It looks like Samsung could be losing its grip on the Android phone market as the Korean device maker warns investors that profits have dipped by 25 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 due to low demand for its Samsung Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone. A couple of weeks ago …
Read More »UK joins US in mobile charge flight check
We heard the other day that all flights going into the US might require you to prove that your mobile phone isn't a bomb, by turning it on, and now it looks like the UK is following suit. Changes made to passenger advice on the government's website suggests that all …
Read More »Samsung’s Gear VR headset pictured, described
The rumours about Samsung’s own virtual reality headset have been circulating for several months now. Late on Tuesday the first image of the device showed up on the web along with some additional details regarding the gadget. Based on the render published by SamMobile, Samsung’s Gear VR virtual reality headset …
Read More »Intel, Dell, Samsung, others to develop new wireless tech
Six major high-tech industry companies on Tuesday said they would jointly develop a new wireless communication technology for various devices. The new interconnection will utilise existing and emerging wireless standards and will be designed to be compatible with a variety of operating systems Atmel Corp., Broadcom Corp., Dell, Intel Corp., …
Read More »Microsoft readies “Nokia by Microsoft” branding
Although Microsoft Corp. has rights to use the Nokia name for several years, it cannot use it forever. According to a leaked image, Microsoft will start to prepare its smartphones for transition to its own brand shortly. Initially the firm will introduce the “Nokia by Microsoft” trademark, but eventually the …
Read More »Apple iWatch could threat luxury Swiss watches – LVMH exec
Apple’s iWatch device is expected to revolutionize the market of wearable electronics, just like the iPhone transformed the market of smartphones. Apparently, that is not all. At least one high-ranking executive from a Swiss watch maker believes that tech smart-watches have to be taken seriously and they may be a …
Read More »Nvidia may drop its Shield game console in favour of Shield tablet
Nvidia Corp.’s Shield gaming device has not become popular after about a year on the market. Apparently, neither Google Android games with dedicated controls nor streamed PC titles could attract attention of core gamers. While it was expected that the company would introduce a new, sleeker, version of Shield this …
Read More »Apple hires executive from Tag Heuer as iWatch approaches
Apple has hired yet another executive from the fashion world to boost its team responsible for development, sales and marketing of the iWatch device due to be released later this year. The hire once again confirms that the iWatch will not be just a health and fitness tracker, but likely …
Read More »Early Android L tests show huge battery life improvement
Project Volta is Google's effort to improve Android battery life and it seems to be off to a good start as early tests of the Android L feature show a huge battery life improvement. Project Volta provides a few tweaks to the operating system including better task scheduling, which saves …
Read More »Samsung Display to build $1 billion display assembly fab in Vietnam
Samsung Display said Thursday that it received approval to build a $1 billion display module assembly plant in Vietnam. The company already makes some of its smartphones in the country, so the addition of a display assembly facility will allow the company to boost its manufacturing efficiency. Samsung intends to …
Read More »Steve Wozniak criticizes smart-watches, praises Google Glass
Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple who foresaw the emergence of the upcoming iWatch several years ago, claims that smart-watches have too limited functionality and too small displays. At the same time, he praises Google Glass. While the former partner of Steve Jobs does not really admire wearable computing devices …
Read More »SMIC to produce 28nm chips for Qualcomm in China
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), a China-based contract maker of chips, and Qualcomm on Thursday announced that SMIC will produce Qualcomm’s Snapdragon system-on-chips for mobile devices using 28nm process technology in China. The move will help Qualcomm to boost production of its advanced SoCs and lower their manufacturing costs. As …
Read More »Nexus 9 leaked specs are impressive
We are seeing a fair few leaks of the upcoming Nexus 9 at the moment, right now HTC is supposedly making Google's next tablet and it is set to feature some pretty powerful components. The latest information comes from evleaks, who claims that the early renders of the device were …
Read More »Qualcomm acquires Wilocity, set to support up to 7Gb/s WiGig in various devices
Qualcomm Inc. on Wednesday said that it has completed acquisition of Wilocity, a leading developer of chipsets supporting the WiGig technology with multi-gigabit transfer rates. The company also said that it will offer platforms for various devices that will support the 60GHz wireless tech based on the IEEE 802.11ad standard. The …
Read More »GlobalFoundries and Samsung reportedly land orders from Apple
In a bid to better compete against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Samsung Semiconductor and GlobalFoundries earlier this year agreed to unify one of their 14nm process technologies and offer their foundry services collaboratively. Apparently, the tactics has worked out and the two companies recently landed orders to make chips using the …
Read More »Canon and Microsoft sign broad cross-licensing agreement
Microsoft Corp. and Canon on Wednesday said that they have signed a broad patent cross-licensing agreement. Thanks to the new pact the two companies gain licenses to each other’s highly valued and growing patent portfolios. Theoretically, Canon’s licensing of Microsoft patents may indicate that the company is preparing a family …
Read More »Android L confirmed for Nexus 4 and original Nexus 7
The list of devices set to receive Google's new Android L update has expanded to include all Nexus devices after the Nexus 4. This means that the update will roll out to the Original Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and the Nexus 4 handset. This is all thanks to Google releasing …
Read More »Vaio launches as independent PC company in Japan
Earlier this year Sony Corp. decided to sell off its money-losing Vaio personal computer business to Japan Industrial Partners, an investment fund. As expected, on the 1st of July Vaio Inc. began its operations as an independent PC company. Initially the firm will only operate in Japan, but it hopes …
Read More »Ouya announces new subscription model trial
The Ouya is getting a new all encompassing game pass, allowing those who own an Ouya access to over 800 of the console's games for a $59.99 one of annual payment. However, the company is still somehow going to manage to pay developers its 70 per cent cut of the …
Read More »Hewlett-Packard may return to market of gaming notebooks
Although Hewlett-Packard acquired VoodooPC, a boutique PC maker, to compete for the market of high-end gaming PCs in 2006, by now the company has completely withdrawn from this market. According to a media report, HP plans to re-enter the market of gaming PCs with a brand-new laptop later this year. …
Read More »Microsoft cancels Surface Mini media tablet
Microsoft Corp. has reportedly called off its plans to introduce Surface Mini media tablet. The company decided not to enter the market of smaller slates because it is already very crowded. Nonetheless, the software giant may reconsider its plans regarding smaller tablets if market conditions change. Microsoft was expected to …
Read More »Less than 1/4 of Android devices compatible with Android Wear
While Google and its partners introduced several attractive smartwatches powered by the Android Wear operating system at Google IO this week, this does not mean that they are going to revolutionize the market shortly. Apparently, less than a quarter of all Android-based smartphones are compatible with Android Wear devices. Android …
Read More »Possible Apple iPhone 6 release date revealed
Apple plans to start sales of its eighth-generation iPhone smartphones on Friday, the 19th of September, according to reports from China and Germany. Since Apple traditionally starts to sell new iPhones on the largest markets in September, the information looks rather trustworthy. Starting from late May this year Deutsche Telekom …
Read More »Apple may cease offering 16GB iPhone models
While 16GB of storage was sufficient for mobile devices three or four years ago, at present it is not really enough if one wants to keep a lot of photos and apps on his/her smartphone or tablet. Apple has long been criticized for its 16GB devices and it looks like …
Read More »Asus to launch affordable Android Wear smartwatch in September
Asustek Computer was expected to reveal its plans concerning wearable electronics at Computex 2014 earlier this month, but for some reason the company decided not to do that. This does not mean that Asus has decided not to enter the market, or significantly delay its products. According to unofficial information, …
Read More »Microsoft Mobile reveals Android-based Nokia X2 with new software
Microsoft Mobile on Thursday introduced Nokia X2, its new smartphone based on a modified version of Google Android operating system aimed at customers in budget. The new handset weds Windows Phone-like experience with Google Android applications. The device features numerous software and hardware enhancements compared to the original Nokia X1. …
Read More »Nvidia and Samsung drop development ARM chips for servers
Nvidia Corp. and Samsung Electronics have decided to withdraw from development of server-class system-on-chips based on the ARMv8 instruction set. Since there are too many similar server chips in development, the two companies most likely do not want to compete in an extremely crowded market. Both Nvidia and Samsung design …
Read More »Google: Android has one billion active users
Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices passed one billion of activations in September, 2013. While the number of activations is important, it does not indicate how many customers actually use a platform. On Wednesday Android and Chrome chief Sundar Pichai revealed that over a billion of people used Google’s …
Read More »Foxconn to start volume production of next-gen iPhone next month
Foxconn Electronics, the world’s largest contract maker of electronics, plans to start volume production of the next-generation iPhone with a 4.7” display next month. At present it is unclear when the manufacturer intends to begin making the even bigger Apple smartphone with a 5.5” screen. Bloomberg news agency reports that …
Read More »Freemium apps account for 98% of Google Play Store revenue
Free to Play and Freemium style apps have been a huge source of income for developers but it also turns out that these apps generate most of the Google Play store's overall revenue. The Play Store surpassed 1 million apps last summer and now the total number of apps on …
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