Samsung to pay Microsoft for every Android device sold

Google’s strategy of making Android available to developers for free has paid off extremely well. The operating system quickly mounted serious competition for Mac OS and Windows and emerged as the world’s best-selling smartphone platform by the end of 2010. Naturally, that made Microsoft, still reeling from the end of Windows Mobile, and Apple, unhappy with anything less than Blofeld style world domination, feel somewhat uneasy. Both companies have long claimed that Android ‘incorporates’ significant aspects from their operating systems and have demanded that Google either pay them or change Android to remove the contested elements. The legality of those claims is still undecided and so far no litigation has resulted, but in a move that the Wall Street Journal notes may move that kind of activity forward, Samsung and Microsoft have reached a huge patent sharing deal.

Samsung will now pay royalties to Microsoft on its Android-based smartphones and tablets, and the two global supercompanies will collaborate to develop new phones and tablets based on Windows rather than Android. Window’s stake in the deal is obvious, as it gives them official acknowledgment from the world’s second largest smartphone maker that their claim against Android may have merit. It also provides leverage to pressure other cellphone makers to cut similar deals. But Samsung’s reasons for pursuing the deal may have to do with more than simply protecting themselves from Microsoft’s lawyers. The South Korean company is in the midst of a very bitter worldwide legal battle with Apple involving charges of patent and trademark infringement. Partnering with Apple’s chief rival may provide them with an easy out, should they lose that battle and find their current slate of tabs and phones kiboshed.

As of this writing, Google has not made any official comment, but one imagines there are some very loud swear words being exchanged at the top of the company. In a month that has seen them taken to task for alleged anti-trust violations, this is one more headache they don’t need.

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Droid 4 in the works, codenamed Maserati

Sounds like the upcoming fourth-generation DROID smartphone will be super-fast like the Maserati GranTurismo sports cars. It should come as no surprise that the next Motorola Droid is already in the works. While the company hasn’t announced anything official, rumors indicate that the company has codenamed the device “Maserati” which is supposedly derived from the name of the famous Italian sports car brand Maserati GranTurismo. That said, the Droid 4 sounds extremely “fast.”

So what are the specs? Again, there’s nothing official, but rumors point to the typical DROID slide-out QWERTY keyboard (but sans the D-pad again), a screen somewhere around 4 to 4.3-inches, a removable battery and possible 4G LTE support. As with the previous three DROID models, this fourth-generation instalment will reside on Verizon Wireless.

Unfortunately, that’s it in regards to new information. The current Droid 3 smartphone sports a dual-core SoC clocked at 1 GHz, a 4-inch qHD (540 x 960) TFT display, 512 MB of internal memory, 16 GB of on-board storage, a microSD card providing 32 GB of even more storage, an 8MP camera, Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” and more. That said, consumers will see superior specs in the Droid 4, possibly even Nvidia’s Tegra 3 “Kal-El” SoC (that’s just a guess) and Google’s Android “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS.

With the holiday season just around the corner, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this phone rear its head before the end of the year. If not, perhaps during the Mobile World Congress 2012 event in February.

SOURCE via Device Mag

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Report: “Better” Amazon Tablet coming in January

Amazon today announced three new Kindles and a new Kindle Tablet, dubbed the Kindle Fire. However, previous Amazon tablet rumors suggested that there were not one but two Amazon tablets: The 7-inch Fire that we’ve come to known, and a larger 10-inch model that is supposedly set to launch in the first quarter of 2012. The story went that Amazon planned to launch the 7-inch model in time for the holidays and then, if it was successful, launch the big one next year.

Jeff Bezos didn’t say anything about a second Fire during this morning’s press conference. That said, word on the street still says the 10-inch model is coming, and soon. Ryan Block over at GDGT says that today’s Kindle Fire is nothing more than a stopgap and that a “second, better version” is coming in about three months’ time.

“My sources tell me the second-gen Kindle tablet (or Kindle Fire, as it’s now been dubbed) will be out in Q1 of 2012 — yes, that soon. That was always the plan, but the delays of the v1 product have messed up Amazon’s release cycle,” he said, adding that the worst part of it all is that the second device seems to be the one that Amazon truly believes in.

We all know that the current pace of the mobile industry means that there’s always another version coming. However, if Block is right and Amazon is releasing a superior version so soon after the first Kindle Fire goes on sale (it hits shelves November 15), we can see early adopters being very peeved. While there’s definitely a market for 7-inch tablets, the Kindle Fire is supposed to be a media device, and we can’t help but feel that though people may be drawn in by the appeal of this current Kindle Fire, they might realize it’s a little bit dinky to be watching telly on when the 10-inch model arrives.

Amazon has not commented on rumors of a second, larger Kindle Fire, nor has it denied reports that a 10-inch model is coming in the new year.

SOURCE via gdgt

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A push-start button that can tell if you’re drunk?

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that two companies have joined forces to create a push-to-start button that can automatically sense the driver’s blood-alcohol level. Takata, an Auburn Hills-based parts supplier and TruTouch, an Albuquerque-based firm, have received a $2.25 million grant from the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety to help make the creation commercially viable.

Currently, the device is about the size of a bread box and uses an infrared sensor to determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s system. In addition, the invention currently takes several seconds to function and only works accurately at room temperature.

The ACTS grant should help both Takata and TruTouch work through those issues to create a version of the technology that could conceivably fit behind a vehicle’s start button, take just a few milliseconds to determine someone’s BAC and be able to accurately do so in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero. There’s also the equally challenging feat of getting the device’s total cost down to around $200 per unit. The idea is to take the invasiveness of a Breathalyzer out of the equation while still preventing impaired drivers from taking to the road.

SOURCE via Freep

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Google to build a trio of data centers in Asia, earmarks $200 million for expansion

IT specialists in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong better start polishing their resumes, because Google is rolling into town. Yesterday, Big G announced plans to build a brand new data center in each of the three Asian locales, as part of an expansion slated to cost at least $200 million.

When completed, these complexes will represent the company’s first fully owned and operated data centers in the burgeoning Asia-Pacific region — where, according to Asia policy communications manager Taj Meadows, Google is “seeing large numbers of new users coming online every day”. The facilities in Hong Kong and Taiwan are expected to cost around $100 million each, though the price tag for the Singapore branch remains a mystery.

Google hopes to finish construction in one to two years, though it didn’t say when it would begin — nor, for that matter, whether seawater tunnels would be involved.

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

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Next generation iPhone comes with HSPA+, no LTE after all?

We know that Apple won’t be unveiling its next superphone for a few more days, but we may have a tasty tidbit about the iPhone 5 ahead of schedule. So the story goes, China Unicom’s Deputy Director Huang Wenlian was making a presentation at Macworld Asia, and stated that the new iPhone would utilize the company’s HSPA+ 21Mbps network. Now, we aren’t saying it’s a sure thing, but it appears that Tim Cook could deliver a handset with thrice the data speeds of its predecessor next week. Then again, remember that AT&T was fitting an Apple Store with some LTE equipment? And yet there was a contradicting report way back earlier in the beginning of the year that Apple’s Tim Cook mentioned that Apple will not be looking into LTE as of yet. Anyway, all will be known this coming Tuesday.

SOURCE via Impress Japan

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Ninja sockets

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HP revives from the dead, announce new gaming PC with a cool mutant name

Few seconds ago they decided to close down their PC department, and after changing a new honcho overnight, they’re back again. Funny? Well, HP does whatever they like and they don’t give a fuck what you think, or so the new CEO doesn’t. Maybe she has a very dark sense of humour, or perhaps there are events that have conspired to produce one of the most serendipitous pieces of product name irony I can remember.

Barely three weeks after announcing to analysts that they were looking to either spin off its PC business as a separate company or sell it off altogether, HP have launched a brand new gaming PC. It’s called the Phoenix. Yes, Jean would be so proud of this new brand.

The HP Pavillion HPE Phoenix to be exact, but the question is whether or not this is a deliberate reference to the fact that HP were hauled over the coals after their statement about the Personal Systems Group (PSG)? It would be a less than subtle reflection of UK PSG MD* Paul Hunter’s defensive statement that “the team in the UK remains committed to creating and supporting great products and services.”

Look, see, you thought we were dead, but we rise again and all that. That’s zombiecalypse for you guys! I suspect, however, that given the length of time it takes to develop product marketing and the fact HP’s announcement was a surprise to almost everyone, this is just one of those instances of perfect timing. So what of the Phoenix itself? A long trained mutant by the CIA?

There’s not much in the way of specs available at the moment, beyond 16GB of RAM and a “250W graphics card” – which is co-incidentally the TDP of a very nice Radeon HD6970. But it looks acceptably garish and – if my GPU guess is right – has an even more attractive price tag of £949. Especially if the monitor and peripherals pictured are included.

It’ll go on sale next month, but there’s no mention of price, yet. Jean wasn’t available for comment at the moment regarding this new product.

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Wireless network can be used to track your in-house movements

While testing some new equipment, Neal Patwari of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City discovered that breathing actually affects Wi-Fi signal strength. He came to this conclusion after noticing variations in wireless signal strength in certain parts of a room that were seemingly triggered by chest movements.

To prove his theory, Patwari placed 20 in-expensive wireless units around an occupied bed which were arrayed so that they sent 2.4 GHz waves across the sheet, but with one-thousandth the power of a laptop’s wireless card. The units themselves measured signal strength four times a second, thus the makeshift network was able to accurately estimate the person’s breathing rate to within 0.4 breaths per minute after collecting 30 seconds worth of data.

Ultimately Patwari’s test revealed that wireless signals bent around the subject’s chest as it rose with each inhalation, causing them to travel a longer distance and decrease slightly in power. Naturally this discovery is being hailed as a new way to monitor a patient’s breathing without having to cram tubes down into their lungs (which sucks and hurts). Some disagree however, as patient monitoring mostly depends on more input than just inhaling and exhaling.

But now there’s fear that this new Wi-Fi network system could be placed around an entire room or building in order to track user movements within. This scenario is based on a prior study conducted by Patwari and a colleague which revealed that any movement can affect wireless signal strength, and that these changes in strength can be used to track users within a room even if they’re sitting or lying down. Even more, the changes can be measured when the Wi-Fi signal passes through a wall and into another room.

That said, a similar Wi-Fi network could be tailored to spy on shoppers at the mall, on hotel guests, or restaurant patrons no matter what they’re doing. For more information about Patwari’s discovery, head here.

SOURCE via CNET”

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Rumor: Apple to discontinue iPod Classic and Shuffle

Now that Amazon’s mystery press conference is out of the way, we’re eagerly awaiting Apple’s October 4 iPhone 5 event. However, will Apple also be saying goodbye to a couple of devices this year?

Apple said on the invitations that next week’s event is about the iPhone. Most have assumed that this means Apple will finally launch the iPhone 5 (and perhaps the iPhone 4S). However, the fall event is typically for iPods and iTunes, and Apple hasn’t given any inclination that it will be devoting even a small portion of the press conference to music. Instead, it appears as though the end may be near for a couple of the iPod models.

The latest scuttlebutt is that Apple will be killing off some of the iPods we know so well. According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, the iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle will both disappear this year. The site didn’t name its source, but said that the reasons behind killing off these two versions were to do with numbers (iPod sales make up just 8 percent of Apple revenue) but also the fact that they’re kind of out-dated and unnecessary; the Shuffle is basically a Nano without a screen, while the Classic is devoid of flash memory, instead relying on a platter-based HDD.

The news comes hot on the heels of a report from CNet that Apple might kill the entire iPod line. Don Bell writes that, while it used to be a big money-maker for Apple, now is “really not a bad time for Apple to stick a fork in the iPod.”

“For starters, this year (October 24) marks the 10-year anniversary of the iPod,” he writes. “That’s quite an achievement, but it’s also a nice place to bookend things. I can imagine Apple saying, ‘It had a great run, now go buy an iPhone.’”

Bell also refers back to Steve Jobs’ 2006 advice to Nike CEO Mark Parker. Jobs told him to just “get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff.” So has the iPod, when compared to the iPhone and the iPad, become ‘crappy stuff’?

SOURCE via TUAW

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