Category Archives: Android

Apple and China Mobile in business

Android, Tech News,

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that whilst China Mobile’s 4G services do not launch until the 18th, the carrier will open preorders for the iPhone from this Thursday, the 12th of December.

Analysts are expectantly awaiting the iPhone’s launch on the worlds-biggest carrier, with some estimating that the partnership will be attributable for about 38 million of Apple’s total iPhone sales in 2014.

This is the most important phone launch since the iPhone first became available in 2007 and has the potential to add significant profit to Apple’s bottom line.

Samsung & Phillips offices raided

Android, Tech News, ,

Samsung and Philips have confessed that they were raided recently by European Commission inspectors.

The Commission said it was concerned these firms had colluded in restricting online availability of some products in a bid to drive up prices.

Both Samsung and Philips said they were co-operating with the authorities.

The alleged offence would be in breach of European competition rules.

“The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit anticompetitive agreements or concerted practices,” it said in a statement.

I recall at launch the Samsung Note 3 costing as much as £649. Now on Amazon for £499.

And if retailers didn’t cooperate with higher launch prices, stock might have be an issue for them.

Anti competitive or reasonable practise ?

Happy Birthday “Gavin’s Gadgets” – One Year Old today

Android, Apple, Firefox, Historical Reviews, Jan 2013, Reviews, RIM, Social, Tech News, Weather, Windows

Gavin’s Gadgets celebrates it’s first birthday today.

In one year, I’ve written 1,700 articles and reviewed 23 phones/gadgets. Gavin’s Gadgets is viewed in 180 countries, and some that even I didn’t know existed. If you like podcasts, I also co-host a podcast with my friend Dave Rich from UKMobileTech. Details are on the about page, or search in iTunes or any podcast app for “Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast”.

Don’t forget, you can catch up on the reviews using the reviews index page.

In addition weather for Princetown, Dartmoor is updated daily using my basic weather equipment.

And remember there are no adverts to distract you. All the views are my personal views and opinions.

So from me to you, thank you for visiting, following my blog, adding your comments and returning. And thank you to everyone that helped me along this journey. Here’s to another year!

Android adoption figures are potentially flawed

Android, Tech News

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Engadget is reporting Android 4.4 is now on 1.1% of devices with jellybean 4.3 on around 50% plus.

But these figures shown above in the chart are slightly misleading as earlier android 1.x devices are not shown as they cannot connect to the Play Store. Android 4.3 and above is still showing greater adoption figures but if you did include all the 1.x devices the numbers would be different.

HTC One Mini banned from sale by this Friday

Android, Tech News

Bloomberg has reported that a British judge has ruled in favor of Nokia, finding that HTC infringes several patents owned by the Finnish company. As a direct effect, HTC will not be able to sell its One mini phone in the UK starting this Friday, December 6. While the judge also found the One to be infringing, he did not immediately impose a ban on the flagship; such a measure would have caused “considerable” damage to HTC, he opined.

However, the injunction against the One is just postponed, giving HTC enough time to appeal the ruling. The One mini ban is immediate, though, as of December 6. “Nokia is also claiming financial compensation for the infringement of this patent”, said the company, adding that the Taiwanese phone maker has agreed to no longer import “any more of the products into the U.K. pending the appeal”.

In its defense, HTC argued that the infringing microchips were too small of a component to justify an injunction. However, the Taiwanese company didn’t comment, as of yet, on the ruling.

This surely won’t help HTC’s financial woes.

Huawei is quitting the USA

Android, Tech News

Venturebeat has reported that Huawei confirmed it has had enough of its wars with the USA and will quit selling it’s wares.

For years, officials in the US and elsewhere have accused the tech company of being a proxy for the Chinese government. And while Huawei has long denied the claims, it seems like it’s just too tired to do it any longer.

In a recent interview with French media, Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei said the company will stop looking for new business in the US, where fears over its alleged spying are the highest. ”It’s not worth it,” he said, according to a transcript of the interview.

So is Huawei acting as a spy for the Chinese government and stealing all your information.

Well my experience with Huawei, has been the Ascend P6 phone which overheated when using Bluetooth and GPS at the same time. Maybe it was also reporting back to China as well, and actually overheated due all my food tweets!

Do we really need flexible phones ?

Android, Apple, Tech News, Windows

LG and Samsung have both released flexible phones recently to demonstrate what they are both capable of building. But do we really need flexible phones?

The LG G Flex has a self healing back and can be flexed flat by pushing down on it. It moves by about 5mm downwards from the centre point before it goes flat. This really fascinates me. A self healing back and slightly flexible. Why you may ask?

Well it means that future phone will be more durable. Scratches won’t be a problem and the odd drop or two won’t crack the screen. It will also potentially negate the need for a case.

I can’t wait for future developments in hardware. 2014 could be an interesting year.

Quechua’s new smartphone is IP54 certified

Android, Tech News

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Quechua, which is known for selling mountain sports gear and equipment, has partnered with electronics company Archos to build a smartphone designed to face the elements.

The 5-inch smartphone combines the ruggedness and durability that comes from Quechua’s sports brand along with Archos’ smartphone expertise.

Quechua’s Phone features a 5-inch handset on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, IP54 certification, a Qualcomm 1.2GHz, quad-core chip, 1GB RAM, 4GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD), a 5-megapixel rear camera and one rather beefy 3,500mAh battery.

The handset is designed with an active lifestyle in mind and is resistant to shock, mud, water, sand, cold and snow. Seems like a good phone for an active type person. The specifications are middle of the road though, so not ideal for the power user.

Tablets are more important than phones for shopping

Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Windows

The latest announcements from many major retailers have all commented that sales of tablets including iPads have proven to be what people want for Xmas.

In addition, iPads were used to buy 60% of online purchases on Black Friday at major retailers. Other tablets and mobile phone also contributed heavily. Blackberry and Windows Phone sadly did not feature in the stats as devices used for buying goods.

I must admit most of my shopping so far has been online using mobile devices. That’s mainly due to my whiplash injuries keeping at home. So have you been using your tablet or phone to buy goods ?