Asus has launched the Eee Pad Transformer, a tablet with an expandable keyboard docking station and combined battery life of up to 16 hours.
The Transformer runs on the Android 3.0 operating system, is powered by the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, and uses Asus’ Waveshare user interface. The tablet features built-in SRS Sound technology as well as 5 megapixel rear and 1.2 megapixel front-facing cameras.
A new analytical report has unearthed that the Asia-Pacific smartphone market is expected to double to 200 million by 2016, with Google’s Android operating system the leading platform.
According to the report, the growing popularity of the hand held devices, which allows users to surf the Internet and access emails, will mean they will account for almost a third of all mobiles in the region in that time. Despite the continuing success of Apple’s iPhone, the Android platform will be by far the most used system because it is used in so many devices.
The report further adds that smartphones, which numbered 100 million in the region last year, are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 12.5% between 2010 and 2016 and make up about 32% of all mobiles in Asia-Pacific.
It said that simultaneously, global sales are expected to hit 653 million, with Asia-Pacific accounting for 30.7% of the total. More than 288 million smartphone were sold worldwide in 2010.
It is also expected that the smartphone market will see significant growth over the next five years, once again outperforming the wider mobile phone market.
Slovenia’s Si.mobil is all set to launch Nokia E7 smartphone to the national market.
Nokia E7 is a Business Smartphone based on Symbian 3 Operating System and comes with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync preloaded, providing direct, secure access to corporate web mail and other personal applications.
The Nokia E7 boasts a 10.2-cm touchscreen with Nokia ClearBlack technology for improved visibility in outdoor environments and a full keyboard. Users can access business e-mail in real time with Mail for Exchange, with no extra costs or additional hardware, as well as receive e-mails directly from Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail, Ovi and other accounts. The phone also supports live updates from Facebook and Twitter, an 8 megapixel camera with HD video and GPS.
If sources are to be believed, Motorola Mobility has hired a number of experienced mobile and web engineers from Apple and Adobe and is developing a web-based mobile operating system as a possible alternative to Google’s Android software.
According to sources, Google is shooting itself in the foot.
Motorola did not deny the existence of the project but re-affirmed its interest in Android. As per Motorola spokesperson, the company is committed to Android as an operating system.
Motorola’s team appears to include a significant number of ex-Apple and Adobe personnel, including Gilles Drieu, VP of software engineering at Motorola Mobility; Benoit Marchant, director of engineering at Motorola Mobility; and Sean Kranzberg, also a director of engineering at Motorola Mobility.
A new research report has revealed that by the battle for the hearts and minds of consumer smartphone owners continues to be a heated one. When it comes to consumer market share by operating system, Android (29%) appears to be pulling ahead of RIM Blackberry (27%) and Apple iOS (27%).
However, an analysis by manufacturer shows RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers since they are the only ones creating and selling smartphones with their respective operating systems.
According to the data, Taiwan’s HTC follows with 12% of consumer smartphone owners having an HTC Android device and 7% owning an HTC device running a Microsoft OS. 10% of consumer smartphone owners had a Motorola Android device and 1% owned a Motorola device running a Microsoft OS.
Motorola has confirmed that rooting the operating system of the new Xoom tablet computer will render it ineligible for the free hardware upgrade to LTE connectivity.
In a statement on its support forum, a forum moderator wrote that rooted devices would not be eligible for the upgrade.
Although the Motorola Xoom is marketed as being an LTE device, initial tablets will not contain the necessary LTE hardware and users will be asked to return them back to Motorola for an upgrade in the next few months.
The validity of the block on upgrades for rooted tablets would depend on whether the purchase price includes a free hardware upgrade to put in the LTE chipset, or if it is being offered by Motorola as a free gesture to early buyers.
It was also pointed out by another Motorola forum moderator that users can just as easily return the tablet OS to its retail version and send the tablet back for the upgrade without it looking as if it had been tampered with.
KT, South Korea’s mobile operator, has launched nationwide high-speed WiMax service to help meet surging data demand from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
The country’ top fixed-line carrier KT seeks to further sharpen its competitive edge to counter threats from bigger rival SK Telecom, which will join KT in offering Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
According to KT, it plans to offer a series of smartphones, tablet PCs and laptops compatible with the high-speed WiBro network, which covers 85% of the country’s population, including Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Tab WiBro, which runs Google Inc.’s Android 2.2 operating system.
WiBro (Wireless Broadband) is a South Korean version of Mobile WiMax, a 4G mobile broadband technology that competes with Long-Term Evolution (LTE).
The parent company of China Unicom Ltd. has announced a new mobile phone brand that will use the company’s own operating system, placing it in competition with Apple Inc.’s iPhone and devices using Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
The launch of China United Network Communications Group Co.’s “Wophone” brand comes after rival network operator China Mobile Ltd. in 2009 revealed its own mobile phone platform, called “OPhone,” which failed to attract much interest.
China Unicom is in competition with China Mobile and China Telecom Corp. to attract more users of their 3G mobile services, which generate more revenue and offer faster data speeds than older 2G services.
According to Unicom’s patent company’s statement, companies that will offer Wophone devices include Chinese firms such as ZTE Corp., Huawei Technologies Co. and TCL Corp., South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. of the U.S. and HTC Corp. of Taiwan. The launch of the devices is imminent.
The statement added that the Wophone platform that has an operating system with a Linux core is meant for “smart terminals” and will help shorten product development cycles for mobile phone makers. That could help China Unicom expand its range of attractive handsets to gain users for its 3G services quickly.
A recent research has revealed that there will be an installed base of 140 million Android portable devices, including smartphones and tablets, by the end of 2011. Research has found that the recent unveiling of Google’s Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) operating system for tablets, along with enhancements to the Android Market website, will do much to enhance growth prospects for this segment.
According to researchers, this provides an exciting opportunity for pay-TV operators, which have traditionally been tethered to the living room, to expand the reach of their brands to multiple portable platforms with apps development.
In total, Apple OS and Android OS were present in nearly 125 million connected devices shipped in 2010 and this is only expected to increase in 2011. Such reach into consumers’ hands means more operators will be developing apps that enable subscribers to purchase and consume content on new portable platforms and explore new convergence applications, such as controlling your on-demand service on the TV set via the smartphone.
Handset vendors are expected to make a number of smartphone announcements at Mobile World Congress, as well as demonstrate new tablet devices. These devices are critical to the multi-screen strategies that mobile network operators and content providers are hoping will encourage widespread uptake by consumers.
Microsoft has begun launching its first Windows Phone 7 update. According to a statement on Microsoft’s own updates page, the small update is itself a change to improve the upgrade process for future downloads, apparently making it easier to manage larger OS upgrades.
The company noted that in some cases, it might deliver future updates to customers on a staggered schedule.
