Rumor: Samsung Coming to Mobile World Congress With 2GHz Exynos 5250
While some are wondering what’s going on with a quad-core Exynos processor of some sort, most of us know that Samsung still has yet to push the boundaries of dual-core. Their Exynos chipset series is one of the most efficient, fast and capable chipsets around and the Exynos 5250 will take things a step further.
It’s an ARM Cortex-A15 chipset that will boast a 2GHz clock speed, all the while sucking even less power than some of their earlier chipsets. The chip has begun sampling, according to Samsung, and will hit mass production sometime in Q2’12.
This gives them a good timeline to put the chip into an early device and showcase it at a recent event. Taylor Wimberly from Android & Me says that recent device could be a new Galaxy Tab and that the show could be Mobile World Congress in a new rumor.
The device they’re looking to bring out is reportedly bigger than 10 inches. Yes, I know – it’s hard to imagine anything bigger than 10 inches to be considered wieldy enough for practical use. “Well what if the device is just 10.1 inches,” I asked myself. That’d be plausible if not for the belief that it will come with a WXQGA display (2560×1600), something that the Exynos 5250 will indeed support.
Wimberly reportedly saw a prototype device of the same cloth but was unable to take photos of it. We’re not sure if his rumor stems from that device alone but we can’t say excitement will drape all over us if it did.
Prototypes and development devices are usually specced well beyond what is usually necessary for consumer use. We do hope to see a device of some sort with the Exynos 5250 at MWC, though.
I can confirm that Samsung System LSI was indeed on-hand at CES showing off top secret prototypical Exynos devices, however I was not ultimately granted permission to take a look myself.
In my meeting with them they sounded like they had a product ready to show off in the very near future. We’re hoping this rumor holds true and we’ll be at Mobile World Congress to see whatever they’re willing to show.
Android Tablets in Q4’11: Shipments Tripled, Accounted for 39% of Shipments
Strategy Analytics took some time to crunch some numbers in the tablet space and came up with very encouraging Q4’11 numbers for Android. First of all, Android tablet shipments tripled from 3.1 million units in Q4’10 to 10.5 million in Q’11.
This is, of course, due to many OEMs jumping into the tablet game in 2011 and looking toward Android for their software needs just as most do with phones. The holiday season introduced a great deal of new tablets, including the oft-desired Amazon Kindle Fire.
They also found that Android shipments accounted for 39% of the share in this quarter, up from just over 29% in the same quarter last year. They attribute Android’s growth to cheap, yet highly marketable options such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet. Apple’s iPad took 57.6% of the share and that was down from 68.2% a year ago.
It’ll be interesting to see if Android’s momentum can sustain and seriously attack iOS as it has been able to do in the phone space. Attractive pricing and a good software ecosystem are just two of the many things that need to be maintained in order for Android to have a chance and it would appear that both facets are doing quite alright.
It’s worthy to note that when referring to Android tablets, the number of items shipped are just that – shipped to retailers. With the iPad, shipped is considered sold. Find the full press release below.
Strategy Analytics: Android Captures Record 39 Percent Share of Global Tablet Shipments in Q4 2011
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached 27 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. Android jumped to a record 39 percent global share, while Apple iOS maintained its strong leadership at 58 percent.
Peter King, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global tablet shipments reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 percent from 10.7 million in Q4 2010. Demand for tablets among consumer, business and education users remains strong. Apple shipped a robust 15.4 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 58 percent share during the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter.”
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Android captured a record 39 percent share of global tablet shipments in Q4 2011, rising from 29 percent a year earlier. Global Android tablet shipments tripled annually to 10.5 million units. Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others have been driving volumes. Android is so far proving relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns about fragmentation of Android’s operating system, user-interface and app store ecosystem.”
Other findings from the research include:
- Global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units in full-year 2011, surging 260 percent from 18.6 million in full-year 2010. Consumers are increasingly buying tablets in preference to netbooks and even entry-level notebooks or desktops;
- Microsoft captured a niche 1 percent global tablet share in Q4 2011. The upcoming release of Windows 8 this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space.
Exhibit 1: Global Tablet Operating System Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2011 1
Global Tablet OS Shipments (Millions of Units) Q4 ’10 Q4 ’11 Apple iOS 7.3 15.4 Android 3.1 10.5 Microsoft 0.0 0.4 Others 0.3 0.5 Total 10.7 26.8 Global Tablet OS Marketshare % Q4 ’10 Q4 ’11 Apple iOS 68.2% 57.6% Android 29.0% 39.1% Microsoft 0.0% 1.5% Others 2.8% 1.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Growth Year-over-Year % N / A 150% The full report, Global Tablet OS Market Share: Q4 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Tablet & Touchscreen (TTS) service, details of which can be found here:http://tinyurl.com/78qpf5u.
About Strategy Analytics:
Strategy Analytics is a global, independent research and consulting firm. The company is headquartered in Boston, USA, with offices in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and China. Visit www.strategyanalytics.com for more information.
1 Shipments refer to sell-in. Numbers are rounded. The definition of tablet does not include e-book readers.
RIM’s new CEO says that all Android phones are the same, kettles are also black
On the off-chance that there are any RIM investors reading this story, hoping against hope that the company would try something drastic (like using Android) to reverse its worldwide downward slide… you might want to give your portfolio manager a call. After months of almost universally gloomy news for the Blackberry manufacturer, they installed a new CEO this week, Thorsten Heins. When asked by Crackberry if the company would consider switching to an Android-based software system and abandon their often delayed and underwhelming BlackBerry OS, Heins said ““there is just no room for differentiation because [Android phones] are all the same.”
For a little context: this comes from a company whose first touchscreen product (in 2008, no less) failed so miserably that its sequel abandoned its one unique feature. Whose Nokia-esque line of numbered families get incremental updates that are nigh indistinguishable from one another. Whose first radical change to their core hardware model, the Torch, adopted the portrait slider format that had been in wide use for the better part of a decade. Who can’t give away their sole tablet product (which still lacks a native email client, by the way) despite quasi-support for Android apps.
We usually don’t pay attention to Blackberry here at Android Community – just like the rest of the world as of late. But it seems like a no-brainer for them to dump their overloaded software framework and build on Android to come into this decade. As HTC, Samsung, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others have proven, it’s entirely possible to create your own separate look and feel on Android, while still staying compatible with updates and hundreds of thousands of apps. RIM could easily integrate Blackberry’s legendary business-friendly encryption, email and messaging apps – heck, they’re probably doing the latter already.
Feel free to continue along your current path, RIM – it’s not like you’re trying to compete or anything.
HTC Sense 4.0 details emerge before Mobile World Congress
Like it or not, custom manufacturer skins are here to stay. That said some are better than others, and HTC’s Sense UI has emerged as one of the more mature and usable options, even garnering its fair share of fans. HTC is expected to reveal the fourth version of Sense with new hardware at Mobile World Congress next month, but PocketNow allegedly got a look at the changes before prime time. They came away impressed, and noted some radical – and in many cases welcome – changes.
First and foremost: the homescreen can finally function in landscape mode without any hacking or tweaking. This is a feature that is bafflingly absent form almost all stock phones (save QWERTY sliders) and is often inserted by modders and aftermarket ROM developers. Sliders and icons go with a slate gray look instead of the current glossy black, and the sometimes obtrusive icons are augmented and in some areas replaced with text. The task switcher is similar to the card system found on stock Ice Cream Sandwich, but uses a 3D effect like the current Sense carousel.
The lockscreen gets a makeover with a more straightforward notification system, reportedly aping the iPhone 4 and 4S. (Careful, HTC – Apple’s lawyers are running amok, and will certainly be looking for easy targets.) PocketNow reports that HTC plans for all of its devices to use capacitive physical buttons, not on-screen buttons as was assumed to be standard for Ice Cream Sandwich phones. Some hardware will move to a three-button layout even so. A new guest mode allows you to lock all private data and apps to allow a friend or acquaintance to borrow your phone for a quick call or search.
Sense’s other affected programs like email and the web browser get incremental updates, and the later notably has a reader mode saved page function. Beats will be a universal feature with support for plugins from third-party apps, and DropBox is included with some integration with the rest of Sense’s custom applications. Take all of this as rumor at the moment: none of it is official in any way. We should be able to confirm or deny all of the above information in Barcelona in late February.
Story Timeline
- More HTC Edge details: NFC, 8.8mm, and Sense 4.0 on Nov 8th 2011
- HTC Sensation Android 4.0 ROM Leaks, teases Sense UI on ICS on Dec 21st 2011
- HTC Ville headed for T-Mobile, says rumor on Jan 16th 2012
- HTC Edge rumored for a Mobile World Congress unveil on 2-26 on Jan 20th 2012
- HTC Primo leaks: Android 4.0, Beats Audio, and budget friendly on Jan 23rd 2012
- HTC pledges to follow a ‘Hero Device’ strategy for 2012 on Jan 26th 2012
Rogers’ LG Optimus Pad is now free on contract
Free phones, even free smartphones, are nothing new in contract-laden world of wireless providers. But a free tablet? Now that’s downright novel. Canadian cellular carrier Rogers just slashed the price down to nuthin, nil and nada for the LG Optimus Pad, the Honeycomb tablet first made available on Rogers in May of last year. If you buy the tablet ouutright it’ll still cost you $549.99 CAD, or $499.99/$449.99 for a month-to-month or one-year contract, respectively.
We’re no fans of locked-in wireless contracts, but I must admit, a free tablet with an always-on connection is tempting. While I wouldn’t dream of paying an extra $100 on top of a WiFi model and saddling myself with a two-year contract (not to mention pricey early termination fees) the Optimus Pad has some respectable specs even for a device of the previous generation. The 8.9-inch screen packs in a 720p display, and a Tegra 2 processor will handle HD video and all but the most demanding of modern games. 32GB of storage is double the standard (even for much, much more expensive competitors) though there’s no option for MicroSD cards. US readers: the Optimus Pad is almost identical to T-Mobile’s G-Slate.
Don’t get used to this kind of pricing – the freebie deal is almost certainly meant to clean out inventory before the arrival of the Optimus Pad LTE. The updated tablet is confirmed to come with an IPS screen, 8MP camera, a MicroSD card slot and a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor from Qualcomm. Of course it also supports LTE wireless networks. The Optimus Pad LTE will come equipped with Honeycomb 3.2 – the original’s still on 3.0 as far as we can tell – but since it’s a ways out from release, there’s no word on when or if it wil get Ice Cream Sandwich.
So, Canadian readers, does the low price on the LG Optimus Pad tempt you? If it does, don’t be a putz – go for the two-year contract, not the three-year one.
[via MobileSyrup]
Wi-Fi versions of Droid XYBOARD tablets begin shipping
Motorola earlier this week announced that the Wi-Fi versions of their Xyboard 8.2″ and 10.1″ tablets have begun shipping. Featuring free two-day shipping for a limited time, the tablets start at $399.99 for the 8.2-inch and $499.99 for the 10.1-inch models. Interested consumers can head to Motorola’s website and place orders for their preferred model, choosing from either 16GB or 32GB storage capacities.
Features for both versions include the following:
- Android 3.2 Honeycomb (Ice Cream Sandwich expected)
- IPS display with Gorilla Glass
- 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
- 5-megapixel rear camera
- 1.3-megapixel front facing camera
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB/32GB internal storage
Wi-Fi versions of Droid XYBOARD tablets begin shipping originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
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Amazon offering Droid Razr Maxx for $199
Amazon is at it again, offering one of the hottest new Android handsets at a dramatically discounted price. This time we’re talking about Verizon’s newest smartphone, the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx. Although it’s on backorder at the moment, you can get your spot in line for the handset at $100 less than going through the carrier. Same great stuff as what’s offered directly from Verizon, only $199 instead!
Amazon offering Droid Razr Maxx for $199 originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
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ASUS Working to Get Fix for Transformer Prime ICS Lockups in February
ASUS remains one of the more vocal OEMs these days as they have identified the widely-reported ASUS Transformer Prime lockup issue that has sprung up after the update to Android 4.0. They hope to have a fix out this February but couldn’t give a more specific window than that.
They also plan to fix some WiFi and Bluetooth dropout issues with a server side fix, something they are also aiming to fix next month. ASUS is currently collecting serial numbers from users through technical marketing manager Gary Keys on XDA.
They’ll be trying to mirror your device to see if it’s affected with the problems identified. Are any of you experiencing these things following your Ice Cream Sandwich update? [XDA via The Verge]
Koushik Dutta Teases New Touch-Based Recovery
Our friend Koushik Dutta has posted a new teaser video to his Google+ page showing a touch-based recovery that he’s been working on. This isn’t quite like the touch-based recovery we saw before that simply had on-screen buttons for navigating. Koush is going all out with the project, implementing the ability to scroll and select list items, all via touch and without the use of buttons, virtual or otherwise. While we’re not sure how far off we are from seeing a stable release and while we don’t know how many devices this will be intended for we’re glad to see that progress is looking good. Check it out in the video above. [Thanks Micah!]
Vlingo Addresses Security Concerns With Great Transparency
Vlingo has taken a verbal and public beating, lately, for findings that suggested their application was doing more than it was supposed to. Users found that their application would send more data than it really needed to and had folks wondering which data was being sent, for what reason and where. Asked to comment on the findings, Vlingo blessed us with a better explanation than we’d normally expect.
Firstly, they said that an issue with the way they present their privacy policy for certain devices was misleading. As you know, Vlingo partners with OEMS, one of the most notable being Samsung, to integrate Vlingo into their software and sometimes the OEMs want additional features.
One such feature is controlling the playback of music. In order to control that, Vlingo needs to be able to process the artist and track name and that takes up data, even if it’s a negligible amount. The issue comes where Vlingo doesn’t state this in their privacy policy because the same notice is used for all integrations of Vlingo.
This causes an unexplanatory discrepancy in what Vlingo reports and what’s really going on. To combat this, they’ll simply be sure to update their privacy policies for each specific implementation that they developer.
Vlingo also says that increased data usage may come from a couple of bugs they’ve found, including one that allowed a service to run after it should have been stopped as well as one that accidentally sent location data. We’re not sure where the app “sends” that data to, but we’re glad that it was acknowledge.
Vlingo has provided a full rundown of everything that can be read below, courtesy of Android Central. Be sure to head to Android Pit, the outlet who brought these issues to the forefront, for more information.
We take any claims about our customers’ privacy and security very, very seriously. We certainly appreciate that we have individuals who are passionate enough about Vlingo’s products and about their own privacy rights to conduct this sort of in depth investigation. No question it has raised some real issues, and we have already begun to address the bugs internally.
First, to be clear, Vlingo does make use of information about each device in order to improve the quality of our service. Some examples of this include:
- We use the current location of the device to improve search results, for example, to display nearby restaurants when the user does a restaurant search.
- We use the device make & model to improve recognition accuracy since microphone characteristics can vary from one type of device to the next.
- We use names from the address book on the device to improve speech recognition accuracy (and to spell those names correctly) when users speak those names while performing tasks like voice dialing or SMS dictation.
- We use song titles and artist names from music on the device to improve speech recognition accuracy when users speak those names while requesting that specific music be played.
- We use the carrier information to work around some issues we’ve found on some carrier-specific wap gateways
- While we transmit and store this information, Vlingo itself does not store any user-identifiable information–meaning we have no way to associate a list of songs or contact names to the user they came from.
Even though we intend to be very transparent about what information we are using in our Privacy Policy, we have discovered that our Privacy Policy is somewhat out of date. For example, we are not mentioning the fact that we are sending song titles and artist names from the device. We will be updating the Privacy Policy to reflect this.
The above information is currently being sent via the HTTP protocol. We are in the process of migrating our communication protocols from HTTP to more secure HTTPS. Already, some of our client applications are using HTTPS, and new versions of our applications will be using HTTPS in the future.
In many cases, we are using the device IMEI as the unique identifier to distinguish communication from different devices to our system, which matches the convention used by many other mobile applications to identify unique devices. The IMEI cannot be used to track the actual identification of the user, but we understand that in some rare cases, the IMEI can be abused. We’re investigating switching to other mechanisms like cookies in the future.
We have found several bugs that are causing us to send more data than we intend:
- If you start the application for the first time using the widget (and only using the widget) and then cancel out of the initial disclaimer, we are currently sending some device-specific data to the server erroneously.
- Our application is currently including the device location information with device information like contact names and song titles. Our intention is to only send location with a speech recognition request, and the location should be omitted from background device-information transmissions.
These issues are errors and are by no means intentional. We plan to fix them as soon as possible and will release updates to the user community as well as through our OEM partners. In addition, we will be improving our processes to ensure that our application behavior with respect to privacy matches our intention.
For users who are happy with the Vlingo application and want to continue using it, we thank you and recommend that you continue using the service. For users who want to stop using Vlingo and are concerned that our servers can still contain data from your device, you can contact support@vlingo.com with your IMEI, and we will remove sensitive information such as contact names from our servers.
Again, we are grateful to the individuals that uncovered these security issues. We are all very proud of the service that Vlingo provides to millions of happy active users, we apologize for these mistakes, and we are doing all we can to ensure that our users can continue accessing our application in full knowledge that their personal information is secure.
