Displaying items by tag: Android

The BlackBerry keyboard dethroned by touchscreens will live on in a new 5G smartphone planned for release next year, according to a deal between OnwardMobility and Foxconn Technology Group.

Texas-based OnwardMobility will work with a Foxconn Technology Group subsidiary on a BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android software and tailored for 5G networks, the companies said in a joint release.

BlackBerry announced early this year that Chinese electronics group TCL will no longer have rights to design, make or sell its smartphones as of the end of August.

The new smartphone will make its debut in Europe and North America, and be designed to appeal to the increasing number of people working remotely, according to the release. The agreement announced gives OnwardMobility the right to develop, engineer, and market a BlackBerry 5G smartphone. FIH Mobile, a subsidiary Taiwan-based Foxconn, is to design and manufacture the new device.

“Enterprise professionals are eager for secure 5G devices that enable productivity, without sacrificing the user experience,” said OnwardMobility chief executive Peter Franklin. “BlackBerry smartphones are known for protecting communications, privacy, and data.”

Franklin added that the deal would “deliver a new 5G Android BlackBerry smartphone with a physical keyboard.”

BlackBerry's share of the global smartphone market has fallen to virtually zero since it dominated the market with its keyboard design a decade ago. The rise of Apple's iOS and Android-powered handsets with touchscreens prompted BlackBerry to abandon the market to concentrate on software and services.

BlackBerry, based in Canada, licensed its smartphone technology to TCL in

2016 in a failed effort to revive its fortunes.

 Huawei's upcoming flagship Mate 30 smartphone will launch next month without key Google apps, creating a challenge for the Chinese tech giant hit by US sanctions.

A French consumer rights group said that it has launched a class action lawsuit against US tech giant Google for violating the EU's strict data privacy laws.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei says it could roll out its own operating system for smartphones and laptops in China by the autumn after the United States blacklisted the company. The international version of the system could be ready in the first or second quarter of 2020, said Richard Yu, the head of Huawei's consumer business.

US technology behemoth Google is at the centre of an investigation by Indian competition officials after it was alleged that Google may have engaged in anti-competitive practices.

Google stands accused of abusing the market dominance of its Android platform. The European Union conducted a 3-year investigation that only concluded last year.

The European Commission determined that the deemed requirements for Android device makers to use Google apps were illegal. The US tech leader was subsequently fined €4.3bn.

Reports emerging from India claim that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) began probing potential abuse of Android’s position six months ago, following a complaint filed by a group of individuals.

In addition to this, it has been further disclosed that Google executives met with Indian officials to discuss the matter in greater detail. The CCI must now make their deliberations before deciding whether the case merits a further investigation, or if it should be dismissed.

A source told Reuters, “It is on the lines of the EU case, but at a preliminary stage. The EC’s action would make it difficult for the CCI to reject further investigation without demonstrating the problem has been addressed.”

Following the decision handed down by the EC, Google announced its intentions to stop bundling preinstalled apps with its Android platform and instead charge manufacturers a fee to licence its apps, as part of a bid to avoid additional fines.

Google has been in trouble in India before.

In February 2018, the CCI imposed an INR1.36 billion ($19.3 million) fine on the company for abusing its dominance in online web search and search advertising markets.

Google appealed against the fine, stating it could cause irreparable harm and reputational loss.

Q2 growth for tablets and business smartphones was up slightly this year, as the market shows signs of a rebound, according to research by Strategy Analytics. Business smartphone shipments grew 14.8 percent year-on-year to reach 107.1 million units in Q2, up 6.1 percent sequentially from Q1. Tablets reached 17.3 million units in Q2, up 7.5 percent from Q1.  

While Q2 2017 showed signs of an increase on a slower first quarter, suggesting signs of an improvement for the remainder of the year, the outlook still remains volatile, according to Strategy Analytics, with longer replacement cycles and GDPR (general data protection regulation) likely to impact the market over the short to medium term.

“Overall, the business smartphone industry expanded steadily in the second quarter, Samsung saw positive shipment growth while Apple's shipments slipped by 11 percent,” said analyst Gina Luk. “Android and iOS are the two dominant operating systems in the market, as Windows 10 smartphone shipments continued to be squeezed out by the industry with close to zero market share.”

Through the first half of the year, the pace of business mobile devices shipments appears to be on trend with what the industry is accustomed to seeing with the current expansion – shipments registering disappointing first quarter growth performance to be followed with a stronger pace of growth in the second quarter, according to Strategy Analytics.

“The worldwide business tablet market remains volatile; it rebounded slightly to reach 17.3 million units in the second quarter, a 7.5 percent increase from Q1 2017, but year on year growth was flat at 0.7 percent on Q2 2016. The picture is still quite mixed,” said Andrew Brown, Executive Director of Enterprise Research at Strategy Analytics.

“North American business tablet volumes were up 5.4 percent sequentially in Q2 2017, however shipments declined 4.2 percent year-on-year,” he added. “The story was similar in Central & Latin America, which grew 2.2 percent quarterly, but shrank by 6.1 percent from Q2 2016, although other regions are registering positive quarter-over-quarter growth.”

Xiaomi just launched the Mi A1 smartphone in collaboration with Alphabet’s Google, the first Xiaomi device to run on the evolved Android One program. Priced from INR 14,999 in India (US$233.90), Mi A1 combines hardware innovations, including an optical zoom dual camera setup, with Google-designed software. 

The device runs on stock Android to offer a high-quality software experience designed by Google, underscoring Xiaomi’s commitment to providing more choices for users. At a launch event in New Delhi, India, it was announced that Mi A1 would be available in India and also in more than 40 markets around the world including Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia, Poland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Mexico.

Android One is a low cost line of devices that run the Android operating system – a hardware and software standard created by Google for Android systems and customers in the developing world, although later on it was made available in limited form in some developed nations. Android One phones initially rolled out in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and other South Asian countries in 2014.

When Google started Android One in 2014 – a signature project of Google CEO Sundar Pichai (then Google’s Android head) – the company’s early OEM partners couldn’t sell enough of the devices, thus interest waned, Bloomberg reported. Google has now teamed with Xiaomi to bring the program back to life for India, continuing a stalled effort to showcase its mobile software for users in emerging markets.

Xiaomi and Google are now together aiming at the middle market with the launch of Mi A1, which will likely see them reach fewer Indian buyers, but also avoid the intensely competitive low end market, where brand affiliation matters less and margins are thin, Bloomberg highlighted.

“Mi A1 is a strategic device in our global expansion, marking a milestone on our quest to bring innovation to everyone,” said Xiaomi Senior Vice President Wang Xiang. “From the beginning Xiaomi has been all about choice, and we are delighted to offer users a new way to experience the power of Xiaomi.”

Wang noted that this is a logical extension of Xiaomi’s long partnership with Google. “Google has been a great partner, and given our strong collaboration, we thought their idea to launch a Xiaomi smartphone on Android One would be a great opportunity to give our users a different user experience,” he said. “I’m truly excited about what this partnership will bring to our users across the world!”

What’s it got to offer? Mi A1 incorporates a dual camera configuration similar to that in Mi 6, Xiaomi’s latest flagship device, with wide angle and telephoto lenses used to incredible effect. The two lenses allow Mi A1 to calculate what is in the foreground and what is in the background, creating a depth-of-field effect that typically requires a DSLR lens to achieve, allowing the user to create photos of unparalleled clarity and color.

In addition, an improved ‘Beautify’ mode that makes selfies look more natural, now works with both the front 5MP camera as well as the 12MP dual rear camera. Mi A1 supports 2x optical zoom, which makes photos of distant subjects remain clear, while 10x digital zoom is also supported.

Mi A1 is Xiaomi’s first Android One phone, with a software experience designed by Google, offering users a simple, pure Android phone that stays fresh over time with OS upgrades. As an Android One smartphone, Mi A1 comes with the most popular Google services built-in as default, such as free unlimited high quality storage from Google Photos.

Available in Black, Gold and Rose Gold, Mi A1 has a full-metal body design that measures just 7.3mm in thickness, with discreet separation lines for a seamless look and rounded edges for great hand feel. It also comes with a rear fingerprint sensor.

Featuring a 5.5-inch 2.5D curved glass screen with Corning Gorilla Glass protection, the device also boasts a 10v power amplifier for deeper lows and higher volumes, ensuring it provides an immersive media experience. A dedicated amplifier also provides support for high-impedance headphones (up to 600 ohms).

The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor based on the 14nm manufacturing process, as well as a 3080mAh battery. It also features 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.

US cities Seattle and Portland are set to get ‘smarter’ following the launch of a free app which allows users to search for on-demand rides. It will be formally introduced after the completion of a successful three-month test period.

The application which is entitled Migo, is basically a search engine that allows users to search, compare and hail multiple type of ride-hailing transportation like Uber, Lyft, Car2Go and Seattle Yellow Cab, without engaging in the time consuming process of jumping from one application to the other.

The Migo ‘free app’ display real-time data to users and estimates their wait and walk time, whilst in addition to this the applications enables you to search, hail and book a ride service all from within the application.

The new service which is being launched in Seattle and Portland first will be initially only available on the iPhone, but a spokesman for Migo has confirmed that it will be quickly expanding to additional markets such as Android. Seattle and Portland have been identified as ‘key’ cities for the launch of Migo because of their role in the White House Smart Cities Initiative, which was launched in 2015. The program was specifically designed to accelerate the delivery of smart city solutions which includes eco-friendly transportation options that best leverage the cities resources and infrastructure.

The CEO and founder of Migo, Jeff Warren claimed that both cities were the ideal locations to engage in testing on innovative transportation services such as its free application.

Warren said: "Seattle and Portland are hotbeds for testing new transportation services and models, like car-share, ride-share, carpooling, bikes and taxi services. Migo was designed to help residents first discover and then easily choose their best ride option – whether that means closest, cheapest, most environmentally friendly or simply the coolest option to get from place to place. And with the rapidly expanding populations of both Seattle and Portland, we see Migo as a key partner to help keep the cities moving."

Andy Rubin, the creator of Android, recently unveiled the first smartphone by his new company, Essential, after months of speculation. The handset certainly lives up to the hype, featuring premium specs and a sleek industrial design.

The Essential Phone seems to have taken inspiration from the Samsung Galaxy S8 featuring a 5.7-inch, edge-to-edge display that rises to the top of the phone and breaking only for the front-facing camera in the middle. The device’s titanium and ceramic build make for a strong and durable phone compared to other devices on the market made from aluminum. One of its greatest appeals is that it doesn’t have any obvious logos or branding.

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor is featured inside the Essential Phone, along with 4GB of RAM, a 3040mAh battery and 128GB of internal storage. There are two holes on the back of the device that can be used to attach Essential-made accessories. The most interesting of which is a small 360-degree camera capable of shooting a spherical UHD (3840x1920) image at 30 frames per second. The device also comes with a charging dock for those who prefer a cradle to the typical dangling cable.

Similar to the Huawei P9 and P10, Rubin opted for a dual-camera setup for the Essential Phone, with a sensor dedicated to monochrome imaging. It can be used standalone for generic black and white images or combined with the color sensor to get enhanced detail and low-light performance. The front-facing camera can take 8-megapixel images and can also shoot 4K video.

Not a lot has been said about the Essential Phone’s software other than it will run Android Nougat 7.1.1. The device is said to be designed for working with Home, a smart home device that runs on a platform called Ambient OS. It has everything you would expect from an Echo-like assistant, such as the ability to play music, look up information online, and set timers.

The one aspect of the Essential Phone that has disappointed some people is its apparent lack of a headphone jack. Like Apple, the Essential Phone is banking on USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity to replace the need for typical headphones. However, it does come with a headphone adapter. The device will be available in four different colors including Black Moon, Stellar Grey, Pure White and Ocean Depths. It will sell for $699 or $749.

Inspired by the power of touch and the Brilliant U, HTC unveiled HTC U11, the world’s first smartphone with revolutionary new squeeze interaction. The highly-anticipated HTC U11 sets a new standard of what you can expect from a smartphone by combining revolutionary new squeeze interaction with a stunning liquid-surface design, intelligent personal audio, amazing cameras, and multiple AI assistants for a smarter smartphone.

The new smartphone features HTC Edge Sense, the next dimension in touch interaction with your phone; Liquid Surface design; HTC USonic, an advanced headset for personal audio, now including Active Noise Cancellation; amazing cameras with the highest independent rating ever awarded to a smartphone camera (based on DxOMark ratings: dxomark.com/Mobile); and HTC Sense Companion, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa for a smarter, more helpful smartphone.

HTC Edge Sense transforms touch sense into a completely new and revolutionary interaction with your phone. With a simple squeeze, HTC Edge Sense lets you easily engage with your phone in an unprecedented yet intuitive way, helping you more naturally enjoy the things you love like taking photos, opening Facebook, or launching any of your favorite apps.

The HTC Edge Sense feature makes your camera easier to use. No more fumbling for buttons or awkward hand positions. No more worrying about dropping your phone while you pose. Just lift, squeeze, smile, and snap. You can also send texts faster and easier than before. Texting can be impossible when you are on the move, but using HTC Edge Sense for Voice to Text, you can speak your text messages without having to slow down. Lightly squeeze, speak your message and send your texts on the go.

You can even customize the squeeze gesture: open email with just a squeeze. Or launch your favorite game (or any other app). Or pick any one of a host of options. Want even more touch control? HTC Edge Sense gives you the ability to activate advanced touch and use a “short squeeze” as well as a “squeeze and hold” for even more functionality at your fingertips.

HTC U11’s liquid glass surface is crafted to impress using Optical Spectrum Hybrid Deposition. By layering highly-refractive precious minerals across the phone’s back cover, THC has created vivid new colors that transform light with every movement you make. The new seamless, curved look of HTC U11 is achieved with 3D glass on both front and back. Heating and then bending the glass using extreme pressure results in unique, 3-axis symmetry for a phone that is slim no matter which way you hold it.

HTC U11 has a 5.5” Quad HD 3D glass screen designed for vivid, crisp images and text in any light – even direct sunlight. HTC provides you a purer full-framed viewing experience - its display avoids the cropped pictures or distorted colors at the edge that are the results you can expect from a curved screen. What’s more, the device is water-resistant.

HTC U11 is the first smartphone to be commercially released worldwide that is exclusively powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform. Every HTC U11 also includes UFS 2.1 for an extremely fast processor, paired with the fastest memory performance.

Experience Gigabit Class LTE (up to 1Gbps) with the integrated Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, which is designed to deliver fiber optic speeds on the go for lightning-fast music and video downloads and to get almost instant access to the web, social media sites or your content in the cloud. You get 25% faster graphics than the HTC 10, with 35% or 3 hours more video playback, 30% or 8 hours more music playback and 43% or 3.5 hours longer web browsing time via an LTE network.

The HTC U11, will be available in Amazing Silver, Sapphire Blue, Brilliant Black, Ice White, and Solar Red. All together, the HTC U11 sets a new standard by HTC of what you can expect from a smartphone.