Motorola to launch Droid 4 in December?

Less than six months after launching the Droid 3, Motorola is apparently ready to give us its successor.
The Droid 4 will launch December 8, according to purported promotional materials obtained by Droid Life. The site reports it has confirmed that employee training is already in progress at some Verizon Wireless stores.
The Droid 4 will reportedly have Droid Razr styling and run on Verizon's 4G LTE network, but like the previous Droids, it will feature a five-row, slide-out keyboard. It will also sport a four-inch touch screen, a 1.2GHz

dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a front-facing camera for video chatting, and an 8MP back-facing camera.
There's no indication in the materials which Android version it will run, but if Droid Life's report is accurate, the new smartphone will launch the same day as Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, the new flagship phone for Google's Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich.
A Motorola representative declined to comment, and Verizon representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Eee Pad Transformer Prime gets handled, fawned over

We've seen the Eee Pad Transformer Prime work out its camera, take a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich and slide through a Portuguese hands-on, but we're more than happy to take a peek at Ritchie's Room's "first look" as well. Their impressions? Pretty positive -- Ritchie had nary a negative thing to say about the ASUS slate, optimistically noting that folks screaming for ice cream will eventually be able to sooth their throats with an update. The outfit confirmed a handful of details we'd already deduced -- the prime's svelte 8.33mm (0.33

inches) and 586 gram (1.29 pound) measurements leave it just a hair thinner than the iPad 2, and as we suspected, make it incompatible with the original Transformer's keyboard dock. Hit the source link below for a mess of photos and a glowing write-up.

Android 4.0 ICS demo: Active voice dictation, Unlock to camera, and more(Photos-Video)

We know you’re all dying to get your hands on a Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich that you can all your own, but in the meantime since we have the beautiful phone right here we’ve recorded another quick demo. First, look over our hands-on and unboxing, followed by a detailed Ice Cream

Sandwich hands-on. That should hold you over, but while you wait enjoy the video demo below.

In our hands-on demo video at the end of this page we go over the brand new active voice dictation introduced in 4.0 ICS as well as the face unlock, unlock to camera option, and even facial recognition. We’ve been loving this phone so far and without a doubt the active voice dictation is one cool feature.

Active voice dictation

Android had voice capabilities before that were actually quite good, but now it’s at an entirely new level. You’ll clearly understand after watching the video. Not only does it follow and type out what you say with your voice, but now it follows along in real time. If you pause for a moment it doesn’t cut you off and you’re actually allowed a moment to think before you talk — instead of rushing to say it all at once. There is a limit to how long you can continue but it gives plenty of time for texts and even the occasional lengthy email.

Face unlock & unlock to camera

Now the entire face unlock has had its fair share of scrutiny and many are worried that it can simply be fooled with a photo. This I’m sure Google will continue to work on but for now it can be deactivated and give you the usual pin to unlock feature. Also provided is unlock to camera. Just like with iOS 5 (see our review) with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich you can select in lockscreen settings any of the many options. Being able to instantly slide to unlock directly to the camera is a feature that has been missed on stock Android — even though 3rd party apps supported it.

Facial tracking

Obviously facial tracking may be a small feature, but its new and exciting. This is another feature that has been seen on many Android devices in the recent past and included with custom camera applications from manufacturers but now its a completely stock feature. Integrated right into stock vanilla Android. The front facing camera on this Galaxy Nexus is quite impressive — as you can clearly see in the video below.

We also lightly mention just how easy it is to create and edit folders with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but I wanted to finish this off with a quick note regarding the new settings menu.

Settings & WiFi

As shown in the demo connecting to a WiFi connection isn’t quite as easy as we’ve seen in the past with Android. While this may be simple to understand for many the new implementation might be confusing for some — until they figure it out of course. With Android 2.3 Gingerbread after enabling WiFi there was a “WiFi Settings” menu listing your available wireless networks — that has disappeared from 4.0 ICS. Instead, when you enable WiFi nothing happens and there is no settings option below for your convenience. Now you simply tap the actual WiFi area and it enters the settings menu. This is very simple to understand but I certainly wouldn’t call it intuitive for the average user. Same rule applies for Bluetooth and the others — just a tip in case you find yourself wondering when you finally have an ICS device of your own to enjoy.

Now without further commentary as I’ve said enough already — I present you with another quick hands-on video of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Enjoy!

Stick around because we’ll have plenty of coverage regarding the Galaxy Nexus and the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich all week, not to mention a full in-depth review coming soon.

Apple's IPhone 4S Sales May Reach 4 Million This Weekend

Apple Inc. is poised to sell as many as 4 million units of its new iPhone 4S this weekend as customers around the world clamor for one of the last products developed under Steve Jobs.
The device, available today in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K., is

projected to outperform last year's introduction of the iPhone 4, which topped 1.7 million units in its introductory weekend. For the iPhone 4S, most estimates range from 2 million to 3 million, with Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe predicting sales of as much as 4 million.
The release represents the end of Apple's era under Jobs, who died this month after an eight-year battle with cancer. The iPhone 4S has received mostly positive reviews for its voice- recognition software, speedier processor and improved camera. The device also provides Apple with fresh ammunition in its fight against Google Inc.'s Android software, which will appear on a host of new smartphones in the year-end holiday season.
“It's going to easily outpace any previous launch,” said Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co. in New York. It helps that the iPhone is available on the three largest U.S. carriers for the first time, which will bring in new buyers, he said.
Apple also has released an update to its iOS mobile operating system, which customers can download to their existing devices. The software comes with 200 new features and a Web storage service for synchronizing photos, documents, music and other files across different Apple gadgets.
Google Competition
While the iPhone is the best-selling single smartphone, all of the devices running Google's Android operating system account for more of the industry's sales. HTC Corp., Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and other manufacturers have adopted the software. Google offers Android for free and then makes money on mobile advertising and services. That revenue now accounts for $2.5 billion a year, the company said yesterday when it released quarterly results.
Apple's shares have jumped more than 10 percent this week, boosted by speculation that the iPhone 4S will be a hit. The stock closed at $408.43 in U.S. trading yesterday, making Apple the world's most valuable business. Its market capitalization now stands at $378.7 billion, compared with $371.3 billion for the second-ranking company, Exxon Mobil Corp.
In German trading, the stock today rose 1.4 percent to the equivalent of $412.42 as of 10:01 a.m. in Frankfurt.
‘Memory' of Steve
About 25 customers were lined up outside Apple's Midtown Manhattan store at lunch yesterday. In Australia, the first country where the product went on sale, Jackie Guo, 25, and his girlfriend, both students at Macquarie University, said they lined up as a tribute to Jobs.
“It's the iPhone for Steve, it's for the memory of Steve,” Guo said. “It was the last product he worked on. He pushed this company to become a viable company. His ideas are better than others. They make the market more hungry for the product.”
In Frankfurt, Grigory Stolyarov, a 27-year-old employee of Dekabank Deutsche Girozentrale, spent the night in front of the store in the city's main shopping street. He had put on two pairs of socks, sweaters and jackets to weather the first near- freezing night of the fall season and be among the first 20 people in the line of more than 1,000.
‘It's a prestige thing,” said Stolyarov, who picked up three iPhones and already owns an Apple iPad 2 tablet computer. “I feel like an onion and I definitely need some sleep,” he said.
Makeshift Memorials
In Tokyo, about 80 people were lined up a day before the debut and there were more than 800 people by 8 a.m. at the Ginza district store.
Jobs's admirers have turned storefronts into makeshift memorials, adding a solemn tone to the frenzy that accompanies the company's product releases. Jobs co-founded Apple and returned to the company after a 12-year absence, rescuing it from near-bankruptcy.
“They are going to sell out,” said Yankee Group's Howe, who is based in Boston.
High demand for the new iOS 5 software contributed to glitches at Apple even before the iPhone 4S went on sale. Customers downloading it to their older phones overwhelmed the company's servers, making it harder to upgrade.
Sell Out
Apple hasn't said how many people were affected. The wait time to get a call back from an Apple support representative via the company's Express Lane service is much longer than usual. Typically, an Apple rep will call back within a few hours. Now, the earliest appointments aren't for days.
Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment
The iPhone 4S will go on sale later this month in 22 additional countries, including Ireland, Italy, Mexico and Spain. Apple didn't say when it will be available in China, a country Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has said will be critical for the company's future growth.
Apple said earlier this week that it had received more than 1 million preorders for the iPhone 4S. The three U.S. carriers selling the device -- AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. -- sold out as well. The demand puts Apple on pace to sell a record number of iPhones in the quarter ending in December, according to the analysts' reports. Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray Cos., estimates that Apple could sell more than 25 million iPhones this quarter.
Top Moneymaker
The iPhone, first introduced in 2007, has become Apple's top moneymaker, accounting for almost half its total revenue. Sales from the new model won't be part of the fourth-quarter financial results Apple is due to release on Oct. 18. Even so, profit rose about 60 percent in the period to $6.9 billion on sales of $29.5 billion, according to the average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The release of the iPhone 4S, along with new Android models, should mean that smartphone users account for the majority of U.S. mobile-phone customers for the first time, said Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics LLC in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Apple controlled 19.1 percent of the smartphone market in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC, ahead of Samsung, Nokia Oyj and Research In Motion Ltd.
Few companies can build excitement around a new product the way Apple can, Yankee Group's Howe said.
“This is what they are good at,” he said. “They know how to make a big launch weekend.”

Amazon's cheaper Android tablet could change the industry

Apple has made it look easy with the iPad.

It has sold tens of millions of the tablet computers -- singularly defining an entire category of mobile devices -- as competitors have tried and failed to gain any significant traction against it.

But there will likely be a newcomer to the race this fall that could change the tablet industry forever.

Online retail giant Amazon has hinted that it plans to offer its own tablet computer running Google's Android operating system, perhaps as early as October.

Research firm Forrester said last week that it expects Amazon to sell 3 million to 5 million tablets in the fourth quarter this year if it can keep up with the demand.

The main reason: Amazon is willing to sell hardware at a loss.

Amazon's tablet could be priced at $300 or lower, significantly less than the base-level $500 iPad.

Like Apple, Amazon is also in the business of selling e-books, streaming movies and digital music. The more tablets it has in users' hands, the more e-books it can sell to them -- which is where Amazon is hoping to make even more money.

"Amazon's quick ascension in the tablet market will completely disrupt the status quo," said the report's author, Sarah Rotman Epps.

Amazon has sold millions of its Kindle e-readers using this strategy. The Kindle starts at $114 for the ad-supported WiFi version.

Software follows hardware

The likely success of a tablet from Amazon would be sure to invigorate the Android software system, which has faltered without a compelling piece of hardware.

Several Android tablets have been released this year, but each has landed with a thud -- too heavy, too expensive or just not quite there.

That has kept many software developers from creating apps for Android tablets, which causes even more consumers to choose the iPad.

Google doesn't make an exact count of tablet-optimized apps available, but most educated guesses place it in the low three figures.

Apple has more than 120,000 apps for its tablet.

A blockbuster tablet from Amazon would change things, creating a serious incentive for tablet app developers to work on both platforms.

I don't often advocate waiting on the sidelines for an eventual product release.

But the prospect of a less-expensive Android tablet, especially when paired with the expansive digital media offerings of Amazon, is enough to give a buyer some serious pause this fall.

HTC Holiday's 4.5-inch Prototype Makes its First Appearance [Photo]

HTC’s upcoming Android-based smartphone Holiday’s prototype has just revealed itself for the first time.

The new Android smartphone has a large ‘CALIFORNIA’ sticker on its cover or on the back which may mean that the device will be released in different parts of the United States with different cases.

If the rumored specifications are true, then the device will arrive with a 1.2GHz processor, a 4.5-inch qHD display at 960 x 540 pixel resolution and could possibly look forward to an AT&T release. Previous rumors said that the device will also have 1GB RAM and an 8 MP rear and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera.

Nothing much in known about the device at the moment but the HTC Holiday may also arrive with conductive charge port on the back, according to a XDA report.

Sprint Offers Cheaper WiMAX 4G in Samsung Conquer 4G Android Smartphone

Sprint has made the availability of WiMAX 4G connectivity cheaper, teaming up with Samsung to launch Conquer 4G Android smartphone at $99 only.

The Samsung Conquer 4G will join the growing list of mobile devices that support Sprint’s WiMAX 4G

network, which started with the HTC EVO 4G, the best-selling smartphone in Sprint history.

Nearly one and a half years have passed since Sprint offered its first WiMAX 4G-capable Android smartphone, and including the Samsung Conquer 4G, the roster increased to seven smartphones, excluding 15 other devices that include hotspots, netbooks, USB modules, and tablets during the one year anniversary of EVO 4G’s launch.

However, the previous Sprint offerings, including EVO, EVO Shift, EVO 3D, Photon, Epic, and Nexus S, launched at hefty prices, considering 4G connectivity is an expensive feature and the smartphones had high-end specs.

The Samsung Conquer 4G is set to change that though, launching at only $99, with a new two-year Sprint contract and $50 rebate.

The $99 offer is also the current price for Samsung Nexus S, which launched at $200 last May.

The Samsung Conquer 4G touts a 3.5″ 320 x 480 HVGA touchscreen display, 1 GHz processor, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 3.2-Megapixel camera with flash and a 1.3 megapixel front camera for video calling, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity, stereo Bluetooth support, and WiMAX hotspot capability for up to five devices.

The Samsung Conquer 4G will hit the shelves of Sprint retailers on August 21.

Child finds flaws in mobile games

A novel class of security problems have been found lurking in many mobile games by a ten-year old hacker.Going by the handle CyFi, the hacker presented her findings at the DefCon hacker conference held in Las Vegas.She found that advancing the clock on a tablet or phone can, in many games, open a loophole that can

be exploited.

CyFi discovered the bug after getting bored with the pace of farming games and seeking ways to speed them up.

Find and fix

Many farm-based games force players to wait hours before they can harvest a crop grown from virtual seeds. As a result CyFi, who has not revealed her real name, started fiddling with the clock on her handset to see if she could produce crops more quickly.

While many games detect and block clock-based cheating, CyFi found ways round these security measures. Disconnecting a phone from wi-fi and only advancing a clock by small amounts helped to open up the loophole as it forced the game into a state not tested by its original creators.

Details about what this bug opens up have not been revealed but such flaws are often used to let an attacker run their own code and get access to useful or saleable data.

CyFi's discovery has since been verified by independent security researchers.

The exploit has been found to work in versions of games for both Apple and Android gadgets. Exactly which games are vulnerable has not been revealed to give their creators time to fix them.

CyFi gave a presentation about her findings at DefCon Kids, the first meeting at the larger DefCon Con hacker conference, aimed at younger people who are interested in tinkering with hardware and software.

A sponsored session at DefCon Kids gave a cash prize to the youngster who found the most games suffering this loophole in 24 hours.

How Google can do more than beef about patents

Google kicked up a dust storm this week, publicly whining about Microsoft, Apple, and others ganging up against it to pursue patent violations by its Android mobile operating system.

It's hard to be too sympathetic to Google. While there are few who don't believe that patent reform is

desperately needed, Google is a giant company with deep pockets that has tried to play the same patent acquisition game as the companies it criticized. It just hasn't played the game as well.

The problem for Google is that it has few alternatives to carping about competitors. Android has had remarkable success since debuting in 2007, becoming the most widely used smartphone operating system in the United States. But because Google entered the smartphone market so late, its patent portfolio, relative to rivals, is thin.

Just look at the numbers: According to MDB Capital Group, an investment banking firm that focuses on intellectual property, Google has applied for or been granted 317 mobile device patents in the United States. Microsoft, which is something of a patent factory, has 2,594 patents or patent applications for mobile device technology. Microsoft's new partner, Nokia, has applied for or been granted 2,655 patents.

That's left Google vulnerable to the current state of patent litigation. Typically, a company with a patent threatens to sue, or actually sues, another company that it believes has infringed on its innovation. The common defense is for the accused company to find one of its own patents that the accusing company has infringed upon and threaten a counter-suit. That gives it the ammunition to propose cross-licensing deals that keep both companies out of court.

But with so few mobile device patents, Google is hard-pressed to do that kabuki dance. Its senior management is clearly frustrated to have to play the patent game in a system that so many--even some of the companies that are playing--believe is broken.

"That's why they're crying," said MDB chief executive Christopher A. Marlett. "Google is really in a bad position. They're going to have to fight like hell."

That frustration led its chief legal officer David Drummond to blog on Wednesday about "a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents." That post sparked a tit-for-tat between the company and Microsoft, each denying the other's claims and raising new charges.

An accusatory missive from Google's chief legal officer isn't going to alter those dynamics. But Drummond did hint at other options.

"We're also looking at other ways to reduce the anti-competitive threats against Android by strengthening our own patent portfolio," Drummond wrote.

CNET has learned that the company is exploring ways to create incentives for employees to add patents to its portfolio from work done internally. But that only helps so much.

Google also seems likely to become more aggressive in buying up patents, much the same way its rivals have. As much as Google appears to loathe playing the patent game, spending money to prevent litigation rather than innovating, it may have come to realize that it has no other alternative. And with $39.1 billion in cash as of June 30, it certainly has the financial wherewithal to bid against Microsoft, which has $52.8 billion in cash, and Apple, which has $75.9 billion in cash.

Already, the company has dipped into its coffers. Late last month, Google bought 1,000 patents from IBM, covering a broad swath of innovation from Web-based querying to servers and routers. And the company bid earlier in the year for some 6,000 patents and patent applications held by Nortel Networks. It ultimately lost that battle to a $4.5 billion offer from a consortium that included Apple and Microsoft.

Sources say that Google is now eyeing wireless technology developer InterDigital, after the King of Prussia, Pa., company hired investment banks in July to consider bids. But so are Apple, Samsung and others, according to reports. Even as the stock market has tanked, InterDigital's shares have climbed 62 percent since it put itself on the block, giving the company a market capitalization north of $3 billion.

MDB's Marlett thinks that Google may need to act more boldly. Eastman Kodak recently said it's considering selling some 1,100 patents related to digital imaging, important technology for mobile phones. He expects Google to bid aggressively for those, competing against Apple, among others.

Marlett thinks it might even make sense for Google to bid for BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, which holds 3,134 patents and patent applications for mobile devices. The company's stock has soured since the beginning of the year as it's struggled to compete with Android and the iPhone, so much so that it now has a $12.3 billion market cap.

"Google has got to make a strike," Marlett said. "They need to fortify their defense."

Android Hits 39% Smartphone Share, iOS at 28%: Nielsen

Apple's iOS-based iPhone is still in second place, but rose to 28 percent from 27 percent in May and 26 percent in April.

While Android leads by dint of massive exposure across multiple OEMs selling handsets in the United States

and all over the world, Apple remains the top smartphone maker in the United States with that 28 percent share.

HTC is No. 2 with 20 percent in the United States, including 14 percent of Android phones and 6 percent of Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7 gadgets.

Motorola is No. 3 with 11 percent of all Android phones. Samsung follows at a total of 10 percent U.S. share, with 8 percent of Android phone sales and 2 percent of Windows Mobile/WP7 sales.

In other Nielsen smartphone market share updates, Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry continued to lose share for June, accounting for 20 percent share. That's down from 21 percent in May and 23 percent in April.

Smartphones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 accounted for 9 percent of the U.S. market as the company continues its gradual transition of replacing Windows Mobile in favor of WP7.

The company just shipped its WP7 "Mango" version, which is well regarded by reviewers, to manufacturing. Mango phones will hit the market en masse this fall.

For now, though, the smartphone market features two faster horses at the top: Android and iOS. There are two forthcoming events that could shape the future market share of both platforms this fall.

First, Samsung is expected to launch its well-regarded Galaxy S II smartphones, which sold 5 million units in a few countries, through AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the United States this August.

Second, Apple is expected to launch its iPhone 5 in September or October. The device should be faster, feature better cameras and could feature a virtual assistant and facial recognition perks.

Samsung needs to have a good U.S. launch in order for Android to continue its momentum; Apple's iPhone must do the same for iOS.  

Lenovo Jumps into Tablet Market: 10 Features They Need to Succeed(Photo-Gallery)

Lenovo is the latest company to jump into the tablet fray with its ThinkPad and IdeaPad K1 tablets. The company also unveiled its P1 Windows 7-based tablet, but this column will only focus on the prospects for the Android models.

At first glance, the ThinkPad and K1 are quite similar, offering 10.1-inch screens, Android 3.1 and the 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2processor. However, the ThinkPad option is designed for enterprise users, while the K1 is made for consumers.

By joining the tablet space, Lenovo is now going up against Apple and the countless number of Android tablet makers out there. Now Lenovo, like all the others that came before it, will need to find a way to differentiate its products and appeal to customers who might not want to buy an iPad.

Admittedly, doing so is difficult in today’s crowded tablet space. The chances of Lenovo overcoming even the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to earn the second spot in the tablet space behind the iPad 2 are slim. But it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. With the right strategy and a few tweaks, Lenovo’s tablets have a chance at becoming a success.

Read on to find out what Lenovo should do to make its K1 and ThinkPad tablets successful.

1. Focus on the screen size

One of the major advantages of Lenovo’s tablets is their screen size. According to the company, both the ThinkPad tablet and the K1 offer 10.1-inch screens. The iPad 2, on the other hand, comes with just a 9.7-inch display. The difference might not be great, but in both the consumer and enterprise markets, larger screens are preferred. Lenovo must keep that in mind and make that a key component in its marketing.

2. Android 3.1 is integral to success

If Lenovo’s tablets shipped with Android 3.0, they would be failures out of the gate. But by offering Android 3.1, the tablets are on the same level as the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which also runs the operating system. Google’s first foray in the tablet space with Android 3.0 was a bit of a misstep, but most critics agree that version 3.1 is a fine improvement. Lenovo should make it clear to customers that unlike some other Android tablets, its products are running the best version yet of Google’s tablet platform.

3. A clear delineation

By selling two tablets, Lenovo is putting itself in an unenviable position. Rather than simply try to make customers get excited about a single tablet, the hardware maker must try and sell two different products aimed at two separate markets. In order to be successful at that, Lenovo needs to make it abundantly clear to customers that the ThinkPad is for businesses, and the K1 is for consumers. They should also be different enough to convince a tablet buyer that they should buy two tablets, one for their home and another for the office. If they seem too similar, Lenovo’s tablets could have trouble finding a suitable marketplace.

4. Talk about pricing

According to Lenovo, it’s selling the K1 tablet for just $499 for 32GB of storage. Apple’s iPad, on the other hand, retails for $599 for the same amount of storage. The company’s 16GB model goes for $499. That is a major selling point for Lenovo. As the economy still continues to struggle to turn around, consumers looking to get a tablet want the best value for their cash. Making them aware of its K1 pricing might help Lenovo appeal to those customers.

5. Enterprise, enterprise, enterprise

The corporate world has largely been left out of the discussion on tablets. Save for the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook and the Cisco Cius, today’s tablets are designed with consumers in mind. But as a trusted enterprise PC maker, Lenovo has the unique opportunity to capitalize on the business space with its ThinkPad. If it does a good job at it, the company might be able to cement its position at the top of the enterprise market. For Lenovo, promoting its ThinkPad tablet to the enterprise might be its most important strategy decision.

6. Slim them down

One of the biggest issues with Lenovo’s tablets is their size. According to the company, its K1 tablet is 0.5 inches thick and weighs about 1.7 pounds. The company’s ThinkPad starts at 1.65 pounds. That’s not a good thing. Apple’s iPad, for example, comes in at just 0.34 inches thick and weighs 1.33 pounds. Lenovo’s devices simply seem bulky and overweight—two features consumers and enterprise users don’t like. Although the device designs are final, Lenovo needs to make a solid case for why customers should buy its bulkier options.

7. The digitizer pen is a home run

Lost amid the discussion on Lenovo’s tablets has been the company’s decision to offer an optional digitizer pen with the ThinkPad. The pen offers far more functionality for enterprise users that don’t want to rely so heavily upon their fingers to get work done. For consumers, a digitizer pen might actually be a liability. But for the corporate world, it’s an advantage. Lenovo should rely upon that advantage as much as possible as it starts promoting its devices.

8. Market them effectively

One of the biggest issues in the Android tablet market has been the general inability by vendors to promote their products effectively. Commercials promoting tablets haven’t compelled customers to buy a device, online ads have been oddly devised, and the companies seemingly don’t know who they’re targeting and why. Lenovo simply can’t fall into that trap. If the company’s tablets become successful, it will be because the firm knows now to properly market its products.

9. Focus on the extras

One of the nice things about Lenovo’s tablets is that they’re chock full of extras. The ThinkPad tablet, for example, includes an SD card slot, microUSB and USB 2.0 ports, and mini-HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) output. The K1 has a MicroSD card reader and a mini HDMI connector, as well. Those are nice additions to have, and they are conspicuously missing from competing devices. Lenovo needs to place those extras at center stage.

10. Target the Apple haters

It’s a rather odd thing in the tablet space, but so far, no company has been willing to directly target Apple haters in the consumer market. In fact, most firms are trying to appeal to all consumers. The only problem is, Apple is selling boatloads of iPads, and even people that don’t swear allegiance to the company are buying its tablets. However, there are still millions around the globe that can’t stand Apple and the very thought of buying its tablets sickens them. That’s the market Lenovo should capitalize on. After all, in that space, the company doesn’t need to compete against the most dangerous alternative in the industry.

Lenovo Unveils IdeaPad K Android Tablet

With product names like ThinkPad and IdeaPad, one would think Lenovo would've gotten into the tablet game ages ago, but those products were traditionally laptops. While Samsung, HTC, RIM, and others have raced ahead with iPad competitors, Lenovo has bided its time, flirting with Windows 7-based and dual-OS

tablet concepts as recently as January 2011 CES. Now, however, the company has gotten serious and is committing to an Android Honeycomb tablet, the IdeaPad K1.

The 10.1-inch, Honeycomb 3.1 IdeaPad K1 ships in July. Starting at $449 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version (3G pricing has not been set), the 1.6-pound tablet has a silver exterior and a rubberized back. Measuring 13mm at its thickest point, the K1 tapers to a somewhat thinner profile on one side. Like a multitude of other Android-based tablets, the IdeaPad K1 features two cameras, a 2-megapixel one on the front and a 5-megapixel camera on the back. It offers a full SD card slot and support for full-sized USB input. Inside, the Idea K is running an Nvidia Tegra 2 and has an IPS-based, 1,280-by-800 screen. It's also one of the few Android tablets to offer a physical home button on the device face.

Though the device features the most up-to-date, tablet-friendly Android interface, Lenovo has added its own optional on-screen control center that offers one-touch access to the Internet, mail, music, video, and ebooks. Lenovo is also unveiling its own curated app store. Company execs said they're not looking to make money through the store; they simply want to offer "reliable and safe" apps. Google's own Android Market is famously unpoliced and the company has, on occasion, had to reach out and remove misbehaving apps.

The IdeaPad K will also ship with some built-in apps, including Docs to Go and Norton Mobile Security (though Lenovo couldn't tell me if it was a trial or full version). Lenovo spent some time building custom apps for the Honeycomb platform, including a file management utility that lets you drag and drop files from a plugged in USB key to folders on the tablet. There's even a custom Lenovo social aggregator app, which brings together all your social feeds in one, seemingly threaded conversation. Consumers also get 2GB of free cloud-based storage with each Lenovo tablet.

Swiftkey X Review for Android Handsets(Photos)

We had a vision, a great vision of the future, a future where everyone, great and small, had one keyboard on their mobile device to rule them all. Or, on the other hand, to have you rule it. This is a keyboard with predictive text, the ability to change the way it looks, and the ability to take in gestures to affect the text.

Sounds fun already? Let’s have a look for all you not using it already (shouldn’t be too many, right? Right!) This is SwiftKey X, one half of the two-app review sent out today by the makers of the original SwiftKey keyboard!
Why would I want a new keyboard on my Android?
Well certainly that is a valid question and indeed the very first one you should also be asking yourself if you’re considering replacing one of the most curtail components of your Android device. Here’s the answer: this is the best. This is the greatest learning-type keyboard on the market and you’ve just GOT to check it out. Especially right now here and today, as after today this handset version will end up costing $3.99 instead of today’s opening ceremony sale which puts that app at $1.99 for 24 hours. What a really awesome deal!

I’ve got SwiftKey on my tablet also – does learning transfer?
At the moment, Swiftkey stores all your information right there with you on the handset, not on any database they own. Therefor you’ll not have to connect to the internet every time you want some sweet predictive text. That also means that you’ll have to have the system re-learn everything from scratch basically each time you own a new device. Is this enough to deter us from purchase? No way mang, not gonna happen.
What are the special features of this keyboard?

There are quite a few different little items you can do, quite a few of them behind the scenes in settings. One of these is your ability to choose a theme and layout – you’ve got a selection of three different themes, each of them just totally excellent in their own right – light, neon (which you see above and below) and dark. Dark is white on black, light is the opposite, and TRON is the third.

You’ll also be working with some new gesture commands, one of them being a swipe from the upper right to the lower left. What this does is delete the last word you just wrote, no matter what it was. You can do something similar in swiping downward to then – poof! Minimize the keyboard. Above each key there’s an alternative character which you can get to by long-pressing each key long enough to squeeze out an “&” symbol.

Then of course, there’s the Prediction Bar.
FUN OFFICIAL FACT: SwiftKey X uses TouchType’s fluency 2.0 AI engine to learn from, and then think like you to help predict word (Now with even better accuracy).
The Prediction Bar

This bar is the thing that’ll either cut out the stragglers and toss them to the ground as if they were slain or carry them up to quicker typing heaven – joy to the heavens! This prediction bar can not only act as a fixer of words, but it can predict what you might say next and suggest that for a single tap input from you to make it happen. This can get really quick, extremely fast, that’s for sure.

Improvements versus previous versions
We’ve got a pretty sweet list here of items that’ve been updated since the last time we got to look at a full out-of-beta release look at SwifKey, and wouldn’t you know it, here they are now!
• Fixed the fast typing problem where previous prediction is taken over current prediction.
• Fixed the disabled clear language data option bug.
• Updated neon theme candidate buttons.
• Updated summary for ‘show all foreign characters’ option.
• Fixed xlarge landscape spacebar in ‘shortmessage’ fields.
• Enabled Scandinavian layouts for tablets.
• Added split Scandinavian layouts for tablets.
• Added T-comma character to DroidSans font for Romanian.
• Added the “Share SwiftKey X on your Facebook Wall?” functionality to personalization.
• Fixed the shiftstate toggle on orientation change bug.
• Fixed the Honeycomb backspace problem and updated IEM tests.
• Fixed incorrectly aligned keys.
• Added in the new sharing URL (http://skx.me)
• Disabled the QuickPeriod checkbox when the autocomplete selection makes it irrelevant
Mostly bug fixes, that’s what this amounts to. Of course all these fixes add up to create the greatest version of SwiftKey yet, and we’re the most pumped up EVER to help grace the world with its excellence. And of course there’s a dash of voice integration in there as well, just for fun!

Wrap-Up
What you’re getting here is a whole new keying experience. You’re not going to find anything like this anywhere else in the Android OR Apple universe – unless of course it’s a clone or something. AND you’ve got to get pumped up about how this app is $1.99 for today only. Go get yourself some sweeter keying all night long with it! Worth the day!
This app can be found in the Android Marketplace aside the SwiftKey Tablet X application, another typing implementation by the same group, also reviewed this morning by your favorite gadget and tech crew right here at SlashGear!

Elgan: The rise and rise (and rise) of Apple's iOS

When the first iOS gadget shipped in 2007, The New York Times' David Pogue published a list of questions about the new iPhone. The last question on the list was: "Who on earth would buy this thing?"
It's a question nobody would ask today. The phone, and Apple's other mobile devices that run the iOS are succeeding beyond anyone's predictions. Apple says the iOS is currently installed on more than 200 million devices.
Another small thing happened in 2007 that has become a big thing:

Apple filed a patent request for the capacitive touch screen used by the iPhone, iPad and, in fact, by nearly all of Apple's competitors in the market. That patent was granted this week.
One possible outcome of the inevitable court cases to come is that competitors may have to pay Apple a licensing fee for every non-Apple smartphone or tablet shipped.
Since its 2007 launch, there has always been a lot of hype around the iPhone far beyond actual market share. The many brands that run the Android OS collectively own more market share both globally and in the U.S. than the iPhone. And internationally, handsets from giants like Nokia have maintained more sales than those from Apple.
But all this appears to be changing. In the first quarter of this year, Android phone market share declined nearly 3%, while iOS's share rose by more than 12%. Android still has nearly half the smartphone market, and Apple significantly less than that (about 30%.)
These changing fortunes could represent a temporary blip caused by Apple's availability on Verizon. Or it could be a trend.
Another possible trend is the decline and fall of Nokia. That company's smartphone handset market share dropped from 24% to 16% in one year. Apple remained at 17% share while the overall pie grew significantly.
When the iPhone shipped in 2007, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- predicted that Apple would sell more handsets worldwide than Nokia within four years.
A recent survey measuring Web traffic by various devices found that some 97% of all tablet traffic in the United States comes from iPads. And if you think that's high, the number is 100% in Japan and 99% in the UK. (The global average is 89%.)
All these market share and traffic numbers mask a stark business reality: Apple makes vastly more money from mobile devices than its competitors.
Firstly, Apple makes money from handsets, which Google no longer sells. Secondly, Apple makes money from apps -- far more per app than any other platform, and far more apps. For example, last year Google earned about $102 million from apps sales, while Apple raked in $1.7 billion.
Apple's iOS is even more profitable than Microsoft Windows -- 2.3 times higher.
App developers point out that iOS is easier to develop for and monetize than the Google Android platform, and presumably other competitors as well.
The success of iOS devices thus far is nothing compared with what's coming. One report says Apple has ordered two manufacturers to build enough iPhone 5 handsets to sell 15 million in the first month of sales. The new phone is expected to launch in August or September.
A study coming from the Yankee Group next month finds that about 40% of all smartphone buyers in Europe say they intend to buy an iPhone next time they buy a phone.
A reasonably credible rumor from a blogger in China says that China's biggest carrier, China Mobile, will soon announce a deal to sell the iPhone 5.
The current iPhone is available in China only from the No. 2 carrier. Such an announcement would suggest a radical increase in iPhone sales in the world's largest country, and one with an incredible 910 million mobile phone subscribers, where the iPhone is very popular.
Apple currently dominates the tablet market, having sold 25 million iPads to date and possibly over 14 million more iPads in the third quarter. But one analyst believes Apple will sell a billion of them.
OK, OK. It's clear that Apple's iOS is beyond successful, and threatens to dominate global mobile sales in the foreseeable future.
The reason this is significant is that as Apple comes to dominate mobile computing, mobile computing increasingly dominates computing in general.
Over the next five years, we'll see more people using phones and tablets as their main computing device. And I think we can also expect to see current desktop platforms like Mac OS X, Windows and Linux replaced by touch-friendly interfaces like iOS, Android, Metro and so on.
In other words, Apple's iOS is poised to take over mainstream computing.

Google Expected to Introduce a Wireless Payment System

Google is expected to introduce on Thursday a mobile payment system that will let shoppers wave their phones to pay instead of pulling out a credit card, according to people briefed on the announcement.

Google will offer mobile payments with MasterCard and Citibank, according to one of the people, as well as with cellphone carriers, hardware manufacturers and retailers.

Initially, the mobile wallets will be available only on Google’s Nexus S phone and will use a Citibank-issued MasterCard credit card number and a virtual Google MasterCard prepaid card. Consumers will be able to make payments at any of the 124,000 merchants that have MasterCard’s PayPass terminals, which accept contactless payments, a person briefed on the deal said.

The people familiar with the deal were not authorized to speak until the deal was publicly announced. The news of the announcement was first reported by Bloomberg News.

The three companies have also teamed up with a few retailers — Macy’s, American Eagle Outfitters and Subway, a person familiar with the deal said. After these retailers upgrade their terminals — at first, only retailers in New York and San Francisco will participate — consumers will also be able to redeem discounts and participate in loyalty programs.

While several companies have been working on mobile wallets for years, they have not yet been widely adopted because all of those involved need to agree on how the wallets will take shape and how the various stakeholders will get paid. Mobile phone carriers, banks, credit card issuers payment networks and technology companies have been battling over their roles.

“Google is dipping their toe into the water and it will accelerate other efforts from other providers,” said Rick Oglesby, a senior analyst at the Aite Group, a research and advisory firm focused on the financial services industry.

Google plans to use a technology called near-field communication, or N.F.C., which is incorporated into a chip in mobile phones to make payments, redeem coupons, earn loyalty points and receive special offers. When a phone is waved in front of a credit card reader, it wirelessly sends an encrypted signal with a person’s credit card information. After that, the transaction is processed like a normal credit card transaction at a store.

Google’s announcement has been expected since it introduced the latest version of its Android mobile phone software, which has the capacity for N.F.C., and its Nexus S phone, which includes an N.F.C. chip.

Representatives for Google, MasterCard, Citigroup and Sprint, a carrier for Google’s Nexus phones, declined to comment.

Modder Discovers Android's 'Gingerbread' on His 'Honeycomb' Tablet(Video)

A modder by the name of Graffix0214 has discovered a way to unlock the Gingerbread user interface on his Dell Streak 7 tablet, which runs Honeycomb, by simply changing the system's pixel settings.

Using the app "LCDDensity for Root," he changed the LCD pixel density setting from 160 to above 170, then rebooted. The tablet then displayed a Gingerbread login interface. You can revert back to Honeycomb by simply changing the pixel density back to 160, he said. Check out his demonstration in the video below.

"It's safe to say that Honeycomb wasn't built from the ground up. Looks like it was taken from Gingerbread," Graphix0214 concluded.

Perhaps Android 4.0, codenamed "Ice Cream Sandwich," which isn't expected until the fourth quarter, is already in place. At Mobile World Congress in February, Google CEO Eric Schmidt suggested that Ice Cream Sandwich will combine elements of Gingerbread and Honeycomb:

"The two of them – notice that starts with a G and the next one starts with an H. You can imagine the follow-on will start with an I and it will be named after a dessert and it will combine capabilities of both the G and the H release," Schmidt said.

Watch Graphix0214 unlock Gingerbread on a Honeycomb-based Dell Streak 7:

99% of Android phones leak secret account credentials

The vast majority of devices running Google's Android operating system are vulnerable to attacks that allow adversaries to steal the digital credentials used to access calendars, contacts, and other sensitive data stored on the search giant's servers, university researchers have warned.

The weakness stems from the improper implementation of an authentication protocol known as ClientLogin in Android versions 2.3.3 and earlier, the researchers from Germany's University of Ulm said. After a user submits valid credentials for Google Calendar, Contacts and possibly other accounts, the programming interface retrieves an authentication token that is sent in cleartext. Because the authToken can be used for up to 14 days in any subsequent requests on the service, attackers can exploit them to gain unauthorized access to accounts.

“We wanted to know if it is really possible to launch an impersonation attack against Google services and started our own analysis,” the researchers in the university's Institute of Media Informatics wrote on Friday. “The short answer is: Yes, it is possible, and it is quite easy to do so.”

The findings build off previous findings of Rice University professor Dan Wallach, who in February uncovered similar Android privacy shortcomings affecting Twitter, Facebook, and Google Calendar during a simple exercise for his undergraduate security class. The attacks can only be carried out when the devices are using unsecured networks, such as those offered at Wi-Fi hotspots.

Google patched the security hole earlier this month with the release of Android 2.3.4, although that version, and possibly Android 3, still cause devices synchronizing with Picasa web albums to transmit sensitive data through unencrypted channels, the researchers said. Based on Google's own statistics, this means more than 99 percent of Android-based handsets are vulnerable to the attacks, which are similar in difficulty and effect to so-called sidejacking exploits that steal authentication cookies.

A Google spokesman said the company's Android team is aware of the Picasa deficiencies and is working on a fix.

Researchers Bastian Könings, Jens Nickels, and Florian Schaub warned that the weaknesses could be used against people who use their Android devices on networks under the control of an attacker.

“To collect such authTokens on a large scale an adversary could setup a wifi access point with a common SSID (evil twin) of an unencrypted wireless network, e.g., T-Mobile, attwifi, starbucks,” they wrote. “With default settings, Android phones automatically connect to a previously known network and many apps will attempt syncing immediately. While syncing would fail (unless the adversary forwards the requests), the adversary would capture authTokens for each service that attempted syncing.”

Apps that use ClientLogin should immediately start doing so over encrypted, https channels, the researchers said. A more robust authentication protocol known as oAuth will also close the authToken capture vulnerability, although https should still be used to prevent synced data from being intercepted.

The researchers also suggested Google improve its security by shortening the length of time authTokens are valid and rejecting ClientLogin requests from insecure http connections.

With more than 99 percent of carriers offering their users Android versions with known security weaknesses, the report demonstrates how little success Google has had in getting its partners to upgrade to the latest versions. Many Verizon Wireless customers, for instance, remain stuck with Android 2.2.2, despite containing vulnerabilities that have been known about for months.

Last week, Google said it planned to work more closely with wireless carriers in an attempt to help them offer Android updates more quickly. The company has yet to offer details.

A Verizon spokeswoman told The Register she couldn't say when the company will provide customers with an updated version of Android. She said users should consider using their devices only on secured networks.

UPDATE 1-RIM nears 2-year low after recalling some Playbooks

* RIM recalls 1,000 PlayBook tablets on flawed OS

* Shares near lowest since March 2009

(Adds share move, RIM statement, analyst quote)

TORONTO, May 16 (Reuters) - Research In Motion

(RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) shares neared a two-year low on Monday after

the BlackBerry maker said it had recalled about 1,000 of its

Playbook tablet computers due to an operating system flaw.

The Canadian company has been dogged by troubles in recent

months, disappointing investors by slashing sales and earnings

forecasts soon after revealing a weak earnings outlook.

[ID:nL3E7FT284]

RIM said the batch of 16 GB devices were shipped with "an

OS build that may result in the devices being unable to

properly load software upon initial set-up."

The PlayBook runs a QNX platform RIM bought last year and

plans to migrate into its new smartphones starting in 2012.

"It probably doesn't move the needle financially but it's

just another blemish from an execution standpoint," Avian

Securities analyst Matthew Thornton said of the recall.

Most of the affected devices were still in distribution and

had not reached customers, RIM said in an emailed statement.

The faulty batch was sent to office supply chain Staples

Inc (SPLS.O), technology blog Engadget reported on Saturday.

Staples did not respond to requests for comment.

RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares fell as low as $42.61, just 9

cents above an August 2010 trough. A fall below $42.52 would be

the lowest price since March 2009 and give the company a market

capitalization of $22.2 billion.

The shares have lost a quarter of their value this year.

RIM hoped the launch of the long-awaited PlayBook tablet

could revive its fortunes, but the product garnered poor

reviews and complaints it had been rushed out before it was

ready. [ID:nN19146402]

Its aging BlackBerry smartphone lineup has steadily lost

market share, especially in the hyper-competitive U.S. market,

to snazzier devices such as Apple's (AAPL.O) iPhone and a slew

of devices running Google's (GOOG.O) Android software.

RIM is expected to ship some 3 million PlayBooks this year,

far fewer than the 15 million iPads rival Apple shipped in a

similar period last year to single-handedly create a market for

touchscreen devices halfway between a smartphone and a laptop.

In April, RIM cut its first-quarter earnings outlook citing

fewer smartphone shipments, particularly in the United States

and Latin America, formerly a strong growth market for RIM as

it expanded globally. [ID:nN28282063]

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto and Renju Jose in

Bangalore; Editing by Frank McGurty)

Next iPhone Might Have Over-the-Air Updates [REPORT]

The day where you don’t have to plug your iPhone, iPad or iPod into your computer to update its operating system might be close at hand. There’s a report that iOS 5 will be capable of over-the-air updates.

According to 9to5 Mac‘s multiple sources, Apple has been negotiating with Verizon Wireless to provide the over-the-air updates, but the sources wouldn’t comment on whether the same negotiations were taking place with AT&T.

For iOS updates to be delivered over-the-air, Apple will need to make fundamental changes in the way its updates work. For one thing, Apple will need to stop requiring a download of the entire operating system for a simple update.

My take: Today, I updated my iPhone to iOS 4.3.3 (fixing that location tracking problem that caused such an uproar lately), and as it always does, the phone’s data was backed up onto my laptop, and then the entire iOS 4.3.3 was downloaded, all 662.3 MB of it. That’s not going to be easy to do over the air, especially if you’re using 3G or 4G.

Perhaps Apple will let these updates take place only over Wi-Fi connections, as it does for some large app downloads. Even if that’s the case, just for the sake of efficiency it would be a good idea to send incremental updates, similar to the way Microsoft has been updating its operating systems for years, in small pieces as they become available.

This would be a long-awaited and welcome capability — a feature that’s commonplace in the Android operating system. So how much longer must we wait? Of course, Apple’s not saying, but general consensus is that iOS 5 will launch when the iPhone 5 ships, and now the latest iPhone rumor is that it won’t be happening in June or July, as many had hoped. Another recent report said the next iPhone would be shipping in September.

Are you hoping for over-the-air update capability, and do you think it’s on the way?

Apple sues Samsung for 'copying' iPad

Apple is one participant in a web of litigation among phone makers and software firms over who owns the patents used in smartphones, as rivals aggressively rush into the smartphone and tablet market that the US firm jumpstarted with the iPhone and iPad.

Nokia has also sued Apple, which in turn has sued Taiwanese handset maker HTC.

Samsung is one of the fastest growing smartphone makers and has emerged as Apple's strongest competitor in the booming tablet market with models in three sizes, but it remains a distant second in the sector.

Its Galaxy products use Google's Android operating system, which directly competes with Apple's mobile software. However, Apple's claims against Samsung focus on Galaxy's design features, such as the look of its screen icons, the lawsuit said.

John Jackson, an analyst with CCS Insight, said Samsung is essentially Apple's only real tablet competitor at this stage. "It's clear that they do not intend to let Apple run away with the category," Mr Jackson said.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges Samsung violated Apple's patents and trademarks.

"This kind of blatant copying is wrong," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.

Samsung said it would respond to the legal action "through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property".

"Samsung's development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success," it said in a statement.

Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive, has criticised Samsung and other rivals in presentations of new products or technology debates. Analysts say Samsung's response to this has been muted, partly because Apple was Samsung's second-biggest customer last year after Sony.

Apple brought in around 6.2 trillion won (£3.5bn) of sales to Samsung in 2010 mainly by purchasing semiconductors, according to Samsung's annual report.

"This is more like a symbolic move by Apple that it is quite serious about rivals advancing and it is trying to hold back its close competitors," said John Park, an analyst at Daishin Securities in Seoul. "Samsung is unlikely to respond aggressively given that Apple is its core client in the component business."

To better compete with Apple, Samsung redesigned within weeks its new 10.1-inch tablet, first introduced in February, to make it the thinnest in the category after Apple set the trend with its iPad 2.

The global smartphone market is expected to grow 58pc this year and Android is set account for 39pc of the market, while the tablet market is likely to quadruple to 70m units, according to research firm Gartner.