Category Archives: Tech News

Confirmed – Apple To Release Smaller Cheaper iPhone

Apple, Jan 2013, Tech News

The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone. While Apple has explored such a device for years, the plan has been progressing and a less expensive version of its flagship device could launch as soon as later this year.

The cheaper phone could resemble the standard iPhone, with a different, less-expensive body, one of the people said. One possibility Apple has considered is lowering the cost of the device by using a different shell made of polycarbonate plastic; in contrast, the iPhone 5 currently has an aluminum housing. Many other parts could remain the same or be recycled from older iPhone models.

Who knows, you could see the iPhone 4, low resolution camera in a plastic multi coloured finish. Strangely, at least it won’t break as easy of dropped unlike glass.

Samsung Profits & Sales Rocket

Android, Apple, Tech News, Windows

With successful devices like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2 and 30 plus other handset derivatives, it is no surprise that Samsung is producing such stellar results as below. They are selling a massive 500 handsets per minute in the last quarter of 2012 alone.

The consolidated operating profit is expected to be $8.28 billion. Consolidated sales for the third quarter of 2012 are at $49.10 billion, while operating profit is recorded at $7.58 billion U.S. dollars.

Revenues for fiscal 2012 are estimated at $189.18 billion on consolidated basis, and operating profit is expected to be $27.29 billion.

Staggering figures. The challenge will be to maintain these results. But with Samsung releasing refrigerators with Evernote integration anything is possible.

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Blackberry 10 – Missing in Action – The Home Button

Jan 2013, RIM, Tech News

In a few weeks time, the first Blackberry 10 handsets will be released. One interesting aspect of the new operating system, is the omission of the home button.

Blackberry believe their new flow process is far more intuitive and that having a home button is so yesterday.

I suppose they are trying to differentiate from the iPhone concept. Real use of the phone will naturally determine whether this was genius of disaster. And I wonder if this is patented, otherwise the whole world will copy.

The ZTE Grand S – the thinnest phone

Android, Jan 2013, Tech News,

Below is the 5-inch HD (1,920 x 1,080) display of the Grand S, powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro which will debut this quarter in China with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It’s has a 13-megapixel auto-focus camera on the rear and a 2-megapixel camera on the front which are capable of recording video in 1080p. The Grand S boasts 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, and despite its super thin 6.9mm enclosure, it features a microSD card slot. Disappointingly it appears that ZTE sacrificed battery capacity to meet the size constraints of the Grand S, as a 1,780mAh battery is sealed within the phone’s unibody enclosure. With LTE on board, this phone is likely to need to be very close to a charger.

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Marketing Budgets

Android, Apple, RIM, Tech News, Windows

Peter Chou of HTC made a point recently that they didn’t have nor spend as vast amounts on Marketing as Samsung or Apple.

So lets look at the amounts. Lets take Coca Cola. Last year it spent $3bn. That’s huge but we all know what Coca Cola is. How about Apple? Apple spent $1bn which still seems huge. But these amounts are nothing compared to Samsung who spent $11bn. That’s nearly 4 times the marketing spend of Coca Cola.

I cannot see how any company, even HTC compete against such a strong marketing budget and campaign.

Sony Experia Z & ZL – The Design Differences – Which is Best?

Android, Tech News

It’s great to see Sony back in the game with 2 decent handsets but don’t they listen or learn from others.

I will be doing a bigger piece on Friday, but here is my first views.

The Sony Experia Z – it’s thin at 7mm but only had a 2300mah battery. Seriously Sony on a 5 inch screen. Sony say the have a power management tool that turns off apps in standby. Big deal. Run time will still be poor. For the sake a thinness a bigger battery is needed. I like the look, the decent camera and the waterproof and dust proof aspects. However, it’s very angular in design , meaning sharp corners and edges, meaning uncomfortable in the hand. The back is glass, gorilla glass. Who said Apple was mad using glass in the iPhone 4/4S!

The Sony Experia ZL – this is smaller in footprint and but has the same screen. In other words it is all screen practically. But it is not dust and waterproof. However, it does have rounded edges and curves, meaning it feels very comfortable in the hand. However it is slightly thicker too. It also loses the glass back for a more traditional plastic.

So the Z was angular as it needed to have flaps to conceal all the ports and slots to help it retain its dust and waterproof aspects. This is a good idea but sadly it does make it not as comfortable to hold. I am concerned about the battery. The Samsung Note has a much larger battery. But the Z is ultra thin. To make the ZL have a smaller front, the thickness was increased.

As you can see design compromises or design features impact the end result.

Which would you choose?

Sony’s Internet TV Service – Goodbye Cable

Android, Apple, Tech News, Windows

There are lot of whisperings that Sony is looking to launch an Internet TV service. This could be a breakthrough as it will simply transform the need for your TV to have an aerial. Adios to cable television and more.

I strongly believe the tech companies that will survive are the ones offering the best services. And Sony could recover from their recent drop in financial performance and the Japanese earthquake disaster.

20 years ago I was involved in a paper discussing threats to the insurance industry. Up at the top sat Sony, who at the time had nothing to do with the industry. But they did have the consumer database and infrastructure.

In technology it only takes 18 months for a top company to slide out of the rankings. In the same light that is all that is needed for a tech company to reach the top. Interesting times are ahead.

Windows Phones come to Android

Android, Tech News, Windows

Ever wanted to try a Windows Phone, but didn’t want to lose out on all those apps and functionality.

Well Tile Launcher is a launcher available on the Google Play store. It mimic the windows phone interface fairly well. It is still in beta, so more development and bug quashing is yet to come.

This is another reason why android is so popular. You can customise the look and feel to your hearts content.

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Watch Out Apple, here’s comes Amazon

Android, Apple, Tech News

For a while now I have always thought Apple’s reign at the stop would be most threatened from Amazon, not Google.

The Kindle Fire is the tablet that reduced the iPads web traffic share the most over Christmas. Now the amount may not seem a lot but I still believe its significant and will grow faster again.

To add to my argument, Amazon is strengthening its already large R&D department by another 250 employees. That’s huge. Adding to the strong rumours that Amazon will release their first smartphone, 2013 is looking to be the shift towards another dominant player in this industry.