China has overtaken the United States to become the world's largest smartphone market by volume although the US still leads in terms of revenue, a market research firm said Wednesday.
Strategy Analytic said that smartphone shipments hit 24 million units in China during the third quarter of the year compared to 23 million units in the United States.
"The United States remains the world's largest smartphone market by revenue, but China has overtaken the United States in terms of volume," said Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston.
"China is now at the forefront of the worldwide mobile computing boom," Mawston said. "China has become a large and growing smartphone market that no hardware vendor, component .maker or content developer can afford to ignore."
Strategy Analytics said smartphone shipments in China grew 58 percent in the third quarter over the previous quarter to 23.9 million units and fell seven percent to 23.3 million units in the United States in the same period.
"China's rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands," Strategy Analytics director Tom Kang said.
Finland's Nokia leads China's smartphone market with 28 percent share while Taiwan's HTC heads the US smartphone market with 24 percent share, according to Strategy Analytics.
London: A recent post on Nokia's official blog claims the UK pre-orders for Lumia 800 has been higher than any previous Nokia handset.
"Nokia sources tonight confirmed the Nokia Lumia 800 is destined to be a huge hit," said the post.
“The level of pre-orders, as well as reaction in shops today, lead us to be very positive about the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800," said Nokia spokesman, Ray Haddow.
Information from operators and retail partners confirmed a high level of pre-orders, the post added.
People have reportedly been lining up at Nokia stores to not just check out the handset, but also place orders for it, claims the company.
The post said, “In addition, we’ve had lots of people saying that they intend to switch to the Nokia Lumia 800 at their next upgrade.”
The Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 are the first from Nokia to run on the Mango WP platform, and saw their global launch last month at Nokia World 2011.
At a weight of 142 g, the phone measures116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1mm and has a single-piece, polycarbonate body that sports bright AMOLED ClearBlack display with toughened glass stretching from side-to-side, says a post on Nokia’s official blog.
Powered by a 1.4GHz processor, the phone has a graphics co-processor too that drives the operating system to deliver a smooth user experience, the post informs.
It says the phone’s 16GB of internal user memory has cloud computing integrated to offer 25GB of free SkyDrive storage for music and picture files. It comes in three black, cyan and magenta colours.
The Nokia Lumia 800 sports an 8 MP auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, which is capable of shooting HD video at 30 frames per second. The phone promises talktime of up to 13 hours, or standby for up to 335 hours.
Other features include Nokia Drive for free turn-by-turn navigation and a dedicated in-car interface. Nokia Drive “turns the Nokia Lumia 800 into a fully-fledged personal navigation device”, says the company.
“Nokia Music introduces MixRadio, bringing a free, global, mobile music-streaming service with hundreds of locally-relevant channels available”.
The phone has Internet Explorer 9 browser that offers broad support for HTML5 applications, etc.
The estimated retail price for the Nokia Lumia 800 will be approximately 420 EUR (around Rs 28,390).
Apple iPhone 4S is now available for pre-order on telecom service provider Airtel's official website.
Both the white and the black versions of the 16 GB handset will come with a price tag of Rs 44,500. Paying the full amount at the time of pre-booking will ensure priority delivery on the day of launch, November 25.
The announcement comes close on the heels of the beginning of pre-order of the popular handset by rival service provider, Aircel.
The Aircel official website, however, had gone inaccessible on November 18- the day the pre-order of the phone had been scheduled to begin.
Both telecom service providers had announced that the launch of the phone in India will happen on November 25.
In an earlier update on its official Facebook page, the company had said, "Aircel brings iPhone 4S to India...launch details coming soon".
The announcement was followed by a similar update by Airtel on its Facebook page which said, "Airtel will be launching iPhone 4S soon. Watch this space for more."
Apple had launched its newest member of iPhone smartphone family in October.
The 4S, which hit the US market on October 14, comes with the same design, shape and size as the iPhone 4, but boasts of certain additional features that made it an instant hit among users who have been able to lay their hands on it.
The iPhone 4S comes with the A5 chipset, which also powers the iconic iPad 2. Besides, the dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU and PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU is a potent combination.
The phone has both GSM and CDMA connectivity. Also, one of the major points of attraction of this latest upgrade from Apple is the camera quality. The iphone 4S comes with an impressive 8 megapixel camera. The video recording facility in the phone has also been upgraded from 720p to 1080p.
However, the single biggest 'iPopping' feature of the 4S is Siri, the feature that responds to voice commands and allows you to 'send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls and much more'. Apple's 'humble personal assistant', Siri receives and understands commands made in simple, everyday language, which means users do not have to learn commands designed specifically for the phone to understand you.
Sure, the Transformer Prime has been official for a couple of weeks now, but we haven't seen the 10-inch tablet get much action, aside from a few quick hands-ons. ASUS is finally ready to show us the quad-core Tegra 3 tablet -- running Ice Cream Sandwich, no less. The tablet won't actually ship with the brain-freezing mobile OS, but the company has promised a sweet, sweet upgrade. Check out the video, including 1080p video playback and some time with the quad-core-friendly Riptide GP after the break.
Update: We've also gotten a peek at what looks to be the user manual for the new Transformer. Check it out in the second gallery above.
Annie Leibovitz seems to love the camera in the iPhone 4S as is, but if you'd ever hoped the snapshot darling were a bit more flexible, then Photojojo's new Lens Dial may be the solution. Available as a case that's compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S, users are able to rotate between three different lenses -- including fisheye, telephoto and wide-angle -- to achieve their desired effect. Naturally, the enclosure will add quite a bit of thickness and heft to your handset (it weighs ten ounces, or twice that of the iPhone), but it also piles on flexibility, too, such as tripod mounts for landscape or portrait scenes. Shipping now for $250, the iPhone Lens Dial seems like the logical step after you've taken Holga's optionfor a spin.
Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, but Microsoft announced today that it has acquired the content analytics firm VideoSurf, and it's being crystal clear about where it will be putting it to use: Xbox Live. VideoSurf, for those not familiar, is a company that specializes in computer vision technology, which lets it "tag" individual frames of videos in real time and deliver better search and discovery services. Earlier this year, it released an Android application that basically amounts to Shazam for video. As for its plans for Xbox Live, Microsoft says that it will integrate the technology across the platform "over time," and that it will "augment the Xbox 360 ecosystem and evolve search and discovery of entertainment content on Xbox Live." The official press release is after the break. Microsoft Acquires Video Content Discovery Company VideoSurf
VideoSurf's technology will enhance video discovery capabilities for Xbox LIVE.
REDMOND, Wash., and SAN MATEO, Calif. - Nov. 22, 2011 - Microsoft Corp. has announced the acquisition of California-based video discovery technology company VideoSurf Inc.
Founded in 2006, VideoSurf offers a back-end computer vision technology that "sees" frames inside videos to make discovering content fast, easy and accurate. Over time, Microsoft will integrate this technology across its entertainment platform to augment the Xbox 360 ecosystem and evolve search and discovery of entertainment content on Xbox LIVE.
"VideoSurf's content analytics technology will enhance the search and discovery of entertainment content across our platform," said Alex Garden, director of Xbox LIVE for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "This holiday we will launch voice search across our entertainment partners on Xbox LIVE. Over time, as we integrate VideoSurf's technology into our system, we are excited about the potential to have content tagged in real time to increase the speed and relevance of the search results."
"Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Division is at the leading edge of connected entertainment," said Lior Delgo, CEO and co-founder of VideoSurf. "We are incredibly excited to be working together on our mutual passion for creating amazing consumer experiences and reinventing how consumers search, discover and enjoy content on their televisions."
In the coming months, Microsoft will bring nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers to Xbox LIVE, including Bravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon FiOS and Syfy in the U.S.; BBC in the U.K.; Telefónica in Spain; Rogers On Demand in Canada; Televisa in Mexico; ZDF in Germany; and Mediaset in Italy. This acquisition will also make it easier for world-class video partners to take full advantage of advanced features such as voice search enabled by Kinect for Xbox 360. With Kinect, users will be able to easily search and discover content across multiple entertainment providers within Xbox LIVE and then interact with and enjoy content in extraordinary ways using voice search powered by Bing on the Xbox 360.
About Xbox LIVE
Xbox LIVE is the online entertainment service for your Xbox 360, connecting you to an ever-expanding world of games, movies, TV, music, sports and social entertainment. Xbox LIVE lets you play the best games, enjoy one of the world's largest on-demand libraries on any console, listen to millions of songs and share the fun with friends around the world. Xbox LIVE is also the exclusive home of controller-free online entertainment through Kinect, making your Xbox 360 more intuitive and interactive than ever before. With an active community of nearly 35 million people across 35 countries, Xbox LIVE, together with Xbox 360, provides you with instant access to the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, wherever you are. More information about Xbox LIVE can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/live.
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a premier home entertainment and video game system. Thanks to the addition of Kinect, Xbox 360 will forever transform social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play - no controller required. Xbox 360 is also home to the best and broadest games as well as one of the world's largest on-demand libraries of music, standard- and high-definition movies, TV shows and digital games, all in one place. The entertainment center of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content with a leading social entertainment network of nearly 35 million Xbox LIVE members to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information about Xbox 360 can be found online at http://www.xbox.com.
It was on, then it was off, but it looks like Samsung 7.7-incher could return from the ether of launch limbo, with a 3G-capable model knocking at the FCC's lab-door. Schematics are largely identical to the WiFi model spotted at the commission back in September, but the filing confirms that this particular slab of Android will be arriving with HSPA+ talents. Yes, the GT-P6800 will offer up some faux-G speeds alongside a sizable Super AMOLED Plus panel (1280 x 800) and the standard WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS bells and whistles. We are, however, still tapping our collective feet while waiting for confirmation on whether the device will ever land on American soil. What's in an inch, anyway?
Biographer Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography was published Monday. In it, one little-known fact has the tech world wondering about a final project Jobs worked on before he died.
It's believed that Jobs may have been working on the next Apple TV. What Apple already has is a TV that lets users stream all content by connecting the box to a TV or computer monitor. Still ahead a wirelessly synced version of the existing Apple TV.
For $99 now, Apple TV provides access to YouTube,Netflix and iTunes. Tech site Mashable says the new version of the TV would include a cloud-based system, allowing users to search seamlessly through content either from Apple itself or other third-parties. Then, instead of having to look separately through Netflix for a movie or show, users could directly access the content that should already be integrated on the system. The idea is to create a single source for locating and watching all TV content.
Bloomberg reported the Cupertino, Calif.-based company assigned software engineer Jeff Robbins, the iTunes creator, to lead the project on this new TV. Analyst Gene Munster pf Piper Jaffrey said Apple has a prototype in the works.
Another game-changing feature some are expecting is Siri's voice-recognition integrating with the Apple TV. If it happened, Siri could be running more than aniPhone 4S.
Licensing terms with content service providers remain unresolved. This has been a major obstacle to HDTV. In 2009, Apple was said to have pitched an iTunes subscription plan to those content providers, but the plan was never ironed out.
Munster predicts a product launch could happen in late 2012 or 2013, but Apple has not commented yet
Apple iPhone 5 Rumored to Arrive in 2012; What Specs will It have?
In the "Let's talk iPhone" event, Apple Inc. unveiled iPhone 4S just to satisfy the feature-hungry fans with basic smartphone specifications. iPhone 5 remained a mystery after all, but analysts are expecting the Cupertino tech giant to release a 4G LTE iPhone 5 in 2012. "Apple is saving the iPhone 5 brand for the LTE version, and the new model won't arrive until the 4G LTE technology is ready to be used in smartphones, which won't be out until next spring," Will Strauss, president of market research firm Forward Concepts told CNET.
Strauss, who tracks companies such as Qualcomm that deliver the chips for 3G and 4G technology for smartphones, said Apple come out with LTE now. According to him, for Apple's taste, the current implementations of LTE technology in phones like the HTC Thunderbolt are too kludgy, CNET reported.
There are two chip solutions in LTE-capable HTC Thunderbolt, an LTE baseband (modem) chip, and a second one from Qualcomm for 3G voice connections, Strauss said.
There were reports that Apple was unhappy with the first generation LTE chipsets from Qualcomm that would make phones bulkier.
In April, Apple's then stand-in Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tim Cook, said the first generation LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises with the handset and that the company was not willing to make those compromises.
According to a chip expert Anand Shimpi of Anandtech, iPhone 4's printed circuit board is not big enough to carry an extra chip to enable LTE without shrinking the size of the battery. He said a Qualcomm chip called the MDM9615, which will be capable of LTE voice and data that would fit Apple's phone specifications, is likely to come out in the second quarter of 2012.
Additionally, Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland expects the 4G iPhone 5 and the iPad 3 to arrive next year. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek also expects an iPad 3 launch in calendar first quarter and an LTE iPhone in the first half of calendar 2012.
Analyst Keith Bachman of BMO Capital Markets said in June that the all-new iPhone 5 would arrive only in 2012. "We believe the iPhone 5 will launch in mid-2012," Bachman had written in a note.
So with these basic details from analysts fans could expect that Apple is preparing a phone branded as the "iPhone 5", which will sport 4G LTE technology.
But what specifications could go into iPhone 5 as whatever was rumored before the "Let's talk iPhone" event came into the iPhone 4S.
The features of Apple's iPhone 4S include the latest iOS 5 operating system, iCloud, an A5 dual-core processor found in the iPad 2, a much-improved 8-megapixel LED flash camera with 1080p HD video recording, secondary VGA camera for video chat, alternating antennae for better call reception, world phone with CDMA and GSM support, retina display, a smart personal assistant called Siri, and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology.
Just take a look at the fresh rumored specifications of iPhone 5.
Operating System: Apple's iPhone 4S, which is heading for an Oct. 14 launch, has iOS 5 that was announced at the WWDC 2011 keynote address on June 6. The iOS 5 comes with 200 new features that will include Improved Notifications System, Newsstand and iMessage. It will also feature new applications, such as the Reminders app and Newsstand, an application resembling Folders and iBooks.
It is to be seen whether Apple is bringing out its next OS, presumably called iOS 6, at the WWDC in June 2012 along with iPhone 5. The next OS is likely to come with more than 200 new features apart from the current ones.
But Misek expects that Apple is looking to merge iOS (iPhone/iPad) and OS X (Macintosh) into a single platform for apps and cloud services starting in 2012-13 and complete in 2016.
Users will be willing to pick up any iPhone, iPad, or Mac (or turn on their iTV) and have content move seamlessly between them and be optimized for the user and the device currently being used. Misek believes this will be difficult to implement if iOS and OS X are kept separate.
Hardware: The iPhone 4S will come with iPad 2's A5 chipset. The phone will be powered by 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPUwith NEON SIMD accelerator and a dual core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. Apple lists the A5 to be clocked at 1 GHz on iPad 2's technical specifications page, though it can dynamically adjust its frequency to save battery life.
The Apple A5 is a package on package system-on-a-chip designed by Apple and manufactured bySamsung to replace the Apple A4. Apple stated that the CPU is twice as powerful and the GPU up to seven times as powerful as its predecessor - the Apple A4. The A5 package contains 512 MB of low-power DDR2 RAM clocked at 533 MHz.
Recently, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC) is believed to have quietly secured Apple's contract, and even succeeded in extending the deal to cover the manufacture for the A6's successor, according to a DigiTimes report.
"We caution that this is an unconfirmed story and that Digitimes has in the past been inaccurate. Even if true, we estimate an Apple A6 order win would drive a modest 0.6 percent upside to earnings estimates in 2012 and 2.6 percent in 2013. Hence we do not see a confirmed Apple win as a re-rating catalyst," said Robert Lea, an analyst at Jefferies.
"Apple's next iPad will be faster and more power-efficient thanks to its new, quad-core A6 processor, but the new tablet may not be ready to ship until next June," Linley Gwennap, founder and principal analyst at The Linley Group told PCWorld.
The A6 should bring more performance to Apple devices while preserving battery life. Many of the improvements will come from TSMC's 28-nanometer manufacturing process, said Gwennap. The process will shrink the circuitry compared to the A5, which is manufactured on a 40-nanometer process, making the A6 smaller and faster.
The A6 will likely be based on ARM's Cortex-A9 processor, which is the same design used in the A5. ARM has announced an upcoming Cortex-A15 processor, but the first devices based on that design won't ship until late next year or early 2013, said Gwennap.
It is expected that the iPhone 5 will integrate a fast 1.2-to-1.5 GHz quad-core A6 chip, with probably 1GB or more of RAM.
Design: Best known for their beautiful design, Apple is expected to adopt a teardrop design for iPhone 5 that is supposed to be slimmer and lighter than previous iPhone models. The new smartphone will come with an aluminum plate casing rather than the current glass backing.
Rumors suggest a more uniform design across all of Apple's mobile devices than ever before, as aluminum may be the consistent material used in the upcoming iPad 3 and iPod lineups as well.
Display: Apple's iPhone 4S is just an upgrade of its previous versions with 3.5-inch multi-touch retina display. It is expected that iPhone 5 will have a larger edge-to-edge display possibly with 3.7-inch to 4.0-inch screen. With major smartphone manufacturers opting for 4.3 inches as the ideal screen for their phones, it will be interesting to see what comes out on the new iPhone 5.
According to rumors, Apple and Samsung were collaborating to introduce the AMOLED screen technology onto the device. But recent legal battle between the companies has dimmed that hopeful speculation.
The Quantum Dot LED technology could be a possible delivery for the iPhone 5. The new technology needs less power consumption while delivering the same quality of an OLED screen. It does not degrade the quality like OLED thanks to how its nanoparticles emit light.
Rumors of a curved glass display on iPhone 5 have been doing the rounds ever since DigiTimes reported in May that Apple had placed an order for glass cutting machines which are capable of making curved glass covers.
Camera: iPhone 4S comes with an 8-megapixel LED flash camera and a secondary VGA one for video chat. It is rumored that iPhone 5 will come with the same or 12-megapixel or more. Added to that, iPhone 5 is expected to have a dual-LED flash and the flash unit will be separated from the camera sensor. Along with the rear-facing, iPhone 5 is also expected to have a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting.
Another speculation indicated that iPhone 5 will have a 3D camera. Apple has filed a patent application related to 3D picture taking to the US Patent and Trademark Office later in March, according to an AppleInsider report. The filing described a system that would be capable of capturing, processing and rendering 3D images with the additional dual-camera hardware.
Home Button: One rumor that gets repeatedly mentioned is that Steve Jobs didn't want any physical buttons on the iPhone from the start. It is expected that iPhone 5 will have no physical buttons. However, a speculation suggest that the iPhone 5 may have a rectangular button compared to the circular one found in iPhone 4S.
iCloud: The iPhone 4S is featuring the new iCloud service for operating iTunes, providing wireless remote access of music from all computers and mobile devices. The iCloud will also store photos, apps, calendars and documents without using the phone's memory storag capacity.
The cloud will form the center of Apple's strategy, allowing users to effectively keep their identity and content profiles in the cloud, Misek believes. Users will log on to a device where the profile, content and apps will be customized and optimized for the device.
A preview of a beta version of iCloud shows the merger of iOS and OS X is happening with syncing across platforms. Misek said his preliminary view was that Apple could use a 32-bit ARM architecture to address the vast majority of the OS X ecosystem's needs in 2012-13 except for high-end professional devices.
4G: Apple's iPhone 4S does not feature 4G LTE technology, but analysts believe Apple has saved LTE for the iPhone 5. LTE, which stands for "Long-Term Evolution," provides significantly higher download and upload speeds compared to 3G technologies.
From very early on, industry experts were skeptical about Apple's chances of rolling out an LTE version this year. One reason was chipset supply issues and another was a worldwide lacunae in the implementation of the LTE network, which is seen as the standard for mobile communications in future.
Also, there were reports that Apple was unhappy with the first generation LTE chipsets from Qualcomm that would make phones bulkier. Analysts have said an iPhone-friendly LTE chipset would probably only come in 2012.
Apple's then stand-in Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, had said in April that the first generation LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises with the handset and that the company was not willing to make those compromises.
Luckily for Cook, Qualcomm is reportedly developing a new, thinner LTE chipset. The chip, dubbed the MDM9615, will likely be a 28-nanometer process, which is considerably smaller than current LTE chipsets' 45nm designs. The new LTE chip is expected to debut in the second or third quarter next year.
"Phones based on the MDM9615 will likely increase LTE battery life to reasonable levels rather than what we've seen from the first generation of devices," said Anand Shimpi, a chip expert and CEO of Anandtech.
Misek stated that Apple will likely launch the LTE iPhone in Summer 2012, though it could come earlier. This is because Qualcomm's LTE chipsets, which Apple would have used, were not reaching the yields that Apple expects for its iPhone 4S.
Scott Sutherland said consumers could expect an LTE iPhone in with a "materially improved user interface" in 2012, without explaining any further. If 4G is included, iPhone may be physically larger. 4G requires a large amount of battery power and Apple has always been careful about battery life.
Near Field Communication (NFC): NFC allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. A smartphone or tablet with an NFC chip could make a credit card payment or serve as keycard or ID card. Globally, 100 million people use mobile payment outside the U.S., but only 3.5 million use the technology in the U.S.
Apple is testing an iPhone that incorporates Near Field Communication technology. Users can simply pay for goods by waving their iPhone in front of a contactless payment scanner.
Wireless Charging: A revolutionary way of charging mobile devices may see iPhone 5 gain mass appeal. The inductive wireless charging technology for the iPhone could juice up its battery without the use of cables or plugs. By utilizing a charging dock, the iPhone can charge its battery as well as share, sync or back up data at the same time.
In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was experimenting with "a new way of charging" the 2012 iPhone. It is unclear exactly what charging mechanisms Apple is exploring, but it is possible that the company is considering using induction charging or some other similar wireless system that would negate the need to plug in a cable. Combined with wireless syncing coming in iOS 5, wireless charging could truly make the iPhone a cable-free device.
Fire-proof iPhone: Another rumor is that iPhone 5 will be a fire-proof phone. Apple has filed a patent application for an advanced halogen-free flame retardant material which could be used in future Apple products.
Rumors suggested that the new material will be integrated into the manufacturing of Apple products like keyboards, mice, iPods, the iPad, cabling and more. Apple's invention provides for a halogen free resin composition that includes at least one thermoplastic polymer, an inorganic filler and a flame retardant additive that is described as being "self-fire extinguishable."
Battery: iPhone 4S, which has a Li-Po 1420 mAh battery, gets up to 8 hours of talk time on 3G and up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM). The latest iPhone also has a standby time of up to 200 hours, much lower than iPhone 4's 300 hours standby.
It is expected that iPhone 5 will come with a better battery matching Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch's Li-Ion 1800 mAh. Galaxy S2's battery life is not the best on the face of the planet, but it easily lasts a day with good use and can stretch out to two days with mostly calls and texting.
