HP readying competitor for Amazon's cloud computing, plans to launch soon

We're still waiting to see where HP goes with webOS, but according to the New York Times it will officially launch a cloud computing service that competes with Amazon Web Services in the next couple of months. HP Senior VP and General Manager Zorawar Singh is quoted saying the currently in beta service projects as an alternative to what Amazon has built with a focus on personalized sales and service and additional tools for third party developers, as well as a system of small data centers around the world. Throw in analytics based on technology it's obtained by purchasing Vertica and Autonomy, and maybe Meg Whitman's ship has something here, but we'll wait until the next Netflix is running its operations from this cloud before declaring it on the same level.

source: nytimes

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German government proposes to charge search engines for excerpting news sites

A German government committee is proposing changes that could force search engines operating in the country to pay for using news excerpts. The plans involve setting up a department to charge royalties from sites that aggregate news feeds, and covers them for 12-months from date of publish. This isn't the first country to attempt to protect publishers' material, with the Newspaper Licensing Agency in the UK also performing a similar role. Before you hide your news blog from German eyes, the ruling will only affect commercial outfits.

Germany's publishing executives have been pushing for such a move since a case in Belgium that saw Google News forced to stop excerpting articles. Unsurprisingly there is strong support from the industry, with 149 execs from the country already having petitioned the government with a "Hamburg Declaration on Intellectual Property Rights" proposal in 2009, and both the German Federation of Newspaper Publishers and Association of German Magazine Publishers also campaigning for change. Now that the committee has laid down clear plans, it remains to be seen if or how they will be implemented, but with the nation's track record for pulling no punches where technology is concerned, search engines might have to prepare for a rapid change in policy.

source: paidcontent

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Huawei announces Ascend D Series – includes ‘world’s fastest smartphone’

Huawei Chairman Richard Yu took the stage at the Mobile World Congress to unveil what he claims to be the world’s fastest smartphone – Huawei Ascend D Quad. Unlike most of today’s quad-core smartphones, it has a unique processor – the K3V2 built by the same company. Huawei says the K3 processor is faster than any other quad-core processor in the market.

NVIDIA and Qualcomm are today’s leading manufacturers of smartphone processors. NVIDIA already pushed out Tegra 3 4-PLUS-1 processors for HTC One X and LG Optimus 4X HD. Huawei took a big leap by making their very own quad-core processor, K3V2. They say it’s 49 percent faster than today’s fastest smartphones – which is a bit vague since they may be referring to dual-core devices.

In addition to a quad-core processor, Ascend D Quad runs on Ice Cream Sandwich. It has a large 4.5-inch screen with 720p HD display, 1 GB RAM, 1800mAh of battery, an 8MP rear camera, a 1.3MP front-facing camera, 1080p video capture, and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound for audio. Measuring 8.9mm in thickness, it is about 1mm thicker than the thinnest smartphone to date – HTC One X.

Also announced by Huawei Chairman is Ascend D Quad XL. Packed with similar specs but a better battery, it can last up to three days of use. Huawei Ascend D1 was also shown during the event. Specs-wise it resembles Ascend D Quad. However, it only has a dual-core processor and a humble 1670mAh battery. We can expect a cheaper price tag on it.
source: gadgetmania

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LG Optimus 3D Max – maximum 3D in a thin and light body

Despite what various manufacturers are saying, 3D isn’t really catching on – at least not as fast as they would want it to. It’s slowly coming to new HDTVs, and it’s been tried on laptops, tablets and of course, smartphones, but it kind of went away after a few devices. One of the few smartphones to have a 3D display and to actually enter production was the LG Optimus 3D, which you might remember from last year.
Well, apparently, LG thinks 3D is a niche worth fighting for, as they’ve got yet another 3D smartphone in line that will be officially announced during this year’s Mobile World Congress in Spain. The device is called the Optimus 3D Max, and unlike the other Max(x) on the market, it’ll most probably have an abysmal battery life.

Judging by the mockups and snapshots, the Optimus 3D Max will look just like any other slab smartphone, with not much to make it stand out. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it would be nice to see something new in the smartphone’s exterior design once in a while – I suppose that LG is leaving the “wow” effect to the display. The 3D Max is touted as thinner and lighter than its predecessor, though, and that certainly seems to be the case: the phone is now 9.6 mm slim and 148 grams light, which is in line with most other non-3D phones on the market.

The display of the Optimus 3D is a 4.3 inch LCD unit with LG’s own NOVA technology for a higher brightness and lower power consumption (first seen on the Optimus Black), however it will have the same old resolution of 800×480 pixels, which means that in 3D, you’ll be seeing 400×480 pixels in each eye – not exactly successor-worthy, I think.

The other hardware specs are pretty much similar to all the other flagship phones on the market. There’s your standard Wifi N, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS adapters, a nice selection of sensors, DLNA support, 8 GB of internal storage space (and I hope it has a micro SD card slot), HSPA+ radio, and a dual 5 megapixels cameras array for 3D photos and video recording, plus a front facing 1.3 megapixels camera for video chat and whatnot. There’s also an NFC radio with support for LG Tag+ – LG’s new stickers that can be read with NFC and perform various actions based on the input.

Performance wise, everything seems to be in order with the Optimus 3D Max – there’s a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 chipset inside, with a dual core 1.2 GHz processor and the PowerVR SGX540 graphics adapter – more than enough to run any apps and games, and it’s also fast in Web browsing, video playback, document editing and any other tasks. There’s also a full gigabyte of RAM inside to aid the processor and make things smooth even under the heaviest of loads. The 1520 mAh could be a big problem – with a dual camera array and 3D display (even a NOVA unit), it can’t last longer than 6-7 hours, for sure.
The Optimus 3D Max will initially be powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which is quite a weird decision seeing as Ice Cream Sandwich is out, but an update to ICS will be available right away, so it’s not that much of an issue. The phone will be officially announced during MWC, so stay tuned for details in a couple of weeks

source: gadgetmania

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Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2 Android PMP launched at MWC

Samsung has expanded its array of personal media players with the Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2 officially unveiled at MWC 2012.Allowing users to enjoy all the benefits of Google’s Android operating system without the ability to make calls and the cost associated with the handset components, the latest Galaxy PMP touts, as its name suggests, a 4.2-inch WVGA touchscreen display.

Described by Samsung as “the best of Android experiences with powerful gaming on the go,” the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2 enhances its gaming abilities by landing preloaded with FIFA 12 and a bevy of premium EA titles.
Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2 Specs Landing alongside the expansive 4.2-inch 800 x 480p display, the Galaxy S Wi-Fi will touch down running Google’s Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS with a 2-megapixel rear-mounted camera featuring alongside a second, VGA, forward facing snapper.

Lining up at a minimalist 8.9mm thick, the Wi-Fi 4.2 touts the usual smartphone array of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options with 512MB of RAM and the option of up to 32GB of internal storage via microSD card.

Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2 Release Date
As with the company’s other MWC 2012 announcements that include the Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Galaxy Beam projector phone Samsung has failed to offer any release date or pricing information for its latest PMP offering. Is the Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2 a new powerhouse of the PMP scene or yet another iPod replicating wannabe? Let us know what you think via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.
source: t3

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Google confirms 850,000 Android devices activated daily

Becoming an ever increasing dominant force in the smartphone sector Google has revealed that it is now activating more than 850,000 Android devices on a daily basis.
Announcing the grand figures during his MWC keynote speech, Google’s Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content Andy Rubin confirmed that the Android OS continues to grow at a phenomenal rate with the iOS rival having recently topped the 300 million active device milestone.
"Each and every day, we are humbled by the trajectory of Android and our partners, Rubin said. “With a year-on-year growth rate of more than 250 per cent, 850,000 new Android devices are activated each day, jetting the total number of Android devices around the world past 300 million."
Whilst Apple revealing last month that it shifted a hearty 37.04 million iPhones in the three months leading up to the 2011 Christmas period, Google has announced it is closing in on a number of Apple’s leading markets with more than 450,000 applications now available from the Android Market, up from the 150,000 available a year ago.
Which operating system is winning the smartphone war in your book Google’s Android or Apple iOS? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.

source: theinquirer

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Panasonic Eluga Power: 5-inch 720p display, 9.6mm thin, S4 processor

Remember Panasonic’s Eluga? The phone with a name that sounded like you’d eaten too much popcorn before going on a roller coaster now has a bigger brother to protect the family insignia: the Eluga Power. It’s a 5-inch (1280 x 720) display-toting premium version of the device running ICS on a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 CPU. The 9.6mm thick device includes a 1,800mAh battery that can reportedly quick-charge to 50 percent in half an hour. It’s packing NFC, an 8-megapixel camera as well as an unspecified front-facer for video calls, 8GB storage and a microSD slot — giving you up to 32GB expandable storage. There’s a gallery below and full PR after the break.

source: gadgetcom

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Orange announces first Intel-powered Android phone for Europe, codenamed Santa Clara

Orange will be the first to offer a Medfield-powered Android phone in Europe. Codenamed Santa Clara, and arriving some time this summer, it looks pretty similar to Intel's reference model -- in both design and specs. The phone totes a 4-inch 600 x 1024 display, with a solid 8-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video and burst capture of up to 10 shots within a second. The Santa Clara (the final name is likely to manifest itself somewhere between now and its eventual release) runs on Intel's Atom Z2460 processor, clocked at 1.6GHz. This should be more than enough to smoothly steer Android Gingerbread, with Orange vowing to bring ICS soon after launch. The device can handle HSPA speeds of 21.1Mbps down and 5.6Mbps up, while HDMI-out is housed within the MHL port. Other features include mobile wallet features through NFC and the likes of Orange's HD voice call and gesture navigation built in. The phone network is also pushing Intel's Medfield processor credentials, with its low power performance of up to 14 days on standby or eight hours of 3G calls. The European carrier has also told us that despite these respectable middleweight specifications, the phone will remain "aggressively priced" -- not dissimilar to its previously town-themed iterations. We hope to get some hands-on time with the device very soon, but until then, you can glean a closer look at the gallery below.

source: engadget

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) officially announced at MWC, 3.1 extra inches of Ice Cream Sandwich

We already saw Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) just over a week ago, and now the company has come clean with its 10.1-inch variant (along with a new Galaxy Beam smartphone). Aside from bumping up the screen resolution of its LCD to 1280 x 800, from 1024 x 600 on the 7.0, the 10.1 features the same 1Ghz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, front and rear cameras (VGA and 3-megapixels, respectively) and 21Mbps HSPA+ connectivity if you opt for the 3G model instead of WiFi. The 10.1-incher notably comes equipped with a 7,000 mAh battery (up from 4,000 on the 7.0), which will hopefully ensure stamina that's similar to its predecessor. The slate is unsurprisingly loaded with TouchWiz-flavored Ice Cream Sandwich, and will be offered in 16 and 32GB models (expandable by up to 32GB if you supply your own microSD card). There's no word on pricing just yet, but Sammy plans to start selling all 10.1-inches of this treat during March in the UK -- and you can bet we'll get our own in-person hands-on while we're traversing the show floor here at MWC. For now, you'll find full details about the slate in the press release after the break and press images in the gallery below.

source: engadget

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Telus confirms March 2nd launch for Nokia Lumia 800

Canadians may still have to wait a bit longer for some official word of the Lumia 900's possible debut in the country (the latest rumors suggest it may be heading to Rogers), but there's now at least a firm date for the launch of its slightly smaller counterpart. Telus confirmed today that the Nokia Lumia 800 will be available on March 2nd (in your choice of black, cyan or magenta), although it's unfortunately still not providing a price. As you may recall, Nokia's other new Windows Phone, the Lumia 710, made its Canadian debut on Rogers earlier this month, where it can be had for as little as $50 on-contract or just over $250 off-contract.

source: mobilesyrup

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Galaxy Nexus landscape dock comes to the US

Officially branded Galaxy Nexus accessories have been a dream of ours for a while. So imagine our surprise, caution and then surprise again when the landscape dock for the ICS super-phone arrived on these shores. Cradling the device horizontally, it'll let you charge the phone via the side-mounted pogo pins, so you can continue to watch that movie when low on power. It's available right now for $90 at our source link, we'd advise not to delay, otherwise Samsung might change its mind and take our toys away.
source: droid-life

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WSJ: Safari loophole lets Google track Apple users through web ads

Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer has discovered a curious Safari loophole that allows Google to track a user's browsing activity via cookie-laced web ads. As it turns out, Apple's browser normally accepts cookies from sites that a user visits, but automatically blocks them from third-party advertisers. As Mayer found out, though, advertisers can still circumvent this filter by enticing users to interact with ads in different ways. In the case of Google, the search giant embedded a "+1" button on ads produced with its DoubleClick technology, as part of an opt-in feature for Google+ users. If a user was logged in to Google+ and had agreed to see +1 ad displays, he or she would have a cookie planted on their device, thanks to a system that sent invisible forms from Apple computers or iPhones. This made it seem as if a user actually submitted the form intentionally, thereby convincing Safari to allow cookies. These cookies were only temporary, with shelf lives of up to 24 hours, but they could open the door for many more, since Safari allows sites to plant them after having received access to install at least one.

After the Wall Street Journal notified Google of this loophole, the company promptly disabled it and duly apologized, adding that it didn't realize that its +1 system would plant tracking cookies on a user's device. "We didn't anticipate that this would happen, and we have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers," Google's Rachel Whetstone explained. "It's important to stress that, just as on other browsers, these advertising cookies do not collect personal information." An Apple spokesperson, meanwhile, issued the following statement: "We are aware that some third parties are circumventing Safari's privacy features and we are working to put a stop to it."
source: wsj

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WSJ: Apple testing 8-inch iPad

The invites haven't even been sent out and yet the frenzied speculation about what Tim Cook will whip out on stage at next month's purported announcement has begun. The Wall Street Journal believes Cupertino's planning to produce a smaller, 8-inch slate to partner its 9.7-inch flagship. Unnamed sources at the company's suppliers say it'll pack a screen with a resolution close to the 1024 x 768 display on the current model. This jibes with what we've heard about the iPad 3 toting a Retina Display -- unless the smaller unit is aimed at budget buyers. The report claims test panels are being produced by AU Optronics and LG Display and that this model might also run on LTE. It's probably fair to point out that Apple is famous for producing prototypes in a wide variety of sizes that will never see the light of day, so don't get your hopes up too soon.

source: WSJ

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Hong Kong court allegedly sides with Apple in iPad name dispute

If you've been following the latest bub around the hub, you may remember Apple's recent scuff with Shenzhen-based Proview Technology -- the Chinese outfit that holds the local trademark on the name "iPad." Not only did Apple lose a trademark lawsuit for the iPad name, but some time later mainland government had the slabs removed from retailers in the city of Shjiazhuang. Now, Apple's claiming that a Hong Kong court has sided with it in a similar battle, saying in a statement to China Daily that they purchased "Proview's worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago," referring, perhaps, to the deal they made Taiwanese arm of the company, "Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple." Xie Xianghui, Proview's lawyer, shot back with his own statement, explaining that the court merely ruled that the trademark couldn't be sold to a third party before hearing ends, claiming that this move does not count as a ruling in Apple's favor. Xie went on to suggest the issue stemmed from Apple underestimating the legal complications of doing business in China.

source: 9to5mac,
source: news

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HTC to give sneak peek of Sense-coated ICS to a few lucky Europeans

HTC's already said it plans on handing out ICS treats in late March, but the Taiwanese mobile sensation wants to give a selected few the chance to join an early taste test. The Ice Cream Sandwich party is a fairly exclusive affair, with HTC restricting admission to those of you living in the EU and rockin' a Sensation or its Beats-sporting XE variant. The outfit's given no further deets as to how it'll spread the goods -- and to how many more handsets -- or if the teaser will ever make its way to US-based folks. Regardless, we're sure you're hoping to be amongst the chosen ones -- and please do hit us up if at any point you're surprised by a tasty 4.0 update.

source: phonescoop

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Motorola outs Android 4.0 upgrade schedule, adds Atrix 4G, Photon 4G and others to the ICS party list

Ever since the debut of Ice Cream Sandwich, the masses of Motorola owners have yearned to discover when (if?) their devices would receive Android's latest and greatest. Well, Moto's finally let the cat out of the bag, setting out domestic and global timelines for its tablets and phones to get Android 4.0. Xoom WiFi owners here in the states have been enjoying ICS for a month, and Family Edition owners can expect the same tasty treat in Q2 of this year. Folks with RAZRs (including the Chinese MT917 variant) or XT928 (the Chinese evolution of the Droid X) in areas outside the US will be getting ICS in Q2 as well. Atrix 4G, Atrix 2, and Photon 4G owners around the world will have to wait until Q3 of 2012 for theirs, as will Xoom 2 and Xyboard owners. Motorola's blog, Inside Motorola, states that the Bionic, Droid 4, RAZR Maxx, and Electrify will be getting in on the action, too, but its engineers have yet to set a date for their upgrades. Head on down to the source links below to take a gander at the good news yourself.

source: pcmag

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How would you change the T-Mobile Springboard?

What's in a name? That which we call a T-Mobile Springboard by any other name, like the Huawei Mediapad, would smell as sweet. Multiple names aside, the Honeycomb slate was teasingly cheap as it coaxed you to a two year marriage with the pinky/purple (magenta, okay) mobile network. It had some great build quality but our issue stemmed more from the pricey contract you had to sign up to alongside it -- but we figure thousands of you picked one of these up and you've had a couple of months happy or horrible surfing under your belt. You've gotten under the skin of the device, you know what its foibles are, it's strengths and weaknesses, what do you love, what do you hate and most importantly, what would you change?

source: engadget

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LG Miracle appears in real life, we start to believe

LG's smartphone workshop is keeping itself busy.Alongside the manufacturer's attempt to out-Note Samsung, its latest Windows Phone has resurfaced. A kindly mole has offered some better focused (but unfortunately watermarked to heck) shots of LG's first Mango-laced Windows Phone. Skinnier that we expected, we can now make out a front-facing camera, paired up with a rear-facing five-megapixel primary shooter on the back. It's still a prototype, judging by that not-so-subtle "not for sale" etching on the back, but expect the Miracle -- when it does go official -- to match those middleweight credentials leaked so far.

source: wmpoweruser

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Nokia Public Transport for Symbian shows you the way, can't guarantee a seat

Nokia's free turn-by turn navigation is great when you're lost, but what if you need to negotiate an unfamiliar train or bus system? Perhaps Espoo's new Public Transport app with its journey planning information for nearly 80 cities and urban areas (including London, Helsinki, Austin and Toronto) will see you right. What's more, you can even save your favorite destinations to the app's home screen to save a bit more tapping and typing. The app's only available for those freshly updated Symbian Belle phones right now, but it's free, and there's a Lumia-friendly version in the works. Sound like this might take the headache out of your daily commute? Then tap the source link below for more info.

source: ubergizmo

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Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 leaked, says it'll arrive later this month

Whoa there, another phone leak? It could only be the run-up to Mobile World Congress. This time, it's Samsung that's let slip, and the not-particularly high-end Galaxy Mini 2. Mini in size, minor in specifications, it will purportedly arrive with a 3.3-inch display at 480 x 320 resolution, running Gingerbread on an 800MHz processor. Unfortunately, at that speed, don't expect to get any Adobe Flash action on this presumably entry-level phone. It'll be capable of HSDPA data speeds up to 7.2Mbps; add in a three-megapixel camera, 3GB of built-in storage and it's all starting to sound a bit 2008. GSM Arena's mole pegs it for a February release, so that could mean it sprints out ahead of MWC, but it'll find it hard to avoid the bright lights of Barcelona.

source: gsmarena

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