Showing posts with label High tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label High tech. Show all posts

Sony SmartWatch developer campaign ends soon – last call for submissions

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With our Sony SmartWatch developer campaign in full swing, we’d like to remind you that Tuesday, June 26 is the last day to submit SmartWatch apps to Google play in order to get your free Smart Wireless Headset pro, and most of all, the chance of being promoted in Sony’s social media channels. We’re also still sending out SmartWatches to developers submitting their SmartWatch app ideas through our online form. Read on to get a status update on this campaign, and to get helpful links to aid in your SmartWatch app development.

Last month, we launched a search to find the most innovative apps and ideas for SmartWatch, Sony’s micro display for Android smartphones. We’ve seen some existing apps that have great potential, and some new, brilliant apps that use SmartWatch’s many features – notification capabilities, accelerometer, control API and widget API. Since our kickoff of the Sony SmartWatch developer campaign last month, we’ve been really impressed by the interest in this campaign:
  • We received a lot of app ideas the AnDevCon developer event in San Francisco.
  • We’ve received a really big number of ideas in our form online.
  • We’ve handed out or shipped hundreds of SmartWatch devices so far.
  • We’ve also seen a number of new SmartWatch compatible apps being added to Google Play lately, and we’re getting pinged by many developers looking for a Smart Wireless Headset pro and promotion in our social media channels.
SmartWatch GooglePlay Apps
SmartWatch-compatible apps on Google play.
Looking for promotion in Sony’s social media channels? Want a Smart Wireless Headset pro? Deadline is June 26!
Remember, in addition to getting a SmartWatch, if you’ve created a solid SmartWatch app and upload it to Google Play by June 26, 2012, we might ask to promote your app Sony’s social media channels, like the Sony Mobile Facebook page (with close to 7 million fans). You may also be part of Sony’s Recommender app, installed on more than 10 million Sony Xperia™ smartphones. So take the opportunity to develop a cool and useful app, and you will have the chance to get a lot of visibility online!
In addition, if you submit your app to Google Play by June 26, we’ll actually send you a Smart Wireless Headset pro as a complementary bonus (if it’s a solid app). To apply for your free headset, just enter some short information about your app extension and shipping details in this form, no later than June 26, 2012.
SmartWatch and Smart Wireless Headset pro
SmartWatch and Smart Wireless Headset pro. 
It’s not too late – apply today!
If you haven’t gotten around to submitting your idea, there’s still time. We will soon start to send out another batch of SmartWatch devices!
  1. To submit your idea and apply for a free SmartWatch, use this form.
  2. To tell us about your app and apply for a free Smart Wireless Headset pro, use this form.
Helpful SmartWatch developer links
We would also like to take the chance of saying a big thank you to all the developers who have submitted a SmartWatch idea to us. You should have already received an email acknowledging your submission, and we’ll send a follow up email soon regarding the outcome of your submission.
In the event that your SmartWatch app or app idea is not selected, we hope that you will continue developing your project anyway. Here are a few, key developer links to help you along the way:
  • Smart Extension SDK overview page – use this site to download the Smart Extension SDK and get more information on how to make your apps work with SmartWatch, Smart Wireless Headset pro and other Smart Extras accessories. You can also use the SmartWatch emulator in the Smart Extension SDK to use in your development, even if you do not have a physical device.
  • Sony Mobile Device Loaner Program – use this site to borrow Sony Xperia smartphones and mobile accessories, including SmartWatch and Smart Wireless Headset pro, for free.
  • Stack Overflow forum – use this site to post your technical questions related to SmartWatch development. This forum is monitored closely by Sony Mobile engineers from Developer Support and Accessories teams.
  • Stack Overflow SmartWatch technical questions – use this link to view all SmartWatch-related questions posted on Stack Overflow.
More information

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Motorola Atrix, Electrify and Photon 4G Won’t Get Ice Cream Sandwich

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Last week, we told you that Motorola’s Ice Cream Sandwich update chart included some grim news for Motorola Atrix, Atrix 2 and Photon 4G owners and while Atrix 2 owners made it out unscathed, Motorola has cancelled Ice Cream Sandwich for the Atrix, Photon 4G and the Motorola Electrify as well.
In a post on Motorola’s forums and as displayed Motorola’s upgrade chart, all three devices will remain on their current version of Android which is Android 2.3 Gingerbread. All three were originally scheduled to be getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich this year with the Atrix slated for Q3 and the Electrify and Photon 4G scheduled for Q4.
Motorola, last week, slapped a “Further plans coming soon” moniker on all four devices and at that point, their Ice Cream Sandwich updates were up in the air. However, while the Atrix 2 received good news and began receiving its Ice Cream Sandwich roll out last week, the Atrix 4G, Photon 4G and Electrify will be receiving no such news.
The Motorola Photon 4G won’t get ICS.
This is obviously not the outcome that many owners were expecting when the company decided to place the three on the upgrade chart earlier this year but this is the situation that owners are going to have to deal with.
It’s clear that these updates weren’t cooperating in testing and rather than release buggy software, Motorola decided to scrap the updates altogether.
Hopefully, the outcome is different for owners of the Droid Bionic who saw their Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade postponed to the fourth quarter shortly after a Motorola exec promised more transparency when it comes to major Android updates.
Motorola also reiterated this stance in their cancellation of the Atrix, Photon and Electrify ICS updates saying that the company is committed to better communication with its customers in regards to Android software updates, even when it’s news that customers may not want to hear.
Case in point, the ICS updates for the Atrix, Photon 4G and Electrify.
keep up with the newest technologies and contemplate about how these will be used in the future. On this blog I'll share my thoughts about the future of technology, based on the high Tech Road Show Blog inventions of today.
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Motorola Droid RAZR Arrives in New Colors with Cheaper Price

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A couple of days ago, Verizon launched a new cheaper version of the Motorola Droid RAZR. The new model checks in at $199 with a new two-year contract. It also comes with 16GB of on board storage. Sorry, no microSD card included in this deal. Until today though, the only color available was black. Starting today though, the 16GB Droid RAZR now comes in both purple and white flavors.

Both the purple and white models of the Droid RAZR are exactly the same as the device that we reviewed, and loved, back in October. They just come with a price tag that’s $100 lower.

Taking the place at the $299 price point will be the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX which still doesn’t have an official release date but is rumored to be launching on January 26th.

Droid RAZR

Verizon likes to announce these kinds of things at the last minute.

The Droid RAZR MAXX, if you’re unfamiliar, is going to come with a massive 3,300 mAh battery which will allow for owners 21 hours of continuous talk time. It’ll also be a tad thicker than the original Droid RAZR.

As for the specifications of the RAZR that was released today, for $199 you’ll be getting:

  • CPU: 1.2-GHz TI OMAP 4330
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Internal Storage: 16GB
  • Display: 4.3-inch, qHD 960 x 540 resolution
  • Cameras: Rear – 8MP; Front – 1.3MP
  • Battery: 1780 mAh battery

We should also mention that it comes with 4G LTE capabilities which means that you’ll be able to utilize data speeds that are up to 10 times faster than 3G.

Not bad for a $200 smartphone.

keep up with the newest technologies and contemplate about how these will be used in the future. On this blog I'll share my thoughts about the future of technology, based on the high Tech Road Show Blog inventions of today.
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Analysts Predict Apple Sold 33 Million iPhones, 14 Million iPads in Q1 2012

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Apple will announce the results of the company’s first quarter of 2012 tomorrow afternoon right as the stock market closes on the East coast.

This is an important quarter for Apple (AAPL) as it marks several firsts. This is the first quarter without Steve Jobs at the helm in some capacity, the first quarter of iPhone 4S sales and the first time that the company has offered an iPhone for free.

Investors are also curious to see how the company performs given Apple had lower than expected iPhone sales in last quarter of 2011.

We won’t have the final numbers for another day, but analysts have been freely sharing predictions of Apple’s first quarter performance. Fortune has rounded up a collection of Apple whisper numbers, coming up with an interesting collection estimates for Apple’s performance.

The most interesting Apple whisper numbers are the number of devices sold and the high gross margin estimate for Apple’s first quarter. Check out the best guess based on an average of six analyst numbers.

Grand Central Apple StoreEstimated Apple (AAPL) Q1 2012 Performance:

  • iPhones Sold – 33.02 Million
  • iPods Sold – 15.47 Million
  • iPads Sold – 14.26 Million
  • Gross Margin – 42.4%

If these numbers are true, Investors will be happy to see that Apple sold over 30 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2012. The iPad would mark a 4 million iPad increase over last quarter, good news considering the increased competition of low-cost tablets like the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet. Perhaps the most surprising increase in sales is the 15 million iPods sold in the first quarter, which is almost 10 million more than the final quarter of 2011.

The really exciting number for those of you who want to know how well the company is doing is the high gross margin, which is expected to arrive around 42%. This is nearly double that of Dell, HP and Amazon. You can see past performance of Gross margin in the chart below.

AAPL GROSS MARGIN

VIA: YCHARTS.COM

Apple is holding an earnings call at 2 PM Pacific, 5PM Eastern tomorrow, and will be publishing an earning’s release around 4:30 Eastern on Tuesday January 24th.

keep up with the newest technologies and contemplate about how these will be used in the future. On this blog I'll share my thoughts about the future of technology, based on the high Tech Road Show Blog inventions of today.
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HTC Bringing Beats Audio to Mid-Range Primo Android 4.0 Handset

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Despite its larger than life name, the HTC Primo will be targeted as a mid-range Android smartphone running Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich platform. However, it seems that HTC will be moving to make its premium audio experience, thanks to a partnership with Beats Audio, more widely available and the mid-range Primo will be bundled with Beats Audio.

The latest render of the HTC Primo depicts a device with a 3.7-inch screen devoid of any Android navigation keys. Instead, the navigation keys, like on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, have been moved to the screen area. The device will feature Gorilla Glass, though it’s unclear if this will be the new Gorilla Glass 2 screens that were introduced at CES 2012. The phone will have a dual-core 1.0 GHz Snapdragon CPU, 512 MB RAM, and rear-facing 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture.

The phone is expected to be announced at Mobile World Congress next month alongside HTC’s more premium rumored handsets, like the HTC Ville and the HTC Edge, which may launch as the HTC Supreme.

Via: PocketDroid

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Huawei Goes High-End With Diamond Smartphones

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Huawei’s new high-end smartphones, which will be introduced at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona, will be part of the company’s new ‘Diamond’ series. The Diamond series, according to Huawei’s chairman Richard Yu, will best the company’s latest Ascend P1 S

smartphone flagship, which was introduced just this month at CES 2012.

The Ascend P1 S was a noteworthy introduction at CES 2012 thanks to its super slim form factor, besting even the slim Droid RAZR, and small footprint despite powerful internal specs.

Yu didn’t go into specifics about how the Diamond series will best the Ascend P1 S nor did he go into details about the specs for the new phones.

Whatever the case may be, it’s an exciting time for Huawei as the company attempts to replicate HTC’s success in the smartphone space and try to build a brand for itself. Like HTC in its early Pocket PC/Windows Mobile days of yore, Huawei started out as a manufacturer that rebrands its phones at the request of carriers and other retailers. Now that Huawei is trying to shape its own destiny with its own brand, it is stepping up its game from entry-level handsets into the high-end market. And with the solid build quality of the T-Mobile Springboard Android tablet, it seems that Huawei has a lot going for it.

We’ll just have to wait for a few more short weeks to find out what exactly Huawei will be showing off on the international stage.

Via: The Verge

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Everything You Need to Know About the Apple for Education Talk

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Today’s Apple event presented a giant leap forward in the process of updating American education. As of today, elementary, high school and college students are all able to experience a new, dynamic digitization of textbooks and course materials through the iPad. Textbooks for iBooks marks a new wave of modernization in the educational system, and if it succeeds, a new learning style might be on the horizon.

Combined with iBooks Author for Mac and a revamped iTunes U interface, Apple has officially established itself as a conductor for the digital education experience. The WYSIWIG interface of the application means that even technologically green teachers will be able to develop customized coursework companions for their curricula. From soup to nuts, users are able to take part in developing educational tools for any level and also do it relatively cheaply. All of the apps iTunes debuted today are free from the iTunes or Mac App Store, and are available for immediate use.

The revamp of iTunes U also brings a new wave of promise to an old idea. Users can now participate in open courses from some of the country’s best universities, without ever having to leave their homes. Dynamic and interactive, iTunes U’s new facelift could possibly attract more universities to the platform and, in turn, produce more overall educational content through Apple’s mediums.

Take a closer look at the highlights from the event, including in-depth anaylsis from the Mashable team.

What are you most excited about as Apple begins its foray into education? Let us know in the comments.

1. iBooks 2

The iPad's iBooks app is what the rest of the Apple for Education apps cleverly rest on. Available for free today in the iTunes store, iBooks 2 provides deeper functionality and a special section for Apple's major announcement...

keep up with the newest technologies and contemplate about how these will be used in the future. On this blog I'll share my thoughts about the future of technology, based on the high Tech Road Show Blog inventions of today.
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