247droid: October 2013

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Retina iPad Mini Supply to be 'Ridiculously Tight'

Apple iPad Mini vs. The Competition

Apple Doubled Its U.S. Smartphone Share in September

Google Accidentally Leaks Nexus 5 Smartphone, Again

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has reconfirmed all 20 claims of the 'Steve Jobs Patent' after tentatively rejecting all the claims in December 2012, reports FOSS Patents.

U.S. Patent No. 7,479,949 covers a "touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics". The patent, which lists Steve Jobs as an inventor, was challenged anonymously leading to its tentative rejection.

On September 4th, 2013 the USPTO issued a reexamination certificate confirming all 20 claims because the prior art neither anticipated this invention nor renders it obvious.

As Florian Mueller notes, "This outcome is a major strategic win for Apple, a massive setback for Samsung and Google, and a potential threat to other Android device makers."

More details at this link...

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Intel Touts Its Bay Trail Processor Over Apple's A7 Chip

Google Maps for iOS Gets Faster Access to Navigation, Additional Language Support

Google Maps for iOS has been updated with faster access to navigation, complete with route and traffic overview.

The WatchESPN app has been updated to let Google Fiber users log in and watch live sports and shows.

Chevrolet today announced additional vehicles with Chevrolet MyLink will be available with Siri, Apple’s intelligent assistant. Siri Eyes Free Integration will be available on the 2014 Camaro, Cruze, Equinox, Malibu, SS and Volt.

HTC Unveils HTC One Max Smartphone With Fingerprint Scanner

HTC has unveiled the HTC One Max with a built-in fingerprint scanner and 5.9-inch 1080p display. The fingerprint scanner is located on the back of the device and lets users unlock or lock the device quickly. It also allows users to launch up to three favorite applications by assigning a different finger to each app.

"The addition of the HTC One max means that we now have an HTC One phone for everyone. The family has been built on quality and game-changing innovations and the HTC One max is certainly no exception," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "The upgrade to HTC Sense 5.5 will provide our most amazing mobile experience yet, with the HTC One max delivering the size and power required to do everything you want, and more, without compromise."

The full press details can be found below.

Facebook has acquired the Onavo Extend app which uses data compression to help you minimize the data usage of your mobile device.

Onavo Extend is a powerful app that lets you stretch your data plan by up to five times without changing the way you use your smartphone or tablet. With the data compression power of Onavo Extend, you can do more with your data plan while avoiding overage charges, roaming fees and data throttling.

The acquisition was announced on Onavo's site. Here's the full announcement from the company's CEO & CTO.

Leaked Hands-On Video of the Unreleased Google Nexus 5 Smartphone

A hands-on video of the what appears to be a Google Nexus 5 prototype has leaked online, reports Engadget.

The unit matches a previous accidental photo leak from Google, but it's unlikely the final version; the software is listed as KeyLimePie, the back is marked with "Not For Sale" and the camera lens appears rough around the edges.

Nearly all the details on smartphone have already leaked online thanks to a service manual from LG. The phone was also left to charge unattended at the bar where an employee managed to capture a few video clips of the device.

Take a look at the hands-on video below. No word yet on when Google is planning to announce the device.

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Saturday, October 12, 2013

Leaked Photos of Nokia's First Windows Tablet

Photos of the Lumia 2520, Nokia's first Windows tablet, have been leaked online by @evleaks.

The tablet is said to feature a 10.1-inch display and come in black, white, red, and cyan.

Apple Looks to Poach BlackBerry Employees

Just shortly after BlackBerry revealed it would lay off up to 40% of its workforce, Apple hosted a recruitment drive 20 kms away from the company's headquarters, reports the Financial Post.

Apple invited BlackBerry employees to a recruitment event held at the Cambridge Hotel and Conference Center on September 26th.

“Most positions will be based in Cupertino, CA.,” according to a LinkedIn invite sent to certain BlackBerry employees. “Relocation and immigration assistance will be provided for candidates that are hired, as needed.”

Pfeiffer Consulting has compared the leading mobile operating systems and determined that iOS 7 wins for Overall User Experience.

Here's what they had to say about each operating system...

iOS 7: 73.25
Apple has achieved its goal to move iOS into the modern smartphone era. Despite some controversial design aspects, iOS 7 is pleasant and more fluid to use than other mobile operating systems—and it does not look like any competing system on the market. It will be interesting what the longterm impact of iOS7 will be—in any case, market penetration is likely to be significantly faster than that of any other new mobile operating system.

iOS 6: 70
iOS 6 is still the simplest mobile operating system, especially for very inexperienced users, but that simplicity comes at the price of efficiency and integration features that the operating system lacks. In the context of smartphone use, the absence of these features is a handicap, since, unlike tablets, smartphones rely much more on tight integration of repeatedly used key apps and services.

Android (Samsung): 57.25
Android has come a long way in terms of user experience, and could easily become an iOS killer not only in terms of market-share, but in terms of user experience—provided that Google and Samsung truly understood where the user experience differences with Apple’s platform lie.

A federal judge in Delaware has dismissed a class-action lawsuit brought against Google for bypassing Safari privacy settings, reports the WSJ.

U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson wrote that the companies had circumvented the browsers’ settings, allowing users’ personal information to be sold to ad companies. But the judge said that the plaintiffs couldn’t show that they suffered because the companies collected and sold their information.

Back in 2012, the FTC investigated claims that Google circumvented Safari's ad-block settings in order to store cookies and deliver targeted ads to users.

T-Mobile Officially Announces Unlimited Data and Texting Worldwide at No Extra Charge

T-Mobile has officially announced that it will deliver unlimited global data at no extra charge in 100+ countries.

Starting Oct. 31, Simple Choice individual and business customers automatically get unlimited data (at up to 2G speeds) and texting in more than 100 Simple Global countries worldwide, and they will only pay a global flat rate of 20 cents per minute for voice calls when roaming in the same countries. Eligible customers on T-Mobile’s popular Simple Choice plan won’t have to activate anything or pay an extra monthly fee.

Obama Administration Denies Samsung Request to Veto ITC Import Ban Tweet inShare Posted October 8, 2013 at 4:18pm by iClarified | Please help us and submit a translation by clicking here | 2357 views The Obama Administration has denied Samsung's request to veto an import ban ordered by the ITC, reports Bloomberg. The administration vetoed a ban against Apple devices in August. “After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice from agencies, and information from interested parties, I have decided to allow” the import ban to proceed, Obama’s designee, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, said in a statement. Samsung wanted the ban overturned on public policy grounds, especially considering that its ban against Apple devices was vetoed. The company must now seek a delay in the ban from a U.S. appeals court. The Samsung devices banned infringe on two Apple patents, one that covers a multitouch feature and one for a sensor for headphone jacks. In contrast, Samsung’s ban against Apple devices covered a basic device function, the ability to transmit data that was part of a standard used across platforms. Thus, the Obama Administration cited its position that standard essential patents should not be used to block competition and overturned the ban on those grounds. “The order expressly states that these devices and any other Samsung electronic media devices incorporating the approved design-around technologies are not covered,” Froman said. “Thus, I do not believe that concerns with regard to enforcement related to the scope of the order, in this case, provide a policy basis for disapproving it.”

Obama Administration Denies Samsung Request to Veto ITC Import Ban Tweet
inShare

Posted October 8, 2013 at 4:18pm by iClarified | Please help us and submit a translation by clicking here | 2357 views
The Obama Administration has denied Samsung's request to veto an import ban ordered by the ITC, reports Bloomberg. The administration vetoed a ban against Apple devices in August.

“After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice from agencies, and information from interested parties, I have decided to allow” the import ban to proceed, Obama’s designee, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, said in a statement.

Samsung wanted the ban overturned on public policy grounds, especially considering that its ban against Apple devices was vetoed. The company must now seek a delay in the ban from a U.S. appeals court.

The Samsung devices banned infringe on two Apple patents, one that covers a multitouch feature and one for a sensor for headphone jacks. In contrast, Samsung’s ban against Apple devices covered a basic device function, the ability to transmit data that was part of a standard used across platforms. Thus, the Obama Administration cited its position that standard essential patents should not be used to block competition and overturned the ban on those grounds.

“The order expressly states that these devices and any other Samsung electronic media devices incorporating the approved design-around technologies are not covered,” Froman said. “Thus, I do not believe that concerns with regard to enforcement related to the scope of the order, in this case, provide a policy basis for disapproving it.”

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Google Chairman Eric Schmidt Claims Android is More Secure Than iPhone

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt claimed that Android is "more secure than the iPhone" at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Monday.

Schmidt made his comments after Gartner's chief of research for mobility and communications, David Willis, explained to Schmidt that Android is not secure.

"If you polled many people in this audience they would say Google Android is not their principal platform... When you say Android, people say, wait a minute, Android is not secure."

Schmidt quickly replied: "Not secure? It's more secure than the iPhone."

Reportedly, the audience laughed at Schmidt's response, as he then explained that Android's billion-plus activations put it through vigorous security testing.

Android is often criticized as being a fragmented platform, and Schmidt was quick to shoot down. "With Android we have an agreement for vendors that you keep the Android stores compatible and that is a great breakthrough for Android," he said.

Schmidt closed with saying how users "will be happier with Gmail, Chrome and Android more than you can possibly imagine" and reiterated his belief that "Android is very secure."

Sunday, October 6, 2013

BlackBerry Hit With Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit for Allegedly Misleading Investors

BlackBerry and its executives have been hit with a shareholder class action lawsuit accusing the them of inflating the stock price by misleading investors on the prospects of its BlackBerry 10 smartphones, reports Reuters.

Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry, formerly Research In Motion Ltd, misled investors last year by saying that the company was "progressing on its financial and operational commitments," and that previews of its BlackBerry 10 platform were well received by developers, according to shareholder Marvin Pearlstein in a lawsuit lodged in Manhattan federal court.

Pearlstein is looking to represent thousands of shareholders who purchased BlackBerry stock between September 27, 2012 and and September 20, 2013 when it revealed a loss of $930-$960 million in unsold BlackBerry 10 devices.

"In reality, the BlackBerry 10 was not well-received by the market, and the company was forced to ... lay off approximately 4,500 employees, totaling approximately 40 percent of its total workforce," the complaint alleges.

On September 23, 2013, BlackBerry announced that it had signed a letter of intent to be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited for $9/share or about $4.7 billion.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Qualcomm Says Apple's 64-Bit A7 Processor is a 'Marketing Gimmick'

Qualcomm SVP and Chief Marketing Officer Anand Chandrasekher says Apple's 64-bit A7 processor is just a 'marketing gimmick', reports TechWorld.

"I know there's a lot of noise because Apple did [64-bit] on their A7," said Anand Chandrasekher, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Qualcomm, in an interview. "I think they are doing a marketing gimmick. There's zero benefit a consumer gets from that."

Chandrasekher notes that while 64-bit allows for more memory addressability the iPhone 5s only has 1GB.

"Predominantly... you need it for memory addressability beyond 4GB. That's it. You don't really need it for performance, and the kinds of applications that 64-bit get used in mostly are large, server-class applications," said Chandrasekher.

Despite the comments, Qualcomm says it will eventually move to a 64-bit processor due to benefits from engineering, chip design and OSes standpoints.

Google Acquires Flutter Hand Gesture Detection App for OS X

Google has acquired Flutter, an app for OS X and Windows that uses your computers webcam to detect hand gestures.

Flutter is Kinect for OS X. It uses HAND GESTURES detected via built-in webcam in your device to play, pause and skip songs & videos in iTunes, Spotify, Rdio, MPlayerX (most recent version), VLC (more recent version), Ecoute, Quicktime, Keynote, YouTube, Netflix, Pandora, and Grooveshark.

Google confirmed the acquisition to TNW saying, "We’re really impressed by the Flutter team’s ability to design new technology based on cutting-edge research. We look forward to supporting and collaborating on their research efforts at Google."

Flutter says users will be able to continue to use the app, and stay tuned for future updates.

Features:
- Play/Pause your music & videos using simple hand gestures (palm gesture)
- Go to Next Song (thumbs right) or rewind to Previous Song (thumbs left) (Note: First thumbs left gesture takes you to beginning of song. Another thumbs left performed quickly jumps to the previous song)
- Works via your webcam -- no additional hardware necessary
- Works best from 1-6 feet distance from webcam
- Works even when Spotify, iTunes, Rdio, and other apps are playing music/video in the background or are minimized

You can purchase Flutter from the App Store for $4.99.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

It's Not Just Samsung That's Rigging Benchmark Results

AnandTech has posted a chart that reveals it's not just Samsung that's artificially inflating its benchmark result scores.

Yesterday, Apple SVP Phil Schiller tweeted a link to a report from ArsTechnica which revealed that Samsung has been artificially inflating its benchmark scores for the Galaxy Note 3.

AnandTech has followed up with its own report:

We started piecing this data together back in July, and even had conversations with both silicon vendors and OEMs about getting it to stop. With the exception of Apple and Motorola, literally every single OEM we’ve worked with ships (or has shipped) at least one device that runs this silly CPU optimization. It's possible that older Motorola devices might've done the same thing, but none of the newer devices we have on hand exhibited the behavior. It’s a systemic problem that seems to have surfaced over the last two years, and one that extends far beyond Samsung.

Check out the chart below to see some of the tests that manufacturers have gamed. Hopefully, this added publicity will put a stop to the practice.

WD Launches My Cloud Personal Cloud Storage Solution

WD today introduced its new My Cloud family of personal cloud solutions that lets users organize, centralize and secure the digital content from all of their computers and mobile devices and access those files from any device, from anywhere in the world.

By simply connecting a My Cloud personal cloud drive to the Internet, consumers get the anywhere, any-device access they can get from the public cloud, without having to pay monthly fees or giving up control of their personal data.

“We believe that there’s no place like home for the cloud,” said Jim Welsh, executive vice president and general manager of WD's branded products and consumer electronics groups. “Everyone is inundated with thousands of digital files scattered across multiple computers and mobile devices, and controlling that chaos is a challenge. WD’s personal cloud is the easiest, most secure and most affordable way for customers to control that chaos, with access to all of their files anywhere, anytime.”

Personal cloud storage is the new standard, allowing users to keep media and files safe at home on their own physical drive and then access them over the Internet with any PC or Mac computer or on tablets and smartphones through mobile apps. Using the My Cloud drive, users can share files, stream media and access content anywhere with no monthly fees and feel secure in the knowledge that their cloud resides in their own home under their exclusive control.

Streamlined Setup and Backup
Customers can get their personal cloud up and running in minutes with WD’s rich web-based user interface for seamless web-guided setup. WD's software auto-detects the drive to make setup simple for novice users. Once the My Cloud drive is setup, customers can easily connect their computers and mobile devices with WD's free desktop and mobile apps. With a Gigabit Ethernet connection and Dual-Core processor, transferring files is blazing fast, allowing customers to quickly centralize all of the digital content scattered across various devices onto My Cloud. With direct file uploads from mobile devices, important files and videos can be safely moved to My Cloud, freeing up valuable space on users’ tablets and smartphones.

Customers can also use their My Cloud to back up their computers and digital files. For PC users, WD SmartWare Pro software offers options for how, when and where to back up files. Mac users can utilize all the features of Apple® Time Machine® backup software to protect their data.

Complete Control
My Cloud users can store and organize their families’ photos, videos, music and important documents in one secure place on the home network. With the new My Cloud desktop app, navigating, controlling and sharing these files from anywhere in the world is simple and intuitive. My Cloud is available in 2 TB, 3 TB, and 4 TB capacities, providing bountiful storage capacity with no monthly payment required. Customers can also attach a compatible USB 3.0 hard drive directly to the USB expansion port on the My Cloud drive and instantly expand their storage capacity.

Additionally, My Cloud serves as a home’s digital entertainment hub, storing terabytes of movies and music that can then be streamed to any DLNA-certified multimedia device such as a WD TV Live media player, as well as smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Accessing the Personal Cloud
Available for iOS and Android devices, the new WD My Cloud mobile app allows users to view photos, stream video and access their files from anywhere on their smartphones or tablets. The mobile app also makes file sharing and collaborating simple and secure, allowing customers to easily email files, share files as a link, and print and open files with third party apps.

Additionally, the My Cloud mobile app integrates major public cloud services so that customers can easily transfer files between their Dropbox, SkyDrive and Google Drive public cloud accounts.

Price and Availability
The 2 TB and 3 TB My Cloud is currently available at select U.S. retailers and online at the wdstore.com. The 4 TB My Cloud is expected to be available in November. MSRP is $149.99 USD for 2 TB, $179.99 USD for 3 TB and $249.99 USD for 4 TB. The My Cloud mobile app currently is available for download from the App Store and Google Play. A two drive and four drive My Cloud configuration will be available in the future.

Capacity and Compatibility
My Cloud personal cloud storage is available in capacities of 2 TB, 3 TB and 4 TB is compatible with Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard, as well as DLNA/UPnP enabled devices.

German iCloud Users Get Push Email Back

Apple has finally been able to make push email available again to German iCloud users, reports Foss Patents. After more than 19 months of legal battles with Google's Motorola Mobility over a patent that 'should never have been granted in the first place'.

The main claim of the patent was found invalid for four independent reasons by a U.K. court last December. However, Google refused to stay the enforcement of the injunction. Apple filed with the Karlsruhe-based appeals court a motion to stay enforcement against Google's will and last month the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court granted it; however, Apple was required to put up a 100 million euro bond in case future litigation upheld its validity.

The Federal Patent Court based in Munich will be holding a nullity hearing concerning this patent on November 13, 2013.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Apple SVP Phil Schiller Points to Samsung's Benchmark 'Shenanigans'

Apple SVP Phil Schiller has tweeted a link to a report from ArsTechnica which reveals that Samsung has been artificially inflating its benchmark scores for the Galaxy Note 3.

shenanigans http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/galaxy-note-3s-benchmarking-adjustments-inflate-scores-by-up-to-20/ ...

ArsTechnica noticed that strangely the Galaxy Note 3 scored much better in its benchmarks then the similarly specced LG G2, and launched an investigation into the matter.

A quick comparison of its scores to the similarly specced LG G2 makes it clear that something fishy is going on, because Samsung's 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 blows the doors off LG's 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800. What makes one Snapdragon so different from the other? After a good bit of sleuthing, we can confidently say that Samsung appears to be artificially boosting the US Note 3's benchmark scores with a special, high-power CPU mode that kicks in when the device runs a large number of popular benchmarking apps.

By changing the name of the benchmark utility, ArsTechnica found that booster was adding 20% to the Galaxy Note 3's score.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Monday, October 21, 2013

Friday, October 18, 2013

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Monday, October 14, 2013

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Friday, October 11, 2013

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Tuesday, October 1, 2013