Apple looking to expand iPhone and iPad accessories support

Apple has shown interest in expanding support for third-party accessories for the iPhone and iPad, with a new system that would detect an external device and recommend compatible applications available on the App Store.

The concept was unveiled this week in a new application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Entitled "Method and System for Locating an Accessory and an Application for Use With a User Device," the filing describes a system that would identify a range of applications usable with a connected accessory.The system could also work in reverse, and let users know of available hardware accessories that are compatible with applications they already have installed on their iOS device. Such accessories could include game controllers, wireless headsets and external speakers.

Apple's filing even describes a system where a kiosk at a store could connect to a user's iPhone and analyze the applications that are installed on it. From there, a user could be given a list of compatible accessories and their exact locations in that store, such as the aisle and bin numbers.

Accessories could also be sold through online vendors in the same manner. A user could find out on their iPhone what accessories are compatible with their installed applications, and Apple would provide links to online stores where the compatible accessories could be purchased.

"With the number of available accessories growing at an exponential rate," the filing reads, "it is often difficult for a user to determine which accessory supports which software application and vice versa."

Apple has had more limited accessory support in its iOS mobile operating system for years. Starting with the release of iOS 3.0 in 2008, some compatible hardware accessories have automatically prompted users to download a necessary application from the App Store.

The "Application Not Installed" notification alerts users that "This accessory requires an application you do not have installed. Would you like to install it from the App Store?"

But Apple's proposed invention would go multiple steps further, providing users with an extensive list of compatible applications once an accessory is connected. And it would also allow users to discover and purchase accessories compatible with their currently installed software.

Plantronics Explorer 320 Bluetooth headset - Review

The good: Comfortable fit; stylish design; user-friendly controls; acceptable call quality.

The bad: Troublesome pairing process; dim LED light; not great in windy conditions.

The bottom line: Although it's not perfect, the Plantronics Explorer 320 is a solid lower-tier Bluetooth headset.

Although the Discovery 640 and Voyager 510SL were top-range models that came with loads of accessories, the Plantronics Explorer 320 is better suited for novice and low-maintenance Bluetooth users.

Included in the package are just the headset and a compact wall charger, with no additional parts to confuse things. Fittingly, it also comes at a reasonable price less than $30. The headset itself has a clean and stylish design with silver and black coloring, rounded edges, and an overall streamlined look. It's relatively compact and lightweight (2.5 by 0.3 by 0.75 inches; 0.67 ounce), and since there's no extendable boom mic, you won't look too conspicuous when it's on your ear.

The Design:
The Plantronics Explorer 320 employs a traditional over-the-ear fit with a flexible, rubberized ear hook. We had no trouble slipping it on and off quickly, and switching the ear hook for wearing on either ear was a simple process. The minimalist form factor should also please users with smaller ears, longer hair, or earrings. A soft earpiece protrudes only slightly into the ear, which makes the overall fit comfortable and secure. Controls on the Explorer 320 are unique in that a single two-way toggle activates all functions, including turning the headset on and off, readying it for pairing, adjusting the volume, and managing calls. The toggle could be larger, but it was exceptionally user-friendly and easy to locate when the headset was in use. The final feature in the headset is a tiny status-indicator LED light.

Motorola Xoom tablet gets Android Ice Cream Sandwich Update

Only a day after Google released Android version 4.0.3, one XDA developer has already installed it on his Motorola Xoom WiFi tablet -- making it the first slate to run the frosty Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. Of course, trendsetting is nothing new for the Xoom, which was also the first to ship with Honeycomb's sweetness back in February. Being first does have its disadvantages, though, as some of the features like the camera don't work, and there seems to be a green overlay on the screen from time to time. If you're willing to overlook these early adopter flaws, head on over to the source to satisfy your ICS-inspired sweet tooth and try it for yourself.

Google to introduce new Android Tablet to compete with Apple's iPad

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has revealed that the company is planning to bring its flagship Android tablet to the market in the next six months to rival Apple’s iPad.

“In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality,” Schmidt told an Italian newspaper.

Google has already had a hand in the development of the Motorola Xoom, but like other Android tablets, it suffered disappointing sales in a market dominated by the iPad.Since then Google has itself become a major hardware manufacturer via its 12.5 billion dollars acquisition Motorola’s devices division, which is currently under consideration by competition authorities.

According to The Telegraph, Schmidt paid tribute to Steve Jobs'' role in kickstarting the tablet market, describing the iPad as “amazing”.

“Steve Jobs was the Michelangelo of our time. A friend of mine and a unique character, able to combine creativity and visionary genius with an extraordinary engineering ability,” the paper quoted him, as saying.

“Steve realised the revolutionary potential of the tablet and created an amazing product like the iPad,” he added.

Schmidt said that competition between Android smartphones and the iPhone will be “brutal”.

In the smartphone market, Google designs the Nexus range as both a testing ground for new versions of Android and to show off cutting-edge hardware. Samsung manufactures the most recent device, the Galaxy Nexus.

Apple's App Store hits 500,000 app milestone - revealed in a press release by Apple

Google’s Android Market may be going great guns at the moment, but Apple has just delivered a timely reminder that its own App Store is as popular as ever by revealing it has just hit the 500,000 app milestone.

It’s testament to just how fundamentally Apple has changed the face of the mobile industry that before the iPhone came along – or the iPhone 3G to be specific – app stores didn’t even exist.

But Apple changed all that by introducing the App Store in July 2008, and it set up a mobile ecosystem blueprint that the entire industry has followed. Apple has since applied the same formula to its Mac OS X desktop software, and it’s clearly been a success, as the Mac App Store has taken just a year to rack up a whopping 100 million app downloads.

“Apple revolutionised the app industry with the App Store, which now has more than 500,000 apps and where customers have downloaded more than 18 billion apps and continue to download more than 1 billion apps per month,” Apple revealed in a press release to announce the twin milestones.

“In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry,” Apple vice-president Phil Schiller adds.

These days the App Store is playing second fiddle to the Android Market, however, with Google’s OS marketplace having gone past the half a million apps landmark at the end of October. But Apple will argue that quality is more important than quantity, and it’s telling that while iOS users have now downloaded 18 billion apps in total, Android has only this week manage to pass the 10 billion mark.

Samsung sold 300 millions handsets in 2011

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd said on Sunday its annual mobile handset sales this year had exceeded 300 million units for the first time in the company's history.

The world's second largest handset maker by volume said in a statement it had broken its sales record by the end of last month.

Handset sales in 2010 were about 280 million.

"We look forward to extending this success going into 2012," JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business, was quoted as saying.

Samsung said the company's flagship Galaxy S smartphone series - Galaxy S and Galaxy S II - contributed significantly to the results.

The GALAXY S II, launched in April, set a new sales record for Samsung, generating 10 million-unit sales.

The Future:

Next up for Samsung in the U.S. is the launch of the hyped Galaxy Nexus, which has a 4.65-inch screen and blazing 4G data speeds but still has not been given a release date. The phone was supposedly delayed because Verizon wanted Google Wallet software removed before the launch. Google, Samsung and Verizon’s last official comment about the release date said the phone would launch before the end of the year.

Johns Phone Provides a Free Johns Phone App for Android

Smart phone becomes simple phoneThe Johns Phone app turns every Android smart phone into a simple phone. The Android phone will look like a Johns Phone, with its -very- basic functions: to call, or to be called. And to receive messages. Everything else will be automatically shut down. Nice and easy.

The app is available in colours white, black, pink, green and brown. Only the special Golden Edition will cost the same as the real phone: 100,- Ridiculously expensive? Most certainly. But that does give you a 24-karat virtual golden phone. The app can be downloaded through the Android Market; Download Here

About Johns Phone:
The simplest phone ever. SeriouslyJohns Phone is the worlds most basic mobile phone. Johns Phone allows you to make and receive calls anywhere in the world: no frills and no unnecessary features such as a camera, text messaging and an endless number of ringtones. Johns Phone keeps things simple.

User friendly:
Johns Phone requires no explanation. Use the phone to call and hang up, turn the sound up or down, and lock or unlock it: it couldnt be any simpler. The speed-dial feature, which allows to save speed-dial numbers under every number key, makes Johns Phone perfect as a kids cell phone.

Large keys, address book, penPhone is a large-key phone. The back of the phone features a flap containing an address book and a pen this makes Johns Phone perfect for older users too.

Dutch designJohns Phone is designed by John Doe Amsterdam. John's Team has embraced this concept and is responsible for the development and launch of Johns Phone in the Dutch market.

Merry Christmas to all of YOU!

Recover lost contacts on your iPhone

Accidents happen and sometimes you happen to delete a contact on your phone on accident. It could happen because you’re trying to enter a new e-mail address or phone and accidentally remove a previous one.

Don’t worry too much, you can get those lost numbers back. It’s not lost forever to the ether.

1. Open iTunes on your computer.

2. Plug your iPhone in to your computer using the USB connector cable.

3. Go to “Devices” on the left-side of the iTunes window and click the iPhone tab.

4. Right-click on the iPhone icon in the “Devices” column and select “Restore from Backup”. Select one of the backup versions from the drop-down menu. Click the “Restore” button. This will restore any contacts that you may have deleted since the last time that you synced your iPhone with iTunes.

5. Eject your iPhone. Go to your contact list. Your lost contacts should be restored.

A couple of notes for you to consider for the future:

•It is recommended that you occasionally make separate backups that aren’t the ones that iTunes automatically does when you sync the iPhone. iTunes replaces the previous backup each time it syncs. To ensure that you keep things that you want or as a just in case, it’s good to have different back ups. Create a separate backup by right-clicking on the iPhone under the “Devices” tab in the left column. Then select “Back Up”. You can also restore contacts manually if you sync contacts with your contact list in either Outlook or Address Book (Mac) and re-entering the info by hand.

•If you haven’t synced in a while you might have to re-download any firmware updates or apps that you have added to the iPhone since the last backup. They won’t be kept in the previous backup file.

RIM postponing the launch of next generation phones till late 2012

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. said Thursday that new phones deemed critical to the company's future will be delayed until late 2012.

Mike Lazaridis, one of the company's co-CEOs, said the BlackBerry 10 phones will need a highly integrated chipset that will not be available until mid-2012, so the company can now expect them to ship late in the year. He disclosed the delay on a conference call with analysts.

Analysts say RIM's future depends on the new software platform. RIM needs to come up with a compelling BlackBerry as U.S. users have moved on to flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and various competing models that run Google's Android software.

Earlier Thursday, RIM said BlackBerry sales will fall sharply in the holiday quarter, providing further evidence that it is struggling to compete. It also has been having a hard time finding a niche in the tablet-computer market, which is dominated by Apple's iPad.

RIM continues to enjoy success overseas, but market researcher NPD Group says RIM's market share of smartphones in the U.S. has declined from 44 percent in 2009 to 10 percent this year.

The company's stock fell 7 percent in extended trading Thursday.

The delay in BlackBerry 10 phones is the latest in a series of setbacks for the once-iconic Canadian company. Its PlayBook tablet computer hasn't been selling well, forcing the company to sell them at a deep discount. A widespread outage frustrated tens of millions of BlackBerry users in October. RIM fired two executives after their drunken rowdiness forced the diversion of an Air Canada flight. The head of its operations in Indonesia faces charges related to a stampede at a recent promotional sale where dozens of consumers were injured.

RIM said its net income sank 71 percent as revenue fell and the company took a large accounting charge on the PlayBook, which uses the same operating software that RIM's new phones will use.

"We ask for your patience and confidence," Lazaridis said.

RIM earned $265 million, or 51 cents per share, for its fiscal third quarter that ended Nov. 26. That compares with $911 million, or $1.74 per share, a year ago. The company said revenue fell 6 percent to $5.2 billion. The PlayBook charge was $485 million before taxes.

The company shipped 14.1 million BlackBerry smartphones during the third quarter and 150,000 PlayBook tablets, but its fourth-quarter guidance was what investors focused on because it had warned about the third-quarter results earlier.

Although RIM has said it would sell fewer BlackBerrys in the current quarter, the forecast given Thursday appeared worse than expected.

RIM said it would only ship between 11 million and 12 million BlackBerrys in the fourth quarter compared to 14.8 million in the previous fourth quarter.

RIM also said its fourth-quarter earnings would be in the range of 80 to 95 cents per share on revenue in the range of $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.15 a share on revenue of $5.04 billion, according to FactSet.

Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York, said earlier that if RIM reveals that it will ship no more than 12 million BlackBerrys in the current quarter, then the company needs to get its new phones out fast. Otherwise, RIM could lose money in future quarters as it continues to struggle to sell the current, stopgap models.

Misek said late Thursday the BlackBerry 10 phones will now be released three to nine months later than people believed.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis said the guidance was terrible and wondered if it was the start of a collapse.

"If consumers abandon this platform it can happen pretty quickly," Gillis said. "Don't think this is the bottom."

Jim Balsillie, the other co-CEO, said the last few quarters have been among the most challenging times in the company's most recent history. He said executives are working to turn it around, but said it may take time.

"We are not satisfied with the performance of the business in the United States," Balsillie said.

Balsillie said he and Lazaridis have reduced their cash salary to $1 per year, though they will continue to earn stock options and other compensation.

RIM's stock fell $1.15 to a new seven-year low of $13.98 in extended trading Thursday after the results were released.

The stock has lost about 75 percent of its value this year. A company that was worth more than $70 billion a few years ago now has a market value of around $8 billion.

"We recognize our shareholders may feel we've fallen short," Balsillie said

Remotely Search PCs or Macs using your Android device - Android app enables remote search of PCs and Macs - Wyse Technology releases Android app

Wyse Technology has launched an Android app that lets people search remotely for files on their PCs and laptops, then download them, copy them, or send them to another person, all from inside the app.

The idea behind the app, called PocketCloud Explore, is to help people who have multiple computers and can't always remember on which machine they stored something. One snag: The app can't search Apple's iPhone or iPad devices.

Wyse is best known for its thin-client computers, but two years ago it made a bit of a splash at the International Consumer Electronics Show with an app called PocketCloud Remote Desktop Access, which lets people access a Windows desktop from an iPhone by streaming the desktop over the network. A year later, it released a version for Android.

PocketCloud Explore, released Thursday, is an add-on for the Remote Desktop app. Explore lets users type a query on their smartphone, initiating a full-text search of their other computers, as well as the Android phone itself, to return documents, images and any other type of file that matches the query.

"With the range of devices people have today -- computers, smartphones, tablets -- getting to the files you need has become a problem," according to Daniel Barreto, general manager of the Mobile Client Business Unit at Wyse. "The idea is to provide a friendly user interface that makes it easy to search across all those devices."

To enable the search, users must first install another, free app, called PocketCloud Companion, on each of the computers they want to be able to search. It indexes the content on those computers, making it faster to search.

Amazon's Kindle Fire is having security issues

Security concerns are giving some consumers another reason to hold off on the Kindle Fire, one of the holiday's hottest gadgets.The Fire, launched with heaps of hype as a possible competitor to the Apple iPad, is a more inexpensive option for buyers looking for a tablet-like experience in an e-reader.But concerns grew this week over the device's security.

In order to use the Fire, users must tie it to an Amazon.com account -- with credit card on file -- that is set up to purchase items with just one click.

This means that anyone given access to the device can buy, with just a tap, e-books, apps, TV shows and music.

Even more concerning: If a user has recently logged into the Amazon.com shopping app, the next person who picks up the Fire can use that app to buy anything from the Web giant's catalog, even if the device has briefly gone dormant between uses.

Any items purchased will ship to an address on file with the account. If the second user tries to ship to a new address, the user does lose access to the account holder's credit card.

Amazon said a software fix would come for the device in less than two weeks to address some of the security concerns.

"As with all of our products, we continue to make them better for customers with regular software updates," said Kinley Pearsall, an Amazon spokeswoman.

Easy one-click purchasing has always been standard with the e-ink members of the Kindle family, but the security concerns didn't become such a hot issue until the release of the Fire.

E-ink devices, by their limited nature, are more personal devices. It's also a more cumbersome process to use the device to purchase a book, as it slowly loads each page required in the process.

But the Kindle Fire is a device that many are hoping to share with family members. Some are also hoping to gift the Fire to teenagers - a sort of starter tablet. Giving a teen one-click access to a credit card is not exactly ideal.Also concerning to some, the Fire's homescreen includes a carousel of all of a user's most-recently touched content. When a user opens a book, it will revert to the front of the carousel. When a user then browses to a website, a screen grab of that website heads to the front of the carousel.That carousel is not editable by the user, so there's no way to hide any of your recent activity from other users.

Amazon confirmed Wednesday to the Detroit Free Press that the pending software update would provide a fix to be able to decide which items appear to be recently used. It will also improve overall performance, Pearsall said.

The Fire's Web browsing history is able to be deleted and a passcode can be set on the device to prevent others from using it.

Amazon's chief competitor here, the Nook Tablet ($250) from Barnes and Noble, does include some security settings.The Nook Tablet allows users to change the settings to require a password to be typed in for each purchase made on the device.Barnes and Noble's tablet also allows users to keep recently read items from being displayed as such and can keep a separate area on the device for just apps for kids.

"We like the idea of families being able to share devices," said Wendy Bronfin, Barnes and Noble's senior director of children's digital products.

There have been complaints about the Fire's hardware, too - most notably the lack of volume buttons, Bluetooth support and a touchscreen that often lags.

Amazon is still expected to sell millions of these devices this year, several analysts have predicted.

For many, the pains of being an early adopter will be worth it. For others, it might be a good time to sit on the sidelines for a bit.

---

 Brian Hartman A Google Plus user corrected me, immediately after I posted this article. His words are:

Actually, the security issue you bring up (about the Kindle Fire going dormant and someone being able to go into the shopping app when it wakes up) is easily guarded against now. You can put a password on your screen lock so that when it goes to sleep, you need a password to go back in.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich gets NetFlix

On 15th December, 2011 NetFlix has announced support for Android 4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwich.
Here is the complete announcement from NetFlix on their blog:

Today we launched support for Android 4.0, also known as “Ice Cream Sandwich.” With this added support, streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix over the Internet will be available on an even greater number of Android devices.

I’m Roma De and as director of product management at Netflix, helping to expand the number of the devices that support streaming from Netflix is a major part of my job. Device expansion is also a key part of the company strategy.

As you may remember, in October we launched a new application in the Android Market to support Android 3.x (Honeycomb) tablets. At the time we also extended Android support to Canada and Latin America for the first time.

I’m glad to say that all phones and tablets that support Android 4.0 will run the new Netflix application. Download the free Netflix app from Android Market and start watching.

Coby Readies Five Ice Cream Sandwich Tablets for 2012

Consumer electronics maker Coby Electronics is set to release five new tablets running Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich mobile operating system in the first quarter of 2012, the company said Friday. Coby will unveil the tablets, among the first to run Google's next-generation OS, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January.


"Coby is thrilled to announce our premiere range of feature-packed Android 4.0-powered Internet tablets that will put the world in consumers' hands as never before," said Jodi Sally, vice president of marketing for Coby, in a statement. "We also are proud to be among the first companies to make available a wide range of the newest, Ice Cream Sandwich-operated units, helping to further underscore our commitment to meeting the demands of a broad base of consumers with innovative products in the hottest CE categories."

Coby's new tablets are the 7-inch MID7042, 8-inch MID8042, 9-inch MID9042, 9.7-inch MID9742, and 10-inch MID1042. The company didn't divulge prices for the new devices, but did say that the tablets sport a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU, capacitive multi-touch screens, up to 1GB of RAM, expandable memory up to 32GB, Wi-Fi, and HDMI 1080p output.

Earlier tablet efforts from Coby include the Kyros MID7015, a 7-inch tablet priced at $199 with a resistive touch screen rather than a multi-touch display, running Android 2.1, a version of the OS not built for tablets.

The new units look a lot more promising. Users will be able to pinch and expand for zooming just like on popular tablets like the iPad, and Ice Cream Sandwich is a major OS upgrade. We'll be getting our hands on the new Coby tablets at CES and will let you know how they test drive.

src: [PCMag]

T-Mobile customers may be offered Nokia's Lumia Windows Mobile Phones

T-Mobile and Nokia are expected to announce next week that the Lumia 710 Windows Phone, and possibly the Lumia 800 as well, is headed to the U.S.

Nokia's Lumia phones are the handset maker's first devices to run Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, the product of a deal between Nokia and Microsoft announced in February and signed in April that's reportedly worth billions of dollars.

The colorful new handsets are already available in Europe, but so far Nokia hasn't announced a U.S. carrier for the Lumia, despite saying that its intent is to have at least the Lumia 710 available in America by sometime next year.

Nokia hasn't yet said whether the Lumia 800 will also be available stateside. Nokia also hasn't introduced any other planned Windows Phone devices outside of the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800.

On Friday, T-Mobile sent an invitation to the press for an event in New York on Wednesday, Dec. 14, that reads "T-Mobile and Nokia have something exciting in the works. Be amongst the first to experience it."

For details on the Lumia 710 and the Lumia 800 Mobile Phones - Click Here

Asus' new Tablet is a powerful Apple's iPad rival

Given the flood of tablets, news of yet another iPad challenger won't exactly make you scream for joy.But some new tablets do get you jazzed. And one deserving recognition is the alluring Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime that I've been testing. Available the week of Dec. 19, it vaults to the top of the list of available Android Tablets.

Why the lust? Asus has produced a tablet that is fast, beautiful and generous with power. It costs $499 for a version with 32GB of internal storage or $599 for 64GB. Asus is throwing in a year of unlimited Web storage for free. Machines are Wi-Fi only.

What's more, if you spring for the optional $149 keyboard dock accessory  the tablet can function as a notebook. You won't mistake the qwerty keyboard for one of the superior keyboards built onto an actual laptop, but typing on the Asus accessory is still better than typing on the tablet's virtual on-screen touch keyboard. The keyboard dock also gives you extra battery life and extra ports.

I've never gone gaga for Android software on tablets. There still aren't a lot of tablet-specific apps available for Android, certainly nowhere near what's out there for iOS and the iPad. And the slightly modified version of Android Honeycomb running on my test unit isn't as inviting as iOS software on the iPad.

What's promising, though, is that Transformer Prime will soon be upgradable to Android 4.0, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, which unifies Google's operating system on smartphones and tablets. Asus expects a free over-the-air upgrade for this next-generation version of Android to hit late this month, making Transformer Prime one of the first Ice Cream Sandwich tablets in the U.S. (A sub-$100 tablet called Novo7, initially available in China, has apparently beaten Asus to Ice Cream Sandwich.)

In demos on a tablet, Ice Cream Sandwich looks slick, but we'll have to wait and see what the experience is like.

In the meantime, the Transformer Prime hardware is worth gushing about.With a metallic swirl aluminum design that hints at gray and purple, my test machine is lovely to look at. It's less than a third of an inch thick, a hair thinner actually than the iPad 2. It weighs 1.29 pounds, slightly below the weight of Apple's tablet.

Even so, Asus managed to include a micro HDMI port and a micro SD card slot.If you slide the tablet into the optional keyboard dock, you can take advantage of a full-size SD and a full-size USB 2.0 slot. Adding the dock nearly doubles the weight, but this is still a light and compact notebook substitute. Among the supplied apps are a note-taker called SuperNote and Polaris Office, which lets you read, edit or create Microsoft Office-compatible files.

Transformer Prime sports a brilliant 10.1-inch so-called Super IPS display with a wide viewing angle, protected by Corning's scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass. You can choose a brightness setting that improves viewing outdoors.

The tablet is billed as the first with Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core mobile processor. Key takeaway: The machine is a powerhouse. Expect it to make a splash with gamers.

The stunning graphics and fluid game play were evident as I immersed myself in the adrenaline-inducing Riptide GP, a speedy water-racing arcade game. Gamers will also appreciate that Transformer Prime comes with support for popular video game controllers, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

We don't expect people to take a lot of pictures with Transformer Prime, but it has a decent rear 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, capable of capturing high-definition (1080p) video. A 1.2-megapixel front camera can be used for videoconferencing.

• A few frustrations: The video player crashed at one point. The tablet is slow to boot.

Under optimum conditions, Asus claims up to 12 hours of battery life for the stand-alone tablet or up to 18 hours when the tablet is docked. The quad-core processor consumes less power than its dual-core predecessors.

Our Battery Test: With Wi-Fi on, brightness cranked way up, high-definition video playing in a continuous loop. We went a shade past 6 hours before the battery pooped out, an impressive showing that suggests the slate will fare much better under more "normal" use.

Asus has done its part on the hardware side. Help needs to come from Android, in a fuller supply of apps.

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

$499 for 32GB or $599 for 64GB; Optional mobile dock accessory is $149

•Pro. Slim and attractive. Powerful quad-core processor. Impressive battery. Bright screen. Optional dock adds keyboard, extra ports and longer battery life. Upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich

•Con. Relatively few apps. Some bugs.

src: [usatoday]

Nokia to sell luxury phone unit Vertu

Nokia, facing fierce competition to remain the world's top mobile phone maker, plans to sell its luxury unit Vertu that makes niche handsets, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

No buyer was mentioned and the sale is still in the early stages, the newspaper said, noting that Vertu has yet to be given a value though annual revenue is estimated to be between 200 and 300 million euros.

Nokia refused to comment on the report.

"We can't comment on those reports," Nokia spokesman James Etheridge told AFP.

Vertu was established in 1998, when the concept of haute-couture mobile telephony was approved by the board of leading mobile handset maker Nokia.

The corporate headquarters was later set up in England in 2000 and the first phone, the Vertu Signature, was launched in Paris in 2002.

A luxury smartphone, the Constellation Quest was introduced in 2010.

Vertu luxury mobiles, typically adorned with diamonds and other gems, run on the Symbian operating system with prices starting at around 4,000 euros for the Constellation model.

In keeping with its up-market profile, Vertu phones have a "concierge" button, which launches a global bespoke lifestyle assistance service providing priority bookings, recommendations and other exclusive services.

Vertu currently has more than 600 points of sale globally, including more than 90 Vertu boutiques in almost 70 countries worldwide.

The company now operates as an independent division of Nokia.

Android Market Marks 10 Billion Served with Dime Downloads

To celebrate the milestone of 10 billion apps downloaded since its Android Market opened for business in October 2008, Google is presenting a set of featured offerings through Dec. 16 for 10 cents each.

Clearly tickled pink by the development, Google boasted that downloads to the millions of Android-based devices made by Samsung, HTC, LG, Pantech, Motorola and others for all major carriers have reached 1 billion per month.

"One billion is a pretty big number by any measurement," wrote Eric Chu, director of the Android Developer Ecosystem, on the Official Google Blog on Tuesday. "However, when it's describing the speed at which something is growing, it's simply amazing.

"We can't wait to see where this accelerating growth takes us in 2012."

Ready for Dime Time

The apps available for 10 cents, as of Tuesday, are Asphalt 6 HD, Color & Draw for Kids, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Fieldrunners HD, Great Little War Game, Minecraft, Paper Camera, Sketchbook Mobile, SoundHound Infinity and SwiftKey X.

According to Mountain View, Calif.,-based Google, the Android Market reached its billionth download in July, 2010, its three billionth download in March of this year, and its 6 billionth download in July.

The Android Market has an estimated 580,000 offerings as of November, and as of last month now includes a music store, helping it compete with Apple's iTunes and App Store for iOS devices, which also has about 500,000 offerings but boasts about 18 billion downloads so far, reaching the 10 billion mark in January. The App Store now has about 140,000 apps for its hit iPad tablet.

Research In Motion's BlackBerry App World has roughly 50,000 offerings, while Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace has about 40,000 applications available.

While average individual smartphone or tablet users, even with a healthy appetite for apps, will only mildly scratch the surface of either stockpile of apps in a lifetime of downloading, size clearly matters for platform bragging rights.

Do You Want Fries with That?

"I guess it's mainly meaningful if you ascribed importance to Apple's continuing quantification of downloads, whether they are from iTunes or the App Store," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. "For good or ill, vendors have decided to define product success in a way which is analogous to McDonald's chest beating over the number of burgers its served."

King said that while the figure of 10 billion was impressive, "it's not terribly surprising considering the continuing success of Android, the number of existing and potential smart phone customers and how many apps are distributed freely or cheaply."

According to third-quarter data released by Nielsen Research last month, Android remains the most popular platform in the United States, with a lock on 43 percent of the smartphone market, compared with 39 percent in July, while Apple's iOS held steady at 28 percent. That's still impressive, though, considering that Apple only makes one phone.

Novo7 First Ice Cream Sandwich Tablet Computer - The $99 Tablet

The $99 tablet computer called Novo7 that is just recently released by MIPS Technologies is set to arrive in the United States in the coming months, according to PC World.

Reports said that the Novo7 tablet computer is currently being offered in China from Ainol Electronics. There is no specific date yet as to when it would arrive in the US, but it is expected to be available in North America early next year with an expected price of $99 from Leader International and OMG Electronics.

Meanwhile, PC World said in their report that it is possible to get the Novo7 tablet computer right now from Asia for about $50 in shipping costs.

Dell abandons Android tablet in US - Feared of Kindle?

Dell said it would halt sales of its Android tablet computer in the US market, as rival Amazon's new Kindle Fire has heated up in a market dominated by Apple's iPad.

A message on the Texas-based computer's website said that the seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) Streak tablet powered by Google's mobile operating software would no longer be sold in the United States.

"Dell remains committed to the mobility market and continues to sell products here and in other parts of the world," the company said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.

"We remain committed to expanding our reach beyond PCs (personal computers) with a targeted set of open, standards-based mobility solutions and services designed for commercial and mobile professional customers," it added.

The Streak 7 failed to gain momentum after its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The tablets were priced at $200 as long as buyers signed contracts with telecom service provider T-Mobile.

Online retail powerhouse Amazon.com has meanwhile reported that its new Kindle Fire tablet was its best-selling product during the Black Friday shopping rush the day after Thanksgiving.

Fire has a seven-inch screen and is priced at $199, believed to be slightly less than what it costs to make the tablets. Fire also synchs with the growing trove of digital entertainment content available at Amazon.

Dell said Streak 7 continues to be available "in many markets" through partners such as Optus in Australia. A 10-inch (25-centimeter) version of the Streak is sold in China.

RIM target prices factor in white knight scenario - Reported by Reuters

For most brokerages, the question is not whether to cut their price targets for Research In Motion but by how much.

Analysts who see the possibility of a white knight emerging for the struggling BlackBerry maker have favored a target higher than its current trading level of about $17 a share.

For those who see no end in sight for RIM's downward spiral, the target tends to be much lower, especially after Friday's damaging profit warning.

One of those in the latter camp is National Bank Financial, which already recommends avoiding the stock. On Tuesday it cut its target to $10 from $16 on the pessimistic view that a deep-pocketed savior will not step forward and RIM will not itself arrest declining market share, gross margin and earnings.

"We have little confidence that any management team could save RIM in its current form," analyst Kris Thompson said.

Others, such as CIBC and Paradigm Capital, have slashed but only to a point above RIM's current valuation. Many argue the Canadian company would make a viable strategic takeout target or a buyer could break it up and sell off in parts.

Most are using Friday's warning as a peg to redress their own misplaced optimism after the stock plunged 10 percent.

"Target changes are almost completely pointless. They usually indicate that an analyst is trying to play catch-up to what's happening to the ticker tape," independent analyst Chris Umiastowski wrote on his blog last month.

He can afford to be honest these days, after 10 years working in equity research, most recently for TD Newcrest.

"I've been there myself loads of times. It's no fun. It makes you feel like your report is a waste of paper," he said.

Most analysts with wilting views on RIM have suggested alternative routes the company could take that would make them reconsider, such as adopting Google's Android or Microsoft's platform and using its push capabilities to differentiate.

Wunderlich Securities cut its price target to $16 from $24, saying an improvement on that view would require a change of course such as adopting Google's Android, which analyst Matthew Robison admits would be more likely with a management change.

NBF's Thompson expects RIM to earn just $1.74 a share in the fiscal year starting in late March, down from $2.81 previously.

That's substantially lower than the $5.25 to $6 range that RIM on Friday said it did not expect to meet for the current year.

A price target is derived by multiplying expected earnings per share based on expected growth.

The stock has fallen from near $70 in February as RIM bleeds market share, especially in the United States, during a troubling transition to a fresh operating system.

NBF was already pointing to a price below RIM's dismal current price around $17, while others have had to tame much loftier expectations.

Paradigm Capital, whose buy recommendation expresses faith in RIM's ability to turn things around without a major shift in strategy, cut its price target to $40 from $50 in a Monday note.

CIBC cut to $25 from $55 but added a "speculative" qualifier to its "buy" recommendation due to poor visibility into RIM's future earnings. Analyst Todd Coupland also cited the value of RIM's network to an unnamed potential buyer in his valuation.

Goldman Sachs dropped its recommendation to sell RIM shares last month but still lowered its price target, to $18, reflecting in part a declining earnings trajectory. The investment bank now judges RIM using a sum-of-parts methodology that focuses on the value of a break-up.