Apple fighting for Kodak patents

Kodak might be cleared to sell its patents, but it's likely no fan of the companies lined up to make a deal. The Wall Street Journal's best friends, "people familiar with the matter," assert that Apple and Google are part of separate coalitions hoping to buy the 1,100 patents up for grabs. Apple's camp supposedly includes Microsoft and controversial patent holder Intellectual Ventures; Google's team reads more like an Android Justice League, with HTC, LG, Samsung and "patent risk solutions" provider RPX all playing a part. Real or not, there's still much that's up in the air. Kodak's not talking, and even the touted insiders warn both of new challengers and allegiances that could be in flux over the next few days. If there's meat on this rumor bone, however, it could make the August 8th auction another patent war spectacle rather than a mere ticket back to solvency for Kodak. 

Via Engadget

Old Xperia handsets not getting Jolly Bean update

Some of you might be familiar with Sony's earlier struggles to successfully (and in a timely manner) deliver Google's Ice Cream Sandwich to a slew of Xperia handsets. And, as we all know, Android 4.0's no longer the freshest treat around, thus the Walkman maker will now have to answer all the Jelly Beanquestions to come. The first one to do so was a resident Sony mobile expert on the company's UK Facebook page, revealing that the Xperia Arc S and the itty-bitty Xperia Mini Pro won't be receiving the latest and greatest OS from Mountain View. Meanwhile, he also stated there's nothing buttery in the works for the elegant Xperia S, though he did say "ICS should now be approved" for the device.


Via Engagdet

ASUS Transformer Prime get Jelly Bean love

Hot on the heels of HTC confirming a Jelly Bean upgrade for select handsets, ASUS released a statement (pasted after the break) assuring tablet owners that all of the company's new tablets, at least, will be upgraded to Android 4.1. So far, the outfit is committing to updating the Transformer Prime, along with the Transformer Pads TF300 and TF700. Though ASUS is careful to say it's considering other devices, it's still not promising to upgrade the original Transformer or Eee Pad Slider. No word, exactly, on when users will get a taste of Project Butter and Google Now, except that it should happen within "the coming months." Hopefully, of course, that's just an outside estimate: after all, ASUS isn't known for saddling its tablets with heavily customized skins, which can bog down the upgrade cycle.

Dear valued ASUS customer,

At ASUS, one of the key commitments we make to our customers is a relentless drive to deliver the best user experience. We constantly strive to achieve this goal through our 'Design Thinking' philosophy that includes regular software and firmware updates for our products.

We are pleased to announce that many of our tablet products are scheduled to receive an update to Android 4.1, Jelly Bean. The ASUS Transformer Pad, ASUS Transformer Pad Prime and ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity are all scheduled to receive Android 4.1 updates in the coming months. We will provide further guidance on our expected timeframes for these updates near their release.

We are still investigating Jelly Bean updates for other devices, but we are not in a position to confirm whether any other products will be eligible for an update at the moment.

Thank you for your continued support.

ASUS

Via Engadget

iPads for Qantas flights

Qantas just upped the ante for its Australian counterparts Jetstar and Virgin in the airline tablet wars. Following an earlier trial, the transporter plans to hand out free iPads to all of its passengers -- not just the high-flyers in business-class, like with Jetstar's iPads or Virgin's Galaxy Tabs -- on every Boeing 767aircraft in the fleet. The rollout, which starts in the last quarter of the year, will let those bored in the back seats watch an equally free 200 hours' worth of QStreaming audio and video. Don't confuse the gesture with a sudden bout of altruism on Qantas' part, however. The pound-and-a-half weight of acurrent iPad sheds the tremendous amount of weight that would normally be needed for a conventional in-flight entertainment system built into the headrest, which on a typical 375-seat 767 could see the iPads pay for themselves within years, if not sooner. 

Via Engadget

Jelly Bean OTA to Unlocked Galaxy Nexus

Google has just announced Jelly Bean, also known as the Android 4.1, the successor of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, few weeks ago. Mid-July has arrived, and Jelly Bean update has started rolling out to the unlocked Galaxy Nexus in next couple of days. The update features Google Now, the enhanced notifications and more responsive user interface thanks to Project Butter.

Google has also mentioned Motorola Xoom, Nexus S and other Galaxy Nexus phones will be among the first few receiving the Jelly Bean update pretty soon. Also, the Google tablet newly annouced at Google I/O 2012, Nexus 7, which is shipping later this month, would be running the latest Android OS.

Google Nexus 7 has a smart cover

You won't find this on its official specs list, but Google's Nexus 7 tablet apparently has a magnet-enabled sensor that'll automatically set the display to sleep -- it's hard not to think of the iPad's Smart Cover. YouTube user wwscoggin was able to discover and pin-point the functionality near the bottom left of the device by gliding a magnet along its bezel. 

Both Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus gets Jelly Bean update

According to Engadget, both the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus is going to get some love from Google with the Jelly Bean update.

BB10 to be out next year only

Despite all the doom and gloom at RIM of late, CEO Thorsten Heins is a long, long way from throwing in the towel. After denying a "death spiral" and responding directly to Globe & Mail reader questions, he sat down with CIO's Al Sacco to talk about what he sees coming next year -- and why we're going to have to wait another couple of months for BB10. The reason for delay, he says, "is not because we added stuff to it. The delay is because our software groups were actually so successful in coding the various feature components... we got overwhelmed by integration efforts." In other words, the company didn't add too much stuff, there simply was too much stuff. That's a very different state of affairs.

That being the state of play, the decision to delay again was a natural one, says Heins. "What I commit to the public out there is that when we ship BlackBerry 10, we will do it at high quality." And he, of course, has high hopes for what they ship. "In January with the full touch device and the QWERTY coming, I think we will reinstall faith in RIM." That seems to imply a January release for the device, or at least a final media unveiling, which could make the 2013 CES RIM's last, best hope.

Amazon is set to release smartphones

Amazon is developing a smartphone that would vie with Apple’s iPhone and handheld devices that run Google’s Android operating system, according to Bloomberg.

Foxconn, the Chinese mobile- phone maker, is working with Amazon on the device, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Amazon is seeking to complement the smartphone strategy by acquiring patents that cover wireless technology and would help it defend against allegations of infringement, other people with knowledge of the matter said.

Amazon beefed up its patent prowess recently by hiring Matt Gordon, formerly senior director of acquisitions at Intellectual Ventures Management LLC, the company that was founded by former Microsoft Corp. Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold and owns more than 35,000 intellectual property assets. Gordon will be general manager for patent acquisitions and investments at Amazon, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

Via Bloomberg

Android market share

The latest Dashboard numbers for Google's Android operating system have been released. The verdict? One in ten devices is leveraging Ice Cream Sandwich as their mobile OS of choice. The numbers, which are current as of July 2nd, put Gingerbread (Android 2.3) in first place with a 64-percent install base; followed by Froyo (Android 2.2) with 17.3-percent and ICS with 10.6-percent. Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), announced just last week at Google's IO Developer Conference, was not included in this instance of the report (as it is not officially available yet). Hit the source link to view all the stats, and feel free to let us know what Android codebase your handset is rocking via the comments.

Via Engadget

Google Glasses for pre-order at $1,500

Google Glass is real and will soon be shipping. Sergey Brin just took the stage at Google I/O, won the Internet with an amazing skydiving demo of the device and then announced that Google Glass is available for pre-ordering. Named Glass Explorer Edition, it’s available to those at Google I/O and costs a whopping $1,500. Plus, the device will not ship until next year. But Google Glass is real. This is big.

Google spent about 30 minutes explaining and showing off Google Glass at today’s I/O keynote. But it was strange. The presentation wasn’t as polished as the keynote’s other events. It felt off the cuff. As Sergey explained at the end of the event, Google still doesn’t know all the use cases of Google Glass. The company is still building not only the product, but also the philosophy behind Glass. That’s why Google is making Glass available to those that really love Google. It needs help.

Right now Glass Explorer Edition is only for the US and the device is only available for pre-order by I/O attendees. Sergey explained that there are some regulatory issues to resolve prior to International shipping.

Via Techcrunch

Apple scores one against Samsung

It hasn't been Samsung's best week. Just days after Judge Lucy Koh granted a preliminary ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, she's following it up with a similar granted request on the Galaxy Nexus. Judge Koh had already signaled that she thought Apple's lawsuit over four patents might have merit, but it's only now that she's deciding the potential damage is worth halting sales of the phone until there's a final trial verdict. Samsung will no doubt try to appeal the dispute, which centers on Android 4.0's slide-to-unlock mechanism (among other elements), but there's a lot more urgency here than with the outgoing Tab 10.1: the Galaxy Nexus is still a current-generation device, and just became Google's Android 4.1 phone flagship. Samsung's odds aren't great given that Apple has already used one of the patents to give HTC grief with its imports.

Update: As patent lawsuit guru Florian Mueller found, the clincher for the ban was the patent on unified search that's linked to Siri. Although Judge Koh is inclined to believe Apple's view regarding all four patents, that search patent is the one whose violation would reportedly merit more than a slap on the wrist. She's similarly convinced that Apple's patents are legitimate and likely won't be dismissed anytime soon.

Via Engadget

Giada Announces Their Flagship D2305 Mini PC with Intel Ivy Bridge Processors‏

Giada, a brand of Shenzhen Jiehe Technology Development, Co., Ltd, is pleased to announce its top of the line mini PC – D2305. Available with Intel Ivy Bridge i3, i5, or i7 processors and Intel HM77 Express Chipset as well as NVIDIA® GT640 GPU, the D2305 offers enhanced performance and power management, a promising solution for your DIY home theater PC.

The Giada D2305 mini PC incorporates premium features such as slot-in HDMI 1.3-complaint Blu-ray drive, Direct X 11 3D graphics support, and 7.1 channel HD audio. The built-in mSATA SSD drive can be used in parallel with the normal hard drive, so you have the operating system running on the SSD and the hard drive to store the media files. There's full Windows 7 support out-of-the-box, and a 500 GB of hard drive space to store thousands of hours of music and movies. Additionally, a wireless remote control is included not just for comfortable viewing and listening but allows you to turn the D2305 mini PC on and off.

Giada's D2305 includes 4GB of DDR3 memory upgradeable up to 8GB. Ports include a 4-in-1 card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO), a DVI, HDMI, eSATA, S/PDIF, 2x USB 2.0 and 3x USB 3.0. Two mini PCIe expansion slots supporting mSATA plus Trusted Platform Module (TPM) are available. For connectivity, this high-end D2305 model has Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth.

The Ivy Bridge processors provides more than enough computing power for all your needs, but this low energy consuming mini PC runs on just 90W. One fan keeps Giada's D2305 mini PC at the optimal operating temperatures while staying quiet.

Small and stylish, this top of the line D2305 mini PC looks great in any living room, bedroom or home office. Giada's D2305 can fit neatly into any available space, blending into the background, while always being there to provide instant computing power whenever you need it.