Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
LG Electronics has announced the Korean release of their Android smartphone, the LG Optimus Z (LG-SU950/KU9500). The device runs on Android 2.1 and features a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the device is being made available through SK Telecom and KT. Other details include a 3.5 inch WVGA “Hyper” HD LCD (800 x 480 pixels), Korea-specific T-DMB mobile TV, a 5-megapixel camera, Dolby Mobile and DivX support. The Optimus Z also features a matte-finish metal and comes with two 1350mAh batteries.
The device boasts a number of unique options designed to give users a well-rounded user experience. The On Screen Phone function allows users to display their phone interface on PC using Bluetooth or a data cable. Once connected, it provides the ability to manage applications, e-mail, documents, images or music files. There is also another option, Drag & Shake, which allows two users to share files between smartphones by shaking the phones.
Sources:
http://www.androidguys.com/2010/07/29/lg-optimus-announced-korea-tablet/
http://www.androidcentral.com/lg-optimus-z-now-available-korea
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
HTC has announced that they will now sell their devices under their own branding, specifically the HTC Desire, HTC Wildfire and HTC Tiany. These three Android phones will be heading to China with HTC branding instead of the previous “Dopod” name.
Also, these Android devices will be updated with Froyo 2.2 with Sense. HTC has reiterated that a 2.2 update for its phones already on the market will be delivered “very soon”. If all goes well, we should be looking at a Froyo-dominated August in the China.
Sources:
http://androidspin.com/2010/07/29/htc-devices-heading-to-china-will-ship-with-android-2-2/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
For some time, Google has been talking about a new and more secure system for protecting applications from pirates and dishonest re-funders. They have announced that the system goes live. The new system looks seamless. It requires a bit of modification to each application, so apps already on the market won’t be protected until their developers choose to update them.
Developers include a set of code libraries provided by Google, and then use those libraries to send a message to the Android Market app requesting the user’s licensing status. The Market then checks through its own database to see if a user really did buy the app, and then sends a message back to the app with all the details.
The system is free for developers to implement, It works on any Android handset running Android OS 1.5 or later.
Sources:
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/07/28/google-rolls-out-androids-new-anti-piracy-mechanism/
http://www.androidguys.com/2010/07/27/google-announces-licensing-service-combat-piracy/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Cricket Wireless has just announced the pre-sale of their first Android phone, the Kyocera Zio. Sources claim that the device will be on sale August 15.
The Kyocera Zio is an entry-level Android phone and key features include: A 3.5-inch WVGA display, 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor, 3.2 MP camera, and Android 1.6.
Other features can be seen in the image below:
No price point has been announced so far. Kyocera plans to offer an upgrade to the Android 2.x OS sometime in the future, but there is no guarantee the Cricket version will see this software update.
Cricket has been opening retail stores in new markets and their month-to-month plans will attract those on a budget and looking for plans with no credit checks or long-term service contracts. The carrier recently announced coverage in all 50 states after signing new roaming agreements with MetroPCS and Sprint Nextel.
Source:
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Apple has announced that the iOS 4.1 beta 2 is now available for developers. It’s just been two weeks since the iOS beta 1 hit the scene. There isn’t a chance to see any major differences though.
Sources:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/27/apple-ios-4-1-beta-2-now-available-for-developers/
http://gizmodo.com/5598018/ios-41-beta-2-now-available-to-iphone-developers
http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-releases-new-ios-4-1-beta-2-to-devs/52709
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Seems like Android 2.2 (Froyo) will be making its way to devices very soon. There is a claim that the Motorola Droid X, the HTC Droid Incredible, and the Motorola Droid will be receiving the Android 2.2 update at the same time next week. It is expected that both HTC and Motorola will release the Android 2.2 update at the same time and will start pushing out the update from August 6th. It’s expected to hit all of these devices by August 15th.
Source:
http://androidspin.com/2010/07/26/froyo-to-roll-out-on-3-devices-next-week/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
The Galaxy Q is coming on the heels of Samsung’s Galaxy S series of devices. Differences from the Galaxy S include a Qwerty keyboard, 3″ Super AMOLED screen and a size a bit smaller than the Galaxy S.
Here are the specifications of the Galaxy Q:
The Galaxy Q has also been touted as a BlackBerry competitor. There is no indication from Samsung about the release date of the Galaxy Q though.
Sources:
http://androidheadlines.com/2010/07/galaxy-q-specs-leaked.html
http://www.androidcentral.com/galaxy-q-specs-leaked
http://www.androidguys.com/2010/07/26/samsung-galaxy-specs-leaked/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
The Guardian has announced in a report that Android smartphone sales in the United Kingdom have tripled since the beginning of the year. Now, one in every ten handsets sold in the UK is running on the Android OS, and contract market share has grown just over 10% from Q1 2010 (3%) to Q2 2010 (13.2%). In addition, while contract market sales are up under 1%, Android sales are up a whopping 350%.
Of all the smartphones, the HTC Desire and the HTC Legend remain the most popular handsets in the UK, but the Samsung Galaxy S will present another attractive option for the users. The HTC Wildfire also presents an attractive smartphone at a lower price, which will bring consumers who can’t afford the high-end phones into the market.
Apple has done a fantastic job in marketing the iPhone to be synonymous with a smartphone. However, Android has done a remarkable job in such a short time branding itself and it will only continue to grow stealthily.
Sources:
http://www.androidcentral.com/android-phone-sales-300-year
http://androidheadlines.com/2010/07/android-sales-turbo-boost-in-uk.html
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
Google’s Tim Bray mentioned in a short post on the Android Developers Blog that the Android team is working on “introducing new payment options” for the Android Market. Based on the portions of the Developer Agreement that are changing, the change will most likely involve a wider roll out of carrier billing as an option when we purchase apps.
T-Mobile is the only carrier that allows its customers to put app charges on their monthly phone bill. Given that the Developer Agreement changes usually take effect in 30 days, the guess is that the changes are at least a month out.
Sources:
http://androidspin.com/2010/07/24/android-market-adding-new-payment-options/
http://www.androidguys.com/2010/07/24/payment-options-android-market/
Daily Mobile Industry Snippets!
According to a new report from Juniper Research, consumer electronics firms entering the smartphone market will account for sales of over 26 million units a year by 2015.
Juniper Research, an analyst firm, announced in its most recent smartphones report that it expects Asian smartphone firms to increase their market share from 11 per cent to 18 per cent by 2015. Anthony Cox, a senior analyst at Juniper Research and author of the report, explained that the commoditisation of operating systems offers a growing opportunity for new companies to enter the market.
“Firms like Huawei, Acer, Toshiba and Dell are all actively looking at the smartphone market, as platforms like Android have made it much simpler for them to make their products mobile by removing the need to develop their own systems, ” he said.
“With the internet becoming mobile and margins much higher in the smartphone market than the PC market at the moment, firms will be keen to try and get into this space, which will cause the market to become saturated.”
Also, Cox believes that Nokia’s MeeGo platform could perform a similar role by giving new market entrants the ability to add mobile functionality to their products. Smartphone prices will fall and filter into the mid-market, according to the analyst, which will see the feature phone market eventually be replaced.
Cox does not expect the increasing number of phones to affect mobile networks, since operators will still develop technologies such as LTE or bring in tiered pricing for heavier bandwidth users. Juniper Research also predicts a huge leap in mobile applications. Earlier this week, the analyst released a report indicating that the number of handset downloads will jump from under 2.6 billion in 2009 to more than 25 billion in 2015.
Source:
