Mobile News 9/3/2010
Let’s kick things off with a quick discussion regarding RIM’s new Style, and no, I’m not referring to their swagger. RIM’s latest device is the 9670 clamshell. Rumors claim that RIM plans to name this new clamshell the BlackBerry Style. This small device has a full QWERTY keyboard, trackpad, OS 6, and an external display. So far, we are confident that this device will be available at Sprint but we’re not sure if it will be available at other carriers. This device seems to appeal to more people than I originally expected. People seem to like the compact size for their pocket, and yet it still has a full QWERTY keyboard. This will be RIM’s second device to be released with OS 6, and they’re hoping it takes off because opening weekend for the BlackBerry Torch did not go so well. Reports indicate that RIM only sold roughly 150,000 Torch units, which doesn’t come close to any iOS or Droid release parties.
Apple held their fall keynote presentation earlier this week and Steve Jobs had plenty to talk about. First off is the new iPod Touch. This device is upgraded to a retina display, Apple A4 chip, 3-Axis gyro, front facing camera with FaceTime, along with everything else that the iPhone 4 has. There are only a couple differences between the new iPod Touch and the iPhone 4. One difference is the size, the iPod Touch is thinner than the iPhone 3Gs, the iPod Touch has a lower resolution camera, and the iPod Touch doesn’t require a contract. The iPod Touch also doesn’t make phone calls, but I’ll let you decide as to whether or not that is any different from the iPhone 4.
Apple has also revamped the iPod Nano with a retina display which allows the user to see 4 icons on the screen. The new iPod shuffle has physical buttons again which were not present on last year’s model.
Apple also announced a new Apple TV unit. The new model will be $99 instead of the previous $299. Apple TV allows a user to rent movies and TV shows and have them streaming on their TV instead of waiting for a DVD to arrive in the mail. Apple TV supports 720p resolution which some people have complained about because their TV and blu-ray players push out 1080p. Apple decided to keep Apple TV at 720p to avoid video lag and annihilating the users bandwidth. Apple TV will have a Netflix streaming channel, along with the YouTube channel which is already available on older Apple TV models.
Apple also announced iTunes Ping service. Ping is Apple’s new social networking service integrated into your iTunes account. Ping is an Apple hybrid of twitter and facebook for the music world. Ping will allow users to follow artists and friends, and vice versa. Users will be able to leave comments on music and interact with other users. Ping will not communicate or interact with facebook or twitter though, it is a standalone service.
Apple also announced the November release of iOS 4.2 or the iPad. This update will bring multitasking, home screen folders, wireless printing, AirPlay, Game Center, unified inbox, text search within Safari Browser, and a few other items that can be found on Apple’s website.
Android tablets are beginning to spring up all over the place as of late. Archos has announced their new line of Android tablets, coming in a wide array of screen sizes. They will be releasing 5 devices total, a 2.8 inch, 3.2 inch, 4.3 inch, 7 inch, and a whopping 10 inch. All 5 devices are promised to have Android 2.2 (FroYo). The larger models have capacitive touch screens, a kick-stand on the back of the device, an HDMI output, front-facing camera, and a 1GHz processor. The 10 inch model even has USB ports to plug in external mouse or keyboard. One of the great advantages to the HDMI output is the ability to view a game on your TV and use the tablet as your game controller. You can also stream movies or slide shows to your TV with HD resolution.
Samsung has confirmed and announced the Galaxy Tab which will have 3G connectivity to Verizon and possibly Sprint. Galaxy Tab is rumored to come with Android 2.2, 7-inch Super AMOLED screen, 3.2 MP rear-facing camera, GPS, wifi, and all of the other standard bells n’ whistles. We don’t have an official release date but the recent Sprint rumors indicate a November release. This may just be for Sprint, or it may be a universal release date for all vendors.
T-Mobile has confirmed the first HSPA+ handset will be the G2. This device will sport a 3.7” OLED display, 800MHz processor, Android 2.2, and a 5MP camera. This device also has a slide-out keyboard and an optical trackpad. You may remember from previous newsletters… HSPA+ is technically a 3G network, but has the ability to be ramped up to 4G-like speeds. HSPA+ is cheaper than rolling out an all-new LTE or WiMAX 4G network, which will allow T-Mobile to keep their prices low. T-Mobile has been struggling financially so it is huge for them to get their HSPA+ network off the ground and bringing in new business.
Jonathan Ross
Mobile Technology Engineer
Vox Mobile
