Monthly Archives: December 2011

By Megan Fleet

When news is first released of up and coming software updates, new smartphone designs, or really mobile tech related, blogs start buzzing and consumers are on the ball. Watching to see what the manufacturers, OS companies, and carriers will do with all this… newness. Will the latest smartphone be unlocked? Will the manufacturers release cutting edge accessories with the smartphone? How will they make this technology more streamlined into everyday life?  Unlocked cell phones enable you the freedom to break free from service providers long-term locked in service plans.

When the hype dies down, the downloads have been made, and the beautiful mobile device in the customer’s hands is a little less shiny, the reports of glitches and problems come out of the woodwork. So in a now familiar song and dance routine, it is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus’ turn to step onto the stage and hear the critiques.

The first complaint on the list has to do with the multi-touch functionality of the display. Apparently some apps can cause a failure of this function. What is more disconcerting is that the issue is not resolved when those problematic apps are closed and that the loss of multi-touch functionality is seen other apps as well. The only fix at the moment is switching off the display and then turning it back on. When using in the car for satellite navigation, this particular flaw could be dangerous without a car holder to keep the device as hands free as possible.  Discover the widest online selection of Bluetooth Headsets and BlueTooth Car Kits. Hands free functionality is designed for the interactive 'on the go' lifestyle  and allows safe driving.

Fortunately, the causes of the issue are looking to be addressed and mitigated in a quick manner. The transition from major OS updates on smartphones can have a lagging effect on legacy apps that may not be updated to be compatible with the newest OS, causing glitches and hiccups (like this latest ICS upgrade for the Galaxy Nexus).   Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  The latest innovative protection solutions allow you to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside our brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

The fact that the problem does persist when the apps are closed points to a more challenging problem on the operating system, but Galaxy Nexus is running version 4.0.2. These errors haven’t been reproduced on the Nexus S which is on the next OS version, so looks to be already fixed! If this particular set of flaws is a deal breaker, perhaps the Nexus S would be a better fit…

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By Megan Fleet

Have you ever tried to research existing patents? It is a crazy and convoluted process that is often counterintuitive. For example, there are companies that purchase patents as a means of earning revenue through lawsuits instead of for developing and promoting new technology. They are called Patent Trolls. If you find a new way to make toast? Patent it!   Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  the latest innovative protection solutions allow you to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases.  Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside our brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

This may be the route Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, HTC, may take after Monday’s ruling by the United Stated International Trade Commission which found HTC in violation of Apple patents.  XMI speakers deliver uncompromised sound quality and a revolutionary design accentuating today's interactive lifestyle.   In addition, earpieces and headsets combine sophisticated style and precision engineering that deliver brilliant sound for your total listening pleasure.

Right now, a ban on the manufacturer’s smartphones that incorporate the offending technology will go into effect April of next year. This ban could mean seriously bad news for their US sales. Still waiting to hear which smartphone and  tablet devices will be affected and what their strategy to sidestep this checkmate will be.

Apple’s late CEO, Steve Jobs, initiated this legal flurry in March of 2010 with a filing of 10 complaints against HTC for patent infringement. The verdicts have so far been mainly in Apple’s favor and validate Jobs’ comment at the time: “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.”  Get powered up for work, life and play easily and conveniently with desktop chargers , wall chargers and car chargers.   Get all the power and energy you need for the mobile lifestyle.

For some more clarity in a mutli-level maze of lawsuits between Apple and HTC, patent expert Florian Muller of FOSS Patents shed some light on the technology in question and the injunction applied to it. According to Muller, the injunction will affect handsets that use “data tapping.” This is a feature that users have come to expect in their smartphones regardless of manufacturer, carrier, or operating system. Google will have to use some creative thinking to work around patent infringement to avoid a negative impact on sales when the ban is put in place.

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Apple - HTC Saga Continues....

By Aldo Panessidi

In a round robin style of legal actions, the US International Trade Commission has agreed to revisit a decision made by a judge earlier this year. That particular ruling was not to the liking of Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, HTC, as the decision cleared Apple of four patent violation accusations.  Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  Protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with the latest stylish top brand bag, sleeves and case accessories.

Despite HTC’s tag line of “Quietly Brilliant,” the company has not been quiet in this technological battle of wills with Apple. And, as the first smartphone to market using Android OS technology, this corporate judicial sparring has likely been in the works for a number of years. The October ruling by an ITC judge determined that the HTC owned patents related to power management and phone dialing were not violated by Apple’s iPhone 4s, iPad 3G or iPod Touch.

In true legal relay fashion, the ITC decision came right before a ruling on a case brought against HTC by Apple which will determine if the smartphones manufactured by HTC are the culprits in patent infringement. As the HTC claim included Apple’s tablet technology, this writer does wonder if the HTC Flyer tablet will come under scrutiny as well. Taking their claim to where it matters most, Apple is pursued an injunction which will bar the rival HTC from distributing and selling products that include patent-violating technology in the US beginning in April 2012.  Enhance your mobility... turn your device into a power tool.  Discover our the accessories, stylus & pens, SD micro cards, data cables, desktop chargers, car kits and special glider gloves specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

For now it looks as though Apple has won the battle. However, based on the volley of legal actions between the two companies in recent months, there will likely be more news to follow. Who knows, with the forces of Apple, HTC (and Google Android perhaps?), these lawsuits could easily start to drift into patent questions around docking stations, hands free technologies, and other consumer inspired accessories. Stay posted for the next move in the game.

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By John Castell

Looks like BlackBerry is angling to infuse some more « Crack » back into the once dominant brand with some BlackBerry app updates this week. What do those updates look like? Twitter for BlackBerry will be available for an update to version 2.1.0.28 that includes improved support for the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl users out there. According to company officials, “BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry Pearl users are now able to view a users profile page from an @Mention.” Discover the latest unlocked Blackberry cell phones including the Blackberry Bold 9900

If you’re a BlackBerry user that hasn’t updated in a while, a version upgrade earlier this month includes support for multiple accounts and also for BBM sharing.  Both of these should be searchable in App World for manual updates too. And if behind on these updates, you may enjoy taking a look at the available tablets and newest BlackBerry gadgets to continue to optimize your smartphone device.  Accessories are designed to protect, personalize and enhance your mobile devices.  The latest innovative protective solutions and premium electronic accessories from the industry's leading brands.

For those of you who are more inclined to use your BlackBerry device to jam out to some tunes on BBM Music (so very rad with a portable speaker for the office), there is good news for Canadian BlackBerry Beta Zone members in a the newest version available for download: 1.1.0.11. Looks to be a major update which will augment the experience with new features that are supposed to also coincide with BBM v6.1 release.  Enhance your mobility... turn your device into a power tool.  Discover our the accessories, stylus & pens, SD micro cards, data cables, desktop chargers, car kits and special glider gloves specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

Reports indicate that the most notable changes will be in the music area (so this may be the time to invest in quality headphones!).  Look for integration with BBM that will show what you’re listening to in the BBM status, the ability to request a gift from other BBM contacts for a subscription to BBM Music, and improved playlist creation. At a more technical level, end users may also see improvements from the server side when looking for news releases and other popular content (refuse to include the Kardashian updates as « news »). In general some great performance improvements are bound to be appreciated by BlackBerry users and to breathe some new life into the experience as well!

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By: John Castell

As the Android trend moves towards bigger screens, more “phone real estate” and the bigger-is-better design, it is refreshing to see a consistency with the smartphone manufacturer, HTC and its thoughtful inclusion of smaller footprint handset offerings including a wide HTC unlocked cell phone line of business.  The latest is a lovely mix of diminutive and rugged which has been christened Explorer. In an amalgamation that is sure to please, this is a small phone that packs the same punch as its predecessors by sporting the Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread with Sense UI 3.5.  Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  Protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with the latest stylish top brand bag, sleeves and case accessories.

However, the smartphone market is becoming increasingly competitive amongst manufacturers, OS developers, and carriers who are all trying to make their indelible mark on consumers by employing consumer friendly choices like unlocked phones and must have protective cases and skins accessories. So what makes HTC cell phone Explorer stand out? simple... how light and compact it is, Adobe Flash support (yay!), incredibly fast boot up times, and some seriously nice stats for its Snapragon chipset, Gingerbread OS, memory capabilities etc.  Enhance your mobility... turn your device into a power tool.  Discover our the accessories, stylus & pens, SD micro cards, data cables, desktop chargers, car kits and special glider gloves specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

For all its perks, consumers should be aware of the slow SPU, fixed focus camera, and the lack of a document viewer and secondary video call camera. What’s more, the really tangible, joy inspiring accessories are not to be found in the standard retail package. A compact charger, microUSB cable, and… that’s it. No headset even. Get uuncompromised sound quality and a revolutionary design accentuating today’s interactive lifestyle.  Earpieces and headsets combine sophisticated style and precision engineering that deliver brilliant sound for your total listening pleasure.

Luckily customers can customize with quality Bluetooth headsets of their choice, a car charger and personality inspired cases and skins to highlight what makes their choice of phones different and unique in a smartphone world dominated by Apple and Samsung (also allows customers to choose to embrace the rubberized “tough” look of the phone or to pick from a variety of colors).

Overalll, the Explorer is an unexpected gem in the smartphone lineup that made the most of its 600MHz processor and chipset and was also able to truly ac as a multimedia device with its easy handling of Flash content (games and video were a breeze for the Explorer). As an entry level device, it is a wonderful option that can easily be customized and decked out with your mobile accessories of choice. Keep a look out for unlocked versions and start your shopping around!

By Megan Fleet

Some people would look at current market share distribution for Windows OS smartphones and give a shrug “meh – 2% of the market? Not a likely contender.” It is true that Microsoft hasn’t had the easiest road breaking into this new era of pocket PCs (aka smartphones), but the latest joint venture with European feature phone giant, Nokia, looks to be a step in the right direction. What would a giant step in the right direction be? Pairing up its OS with a Samsung handset. This is precisely what they have down with the Samsung i8350 Omnia W, a move that is bound to shake things up as Samsung has quickly become the Android golden child of smartphone manufacturing.  Let the latest trend setting fashionable accessories express your unique style!  Discover award-wining design protective cases and skins that deliver modern style, stunning design and smart protection.  Make your mobile devices stand out.  Customize your look - how cool can you be?

Time for the good, the bad, the ugly and a few ideas of rectifying some of the bad and ugly.  The Omnia W isn’t revolutionary. It’s a far sight more attractive than its predecessor, the Omnia S, but is still a midrange phone intended to compete in the North American market. Its most notable features? Powered by a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and the Mango 7.5 OS, great battery life and screen clarity with the Super AMOLED touchscreen, Mobile Office document viewer / editor (one of the features that makes this a great buy for business professionals), and a multitude of social network integration and cloud services.   break free from long-term locked in service contract... unlocked cell phones enable you to enjoy the freedom of choosing your service provider and negotiating the service plan that best meets your interactive lifestyle.

Now for where the Omnia S is lacking… Storage (it is non-expandable and there is no mass storage), no Flash support in browser (so no streaming your favorite guilty pleasure from ABC.com while on the go), and no video support are the most notable. Luckily these are shortcomings are either addressable by purchasing external storage or SD memory cards and investing in a separate media device for shooting video and streaming Flash content.

While the Omnia S doesn’t have the most dazzling internal stats, processor, or operating system, this Windows / Samsung collaboration does hit the intended mark of being elegant, aesthetically pleasing, business oriented smartphone for the a midrange market that integrates the best part of Microsoft and Windows: ease of use. They have made social media, texting, and the new ways we communicate all integral in the People Hub and have stayed with the current “Siri” trend of voice activated commands.

On the bright side, accessories such as Bluetooth headsets, car chargers as well as protective cases and skins along with screen protectors.

For its shortcomings, there seem to be few that can’t be overcome with a bit of extracurricular accessory acquisitions and eventual Windows OS updates. As with any smartphone, this writer chalks much of it up to personal preference and how individuals use their devices. With plenty of unlocked phones, OS, and competitive carriers out there, it is a buyer’s market. So investigate the options, usage plans, and your must-haves in a mobile device and happy hunting!

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By Megan Fleet

Many pro-business advocates will espouse the virtues of patents and their being upheld with patent law in the free market world. A clear comparison in the schools of thought: free market vs. controlled market is the US vs. China. The latter is known for its corporate espionage, systemic lack of creativity, and lack of respect for the rights of intellectual property. The former sometimes has the opposite problem where obscure patents and a muddy system work against entrepreneurs and fail to promote the sharing of information and technology. Strangely, the proprietary model of Apple and their inclination to sign carrier exclusive deals instead of providing carrier agnostic unlocked cell phones seems counterintuitive to this pro-business strategy they’ve pursued.

With these polar opposites at work in the global corporate world, the HTC / Apple patent infringement case actually made me a smile a bit as it is a rare case of patent law being meted out justly and under the intent of the law. On Monday, the United States International Trade Commission ruled that as of April 19^th, 2012 they will ban the import of certain HTC devices (no word on if any of these patent infringements extend to HTC specific after market phone and mobile accessories.  Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky!  Protect your devices from scratches and blemishes with stylish top brand cases and skins accessories.

In response, HTC released this statement to BGR via email “We are gratified that the commission affirmed the judge’s determination on the ‘721 and ‘983 patents, and reversed its decision on the ‘263 patent and partially on the ‘647 patent […] We are very pleased with the determination and we respect it. However, the ‘647 patent is a small UI experience and HTC will completely remove it from all of our phones soon.”   Discover the select accessories, such as, stylus & pens, data cables, batteries, SD micro cards, desktop chargers, earpieces & headsets as well as glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

This is a ruling that was made after the July 16^th decision that determined a violation of two Apple owned patents by HTC. Luckily for the device manufacturer, it appears that they will be able to side step considerable losses in inventory, research & development, and market share by implementing the required changes before the April 2012 deadline.  The latest  trend setting fashionable bags, cases and sleeves accessories express your unique style.  Make your mobile devices stand out.  Customize your look - how cool can you be?

By Aldo Panessidi

As a typical profile... mobile consumers are highly socially engaged, remain continuously connected and rely more and more on their both carrier based or unlocked smartphone's features and applications on a daily basis.

Smartphone penetration has seen a meteoric rise, spiraling from just 18% in late 2009 to 44% in October 2011.  A recent 'State of the Media: The Mobile Media Report'  conducted by Nielsen indicates that 64% of 25-34 year olds and 53% of 18-24 year olds own a snmartphone and have led in smartphone penetration compared to every other age group since 2009.  The individuals in these generation groups also understand that mobile accessories are designed to protect, personalize and enhance your mobile devices.

Some of the more popular smrtphones include the iPhone4s, Blackberry bold 9900, Samsung Galaxy S II and the Motorola Droid Razr.   Apple is the top smartphone manufacturer by operating system with 28.6% of the market followed by Blackberry and HTC at 17% and 158% market share respectively.  Android outdistanced every other smartphone platform with an ever-growing 42.8% market share... leading Apple iOS at 28.6%, Blackberry at 17% and Windows at a paltry 5.3% market share