Posts Tagged ‘3G’

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iPad could spark mobile net price war

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

THE APPLE iPad has sparked a bidding war for internet users that could force down the price of mobile downloads in Australia, telecommunications experts warned yesterday.

Telstra and Optus revealed generous, pay-as-you-go internet plans for the Apple iPad this week that cut the price of mobile internet use by more than 90 per cent.

The announcements came before Apple began accepting pre-orders for the delayed and highly anticipated tablet computer yesterday.

Telstra’s iPad plans cut the price of mobile internet by as much as 92 per cent, while Optus bettered Telstra’s bid by offering twice the data allowance for the same price.

Under the iPad plans, 2GB of mobile downloads will cost as little as $20.

By comparison, Telstra currently offers a 1GB mobile phone internet pack for $39.

Also, both companies are offering iPad internet access on pay-as-you-go plans rather than in a 12 or 24-month contract.

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The price cuts mean using an Apple iPad (priced from $629 to $1049) will be cheaper than using the smaller Apple iPhone.

Gartner research director Robin Simpson said he was surprised and mystified at the “aggressive pricing” from both leading phone carriers, but said it could be an attempt to be associated with Apple and the iPad.

“There’s no doubt it will be another iconic device like the iPhone, so maybe the thinking is that they’d like to have their brand associated with such a successful product and it’s simply a marketing exercise,” Mr Simpson said.

“Also, because it’s a data-only product, and has no voice component, this will represent getting new subscribers that they can report to their shareholders.”

While users will not be able to use the smaller Apple iPad SIM cards in other gadgets, Mr Simpson said the discounted internet plans could trickle down for use with other gadgets such as phones and laptop connections.

“It should put some downward pressure on other mobile internet plans and it certainly represents a good deal if you’re in the market for a mobile internet plan,” he said.

An Optus spokeswoman said the company would reveal more details of its iPad data plans this week, and Vodafone Hutchison spokeswoman Tess Mion said Vodafone and 3 Mobile would reveal iPad internet plans “soon”.

Apple has sold more than a million iPads since its April 3 US launch and will launch wi-fi and 3G models of the touchscreen tablet computer in Australia on May 28.

Resource:

http://www.news.com.au/technology/ipad-could-spark-mobile-net-price-war/story-e6frfro0-1225864843995

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Posted in iPad/iPod | 1 Comment »

Archos Preparing New Archos 8 Tablet

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Archos has revealed to a Chinese audience that it will sell an Archos 8 tablet to complement the existing, newly-introduced, Archos 7.

A spokesperson for the company told the Inquirer that the Archos 8 will be coming out this year, very soon after the release of the 7.

The device is set to have an 8-inch screen capable of showing 800×480 pixels, be less than a half-inch thick, weigh 400g and come with 4GB internal storage.

It is not yet known whether there will be expansion slots like a USB port or a card reader.

According to French website ArchosLounge, the Archos 8 will be part of Archos’s new lineup consisting of six tablets with a screen size ranging from 3-inches to 10-inches.

The device will be priced significantly cheaper than its competition, Apple’s iPad, with the cheapest costing $100 and the most expensive $350.

A prospective Archos 10 is likely to have an ARM Cortex 1GHz, Multitouch and 3G Open GL capabilities.

Given that we already know there are 3, 7, 8 and 10-inch tablets, we are left with only one remaining unknown model. As for the Archos 8 Tablet, it should be with us within the next few months.

Resource:

http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/5/10/archos-preparing-new-archos-8-tablet/

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Posted in iPad/iPod | No Comments »

Hacker Brings Android to the IPhone 3G, IPhone 3GS Up Next

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Apple surely isn’t happy about this

Much like the open platform Windows invaded the traditionally closed hardware platform of Apple’s Macs — first unofficially, and then later officially condoned — Android is now establishing a beach head on Apple’s coveted iPhone.

Hacker David Wang, better known as “planetbeing” on the internet, made waves a few weeks ago when he showed off a first generation (2G) iPhone that he got running a modified Android OS kernel. Wang is well know in the hacking community for being one of the key contributors to the iPhone 3GS jailbreak. This week he showed off Android running on the iPhone 3G, or the version with the “nasty plastic, easily scratched back”, as Wang puts it.

Wang’s solution is dual booting. You can only run one OS at a time. Wang is using the OpeniBoot tool to manage the multiboot. Rebooting takes a while because the NAND and FTL (flash translation layer) drivers aren’t optimized yet, though Wang feels this will soon change.

Wang had to port UltraSn0w (from the iPhone Dev Team) into OpeniBoot to get the radio working. It starts running during the boot process — this is one of the slowest steps.

Currently almost everything — including Wi-Fi, internet, SMS, and MMS — is working in the Android port. The only thing not working is sound, which is a disappointment as you can’t make or receive phone calls. Don’t worry, though — Wang is promising that he’s make major progress in getting the sound fully working and ready for primetime.

There are now several new developers working on this exciting project. Wang states, “With their help I’m sure we’ll be able to bring the system to production quality before too long.”

Currently the code has not been published, but Wang plans to release a polished version within the next couple days for public consumption. Keep checking Wang’s website here.

Apple surely won’t be happy when they discover what Wang has been up to. It wouldn’t be surprising even, if they try to sue to stop the spread of Android on the iPhone. Apple has already stated that it believes jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone to be illegal. Ultimately, though, it’s just one more sign that Android is threatening to do to the iPhone’s version of OS X what Windows did to MacOS/OS X on the personal computer.

Resource:

http://www.dailytech.com/Hacker+Brings+Android+to+the+IPhone+3G+IPhone+3GS+Up+Next/article18331.htm

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Posted in Android Development | 1 Comment »

T-Mobile to release new myTouch Android phone

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

The latest Android flavor of the week is the Droid Incredible from HTC.

But T-Mobile wants you to keep an eye out for its myTouch line, which gets a robust update in the myTouch 3G Slide. This new landscape slider, which comes out in June, takes a lot of the best attributes of HTC’s Sense user interface and builds another layer on top.

It creates an even more polished experience, with added touches from T-Mobile that make the phone more social and helpful for users than its predecessor.

The main improvements include a Faves Gallery for up to 20 of your favorite people. This specialized contacts application lets you see all your communications with your favorite people and prioritizes your updates from those people. For instance, your phone will flash a green light when one of your Faves contacts communicates with you.

There’s a Genius Button that lets you activate voice commands for making calls, composing texts and e-mails, conducting Web searches or launching applications. The feature will also read incoming text messages.

And finally, there’s myModes, which builds off the Sense interface themes. Themes allow you to customize your interface for different occasions, say for work, evenings and weekends. MyModes automates the switching between themes based on the time of day or your location. So it can switch from work mode to home mode when you leave the office or hit a certain point in the day.

MyTouch 3G Slide also has full Microsoft Exchange support as well as the ability to run seven panes from the home screen.

The phone also boasts a full slide-out keyboard without adding much bulk to the body. The camera gets an upgrade to 5 megapixels and the screen is bumped up to 3.4 inches. It will run Android 2.1, which includes free turn-by-turn navigation.

This adds momentum to the fast-growing Android platform. We’re still waiting for Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone, expected to be released in June, but the well of Android competition keeps getting deeper.

Resource:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/04/BU051D9034.DTL

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Posted in Android Development | No Comments »

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