Samsung’s Galaxy Note just grew to 8 inches. It’s actually really nice. It combines a bunch of the stuff that Samsung’s been building in the Galaxy S and Note series and puts them into a nearly perfectly sized tablet. Two things, though. One, we don’t know how much it costs, and price is a huge deal for 7- and 8-inch tablets. Two, the international version is a freaking 8-inch phone. More »
Over at AdDuplex, Alan Mendelevich was shifting through data and spotted a variety of unannounced Nokia devices, including a Windows 8 device that could be a tablet and a few handsets. Among them is the Nokia RM-860, which is a Verizon handset featuring a high-definition display that is speculated to be a Lumia 920 variety. The big question is, will we see any of these devices at the upcoming Mobile World Congress?
Likewise, the Lumia 720 was spotted showing off a WVGA-resolution display, of which images surfaced of the device earlier today. The handset goes by the name “Fame,” and is said to have a 4.3-inch ClearBlack screen, a dual-core 1GHz processor, and 8GBs of internal storage space. There’s a 6-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front camera.
Another handset was spotted, the Nokia RM-892 showing up from India. Perhaps the most interesting device, however, is the RX-108, which is shown as a Windows 8 machine. Whether it is a PC or a tablet, however, is unknown. Many consumers have been awaiting a Windows 8 tablet from Nokia, and so if the RX-108 is such a device, we’ll likely see it at MWC.
This follows a series of Nokia handsets he tweeted about on Monday, which included a Lumia 520 (RM-914), Lumia 720 (RM-887), and an RM-860 device, the same one mentioned today. We’ll be keeping an eye out for these handsets, and will let you know as soon as more info is available, so stay tuned.
[via WP Central]
Verizon Nokia RM-860, RX-108 Windows 8 device and others spotted is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The iPhone comes with a bunch of apps you never use. Some of them are poorly implemented. Others are lacking important features. Fortunately, there’s a whole world of developers offering some very viable third-party alternatives. Unfortunately you can’t delete the apps your iPhone comes with, but here are some alternatives that will free you from their boring grips. More »
Once upon a time, the future belonged to an increasingly smaller form factor when it came to mobile phones. Now it seems the tide has changed, and larger screens continue to expand their requisite real estate on new handsets. In this week’s issue of our weekly, Jon Fingas takes a good, long look at the rise of those big screens, starting with 2002’s BlackBerry 5810. Weekly Stat charts a day with an asteroid, Eyes-On has a peek at LaCie’s collaboration with Philippe Starck and Brad Molen recounts week two with the BlackBerry Z10. We’ve just scratched the surface of the latest installment of this e-publication, so navigate to your favorite download link to procure a copy.
Distro Issue 79 PDF
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Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile
Source: iTunes, Google Play, Windows Store
In a new report from mobile ad platform Millennial Media, the company compiles its data on mobile device share across its network for all of 2012, revealing that tablets in particular accounted for a rising percentage of impressions, with Android devices stepping up their game considerably. The Kindle Fire and Samsung tablets were the big share winners, helping Android slates grab a considerable 41 percent of the tablet mix, compared to 58 percent for Apple.
Millennial didn’t actually break out the overall values of tablet traffic in its 2011 report, but you can see from its February 2011 snapshot that the tablet/e-reader and other category had iOS at 80 percent share, with Android at just 17 percent and other at 3 percent. Android has clearly gained a lot of ground, then, and the main OEMs reaping the benefits of that growth are Samsung, which has 45 percent of the Android tablet share, and Amazon, which managed to acquire 26 percent thanks to the release of the second-generation Kindle Fire line, representing over 500 percent growth from its share in 2011.
Smartphone share also grew during the year, up from 68 percent to 75 percent, with non-phone connected devices (including tablets) also growing considerably as well, from 15 to 25 percent. The feature phone category gave up tons of ground, going from 17 percent to 5 percent share. Overall OS mix, despite Android’s tablet gains, actually didn’t shift all that much, with Android gaining one percentage point overall in 2012 versus 2011, and iOS losing one. BlackBerry remained steady in third, and Windows Phone gained a single percentage point.
Millennial notes that Android continues to take up more places in the top 20 mobile phones list on its platform, while Apple continues to be the market leader with its devices in each respective category, generating an outsized helping of traffic share from just a few core devices. The iPhone ranks number one among mobile phones, growing its share from 14.67 percent in 2011 to 15.59 percent in 2012. Samsung took over the number two spot from BlackBerry with its Galaxy S line, with 4.24 percent of impressions for 2012, growing 182 percent year-over-year.
The iPad mini was among Apple’s strongest performers, growing its share of impressions at an average daily rate of 28 percent within just weeks of its initial launch. Millennial says that’s a new best for the 7-inch tablet category, eclipsing the rapid 19 percent daily average established by the original Kindle Fire during its launch back in 2011. Overall, the picture that’s shaping up looks like it will see smartphone share start to even out as they eclipse feature phones entirely, with tablets making up an increasingly important piece of the pie, if the trends Millennial is seeing continue.
Sure, your phone might look clean, but it isn’t really. In fact, it’s covered in bacteria—and this image shows how horrible they are. More »
By March 1, foreigners in North Korea will be able to access the Internet via a 3G mobile network. This is achieved by using a SIM card that is available for purchase for a lowish fee, but is unique to visitors. Those who live in North Korea are limited in their access to mobile services, and still won’t have access to the World Wide Web. The network will be provided by Koryolink.
The service is set to launch by March 1, though it could happen earlier. This follows a change in North Korean law not too long ago that allows visitors to bring their own smartphones into the nation so that they can be used with the carrier’s SIM card. This is something that was never before allowed, and provides visitors with a level of connectivity with the outside world that has never existed in the northern Korean nation before.
The SIM cards are available at Koryolink retail stores and at the airport, priced at $70USD. The call rate is reported by the Associated Press as being 5 Euros per minute to the United States. Not surprisingly, calls to South Korea are not allowed. The hefty price tags will no doubt prevent travelers from using their cell phone as they would elsewhere, but does provide a necessary service to visitors, giving an (expensive) way to contact home.
In addition, users will be able to purchase a per-month mobile broadband plan via the service, using the SIM card in their mobile data device (USB modems will be supported). The cost of the monthly plan has not been released yet, however, but we’re guessing it’ll be pretty high if the per-minute rate is any indication.
[via Yahoo]
North Korea to switch on 3G network for foreigners by March 1 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Researchers at IDC have had their ears to the ground keeping tabs on shipments for specific types of devices, and now they’ve painted a bigger picture of the hardware battlefield in 2012. “Smart connected devices” — a category which includes desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones — saw a total of 367.7 million units shipped in Q4 2012, up 28.3 percent from the year before. In total, over 1.2 billion units were shipped last year, marking a 29.1 percent upswing from 2011. Naturally, tablets and smartphones drove the boost by carving out roughly 60 percent of the year’s combined marketshare, while PCs and notebook shipments sank by 4.1 and 3.4 percent, respectively.
While Samsung and Apple each claimed crowns in specific gadget divisions, Sammy came out on top with smart connected devices in 2012 as a whole (and in Q4) thanks to a 20.8 percent marketshare, beating Cupertino by 2.6 percent. Lenovo finished in third place with a 6.5 percent slice, while HP and Dell trailed behind with 4.8 and 3.2 percent, respectively. IDC notes that Cook. and Co. could have come in a more distant second, but the debut of the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini pulled it out of a slump from earlier in the year.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung
Source: IDC
OtterBox is well known for their robust cases for a handful of devices. They offer a bit of insurance in case you ever drop your phone, or even throw your phone at a wall in a fit of anger. After the official HTC One announcement earlier this week, it looks like OtterBox is taking no time to introduce cases for the new smartphone.
OtterBox has made three cases for the HTC On using their popular line of Commuter and Defender series of cases. The regular Defender HTC One case will cost $50 and will come in a bevy of different colors that you can choose from, including black, glacier (grey/white mix), blushed (grey/pink mix), and punked (black/green mix).
The company is also offering a RealTree Defender case, which will give your phone a nice camouflage look, just in case you need to be completely hidden while hunting out in the woods, smartphone and all. This case will cost you $60. As for the Commuter series, an HTC One case will cost you $35 and it will come in a mixture of colors as well, including black, glacier, steel blue (black/teal mix), lilac, black/purple mix), and punked.
There’s no word on availability yet, but the company allows you to submit your email address to be notified when the new cases eventually become available, which should be sometime in March (the same time that the actual phone is releasing). These cases may not be as tough as the Armor series of cases that we checked out at CES last month, but you’ll be guaranteed that your brand new HTC One will be well protected using any OtterBox offering.
OtterBox HTC One cases “coming soon” is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A mere couple of months have passed since CloudOn outed its third major revision on Android and iOS, and today the productivity-focused application is making yet another numerical jump. With today’s announcement of version 4.0, the app’s set to expand on the previous iteration by bringing its Office functionality outside of Apple’s famed smartphone and onto some that are powered by Google’s mobile OS. This means Android users with a compatible smartphone can now view, edit, create, and share documents with CloudOn, which should be a rather familiar experience for those who’ve been utilizing the tablet app since its humble beginnings on Google Play. CloudOn 4.0 (along with its newly added support for landscape mode) is now available worldwide, although you’ll have to check out the presser past the jump in order to find out if your beloved handset is included in the list of fitting devices.
Gallery: CloudOn 4.0
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Source: Google Play
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