Consumer Electronics Daily News

Cellphone Round-Up

• James Gaskin reports: "Bad news follows bad news for Nokia, as they just announced another 3,500 layoffs after cutting 7,000 jobs back in April. And that new manufacturing plant in Cluj, Romania? History."
• Sprint is ending its Premier hardware-upgrade program.
• According to David Kravets, "The nation's major mobile-phone providers are keeping a treasure trove of sensitive data on their customers, according to a newly released Justice Department internal memo that for the first time reveals the data retention policies of America's largest telecoms."
• "As Apple's October 4th event approaches, two of Apple's announcements have been revealed in Apple's internal inventory system." Mark Gurman has the scoop.

Morning Round-Up for September 30, 2011

Headlines

• More on yesterday's lead story: "The US Department of Justice has asked for more time to consider Google's $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility, putting paid to any hopes of closing out the deal before the end of the year." Brid-Aine Parnell has the details.
• "Apple has the right to continue restricting its operating systems to its own hardware thanks to a decision handed down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday," reports Jacqui Cheng.
• "A much-hyped $12 billion plan for Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn to produce iPads in Brazil is 'in doubt' due to stagnant negotiations over tax breaks and Brazil's own deep structural problems such as a lack of skilled labor, government sources tell Reuters."
• Jaikumar Vijayan reports: "Sensitive data including Social Security Numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers and personal health data belonging to about 4.9 million active and retired U.S. military personnel may have been compromised after backup tapes containing the data went missing recently."

Hardware

• "Samsung announced [its] Exynos 4212 processor on Thursday, a new dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip," according to Todd Haselton.
• In the wake of Amazon's Kindle Fire announcement, retailers have begun slashing prices on RiM's Blackberry Playbook tablet.
• David Katzmaier brings word that the new Energy Star specs for television monitors—which come into effect today—are too stringent for many of the larger flatscreens currently on the market.

Cool Technology

• Your cool, mildly misleading headline for the day: "Nissan developing car that reads your thoughts."

Morning Round-Up for September 29, 2011

Headlines

• "Google [yesterday] acknowledged receiving a so-called "second request" from the Justice Department for information as it considers the search giant's plans to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion," reports Jay Greene.
• According to Grant Gross, "Advocacy group Free Press has filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules, with the group arguing the new regulations are too weak."

 

Three kinds of Kindle.

Hardware

• Amazon unveiled a new suite of Kindle devices yesterday, most notably a $199 color tablet, the Kindle Fire. Yes, yes, we covered that yesterday, but we neglected the reactions: The folks over at the TWiT Network liveblogged the event, while the best written commentary came from Molly Wood, Jon Brodkin, Darrell Etherington and Dan Ackerman.
• One definite victim of the new Amazon tablet: Barnes & Noble's Nook Color.
• Verizon Wireless has begun selling the 4G LTE version of its Motorola Xoom tablet.

Cool Technology

• "Nevada, already the second largest producer of geothermal-generated electricity in the U.S., is set to increase its power production by 25 percent," reports Candace Lombardi.

iPhone 5 Predicted to be Most Successful iPhone Launch Ever

InMobi, the world's largest independent mobile ad network, today announces the combined results of its monthly InMobi Mobile Insights network ad data research and a custom iPhone-focused study, iPhone 5 and the Mobile Market. The recent InMobi consumer smartphone survey uncovers that 41 percent of current mobile users in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada plan to buy an iPhone 5—potentially making it the most successful launch from the consumer electronics giant to date. The study further finds that over 50 percent of those users will make the purchase within the first six months of the iPhone 5 launch, which could take Apple significantly ahead of its June 2011 market position, and increase its mobile platform market share from 27 percent in June (comScore Inc., August 2011) to 41 percent.

However, if Apple only unveils a product update—akin to the 3GS version of the iPhone that Apple released in 2009—interest in the new smartphone will be significantly lower, with fewer than 15 percent of consumers likely to actively pursue the new handset. The study finds that consumers are most hopeful for improved battery life; increased processing speed; higher-quality screen resolution; and stronger phone service in the rumored Apple smartphone.

Customer retention and new users

The study uncovered that over half of BlackBerry users (52 percent) are planning to switch to the new Apple iPhone 5, followed by 51 percent of current iPhone users and over one in four (27 percent) Android owners. Even if the announcement only unveils an iPhone 4S, 28 percent of current BlackBerry smartphone owners plan to switch to Apple, more than double the amount of current iPhone and Android owners.

Amazon Enters Tablet Market with Kindle Fire

In a letter to Amazon.com customers posted on its website, the company has introduced the Kindle Fire to its lineup of e-readers. The Fire was designed as a web browser; game and app player; and viewer for movies, television, music as well as books.

"Kindle Fire brings everything we’ve been working on at Amazon for 15 years together into a single, fully-integrated experience for customers – instant access to Amazon’s massive selection of digital content, a vibrant color IPS touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle, a 14.6 ounce design that’s easy to hold with one hand, a state-of-the-art dual core processor, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, and an ultra-fast mobile browser – Amazon Silk – available exclusively on Kindle Fire," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in his letter.

The device will sell for $199.

The Kindle Fire joins a lineup that includes the all-new Kindle for only $79 and two new touch Kindles – Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G – for $99 and $149.

Microsoft and Samsung Broaden Smartphone Partnership

Microsoft Corp. announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to cross-license the patent portfolios of both companies, providing broad coverage for each company's products.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will receive royalties for Samsung's mobile phones and tablets running the Android mobile platform. In addition, the companies agreed to cooperate in the development and marketing of Windows Phone.

"Microsoft and Samsung see the opportunity for dramatic growth in Windows Phone, and we're investing to make that a reality," said Andy Lees, president, Windows Phone Division, Microsoft. "Microsoft believes in a model where all our partners can grow and profit based on our platform."

"Through the cross-licensing of our respective patent portfolios, Samsung and Microsoft can continue to bring the latest innovations to the mobile industry," said Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, executive vice president of global product strategy at Samsung's mobile communication division. "We are pleased to build upon our long history of working together to open a new chapter of collaboration beginning with our Windows Phone 'Mango' launch this fall."

New Software Converts DVD Files to Play on Pocket PC

4Videosoft recently launched DVD to Pocket PC Converter for you to convert DVD movies to Pocket PC format for enjoyment.

4Videosoft DVD to Pocket PC Converter is a versatile DVD to Pocket PC converting software for you to convert all common DVD discs to Pocket PC compatible video formats, such as WMV, AVI, 3GP, and even HD WMV. You can also use this DVD Converter for Pocket PC to extract audio from DVD file to MP3, WAV and WMA. This DVD to Pocket PC Converter not only converts DVD to PPC, but also converts DVD to GPhone, DVD to BlackBerry, DVD to Dell player, and so on.

For a personalized video effect, you can edit the converted video with the help of 4Videosoft DVD to Pocket PC Converter. This DVD to Pocket PC Converter provides you with the ability to adjust video brightness, contrast, saturation, volume and aspect ratio. You can also clip DVD video length, merge DVD chapters, add a watermark, and even preview video and take a snapshot. 4Videosoft DVD to Pocket PC Converter also enables you to choose the detailed parameter settings for your output video and audio file, such as Audio Track, Subtitle, Output Format, Video Encoder, Resolution, Frame Rate, Video Bitrate, Audio Encoder, Sample Rate, Channels, and Audio Bitrate. T

This DVD converter retails for $24.95. For more information, please visit: http://www.4videosoft.com/dvd-to-pocket-pc-converter.html.

LG Electronics Opens First U.S. Home Appliance R&D; Center for Innovative Appliance Testing

LG Electronics USA today officially opened its first Home Appliance Research & Development Center in the United States. Located in Buffalo Grove, Ill., the $6.5 million R&D Center will provide low-volume, high-precision product testing and consumer research using state-of-the-art methodologies and technologies.

 "The Home Appliance R&D Center represents LG's commitment to meeting the needs of its customers in the U.S., ensuring the highest degree of efficiency is met," said Y. H. Lee, president and CEO of the LG Home Appliance Company. "The Center is a platform for LG to help assure that LG appliances meet or exceed industry standards, explore new technologies and, most importantly, drive innovation for next-generation products."

The 30,770-square-foot R&D Center has the capability of testing hundreds of appliances annually and is the last stop before LG products begin production. The 15,350 square-foot first floor is dedicated to major appliance testing including refrigerators, washing machines, clothes dryers, ovens, ranges, cooktops, microwave ovens, dishwashers and vacuum cleaners. It houses state-of-the-art testing equipment such as a climate-controlled chamber specifically designed to test refrigerator-freezers, consistent with test procedures prescribed by the U.S. Department of Energy.

A Consumer Insights Lab features top-notch residential kitchen, laundry room and living room spaces, designed to provide consumers with hands on experiences using LG appliances. A field focus group discussion area allows consumers to share their reactions to the appliances, ensuring LG produces the highest quality products that meet the needs of its U.S. customers.

The second floor houses a fully functioning video studio and residential kitchen where video content is created for consumers and service technicians. Videos include product and cooking demonstrations and lifestyle hints conducted by LG home economists and customer support technicians. The professionally produced video series will be available on LG's website in the coming weeks. The Center's offices and administrative facilities are also on the second floor, where currently 39 employees work; LG expects to expand the staff over the next 12-18 months.

Cellphone Round-Up

• "Apple's effort to trademark the term 'Multi-Touch' in the United States has been denied," reports Josh Lowensohn.
• Apparently cut out of the iPhone 5 party, T-Mobile unveiled two new Android phones yesterday. Ina Fried has the details.
• Samsung also debuted several phones yesterday, including a Galaxy S2 with a larger, high-definition screen, as well as the Omnia W, the company's first phone to use Microsoft's new Windows Mango operating system.
• Sprint has reaffirmed support for its unlimited data plan.
• According to Todd Wasserman, Android phones outsold Apple's iPhone by two-to-one over the summer.

Morning Round-Up for September 27, 2011

Headlines

• "Google and one of its resellers have asked a federal court to dismiss their case against the U.S. Department of the Interior over Microsoft-only bids for cloud-based services," reports Gregg Keizer.
• U.S. Senators Al Franken, Chris Coons and Chuck Schumer are criticizing General Motor's OnStar subsidiary for allegedly continuing to collect data on car owners who opt out of the service.
• Intego's Mac Security Blog is warning of Flashback, a Trojan-horse malware program masquerading as a Flash installer package for Apple's OS X Lion, which has been spotted in the wild.

Hardware

• Tomorrow, Amazon unveils its new tablet computer, which will reportedly be called the Kindle Fire. In advance of the announcement, the company has cut deals with a number of magazine publishers for saleable, downloadable content, and has added Fox to its catalog of streaming content. In an informative essay, trade journalist Lance Ulanoff states that Amazon's new tablet could be "the first Android device to effectively challenge Apple's iPad."
• Zach Epstein: "Research in Motion's retail partners have begun slashing prices on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in an effort to bolster unimpressive sales."
• "Intel on Monday started shipping new low-power Atom chips built on the platform code-named Cedar Trail, with numerous improvements to boost graphics and application performance over their predecessor," reports Agam Shah.

Cool Technology

• Boeing finally delivers its first 787 Dreamliner.