Will Facebook Event This Week Include a Facebook Phone?

Facebook is scheduled to host an event called “Come See Our New Home On Android” on April 4 at its headquarters in Menlo Park. TechCrunch suggests the event may include the long predicted Facebook Phone. Sources say the event will showcase a modified version of the Android operating system with native Facebook functionality on the home screen. Additionally, it may live on an HTC handset. Continue reading Will Facebook Event This Week Include a Facebook Phone?

Mobile World Congress: GSMA Says Time for NFC is Now

At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, there was a clear message sent by the GSMA, the congress’s organizing body: Near Field Communication (NFC) might finally be ready to have its day. That message may be hard to believe, considering NFC has been on the cusp of breaking through for nearly a decade and still has yet to achieve mainstream adoption. However, the technology was everywhere at this year’s MWC. Continue reading Mobile World Congress: GSMA Says Time for NFC is Now

Game News: Electronic Arts CEO Riccitiello to Step Down

Electronic Arts chief exec John Riccitiello is set to resign in the wake of the videogame company’s disappointing earnings and stock figures. EA announced that Larry Probst, current EA chairman and former CEO, would serve as executive chairman while the board searches for a replacement for Riccitiello. In a letter to his employees, Riccitiello took responsibility for the “shortcomings” in EA’s recent results. Continue reading Game News: Electronic Arts CEO Riccitiello to Step Down

President and FCC Back Consumer Right to Unlock Phones

According to the Obama administration and the Federal Communications Commission, customers should be able to switch cellular carriers and keep their own phones while doing so. With that support, it could soon be easier for consumers to take advantage of lower rates from competing carriers once the initial contract is fulfilled, and could also mean more price competition and added choices for cellphone users. Continue reading President and FCC Back Consumer Right to Unlock Phones

CNET Gives MWC Best of Show Award to Ubuntu Touch OS

At last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, CNET was impressed with the Asus Padfone Infinity, Asus FonePad, Nokia Lumia 720 and Sony Xperia Z tablet. In selecting its Best of Show award, however, a panel of CNET judges focused on the potentially disruptive category of new mobile operating systems. Mozilla’s Firefox OS and Canonical’s Ubuntu Touch generated the most buzz at MWC. Continue reading CNET Gives MWC Best of Show Award to Ubuntu Touch OS

Mobile Activity on Upswing, Opens Doors for Mobile Ad Biz

According to Nielsen’s Vice Chair Susan Whiting, who was a part of a panel discussion analyzing disruption in traditional media usage at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Wednesday, consumers are not abandoning one platform for another. Instead, they’re spending more time than ever viewing and reading news and entertainment content, using mobile devices as an access point. Continue reading Mobile Activity on Upswing, Opens Doors for Mobile Ad Biz

Samsung Preps Android to Take On BlackBerry in Enterprise

Samsung Electronics has another target in its ever-growing sights: the BlackBerry. Until recently, Samsung has marketed its smartphones very successfully to consumers worldwide, but never to businesses. That’s been changing over the past year, as the South Korean manufacturer has been beefing up the Google Android software that runs its phones, in an effort to give businesses a phone with increased security. Continue reading Samsung Preps Android to Take On BlackBerry in Enterprise

American Idol Adds New Twitter Fan Meter for Live Polling

“American Idol” has begun using Twitter as a platform through which to take instant audience polls. Using two possible hashtags per question, those in the audience can respond to network inquiries like: Do you agree with the judges tonight? Once the answers are submitted, Fox and partner FremantleMedia will update a graphic almost instantaneously as results come in, creating a live tug of war. Continue reading American Idol Adds New Twitter Fan Meter for Live Polling

LG Wirelessly Streams 4K Video from Smartphone to UHD TV

At this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, LG is demonstrating the ability to wirelessly send 4K video from a phone to an Ultra HD television. The company claims the technique, which is ideal for viewing games and other smartphone content on UHD TVs in real time, requires only half the power of other similar approaches. No additional specifics were provided, aside from it using “ubiquitous” Wi-Fi connections. Continue reading LG Wirelessly Streams 4K Video from Smartphone to UHD TV

Petition Hopes to Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal Again

An online petition to the White House regarding the locking of mobile phones has gathered more than 100,000 signatures, the milestone at which the U.S. government is required to issue an official response. The petition is intended to make unlocking phones legal again. The signature-gathering campaign has largely generated followers via social networks including Twitter and Reddit. Continue reading Petition Hopes to Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal Again

BI Forecast Predicts Mobile Growth, but Sees Changes Ahead

BI Intelligence reviewed year-end data to identify anticipated trends in the mobile industry for the upcoming year. Research analyst Alex Cocotas published a slide deck for “The Year Ahead in Mobile,” which notes that more than 2.5 billion people were online by the end of 2012 (about 35 percent of the global population). Mobile currently accounts for 15 percent of worldwide Internet traffic, and is expected to top 25 percent by the end of 2013. Continue reading BI Forecast Predicts Mobile Growth, but Sees Changes Ahead

Windows Phone Usage: Nokia to Pay Microsoft $1B in Royalties

Microsoft has been paying $250 million per quarter since 2011 in platform support payments to Nokia for using the Windows Phone brand. While this amount has exceeded what Nokia pays Microsoft to use its software, this is about to change. Nokia recently announced that it plans to pay Microsoft $1 billion in royalties for Windows Phone mobile software usage. Continue reading Windows Phone Usage: Nokia to Pay Microsoft $1B in Royalties

CES 2013: Expect Connected Game Devices and Cameras

Although E3 has become the premier launching pad for all things video games, Microsoft spent a significant amount of its final keynote address at last year’s CES touting the place of Xbox in the home entertainment landscape. Gaming consoles could very well be the ultimate smart TV upgrade by providing Internet access and a pipeline for media through an ever-expanding app selection. Continue reading CES 2013: Expect Connected Game Devices and Cameras

Xiaomi Takes a Slice of the Smartphone Pie

  • Just three years into its existence, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi Technology has a $4 billion valuation and has garnered “Apple-like adoration” from loyal fans, reports Reuters.
  • Founder Lei Jun, 42, helped shape China’s Internet revolution when he co-founded and sold Joyo.cn to Amazon before moving on to Xiaomi Technology. At Xiaomi, Lei has become a Steve Jobs-like figure, as he has marketed his product simply, but in a way that generates “an aura of exclusivity around its products,” notes the article.
  • When addressing comparisons to Jobs, Lei says, “I will take this as a compliment but such kind of comparison brings us huge pressure.”
  • “Xiaomi and Apple are two totally different companies,” he continues. “Xiaomi’s based on the Internet. We are not doing the same thing as Apple.”
  • The company released its second phone in October and has sold 300,000 units. The phone is comparable to Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and Apple’s iPhone 5, but sells for only $370.
  • “Unlike the big domestic smartphone players, such as Lenovo Group, ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies, which work with telecom carriers to sell a large volume of smartphones, Xiaomi sells most of its phones online and in small batches,” writes Reuters. By limiting quantity and selling in small batches, Xiaomi creates buzz. This demand led to Xiaomi selling its entire batch of 50,000 smartphones in less than two minutes in October.
  • China is expected to pass the United States as the number one smartphone market within the year, but some people still believe the market will be controlled by market leaders ZTE and Huawei, and that Xiaomi’s small scale strategy will hurt its long term outlook.

TIME Lists Top 10 Gadgets of the Year: iPhone 5 Takes Top Spot

  • Although Apple may have to cede the top spot on smartphone sales, its iPhone 5 still sits at No. 1 in terms of overall device and operation system quality, earning the coveted TIME Magazine ‘gadget of the year’ award.
  • TIME’s Harry McCracken calls the iPhone 5 ‘one of the most artfully polished gadgets anyone’s ever built,’ adding that ‘when it comes to melding hardware, software and services so tightly that the seams fade away, Apple still has no peer,'” VentureBeat reports.
  • “Despite 5 million units sold in its opening weekend, and stellar sales results that catapulted iOS back into the mobile operating system lead in November, the iPhone 5 probably can’t catch the Samsung Galaxy S III, which launched in the summer and reached 18 million units by early November,” the article continues.
  • Apple did not, however, gain recognition from TIME for its iPads, even though the new iPad mini earned a warm welcome by many in October.
  • TIME‘s top 10 gadgets are as follows: 1) iPhone 5, 2) Nintendo Wii U, 3) Sony Cyber-shot RX100, 4) Raspberry Pi Model B, 5) Lytro, 6) Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, 7) Microsoft Surface with Windows RT, 8) Samsung Galaxy Note II, 9) Nest, and 10) Simple.TV.