Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Dell Streak Pro D43 hits China

We have seen a leaked Dell Streak Pro 101DL that is powered by Baidu’s Yi platform, and here is news of the Dell Streak Pro D43 (the 101DL is the Japanese counterpart) that has just hit China. This is the first Baidu Yi-powered smartphone in the world, and it will come with similar specifications as that of the 101DL, including a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, quadband HSPA support, a 4.3” AMOLED display at 960 × 540 resolution, 8GB of internal memory, and a microSD memory card slot for future expansion purposes. What are some of the features? We are looking at basic voice control in Mandarin, the ability to synchronize your contacts, Baidu Chinese input, Yi’s very own app store and 100GB of free cloud storage that is capable of supporting multimedia upload and secure file sharing. You can more or less say that the Yi platform is a different version of the Android platform, although it will not come with any of Google’s services.

Sony Ericsson Gives Timeline for ICS Updates, Rollouts Start Late March 2012

Sony Ericsson earlier committed to bringing the Android 4.0 upgrade to all of their 2011 handsets and now they’re detailing which phones are getting it when. Rollouts start in late March or early April 2012 for the Xperia™ arc S, Xperia™ neo V and Xperia™ ray.

Shortly after, from late March or early April 2012 the Xperia™ arc, Xperia™ PLAY, Xperia™ neo, Xperia™ mini and mini pro, Xperia™ pro, Xperia™ active as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ will all get the update.
Of course, Sony Ericsson warns that not all kits of any of these phones (meaning carrier versions) may not get the upgrade within this timeframe, if at all. That’s nothing new to note but there’s your disclaimer either way. Head on to Sony Ericsson’s site for more details. [Sony Ericsson Blog]

Cricket Launches 4G LTE Network in One Market Today, No Phones to Take Advantage of it Yet

Those of you on Cricket will be happy to know that the budget carrier has launched their 4G LTE network today. Most of you probably won’t be drenched in 4G goodness as they’ve only launched in one market starting out – Tucson, AZ. And they don’t even have phones to take advantage of the network right now as their lone capable device is the Huawei Bolt, a USB modem. It’s still good news to hear that they’re at least beginning a rollout, though with just one market to speak of we’re not sure how long it’ll take for them to get coverage out to everyone. [via Electronista]

Verizon customers hit by data outages across the US

US mobile operator Verizon appears to be suffering from extensive data outage issues across the US, with many of its customers heading to the company’s community forums to complain at the lack of mobile data on their handsets.
The nation’s second biggest carrier is reported to have lost both 3G and 4G network connectivity in Long Island, Manhattan, Las Vegas, Richmond and a number of other US states and cities, but the company itself has yet to issue a statement on how extensive the outages may be and when they can be expected to be rectified.

Customers have taken to Twitter to voice their complaints, as noted by The Verge, notifying the operator of problems on its network (if they weren’t aware already).
The outage marks the second time in two weeks that the operator has had issues with its networks, with customers in Houston, Boston, Iowa and New Hampshire reported problems accessing the company’s data services.
We have reached out to Verizon to identify the issue and will update the article should we receive a response. If you are a Verizon customer, let us know if you have access in your area — and if you don’t, let us know when or if it comes back!

Huawei to Unveil Their “Smartest, Fastest and Most High-Performing Smartphone Yet” February 26th

We just received a save the date notice from Huawei for February 26th, 2011. That date and the location, Barcelona, coincides with Mobile World Congress, of course, and there they will be on hand to showcase their “smartest, fastest and most high-performing smartphone yet.”

Their words, not ours. We’re not sure what Huawei is cooking up but we know they’ve been trying to create a better name for themselves with devices that can compete against heavy hitters such as Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola. They are aiming to break out of the ODM mold and primarily into one of the OEM variety, and we don’t blame them one bit for wanting to.
We’ll be live on the Mobile World Congress scene once that time comes (it’s still over two months away so just keep it in the back of your mind) and we’ll be sure to bring you coverage of everything that Huawei’s set to announce.

HTC finishes workaround for avoiding Apple patent ruling

Generally when a company loses a patent litigation case against Apple, it doesn’t look at the loss as a win. HTC is still saying that the loss to Apple in a recent patent litigation case was a win because the courts only found one instance of infringement out of ten Apple claims. The ruling would have resulted in a ban on the import of some HTC products to the US.


Bloomberg reports that HTC has already neatly skirted the patent ban with a new workaround that is already finished. The import ban wouldn’t have gone into effect until April 2012 so HTC is ready to go with the ban behind it. HTC’s CEO said that the infringing tech was rarely used hinting that the workaround was easy to build.
HTC CEO Peter Chou said, “It’s actually quite rarely used.” I wonder if there will be as many patent cases in the mobile phone and tablet world next year as there have been this year. I don’t see this sort of legal battle stopping, do you?
[via SlashGear]

Android apps see in-app purchase swell

65-percent of revenues for the top 200 Android apps come from in-app purchases, download store analysts Distimo have discovered, though the potential for making cash from Android software still pales in comparison to iOS. Meanwhile, Android is the place to go for free titles, holding a comfortable lead ahead of its rivals when it comes to freely-distributed software.

iPhone apps in the top 200 make almost four times the revenue – looking at both upfront payment and in-app purchases – of Android’s top apps, while iPad apps make more than twice that of Android. Android holds the second spot for gaming options, too, with 46,045 titles in the US in comparison to the iPhone’s 79,077 and iPad’s 28,638.

Angry Birds was the top app of 2011 for downloads, Distimo found, followed by Facebook and Skype. Google’s own Google Maps came in fifth, despite only being offered in the Android Market.
[via SlashGear]

Android Firefox 9.0 launches with custom tablet layout

The entirely new and reworked version of Firefox that was teased back in the summer has launched on the Android Market today, introducing Mozilla’s new layout designed to give tablet users a more appropriate experience on their posh big devices.
You get a bigger, bolder tabbing system, with completely different layout options depending on if you’re viewing in landscape or portrait mode, plus a tab-hiding full-screen option when it’s used in portrait. This is it:

Looks quite a bit like Opera. There’s a video of the new tablet Firefox in action over on the Mozilla blog and the full release notes are here. Firefox 9.0 is on the Android Market here.

Nexus S Android 4.0.3 update roll-out paused to gather feedback

Google has apparently stopped rolling-out Nexus S ICS update in some regions for the time being. This step is said to be normal procedure and company does it every time it rolls out an OTA to monitor the reaction from users with already updated smartphones.
So, if you have not got the OTA notification till now, don’t worry it will be available on your phone within this month, or if you got the notification some time back but you declined and now you are not able to get it again, same case – you will get it soon.
According to Google’s Paul Wilcox:
If you received an update notification a little while ago but the update isn’t currently available for your phone, this is likely the result of Google pausing the update in your area while we monitor feedback. The Android 4.0 update is continuing to roll out around the world so your phone will receive another update notification when it’s available again in your region.
PS: You can always install it manually using the guide given here.