Category Archives: smartphones

Apple rolls out new iPhone incentives in India

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

Apple has been making moves over the last year to expand its market share in India after its net profit for their India devision increased 431 percent year to year. Tripling the amount of franchise stores in the country? Check . Trade-in incentives? Check . Now the incentives are continuing with expansions for college students and American Express customers. The first incentive is designed to draw students into picking up an iPhone. Currently non-student residents who trade-in their smartphones for an iPhone get 7,000 rupees (US$130). Students, however, get 7,777 rupees (around $144) for their trade-in. Apple’s other new incentive is targeted at American Express owners and offers 10% cash back towards the purchase of an iPhone 4, 4S, or 5 before June 10th. The maximum refund from Apple is 6,000 rupees ($100). Both incentives were announced via print ads in the news daily publication Mint. At the end of Q4 2012 Apple controlled 15.2 percent of India’s market, placing the company in second place behind competitor Samsung holding 38.8 percent of the market. Apple’s pricing incentives seem to be working . Last month , Samsung has been offering up to 15 percent cash back in India. Apple rolls out new iPhone incentives in India originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Source  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments Continue reading →

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Samsung to pay for Galaxy-specific apps

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

In its continuing quest for domination in the Android market place, Samsung has announced a global contest for developers to make Samsung-exclusive apps. In particular, they’re looking for apps that highlight the Group Play function showcased in the new Galaxy S 4. Group Play allows users to interact and share content like music, photos, and games with other users. In all, 10 winning developers will split $800,000 in prize money as the company looks for the killer app to help it stand out in the pack of Android handset providers. The contest requires developers to use Samsung’s Chord SDK media-streaming service to be eligible for the prize money. $200,000 goes to the first prize winner, three second-place winners get $100,000 each, and the remaining six third-place winners pocketing $50,000 apiece. Entries will be judged based on originality, design, functionality, and commercial appeal. Interestingly all entries must be submitted as free apps, though they are allowed to feature in-app purchases. One of the disadvantages facing Android phone producers as they search for market dominance over other hardware companies is the lack of exclusive software. Due to the incredibly wide range of Android devices offering basically the same foundation, Samsung needs a way to narrow down consumer choices to their products. Galaxy-specific apps, or at least apps specific to Galaxy features that will soon be rolled out in other phone models, would provide leverage to help Samsung stand out in the crowded Android market place. Samsung to pay for Galaxy-specific apps originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Source  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments Continue reading →

Posted in App, apple, Apps, case, content, design, Developer, developers, droid, EV, free, games, google, handset, Hardware, hot, LED, lg, Mac News, money, OS, rr, samsung, search, smartphone, smartphones, software, stand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Visualized: The Jolla phone’s ‘other half’ kaleidoscope

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

Following some important pricing details, preorder launches and some concrete hardware specs, we’ve just got to play with the new Jolla phone . Sure, we’ve already toyed with the software , but today’s event is all about the new physical home for the Sailfish OS. It could be a difficult sell in the cutthroat world of smartphones, there’s certainly something compelling in Jolla’s split design and all those of color options, regardless of what functionality they might add in the future. Gallery: Jolla phone colors hands-on Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile Comments Continue reading →

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IRL: TYLT cables and a standoff between two Galaxies

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

Welcome to IRL , an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we’re using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. IRL is a column about stuff we’re using in real life and yes, that sometimes includes neon-green charging cables. It also includes all manner of smartphones, as you know, and this week we’ve got a short-and-sweet write-up comparing the GS3 and GS4. Is the 4 worth an early upgrade? Not if you ask Jon Fingas, anyway, but that’s mostly because he’s happy with the camera, performance and LTE radio on last year’s model. Filed under: Misc , Samsung Comments Continue reading →

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Use All Of Your Internet Connections At Once With Connectify Switchboard

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

Like most on-the-go technology enthusiasts, I have multiple ways to connect to the web. I have my iPhone, my 4G USB card, and whoever’s free internet access I happen to be mooching off of at any particular moment. However, living in an urban environment,  all three of these connections can get really slow at times due to data congestion. This can in turn make me unproductive and forced to deal with a slow connection. However, what if there was a way to combine these three connections to make a decently fast pipeline to the web? Well, now there is with Connectify Switchboard, a promising new Kickstarter project. Connectify is a new app for Mac and Windows users that allows you to pair multiple internet connections together to give you fast speeds. According to the Kickstarter page, when the app is launched, all of your web activity will be pushed to Connectify’s servers and back through your multiple internet connections. Since Connectify Switchboard works at the packet level, you can use this added speed across all aspects of your web usage: from streaming video, to uploading files to your Dropbox account. Unfortunately, since Connectify Switchboard pushes all of your data through its servers, your usage will be limited on how much server space you decide to purchase per month. The folks at Connectify Switchboard need to raise $100,000 in order to purchase server space and other tools . There are many different funding options available to you on the Connectify Switchboard Kickstarter page, with each tier giving your more bandwidth. If you’d like access to the early beta, expect to drop at least $90. The post Use All Of Your Internet Connections At Once With Connectify Switchboard appeared first on Macgasm . Continue reading →

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Yahoo Says It Will Increase Number Of Ads On Tumblr, Sorry

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

When news of Yahoo purchasing Tumblr came out yesterday, a number of Tumblr users expressed their concern for what was going to happen to their favorite blogging service. Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer took to announce one thing during a company conference call today that you can expect to see change with Tumblr. More Ads. (Yay!) For Yahoo to make the Tumblr acquisition worthwhile, it’s going to have to greatly increase revenue. Tumblr generated just $13 million in revenue last year, while using barely any ads at all. Yahoo, however, has a goal of increasing this with the help of ads to a revenue of $100 million in 2013. Tumblr’s CEO David Karp has always been hesitant when it comes to traditional advertising, although he says that now the site understands its users enough to embrace a more standard advertising format. Mayer had a few examples to give on how advertising may be implemented on Tumblr: On Tumblr, there’s a number of different places where we think we can monetize in a way that is meaningful and really addititive to the user experience. For example, Tumblr has what’s called the “dashboard”, which is their version of the newsfeed — or in old school terms, an “inbox” for the blogs you follow. So basically different bloggers that you follow can all appear there in your feed. And today, Tumblr already does some advertising, though minimal, in that feed. We would like to look at them and understand how we could introduce ads — in a very light ad load — where the impact is really created, because the ads really fit the users’ expectations and follow the form and function of the dashboard. We also see some opportunities to possibly work with bloggers who want ads, to provide ads on their Websites. That would always be done with the blogger’s permission. While this sounds exactly like what Tumblr users were dreading when they first heard of the deal, it’s likely that this is the path Tumblr was going to take regardless of whether it was sold or not. Tumblr is, after all, a free service and it is always looking to maximize revenue in anyway possible. Unfortunately for Yahoo, it’s going to come out looking like the bad guy, completely changing the service for the worse. The post Yahoo Says It Will Increase Number Of Ads On Tumblr, Sorry appeared first on Macgasm . Continue reading →

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Samsung Looking For App Developers In Global Competition To Compete More Evenly With Apple

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

Samsung announced this morning that it will be hosting a global competition to find developers who will create third-party apps specifically for its Galaxy smartphones. The competition will award 10 winners with a combined $800,000 prize. Many consumers are under the impression that Samsung’s apps just aren’t as good as Apple’s, an issue Samsung is hoping to solve with this competition. Samsung is looking for apps that can be coordinated with its Group Play service, which lets users share content like photos, games and music between devices at the same time. “We will continue to encourage mobile developers to develop new and innovative applications with newly-launched features of our Galaxy series,” explained Won-Pyo Hong, head of Samsung Electronics’ media solution center. Samsung’s move to compete more evenly with Apple in the app market comes at the same time as new research from Strategy Analytics is revealed. According to the research, Samsung had a 33.1% global smartphone marketshare last quarter, while Apple only had 17.9%, but analysts estimate that Samsung is falling behind Apple in the high-end market which is where the profit is made. Samsung hasn’t seen very good reviews for the software in its Galaxy S4, which is a big weakness when compared to Apple. Samsung has always been more of a hardware manufacturer than software developer, but better software would defintely bring it on more equal footing with Apple, its biggest rival. As for the competition’s prize money, $200,000 will go to the first place winner, with $100,000 awarded to three second place winners and six third place winners will get $50,000. All submitted apps must be free apps, but can use in-app purchasing and advertising. Uniqueness, functionality, usability, commercial potential, and design will help determine the winners, which might get an investment from Samsung’s venture capital arm. Image Credit: CNET The post Samsung Looking For App Developers In Global Competition To Compete More Evenly With Apple appeared first on Macgasm . Continue reading →

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Sony Xperia UL announced for Japan: 5-inch 1080p display and 15-frame burst photography skills (video)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

The FCC may have spoiled the surprise , but Sony’s now gone official with yet another smartphone and this one’s for its native Japan. The Xperia UL appears to be a slightly thicker riff on the Xperia Z , matching the display of the company’s early-2013 flagship, with a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) ticking behind the 5-inch 1080p screen. It’s worth noting that it’s a substantial resolution bump from the similar-looking 720p NTT DoCoMo Xperia A . Although it’s not the Snapdragon 600 rumored, Qualcomm’s S4 Pro flexes its muscle through Exmor RS 13-megapixel camera sensor, offering up the ability to capture 15 frames in a second. NFC, naturally, is already in attendance as well as the Felica wireless payment system. You’ll also get the benefits of both a physical camera button and water (IPX5/8) and dust resistance (IP5X) — two features in tandem that should help separate it from Sony’s pair of existing 5-inch 1080p smartphones. The Xperia UL will launch on KDDI’s au network in white, black and hot pink colors on May 25th. Check out the obligatory close-up ad after the break. Update: The Xperia UL runs on an S4 Pro processor, not the Snapdragon 600 initially stated. Gallery: Sony Xperia UL press shots Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Sony Comments Source: Sony (Japanese) Continue reading →

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LG to demo 5-inch unbreakable and flexible plastic OLED panel at SID 2013

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

LG’s got quite a bit in store for us this week at SID’s annual display exhibition in Vancouver. In addition to that 55-inch curved OLED TV we first heard about last month, the company will be demonstrating a very nifty 5-inch OLED panel. Created for mobile devices, the display is constructed of plastic, making it both flexible and unbreakable — certainly a welcome quality when it comes to smartphone design. Also on display will be 5- and 7-inch HD Oxide TFT panels. That first size features a bezel that’s just 1mm wide, enabling a borderless frame when installed in smartphones. Both displays are lightweight and consume less power than their traditional equivalents. Finally, LG will have a 14-inch 2560×1440-pixel laptop panel on hand, along with LCDs designed for use in refrigerators and automotive dashboards. We’ll be live from the SID show floor later this week — check back for our hands-ons with all of these new LG panels, and quite a bit more. Filed under: Displays , HD , LG Comments Continue reading →

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LG to demo 5-inch unbreakable and flexible plastic OLED panel at SID

Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

LG’s got quite a bit in store for us this week at SID’s annual display exhibition in Vancouver. In addition to that 55-inch curved OLED TV we first heard about last month, the company will be demonstrating a very nifty 5-inch OLED panel. Created for mobile devices, the display is constructed of plastic, making it both flexible and unbreakable — certainly a welcome quality when it comes to smartphone design. Also on display will be 5- and 7-inch HD Oxide TFT panels. That first size features a bezel that’s just 1mm wide, enabling a borderless frame when installed in smartphones. Both displays are lightweight and consume less power than their traditional equivalents. Finally, LG will have a 14-inch 2560×1440-pixel laptop panel on hand, along with LCDs designed for use in refrigerators and automotive dashboards. We’ll be live from the SID show floor later this week — check back for our hands-ons with all of these new LG panels, and quite a bit more. Filed under: Displays , HD , LG Comments Continue reading →

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