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iPad Will Read Books Aloud, Support Open EPUB Format

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:31:59 -0800

Newsfactor:Apple has begun accepting orders for the iPad to be delivered next month and has released more details about e-books. Apple said the iPad will use the open EPUB format, so books can be purchased anywhere. The iPad will also use the VoiceOver feature to read screen content aloud, a function that could get Apple in trouble with the Authors Guild. Eager to be the first on your block with an iPad? Apple started taking orders for the tablets on Friday. Wi-Fi models running from $499 to $699 will be available on April 3; 3G models, costing $629 to $829, won't be available until late April.

Readmore at NewsFactor

Energizer USB Charger Software Contains Malware

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:52:25 -0800

Newsfactor:A USB charger from Energizer uses software that contains a Trojan, according to US-CERT. The software was apparently developed outside the U.S. and may have been giving hackers access to PCs since 2007. An analyst said trust in the Energizer bunny may have led many consumers to install the DUO USB charger malware even with a warning. Some Windows PC users may hope the Energizer bunny didn't keep going and going. It turns out the Energizer DUO USB battery charger is a vehicle for attacks on PCs, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team.
US-CERT researchers said Friday that the software that installs with the Energizer charger contains a Trojan horse that gives malicious hackers a back door into Windows machines.

"An attacker is able to remotely control a system , including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs. The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user," US-CERT said. "Removing the Energizer USB charger software will also remove the registry value that causes the backdoor to execute automatically when Windows starts."

Read more at Newsfactor

Lip reading mobile promises end to noisy phone calls

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:42:21 -0800

BBC: Technology that could see an end to the bane of many commuters - people talking loudly on their mobile phones - has been shown off by researchers. The prototype device could allow people to conduct silent phone conversations. The technology measures the tiny electrical signals produced by muscles used when someone speaks.

Read More at the BBC

Buying a New Windows Mobile Phone leaves you out of Window Mobile 7

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:36:34 -0800

Newsfactor: Even new purchasers of Windows Mobile 6.5 phones won't be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series. Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 Series will require new hardware and even the new HTC HD2 phone doesn't qualify. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel will carry the Windows Phone 7 Series devices.

Read more at Newsfactor

Gartner Report - Mobile Phone Market

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:11:26 -0800

Gartner has a new report out detailing mobile phone market slices. It's no news to regular reagers that MSFT has been absolutely failing the last two years in a market they once dominated. But we need to keep in mind the smartphone market is just BEGINNING to take off. Consider these two statistics:

- Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 1.211 billion units in 2009
- In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8% increase from 2008

There is no doubt that the iPhone has momentum in the market. And so does Android, thought it's not taking off as fast as some had predicted it would. Smartphones are replacing "non-smartphones" but currently represent less that 16% of the total mobile phone market. That's a LOT of market share still in play.

In many ways, we're still in the "early adopter" phase of the smartphone market. The mobile smartphone platform "wars" will go on for ages yet. In fact not until the "so-called" 4G cellular networks are fully in place will we have any idea who the eventual winners and loosers will be. It's still early days in this market.

Check this out from Gartner. http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1306513

Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users Grew 8 Per Cent in Fourth Quarter 2009;
Market Remained Flat in 2009
Combined Market Share of Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors Dropped More Than 4 Percentage Points in 2009
Egham, UK, February 23, 2010 �

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 1.211 billion units in 2009, a 0.9 per cent decline from 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the market registered a single-digit growth as mobile phone sales to end users surpassed 340 million units, an 8.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008.

"The mobile devices market finished on a very positive note, driven by growth in smartphones and low-end devices," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. �Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1 per cent from the same period in 2008. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008. In 2009, smartphone-focused vendors like Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) successfully captured market share from other larger device producers, controlling 14.4 and 19.9 per cent of the worldwide smartphone market, respectively.�

Throughout 2009, intense price competition put pressure on average selling prices (ASPs). The major handset producers had to respond more aggressively in markets such as China and India to compete with white-box producers, while in mature markets they competed hard with each other for market share. Gartner expects the better economic environment and the changing mix of sales to stabilise ASPs in 2010.

Three of the top five mobile phone vendors experienced a decline in sales in 2009 (see Table 1). The top five vendors continued to lose market share to Apple and other vendors, with their combined share dropping from 79.7 in 2008 to 75.3 per cent in 2009.

In 2009, Nokia's annual mobile phone sales to end users reached 441 million units, a 2.2 per cent drop in market share from 2008. Although Nokia outperformed industry expectations in sales and revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, its declining smartphone ASP showed that it continues to face challenges from other smartphone vendors. "Nokia will face a tough first half of 2010 as improvement to Symbian and new products based on the Meego platform will not reach the market well before the second half of 2010," said Ms Milanesi. "Its very strong mid-tier portfolio will help it hold market share, but its ongoing weakness at the high end of the portfolio will hurt its share of market value."

Samsung was the clear winner among the top five with market share growing by 3.2 percentage points from 2008. This achievement came as a result of improved channel relationships with distributors to extend its reach and better address the needs of individual markets as well as a rich mid-tier portfolio. For 2010, the company is putting a focus on Bada, its new operating system (OS) that aims at adding the value of an ecosystem to its successful hardware lineup.

Motorola sold slightly more than half of its 2008 sales and exhibited the sharpest drop in market share, accounting for 4.8 per cent market share in 2009. "Its refocus away from the low-end market limited the volume opportunity, but should help it drive margins going forward. Motorola's hardest barrier is to grow brand awareness outside the North American market, where it benefits from a long-lasting relationship with key communications service providers (CSPs).

In the smartphone OS market, Symbian continued its lead, but its share dropped 5.4 percentage points in 2009 (see Table 2). Competitive pressure from its competitors, such as RIM and Apple, and the continued weakness of Nokia's high-end device sales have negatively impacted Symbian's share.

At Mobile World Congress 2010, Symbian Foundation announced its first release since Symbian became fully open source. Symbian^3 should be made available by the end of the first quarter of 2010 and may reach the first devices by the third quarter of 2010, while Symbian^4 should be released by the end of 2010.

"Symbian had become uncompetitive in recent years, but its market share, particularly on Nokia devices, is still strong. If Symbian can use this momentum, it could return to positive growth," said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner.

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=3667

The two best performers in 2009 were Android and Apple. Android increased its market share by 3.5 percentage points in 2009, while Apple's share grew by 6.2 percentage points from 2008, which helped it move to the No. 3 position and displace Microsoft Windows Mobile.

�Android's success experienced in the fourth quarter of 2009 should continue into 2010 as more manufacturers launch Android products, but some CSPs and manufacturers have expressed growing concern about Google's intentions in the mobile market,� Ms Cozza said. �If such concerns cause manufacturers to change their product strategies or CSPs to change which devices they stock, this might hinder Android's growth in 2010.�

"Looking back at the announcements during Mobile World Congress 2010, we can expect 2010 to retain a strong focus around operating systems, services and applications while hardware takes a back seat," said Ms Milanesi. "Sales will return to low-double-digit growth, but competition will continue to put a strain on vendors' margins."

Additional information is in the Gartner report "Competitive Landscape: Mobile Devices, Worldwide, 4Q09 and 2009." The report is available on Gartner's website at www.gartner.com.

Skyfire version 1.5 is out! for Windows Mobile and Symbian

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:05:03 -0800

With this release Skyfire is now available on the latest Nokia touch-screen phones (Symbian S60 5th Edition). Skyfire 1.5 also supports the newest higher resolution screens like VGA and wVGA, so you'll enjoy crisp text and stunning graphics and video. The new version also adds a more finger-friendly user interface (goodbye stylus!), and upgrades both our client and our server for an even faster browsing experience.

What's new?

Symbian S60 5th Edition support (beta)
Full high resolution support: Skyfire now provides native support for the high-resolution VGA and wVGA screens found on many newer phones.
Finger friendly UI: A new, intuitive, and finger friendly UI for touch screen phones provides an easier browsing experience
Smooth Scrolling: Kinetic scrolling has been added to Skyfire. Pan or flick the screen to move in any direction smoothly.
Full screen mode: For touch screens, browse in full screen mode with no UI elements on the screen for maximum page visibility
Updated Flash & Silverlight: Both upgraded to the newest version available
Performance: Upgraded both client and server for faster and more responsive browsing

Get Skyfire Here!

iPhone developers angry as Apple purges adult apps

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:51:51 -0800

The poor Apple porn APP developers have been cutoff by big brother. Why not just have a special porn section/search word that won't let innocent APP searchers hit a porn APP without specifying porn or adult?

BBC: Developers have expressed anger at Apple's decision to ban some adult-themed applications from its iPhone.Thousands of apps with adult-themed content have been removed from the store since Friday although some, such as one from Playboy, remain.

Apple has said that certain apps were removed following customer complaints. Developer Jon Atherton is angry that previously-approved apps have been pulled, and accuses Apple of "experimenting with our livelihoods".

Read More

Patent Wars Heat Up for Apple, Nokia, Kodak and RIM

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:13:44 -0800

Newsfactor: Apple, Inc.'s patent complaint against Nokia will be reviewed by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which is already reviewing Nokia's complaint against Apple. The mobile-phone makers are locked in an escalating battle for mobile-phone licensing. Beyond Apple and Nokia, Kodak has also filed complaints against Apple and Research In Motion.

Apple is one step closer to potentially taking a bite out of Nokia's U.S. market share. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday said it will review the iPhone maker's complaint against the Finland-based mobile-phone giant. The ITC is also reviewing a similar complaint from Nokia against Apple.

Read more at Newsfactor

Intel and Nokia Merge Software Platforms for Future Computing Devices

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:39:44 -0800

The MeeGo software platform will be hosted by the Linux Foundation as a fully open source project, encouraging community participation in line with the best practices of the open source development model. Intel and Nokia invite the respective members of Maemo.org and Moblin.org to join the combined community at MeeGo.com, as well as encouraging wider participation from the communications, computing and related industries. Developers can begin writing applications for MeeGo in Qt immediately. The first release of MeeGo is targeted for the second quarter of this year.

* Global leaders Intel Corporation and Nokia merge Moblin and Maemo to create MeeGo*, a Linux-based software platform that will support multiple hardware architectures across the broadest range of device segments, including pocketable mobile computers, netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

* MeeGo offers the Qt application development environment, and builds on the capabilities of the Moblin core operating system and reference user experiences. Using Qt, developers can write once to create applications for a variety of devices and platforms, and market them through Nokia's Ovi Store and Intel AppUpSM Center.

* MeeGo will be hosted by the Linux Foundation and governed using the best practices of the open source development model. The first release of MeeGo is expected in the second quarter of 2010 with devices launching later in the year.

* Nokia and Intel expect MeeGo to be adopted widely by global device manufacturers, network operators, semiconductor companies, software vendors and developers

Windows Phone 7 Series: Life In Motion

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:33:33 -0800

Microsoft introduced their new Windows Phone 7 at the World Mobile Congress. Replete with Zune features, Microsoft does a little iPhone trashing.