The original Reckless Racing was a straightforward piece of smartphone gaming addictiveness. Based loosely on Radical Racing, a retro classic, it is a top down racer with an emphasis on drifting and crashing.?

Reckless Racing 2 sees the series return to form in a much improved guise. In depth car customisation, loads of new tracks, improved graphics and an even better drifting setup, reckless racing 2 is one of our favourite gaming apps on the iPhone.

Reckless Racing 2

Platform

iOS, Android

Price

?2.99

Where

Market/iTunes

Graphically RR2 is a bit of a stunner. It boasts big bold bright colours and car models which look nearly as good as that of Real Racing’s. The top down view also lets you get a good view of all the on screen action as you bash around the track.?

The game is a very simple one at its core. Just go forwards and back, drifting around corners as quickly as you can. You will find you pick up gold in most of the early races doing just the above. Later on however and you are going to need to go into all sorts of customisation in order to build a car quick enough to take the win.?

This is where Reckless Racing really gets fun as the level of control you have over the car’s driving is pretty extensive. The more you play, the better you get at nailing exactly how you want the thing to drive. By the end you will be zooming round tracks in one constant powerslide.?

At ?2.99 the app is a tad more expensive than most, but it is worth the outlay for those who take mobile gaming seriously. Near Infinity Blade quality graphics and a good few hours worth of gameplay to get stuck into make it a worthy of a place on your phone’s home screen.?

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Phones Mobile phones Apps App of the day

APP OF THE DAY: Reckless Racing 2 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

View full post on Pocket-lint : phones : Latest News

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

At Gadget Lab we’re system-wiping fools. With new smartphones and tablets coming through the office every week, we’re religious about doing complete system security resets whenever we send products back to manufacturers. It’s not just common courtesy. It’s a hedge against releasing private emails and photos into the wild.

You would think manufacturers would exercise the same caution, but today Motorola issued a major fail alert: From October to December of last year, 100 out of 6,200 refurbished Xooms sold from Woot.com may have contained the previous owner’s personal data.

Motorola announced in a press release that the affected tablets may not have been properly wiped, and a variety of information could be available to new users of the tablets.

It is possible that users might have stored photographs and documents. They may have also stored user names and passwords for email and social media accounts, as well as other password-protected sites and applications.

Motorola is offering a free two-year membership to Experian’s ProtectMyID program to affected customers.

That’s not the only security snafu that’s happened recently. A boy whose mom took his iPhone into the Apple Store for repair got an unpleasant surprise upon the device’s return: He was receiving all of a stranger’s personal — and occasionally inappropriate — iMessages on his iPhone. The stranger? An Apple employee.

In this specific instance, Apple says it wasn’t a bug. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison told The Loop that: “This was an extremely rare situation that occurred when a retail employee did not follow the correct service procedure and used their personal SIM to help a customer who did not have a working SIM. This resulted in a temporary situation that has since been resolved by the employee.”

Basically, iMessage detected the employee’s SIM and connected with it, delivering all of his private iMessages to the child without his knowledge. This has happened before when an iOS user’s iPhone was stolen, but all in all, it’s a pretty exceptional occurrence.

In any case, we give massive props to any company that is prompt and transparent about addressing a potential security issue. In Motorola’s case, that also included apologizing and offering a reasonable solution to the problem. There’s nothing worse than realizing your personal data could be out in the wild, long after the initial mishap actually occurred.

via AllThingsD

View full post on Wired: Gadget Lab

Now, stick with us, because this might sound like the most technical opening to a news story in the history of Pocket-lint but it is a pretty big deal in the evolution of mobile phones: Qualcomm, working alongside Ericsson, has successfully completed the first voice call handover from an LTE mobile network to a WCDMA network using Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC).

We told you it sounded complex.

It really isn’t though and simply hints that we’re heading to a complete LTE (or 4G, if you prefer) future for mobile.

The successful test means that networks using a single chip – Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 – are able to switch a user’s call seamlessly to a WCDMA network when using VoLTE (voice over LTE, an internet-powered voice call) if it leaves the LTE network’s coverage area. And there’s no need for smartphones to use separate LTE and 3G radios and modems.

“As LTE networks are deployed alongside 3G networks, the ability for multimode 3G/LTE mobile devices to connect to different network technologies will be an important part of providing the best possible mobile voice and data experience to consumers,” said Cristiano Amon, senior vice-president of product management, Qualcomm.

“Qualcomm is committed to the successful deployment of LTE networks worldwide in conjunction with 3G networks, and the milestone we’ve achieved with Ericsson is another step towards making VoLTE technology a commercial reality.”

This might still read as overly technical but it is a massive step towards a complete 4G solution for users. By the time the UK finally sees some LTE love (possibly this year, probably next) we should be well on our way….

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Phones Qualcomm LTE 4G

Qualcomm voice over LTE test hints at a complete 4G future originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:56:00 +0000

View full post on Pocket-lint : phones : Latest News

RIM's battle is a long and tiring one against the predominant mobile platforms in the industry. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop put it best: “The industry has shifted from a battle of devices, to a war of ecosystems.” In other words, a smartphone or a tablet is only as good as the apps it runs.

This is good news for some — namely, Apple and Google. The two dominant mobile application platforms currently offer the majority of smart-device apps, boasting numbers in the hundreds of thousands. But for underdogs like RIM, it foretells a grim outlook on the future of the company’s mobile platform.

In an effort to claw its way back into the game, RIM has settled on a new strategy. Effective today until Feb. 13, every Android developer who ports an Android application over to the BlackBerry ecosystem will receive a free PlayBook, according to a recent tweet sent by RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders.

It’s part of a broader attempt to seed not only seed the market with devices but also spur further app development. The more hardware on the market, the more likely developers will create code for the tablets. At first blush, this may seem like an effective strategy. But some analysts say RIM is going about this in the wrong way.

“Developers don’t need free devices to develop. They target those platforms that give them the biggest chance to sell their products,” Gartner analyst Phillip Redman told Wired. “Those that have larger market share will attract more developers.”

The app worlds of Apple and Google dwarf RIM’s offering, which stands at approximately 50,000 apps. To be fair, that’s about what you get with Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS, and it’s far more impressive number than, say, the 10,000-odd apps available for HP’s ill-fated webOS. But it’s literally one-tenth the number of apps Apple has in its App Store.

The good news is that RIM is trying. Amid a hostile mobile environment with its own collapsing market share, RIM released its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in April of last year, the supposed comeback device that would leverage RIM’s enterprise strength with enhanced security options, while simultaneously going after the consumer market and, ultimately, taking on the iPad.

Well, that didn’t work. The PlayBook was a complete flop, with shipping estimates in the hundreds of thousands for 2011. Compare that to iPad sales, which reached nearly 15 million in the company’s first fiscal quarter alone. Thus RIM’s new strategy: Give ‘em away.

But this may not work either. What incentive do developers have to create more apps for PlayBooks when it’s other developers — not consumers, the main purveyors of apps — who are getting all the free PlayBooks? Think of it as play for market traction, only backwards. If anything, it makes more sense to seed devices with consumers, a tack RIM has attempted to take in recent months.

Last year, during Black Friday — a veritable holiday celebrating capitalism in the U.S. — RIM slashed prices of existing PlayBook inventory to a fraction of the $500 they initially sold for, causing a rapid sell-out in third-party retailers and a back-log of orders at RIM’s warehouses (immediately inviting comparisons to HP’s TouchPad fire sale earlier in the year). RIM liked the promotion so much the company tried it again in January.

The other side of RIM’s latest effort is also strange. Let’s parse it out: Android developers will get a free BlackBerry tablet if they port an Android app to work in the PlayBook’s virtual Android environment. The idea is to leverage the existing glut of Android apps available by allowing developers to bring them over to RIM’s PlayBook.

The question is: how compelled am I to purchase a BlackBerry device in order to use Android apps? Why not just purchase an Android device?

Rather than leech off of Android’s superior market position, RIM’s best bet at this point is to beef up its handset and tablet portfolio with quality products. Or as IDC analyst Al Hilwa puts it: “There is very little magic RIM can do with consumer ecosystems at this point except deliver killer devices that consumers want to buy.”

RIM was unable to make an executive available for interview before this story’s time of publication.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll see those devices any time soon. RIM announced its latest line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones — the one line to bring the PlayBook’s QNX operating system to smartphones for the first time — will be delayed until late 2012, a release date much further off than the company had originally anticipated.

We have hope. The PlayBook was rushed out the door to make its April 2011 debut last year, and summarily crashed and burned. If the company can take its time with its OS revamp, perhaps it can find its way back to a seat at the mobile ecosystem table.

View full post on Wired: Gadget Lab

In what is believed to be a UK first, London’s Kensington and Chelsea College?is to offer budding photographers a photography course with a twist. For there won’t be any SLR action going on; the course, called “iPhoneography” is, you guessed it, centred on teaching fanboys and girls how to take good pictures with their Apple handsets.

Richard Gray will be taking the course and he says that “all you need is a passion for photography and a creative mind”.?

“With the right apps and skills, the iPhone can be a powerful creative tool,” he said. “It is a great levelling force within photography. No longer do you need expensive or complex equipment to produce great images.”

The course will focus on the native camera app, teaching students camera basics such as composition, colour and use of light. There will also be editing lessons too, as well as sessions on specialist third party apps such as Instagram, ShakeIt, Hipstamatic and Photoburst.

Mr Gray told BBC News: “The iPhone is revolutionising photography. It allows you to take a photograph and then process it and and post it online while you are on the bus on your way home.”

Android phones aren’t allowed at the moment but the course could grow to include them in the future. For now, it’s iPhone only and you will need your own handset.

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Phones iPhone Apple Photography

iPhone photography course on offer for ‘appy snappers originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:36:00 +0000

View full post on Pocket-lint : phones : Latest News

Hands eagerly pawed all over Windows Phones at CES 2012. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is often criticized for lagging far behind iOS and Android, the other major operating systems in the mobile space. But on Thursday, a leaked description of Microsoft’s next big mobile OS, Windows Phone 8, came to light, revealing how the operating system will improve.

The leak, reported by blog Pocketnow and validated by Windows insider Paul Thurrott, shows that Apollo (the codename for Windows Phone will be a major improvement over the current iteration, Windows Phone 7.5, otherwise known as Mango.

“Currently, we have to work around some limitations with Mango, and many of those limitations would be removed with the upcoming Apollo version,” Eric Setton, CTO of mobile VoIP app Tango, told Wired.

Mango is the current version of Windows Phone. It launched in October, bringing with it a slew of new features, including built-in social media and chatting tools, groups for organizing contacts, multitasking, and improved Live Tiles. A small update called Tango (not to be confused with the VoIP app) is slated next, and then the world will see Apollo, which is rumored to launch in mid-2012.

Microsoft wouldn’t tell us whether Thursday’s leak report is accurate, but offered insight on its OS plans in general.

“We think your smartphone should be smarter,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Wired. “When I take a picture, a ‘smart’ phone should anticipate that I may want to share it with a friend or on Facebook and help me easily do that. With Windows Phone these kinds of things are just built in, and we think there’s always room for a better way.”

A number of Windows Phone developers (several whom also write iOS and Android apps) were eager to share their thoughts on this rumored “better way.”

“I am very excited to hear that Microsoft is making a strong push to catch up to the iOS and Android platforms,” Sina Mobasser, co-founder of iOS and Windows Phone app BarMax said. “But while the specs that were leaked are certainly appetizing, they will not be enough.” Mobasser thinks Microsoft is still “holding a lot of cards close to its chest,” and we have to agree. But Thursday’s leak is still a tantalizing look at what Windows Phone could offer in the near future.

All of which begs the question: Is Windows Phone Apollo enough? If it were released right now, how would it measure up against its biggest competitors, iOS 5 and Android 4, aka Ice Cream Sandwich? Here’s our take on how it may fare in six key areas.

Hardware Support

Right now, Windows Phones are limited to single-core processors. They also lack support for removable storage. But Windows Phone Apollo will support multi-core processors, as well as microSD storage.

Because iOS devices do not include removable storage, Apollo would trump iOS there. But both the iPhone 4S, which was released in October 2011, and the iPad 2, released in March 2011, are dual-core devices that run Apple’s A5 processor. Apple’s next iPad is rumored to be built on a quad-core A6 processor, so it’s imperative for Microsoft that Windows Phone run multi-core processors, if only to remain modern and relevant.

Of course, Android began supporting multi-core devices as far back as Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) in February 2011. And pretty much every Android smartphone allows for SD or microSD storage. The Android OS has supported this feature for quite a long time.

“Hardware-wise, I’m not a big fan of what I call the ‘arms race’ because I think there is still a lot of room to optimize software to use hardware like GPUs more effectively,” Windows developer Kelly Sommer said via e-mail. Indeed, current Windows Phones don’t exhibit any major performance shortcomings, despite their specs handicap. But it never hurts performance — or public perception — to match industry-standard specs.

Apollo will also allow for more screen resolutions and device form factors than Mango currently does. “As a user, different screen resolutions and more powerful phones will help to sell more compelling hardware to better compete with iOS and Android,” Setton said.

Verdict: Apollo essentially reaches parity with iOS and Android in terms of hardware support, but doesn’t offer earth-shaking innovation.

Mobile Payments

Windows Phone Apollo will use NFC technology to facilitate mobile payments. With a swipe of your phone on a point-of-purchase RFID tag, you’ll be able to buy coffee, cigarettes, and sundry other consumables. Sound familiar? That’s what Google is doing — or is attempting to do — with its Google Wallet mobile payment platform.

Google Wallet is currently available on the Nexus S smartphone. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Unlike Wallet, however, it looks like Microsoft’s version of NFC payments will play by carrier rules. According to the PocketNow report, “The ‘Wallet experience‘ “will have the capability to be carrier-branded and controlled.” This is a point of contention for Android’s Wallet feature. Google has been battling carriers like Verizon over whether Wallet will appear on upcoming Android 4 devices. Wallet, in fact, did not make an appearance on the latest flagship Android device, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon want a piece of the mobile-payment pie through their own version of Wallet, dubbed Isis. This leaves Sprint as the only U.S. carrier that currently offers Google Wallet. And it also opens up a huge window of opportunity for Windows Phone to take charge in the mobile payments arena.

Developers could also take advantage of the technology, if the API is exposed. “Developers can leverage that to create some brand-new experiences for smartphone users,” Sommers said.

Although many people expected — hoped? hypothesized? — that Apple’s 2011 iPhone, the 4S, would include NFC, Apple hasn’t yet adopted the burgeoning technology.

Verdict: When it comes to mobile payments and NFC, Apollo is ahead of Apple’s current curve, though this could change if the iPhone 5 supports NFC in a big way. As for Android, Apollo’s NFC support might actually trump Android’s, if only because it would receive carrier blessings.

Desktop Integration

Windows Phone 8 Apollo will offer “companion” experiences with its desktop counterpart, Windows 8, which is also set to launch mid-year. Right now, Apple’s Mac OS and iOS are completely separate code bases and platforms. The upshot? Apollo could offer an unprecedented level of what we’ll call “pan-OS unification.”

One of the most interesting elements of OS unification is how it will be implemented: Windows Phone 8 will use the core system from Windows 8. Specifically, the updated OS will be based on the NT kernel rather than the Windows CE kernel, which is currently employed in Windows Phone (the kernel is the core layer of any OS — the interface between hardware components and applications that run on the device). In short, Windows Phone 8 will be very closely related to Windows 8, even to the level where desktop apps could be more easily ported to simplified phone versions.

Geeky kernel discussions aside, Microsoft plans to make user-experience models very similar across its desktop, mobile and Xbox platforms. Syncing information and content sharing across these three platforms will be made easier, as well.

In the world of Google, a deliberate focus on product compatibility helps keeps user data synced across Android phones and tablets, desktop web browsers, and Chromebooks. That said, Google doesn’t have a desktop OS the way Microsoft does (and, no, we won’t count Chrome). What’s more, the Google user experience is very different between mobile and web, from smartphone to tablet, and even from smartphone to smartphone, due to fragmented OS versions and rampant OEM and carrier UI skinning.

In iOS land, the interface is essentially consistent across iPhones and iPads. But the Mac OS desktop interface, of course, despite a bit of window dressing, is a completely separate experience, both in terms of UI and cross-platform app compatibility. As for cloud support, the iOS iCloud ensures your data and apps are synced across devices. In Windows Phone Apollo, SkyDrive will do the same.

Verdict: Awesome sauce! Apollo looks to offer a heretofore unseen level of integration between Microsoft’s desktop and smartphone products.

App Ecosystem

Microsoft plans to have at least 100,000 apps in its app market by the time Windows Phone 8 debuts later this year.

That’s all? By Apple’s latest counts, there are more than 550,000 apps in the iOS App Store. And according to the unofficial count from AndroLib, the Android Market has more than 750,000 apps at the moment.

Microsoft is working hard to offer incentives such as funding, guidance, and marketing opportunities to attract developers to its mobile platform. Windows Phone is currently the fastest-growing mobile app platform and just crossed the 50,000 app mark in late 2011. But it’s still got a long, long way to go before its offerings are on the same level as iOS and Android.

And let’s not forget that Windows Phone 8 will allow for native code support, which means devs can easily port apps they’ve already written for another platform to Windows Phone. This is definitely something developers are excited about.

“The vast majority of mobile app developers have built apps for iOS or Android,” Mobasser said. “We hope the porting of code is well thought-out and allows us to smoothly transition our app to Windows Phone without having to deal with a number of compatibility issues and bugs.”

Windows Phone 8 will also allow for app-to-app communications, something both iOS and Android already offer. “App-to-app communication can create some really interesting user experiences between applications,” Sommers said.

Windows Phone Mango’s Yelp-like Scout feature, which helps find local restaurants, businesses, and activities based on their proximity and rating, will get personal recommendations added to its list of functions. This is something the Foodspotting app just added to its repertoire as well.

Apollo should also feature its own Skype app, or have Skype baked right into the OS — the exact implementation isn’t quite clear from the leaks. Skype is already available on iOS and Android, if you’re keeping score.

Finally, for its camera app, Apollo will include new “lens apps” for more powerful smartphone image-capture abilities. Now, there are plenty of third-party photography apps already available on iOS and Android. And many Android phones currently have robust filters and scene options built in to their native camera apps. So while the Apollo camera update looks promising, it may not offer much of anything new to the smartphone scene.

Verdict: Windows Phone is still playing a serious game of catch-up in the apps arena. But sharing a code base with Windows desktop, along with native code support, will certainly help Microsoft’s app-related fortunes.

Data Management

Apollo will use a tool called “DataSmart” to make sure you’re able to easily track your monthly data usage. Available as a Live Tile that you can pin to your home screen, it will break down your data usage (helping you make smarter decisions about what you download) and give Wi-Fi networks — even carrier-operated Wi-Fi hotspots — precedence over cellular data connections whenever possible.

In iOS 5, you can track your cellular usage, but it’s buried inside the General settings menu. Yes, there are indeed a number of third-party iOS apps you can download that do the trick, but these features should really be exposed directly in the OS — like they are in Android.

Data management is better than ever with the advent of Android 4, aka Ice Cream Sandwich. The built-in Data Usage app provides numerous charts and graphs that reveal your data-gobbling habits, and you can even set governors and alerts to help you control data usage. Android sets the new standard for data management, so while Windows Phone’s solution sounds helpful, it will have a long way to go in matching Android’s approach.

Verdict: We’ll see. We’ll see. But if nothing else, Microsoft is moving in the right direction.

Enterprise

Apple CEO Tim Cook pointed out that iPhones and iPads are rapidly being adopted in the enterprise environment.

To grab a piece of that market (many members of which are in search of new handsets now that BlackBerry fever is fading), Windows Phone 8 will offer the same native BitLocker encryption as Windows 8. That’s 128-bit, full-disk encryption. This could be good news for potential switchers, as built-in encryption in iOS devices reportedly has some security flaws. For Windows Phone 8, companies will also be able to create personalized, proprietary software for their employees, which Windows 8 will allow as well.

Now, does anyone besides developers use Android for enterprise applications? I kid — sort of. Google also offers storage encryption, as well as third-party encryption solutions.

Verdict: It looks like Microsoft will be ahead of the curve. And it should be. This is a Windows product, after all. If Microsoft can’t appeal to the mobile enterprise crowd, it’s got problems.

So What’s It All Mean?

Windows Phone Apollo looks like it will address a number of the issues currently holding back the OS from equal footing with its peers. But there are still a few areas that need improvement. “I think the biggest gaps are still software and design,” Sommers said. “Microsoft needs to be obsessed with paying attention to detail in its user experiences.”

This is an area that Android addressed in its Ice Cream Sandwich update in late 2011, and an area where Apple absolutely excels.

Based on the information that was leaked, Windows Phone 8 should achieve essential feature parity with its competitors — assuming no significant improvements are made to iOS or Android by the time Apollo arrives. And if the leaked info is merely a tease of what Apollo has in store — a mere subset of greater feature riches — then Windows Phone 8 will be quite compelling indeed.

View full post on Wired: Gadget Lab

A promotional video, starring Microsoft senior vice-president and Windows Phone product manager Joe Belfiore, has been leaked to the chaps at Pocketnow.com leaving them no choice but to tell us what the company supposedly has in store for Windows Phone 8.

The promotional video – supposedly aimed at Nokia employees to gee them up into an “awesome” frenzy for the next iteration of Windows Phone – has actually given us a fantastic insight, if true, into a host of new features we can expect in the next version of Windows Phone, the Windows Phone 8.

The new operating system update, to be dubbed Apollo, will supposedly see several hardware spec changes to the Microsoft?mobile operating system.

Those changes include support for multicore processors (think Qualcomm S4), four new screen resolutions presumably for the bigger screen phones like the HTC Titan and Titan II, and the ability to expand a Windows Phone’s memory via removable microSD.

Other specs will include NFC support for contactless payment, with Belfiore reported to be “placing specific emphasis on 8′s push into contactless payments”.

The “wallet experience,” as Pocketnow says he calls it, will have the “capability to be carrier-branded and controlled, either by a secure element on the SIM card or utilising hardware in the phone itself. In addition, tap-to-share capabilities will reportedly work across multiple platforms, allowing desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones to all share content.”?

The video also supposedly details that Windows Phone 8 will include many of the same coding features as Windows 8 with developers being able to use most of their code when porting an app from desktop to phone.

If that’s the case that is likely to be a big draw for programmers who are already developing apps and features for Windows 8. Either way, it is going to help Microsoft convince developers that developing for its platforms is going to be considerably easier than it is currently.

That move to a more symbiotic relationship will also stretch towards a more dedicated companion application to align with what is already available via the Mac Windows Phone connector software, or for older Windows Mobile users; the return of ActiveSync.

“The Xbox Companion app, currently found on Windows Phones, will see a partner client on Windows 8. Skydrive support promises seamless sharing of data between devices; Belfiore gives the example of instantly having one’s music collection available on a newly purchased Windows Phone, without the need for a PC sync,” reports the site. ?

Also improved, in the heavily detailed report by Pocketnow, is a reworking of the camera and photo elements of the operating system:

“Also mentioned is support for app-to-app communication, as well as a revamped Skype client that hooks directly into the OS, letting Skype calls behave almost identically to regular, non-VoIP telephony. The camera will now be based around so-called lens apps: Microsoft provides a basic camera interface that can either be skinned by OEMs or overlaid with viewfinders from third-parties. Belfiore gives the example of a lens app that combines burst mode with smile detection to capture a perfect portrait shot,” says Pocketnow.com.?

Other elements include Windows Phone 8 actively attempting to give Wi-Fi connections precedence, going so far as to connect to carrier-owned WLANs automatically when in range.

Talking to other journalists in the industry, Pocket-lint has no reason to believe the video isn’t legit. Sadly, Pocketnow hasn’t posted the video for us to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Microsoft is expected to make an announcement on its future Windows Phone plans at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of February. Pocket-lint will be in attendance at the show, to bring all the latest news, including any announcements from Microsoft, as it happens.

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Phones Mobile phones Microsoft Windows Phone 8 Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 8 detailed by Joe Belfiore in leaked video originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:30:00 +0000

View full post on Pocket-lint : phones : Latest News

Apple's iPhone 4S helped boost it up the ladder of mobile-phone market share.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired

Apple has moved past LG in the worldwide rankings of mobile-phone unit sales. According to IDC, Apple is now the world’s third largest mobile-phone manufacturer, behind Nokia and Samsung.

Apple jumped two spots over the course of 2011. This time last year, Apple held fifth place among the world’s top phone manufacturers.

However, there still remains a huge gap between Apple and the twin forces of Samsung and Nokia, which dominate the mobile-phone market thanks to the popularity of their inexpensive feature phones. For Q4 2011, Nokia owned 26.6 percent of the worldwide mobile-phone market, Samsung held 22.8 percent and Apple had 8.7 percent. For the year overall, the stats were slightly different: Nokia had 27 percent of the market, Samsung had 21.3 percent and Apple had 6 percent, just beating out the 5.7 percent of LG Electronics.

“The strength of the iPhone 4S in Q4 alone clearly propelled Apple to the third position overall,” IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said. Apple had blockbuster sales last quarter, selling more than 37.04 million iPhones over the holiday season. Most of that was due to demand for the iPhone 4S, and, in the U.S., reduced prices for the year-old iPhone 4 and 2-year-old 3GS helped boost sales as well.

Widespread availability was key, too.

“I think Apple’s success is due to the presence of the iPhone in an enormous number of markets,” Canalysis principal analyst Pete Cunningham told Wired. Indeed, the iPhone 4S enjoyed the fastest iPhone rollout in Apple’s history. It’s now available in more than 90 countries, including China. In the company’s most recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that iPhone 4S demand in China “has been staggering,” despite the phone only having just launched there.

Image: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker

Simple feature phones still make up the majority of mobile phone sales, but smartphones are a rapidly growing market. And phone manufacturers can’t hedge their bets on dumb phones the way they could in the past. Just look at LG.

“LG really missed the entire touchscreen smartphone game,” Restivo said. “Only years after Apple made its mark, LG tried to transition more successfully into the smartphone place, and it’s still recovering.”

Unless its Lumia smartphones pick up momentum, Nokia could follow a path similar to LG’s, as Nokia was also late to the smartphone game. But Samsung has a solid footing in both arenas, with solid feature phone sales and record-breaking smartphone sales.

Restivo says that Apple will need to better penetrate emerging markets like those in Russia, Brazil and the middle east if it wants to sustain and improve its growth in the mobile phone space. But innovation is still the prime factor in driving Apple’s success, Restivo says.

“Apple has to continue to capture people’s interest,” Restivo said. “It’s not just about adding a better camera or processor.”

Indeed, chasing pure sales volume isn’t in Apple’s best interests, and it’s not the secret to its runaway success in the mobile space. “I’d probably argue it’s not important for Apple to be the number one vendor in the market,” Cunningham said. “The important aspect is Apple’s share of the value of the market as opposed to the volume.”

Still, as anyone with the hint of a competitive streak knows: It doesn’t hurt to be number one in every ranking, too.

View full post on Wired: Gadget Lab

A British university student has designed a phone that stands out from the usual array of black, grey or white plastic numbers – by building it out of bamboo.

The Bamboo phone is called ADzero and was designed by 23 year-old Middlesex University student Kieron-Scott Woodhouse

There’s no hardware of software details for the ADzero other than it’s “Android powered” and is “approximately half the weight of an Apple iPhone, while boasting a larger screen” – all the emphasis seems to be on the design itself. Quite rightly so though, it’s a gorgeous looking piece of kit complete with a unibody design crafted from a single piece of four year-old organic bamboo.

“The whole experience so far has been incredible and completely unexpected,” said Kieron-Scott. “Completing my final year and working has been challenging, but my course and the project complement each other well and it’s a great start of my career. I can’t wait to see my mobile phone in shops this year.”

The Bamboo ADzero was originally set for China only but will now hit boutique stores in the UK as well. No release details as of yet – we’ll keep you posted.

Tags:
Phones Bamboo ADzero

Bamboo ADzero phone shoots in originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:08:00 +0000

View full post on Pocket-lint : phones : Latest News

Apple is purportedly working on its own TV set, rather than just a set-top box like Apple TV.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Rampant speculation says Apple has a full-fledged, big-screen TV project in the works — an iTV, if you will. Now Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Apple has been contacting component makers for its set, leading him to believe it will almost definitely land in 2012.

In a note to investors on Tuesday, Munster wrote that a “major TV component supplier” told him Apple has been in touch with them regarding TV components. However, Munster also conceded that Apple may never actually release a TV at all.

“We believe that Apple only enters mature markets with the goal of revolutionizing them, as it did with the smartphone,” Munster wrote in his note. “Without a revamped TV content solution, we do not think Apple enters the TV market.”

Nonetheless, says another analyst, now might actually be a good time for Apple to take the smart TV market by storm.

“The television market in many ways looks very similar to the landscape of the handset industry before the entrance of the iPhone,” NPD analyst Ross Rubin said. Indeed, all the major TV manufacturers are taking different approaches to smart TV implementation. The field is fragmented and lacks a clear leader — so Apple could very well enter an industry ripe for the taking.

Still, timing is a key issue here. DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gagnon feels that a 2012 launch date could be unrealistic. Indeed, in the past, Munster had even tapped 2011 as when we’d see an Apple-branded television.

“Most TVs require at least a year to manufacture from design conception to production, so if Apple is just now talking to component suppliers, it might be tough to launch in 2012,” Gagnon said. However, Gagnon does acknowledge that it’s not impossible that Apple could whip suppliers into shape, and get a product out by the end of the year.

Apple could have been working on a television project as early as 2007, and speculation says Siri voice control remains a key feature of any eventual UI. This thought was bolstered when it came to light that Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson he had “finally cracked” the problem of making a user-friendly smart TV prior to his death.

In his note to investors, Munster outlines three ways he sees Apple implementing a smart TV platform.

The simplest path would be for Apple to partner with cable companies and offer a TiVo-like interface for managing live TV service. This wouldn’t be incredibly revolutionary, but the interface could offer iTunes movie rentals and other purchases right on the TV.

A more complex implementation would involve Apple providing live TV from major networks, as well as offering web-based programming from sources like Hulu and Netflix. Additional video content could be purchased through iTunes on the TV.

The last possibility Munster suggests is that Apple could offer a monthly subscription package for à la carte TV offerings. This would let Apple control the whole television experience, but would be a difficult feat to pull of. Apple would become “a virtual MSO (Multiple Services Provider).” Indeed, considering CBS reportedly turned down a streaming deal for Apple TV, this sounds like an unlikely scenario.

“A lot of the comments that Munster makes about service offerings are interesting, but they all have a lot of complications,” Gagnon said. “And unlike partnering with a mobile offerer like AT&T, as Apple did in the smartphone market, MSOs typically dont have nationwide coverage, so they’d have to develop a lot of offerings to provide that coverage.”

In October, we looked at what an Apple television set could offer based on rumors and Apple’s current technologies. Our conclusion: The TV would have an innovative user interface, but Apple wouldn’t likely radicalize the live television content distribution model.

via Cult of Mac

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