Consumer Electronics

Can Amazon’s new Kindle Fire hold a candle to the iPad?

The Kindle Fire is shown at a news conference in New York.

We’re building premium products at non-premium prices, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos said at the launch

Jeff Bezos has been reading The Remains of the Day. A novel of quiet subtlety. Or so the Amazon boss told the audience at a press conference in Manhattan on Wednesday. From his actions, it seems more likely that he has been at the Sun Tzu.

Mr. Bezos made a bid to be the new Steve Jobs, declaring war on Apple with the launch of a cut-price rival to the iPad, with the two technology titans now squaring up over who will own the device that delivers the future of music, movies and TV online.

The $199 (GBP128) colour touchscreen tablet called the Kindle Fire was unveiled at a press conference in New York with all the secrecy and pre-release teasing Apple usually sprinkles on its launches.

The new Kindle is far less advanced than the iPad. It doesn’t offer a mobile connection, working only with Wi-Fi; it doesn’t have a camera or microphone; and its screen, at 7 inches, is smaller than the iPad, at 9.7 inches.

However, at half the price, analysts said it presents the first serious challenge to the iPad’s dominance of the tablet market, as Bezos tries to build on the success of his company’s Kindle book reader with a colour-screen, multimedia offering for U.S. consumers. In Britain, buyers will have to wait until next year at the earliest.

Janney Capital Markets analyst Shawn Milne said he expects between 2 million and 3 million Kindle Fire tablets will be shipped in the fourth quarter. Others are aiming higher. “At $199, the Fire is sure to be a highly disruptive product in the tablet market, particularly in the lead-up to Christmas,” said David McQueen of Informa Telecoms & Media.

Mr. Bezos revealed the device after introducing a new range of simpler Kindles, one of which will be available in the U.K. for GBP89 from October 12. But it was the Kindle Fire that seized the limelight: a device intended to build on the popularity of the company’s e-readers and reach a broader audience that wants to browse the web, listen to music and watch movies and video. The device will also feature a news stand for users, stocking Kindle Fire-friendly versions of titles from publishers including versions of Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Wired and Glamour.

The event had echoes of one of Jobs’ famous Apple presentations. Mr. Bezos, dressed causally in open-neck shirt and jeans, went for a slow reveal. First there was a history of the Kindle and a chance to display some of the more unkind comments people had made about the best selling e-book reader when it was launched. Then came the new generation of Kindles and finally, Kindle Fire. And then the price. “We’re building premium products at non-premium prices,” said Mr. Bezos. “We are determined to do that.” He then took a swipe at Apple, saying there would be no need to synchronise the Kindle Fire to a computer, as people do with their iPads. “That model, that you are responsible for backing up your own content, is a broken model,” he said.

Cloud competition

Michael Gartenberg, analyst at Gartner, said the announcement pitched Apple and Amazon head to head in the battle for “cloud” media services. Both Apple and Amazon have been developing services that allow customers to store their music, movies and TV shows remotely – “in the cloud” – and then access them from any device connected to the web. Next week, Apple is expected to respond, with more details of its inevitably-named iCloud service next week.

Amazon plans to begin taking orders for the Fire on its U.S. website immediately, and will start shipping on 15 November. Mr. Bezos said the company was “making many millions of these” – but Amazon has no immediate plans to launch the Fire in the U.K.

Reaction at the event was mixed. Avram Piltch, editorial director at Laptop Magazine, said the device looked “more like an iPod killer than an iPad killer”. He said the Kindle Fire looked set to be a big seller for people who want to use it to consume media, but it didn’t have enough firepower to take on the iPad or other tablet manufacturers who were making devices for people at work rather than play.

The new Kindle has its work cut out for it. Apple sold more than 29 million iPads in the product’s first 15 months on the market. Most of its competitors have bombed. Hewlett Packard scrapped its tablet device in an embarrassing U-turn that contributed to the ousting of its chief executive. Blackberry maker Research in Motion shipped just 200,000 of its own rival to the iPad, the PlayBook, in three months.

But, said Mr. Gartenberg, Amazon has one big advantage over the other would-be iPad killers: content. “Amazon has millions of customers already buying their stuff.” he said.

Next Tuesday, Apple will have its chance to respond – except that its big launch for Christmas is the latest version of the somewhat smaller iPhone. The battle has just begun.

Copyright: Guardian News & Media 2011

Samsung launches first 4G smartphones in South Korea

HIGH-SPEED: A model poses with Samsung Electronics' new smart phones during its unveiling in Seoul, South Korea on Monday.

Samsung Electronics, world’s second-largest manufacturer of mobile phones, launched its first smartphones based on fourth-generation (4G) communication technology in a bid to meet growing demand for high-speed wireless services. Galaxy S2 LTE and Galaxy S2 HD LTE compatible with long-term evolution (LTE) technology were rolled out at a media event held in central Seoul on Monday.

The two new smartphones support LTE with data transmission five times faster than the existing third-generation (3G) mobile phones, featuring functions offered by Galaxy S2 smartphones, the company said.

Galaxy S2 LTE is equipped with an Android 2.3, or the latest version of the Android platform, a 4.5-inch wide Super AMOLED display and a 1.5 gigahertz dual core processor, while the Galaxy S2 HD LTE is featuring a 4.65-inch high-definition (HD) AMOLED display with 110 per cent natural colour reproduction and 180-degree viewing angle.

“The 4G LTE technology became the base for enjoying high-speed and high-resolution wireless services. The new products will meet rising demand for such services in an environment where global wireless operators are transitioning to 4G networks,” Shin Jong-kyun, President and Head of Samsung’s mobile communications business, told reporters. Mr. Shin forecast sales of the new LTE smartphones would approach the ones of the existing Galaxy S series, adding that it might take time to reach the goal as the LTE networks have yet to be covered nationwide.

Global sales of the Galaxy S2 smartphones reached more than 10 million units since its debut in April, according Samsung.

The nation’s top wireless carrier SK Telecom plans to offer LTE service nationwide by 2013, with the country’s No. 3 mobile operator LG Uplus aiming to cover the service across the country next year.

Smart phone apps help cyclists explore the world

A smart phone is shown in San Francisco. Nowadays, cyclists want to log their distance with a smart phone or satellite navigation device that can also help them if they get lost. File photo

Bulky distance gauges on bicycles are history.

Nowadays, cyclists want to log their distance with a smart phone or satellite navigation device that can also help them if they get lost.

Thus, no detail remains unknown. For example, a bike ride from Berlin’s Checkpoint Charlie to Westend takes 30 minutes and 38 seconds, assuming an average speed of 19.7 kilometres for the 10-kilometre stretch. And all that information is registered on a smart phone app.

“Just like with car navigation systems, the trend with cyclists is for smart phone apps as an alternative to special navigation devices,” says Bernd Klusmann, a telematics expert with Bitkom, a German IT industry association.

If it’s just a question of measuring the trip, there’s no need to remove the phone from your pocket and risk running foul of laws about biking with a mobile in hand. If you plan to use it as a navigation device, it’s best to mount it on the handlebar. There is a variety of waterproof, universal holders for most models.

“A navigation app on the smart phone is great for cyclists in a foreign city,” says Bettina Cibulski of the General German Bicycle Club. “You don’t want to get stuck in heavy traffic on the main streets.” They’re also good for longer bike tours. “It’s getting more and more common for people to use a smart phone navigator instead of a map,” she says. “That way you don’t have to get off the path to look for the right way, you just have to follow the arrow on the display.” One option is the MotionX GPS (2.39 euros/3.27 dollars) for the iPhone, which allows users to save information about specific points on a trail and then email that data, or even an entire route map. The B.iCycle app (3.99 euros) has some benefits as well, displaying not just previous tours, but also the entire kilometre count.

Skobbler (1.59 euros) is available for both the iPhone and Android mobiles. It uses map material from the OpenStreetMap project and customizes it for bicycle navigation, although the data is not specialized for such use.

There’s also the free OsmAnd app for Android phones. Also linked to the Open Street Map project, it allows map information to be downloaded. Along with providing navigation services, it makes it possible to install routes stored in a GPX format and follow them. As for the Maverick app (4.95 euros for the full version), it offers hiking tips and orientation for geocoaching fans.

It’s usually possible to plot a course and then save it in GPX format (GPS Exchange) so it can be uploaded onto a smart phone. The BBBike.org project is busy trying to come up with a route planner for cyclists based on the data. Once a start and end point are entered, a route is generated and displayed as a map.

Of course, heading out on an all-day bike tour can push most batteries to their limits, especially for older smart phones, notes Klusmann. That’s why it is advisable to pick up a second battery or a special battery charger.

Environmentally aware cyclists might wonder about some kind of solar power option. Unfortunately, these usually take too long to charge. But there are options to recharge the phone with the energy generated by the act of cycling, using a dynamo.

There’s also a lot of buzz around mobile fuel cells, like the Powertrekk from Swedish company myFC. “To use it, a cyclist would need the charger, a little water and a PowerPukk fuel capsule,” says Kristine Lindholm of myFC. The small package can be placed in a backpack to charge the smart phone during the trip.

According to the manufacturer, the charger should go on sale in January for 199 euros, with PowerPukk capsules costing 1.90 euros.

Once you’ve solved your software and battery problems, the only real problem that remains is reading your smart phone display in bright sunlight. For that, outdoor solutions like the Garmin Edge 800 (399 euros) GPS bicycle computer have their advantages.

Sharp market losses add to RIM’s Blackberry woes

Blackberry

New York: Investors drove Research In Motion’s stock down 20 percent on Friday as dismal quarterly results raised prospects that the BlackBerry maker will be sold, broken up, or at least placed under new leadership.

The sell-off, which wiped out $3 billion of RIM’s market capitalization, underscored how bad times have become for the one-time smartphone leader, once a byword for corporate communication.

A day after the earnings report, analysts spoke of disappointment, challenges and a ticking clock. The latest misstep increased pressure on senior executives, who have been urged to step aside by investors and analysts concerned about repeated failures to execute strategy, and criticism spread to the company’s board.

“Investors are telling us that a change needs to happen very quickly. The market is saying that the management are not the right guys to lead the company going forward,” said Barry Schwartz, portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services.

Run by co-founder Mike Lazaridis and salesman sidekick Jim Balsillie, who joined Lazaridis as co-CEO well before RIM had ever shipped a BlackBerry, the company this year set it sights on bringing out a tablet computer to compete with Apple Inc’s iPad.

But results of the effort — a tablet called the PlayBook — have so far been disappointing. In addition, the company’s BlackBerry smartphone is rapidly losing market share, and RIM has issued a series of damaging profit warnings.

Lazaridis and Balsillie report to a board that includes, in addition to themselves, seven other directors, only two of whom have any obvious background in the telecommunications or technology industry: John Wetmore, who served as finance chief of IBM Canada, and Antonio Viana-Baptista, who before retiring in 2008 worked at Telefonica.

“The board is culpable. It’s been a little absent in terms of strategy … and in overseeing what management is doing,” said Paul Hodgson, senior research associate for GMI, a governance ratings firm. “They are supposed to be the representatives of shareholders and they’re not doing a very good job of representing shareholders’ interests.”

But Hodgson said RIM’s directors were in an unusually difficult situation because so much power is concentrated in the hands of Lazaridis and Balsillie, who each own more than 5 percent of the company and share the roles of chief executive and chairman.

“It’s not a Yahoo situation where an independent director can fire the CEO,” Hodgson said. “All the independent directors would have to agree to a management change.”

Balsillie gave up his role as chairman in 2007 and regulators later forced him off the board amid a scandal related to back-dated stock options. Balsillie returned to the board in 2010, and he and Lazaridis were appointed co-chairman later that year.

Calls for change are mounting in the wake of Thursday’s earnings report, which was chock-full of bad news. RIM posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit, painted a dismal picture for the current quarter, and said it now expects to reach only the lower end of an already reduced full-year outlook.

Moreover, the report reinforced a growing sense that the company is in danger of falling too far behind Apple, with its iPhone and iPad, and a host of competitors making devices that run on Google Inc’s Android software.

RIM’s Nasdaq-listed shares were down 20 percent to $23.58 in afternoon trade on Friday, after touching a low of $22.52 earlier in the day. That could make the company a more attractive acquisition target, sparking interest from private equity or companies who see a cheap but profitable target, analysts said.

That might sit well with investors. Just this month an activist investor said it was rallying other shareholders in a bid to empower the board to look at options including spinning off patents or selling the entire company.

Absent a sale, Lazaridis and Balsillie will likely come under pressure to find another kind of big, dramatic step to turn around RIM.

“A dividend needs to be started immediately, share buyback needs to be increased dramatically, management needs to make a change and either an acquisition … (or) some kind of merger, being taken over,” said Baskin Financial’s Schwartz. “That will stop the bleeding.”

Intel’s Ultrabooks to cost around $1,000 on launch

Intel’s price tag would bring 'Ultrabooks' closer to tablet devices in terms of pricing.

The world’s largest chip-maker Intel Corporation on Thursday said the new ‘Ultrabook’ devices being developed with its technology will initially cost around $1,000, but the price tag should fall below $799 in coming years.

Such a price tag would bring Ultrabooks, which are billed as being slimmer, faster and lighter than conventional notebook PCs, closer to tablet devices in terms of pricing, although Intel does not expect the computing devices to be in direct competition, as they cater to different categories of consumers with different requirements.

“Initially, the Ultrabooks should be priced in the sub-$1,000 (Rs. 45,000) category. But the prices should come below $799 and even further lower in the coming years,” Intel Vice-President and PC Client Group General Manager Mooly Eden said.

Speaking to journalists at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2011, Eden said the price tag of around USD 1,000 could be too expensive for consumer’s budgets, but the ultimate objective was to make Ultrabooks available at a price that works for users.

Intel expects to kick off the first phase of the roll-out of Ultrabooks later this year with its second-generation Core processors, followed by third-generation ‘Ivy League’ processor-powered Ultrabooks next year and Intel’s next-generation Haswell processors in the third and final phase in 2013.

PC-makers are expected to start selling Ultrabooks in the U.S. market this holiday season and the product should be available in other parts of the world around the same time.

The final price of these computers, either for the U.S. or other markets, including India, would be determined by the computer manufacturers.

Mr. Eden dismissed suggestions that Ultrabooks would eat into the share of tablet PCs or other computing devices and said that various kinds of devices, such as smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks, had their own functions and usefulness.

Mr. Eden said he expects the Ultrabooks to eventually become the mainstream computing devices for the users and his estimate for initial years was for 40 per cent of traditional notebook PC users to move to Ultrabooks.

“One would have to wait for at least two years to see the transition happening in this market,” he said, adding that tablet PCs would continue to have their own place in the market.

Asked about the slowdown in sales growth of netbooks, an earlier attempt by PC-makers to provide a smaller version of traditional laptop or notebook PCs, Eden said their growth was not hampered by tablet PCs or smartphones.

He said the growth of netbooks was primarily affected by various manufacturers dumping their inventories of traditional laptops in the market at competitive prices after the launch of this smaller version.

He said tablet PCs, priced at about $699, could not cannibalise the $299-priced netbooks, which were indeed good for their price point.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Eden demonstrated various capabilities of Ultrabook PCs powered by Intel chips at the Intel Developer Forum.

Mr. Eden said that Intel was working to provide computer-makers with chips that could enable them make the Ultrabook computers, which could run with very low power consumption and were thinner, lighter and sleeker, with better performance and an affordable price tag.

Intel plans smartphone foray with Google

Intel CEO Paul Otellini holds up a Google Android phone running on an Intel chip at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.

With an aim to expand its presence in the computing world, technology giant Intel on Wednesday announced that it has partnered with Google for accelerating its foray into the smartphone market by the first half of 2012.

It has also promised to bring power-efficient and affordable ‘Ultrabooks’, a sleeker and lighter version of laptops, to the market this holiday season.

Announcing a new partnership with Google for accelerating its smartphone business foray, Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini said he was hopeful of Intel’s technology-based smartphones being launched in the market by the first half of 2012.

Delivering the opening keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Mr. Otellini also announced that Intel’s engineers were working on a new class of platform power management for the Ultrabooks that will help in producing “always-on-always-connected computing.”

Predicting that Ultrabook systems will provide the most satisfying and complete computing experience, he said Intel was working with industry partners to deliver “mainstream-priced products beginning this holiday season for this new category of lighter, sleeker computing companions.”

Industry experts believe that Ultrabooks are aimed at keeping the market for PCs, especially laptops, alive in the wake of soaring demand for tablets and other hand-held devices.

Terming Ultrabooks as Intel’s vision for the future, Mr. Otellini said the company was working to make these devices lighter, thinner, sleeker and more secure, along with much longer battery life and affordable pricing. However, he did not disclose the price range for these devices.

He said that Intel engineers were working on a power management platform for these Ultrabooks that would reduce their idle platform power by more than 20 times over current designs without compromising computing performance.

Mr. Otellini further said he expects that this design change, combined with industry collaboration, will lead to more than 10 days of connected standby battery life by 2013 on a single charge. The Intel chief predicted that platform power innovation will reach levels that are difficult to imagine today.

LG KG800 Fiche Techniques

When you see the words “Fiche Techniques,” you know that you are looking at the French translation of “technical sheet,” or technical specifications of a product. “LG KG800 Fiche Techniques” refers to the specifications for the KG800 mobile phone, manufactured by LG.

Network and Status

The LG KG800 phone is popularly known as the “LG Chocolate” phone. It was exclusively used on the Verizon Wireles network. It was released in 2006. As such, it was shipped standard with 2G network speeds, instead of the more recent 3G and 4G network speeds. The device has been discontinued.

Size, Display and Camera

The LG KG800 weighs 83 grams and has dimensions of 95mm by 48mm by 15.2mm. The device’s display (screen) is a TFT screen featuring 256K color quality. The screen pixels are 176 by 220 pixels, while the screen’s dimensions are 31mm by 39 mm. The device is touchscreen-enabled, allowing you to navigate the phone’s features by tapping on the screen. The device also includes a 1.3 MP camera, which includes an LED flash. The camera is capable of taking pictures and video clips.

Memory and Data

The phone is capable of holding 1,000 contacts in the phonebook. The device keeps track of the last 40 calls dial, received and missed. The LG KG800 device has 128 MB of pre-installed memory. The phone accesses GPRS data at speeds ranging from 32 to 48 kbps. It is not capable of EDGE, 3G, WLAN or infrared port connections. However, if does includes a USB data connection, which allows you to synchronize data between the device and a computer.

Sound and Other Features

The phone includes several types of alerts, including vibration and downloadable MP3, polyphonic and AAC format ringtones. It does not includes a loudspeaker or a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The phone has several messaging features, including test and multimedia messages. The device also includes a Web browser and a music player.

How Do I Block an Annoying Landline Phone Call in Verizon?

Verizon Call Block is a calling feature available with Verizon’s landline telephone service. Call Block is sold as an individual calling feature and as part of several Verizon calling packages. Once you receive an annoying phone call on your Verizon landline phone, you can add the phone number of the caller to your Call Block feature. After adding the number, the annoying caller will hear a message stating that you are not currently accepting calls when calling your phone number.

Instructions

• Dial “*60” from your Verizon landline telephone.

• Press the “1” on your phone’s keypad to add the last person who called to your call block list. You can also press the “3” key to manually add a phone number to you call block list. A recorded message will confirm that you have successfully added the phone number to your call block list.

• Hang up your Verizon landline phone to save the number to your call block list.

How Can I Get a Broken Headphone Jack Tip Out of a Cell Phone?

The pin on a headphone connector is held into the jack by a tension spring. The tip on the headphone plug has a narrow point to accommodate the spring. This narrow spot is a weak point. If the connector gets jarred while the plug is inside the jack, the tip may break off. You can get the broken tip out of the jack by bending back the spring.

Instructions
Things You’ll Need
Paper clip
Small flashlight

• Bend the end of a wire paper clip so it sticks out. Make a slight bend in the last 1/4 inch of the wire. Do not bend it too much, or the wire won’t fit down the hole.

• Turn off your cellphone.

• Shine the flashlight into the headphone jack. The spring is located on one side of the hole. It is usually copper or chrome colored.

• Slide the end of the paper clip into the jack and depress the spring.

• Tip the phone so the jack points downward and slowly slide the end of the paper clip out of the jack. The broken tip will follow and slide out of the jack.

Tips & Warnings

• It may take a few attempts to get the tip out. Don’t give up.

• Do not use glue or magnets to remove the broken tip. Magnets can damage the screen of the phone. If you try glue, you may end up gluing the piece inside the jack.

How to Wipe Android Phones

Smartphones that run Google’s Android operating system are extremely customizable with personal settings and applications from the Android Market. Each Android phone also includes a menu option that allows you to wipe the phone and return it to its factory settings. Wiping an Android phone clears all your personal information off the phone. It is a good idea to wipe any phone before you sell it, give it to someone else or return it for service

Instructions

Wiping the Memory Card

• Open your phone’s “Settings” menu, and then tap “SD card & phone storage.”

• Tap “Unmount SD card.”

• Select “Format SD card,” and then tap “Format SD card” to confirm that you wish to delete all the contents of the memory card in your Android phone.

Performing a Factory Reset

• Press your phone’s “Back” button to return to the “Settings” menu, and then tap “Privacy.”

• Tap “Factory data reset.”

• Press the “Reset phone” button, and then tap “Erase everything” to wipe your Android device and return it to its factory state.

Tips & Warnings

Wiping your phone and your memory card cannot be reversed. Back up any important data stored on your phone before you wipe it.