You are here: Home / Archives for Apps

Acer Releases Windows Tablet and Android Phone

June 3, 2013 by

acerr

Acer has unveiled a number of new mobile devices at the annual Computex trade show this week and the products show the growing diversity in operating systems that are offered from a single company with a Windows powered tablet and an Android powered smartphone.

The company has been increasingly aggressive in its rollout of products recently and looks to establish itself alongside rivals such as Samsung and Apple as one of the top players in the smartphone and tablet space. .

The tablet is the Acer Iconia W3 which features an 8.1-ich screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution running Windows 8 operating system and features an Intel Atom 1.8Ghz Z2760 microprocessor. The tablet marks the first release of a small form factor tablet running the Windows operating system.

Reports are showing that the smaller form Tablets are starting to outsell the larger ones and it is a feather in Acer’s cap that it is the first with a model that supports Windows 8. Microsoft only recently said that it would be supporting smaller size screens.

Other features include either a 32GB or 64GB of internal storage that can be expanded with the addition of optional microSD cards, an eight hour battery, dual front and rear facing 2MP cameras it will come with a pre-installed copy of Microsoft Office. It is expected to ship in June and start at $428.

The smartphone is the Liquid S1, which with its 5.7-inch screen is not that much smaller than the Iconia W3. It has a 1280 x 720 screen resolution and will feature the Android 4.2 operating system. It has a 1.5GHz processor, 1GB of memory and 8GB of storage. However it does not support LTE.

The smartphone is the company’s first push into the phablet space, the hybrid smartphones with large screens that can double as a tablet.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, Intel, Microsoft, Smartphone, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , ,

Mozilla to Build Firefox Driven Tablet?

May 31, 2013 by

moz

The latest and greatest rumor going around is that Mozilla, the non-profit behind the popular Firefox operating system, may be looking to create a tablet that will use the Firefox operating system.

The rumor has a kernel of truth, something that many often do not, in at least Mozilla is announcing a new hardware product next Monday, it just has declined to say what it is and what the target market for the product will be.

The move is not that surprising if it is a tablet since it would fit in with its Open Web initiative that includes the first commercial build of the Firefox OS and efforts to build a global ecosystem for that OS that has already gained 18 operators including Alcatel, Deutsch Telecom, Telefonica, Sprint, Qtel and others. However this move was for smartphones so it seems logical that the next step would be for tablets.

The question seems to be why would the company enter the tablet space rather than license it out to the market as it is doing in the smartphone space? At the time of the Open Web push, back in February at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona the company said that hardware was in its future and I believe that many expected it to be a smartphone, considering the circumstances of the announcement.

It said that it is working with manufacturers Alcatel (TCL), LG and ZTE, with Huawei to follow later on to build the first Firefox OS devices. They will all be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile processor family. But it was not ignoring the content side and said that it has signed strategic relationships with key content and service partners. It should be noted that at the time it specifically said that all of this was for smartphones.

So will we see a series of smartphones from Mozilla and partners Monday or will we see a tablet? It will be interesting to see which it is. One thing for sure is that Mozilla has said that Foxconn, the company that does a great deal of work with Apple in building its iOS products, will be the manufacturing partner.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, iOS, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Apple to Expand iPhone with Mid- and Low-Cost Models?

May 31, 2013 by

If you are wondering about Apple CEO Tim Cook’s opinions on a variety of topics from the future of mobile computing, an Apple-owned social network to the future of the Apple iOS tune into the video of his interview at All Things D.

He does not delve into any topic too deeply, but then that often seems to be his trademark, but does hint about the phones and discuss Google Glass a bit. Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference, due to start June 10, should be when most of the details for upcoming products emerge.

Apple to open additional APIs to developers
One interesting note from the All Things Digital talk was Cook commenting that Apple plans to open more APIs to third-party developers. On the face of it that does not sound too interesting but then you look at what is currently locked up.

It could give users the ability to select their home screen and lock screen as well as change their keyboard. In other words function more like an Android phone.

Google to embrace HTC One
The HTC One smartphone, ridiculed as the failed first attempt by Facebook to establish its own version of its app as the startup page on phones looks to be getting a new life from rival Google. It will be one of two new offerings from Google expected in the upcoming weeks. The difference here will be that it runs an unmodified version of Android.

Also expected from Google is the long awaited Motorola X phone, which will be called the Moto X, and should be available for the fall holiday gift giving season i.e. October.

HTC to deliver 7-inch Windows Tablet, yet killing 12-inch?
Speaking of HTC Bloomberg, via Engadget, is reporting that HTC will be killing off its planned 12-inch Windows RT tablet due to its belief that there will be little demand for that version of the Windows operating system and/or tablets that size.
Smaller form factor tablets have been selling at an increasingly fast rate and Bloomberg is reporting that HTC will be delivering a 7-inch Windows RT tablet, probably in September or October of this year.

E3 Just two weeks away
E3, one of the premier game and entertainment trade show is set to run from June 11-13 in Los Angeles. Once this might not have meant much to both sports fans and mobile users but increasingly apps are being developed and debuted that are designed for smartphones and tablets. Expect a wave of iOS and Android apps from the show and hopefully some that are top notch sports ones.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Facebook, Google, HTC, iOS 6, iPhone, Microsoft, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

On Deck for MLB: The Chatting Cage

May 29, 2013 by

The-Chatting-Cage-B

I spend a lot of time on Major League Baseball’s various sites and use one of its apps when traveling to listen to ball games but I was surprised to find that it has a whole level of social interaction with fans that I was unaware of until this weekend.

When looking around its video section for a highlight from a game last year I came upon an online chat with Mat Latos of the Cincinnati Reds that had been recorded earlier this month. It is part of MLB’s continued effort to use social media as another way to engage fans and is called The Edward Jones Chatting Cage, online video chats that has fans talking with players, coaches, managers and team executives.

The program was started last year but if you missed it that is understandable, (I did) it debuted without a great deal of fanfare in late September. But it is going strong now and you can view old conversations as well as participate in future ones although it is not entirely intuitive.

Going to the MLB page and you can find a section for videos. In videos you can find the Edward Jones Chatting Cage link. Click on that it takes you to the archives. There you can find past episodes where a variety of players and management answer fans questions. However there are no instructions on how to participate that I could find.

However if you follow MLB’s Facebook page it does alert users to when the next Chatting Cage will be held, although you might need to search for it since they do not occur very often. You have to scroll down quite a bit to before the Latos interview to find out about the last one. No special section highlighting the event or mentioning when the next one will occure. You can submit questions via Facebook for the chats. Looking elsewhere I found that you can use Twitter with @MLB using the hashtag #chattingcage.

When you watch one of the archived shows it is obvious that fans can also log in using a web cam and ask live questions to the players and how they do that is not obvious, or if it is I am completely missing it.

However I like the concept a great deal. Of course it leaves itself open to trolls, as can be seen in some of the Facebook comments, but is a great way for fans to ask real questions of players and management, something they cannot do with any real chance outside of this program. If other sports pick up on this idea, and it’s hard to see why they would not, it could spell the death of all of the independent apps.

Filed Under: Apps, Athlete to Follow, Baseball, Facebook, Live Sports Video Consumption, Major League Baseball, Sports Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , , , ,

Microsoft Signs Deal that Brings Interactive Viewing to the NFL

May 23, 2013 by

xbox

Microsoft will soon be a presence on the field and in your home as part of the NFL game-watching experience as the team has joined with the league to provide interactive viewing capabilities to fans in a 5-year deal that is estimated to bring an additional $400 million to the NFL’s coffers.

There is a catch of sorts, you need to be viewing using Microsoft’s Xbox One game console or another device that features Xbox Live. For the fans that have that technology they can now permit users to have split screens that show stats, fantasy football team data and game highlights in real time, among other things.

It will also support Skype so that fans can be using the same device to watch games as well as chat with other fans or friends during the game. Other features include access to the NFL’s RedZone and replays from a matchup. Also if a user has a second screen or mobile device they can have additional information sent to that device simultaneously as when they are viewing on the Xbox One.

The deal could lead to another solid plus for Microsoft. Over the last few years a number of teams in the National Football League have talked about their use of Apple’s iPads as a training tool and a superior replacement to the traditional binders that had been in use for decades. However it now looks like Microsoft has taken a night march on Apple and inked a deal with the league that will call for the Microsoft Surface tablet to be used on all the teams’ sidelines.

While this is still in an area that the league is investigating the Surface tablet would be used to provide up to the minute information about looks and formations that other teams are using during games. Players viewing printouts and pictures of formations could be a thing of the past as they instead watch plays on a tablet on the sidelines. Referees will not be left out of the action as it could become the key viewing tool for replays and challenge calls.

Filed Under: Apps, iPad, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Microsoft, NFL, Surface, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , ,

MLB Comes to TiVo-Is there a Player it Does Not support?

May 22, 2013 by

mlbf_25902193_th_13

One of the advantages of having MLB.TV Premium subscription has always been that you can use a variety of platforms to watch and listen to games, but until MLB added TiVo I never realized how many it actually did support.

TiVo users can now watch MLB games, subject to certain limitations, and the app is designed to take advantage of select features that come with TiVo. MLB integrated TiVo’s standard playback functions into the app, including the ability to pause, fast-forward and rewind or skip game action.

The MLB.TV is set up to deliver game viewing and video stream in a picture-in-graphic (PIG) or an “L bar” window to view the score while watching a game. There are a range of additional features from the relatively mundane ones such as stats and standings, favorite team selection, a choice of home or away broadcasters, and calendar view to one called “Jump to Inning” that permits users to jump back to the beginning of any inning in the game.

The addition of TiVo support is in line with MLB’s approach of delivering its programming and games to its audience in as wide a manner as possible. It has a number of mobile devices supported including Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Then there is the huge number of devices that support Google’s Android operating system and most recently added was support for the BlackBerry Z10.

Now I was aware of all of these but the other, more stationary platforms caught me by a bit of a surprise, although I have watched games on two of the platforms. There is the Sony Playstation 3, Samsung TV and Blu-ray Disc Player, Apple TV, Roku Player and Boxee. Then of course there is also Xbox 360, Sony TV and Blu-ray players and Western Digital TV Live.

It is too bad that other sports do not actively follow the lead of MLB, but I guess that the broadcasting contracts most likely prohibit them from doing so. Fans of many teams, say in football, are constantly subjected to a limited number of teams on national broadcasts, and if you live outside of your teams home base you may only see them once or twice on broadcast TV a season.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, BlackBerry, Google, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Major League Baseball, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »