Most of the updates focus on scalability and versatility. For example, WP8 (codenamed “Apollo”) will support multicore processors, multiple screen resolutions, removable storage via MicroSD cards, and support for NFC radios. These changes seem to serve mostly as a catch-up measure to iOS and Android devices, which have historically beat Windows Phone in side-by-side hardware comparisons.
Data consumption seems to be another major component of Apollo. A feature called DataSmart will provide a breakdown of data usage, and will attempt to reduce consumption by giving Wi-Fi connections precedence and routing Internet Explorer web page requests through a proxy server for compression, which Belfiore claims could reduce data usage by 30%.
The most interesting detail from the leaked video is that Microsoft plans to unify Windows Phone 8 and the desktop version of Windows 8, going as far as to share a kernel, networking stacks, and security features such as BitLocker encryption. The goal of this unification is to allow developers to reuse large portions of their code between mobile and desktop versions of their software. Microsoft also intends to create a new, dedicated desktop application for syncing a WP8 device, dropping support for the Zune application and addressing a major complaint from users of the platform.
This move to unify the desktop and mobile versions of Windows could prove to be lucrative for Microsoft—if developers are able to easily port their apps to run on PCs, tablets and smartphones, they may flock to the Windows ecosystem to get the most exposure for their products. Since the Windows Phone ecosystem current trails Android and iOS in app selection by a factor of ten, this unification could boost WP device sales significantly.
Although Microsoft has traditionally lagged behind Apple and Google in the mobile phone sector, Windows Phone 8 may give the platform a much-needed advantage over its competition. We believe WP8 will be released sometime in mid-2012.
]]>The Coolpix P510 has a 42X optical zoom, one of the highest we’ve ever seen in a non-SLR camera, although it supposedly can also focus on objects as little as 0.4 inches away. You won’t be throwing the P510 in your back pocket as you walk out the door, but it does provide several manual modes for users who aren’t ready to make the jump to a DSLR. The Coolpix P510 is due to arrive this month and the MSRP is $430.
Nikon’s Coolpix P310 is opposite in appearance from the massive P510. Its lens has a maximum aperature of F/1.8, allowing for enhanced low-light performance as well as artsy shallow depth-of-field images. The P310 includes a 16MP sensor and several manual modes to help users take advantage of its advanced features. It’s supposed to be available in March and will cost $330.
Nikon announced several other cameras, including the Coolpix S9100, which provides an 18X optical zoom in a 1.5” thick body, and the Coolpix S4300, which is a pocket-sized camera selling for only $170. And one of the most interesting releases is the S30, which is advertised by Nikon as being a “family camera”, meaning it’s designed to withstand the abuse of a toddler throwing it in a pool or trying to feed it to the family dog. It’s said to be waterproof to 9.8 feet, drop-proof at a distance of 2.6 feet, and still has a 10MP image sensor. It will cost only $120.
Look for these new cameras in stores later this month.
]]>The Apple TV set is one of the more persistent rumors surrounding the company, and there’s no doubt Apple is interested in the market—Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson said Jobs wanted to “…do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant.”
However, there is some speculation as to whether Apple will enter the market at all. The Apple TV, a digital media receiver designed to feed content to a television, hasn’t sold particularly well since its introduction in 2007. And it’s often been stated that Apple won’t enter a market unless it can revolutionize it—as they did with portable music players and smartphones.
So then the question becomes, can Apple revolutionize the television market? One of the biggest issues is content, and analysts see three potential scenarios: Apple could take the TiVo model of providing hardware but not content, model a set-top box and pull content from providers such as Hulu and Netflix, or adopt a paid-content provider model where Apple collects monthly fees for custom content.
According to industry experts, producing a TV isn’t a quick proposition—most take a year to design and produce—but it’s not impossible to imagine Apple pulling off a product release late in 2012.
]]>Galaxy Nexus: The popular Galaxy Nexus might be receiving a slight upgrade. Rumors include a CPU bump to 1.5GHz (from 1.2GHz in the current model) and an increase in camera resolution to 8MP.
Galaxy S II Plus: The Galaxy S II may also get some attention in the form of a faster and slightly improved version known as the Galaxy S II Plus. It’s rumored to have a dual-core 1.5GHz processor and a 4.5” Super AMOLED Plus display, in contrast to the Galaxy S II’s dual-core 1GHz CPU and 4.3” screen.
Tablets: Reports have surfaced that two as-of-yet unannounced Samsung tablets have recently received Wi-Fi certification. One of these may also include a quad-core CPU, which would certainly be a step up for a mobile device.
These updates sound intriguing, although they are of course rumors and are wholly unsubstantiated by Samsung. The next few months could prove to be interesting for the company, especially with the recent news of Apple losing their bid to ban the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and Galaxy Nexus in Germany. We’ll definitely be watching Samsung’s presentation at the Mobile World Congress event later this month closely.
]]>The malware in question is called “Android.Counterclank”, and Symantec claims it to be capable of harvesting user information and making unauthorized changes to a user’s Android device, such as adding bookmarks to the web browser. Users of the apps in question reported having a new search icon randomly added to their device’s home screen that displayed a page very similar to the Google search page when opened.
There is some disagreement as to whether or not Android.Counterclank should be classified as malware. Free, ad-supported apps are far from unusual in the Android Market, and ad networks are notorious for toeing the line between permissible advertising and invasion of user privacy. Lookout Security, which focuses on Android security issues, believes Symantec’s accusation to be overblown and stated that Counterclank’s behavior is mirrored by as many as 10 competing ad networks.
Here is a list of apps containing the Counterclank software:
Although Android.Counterclank may turn out to not be especially damaging, it serves as a reminder to be aware of what you choose to download on your smartphone or tablet. And be honest with yourself: is “Sexy Women Puzzle” really worth having if it comes with free malware?
]]>In an event on January 19, 2012, Apple announced a new initiative to bring textbooks to iOS devices, with an obvious focus on the iPad. Similar to their previous efforts to bring computers into schools, this new announcement seems to be an effort to put iPads into the hands of students across America—and if early sales numbers are any indication, they might succeed, at least in the K-12 education system.
However, many believe the push to digital textbooks in university curriculums will be an uphill battle, with the primary concerns being the differing economic situation of students and the sheer quantity of textbooks used by most colleges. A spokesperson for Barnes and Noble’s college textbook division was quoted as saying, ““In a lecture hall of 250 students, all with different economic concerns, one might have an iPad, another a PC, another a print rental…. We’re moving into a digital world, but we have a long way to go.”
Unlike middle and high schools where school districts increasingly provide technology such as laptops to students to facilitate learning, most colleges expect students to buy their own equipment, which makes standardization difficult. A textbook can’t be offered solely in digital form if some students don’t have access to such a device. Additionally, while K-12 education often uses a fairly limited number of textbooks and other materials, university education demands a wide variety of textbooks, which presents an obvious problem in digitizing every textbook a college student might need.
In any case, Apple’s early sales numbers look promising, and most reviews of the textbooks themselves have been positive. The shift to a digital learning world is coming—it’s just taking longer than we would like.
]]>The Kinect was released in early November 2010, but hasn’t been overly successful as a gaming controller due to fairly poor participation by game studios. Its uses as a user interface controller have been decidedly more interesting; only a few weeks after the Kinect hit shelves, videos were posted online of people using the device to play a piano as they tapped imaginary keys on a desk, control robotic arms, and navigate through web pages.
Microsoft has been surprisingly supportive of open-source Kinect products, and has released an SDK to allow programmers to more easily access its functions. This news about integrating a Kinect sensor into laptops could lead to Minority Report-esque interfaces in the future, with users speaking commands to their computers and businessmen in airports waving their arms around to view documents on their laptops.
Microsoft provided no estimates as to when we might actually see laptops with motion tracking features, but we do know that they will be licensing the technology to manufacturers rather than building a solution in-house.
]]>Additionally, the rumors suggest that iOS 5.1 will be introduced alongside the iPad 3 and presumably be shipped with the devices. Recent inclusions in developer builds of iOS 5.1 have alluded to support for a next-gen Apple A6 chip. Indeed it is expected that the iPad 3 will ship with an improved A6 chip with quad-core capabilities.
The rumors come from a japanese website that claim the announcement will come in early February while actual shipments of the device will come in March. The delay seems reasonable as production of a third generation iPad would be halted during the Chinese New Year.
Last year, the iPad 2 was made available for purchase starting at 5PM on March 11th.
]]>Those same reports corroborate earlier rumors suggesting that the device will include a high definition retina display and a faster processor. The processor will reportedly be a quad core. The Apple A5 incorporates the Cortex A9 processor by ARM. To facilitate a quad-core architecture, the Apple A6 will need to leverage a modified Cortex A9, or perhaps an A15. Little more than speculation exists over what the actual clock speed of the cores will be.
The report also adds that the new tablet will offer 4G LTE connectivity. Currently Apple sell two different classes of iPads: those including only WiFi as a means of internet access, and those which offer WiFi and 3G connectivity. It is presumed that this scheme will continue to hold with WiFi + 4G LTE replacing the WiFi + 3G model.
iPad 3 is also said to bring higher performance graphics processing. The iPad 2, released last March, boasted graphics capabilities 9x more powerful than the original iPad of 2010.
Finally, the new model is expected to be slightly thicker than its predecessor. This is due to the higher pixel density of the retina display and the need for an additional backlight, and more powerful battery to sustain it.
]]>The Kindle Fire is the first of Amazon’s Kindle product line to feature a full-featured implementation of Google’s Android OS as well as a full color touchscreen. It sells for an astonishingly competitive price of $199 USD. And for that not-so-hefty chunk of change, you get a decent set of hardware. The current model clocks in at 1GHz via the very power efficient TI OMAP 4 processor, and the 512 MB of RAM put it right on par with some of the higher end tablets. All this leads the curious consumer to wonder, “How much more can we expect from the ‘budget’ tablet computer?”
A similar entry into this market is, of course, the Nook Tablet by Barnes & Noble, the successor to its decently successful Nook Color. The Nook Tablet uses the same processor as the Kindle Fire, has a comparable screen and form factor, comes equipped with twice the internal storage (16 GB), and can be expanded even further (the Kindle Fire has no expansion capabilities) and costs only $49 USD more.
Prior to the introduction of these two devices, the best tablet experience users could be offered in this price range were often poorly made Chinese knockoffs; Things like the ePad which featured grossly underpowered and obscure processors, very little RAM, and unresponsive, resistive touch panels. So, given this evolution of the budget tablet market, what can we expect to see in the Kindle Fire 2?
The future.
One of the biggest problems users of the Kindle Fire have reported has been the speakers. Despite being among the few tablets to have stereo speakers, at times the sound coming from the Fire is almost inaudible. With the thicker than average girth of the device, users can certainly expect to see some improvements in this area.
Just recently, Amazon released a software update to address some issues users were experiencing with the user interface. Reportedly, those with “fat fingers” found navigating the heavily modified interface Amazon placed on top of the standard Android interface somewhat difficult. Users can expect that future software revisions will further improve the user experience and continue to correct bugs.
The Kindle Fire is one of the few tablets to be comfortable seated in the increasingly popular 7″ tablet market. The “big players” like the iPad, Xoom, and Transformer all play on the 10″+ field. It is conceivable, given how much Amazon has begun pushing its digital media delivery services, that a larger Kindle tablet may show up to either replace, or to complement the existing 7″ model.
Finally, the most painfully obvious inclusion we will undoubtedly see in future revisions is increased storage options. Currently, the Fire houses just 8GB of internal flash storage (only 6GB available to the user) which, when compared to the other similarly priced options, is inexcusably small. Additionally, Amazon, certainly in order to keep costs down, did not include any way to expand that storage further by way of a microSD card slot. In order to remain competitive at all, Amazon certainly must either include a substantially increased amount of on-board storage, or provide a external media expansion slot.
With your powers combined!
The naming for Amazon’s Kindle Fire going forward has also lead to some creative debating. Apple have their many cats (Lion, Leopard, Tiger, Panther, etc.), Google have their desserts (Cupcake, Donut Froyo, Gingerbread, etc.), Microsoft has their… indecisive naming scheme. And now, apparently, Amazon has adopted an elemental naming scheme. Will the next version of the Kindle Fire be the Kindle Fire 2? Or will it be the Kindle Water? Earth? Wind? Water? Heart (for some reason)? And is this all a build up to a iPad-killing Kindle Planet?
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