Huawei puts Ascend P1 on sale in the US through Amazon for $450

Huawei Ascend P1 review lead

We’ve grown accustomed to the Huawei Ascend P1 ourselves, but most Americans haven’t had that same luxury without going through an importer. Huawei wants to be more accommodating, if somewhat belatedly: it’s now selling its mid-tier phone directly to the US through Amazon. Shelling out $450 gets the same 4.3-inch screen, dual-core 1.5GHz processor and lightly customized Android 4.0 as elsewhere, but in an unlocked form with a proper US warranty. The only real disappointment is that it’s not the LTE variant, although we’ll bite when there’s HSPA+ 3G for American GSM carriers like AT&T, Straight Talk and T-Mobile. If you’re willing to make the sacrifice for carrier independence, the Ascend P1 awaits at the source link.

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Source: Amazon

US Judge Throws Out “Appstore” False Advertising Claims By Apple

amazon appstore US Judge Throws Out Appstore False Advertising Claims By AppleSome of you guys might have remember that a couple of years ago, Apple and Amazon went to court over the “Appstore” name, with Apple claiming that the “App Store” was their trademark and that Amazon truncating it to “Appstore” was not good enough. Amazon then asked the courts to throw out the lawsuit against them and it looks like Amazon has finally gotten their wish, or at least a part of it. A US judge has ruled that Amazon’s use of the Appstore name is not false advertising which Apple claimed it was. It should be noted that this does not mean that the entire lawsuit is over and done with, but the allegations against false advertising is now out the window, although Amazon will still have to contend with Apple’s claims that the “Appstore” name is a trademark infringement.

According to Judge Hamilton (via Wall Street Journal), “Apple contends that because its App Store offers so many more apps than Amazon’s Appstore, consumers will be misled into thinking that Amazon’s Appstore will offer just as many […] There is no evidence that a consumer who accesses the Amazon Appstore would expect that it would be identical to the Apple App Store.”

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple In Negotiations With Waze To Rescue Its Maps App [Rumor], Apple Eyeing New Display Technology From Innolux [Rumor],

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: January 2, 2013

Well folks, after a brief break to celebrate the new year, we’re back with the first Evening Wrap-Up of 2013. We heard today that the iPhone 5S might come with a number of color selections similar to the iPod Touch along with a larger screen, while rumors are saying that HTC will unveil its new flagship device, the M7, during CES (which is next week!). There are new services floating around out there that let users install pirated iOS apps without jailbreaking first, and Apple has secured Android sales data from Samsung, despite Samsung requesting that this data remain a secret.

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The first details for Black Ops II‘s incoming DLC have leaked out, while the Project Paperless patent trolls are at it again with new unnamed subsidiaries to help them do their dirty work. Apple has a rumored relationship with Broadcom for 802.11ac WiFi in 2013 Macs, we learned today that CTIA will consolidate its 2013 shows into one massive mobile event, and the GameStick portable gaming console is looking to do battle with OUYA for Android console supremacy.

Apple is said to be testing out its new 28nm A6X chips while preparing to cut Samsung out of the loop, and in a very surprising turn of events, Ubuntu mobile OS was announced today and should be hitting phones starting in 2014. A US district judge has ruled that Amazon’s Appstore is very different from Apple’s own App Store, while the Samsung Galaxy M Pro has been leaked, complete with a full QWERTY keyboard. Installious has been shut down (so no, you aren’t just experiencing an outage), and we learned that the Do Not Disturb bug in iOS 6 will be fixed come January 7.

We have a couple Xbox-related stories today, as a countdown timer on Major Nelson’s website seems to suggest that the next generation Xbox will be announced at E3, while new rumors said that production on the console’s processor has gotten underway, with a potential launch coming late this year or early in 2014. Elite: Dangerous reached its Kickstarter goal today, with California and Illinois both enacting laws that prevent employers from demanding their potential employees’ social media passwords. Google executive Eric Schmidt might be taking a trip to North Korea soon, Zynga has shut down its Japan studio, and finally tonight, Chris Burns delivers his review of AT&T MiFi Liberate mobile hotspot. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night everyone!


SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: January 2, 2013 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon Appstore ruled unmistakably different from Apple App Store

In the month of March 2011, Apple made a move to take out Amazon’s “Appstore” because the name too closely resembled their own “App Store”. This case has been dismissed this week. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California spoke up this week in favor of Amazon’s request to end the case (or toss it, if you prefer), in favor of the idea that Amazon’s offering showed no realistically similar overall appearance when compared to Apple’s store full of apps. Basically this means that Amazon will have to pay no penalty and that their name “Amazon Appstore” may remain for the duration.

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The claim being tossed here means also that Apple will have a hard time claiming that the name that they’ve legally created for themselves with the App Store will not be found infringed upon by anyone else using the name “Appstore”. Whether or not Amazon will go after any group using the name Appstore is another story entirely. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton spoke up with the following statement:

“[I find] no support for the proposition that Amazon has expressly or impliedly communicated that its Appstore for Android possesses the characteristics and qualities that the public has come to expect from the Apple APP Store and/or Apple products.” – Hamilton

Soon after the initial legal suit was filed back in March of 2011, Apple sought out an injunction against Amazon’s Appstore offering, losing that injunction in the end. A successful injunction against Amazon in this case would have meant that the Amazon Appstore would have been legally obligated to shut down until the court case was over. It would appear that the judge made the decision both in the first place and here at the end of the trial that Amazon’s store does not and will not affect the Apple App Store the way Apple’s legal representation said it would.

Let us know what you think of the situation, and if you personally have ever mistaken the Amazon Appstore for the Apple App Store in the past. Make with the comments and let us know how you’re feeling about the result of this case!

[via Bloomberg]


Amazon Appstore ruled unmistakably different from Apple App Store is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon gets Apple’s false advertising claim dismissed from trademark infringement lawsuit

Amazon gets Apple's false advertising claim dismissed from trademark infringement lawsuitIt’s been awhile since we last had news from Apple’s App Store-based trademark infringement lawsuit against Amazon. Today, Amazon got Apple’s claim for false advertising dismissed from that very same case after filing for partial summary judgement. In finding for Amazon, the judge held that Apple failed to identify a single false statement (expressly stated or implied) that Amazon made about the nature, characteristics, or quality of the Amazon Appstore that would deceive customers into thinking it was the same as the Apple App Store — a legal requirement to establish false advertising under federal law. Not a bad way for Bezos to ring in the new year, eh?

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Via: Bloomberg

Source: Court Order [PDF]

Students Get $50 Discount On Amazon Kindle Fire HD

kindle fire hd student Students Get $50 Discount On Amazon Kindle Fire HD Fiscal cliff or not, every cent counts, even more so when you are a student who lives on a meagre allowance as you scrape through classes wondering if there is enough money for your textbooks and course next semester. Well, Amazon knows the harsh reality of life, and intend to cut students some slack this January 2013 by offering their new Kindle Fire HD 8.9 at a $50 discount, meaning the cheapest ad-supported 16GB model would cost you $249 a pop, while the 4G LTE version will start from $449 onwards.

This move does not come across as a surprise from Amazon, considering how the online retail giant has already cleverly integrated its range of devices, services, and media content. For starters, those who pick up the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 would have gotten themselves into the Amazon media content and Prime ecosystem, hoping that they would remain as customers within the ecosystem for life. Not only that, Amazon also will give away a free half year subscription to Prime to sweeten the deal for fence sitters.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Christmas Period Saw 50 Million iOS And Android Activations, Asus VivoTab Smart Tablet Launched,

Amazon slashes $50 off Kindle Fire HD 8.9 models during January, but only for students

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While many of us are still recovering from New Year’s celebrations, Amazon is considerably clearer-headed: it wants us ready for the winter school term that’s about to start. Appropriately, it’s offering a surprisingly steep discount on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 for students. Americans headed back to class can get $50 off the price of the larger tablet for the whole of January, regardless of the capacity or the presence of LTE. The catch, apart from needing a .edu email address for the Amazon Student program, is the requirement for an active Prime subscription — although that’s no great shakes when Amazon accepts both the free six-month offer and the $39 yearly student plan. At $249, the discounted Kindle Fire HD is tempting for anyone who can do their course shopping at the Kindle Store… or just wants a convenient distraction during mid-terms.

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Via: SlashGear

Source: Amazon

WatchESPN sports streaming reaches Amazon Kindle Fire tablets

WatchESPN sports streaming reaches Amazon Kindle Fire tablets

Although WatchESPN viewing has been an option for Android viewers since 2011, those with Amazon tablets haven’t had the same luxury — they’ve sometimes had to watch on an old-fashioned TV. Thankfully, ESPN is giving them a better start to the new year by bringing its app to the Amazon Appstore. Anyone with a regular Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD or Kindle Fire HD 8.9 now has access to live games and news as long as they have a supporting TV subscription. The app is free outside of the cost of ESPN itself; if you’ve got the right mix of hardware and software, it’s easy to get your fill at the source link.

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Via: ESPN

Source: Amazon

Android Hardware Rundown: 2012

2012 was quite a huge year for Android. We saw the jump from Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and then to version 4.2. Ice Cream Sandwich was a solid operating system, but Jelly Bean made it even better, adding new features like Google Now, better notifications, and even Photo Sphere. However, the software was merely just a vehicle for the hardware to ride on — the devices themselves were what really shined this year.

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It was a huge year for Google, who completely revamped their Nexus lineup, and Samsung released more Galaxy devices than we can count on two hands. We also saw some new devices from HTC, Motorola, LG, Sony, and of course, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Let’s recap all the fun stuff that happened over the past 12 months in the world of Android.

Google

The Nexus line of Android devices from Google saw the biggest change this year. The search giant introduced their first ever tablets, the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, and also released a successor to last year’s Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus 4. The Nexus 7 has already proven to be one of the most popular Android tablets of all time, and the Nexus 10 features the world’s highest-resolution display of any mobile device with a whopping 2560×1600 resolution, resulting in 300 PPI.

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At Google I/O 2012, the company also announced and later released the Nexus Q, a unique home entertainment device that integrates with Google Play and streams media to televisions and speakers from several different devices at once. However, the Nexus Q was eventually discontinued after only a few months due to lack of interest.

Samsung

2012 was also a huge year for Samsung. Their flagship Galaxy S III sold over 30 million units, thanks to its availability on most of the major carriers, including AT&T and T-Mobile. Samsung also released the Galaxy Note, a unique 5-inch, phablet-style handset for those wanting a large screen for increased productivity. They later released the Galaxy Note II with an even larger 5.5-inch display and an enormous battery.

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Due to the success of the Galaxy S III, Samsung released the Galaxy S III mini in Europe, a smaller version of the company’s popular flagship handset. They also released several other specialty products, such as the projector-equipped Galaxy Beam, the Android-powered point-and-shoot Galaxy Camera, and the iPod Touch-esque Galaxy Player in both 3.6-inch and 4.2-inch flavors.

As far as their tablet business, Samsung didn’t make a lot of noise, but they released several solid Android tablets, like the Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and 10.1.

ASUS

Other than partnering with Google to manufacture the Nexus 7, ASUS released a couple more Android tablets of their own, the Transformer Pad TF300 and the Transformer Pad Infinity — both are 10.1-inch tablets running quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processors with 4-PLUS-1 technology, and both received upgrades to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The Transformer Prime, while released towards the end of 2011, didn’t make a huge impact until 2012 rolled around, and it was the world’s first quad-core processor-toting tablet.

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Be sure to check out our official [Tegra Hub] to see the full impact of NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 throughout 2012.

Amazon

This year from Amazon, we saw the company improve on their original Kindle Fire tablet by releasing the Kindle Fire HD in two form factors, 7 inches and 8.9 inches. Both are loaded with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Texas Instruments OMAP dual-core chipsets. The biggest upgrades from the original Kindle Fire, however, are the screens, which received a high-definition boost to as large as 1920×1200 on the 8.9-inch model (1280×800 on the 7-inch model).

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Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble also implemented upgraded versions of their NOOK Tablet in order to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD. Both the NOOK HD and the NOOK HD+ are 7-inch Android-powered tablets and run off of Texas Instrument OMAP dual-core chipsets, with the HD+ running a slightly faster processor, increased storage, and a higher-resolution display of 1920×1280.

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HTC

HTC had a big 2012. They released the DROID DNA, which comes with the first 1080p display in a smartphone and is the densest display in the world currently, with 440 PPI on a 5-inch screen. The company also released a brand new line of smartphones, known as the One series, that includes both top-tier handsets, as well as budget-minded devices. The company released the One S, One V, One X (and its successor, the One X+ — it and the HTC One X international version being the first smartphones in the world to carry the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core SoC), One XL, and the budget-minded One VX, as well as the mid-range One SV that was released in Europe.

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Other handsets that HTC released in 2012 include sequels of the company’s Incredible and EVO line, the DROID Incredible 4G LTE and EVO 4G LTE, respectively, as well as the Desire C, Desire V, and Desire X — all three of which are budget-friendly devices that sport a lower-clocked processor, less RAM, and a smaller screen.

LG

LG outed several impressive devices this past year. They were the sole manufacturer behind Google’s Nexus 4, and while that was one of their most popular devices (and their most important for 2012), they also had a few others that stood out. The Optimus G is one of them, and it’s a powerhouse of a smartphone, with a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chip, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. The company also released some pretty stellar mid-range devices as well. The Spectrum, as well as the Spectrum 2, featured solid specs and performance at a lower price, and the company’s latest L-series phone, the Optimus L9, saw a sizable improvement over the L7 and other L-series devices released in 2012, such as the L5 and L3.

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Other LG handsets released in 2012 include the phablet-esque Intuition, which sports a 5-inch display and an odd 4:3 aspect ratio that we’re not used to seeing in the mobile market. LG also outed the Lucid, a small budget-minded 4G LTE device that sports a dual-core Qualcomm processor and an impressive IPS LCD display.

Sony

We didn’t see a lot from Sony this year, but they did out a few of Xperia-branded smartphones and tablets that kept them in the spotlight throughout the year. The Xperia TL was Sony’s first-ever smartphone built upon Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 chip, and it’s the same device featured in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall.

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Other smartphones that we saw this year from Sony included the Xperia ion, Xperia S, and the Xperia U. The Xperia S was launched at CES 2012 and was the company’s first Sony-only smartphone after acquiring Ericsson’s stake in Sony Ericsson at the beginning of the year. The Xperia ion was also launched at CES 2012, and it features a 4.55-inch display running Qualcomm’s last-generation Snapdragon S3 chip.

As far as tablets, Sony outed the Xperia Tablet S and the Tablet P. The Tablet S packs in a NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip and runs off of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Tablet P, however, is one of Sony’s most unique offerings, featuring a clamshell form factor, making it easier to slide in out of a pocket, but it ended up suffering from flimsy build quality, lack of software support, and ultimately lacking a lot of gaming options.

Motorola

Motorola picked up where they left off at the end of 2011. They improved on their DROID RAZR handset by introducing several new versions of the device. The DROID RAZR HD featured a larger, higher-resolution display, while the DROID RAZR MAXX HD included almost-identical specs, but sported a much larger battery for those wanting to go longer without having to plug into a wall.

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The company also outed a budget-friendly and smaller DROID RAZR M that featured a 4.3-inch display, but stuffed it into a small form factor for those who still favor the smaller devices of yesteryear. Other notable devices that Motorola released in 2012 include the Atrix HD, DROID 4, and the mid-range and oddly-named MOTOLUXE.


Android Hardware Rundown: 2012 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon offering students $50 off a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 all month long

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD was the company’s leading product throughout the holiday shopping season, and for good reason. The 8.9-inch version went on sale earlier last month, but if you happened to blink, the deal was gone. However, Amazon is offering the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to students at $50 off all month long.

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Amazon Student Members with an active Prime account (free six-month or $39/year plan) are only eligible for the deal. However, the company is letting students who aren’t Prime members sign up today to take advantage of the deal. In order to become an Amazon Student member, simply sign up using your .edu email address.

The offer is good towards either the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 WiFi-only model or the 4G LTE variant. The $50 discount means you’ll spend as little as $249 on a new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD, which is the same price as the 7-inch 32GB model of the Fire HD. We have to say that’s a pretty good-looking deal for a great budget tablet.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 comes in four different flavors in all. The WiFi-only model comes in 16GB and 32GB sizes, while the 4G LTE version comes in either 32GB or 64GB flavors, all priced at $249, $319, $449, and $549, respectively, after applying the $50 discount. Read our full review of the device to learn more.


Amazon offering students $50 off a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 all month long is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.