You are here: Home / Archives for Tablets

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Microsoft to Conquer China?

March 26, 2012 by


RIM takes steps to expand app library
Research in Motion, struggling to remain relevant in the smartphone space has started seeding software developers with an early version of its next generation BlackBerry 10 device. The move is designed to help jump start the software app space, an area that the company has lagged its major platform operating system rivals Apple iOS and Google’s Android.

The company plans to provide developers that attend its annual BlackBerry World conference that will be held in Orlando, Fla. in May with the prototype, called the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha. The company expects to deliver the final version of the BlackBerry 10 late this year.

The company also has helped refund the BlackBerry Partners Fund II that is being run by Relay Ventures, but that fund will also look to fund app developers on rival platforms, something that it did not do in the first round of funding.

Mobile security increasingly in legislators’ cross-hairs
Going hand in glove with the increasing news about apps and ads stealing personal data are legislators seeking to get involved. A pair of congressmen has sent letters to 34 social apps develops for Apple’s iOS platform asking about their information collection and use practices

The companies included Apple, Twitter, Foursquare, Hipster, Linkedin, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram and the letters were sent by Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman and Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member G. K. Butterfield.

This request is separate from the one launched a week ago from U.S. Senator Charles Schumer who has asked the FTC to look into the manner Google and Apple’s operating systems run and f they violate users privacy.

In a somewhat related note Pinterest has changed and updated its terms of service, acceptable use and its privacy rules-in part to help prevent copyright material from being pasted onto pinboards.

iPad eats data plans due to streaming video
This is no real surprise to anyone that has used their smartphone or a tablet to watch live streaming video over a cellular network- data plan limits are just demolished often resulting in costly bills and the need for additional capacity.

One of the selling points of the latest iPad was its ability to connect to high speed LTE networks, and with that comes the ability to watch sports and news programs live over the network in great clarity due to the device’s high resolution screen capabilities.

One study has found that the downloading of a single HD movie download could cost as much as $50, and could cause throttling to ensue from the carrier. Of course all a user needs to do to avoid this issue is ensure that they are using a Wi-Fi connection rather than a cellular one.


Boombox the fasted adopted technology?
An interesting little factoid over at The Atlantic, which they culled from the ever popular Journal of Management and Marketing Research shows that among consumer electronics technologies that have been introduced in the last 50 years, the fastest to see wide spread adoption after 7 years on the market was the boombox with an over 60% market penetration. Boy that is a bet I would have lost. The next four are CD Player, DVD Player, VCR and portable CD Player.

Use your smartphone primarily as a camera? HTC wants you.
HTC has just shown a new smartphone, the HTC X One, a model that can take as manay as 4 four digital photos a second. The phone, powered by a quad-core processor and featuring a 4.7-inch screen can also snap photos while the user is viewing video.

The iPhone 5 is coming!
And already the rumors are flying! We will try and avoid doing weekly updates on the rumors, but I do wonder if Apple will follow the example it set with the latest iPad, simply calling it an iPad rather than iPad 3. Will the next iPhone be simply known as iPhone? Could be.

Microsoft to conquer China first
I guess that Microsoft is not taking Vizzini’s advice about never get involved in a land war in Asia. The company’s executives are claiming that its Windows Phone operating system will enable it to pass Apple’s iPhone in market share in China.

With low cost options available from its partners that come in significantly lower than Apple’s offerings the company said that it will first surpass Apple and then will have its sights set on the Android space, which it believes it will also surpass, at some unnamed point in the future.

The importance of the Chinese market should not be underestimated since it is now the world’s largest market for smartphones even though its market penetration is significantly lower than in the United States.

Will American’s really lose $30 billion worth of phones this year?
They will if you believe a piece in Silicon Angle. That is a lot of phones. I have no idea how accurate that info is, but I will say I have found an iPhone 4 and a phone from Nokia in the last two weeks.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, AT&T, FTC, HTC, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Global Signs 5 More NFL Teams to iPad Program

March 23, 2012 by


Velocomp’s iBike Coach App has won the Communication Arts Magazine’s 18th Annual Interactive Award in the Information Design category. The app enables an iPhone user to convert the phone into a multifunctional training tool.

The phone becomes a GPS-based bike computer that enables a user to not only track cycling speed, distance, and time, but also includes social media features, videos, and maps, as well as access to music and the phone capabilities of the device.

The app was only just released and was a winner in a contest that drew a total of 1,194 entries. It is available for download at the Apple iTunes store.

Apple develops new SIM — will others support it?
Apple has proposed a new SIM card technology for adoption by the mobile industry but it will be interesting to see how, if at all, the mobile industry adopts a technology that would push out their competing efforts

The new technology is called a nano-SIM and is smaller than the micro-SIMs that is common in current cell phones. This one will have increased functionality as well as the tradition job of holding a users personal information such as contacts and phone number.

That sounds great until you consider that Motorola Mobility, Nokia and Research in Motion all have rival efforts. However Apple has presented it to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to get accepted as a standard and has some carrier support. It will be interesting to watch this fight.

Toshiba provides peek at 13-inch tablet
Toshiba has provided a peak at its next generation large screen tablet, and yes it will be large with a 13.3-inch form factor. The prototype, going by the name AT330 has an Nvidia Tegra quad core processor, 32GB of storage, a full sized SIM card slot and it has an HDMI connector. It may have a high end 1920 x 1200 LCD panel but that is unsure at this time.


Facebook bolsters patent defense with IBM patent purchase
Bloomberg is reporting that Facebook has purchased 750 patents in areas such as networking from IBM as part of an effort to strengthen its position in its looming case with Yahoo. Yahoo has sued Facebook over the alleged misappropriation of Yahoo patents by the social media giant.

NFL use of iPad continues to grow
Global Apptitude has added five NFL franchises to its list of customers for its Playbook for iPad technology. The company has announced that the Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts, and Detroit Lions for their Playbook for iPad and other related player development tools.

Global is adding content to its Playbook series which are designed to be used as player preparation tools and said it expects to sign additional teams in the near future.

The iPad has also been a hit with other major league sports teams including most recently Major League Baseball, with team executives, players and scouts all using the tablet for a variety of reasons.

Ads a threat to your data?
A report from North Carolina State University casts additional concern about the security of the data stored in your Android phone. Researchers at the school have found that adverts, those annoying in game or application apps that are often the price to pay for free apps. They found that one example, MobClix, a 3rd party ad exchange company gains access to calendaring, contacts and call logs. These programs get permission when you provide permission to their host app.

Ematic delivers sports focused MPS/Video player
Ematic has delivered the eSport Clip, a small formfactor portanble media player that is designed for the active lifestyle. The eSports Clip features a 4GB of storage and has the ability to play MP3 files ad well as play back video.

The 1.8-inch device easily clips to clothing and it can store as much as 3200 songs or 20 hours of video for playback on its color display. It includes a 5MP Digital Camera and comes with a video and voice recorder.

China delays Motorola/Google deal approval
Motorola Mobility has reported that China has extended its examination of the proposed $12.5 billion purchase of the company by Google. It reported in a regulatory filing that China’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau has expanded the second phase of its investigation.

This is one of the last regulatory approvals needed for the deal to be finalized, with it having already gained approval around the globe including in the United States and in Europe. There has been no reason given for the extension of the investigation.

Are Kindle sales falling?
Chad Bartley, an analyst with Pacific Crest has said that the company believes that sales of Amazon’s Kindle “is significantly weaker than expected” in the first quarter. He reported that Amazon has slashed component orders by 75% from levels in January.

He attributed the decline to slower adoption as well as market cannibalization caused by the Kindle Fire. The Kindle family is the second most popular tablet, after Apple’s iPad.

Apple loses Android info motion
Judge Richard Posner has denied Apple’s request to have Google and Motorola Mobility hand over information on the development of Android.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, Cycling, Google, iBike, iPad, Major League Baseball, NFL, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

Acer Takes the Wraps off Iconia Tab A510 Tablet

March 22, 2012 by

Acer is the latest to being a quad-core tablet to the American market with its release of the Iconia Tab A510 tablet, a device that should be well positioned to function as both a work and home entertainment device.

The Acer Iconia Tab A510 is a special Olympic Games Tablet Edition of the Acer Iconia Tab line that will include the Olympic logos on the chassis to celebrate the company’s sponsorship of the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games.

The heart of the 10.1-inch tablet is the Nvidia quad-core Tegra processor that is touted as having a fifth, battery-saver core that is designed to help handle low-power tasks like active standby, music, and video, and is transparent to the OS and applications. In active use the four cores handle activities such as video streaming, music and a host of other activities. In addition the tablet uses an Nvidia performance 12-Core GeForce graphics processor.

The tablet features the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and comes with a 10.1-inch capacitive screen that features 1280 x 800 resolution and supports 720p video. It also includes Dolby Mobile 3 audio. The company claims that the use of the Tegra processor enables the tablet to be able to support 12 hours of video playback.

Other nuts and bolts of the Acer Iconia Tab A510 include 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage that can be doubled using a 32GB Micro Card. It includes a micro HDMI port for streaming video and features a micro USB 2.0 port. It has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and has a 1MP front facing camera as well as a 5MP rear facing camera.

I think that Acer is smart in trying to position the A510 as a business tool as well as a top entertainment device. It includes a comprehensive suite of productivity apps so that a user no longer has to worry about using the tablet as a tool at meetings or just away from the office.

The key to this is inclusion of the full suite of Polaris Office 3.5, a software package that is compatible with Microsoft Office and allows reading and editing of various document formats for mobile devices. It also includes Acer Print, so customers have a convenient and seamless way to print wirelessly from their tablet and includes HDMI to VGA support for quick connection to projector for business presentations.

It has Evernote, a personal assistant program that enables users to capture and save web pages, photos, ideas and documents and then store them to the cloud, where they can be later accessed from a variety of devices including PCs.

This looks like a well rounded system and one that is designed to fit in more than one usage model. So many keep trying to either attack Apple or Amazon rather than seek to establish their own niche or product persona. With a starting pre-sale price of $450 it stands a good chance of doing just that.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Olympics, Tablets Tagged With: ,

Archos targets Cost Conscious Tablet Segment

March 20, 2012 by

Apple’s latest iPad has created a feeding frenzy at its stores, with an estimated 3 million tablets sold in three days- numbers that top what most of its rivals have sold in the last two years.

Yet while everybody keeps asking the question of when the next iPad killer will be released and if it will be a Windows 8 or an Android product, they seem to lose sight of the larger issues.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire took off because it met a pent up need in the market, not because it was an iPad killer. Others are also looking at selling into distinct segments- some will go head to head with Apple and I am sure that in the future we will see some of them succeed.

Looking for a tablet but do not want to wait in line at the Apple store for a budget busting product? Well Archos may have what you are looking for as the company has delivered a pair of tablets looking to appeal to the thrift consumer. While looking around at rivals to Apple I noticed that last week the company had upgraded its products with the Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) operating system and now seems like a good time to take a look at what it is offering.

Archos has been targeting this space for some time but still works to deliver high quality products and this looks to be the same. The latest two offerings are the Archos 80 G9 and the Archos 101 G9 with prices starting around $300.

The Archos 80 G9 is powered by a Texas Instruments 1.5GHz dual core OMAP processor and comes with an 8-inch touch screen display with 1024 x 768 resolution with full support for 1080p video. It has a variety of storage options allowing users to have from 8GB of flash storage or a 250GB hard drive. The hard drive version features 2GBs of flash cache so that it limits the amount of time the system needs to access the hard drive.

The tablet features a 720p front facing camera that can be used with Google Talk for video chatting with an individual or with Google+ Huddle for group chats. It also features Picsel Smart Office preinstalled so you can read and edit your Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

The Archos 101 G9 has very similar specifications to the 80 G9 with some slight differences. It has a 10-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution and features the option of a 1GHz processor as well as the 1.5GHz offering. Storage, camera and apps are relatively the same.

While it does not have the flash that Apple offers with its iPads such as the very high resolution display or the tailored apps that Apple has created for use with the iPad, it also does not have the price tag involved. For a solid entry level tablet Archos looks to have a solid offering for users that understand what they need in a tablet and buy based on that

While it does not have the flash that Apple offers with its iPads such as the very high resolution display or the tailored apps that Apple has created for use with the iPad, it also does not have the price tag involved. For a solid entry level tablet Archos looks to have a solid offering for users that understand what they need in a tablet and buy based on that.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, iPad, Kindle, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Mostly Apple Edition

March 19, 2012 by

Flush from releasing its latest iPad, its stock price hovering near $600 and with billions in cash in the bank, Apple has announced plans to launch a dividend and share repurchasing program. The two programs will result in the company spending approximately $45 billion in three years.

The plan calls for Apple to spend $10 billion in a share repurchase program that will begin in September 30, 2012. Its goal is to help neutralize the impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs. This program has already been approved by the company’s Board of Directors.

The second program calls for a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share sometime in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012. This is still pending approval by Apple’s BoD.

Apple loses key ITC ruling
After a strong winning streak in its patent battles Apple is starting to lose a few again. The latest comes with an Administration Law Judge at the International Trade Commission ruling that Motorola Mobility did not infringe on three Apple patents. Apple had appealed an earlier ruling on the topic, and will now likely take the issue to court, so it is far from over.

Conde Nast to give advertisers viewer data
Conde Nast is finally relating the information it has been harvesting from readers of its iPad edition of its magazines. For the last 2 years a variety of its publications have been available on the tablets and I has been tracking a variety of information including basic data such as how many readers it has, the breakdown between paid and single issue sales and how long readers view articles and ads.

I would love to hear what some of this information and home the publisher will reveal some details to the public about what impact tablets have had on its business model, both pro and con. Publishers will start receiving data on specific issues 10 weeks after it hits the stands.

Windows 8 Tablets on the Horizon.
There seems to be a lot of breathless talk that when Windows 8 is released a slew of tablets will be released and crush Apple’s iPad, returning the tablet market to the righteous. Who cares? I hope that the tablets are good and have the options I want, not how they compare to Apple. But I digress.

There is a lot of talk about who is going to have tablets when Windows 8 is available, and a list of probables and a few features is included in this piece by the International Business Times. No real surprises, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Dell and some others but worth a look so you have an idea of what is on the way.

Kindle and Nook in for a fight from new Nexus tablet?
The site Android and Me is reporting that a Nexus tablet from ASUS is a done deal and expects that the tablet will come in at a very nice $149. It is reporting that Google has selected ASUS to produce the next generation Nexus tablet and that it will have a 7-inch form factor and that all other details are unknown at this time.

However this will go directly against the two popular e-readers out there, from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which currently are the second and fourth most popular selling tablets. A good price war is always popular with consumers and I am looking forward to what they do if this turns out to be true.

Americans willing to pay for tablet content aside for news
A recent Nielsen study on tablet content purchases found some interesting facts about European and American users. Americans are willing to pay for almost all types of content, with 62% having purchased music, 58% purchased books and 51% have purchased movies, but only 19% paid for news.

That is not too far out of line with the European countries surveyed about news, aside from Italy which had 44% purchasing news content. The Europeans showed they were much less likely to buy books, movies and music than Americans.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Barnes & Noble, Dell, Google, iPad, Kindle, Lenovo, Motorola, Nielsen Ratings, Tablets Tagged With: , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Kindle and iPad Drove Q4 Tablet Sales

March 16, 2012 by

Global tablet sales surged in the 4th quarter of last year, driven by the demand for Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad tablets. An IDC study as reported by Cnet shows that overall tablet shipments grew by 56% on a sequential basis in the fourth quarter of 2011, to 28.2 million units, and a 155% increase from the same period in 2010.

The top players in this sector were led by Apple with a 55% market share with 15.4 million tablets. Second was Amazon’s Kindle Fire at 4.7 million in the quarter, good for a 16.8% market share. Samsung trailed with a 5.8% share and then Barnes & Noble with a 3.5% share.

IDC has upgraded its estimation for worldwide tablet sales in 2012 to 106.1 million, up from its previous estimation of 87.7 million. I wonder what percentage of those sales would have gone to PCs a few years ago?


Did the NFL collude against the players?
The NFL’s very odd decision to fine the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys a combined $46 million in cap space could turn out to be a major mistake, if the league actually goes through with its decision, multiple outlets are reporting.

Dallas and Washington’s crime was apparently spending more money during the uncapped year than the other owners wanted, giving them an ‘unfair advantage’ by actually investing in their teams rather than simply pocketing the money.

It looks like the owners of the two teams are now considering suing the league, a move that looks like it might then result in an additional lawsuit from the players union as it would show collusion and violation of antitrust. While the league has limited antitrust immunity, it does not cover this kind of action. Baseball did the same thing some time back and was expensively slapped by the courts. I suspect the NFL may quietly backtrack on this issue.

Apple and Motorola talked cross licensing–last year?
A series of talks between Motorola Mobility and Apple last year regarding a proposed deal to cross license their patent portfolios, or portions of them, has come to light as part of the EU’s discovery process on the Google/Motorola merger.

It looks like Motorola was demanding that it gain access to Apple’s entire patent portfolio in order for Apple to get access to Motorola’s standards-essential patents (SEPs). It was noted in The Register that usually SEPs are cross licensed for other SEPs, not the entire portfolio.

They did discuss the ‘scope of a possible settlement’ after Google announced its purchase of Motorola for $12.5 billion. According to Foss Patents, Motorola wanted to broaden the scope of the deal to include all Android licensees while Apple wanted it between the two companies.

Yahoo sues Facebook over patents
Yahoo has dropped the other shoe in its face-off with Facebook and has filed a lawsuit contending that the social media giant has violated Yahoo patents that cover a range of features including news feed generation, social commenting and advertising.

The issue initially emerged a few weeks ago and many thought that the effort by Yahoo was just part of a positioning move by the company to show that it has a valuable patent portfolio as it seeks a buyer. The timing of the move is interesting because it coincides with Facebook’s IPO.

Now it looks like it may get the chance to prove that contention via court filings and possibly rulings on its patents. Yahoo is seeking unspecified damages, and has requests that any such amount be tripled due to Facebook’s willful actions.

Sony’s Xperia smartphone features ‘floating touch’ technology
Sony, using something that sounds like it came from a Geisha house has incorporating ‘floating touch’ navigation that allows a user to browse the web without touching the screen, simply by hovering a finger above the screen and moving it to move the cursor.

The phone also features a 1GHz dual core processor, Android 2.3, upgradeable to 4.0 later this year, and a 3.7-inch Reality Display.

Nokia working on Windows 8 tablet
Nokia, one of Microsoft’s strongest supporters in the Windows smartphone market has said that it will be joining Microsoft in the tablet space in the near future. Reuters reported that the company’s design chief is spending a third of his time developing the tablet and that the company is seeking to take a different approach from rivals in creating a product that will challenge market leader Apple and its iPad.

Intel invests in eye-tracking company
Intel Capital has invested $21 million in a third funding round for Swedish company Tobii, that has been working on eye-tracking technology that can be incorporated with laptops, tablets and other hardware. Tobii said that the investment will give Intel a 10% stake in the company.

Tobi has previously raised $14 million in 2007 and an additional $26.8 million in 2009. It said that the investment will help the 12 year old company maintain a steady research and development schedule. Tobii recently unveiled its latest eye-tracking device last week at CeBIT, the Tobii IS-2 Eye Tracker.

It is interesting that Intel is investing in this type of technology. Over a decade ago I saw a demonstration of eye tracking technology at an Intel Labs demonstration and have wondered why it has never seen the light of day. I guess it was red lighted and so the company is now looking to outside sources.

Going to London for the Olympics? Free Wi-Fi!
Well at least it will be free in the Tube, or subway system. The service will run from July 27 to August 12 and will be provided by Virgin Media. After the Olympics end the service will be available to Virgin subscribers.

USC football players live for Twitter
Interesting read at CBS Sports about Twitter and specifically on how a pair of USC athletes use it. Shows how prevalent that technology is becoming.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, Barnes & Noble, CBS Sports, Intel Capital, iPad, Microsoft, NFL, Olympics, Samsung, Tablets, Twitter Tagged With: , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »