Mozilla foundation proposing a mobile OS project called Boot to Gecko

Mozilla earlier this week announced the Boot to Gecko (B2G) project which aims to build a complete standalone operating system based on Linux

The Boot to Gecko project are currently in planing phase an not much code has been written so far. But this might change rapidly as Andreas Gal, a researcher at Mozilla Corporation said that the project is in its infancy and some pieces of it are only captured in our heads today. Boot to Gecko will offer a couple of interesting new web APIs for exposing devices and OS capabilities to content. Such as Telephony, SMS, Camera, USB, Bluetooth, NFC and more. The operating system will be complete, standalone for the open web. It will be based on the lowest level elements of the Android platform such as the device drivers and kernel. If we understand the proposal correctly, every device capabilities will be exposed for both applications and web pages.

Mozilla are announcing the new OS in a very early stage. This is because they want all their developers and the open source community to contribute with ideas and code from the beginning of the project.

Do you think Mozilla will succeed with the new OS? Can it compete with iOS, Android and Windows Phone?

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Android 2.3 Gingerbread available for Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Sony Ericsson today announced the release of Android 2.3 Gingerbread for their first Android device

The update has been announced earlier, but an exact date for the OS update has not been communicated before now. Today, the official Sony Ericsson product blog announced that the roll out of Gingerbread started today. As you probably know, the X10 has a 1 GHz CPU and should be capable of running the updated OS without any trouble. As usual, the non-branded generic trade kits will get the update first. Some operator branded handsets will also receive the update in a short while, but sadly some customized versions of X10 will not receive the update.
Android 2.1 was initially the last update for the Xperia X10, but Sony Ericsson has listen to their customers and made another upgrade available.

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LG announces two new Android smartphones

LG Electronics has announced two new smartphones running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Both the LG Optimus Pro with full QWERTY keyboard and the Optimus Net are mid-range models

Last week, LG announced two new Android smartphones for the masses. Both models has a 800 MHz processor and they are running version 2.3 Gingerbred which is the latest version of Android operating system.
LG Optimus Pro has a 2.6 inch display and a full QWERTY keyboard below. In addition to the usual Android keys and the QWERTY keyboard, it also has dedicated keys for email and scheduler. Most manufacures now use the Pro name on models for QWERTY and business models and so does LG.
The Optimus Net will have some features available to specific markets. Some carriers will offer the Optimus Net with Near Field Communication (NFC) for mobile payments while North American carriers will include a QWERTY keyboard. Brazil, China, Asia and the CIS region will have a model that's dual-SIM compatible.
Both phone models will be for sale this summer.
LG Optimus Pro highlights

• Size: 119.5 x 59.7 x 12.9 mm
• Weight: 129 gram
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• 2.8 inch display, 240 x 320 pixel resolution. TFT, Capacitive touch
• Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 900/2100
• 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, 150 MB user memory. Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card. 2 GB card included
• 3 megapixel camera, fixed focus. VGA video recording
• Bluetooth 3.0
• USB connectivity
• Wi-Fi
• DLNA
• aGPS
• FM Radio
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• 1500 mAh battery
• 800 MHz ARM11 processor

LG Optimus Net hightlights

• Size: 113.5 x 59 x 12.1 mm
• Weight: 122 gram
• 3.2 inch display, 320 x 480 pixel resolution, TFT capacitive touch
• Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 900/1700/1800/2100
• 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, 150 MB user storage. Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card. 2 GB card included
• 3 megapixel camera, autofocus. VGA video recording
• Bluetooth 3.0
• USB connectivity
• Wi-Fi
• DLNA
• aGPS
• FM Radio
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system with Optimus UI 2.0
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• 1500 mAh
• 800 MHz ARM11 processor
• Market specific features:
  • NFC for Europe
  • QWERTY for North America
  • Dual-SIM for Brazil, China, Asia and the CIS region

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Motorola announces Droid 3

Another Droid has seen the light. No reason to change the Droid name when Droid has established itself as one of the most feature packed Android smartphone model. 

 

Compared to the Droid 2, Droid 3 has got a larger 4 inch display with higher resolution, increased the camera resolution from 5 to 8 megapixel and it has a dual core 1GHz processor. The look and feel seems to be very similar to the Droid 2.
The Droid 3 is available on Verizon in the US. As with the Droid 2, a global model might be released later.
Motorola Droid 3 highlights

• Size: 123.3 x 64.1 x 12.9 mm
• Weight: 184 gram
• 4 inch touch screen display, 540 x 960 pixel resolution, 16 million colours, Corning Gorilla Glass
• Dual core 1 GHz processor
• 8 megapixel camera
• 1080p video recording
• Full QWERTY keyboard (worlds thinnest QWERTY model)
• Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, CDMA 800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900/2100, HSPA 10.2 Mbps, CDMA EV-DO Release A
• aGPS
• Memory: 16 GB storage. Expandable with microSD card up to 32 GB. 48 GB in total
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• WiFi, DLNA
• Bluetooth 2.1
• HDMI (HDMI cable not included)
• Battery: 1540 mAh
• Standby time: 300 hours
• Talk time: 550 minutes
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, ambient light and eCompass

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Skype with video call for Android

Skype today announced that its Android app now supports video calls on selected devices

Skype has updated its Android app and added video call as one of the new features. Currently only few handsets are supporting video call and these are HTC Desire S, Google Nexus S, Sony Ericsson Xperia neo and Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro. The requrement for using the video call feature is that the device has a front facing camera and are running Android version 2.3 Gingerbread or later. We have tested the app on our Xperia Neo and it seems to be working as advertised.
During video call it is possible to switch active camera from front to back as well as turning the video camera off. In the settings menu, video call quality can be toggled between High and Low. Both quality settings record video in 320x 240 resolution but High uses 95% of the 1 GHz Xperia Neo CPU. Lowering the quality to Low reduces CPU usage to approximately 65%. Both modes will drain your battery quicker than you like.
Skype for Android is available from skype.com/m

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500.000 Android devices activated daily

A tweet by Android co-founder Andy Rubin revealed that the number of activated Android devices per day now are over 500.000

According to Andy Rubin, the co-founder of Android Inc, now Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, the number of activated Android devices are over 500.000 every day. The claimed numbers seems reasonable as they are following a trend we saw back in December last year.
It seems like the number of new Android devices activated daily increases with 100.000 per quarter. If the trend continues like this the next year, number of activated Android devices in August 2012 would be one million device activations per day. The one million mark also matches the 4.4% weekly growth rate tweeted by Rubin.

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Sony Ericsson announces Xperia Ray, Xperia Active and Txt

Sony Ericsson today announced two Android smartphones and an entry-level QWERTY model. The Xperia Ray is a designer model while Xperia Active is a model for those one the run. Sony Ericsson txt is a feature model with a full QWERTY keyboard
 At CommunicAsia 2011 in Singapore, Sony Ericsson this week announced two new Android smartphones and a full QWERTY feature phone model.

 

Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray is a designer model with a relatively small 3.3 inch touch display. The 480 x 854 pixel resolution on a 3.3 inch display give us a pixels per inch (PPI) of 296. This high number rank the Xperia Ray as number 13 of the phones listed in our phone database. Other well known models with high pixel density are iPhone 4 (329.64 PPI), Nokia E6-00 (325.20 PPI) and LG Arena (310.98). Increasing the number of pixels without making a larger display makes text and graphic look more smooth, but when reaching one point, it could make the default text size too small. Esato has only one phone model listed in the database with 3.3 inch display combined with a 854 x 480 so the screen is first of its kind. Xperia Ray, or Xperia ray with a lowercase R as Sony Ericsson choose to call it, has many of the features found in Xperia Arc and Xperia Neo. The screen resolution is the same, but also the 1 GHz processor, Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine and the 8.1 megapixel camera with Exmor R for Mobile. If the camera is identical to the Xperia Arc and Neo, you should expect nice low light performance as we found out in our Xperia Arc review. The 3.3 inch display size is of course smaller than Xperia Neo's 3.7 inches and Xperia Arc 4.2 inches, but as we have seen with the Xperia Neo compared to the Xperia Arc, decreasing the screen size will result in much better battery performance.

More Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray highlights

• 100 gram
• 111 x 53 x 9.4 mm 
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Networks
  • GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
  • UMTS HSPA 900/2100 or UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
• 8.1 megapixel camera, autofocus, geo tagging with Sony Exmor R CMOS sensor, f/2.4 aperture, image stabiliser
• VGA front facing camera
• 720p HD video recording
• 3.3 inch Reality Display, 854 x 480 pixel resolution, 16,777,216 colour TFT capacitive touchscreen
• FM radio
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• aGPS
• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• DLNA Certified
• USB 2.0
• 300 MB memory available to user. Expandable with microSD card up to 32 GB
• 1500 mAh battery
• Talktime: 6 hours and 50 minutes
• Standby time: 430 hours
• ANT+ compatible

In selected markets, the Xperia Ray sales package will include a LiveSound headphones. Available Xperia Ray colours are Black, Gold, White and Pink
Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is a different kind of smartphone. It is one of a handfull water resistant and dust proof smartphones. It is not often we hear about water resistant touch screen models. We know about the water resistant Motorola Defy but can't think about any other. As with all the latest Sony Ericsson Android models, Xperia Active is having the latest version of Android operating system installed (Android Gingerbread 2.3)

Sony Ericsson Xperia Active highlights

• 110.8 gram
• 92 x 55 x 16.5 mm
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Networks
  • GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
  • UMTS HSPA 800/1900/2100 or UMTS HSPA 900/2100
• 5 megapixel camera, autofocus, geo tagging, f/2.6 aperture
• 720p HD video recording
• 3 inch Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine, 320 x 480 pixel resolution, 16.777.216 colour TFT capacitive touchscreen, wet finger tracking, scratch-resistant mineral glass
• FM radio
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• aGPS
• Wi-Fi with Hotspot functionality
• DLNA Certified
• USB 2.0
• 320 MB memory available to user. Expandable with microSD card up to 32 GB
• 1200 mAh battery
• Talktime: 4 hours and 53 minutes
• Standby time: 351 hours
• ANT+ compatible

Included accessories: Sport stereo headset, arm case, wrist strap, 2 GB microSD card, USB cable and a exchangable cover.
Sony Ericsson txt
The third mobile phone announced was the Sony Ericsson Txt messaging phone with a dedicated SMS shortcut. It is a block model with a full QWERTY block. It could easily be mixed with the Sony Ericsson Txt Pro announced two weeks ago, but the Sony Ericsson Txt is a feature phone running on ST-Ericsson RTKE operating system. The list of features are basic. The Txt has 2G network support, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.6 inch display and 100 MB available memory. The battery capasity is remarkable low. A fully charged 1000 mAh battery is claimed to last for only 196 minutes / 3 hours 12 minutes. Either the reported official specs are wrong or Txt is the phone model from Sony Ericsson with the worst talktime ever.

Sony Ericsson txt highlights

• 95 gram
• 106 x 60 x 14.5 mm
• ST-Ericsson RTKE operating system
• Networks: GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• 3.2 megapixel camera with fix focus
• 2.6 inches, 240 x 320 pixel resolution, 262,144 colour TFT, scratch-resistant
• FM radio
• 3.5 mm audio jack 
• Java
• Wi-Fi
• USB 2.0 (microUSB)
• Full QWERTY keyboard
• 100 MB memory. Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card
• 1000 mAh battery
• Talk time: 3 hours 53 minutes
• Standby time: 416 hours

All three phones will be available in Q3 this year.

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New York Post readers using Apples iPad are blocked from reading the newspaper using the web browser

The New York Post are blocking users of iPad surfers using the built in web browser Safari. The newspaper are forcing their readers to download and use the offering their services

The blocking of iPad readers only applies to those using the built in Safari browser. Readers using Opera Mini is allowed in without anny hazzle. The New York Post are relying on that they have loyal readers that are willing to pay for the content. One month of subscription of the iPad version will set you back $6.99 per month.
It this really they way the web is meant to be? What if Apple find a good reason to remove the New York Post app from iTunes. Suddenly, the newspaper won't have any new readers anymore.

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LG Flip II QWERTY slider with dual display emerges

LG Flip II, or Optimus Slider is an Android smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard and two displays

LG allready has announced the LG Genesis which is a dual display model and it should be available to customers of US Cellular later this year. Today, Pocket-Lint published a couple of new photos of an unnanounced LG model for T-Mobile. This model also has dual display but from the captured photos, it seems like one of the screens are used for navigation only or just a simple placeholder for Android app icons.
The device was fist seen in the wild when Kineto Wireless and Orange announced the continous support of Orange UK's signal boost roll-out using Smart Wi-Fi. Smart Wi-Fi is a service where several 3G services can be routed through a Wi-Fi network. One of the new devices offering Smart Wi-Fi is this unannounced LG smartphone. The device name are rumored to be one of LG Flip II, LG Optimus Slider or Maxx Q

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Sony Ericsson announces Txt Pro and Mix Walkman mobile phones

Sony Ericsson today announced two entry level mobile phones named Mix Walkman and Txt Pro. 

The two new mobile phone models are low end / entry level models. We do not have any exact price for the two, but we expect the price to be around Euro 230 just like the Xperia X8 when it was new. Both phones will be availble in Q3 in selecte market. Which market this is is also unknown, but we think Asia, Africa and some parts of Europe would be a good guess.
Sony Ericsson is proud of the success they have accomplished on their Facebook page which is to attract more than 5 million followers. Sony Ericsson held a competition a short while ago where four competitors received a free phone in the mail for the purpose of doing a short video review. The competition was to guess one out of three names for the two new phones. We guessed right.
Both phones has the now familiar four customizable corner keys we first saw in the Xperia 10 Minis for easy navigation. The operating systems looks like Android but they are not. Txt Pro is running on Sony Ericsson Proprietary OS while Mix Walkman is running on RTKE OS by ST-Ericsson. Besides the OS and the QWERTY keyboard on the Txt Pro, the two phone models have many similar features:
Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman highlights

• 88 gram
• 95.8 x 52.8 x 14.3 mm
• 3 inch touch display, 262,144 colors, 240 x 400 pixel resolution
• 256 MB memory, 100MB available to user. Expandable up to 32GB with microSD card
• 3 megapixel camera, QVGA video recording
• Networks: GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• Java
• Zi Quick text
• 1000 mAh battery
• Standby time: 465 hours
• Talk time: 9 hours 40 minutes
• Zap key
• Karaoke function
• Exchangeable colourful rubber bands around the phone

The Mix Walkman has a special key name Zap for a preview of the chorus in the next song in the music queue. Press the Zap key again for play the next song from the begning.

Sony Ericsson Txt Pro highlights

• 4 row QWERTY keyboard
• 100 gram
• 93 x 52 x 18 mm
• 3 inch touch display, 240 x 400 pixels resolution, 262,144 colours
• 64 MB RAM. 100 MB free user memory. Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card
• 3.2 megapixel camera, QVGA video recording
• Networks: GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• Java
• Zi Quick text
• 1000 mAh battery
• Standby type: 400 hours
• Talktime: 5 hours 10 minutes

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Apple announces iOS 5

iOS 5, the latest operating system from Apple was announced this week and it will be available in autumn this year. iOS5 will bring over 200 new features to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Among the big news about storage clouds and desktop operating system announced by Apple yesterday was also the expected new iOS 5 operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Steve Jobs didn't have any new hardware to show us this time, so we have to wait until autumn for the next iPhone announcement.
Some of the new features in iOS 5 are

• Twitter integration directly into the OS
• Opening the camera application right from the lock screen
• New photo enchancements such as red-eye removal, auto-enhance and simple edit functionality
• Improved Safari web browser with one-click button for page saving with ads for later viewing.
• Mac and PC Free.
• iOS update over the air without the need of iTunes
• Split virtual keyboard (iPad)
• Wi-Fi Sync. Automatically backup and sync to iTunes wirelessly when connecting the device to a power source.

The MobileMe sync service previously offered by Apple are not accepting new subscribers from today. Instead Apple announced a similar iCloud storage service for all iOS5 devices. 5GB of storage is free for saving documents, email, contacts and more. Everything is automatically syncronized between your iOS 5 devices. If you buy a song from iTunes, it will be stored in iCloud and made accessible to your iPod, iPhone and iPad.

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