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9 million Samsung Galaxy S III smartphones already pre-ordered

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May 172012
 

Samsung Galaxy S IIIThe Samsung Galaxy S III has yet to hit the street but it may already be a major hit for Samsung. Citing an unidentified Samsung official, the Korea Economic Daily reports that Samsung has already received some 9 million pre-orders for its latest Galaxy S flagship.

The report adds that Samsung’s factory is running at full capacity and will make 5 million units per month.

The Samsung Galaxy S III will launch first in Germany on May 29th. It is expected to hit Canada and the U.S. later this summer.

Read more: Reuters

Apple and HTC ordered to have settlement discussions

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May 172012
 

Much as Apple and Samsung were ordered last month to hold settlement talks, the U.S. District Court of Delaware has asked that Apple and HTC try to come up with a settlement in their legal battle. Both parties will have their lawyers and unspecified decision makers meet on August 28th for discussions. The talks will be moderated by Magistrate Judge Sherry R. Fallon.

The order comes a day after U.S Customs blocked imports of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE as a result of a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling.

It’s not clear who will represent the two companies at the talks but they “must have full authority to act on behalf of the parties, including the authority to negotiate a resolution of the matter and to respond to developments during the mediation process.” The court also expects that both sides will show “full and good faith cooperation with the mediation process.”

HTC holds the dubious honour of being the first Android device manufacturer to be sued by Apple, way back in March 2010.

Read more: FOSS Patents

First Canadian Samsung Store to Open in Burnaby, British Columbia

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May 172012
 

SamsungSamsung earlier this year announced its plan to open its own retail stores in Canada. Today, it announced that construction had begun on its first store. It will be located in Burnaby, British Columbia, in the Metropolis at Metrotown. It promises an “exciting new way” for customers to experience and interact with Samsung’s line up of mobile, personal computing, and consumer electronics products.

“Samsung is excited to bring a new level of retail experience to Canadians,” said James Politeski, President of Samsung Electronics Canada. “Our vision is to provide an immersive space where consumers can interact with our products in totally new ways and enjoy unprecedented service levels.”

Samsung’s first store will feature an in-store education area, Smart Table technology and a tablet-based point-of-sale system.

The Burnaby Samsung store is scheduled to open this summer. Although Samsung is planning other stores, no word was provided as to when and where they would open.

Read more: Samsung Canada

SaskTel to offer HTC One S Roughriders Edition

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May 172012
 

We already knew that the HTC One S was headed to SaskTel. Today the carrier announced that it will carry a special edition version, the HTC One S Roughriders Edition. While the specifications will be unchanged, it will add a few extras.

“SaskTel is pleased to offer Saskatchewan Roughrider fans with a tailored HTC One S,” said Stacey Sandison, SaskTel Chief Marketing Officer. “The HTC One S is a high-end smartphone with an amazing camera, stunning design and authentic Universal Beats Audio Sound that will allow Rider fans to snap a picture of their favourite Rider player while shooting HD video at the same time.”

HTC One S Roughriders Edition

The HTC One S Roughrider Edition will include:

  • A free Riders case
  • The official Roughriders mobile app. Featuring a complete league schedule, past game results, statistics, team roster, player info, news, video interviews, game day forecasts and more!
  • A Rider Widget, which shows live scoreboard updates, next game info, and quick access to the Rider app right on your home screen
  • Free Rider ringtones and wallpaper
  • A specially wrapped box with a Riderized graphic and the full Rider schedule

The HTC One S Roughriders Edition will be available starting on May 26th.

Read more: SaskTel (Source: Twitter)

Android 4.0 now available in Canada for Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi

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May 172012
 

Motorola XOOMMotorola Canada today announced via Twitter the availability of the Android 4.0 upgrade for its Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi tablet. “The software update delivers a refined user interface and introduces innovative features and enhancements for tablet users. Install today for peak performance.” Among the updates highlighted by Motorola are:

  • Updated Browser with faster rendering, zoom and pan Users can also now save pages for offline reading and request desktop versions of websites.
  • Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks, and browser tabs You can now dismiss individual notifications, apps from the Recent Apps list, and browser tabs with a simple swipe of a finger.
  • Redesigned app launcher In All Apps launcher, you can now simply drag an app to get information about it, immediately uninstall it, or disable a pre-installed app.
  • Redesigned Gallery app with photo editor To help pictures look their best, the Gallery now offers a powerful photo editor so you can crop and rotate pictures, set levels, remove red eyes, add effects, and much more.
  • Richer, resizable widgets You can expand widgets to show more content, or shrink them to save space.

The update is available over a Wi-Fi connection. The next time you connect, you should receive a notification that the update is available. You can also check manually through Settings > About Phone > System updates.

Read more: Motorola (Source: Twitter)

Bell extends LTE coverage to Muskoka cottage country

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May 172012
 

Just in time for summer, Bell today announced the expansion of its LTE network to the Muskoka cottage region “around shorelines, marinas, waterways, resorts and other tourist hotspots.” It is also enhancing its HSPA+ network to offer 42Mbps downloads. By July 1st, LTE and enhanced HSPA+ coverage will look like this:

Bell Mobility LTE coverage for Muskoka region

Cottagers and golfers will see download speeds of up to 75 Mbps with expected average download speeds in the 12 to 25 Mbps range on the LTE network.

Read more: Bell Mobility

HTC One S now available in Canada

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May 172012
 

HTC One SA number of Canadian carriers today launched the HTC One S.

HTC One S specifications:

  • Processor: 1.5GHz dual-core
  • Operating system: Google Android 4.0 with HTC Sense 4
  • Cellular connectivity: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band HSPA
  • Other connectivity: 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA
  • Display: 4.3-inch qHD (540×960)
  • Input: Capacitive touchscreen
  • Memory: 1GB RAM
  • Storage: 16Gb onboard
  • Rear-facing camera: 8MP with LED flash, BSI, f/2.0 lens and 1080p video capture
  • Front-facing camera: 1.3MP (720p for video chat)
  • Connectors: 3.5mm headphone jack, micro-USB 2.0, HDMI
  • Battery: 1,650mAh
  • Dimensions / weight: 130.9 x 65 x 7.8 / 119.5 grams
  • Other: Beats Audio

Pricing by carrier is as follows:

  • Bell: CA$99.95 with a three-year contract or CA$599.95 with no contract
  • Fido: CA$150 with a three-year contract
  • TELUS: CA$99.99 with a three-year contract, CA$469.99 with a two-year contract, CA$519.99 with a one-year contract or CA$569.99 with no contract
  • Virgin Mobile Canada: CA$99.99 with a three-year contract or SuperTab or CA$599.99 with no contract

Read more: Bell, Fido, TELUS and Virgin Mobile Canada

ASUS rolling out additional Eee Pad Transformer TF101 ICS update

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May 162012
 

ASUS Eee Pad TransformerASUS today announced a new Android 4.0 firmware release for its Eee Pad Transformer TF101, the original Transformer tablet. Release 9.2.1.24 comes with additional functionality and system stability improvements. These include:

  • Improved system stability
  • Improved Email App stability
  • Improved MyNet stability
  • Improved MyLibrary stability
  • New System Bar Lock: Lock the system bar when playing games
  • New Face Unlock feature: Unlock your tablet with face recognition
  • Add Email App new feature: Email download size/Thread/Out of office notification/Mail Sync schedule

ASUS began pushing out this update today in both Canada and the U.S.

Read more: ASUS Campus Life

Worldwide mobile phone sales declined in Q1 2012

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May 162012
 

Worldwide mobile phone sales topped 419 million in Q1 2012. After 10 consecutive quarters of growth, sales fell 2% from the first quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. The decline was attributed to lower demand in Asian markets:

“Global sales of mobile devices declined more than expected due to a slowdown in demand from the Asia/Pacific region,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The first quarter, traditionally the strongest quarter for Asia – which is driven by Chinese New Year, saw a lack of new product launches from leading manufacturers, and users delayed upgrades in the hope of better smartphone deals arriving later in the year.”

Gartner also reduced its overall 2012 market forecast by some 20 million devices. “The lower results in the first quarter of 2012 have led us to be cautious about sales for the remainder of the year,” said Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Echoing earlier findings, Gartner named Samsung the world’s top mobile handset vendor for the quarter and the world’s largest smartphone vendor. Samsung is particularly dominant in Android-based smartphone sales where it took a greater than 40% market share. No other vendor reached more than a 10% share!

Behind Samsung in worldwide mobile device sales are Nokia, Apple, ZTE, and LG. The top ten is completed by Huawei, Research In Motion, Motorola, Sony Mobile Communications, and HTC.

On the operating system front, Android and iOS dominate, accounting for 79% of the market (56.1% for Android and 22.9% for iOS). Holding down third is Symbian with BlackBerry, Bada, and Windows Phone following.

Read more: Gartner

Video: “Next is Now… More than Ever” looks at Internet technology in Canada

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May 162012
 

About two years ago, Rogers released its “Next is Now” video that looked at how communications technology is changing the lives of Canadians. A lot has changed since then and Rogers has revisited this topic to look at how things stand now. Today, it released a sequel video called “Next is Now… More than Ever.”

According to Rob Switzman, Senior Director, Emerging Business and Rogers Futurist, Rogers is keen to understand how Canadians use technology and the Internet in particular. The video expresses its findings that the Internet is quickly becoming essential (and already is for many).

Among the statistics shared, the most interesting for me were:

  • People spend more than 2 hours a day glancing at their smartphones
  • 90% of Internet traffic will be video within three years
  • Mobile Internet speeds will increase nine-fold over the next four years

One thing that I liked about the video is that Rogers provided references for each stat on the YouTube page where it is posted.

Read more: Rogers (via YouTube)

Rumour: Next Apple iPhone to sport 4-inch display

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May 162012
 

AppleTwo independent reports are today suggesting that Apple’s next iPhone will sport a display measuring “at least 4 inches diagonally.” Both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters indicate that Apple has placed orders for the larger displays with Asian suppliers. Korea’s LG Display Co Ltd, Sharp Corp and Japan Display Inc. will all reportedly begin production in June so that the new iPhone can begin production in August.

The move is seen as Apple’s response to customers’ increasing demand for larger displays. Apple has only used 3.5-inch displays for its iPhone models while its competitors have move to increasingly larger displays (such as the 4.8-inch one on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III and the 5.3-inch one on the Samsung Galaxy Note).

Rumours of a larger display for the next iPhone have swirled for some time (even suggesting a 4.6-inch display). There have also been contradictory rumours suggesting that Apple would once again go with a 3.5-inch display. Perhaps the rumoured smaller iPhone will use the 3.5-inch display while the iPhone gets the larger display.

It remains to be seen if Apple will unveil its latest iPhone at next month’s WWDC or if it will stick to a fall schedule like last year.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal and Reuters

Nokia Lumia 710 now available from Mobilicity

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May 162012
 

Nokia Lumia 710The ‘coming soon’ label today came off the Nokia Lumia 710 at Mobilicity. It is the carrier’s first Windows Phone 7.5 device and promises Windows Phone users the chance to “lower their wireless costs through Mobilicity’s unlimited talk, text and data service.”

Mobilicity is offering the Nokia Lumia 710 for CA$249.99 with no contract.

Mobilicity today also launched a 4-day promotion (May 17th to 20th) offering 50% off all their regular rate plans for new activations. The offer is good for 12 months “while on preauthorized credit.”

Read more: Mobilicity and Mobilicity 4-day promotion

HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE imports delayed by U.S. Customs

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May 162012
 

HTCThe launch of the HTC EVO 4G LTE will likely occur later than HTC and Sprint had planned as the smartphone is facing import delays imposed by U.S. Customs. The HTC One X is facing similar delays and will likely become difficult to find at AT&T stores. The holds are due to an unresolved patent infringement issue with Apple. HTC confirmed the delays in a short statement:

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

In December, the ITC ruled in favour of Apple for one patent infringement and imposed an importation ban on some of HTC’s devices. The ban took take effect on April 19th. At the time, HTC described the ’647 patent as “a small UI experience” and planned to remove it from all phones.

It is likely that HTC will try to stay the ban as part of an appeal. For now, it remains unclear if and when U.S. Customs will allow imports of these devices to resume.

Read more: The Verge

Rumour: Future Nexus devices to come from multiple manufacturers

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May 152012
 

Google AndroidThere could be a lot more Nexus devices in Android’s future, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Whereas there was a single Nexus device per Android major release in the past (2009′s Nexus One, 2010′s Nexus S and 2011′s Galaxy Nexus), Google could allow multiple manufacturers to offer Nexus devices with the next major version (Jelly Bean). It could work with up to five manufacturers to create a portfolio of Nexus smartphones and tablets.

These manufacturers will gain early access to new releases of Android in preparation for the launch of these Nexus devices. Each would also be able to have up to a dozen employees work at Google’s headquarters work directly with Google’s own programmers.

The move would allow Google to give Motorola (which it is in the process of acquiring) the chance to develop its own Nexus devices without the risk of upsetting its Android partners. Motorola could not be seen as getting any special favour from Google with such an arrangement.

The report adds that Google is hoping to have its new portfolio of Nexus devices ready for sale by Thanksgiving. The plan is to sell them unlocked presumably at full retail price, much as Google recently started doing with the Galaxy Nexus. The hardware section of the Google Play store will also expand to cover not only in the U.S. but Europe and Asia as well. Canada was not mentioned unfortunately.

Selling its devices directly will also allow Google to circumvent carriers and the limitations that they can impose. For example, Verizon Wireless’s version of the Galaxy Nexus does not come with Google Wallet.

Past rumours have linked Samsung, HTC and LG to wanting to build the next Nexus device. Perhaps they will all get the chance to do so now.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal

HTC announces HTC Desire C

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May 152012
 

HTC Desire CHTC formally announced the HTC Desire C today, a day after it was accidentally revealed by Vodafone Portugal. As expected, it is an entry-level smartphone running Android 4.0 and aimed at those getting their “first smartphone or for those upgrading from an existing one.”

HTC Desire C specifications:

  • Processor: 600MHz Qualcomm
  • Operating system: Google Android 4.0 with HTC Sense 4.0
  • Cellular connectivity: GSM/GPRS/EDGE and HSPA/WCDMA
  • Other connectivity: 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC (carrier-dependent)
  • Display: 3.5-inch HVGA (320×480)
  • Input: Capacitive touchscreen
  • Memory: 512MB RAM
  • Storage: 4GB onboard and microSD cards
  • Rear-facing camera: 5MP
  • Front-facing camera: None
  • Connectors: 3.5mm stereo audio jack, micro-USB 2.0 port
  • Battery: 1,230mAh
  • Dimensions / weight: 107.2 x 60.6 x 11.95 millimeters / 98 grams
  • Colours: Red, white and black
  • Other: Beats Audio, 25GB of DropBox storage

A variant which adds NFC will also be available. Carriers will choose which version they will offer.

The HTC Desire C will be available starting in June. Among the first countries to launch it will be the UK where it will sell for £169.99 with no contract. There is no word yet on Canadian or U.S. availability.

Read more: HTC UK

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