Details of the expected Nexus 7 tablet, appeared in server logs this week. It appears Google has a 7-inch, quad-core slate to debut at its I/O event later this month. Flipboard opened a beta for Android users while Motorola’s smart watch gains Twitter and Facebook. Read more »
Motorola’s wearable Android, the MotoActv, may be marketed as a fitness tracker, but with each new software update, it actually becomes a smarter smart watch. The latest update adds direct access to Facebook wall posts and Twitter messages from a Bluetooth connected Android phone. Read more »
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Microsoft has won the latest salvo in its ongoing war with Motorola, but it’s not yet clear whether Moto will buy a license for the infringed patent or try a workaround. Read more »
After waiting months and finally gaining approval from China on the deal, Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola closed on Tuesday. While the deal is still about patents to protect Android partners, Google finally has a vehicle to gain control of Android over the long term. Read more »
Motorola explained why certain smartphones and tablets it makes won’t be getting the Google Android 4.0 software update. Not all Motorola device owners are happy though; especially those that bought a Droid 3 in the past 10 months. These folks are stuck on Android 2.3. Read more »
Google has finally received approval from China to complete its purchase of Motorola Mobility, Google said Saturday. That paves the way for Google to integrate Motorola, though it remains to be seen exactly how it wants to use the phone maker. Read more »
The quantified-self movement is a community of individuals deploying mobile health applications, fitness trackers and social media platforms to share information on their health behaviors. It’s an important movement to watch, as its growth has huge potential implications for the health care sector’s future evolution. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
China is expected to rule soon on Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola, with the deal already approved elsewhere. Google needs the deal, especially for tablets, says Goldman Sachs, because the costs are too high to be the default search engine on Apple’s iPad. Read more »
Adding smartphones to the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s review of cell phone makers this year revealed that customers who buy plain old feature phones for calling and texting are generally happier with the product than their smartphone-owning counterparts. Apple is an exception. Read more »
Google’s open approach to Android has certainly helped build the platform’s user base: Android powers more than half of the world’s smartphones. But how much further can this strategy take Google when the “Wild West show” continues and carriers exacerbate the problem? It’s time for change. Read more »
Motorola has won an injunction in Germany on key Microsoft products involved in a patent dispute. But in a confusing and complex judgment, the chances of Motorola actually trying to get Microsoft’s key products removed from shelves are slim. Read more »
Eighty-five percent of the global population owns mobile phones. This report forecasts the global handset market, examining the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia-Pacific. Drivers include an increased number of subscribers in developing countries and the rollout of 3G and 4G wireless networks. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
For developers, consumers and even carriers, Android seems irreparably broken. But Google’s not likely to “fix” Android anytime soon, because despite the fragmentation problem, the company is getting what it wants: massive amounts of user data. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Media issues like advertising and discovery along with commerce dominated the activity in social and real-time Web technologies during the first quarter. Google raised some hackles, Facebook responded to demands from traditional advertisers, and Yahoo got a new chief executive. Read more in the full report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google can’t keep fighting against Apple and Microsoft with just Android, when both rivals have a mobile and a desktop system. ChromeOS could be that system for Google, but it’s not a hit yet. What might help? Motorola’s LapDock system to pair up Android and ChromeOS. Read more »
This is a victory for Motorola: Not only did the judge agree that an earlier injunction granted against Apple’s cloud e-mail services should be upheld, Apple was also ordered to pay Motorola unspecified damages, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Read more »
Tired of running with a smartphone, I dropped $199 for a MotoActv last week. Yet, I’ve unexpectedly found myself wearing it every minute of the day since I bought it. Why? It’s essentially equal parts FitBit health tracker, iPod Nano and exercise tracking app. Read more »
Can’t keep track of who’s suing who in “The Game of Smartphones”? This image will help. And two key Steve Jobs quotes explain not only why the smartphone battle is moving to the courts, but why it’s happening right now and why this will get worse. Read more »
Asus is launching its modular PadFone handset and tablet in Taiwan, giving consumers the option to power a tablet with a phone. The 4.3-inch Android 4.0 handset looks and behaves like a traditional smartphone but fits into a 10.1 tablet shell, which is a touchscreen display. Read more »
All this talk about how much money Google may or may not have made off of Android misses the point. Google’s decision to enter the mobile operating system battle wasn’t primarily about money — it was about ensuring competition in the next great personal computer market. Read more »
The Hulu Plus mobile app is now available for Android tablets, complete with an updated user interface. The software has a visual redesign offering easier navigation on large touchscreen devices. But not every Android tablet owner can use the software; only seven devices are supported. Read more »
Google is rolling out Android 4.0.4 software upgrades to several devices: the GSM Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S handsets as well as Motorola’s Wi-Fi Xoom tablet will all see the software delivered over the air. Other devices will see it soon but that’s not comforting. Read more »
Cloud computing, mobile computing and the consumerization of IT combine to create another force that overwhelms IT departments: complexity, including complexity of devices and applications, physical and virtual computing environments, and related challenges for IT staff. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Motorola continues its push into wearable, connected gadgets, today introducing the MotoActv Golf Edition. The gadget fits on a wrist and tracks both steps taken and calories burned. More important to duffers and golf pros alike, however: It tracks every shot on 20,000 golf courses. Read more »
Four months after Google Android 4.0 arrived, handset makers are starting to update older phones. Samsung and Motorola recently announced upgrade plans, and the U.S. is low on both lists. But handsets in Europe and Asia are already getting the software. Is it our carriers? Read more »
The industry has moved beyond starry-eyed soothsaying about a world of 50 billion connected devices to start talking about how these mammoth networks of objects and appliances would actually work and how they would be managed. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google chairman Eric Schmidt is a passionate advocate for technology, and he laid on the charm in an hour-long appearance at Mobile World Congress that was part Chrome commercial, part techno-utopian vision, and part high-brow version of Reddit’s Ask Me Anything. Here’s what he said. Read more »
The legal tennis match over smartphone patents is still dragging on, and it was Apple Read more at paidContent »
The legal tennis match over smartphone patents is still dragging on, and it was Apple’s turn Monday to claim victory in a dispute in Germany. A court ruled that Motorola can’t enforce an injunction that would have banned the iPhone and iPad in Germany, although Apple still faces a problem involving a different Motorola patent. Read more »
After a patent dispute in Germany between Motorola and Apple, local users of iCloud and MobileMe have now had push email functions disabled. But don’t be surprised if the same problem wings its way across the Atlantic soon. Read more »
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is still waiting for the Chinese government to approve its purchase of Motorola (NYSE: MMI) Mobility, but it Read more at paidContent »
Meet the new boss, Motorola employees: Google reportedly plans to name Dennis Woodside, a veteran Google sales executive overseeing the merger, as the new CEO, replacing current Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha. Read more »
Tablets represent the next evolution in the advancement of mobile computing, and by 2015 or 2016, the tablet will begin to replace the laptop and the desktop operating systems market will begin to level off or perhaps decline. Our latest forecast examines these trends in detail. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The US government and the European Commission today gave the green light to Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola (NYSE: MMI) Mobil… Read more at paidContent »
Where will this all end? Both Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) are sitting on billions in cash and seem intent on blowing a good p… Read more at paidContent »
Just a week after Motorola was awarded two significant victories in a German court over Apple, the companies’ luck have changed. On Friday, a judge ruled he would not grant an injunction against Apple products on the basis of a 3G/UMTS patent claimed by Motorola. Read more »
Google’s bid for Motorola (NYSE: MMI) is likely to get a thumbs up from the U.S. Department of Justice, but still could face opposition from… Read more at paidContent »
Google’s mystery device has been unveiled by The Wall Street Journal as a Sonos-like platform for wirelessly streaming music around the home. But the most important thing is that Google is moving beyond software to making a branded hardware device of its own. Read more »
