Targeting the Magic Jack Crowd: New Skype Adapter Works with any Home Phone

  • Skype has announced the Freetalk Connect-Me home phone adapter that serves as a conduit between a broadband Internet connection and an ordinary telephone.
  • “It appears that Skype is aggressively going after the Magic Jack demographic and attempting to teach your grandmother how to Skype,” comments Digital Trends. “A new adapter transforms that aging landline phone into an Internet gizmo.”
  • The $40 Freetalk Connect-Me features a simple design of an Ethernet port and two ports for phone lines (allowing users to keep a landline and switch between the two services), and stores up to 100 numbers for speed dialing.
  • “While a user can make free Skype-to-Skype calls, they will have to purchase a plan in order to call landlines from the Skype handset,” indicates the Digital Trends post. “While the initial $39.99 adapter comes with 60 minutes of free landline calling, an more expensive $59.99 model comes with 12 months of landline calls as well as 200 minutes of international calls.”
  • Skype has also announced a new $70 Skype-ready cordless phone from General Electric and the rollout of a rebranded version of Skype Access that provides low cost Wi-Fi access for business travelers.

Sony Xperia Line Baking Gingerbread: Adds Google Talk and Video

  • Sony Ericsson is adding Google Talk and video features this fall to its Xperia smartphone line.
  • The features will be available courtesy of an upgrade to the Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread platform.
  • The phone maker is also adding 3D camera features and increased social networking capabilities such as making Facebook access easier and quicker.
  • According to eWeek, key features include: “The ability to let users turn their Xperia smartphone into a mini PC by connecting mouse, keyboard or game controllers via USB to the Sony Ericsson LiveDock multimedia station, or to a TV via HDMI; Swipe text input (a competing technology to Swype on Android handsets); and screen capture from anywhere in the phone, a valuable tool for Web publishers.”
  • Expect the Xperia line to be available by October, possibly before the iPhone 5 fall launch.

Has MasterImage 3D Created the Best Glasses-Free 3D Yet?

  • MasterImage 3D is developing a 3D screen for smartphones and tablets that doesn’t require special glasses.
  • The screen uses what the company calls “cell matrix parallax barrier” technology, which it claims is more sophisticated than the autostereoscopic technology currently available.
  • GamesBeat lead writer Dean Takahashi points out that the viewing experience is vastly improved as compared to disappointments such as the Nintendo 3DS: “But the glasses-free experience MasterImage 3D has developed is something altogether different. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s going to offer an outstanding 3D experience on smartphones and tablets.”
  • Roy Taylor, executive vice president and general manager for MasterImage 3D, demonstrated a working prototype for Takahashi, who was very impressed: “The quality blew me away. On a 4.3-inch WVGA screen, Taylor showed a 3D movie running in stereoscopic 3D. I didn’t need to wear glasses to see the sharp 3D imagery. When I moved my head, it didn’t get blurry. And if I moved my head too far to the side, it gracefully transitioned to a two-dimensional image.”

New BlackBerry Smartphones may Jump on the Android Bandwagon

  • Can Research In Motion turn around waning sales of its BlackBerry smartphones by adding the ability to run Android apps?
  • Rumors suggest that the next generation of BlackBerry phones, to be released during the first half of next year, could be designed to run Android apps.
  • Bloomberg cites “three people familiar with the plan” who suggest RIM is building smartphones now that will use its new QNX software. Phones with the new software will be able to run Android apps, the sources claim.
  • “It has to be said, [BlackBerry] App World looks a bit sorry for itself when compared to Google’s Android Market,” reports Digital Trends. “App World currently has around 40,000 apps available for download. If next year’s phones are able to run Android apps, that’ll open up owners of the new BlackBerry devices to a further quarter of a million. If BlackBerry can create some unique, feature-rich phones in the coming months, that may well cause consumers to pay RIM’s devices some serious attention.”

Google Android 4.0 Phone Set for Launch: Ice Cream Sandwich, Anyone?

  • Google’s third-generation Nexus Prime smartphone will reportedly arrive in October running the Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS (in time to compete with Apple’s rumored iPhone 5 release).
  • The device is expected to feature a 720p Super AMOLED HD display, a 4G LTE radio and front/rear-facing cameras, powered by a 1.5GHz processor.
  • The display will reportedly include a 4.5-inch panel with a PenTile layout.
  • According to Digital Trends: “Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is said to be not just a simple update from the current version of Android. Instead, ICS is intended to be a multi-device OS, which created a unified user experience across Android tablets, phones and Google TV. This could help solve some of the fragmentation problems that Google has with Android, and is one of the primary weak points in its battle with Apple’s seamless iOS.”

Android and iOS Numbers Continue to Surge While Competitors Slide

  • Based on Q2 statistics, Android has extended its dominance as the most popular smartphone operating system in the U.S., while Apple’s iOS also continues to gain traction.
  • According to NPD, 52 percent of smartphones shipped in the U.S. during the second quarter were running Android (up 19 percent from the previous year). Apple’s iOS earned a 29 percent share, up seven percent from Q2 2010.
  • NPD reports that these figures may have an impact on the potential revitalization of Motorola. “Google’s acquisition of Motorola shifts the balance of power in the handset-patent conflict between Google and its operating system competitors,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. “Android’s momentum has made for a large pie that is attractive to Motorola’s Android rivals, even if they must compete with their operating system developer.”
  • Market gains for Android and iOS have negatively impacted the competition. Market share for Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS dropped significantly from 28 percent in the second quarter of 2010 to 11 percent this year. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile also suffered, falling from 10 percent in Q2 2010 to four percent in Q2 2011.
  • Prepaid smartphone numbers are on the rise, which may also impact Motorola (8 percent of prepaid phones were smartphones in Q2 2010, a figure that jumped to 22 percent this year). “Android is also leading the charge in the rapidly growing prepaid smartphone market,” Rubin said. “This was once a key segment for Motorola that the company has an opportunity to reclaim as prepaid carriers build their smartphone portfolios.”

Apple Advises Developers to Stop Using Mobile Software Identifier

  • The Wall Street Journal reports that “Apple is advising software developers to stop using a feature in software for its iPhones and iPads that has been linked to privacy concerns, a move that would also take away a widely used tool for tracking users and their behavior.”
  • Developers have been using a unique identifier for each device (known as UDID or Unique Device Identifier) to gather personal data about users, but the company has requested that developers not use the UDID with a new version of the operating system expected in coming weeks.
  • “The company set no specific deadline for the change,” reports WSJ. “But it stated on a website for developers that the feature ‘has been superseded and may become unsupported in the future.'”
  • Although privacy advocates reportedly embrace the change, it could potentially create “widespread repercussions for apps, advertising networks, social game networks, analytics firms and others because it removes a way for them to easily offer their services.”
  • Developers say that alternative solutions are being discussed privately (due to non-disclosure agreements with Apple).

HP Update: We Say Farewell to TouchPad and WebOS

  • HP has decided to end its recently launched TouchPad tablet and will take a $100 million loss on unsold inventory. (Interestingly, tech columnist Andy Ihnatko was getting ready to write a mixed but generally positive review of the TouchPad for the Chicago Sun-Times.)
  • Additionally, on the heels of the company announcing it would be integrating its webOS with smart appliances and other devices, HP now says there will be no more webOS phones. It did apparently leave the option open to licensing webOS to third parties.
  • In related news, AllThingsD reports that HP’s recent decision to stop the development of its webOS puts it’s personal computer business in a perilous position, and rumors are spreading as to what the company’s next step will be.
  • The most likely option involves a spin-off PC business as a separate company, much like Motorola did at the beginning of the year.
  • If HP decides to sell instead, it is likely that an Asian company will step forward to make the purchase — and the front-runner seems to be Samsung. The predicted price if a sale were to occur is placed at around $20 billion.

Caps on Mobile Data Plans: No More All-You-Can-Eat Buffets

  • As smartphones gain greater market penetration, and data-intensive applications become more popular, cellular carriers are creating limits on how much data customers can consume, and raising the price of that data.
  • T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon have all phased out their unlimited plans, and introduced tiered plans that charge customers based on how much data they consume. Only Sprint still offers an unlimited data plan.
  • Some developers worry that the caps will stifle innovation of data-intensive applications, and that customers may blame the applications if they go over their limits. This problem is compounded by the fact that consumers have no intuitive sense of how much data a given application may be using.
  • Industry analysts predict that the availability of data will become an increasingly important profit stream for cellular carriers, and a key point of competition between them.

GLMPS iPhone App Creates New Approach to Image-Sharing

  • GLMPS (pronounced “glimpse”), a new iPhone app, hopes to stand out from the growing collection of available image-sharing apps by creating a new type of media that combines stills and video.
  • Digital Trends describes the basic premise: “When you take a picture with your smartphone through the app, GLMPS captures a photo as well as a short, 5-second video clip of what took place just before the picture was taken. When viewing the GLMPS file, the video plays first, and is then shrunken down and superimposed as a thumbnail over the photo. The video then plays on repeat, much like a GIF file.”
  • All images are automatically stored to the iPhone’s camera roll. Users can then share the images through the free app, or post GLMPS files to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Will Tablets and Smartphones Replace Gaming Consoles?

  • Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, imagines the iPhone 8 will be faster than an Xbox 360 and will probably plug into our TVs or connect wirelessly, perhaps making next-gen consoles less significant.
  • “I think that’s the real challenge for us now,” explained Capps to IndustryGamers, “rather than worrying about the difference between a couple consoles and some order of magnitude, whether 3X or 4X. It’s about how do we deal with iPhone 8.”
  • “Your iPhone 8 will probably plug into your TV, or better yet, wirelessly connect to your television set to give you that big screen gaming experience with good sound,” added Capps. “So really, what’s the point of those next-gen consoles? It’s a very interesting situation to be looking at. That’s what we’re starting to think about more…not how do we scale from some Nintendo platform to some other future console.”
  • Capps’ observations are similar to remarks made recently by EA CEO John Riccitiello, who described the iPad as the company’s fastest growing platform.
  • “We have a new hardware platform and we’re putting out software every 90 days,” Riccitiello told IndustryGamers. “Our fastest growing platform is the iPad right now and that didn’t exist 18 months ago… Consoles used to be 80 percent of the industry as recently as 2000. Consoles today are 40 percent of the game industry.”

Unlocked iPhone Could Impact the Subsidized Carrier Model

  • While Apple has been working on the design elegance and overall quality of its iPhone, the existing business model with carrier partners has allowed the company to hide the true cost of the device in two-year contracts. Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 launch may change this model.
  • The company is rumored to be considering a $350 price point for an entry level unlocked iPhone.
  • T-GAAP reports: “The main purpose for such a device is to penetrate China and other regions which are not fond of subsidized programs. If Apple can deliver an unlocked iPhone starting at $350, the impact in China will be stunning, and send U.S. and European carriers scrambling.”
  • If this is the case, consumers would be able to purchase an iPhone from the Apple Store and select any prepaid plan of their choosing (such as an “all-you-can-eat $50 month-to-month T-Mobile or Cricket or Boost plan”).
  • Carriers would most likely push other phones, but it may be too late for that based on consumer demand. Their next move could be lower entry prices for the iPhone.
  • “Plan on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint offering two-year contract plans for the iPhone 5 starting at $149,” suggests T-GAAP. “Carriers wil be scrambling to protect a model that has done them so well for the past 15 years. However, Apple is about to pull it all apart with a single product launch.”

Verizon to Offer LTE-Supported Laptop and Tablets

  • Verizon began selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 this week, the first LTE-supported tablet available in the U.S.
  • A 16GB version of the Honeycomb 3.1 device is offered at $530, while a 32GB model is available for $630 (although InformationWeek was not impressed with the pricing of the data plans). Verizon will also offer the Wi-Fi-only model for $499.
  • Additionally, the wireless provider will begin selling an LTE-ready HP Pavilion Entertainment laptop and will upgrade its Motorola Xoom tablet to LTE in September. InformationWeek reports the new HP laptop “ships with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and it features an 11.6-inch, high-definition HP BrightView LED display at 1366 x 768 pixels. Under the hood, it is powered by a 1.6-GHz AMD dual-core processor, offers 2 GB of RAM, and 320 GB worth of storage with HP’s ProtectSmart hard drive protection.”
  • ETCentric recently reported that Verizon expanded its LTE 4G network to more than 100 markets last week. Verizon claims its customers can expect download speeds between 5 and 12 Mbps and upload speeds between 2 and 5 Mbps.

E-Commerce: Purchasing via Tablets on the Rise

  • Consumers are increasingly using iPads and other tablet devices for mobile purchases, according to a new report by Forrester Research released this week.
  • Tablets might even one day outpace smartphones and PCs in terms of e-commerce volume.
  • The devices already account for 20 percent of mobile sales, even though just 9 percent of online shoppers have tablets. Additionally, 60 percent of tablet owners say they have used the devices to shop.
  • Tablets typically offer richer catalog presentations than those available via smartphones, and applications often produce faster loading times than retailers’ websites.
  • “Everyone thinks that mobile phones and mobile commerce are the next big things, and I think what this data shows is it’s probably actually tablets,” explains Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester analyst. “We have always capped e-commerce at 10 to 15 percent of total retail sales, but this potentially has the capability of really expanding e-commerce much beyond that.”

Hitachi Announces LCD Screen: 720p and Glasses-Free 3D

  • Smartphone screens may continue to get larger. Hitachi announced it has developed a high resolution 4.5-inch, 720p display that the company hopes will be used for portable TVs, phones or handheld game devices.
  • The 1280×710 resolution may enable 720p HD movies to be viewed in native resolution on phones — and the backlit LCD would be an IPS-based display, allowing for a wide viewing angle like that on the iPhone.
  • Additionally, this new 3D-capable display uses a lenticular lens (rather than a barrier approach) that would enable glasses-free 3D.
  • ETCentric contributor Phil Lelyveld points out: “3D is driving the display industry towards higher and higher resolution phone screens, since 3D effectively halves the resolution. Resolution has become a marketing point in this highly competitive market.”