Well, I wasn't surprised at all ... RIM (Blackberry) had to do release something pretty good to turn things around and the Z10 smartphone seems to have done the job.
"BlackBerry has pretty much bet everything on the success of BlackBerry 10 and new smartphones running the operating system such as the Z10. The Z10 launched in Europe and several other countries, achieving moderate sales success.
"The feedback is very encouraging," said BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins. "What has been a real surprise for us is that BlackBerry 10 as a platform and product is attracting users that are currently on other platforms."
Heins also said that the Z10 has surpassed BlackBerry's expectations in emerging markets such as India. "We shipped into the channel product that we thought would have been good for at least five days and I got an emergency call from our manager in India, saying that they were sold out in two days," Heins added. "Now we are scrambling to re-load that channel.""
Split screen function on an Android based device ... interesting. Go get that spare monitor out!
"VIA Technologies has announced its latest Android board support package (BSP) for the VIA Vantage digital signage line which enables a split-screen multi-touch user experience that provides interaction within the limited real-estate of a single screen. VIA demonstrated the technology with the VIA ALTA DS system at Digital Signage Expo (DSE) 2013, in the Las Vegas Convention Center, from February 27-28.
The Android BSP enables the combination of app and HTML 5-based content to be displayed simultaneously on a single screen giving system integrators flexibility to create engaging multi-touch digital signage systems."
Here's a teaser video showing you the up-and-coming ... soon to be released Samsung Galaxy S4 (dribble!)
"Samsung sent out invitations for its Unpacked event last month. The event, which will showcase the next Galaxy S device, has the tagline, "Be Ready 4 the Next Galaxy." It'll be held on March 14 in New York City.
Rumors have been swirling around the Galaxy S4. Among the features that might come to the device is an eight-core Exynos processor, a separate eight-core graphics processing unit, a 4.99-inch Super Amoled display, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera with 1080p video capability, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and the latest version of Android, known as 4.2.2 Jelly Bean."
Mine is faster than yours! ... Nvidia is claiming that their Tegra 4 will beat Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800, both in terms of speed and performance. Let the fight begin!
"NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) in January made the bold claim that its Tegra 4 system-on-a-chip (SoC) was "the world's fastest mobile processor". At the 2013 Mobile World Congress, the company was busy preaching that claim and praising the chips potential for smartphones/tablets. The 28 nm Tegra 4 packs four cores running at up to 1.9 GHz, plus a low-power companion core, and is paired with 72 GPU processing units.
Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) is unphased, though, by NVIDIA's bold rhetoric. In an interview with The Verge, Qualcomm's Senior VP of Product Management, Raj Talluri, said that the Snapdragon 800 should "easily" beat Tegra 4 in most benchmarks. He's also confident that despite the die-shrink Tegra will still be more power hungry than Snapdragon, due to its lack of an on-die LTE modem. He adds that his company is "more focused on shipping products" than refuting rivals' braggadocio.
So far about 50 upcoming products have been announced or leaked that feature the Snapdragon 800, which begins sampling next quarter. The chip packs a quad-core processor clocked at up to 2.3 GHz, on-die LTE, and a fresh GPU, the Adreno 330 ."
Press release: U.S. CELLULAR TO LAUNCH THE RUGGED KYOCERA DURAPRO. Will be available online February 27 and in stores February 28
CHICAGO & SAN DIEGO (February 25, 2013) – U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) and Kyocera Communications Inc. have announced the launch of the Kyocera DuraPro. With Military Standard 810G certification, DuraPro is a perfect fit for consumers and business customers who need a tough feature phone on a high-speed nationwide network. It will be available online February 27 and in stores on February 28 for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate.
The Kyocera DuraPro is water, shock, dust, and vibration resistant and is encased in non-slip Dura-Grip material for a strong hold and extra durability. It can be immersed for up to 30 minutes in up to one meter of water and comes with essential apps including, email, a web browser and navigation. Those features, along with a 3.2 megapixel camera, large keypad and powerful speakerphone, make the DuraPro a practical and reliable choice for consumers and business customers who need a device that can withstand harsh elements.
It looks like carriers and manufacturers across the globe are starting to take up LTE for 2013. Broadcom announced their advanced LTE chip for mobile devices last month, now their competitor Qualcomm is offering something better ... let the battle begin!
"Now Qualcomm is firing back, unveiling an alternative solution dubbed RF360. Unlike the Broadcom design, Qualcomm's solutions involve multiple chips (which it sounds like will be incorporated into a single package). However, they offer unique capabilities that Broadcom's solution will not, plus they will be available sooner.
Shipping in the second half of 2013, the new Qualcomm chipset will support all seven major wireless modes used worldwide -- LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, WCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE.
The chipset incorporates a dynamic antenna tuner, which allows the solution to operate anywhere between 700 MHz and 2700 MHz. It also allows the antenna to adjust to "physical signal impediments" (e.g. buildings). There's also a special power tracker chip, which helps cut power use in 3G and 4G modes by up to 30 percent. And there's an antenna switching/CMOS power amplifier (PA) to allow seamless transitions between 2G, 3G, and 4G signals."
This could be one of the biggest announcements this spring ...
"New device to be unveiled in New York City. If you're a fan of Samsung's Galaxy smartphones, you will be glad to hear the latest rumor making the rounds. Sources are indicating that Samsung is set to announce its next high-end smartphone called the Galaxy S IV on March 14. The mid-March introduction date was unveiled started with a tweet from Eldar Murtazin.
Murtazin wrote, "Save the date for a big announcement - March 14 :) And keep silence ;) HTC will miss HTC One sales again :( Like it was in 2012."
The Verge backs up that tweet, stating that March 14 is "definitely" the day that Samsung will be unveiling its latest generation flagship smartphone."
Could the HTC One help HTC revive its fortunes? We shall see ... looking at the spec, the HTC One does look pretty impressive, but this is such a competitive market it'll be hard for anyone one to survive, let alone HTC.
"HTC has unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the revamped HTC One, as it attempts to regain lost market share. It uses Google's latest operating system, Android Jelly Bean, features a 4.7in (12cm) 1080p high display and includes a so-called ultrapixel camera. The body is made fully of aluminium and has front-facing stereo speakers.
HTC launched the device in New York, a week before the start of Mobile World Congress, in what analysts say is a bid to secure attention for the phone.
The smartphone market is currently dominated by products from Apple and Samsung - HTC has lost much of its market share over the past two years. It hopes that new software features will help to make its new handset stand out."
Poor old HTC ... they used to be top 5, right up there with the big boys ... but not any more. Now, they've dropped out of top 10 in handset brands.
"HTC has fallen out of the top-10 handset vendor rankings published by Gartner. The smartphone specialist made its first appearance in Gartner's ranking of the world's top-10 handset vendors by unit sales in the second quarter of 2010.
HTC reported an 81% sequential decline in net profits to NT$1 billion (US$34.4 million) for the fourth quarter of 2012. Compared to a year ago, HTC's fourth-quarter earnings represented a fall from NT$11.02 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011."
Here's a teaser video showing you the up-and-coming ... soon to be released Samsung Galaxy S4 (dribble!)
