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- Apple iPad 2 part of Chinese afterlife ritual
- Android 2.2 Froyo now available for T-Mobile's myTouch 3G Slide
- Vodafone sells stake of SFR in France to Vivendi
- Sony to bring unlimited music service to Xperia PLAY
- comScore's latest numbers show Android increasing lead in marketshare
- Motorola stock forecasts cut back in wake of poor XOOM sales
- Cablevision launches iPad app in wake of Time Warner, Fox scuffle
- HTC says Flyer tablet will definitely get Honeycomb update
- Apple, Google, RIM, more sued over smartphone payments patent
- Amazon next company to enter NFC arena
- PlayBook tablet to receive USB host support post launch
| Apple iPad 2 part of Chinese afterlife ritual Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:42 AM PDT  Apple's immensely popular iPad 2 tablet has become part of an afterlife ritual for Chinese families in Malaysia. The ritual involves burning paper money and replicas of luxury in order to provide a comfortable life for the deceased. "Some of my customers have dreams where their departed relatives will ask for luxury items, including the iPad 2," said shopkeeper Jeffrey Te. The iPad 2 replicas that are sold in shops in Malaysia have been selling out just as fast as the real ones produced by Apple. The papercraft tablets cost about 1 dollar for an 888 gigabyte capacity, an important number in Chinese culture. Read the full story here.
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| Android 2.2 Froyo now available for T-Mobile's myTouch 3G Slide Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:37 AM PDT  HTC and T-Mobile have finally released the Android 2.2 Froyo software update for the myTouch 3G Slide smartphone. The myTouch 3G Slide orginally launched in June of 2010 and has been stuck in Android 2.1 Eclair purgatory since. The new 2.2 update adds all of the standard functionality that it usually brings to 2.1 (Dalvik JIT compiler for much improved speed, ability to move apps to SD card, and more), as well as adding T-Mobile's Wi-Fi calling feature and resolving some bugs that were present in the system. The update does not happen over-the-air like most Android updates, however. Users will have to plug their phone into their computer and download the updating software from HTC's site and update the smartphone manually. Currently it is only available for Windows users, so Mac users are out of luck. Read the full story here.
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| Vodafone sells stake of SFR in France to Vivendi Posted: 04 Apr 2011 04:24 AM PDT  French company Vivendi has agreed to purchase Vodafone's stake in French carrier SFR. SFR is France's second largest carrier behind France Telecom. Vivendi will purchase the 44 percent stake that Vodafone owns for 7.95 billion EUR (US $11.3 billion). SFR and Vodafone will maintain joint operations for three years as part of the deal, and Vodafone customers will still have roaming capabilities on SFR's network while in France. The deal is expected to close by June of this year. Read the full story here.
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| Sony to bring unlimited music service to Xperia PLAY Posted: 03 Apr 2011 11:02 AM PDT  Sony is reportedly planning to bring its Qriocity Music Unlimited service to the Xperia PLAY smartphone, as well as its PSP and NGP gaming handhelds this year. Qriocity is currently available for the PS3 and select Sony TVs and Blu-ray players, and is a subscription service for streaming music to various devices. The goal is to have one subscription that can be used with a multitude of Sony products. The PSP will reportedly get the service in a matter of weeks, while the PLAY and other Android phones will get it later in the year. Read the full story here.
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| comScore's latest numbers show Android increasing lead in marketshare Posted: 03 Apr 2011 10:29 AM PDT  The latest report from comScore shows that Google's Android operating system has increased its lead in the market by seven percentage points. However, Apple gained the most since November, thanks in part to the Verizon Wireless launch of the iPhone 4. Read the full story here.
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| Motorola stock forecasts cut back in wake of poor XOOM sales Posted: 03 Apr 2011 09:37 AM PDT  Stock market analyst Mark Sue of RBC Capital Markets has cut his forecast of Motorola Mobility stock back to $33 a share from his earlier prediction of $38 a share. He blames the slow sales of the Motorola XOOM Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet for the lower prediction. Sue says that stiffer competition on pricing and features from Apple has led to the lower-than-anticipated sales numbers. "Limited differention" was also said to contribute to the lower sales since the XOOM does not have the MOTOBLUR user interface extensions, but rather the stock Google experience. The fact that the XOOM is currently the only Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet on the market and therefore does not need a manufacturer skin to differentiate itself seems to be lost on Sue, though sales of the XOOM have not been as high as expected regardless. Read the full story here.
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| Cablevision launches iPad app in wake of Time Warner, Fox scuffle Posted: 03 Apr 2011 09:14 AM PDT  Even though its competitor, Time Warner Cable, has run into some snags with its newly launched cable TV access application for the Apple iPad, Cablevision launched its own iPad app yesterday. Read the full story here.
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| HTC says Flyer tablet will definitely get Honeycomb update Posted: 03 Apr 2011 08:47 AM PDT  HTC has responded to inquiries on Twitter as to whether its upcoming Flyer tablet will get an upgrade to Android 3.0 Honeycomb. In light of recent news that Google would be restricting manufacturers from modifying its Android OS in the future, HTC has stated that the Flyer will definitely get the upgrade when it is made available by Google. The 7-inch Flyer will be launching with Android 2.4 Gingerbread with a new version of HTC's custom Sense interface specifically designed for tablets. You can view our hands-on of the Flyer from MWC this year here. Read the full story here.
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| Apple, Google, RIM, more sued over smartphone payments patent Posted: 03 Apr 2011 08:33 AM PDT  H-W Technology has filed a lawsuit against Apple, RIM, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung claiming infringement on a patent that covers a smartphone's ability to make purchases through applications without having to call the seller directly. In clearer terms, it affects application stores and commerce apps. The plaintiff is also suing Google and Verizon Communications for their app stores, as well as eBay, Hotels.com, Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, and Kayak. The company is looking for monetary compensation, but has not specified an amount. Experts say that this will be a very difficult lawsuit to process, as each defendant will likely motion to have the case moved to their respective home jurisdictions. The suit was filed in Texas. Read the full story here.
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| Amazon next company to enter NFC arena Posted: 03 Apr 2011 07:15 AM PDT  Amazon is reportedly going to be the next big company to get involved with NFC for mobile payments, following Google, Nokia, and RIM. Read the full story here.
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| PlayBook tablet to receive USB host support post launch Posted: 03 Apr 2011 05:13 AM PDT  RIM's BlackBerry Dev support account on Twitter has revealed that the upcoming PlayBook tablet will receive USB host support post-launch. USB host support allows two devices to communicate with each other without the presence of a computer. This can allow a camera to talk directly to a PlayBook for picture and media management. Nokia is famous for bundling the support in its higher end smartphones, as recently seen with the E7. The support team did not give an exact date as to when USB host support would be added to the PlayBook. Read the full story here.
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