Google’s plans for Motorola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week’s big news was Google’s $12.5 billion deal to acquire Motorola Mobility. The conclusion of the deal gained Google patents for legal defence and offence, a key technology brand and manufacturer and a multibillion-dollar handset and TV set-top box business.

We’ll have to wait to see what the company will do with the actual business in the long run, but we’re sure that Google will find all of Motorola’s 17,000 patents particularly useful.

As yet, neither Google or Motorola have made any comments about their plans for the future.

There could be quite a few options for Google, and there have been a lot of rumours circulating! Here’s a round-up of what Google may do:

1. Keep Motorola running as an independent business but make internal changes (this has already begun with Google executive Dennis Woodside appointed as the new CEO of Motorola).

2. Use Motorola handsets to ensure that there are more Android devices on the market

3. Combining their software with Motorola’s knowledge of hardware and introducing a brand new product into the market to ultimately create more Google gadgets

4. We could see an integration of Google TV and the set-top box business

5. We could see Google selling the business altogether!

It’s hard to say which route Google will take with Motorola at the moment, but we’ll keep you updated with any more news.

What do you think Google will do? Do you think this is good news for Motorola?

The Samsung Galaxy S3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Samsung Galaxy S3, the follow-up to the Samsung Galaxy S2, is already being much hyped and anticipated.

With so many rumours going around, we take a look at the top headlines being circulated and whether these rumours are likely to be true or not…

1. According to Korean newspaper Digital Daily, the Galaxy S3 will adopt the home button from Galaxy Note and could use a five column column rather than the four column layer because of a bigger screen and a much higher screen resolution.

Verdict: We’re not convinced that Samsung would want to go down the same route as Apple and copy the physical home screen button, but it is probable that the screen may be larger and a higher resolution.

2. The Samsung Galaxy will be released in the UK first

Verdict: Samsung have released an official statement to semi-settle this rumour: “Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012. The successor to the GALAXY S II smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.”

As to the exact date, well this is still to be announced…

3. According to South Korea’s Electronic Times, the new Galaxy S3 will be just 7mm thick

Verdict: Nothing has been confirmed as yet, but we’re hoping that this one is true! It’s rumoured that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will land with a bevy of high-end specs including a 4.65-inch rendition of the company’s now trademark HD Super AMOLED display with a stunning 1280 x 720p resolution. Again, nothing has been confirmed, but we’re keeping our hopes up!

4. Latest reports have suggested the handset will boast a 4.8-inch display with a stunning Full HD 1080p resolution and a film friendly 16:9 aspect ratio. It is also tipped to launch with a 1.5GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor and Google’s latest mobile operating system, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Verdict: With the sound of these rumours, it looks like the new Samsung Galaxy S3 will be a real rival to the iPhone 4S.

Understandably, Samsung are keeping everything under wraps at the moment. Some of the rumours sound feasible and some not so much, but we’ll keep you posted when we find out more…

The new iPad is here – what are the differences from the iPad 2?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new iPad is here – what are the differences from the iPad 2?

With so many rumours circulated about the prospective features of the new iPad 3, it was no wonder that everyone was tuned in to Wednesday’s Apple announcement!

Here’s a low down of the new iPad announcement…

What’s it called?

The new iPad (simple, but affective!)

Camera

The New iPad has an iSight camera, 5-megapixel resolution and face detection in still images.

Video

1080p video recording with built in video stabilisation like the iPhone 4S. The 1080p video recording is a jump from 720p on the iPad 2.

Display

The new iPad has a 9.7-inch display with 2048 x 1536-pixel retina display. There are four times more pixels than iPad 2 and it features 1 million more pixels than HDTV!

Connectivity

The New iPad is the first apple product to feature 4G LTE connectivity, making connection to the web super fast.

Chip

Dual-core Apple A5X custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip with quad-core graphics

Extras

Voice dictation in English, French, German and Japanese. Sadly there’s no Siri yet, but this feature will enable you to dictate emails without those embarrassing autocorrects…

iPhoto is now on the iPad, allowing you to make the most of the advanced optics!

What did you think of the Apple announcement? Was the the new iPad what you expected?

Apple iPad 3 rumours…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple truly changed the way we looked at tablets with the release of their iPad and it’s that time again… having had the iPad 2 out for almost a year, Apple are rocking up with the new iPad 3.

Release Date…
You have probably heard every rumour going via the web…with the release date rumoured to be March 7th being one of the more likely to happen; coinciding with the release of iOS 5.1.
The time fits with previous releases of Apple iPads, and several sources including The Loop and iMore are in agreement on the release date being set for March 7th, both of which are prominent sources for previous Apple leaks.

If previous sales are anything to go by, and assuming the iPad 3 is announced March 7th, then they should be found in stores in the US by March 16th; with it becoming available internationally by March 30th.

The Apple iPad 3 display…
There are rumours going around that the iPad 3 will see a higher resolution screen than its predecessors, with Sharp’s IGZO panel being the one that your eyes will meet when you unwrap and turn on the iPad 3 for the first time. Apple are reportedly testing suppliers’ current shipments of 2048 x 1536 resolution 9.7-inch displays…so this looks to also carry some weight in the rumour ring.

However, other reports are gearing towards the previous CES iPad 3 sighting; reporting no big changes in line for the iPad.

Will the Apple iPad 3 have a quad-core processor…
It looks likely that the iPad 3 will come with a new processor – the Apple A6; a vast improvement over the dual-core A5 processor that we see in the current iPad model. The Korea Times reported in November ’11 that the A6 processors will be manufactured by Samsung, despite the ongoing battle over patents…

The A6 will surely be a quad-core ARM-based processor with designs already coming from various ARM partners. Nvidia has already launched the Tegra 3 and Qualcomm the Snapdragon S4.

Obviously these rumours can be taken with a pinch of salt, but with definite patterns appearing…we’d say the final iPad 3 release won’t be long…

Future phones for 2012

CMC communications are always on the look out for new and exciting technology within the phone market. As it’s the beginning of 2012 what better time is there to take a sneak peak at some of the amazing new hand sets that will be coming out this year. Here is a selection of what to expect in 2012.

Samsung Galaxy S3

Set to be the biggest challenger to Apple’s smart phone crown, Samsung’s Android handset has had internet forums and rumour websites buzzing with excitement at its reported 12 megapixel camera, huge OLED display and sleek curved design.

Here is a summary of the features which are rumoured to be available on the Samsung Galaxy S3 via CNET…

• 4.6-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen at 1,280×720-pixel resolution
• 1.8GHz chip with 2GB RAM for zippy multitasking and games
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with a refreshed TouchWiz skin
• Camera-quality 12-megapixel photos
• Styled like the Galaxy Nexus

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc HD

A closely guarded secret, photos of the Xperia Arc HD still found their way online. The specs are impressive and it is a very pretty thing to behold but with only a dual core CPU (with quad core phones on the way) it may get left behind.

• 1.5GHz dual core CPU
• 12 megapixel camera
• 4.3 720p screen
• 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage

HTC Zeta

If the rumours are to be believed new HTC handset is set to feature an astonishingly quick 2.5GHz quad core CPU along with 1GB of RAM (even quicker than HTC’s other quad core smartphone, the Edge). The Zeta will also come with Ice Cream Sandwich pre-installed and will also contain HTC’s Sense 4.0 UI (which is still unannounced). But before you get excited, the photos leaked late last year are said to be fake and that this handset may just be a concept, only time will tell!

HTC Edge/Supreme

Codenamed “Edge” in the US but known to us over here as “Supreme” (due to the name being leaked) this will officially be HTC’s first quad core phone. The name “Supreme” may still change as there are several new HTC devices being kept under wraps including a Facebook phone and a new tablet.

Rumoured specs for the “Edge” are as follows

• Nvidia Tegra 3 1.5GHz quad core processor
• 720p HD 4.7 inch screen
• 1GB RAM
• 8 megapixel camera

Blackberry Curve 9380

The latest incarnation of the Curve phones is now an all touch affair, something Blackberry have shied away from in the past but are now embracing with many of their popular models. A bigger screen but familiar looks, it seems as though Blackberry are finally taking a few more risks with their latest handset, while remaining familiar to their loyal customer base.

This phone is already available to buy but the specs fall rather short of some of the other handsets featured here.

• 3.2 inch 360×480 screen
• 806mhz processor with 512MB RAM
• Blackberry OS 7
• 5 megapixel camera

IPhone 5?

Nobody really knows about the latest incarnation of Apple’s game changing “super phone” but one thing is for sure, it will be the most hotly anticipated handset of them all in 2012. Rumours of a fourth quarter release abound, Apple are being extremely tight lipped about things so one can only guess at the features. A reasonable guess would be that the iPhone 5 will come with a HTC-rivalling quad core processor and an abundance of RAM but it would be nice to be surprised by a new and exciting development that Apple have become synonymous with.

Excited about any of these handsets? Tell us on Facebook!