Samsung Galaxy S3 will be at the hands of its U.S. fans in just two days. The Android-based smartphone will become available at Sprint and T-Mobile on June 21, followed by AT&T, Verizon, and U.S. Cellular.
The much anticipated-device already saw a huge success in Europe where it was launched at the end of May. According to Daily Mail UK, Samsung Galaxy S3 had nine million pre orders, twice of iPhone 4S’ four million. Its U.Ss launch is also expected to bring sensation to Android fans, opening the possibility to beat Apple’s iPhone finally.
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But it is not only Apple who is worrying now. The Korean IT giant is also set to make an enterprise version of Galaxy S3 to target corporate customers. This move could jeopardize RIM-equipped BlackBerry.
Although BlackBerry was losing its place among general users, it still remained to be the most wanted device among corporate people for security reasons. For how long? We are not sure anymore.
Galaxy S3 is one of the first devices certified by Samsung Approved for Enterprise (SAFE), which is to offer “comprehensive enterprise devices that deliver capabilities above and beyond standard platform features”.
“SAFE-certified devices meet rigorous security criteria and are configured specifically with enterprise use in mind. The deployment of SAFE smartphones and Samsung Galaxy Tab™ tablets helps ensure that your organization’s mobile workforce is protected to the greatest possible degree through On-Device Encryption and Mobile Device Management (MDM),” wrote Samsung on its website.
Samsung is working with third-party MDM providers, such as AirWatch, Juniper, MobileIron, SOTI, and Sybase, to address and manage security concerns. It leverages the AES-256 bit encryption for security. The Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support synchronization of contacts and calendar as well.
This could be good news for those who wanted to bring their own devices, aka Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), to workplaces instead of the BlackBerry devices.
And what would be the fate of BlackBerry? If they lose their corporate customers, they are in big trouble as their sales are already slipping.
Samsung Windows Slate PC cleared out as Windows 8 Pro Surface tablet appears - Itproportal
Like the latter, it comes with an Intel Core i5 processor. In Samsung's case an i5-2467M processor clocked at 1.6GHz with 3MB L3 cache, 4GB of DDR3 clocked at 1.333GHz, 64GB SSD, a 2x2 MIMO antenna, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, a 11.6in 1,366 x 768 pixels HD LED display, a 2-megapixel camera, microHDMI, USB 2.0, two 800mW speakers, a microSD card slot, a 4-cell 40Whr battery, a Bluetooth keyboard, a stylus and a docking station.
At 13mm thick and weighing 860g, it is heavier than most Android or iOS tablets but not when compared to the rest of the Windows-based tablets. It is slightly smaller than an A4 sheet. Strangely for a laptop that promises maximum productivity, it comes with Windows 7 Home Premium rather than the Pro version.
Expect other manufacturers and retailers to clear out the stocks of existing Windows tablets sooner rather than later as Microsoft prepares to flood the market with Surface devices.
Source : Misco
Vodafone cuts 3G rates by up to 80% - rediff.com
Vodafone 3G plans now start from Rs 25 for 25 MB data usage and go up to Rs 1,599 for 12 GB data usage.
Under the pay-as-you-go for pre-paid customers, the rate has been cut by 80 per cent to 2 paise per 10kb.
With reduction in tariffs, Vodafone also announced there will be no additional charges for roaming on data usage.
"Additionally, Vodafone will now allow its customers to use data from their bundle package while on-net roaming across any location in India [ Images ] without any additional charge," a company statement said.
Last month, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular [ Get Quote ] and Reliance Communications [ Get Quote ] had reduced tariffs for its third generation high speed Internet services.
"With the introduction of these plans, we aim at establishing a foundation for providing a 3G data plan for everyone, making it affordable to the masses in the country,"Vodafone India Chief Commercial Officer Sanjoy Mukerji said.
The 3G tariff war is happening at a time when most of the operators are up in arms against the high reserve price of spectrum proposed by sectoral regulators Trai.
The government is likely to take a decision on spectrum price in the Empowered group of Ministers meeting on July 21.
The operators have warned that mobile bills could increase by up to 100 per cent in certain circles if the proposals are accepted.
According to industry experts, the price war in 3G tariffs may be an effort to cash huge investments made by telecom operators.
The government had received over Rs 67,000 crore (Rs 670 billion) from the 3G auctions held in 2010.
With operators taking huge loans to pay for the 3G licences, experts say operators are under pressure to recover the investment.
Vodafone slashes 3G tariffs up to 80% - Times of India
Vodafone 3G plans now start from Rs 25 for 25 MB data usage and go up to Rs 1,599 for 12 GB data usage. Under the pay-as-you-go for pre-paid customers, the rate has been cut by 80 per cent to 2 paise per 10kb.
With reduction in tariffs, Vodafone also announced there will be no additional charges for roaming on data usage. "Additionally, Vodafone will now allow its customers to use data from their bundle package while on-net roaming across any location in India without any additional charge," a company statement said.
Last month, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications had reduced tariffs for its third generation (3G) high speed internet services.
"With the introduction of these plans, we aim at establishing a foundation for providing a 3G data plan for everyone, making it affordable to the masses in the country," Vodafone India Chief Commercial Officer Sanjoy Mukerji said in a statement.
The 3G tariff war is happening at a time when most of the operators are up in arms against the high reserve price of spectrum proposed by sectoral regulators Trai. The government is likely to take a decision on spectrum price in the Empowered group of Ministers meeting on July 21.
The operators have warned that mobile bills could increase by up to 100 per cent in certain circles if the proposals are accepted. According to industry experts, the price war in 3G tariffs may be an effort to cash huge investments made by telecom operators.
The government had received over Rs 67,000 crore from the 3G auctions held in 2010. With operators taking huge loans to pay for the 3G licences, experts say operators are under pressure to recover the investment.
Samsung S3 finally catches up with the Palm Pre - if modified - The Register
Samsung S3 finally catches up with the Palm Pre - if modified
Hackthusiast brings plugless juicing to the pottery 'bone
Posted in Mobile, 19th June 2012 08:56 GMT
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Wireless charging was a key feature of Samsung's flagship Android blower when it was announced, but the replacement back plate it needs isn't on the shelves yet, so one brave soul has hacked a Palm Touchstone charger into the S3 case.
Not that the hack uses the Samsung/Qualcomm-backed "Alliance for Wireless Power" standard, that's not even been published yet, but it does enable a Samsung S3 to be placed on the magnetically aligned Touchstone wireless charger to pick up some power:
The Touchstone was designed for use with the Palm Pre, and hacking it onto a S3 requires dismantling the receiving coil from the back of a 'Pre and jamming it into the S3 case, so not making use of the S3's capabilities beyond the two connectors which stand ready for the official wireless charging kit.
That kit won't use magnets to align the coils, as the standard being pushed by the Alliance for Wireless Power doesn't require devices to be aligned. It also allows devices to be charged from several centimetres away, allowing a new charging paradigm of "power sipping" where the phone picks up energy from the car door, or the office chair, without the user ever proactively "charging" their phone.
When we covered the launch of the 'Alliance we suggested it was just Qualcomm's WiPower standard with broader backing, but that resulted in hurt messages from Samsung saying it had had wireless power for at least five years (in 3D specs as well as elsewhere) and that the new standard would incorporate aspects of WiPower and its proprietary technology.
We asked about Samsung's membership of the rival Wireless Power Consortium, and were told it was "under review", but more than a month later Samsung is still listed as a member of both consortia and the S3 still doesn’t have wireless charging of any kind, other than after being bodged together with the Touchstone as above. ®
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Samsung Galaxy S3: CyanogenMod Nightly Build Now Available For Download - mobilenapps.com
- Samsung Galaxy S3 running CyanogenMod 9 Nightly Build(Photo: XDA forums)
Samsung Galaxy S3 is the most anticipated Android smartphone manufactured till date, adding more than 9 million pre-orders to its portfolio. Popular smartphones always demand for the attention of developers. And those things have started happening as CynaogenMod team has released the first custom ROM for Samsung Galaxy S3, even before the smartphone has hit U.S. shores.
Restless folks at CyanogenMod have opened doors for Galaxy S3 owners to test the first nightly (equivalent to Beta mode) build of CyanogenMod 9 on the smartphone. The new build is superfast, lightweight and adds some bits of awesomeness to Galaxy S3. However, you will not be getting the so-called "Inspired by Nature" interface in custom builds. The nightly build is based on Vanilla ICS theme, which is similar to the one Samsung utilizes in Galaxy Nexus.
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The nightly build is light weight and significantly improves performance of the smartphone. Many users are replying back that the battery life has also increased after flashing the new ROM on Galaxy S3. However, the ROM is still far away from being perfect. The custom build have following issues in it:
- Problem with camera flash (sometime laggy and sometimes does not work)
- FM Radio is offline
- LED notification will be off while the smartphone is charging
In case you are ready to sacrifice these features, the CyanogenMod 9 build is all yours to flash on Galaxy S3. However, you will need to root the device first. And we did like to remember you that rooting your smartphone voids warranty.
CyanogenMod 9 Nightly build is available for downloads on XDA forums. The ROM will only work on international version of Samsung Galaxy S3, codenamed GT-I9300. For 4G LTE variant of Galaxy S3, CyanogenMod folks will be developing a separate ROM.
If you are not familiar with installing Custom-ROMs on Android smartphone, you need to be warned that you may brick your phone doing so and it could be very difficult (and time consuming too) for you to return back to the stock level.
China Mobile backed OS meant to rival iPhone falls into obscurity - PC Advisor
China Mobile's effort to support its own mobile operating system to compete with the likes of Apple's iPhone appears to be falling by the wayside, mired by its failure to attract developers and enough backing from handset manufacturers.
The operating system, originally called the Open Mobile System, but better known as the OPhone OS, began appearing on China Mobile smartphones in 2009. The operating system is based on Google's Android, but was localized for the Chinese market, and incorporated features to connect to the carrier's services.
China Mobile, which now has 672 million customers, had wanted to offer a wide-range of OPhone devices at a time when the country was just beginning to offer 3G services. But development of new smartphones using the OS has stalled, according to Teck Zhung Wong, an analyst with research firm IDC.
"Our understanding is that OPhone is in a zombie state," he said. "It looks to me that the most likely path for OPhone is a silent retirement, with any updates likely to be incremental."
Many of the handsets using the OPhone OS came out in 2010, and included smartphones from Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Huawei. But since then, fewer OPhone smartphones have been released to the market.
However, there is still some activity: The newest smartphone using the OPhone OS was released by Huawei last month. Called the Ascend G305T, the phone comes with OPhone 2.6, which is based on Android 2.3. The device is priced at 1199 yuan (US$190).
What plans China Mobile has for the OPhone is unclear. A China Mobile spokeswoman and directors belonging to its research arm declined to talk or did not respond to requests for comment. The OPhone's developer, a Beijing-based company called Borqs, also could not be reached for comment.
While China Mobile had grand ambitions for the OPhone, the operating system often fell behind upgrading to the latest version of Android, Wong said. This made it difficult for the OPhone to be compatible with the latest Android apps. At the same time, China Mobile struggled to attract developers to build apps for the OPhone, with many instead wanting to develop apps for Android.
"The other thing that tripped it up was the selection of devices. They couldn't attract enough handsets," he said. "Frankly, I think its an embarrassment for China Mobile."
While China Mobile is the country's largest mobile carrier, the company has in the past struggled to offer the hottest handsets for use on its 3G network. Analysts have said part of the problem lies with how China Mobile's 3G network uses a homegrown technology called TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), which is not widely deployed outside of China. As a result, devices including Apple's iPhone have to be redesigned for use on the carrier's 3G network.
Although Apple has yet to make its iPhone officially available on China Mobile, other handset manufacturers have rebuilt their flagship phones to work on the carrier's 3G network. A version of HTC's newest phone, the HTC One X, will be available for China Mobile. Samsung has done the same with its newest Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Both handsets, however, use the Android OS.
Despite the lack of development around the OPhone, handsets running the OS can still be bought. Poter Huang, who lives in the Chinese city of Foshan, said he purchased an OPhone device about a month ago after being sold one at a China Mobile sales promotion event.
"I feel like the OPhone is a copied product, it doesn't have its own innovation," he said, noting that his device was no different from an Android smartphone. "I think it would be hard for this smartphone to compete against the bigger brands," he added.
3G war rages on, Vodafone cuts rates again in less than a month - Economic Times
The Indian arm of the British telco also claimed its new `pay as you go' (PAYG) price plan for prepaid users is the cheapest in the industry. At 2 paise/10 KB, it is an 80 per cent reduction from the existing rate of 10 paise/10 KB, making it a plan tailor-made for everyone".
"Our new PAYG price plan at 2 paise/10 KB is now the lowest in the industry, below the existing base rate of 3 paise/10 KB data plan," claimed a Vodafone India spokesman.
Last month, Vodafone had announced a mix of increased benefits and reduced rentals on data plans to remove imbalances between its 3G packs and its PAYG pricing. For instance, subscribers using the Rs 100 plan got a higher 300 MB data benefit instead of the earlier 200 MB. While heavy data users on the 1 GB and 2 GB plans saw their monthly rentals drop to Rs 250 and Rs 450 from Rs 375 and Rs 650 respectively.
But for usage levels beyond the stipulated data download quota on each plan, Vodafone India users will now pay Rs 2 paise/10 KB while there will be no additional charges for roaming.
"The new price plans, we believe, will induce people who shied away from 3G to experience the service without fear of a bill shock," said Vodafone India's chief commercial officer, Sanjoy Mukerji.
Over the past month, all leading telcos slashed 3G price plans to crank up market penetration and shore up revenue streams. Especially, since the actual number of 3G customers across the country remains at a shade over 20 million, effectively below 2% of the 900 million-plus pan-India GSM subscriber base.
Bharti Airtel had set the ball rolling by cutting 3G tariffs by upto 70 % for prepaid subscribers. Soon after, Idea, Vodafone, Rcom, Aircel and Tata Teleservices followed suit to bring in the volumes.
The continuing 3G price war comes even as telcos are up in arms over sector regulator Trai's recent recommendations on the airwaves auction and have warned that tariffs could surge by 100% if the government accepts its proposals. The industry move also counters joint efforts by all operators to raise voice tariffs over the last 12 months.
All mobile phone companies have raised voice call rates by 20-40% over the past year and further hikes are scheduled over the next couple of months.
HCL to launch 3G tablet ‘Y2’ at Rs 18,000 - Times of India
"The code name of the product is Y2 and it will be launched in August," HCL Infosystems Executive VP and Head (Mobility) Gautam Advani told reporters here.
He said the company enjoys 15 per cent market share in the overall tablet market while in the sub-Rs 10,000 category, it is around 50 per cent.
HCL Infosystems entered the tablet market in October last year with the launch of 'Me Tab X1' at Rs 10,990.
The company launched another tablet 'U1' priced at Rs 7,999 in April this year.
Advani said 'Me tablets' have been in the market for eight months and the company is getting good responce from consumers.
HCL Infosystems today launched two models under its beanstalk range of AIO (All in One) PCs in a price range of Rs 37,908-Rs 33,696 and smart series laptop at Rs 20,990.
Powered by second generation Intel core processors, both models sports features like a 47 cm LED backlit and anti glare display.
"HCL Infosystems has a strong tradition in consumer computing products and today with the unveiling of the first set of consumer computing 2012 products we are taking another significant step as a manufacturer of computing devices," HCL Infosystems VP and Head Consumer Computing Princy Bhatnagar said.
Asked if the company will bid for manufacturing 'Aakash 2', the enhanced version of world's cheapest tablet PC, Advani said the company can decide only after seeing specifications for the upgraded version.
Telecom minister Kapil Sibal had said that specifications for 'Aakash 2' would be out by the end of June.
'Aakash' was launched in October last year by Sibal. It comes with a price tag of Rs 2,276 only whereas high-end tablet PCs cost anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000. However, ever since the launch, the project has been running behind schedule.
'Aakash' is being supplied to students at a subsidised rate of Rs 1,500 and the government is keen to launch the upgraded version at similar prices as its predecessor.
Movie @ Rs 30: New offering from RCOM-BigFlix for Reliance 3G subscribers - VC Circle
For using this service, Reliance subscribers have to log on to http://vod.rcom.co.in, using their mobile phones or Tablets. Once there, you can access the movie catalogue (powered by BigFlix) and choose the movie you want to watch. The company claims that the user is paying only for the content and not for the data (which means the streaming will be free of cost).
Kunal Ramtekke, senior VP and head of VAS at RCOM, said, “The service is powered by BigFlix and requires an exceptional 3G quality of service (QOS) for supporting an uninterrupted movie experience.”
The last we checked, six movies were available in the comedy genre, two in drama, three in romantic, five in thriller and six in the action category, taking the total to 22 movies. Eighteen video songs were also available, as well as a number of trailers and short clips – all of them free of cost. Some of the movies which are currently available include Dabbang, Bodyguard, Jab We Met, Force, Hate Story, Aarakshan, Bumboo and Race, among others.
This is an interesting service from Reliance and there could be many takers at this price (after all, it’s the same price for which you get those poor quality pirated CDs/DVDs). Also, there will be no additional data charges for the streaming; so subscribers need not worry about inflated 3G bills (the service is not very affordable, as of now).
But whether people will be interested in watching full-length movies on their smartphones is another story. Of course, smartphones with large screens (like Samsung Galaxy Note, SIII and HTC One X) will ensure good quality viewing, but what about the less-than-four-inch displays? We personally feel that to make the most of this service, large-screen Tablets will be the best bet. Moreover, RCOM will have to scale up the catalogue as well (which should not be difficult because of BigFlix) to woo repeat customers.
Other key players in this space include ZengaTV, DigiVive’s Live TV app NexGTv, Geodesic’s live Internet television service Mundu TV and Vuclip’s Starlight Cinema.
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