Posted by newbieTuesday, October 18, 20110
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NEWYORK-AppleInc.announced anewsales figuresforApple products4 whichwas launchedlast week.In threedays,sold4 millionunitsin threedays.Number of sales istwotimes morethanthe previous product, which was launchedlate last year. On Friday,AppleInc. startedselling the iPhone4Sin the U.S.,Australia,Canada,France,Germany, Japan,andEngland.By the end ofthis month,theywillsellin22 countries.
WhenApplelaunched the iPhone4 yearsago,sold 1.7millionunitsinits first three days. The salewaspredicted to besluggish.Steve Jobspredictedthe death ofco-influential,butbecause someof the topbrands ofmobile phoneswas also launchedinalmost the same time.
Those of you who have been eagerly waiting for the release of Apple�s third-generation iPad, there is good news for them as the production of iPad 3 will start this quarter according to Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro.
What�s there in Air
According to the sources, Apple is expected to make as many as 1 million iPad 3 gadgets by the end of this year, which means they have a certain deadline to fulfil. Christopher Caso said; results have shown that the production of iPad 3 is now shown up on AAPL�s production forecast for 4Q production. It is believed that 0.6 million -1 million units are to be forecasted for 4Q production.
iPad Mini Rumour
Earlier last week, Brian White who is Ticonderoga Securities analyst said that in the first quarter of 2012, Apple is most likely to unveil a new entry level iPad mini. White�s discovered the fact that the new iPad will probably carry a price tag in the mid to high-$200 range. Also, according to the analyst Apple will soon unveil a �feature rich standard-priced iPad 3� in the second quarter next year. Stay tuned for more updates on this.
Posted by newbieThursday, October 6, 20110
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The designer behind the TikTok and LunaTik design is Scott Wilson who has made these two wrist want band designs for none other than the Apple iPod nano gadget with multi-touch functionality and a 1.54 inch touch screen. These are not the only design bands for the iPod nano, HEX watch bands also showed up few weeks ago but were only made of silicone. Although the TikTok plus LunaTik combined with the iPod nano looks like a cool combination but it is nowhere near the sWaP Rebel, USB wrist watch phone that also has touch screen functionality and a lot more.
The first design is called the TikTok and it has a simple pop-in / pop-out feature that lets you quickly insert and remove your iPod nano in a second. On the other hand, the LunaTik is designed specifically for those who want to keep their iPod nano as a wrist watch gadget. The TikTok + LunaTik is made of aircraft grade aluminum, reinforced polycarbonate, stainless steel and of course the flexible looking premium silicone rubber. The TikTok and LunaTik are available for on pre-order for price of $25 and $50 respectively which actually has retail price of $34.95 and $69.95 respectively.
Posted by newbieWednesday, October 5, 20110
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Apple unveiled a slimmed-down and faster version of last year's iPhone4, dubbed the iPhone 4S, as new chief executive Tim Cook aimed to cement its position as the world's largest phone maker by revenue.
The phone is expected to go on sale from all five UK networks from 14 October, though none was able to give details of pricing. The Guardian understands that no one knew precisely what was coming until it was unveiled.
Apple also said that a new version of its "iOS" software, iOS 5, to run existing iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPad models will be available from 12 October, bringing its "iCloud" system which synchronises pictures, documents and user video across devices without needing a PC.
While the rumour mill � and the name of Apple's software � had led many to expect that the phone would be called the "iPhone 5", Philip Schiller, the head of marketing, demonstrated the 4S and insisted that it was a complete overhaul of the iPhone 4 released 14 months ago.
A key element in the iPhone 4S is a "voice assistant" called Siri which Scott Forstall, head of the iOS division, demonstrated. It answered complex queries asked by voice such as "what's the weather like today?" and responded in real time with a synthesized voice.
"There's so much you can ask. Compose and dictate emails, ask questions about the weather, stocks, set timers. It's not perfect, but there's a huge amount it can do," said Forstall.
The launch was the first for Apple, the highest-valued company in the world, without Steve Jobs as chief executive after he stepped down in August.
Apple is seeking to stay ahead of its South Korean rival Samsung, which is challenging Apple for the crown of the company selling the mostsmartphones worldwide. The two are expected to be neck-and-neck when figures for the third quarter, to the end of September, are announced. The majority of Samsung's smartphones run Google's Android software.
Apple is aiming to bolster its position in the mobile business, where Cook pointed out that despite its position in the smartphone market it only has 5% of the total market by volume, by targeting the fast-growing Chinese market as well as European and US buyers.
The iPhone 4S includes the A5 processing chip also used in the iPad 2 released earlier this year, making it significantly faster than its iPhone 4 predecessor. Schiller said that the antennas � the subject of a bitter row when some customers claimed that the external antenna led to worse reception � have been redesigned to improve call quality. The camera had also been improved compared to the iPhone 4.
One other change is that the phone will work on any phone network in the world through the inclusion of chips which boost compatibility.
Speaking in the room where ten years before Steve Jobs launched the iPod � the music player which revived Apple's fortunes and helped it gain a dominant position in consumer electronics � Cook said that "I consider it the privilege of a lifetime to have worked here almost 14 years."
Apple also updated two of its 10-year-old iPod line, the internet-enabled iPod Touch and the miniature iPod nano, which will now be offered in watch form � something that a number of Apple fans had demanded last year when it was released. But the "classic" iPod and the tiny "shuffle" were not mentioned, though they are still on sale.
Posted by newbieWednesday, September 7, 20110
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Samsung�s fight with Apple over Galaxy products looking like the iPhone and Apple iPad has taken yet another turn, causing Samsung to remove their latest slate, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 from being on show at IFA in Berlin. According to the guys over at Slash Gear then latest move in the Apple versus Samsung patent spat saw old Sammy cover up or remove any mention of the Android Honeycomb tablet from their stand at IFA 2011.
Samsung has removed the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from our stand at IFA. We cannot make any further comment as we have not received an official statement from the court. Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 along with the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3 on Thursday, and Gore made it clear that the removal of anything to do with the Galaxy Tab 7.7 was a voluntary move by Samsung and not at the request of any court.
Although not official, it would seem that Samsung is expecting the same attempt by Apple to seek an injunction to halt the sales of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany just like that have with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 although there is currently no word from the court on the matter.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3 and the Samsung Wave 3 remain on display at IFA 2011 in Berlin, and it is only the 7.7-inch slate Samsung has decided to remove at this point until such times as the court�s officially announcement comes in. Whether the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3 will be added to Apple�s growing list of alleged patent infringing Samsung products at some point remains to be seen. Apple Samsung Fight Sees Galaxy Tab 7.7 Pulled In Germany Picture
About article Apple Samsung Fight Sees Galaxy Tab 7.7 Pulled In Germany
Posted by newbieSaturday, August 6, 20110
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Android 2.3 Platform Highlights
The Android 2.3 platform introduces many new and exciting features for users and developers. This document provides a glimpse at some of the new features and technologies in Android 2.3. For detailed information about the new developer APIs, see the Android 2.3 version notes.
The user interface is refined in many ways across the system, making it easier to learn, faster to use, and more power-efficient. A simplified visual theme of colors against black brings vividness and contrast to the notification bar, menus, and other parts of the UI. Changes in menus and settings make it easier for the user to navigate and control the features of the system and device.
Faster, more intuitive text input
The Android soft keyboard is redesigned and optimized for faster text input and editing. The keys themselves are reshaped and repositioned for improved targeting, making them easier to see and press accurately, even at high speeds. The keyboard also displays the current character and dictionary suggestions in a larger, more vivid style that is easier to read.
The keyboard adds the capability to correct entered words from suggestions in the dictionary. As the user selects a word already entered, the keyboard displays suggestions that the user can choose from, to replace the selection. The user can also switch to voice input mode to replace the selection. Smart suggestions let the user accept a suggestion and then return to correct it later, if needed, from the original set of suggestions.
New multitouch key-chording lets the user quickly enter numbers and symbols by pressing Shift+<letter> and ?123+<symbol>, without needing to manually switch input modes. From certain keys, users can also access a popup menu of accented characters, numbers, and symbols by holding the key and sliding to select a character.
One-touch word selection and copy/paste
When entering text or viewing a web page, the user can quickly select a word by press-hold, then copy to the clipboard and paste. Pressing on a word enters a free-selection mode � the user can adjust the selection area as needed by dragging a set of bounding arrows to new positions, then copy the bounded area by pressing anywhere in the selection area. For text entry, the user can slide-press to enter a cursor mode, then reposition the cursor easily and accurately by dragging the cursor arrow. With both the selection and cursor modes, no use of a trackball is needed.
Improved power management
The Android system takes a more active role in managing apps that are keeping the device awake for too long or that are consuming CPU while running in the background. By managing such apps � closing them if appropriate � the system helps ensure best possible performance and maximum battery life.
The system also gives the user more visibility over the power being consumed by system components and running apps. The Application settings provides an accurate overview of how the battery is being used, with details of the usage and relative power consumed by each component or application.
Control over applications
A shortcut to the Manage Applications control now appears in the Options Menu in the Home screen and Launcher, making it much easier to check and manage application activity. Once the user enters Manage Applications, a new Running tab displays a list of active applications and the storage and memory being used by each. The user can read further details about each application and if necessary stop an application or report feedback to its developer.
New ways of communicating, organizing
An updated set of standard applications lets the user take new approaches to managing information and relationships.
Internet calling
The user can make voice calls over the internet to other users who have SIP accounts. The user can add an internet calling number (a SIP address) to any Contact and can initiate a call from Quick Contact or Dialer. To use internet calling, the user must create an account at the SIP provider of their choice � SIP accounts are not provided as part of the internet calling feature. Additionally, support for the platform's SIP and internet calling features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers and associated carriers.
Near-field communications
An NFC Reader application lets the user read and interact with near-field communication (NFC) tags. For example, the user can �touch� or �swipe� an NFC tag that might be embedded in a poster, sticker, or advertisement, then act on the data read from the tag. A typical use would be to read a tag at a restaurant, store, or event and then rate or register by jumping to a web site whose URL is included in the tag data. NFC communication relies on wireless technology in the device hardware, so support for the platform's NFC features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers.
Downloads management
The Downloads application gives the user easy access to any file downloaded from the browser, email, or another application. Downloads is built on an completely new download manager facility in the system that any other applications can use, to more easily manage and store their downloads.
Camera
The application now lets the user access multiple cameras on the device, including a front-facing camera, if available.
New Developer Features
Android 2.3 delivers a variety of features and APIs that let developers bring new types of applications to the Android platform.
Android 2.3 includes a variety of improvements across the system that make common operations faster and more efficient for all applications. Of particular interest to game developers are:
Concurrent garbage collector � The Dalivik VM introduces a new, concurrent garbage collector that minimizes application pauses, helping to ensure smoother animation and increased responsiveness in games and similar applications.
Faster event distribution � The plaform now handles touch and keyboard events faster and more efficiently, minimizing CPU utilization during event distribution. The changes improve responsiveness for all applications, but especially benefit games that use touch events in combination with 3D graphics or other CPU-intensive operations.
Updated video drivers � The platform uses updated third-party video drivers that improve the efficiency of OpenGL ES operations, for faster overall 3D graphics performance.
Native input and sensor events
Applications that use native code can now receive and process input and sensor events directly in their native code, which dramatically improves efficiency and responsiveness.
Native libraries exposed by the platform let applications handle the same types of input events as those available through the framework. Applications can receive events from all supported sensor types and can enable/disable specific sensors and manage event delivery rate and queueing.
Gyroscope and other new sensors, for improved 3D motion processing
Android 2.3 adds API support for several new sensor types, including gyroscope, rotation vector, linear acceleration, gravity, and barometer sensors. Applications can use the new sensors in combination with any other sensors available on the device, to track three-dimensional device motion and orientation change with high precision and accuracy. For example, a game application could use readings from a gyroscope and accelerometer on the device to recognize complex user gestures and motions, such as tilt, spin, thrust, and slice.
Open API for native audio
The platform provides a software implementation of Khronos OpenSL ES, a standard API that gives applications access to powerful audio controls and effects from native code. Applications can use the API to manage audio devices and control audio input, output, and processing directly from native code.
Native graphics management
The platform provides an interface to its Khronos EGL library, which lets applications manage graphics contexts and create and manage OpenGL ES textures and surfaces from native code.
Native access to Activity lifecycle, window management
Native applications can declare a new type of Activity class, NativeActivity whose lifecycle callbacks are implemented directly in native code. The NativeActivity and its underlying native code run in the system just as do other Activities � they run in the application's system process and execute on the application's main UI thread, and they receive the same lifecycle callbacks as do other Activities.
The platform also exposes native APIs for managing windows, including the ability to lock/unlock the pixel buffer to draw directly into it. Through the API, applications can obtain a native window object associated with a framework Surface object and interact with it directly in native code.
Native access to assets, storage
Applications can now access a native Asset Manager API to retrieve application assets directly from native code without needing to go through JNI. If the assets are compressed, the platform does streaming decompression as the application reads the asset data. There is no longer a limit on the size of compressed .apk assets that can be read.
Additionally, applications can access a native Storage Manager API to work directly with OBB files downloaded and managed by the system. Note that although platform support for OBB is available in Android 2.3, development tools for creating and managing OBB files will not be available until early 2011.
Robust native development environment
The Android NDK (r5 or higher) provides a complete set of tools, toolchains, and libraries for developing applications that use the rich native environment offered by the Android 2.3 platform. For more information or to download the NDK, please see the Android NDK page.
New forms of communication
Internet telephony
Developers can now add SIP-based internet telephony features to their applications. Android 2.3 includes a full SIP protocol stack and integrated call management services that let applications easily set up outgoing and incoming voice calls, without having to manage sessions, transport-level communication, or audio record or playback directly.
Support for the platform's SIP and internet calling features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers and associated carriers.
Near Field Communications (NFC)
The platform's support for Near Field Communications (NFC) lets developers get started creating a whole new class of applications for Android. Developers can create new applications that offer proximity-based information and services to users, organizations, merchants, and advertisers.
Using the NFC API, applications can read and respond to NFC tags �discovered� as the user �touches� an NFC-enabled device to elements embedded in stickers, smart posters, and even other devices. When a tag of interest is collected, applications can respond to the tag, read messages from it, and then store the messages, prompting the user as needed.
Starting from Android 2.3.3, applications can also write to tags and set up peer-to-peer connections with other NFC devices.
NFC communication relies on wireless technology in the device hardware, so support for the platform's NFC features on specific devices is determined by their manufacturers.
Rich multimedia
Mixable audio effects
A new audio effects API lets developers easily create rich audio environments by adding equalization, bass boost, headphone virtualization (widened soundstage), and reverb to audio tracks and sounds. Developers can mix multiple audio effects in a local track or apply effects globally, across multiple tracks.
Support for new media formats
The platform now offers built-in support for the VP8 open video compression format and the WebM open container format. The platform also adds support for AAC encoding and AMR wideband encoding (in software), so that applications can capture higher quality audio than narrowband.
Access to multiple cameras
The Camera API now lets developers access any cameras that are available on a device, including a front-facing camera. Applications can query the platform for the number of cameras on the device and their types and characteristics, then open the camera needed. For example, a video chat application might want to access a front-facing camera that offers lower-resolution, while a photo application might prefer a back-facing camera that offers higher-resolution.
New Platform Technologies
Media Framework
New media framework fully replaces OpenCore, maintaining all previous codec/container support for encoding and decoding.
Integrated support for the VP8 open video compression format and the WebM open container format
Adds AAC encoding and AMR wideband encoding
Linux Kernel
Upgraded to 2.6.35
Networking
SIP stack, configurable by device manufacturer
Support for Near Field Communications (NFC), configurable by device manufacturer
