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Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Windows 8 apps, Motorola’s FTC Issues

July 2, 2012 by

Just days after Apple received an injunction banning Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 being imported into the United States Apple has received a second injunction against Samsung. U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who granted the first injunction, has also granted one that prevents the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

As with the first injunction Apple must first post a bond, this time $96 million to cover damages if the case is ultimately decided in Samsung’s favor. The judge ruled that it was likely that Samsung infringed on four Apple patents.

FTC looking at Motorola patent licensing practices
The Federal Trade Commission is looking at how Motorola licenses its patents with an eye out as to how the company deals with licenses for its patents that are adopted as industry standards. The FTC has sent investigative demands to the company this week, according to Electronista.

The FTC is examining if Google is living up to its requirements to meet fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing of the patents and follows a similar investigation that has just been opened by the European on FRAND violations. A ruling against Motorola could have a major impact on the various lawsuits it currently has ongoing with rivals such as Apple and Microsoft.

HP eyes business with next generation tablet
Hewlett-Packard has said that its first Windows 8 tablet will not chase the consumer market but will instead be focused on the business side of the industry. The first offering will run on an x86 processor and run Windows 8.

It does possibly also plan on offering an ARM-based system that will use the Windows RT version of Windows 8 for consumers but has not publicly committed to that move just yet, according to PCWorld.

Asus to release Audio Dock for Nexus 7
Asus, Google’s manufacturing partner for its Nexus 7 has said that it plans to release an Audio Dock for the tablet later this year. According to Pocket-Lint it will be designed to look as if it is part of the Nexus 7 and will also come in black.

The dock will be designed to charge the tablet as well as hold it upright so that a user can watch videos at the same time, according to the article.

Pebble smartwatch unveils SDK
The Pebble e-paper smartwatch, the poster child for Kickstarter success stories, has taken its next step to mainstream product with the release of its software developer kit at the Google I/O show last week. It will be interesting to see if the support from the developer community matches the huge support it received from individual investors.

Upcoming Summer Olympics fuel increased spam
Silicon Angle is reporting that there has been an upsurge in spam that is seeking to exploit fans interest in the upcoming Summer Olympics in London. Seeking to plant malware on your system or just pushing some product that you have never heard of or care for it does not matter, they are coming for you.

According to the article, the number of message titles is large and growing. An example includes:
• 2012 Games Entertainments Co-ordinator
• 2012 Olympic Draws
• 2012 Olympic Promo
• 2012 Olympic Promotion Board United Kingdom – South Africa
• 2012 Olympics, A Lottery For The Future
• 2012 Summer Olympic Lottery
• 2012 Summer Olympic/Paralympic Games

Microsoft thinks global with Windows 8 apps
Microsoft has said that when it starts shipping its upcoming Windows 8 operating system users in 180 countries will be able to have access to the growing number of apps being developed for the operating system. While the list is a work in progress the company said that most nations will have access to ts Marketplace and App hub. According to PC Mag, apps are currently available in only 63 countries for the current Windows Phone and Windows 7 operating systems.

Nielsen starts tracking top YouTube Channels
Nielsen has started tracking streaming video on YouTube’s growing family of partners and the first results are in about who is included in the Top 5 . The race is led by Vevo, followed by WMG, Machinima, Fullscreen and Maker.

The names in some cases might not ring a bell, but the traffic is enough to make you stand up and take notice. Vevo has 695 million streams and 41 million unique viewers! Maker, the #5 drew in an impressive 9.6 million unique viewers. All of this is just for the month of May, 2012. One interesting tidbit was that more than half of the viewers to each channel were under 35 years of age.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Asus, FTC, Google, iPad, iPhone, Kickstarter, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Nielsen Ratings, Olympics, Tablets, Windows 8, YouTube Tagged With: , , , , ,

BMC debuts Team App Just Prior To Tour de France Start

June 29, 2012 by

BMC has two of the most appealing plots in the Tour de France this year: Can Australian Cadel Evans successfully defend his 2011 title? And can American George Hincapie, making his record-setting 17th Tour de France start, get his record-tying 16th finish?

The seven other riders on the BMC squad all have their own stories to tell in the Tour de France, too. Which is why, the team has unveiled its 2012 mobile app for Android and Apple iPhones.

Team news and race results are easily accessible via the free app. Race action photos, rider bios, information on the BMC Racing Team’s partners, direct links to the team’s online store, Twitter feed, Facebook page and Tour Tracker or all available via the free app.

And from the lighter side, fans can find out what team resident music expert, Manuel Quinziato, is listening to via his “Quinziatunes” playlist.

The BMC Racing Team app can be downloaded for Android, here and for iPhone here

BMC held a pre-race Tour de France press conference with comments by Cadel Evans and Philippe Gilbert. Listen here

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, iPhone

Recon Instruments Seeks to Enlarge Heads-Up Display App Space with SDK

June 28, 2012 by

Recon Instruments has taken an important step in expanding the demand for its Heads up Display technology by opening it up for developers with the release of a software developers kit (SDK) for Android that will open up the platform to third party developers.

Possibly lost amid all of the splash that Google provided at the opening of its Google I/O show yesterday Recon used the event, packed with Android developers, to reveal the details of its HUD SKU to the market.

While its main focus has been on developing for ski goggles, the HUD devices have been used for a range of other uses including by a skateboarder who recently set a speed record, and recorded the event using Recon’s technology.

I suspect that as additional apps are developed Recon will start to see its products used in a growing number of fields which will be increasingly important as competitors are starting to crowd the field. Google showed a live working demonstration of its Google Glass project at the show yesterday and they were used in ski diving and rappelling down a building.

A number of other developers including Oakley and Vuzic are also working on at least somewhat similar projects, so the larger the app ecosystem for Recon’s platform the more likely it will have long term success.

The SDK will enable the development of apps for the current version of MOD Live, the current HUD from Recon, as well as the next generation that is currently under development. The basic components that developers will have to work with include a GPS unit, Bluetooth connectivity and a host of sensors including on board altimeter, barometer, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyro, 3-axis magnetometer, and temperature sensor.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Google, Live sports via mobile, Recon Instruments Tagged With: ,

Google Delivers 7-inch tablet, the Nexus 7; Google Q Streaming Media CE device

June 27, 2012 by

Google has delivered a host of new features for its Android operating system as well as a co-developed 7-inch tablet and its first consumer electronics device that is designed to unify and play the data that you might have stored in the cloud.

The tablet was developed along with partner Asus and is called the Nexus 7, a 7-inch tablet that will take on everything from products from rival’s Amazon’s Kindle , Barnes and Noble’s Nook, Microsoft’s Surface and Apple’s iPad to just name a few.

The $199 tablet features a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor as well as a12 core Nvidia Tegra application processor that will run the just announced next generation Android operating system 4.1, code-named Jelly Bean and has a 1280 x 800 pixel display.

The Nexus 7 is designed to work with other Android devices so a user can start reading a book on their phone and pick up on where they were on the tablets. It supports interactive articles that enable a user to go from an article in a magazine to say a video showing an exercise being described in the article.

The Nexus 7 is built around using the company’s Google Play store as a center of usage and said that it is available now for preorder with shipment expected for mid-July. It will come with a $25 credit to spend in the Google Play store as well as free books, magazines and others.

The company also showed its Nexus Q, a black ball that is a social media streaming device that a user can control via another Android device and is designed to access data and media that is stored in the cloud.

Designed to be set up from your phone it is essentially jukebox and movie player, and as the ability to serve as a center that allows your friends to add songs or movies from their devices to the playlist, and anyone can take control and rearrange the playlist to suit their tastes. Same with movies and YouTube videos. It will run Android 4.0 and feature 16GB of internal storage and have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities.

The company displayed its Google Glass project, much to surprise of the audience. The live Google Glass demo started by showing ski divers in a blimp over San Francisco equipped with glasses. They jumped from the blimp and the glasses enabled the audience at the Moscone Center, and online viewers, to follow the divers as they descended onto the roof of the building.

They also employed bikers doing flips on the roof top and then building climbers to drop down the side of the building, all wearing the glasses. It was a very impressive live demonstration and I suspect it will give users of cameras such as GoPro a moment of pause.

But the company does not envision the Glasses to be just for recording information and video for friends but also make it easier to access information via your glasses rather than taking out a smartphone, unlocked it and then do a search for the required information.

The Glasses in Project Glass feature and array of technology including a display, a camera, a processor and memory to store what is being recorded as well as a touch pad, microphone, small speaker, sensors including gyroscopes as well as multiple radios for data communications.

Project Glass is still a work in process and the company was asking for feedback to see what else the audience, which features many of its top developers, would also like to have in the devices. It announced the Google Glass Explorer addition for developers and admitted it was still a rough product. Hopefully some of this will make it to YouTube.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Google, Kindle, Microsoft, Nook, Smartphone, Surface, Tablets, Wi-Fi, YouTube Tagged With: , ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Google I/O This Week

June 25, 2012 by

Google’s Goggle I/O show is this week so expect to hear an onslaught of news from the company and its partners on all things related to Android, smartphones, tablets, Chrome and most likely a host of other issues that they are concerned with.

The show will be held from June 27 to June 29 at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center and most of the keynote sessions will be live streamed for those of you that are interested but don’t want to endure the cold of an SF summer. (editor’s note: 75 degrees here today, Oregon boy.)

One message I would like to hear is how it will deal with the growing fragmentation of its Android operating system. It seems that most of the major manufacturers are only now coming on board with Ice Cream Sandwich, and a new OS is expected this week.

The issue is important for a number of reasons but a major one is that continued fragmentation could lead to developers only focusing on Apple’s iOS and even Windows 8 when that OS is available.

Intel invests in touchscreen developer
Intel Capital was the lead investor in a EUR20 million investment funding round for touchscreen technology developer FlatFrog Laboratories. Invus was also an investor in the round. FlatFrog is developing technology that tracks light traveling inside the cover glass of a screen.

Apple dealt a setback in battle with Motorola
Judge Richard Posner, who is presiding over one of the major patent disputes between Apple and Motorola, has ruled that Apple cannot pursue an injunction against Motorola and has dismissed the case with prejudice.

Posner had previously indicated that this was the direction he was leaning in but relented to allow testimony from both sides of the case last week. Apple does have the option to appeal his ruling.


Apple moving ahead in Samsung patent suit
While losing an important round to Motorola, Apple is continuing to push ahead with its Samsung lawsuit and will have its request to have a court order blocking sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 heard this week.

The judge in the case has also said that she hopes to rule on Apple’s bid to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone at the June 29th hearing.

Microsoft says no to Motorola patent proposal payout
Microsoft has declined to accept the offer that Motorola made that would settle the patent dispute between the two companies that has threatened Microsoft’s ability to ship Xbox 360 consoles into the US and would bar some Android phones from Motorola as well.

Motorola was offering to pay 33 cents per phone that uses Microsoft’s ActiveSync software and wants Microsoft to pay it 50 cents for each device that uses Microsoft’s Windows operating system that uses Motorola’s industry standard video compression patent.

Mobile Carriers agree to alert travelers on roaming charges
Have you ever traveled in a foreign country and used your smartphone and had a slight heart attack when you got your bill at home with the huge roaming charges attached? Now carriers are going to do something about that.

What they are doing is to send you a message alerting you to the fact that your data plan has changed and new rates will apply. Among the 24 that have signed on are AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom-Orange, Hutchison 3 Group, SoftBank Mobile Corp., Verizon Communications, America Movil, and Vodafone Group.

Apple fined over 4G claims
An Australian court has fined Apple $2.27 million over its claims for its iPad that included unsupported promises of 4G support. After the charges were brought Apple changed its advertising and offered refunds. Apple now touts the device as WiFi+ Cellular.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, AT&T, Google, Intel Capital, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , ,

NBC Increases Tour de France Coverage, Including Multi-Platform Mobile Options

June 24, 2012 by

In addition to increased broadcast coverage, including live coverage on the first weekend, the NBC Sports Group has substantially increased its internet coverage of the race’s 99th edition.

Collectively called Tour de France LIVE, race coverage will be available online at NBCSports.com, and through the Tour de France LIVE Mobile app.

The network will offer users two premium-subscription products which will give fans a multi-platform, all-encompassing viewing experience to the Tour.

Tour de France LIVE offers live streaming video of every stage in full HD, with the ability to pause, rewind and slow-mo the video. While watching live coverage online, viewers will also have access to a live GPS tracking map to follow the riders’ progress or to see an enhanced interactive map for each stage.

Subscribers can also personalize their Tour experience by choosing their favorite riders and teams to track throughout the Tour.

For iPhone and iPad users as a Android users fans can purchase the Tour de France LIVE Mobile app.

All the features of the NBCSports.com online experience will be mirrored in the Tour de France LIVE Mobile app, including live video of every stage, and is sold separately from the online product

Stages 7 and 8, which will air live on NBC, will also be streamed live for free, on NBCSports.com.

Here are some more helpful links:

NBC TOUR DE FRANCE TV COVERAGE

TV times for NBC coverage. Will probably be like NHL and have some on the former Versus channel. Check your cable provider listings.

Visit NBC Tour de France app for addition mobile viewiing options.


 

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Cycling, NBC Sports, Tour de France Tagged With: , , ,
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