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Lenovo’s 7-inch A1000 Here-Can it Challenge the Nexus 7?

July 9, 2013 by

leno

Being King of the Hill means that everybody is always trying to knock you off and the latest to challenge the Nexus 7, one of the most popular 7-inch tablets is Lenovo with its A1000, a 7-inch tablet that it originally introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In many ways this has been a very slow rollout and in others a very swift one. The company quietly made the tablet available for sale this week, without the fanfare that often accompanies a major release, particularly one that is going up against well established rivals.

On the other hand it was first shown almost a half year ago, many of its details were released as it went through the FCC approval process a few months back and preorders began a month ago, so any observer knew that the day when it would be available was rapidly closing in.

The A1000, which starts at $151 from the Lenovo web site is powered by a MTK 8317 dual core Coretex-A9 processor and runs the 4.2 Android operating system. It has a 7-inch display that has 1024 x 600 resolution and includes 1GB of RAM, a 16GB hard drive and supports an additional 32GB microSD storage card.

The company touts its multimedia features and notes that it is optimized for music with dual stereo speakers, Dolby Digital Plus audio enhancement among its features. The company said that the tablets will be available within the week.

It seems that the Android developers all have Google’s Nexus 7 as the target of choice. HP’s Slate 7 is also touted as a strong rival; with most articles talking about HP’s offering all mention Google. Still it is better to be at the top fighting off competition rather than trying to fight your way there. It will be interesting to see what levels Google tries to being its next generation offering.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

Fourth of July Early Grab Bag — NBA Draft Numbers, Facebook stealing user info?

July 3, 2013 by

The Facebook Android app has apparently been downloading users’ phone numbers to Facebook’s servers upon installation and initial launch, regardless if the app is used or if the user even has a Facebook account, according to Norton, the antivirus company.

Facebook has told Norton that it has deleted the numbers from its servers and that it will release a updated version of the Android app that will prevent that from happening in the future. I guess the question I have is that it certainly seems intentional, and with all of the other privacy concerns facing the company why did they not stop this earlier?

Apple patents “iWatch”
It appears that the long rumored Apple watch may actually be real and coming closer to a consumer electronics store near you. Multiple sources are reporting that the company has applied for the “iWatch” trademark.

Apple execs have hinted that a wearable computing device could be in its future but have so far not yet come out and said that the company is indeed working on something along these lines.

MLB Embraces the Military with ticket program
Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) has teamed with GovX, an online military and government discount shopping destination for U.S. Armed Forces and government agency personnel with the purpose of allowing teams to create privileged ticketing programs and recognition events specifically for active, reserve, retired and veteran U.S. Military as well as those who serve and protect including police, fire, EMS and related federal, state and local government employees.

GovX will first create a verified ticketing system for the targeted groups and then work with individual teams to create programs for the military and first responders.

Google Glass adds voice commands and enhanced browsing
Speaking of wearable computing Google has added a web browser and has enhanced the voice commands for its Google Glass platform. The Glass, which is attached to a smartphone, can now both alert a user to incoming text messages and read them to the user or display them for the user to read.

The web browser will, among other things, enable users to view web page n multiple formats including zoom and look around, a feature that is controlled by head movement.

Yahoo buys video sharing firm Qwiki
As the battle for embedded features escalates among social media players Yahoo has taken another step forward with its deal to acquire Qwiki, a company that has created a mini-video sharing format that will rival the increasingly popular Vine app.

The deal is the second major one that the company has made in recent weeks, following its $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr in May. The terms for the Qwiki deal have not yet been announced.


ESPN had second best viewership for NBA Draft
Depending on which article that you read at the ESPNmediazone.com site ESPN had its second best viewership NBA Draft with the 2013 draft, or it was tied for best, or maybe both. This release says that Nielsen rates it as the second best for the broadcaster, with an average viewership of 2,999,000.

This release said that the draft broadcast was tied for the top rated since 2003. I suspect that as the numbers were examined they arrived at the second place standing.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, ESPN, Facebook, Major League Baseball, NBA, NBA Draft, Nielsen Ratings, Yahoo Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Firefox Powered Phone Here- Tablet on the Way

July 2, 2013 by

fire

Developers now have another platform to write apps for in the mobile device market as Mozilla, the organization that is behind the free Firefox web browser has started rolling out smartphones that run a Firefox operating system.

Mozilla is claiming that by using Web technologies it has an original take on how smartphones will operate. On first glance it sounds like a lot of other OS that are available. It will include the ability to make calls, messaging, email, camera and has built-in social features with Facebook and Twitter.

One interesting new feature is an adaptive search app that finds a range of related components to a search topic- the example give being you search an artist and find not just songs but concert tickets, song and album purchase and more. The OS has the ability to enable users to create customized apps for single or long term use as well.

Users can look for global and localized apps at Firefox Marketplace that will include everything from business apps, games and news and media offerings.

The rollout will be regional in nature with devices soon to hit the market with the Alcatel One Touch Fire and the ZTE Open phones offered by Duetsche Telekom and Telefonica. Telefonica is expected to start selling the phones in Spain and then move to South America.

Executives for Telefonica said that the company expects to have a range of smartphones running Firefox OS by the end of the year with a range of price points as the company will seek to aggressively go after the Android and Apple iOS market.

According to Mozilla the platform will be supported by approximately 20 hardware and operator backers globally with carrier Telenor set to launch their first Firefox OS phones in Central and Eastern Europe this year.

So that is what we have today, and Brendan Eich, Mozilla’s CTO has said that tablets that will also be capable of running the operating system are on the way, and while declining to give a timetable for when customers can see the devices, he did say that it would be soon.

This will be interesting. When the Firefox browser came out many thought it was dead on arrival and yet it has wrested away a huge chunk of market share from the established power, Microsoft. Now it is attacking another market, one that does have more diversification that the web browser space did but still fairly insular. The failure or success will obviously be determined, at least in part, by developer support because users are not expecting a wide variety of apps for their phones and its hard to see any mobile OS survive without a wide variety of offerings.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Google, iOS, Microsoft, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , ,

NBA Fans Leap onto Digital Bandwagon with Soaring Viewership

June 26, 2013 by

nba

As we mentioned a few weeks ago the NBA has moved to provide access to its playoffs to a wide variety of platforms including iOS mobile devices, PCs and Kindles. The results are now in and it has resulted in record setting traffic.

The push was done by NBA Digital, a group that is jointly managed by the league and Turner Sports and resulted in the just concluded NBA Championship series having an all time cross platform consumption for the league across its properties that include NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com, and WNBA.com.
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The NBA Mobile had huge increases in page views and video streams with more than 138 million page views, up 91% vs. 2012. There were a total of 4.5 million video streams during the 2013 NBA Finals, which represented a 126% increase over last year. The mobile app that is published by the league, NBA Game Time, had a 110% download increase compared to last years’ finals numbers.

NBA TV’s NBA GameTime experienced all time viewership as well with an average of 128,000 total viewers for both shows, numbers that represent a 28% increase compared with last year.

Hopefully this is a trend for the future among all sports. MLB has embraced mobile access for years while the NFL seems stuck with an older, much less encompassing model. As users continue to cut off cable and broadcast television and rely on Amazon Prime, Netflix and others for much of their viewing options, new methods to gram fans will be needed in the future.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Basketball, iOS, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NBA, NBA Game Time, Tablets, Turner Sports Tagged With: , , , ,

HP Goes Big with 21.5-inch Android Tablet

June 25, 2013 by

hps

Hewlett-Packard appears to be bucking the trend once again in the tablet space, although this time it looks as if it will have less to lose than its first disastrous foray into the market. The company has introduced the HP Slate 21 AIO (All-in-One) that features a 21-inch display.

While tablets are gaining ground as a notebook replacement, this more than full sized offering could serve as a desktop replacement, although if you plan to hold it in your lap you might want to start super-sizing your meals now.

However you don’t need to worry about holding the Slate 21 AIO, it comes with a stand. It is powered by a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 4 processor and unlike many other members of the AIO family it will be running on the Android operating system, version 4.2.2 to be exact.

While it may look like a desktop replacement due to its size, the company is touting its ability to be a home entertainment tool that can be shared among members of a household. However it does have a HP desktop productivity software including KingSoft office software.

The tablet is expected in September and hopefully the company will unveil additional features previous to the launch of the $399 devices. It did say that it will have 8GB of storage and a MicroSD card slot for additional storage expansion and it will feature three USB ports and a high definition web-cam.

Interestingly the price makes it the lowest Slate AIO offering from the company, however its others have Windows as the operating system and the Android OS is free, while Windows is not. It will be interesting to see how well the device does, many tablets are used while watching television and this might make a perfect second screen for sports fans.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , ,

New Tablets from Lenovo and Vizio Hit Market

June 24, 2013 by

lenov

Last week Lenovo released Miix, its hybrid 10-inch tablet that can also serve as a laptop while Vizio has started shipping its 11.8-inch tablet that it first showed at the beginning of the year at the CES show in Las Vegas.
It seemed just a year ago that tablet releases were something that could be planned easily on a calendar, one company would announce a product release date and one of the few other major players would then announce products the day before.

The Lenovo Miix features a 10.1-inch display that has 1366 x 768 resolution, runs Microsoft Windows 8 operating system and is powered by a dual core Intel Atom processor. It will feature 64GB of storage on board with an additional expansion capability of 32GB via a microSD card.

The key feature for the device is what the company calls a “quick-flip” detachable folio case with an integrated AccuType keyboard that enables users to switch between PC mode and tablet mode as their needs require.

It also includes integrated Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and/or optional3G-GPS connectivity and up to 10 hours of battery life. The tablet is expected to ship later this summer and will have an estimated entry price of $550.

The Vizio 11.6” Windows 8 Tablet PC has an 11.6-inch 1080p display, runs Windows 8 and is powered by an Advanced Micro Device Z-60 processor with 2GB of RAM. It also features 64GB of storage, a five hour battery life and has a price tag of $600.

Now tablets are announced at major shows such as World Mobile Congress, CES and E3 as well as just when they are ready to ship, a sign that the market is maturing, and that is good news for users and future buyers.

As an increasing number of tablets are released, and all across the pricing spectrum, it seems pretty obvious that not only will they become ubiquitous in peoples’ lives, but that many users will have multiple devices.

This represents a huge opportunity for developers as apps that are focused specifically for tablets will become increasingly important. I can foresee when I have a tablet dedicated for work and one by the television that I use for sports and other purposes that are more entertainment based.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Intel, Lenovo, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Microsoft, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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