Verizon customers craving a thin LTE smartphone with all-day battery life get their wish later this week. Motorola’s Droid Razr Maxx launches on Jan. 26 for $299 with contract. But the battery is only one standout feature among many: Bluetooth 4.0, GLONASS and Super AMOLED. Read more »
Media operators go on grumbling about their prospects for payment on the world’s most-used smartphone platform.
But a glance at Android’s a… Read more at paidContent »
Verizon plans milk as much revenue off of its 3G and LTE networks as possible, becoming the “premium” mobile data operator, but its plan could backfire. Despite the increase in 4G sales, Verizon is still primarily a 3G operator, and 3G doesn’t justify its steep prices. Read more »
Choosing a home automation network standard can be a hassle. It’s too bad there isn’t a ubiquitous network standard to use in plug-and-play modules. Oh wait: what about Wi-Fi? Belkin’s new WeMo products use Wi-Fi, which may help move home automation from geeks to the mainstream. Read more »
Dolphin Browser, a popular third-party web client for Android devices, is set to get even more popular. On Tuesday, the browser gained two new add-ons: support for both Skitch and Evernote, making it easier to annotate, draw on, or capture web content for saving or sharing. Read more »
Polar Mobile — the Canadian startup that develops apps for big-name publishers like CBS Interactive (NYSE: CBS), Conde Nast, Sports Illustr… Read more at paidContent »
Although there’s some overlapping functionality between tablets and e-readers, it doesn’t seem to set up either device to cannibalize the other; at least not yet. The number of adults who owned either a tablet or an e-reader doubled this holiday season. Here’s why neither is “winning.” Read more »
Nokia may have sold 1.3 million Lumia handsets running on Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, which would be a morale boost for both companies. Both have been in decline, facing competition from iOS and Android devices. Is this finally a smartphone turnaround point for Nokia and Microsoft? Read more »
Toronto-based Polar Mobile, which provides a digital media distribution platform powering the apps of some of the biggest media companies in the world, including Conde Nast, Sports Illustrated and The Wall Street Journal, announced a new $6 million funding round on Monday. Read more »
CES is over, so here’s what wowed Matt and Kevin in terms of tablets, smartphones, Ultrabooks and other mobile devices. Plus Matt has pulled the SIM card from his Samsung Galaxy Nexus and put it in the…. you’ll have to listen to find out! Read more »
Scosche has a simple, $129 plug-and-play solution called the CellControl to help curb smartphone activities while driving. When the module detects the vehicle in motion, all handset activities, with the exception of hands-free functions, are disabled through a corresponding smartphone app. Fewer distractions means safer driving. Read more »
Android was everywhere at this month’s CES, but many products don’t hit retail shelves for months. Acer broke that tradition, releasing the A200 tablet this week. It should see Android 4.0 soon, just like the Xoom recently did. Plus my pick for app of the week. Read more »
Acer introduced its A200 tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier in January, and unlike many products shown at the event, this one is already available for sale in the U.S. Is it worth the money, considering it uses technology that was available a year ago? Read more »
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) missed analyst expectations for earnings per share during the fourth quarter, sending its stock plunging in after-hours… Read more at paidContent »
Android devices have long been known for their laggy touch experience. Has this changed with the latest Android flagship? Not quite. Here’s a video that uses a developer option to show the lag, as well as new technology that could minimize it in the future. Read more »
The fourth quarter may have lacked a dominating big-event product announcement like Q3’s Facebook platform extension or Q2’s unveiling of Google+, but the NewNet world continued to buzz along. In the battle for mind share, everyone wanted to be a platform. Meanwhile, consumer and social technologies continued to gain momentum, and new vehicles for content and service discovery presented both challenges and opportunities for NewNet companies. And it is hard to ignore the overcrowded but growing world of daily deals. This quarterly report analyzes these trends and others, and it also provides a near-term outlook of trends, technologies and companies to watch in 2012. Companies mentioned in the report include Amazon, Facebook and Socialcast. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
China is closing in on the 1 billion mobile connections mark, according to a new Wireless Intelligence report. China has always been a world power in wireless, but it’s set to become more significant still as its huge population embraces mobile data services. Read more »
Wikipedia’s website may have been dark yesterday in protest of SOPA, but now there is a new official Wikipedia app for Android 2.2 and up devices. You could use the mobile web for Wikipedia, but four key features make this app worth the download. Read more »
Personal security app Guardly, which launched back in April 2011 on the iPhone and iPod touch, announced Thursday morning that it will now offer a special program for students at 67 universities and colleges across Canada, designed as an extension of on-campus security measures. Read more »
Android tablet makers have been coy about their plans for Android 4.0, the first version of the software to unify the smartphone and tablet… Read more at paidContent »
Dorling Kindersley, the division of Penguin that publishes children, travel and reference titles, made a strong case for how it is moving to… Read more at paidContent »
Motorola officially announced on Wednesday that it’s now upgrading its Xoom Wi-Fi tablets to the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, effective immediately. Google Android version 4.0.3 will be an over-the-air software upgrade, starting today, in stages, for all Xoom tablet owners. Read more »
In October, Google debuted Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, to unify tablets and smartphones. But does it really accomplish that? It’s too early to tell, but the current version has some inconsistencies noted by Jason Perlow, and I can’t disagree with him. Read more »
It’s time to start placing bets as to how many iPads Apple will sell in 2012. Sterne Agee’s Shaw Wu is starting things off with an estimate of 48 million, he said Wednesday morning. Wu says that number could end up being “conservative,” and I agree. Read more »
Chegg, a Santa Clara, Calif.–based startup that made its name in textbook rentals, has made its first piece of software that it says will aid the transition to digital learning for students by offering e-textbooks that act an awful lot like physical textbooks. Read more »
IOS’ year end surge has helped close the gap on Android in the U.S., with December sales hitting 44.5 percent of all smartphones, just behind Android at 46.9 percent, according to new data from Nielsen. Android and iOS continue to separate from fast-fading BlackBerry. Read more »
The consumer draw of free apps over paid apps has been well-documented, and so has the rise of in-app payments as a route to making money fr… Read more at paidContent »
China’s online video service PPTV struck a strategic partnership deal with local cable TV provider WASU last week that could hold the key to finally bring online video to the living room in China. Android TVs and set-top boxes could also play a big role. Read more »
Research In Motion is rumored to be launching a 10-inch PlayBook tablet this year. After nearly a year of dismal BlackBerry PlayBook sales, I’m not sold on the idea. RIM has nothing to convince people to buy such a device over an iPad or Android tablet. Read more »
We’ve heard about how the boom in smartphone popularity, the dropping cost of components and the rapid rise of Android, a “free” smartphone… Read more at paidContent »
Games rank as the most popular form of mobile content today — 68 percent of tablet and smartphone app users who downloaded an app in the pa… Read more at paidContent »
After my Gmail account was hijacked last year, I looked into Google’s two-step verification process. It relies on your having your smartphone with you, even when logging in on a PC. Here are two ways to use your smartphone to better protect your Google account access. Read more »
Last week’s CES event brought a clutch of announcements around interactive TV services — specifically around more content getting pushed to… Read more at paidContent »
Samsung is reportedly getting ready to issue some $1 billion in bonds to expand production facilities. Meanwhile, it is starting to get a bi… Read more at paidContent »
Pioneer’s new $599 AppRadio2, a smart, 7-inch capacitive touch display radio supports both iOS and Android phones. It includes an external GPS, rear-camera input, and of course, smartphones with compatible apps. Looks like a great way to get Pandora, Waze, or Rdio integrated with your car! Read more »
Is the PC “dead”? Of course not, but if you don’t see the trend moving away from local / desktop computing and towards mobile / cloud computing, you’re missing the sales figures for each market: Nearly 50 percent of recent device sales are mobile. Read more »
Dozens of commercial book collections, including the entire Harry Potter series, have been downloaded for free from Google’s official Androi… Read more at paidContent »
Apple’s iOS mobile platform tends to sell more paid software than its rivals, and its biggest advantage might be a head start that Google, Microsoft or any other mobile competitor can’t do much to eliminate: iTunes. It’s also an advantage Apple likely isn’t done profiting by. Read more »
Not too long ago, grazing the magazine bins was a perk of going to a trade show. But consolidation and closures mean fewer publications — a… Read more at paidContent »
