Tuesday 11 January 2011

Froyo Claims >50% Of Android Devices    [ 11-01-2011 19:02 ]

Author: Ivanov Konstantin   Source: Google     Translation by: Paul Smith     

The latest Android figures from Google are in and Froyo has claimed its spot as the single biggest version of Android in the wild with a 51.8% share.

Even so older versions like Cupcake, Donut and Eclair aren't going anywhere it seems, still accounting for 47.8% of devices as they do. This isn't all that surprising really given that some devices will never see Froyo e.g. the Sony Ericsson X10 whilst others are still patiently waiting for the update e.g. the Galaxy S variants. No doubt once updates start rolling out to more devices Froyo's share should inch ever upwards.

That is until Gingerbread starts making its presence felt. At the moment it accounts for just 0.4% of devices, but then it is only available on the Nexus S. CES gave the world the Sony Ericsson arc, the only device at the show to be running Gingerbread so the numbers should creep up a bit, but probably not by that much until the heavy hitters of the Android world e.g. Samsung & HTC start to update their products to Gingerbread.

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

Microsoft Working On Video Calling App    [ 11-01-2011 18:57 ]

Author: Serge Novikov   Source: Neowin     Translation by: Paul Smith     

Video calling was initially seen as being a killer 3G app that would wow the punters with its futuristic appeal. Of course that didn't happen, rather it fell flat on its face and few, if any, actually used it. Fast forward to the iPhone 4 with FaceTime and suddenly, despite cheesey advertising, video calling is back in vogue.

Enter Microsoft. Apparently the Big M is working on a video calling app of its own that will seemingly be integrated into Microsoft's Live services and be available to various Windows powered devices.

There are suggestions that the app would be a 'closed loop' meaning that users would only be able to video call other people also using the same app. It's also worth pointing out here that currently no Windows Phone 7 powered smartphone has a front facing camera so this app, if it proves true, would presumably be for future hardware and thus may also come with a change in the minimum hardware specifications for Windows Phone 7.

The information was given out by a Microsoft employee described as being in a 'key' position at Windows Phone 7. The employee was quoted as saying that the app would 'reach beyond the hand of Skype'.

If further proof than comments from a mysterious employee were needed then take a gander at the picture below. It's a a screengrab from the Microsoft.Phone.Media.Extended.dll and shows work on a front facing camera system.

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

Google Confirms Nexus S Reboot Bug    [ 11-01-2011 18:48 ]

Author: Ivanov Konstantin   Source: Cellular News     Translation by: Paul Smith     

Google have confirmed a bug with the Nexus S that sees the handset rebooting itself whilst users are in the middle of a phonecall. A spokesman from Google said that the company had already replicated the fault:

We've successfully reproduced this issue and are in the process of investigating with Samsung

That will be welcome news to those afflicted with the bug since it took Google around half a year to get on the case of the errant text message bug that was plaguing Android users. This particular bug seems to affect those making longer phone calls according to various forum posts on the subject; those on calls lasting under 2 minutes don't appear to notice any issues. Hopefully a quick replication of the problem means a fix is on its way soon.

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

CDMA iPhone Finally Launches ... Just Another iPhone 4    [ 11-01-2011 18:35 ]

Author: Ivanov Konstantin   Source: via Engadget     Translation by: Paul Smith     

Today a 7 month old phone that everyone already knows about launched on a new network ... and the tech blogs are going crazy over it. Normally covering the re-release of an old phone would be about as exciting as watching grey paint dry on a cardboard box (and I'm not 100% convinced otherwise in this case), but I am of course talking about the CDMA iPhone that has just been unveiled by the American Verizon network.

So important to their network was this announcement that Verizon's CEO conducted the event himself. So important to their business was this announcement that Apple CEO Steve Jobs sent Apple COO Tim Cook in his stead. In all seriousness though the iPhone coming to Verizon will be of great importance to the network, if for no other reason than they can now offer a 'full house' of smartphone solutions.

As the regular reader of this column will no doubt know by this point my interest in the CDMA iPhone is somewhere in the region of ≤0. As such I am going to dispense with the fanboy adulation and worship of this amazing 'new' and 'innovative' product to instead concentrate on what is actually interesting about it.

For starters the CDMA variant of the iPhone 4 can be used as a WiFi hotspot unlike its GSM brethren over at AT&T. This leaves AT&T looking pretty much like the weak link here, the new boy offerring a service the incumbent still hasn't gotten off the ground after 7 months.

The other point of interest is the revised antenna design. If you look at the CDMA iPhone you will notice that instead of three lines interrupting the metal band around the side of the phone ther are now four, that's an extra notch from the GSM version. Now before people start to drive the conspiracy wagon straight into rumoursville let me point out that Tim Cook, the afore mentioned Apple COO, has made it clear that this is an aesthetic change owing to some changes that had to be made to the device so that it would run on a CDMA network. In other words it's not some magic fix for the antenna problems that's going to be winding its way to the GSM version.

Ok so there we have it. CDMA users can now use the iPhone. It will be available to existing Verizon customers on 3rd February and launched to the general public on 10th February.

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

News:

[ 31-07 16:21 ]Sir Jony Ive: Apple Isn't In It For The Money

[ 31-07 13:34 ]Video: Nokia Designer Interviews

[ 31-07 13:10 ]RIM To Layoff 3,000 More Employees

[ 30-07 20:59 ]Video: iPhone 5 Housing Shown Off

[ 30-07 19:12 ]Android Fortunes Decline In U.S.

[ 25-07 16:18 ]Why Apple Is Suing Samsung?

[ 25-07 15:53 ]A Few Choice Quotes About Apple ... By Samsung

[ 23-07 20:25 ]Russian iOS Hacker Calls It A Day

[ 23-07 17:40 ]Video: It's Still Not Out, But Galaxy Note 10.1 Gets An Ad

[ 19-07 19:10 ]Another Loss For Nokia: $1 Billion Down In Q2

[ 19-07 17:22 ]British Judge Orders Apple To Run Ads Saying Samsung Did Not Copy Them

[ 19-07 16:57 ]iPhone 5 To Feature Nano-SIM Cards

[ 18-07 14:20 ]What The iPad Could Have Looked Like ...

[ 18-07 13:25 ]App Store Hack Is Still Going Strong Despite Apple's Best Efforts

[ 13-07 12:34 ]Infographic: The (Hypothetical) Sale Of RIM

[ 13-07 11:10 ]Video: iPhone Hacker Makes In-App Purchases Free

[ 12-07 19:50 ]iPhone 5 Images Leak Again

[ 12-07 17:51 ]Android Takes 50%+ Of U.S. And Europe

[ 11-07 16:02 ]Apple Involved In 60% Of Patent Suits

[ 11-07 13:14 ]Video: Kindle Fire Gets A Jelly Bean

Subscribe