Apple and HTC settle patent dispute
Tonight, Apple and HTC ended their longstanding patent litigation. The agreement terminates all litigation and establishes cross-licensing of patents current and future for 10 years. The deal raises questions about whether Apple might step back from its aggressive litigation, working with competitors. Cross-licensing intellectual property tends to be mutually beneficial, and it's a tactic long pursued by Microsoft.
"We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC", Apple CEO Tim Cook, says. "We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation". HTC CEO Peter Chou remarks: "HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation".
Verizon Wireless puts Nokia Lumia 822 and HTC 8X on sale tonight (at a higher price than AT&T)
Verizon Wireless will begin taking orders for the HTC Windows Phone 8X, Nokia Lumia 822, and the Samsung ATIV Odyssey at 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time tonight.
According to Verizon Wireless:
AT&T prices Windows Phone 8 to sell
The Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are available for pre-order at AT&T starting today with sales to begin on November 9. On a two-year contract the Lumia 920 costs $99.99, while its smaller brother goes for less at $49.99. Off-contract, the Lumia 920 costs $449.99, while the Lumia 820 goes for $399.99. The HTC Windows Phone 8x will also be available before Thanksgiving. The 8GB model in Limelight costs $99.99, while the 16GB California Blue model runs $199.99.
On price, the Lumia 920 squares off with the HTC One X, Motorola Atrix HD, Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket or Sony Xperia TL. Competing flagship smartphones such as the Apple iPhone 5, LG Optimus G and Samsung Galaxy SIII are available for $199.99, but come with half the storage and obviously double the price.
Steve Ballmer narrates Windows Phone 8 ad, hints a new Type Cover color?
Microsoft publicly unveiled Windows Phone 8 yesterday. We know that. But it does not happen everyday for the company's CEO, Steve Ballmer, to star in an ad presenting the company's latest smartphone operating system.
Titled "Meet Steve. See his Windows Phone," the video ad takes the man behind one of the most important companies in tech through various Windows Phone 8 features. There is an emphasis on social networking towards the beginning, as is shown by Facebook tiles. It has to be noted that the latter can be integrated in one's Outlook account, which is a neat feature further presented through a continuously updating Messaging live tile. The Mail app also displays similar behavior when Ballmer mentions "So, so, so much advice." Then there's Bill Gates making a short appearance.
Don't wait until October 29, pre-order Windows Phone 8 NOW!
In seven days, Microsoft launches Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco. But you need not wait that long. Some retailers are already taking pre-orders (and even postponing them). HTC Windows Phone 8X is available for $99.99 on AT&T, while Nokia Lumia 920 is $149.99. Best Buy offered both today, but the Lumia since disappeared, presumably sold out. It's available elsewhere, unlocked and contract-free, for considerably more.
The Nokia handset will be available in the United States exclusively from AT&T -- that is subsidized. Mobile City Online is among the retailers carrying the international version, there for $699.99. Note that international model is unlocked but has HSPA+ instead of LTE. T-Mobile and Verizon will also carry the HTC phone. None of the retailers I checked this afternoon list arrival times, which, based on earlier manufacturer product announcements, will be November.
AOKP Jelly Bean Build 5 now available, download using Kangerator
Three weeks have passed since the Android Open Kang Project team released a new build, and after a long wait AOKP Jelly Bean Build 5 is now available, bringing along the latest version of Android with it. Also released is a new app named Kangerator for following and downloading new AOKP releases.
The latest build is based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, build number JZO54K and apart from introducing support for the AT&T variants of the Samsung Galaxy S III (d2att) and Galaxy Note (quincyatt) and removing support for the HTC One XL/X (evita), it also brings a number of features from the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich builds, such as NavBar widgets.
HTC teases the J Butterfly -- 5-inch HD display, quad core, but only in Japan (for now)
HTC recently introduced the One X+, a quad-core powerhouse that took the flagship role in the company's smartphone lineup. Today, the Taiwanese phone maker announced the J butterfly (codename "htl21"), a 5-inch device with a whopping 1080p display.
The HTC J butterfly comes with impressive specifications, the first of which is a 5-inch SuperLCD 3 display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and a density of 440ppi. Power comes from a 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, that is identical to the one found in the LG Optimus G, and 2GB of RAM. On top of the rather modest 16GB of onboard storage, HTC included a microSDHC card slot which is a change of heart from the previously released One S, One X and EVO 4G LTE smartphones that had no expandable storage.
NASA sends HTC/Google Nexus One...into space
Launched with Android 2.1 Eclair in January 2010 the HTC-built Google Nexus One is more than two years old, but that is not stopping NASA from re-launching the smartphone... into space this time around.
Part of the PhoneSat program designed to create "small, low-cost, and easy-to-buid nano-satellites", in 2013 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will launch Google's former Android flagship smartphone into space. According to HTC, NASA will not unbox the Google Nexus One and strap it on a rocket, as it was already put through thorough testing. The smartphone's first contact with space was in 2010, when it was attached to a rocket and launched to the edge of space, while also recording every step of the trip.
Leaked HTC One X Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ROM is available
HTC promised the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for the One X since almost three months ago, and alongside the newly introduced One X+ the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer announced the elusive update will hit its "One" family at the end of October. But if waiting is too painful, you can now download leaked Jelly Bean ROM for your HTC One X.
Aside from updating to the latest Android version available, the deveveloper-only leaked ROM also comes with new Sense version 4.5 that according to the press release issued by HTC should be the same version as the one that will ship with the One X+ flagship. The only catch is that the update does not install in a breeze and requires a certain CID number, which might exclude branded versions; on top of it, at the moment, there is no way to downgrade to an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich ROM. Seems rather difficult, doesn't it?
Everything Everywhere launches 4G LTE on October 30
Six weeks ago, United Kingdom communications regulator Ofcom granted Everything Everywhere the right to roll out 4G LTE over its existent 1800MHz wireless spectrum. Starting October 30, the new brand along with its 4G LTE services will launch in the UK market.
The carrier will deploy 4G LTE in 10 cities, a number increasing by six before the end of the year, which equates to one-third of the UK population. Everything Everywhere also revealed a longer-term plan to reach 98 percent coverage by 2014.
HTC reveals One X+, new flagship smartphone, updates for other 'Ones'
Half a year after HTC released the One X, the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has improved upon its original design and come up with a new flagship Android device -- the One X+.
The One X+ is the first HTC smartphone to be released with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box, and similar to its older sibling, it comes with the Sense+ user interface on top of it. The most noteworthy changes, apart from the operating system, are in the processor and battery departments with the One X+. It features a faster 1.7 GHz nVidia Tegra 3 CPU, and a larger 2,100 mAh battery, even bigger than the one in the HTC EVO 4G LTE.
AOKP Jelly Bean Build 4 now available
A week after the Android Open Kang Project team announced the implementation of a new release schedule, they delivered on their promise by releasing AOKP Jelly Bean Build 4, providing along with it a number of interesting statistics.
Since June, the Android distribution reached a little over 180,000 official installations worldwide, and that is impressive for what is basically a small team of developers. The number of custom Android distributions based on AOKP code reached almost 430,000. The focus is still on AOKP Jelly Bean Build 4 that is based on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean build number JRO03R, so what does it bring to the table?
HTC's new Windows Phone 8 smartphones mimic Microsoft's tile interface
Wednesday, longtime Windows smartphone maker HTC debuted two new flagship Windows Phone devices which were designed to showcase Microsoft's latest mobile OS Windows Phone 8. The new smartphones, called the Windows Phone 8X and 8S, carry the same bright external colors of Nokia's Lumia series Windows Phones, but use HTC's technology and design prowess to make the devices stand out on their own.
Similar to the HTC One X in the speed and power department (dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 megapixel camera), the Windows Phone 8X has a 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 display with Corning's Gorilla Glass 2, 16 GB of internal storage, and an improved 2.1 megapixel forward-facing camera with 1080p video capture and an 88 degree wide-angle lens.
If HTC customer satisfaction is so high, why are smartphone sales so low?
That's my question after scanning a survey JDPower and Associates released yesterday. The firm ranks customer satisfaction on a scale of one to 1,000. For the eighth consecutive survey, Apple is tops with a score of 849. But HTC is second, at 790, which has me scratching my head trying to put two and two together and getting three. Perhaps my math should be similar for Apple, since Samsung, which scored 782, sells more smartphones than any other manufacturer -- that's here and abroad.
My point: High customer satisfaction doesn't necessarily equate to big sales. There are many other factors to consider, particularly subsidized products like smartphones. Among them: Carrier contracts and pricing; device promotions; on-shelf experience in stores; handset look and feel; color choices; cases and other add-on options; carrier availability (no iPhone at T-Mobile USA, for example) and advertising, which Samsung does much more of than HTC -- or that's my observation. None of these reasons considers features, which aren't that different phone to phone as they used to be.
Android and iOS shut out Windows Phone, BlackBerry
For the three months ending in July, Android and iOS combined US smartphone subscriber share reached 85.6 percent, according to comScore. That's 3.4 percentage points higher than April. Meanwhile, Research in Motion and Microsoft mobile platforms receded to 9.5 percent and 3.6 percent share from 11.6 percent and 4 percent, respectively. While comScore combines defunct Windows Mobile and Windows Phone, we henceforth refer to both using the latter name.
The smartphone market clearly consolidates around Android and iOS, leaving even less share for Windows Phone or BlackBerry. Android and iOS will soon face the new batch of Windows Phone 8 handsets, including the Nokia Lumia 920 announced today. However, as it stands now, Microsoft's mobile operating system has plenty of ground to cover to even count as a worthy adversary to the two major platforms.
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