For those who have don't have a steady hand ... fear not. With this new Image Stabilization feature from Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4, getting the best picture/photo is a easy as waving your hand!
"The S4 Camera, or more specifically, the Image Signal Processor (ISP), boasts advanced features that are designed to allow any Smartphone or Tablet to double as a high-end digital camera. The HTC Titan II, announced at CES 2012, features an astounding 16Megapixel camera running on an S2 processor. With S4, any given mobile device can shoot up to 20 Megapixel stills, as well as 1080p (30fps) video capture and up to 3 cameras (the third can be used for 3D capture).
The S4 ISP also comes equipped with Qualcomm's proprietary 3A camera technology (Autofocus, Auto Exposure and Auto White Balance), enabling practical camera applications such as blink detection, smile degree, and gaze estimation. Other advanced features that tap into the ISP include active "Range-Finding", zero shutter lag, and image stabilization."
True or False? Real or Fake? I'll let you decide ... but things are looking pretty good for both Google, Motorola and Microsoft.
"We've just gotten some imagery and a few details pertaining to a phone that will allegedly be Motorola's first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-powered handset. What's more, this unnamed device will also be one of Motorola's first pieces of Intel-powered hardware, running the silicon giant's new mobile Medfield platform. Moto traditionally employs Texas Instruments OMAP processors in its smartphones.
Details are still coming together on this buttonless device -- sporting a new version of the MotoBlur user interface -- expected to debut at Mobile World Congress later this month in Barcelona. One thing we do know is that its camera is expected to be a major selling point, offering instant-on capabilities as well as 15 frame-per-second burst capture."
Now here's a mobile phone for all you fashion conscious users ... Be different and be bold. The Prada LG mobile will set you back a mere £500 ($787), which is nothing if you're WAG. But it does come with 8 mega-pixel camera and a large 4.3 inch screen, all powered by Android 2.3.7
"This is the team's first attempt at an Android device, and on paper it's got some respectable specifications, including a 4.3-inch NOVA Plus display, a dual-core processor and an 8-megapixel camera sensor that appears to be the same one found on LG's 2011 flagship models. Granted, LG probably wasn't ever planning to include its latest HD IPS screen on a phone where branding was dominated by the other partner, but this smartphone still wants to appeal beyond its good looks."
Cloud-based smartphone from Acer ... interesting. The in-word this year is CLOUD!
"Acer will debut CloudMobile, its first smartphone equipped with its cloud computing service, Acer Cloud, at the 2012 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, during February 27-March 1 for launch globally in the third quarter of 2012, according to the company.
CloudMobile is equipped with Android 4.1, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 4.3-inch HD touch screen and supports HSPA+ through 3G networks, Acer pointed out."
The Motorola Droid 4 supports LTE and comes with a dual-core 1.2Ghz processor, 4.3-inch screeen, a slide-out keyboard and a beefier 1,785mAh battery ... but will it be enough to compete against Samsung Galaxy series and the iPhone?
"Tailored less for trend-seeking consumers and more for power users (or prosumers), Moto's QWERTY flagship hits a handful of high marks, offering up one of the best physical keyboards on the market, access to Verizon's 4G LTE speeds, a responsive touchscreen and suitable battery life to accompany the demands of on-the-go productivity -- all for $200 on a two-year contract. Clearly, this is not the OG Droid of old -- just take a glance at that redesigned shell -- that led many first-timers into Android's fold, but it doesn't appear Moto wants it to be anymore. In fact, there's no longer a need for the vanilla Droid line to push Andy Rubin's baby forward. That heavy lifting has now been relegated to Google's suite of Nexus devices."
Press Release: White Nokia Lumia 800 available this February. Espoo, Finland - Nokia announced today that the Nokia Lumia 800 will be available in white, beginning later this month.
With Windows ® Phone 7.5 software on board, the white Nokia Lumia 800 features head-turning design and the best social and Internet performance, with one-touch social network access, easy grouping of contacts, integrated communication threads and Internet Explorer 9. It features a 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display blending seamlessly into the reduced body design, and a 1.4 GHz processor with hardware acceleration and a graphics processor. The Lumia 800 contains an instant-share camera experience based on leading Carl Zeiss optics, HD video playback, 16GB of internal user memory and free SkyDrive storage for storing images and music.
Totally believeable ... I can see smartphones becoming a major, and probably one of the MOST essential pieces of equipment in 2012 and beyond.
"Canalys has released its full, fourth-quarter 2011 country-level smartphone shipment estimates to clients, so completing the picture for the year. One notable result was that total annual global shipments of smartphones exceeded those of client PCs (including pads) for the first time.
Vendors shipped 158.5 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 57% on the 101.2 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010. This bumper quarter took total global shipments for the whole of 2011 to 488 million units, up 63% on the 299.7 million smartphones shipped throughout 2010. By comparison, the global client PC market grew 15% in 2011 to 414.6 million units, with 274% growth in pad shipments. Pads accounted for 15% of all client PC shipments in 2011."
It's totally unbelieveable that there are over 1 billion of these Nokia S40 phones in the world. Beat that Apple!
"Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia says it has shipped the 1.5 billionth phone running its S40 operating system. The first S40 phone was sold in 1999, and the software underpinned Nokia's commercial success for years.
"It's difficult to think of a product line with such an impact on the world's population," said Mary McDowell, who runs Nokia's mobile phone division.
S40 is used in feature phones, which can run applications, but lack the computing power of smartphones. Nokia estimates that there are currently 675 million active owners of S40 phones in the world, and says that it is currently selling about 12 phones of the S40 family every second."
Divorce allows hurts both parties ... but it's also extremely costly. In the case of Sony (minus) Ericsson ... they made (or should I say lost) a total of $317 million
"Sony Ericsson's tearful breakup continues with more woe as as the venture had to eat a pre-tax loss of €247 million (roughly $317 million). Bosses cited "unfavorable macro-economic conditions" and the Thai flooding as the reasons for the loss. Ericsson probably won't mind having such an unfavorable penultimate quarter with the company, given that it's set to receive €1.05 billion (around $1.9 billion) when Sony buys out its share of the joint telecoms business within the next month."
