Samsung's Tizen smartphones will available in March

Google has seemed a bit concerned for some time that Samsung has taken such a dominant role in the Android ecosystem. Google will have a new reason to be concerned: beginning in March, Samsung will dominate Android and compete with it at the same time.

According to a report from Japan-based magazine Mainichi, top Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has confirmed that Tizen smartphones will become available beginning in March. The news follows a number of delays that pushed the launch of Samsung’s first Tizen phone back from last year, but the consumer tech giant apparently has no plans to delay things any further. The first round of Samsung’s Tizen handsets are expected to debut next month during the annual Mobile World Congress trade show.

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Jolla unveils first Sailfish OS smartphone

Finnish startup Jolla has announced its first smartphone, which shows off its Sailfish OS on a 4.5-inch screen. The device integrates the company's unique back covers with the software, allowing the look to change and new features to be added.

Jolla, which was founded by a former Nokia employees who wanted to continue the development work the Finnish phone maker had done on the MeeGo OS, is with the introduction one big step closer to entering the ultra-competitive smartphone market.

The LTE-smartphone—which is just called Jolla, for now—is powered by a dual-core processor and has an 8-megapixel camera. It also has 16GB of integrated storage which can be expanded using an SD card.

The smartphone has been designed to look like two thin slabs that have been bonded together, and users can change the color of the back one with different snap-on covers. The back cover isn't just about the hardware design. It is integrated with the OS and can be used to add features and change the look, a concept Jolla calls "the other half."

The company's core offering is the Sailfish operating system, which Jolla hopes will lure users away from competing platforms. To help boost the availability of apps, the OS will be able to run Android applications.

The heart of the OS consists of thumbnails of opened applications on the home screen from which users also can access multiple features directly by scrolling from side-to-side or just clicking on them to access the main feature.

The Jolla will start shipping during the fourth quarter and cost €399 ($510) including taxes in the EU. It can be preordered on Jolla's website.

The market for smartphone operating systems will get a lot more crowded this year, as the respective backers of Firefox OS, Ubuntu and Tizen are also expected to launch their first phones. The only thing Jolla has got going for it is its small size, which means it doesn't have to sell many devices to survive, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research director at IDC.

All of the new operating systems will have a very hard time even making a dent in Android and iOS' dominance. Firefox OS and Tizen are expected to have a share of less than 5 percent in five years, according to IDC, which isn't even tracking Ubuntu and Sailfish.

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Google's Motorolla Unit Reported On Working On A New Superphone

Google’s Motorola Mobility unit is reportedly working on a new superphone dubbed the “Motorola X.” It might be delayed until August, but Google’s Eric Schmidt said the company has plenty of other compelling products to wow consumers.

Motorola Mobility has a new set of products, which are phenomenal”, Schmidt said during Mobile conference on Tuesday. “Very, very impressive.” What exactly can consumers expect? Schmidt said we can “think of it has phones plus,” which suggests that we’re looking at either multiple products, such as phones, tablets and maybe a smartwatch, or a phone that adds features no other smartphone has offered before.

Google and Motorola will likely unveil the new set of products during the Google I/O developer conference next month.

Source: AllThingsD 

Unlocking to be Legalized in the USA!

A bipartisan coalition of senators this week introduced legislation that would lift the current ban on consumers unlocking their cellphones without permission from their carriers.

The bill, which was proposed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and cosponsored by Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), would let users unlock their cellphones after completing all service agreements with their wireless carrier.

The proposed legislation comes less than two weeks after the White House signaled its support for an online petition urging the government to reverse a decision made by the Librarian of Congress last fall to deny consumers the right to unlock their phones and bring them to different carriers.


***Unlocking is the removal of SIM restrictions on the modem, allowing the use of the Phone on any carrier. The main reason to unlock your iPhone is if you want to use it with a different service provider.***

Source: BRG

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HP Reported working on Android Smartphones and Tablets

HP is looking into getting back into the mobile hardware game, according to a new report being confirmed from their own sources. The company is apparently still looking to get back into the hardware game after a hiatus spanning a couple of years, however, with a new tablet featuring an NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, which ReadWrite pegs for an imminent announcement, and is also considering Android-based smartphone for future development.

After HP CEO Meg Whitman took over, she announced that the company would ultimately offer a smartphone to keep up with the fact that for many in the developing world, such a device is now their first and maybe only computer. That launch isn’t planned for 2013, however, Whitman later stated.

But back in late 2011, Whitman did make statements to the effect that HP could create webOS-powered tablets again in 2013. While these reports suggest webOS is likely off the table, HP could stick to Whitman’s target plan of fielding a tablet device based on a mobile OS this year, but one based on Android instead of its own product, which it has since open-sourced.

HP is holding private meetings during the Mobile World Congress in Barcleona, Spain, later this month, and it might show off the new Android tablet there behind closed doors.

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Samsung's Galaxy S4 to come with an S4 mini and a smart watch

The Galaxy S4, aka GT-I9500 or Altius, has been developed under the name Project J and could be announced in March. Well Project J now consists of a total of three devices, based on information about upcoming accessories.

Samsung's Project J mini, codenamed Serrano, hints towards a smaller smartphone which would be the Galaxy S4 mini. This isn't exactly an outrageous claim since Samsung has launched the Galaxy S3 mini to sit alongside the full size Galaxy S3.

SamMobile says the Galaxy S4 mini uses almost the same accessories as the Galaxy S4 but won't feature wireless charging. It is likely to be a cheaper and lower spec version of Samsung's new flagship smartphone.

The third device is called Project J Active, codenamed Fortius, and hasn't been full decided upon. It will come with accessories including an arm band, bike mount and punch suggesting it could be a smart watch. Samsung might call it the Galaxy Watch but alternatively it could be a smartphone similar to the Galaxy Xcover 2.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is tipped to feture an Exynos 5 Octa 8-core processor, 4.9in Full HD screen, wireless charging, a 13Mp camera and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.It has been suggested that Samsung will announce the handset outside of MWC (Mobile World Congress) on possibly 15 or 22 March. It will then be released and go on sale some time early in April.

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Ubuntu OS phones to hit stores in October

It's been said that Ubuntu's open-source operating system would be available on smartphones by the end of the year, and now it's confirmed that consumers can get their hands on such devices in October.

The founder and CEO of Canonical Mark Shuttleworth said that Ubuntu OS smartphones will be available in October and app developers will get access to the OS later this month.


Ubuntu OS is long a favorite open-source platform for computing. The OS will use the same drivers as Android smartphones and will also be able to run on entry-level smartphones. It will use native apps, which means that developers can create a single app for both the desktop and the PC. This will let users easily move between devices. The OS also favors swiping gestures to reveal navigation strips and overview pages.

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Sony releases development kit for PlayStation Mobile platform [Report]

Sony has released the first public version of software to create games for PlayStation Mobile, its gaming platform for third-party phones and tablets.


The company's gaming division said Tuesday that it is now offering a public version of its SDK (software development kit) for about US$100 in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.

PlayStation Mobile is Sony's gaming platform for Android-based devices made by outside manufacturers. It is attempting to woo both hardware makers and game developers to the program, a departure from its traditional console business where it charges developers for the right to make and sell PlayStation software.

Sony will still attempt to tightly control the gaming environment in PlayStation Mobile: all software will be approved by the company, and will only run on devices it has certified. The company has also stressed that games on the platform will be largely distinct from the mainstream titles for PlayStation consoles, saying it will offer "PlayStation-like experiences" to users.

The company has made a strong effort to lure developers to the fledgling platform, setting the development cost equal to what Apple charges for building apps for iOS and offering online support for technical issues.
Sony last year launched a closed beta version of the SDK, which includes development tools and software, and has previously said the official launch would occur in November.
The company will use a pricing scheme by which developers sell their titles "wholesale" to the company, and then Sony sells the titles "retail" to end users. As a pricing example, the company said that a game priced wholesale at 70 cents will sell for about a dollar.


On the device side, PlayStation Mobile runs on Sony's Xperia phones, tablets and its Vita handheld. It is also available on a small number of phones made by Sharp as well as HTC's "One" line of smartphones.
Sony has also signed up Asus to make devices for its platform, which was previously called PlayStation Suite.

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