Sony buys out Ericsson for $1.5 billion

In 2001, Sony joined forces with Ericsson, a Swedish mobile phone manufacturer, yielding a joint venture called Sony Ericsson. This week, Sony announced it would take full control of Ericsson, in a deal reportedly worth roughly $1.5 billion. Sony reps positioned the acquisition as a matter of synergy – now the company can more fully integrate its smartphone and consumer electronics lines."Its the beginning of something which I think is quite magical," Sony CEO Howard Stringer said at a press conference in London, according to Reuters. "We can more rapidly and more widely offer consumers smartphones, laptops, tablets, and televisions that seamlessly connect with one another and open up new worlds of online entertainment".

So what does the takeover say about the smartphone market at large? Well, over at GigaOm, Bobbie Johnson notes that the move "underlines how Europe’s mobile credentials have fallen away in the last few years." He points out that just a couple of years ago, the top four mobile phone makers were in Europe andAsia – Nokia and Sony Ericsson in Europe andSamsung and LG in South Korea.

"Today," Johnson writes, "Nokia’s share is falling so fast it’s been forced into an alliance with Microsoft, whileApple, China’s ZTE, HTC and Research in Motion have all overtaken it – and in smartphones it’s even further off the pace. Europe might be a voracious consumer of mobile, but it’s clinging on by its fingertips in the technology race."

This week, of course, Nokia introduced the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710, the first Nokia phones to run the Windows Phone OS. They are due on US and European shelves in early November. Speaking to the New York Times, an analyst called the Lumia line "a new start for the company. This helps stop the bleeding and will help Nokia get back in the game."

BlackBerry 'puts monitoring centre' in India

MUMBAI — Research In Motion (RIM) has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government conduct surveillance checks on the company's BlackBerry services, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.

The financial daily quoted unnamed people familiar with the matter who said the Canadian firm opened the centre earlier this year to deal with requests from Indian intelligence agencies.

No one was immediately available for comment at either RIM or India's telecoms ministry when contacted by AFP.

RIM and the Indian government have been embroiled in a row over access to BlackBerry services, in particular encrypted email and instant message facilities that New Delhi fears could be used by extremists to plot attacks.

Multiple deadlines have been issued to the firm to comply with government requests for monitoring.

The Wall Street Journal said RIM was now allowing surveillance of BlackBerry Internet services and the company was no longer facing the prospect of shutdowns.

RIM was complying with intercept requests on suspect individuals once it was satisfied the demand had legal authorisation, it added.

In January, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said RIM had already given India access to its instant messaging service and the government would press for access to the corporate email service.

India's Telecoms Minister Milind Deora was quoted as saying by the daily that the government still wants to "find some middle ground" with RIM.

For its part, RIM said India was "applying its security policy in a consistent manner to all handset makers and service providers in India, which means that RIM should not be singled out any more than any other provider".

India, which has the world's fastest-growing number of mobile users, has also told Google and Skype to set up servers in the country to allow law enforcers to screen traffic.

RIM has faced similar requests from governments in the Middle East and Asia. It has said it cannot give access to corporate email because the security keys are with individual companies.

Apple's next big product may be a TV

(CNN) -- A fully integrated Apple television, one of Steve Jobs' final visions, might be on the way soon, according to multiple reports.

In "Steve Jobs," a biography of the late Apple co-founder released Monday, author Walter Isaacson writes that Jobs told him he'd finally figured out a way to make a TV practical. He said it would wirelessly synch with other Apple devices.

"It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine," he told Isaacson. "I finally cracked it."

On the same day, analyst Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities issued a report titled "A Full-Blown Apple TV Is On The Way."

In it, he says the book confirms what his multiple trips to China have suggested. He said Ticonderoga has seen evidence that early stage prototypes of an "Apple Smart TV" are already making their way through Chinese factories.

"We believe a product could hit the market in the coming quarters, opening up a new growth category for Apple and driving sales of existing products that play into the Apple digital ecosystem," White wrote.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg cited three unnamed sources saying that Jeff Robbin, the software engineer who built iTunes, is in charge of developing the television set.

The news service quoted another analyst, Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray Cos., saying that the iPhone 4S's Siri voice-command app could be integrated into a TV system.

Apple's Web-TV device has underperformed, but a full TV may be on the way.

Since 2007, the company has made a product called Apple TV, a set-top Web-streaming box that competes with rival Google TV and independent offerings like Roku and Boxee. But compared to hits like the iPhone and iPad, it has largely underperformed, leading Jobs last year to acknowledge that Apple TV has "never been a huge hit."

In September, Apple slashed its price from $299 to $99, but even that hasn't made the service a household name.

In his report, White notes that a refresh of Apple TV set for later this year has been scrapped, potentially signaling the television system's pending arrival.

Amazon's tablet may be hottest holiday gadget

(Reuters) - The Kindle Fire tablet may be the hottest selling gadget this holiday, pressuring Amazon.com Inc's profit margins but giving the world's largest Internet retailer potentially millions of new high-spending customers.

Since Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos unveiled the tablet at a lower-than-expected price of $199 on Sept. 28, some analysts have increased their sales estimates for the device.

Amazon got 95,000 Fire pre-orders on its first day and has been averaging about 20,000 a day since then, email-monitoring firm eDataSource estimated. The device ships November 15.

Technology blog AllThingsD reported on October 6 that Amazon is selling over 25,000 Fires a day, citing unidentified sources close to the company.

"The rumored numbers out on the Web are far too low," said Mark Gerber, an analyst at Detwiler Fenton & Co. "Really strong pre-orders and the surprising $199 price means they will easily do five million units this quarter."

Gerber previously expected Amazon to sell three to four million Fire tablets in the fourth quarter.

Amazon declined to comment. But Gerber and other analysts will be watching closely for clues on tablet orders when the company reports results on October 25.

The company is expected to make a third-quarter profit of 24 cents a share on revenue of $10.93 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

A second tablet

Peter Rojas, head of gdgt.com and co-founder of gadget websites Gizmodo and Engadget, expects the Kindle Fire to be the hottest holiday product this season, ahead of Roku Internet TV boxes and Canon's new PowerShot S100 camera.

The Fire's $199 price means people who already own Apple Inc's more expensive iPad will buy the device as a second tablet for their family, Rojas said.

"A lot of people started to have more than one computer in the home in recent years and cheaper netbooks fulfilled that need perfectly," Rojas told Reuters. "The Kindle Fire could meet the demand for a second tablet."

Other buyers will be people who dislike Apple or passed on buying an iPad because it was too expensive, Rojas noted.

"They have been waiting for that iPad alternative to emerge and it never did," Rojas said. "Amazon played it smart -- there's just enough dissatisfaction out there with iPad alternatives."

It's back: Rockstar Games confirms Grand Theft Auto V with plans for trailer six days before release of Call of Duty

The makers of the phenomenally successful Grand Theft Auto franchise have officially revealed the latest version of the series through a teaser logo on their website.

Rockstar Games confirmed plans for Grand Theft Auto V by announcing a teaser trailer to be released on November 2 - already a huge month for video game fans worldwide.

Grand Theft Auto's creators will unveil the first footage of the game just days after the release of anticipated shoot-em-up Battlefield 3, and just six days before Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hits the shelves on Nov 8.

Cryptic: No details were revealed about Grand Theft Auto V, other than the date of the trailer for the game to be shown next month

The release of the cryptic and minimalist GTA V logo today immediately set video game forums into a flurry of speculation as to where the latest version of the game will be set.

Those who visit the Rockstar Games website are greeted simply with a black screen and a huge GTA V logo, with a green 'V' not dissimilar in colour and design to a U.S banknote.

A 'five' also appears on the logo, fueling internet speculation that the latest incarnation of the series could be set in Washington D.C.

Other fans of the series suggested it may move away from the U.S., and could even be set in London.

Grand Theft Auto IV, released in 2008 and which was at the time the fastest-selling video game in UK history, was set in a New York-style cityscape and featured trademark extreme violence and joyriding.

Since then, Rockstar Games have released similarly expansive games such as the spaghetti Western-themed Red Dead Redemption and crime thriller LA Noire.

Highly anticipated: Grand Theft Auto IV remains one of the most popular video games ever, having shifted 22million copies

Wherever its location, fans of the series will no doubt be expecting a return of the random graphic violence which has characterised the series and made it so controversial.

Complaints of moral campaigners and its effect on the young have not stopped the series becoming one of the biggest franchises in gaming history.

The series has shifted over 115million units since the first Grand Theft Auto on the Playstation in 1997, while GTA IV sold 22million copies alone.

Alex Simmons, UK Editor in Chief of game site IGN, said: 'The Grand Theft Auto games wrote the book for the sort of huge, free-roaming 3D world gamers expect today.

'The anticipation around Grand Theft Auto V is enormous – but Rockstar has a lot more competition these days, not least from their own smash hit Western Red Dead Redemption.

'Gamers are expecting something very big here – hopefully, Rockstar is inventive enough to deliver.'

Google’s Android beats Apple in mobile app downloads

According to ABI Research, In the second quarter of 2011, “Android overtook iOS to become the market share leader in mobile application downloads. The market shares of Android and iOS were 44% and 31%, respectively.”

Android winning the iOS app. sales battle

Android winning the mobile app. sales battle

In case you’re keeping score at home, there are still more iOS applications than there are Android applications and iPhone and iPad users are far more likely to download an application than their Android brothers and sisters. “Despite leading in total mobile application downloads, Android’s app downloads per user still lag behind Apple’s by 2-to-1,” said Dan Shey, ABI Research’s practice director, mobile services in a statement. “Apple’s superior monetization policies attracted good developers within its ranks, thus creating a better catalog of apps and customer experience.”

So why is Android winning then? There are two reasons. First, as Lim Shiyang, an ABI research associate stated, “Android’s open source strategy is the main factor for its success. Being a free platform has expanded the Android device install base, which in turn has driven growth in the number of third party multi-platform and mobile operator app stores. These conditions alone explain why Android is the new leader in the mobile application market.”

That sounds good, but I think the real reason is that people are simply buying the more affordable Android devices. By ABI’s numbers, “IPhone shipment growth in Q2 2011 slowed to 9% from 15% a quarter earlier. In contrast, Android smartphone shipments increased 36% in Q2 2011, compared to 20% in Q1. Android’s install base now exceeds iOS by a factor of 2.4-to-1 worldwide; by 2016 this factor will grow to 3-to-1.” In short, Android phones are out-selling iPhones, and so, as the Android hardware market grows ever larger, so does Android software sales.

Combined, according to Download.com’s numbers, mobile software downloads have already left Windows downloads in the dust. Using ABI’s data, this trend seems certain to continue. According to ABI, “Global app downloads for year-end 2011 are expected to balloon to 29 billion, compared to only nine billion in 2010. Such stellar increases are largely due to the proliferation of smartphones around the world. The total smartphone install base is expected to grow 46% in 2011.”

Web users may have found new planets

Web users from around the world have been helping professional astronomers.

Since the online citizen science project Planet Hunters launched last December, 40,000 Web users from around the world have been helping professional astronomers analyse the light from 1,50,000 stars in the hopes of discovering Earth-like planets orbiting around them.

Users analyse real scientific data collected by NASA's Kepler mission, which has been searching for planets beyond our own solar system since its launch in 2009.

Now astronomers at Yale University have announced the discovery of the first two potential exoplanets discovered by Planet Hunters users in a study to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The candidate planets orbit their host stars with periods ranging from 10 to 50 days - much shorter than the 365 days it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun - and have radii that range in size from two-and-a-half to eight times Earth's radius.

Users found two in the first month of Planet Hunters operations using data the Kepler mission made publicly available.

The team sent the top 10 candidates found by the citizen scientists to the Kepler team, who analysed the data and determined that two of them were planet candidates.

3D Printers

Objet’s family of 3-Dimensional Printing Systems brings high-resolution, fine-detailed models into the hands of designers or engineers and fits in any office environment. Objet’s patented PolyJetTM and PolyJet matrix technology provides a complete 3D printing solution for virtually any rapid prototyping application. Objet Studio Software guarantees that your models are printed smoothly and accurately.

Connex 3D Printers for Multi-Material Parts

Objet’s Connex family of multi-material 3D printing systems is based on Objet’s unique PolyJet Matrix™ Technology. The Connex family offers the completely unique ability to print parts and assemblies made of multiple model materials, with different mechanical or physical properties, all in a single build. Going even further, the Connex family of multi-material 3D printers can also fabricate Digital Materials™ on the fly, enabling users to create composite materials that have preset combinations of mechanical properties.

The Connex family of 3D Printing Systems works with FullCure model and support materials and Objet Studio for Connex™ software.

Eden 3D Printing Systems

Eden 3-Dimensional Printing Systems offer unprecedented return on investment (ROI) for professional rapid prototyping applications. Printing with the high accuracy of ultrathin 16µ layers, all Eden systems produce models with exceptionally fine details and smooth surfaces.
With the Eden 3-Dimensional Printing Systems family, you can select the system that best fits your needs, whether in build size, productivity or budget requirements. The compact design and the clean process of all Eden systems makes them ideal for any office environment.

The Eden family includes:

Objet Desktop Printers Eden 350 & Eden 350V - 3D printers by Objet

High resolution 3D printing with 28 micron layer thickness isn’t just for big-budget enterprises. With Objet’s family of low-cost desktop 3D printers, designers and engineers can build true-to-life models and prototypes featuring ultra-precision details straight from the office desk. Eden 260V - 3D printers by Objet

FullCure® Materials

Objet FullCure photopolymer materials offer a varied choice of color, mechanical properties and include support material for complex geometries. This gives you maximum flexibility in creating high-resolution models that meet a wide range of fit, form, function and “feel” requirements.

The Eden family includes:

Objet Desktop Printers
High resolution 3D printing with 28 micron layer thickness isn’t just for big-budget enterprises. With Objet’s family of low-cost desktop 3D printers, designers and engineers can build true-to-life models and prototypes featuring ultra-precision details straight from the office desk. Eden 250 - 3D printing systems by Objet

Objet Studio™ Software

Objet Studio support STL and SLC files exported from 3D CAD software packages. Using the intuitive interface, you can easily organize, check and build models by dragging and dropping the STL file onto the Objet Studio build tray.

IBM and 3M Herald New Era of 3D Electronics

IBM and 3M have partnered to pioneer a revolutionary new electronics technology that stacks semiconductor microchips into 3D packages that are 1,000 times more powerful than current devices.

State-of-the-art electronic devices such as touch-screen tablets and smartphones are thin because all of their circuitry is cast onto flat, planar semiconductor microchips that are laid out side by side, then interconnected with overlaid patterns of flat metal wires printed on circuit boards. But by taking those same chips and stacking them on top of each other, they can be interconnected by shorter wires that are faster, use less space and consume less power.

IBM and 3M are developing a new type of adhesive (blue) that can glue together up to 100 microchips into stacks of semiconductors that realize 3D electronics 1,000 times more powerful than today's flat, planar chips. (Source: IBM)

"We believe we can advance the state-of-art in packaging and create a new class of semiconductors that offer more speed and capabilities while [keeping] power usage low—[all] key requirements for many manufacturers, especially for makers of tablets and smartphones," said IBM Vice President of Research Bernard Meyerson.

3D microchips have been on the drawing board for years, but the main problem has been keeping the chips on the inside of the stack cool. Today's flat printed circuit boards allow each planar chip to dissipate heat into the air, but stacked microchips instead heat each other. 3M's job will be making an adhesive that solves this problem by conducting heat away from the interior of chip stacks.

If 3M and IBM can solve the heat problem, they will be able to put a stack of memory chips on top of processor chips and then put an input-output (I/O) networking chip on the bottom of the stack where connections are made to the outside world. The resulting electronic devices will lose their large, flat form factor in exchange for small, compact cubic shapes that are easier to power and less affected by electromagnetic noise.

3M's thermally conductive adhesive will use innovative nanoscale structures that pump heat away from the most sensitive interior circuits. Since microchips are fabricated on wafers that hold hundreds of identical copies, 3M's adhesive can be coated on an entire wafer. Each successive wafer will be "glued" with the adhesive to the next one on top of it. Finally, after the 100th wafer is glued to the top, the entire stack of wafers would then be sawed into complete 3D cube-shaped electronic devices.

"We are very excited to be an integral part of the movement to build such revolutionary 3D packaging," said Herve Gindre, division vice president at 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division.

3M lists adhesives as the first of its 46 core technologies, along with connecting devices, converting, extruding, heat shrinking, metallization, precision coating, rubber molding, thermoplastic molding, web handling and 36 more.

Evolution of the 3D Experience

Enter a new dimension in TV and Home Entertainment with Samsung 3D TV. Experience cinematic-quality 3D entertainment in the comfort of your living room. Samsung 3D* is a truly immersive viewing experience, with the power to fill your room with images you can almost touch.

Evolution of the 3D Experience.

Over the years, 3D has evolved to now give you a great experience. Samsung brings the wonder of 3D home with full color and high resolution. Imagine breathtaking images with immersive depth and dimension that you can watch from your sofa.

The 3D Revolution.

Hollywood has embraced 3D with a growing number of new 3D films. Ever the innovator, Samsung has partnered withDreamWorks Animation and Technicolor for content you can get right now. And it's not just Hollywood. A 3D TV and sports broadcast revolution is underway, and Samsung 3D TV is ready to deliver. Samsung is the world's first 3D LED TV and is compatible with broadcast and Blu-ray 3D standards.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR 3D

3D TV | 3D Content (Blu-ray 3D movie) | 3D Active Glasses | Blu-ray 3D player

How 3D Works.

Our eyes are spaced apart from each other, which means our left and right retinas see objects at slightly different angles. In real life, the brain merges these two images into a single three-dimensional image. To recreate this experience of depth on television, a 3D TV will display two separate but overlapping images of the same scene simultaneously, and at slightly different angles as well. One image is intended for the left eye, the other for the right. A pair of Active Glasses helps viewers perceive the two 2D images as one 3D image.

Watch 3D. Look Stylish.

See all the jaw-dropping 3D action through Samsung's sleek Active Glasses (sold separately). These glasses use a shutter technique to quickly block the left eye, and then the right, in sync with the TV which itself is alternating left and right images rapidly. This is fast enough that the brain perceives no gaps. The glasses help the mind merge the two images into one, creating a 3D effect and offering a deep, immersive experience. Samsung offers two forms of 3D glasses - battery-operated and rechargeable - that will fit comfortably over prescription glasses.

Presenting our
3D Lineup.

Samsung's eye-popping 3D capabilities can be found in our new lineup of LED, LCD and Plasma TVs, and Blu-ray Players, including the LED 7000, LCD 750, PDP 7000 andBlu-ray 6900.

New iPhone App Lets Users Talk To Each Other

The latest blockbuster iPhone application, or "app," is Squawky-Talky, an application that allows users to broadcast their voice in real-time to other iPhone owners.

"It's pretty cool," noted iPhone user Josh Carlisle, 20, of Freehold, N.J. "I was going to text my buddy Todd, but then I used this app and we were able to talk to each other. I was like, Dude, it's Josh!and Todd was like, Dude!

"Did I mention it was pretty cool?" asked Carlisle.

The $2.99 application has been downloaded more than 150,000 times since its release last month, but, like many iPhone apps, it has been the subject of some controversy.

"It's very annoying to have to listen to these people yak at each other," said Randy Peregrine, 24, of Dallas, Tex., referring to the Squawky-Talky users. "I find it distracting when I'm trying to shake my baby to death."

New iPhone App Lets Users Talk To Each Other

Steve Jobs

Upon further questioning, Peregrine explained that he was referring to Baby Shaker, the iPhone app recently banned by Apple, and not an actual baby. "I'm not some sicko," he said.

Probably of greater concern, though, is the assertion by the Better Business Bureau that the app doesn't do anything that the iPhone can't already do when you buy it - namely, allow you to talk to people.

But William Breniger, who designed the Squawky-Talky app, takes issue with that claim. "For one thing, when you use our app to talk to somebody, the screen turns a very subtle shade of red," he noted.

"Plus, when you use Squawky-Talky, you're not just making a call - you're squawkin', baby!," he added, pointing to the lettering on his "You're Squawkin' Baby!" t-shirt.

Apple, for its part, has said it has no plans to pull the app. "We are really only concerned about applications that contain obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content, or endangered babies, or that make fun of Jesus," said Apple spokesperson Kerri Henderson. "Also, Nine Inch Nails. They just suck."

Meanwhile, consumers don't seem to have a problem with the app, although that may be because they're uninformed. When told that he could talk to people with his iPhone even without Squawky-Talky, Josh Carlisle responded with surprise.

"Whoa. I thought it was just for Web surfing and making fart noises," he said. "I have got to squawk Todd about this."

Mercedes-Benz Reveals 2012 CLS

It wasn’t too long ago when we reported that Mercedes-Benz was ending production of the first generation CLS class. Over the weekend, Mercedes-Benz sent out a press release revealing the second generation CLS. The four-door coupe will make its debut at the 2010 Paris motor show. More details and pictures are below.

The interior of the 2012 CLS-Class is distinguished by a timeless design which combines discreet elegance with innovative details and handcrafted perfection. The refined interior compliments the use of high-quality trim elements, located on the instrument panels, center console and door linings. Customers can choose between high-gloss brown burl walnut or high-gloss black ash. For an even more progressive look, black piano lacquer or carbon fiber trim elements are also available. New CLS customers will be able to choose from five different interior colors and four types of premium leather.

No official engine specs have been disclosed but eMercedesBenz predicts the new CLS will sport a 3.5-liter direct-injected V6 and for those looking for more power, an optional 4.6-liter V8 that fetches 430 horsepower will be available and a AMG edition that could sport a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8.

pages