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Intel Aggressively Pushes Smartphone, Tablet Vision at CES

January 11, 2012 by

CEO Paul Otellini brings out Lenovo, Motorola as first smartphone partners

Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini used his keynote speech at the International Consumer Electronics Show to roll out new partners, products and reference designs as the chip company ramps up an aggressive push into tablets, smartphones and ultrabooks.

Paul Otellini

While the company has been participating in all of these spaces, with varying degrees of success for years, this is one of the biggest concentrated pushes from the company and one that appears to be ready to bear some immediate fruit.

Smartphone partnerships
Two key players came on stage to show prototype smartphones that they said will be shipping later this year, possibly by the end of the summer, powered by the next generation Intel Atom processor Z2460 platform, formerly code-named “Medfield,” Atom processors.

The first on stage was Liu Jun, Lenovo senior vice president and president of Mobile Internet and Digital Home where he showed the pending Lenovo K800 smartphone, using the Atom processor. That will run the Android operating system. Expected to ship in the second quarter of this year the phone will run on China Unicom’s 21Mbs network and includes support for HSPA+ the Lenovo LeOS user interface for a localized experience in China.

The second is with Motorola Mobility and is a much more complex relationship. The two have amulti-year, multi-device strategic partnership that will also include tablets. Otellini said “Our long-term relationship with Motorola Mobility will help accelerate Intel architecture into new mobile market segments.”

Atom Processor Z2460

Motorola will be building Android devices using Intel’s Atom processors in both the smartphone and tablet space. The companies will collaborate across hardware, software and services, according to Sanjay Jha, chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility.

Intel has made several products aimed at establishing itself as a provider of core technology in the cellular handset market over the last decade, with very poor results. However it has never had two major partners like Lenovo and Motorola not only on board but ready to ship products in the near future.

Strategic Reference Designs
Aside from the two key partners Intel has also delivered a pair of reference designs, one for tablets and one for smartphones, in order to help customers quickly build a phone that can also accept any innovation the partner may have internally.

The Intel Smartphone Reference Design features a 4.03-inch high-resolution LCD touch screen for crisp text and vibrant images, and two cameras delivering advanced imaging capabilities, including burst mode that allows individuals to capture 15 pictures in less than a second with 8-megapixel quality.

There is also a tablet reference design. A demonstration on stage had a Clover Trail processor running a tablet that had Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system and Intel said that Clover Trail-based systems would support the Metro user interface from Microsoft as well as be compatible with millions of Windows applications.

Reference designs have long been a staple in Intel’s arsenal, providing a quick easy way for OEMs to enter a new or emerging space using Intel technology. The company faces an uphill climb in this market due to the firm establishment of ARM-based devices in the market already.

It appears that Intel’s long push for energy efficiency, and renewed push on advanced graphics will help it in this space but the battle here will be an interesting one, and one that for the most part Intel has lost the previous encounters.

Ultrabooks Galore
Ukltrabooks, for those that do not know, is a new and emerging class of notebook computers that closely resemble the shape and form factor of tablets but bring much more to the market. While smartphones, and phones in general, is a space Intel has struggled to enter and tablets are still a relatively new market, ultrabooks are right in the company’s wheelhouse.

The concept was introduced just over half a year ago and the company said that there are already 75 models in the pipeline, with virtually all of its major notebook partners involved. Dell showed one that it will be shipping next month, the new XPS 13, a sub-3lb system, that is less than half an inch think at its thinnest point and is powered by Intel’s i7 processor.

However Intel said that future ultrabooks will be powered by its future 22nm 3-D processor codenamed Ivy Bridge, due later this year. If you are wondering what advantage Intel gets by pushing processors down to smaller sizes, one is that they are faster because the signals have shorter distances to travel.

Intel showed a pair of prototypes on stage, one that really caught my eye was the one that allowed a user to flip the display over and turn it in to a tablet system. While I am sure this will not be for everyone I believe that people that need a full keyboard sometimes and want tablet functionality the rest this will be a strong selling point.

I will be very interested to come back to CES next year and see how well Intel has succeeded in getting the tablet and phone OEMs to adopt its technology. We will probably get a good feel for its acceptance later this year at the company’s annual developer forum.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Lenovo, Motorola, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

AT&T Provides Assists to Mobile Sports App Developers

January 10, 2012 by

Joe Tafoya giving a demo at the AT&T Developer Summit. Photo courtesy of Unsocial.

LAS VEGAS — CES 2012 — How can a big, established company like AT&T put itself at the center of mobile apps innovation? By giving smaller companies hooks into the cellular giant’s extensive wireless network and back-end operations, making it easier for developers to reach a wider audience and earn money faster.

For entrepreneurs looking to break into the exploding world of mobile sports application development, having AT&T as a BFF is a no-brainer, according to Joe Tafoya, a former NFL player who is now heading up a mobile content company called Viva! Vision Inc. Viva’s still-in-development app for Dallas Mavericks star Jason Terry was highlighted on stage at the AT&T Developer Summit here Monday, with Tafoya giving a quick demo of the forthcoming app’s ability to give fans lots of content centered around Terry, including training videos that will be available for purchase.

Where AT&T comes in is via links to the cellular giant’s network and payment systems, which will allow people to purchase items from the Jason Terry app by simply clicking and having the charges appear on their monthly cellular bill. In the not too distant past, having access to services embedded deeply into the cellular infrastructure was something small developers could only dream of. Now, up-and-coming players like Viva! Vision can theoretically gain easy links to AT&T’s millions of wireless customers as part of a big push by Ma Bell to help find and partner with the people who are truly innovating on the app development front.

“We looked at a lot of payment systems but being able to use AT&T was a no-brainer,” said Tafoya in a quick interview following the AT&T presentation, citing both the ability to have a quick, easy payment system in the app as well as access to AT&T’s millions of cellular customers.

And while sports and gaming are always at the top of the list of popular mobile apps, AT&T is of course extending its new programs to developers of all stripes, from in-car applications to enterprise apps to apps that let you compile grocery lists. Part of the company’s push Monday included new programs to make using its APIs (application programming interfaces) easier for developers, as well as programs to help developers get their apps noticed by more consumers and companies.

“Our goal is to make it easier for [developers] to navigate the mobile ecosystem,” said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility, during the Summit’s keynote address. For some developers like Viva! Vision’s Tafoya, that’s a goal that’s already happening.

Filed Under: Apps, AT&T, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Solar Powered Cover for Kindle

January 9, 2012 by

SolarFlare develops sun-powered e-reader cover
SolarFlare Technology Co. has unveiled the SolarKindle this week at CES, a lightweight cover that features a built-in solar panel right in the cover. Built with a dual charging reserve battery that can get power from either a USB connection or the solar panel the company claims that it can give a Kindle user 3 moths reading time in the sunlight or 50 hours of reading using the lamp feature.

The integrated leather cover requires only one hour in the sun to fully charge the reserve battery to provide the users with days of use. The device was impressive enough that at the show it was an International CES Innovations Design & Engineering Awards Honoree

Marvell teams with One Laptop per Child for new tablet
Marvell is unveiling its XO 3.0, a low cost, low powered laptop that is designed for classrooms around the globe. The developer of integrated semiconductors has teamed with One Laptop per Child, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help child worldwide gain access to a modern education, to help its mission.

The two announced that they will start shipping a laptop developed by Marvell, the X 1.75, in March and that 75,000 have been ordered for OLPC projects in Uruguay and Nicaragua. The XO 1.75 and the XO 3.0 tablet are both powered by Marvell’s ARM-based Armada PXA618 system on a chip processor.

Windows 8 Tablet on the Horizon for ASUS
According to a report in Netbook News ASUS jumped the gun on CES by revealing that it has a new tablet that will be powered by an ARM processor and run the Windows 8 operating system in the works. However do not hold your breath since it appears that the product is slated for late in 2012.

In the short term the company plans to deliver a 7-inch tablet possibly named the ASUS Memo and a 10-inch tablet at CES and in a few months will refresh its Transformer Prime lineup with a 3G version and enhance some of its features including a more robust GPS unit.

Sony cuts Tablet S price $100
Sony has cut the price of its Tablet S line by $100 and is now offering five free downloadable “Classic PlayStation” games in its PlayStation Store app for new Tablet S owner. The Tablet S features a 9.4-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution, a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and a 0.3 MP front facing camera and 1GB of RAM.

The version with 16GB of storage is now $400 while the 32GB version has a $500 price tag. Buyers will also receive a free 180-day trial of Sony’s Music Unlimited service, as well as five free rentals from Sony’s Video Unlimited Services.

Nokia acquires phone OS developer Smarterphone AS
Nokia has apparently purchased Oslo, Norway based Smarterphone AS for an undisclosed sum in a move that looks like it is once again going to be delivering a phone with a proprietary technology. Smarterphone reportedly is developing an operating system that will provide smartphone functionality on lower end hardware, according to BGR.

The company currently offers a lineup of smartphones that feature Microsoft Windows Phone operating system and in the past have offered other OSes including Symbian and MeeGo. So far Nokia has not indicated what it plans to do with the company and its technology.

The move comes at a time when some analysts are predicting that Windows Phone will help revive Nokia’s market share. I have to assume that an analyst from Credit Suisse would have at least had an inkling that the Smarterphone purchase was occurring and so sees this as just a personnel grab by Nokia.

The Green Bay Packers are the latest to adopt tablets for training purposes
The Green Bay Packers have taken to using Apple’s iPads along with specialized software so that receivers can watch game film and look for game trends as well as potential mismatches. The team provides its players with a complete look at how opponents play each possession based on down and distance. I wonder how much of a help this was for a team that tied the NFL record of 51 passing touchdowns this year?


This and that…
Apple, after losing its latest round in Germany has received good news in France and Italy, sort of- judges have refused to block sales of iOS devices.

Microsoft to develop Xbox Live games for rival platforms
Business Insider is reporting that Microsoft is planning on developing apps that will enable people that have Android and iOS products to play Xbox Live games.

According to BetaNews Microsoft and its partners including Nokia plan a $100 million ad blitz for the new Windows phones. Or is it $200 million?

Apple is reported to be preparing not one but two iPads for release in 2012, with the iPad 3 in March and the iPad 4 in October.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, iPad, Kindle, Tablets Tagged With: ,

Friday Grab Bag: Google vs. Amazon in Tablet Wars?

January 6, 2012 by

Pending Google Tablet to rival Kindle Fire?

Multiple reports are claiming that the long pending tablet from Google will be targeted more at the Kindle Fire market than the iPad market. While there is some overlap in the two markets currently I see them as serving different groups of primary users, although that will change.

The Google Tablet is expected to be in the 7-inch form factor and will have a $200 price tag upon its expected delivery in late March or early April. The web company is expected to first create a web site that is designed to specifically cater to expected customers of its Android-powered tablet and will make apps. Movies, books and music will be made available at that site.

This will make an interesting battle as Google’s deep pockets and ubiquity of its browser will enable it to reach a wide audience via advertising on its pages as well as in other media. A similar thrust by Barnes & Noble for its Nook has cost that company dearly but the impact for Google should be significantly less due to its much greater resources.

Twice as many Americans own 4 TVs as opposed to 1
The latest State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report from Nielsen has a number of interesting facts across the broad markets that it surveyed, with the one quoted above being just one of them.

The number of people age 13 and older that own a mobile phone is fast approaching the number of people that own at least one television- 232 million to 290 million. Satellite did much better than I had expected when compared to digital cable- 95 million compared to 145 million.

The full survey covers usage and trends across TV, mobile, online and social media and can be downloaded from the company’s site.

TiVo Delivers Android version of its App

TiVo has had an app for customers using products powered by the Apple iOS and has now greatly expanded its audience with the delivery of the app for the vast Android space as well, according to a piece in Cnet

The free app is designed for use with both smartphones and tablets and enables a user to participate in social media such as Facebook and Twitter while viewing programs that are currently playing from a TiVo box.

TiVo has also announced that it has settled pending patent litigation with AT&T. In the deal AT&T has agreed to a mutual patent licensing agreement and will be making payments to TiVo that include an initial payment of $51 million and reoccurring payments that will run until June, 2018.

Apple files for patents that cover photos and fitness.
Patently Apple has reported that Apple has won patents for Photo Booth and a sports related one that covers a fitness center app. The site has a great deal of information of the Fitness Center App and said that it covers a range of issue facing exercisers including motivation and how to use equipment.

Apple also appears to have a range of additional related patent claims pending that could help it gain a strong presence in this market, or a future in additional litigation as others imitate its direction. I wonder how all of the makers of fitness apps in the iTune store feel about this?

Additionally Apple has been awarded a patent for Photo Booth so that users of Apple devices, initially just the iPad but expected to cover both other iOS devices’ as well as OS X products to manipulate images that have been taken with the devices’ built-in camera.

Other Apple News

Apple has also filed for a pair of patents that indicate that it is seeking to develop a hydrogen fueled battery that it is speculated could power its devices for weeks between recharges. I would be happy to make it through the day right now.

According to the latest from iLounge new code found in the iOS 5.1 release points to a future that has devices powered by quad-core chips. The site said that it believes that products with quad-core chips could be delivered as early as March of this year.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Barnes & Noble, Facebook, iPad, iPhone, Nielsen Ratings, Social Media, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Kindle Sales Still Burn Bright

January 2, 2012 by

Tablets the tops for Small and Medium businesses
According to market research firm NPD Group, the demand for tablets is expected to grow in the small and medium business market, which is companies with less than 1,000 employees, over the next year with Apple’s iPad leading as the most popular tablet choice.

According to the group’s SMB Technology Monitor for the third quarter 73% of respondents said that they intend to purchase a tablet in the next 12 months, up from 68% in the second quarter survey. 90% said that they plan to spend the same or more than in the previous year.

The largest firms, 501 to 999 employees, in the survey are the most likely to purchase tablets, with 89% indicating intent to purchase while in the smallest group, under 50 employees, only 54% expect to buy.

Amazon reports Kindle sales still sizzling
Amazon reported that it sold over 1 million Kindles each week of December, making it a very happy holiday for the on-line retailer. While other tablet manufacturers have struggled to gain traction in a market that has been dominated by Apple and its iPad since its introduction, Kindle has been a nice exception.

Amazon said that since the introduction of the Kindle Fire it has been the top selling product on its site for 13 consecutive weeks. It should be noted that Apple is expected to sell 61% of all tablets in the quarter but Amazon is starting to make a dent in Apple’s overall market share.

Will the next generation Android OS work in my device?
Always a good question. At first it seemed (maybe just to me) that 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, would work on any existing Android device. ICS, built to work on both smartphones and tablets, will apparently not be backwardly compatible with all current devices. The people at International Business Times have gone to the trouble of listing many of the devices that will and will not be upgradeable.

Dell steps back into the Venture Capital market
Dell has returned to the venture capital market, its second effort in this space. During the heyday of the dot com boom and beyond Dell was an active investor with its Dell Ventures effort and reached over $1bn invested at one time. It started departing the space when it sold off the bulk of its portfolio in 2005 and then quietly exited afterwards.

Well now it is back with the formation of Dell Capital Ventures and has hired Northwest Venture Partners executive Jim Lussier as managing partner and Ingrid Vanderveldt, who has experience in founding and spinning off startups as the ‘entrepreneur in residence.”

The investment effort will focus on early stage companies and Dell has not indicated what type of funding the effort will initially receive. According to the Wall Street Journal Dell will seek to eventually establish the program as its own business unit inside the company with its own resources and budget.

Microsoft’s new mobility
Will 2011 be the year that is remembered as the time when Microsoft breaks the tether of its desktop software/Windows business and embraces mobility and a more flexible software development approach as eWeek posts? If so that would make for an interesting company- you have to wonder how many solid products have been killed over the years due to turf wars dominated by the Windows team.

Cnet chimes in with a list of 5 things to look for from Microsoft in 2012, and includes its Windows 8 tablets due to the company’s decision deliver its tile-based OS rather than the Windows interface users are accustomed to. The piece also expects an increase in litigation from Microsoft towards Google’s customers for its Android and Chrome software.

This week in lawsuits
An intellectual property firm claims that Apple could make $10 per device in royalties from the vast array of Android manufacturers if it dropped its lawsuits and went the licensing route. Just over the holidays there were nearly 4 million Android activations. But where is the fun in settling? Intel and AMD once spent over $1 bn in legal fees in their dispute over x 86 technologies.

Do nice phones finish last? Or do people just not want Microsoft phones?
Is Microsoft’s lack of an intimate relationship with carriers the reason the Windows handsets have not been flying off the shelves? Well that is the position put out by former Windows Phone General Manager Charlie Kindel in a blog posting. A few interesting takes on his comments here and here. If you feel like it you can find more comments on the posting.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Dell, iPad

NBC to Stream Super Bowl, NFL Playoffs Online

December 20, 2011 by

In a huge decision that will no doubt increase the worldwide audience for the most-viewed live event, NBC will stream the Super Bowl online along with broadcasts of the network’s Wild Card playoff games and the NFL Pro Bowl, according to an Associated Press report. Users of Verizon Wireless’s NFL Mobile app will also have access to the games, along with additional camera views and in-game replays.

Forget college games — there’s no doubt that even with its already huge TV audience, the Super Bowl would likely become the most-viewed online sports event ever, even if it’s just on a laptop or phone in the bathroom of the house hosting the Super Bowl party. Though we haven’t yet been able to find any press releases from all the participating companies we are also betting that Verizon will use the Super Bowl access in a massive way to promote its NFL Mobile app, which it has been offering free of charge to new high-end cellphone customers. NFL Mobile users currently can watch NBC’s Sunday night games live, along with Thursday night NFL Network broadcasts and ESPN’s Monday Night Football games.

For NBC, the landmark decision to make the world’s biggest TV show available online will also likely result in an advertising revenue windfall, thanks to the online opportunities now available. The move will also likely set off a hurried scramble by advertisers who will want to put together social-media campaigns before the actual game is played on Feb. 5, 2012, in Indianapolis.

UPDATE: Here’s the official NFL press release.

Filed Under: Apps, ESPN, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NBC Sports, NFL, Super Bowl Tagged With: , ,
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