-
While the hardware specs aren’t anything revolutionary(only 1GB of RAM?), they seem pretty solid for the price point, which is $95 for early adopters. The OUYA supports 1080P resolution, a step above the 360 and PS3, and runs on NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor. Also that controller looks pretty damn comfy, don’t you think?
http://www.gatheryourparty.com/articles/2012/07/10/meet-ouya-an-affordable-open-android-based-console/ -
Standard-essential patents are for inventions that a device needs to
have in order to conform to an industry standard, like Bluetooth or
MPEG. These kinds of patents, which differ from something like Apple’s
patent on “slide-to-unlock,” are typically licensed on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory
(FRAND) terms. That means anyone is free to use the patent so long as
they pay the license fee, which is typically small. However, the acutely
litigious climate of the mobile market has allowed some companies to
demand higher licensing fees for their patents — if licensees don't pay
up, patent holders always have the threat of a sales ban in their back
pockets. Motorola has successfully pursued injunctions against
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 at the ITC and in Germany for patents related to H.264 video encoding, although the latter has been rendered temporarily unenforceable because of a US federal court ruling.As reported by Reuters,
Motorola insists that it needs the leverage provided by the possibility
of sales bans in order to ensure that its rivals pay the licensing
fees. Time will tell if the argument is enough to win over the
Committee.http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/11/3150502/congress-hearing-frand-sales-ban
hilarious, suddenly apple is feeling the heat from LTE patent exclusion. well fuck...what are they going to do, they've pissed off just about everybody in the industry. And everybody else owns those next generation patent. Bribing congress won't change a thing. It's protected by International Treaties. Unilateral move by US will face huge international backlash, even entire Apple's cash won't cover.
can't wait until tsmc finally has had enough of apple and kick them out of their fab. than these fuckers are going to cry mommy. nobody wants to do business with them. ( intel, glofo, samsung.)
-
TDK Announces 'Industry's Thinnest' Power-receiving Coil for Smartphones
TDK Corp developed what it claims is the industry's thinnest
power-receiving coil unit for the wireless power transmission for
smartphones.
The thickness of the unit is 0.57mm. The company will start production
of the coil unit at its manufacturing plant in Taiwan in the second half
of 2012 at a monthly production rate of 500,000 units.
The power-receiving coil unit consists of a coil made of copper (Cu) and
a metal magnetic sheet. In 2011, TDK started to ship a 0.9mm-thick
power-receiving coil unit. This time, the company realized the thickness
of 0.57mm mainly by reducing the thickness of the magnetic sheet. Also,
by using the metal magnetic sheet, it ensured an impact resistance
required for use with smartphones.
The new power-receiving coil unit meets the transmission efficiency
standards required for the "Qi" standard established by Wireless Power
Consortium (WPC), an industry group for wireless power transmission, TDK
said. It supports an output current of about 0.5-0.6A. The company
expects that the unit will be used not only for smartphones but for
digital cameras and Bluetooth-compatible headsets.
For the future, TDK plans to develop a power-receiving coil unit whose thickness is 0.50mm and start to mass-produce it in 2013.http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20120711/227672/
Six-axis MEMS sets new size/power low
last year, STMicroelectronics—supplier of accelerometers and gyroscopes for Apple's iPad and iPhone announced a six-axis combo chip but
it measured 4-by-5 millimeter (25 percent bigger than MPU-6000).
Invensense's latest six-axis combo chip now sets a new low, making it
the undisputed smallest-size award winner by measuring just 3-by-3
millimeters.
Invensense also lays claim to the lowest power
consumption, by virtue of eliminating the need for a three-volt power
supply to its MEMS devices.
"Invensense is the only MEMS chip
maker who has been able to get the power supply down to a single 1.8
volt supply," said Goehl. "That gives us the lowest power in the
industry—just 6.1 milliWatts of power in full operating mode and just 18
microAmps when in low-power mode."
Invensense also claims to be
the only MEMS maker to integrate a complete digital motion processor
(DMP) on-chip—to handle the sensor fusion and auto-calibration tasks. By
including its MotionTracking algorithms on-chip in the hardware DMP
unit, there is no need to add a microcontroller or to run
auto-calibration and motion processing algorithms on the application
processor, as is required by MEMS chip makers that offer only
motion-processing and sensor-fusion algoritms in software libraries. The
latest incarnation of its DMP is fully compliant with the motion
processing requirements for Google’s latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
release.http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4390197/Six-axis-MEMS-sets-new-size-power-low
-
RIM Customers Working on Contingency Plans
RIM’s stock has slumped more than 70 percent in the past
year, and tumbled 19 percent on June 29 after the company posted
a quarterly loss and delayed the BlackBerry 10 operating system,
increasing the pressure on RIM to find a buyer or sell assets.
While RIM has built infrastructure to ensure continued service,
some customers are devising backup plans as RIM prepares to face
shareholders at its annual meeting tomorrow.“In the past three months there’s been a lot of concern
that the BlackBerry platform won’t be around in the future,”
said Maribel Lopez, founder of Lopez Research, a wireless-
industry consultant based in San Francisco. “It’s not unheard
of for a large phone manufacturer to go out of business.”RIM isn't going to be around much longer. They think they can survive
till 2013, I doubt it. By then they won't be able to persuade carrier
they worth having. Their market share is imploding everywhere.RIM CEO On What Went Wrong
"After releasing some very ugly financial numbers in late June, BlackBerry-maker RIM went on a media blitz to downplay
the significance of its latest earnings and counter increasingly
negative media attention. ... But a new Q&A with BlackBerry chief
Thorsten Heins offers a unique take on what exactly went wrong at RIM — Heins blames the company's downfall [partly] on LTE in the U.S. — and he actually seems genuine in his answers."------
Something I hear very often is that RIM "failed to innovate" and that a
"lack of innovation" led to the fix that RIM's now in. Is it that
simple? Did RIM fail to innovate?
I would not say that we failed to innovate. RIM is still a very
innovative company. BlackBerry 10 will absolutely prove this. I think
that the reason is something else. We had a very, very successful recipe
of what BlackBerry was all about. There were four main pillars: battery
life; typing; security; and compression. Then there was a shift with
LTE. With LTE it was important actually not to save network resources,
it was important to load the networks, to sell data plans and sell data
volume. We didn't miss on innovation. I think we missed on
understanding, specifically in the U.S., that this trend was shifting,
and that our positioning and our value proposition in the U.S. market
was not following that trend shift.http://www.cio.com/article/print/710295
---------------
and the internet hit the buzzer ... bbbzzzt.... "wrong answer pal"
-----
-
US personal computer shipments fall in 2nd-quarter amid rising sales of smartphones, iPads
The second-quarter decline in the U.S. ranged from 6 percent to 11
percent compared with the same time last year, according to separate
reports released Wednesday by Gartner Inc. and International Data Corp.
Gartner came up with the lower of the two figures in the research firms’
quarterly look at shipments of desktop and laptop computers.Android bags half of smartphone sales across Europe, Australia and US
Android has, for the first time, taken at least half of all
smartphone sales across Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain,
Australia and the US.The sales were recorded over the last 12 weeks that ended June 10.
In Australia, 56.9 per cent of smartphone sales were of Android devices, while in Spain, that figure was a huge 84.1 per cent.
They really need to consolidate Germany/german speaking countries win. (more local partner for content, app, more local peripherals/design. etc) Google is too passive in this regard. this is low hanging fruit. easy target. Get Nexus 7 with fresh content into germany ASAP.
iOS performance in france is surprisingly weak...wonder why. Charge!!! more models..
what's up with US? (Apple litigation is a big problem. need those lawyers to start attacking apple systematically instead of playing defensive. Move on to target iOS 5.) It should be in mid 60% range by now...(obviously carriers are siding with that expensive iOS contract. Android need to introduce some incredible looking design... Think Versace/Jill Sanders at high end. stop making anything that look like walmart/Kmart crap.)
-
Three out of every five major patent suits involve Apple
http://www.bgr.com/2012/07/11/apple-patent-lawsuits-involvement-60-percent/
In the past two years, the wireless industry has turned into a
minefield of patent lawsuits. While dozens of companies have been
involved in litigation, Apple has been at the center of about 60 percent
of the major mobile cases, according to Kanzatec IP Group, an
intellectual-property consulting firm.With its growing global market share and huge amount of cash on hand
for possible settlements, Apple is becoming a bigger and more attractive
target for patent holders.“I would speculate that Apple will continue to be at the center of
the litigation map of large mobile IT companies for as long as it
maintains its dominant place in the market,” said Feisal Mosleh, a
senior vice president at Kanzatec. -
The International Trade Commission is currently considering whether to ban imports of Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console and Apple's iPhone.
With that in mind, the US Senate Judiciary Committee this morning asked
if more can be done to prevent tech companies from blocking sales of
rival products by asserting patents that are critical to industry
standards.Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called
representatives of the Federal Trade Commission and Department of
Justice to the hearing. Leahy said in an announcement that
the goal is to "further explore the competitive impact of ITC exclusion
orders and whether more needs to be done to ensure consumers are not
the victims of the tech patent wars." His statement specifically
mentions the Xbox and iPhone, and the hearing occurred as the ITC is
deciding whether to stop imports of those products based on the
assertion of standards-essential patents by the Google-owned Motorola Mobility.table is turning now.talking about thermonuclear litigation war. plus it's Leahy, one corrupt mofo.
------------------
The trouble is that FRAND terms haven't really been defined properly.
Litigants can ask for what some might call unreasonable amounts of
money. Motorola has demanded Microsoft pay royalties of 2.25 percent of
the retail price of each Xbox 360 for the use of WiFi and video
streaming patents. This is instead of applying that percentage only to
the portion of the device using the infringing technologies, or simply
asking for a lower rate. As senators today noted, tech companies are
basically forced to build products that comply with industry standards.
They shouldn't have to face import bans when patent holders ask for
unreasonable amounts of money, too.-
also Leahy is not the one with final say. It is "imported goods" after all. The guy who export/make it has the final say if a device is going out of the factory or not. Yeah, the chicom has the final say.
-
Judge Posner (who threw out Apple v. Motorola): "Most industries could get along fine without patent protection."
--------
not to lobbying and legal industry, too much money.... ultimately patent litigation will destroy an industry (eg. Kodak is prime example, they become so powerful they sue everybody and anybody, enjoy monopoly, and forget to innovate. That's when patent system kill, specially in crowded and short lived product.
As with Apple, they will sue everybody and monopolize a huge segment of portable device (ala iPod or Kodak film camera) then the entire sector collapse. leaving only one dying player. Try buying non iPod mp3 player these days. It's like trying to buy Kodak camera. In the meantime market outside patent jurisdiction new product development thrive. Then one day, just small technological change, everything collapses overnight.
-
Nokia is going dodo.
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/why-windows-phone-8-may-not-be-enough-to-save-nokia-242373
Nokia is expected to report a second-quarter operating loss of 236
million euros from its handset business, almost double the 127 million
loss in the previous quarter, according to a Reuters poll of 38
analysts.
Analysts expect a rollout of new, basic phones to help
lower the phone business' operating loss in the third quarter to 149
million euros.
Despite Nokia's strong focus on Microsoft, the platform had only a 2
percent market share in the first quarter of 2012 having failed to win a
meaningful share for more than ten years. This compares with 23 percent
share for Apple and 56 percent share for Google.Nokia Plans to Close Two of Its Four China Sales Offices
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-13/nokia-plans-to-close-two-of-its-four-china-distribution-centers.html
-
Research In Motion's Blowing BlackBerry 10 Smoke
The BlackBerry 10 introduction has the makings of one big, ugly mess.
Can you imagine what will happen to the stock price if the end of the
year rolls around and RIM management is forced to announce a delay, even
a short one? It's like not being able to take your eyes off the wreck
on the side of the road as you drive by. You don't want to look, but
somehow just can't help it.
The usual players are still eating away at RIM's market share. In
Q1, RIM's piece of the smartphone pie was cut to 6.4% worldwide, less
than half of what is was. Google's (NAS: GOOG) Android OS was powering a whopping 59% of the world's smartphones, and Apple (NAS: AAPL)
had a healthy 23%. To make matters worse for RIM, both Google and
Apple are expected to showcase new products in time for the holidays.
RIM? Left extolling the virtues of waiting to introduce BlackBerry 10
until 2013 so they won't have to compete during the huge holiday
shopping season. What?
Bottom line is, nothing's changed at Research In Motion. Finding a
private investor and/or shopping the company are the only sane options
left; that hasn't changed. If you were hoping for a BlackBerry
10-induced RIM revival, you're going to be severely disappointed.http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/07/11/research-in-motions-blowing-blackberry-10-smoke/
How are they going to convince carrier in 2013, that their tiny market share phone is worth selling. How are they going to convince developer to write apps? (2 yrs contract of lousy phone? good luck finding customers)
RIM is over. They don't know it yet.
-
Your phone may soon know where you're going before you do
Phones obviously already know where we are and where we have been, thanks to GPS and other clever positioning technologies.
Now, thanks to an algorithm developed by researchers at the University
of Birmingham, your smartphone may soon be able to make accurate
educated guesses as to where you’re going to be in 24 hours time. And
here’s the dirty trick responsible for the algorithm’s future-telling
powers: it spies on your friends and connects the dots where necessary.To be more precise, not only does it analyze your own mobility
patterns, but it also extrapolates from similar data collected from the
people in your social circle to identify any divergences from the
routine. The assumption here is that there is a strong correlation
between the habits and mobility routines of friends, friends being
defined as people who have each other on their contact lists.The exhibited prediction accuracy seems to suggest that the
assumption is valid. In a sample of 200 people, the system was on
average less than 20 meters (66 feet) off when trying to predict where a
person is going to be in 24 hours time. When the same system was
stripped of the social component, the average error grew to 1 km (0.6
miles).http://www.gizmag.com/location-prediction-algorithm/23287/
I guess sooner or later, a smartphone is just a highly predictable data point on map.
-
One source said that Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and the
reviving Pantech will continue to take most of the market share in the
country, whereas foreign makers struggle to make themselves noticeable
to Korean consumers who are generally known to be not only tech-savvy
but also picky.Most foreign makers' mobile phone market share is less than 1 per cent.
HTC accounted for a 0.7 per cent share, followed by Motorola's 0.4
per cent and Sony's 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year,
according to Gartner, a tech research firm.The tide has even turned for Apple, which ignited the smartphone
craze with the iPhone. Its market share in Korea plummeted to 2 per cent
from about 23 per cent two years ago.http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20120712-358666.html
..iPhone has only 2% market share in korea...(screen is too small, and no local app)... iPhone implosion in Japan is next. Sony is itching for a good fight. Rest of asia should go 80-90% android by early next year if nobody messes up.
-
China-based handset makers are ready to begin volume shipments of smartphones priced at CNY300 (US$50) in the second half of 2012 compared to the previous focus on CNY600 models in the first half of the year, according to industry sources.
Competition among chipset solution vendors, promotions by telecom carriers, and the rise of new brands in China have contributed to the rapid decline in prices of smartphones in China, the sources revealed.
The top-3 telecom carriers had previously focused purchases on smartphones with a price tag of CNY1,000, but some local handset makers are now willing to offer quotes at around CNY500 in order to win orders, said the sources, adding that the pricing will serve as an indication for channel operators to follow.
While quotes for 2G smartphones in China have already dropped to below US$50, prices for 3G models currently range from US$60-80 and are expected to reach US$50 soon, the sources asserted.
Sub-CNY1,000 smartphones accounted for 21% of all smartphones sold in China in the first quarter of 2012, compared to a ratio of 12% a year earlier, according to IDC.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120712PD224.html -
Paying ¥4,000 (or more) for a game — to play on a
¥15,000 handheld console — is becoming harder and harder to justify
when anyone can buy a game like "Angry Birds" on their iPhone for ¥85 —
and get regular free updates that bring new characters and new levels.
According to Nintendo's own data, the
handheld-console market is getting smaller, both in Japan and abroad. No
doubt this is due to the rise of smartphone games.
Sony is also feeling the smartphone effect,
with its PS Vita handheld console floundering in Japan. Even with a slew
of games at launch, reception for the PS Vita has been tepid here. The
machine itself offers a fantastic gaming experience, as does the
Nintendo DS, because both are dedicated game machines built with players
and creators in mind. Smartphones, however, are multifunctional,
designed for various purposes, such as surfing the Net, sending email,
taking photos and of course making phone calls. Video games are tacked
on. And because smartphones don't have video-game-style buttons and
directional pads, the touch-based play style offers an entirely
different experience. Ironically, it's also a playing style Nintendo
introduced with the DS. But at the time, people wouldn't think twice
about paying several thousand yen for a game. Now, players balk at
playing over ¥1,000 for an iPhone game. Times sure have changed.
Casual players want quick and cheap gaming.
And the Japanese game industry is taking note, with many famous
developers creating titles for smartphones. Nintendo, however, is not:
Instead it is choosing to only release Nintendo games on Nintendo
hardware. Thus, game characters such as Mario become the Kyoto-based
company's main atractions and a way to entice players to shell out for
its systems and titles. The initial buy-in, hardware costs, and
expensive games are putting casual players off. After all, why buy
dedicated game hardware when you can play inexpensive video games on a
smartphone?
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nc20120201ba.html -
This game.riiiiight nowwwww............ (update the graphic tho')
http://kotaku.com/5878797/the-12-best-games-for-the-ipad?tag=the-bests -
All of them on Android by next year? ... please... need high performance games.
http://kotaku.com/5886630/the-9-best-games-for-the-playstation-vita?tag=thebests
-
Is the Apple iPad Still Worth More to Consumers Than Android Tablets?
In late 2011, iGR published a report called The Apple Premium in
which it quantified the dollar amount that might compel an individual
to switch from intending to purchase an Apple iPad to another,
competing tablet. iGR found that a competing tablet would have to be
significantly less expensive than the baseline $499 iPad 2. iGR
called this price difference the "Apple Premium."
In its May 2012 consumer survey, iGR repeated the question and found
that the "Apple Premium" has dropped 5 percent -- consumers are not
willing to pay quite as much of a premium for an iPad. However, there
is good news for Apple: consumers are willing to pay 52 percent more,
on average, for an iPad than for an Android-based tablet.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-the-apple-ipad-still-worth-more-to-consumers-than-android-tablets-2012-07-13
Soon, nobody will buy iPad... (Google and companies only need to do several minor things...I am fairly sure Nexus 7 solve the chicken-egg problem and break into general public awareness. It's very fun to use device.) -
HTC Quattro - New Tegra3 Tablet Packing Jelly Bean?
How
does this sound? A 10inch 1280x768p display with capacitive touch
screen, a quad core
Tegra3 processor (that I hope is the new 1.7GHz Tegra3 w/LTE), 1GB of
RAM (That should be 2GB RAM), 16GB of internal memory
with a microSD slot that can handle a 32GB microSD card, a 1.3MP front
facing camera that can record in HD and a 2MP rear camera that can do
the same.
Now, I do not want to hear a thing about Ice Cream
Sandwich. If HTC wants this to sell, they better have the new Jelly Bean
operating system from Google coupled with a new tablet version of a
updated HTC Sense operating system. That is a must as much as the fact
that this tablet better not be expensive.
As always, time will
tell whether this is all true or rumor. Keep checking back for more
information on the HTC Quattro (I hope they get a better name).
http://htcpedia.com/news/HTC-Quattro-New-Tegra3-Tablet-Packing-Jelly-Bean.html
Android 10 inch tablet needs zest...(either new killer app, new peripheral trick, newer OS, etc) As of now, it's too boring. ..everybody is doing the same thing ..nothing interesting. I personally can't think of any 10 inch killer app. Books, and hi res images. that's it. The rest are all "content creation" type of apps that need large screen area. Maybe if they can create brand new office apps.... complete rethinking of microsoft office.
-
Powerful or underpowered?
While it’s easy to see how indie developers could benefit from the
platform’s open architecture, others see complications with the
hardware. Nvidia’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor will power Ouya, but
that’s power in a relative sense. It’ll offer 1080p output, for example,
but the Tegra 3 is still a mobile processor and relatively weak
compared to its console brethren.Kevin
Dent, CEO of Tiswaz Entertainment, a company that helps start-ups,
publishers and investors in the gaming industry, is decidedly more
pessimistic about the prospects of an open platform and its ability to
sustain developers. At is core, Ouya is an Android platform, which isn't
generally known for producing large revenue streams for developers."Ever
since Android has come out, I’ve not seen a single developer that has
said, ‘Wow! I’m making so much money on Android!’," he told Polygon.
Dent is convinced that the prospect of wrapping a console around what he
sees as a mobile device simply won't satisfy console gamers."Everyone wants to play the next shiny object, but they want the next
shiny object to be powerful," Dent said. "This isn’t a thing where it’s
hip to own a Prius. When you want a gaming machine, you want a Hummer,
in terms of the environmental impact. You want the EPA coming to your
house and saying you’re violating so many laws because you’re using so
much power on that gaming rig. That’s what we do as gamers. We want
power."http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/7/13/3157140/ouya-faces-challenges
It's entirely different ball game. All the console need to be is cheap and disposable. Next generation Tegra will come out late this year. As cheap too. Rip out Ouya motherboard and instal new motherboard... I don't think anybody cares about paying $100 each year for console games.... (the game will always be playable from previous console)
Contrast this to Playstation or Xbox. the console is 2,3,4 years old...the game won't be guaranteed compatible with next generation hardware. everything is expensive.
More importantly...these console are FULL Linux/Android computer. Try having wordprocessor run on that Play station! The damned thing barely browse the web properly...
-
Kontron Designs Tegra 3 Mini-ITX Motherboard
There are a plethora of peripheral interfaces, some more familiar to the
PC crowd, others with embedded/COM designers. PC users will find a
total of three USB 2.0 ports (two standard type A, one micro-USB), a
gigabit Ethernet interface, stereo analog and multi-channel digital
(SPDIF) audio outputs, and HDMI 1.4a display output supporting digital
resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 pixels. Embedded connectivity includes two
RS232 (8-wire serial/COM), LVDS display output supporting up to 2048 x
1536 pixels @ 18 bpp, three MIPI connectors (1x DSI, 1x CSI, 1x either
DSI or CSI), eighteen GPIO connectors, a 2-pin DC power input, and 4-pin
PWM fan output
-
http://www.asymco.com/2012/07/13/how-many-lumia/Nokia May Have Only Sold 330,000 Windows-Powered Lumias In The Last Four Months In The U.S.
If this is accurate, it's devastating for both Microsoft and Nokia. Nokia was betting on the Windows
Phone platform to reinvigorate the company. Microsoft, likewise, was
betting on Nokia, with it large distribution, and rich heritage of phone
making to launch Windows Phone.
http://www.businessinsider.com/nokia-lumia-sales-2012-7
Lumia seems mostly a chinese feature phone. (cute color, no apps, cheap, nobody cares.)
-----------Ferragu estimates that the company’s “Lumia” phones, developed with Microsoft (MSFT),
sold 1.1 million to 1.4 million units in Q1, out of a total of 2.2
million shipped, at an average price of €220. That was below his
expectations on price, and he opines that “the series won’t exceed 3
million by much in the fourth quarter” of this year.Windows Phone 7 has insignificant
traction (Exhibits 4, 5) and Windows Phone 8 is likely a 2013 story
only, with a risk that consumers waiting for the new system weigh on
Lumia shipments towards the end of the year. We maintain our view that
there is no room left for the third ecosystem and any material success
of Windows 8 will attract increased competition from HTC and Samsung,
limiting upside for Nokia.Ferragu slashed his estimate for this year’s net loss to 38 cents
from a prior 31 cents per share, and cut next year’s estimate to 9 cents
from 4 cents.Ferragu, moreover, emphasizes the risk of cash burn,
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2012/07/13/nokia-bernstein-cuts-target-to-1-56-little-hope-for-lumia/
modeling a net loss of €1.7 billion this year, negative free cash flow
of €2.5 billion, and a decline to €3.1 billion in net cash, followed by a
decline to €2.4 billion next year.
---------------
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-global-pc-shipments-by-manufacturer-2012-7
-
"For example, Apple led the industry in removing harmful toxins such
as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). We
are the only company to comprehensively report greenhouse gas emissions
for every product we make, taking into account the entire product
lifecycle. And we’ve removed plastics wherever possible, in favor of
materials that are more highly recyclable, more durable, more efficient
and longer lasting. Perhaps most importantly, we make the most
energy-efficient computers in the world and our entire product line
exceeds the stringent ENERGY STAR 5.2 government standard. No one else
in our industry can make that claim."
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/07/13/1850212/apple-goes-back-to-epeat
Yeah, but your retarded ass uses aluminum instead. Which uses WAYYYYYY more energy to produce for chassis purposes. And how are they going to recycle those aluminum laptop? ...lol..
--------
Competitors have been running into some trouble matching the thinness and durability of the Macbook Air. The main reason being that producing a unibody magnesium-aluminum chassis casing, requires an expensive tool, called a CNC lathe. This requirement has posed a significant barrier to competitors, as the only two vendors with CNC lathes are already suppliers of Apple.
The high cost of CNC lathes has made it very difficult for any other venders to break into the market and produce the material. The two venders currently able to produce metal chassis are Taiwan-based Catcher Technology and Foxconn Technology, who work with a combined total of over 10 thousand CNC lathes. Apple, being the first to commission these cases, is already using both venders as suppliers, leaving the rest of the notebook industry to compete for Apple's leftovers.
Fortunately, a Taiwan-based chassis producer, Mitac Precision, has found a way into the market. The company has found that fiberglass chassis is comparably durable to magnesium-aluminum chassis, and cheaper to produce.
The fiberglass chassis is made from an RHCM process and combined with plastic for extra sturdiness. The cost of producing a fiberglass casing is about $20 less expensive than the cost of the magnesium-aluminum casings. The company expects to be able to sell the fiberglass ultrabooks for around $50 to $100 less than the metal ultrabooks.
http://ultrabook-uses-fiberglass.articles.r-tt.com/ -
Federal Circuit speeds up proceedings for Galaxy Nexus appealThe United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit just entered an order that contains good news for Samsung. As the Korean electronics giant requested, its appeal of the preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus
will be evaluated on the fast track. Samsung has until Monday (July 16)
to file its opening brief; Apple will file its answer until July 30;
and Samsung can reply within another week (until August 6). The court
will soon schedule a hearing."Samsung, in its reply brief, has not disputed that immediate enforcement of the injunction would result in no
irreparable harm to Samsung. In the absence of such harm to the moving
party, there is no conceivable basis for issuing a stay of the
injunction. Without addressing that fundamental point, Samsung’s reply
focuses solely on supposed harms to third parties, which do not and cannot warrant a stay pending appeal. See, e.g., Apple's Response to Sprint's Motion for Leave to Participate as Amicus Curiae.To support its new theory, Samsung seizes upon a letter that Apple sent to
various carriers and retailers, informing them of the injunction and asking them to
discontinue the sale of infringing Galaxy Nexus devices. That Apple would inform
others of the entry of the injunction could not have come as any surprise to Samsung
given Apple’s continued efforts to enforce its intellectual property rights.
Moreover, Apple’s letter shows nothing beyond the entirely predictable consequence
of Samsung's infringement--i.e., the infringing products must be taken off
of the market. It is not a legally cognizable harm to halt downstream sales of stolen,
pirated, counterfeit, or infringing products. -
ITC staff supports Google, says Apple waived FRAND defense in Motorola Mobility caseA couple of weeks ago, the ITC commenced a thorough review of an initial determination that found Apple to violate a 3G standard-essential Motorola (i.e., Google) patent. Most of the review questions related to issues surrounding FRAND-pledged standard-essential patents (SEPs).
On Monday, a number of third parties sent statements to the ITC.
While Apple (and, in a parallel investigation, Microsoft) previously
received an enormous level of support from lawmakers, the Federal Trade Commission, major companies and industry associations,
most of the third-party submissions that came in at this stage of the
investigation are from stakeholders who want to get undue leverage from
their SEPs.The Office of Unfair Import Investigations (OUII), frequently
referred to as "the ITC staff", also filed a statement. The OUII
participates in many ITC investigations as a third party. I am now going
to comment on the public interest statements that have shown up so far
(maybe there are some more that will enter the public record these
days), starting with the ITC staff. -
Another Apple's hack.San Jose Mercuryoffice doesn't have google it seems.
Review: Google Nexus 7 nice, but content lacking
http://phys.org/news/2012-07-google-nexus-nice-content-lacking.html
Take games, for example. Of the top 20 paid games on the iPad,
14 aren't available for the Nexus 7, either because they aren't
available on Android or because they haven't been customized for the
device. Among them are "FIFA Soccer 12," "Lego Harry Potter," "Mass
Effect: Infiltrator" and an authorized version of "Tetris." Many of
these games will likely become available after the Nexus 7 launches, as
developers tweak them for the new device, but at least some won't be
available on launch day.
------------FIFA 12 by EA SPORTS
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.game.fifa12_na&hl=enMass Effect Infiltrator - Tegra 3
------------
authorized version of "Tetris." ...
WTF? ... what's next the monopoly's authorized version by Hasbro? scrabble authorized version... Atari's Pong ...Galaxian, or tictactoe? (I swear somebody should start "iOS emulator" project for Android already just to shut these crazies up. NEWS for APPLE HACKS writing for newspaper........
ANDROID GAMING IS BETTER THAN iOS. BY A LOT in Nexus 7.
(you can talk about authorized version of Tetris until you are blue...but you don't have nvidia on your side. Apple users, been living inside wall garden so long, can't see straight anymore.)
http://www.tegrazone.com/
--------------------------------
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.tetrisfree_row&hl=en
PLAY THE OFFICIAL TETRIS® GAME – FOR FREE!Get the true Tetris® game –
for FREE! Loved by hundreds of millions of players worldwide, this
all-time blockbuster is an absolute essential for your Android
smartphone.DEVELOP YOUR TETRIS® TOUCH
Slide, rotate, and drop your Tetriminos into place with touchscreen ease.
-
A lot more iPad users are buying nexus 7 than I thought.... I guess price matters. My quick impression ..no idea how to use smartphone/tablet. It seems "poking icon" is the only thing that apple allows them to do. non of them click on the store and start downloading every freebie, despite all connected to wifi, iTune diseases. also every single one of them doesn't seem to mess around with main screen/widget. iPad doesn't allowed that. ..I guess it's time to write a quick guide...
-
Google's Nexus tablet selling fast across retail chains
Google Inc's "Nexus 7" tablet is off to an encouraging start,
with major retailers running out of the gadgets as the Internet
company's first entry in an increasingly crowded market showed up in
U.S. stores on Friday.
GameStop said on Friday it had already run through its first
two allocations of the tablet, co-developed by Google and Taiwan's
Asustek that starts at $199 and has drawn glowing reviews from major
gadget reviewers.Sam's Club, the warehouse chain owned by Wal-Mart
Stores Inc, and Staples listed the device as being out of stock on
their websites as of Friday. Office Depot's website continued to offer
the device for sale as of the afternoon."We blew through the first two allotments," a GameStop spokesperson said.
A third allotment of preorders will be available in August. The game retailer declined to share exact number of preorders.
------------------
Asus should floor the gas pedal and keep pumping Nexus 7. This device is needed to provide shear number/solve chicken-egg problem. Coast is clear until Tegra 4 or if new shinier $250 tablet arrive. Probably won't happen until January CES. Nexus 7 has no competition whatsoever, not even next amazon or next mini iPad. Amazon can't possibly do Jelly bean by September. iOS 5 is weak.
btw, Asus should create limited Christmas special edition. 32/64GB/slightly better front camera with tulip red and Lamborghini yellow leather back. Luxury leather. $399/$450.
3 million, mission accomplished
40 million, It's as big as iPad. Looks like it will done before mini iPad.
60 million by spring next year (Tegra 4 launches), Apple should stop talking as if they know tablet. Nexus 7 will be the fastest selling, biggest tablet ever marketed period.
-----------------
Asustek tablet PC shipments to surpass 2.5 million units in 3Q12
Asustek Computer is expected to see its tablet PC shipments reach a total of 2.5 million units with the addition of shipments of Google's Nexus 7, according to market watchers.
Google's Nexus 7 has already launched in the US with many channel retailers such as Wal-Mart, mostly selling out their inventories, while related orders have been increasing.
Due to Google's Nexus 7 originally being created to test the water, Google was rather conservative about placing its initial orders and only ordered about 600,000 units for June. However, since demand for the device is stronger than expected, ODMs have already started picking up their production volumes.
Asustek only shipped 1.2 million tablet PCs in the first half, but with the company expected to achieve shipments of 2.5 million units in the third quarter, Asustek's internal goal of shipping six million units for the whole year may still be reached.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120716PD212.html -
SNK Playmore releases the classic NeoGeo game Metal Slug 3 onto Android
More Neogeo titles please, they are side scrolling/arcade classics and a lot of fun to play.
-
Apple plans 7.85-inch iPad, says NYT (I call bs.)
http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/15/3161375/amazon-kindle-fire-apple-mini-ipad-rumor
I have one question for the geniuses at NYT. What processor will Apple plan to use if they launch mini ipad this year. A5+? Nuclear reactor hot and battery hoag? bahahahahaaa.. that mini ipad will be the size of a brick......
A5? Who is going to buy it? It's old. weak graphic. How is A5 going to compete with tegra 3? (nevermind that by January A15 class start showing up in Android)
Or maybe some new processor in 40nm? Apple is no SOC design genius. We would have heard their crap in news if they have one. (28nm capacity is full, Apple barely able to get enough for iphone 5. nevermind launching mini iPad)
Basically, if Apple launch this year, it will be on old A5.. And Samsung will laugh their ass of and say, go fuck yourself. We don't have spare fab capacity. Maybe UMC will take you up. ... in the meantime Allwinner is chuckling, since Chinese tablet that cost $60 has faster processor than A5. And apple want to sell their mini iPad for $399+? ... lolol...
I will eat my hat if Apple can match Nexus 7 by this holiday season. (same processor class, quad core + newer GPU.).
imo, not gonna happen. Apple does not have reaction time needed to make 7 inch happen by holiday season. (3-4 months left.)
Also, if Amazon decides to go with 28nm processor, that means the chance of Apple getting extra fab allotment is even smaller. Last strategy for apple would be to cannibalize iphone 5 processor for this new mini iPad. ... Against $199 Nexus? ... Sacrificing highly overpriced iphone 5 for ultra low cost tablet? are you mad? This is apple we are talking here.
If that happens, I probably have to eat my hat. But at the same time Apple stock will get pounded due to steep margin erosion.
At any rate, I am still waiting for pundit nonsense about Apple was going to make cheap iphone from last year.
-
Apple's iPad is expected to continue dominating the tablet
market with a share higher than 60 percent, while PC sales are projected
to continue their downward trend, according to a new analysis.
Analyst Rob Cihra with Evercore Partners revealed in a note to investors
on Monday that he has cut his projected PC sales for the remainder of
the year. He sees traditional computer sales dropping 4 percent year
over year in the third quarter of calendar 2012, while overall PC growth
for the year will be flat with 2011.
Cihra believes sales of tablets like Apple's iPad are responsible for
"at least half" of the PC market's current decline. He noted that
consumer PCs have struggled ever quarter since they topped out in the
third quarter of 2010, which is just one quarter after Apple launched
the first-generation iPad.
His projection comes only days after the latest estimates show PC shipments dropped
0.1 percent worldwide and 5.7 percent in the U.S. in the June quarter.
One of the few bright spots in the market was Apple, which saw its
domestic Mac sales grow 4.3 percent.
http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/151293/as-pc-sales-stall-apple-projected-to-sell-69m-ipads-in-2012
oh please man. Apple depends on TSMC and Samsung for fab. And those chip supplies are not unlimited. This on top of Apple-Samsung big rift. If Samsung starts fabbing quadcore on the cheap...things will go downhill fast for apple. Even worst if Samsung is fabbing for third party... (or if Amazon ask Nvidia to get extra supply by using Samsung fab.)
Just remember Allwinner tablet only cost $60 on the extreme low end. And they are pumping something like 2 million so far. Next generation with jelly bean will be even better.
Also, this is a single company, one model...they are projecting 100-150million devices? that's A LOT of aluminum for those casing... that's crazy amount of grinding and shaving.. the tool investment to scale up to that level is mind blowing. (remember motorola RAZR, with precision aluminum sheet? They went bust trying to scale up.)
so please. Apple has no capability to scale up and continuously grow 60-100-150 million. Just like Nokia/RIMM. Once customer get bored with apple looks and feel, ....boom. there goes iPod Touch replay .
-
Galaxy S3 bumps Samsung's lead over Apple, say analysts
Boosted by heavy demand for its new Galaxy S3, Samsung likely sold
around 50 million smartphones in the second quarter, according to the 41
analysts surveyed. That figure would easily surpass the 30.5 million
iPhones that Apple is forecast to have sold.The team of the Galaxy S2 and S3 may also deliver a record quarter for the Korean handset maker.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57472791-93/galaxy-s3-bumps-samsungs-lead-over-apple-say-analysts/
I for one am ready to declare iPhone 5 obsolete and dead. Apple can't compete against A15, next generation Android.
I also expect Apple suing Nexus 7, cause they have to stop it now. (but they can't. If Nexus 7 crosses 3 million in the US, and then going 20-30m, Apple is done for in tablet space. ....Google however tend to bumble around and screw things up...so Apple still has that.)
-
Domestic data shows Mac sales down 10% in June quarter
Performance of Apple's iPod line was down 21 percent year-to-year
according to NPD data and is in line with Munster's model of 6.3 million
unit sales, down 16 percent from 2011. Street estimates have iPod
growth down 16 percent from the year ago period.
Overall, Apple is estimated to bring in $37.1 billion in revenues for the June quarter, up from 2011's $28.5 billion.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/07/16/domestic_data_shows_mac_sales_down_10_in_june_quarter.htmlIt Costs $450 In Marketing To Make Someone Buy a $49 Nokia Lumia
-
Hey look, they granted apple patent on that sock on mic old trick... I hope they don't granted patent on "what material" the screen is best made of, cause that's the big trick.
http://mashable.com/2012/07/16/apple-wins-patent-for-noise-cancelling-iphone-case/
“The windscreen is designed to reduce wind noise, air blasts, vocal
plosives and other noise,” Apple said in its patent application. “This
may enable the speech of a user of the device to remain intelligible
despite the presence of such noise during a call, and without requiring
the user to shout into the device’s microphone.”
-
They've improved the user interface latency; that has nothing to do with the audio latency.
So if that isn't going to help Andoird get audio apps what's the problem? The problem is that Android has no fully featured low latency audio APIs, nor does it have complete APIs for things like synthesis, plugin-based audio effects, or effect monitoring while recording.
Android has a very basic set of media handling APIs. These APIs are good enough to, say, play an MP3, or trigger a sound in a game, or something like that. Really basic "queue up a sound file and play it" kind of stuff. The kind of APIs you might expect someone to build into a phone in 2005.
Apple ships very advanced, mature, and feature complete APIs for audio in iOS. The two most important are CoreAudio and AudioUnits. CoreAudio provides everything a developer needs to start coding ultra-low-latency, real time, multi-channel audio apps. CoreAudio provides everything from sample rate handling, to clock source handling, to monitoring and routing, basically everything you need. AudioUnits is a real time effects system, like VST, but that taps directly into CoreAudio for guaranteed great performance. Both of these APIs are extremely mature because they've been shipping on Mac OS X for a long time. The same exact APIs that developers have access to on the Mac to do audio processing and synthesis are available on iOS.
So the complete lack of audio APIs is one major problem. The other is the kernel. Android uses the Linux kernel. iOS uses the XNU kernel used in Mac OS X. Doing real-time audio processing and recording requires special "hooks" in the kernel to allow for that. In a computing system processes are preemptable, meaning they can be interrupted, if the system needs to shift resources elsewhere. For audio recording though that's no good, you can't have your audio recording thread preempted or you'll get skips in your audio. The way you get (nearly) real time audio performance is by using those special hooks in the kernel. Apple has been targeting pro-audio folks for 20 or 30 years so they built that sort of system into the XNU kernel and wrap it in CoreAudio, so any developer using CoreAudio gets real-time support automatically. The Linux kernel does not this capability natively and requires the RT patch set to be compiled in to provide such functionality. The Android Linux kernel does not include these patches (nor is it likely to ever.)
If you are still with me I hope you realize that Android's audio problems are systemic. They are major. They are not going away. You wont get GarageBand, or AmpKit, or Moog, or any other similiar software on Android next year, or next month, or two years from now. The only way you'll get that support is if Google put major engineering dollars into either fixing the Linux Kernel (which means doing battle with dozens of large established companies like IBM, Red Hat, etc that control the kernel) or developing a new kernel AND implementing a full featured and mature set of audio APIs. Google is a web advertising company. Their goal is to get your eye on ads. I don't think they intend to put a whole lot of work into this.
Bottom line: if you want to do audio work on a tablet or smartphone go with an iOS device. There very well may be a 200$ or 250$ mini iPad soon that will be able to do all of this stuff. Android is a cool web surfing and game playing platform but don't expect any serious audio on it any time soon.
For reference, I'm an iOS developer, have looked into Android extensively for development, I use Android and have owned multiple Android devices, and I've done a LOT of work with the Linux kernel and recording audio on Linux. This is a problem domain I'm very familiar with.
http://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/wifv4/android_latency_problem_fixed_whats_next/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus7/comments/wo70j/can_someone_with_an_n7_run_an_audio_latency_test/ -
Intel Dishing out $29K to Android Developers in Game App Contest
Intel will hand out a grand prize of $25,000, and prizes of $1,000
per month over the four months the contest runs. The contest started
earlier this month and runs through Nov. 6 this year.Graphics isn't a strong suit in Intel's chips
when compared to competing chips from companies like Nvidia. But mobile
gaming is seen as a growth market, with companies like Apple and Asus
releasing tablets with high-resolution that provide a strong visual
experience. -
Panasonic’s new substrate is called ALIVH-F. Made of film, it has an
eight-layer structure and an overall thickness of 0.37 millimeters.
ALIVH-F also contains specially developed glue to attach
different pieces of film as well as a new copper product that conducts
electrical current through the substrate. Compared with current
substrates in use, Panasonic's new substrate is 30-percent thinner and
35-percent lighter.
Because the substrate can be folded to save space, a larger
than normal battery can be installed in the device. The product also is
more resistant to shock.
And the substrate can be directly connected to a switch.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/technology/AJ201205110008
Sample shipments of the newly developed ALIVH-F are scheduled to start in June 2012, with mass-production planned for December 2012.
Panasonic's ALIVH-F is expected to not only reduce board thickness and weight but also enable higher density component packaging. This will allow high-functionality mobile terminals, such as smartphones and tablet terminals, with a thin, compact and lightweight design to be achieved with ease. In some applications, the reduced board area and thickness may be utilized to increase battery capacity.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/panasonic-develops-mass-production-technology-for-alivhr-f-resin-circuit-board-using-polyimide-film-2012-05-10
Panasonic or Sharp will deliver sub 5mm handset first. -
This phone is more iPhone than iPhone.
http://www.intomobile.com/2012/05/25/oppo-smartphone/
http://cute-android-phones.net/oppo-finder-x907-thinnest-moblie-phone.html
-
Qualcomm Shows Off APQ8064: Quad-core Krait and Adreno 320
The demo does more than just show off the GPU, it serves to demonstrate
how developing a game that leverages all four cores can yield visible
improvements in both image quality and performance. We haven’t had as
much time to explore the architecture of the Adreno 3xx family as we did
with Adreno 2xx, but there’s an expectation that while it will have
vast improvements over its predecessor, it may have trouble keeping up
with NVIDIA and Imagination’s wares next year. One indicator is the
DirectX feature level that has so far been revealed. Imagination’s Rogue
GPU will premier at 10_0 but be offered as high as 11_1, bringing them
to feature parity with desktop GPUs currently on the market. Adreno 3xx
is so far only being announced to run at 9_3, leaving it in the Geforce
200 space, and at feature parity with NVIDIA’s Kal-El Geforce GPU. If
serious performance gains are realized with the Adreno 3xx, then it may
be able to fend off competition from Kal-El/+, but any slips and NVIDIA
may have a GPU advantage that could be difficult to overcome. With no
other major updates expected in the mobile SoC space until 2013,
Qualcomm will have a timing lead over the competition, but we won’t know
whether it will be enough until we see shipping products of each. .
-
Import ban on Motorola's Android products takes effect Wednesday
But Motorola has a plan to maintain device availability in the US.
The ITC ordered the import ban two months ago, after ruling that 18 Motorola Mobility products infringe a Microsoft patent.
The patent is related to Exchange Active Sync and covers the generation
of meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device. The
ruling was subject to a 60-day Presidential review period, which will
expire Wednesday. -
Google Wants To Co-Defend HTC Against Nokia In Patent Lawsuit
There's also the fact that Google has requested an antitrust investigation
against Nokia in the EU, so maybe Google is just piling on the Finnish
firm to makes its stance even more clear. As the case involves patent
infringement, Google is likely looking to assert its own portfolio
against Nokia, as well as to defend HTC using its own patents where
feasible (eg, in issues involving core features of Android, as opposed
to HTC devices specifically).It's probably best not to read too
much into this, as lawsuits are by their nature complex entanglements
of business strategy and legal technicalities - taking this as a sign of
a larger change in philosophy for Google may be a bit premature. We'd
all love to see Google jump into the fray against Apple and Microsoft,
but it's easy to forget that this would also mean more lawsuits piled on
top of more lawsuits. Still, direct intervention may be the only way
this mess can get sorted out, and it's possible Google is getting tired
of seeing its partners get pushed around with injunctions and import
bans. -
Hasbro and DeNA Team to roll out Transformers games worldwide
“DeNA is a proven global leader in mobile social games,” said Mark
Blecher, GM and SVP, Hasbro Digital Media and Marketing. “We’re
delighted to team-up with DeNA to offer a compelling TRANSFORMERS
experience on the leading mobile platforms. DeNA’s innovative approach
to mobile gaming is a great fit with the TRANSFORMERS brand.http://www.androidcentral.com/hasbro-and-dena-team-will-be-rolling-out-transformers-games-worldwide
sounds interesting. I wonder if they will be litigious bastard as well tho'
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It shows how clueless they actually
are. LTE has nothing to do with it. The problem was after the iPhone
the phone became a "computer in your pocket" and RIM still had "Email in
your pocket" - which suddenly looks a lot less compelling.
RIM
can't just do "something like an iPhone" that isn't going to wash. They
need something radically new, clearly communication needs to be at its
core (what were they thinking with the Playbook v1 - no email?!)
Probably they need something with a keyboard (though how do you make
THAT exciting?) as so many of their customers want that. They need
excellence in industrial design. Personally I think they need the
"blinky light" that shows you have a message. They need a far better UI
(using the current Blackberry UI is an exercise in irritation). Most of
all, "covering the bases" isn't enough, they need a "killer app" - being
"competitive" can't save them, they have no momentum.
And they need integration with a mobile device (like an iPad or Ultrabook - Blackberry users are keen on those keyboards).
Can they do it? Hmm... seems vanishingly unlikely.
-
I was mostly happy with my BlackBerry Bold, but the real issue for me
wasn't apps, it was the shitty web browser and small screen. The killer
app for smart phones is the Web. If they managed to get that to work
seamlessly, they would have kept their customer base and app developers.
What did them in was that the Torch was a buggy piece of crap. The UI
for email and contacts and all the other communication functions is
already superior to the the iPhone.