Tech Kritik » Mobile

Nokia Lumia 800 to launch in U.S. on February 14th as part of $900 bundle

Balend Naoom — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:41:56 +0000

Microsoft may be planning to launch a special bundle that includes the Nokia Lumia 800 and several accessories for $ 899. Citing unnamed industry sources, The Verge said the deal will kick off on February 14th and will include a Bluetooth headset, a Purity HD stereo headset and Nokia’s Play 360 wireless speaker. Microsoft will reportedly not be offering the Lumia 800 as a stand-alone product. $ 899 seems a bit steep to us, even considering that consumers will be getting an unlocked device and a bundle of solid accessories. After all, AT&T will be launching the sub-$ 100 Lumia 900 with 4G LTE support and a bigger screen just one month later. Read
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Acer sues former CEO for violating non-compete agreement

Balend Naoom — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:43:44 +0000

Acer has filed a lawsuit against its former chief executive officer Gianfranco Lanci for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement. Lanci left Acer last March after the company hit a rough patch and was recently named head of Lenovo’s operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “We believe Mr. Lanci has clearly breached the terms of the non-compete agreement he entered into willingly . . . we believe we have a very robust case,” Acer said in a statement given to the Financial Times. The Financial Times notes that Acer has fallen from the second to the fourth largest computer maker in the world while Lenovo has seen recent success and has risen to the No.2 spot. Read
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Siri accounts for nearly 25% of Wolfram Alpha queries

Balend Naoom — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:42:41 +0000

Nearly 25% of queries fielded by the Wolfram Alpha answer-engine come from Apple’s voice-powered assistant Siri, according to the New York Times. Wolfram Alpha is an online service that gives fact-based answers to queries directly from its database rather than by searching through web pages that might contain the answer. The service was launched in 2009 by British scientist Stephen Wolfram. Apple partnered with the answer-engine for the company’s voice assistant that launched with the iPhone 4S and since then, the Wolfram Alpha staff has grown to 200 employees. A new enhanced version of the service called called Wolfram Alpha Pro is set to launch on Wednesday. Dr. Wolfram called the version “the next step of what can be done with
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ComScore: Amazon growth doubled the rest of the e-commerce market in Q4

Balend Naoom — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:42:39 +0000

Amazon announced the company’s fourth quarter results last week, which fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. The company reported $ 17.4 billion in revenue, with net sales up 35% from $ 12.95 billion in the same quarter of 2010. Despite falling short of analyst estimates of $ 18.26 billion, Amazon’s growth was more than twice the overall market’s growth according to data from comScore. At $ 49.6 million, U.S. retail spending was only up 14% in the fourth quarter of 2011. “The growth rate represented the ninth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates,” said the company’s press release. “For the entire 2011 year, U.S. retail e-commerce spending reached a record $ 161.5 billion, marking a 13-percent increase from 2010.” Read
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LG ‘Miracle’ Windows Phone details leak ahead of announcement

Balend Naoom — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:42:20 +0000

LG is preparing to unveil a mid-range Windows Phone code-named “Miracle” at this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show, according to PocketNow. The Mango-powered handset will feature a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 8GB of storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera capable of shooting 720p video and a VGA front-facing camera. Perhaps the most interesting detail is the smartphone’s purported NFC capabilities, although it is unclear how this feature will be implemented in a handset running Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango,” which doesn’t currently support NFC. The Miracle will reportedly be released sometime this spring. Read
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Apple warns developers not to manipulate App Store rankings

Balend Naoom — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:42:56 +0000

On Monday, a Touchstone Arcade thread from a disgruntled developer claimed numerous apps in Apple’s App Store were promoted into the top 25 using illegal services. The poster accused a number of big-name developers such as Crowdstar of using such services. Crowdstar’s co-founder Suren Markosian immediately denied the accusation, assuring customers it promotes its apps “using legitimate advertising channels such as flurry, chartboost, iAds, etc.” The thread gained a good deal of buzz, however, prompting Apple to post a warning to remind developers to adhere to guidelines when promoting their apps. “Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it,” reads Apple’s warning. “However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or
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Samsung unveils new remote with Siri-like voice controls and touch support

Balend Naoom — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:42:11 +0000

Samsung has developed a new universal remote control for its televisions and home theater accessories that ditches dozens of buttons in favor of Siri-like voice command support and a touch pad. As Apple reportedly readies an assault on the TV industry, established vendors such as Sony, LG and Samsung looked to cut the Cupertino-based firm off at the pass during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. All the big names at this year’s show added voice controls and gesture support to their flagship HDTVs, and now Samsung has taken the wraps off its new voice-controlled universal remote, Nikkei’s Tech-On blog reports. The device allows users to speak commands in many cases rather than typing on a keyboard or pressing buttons, and
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$35 Raspberry Pi computer to launch later this month

Balend Naoom — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:42:30 +0000

The low-cost Raspberry Pi Linux computer is set to become available for purchase later this month for $ 35. The firm behind the budget computer announced on Monday that the first batch of boards will enter manufacturing on February 20th and will be available at the end of the month. The single-board computer is equipped with a 700MHz processor, 256MB of RAM, SD card support and both HDMI and RCA outputs. Despite the low cost and small size — which is roughly equal to a credit card — the Raspberry Pi computer is powerful enough to run games such as Quake III Arena and power 1080p video, however the company intends for the device to be used in schools to teach the basics
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Nokia to unveil a new high-end smartphone during MWC

Balend Naoom — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:42:30 +0000

Nokia will unveil at least one new high-end smartphone during the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona later this month, Forbes said Tuesday. The Finnish company announced the Lumia 900, a Windows Phone device destined for AT&T, during the Consumer Electronics Show in early January but consumers are still waiting to hear what the company will launch as a follow-up to the Lumia 800 in Europe. Early rumors suggested that Nokia was planning to announce a Lumia 910 device with HSPA+ connectivity and a 12-megapixel camera, but Nokia recently shot down rumors of the camera upgrade. BGR will be reporting live from Mobile World Congress later this month so be we’ll be sure to bring you all the news as
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Apple edges out IBM to become the top brand of 2011

Balend Naoom — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:42:11 +0000

Apple has edged out IBM to become the top brand of 2011, according to an annual list from marketing strategy firm Davis Brand Capital. The Cupertino-based company ousted IBM, which topped the list in 2009 and 2010. Apple was previously ranked No.12 in 2009 and No.7 in 2010. Davis evaluates the top 25 brands annually using five categories that go beyond traditional marketing functions. “The annual 2011 Davis Brand Capital 25 ranking evaluates companies’ abilities to manage and balance the five key intangible categories that comprise brand capital: brand value; competitive performance; innovation strength; company culture; and social impact,” the company said in a press release. “The ranking does not aim to place a financial value on the brand capital
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