Archive for October, 2010

NVIDIA Foresees the Emergence of Superphones

Badge_Tegra_3D_largeNVIDIA’s president Jen-Hsun Huang foresees the emergence of a new class of mobile phones, so-called superphones.

Mr. Huang explains that ‘superphones’ will occupy the intermediary position between traditional phones used purely for communication and minicomputers. These gadgets will be bigger than the Apple iPhone but smaller than ordinary tablet computers.

Mr. Huang says that ‘superphones’ will be able to carry out basic internet functions with a highly developed multimedia functionality. Google Android OS will serve as the platform for these devices.

Mr. Huang didn’t talk about the type of hardware that will be used.. He only noted that ARM-based processors are likely to become the “heart” of the new device. (NVIDIA’s president may have meant not a very successful platform Tegra. – I don’t understand what you mean?)

Superphones may appear on the market over the coming year, concluded Jen-Hsun Huang.

Posted in IT News, Mobile platforms at 04:10

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Motorola Requests to Stop Sales of Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch

Motorola filed a lawsuit against Apple, blaming Steve Jobs’ empire in the illegal use of patented technologies.

Motorola claims that Apple violated around 18 patents which deal with wireless data transmission tools in WCDMA and Wi-Fi networks, antenna design, methods of information synchronization between several devices, geolocation services, wireless e-mail exchange, etc. The plaintiff also states that the above-mentioned technologies are illegally applied in the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, several models of Apple PCs and supporting online services, namely in App Store.

Motorola also made an address to the US International Trade Commission with a request to conduct the investigation and ban the import and sales of Apple’s products because of patent violation. Additionally, the plaintiff intends to claim material compensation from Apple.

Posted in Mobile platforms at 09:10

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Modu Introduces Modu T Telephone

modu_t-phoneAs expected, the Israeli Company Modu has announced the new Modu T mobile telephone, first announced in June.

Just like the company’s previous cellphone offerings, this new telephone has a modular structure. It means that buyers are offered a basic version of the device with a 2.2-inch sensor display, satellite navigation system receiver GPS, FM-tuner, audio player, 2Gb of memory and a MicroSD format (up to 32 Gb) flash-card slot. (up to 32 Gb).In addition, customers can purchase several internal modules called FY which add extra functionality. Among available modules are a 5-magapixel camera module and a module with a QWERTY keyboard. Users can also purchase a wireless (likely to be an external Bluetooth adapter) and “sports” module.

Firmware platform Qualcomm Breq is the foundation of Modu T. The platform supports 3rd generation cellular networks (UMTS/HSDPA).

So far there is no information about the cost of the telephone and additional modules except for previously reported figures of 400-500 USD. It is also noted that the new device is to be sold in many countries (previous Modu products were only available in Israel). As a matter of fact, the model is already in the Guinness Book of World Records as the lightest telephone with sensor display.

Modu is also soon to release the Android-smartphone Modu W whose basic module will also contain a Wi-Fi adapter. Modu T and Modu W are identical in design.

Posted in Mobile platforms at 03:10

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Nokia, RIM and Apple Lead on the Smartphone Market

nokialogoISuppli Company has published the results of the global smartphone market survey in the second quarter of the current year.

According to estimates, 60.4 million communicators based on various operating systems were sold in April-June. As compared with the first quarter of 2010 when the sales volume totaled 55.8 million, sales increased by 8.2 %.

Finnish Nokia tops the list of leaders with a39.7% market share as opposed to 38.5% in the first quarter. During three months the company managed to increase their sales by 11.6 %, sellingup to 24 million devices.

Canadian supplier, Research In Motion (RIM) is the second largest smartphone supplier. In April-June it controlled 18.5 % of the market as opposed to 18.8 % during the first quarter of the year. At the same time, the company’s sales increased by 7% with sales of11,.2 million smartphones.

The third largest market player is Apple with 8.4 million communicators sold resulting in a market share of 13.9%. Sales rates decreased by 4% in the second quarter.

Analysts say that suppliers of Android-based devices show the highest growth rates of smartphone sales. Demand for the Taiwanese HTC went up over three months by 63.1%  translating into sales of4,9 million devices. The company share reached 8% which puts the company in 4th place according to ISuppli rating.

Samsung takes ranks in5th place with a marketshare of 4.6% and 2.8 million smartphones sold. Demand for communicators produced by the South Korean manufacturer went up by 55.6 % during the 2nd quarter of the current year.

Posted in Mobile platforms at 10:10

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