If you are running a HTC Android smartphone with the latest updates applied, chances are your personal data is freely accessible to any app you have given network access to in the form of full Internet permissions. This vulnerability isn’t a backdoor or some inherent flaw in Android, it is instead HTC failing to lock […]
We’ve already seen UK movie rental service Lovefilm expand its streaming service on Blu-ray players and consoles, and now — since parent company Amazon isn’t bringing the Kindle Fire over anytime soon — it has moved on to the iPad. While its existing Lovefilm app allows for disc browsing and queue management, the new Lovefilm Player app handles most of those functions, plus the aforementioned subscription streaming access (no VOD, yet.) Check out a quick video intro after the break or hit the source links below for the FAQ or to download on iTunes.
Continue reading Lovefilm player goes mobile, now available on iPad
Lovefilm player goes mobile, now available on iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Though some may argue that Lego is something only kids should play with, we here at Geek think the magic of Lego bricks should be something people of all ages can enjoy. After raving about such Lego masterpieces as the world’s first fully functional Lego greenhouse, Lego robot hands, and a Lego machine that can […]
SMS-based telemarketing is a serious problem in India — so serious, in fact, that the government has decided to crack down in a pretty severe way. As of this week, every Indian mobile user or company is allowed to send only 100 text messages per day, as part of a new anti-spam initiative from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The move is just the latest in a series of campaigns to combat a boom in aggressive telemarketing that, according to some, borders on harassment. Authorities say spam phone calls have already declined significantly since 2007, when the government instituted a national “do not call” registry, yet the problem persists, with many users complaining of receiving commercial texts during the wee hours of the night. Regulators seem confident that these new rules will go a long way toward solving this riddle, though some have been left wondering why India’s millions of mobile subscribers should pay the price, rather than the spammers themselves. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, is reporting that subcontinental telemarketers have already begun circumventing the new regulations by re-focusing their efforts on junk mail, ad-based Twitter feeds and other ways to be just as annoying as they ever were.
[Image courtesy of Thomas Hawk]
India caps text messages to curb telemarketing, Desi teens plot mutiny originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sure, it may not grab headlines like a new iPhone or Google phone but that’s not to say we’re utterly uninterested in seeing a bit more of Huawei’s forthcoming top-drawer handset. Now confirmed to play friendly with US radio frequencies, the single-core 1.4GHz Honor has been given a full video run-through. Techblog posits a December launch and a €300 ($400) price-tag — not exactly the bargain basement prices we’ve come to expect from Huawei, but with a 4-inch touchscreen, DLNA abilities, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a substantial 1900mAh battery, it looks like you’ll get what you pay for. Catch the video after the break to judge for yourself.
Continue reading Huawei Honor gets video run-through, manages to hold the mobile court’s attention
Huawei Honor gets video run-through, manages to hold the mobile court’s attention originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MeeGo OS, the bastard love child of Intel and Nokia, isn’t dead yet. The operating system is being re-packaged as “Tizen,” as Intel and Samsung shack up with a host of partner companies on the mobile OS front.
Tizen is based on Linux and will be an open-source operating system hosted by the Linux Foundation. Also backed by Samsung, the OS will place a heavy emphasis on HTML5 development and web apps, as opposed to a native app emphasis like iOS and Android have. Tizen will support a variety of devices such as handsets, tablets and connected TVs.
Why the switch to Tizen? Five words, one abbreviation: HTML5. Imad Sousou, director of Intel’s Open Source Technology Center, believes HTML5-based apps are the future, and a simple upgrade to the MeeGo OS just won’t cut it. “Shifting to HTML5 doesn’t just mean slapping a web runtime on an existing Linux,” said Sousou in a recent blog post. This would mean that APIs not visible to HTML5 programmers could be more flexible, allowing them to “evolve with platform technology” and vary from market to market.
MeeGo was originally a combination of Nokia’s Maemo and Intel’s Moblin operating systems. Nokia dropped the platform in favor of Windows Phone earlier this year and Intel reportedly halted development of the platform in early September. Currently, there aren’t too many devices that run MeeGo with the exception of the Nokia N9 smartphone and an Asus Eee PC netbook.
It’s interesting that Tizen is an effort endorsed by Samsung, as Samsung has its own mobile operating system called Bada (its SDK was recently released to developers). But the move actually makes sense: software giant Microsoft teamed up with hardware manufacturer Nokia. Software giant Google teamed up with hardware manufacturer Motorola. Teaming up with an open-source software platform like Tizen could give Samsung — which endorses a number of platforms including Android, Windows Phone and Bada — additional control over its mobile future.
Intel is pushing Tizen for developers, endorsing the OS with its AppUp developer program and HTML 5-based developer framework. The new OS will “incorporate the same principles and open source philosophies” as MeeGo.
Tizen will also support the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) web development environment for cross-platform applications. Web-based apps can run on any phone, and as more are developed, could potentially break down “platform wars” barriers by letting more native apps run on the current major mobile platforms. Services like Appcelerator’s Titanium Studio are also bucking the native app trend by providing tools for developers to publish cross-platform web apps.
Intel plans to make the transition to Tizen over the next few months and aims to make the transition to Tizen as easy as possible for devs. Code already contributed to the MeeGo project will be ported over to and compatible with Tizen.
A release date for the Tizen OS is set for early 2012, with Tizen-running devices arriving mid-year.
Image: The MeeGo phone browser (Steve Paine/Flickr)
Part of Amazon’s new Kindle Fire pitch is its promise of Amazon Silk — a “split browser” exclusive to the tablet that gets the heavy lifting done on its EC2 cloud servers and promises faster access as a result. Dubbed Silk to represent an “invisible, yet incredibly strong connection”, it takes advantage of Amazon’s existing speedy connections, and that so many sites are already hosted on its servers to speed up web access. Another feature is its ability to learn from previous web surfers and use their data to determine how to render a page, and which sites to precache on the device before you even select the next link. While mobile browsers like Skyfire and Opera have offered speed boosting proxies before, Amazon thinks its AWS prowess and the addition of “dynamic decisions” about what to render locally or in the cloud takes it to another level. Read our live blog of the event for more details, or check out the video explanation and press release after the break.
Continue reading Amazon Silk browser spins a faster mobile web, courtesy of cloud servers (video)
Amazon Silk browser spins a faster mobile web, courtesy of cloud servers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Yahoo! Sponsored Search Results for 2011 (January to June)
Yahoo! has released information about the search terms most common in the first half of 2011 for its Sponsored Search partners. Unsurprisingly they include many phrases not seen in previous years, such as “TEPCO”, which was outside the top 100 in 2010 but is now number 17. The TEPCO mobile site alone saw a 66.88% increase in traffic in March 2011, compared to the previous month, making it the top climbing site that month by far, though we doubt anyone was celebrating those stats.
In signs that recession mentality has set in, terms like “second hand car” have also risen up the rankings. As last year, “youtube” is still top and slightly more banal newbies in the top 20 include music groups Arashi and AKB48.
These are just initial findings and are taken only from Yahoo! Sponsored Search ad key word results, though it’s clear that Japan’s “New Normal” will continue to affect everyone, from advertisers to web services, retailers and beyond.
Age Recognition for SNS Users
Softbank is to start offering age data to content suppliers from autumn. SNS and community sites will be able to engage with users if they have their permission. Currently the move is just planned for Gree and mixi.
When users access those sites via their mobile phones, whether they are new users or existing members, they will be asked if they agree to provide information on their age. If they refuse part of the page will not be visible. Those who agree will be able to find content appropriate to their demographic’s age band. It makes sense that teenaged mixi users will not want to see the same kinds of banners and content as a thirty-year old office worker. Softbank is also negotiating with Mobage to integrate the functionality with that site too.
Smartphones for Kids
Japan has always been ahead of the game when it comes to kids’ mobiles. Now KDDI has put together a plan for young Android smartphone users. The plan allows parents and guardians to limit and restrict the applications children install and use, as well as the use of the wi-fi connection. The plan is free and can be downloaded from Android Market.
Looking at the currently sparse user reviews the rating for the app is not high at time of writing. The complaints seem to be that you cannot differentiate the settings and can only turn on the restrictions for everything by re-setting the phone, rather than limiting the use of certain apps etc. Savvy kids can also simply re-start the system in order to turn off the safety mode and use apps.
Top Japanese Corporation for SNS
In a survey by Agile Media Network (AMN) in early September of 300 companies, a list has emerged of the top 50 Japanese corporations who use SNS. Coca-Cola Japan came out as number one, followed by Suntory, Lawson, Universal Studios Japan, and Panasonic.
Of the corporations, 100% of them exploited Twitter to reach consumers, while 86% employed YouTube, and 84% used Facebook, way ahead of local SNS like mixi (58%) and Gree (44%). This represents a victory for Facebook, which achieved only 24% in a similar survey in February this year.
This is the latest in a series of blogs based on newsletters provided by our local research partner, INterRIDE Inc.
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Stacking the lineup against Google Wallet, manufacturers HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have been drafted by team Isis, agreeing to implement its NFC technology standard into future phone offerings. By garnering multi-manufacturer support, the joint AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon venture is pulling a power move against Mountain View’s offering — currently only functional on Sprint’s Nexus S 4G (although that’s almost certainly bound to change). Finally gearing up for battle, the crew recently pumped $100 million into the initiative, helping to win support from the aforementioned hardware heavy hitters. For those who aren’t ready to buy a new phone just to jump on the NFC bandwagon, Isis says it’s working with DeviceFidelity to add the functionality to older models as well. The more devices that have the technology, the better the chance we’ll be ditching our leather wallets for the mobile variety. Or so they say. Check out the full PR after the break.
HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson to add Isis NFC tech in future phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In addition to the already announced Fujitsu-Toshiba Arrows Z, HTC Evo 3D and Motorola Photon, Japanese carrier KDDI has now also confirmed a trio of new handsets. There’s plenty of similarities; they’re all Android, all waterproof and are each packing an eight megapixel camera. Kyocera’s Digno is a slimline offering available in three different colors, and puts some of Kyocera’s US offerings to shame looks-wise. Sharp’s AQUOS IS13SH has an IPS-rivalling ASV display, whilst the NEC’s Medias BR IS11 will arrive in a choice of pink, white and blue. Sadly, there’s still no sign of that mythical iPhone from KDDI. Check out the links below for all the full-fat details.
KDDI launches latest line of skinny big-screened smartphones for Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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