Motorola

Short Week Grab Bag: Cheap HP tablet, new hockey TV deal in Canada

November 27, 2013 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Hewlett-Packard has revealed that it will be entering the Black Friday fray with a very enticing offer: a 7-inch HP Mesquite tablet for the low, low price of only $89. The tablet will be available at your local Walmart.

The tablet is one of several that will be on sale that weekend that are powered by Intel’s Medfield family of microprocessors as the chip maker is using the start of the shopping season to start hyping its development partners in the tablet space.

Google Glass user booted from club
Earlier this year a Seattle bar said that it would ban anybody wearing Google’s see all glasses. Well a user of the hands free device has been kicked out of a bar, but not the one that made the original promise.

A user was asked to either remove the glasses or be asked to leave the Lost Lake Café and Lounge and apparently made a scene both at the bar but also online (where else) as he complained about his rights. Not sure where in the U.S. Constitution those rights are covered but I am sure its in there somewhere.

EdgeCast Networks helps Indianapolis Colts reach fans
The team has developed the ability to stream video and live content to fans using pretty much any mobile device using EdgeCast technology as the team seeks to increase traffic to its own web sites and away from third party apps.

Get your Apple rumors here
Now that Apple has filled its backlog of iPhone 5S orders it’s time for the company to start fending off rumors of what will be in its next generation iPhone, probably known as the iPhone 6. Well the International Business Times has done a nice roundup for you.

The release date will be late next year; it will have a larger screen, possibly as large as six inches. The display may be curved or flexible and it will be lighter than existing models. Is weight really an issue with iPhones?

Nokia looking at 8-inch tablet?
Well not really looking at but actually planning on building on for sale, with a possible release date sometime in the first quarter of next year, a follow-up product to its 10-inch Lumina 2520, according to Digitimes.

The piece also said that it expects that LG Electronics and Sony Mobile to stay in the tablet market but that sources are reporting that HTC, Motorola Mobility and BlackBerry may choose to leave and only focus on smartphones.

New hockey broadcast deal in Canada
The NHL has just signed its most comprehensive, and largest financially, broadcast deal for games to be shown in Canada. The deal gives Rogers Communications the broadcast and digital rights to all NHL games.

The 12-year deal cost the cable company $5.2 billion and is viewed as a step by Rogers to drive demand for its subscription based cable networks.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, BlackBerry, Google, Hewlett-Packard, HTC, Intel, iOS 7, Live Sports Video Consumption, Motorola, NFL, NHL, Nokia, Sony Tagged With: Apple, Google Glass, HTC, Indianapolis Colts, iPhone, LG Electronics, Motorola, NFL, NHL, Sony

Friday Grab Bag: Top Sports Twitters, No one wants NASCAR

October 11, 2013 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Sports humor site Deadspin breaks down the top sports Twitter accounts with a short synopsis of each, most of them dead on and pretty funny, using actual tweets from each account to highlight, sort of, what the person stands for.

The piece does not spare many, with pretty much an impressive list of people and put downs. It should be noted that Deadspin only included 73 sites in its Top 100 list.

Instagram a threat to hockey reporters?
Sports reporters who cover the Philadelphia Flyers are all up in arms over the team’s decision to use Instagram as the avenue by which it announced who would be its starting goalie. The best part is how the reporters, some of the most old school in the nation, responded.

That would be via their smartphones and through their Twitter accounts of course. Nothing can show your disgust over someone using the latest technology than by also using it to complain about that use.

Aereo coming to Android
The TV over Internet developer Aereo said that it will soon be delivering to the Android operating system. It already has a version of the iPhone but said that the Android took much longer because of the huge number of customized versions of the OS.

Aereo is currently locked into a lawsuit with TV broadcasters over its rights to rebroadcast their products and they are trying to fast track the suit to the US Supreme Court to prevent the rapid expansion of the company,

iPhone 6 to reported to have 4.8-inch screen
Cnet is reporting that a Jefferies analyst is predicting that the next generation iPhone, expected in sometime in 2014, will have a 4.8-inch screen. The current screens on the just released iPhone 5s is 4 inches.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek made his prediction after meeting with Apple suppliers in Asia. Currently Apple is behind the curve in screen size, with an estimated 50% of other smartphones that shipped last quarter having screens larger than 4 inches.

ESPN & Turner fleeing NASCAR
It has been reported elsewhere that NASCAR’s viewing numbers have been declining for the last several years but has it really come to this? The Sports Business Daily is reporting that both Turner Sports and ESPN are looking to exit their respective broadcast deals with the sport early.

The idea was to turn responsibility for the telecasts over to Fox Sports a year early, since Fox will be the new broadcaster for NASCAR in the future. NASCAR turned down the idea according to The SBD.

Motorola to one-up Samsung in large format smartphones
According to Cnet there is the possibility that the next generation smartphone from Motorola will feature a 6.3-inch display, placing its own stake in the ground in the rapidly growing phablet market segment.

The space, pioneered by Samsung and its Galaxy Note lineup, has seen a number of additional players enter the market such as Sony while others such as Microsoft have hinted at the possibility. Apple appears to be the lone holdout on the large screen segment among the major players.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, ESPN, Fox Sports, Instagram, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Motorola, NASCAR, Turner Sports Tagged With: Apple, Deadspin, ESPN, Fox Sports, NASCAR, Turner Sports, Twitter

Friday Grab Bag- MLB.TV at a Discount!

August 23, 2013 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

The Fall Classic is coming into sight and if your team is looking to make the playoffs (mine is not) then you might want to consider this offer from MLB. It is offering its TV package, MLB.TV, for $19.99. Subscribers can watch games not just on a TV but also laptops, iPhones and iPads as well as the Xbox 360.

Motorola to Xoom no more
If you have a Motorola Xoom tablet it might be a collectors’ item. No the company is not phasing it out, but it has settled a trademark dispute with Xoom Corp. that spells the end Motorola using that name for its tablet.

Xoom Corp., an online payment company, convinced Motorola that it infringed on Xoom’s trademarks when it released the Xoom tablet, so expect Motorola’s next generation tablet to carry a different name.

Facebook’s CEO Seeks Expanded Mobile Internet Access
Mark Zuckerberg has a tech alliance called Internet.org that will seek to expand the availability to billions around the globe that currently have no method of getting online. He called the effort “the greatest challenge of our generation.”

Members include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm and Opera. Rival Google, which is working on its own solution to this issue, is not a member nor is Intel which has also been active in this area.

Apple to refresh both iPad and iPhone at same time?
Rumors have been going around that Apple would refresh one then wait a few weeks and refresh the other but now they are reporting that both will be done at an event that Apple is expected to host on Sept. 10.

Bloomberg has reported that Apple will release on that date, which interestingly is after several rivals such as Samsung and Sony plan to also release new offerings. Samsung is expected to do Apple one better and debut its smartwatch as well.

Intel preps next generation tablet processor
Intel often has interesting names for its processors and the next two coming down the pipe, Cherry Trail and Willow Trail are expected to be much faster processors than the current Silvermont family which is just now coming on line.

Cherry Trail is expected to hit the market in the third quarter of 2014 while Willow Trail will follow the next quarter, according to a report from Tech Radar.

Details of Archos tablet revealed in FCC filing
Slash Gear is reporting details of an upcoming tablet from Archos that is expected to be called the Archos 101 XS 2, which the company is expected to unveil next month at the IFA show. The tablet will feature 1GB RAM, a 10.1-inch display, 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot for additional capacity.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Facebook, FTC, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Major League Baseball, Motorola Tagged With: Apple, Archos, Facebook, Intel, Motorola

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Happy Cyber Monday

November 26, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Apple is seeking to keep the pressure on Samsung in the legal game and this week has extended its infringement motion against Samsung to now include the Galaxy S3 Mini, the Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and the Rugby Pro according to TechRadar.

The move looks to be in retaliation for a similar push by Samsung which has added Apple’s iPad Mini and iPhone 5 to a list of devices that it claims infringe on its patents.

Tablet shipments top laptops in October
You knew that the day when tablets would pass PCs was coming, but there had been estimates that it would not occur for some time. Apparently those predictions were wrong. According to market research firm NPD Display Search, tablet sales passed laptop sales last month, based on its following of the panels used in both products. In October there was an estimated 16.9 million notebook panels shipped while there was an estimated 18.7 tablet panels shipped. However this may be a one month blip as the researchers also said that there were many notebook buyers holding back until after Windows 8 shipped.

Instagram rules on Thanksgiving
This is probably a no-brainer out there for most people but Thanksgiving was Instagram’s biggest day ever. The photo imaging service reported that it averaged 226 photos posted per second over a 24-hour period, with a total of 10 million photos shared over Thanksgiving. That is a lot of turkey. Or a lot of turkey pictures, anyway.

Microsoft planning a set-top box?
According to the Verge, Microsoft has an Xbox TV in the works that it has slated for release sometime in 2013. The device will enable streaming video as well as serve as a platform for the casual gamer, according to the article.

Most likely to be release roughly a year from now it will represent a two SKU strategy for Microsoft in the Xbox space with a dedicated Xbox that supports higher end games and the TV/Xbox combo for the everyday user.

Motorola repeats request for Apple Source Code
As part of one of its lawsuits against Apple, Motorola Mobility has requested access to Apple’s source code. Five times now, but who is counting? Motorola made the first request last May according to a story in the Inquisitr, and has now just made its fifth.

The case is being heard by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The request is for the source code for both the Mac OS X and iOS and Motorola is also asking for a specific date from Apple on when it plans to hand over the code.

Kickstarter kicked
Kickstarter launched a bit over a month ago in the United Kingdom and it now looks like one of is first projects is going to cause the crowdfunding site a few headaches. A successful funding effort landed a startup called Formlab over 2 million pounds.

Birthed from MIT’s Media Lab, Formlab is developing a 3D printer, however 3D Systems, a maker of 3D printers is claiming patent infringement and has sued the startup, as well as Kickstarter. The issue is over how a laser causes a synthetic substance to solidify as part of the 3D process.

According to a piece in PC Adviser, Kickstarter is also being sued by a rival crowd funding company called ArtistShare over the use of a database software program and how it can be used.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Google, Instagram, iOS, iOS 6, iPad, iPhone, Kickstarter, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Windows 8 Tagged With: Apple, Google, Kickstarter, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Microsoft Phone Issues

November 19, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

A week after Apple settled its patent dispute with HTC it looks like another of its long-running patent battles may be coming closer to a solution. Bloomberg has reported that Apple is now interested in settling its disputes with Google’s Motorola Mobility unit via arbitration.

The effort could lead to the elimination of all of their legal wrangling that is now taking place in courts around the globe. The two have been exchanging proposals for using binding arbitration to settle the problems, it was reported.

Samsung seeks Apple/HTC info
Not all good things have sprung from last week’s patent deal between Apple and HTC. Samsung, still involved in some bitter patent disputes globally with Apple is now seeking to have the courts provide it with the details of the Apple/HTC deal.

Samsung is arguing that the deal shows that Apple is quite willing to forgo the exclusivity that its designs provide if it receives cash in exchange, according to a piece in Computerworld. In related news about the ongoing Apple/Samsung lawsuits the U.S. District judge who presided over Apple’s huge victory over Samsung is expected to rule in December on Apple’s request for a permanent ban on select Samsung products.

Amazon’s 8.9-inch Kindle HD ships early, New Nexus 7 also available
Amazon is set to please the advance buyers of its Kindle HD by shipping the tablet five days earlier than expected. However the joy could be short lived as it looks as if demand has outstripped supplies and the next batch of the tablets will not ship until early December.

The Nexus Seven with 3G also now available and Google is telling customers that it will be three to five business days to receive the tablet.

Windows phone from Microsoft on the way?
The rumor drumbeat continues to grow that Microsoft has another hardware product in the works and that it will be a smartphone for Windows 8. Not sure if it is just one rumor that continually gets picked up and forwarded or if there are a number of independent sources reporting this but it does make sense. It is already competing with its hardware OEMs in the tablet space, why not in the smartphone space as well?

However all is not good with Windows 8 OS
Slash Gear is reporting that users of Windows 8 Phone are reporting a variety of battery and other issues with phones running the operating system. Among the issues are the phones just randomly rebooting while being used. Also poor battery life has been reported on a forum called WPCentral.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Google, HTC, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Windows 8 Tagged With: Apple, Google, HTC, Microsoft, Motorola Mobility

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Apple Patent News

November 12, 2012 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

Google Ventures, the investment arm of Google has received an additional $100 million in funds to invest in startups. The group had been budgeted to invest $200 million in past years but that number has been bumped up to $300 million according to Tom’s Hardware.

Apple loses latest round in patent fight with Google/Motorola
Apple has lost an important ruling last week when a Federal Judge threw out its lawsuit against Motorola Mobility over patent licensing practices. The suit claimed that using 2.25% of the selling price of the item was too high, but the judge dismissed it without comment.

However, according to Wired, the Federal Trade Commission has recommended that the U.S. Justice Department pursue an antitrust investigation into Motorola Mobility in order to determine if it reasonably offered licensing of its industry-standard technology or used that licensing to block rival hardware from competitors Apple and Microsoft.

Speaking of Microsoft and Motorola
The two have also been fighting over the 2.25% per device issue and Microsoft wants to look at the FRAND pricing based on previous pricing. According to Microsoft it should pay somewhere in the vicinity of around $1.2 million a year for rights to use the patents that are in dispute, while of course Motorola thinks that its number, which would result in a significantly higher return, is just fine.

A look at Huawei’s MediaPad 10 FHD tablet
Huawei, as has already been reported, is entering the 10-inch Android driven tablet space with its MediaPad 10 FHD offering. The tablet features a display with 1920 x 1200 resolution, a Huawei-built quad core 1.4GHz Cortex-A9 processor and will be available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB versions. For more details head over to Slash Gear.

Apple and HTC bury the patent hatchet
In one of the rare the resolutions in the patent wars that looks like it will be final, Apple and rival smartphone maker HTC have settled all of their outstanding patent disputes globally. The resolution includes a ten year cross patent licensing agreement. Any other terms of the arraignment were not disclosed. They originally tussled in court on the patent issue in 2010 when Apple filed a patent infringement case against HTC with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

iPad Mini component costs pegged at $188
Ever wonder how much it costs to make something? Well lucky for you, and the rest of us, a number of companies take the time to break down devices and analyze them, and the latest results are from IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Services.

It found that the iPad Mini, which starts at retail at $329 costs $188 for the bill of materials and an additional $10 to actually build for a model that features just Wi-Fi and 16GB of storage. The single most expensive component is the tablet’s 7.1-inch display at $80.

Apple to drop Intel chips?
Stop me if you have heard this one before but the rumor that is again making the rounds is that Apple will jettison the Intel processors that it now uses in its Macintosh computers in favor of its own developed chips that it currently uses in its iPads. However the reports, apparently started by Bloomberg but picked up elsewhere, are very hazy as to when such a change might occur.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apple, FTC, Google, HTC, Intel, iPad, iPhone, Lawsuit, Mashable, Microsoft, Motorola

Short Week Grab Bag: Cheap HP tablet, new hockey TV deal in Canada

Friday Grab Bag: Top Sports Twitters, No one wants NASCAR

Friday Grab Bag- MLB.TV at a Discount!

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Happy Cyber Monday

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Microsoft Phone Issues

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Apple Patent News

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