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Tizen to emerge as a 5th largest mobile platform this year

Dusan Belic — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 08:50:41 +0000

Although we still wait to see the first Tizen-powered smartphone, ABI Research is predicting the bright future for the nascent platform. The research firm says that Tizen will emerge as a 5th largest mobile OS by the end of this year, after Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. Other platforms like Firefox OS, Ubuntu and Jolla’s Sailfish don’t have sufficient resources (read: money) to make a big splash (at least for the moment).

Tizen’s main backers, Intel and Samsung, as well as a number of carriers all around the world — including Orange, Vodafone, KT, NTT DoCoMo and SK Telecom — all want to provide a viable alternative to the users.

It is said that carriers in particular don’t like what Apple is doing with its iPhone, leaving them [carriers] with little or no space to add their services on top of iOS. Some carriers did launch their own iOS apps but in many cases these apps don’t come preloaded. On the other hand, there’s Google which is getting more dominant than carriers would want it to be.

According to ABI Research, the Asia-Pacific region will provide the biggest opportunity for the new OS with almost 65% of its future smartphone installed base coming from this region. Overall, the research firm forecasts 135 million Tizen smartphone shipments around the world…

Asus Memo Pad HD launching at Computex 2013?

Dusan Belic — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 07:15:52 +0000

It looks like Asus may introduce a successor to its affordable 7-inch tablet Memo Pad at this year’s Computex, taking place in Taipei, Taiwan from June 4 – June 8.

We still don’t have an image of the device to show you, but we’re hearing the upcoming Asus Memo Pad HD will rock a 720p (1280×720 pixels) 7-inch screen, 1GB of RAM, 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 16GB of internal storage, with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean running the show right from the bat. Price wise, it is said that Asus’ baby will be available for $169 in the U.S. or 149 EUR in Europe.

Finally, Filipino blog Yugatech claims that the new Memo Pad HD will be offered in few color options, including white, black, blue, pink and yellow.

We’ll get back to you as soon we have something new to add to the story and that will likely be early next week. Stay tuned in the meantime…

[Via: Yugatech, UnwiredView]

EE rolls out new monthly 4G SIM-only plans, no contract needed

Charles West — Wed, 29 May 2013 16:07:25 +0000

The EE was the king of the hill as the only show in town for 4G service. A few months ago its 4G network was 45 percent of the UK’s population. But times are quickly beginning to change with the emergence of other wireless providers and their 4G networks. EE, the first carrier to bring 4G, is not going down without a fight as it plans to rollout a new set of non-contract 4G plans.

EE’s new idea is 30-day SIM-only plans that start at £23 a month for 500MB of 4G data and unlimited calls and texts, and will roll over month by month until you want to cancel — this avoids the hassle of risking being locked up for a period contractually.

However this isn’t the carriers only offer as it has a slew of different data flavors that should fit every consumer’s needs. For example, EE is providing £28 a month for 1GB, £33 for 3GB, £38 for 5GB, £43 for 8GB, and £63 for 20GB of data a month. Of course, each plan comes with unlimited texts and talk minutes.

Excited about the new plans, Simeon Bird, director of propositions at EE had this to say:

“It’s our ambition to provide consumers with the most comprehensive range of 4GEE plans possible. With these new 30-day options, we’re pleased to be providing an even more flexible way to access 4G.”

As an extra sweetener, the cellular provider will also throw in other goodies to win you over such as giving away EE Film (a service that passes out 2 for 1 cinema tickets) and a £5 a month discount for EE broadband services (optional).

[EE; via Pocket-lint]

White House gets on Vine with Geordi LaForge and Bill Nye!

Wade Keye — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:06:15 +0000

Even the White House has jumped on the Vine bandwagon, releasing a couple of the short format video clips today via it’s twitter feed. The White House Science Fair is today and President Obama, Levar Burton, Bill Nye the Science Guy and others joined some very sharp and hard-working kids showing off their experiments and inventions. The inaugural clip shows science fair host Levar Burton, Bill Nye and one of the teens introducing the event.

Bonus: President Obama checking out some industrious kids’ space elevator concept! So rad!

This administration has embraced and used social media in an unprecedented way. As US citizens increasingly get their information through online and social sources like twitter, it’s important that those in power understand the tech and use it well. The Obama White House has made a point of staying on top of advances in communications. In 2008, Obama’s election seemed to usher in a fresh, younger perspective, and little things like this hark back to the excitement. Could you imagine, I don’t know, Reagan’s White House seeming this cool?

It’s great to see young people being encouraged to pursue futures in science and technology, and the addition of Geordi* and Bill Nye is never a bad thing! Also, after last week especially, it’s great to see something uplifting coming from official sources.

* Maybe it’s unfair to always equate Levar with Geordi. I just love that character SO MUCH!

[Via: Twitter]

Nokia increases Lumia device sales to 5.6M in Q1 2013

Kelly Hodgkins — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:58:41 +0000

Nokia announced its quarterly earnings for Q1 2013 today, and the results are mixed. Lumia shipments continue to rise, but overall device shipments and net sales for the division are declining.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop had this to say about the quarter:

We have areas where we are making progress, and areas where we are further increasing the focus. For example, people are responding positively to the Lumia portfolio, and our volumes are increasing quarter over quarter. Nokia Siemens Networks delivered another strong quarter and contributed to an overall improvement in Nokia Group’s cash position. On the other hand, our Mobile Phones business faces a difficult competitive environment, and we are taking tactical actions and bringing new innovation to market to address our challenges.

In the opening quarter of 2013, Nokia shipped 5.6 million Lumia devices, up from 2 million in the same quarter of 2012 and up 27 percent from last quarter. This jump is the result of an increase in shipments to international markets. In North America, Nokia continues to struggle. The Finnish company shipped 400,000 Lumia devices, a 33 percent year over year decline. This North American figure is also down from the 700,000 units sold in the previous quarter. Overall, Nokia has sold almost 20 million Lumia phones since shipping its first Lumia-branded device in late 2011.

Though the Lumia is performing well, overall device shipments and sales are falling. Total mobile phone shipments decreased 30% quarter-over-quarter to 55.8 million units. Net sales in the Devices & Services division also decreased to EUR 2.9 billion in Q1 2013, a 25 percent quarter-over-quarter decline.

Nokia is holding its earnings conference call this morning at 8:00 am EDT. You can listen to the webcast by following this link to Nokia’s website.

[Via Nokia]

No More Skyrim DLC from Bethesda

Wade Keye — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:38:29 +0000

Sad news for adventurers in the frigid Northern regions of Tamriel, Bethesda just issued a massive arrow to the knee in the form of a blog post entitled “Moving to our next adventure”. The post let Skyrim fans know there will be no more DLC coming out for the massive game. Later Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines underlined the announcement in a tweet.

The tone is bittersweet as the post hints at the next big project from the team:

“Skyrim has been a labor of love for us since we started designing it in 2006. We never imagined it would become the phenomenon it has. And that is because of you, the fans. It was all of you who made it a success. We can’t thank you enough for embracing the game, spreading the word, and making it your own.

For the last year and a half we’ve been working on new content for Skyrim; from the game updates, Creation Kit, Steam Workshop, Kinect support, to DLCs. Parts of our team have also been in pre-production on our next major project, and that game is at the point where it requires the studio’s full attention to make it our biggest and best work yet.”

I spent over 100 hours on this game and it’s still in rotation a year and a half later. But I feel like there’s still SO much left to do, especially with the addition of the DLC we did get. So, while I’m certainly bummed out about this announcement, I know my time with the game is far from over and the prospect of bigger and better game from the Bethesda team is really exciting. Let’s all hope for a big announcement soon!

Talos, hear my call. Bestow unto us Fallout 4!!

Fus Roh Dah!

[Via: Bethesda Blog]

This week @ Appscovery

Dusan Belic — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:13:05 +0000

Another week is behind us and one more time we have a list of apps that made the past 7 days. So without further ado, here’s what we’ve got:

And even more apps are waiting at Appscovery.com. Check it out and let us know whether you find something of interest…