Find: A Tiny QWERTY keyboard from Carnegie Mellon researchers Could Ease Typing on Miniscule Displays


 



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-a-tiny-qwerty-keyboard-from-carnegie-mellon-researchers-could-ease-typing-on-miniscule-displays

Find: Pebble and Basis B1—two good devices that could be one defining wearable

Basis sounds very capable. 
 
// published on Ars Technica // visit site
Pebble and Basis B1—two good devices that could be one defining wearable
Imagine this on your wrist—one day that'll be cut in half.
Jason Inofuentes

I had been wearing both bands for a bit more than two weeks. They'd been with me day and night, only leaving my wrists to briefly charge. They'd been with me as I prepared, and feasted, on an early Thanksgiving meal. They'd witnessed the birth of my second child. They'd reminded me, though I hardly needed reminding, that I should get more sleep while I rocked my son back to sleep. But it was at the end of a short run, the first since we'd come home from the hospital, that I was struck by how well matched these two were.

The Pebble buzzed.

The message read, "Basis: Good Job!"

As exhausted as you likely are of seeing ads and hearing pablum about wearable computing, it is still a young and very fringe market. Strictly fitness-focused activity tracking devices have experienced the most success, while devices that aim to enhance our lives through new computing and interface paradigms have achieved modest results at best. If early CES hunches are any indication, next year will likely mark the flash point for the market—the promise of a competent wearable computer may well become a reality.

But the wearable future partially depends on the wearable present. And as we end 2013, just how far along has the wearable computing market come? More importantly, how much further does it have to go? Exploring these answers starts by analyzing arguable the two best wearables available today: the Pebble Smartwatch and the Basis B1 fitness band.

These two products highlight the current highs and lows of wearable computing, while serving as a great barometer for the future. One is firmly grounded here on earth (and on your wrist), while the other takes to the sky to enhance your life and well-being. And as you can see in the journal-like entry above, we've been tossing aside any concern for fashion to pair them up and evaluate the possibilities.

Read 30 remaining paragraphs 



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-pebble-and-basis-b1-two-good-devices-that-could-be-one-defining-wearable

Android 'started over' the day the iPhone was announced

A wise wait to emphasize touch. 
  
*** 
 
 // published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Android 'started over' the day the iPhone was announced

Apple's boast that the iPhone changed everything about the mobile industry has received some support from one of Android's original software architects. Chris DeSalvo, who worked alongside Andy Rubin at Danger before joining Google to build its mobile OS, says that the iPhone's announcement forced everyone on his team to realize that they "are going to have to start over."

Already in intensive development for two years by 2007, Android was Google's vision for a mobile operating system of the future. Still, in spite of all the work that had already gone into it, the Mountain View company was sure it couldn't carry on along the trajectory it'd been following — the earliest Android devices looked very much like Googlified BlackBerrys...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/android-started-over-the-day-the-iphone-was-announced

The first iOS 7 game controllers: Logitech PowerShell and Moga Ace Power review

Not ready for prime time. Maybe apple needs to act. 

*** 
 
 
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
The first iOS 7 game controllers: Logitech PowerShell and Moga Ace Power review

Sooner or later, the theory goes, Apple will make its move. The company will flip the proverbial switch that turns the Apple TV into a tiny video game console and mop the floor with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

But it looks like Apple still has a ways to go. The first two iOS 7 game controllers are here, and they’re not worth your money. In fact, they cast doubt on the idea that Apple really wants to build a console at all.

In June, when Apple announced its standardized game controller API for iOS 7 and a "Made for iPhone" certification program, it offered two templates for what a game controller would look like. Today, we have both. The $99.99 Logitech PowerShell follows Apple’s more simplistic design: it’s basically a...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/the-first-ios-7-game-controllers-logitech-powershell-and-moga-ace-power-review

Find: The first smartring has an LED screen, tells time, and accepts calls


 
// published on Ars Technica // visit site
The first smartring has an LED screen, tells time, and accepts calls

Forget smartwatches—smartrings are the new thing now. An Indiegogo campaign for a product called the "Smarty Ring" has hit its funding goal. Smarty Ring is a 13mm-wide stainless steel ring with an LED screen, Bluetooth 4.0, and an accompanying smartphone app. The ring pairs with a smartphone and acts as a remote control and notification receiver.

The ring can display the time, accept or reject calls, control music, trigger the smartphone's camera, and initiate speed-dial calls. It will also alert the wearer with light-up icons for texts, e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangouts, and Skype. It supports dual time zones and comes with a countdown timer, a stopwatch, and an alarm. It can work as a tracker for your phone, too—if your smartphone is more than 30 feet away from the ring, Smarty Ring will trigger an alarm.

The ring supports Android and iOS—as long as your device has Bluetooth 4.0, it should be compatible. The creators are promising 24 hours of battery life from the whopping 22 mAh battery, and charging happens via a wireless induction pad.

Read 1 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-the-first-smartring-has-an-led-screen-tells-time-and-accepts-calls

Razer Kazuyo looks set to add to iPhone controller options


 
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Razer Kazuyo looks set to add to iPhone controller options

Razer, one of the best-respected gaming peripheral makers, is apparently ready to add to the growing roster of iPhone game controllers. Apple opened the door for third-party accessory makers by adding a controller API in iOS 7, and we've already seen the first couple of efforts emerging from Logitech and PowerA. Like those peripherals, leaked images of a mooted Razer Kazuyo show it to be a wraparound case that envelops the iPhone and provides it with a multidirectional arrow pad and four action buttons. It's very similar in shape and appearance to Logitech's PowerShell, though it adds the extra ability to tilt the iPhone up, potentially offering a more ergonomic gaming experience.

Update: Further disclosures from Evleaks' tipster...

Continue reading



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/razer-kazuyo-looks-set-to-add-to-iphone-controller-options

Apple goes all Minority Report. It's opt in, but a bad idea.

// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Apple's iBeacon location-aware shopping goes live today

Apple is switching on "iBeacons" across its 254 US stores today, according to a report from the Associated Press. iBeacons, which use low-power Bluetooth transmitters to offer location-aware services to your phone, were quietly introduced along with iOS 7, and although other retailers have toyed with the idea of adding beacons to its stores, Apple's rollout today represents the first major deployment of the technology.

The Apple Store iBeacons will work in tandem with the Apple Store app. Provided you've got the app on your phone and have given Apple permission to track you, it'll attempt to offer an augmented retail experience tailored to your needs. When you walk into the store and the app will enter "in-store mode." If you're...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/apple-goes-all-minority-report-its-opt-in-but-a-bad-idea

Find: Motorola's Ara project will be good for company, user experience, us industry and planet: smart move


// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Motorola CEO sees Project Ara as the future of Moto Maker customization

At the end of October, Motorola made a surprising announcement: it was working on an open-source initiative called Project Ara that would allow for the creation of modular, customizable smartphone hardware. It's an ambitious and seemingly unlikely project, but Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside says it's all part of a plan to make consumers more involved with building their smartphones. "Moto Maker was the beginning of a much more exciting and longer-term story," Woodside says in an interview with YouTube personality Marques Brownlee. "Ara is much further out, but you can see how those two things tie together, and how as we introduce new materials into Moto Maker we're gonna pursue that theme across our product line going forward."

"The line...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-motorolas-ara-project-will-be-good-for-company-user-experience-us-industry-and-planet-smart-move

Find: he State of Smartphones in 2013, Part II: Would you like to play a game?

 
 
 
// published on Ars Technica // visit site
The State of Smartphones in 2013, Part II: Would you like to play a game?

Jason Inofuentes

The old rule for cameras applies to games: the best console is the one you have with you. We play games while we're on the bus. We play them while sitting in waiting rooms and standing in line. We play while our kids cover the walls in snot and crayon. We play whenever and wherever we can, and we've come a long way from playing Snake on our Nokia candy bars.

Google, Apple, and Microsoft have built services to extend the capabilities of their platforms for gaming, so silicon vendors in turn have pushed graphics hardware to startling heights. In 2012, the number of us playing games on our phones exceed 100 million, and we're likely to clear 120 million this year. This industry is generating real dollars, with revenues expected to be well over a billion this year. But growth aside, just what are the major themes of mobile gaming over the last year?

Apple ascendant

Ecosystem remains king, even in gaming. When it comes to game distribution and development, the services offered by the major vendors are hugely important. As mobile gaming matures, players want access to achievements, matching, and cloud saves. Putting that information on centralized servers allows gamers to know that when they buy a new phone or pick up their tablet, their Angry Birds scores will still be there.

Read 47 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-he-state-of-smartphones-in-2013-part-ii-would-you-like-to-play-a-game

Build your own cellphone for $200

It'd be fun to build a class around this. We could also take apart old phones and repurpose them. 
  
*** 
 
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Build your own cellphone for $200

David Mellis, one of the minds behind the Arduino platform, has released the blueprints to a cellphone that, with time and patience, anyone can build. Mellis used the readily available Arduino GSM Shield, which lets Arduino-based machines access the web over cellular networks, as the basis for his project, but greatly expanded upon the component's hardware and software, adding support for a display, buttons, speaker, microphone, and a full interface. The result is a basic cellphone that can make and receive calls, text messages, store names and numbers, and display the time.

Currently at MIT's Media Lab, Mellis has put all of the plans necessary to build and customize the phone up on Github, and also uploaded the circuit board plans to...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/build-your-own-cellphone-for-200-dollars

Find: Apple patents Lytro-style refocusable camera

Refocusable camera in a phone? A good idea. If it's not too low resolution. 

*** 
 
 
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Apple patents Lytro-style refocusable camera

Apple appears to have some interest in Lytro-style refocusable cameras. In a patent filed in 2011 and granted today, Apple describes a camera that would be able to switch between capturing two types of images: low-resolution images that could be refocused after capture, and high-resolution photographs that can't be changed. To do both, the camera would include an adaptor with a "microlens array" that would slide between the camera's lens and sensor when capturing a refocusable image, and slide away when capturing a traditional photo. The image above depicts the cross section of such a camera while the adaptor's microlens array — labeled "430" — is positioned to shoot a refocusable image.

While a number of companies have attempted...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-apple-patents-lytro-style-refocusable-camera

Spotted: Data trackers monitor your life so they can nudge you


 
 // published on New Scientist - Tech // visit site
Data trackers monitor your life so they can nudge you
Once you know everything about a person, you can influence their behaviour. A thousand students with tattletale phones are going to find out how easy that is


via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/spotted-data-trackers-monitor-your-life-so-they-can-nudge-you

Find: Putting Pencil to Paper: FiftyThree debuts the best iPad stylus yet

We're people and our tools should be too. Case in point;

*** 
 
 
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Putting Pencil to Paper: FiftyThree debuts the best iPad stylus yet

In the two years since Paper for iPad launched, creator FiftyThree has witnessed dozens if not hundreds of styluses compete for the crown of “best stylus.” Today, the company has finally thrown its hat in the ring with Pencil, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) stylus for tablets. FiftyThree’s first hardware device ships today in two models: walnut hardwood, for $59.95, and aluminum “graphite,” for $49.95. The walnut model has built-in magnets, like the Applydea Maglus, so you can stick it to an Apple Smart Cover, or to your fridge. Each Pencil also has an “eraser” on its top, so when you flip it over, Paper automatically activates its eraser tool. The device comes with an extra tip and eraser, and also ships with Paper’s full...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-putting-pencil-to-paper-fiftythree-debuts-the-best-ipad-stylus-yet

Find: Motorola signs a manufacturing partner for Project Ara's modular smartphones

Looks like motorola is serious. Excellent!

*** 
 
 
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Motorola signs a manufacturing partner for Project Ara's modular smartphones

Project Ara, Motorola's plan to create modular smartphones, is among the most ambitious ideas we've seen, but the company isn't wasting time in executing on its vision. 3D Systems has issued a press release confirming that it's partnering up with Motorola to "create a continuous high-speed 3D printing production platform and fulfillment system" for Ara. The deal announced today spans multiple years, and if 3D Systems is  successful in building a manufacturing platform for Project Ara, it will also be creating its own Ara smartphone enclosures and modules "as Motorola’s exclusive fulfillment partner."

3D Systems CEO Avi Reichental said in a statment, “Project Ara was conceived to build a platform that empowers consumers all over the world with customization for a product made by and for the individual." According to Reichental, 3D printing "promotes a level of sustainability, functionality, and mass personalization that turns these kinds of global ambitions into attainable local realities." There's no telling when you'll be able to build your own smartphone with Project Ara, but Motorola is clearly taking steps to make the modular smartphone concept a reality for consumers. We've reached out to the company for more details.



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-motorola-signs-a-manufacturing-partner-for-project-aras-modular-smartphones

New Qualcomm lte chip: 300 mbs down, 50 up

Let's see if the carriers actually take advantage of this potential. Probably a few years at least. 
  
*** 
 
// published on AnandTech // visit site
Qualcomm Announces Fourth Gen Cat 6 LTE Modem – MDM9x35

In addition to the IPQ8064 news this morning, Qualcomm released a host of other product announcements we're working our way through. Among them is news of its fourth generation multimode LTE baseband, MDM9x35, which is a Category 6 part capable of 300 Mbps on the downlink and 50 Mbps on uplink. Getting to 300 Mbps of downstream throughput requires aggregation of two 20 MHz wide LTE carriers. By comparison MDM9x25 which we haven't seen quite yet in discrete form (although it is the IP block inside MSM8974) is a Category 4 part capable of 150 Mbps of downstream throughput on either a single 20 MHz LTE carrier, or aggregation of two 10 MHz carriers, and is built on TSMC's 28nm LP process.

MDM9x35 is built on TSMC's 20nm SOC process, making it the first publicly announced product on Qualcomm's roadmap to use 20 SOC. It'll be interesting to see whether the switch to 20 SOC goes smoothly for Qualcomm, and just how much volume there is. 

MDM9x35 inherits all the legacy air interfaces below it that you'd expect, including DC-HSPA, EVDO Rev. B, CDMA 1x, GSM and TD-SCDMA. In addition the modem adds dual carrier HSUPA for faster uplink speeds, and aggregation of even more carriers on the downlink across more bands. 

As part of the announcement there's also a new transceiver, WTR3925 which is Qualcomm's first single-chip carrier aggregation solution, confirming my suspicions that WTR1625L and WFR1620 were both required to achieve aggregation with the MDM9x25 solution. In addition WTR3925 is built on a 28nm RF CMOS process, a significant jump from the current 65nm RF CMOS process used in WTR1605 and WTR1625L.

Interestingly enough Qualcomm claims that MDM9x35 will be available for pairing (Fusion) with Snapdragon 805 which was announced today, in addition to MDM9x25. Qualcomm notes that MDM9x35 and WTR3925 will be available to sample early 2014.

Source: Qualcomm



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/new-qualcomm-lte-chip-300-mbs-down-50-up

Find: Google is working on a new Android camera API, supports Camera RAW

Adding API access to the camera would be a very good idea. A natural way for google to break out of androids camera doldrums. Potential applications could be very exciting. 
  
*** 
 
// published on Ars Technica // visit site
Google is working on a new Android camera API, supports Camera RAW

The Nexus 5 camera was a huge disappointment, especially after comments from high-ranking Googler Vic Gundotra stating that "we are committed to making Nexus phones insanely great cameras. Just you wait and see."

That was nine months ago. We waited and saw, and what showed up on the Nexus 5 wasn't very good. There may be an explanation for this, though. According to commits in the public Android source code, which were first spotted by Josh Brown on Google+, Google is working on a new camera API for Android. Work on the new API started in December 2012, which would make it seem targeted for KitKat, but about a month before the new OS's release, the API was pulled from Android's framework code. The commit that removed the API from the release Android code is here, with the comment saying:

  DO NOT MERGE: Hide new camera API. Not yet ready. Bug: 11141002  

This commit was pushed on October 11, about a month before the release of KitKat. A month before release was probably "feature freeze" time, where work on new features stops and everyone focuses on fixing bugs in time for release. The camera revamp didn't make it and was replaced with the original camera API.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-google-is-working-on-a-new-android-camera-api-supports-camera-raw

The Find: State of Smartphones in 2013: Part I of the new Ars Ultimate Guide

Moto x is especially interesting on republic wireless. 
 
// published on Ars Technica // visit site
The State of Smartphones in 2013: Part I of the new Ars Ultimate Guide

More phones than you can shake a phone at.
Andrew Cunningham

It's been just under a year since the last time we examined the state of the smartphone. The intervening months have brought us the expected annual hardware refreshes and software updates, but it's striking just how similar things are at a high level.

Apple and Samsung are still standing at the top of the field, and at the moment there's not a strong third-place contender in sales or in reach. HTC continues to be down on its luck despite the critical darling that is the HTC One. LG is still taking pages from Samsung's playbook, trying lots of odd ideas in an effort to differentiate. Microsoft is still struggling to improve Windows Phone 8's standing with consumers, developers, and hardware partners. All of this is more or less as it was a year ago.

That doesn't mean there aren't interesting things happening at the margins. The Motorola division is still a big money-loser for Google, but the Moto X is a surprisingly good, usable phone that has been very well-reviewed. Alternative operating systems like Ubuntu and Firefox OS are trying new things, even if they're strictly for hardcore early adopters as they currently stand. BlackBerry (née RIM), which at this time last year was pinning all its hopes on the then-forthcoming BlackBerry 10, is circling the drain. Microsoft bought the part of Nokia that makes its Lumia smartphones. Few of these events drastically alter the state of the smartphone today, but they all have interesting implications for 2014 and beyond.

Read 65 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/the-find-state-of-smartphones-in-2013-part-i-of-the-new-ars-ultimate-guide

Find: Indystate - Android and Windows Phone make huge third quarter gains as BlackBerry crumbles

// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Android and Windows Phone make huge third quarter gains as BlackBerry crumbles, IDC reports

We know BlackBerry is a withering mobile brand, but how fast is it crumbling, and who is gaining from its demise? IDC's latest quarterly numbers yield some answers, showing that Android continues to solidify its dominant lead in the smartphone market, crossing the 80 percent threshold to hit a solid 81 percent of all smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2013, according to the market research firm. Perhaps more impressively, Windows Phone posted a huge jump, increasing smartphone shipments by 156 percent from last year to capture 3.6 percent of all smartphones shipped in the quarter, which IDC rightly calls "amazing."

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-indystate-android-and-windows-phone-make-huge-third-quarter-gains-as-blackberry-crumbles

Find: os market share isn't what's in users hands

Market share counts what carriers buy, not what users buy. Only comscore surveys user ownership. 

*** 
 
// published on Daring Fireball // visit site
Why an 80 Percent Market Share Might Only Represent Half of Smartphone Users

Charles Arthur has written the best piece I’ve ever seen on the folly of putting too much stock into “market share” as a metric. Bookmark this one:

But if the market share figure is so useless, why does everyone quote it all the time?

Now we get to the key point. Because it’s easy to measure market share — much easier than measuring installed base, which requires large panels of people who you interview on a regular, repeated basis. (ComScore does this in the US, where it provides a picture of the installed base of smartphone users that is consistent back to the end of 2009. Its figures for the three months to September 2013 show a 51.8% installed base for Android — that’s 76.6m — and 40.6% for iPhone — that’s 60m. It’s not 80% Android; not even close.)

Plus “market share” gives journalists who like nothing better than a metaphorical horse race (look at the preponderance of polls, especially in the US presidential election) something to write about. Trouble is, it doesn’t necessarily give us useful information.




via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-os-market-share-isnt-whats-in-users-hands

Find: flexible oled displays on smartphones promise less reflection from environment

When concave, displays needn't be nearly as bright, because they reflect background less. 

Oleds will work outdoors. Better enough to compete with lcds? 

*** 
 
 
 // published on Daring Fireball // visit site
One Advantage to Concave Displays for Smartphones: Reducing Reflections

Display expert Raymond M. Soneira:

Introducing a slightly curved cylindrically concave screen is a very important and major innovation in Smartphone display technology — very far from being a marketing gimmick as has been widely reported. The Galaxy Round screen curvature is very subtle, just 0.10 inches away from flat, which is similar to the slight curvature in a handheld magnifying mirror. But that small curvature is the key to a series of optical effects that result in significantly reducing interference from reflected ambient light by a large factor. It substantially improves screen readability, image contrast, color accuracy, and overall picture quality, but can also increase the running time on battery because the screen brightness and display power can be lowered due to the reduced light interference from ambient light reflections.

But that’s for a concave display. Bloomberg’s report regarding Apple’s supposedly forthcoming displays describes “larger displays with glass that curves downward at the edges” — downward sounds like convex, not concave. It’s possible that Bloomberg’s source is describing a design where the display is flat but the glass surface above the display tapers at the edge of the device.




via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-flexible-oled-displays-on-smartphones-promise-less-reflection-from-environment

FInd: FCC’s new app will need your help to quantify mobile broadband speed


 
 
Shared via feedly // published on Ars Technica // visit site
FCC’s new app will need your help to quantify mobile broadband speed

Late last week, the FCC published the agenda for its commission meeting next week—the first with newly-appointed chairman Tom Wheeler at the helm. In that agenda, the FCC said it would hear a presentation on the new FCC Speed Test App for Android. The organization plans to make this app public in the hopes that smartphone users will measure their data speeds and send the results back to the FCC to compile and analyze the results.

This isn't the first speed test app that the FCC has been a part of, but it will be the first time the FCC has made efforts to crowdsource information on carrier speeds. (The author remembers using an old app made by a developer called Ookla that had the FCC's logo emblazoned on it back in 2011 when she was employed at PC World. It appears that the “FCC-approval” branding was dropped from that app in the years since.)

The new app will likely function much like the old one, measuring upload speeds, download speeds, and latency for all major carriers. The Wall Street Journal reports that the commission has the cooperation of all four major carriers as well as the wireless trade association CTIA. “Given the paucity of information on mobile broadband availability and prices, this type of data collection seems like the first step toward evaluating whether Americans are getting what they pay for from their carriers in terms of mobile data speeds,” writes the WSJ.

Read 1 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-fccs-new-app-will-need-your-help-to-quantify-mobile-broadband-speed

Find: The FCC is rebooting a three-year-old plan to crowdsource mobile broadband speed tests

Um, yeah. Why'd this take so long?

*** 
   
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
The FCC is rebooting a three-year-old plan to crowdsource mobile broadband speed tests

After being sworn in earlier this week, new FCC chair Tom Wheeler is preparing to pick up where his predecessor left off. The Wall Street Journal reports that today, the FCC said it's almost ready to preview an app that will let users test and report their mobile broadband speed. Using this data, the agency will compile its first nationwide study of mobile broadband service across different carriers — much like the broadband tests it's been conducting over the past few years. An open meeting on Thursday, the first with Wheeler in command, will include a presentation on the app, which is set for release on Android in the spring of 2014.

The mobile broadband report has been a long time in the making: the FCC announced its intention to...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-the-fcc-is-rebooting-a-three-year-old-plan-to-crowdsource-mobile-broadband-speed-tests

Apple's share of mobile market grows to over 40 percent, but Samsung also shows momentum

Apple 40 % in us, android. In devices, apple 40, samsung 25. 
 
 
// published on The Verge - All Posts // visit site
Apple's share of mobile market grows to over 40 percent, but Samsung also shows momentum

According to new figures from comScore, 40.6 percent of US smartphone subscribers are using iPhones. In the three month period that concluded September 30th, Apple's share grew by 0.7 percent from where it stood in June. The company launched two new iPhone models on September 20th, and the ensuing ten days of sales likely helped boost Apple's position some. Still, the jump wasn't enough to put a dent in Android's commanding lead: Google's OS is running on 51.8 percent of smartphones used by consumers in the US. That's actually a slight (0.2 percent) dip compared with Android's standing in the prior three-month period, when it enjoyed an even 52 percent share.

BlackBerry's customer base continues to dwindle; only 3.8 of US smartphone...

Continue reading…



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/apples-share-of-mobile-market-grows-to-over-40-percent-but-samsung-also-shows-momentum

Google’s iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary


 
 
// published on Ars Technica // visit site
Google’s iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary

Six years ago, in November 2007, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) was announced. The original iPhone came out just a few months earlier, capturing people's imaginations and ushering in the modern smartphone era. While Google was an app partner for the original iPhone, it could see what a future of unchecked iPhone competition would be like. Vic Gundotra, recalling Andy Rubin's initial pitch for Android, stated:

He argued that if Google did not act, we faced a Draconian future, a future where one man, one company, one device, one carrier would be our only choice.

Google was terrified that Apple would end up ruling the mobile space. So, to help in the fight against the iPhone at a time when Google had no mobile foothold whatsoever, Android was launched as an open source project.

In that era, Google had nothing, so any adoption—any shred of market share—was welcome. Google decided to give Android away for free and use it as a trojan horse for Google services. The thinking went that if Google Search was one day locked out of the iPhone, people would stop using Google Search on the desktop. Android was the "moat" around the Google Search "castle"—it would exist to protect Google's online properties in the mobile world.

Read 53 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary

Find: Pebble Update with Better iOS 7 Integration, New APIs, Enables Bluetooth LE


 
 // published on AnandTech // visit site
Pebble Releases Update – Better iOS 7 Integration, New APIs, Enables Bluetooth LE

Today Pebble has released a major update for its popular smartwatch, enabling better integration and notification delivery from attached iOS 7 devices, a new version of the SDK (2.0) with additional APIs, and newly-enabled support for Bluetooth LE on applicable iOS devices. 

I've been wearing Pebble basically nonstop since first getting it, and have watched the platform slowly mature from its initial state to where it is today. Changes initially focused on improving stability, adding more watchfaces, and changing navigation, but the update today seems to be the largest yet. Pebble gave us a few days with a prerelease version of the firmware and iOS application to play around with, which dramatically improves the types of notifications that can be delivered to Pebble from attached iOS devices. 

The update specifically enables notifications to be sent from ANCS (Apple Notification Center Service) over Bluetooth LE to Pebble. ANCS is a new part of iOS 7 which seems catered almost exactly for the kind of application Pebble is designed for – a service which works with iOS applications to deliver simple notifications. One of the limitations with Pebble previously was that lacking iOS integration due to limitations with the platform, this update fills in the gap and enables iOS to deliver notifications from all applications and system apps, from what I can tell. Apple has a list of categories that APNS works with, such as incoming calls, voicemail, emails, news, and so on, this also seems to extend to all the notifications delivered by third party applications as well. In practice the new ANCS based notifications worked well for me on iOS 7 and an iPhone 5s, although there were a few hiccups where Pebble would detach from Bluetooth while running the prerelease version of the firmware, although Pebble has a fix for this. 

Pebble simultaneously is launching their SDK 2.0 which includes the promised accelerometer data support and a few other new APIs – JavaScript, data logging, and persistent storage support. Accelerometer data APIs have been something people have wanted for a while now for health and fitness, the other APIs add support for web interaction and storing data on the watch for logging. 

Last but not least this update enables Bluetooth Smart (formerly Bluetooth LE) on the Pebble's integrated Bluetooth controller (TI's CC256x inside a Panasonic PAN1316 module), which initially shipped disabled. Interestingly enough the implementation under iOS has Pebble show up as two devices, one for Classic, another for Smart (LE). It's important to note that only notifications from ANCS are delivered on the LE connection, the Bluetooth 2.1 (Classic) connection is used for caller ID, music remote control, installing watch apps and faces, and updates. 

 

It hasn't been long enough to really tell what affect enabling LE has had on Pebble's battery life given the short time I've been using it. Going to Bluetooth LE shouldn't magically change the power demands from Pebble for the same notification workload, however, and Pebble's guidance is still 5-7 days. 

All in all though, this is a major update to Pebble that addresses many of the limitations that it previously had when used in conjunction with iOS.

Gallery: Pebble Update


via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-pebble-update-with-better-ios-7-integration-new-apis-enables-bluetooth-le

Internet Explorer continues to Find: Webstate - ie grows on desktops, chrome falls; on mobiles, android up, safari down


// published on Ars Technica // visit site
Internet Explorer continues to grow, and Mavericks already on 11 percent of Macs

If nothing else, the browser and operating system numbers from October showed the huge behavioral differences between Mac users and Windows users. Both Microsoft and Apple released new versions of their desktop operating systems last month, with Windows 8.1 from Microsoft and OS X 10.9 Mavericks from Apple. In raw terms, Windows 8.1 already has many more users than Mavericks—about double—but as a proportion of the actual user base of the two platforms, it's the Apple software that's in the lead. 10.9 percent of Mac users are on the latest version of the operating system. Just 1.9 percent of PC users are on the newest Windows.


In a month that also saw Microsoft release a new version of its browser, not a great deal has changed among desktop browser preference. Internet Explorer picked up 0.42 points, Firefox gained 0.10 points, and Chrome dropped 0.54 points. Safari and Opera saw a gain of 0.07 and a loss of 0.05 points, respectively.

Read 6 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/internet-explorer-continues-to-find-webstate-ie-grows-on-desktops-chrome-falls-on-mobiles-android-up-safari-down

Find: Google Announces The Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 Details

Good deal for top of line unlocked phone. 

*** 
 
// published on AnandTech // visit site
Google Announces The Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 Details

It’s been leaked, teased, and practically dissected for a while now, but today Google is finally making the Nexus 4’s successor official. The Nexus 5 is finally formally announced, and it looks as though all of the initial information we had about it was indeed spot-on. Starting today, the Nexus 5 is available for purchase on Google Play for $349 (16 GB) and $399 (32 GB) in either black or white in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K., Australia, Korea and Japan, followed by offline availability (non Google Play) in Europe, Central/South Americas, Asia, CIS and the Middle East will begin in mid-November.

Let’s start with the device itself. Although Nexus 5 is the spiritual successor to the Nexus 4, its industrial design borrows a lot from the recently announced Nexus 7. The two share a similar rotated landscape “nexus” logo emblazoned on the back, and are simple plastic with soft touch finishes. The Nexus 5 also appears to eschew the shaped, rounded glass edges which were very highly praised on the Nexus 4 for a more traditional flat panel and lip approach. Although the Nexus 5 does appear to share a lot of its hardware platform with the LG G2, there’s no rear mounted buttons or emphasis on narrow bezel, rather the Nexus 5 appears to be a lot more pragmatic.

  LG Nexus 5
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974)
4x Krait 400 2.3 GHz, Adreno 330 GPU 450 MHz
Display 4.95-inch IPS-LCD 1920x1080 Full HD
RAM 2GB LPDDR3 800 MHz
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, BT 4.0
Storage 16/32 GB internal
I/O microUSB 2.0, 3.5mm headphone, NFC, SlimPort,
Wireless Charging (Qi)
OS Android 4.4 KitKat
Battery 2300 mAh (8.74 Whr) Internal
Size / Mass 137.84 x 69.17 x 8.59mm
Camera 8 MP with OIS and Flash (Rear Facing)
2.1 MP Full HD (Front Facing)
Cellular Banding (D820) North America: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
CDMA: Band Class: 0/1/10
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19
LTE: Bands: 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41

(D821) Rest of World: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8
LTE: Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20

True to its name, the Nexus 5 is topped with a 5-inch 1080p LCD display, a step up from the 4.7-inch 1280x768 display which was in the Nexus 4, and following with the ever inflating display size trend. The display also boasts in-cell touch which we’ve come to expect this generation.

Dimensions show the Nexus 5 getting roughly 4 mm taller and 0.47 mm wider, but thickness actually decreases by 0.51 mm and weight by 9 grams versus its predecessor. Platform is based on a Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) SoC running at the higher 2.3 GHz bin we’ve seen before, with Adreno 330 graphics and the same 2 GB of LPDDR3 at 800 MHz we saw in the LG G2. This isn't the 8974AB with 550 MHz Adreno 330 clocks which it still is a bit early for. On the camera side there’s an 8 MP rear facing camera (no word on optical format or pixel size quite yet), but it does include the same LG Innotek module with OIS from the G2, it just has an 8 MP CMOS behind it. There’s still photo sphere for 360 degree stitched panoramas, in addition the Nexus 5 adds a new HDR+ mode which fuses simultaneously captured images into one HDR image, though I’m not sure how this differs from existing HDR options.

Storage also moves up a notch to 16 and 32 GB options, something the Nexus 4 was criticized for skimping on with its 8 and 16 GB options, oh and there’s obviously no SD card support since this is a Nexus device. Battery is the 2300 mAh 3.8V capacity we suspected, which works out to 8.74 watt hours, although one thing the Nexus 5 has over the G2 that it seems to share a platform with is a QFE1100 envelope tracker which offers 20 percent power savings on the cellular power amplifiers.

On the LTE side we see the FCC leaks and schematics leaks were spot on. There's a considerable set of LTE band coverage for the USA, including Band 17 and 4 for AT&T, Band 4 for T-Mobile, and 25, 26, and 41 for Sprint (making this another Sprint Spark device), and of course LTE roaming band equivalency with the pentaband WCDMA we've come to expect with newer devices. The only thing that's missing on the USA variant is no Verizon (which should not be a surprise to anyone), and no Band 7 for Canada. Just like the new Nexus 7 LTE situation, there's two variants, as I speculated publicly online (LG-D820 is USA, LG-D821 is rest of world), and the rest of world variant has the obligatory Band 3, 7, 20, and so on that makes sense for most markets. This is a dramatic step up from the Nexus 4 which only included hidden Band 4 LTE with appropriate baseband software.

Gallery: Nexus 5 Gallery

Of course, the Nexus 5 comes with Android 4.4 KitKat, which includes a new dialer that offers suggestions and Caller ID by Google with business matching. In addition the rumors about Hangouts were true, which now supports sending and receiving text messages directly. Similar to the Moto X there's now also the ability to search by saying "OK Google," though I'm not sure if this also is possible with the device in a screen-off mode (Update: from the home screen).

Google made the Android 4.4 platform highlights page live, and we have some details as well. On the Android 4.4 KitKat front, there's now more emphasis on optimizations for devices with smaller amounts of RAM, specifically 512 MB devices. I had heard about this rumor a while ago and there are now tools for developers to detect when they're running applications on devices with low memory and accordingly manage processes. OEMs now also have greater liberty to change things for lower-end devices with less RAM. On the NFC side, there's now support for host card emulation, allowing applications to put the NFC controller in a mode that emulates a card for purposes like transit passes or loyalty programs. Android also now adds support for a printing framework with support for PDF export, Google cloud print, and local WiFi printing services. Also new are lower power sensor batching modes which helps keep the AP in a low power state longer, and new step detector and step counter sensor support. There's also of course the new SMS provider for allowing third party applications to deliver and receive SMS messages. WebView has also changed to Chromium from WebKit finally, and includes a new version of V8 for JavaScript. 

Google will update Nexus 4, 7, 10, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Play edition devices to KitKat with an OTA update in the coming weeks, signaling EOL status of the Galaxy Nexus. As an aside it would've been quite in-line with Google's stated 512 MB platform target if 4.4 had come to both Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus devices as well. 

We’re incredibly excited about the Nexus 5 and hope to have the full review as soon as possible.

Source: Google


    









via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-google-announces-the-nexus-5-and-android-4-dot-4-details

Find: The Kindle Fire HDX truer color display

Interesting information on lcd color displays, and their challenges. 

*** 
 
// published on Ars Technica // visit site
The Kindle Fire HDX display bleeds blue—and that’s OK

When we reviewed the Kindle Fire HDX, we were impressed with its gorgeous display. High density displays are common now, but to find a display with bright, vivid, and accurate colors is something special—not what you'd expect in a product that costs less than $250. But we did see something unusual: a blue glow bleeding in from the edge of the display. We gave the pre-release hardware the benefit of the doubt; often, early hardware isn't quite at production levels. Now that the Fire HDX is in buyer's hands, though, it seems that the blue bleed is endemic. And after doing a little research, we've discovered that the HDX's stunning display and its blue bleed are related.

The Kindle Fire HDX's 1080p 1920x1200, 7-inch display is built by LG. For movies and most UI experiences, everything looks fantastic. Open the browser, however, and you're likely to run into the problem: a faint blue haze glows along some edges of the screen, especially when the screen is mostly white. That blue bleed was evident for users that read with the light background in the Kindle app. Since reading is an integral experience to all Kindles, this problem has caused a considerable amount of consternation.

Amazon seems to be trying to get ahead of that consternation, though; if you check the order page for the Kindle Fire HDX, you'll see a little disclaimer regarding what Amazon describes as "a blue tint around the edge of the device." The company also states that "[a]ll displays have some level of light emission around the edges, and the light on the Kindle Fire HDX 7" is blue due to the technology used to render perfect color accuracy." The first part of that statement is true, but it was the second part that really got us curious.

Read 7 remaining paragraphs



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-the-kindle-fire-hdx-truer-color-display

Find: Finally, a modular phone architecture - Motorola's Project Ara

A great idea, for google, motorola and everyone. Will set motorola apart from the crowd, which it sorely needs, and will set us all on the path toward cheaper more renewable mobile devices, which we all sorely need. Improves experience with a new way for users to express themselves through customization. 

Phones are small enough now that I think the extra space modularity requires won't be a serious problem.

Really hope motorola sees this through. 

*** 
 
// published on AnandTech // visit site
Motorola's Project Ara: Phonebloks from an OEM

Phonebloks was a campaign that focused upon attracting the interest of OEMs by showing that there was an incredible amount of interest for a modular phone. This was mostly for reasons of reducing electronics waste, the potential for incredible customization, and the potential for reduced upgrade costs associated with the 1-2 year upgrade cycle. As the current model requires the purchase of an entire phone, upgrading a single “module”, or a set of modules that would update the device would reduce the cost of upgrading to the consumer, much like the current desktop PC system of upgrading individual components.

However, at the time it seemed unlikely that such a campaign would ever produce a meaningful result in the industry. Now, it might be less so as Motorola announced Project Ara, a platform that promises the same modularity that the Phonebloks campaign was promoting, and has also partnered with the creator of the Phonebloks campaign for this project.The concept is largely the same, with an endoskeleton and modules that make up the phone. The display, following the Phonebloks concept, is also likely to be its own module. While actual details of the concept are effectively nil, there are still an enormous number of challenges that such a design would face.

The first would be from a purely hardware perspective, as there is an unavoidable tradeoff between volumetric efficiency and modularity in such a design. While modern smartphones are effectively a tight stack of PCB, battery, and display, this adds in an entire interface for each module that connects them together. This means that the memory module would effectively go from the size of an average eMMC chip to around a full-size SD card due to the need for a durable interface that would connect it to the rest of the phone. This is most readily seen by the differences between the international and Korean LG G2, as the international variant has a ~15% larger battery by virtue of the sealed design that allowed for LG Chemicon’s curved battery pack with thinner walls to allow for more battery capacity.

The second issue in this case would be regulatory, as the FCC only tests single configurations for approval. Such a design would be incredibly challenging to get approval for as there could easily be unpredictable RF behavior from unexpected behavior from a specific setup of modules, or issues with the endoskeleton portion because the modules aren't all part of a single PCB that is unlikely to suffer issues with short circuits or other connection issues, while a modular design would face such challenges.

The final major issue is that of history, as the failure of Intel’s Whitebook initiative from 2006 makes it much harder to see a similar initiative succeeding in the smartphone space. As the Whitebook initiative promised a DIY, modular laptop, much like Phonebloks and Project Ara, and failed due to the rise of completely integrated laptop designs such as the Apple rMBP line, it seems unlikely that such a project would succeed without significant compromise, either in modularity or in competitiveness with the more integrated smartphones. While laptops like the rMBP are effectively impossible for the user to repair, much less open, they have become incredibly popular, and the PC OEMs have followed Apple’s lead in this regard, with consumer demand generally tending towards thinner and lighter laptops, just as the same demand seems to occur in the smartphone space, it is difficult to see such an initiative succeeding. While such initiatives are sure to garner widespread enthusiast support, enthusiasts generally lose their ability to influence the market once a market segment becomes popular with general consumers, as can be seen by the PC industry. However, it remains to be seen whether there is mass-market appeal for such a phone, and it may well be that Motorola is tapping a niche with enormous potential.



via Mobiles @ NCSU http://mobiclass.posthaven.com/find-finally-a-modular-phone-architecture-motorolas-project-ara