure you can run the same apps on all Android devices.

What I found more interesting was his response to the difference between Chrome OS and Android. He iterated multiple times that it seems like Android is optimal for touch devices, while Chrome OS is best suited for traditional keyboard devices. This explanation makes perfect sense to us, but we’ve never heard this explanation from Google’s CEO until now.

In other words, if Google builds a touch-based tablet, it’s going to run Android. If it builds a new type of keyboard computer device, it’ll run Chrome OS. Schmidt says to expect Chrome OS “in the next few months” and the new version of Android (a.k.a. Gingerbread) in the next few weeks. [via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Google

Google Maps for Android Get Updated Reviews and Search Result Filtering

Google Maps for Android has been upgraded to version 4.6, bringing several interesting improvements, most notably redesigned Place page reviews.
Place pages now let users read “Reviews from around the web,” as well as “Reviews from Google users,” just like the Place pages on the desktop version of Google Maps.
Search results can now be filtered by the “open now,” “neighborhood” and “related searches” categories.
Finally, Latitude users can choose an option called “Real-time updating” in individual profile pages of their friends, which will speed up location updates from these particular friends. The option is experimental, Google says, and friends must have Maps 4.6 and Android 2.2 (or higher) for it to work.
Google Maps 4.6 works on Android versions 1.6 and above, and is available here in the Android Market.

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Google

Mobile Credit Card Reader Square Now Open for Business

Square, the new mobile payment venture from Twitter Co-founder Jack Dorsey, has officially opened its doors.

This means that anyone who downloads the the Square mobile app can now order a Square reader. Square tells us that it is also now shipping a slimmer, second-generation Square reader that is compatible with iPhone 4 and can capture a wider range of swipe speeds.

Dorsey announced the news the same way he announced Square:with a tweet. “The doors are (finally) open @Square & we’re going big,” Dorsey tweeted, linking to an article in USA Today.

Square is available on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and select Android devices, including the Droid, Droid X, Nexus One and Galaxy S. Merchants who are approved for Square accounts will be sent a free credit card reader for their device.

Combined with the Square mobile app, the reader can take credit card payments. Merchants are charged 2.75% of the purchase price plus $0.15 to swipe a card. There are no monthly charges or set-up fees and no contract is required.

Square made a big splash when it was announced last year. Since then, interest in the startup has mounted, especially as the micro-transaction space has really started to heat up.

---

Mobile Payment Space Heats Up

---

Square is one solution, but there are other players in the mobile and personal electronic payment sphere; some, like Square, are acting as a way to capture payment information from a mobile device. Others are looking to eschew traditional credit and debit cards entirely.

PayPal is investing in mobile payments and mobile transactions in a big way, and it seems to be paying off. Its parent company, eBay, reported solid earnings for the third quarter, in large part thanks to PayPal, which now contributes more than a third of eBay’s revenue.

Over the past year, we’ve spoken with PayPal several times regarding its plans for mobile payments and it’s clear that the company wants to be available in as many situations as possible.

The smartphone revolution is a driving part of the acceptance of micropayments in North America, with Visa already piloting programs in New York to accept payments via phone in shops and on the subway.

---

Square Up

---

If you have wanted a low-cost way of accepting credit cards without having to deal with the hassle of a larger-scale point of sale (POS) system, Square could be a viable solution. By requiring only a connected mobile device and the Square card reader, payment processing will be available to vendors that would normally never be able to accept credit cards.

Check out this video Square released a few weeks ago to see the product and service in action:

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,iPad,iPhone,iPod Touch,Motorola,Tech

Amazon: 14-Day Lending Coming to Kindle “Later This Year”

Amazon will allow Kindle users to lend books to each other for 14-day periods, the company announced this afternoon.

The lending feature has been one of the primary selling points of Barnes & Nobles’s Nook e-reader, which is slated for a refresh next week. As with Barnes & Nobles’s lending feature, Kindle lenders will not be able to access the book on loan during the 14-day period, nor will they be able to loan the book to the same user more than once.

“Not all books will be lendable,” Amazon added, noting that it was entirely up to the publisher or rights holder to determine whether to participate in the program.

Amazon also announced that Kindle editions of newspapers and magazines, which have thus far only been accessible on the Kindle e-reader, will soon (“in the coming weeks”) be accessible via Kindle’s free apps as well. Support for periodicals will be added to the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch apps first, followed by Android and other apps “down the road,” the company revealed in a statement.

Amazon plans to follow up with further details shortly.

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Apple,iPad,iPhone,iPod Touch,Kindle

49% of Small Business Owners Use Smartphones [STATS]

Over the past few years, it seems that a few mobile devices — laptops, Bluetooth headsets, and increasingly, smartphones — have become ubiquitous among business people. The days of the pager are gone.

Small business owners seem to be outpacing the rest of America in smartphone adoption, according to a recent survey of nearly 10,000 small business owners. While only 17% of Americans own smartphones, according to a recent Forrester study, a whopping 49% of small business owners are reported to own smartphones.

Of those smartphone owners, 35% own BlackBerrys, 33% own iPhones, 25% own Androids and 7% own Windows Mobile devices.

While the study didn’t include a comprehensive look at how small business owners are using their smartphones, we suspect that merchants are turning to mobile devices to stay on top of everyday business needs through e-mail, scheduling and calls. We’ve heard success stories from business owners who also tweet on the go, see the importance of location-based services, and are investing in mobile advertising.

While only 12% of respondents said that they currently market their businesses through mobile — via mobile ads and apps, for example — other reports point towards an upward trend in mobile advertising budgets. In fact,spending on mobile advertising is set to grow nearly 50% to top $1 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer.

Here’s the exact breakdown of smartphone usage among the small business owners surveyed:

Which mobile devices does your small business use? Let us know in the comments.

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Apple,BLACKBERRY,Smartphone,Windows Mobile

Flash 10.1 Tops 1 Million Downloads on Android Phones

Flash 10.1 has officially surpassed the 1-million-downloads mark for Android smartphones, according to information we’ve just received from Adobe.

The software has been in public beta since Google’s I/O conference in May, but it wasn’t available in the Android Market until about two months ago.

We heard that Flash would be coming to Android back in February, when Adobe unveiled its mobile offerings at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. At that time, the Open Screen Project, a consortium of more than 70 web and mobile companies from around the world, was hoping to make Flash a consistent part of mobile platforms.

Google confirmed that Froyo (a.k.a. Android 2.2), its latest and greatest mobile operating system, would support Flash back in April, and so the stage was set for a smooth collaboration. This interaction represents a 180-degree difference from the relationship that Adobe has built with Apple; iPhones , iPads and web-connected iPods won’t be supporting Flash anytime soon.

We’re still waiting for AIR apps on Android phones. The AIR runtime is currently available for the Android market, but AIR’s SDK for developers won’t be available until later this year.

We’ve been running Flash on a few of our Android devices around the Mashable office, and we’ve had pretty good experiences with it so far. What do you think of the Android-plus-Flash experience?

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Adobe,Android,Google

Sharp IS03 Android Device Set to Invade Japan [VIDEO]

Sharp just dropped some details on its new IS03 Android device and the specs are impressive. It will only be available in Japan for the foreseeable future, but there’s a chance that some iteration of this device might find its way across the Pacific.

The CDMA-based device will features a 3.5-inch 960 x 640 resolution capacitive touchscreen. This is a big step up from the 800 x 480 screens found on most Android devices. It’s also the same resolution as the retina display found on the Apple iPhone 4.

A 1Ghz Snapdragon processor is responsible for the action here, putting it in league with devices like the Droid Incredible. The IS03 beats the Incredible in the camera game though with a 9.6-megapixel camera, which, to be honest, doesn’t much matter since the Incredible already shoots at 8-megapixels.

Despite the CDMA capabilities, however, the device is fixated directly on the Japanese market. It includes features that are standard on many Japanese phones, including an e-wallet, mobile digital TV and a business card reader. Additionally, it’s running Android 2.1, but the device’s unique feature set indicates that it’s been in development for some time.

No word on when, or even if, the IS03 will make it to the states, but it’s hard to imagine Sharp not using such a slick piece of hardware to tap the lucrative U.S. mobile market.

Here’s a video from DigiInfoTV with some more specifics on the Sharp IS03:

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android

The Ovi Store Is Growing Fast, but Nokia Still Faces an Uphill Battle

Nokia is touting some impressive numbers for Ovi and the Ovi Store today, including surpassing 2.3 million daily application downloads. It faces an uphill battle though in its quest to catch up with Apple and Google.

The Ovi Store has only been around since May 2009, but Nokia is touting not only 2.3 million app downloads per day (an increase from 2 million just a few weeks ago), but it also claims that 70 developers have surpassed 1 million downloads for their applications.

The phone manufacturer also announced that Ovi is signing up 200,000 new users per day and is available in a staggering 190 countries. The company even listed some of its most successful application developers, including Fring, HeroCraft (creators of a game calledFarm Frenzy), Offscreen Technologies (which has over 34 million downloads), and Shazam.

The numbers are certainly impressive, especially considering that the Ovi Store is just 16 months old. But as we’ve noted before, Nokia is hurting because of its lack of a killer smartphone. It’s a big reason why Nokia hired former Microsoft president Stephen Elop as its new CEO.

Earlier today, I had breakfast with Tero Ojanpera, executive vice president, Nokia services. I asked him about these issues, specifically whether Nokia could create a competitive mobile experience to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android OS. While he said the Nokia N8 is a step towards Nokia making a comeback, he pointed to MeeGo, the new mobile OS being created by Nokia and Intel, as an even more important milestone in Nokia’s effort to make a smartphone comeback.

There’s no question that Apple and Google are ahead of the game. Apple recently touted over 6.5 billion iOS app downloads, and attention by consumers and developers for its app store dramatically overshadows Nokia’s Ovi Store.

Nokia may be making progress, but it has a lot more work to do in order to take on Apple and Google. It needs the hardware and software to compete with iPhone and Android devices. MeeGo may be what settles the question fo whether Nokia can build a killer smartphone.

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Apple,Microsoft,Nokia,Smartphone

Microsoft Sues Motorola Over Android

Welcome to the latest episode of Patent Lawsuit Theater! In this edition, we find Microsoft suing former partner Motorola over, what else, patent infringement in the area of smartphones.

Microsoft filed an action with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola, Inc. Microsoft claims that Motorola has violated nine of its patents in its Android-based smartphones, which include the Droid, Droid X and Droid 2.

Microsoft claims that Motorola’s Android enhancements, including the areas of “synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power,” violate patents held by Microsoft.

Earlier this year, Microsoft entered into a licensing agreement with HTC. Under that agreement, HTC pays Microsoft royalties for use of parts of its patent portfolio in HTC’s Android implementations. Microsoft and HTC have never made public what patents are covered under that agreement, so it’s uncertain if there is any overlap between that arrangement and the current Motorola lawsuit.

On its TechNet policy blog, Microsoft’s Deputy General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez attempts to humanize the lawsuit and better frame its context.

Of course, Microsoft isn’t the only company that is filing Android-related lawsuits. Oracle filed suit against Google back in August, claiming that Android and the Android SDK violate its Java-related intellectual property. In March, Apple sued HTC over its Android-specific Sense implementations and features.

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Microsoft,Motorola

Samsung Galaxy Tab Hits the UK on November 1

Samsung’s Android-based tablet, the Galaxy Tab, will be available in UK stores on November 1.

The Galaxy Tab is a 7-inch tablet, sporting a TFT-LCD display with 1024×600 pixel resolution, a 3-megapixel camera and an additional front 1.3-megapixel camera for video chats.

It runs Android 2.2 (Froyo). Powered by a Cortex A8 1 GHz processor, it has 512 MB of RAM and 16/32 GB of internal memory, which can be further upgraded with microSD memory cards.

UK residents should be able to find the Galaxy Tab in the stores of electronic goods retailers and major carriers, including Carphone Warehouse, Dixons Store Group and T-Mobile. The exact price is still unknown, but Samsung claims the Galaxy Tab “will be available on a range of attractive price packages.”

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,Samsung

Samsung to Terminate Support for Symbian

Samsung has informed developers it will discontinue its Symbian support service beginning December 31 2010.

The news comes just days after Sony Ericsson announced its intention to cease Symbian support. The announcement means that the Symbian Foundation has lost two major members in as many weeks.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise since Samsung has recently been focused more on manufacturing Android-based devices, such as the Galaxy S, while developing its own mobile platform,bada.

Besides Samsung and Sony Ericsson, other members of the Symbian Foundation are Fujitsu, Huawei, LG Electronics, Nokia and Sharp. With LG openly admitting it’s no longer interested in Symbian, Nokia stands as the biggest — perhaps even the last real — Symbian supporter, and even Nokia has lately been focusing much of its efforts on MeeGo, at least when it comes to high-end smartphones.

Symbian is still the world’s most popular smartphone platform, but it has consistently lost ground to competitors such as Android and iOS. The next two iterations of the OS, Symbian^3 and Symbian^4, should bring significant improvements and make Symbian more competitive against other mobile platforms, but with most major device manufacturers giving up on it, one has to wonder if Symbian is dead in the water.

[via mashable]

Read more »

Posted in: Android,LG,Nokia,Samsung,Tech