Violence-torn Venezuela creates phone 'panic button'

Violence-torn Venezuela creates phone 'panic button'

CARACAS: A free app for certain smartphones that works as a "panic button" in emergencies has launched in Venezuela, one of the world's most violent countries, a lawmaker said Saturday.

The "pocket police" app "allows people to notify their families in real-time of emergencies, without collapsing the Venezuelan security system," explained Ricardo Sanchez, a member of the National Assembly's Domestic Policy Committee.

Apple fights for bigger slice of China smartphone pie

Apple fights for bigger slice of China smartphone pie

SHANGHAI: The world's biggest mobile network is ready to offer Apple's iPhone, but while the US technology giant has declared China its biggest future market, it faces an uphill battle to unseat Samsung and homegrown competitors.
China Mobile has more than 760 million customers but for years it has declined to provide the iPhone as the two companies argued over commercial terms.

iPhone 6 release date, news and rumours

The iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C have been announced. So what does that mean for the iPhone 6?

Well, we'll tell you. Or, at least, we'll tell you what we can glean from rumor and speculation - some reliable, some not so much.

T Mobile Touch Screen Phones — The Most Famous Models

T Mobile Touch Screen Phones:
T Mobile has launched different touch screen models in the past years which have captured buyers attention and interest. The most famous amongst the T Mobile Touch Screen Phones are T-Mobile Prism II, T-Mobile Concord, T-Mobile MyTouch Q-2 & T-Mobile MyTouch 2. Two of these models T-Mobile Prism II & T-Mobile Concord have launched in 2013,
 June & August respectively while the rest of the models have launched in late 2012. T-Mobile MyTouch Q-2 has both the QWERTY keypad and touch screen while the rest have just touch screen. All of these touch screen phones are highly demanded by the smartphones’ lovers all over the world.
Prices & Features of T Mobile Touch Screen Phones:

ADLINK Technology Announces Latest Industrial Mobile Handheld Device

ADLINK Technology, Inc., a leading manufacturer of industrial computing products, announced the IMX-2000—the first ever industrial mobile handheld device utilizing the Android 2.3 operating system. Combining high-performance RFID, barcode scanner, and 3G/WLAN wireless transmission functions to satisfy diverse application requirements, the IMX-2000 can be applied in a wide range of industries. Applications include fully supported logistics management, transportation, and factory automation. With an 800MHz computation capacity, as well as superior resistance to impact, water, and dust, the IMX-2000 has the capacity to enhance productivity and significantly reduce costs.

"The IMX-2000 can easily be configured for a wide range of applications, including manufacturing, logistics, and factory automation," says Stephen Huang, VP of ADLINK. "Combined with the concept of The Internet of Things (IOT), all the information or data required can be captured in real time and accessed wirelessly via this new technology to realize Industrial Mobile Computing (IMC) functionality in different areas. In the future, it can not only reduce limitations on managing and monitoring, but lower production costs while becoming a mainstream communication device."

U.S. ban on some Samsung products to go into effect

(Reuters) - The U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Tuesday it would allow a U.S. ban to go into effect at midnight on importing or selling mobile devices made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd that infringe on Apple Inc patents.
The decision is the latest step in a patent battle between the two companies that has spread across several countries as Apple and Samsung vie for market share in the lucrative mobile industry. Samsung and Apple are the No. 1 and No. 2 smartphone makers globally, respectively.

Google's Nexus 5 Revealed in Leaked Manual

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What appears to be a service manual from LG was leaked on the Web over the weekend, replete with details about Google's upcoming Nexus 5 smartphone.
The document is listed as an internal service manual for the LG-D821, and it was first published by Android Police.

Tests: New iPhones less durable than iPhone 5

NEW YORK—As Apple pitches its newest smartphones, users may find something lacking compared with last year’s model: They could break more easily.
SquareTrade, a provider of protection plans for gadgets, tested five smartphones, including Apple’s new iPhones, to see if they could withstand drops, dunks and other common hazards. Its finding: The latest models aren’t as durable as last year’s iPhone 5.

Apple Touch ID fingerprint tech 'broken', hackers say

Hackers claim to have broken Apple's iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint recognition system just a day after the phone was launched.

Germany's Chaos Computer Club claims it "successfully bypassed the biometric security of Apple's Touch ID using easy everyday means".
By photographing a fingerprint left on a glass surface and creating a fake finger they were able to unlock the phone, the hackers claim.

BlackBerry to fire 4,500 employees as sales of new device plummet

BlackBerry confirmed it was firing 4,500 of its staff on Friday as the struggling smartphone firm said it expects to lose nearly $1bn in the three months to August on disappointing sales of new phones.

Revenues for the three months were only $1.6bn, the company said, against analysts' forecasts of $3bn – indicative of a collapse in its business after lacklustre sales of its new Z10 and Q10 phones. In all, it shipped 3.7m smartphones in the quarter, its lowest since summer 2007, when the first iPhone came out.

Glasses-Free 3D Mobile Displays Are Finally Here (Almost)

A new advance by Hewlett Packard researchers, announced this week in Nature, could put 3D video in the palm of your hand within the next few years. The new tech is an autostereoscopic multiview 3D display. In English, that's glasses-free 3D imaging you can see from any angle. 

Three-dimensional viewing works by making each eye see an image from a slightly different perspective, as we do when viewing real-life objects. Glasses make this easy, as they can filter out two simultaneously projected images so that each eye sees only one. But glasses-free 3D has been a goal of TV and mobile developers for a while now, because wearing 3D glasses at home is annoying, and relying on glasses to view 3D images on your tablet or cellphone would be downright ridiculous. 

Touchscreen phones know it's you from taps and swipes

Developed by Cheng Bo at the Illinois Institute of Technology and his colleagues, SilentSense does just that. Using the phone's built-in sensors, it records the unique patterns of pressure, duration and fingertip size and position each user exhibits when interacting with their phone or tablet.

Machine learning algorithms then turn this into a signature that identifies the user – and will lock out anyone whose usage patterns do not match.

Next Android mobile software version dubbed 'KitKat'

SAN FRANCISCO: Google on Tuesday said the next version of Android will be called "KitKat" in keeping with its penchant for giving tasty names to its software for powering mobile devices.

"Since these devices make our lives so sweet, each Android version is named after a dessert," the California-based technology titan said in a blog.

"As everyone finds it difficult to stay away from chocolate we decided to name the next version of Android after one of our favorite chocolate treats."

Apple readying two iPhone versions for launch: report

NEW YORK: Apple has asked its Taiwan-based supplier to begin shipping two new versions of the iPhone next month, including a lower-cost model, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision, the parent company of Foxconn in China, was readying both a standard iPhone with new upgrades and a less expensive model with fewer features.

Apple breaks $500 threshold, 1st time since January 2013

NEW YORK: Apple Inc.'s shares surged passed the $500 threshold — their highest level since January.

Wednesday's gains came a day after activist investor Carl Icahn said he thinks the iPhone maker should do more to revive its stock price.

The outspoken billionaire said in Twitter posts Tuesday that he had acquired an unspecified stake in Apple and had spoken to its CEO about boosting share repurchase plans. The stock immediately jumped, and closed at its highest level in nearly seven months.

BlackBerry may put itself up for sale

TORONTO: Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry is looking at options that could include joint ventures, partnerships or a sale of the company as it struggles to survive against stiff competition

BlackBerry, which pioneered on-your-hip email with its first smartphones and email pagers, on Monday said it had set up a committee to review its options and that top shareholder Prem Watsa was stepping down from its board due to a possible conflict of interest.

BlackBerry, once a stock market darling, has bled market share to the likes of Apple Inc and phones using Google Inc's Android operating system, and its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones have failed to gain traction with consumers.

Samsung analysts ask hard questions as S4 marketing charm wears off

SEOUL: Analysts fell under Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's marketing spell when they made what they now admit were hopelessly optimistic forecasts for its smartphone sales.

Samsung's huge share of the high-end smartphone market also persuaded some analysts to downplay industry data pointing to a fast-saturating segment, a reality that is already eating into sales of Apple Inc's iPhone 5.

Google coming out with two new Android phones

SAN FRANCISCO: Google revealed Thursday that it has two new sophisticated Android smartphones in the works, one of which will have the unprecedented distinction of being made in the United States.

An HTC One smartphone customized to be "Google's take on Android" will make its US debut on June 26 at a price of $599, the head of Android, Chrome and Google Apps said at an AllThingsD conference in California.

Samsung Says Galaxy S4 Sales Hit 10 Million

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co said sales of the latest version of its flagship Galaxy S smartphone have reached 10 million since its launch in late April, making the model its fastest selling smartphone.The S4, the South Korean firm's challenge to Apple Inc's iPhone, is already selling in 60 countries and Samsung plans to expand sales to 327 carriers in 155 countries by next month, the world's biggest smartphone maker said on Thursday.

PC, Tablet, Phone Shipments to Hit 2.4 Billion in 2013

New York: Research firm Gartner says it expects worldwide PC, tablet and mobile phone shipments to reach 2.4 billion units this year, up 9 per cent from 2012.

Gartner Inc said Thursday that device shipments should continue to grow, hitting more than 2.9 billion in 2017.

 But the mix of devices is shifting away from PCs.

Gartner expects desktop and notebook PC shipments to continue