HTC also in talks to be Google’s next Nexus partner

Following LG’s statement that the company is “heavily in discussions” with Google to become the next Nexus partner, HTC said it too is in discussions with the software giant. According to a new report from TechRadar, the Taiwanese handset maker is in talks with Google in hopes of being selected to design the company’s next flagship smartphone. Google previously worked with HTC to craft the original Nexus One. “Google hasn’t chosen its Nexus partner for (Android) Jellybean as yet. So right now all the manufacturers are crossing their fingers,” HTC’s global online communications manager Jeff Gordon said in a statement that has since been removed. Gordon said that the notion of being the next Nexus partner is “still very attractive to all OEMs, despite the imminent takeover of Motorola.” Gordon didn’t give an exact date as to when Android 5.0 would be released, but stated the company’s current priority is to bring Ice Cream Sandwich to its current device lineup.
[Via Droid-Life]
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Yahoo to acquire Broadcast.com

Yahoo has agreed to acquire Broadcast.com in a stock swap, according to sources familiar with the deal.
Trading was halted in both companies in after-hours trading. Sources said Yahoo would offer $130 for each Broadcast.com share. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined comment, except to say an announcement was planned for 8:30 a.m. ET tomorrow with Wall Street analysts. It will be broadcast on the Net via Broadcast.com, she added. Broadcast.com declined comment.
Wall Street analysts pegged the deal at about $5.7 billion at a stock exchange rate of about .77, making it one of the largest Net acquisitions along with America Online's buyout of Netscape Communications and @Home's merger with Excite.
According to a regulatory filing, Broadcast.com had 36.8 million outstanding shares as of March 15, but the total could be higher when accounting for shares that are reserved for stock options, as well as any additional shares that were issued since then. Broadcast.com's stock has traded as high as 144.75 in the past 52 weeks.
The tentative deal calls for Broadcast.com to keep its offices in Dallas. Cofounders Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner will stay with the company, sources said.
"We think this deal is strategically sound for both parties," Hambrecht & Quist analyst Paul Noglows said.
The companies have been engaged in acquisition discussions for the past few weeks. Yahoo also hinted to financial analysts during an on-site meeting that it was planning to make more acquisitions this year.
Yahoo in January moved to acquire home page builder GeoCities, with which it plans to introduce more e-commerce functions to the site's close to 4 million members.
Analysts have long praised a possible fit between the two companies, saying that Broadcast.com would give Yahoo a strongly branded Web property and a traffic boost. Additionally, Yahoo could use Broadcast.com's technology platform to further develop its own broadband strategy.
Yahoo will announce quarterly earnings on Wednesday, April 7, after the market closes.
News.com's Jeff Pelline contributed to this report.

Android fragmentation gets measured; 2012 is the year of Gingerbread

Fragmentation is a recurring issue that haunts the Android ecosystem in many ways. While Google’s latest version of the Android platform was intended in large part to address the issue — which many believe to have peaked when the software giant launched Android 3.0 Honeycomb and maintained two entirely separate versions of Android for smartphones and tablets — Ice Cream Sandwich has not yet done its job. Four-and-a-half months since its debut, only 1% of Android devices currently run the unified Android 4.0 operating system according to Google’s own data. To compound matters, a recent report suggested Google may launch Android 5.0 Jelly Bean as soon as this summer. There is no question that fragmentation is a real issue for the Android platform, but is it really as big a deal as some make it out to be?
Fragmentation is an issue on two fronts. On one hand, developers have problems with Android fragmentation because it forces them to create and maintain different versions of the same application to work across various Android releases. This issue has theoretically been addressed by Ice Cream Sandwich, and developers will be able to build one app that works on both smartphones and tablets moving forward. Today, however, the problem remains. In fact, vendors are still launching new smartphones running Gingerbread at this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show.
One the second front, fragmentation is an issue that directly affects users. As we have seen time and time again, updating smartphones to new Android releases is a tall task that often takes vendors many months of hard work. In the meantime, users are left waiting for the great new features, security fixes and other enhancements Google introduces with each new release.
While we have established that the problem is real, the question of its severity remains a topic that is debated quite often. In an effort to make sense of the noise, industrial and graphic designer Chris Sauve compiled data from a number of sources and created a formula by which Android fragmentation can be measured.

The above graph, which Sauve included in a post on his pxldot blog earlier this week, displays Android version distribution between December 2009 and February 2012. This graph showcases the issue quite clearly — despite two new versions having been released since Android 2.3 was first introduced, Gingerbread’s installed base is currently at an all-time high.
The more interesting graph, however, might be this one:

Simply looking at Android installed base figures over time is not an accurate way to measure how “bad” fragmentation is, Sauve argued. Instead, a model that measures the distribution of one Android version against others is needed. Sauve did this using two key factors.
“The more handsets on the most recent version, and the less divided the remaining installed base (aside from those on the most recent version), the better,” Sauve wrote on pixldot. “Using these two factors I built a formula that provides us with a value of how ‘bad’ Android fragmentation is; it can theoretically go from 0–12.5, with higher numbers indicating ‘worse’ fragmentation.”
As can be seen in the graph above, Android fragmentation is not necessarily a problem that has grown worse over time as many have claimed. Using Sauve’s model, it actually appears to be a cyclical issue that was at its lowest level ever just two months ago in December, after Ice Cream Sandwich had been released.
Sauve goes on to take a deeper look at the issue of Android fragmentation, and he reaches some interesting conclusions. Among them an observation that may come as a surprise: despite the recent release of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the upcoming launch of Android 5.0 Jelly Bean, Sauve believes 2012 will be “the year of Gingerbread” in terms of version distribution. ”Gingerbread appears to be on the verge of peaking as a percentage of the total devices in use, but it took Froyo over 6 months after reaching the peak of its relative distribution to be overtaken,” he noted. “Gingerbread is still adding devices 14 times faster than ICS.”

[MWC 2012] Samsung Galaxy Beam Hands-On

Earlier today we got a chance to play with Samsung's Galaxy Beam (though photo opportunities were limited by lighting), and I have to say - for a projector phone, it's not bad.

 

The 1GHz dual-core processor hums along through Gingerbread (I know, I know - but an ICS update is surely in the works) nicely, and the 4" WVGA display gets the job done. While it's no flagship device, for such a niche piece of hardware, Samsung has done a pretty decent job here. The yellow banding highlight is a nice, unique touch, and holding the Beam is little different than using almost any flagship Android phone from 2010 or 2011. Sure, it's on the heftier side of 12mm, but it's not so thick as to be any more cumbersome than any other phone.
But it's the Beam's party piece we're all interested in - a 15 lumen projector. The projector is controlled via a hardware button on the side of the device (which is somewhat confusingly close to the power button), and with one tap comes to life. The projector is intended for use almost exclusively in relatively dark areas (its pretty useless in even moderate lighting), and projects up to around 50 inches (almost 1.3 meters) diagonally.
To see how it works, check out our hands-on video:

[Rumor] Is Sprint Getting Its Own Variant Of The HTC One X (Or Something Eerily Similar) Codenamed 'Jewel'?

While HTC just officially announced the One X at Mobile World Congress and AT&T shotgunned exclusive rights in the U.S. to the beast for its LTE network (albeit packing a Krait chip instead of the Tegra 3), there's now a rumor floating around that Sprint could be getting a device similar to the One X, codenamed the Jewel.
Details on the Jewel are scarce right now, but rumor has it that the device is packing a large HD display (similar to the One X) and should be one of the flagship devices on Sprint's upcoming LTE network. Pocketnow, who was originally tipped about this device, goes as far as to speculate that this device could be released as the "EVO LTE" - an idea that makes perfect sense considering the EVO 4G helped usher in Sprint's WiMax network.
Of course, this is all just a mix of speculation and rumor for the time being, so there's no estimated launch window at this point. Perhaps we'll see more information arise at the CTIA conference in May.
[Pocketnow]

A detailed look at HTC Sense 4.0 and HTC One series features

 

HTC One is intended to take HTC to the next level, by incorporating ground breaking technology into the One device for your music, camera, and mobile needs.

HTC Car Clip and Dock

HTC Media Link HD

Sense 4 has many new innovations, including and amazing camera. Since the camera is the second most user phone feature (after making calls) HTC wants to give users “the power of a true digital camera on your phone.” In order to make capturing photos and video, HTC has chosen to display both the camera shutter button and video recording button at the same time. HTC has also reduced the lag time between launching the camera application and taking a picture down to 0.7 seconds.
All HTC one devices will feature advanced BSI imaging sensors along with f2.0 lenses and a dedicated HTC lmage Chip for clearer, sharper shots. The flash has also been improved with an LED Smart Flash with 5 auto adjustable power levels. Like HTC’s latest Android phones, One devices will feature all of the same Scalado imaging enhancements which include burst mode, smile recognition, HDR and more. One devices will also have the ability to record video and capture images simultaneously so that you never miss that perfect shot. Images can even be extracted from HD video after it has been recorded.
HTC has also announced that they are expanding their partnership with DropBox by fully integrating cloud storage into HTC Sense 4.0. Anyone who purchases and HTC One device will be treated to 25GB of cloud storage through DropBox (for up to two years).
HTC Media Link HD allows users to connect their devices to and display via HDMI and allows dual-screen and mirroring capabilities. Users can stream picture, music and video wirelessly to a second display with the ability to continue interaction with the device. Simply use three finders to swipe up on your content in your media gallery to share with another display and then swipe down on your screen with three fingers when you are done.
All HTC One devices will also feature full Beats Audio integration for an “authentic sound experience” not available from other Android phones. Unlike previous iterations of Beat on HTC’s phones, HTC Sense 4.0 integration with Beats Audio brings the audio enhancement to all audio and video applications on the device. Users will also be able to sync their phones with almost any music service they have on their computer and once they have set it up, Sense 4.0 features a wireless music sync capability which will pull in all your latest music and playlists from your computer over WiFi.
HTC One also helps integrate your phone into your car with a new Car Clip which plugs into your car stereo’s 3.5mm auxiliary input. A new intuitive interface surfaces your music, maps, contacts, messages and more into a more so that you can easily access all your information on your HTC One device without the typical distractions of the traditional Android UI.
With HTC Sense 4.0, the new HTC One series of phones is a huge step forward and will hopefully help HTC get back on track to becoming the best Android manufacturer. What new features are you looking forward to the most on your HTC One handset?

Toshiba Excite 10 LE tablet now available, “inventory ready to ship”

The Toshiba Excite 10 LE, “the World’s Thinnest 10-Inch Tablet”, can now be ordered via their Canadian website. This measures in at 0.3 inches (7.7mm) and weighs 535 grams. In a press release Toshiba noted that this “will ship with Android 3.2, Honeycomb but will be upgradable to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich”. As stated before, there will be 2 models available: 16GB for $549.99 and a 32GB for $599.99. If you want to wait a week and get this from your favourite retailer (Best Buy/Future Shop) you’ll be able to do so “next week”, but if you’re a keener you can head on over to Toshiba and order one – we’ve been informed that they have “inventory ready to ship”.
Go forth here at Toshiba

25 ‘Anonymous’ hackers arrested in multinational sting

Interpol on Tuesday announced that 25 suspected members of the hacker group “Anonymous” have been arrested in a raid across Europe and South America. The suspected members ranged in age from 17 to 40 and are accused of planning coordinated cyber-attacks against various government institutions, such as Colombia’s defense ministry and presidential Web sites, Chile’s Endesa electricity company and national library and other targets. The arrests were the result of an ongoing investigation by local and federal police agencies, which searched 40 locations in 15 cities and seized 250 pieces of technology equipment since mid-February. “This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved, and that the Internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity, no matter where it originates or where it is targeted,” Acting INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services Bernd Rossbach said. Read on for Interpol’s press release.

LYON, France ‒ An international operation supported by INTERPOL against suspected hackers believed to be linked to the so-called ‘Anonymous’ hacking group has seen the arrest of some 25 individuals across four countries in Latin America and Europe.
Operation Unmask was launched in mid-February following a series of coordinated cyber-attacks originating from Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain against the Colombian Ministry of Defence and presidential websites, as well as Chile’s Endesa electricity company and its National Library, among others.
The international operation was carried out by national law enforcement officers in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain, under the aegis of INTERPOL’s Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology (IT) Crime, which facilitated the sharing of intelligence following operational meetings in the four participating countries.
Some 250 items of IT equipment and mobile phones were also seized during searches of 40 premises across 15 cities during the operation, as well as payment cards and cash, as part of a continuing investigation into the funding of illegal activities carried out by the suspected hackers who are aged 17 to 40.
“This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved, and that the Internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity, no matter where it originates or where it is targeted,” said Bernd Rossbach, Acting INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services.
INTERPOL working parties on IT crime were created to facilitate the development of strategies, technologies and information on the latest IT crime methods. There are regional working parties for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the South Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa.
The main activities of the working parties rest on three pillars: facilitating operations against IT crime among INTERPOL’s 190 member countries, capacity building and addressing emerging threats.

GSMA Awards: Galaxy S II wins “Best Smartphone”, iPad 2 wins “Best Mobile Tablet”

One of the most prestigious events at Mobile World Congress is the GSMA Mobile Awards. I’m sure those nominated in the various categories are like celebrities at the Oscars and just “happy to be nominated”, but the truth of a product or service is winning a top award. This year saw Samsung grab hold of the “Manufacturer of the year” and also took home the “Best Smartphone” with the Galaxy S II (which has now sold over 20 million units worldwide in 10 months). In addition, Apple, Google, Rovio all received awards. Here’s a list of some winners:
Best Smartphone: Samsung for Samsung Galaxy S II
Best Feature Phone or Entry Level Phone: Nokia for Nokia C3-00
Device Manufacturer of the Year: Samsung
Best Mobile Tablet: Apple for Apple iPad 2
Best Mobile App for Consumers: Rovio Entertainment Ltd. for Angry Birds Rio
Best Mobile App for Enterprise: Citrix Systems for Citrix Receiver
Best Overall Mobile App: WhatsApp Inc. for WhatsApp
Most Innovative Mobile App: SwiftKey
Best Consumer Mobile Service: Google for Google Maps for Android
Best Mobile Innovation for Automotive, Transport or Utilities: Ford for Ford SYNC with Emergency Assistance
See the complete list here at GSMA
Via: MobileBurn

We go hands-on with an unannounced 7.7″ quad-core Toshiba tablet at MWC

Despite trawling all the way through the Fujitsu/Toshiba booth for anything out of the ordinary, we came up short. That was of course until we caught wind of this innocuous little tablet lurking somewhere in the halls at MWC.

Toshiba had a number of phones and tablets on display at their main stand, but we found this unnamed device sitting amongst a host of similarly powered Tegra 3 devices at the Nvidia booth.
Nvidia told us that as far as they’re aware, the tablet doesn’t yet have an official name, although the settings screen referred to the device as the ‘AT270′.

This 7.7″ tab uses a beautifully bright and vivid WXGA (1280×800) SuperAMOLED display and runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3. Beyond that the specs list ran out (aside from the Tegra 3 aspect obviously), but we’ll likely see its official release in the not too distant future.

The design of the tablet’s back, could do with a little more design flare
In the meantime, check out our hands-on video, which samples some of the delights of the quad-core inside using Golden Arrow THD:

How to stop Google ads from tracking you on the web

It was recently revealed that Google and a number of advertisers had found a way to bypass some privacy features in modern web browsers, allowing them to forgo third-party cookie policies and serve targeted ads regardless of a user’s privacy settings. The report caused a stir among privacy advocates and consumers alike, and it prompted Google and other companies to agree to honor browsers’ do-not-track policy by the end of the year. Some users may not want to wait up to nine months to know they’re not being tracked, however, and Google has a solution for privacy-conscious web users who don’t want to be followed. Read on for more.
Google has an extension called “Keep My Opt-Outs” available for Chrome browser users that will block all cookies related to personalized ads. The cookies in question track a user’s path across various websites and then use that history to serve relevant advertisements. Web browsers all include a setting to block this process but a number of advertisers such as Google use a special code to circumvent this setting in browsers like Safari and Internet Explorer.
“Keep My Opt-Outs is an extension for users who are not comfortable with personalization of the ads they see on the web,” Google noted on the extension’s Chrome Web Store page. “It’s a one-step, persistent opt-out of personalized advertising and related data tracking performed by companies adopting the industry privacy standards for online advertising.”
Keep My Opt-Outs will work on OS X and Windows computers, but only in the Chrome browser.

Rovio and Samsung announce partnership on Angry Birds Space with a new teaser trailer

Samsung and Rovio announced today they will be partnering on the release of the new Angry Birds Space game. The highlight of the new game, as the name suggests, will be low gravity and, as you’ll see in the teaser video, there is a new species of birds.

Both companies claim the new Angry Birds game is going to be best enjoyed on a Galaxy Note, with the new graphics taking advantage of the huge 5.3-inch Super AMOLED screen. Now, time for the trailer.

Yep, you saw it right. That was a Cylon Angry Bird. Ah, Rovio, you know how to hook me up.



Anyway, the game is scheduled to launch on March 22, but I won’t be surprised if they let it loose a day or two early, given their history of game releases.
Source

Google VP says Android 5.0 is coming, hints at fall 2012 but “we’re flexible”

Not much is known about the next major Android OS upgrade to version 5.0. This is rumoured to be called Jellybean, following the tradition of past lettering: Cupcake (1.5), Donut (2.0), Eclair (2.1), Froyo (2.2), Gingerbread (2.3), Honeycomb (3.0) and Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0). Various far fetched rumours have surfaced over the past few weeks stating that an upgrade could come as early as Q2 2012 (which I personally can’t see happening), and that it’ll work on both smartphone and tablets.
Of course Google won’t say anything about a release date or what features will be included, however there’s been a few interesting tidbits coming out of Mobile World Congress. First, Google has placed a bowl of jelly beans in their booth, possibly a slight hint to what’s coming, or possibly not. Next, ComputerWorld had an interview with Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google VP of engineering for mobile, and he acknowledges they do “one major release a year”, which would suggest Android 5.0 should be out before November.
“After Android 4 comes 5, and we haven’t announced the timing yet, which we’re still sorting out. There’s a lot of engineering work behind it still, and there’s also just the question of how to time it. In general, the Android release cadence is one major release a year with some maintenance releases that are substantial still. Having said that, we’re flexible. The [timing of releases] is not what drives us, but what does is innovation and offering users a great experience.”
Lockheimer did say that future Android OS versions will of course be faster and smoother, “We’re proud of our work in the OS, and we want to offer a polished experience [in the future] that’s even faster and smoother. We call that ‘butter,’ which can take many forms… should run even faster and smoother, and even butter-er.”
Android OS 5.0 will most likely be released when the next Google Nexus device is launched. Over the weekend it revealed that LG is “heavily in discussions” with Google, but nothing confirmed yet.
Source: ComputerWorld
Via: TheVerge

Apple and Google sued over ‘Street View’ on the iPad

A Florida firm has filed a claim alleging that Google and Apple are both infringing on its mapping technology, PaidContent reported on Monday. PanoMap Technologies filed the complaint in an Orlando federal court, stating the use of Google Maps “Street View” feature in the iPad and iPhone violates U.S. Patent No. 6,563,529. The patent covers an “interactive system for displaying detailed view and direction in panoramic images.” The company wants Apple and Google to pay triple damages, asserting that the two tech giants knew about the patent but had ignored it. To support its allegations, PanoMap claims that Apple visited a website that showcased the patent in 2007 and Google cited the patent in its own recent patent application. The Google Maps Street View function allows users to zoom in and see an interactive photograph of houses, street corners and more. The patent was issued in 2003 and transferred to a shell company called Empire IP last year. In early February it was again transferred to PanoMap Technologies. The patent describes a technique to adjust a camera position from place to place and include it in a map image.

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Hands-on with the HTC One Series camera software (Video)

The HTC One Series boasts some serious improvements to not only the camera optics of its devices — the One X and One S both boast wide-angle 8MP f2.0 lenses — but to the software.
There is a consistency to the interfaces across all three devices, and each can boast of almost instant starting speeds and shutter speeds. In fact the One X launches its camera app in 0.7 seconds, and takes 0.2 seconds to focus. It can shoot 10 stills in a second, and the built-in image processor can choose the best of the bunch.
You can also take 5MP stills while shooting 1080p video, a feature previously unseen on an Android device. But the biggest improvements come at the expense of clutter and excess; the camera software is pared down, simple, and simply enjoyable to use.

Sony announces nine new Cyber-shot cameras

Having launched three new cameras just a month ago and prophesying the doom of point-and-shoot cameras while at it, Sony is back with nine more digital cameras. Five of these are of the compact zoom variety, two belong to the super slim T-series and the last two fall in the W-series.

The model numbers for these cameras are HX200V, HX30V, HX20V, HX10V, H90, TX66, TX20, WX150 and W690. Following are the specifications of all these cameras.
DSC-HX200V (Pictured above)

• 18.2 MP “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• 30x optical zoom lens (27-810mm in 35mm format) with 60x digital “Clear Image Zoom” at full resolution
• “Extra High Sensitivity” technology enhances low-light shooting capabilities
• Lightning-fast AF speed of approximately 0.13 second in daylight, 0.24 seconds in low-light at 3 EV (speeds may vary based on shooting conditions)
• 3.0-inch, 921k dot resolution tilting LCD screen
• Captures 13MP equivalent still images while shooting video via “Dual-Record”
• Full HD Movie Shooting capability (1920×1080/60p) and Optical SteadyShot Active Mode (3 way shake cancelling)
• Photo Creativity interface and 9 “Picture Effect” options for creating unique, custom-styled photos and video
• Embedded GPS functionality with newly added GPS Log Recording function
• Available in March for $480

DSC-HX30V

• 18.2 MP “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• 20x optical zoom lens (25-500mm in 35mm format) with 40x digital “Clear Image Zoom” at full resolution
• Wi-Fi enabled for sharing content directly with compatible smartphone, PC, tablet or other devices
• “Extra High Sensitivity” technology enhances low-light shooting capabilities
• Lightning-fast AF speed of approximately 0.13 second in daylight, 0.21 seconds in low-light at 3 EV (speeds may vary based on shooting conditions)
• 3.0-inch, 921k dot LCD screen
• Captures 13MP equivalent still images while shooting video via “Dual-Record”
• Full HD Movie Shooting capability (1920×1080/60p) and Optical SteadyShot Active Mode (3 way shake cancelling)
• Photo Creativity interface and 9 “Picture Effect” options for creating unique, custom-styled photos and video
• Embedded GPS functionality with newly added GPS Log Recording function
• Manufactured with “SoRPlas” – Sony recycled plastic – an exceptionally durable plastic containing 99% recycled materials
• Available in May for $420

DSC-HX20V

• 18.2 MP “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• 20x optical zoom lens (25-500mm in 35mm format) with 40x digital “Clear Image Zoom” at full resolution
• “Extra High Sensitivity” technology enhances low-light shooting capabilities
• Lightning-fast AF speed of approximately 0.13 second in daylight, 0.21 seconds in low-light at 3 EV (speeds may vary based on shooting conditions)
• 3.0-inch, 921k dot LCD screen
• Captures 13MP equivalent still images while shooting video via “Dual-Record”
• Full HD Movie Shooting capability (1920×1080/60p) and Optical SteadyShot Active Mode (3 way shake cancelling)
• Photo Creativity interface and 9 “Picture Effect” options for creating unique, custom-styled photos and video
• Embedded GPS functionality with newly added GPS Log Recording function
• Manufactured with “SoRPlas” – Sony recycled plastic – an exceptionally durable plastic containing 99% recycled materials
• Available in May for $400

DSC-HX10V

• 18.2 MP “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• 16x optical zoom lens (24-384mm in 35mm format) with 40x digital “Clear Image Zoom” at full resolution
• “Extra High Sensitivity” technology enhances low-light shooting capabilities
• Lightning-fast AF speed of approximately 0.13 second in daylight, 0.22 seconds in low-light at 3 EV (speeds may vary based on shooting conditions)
• 3.0-inch, 921k dot LCD screen
• Captures 13 MP equivalent still images while shooting video via “Dual-Record”
• Full HD Movie Shooting capability (1920×1080/60i) and Optical SteadyShot Active Mode (2 way shake cancelling)
• Photo Creativity interface and 9 “Picture Effect” options for creating unique, custom-styled photos and video
• Embedded GPS functionality with newly added GPS Log Recording function
• Available in March for $330

DSC-H90

• 16.1 MP CCD sensor
• 16x optical zoom lens (24-384mm in 35mm format)
• 3.0-inch, 460k dot LCD screen
• 720p HD Movie Shooting capability (1280×720/30p), Optical SteadyShot Active Mode
• Improved iAuto mode that can recognize up to 33 scenes
• 4 “Picture Effect” options for creating unique, custom-styled photos and video
• Available in March for $250

DSC-TX66

• Effective 18.2 MP “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• Ultra-thin design measuring at 12.2 mm thick (excluding lens cover)
• Lightning-fast AF speed of approximately 0.13 second in daylight, 0.25 seconds in low-light (speeds may vary based on shooting conditions)
• 5x wide-angle optical zoom lens (26-130mm in 35mm format) with 10x digital “Clear Image Zoom” at full resolution
• “Extra High Sensitivity” technology enhances low-light shooting capabilities
• 3.3-inch Xtra Fine™ OLED touch-screen
• Captures 13 MP equivalent still images while shooting video via “Dual-Record”
• Full HD Movie Shooting capability (1920×1080/60i)
• Enhanced Optical SteadyShot reduces hand shake during still and video shooting
• “Photo Creativity” interface plus 9 “Picture Effect” options for creating unique, custom-styled photos and video
• Available in March for $350

DSC-TX20

• 16.2 MP “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• 4x wide-angle optical zoom lens (25-100mm in 35mm format) with 8x digital “Clear Image” Zoom at full resolution
• Waterproof (up to 5m,16 feet), dustproof, shockproof (up to 1.5m or 5ft) and freeze-proof (up to 14oF)
• “3.0-inch Xtra Fine LCD touch-screen with 921k dot resolution
• Captures 12 MP equivalent still images while shooting video via “Dual Record”
• Optical SteadyShot Active Mode reduces hand shake during video shooting
• 7 “Picture Effect” options for creating unique, custom-styles photos and video
• Available in May for $330

DSC-WX150

• Effective 18.2 MP “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• Lightning-fast AF speed of approximately 0.13 second in daylight, 0.20 seconds in low-light (speeds may vary based on shooting conditions)
• 3.0-inch 460k dot LCD screen
• 10x wide-angle optical zoom lens (25-250mm in 35mm format) with 20x digital “Clear Image Zoom” at full resolution; includes newly developed “AA” lens element
• “Extra High Sensitivity” technology enhances low-light shooting capabilities
• Captures 13 MP equivalent still images while shooting video via “Dual-Record”
• Full HD Movie Shooting capability (1920×1080/60i)
• Enhanced Optical SteadyShot reduces hand shake during still and video shooting
• 9 total “Picture Effect” options, allowing for creative, custom styled photographs
• Available in May for $250

DSC-W690

• Effective 16.1 MP CCD sensor
• 3.0-inch 230k dot LCD touch screen
• 10x wide-angle optical zoom lens (25-250mm in 35mm format) including newly developed “AA” lens element
• 720p HD Movie Shooting capability
• Enhanced Optical SteadyShot reduces hand shake during video shooting
• 4 total “Picture Effect” options, allowing for creative, custom styled photographs
• Available in May for $180

Source 1 • Source 2

Intel announce two new Atom CPUs for phones and tablets

Intel is serious about getting a piece of the handheld action this time - they announced two new processors and chipsets to join what's already powering the likes of the Lenovo K800 and the Orange Santa Clara.

The first processor is called Atom Z2580 and features two cores (the same Medfield design like the fist one) with HyperThreading allowing the processor to run four threads simultaneously. It will be clocked at 1.3GHz, potentially going up to 1.8GHz with Turbo Boosts.
It's paired with a powerful GPU too - PowerVR SGX544MP2, which is supposed to double the performance of an SGX543MP2 found in the iPhone 4S.
Intel have their own LTE-capable modem that will work with the Atom Z2580 and all these components will be shown off in a brand new reference design.
With a little luck, it will go the way of the Santa Clara and be offered as a consumer phone too. However, that's unlikely to happen before the first half of 2013 at the earliest .
The second chipset includes the Atom Z2000, a low-end single-core processor running at 1GHz and without HyperThreading. There's a downclocked SGX540 GPU and an Intel-made HSPA+ modem.
The Atom Z2000 will get its own reference design and will target low-end phones. There's no word on availability, but probably won't be soon either.
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HTC Media Link HD brings wireless streaming to any TV

In addition to the HTC One X, One S and One V smartphones, the Taiwanese company launched the Media Link HD, a bridge that connects your newly-purchased Android device to your HDTV. The idea is pretty simple: connect the Media Link HD to your television or receiver with a HDMI cable and wirelessly stream music, movies and photos to the little black box. What’s very cool is the gesture support built into Sense 4: for example, touching three fingers to the screen while moving upwards will push the current content over to the TV without any annoying prompts or dialog boxes. It also looks like, in addition to mirroring, the Media Link HD can provide access to certain content on your phone while you continue to multitask with other apps.
The Media Link HD is competing directly with Apple’s AirPlay standard and Apple TV, especially since HTC has recently launched its Watch media portal for downloading movies and TV shows to your device. Though details are currently scarce — we don’t know cost or other features — the Media Link HD looks to be a pretty neat addition to the increasingly important connection between the home theatre and the smartphone.
Check out more details over at HTC.

Intel announces new processors and partnerships

Intel on Monday detailed a number new products and partnerships during the company’s Mobile World Congress press event. “We are very pleased to add new, important customers and capabilities to our phone offerings today. We remain focused on delivering exciting new features and outstanding performance to smartphone customers around the world.” said Intel CEO Paul Otellini. UK service provider Orange will launch an Atom-powered smartphone based on the Z2460 reference design. The device will feature a sleek body that will enable “rich entertainment experiences [to] Orange services, including Orange TV, Daily Motion, Deezer, Orange Wednesdays and Orange Gestures.” The handset is scheduled for a late summer launch and will be available in the United Kingdom and France. Read on for more.
Intel has partnered with Lava International to offer smartphones in India. Like Orange’s device, the XOLO X900 is based on Intel’s reference design and will be the first Atom-powered smartphone to reach the Indian market. The device will be available in the second quarter and will support major Indian cellular networks. In an agreement similar to the previously announced partnership with Motorola, Intel also announced a multi-year partnership for smartphones and tablets with ZTE. The Chinese manufacturer’s first Intel-powered device is scheduled to debut in the second half of 2012.
In addition to Intel’s Atom Z2460 “Medfield” processor, the company announced the Atom Z2580 CPU that will feature an advanced multi-mode LTE/3G/2G solution and will double the performance of the Z2640. To address the growing low-end market, Intel revealed plans for the Atom Z2000 processor as well. The company will begin testing both chipsets in the second half of 2012, with consumer products carrying the Z2580 and Z2000 expected to launch in first half of 2013.
Lastly, Intel has entered into a multi-year alliance with Visa to “develop mobile commerce solutions tailored to consumers in developed and developing countries.” Intel’s smartphone reference design has been named the first handset to be certified for Visa payWave mobile payment system.

Intel Expands Smartphone Portfolio: New Customers, Products, Software and Services
Announces Smartphone Device Engagements with Orange*, Lava*, ZTE* and Visa*
Discloses Range of New Smartphone SoCs and Communications Products
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 27, 2012 – Intel Corporation President and CEO Paul Otellini today detailed a number of announcements and plans aimed at expanding the company’s smartphone product portfolio and customer ecosystem, including strategic new engagements with Orange*, Lava International Ltd.*, ZTE*, and Visa*.
“We are very pleased to add new, important customers and capabilities to our phone offerings today. We remain focused on delivering exciting new features and outstanding performance to smartphone customers around the world.” said Otellini.
Otellini made the announcements during an Intel news conference at Mobile World Congress. He also highlighted the company’s plans to expand its smartphone SoC and communications product roadmaps for the performance and value smartphone market segments.
New Smartphone Customer Engagements
Building on strategic engagements with Motorola Mobility Inc.* and Lenovo*, Intel detailed new device relationships with Orange, Lava International Ltd. and ZTE.
Yves Maitre, Orange senior vice president of Mobile Multimedia and Devices, joined Otellini to discuss a new Orange smartphone based on the Intel® Atom™ processor Z2460 reference design. Housed in a sleek body, the design enables rich entertainment experiences and Orange services, including Orange TV, Daily Motion, Deezer, Orange Wednesdays and Orange Gestures. The Orange smartphone will be available in the United Kingdom and France later this summer.
Intel also announced plans to enter the high-growth market for smartphones in India through an alliance with Lava International Ltd., one of the fastest-growing Indian mobile handset companies.Vishal Sehgal, Lava co-founder and board director, announced the launch of XOLO Smartphone by Lava. The XOLO X900 is based on Intel’s smartphone reference design and will be the first Intel technology-based smartphone in the India market. The device will be available from top retail outlets early in the second quarter of 2012 and will support major Indian cellular networks.
Similar to its previously announced partnership with Motorola Mobility, Intel also announced a multi-year mobile device collaboration across smartphones and tablets with global handset maker ZTE. Mr. He Shiyou, executive vice president and head of the Terminal Division of ZTE, discussed how his company’s alliance with Intel will enable ZTE to move faster and create unique and differentiated products for wireless operators. He also announced that ZTE’s first Intel-powered mobile device is scheduled to debut in the second half of 2012.
Expanding Smartphone SoC and Communications Roadmaps
Building on its ecosystem engagements, Intel announced plans for three new smartphone SoC products that expand the company’s portfolio from the performance-to-value market segments.
Extending the leading performance and energy efficiency of the Intel™ Atom® processor Z2460, formerly codenamed “Medfield,” Intel announced that the platform will now support speeds up to 2GHz.
Intel also announced the Atom™ Z2580 processor that doubles the performance of the Atom processor Z2460, and features an advanced multimode LTE/3G/2G solution. Intel will sample the Z2580 in the second half of the year with customer products scheduled in the first half of 2013.
Addressing the growing handset opportunity in emerging markets where consumers look for more value at lower prices, Intel disclosed plans for the Intel® Atom™ processor Z2000.
The Z2000 is aimed squarely at the value smartphone market segment, which industry sources predict could reach up to 500 million units by 20151.The platform includes a 1.0 GHz Atom CPU offering great graphics and video performance, and the ability to access the Web and play Google Android* games. It also supports the Intel® XMM 6265 3G HSPA+ modem with Dual-SIM 2G/3G, offering flexibility on data/voice calling plans to save on costs. Intel will sample the Z2000 in mid-2012 with customer products scheduled by early 2013.
Building on these 32nm announcements, Otellini discussed how the Atom™ processor will outpace Moore’s Law and announced that Intel will ship 22nm SoCs for carrier certification next year, and is already in development on 14nm SoC technology.
In 2011, Intel shipped in more than 400 million cellular platforms. Building on this market segment position, Intel announced the XMM 7160, an advanced multimode LTE/3G/2G platform with support for 100Mbps downlink and 50Mbps uplink, and support for HSPA+ 42Mbps. Intel will sample the product in the second quarter with customer designs scheduled to launch by the end of 2012.
Intel also announced that it is sampling the XMM 6360 platform, a new slim modem 3G HSPA+ solution supporting 42Mbps downlink and 11.5Mbps uplink for small form factors.
Building Better Experiences on Intel Architecture
Intel’s strategy is to create and enable engaging, consistent, aware and secure user experiences across a range of mobile devices.
An emerging trend is the use of mobile devices to enable secure online and retail commerce. Otellini welcomed John Partridge, President, Visa Inc., who announced a strategic multi-year alliance to develop mobile commerce solutions tailored to consumers in developed and developing countries.
The effort includes collaboration across a range of Visa mobile services and Intel® Atom™-based smartphones and tablets to deliver compelling and secure user services. As a first step, Partridge announced that Intel’s smartphone reference design is now certified for Visa payWave* mobile financial transactions. This means that customer products based on Intel’s smartphone reference design will have time-to-market support of Visa mobile services.
Building on its collaboration with Google, Intel continues to work closely with ISVs to help ensure the majority of Android apps run on Intel Atom processor-based devices. Otellini discussed how Intel has all the right tools and expertise to support the robust mobile application developer ecosystem.

Visa announces new mobile payment solution

Visa on Monday announced a “one-stop” mobile payment solution that looks to compete directly with Google Wallet and the carrier-backed ISIS payment system. After a consumer purchases a “Visa-certified” NFC-equipped smartphone, he or she can contact the company and activate the handset for mobile payments. The device will be securely linked with a user’s bank account and can then be used to make mobile payments anywhere Visa’s payWave system is accepted. “In the same way we have enabled the secure provisioning of payment cards for decades, we are now using mobile technology to securely provision mobile payment accounts over the air,” Visa’s Head of Mobile Products Bill Gajda said. “Financial institutions, mobile network operators, and even transit operators now have a simple, secure process to activate payment applications at scale and make mobile payments part of everyday life for consumers around the world.” The company announced that Intel Atom-powered smartphones and tablets will be the first Visa-certified devices to allow mobile subscribers to securely make NFC purchases. Read on for the company’s press release.

New Visa Service Provides Secure “Over the Air” Provisioning of Mobile Payment Accounts
Global service transforms smartphones into Visa payment devices. “One-stop” solution enables financial institutions to wirelessly link Visa accounts with NFC-enabled devices
Mobile World Congress 2012
BARCELONA, Spain–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) today announced a new service that provides financial institutions and mobile network operators with a one-stop solution to securely download payment account information to smartphones enabled with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The new service was developed in collaboration with Oberthur Technologies, a leading Trusted Service Management (TSM) company whose software and platforms are used to manage the provisioning and activation of payment accounts on cards and mobile devices.
The new offering by Visa brings together the necessary parties in the mobile payments ecosystem and lays the foundation for financial services providers and mobile network operators to securely and efficiently link Visa payment accounts to smartphones, while also offering a solution to manage those accounts post activation.
“In the same way we have enabled the secure provisioning of payment cards for decades, we are now using mobile technology to securely provision mobile payment accounts over the air,” said Bill Gajda, Head of Mobile Products, Visa Inc. “Financial institutions, mobile network operators, and even transit operators now have a simple, secure process to activate payment applications at scale and make mobile payments part of everyday life for consumers around the world.”
Working with Oberthur Technologies gives Visa access to technology that delivers Visa payWave, Visa’s contactless payment technology, and other payment applications “over the air” to a consumer’s NFC-equipped smartphone, along with the secure credentials needed to authenticate the consumer.
“The combination of Oberthur Technologies advanced technology with Visa’s global secure network will deliver a powerful tool for financial institutions and mobile network operators to move quickly into the growing market for mobile payments,” said Arnaud de La Chapelle, General Manager, Convergence & Solutions, Oberthur Technologies. “We’re extremely pleased to extend our relationship with Visa in this innovative area.”
The new solution addresses a crucial need for Visa account issuers, mobile operators, and others who want to enable mobile payments at scale. The next stage of the product, an interconnectivity “hub”, will enable frictionless “many-to-many” interactions avoiding the need for parties to form bilateral commercial and technical relationships, even for entities using other TSM solutions.
How It Works
For consumers the service will include support for Visa and non-Visa payment, loyalty or mass transit applications on their smartphone. Because of the flexible and global nature of the technology, consumers could, for example, use their mobile phone to download the appropriate mass transit application to pay for a subway ride in a distant city. A typical consumer experience to provision a smartphone for payments may include the following steps:

• The consumer purchases an NFC-equipped mobile phone that has passed Visa’s compliance testing, from their choice of operator
• The consumer contacts the financial institution that issued their Visa account, or responds to an offer from a service provider or operator, asking to activate mobile payments with their smartphone
• Visa’s mobile provisioning solution links the appropriate parties and begins the process of provisioning the mobile phone for payment:
  • Authenticates the account holder by requesting the user enter a passcode
  • Facilitate the exchange of secure “keys” among the various parties that unlock the NFC-enabled chip on the smartphone
  • Initiates the secure download of payment account information to the smartphone

Intel, with its new Intel® Atom™-based smartphones and tablets, has agreed to use Visa’s global provisioning service to enable mobile subscribers to securely download payment account information to NFC-enabled devices.

Google Wallet competitor ISIS finally announces launch details

Mobile payment joint venture ISIS, a partnership between Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile, on Monday announced launch partners and availability. The service will become available in mid-2012 starting with locations across Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, Texas. Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard have entered into agreements to offer credit, debit and prepaid cards alongside the service. “Today’s announcement is testament to the vision and commitment of Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard to make mobile commerce a real and positive experience for their customers,” said Michael Abbott, CEO of ISIS. “Mobile commerce is more than a new way to pay; it’s about extending the relationships consumers enjoy with their banks and merchants into a powerful and convenient new form factor.” Read on for the company’s press release.

Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard First to Place Their Cards in the Isis™ Mobile Wallet
Starting This Summer, the Isis Mobile Wallet Will Be Available to More Than 100 Million U.S. Card Holders
BARCELONA, Spain – February 27, 2012 – Isis™, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, today announced that Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard have entered into agreements with Isis enabling their credit, debit and prepaid cards to be placed into the Isis Mobile Wallet. Starting in mid-2012, consumers will be able to load their eligible Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard cards into their Isis Mobile Wallet and shop at participating merchants, starting with locations across Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas.
“Today’s announcement is testament to the vision and commitment of Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard to make mobile commerce a real and positive experience for their customers,” said Michael Abbott, CEO, Isis. “Mobile commerce is more than a new way to pay; it’s about extending the relationships consumers enjoy with their banks and merchants into a powerful and convenient new form factor.”
The Isis Mobile Wallet will provide consumers with a convenient and secure way to pay, redeem coupons and present loyalty credentials, all with the tap of their phone. Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard will tailor their cardholder service experience within the Isis Mobile Wallet to reflect their respective brands and ensure a seamless and secure experience across physical cards and mobile platforms.
“Chase is committed to making mobile commerce a reality,” said Richard Quigley, president, Chase Card Services. “By working with Isis, we are excited to help pave the way for innovation in the mobile payments space and to provide cardmembers with a secure option for easier and faster payments on the go.”
Last July, Isis announced relationships with the top four U.S. payment networks: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. Isis’ relationship with the four U.S. payment networks provides banks with the freedom to enable any major network payment card and provide consumers with ubiquity and freedom of choice when deciding which of those cards to load into their Isis Mobile Wallet.
“Our customers have embraced digital and mobile banking and are demanding new and easier ways to manage their financial lives,” said Jack Forestell, executive vice president, Digital, Capital One. “Our relationship with Isis creates an exciting opportunity for our customers to begin to fully experience the power of mobile commerce.”
Today’s announcement underscores Isis’ inclusive approach, providing all stakeholders – banks, merchants and consumers – with the freedom and choice necessary to foster a robust new industry. Isis is building an ecosystem to provide consumers with a ubiquitous and positive experience across all participating carriers, phone models, payment networks, merchants and banks.
“We believe Isis is strongly positioned to bring the convenience, value and simplicity of mobile commerce to consumers,” said Stewart Holmes, senior director-mobile commerce strategy, Barclaycard US. “We’re excited to build this offering for customers and our card partners with Isis and look forward to shaping the future of payments.”
The Isis Mobile Wallet will initially launch in Salt Lake City and Austin in mid-2012 and is planning a national rollout to follow.
“While mobile wallets may look and smell the same from afar, Isis is setting itself apart by patiently building an ecosystem of issuer, network and merchant partners, offering an open platform that leaves partners in control of how they will communicate with their customers, and leaving the partners in control of sensitive payment and marketing data transiting over the platform,” says Gwenn Bézard, research director with Aite Group. “Isis’ new announcement sends a clear signal: it is serious about scaling mobile payments.”

Google Teases MWC Attendees With Bowl Of Jellybeans, Coyly Asks, "Oh, Is That Not What You Wanted?"

Oh, Google. You know just how to get our attention. If you're not planting giant statues on your front lawn, you're giving your guests tasty treats with a wink. At Google's theme park MWC booth, the company has set up bowls of jelly beans that are, according to sources close to the matter, "delicious." What we're really after, though, is details on Google's next OS version of the same name. Could this mean we're going to hear about it?

As far as rumors go, a bowl of candy is pretty low on the list of sources we tend to get our stories from. That being said, Eric Schmidt is set to give a keynote tomorrow at 18:00 CET (noon EST, 9am PST). Perhaps Google isn't done with its surprises just yet. So far all the best news from MWC has come from Google's partners, not Google themselves.
Suffice to say, it's probably best that you stick around for the keynote tomorrow. Don't worry, your work can wait.
Source: Google+, via Droid-Life

Panasonic Eluga power brings more bang to Europe

Panasonic have unveiled the Eluga power, a bigger, better Eluga flagship.
It has a 5" 1280 x 720 LCD display, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, Android 4.0 and 8 GB of on-board storage among others.

Panasonic Eluga power
The handset is IP57-certified, meaning it's dust protected and water resistant just like the original Eluga.
The Eluga power has a thicker body (9.6 mm as opposed to the Eluga's 7.8 mm) and omits the OLED display.
There's an 8 MP camera with 1080p video recording.

Eluga power hands-on
Panasonic claim that the Eluga power's battery is super fast to charge taking about 30 minutes to get to 50%, and 57 minutes to refill to 80% of juice.
There's no information on pricing and availability for the Europe-bound Eluga power.

LG wants to be Google’s next Nexus partner

LG, which was once a leading player in the mobile space, has yet to make a real splash in the Android era of smartphones. The company is looking to change that, however, with the next Google Nexus device. ”We’re heavily in discussions,” the head of LG’s smartphone division Ramchan Woo said in an interview with CNET. “We’re working on it.” Google’s partners have been concerned that the company will let Motorola, which it recently acquired, get access to the latest Android updates before other vendors. Partnering with LG would stem speculation that the search giant is playing favorites, although Woo warned that there has not been any commitment made thus far. Read on for more.
Almost every manufacturer layers Android with a custom skin to differentiate itself from the pool of handsets. LG is no exception and believes it can build a better user interface than Google. ”We know the customer data better than Google,” Woo said, claiming that some people are uncomfortable with the stock Android experience. LG does, however, acknowledges the delay between updates, in most cases due to skins, and is looking into it. Woo promises that customers with an LG smartphone can expect an upgrade two to three months after the release of a new version of Android — a promise we have heard time after time.
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Samsung Galaxy S III full specs: 1.5GHz quad-core, 1080p display, ceramic case

We reported some exclusive details surrounding Samsung’s upcoming flagship Galaxy S III smartphone this past weekend, and now we have received some more information that helps us paint a more complete picture. And as that picture becomes more clear, this sure looks like the baddest Android smartphone the world hasn’t yet seen. We reported that the new Samsung flagship would launch in a simultaneous fashion across the globe, but we now have some more detailed specifications to report. Ladies and gentlemen, here is the Samsung Galaxy S III:

• 1.5GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor
• 4.8-inch “full HD” 1080p resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio display
• A 2-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera
• Ceramic case
• 4G LTE
• Android 4.0

As always, we’ll keep pounding our sources for more information, but we have to say… a Blu-ray display? On a smartphone? We’ll cuddle up with that and some popcorn any night of the week.
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Google brings back the Android pins at MWC

Last year, Google released a very special limited edition Android pins at the Mobile World Congress and this year they are bringing them back.

Refreshed and ready to be collected, there are 90 of them representing the different Android users. They are extremely fun and well made and rest assured we’ll try and hunt them down for some close hands-on.
Here’s the full set of all Android pins.

Which ones you like best?
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