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Samsung Galaxy Note Goes Up For Pre-Order At AT&T

blogger — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:19:02 +0000

Do you believe in a thing called love? If not, just listen to the rhythm of my heart… Or head on over to AT&T’s website to pre-order the Galaxy Note . If for some reason you don’t remember, the Note is a 5.3-inch phone/tablet hybrid that showed its face in a costly Samsung commercial during last night’s Super Bowl. Its claim to fame would be a little stylus, what Samsung is calling the S-Pen, which makes the Note a tad more useful when you’re in a pinch and need to jot down a note or something quick like that. Samsung has started out the year with 1 million Galaxy Note sales under its belt. If you feel like getting touchy-feely (touching youuuuou, touching meeeee) then you also have the option of sauntering into an AT&T come February 19 and settling the decision then and there. The Galaxy Note will cost you $300 on-contract.

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Samsung Galaxy Note Goes Up For Pre-Order At AT&T

Report: Samsung Planning A Full Line Of Galaxy S3 Phones, First Model To Hit This May

Achilles — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:13:55 +0000

Samsung’s next flagship smartphone needs to be huge, iPhone 4 huge. It needs to be as competitive as the Galaxy S II as its set to go head-to-head with the iPhone 5. But success won’t be found as easily this time. Samsung had nearly a full year to design and release Galaxy S II after the iPhone 4′s release. The company doesn’t have that luxury this time around. South Korean news outlet Electronic Times News just published a report that pegs the S3 as a superphone on a diet. The report states that printed circuit boards, chips and connectors allowed for an overall thickness (or thinness) of just 7mm. That’s 1.9mm thinner than the current Galaxy SII — not that several millimeters really mater. But even though the phone is thinner overall, Samsung is reportedly packing their next flagship to the gills. Inside the svelte body is a quad-core CPU of unknown pedigree or clock speed running Android 4.0. The new model will use the same 8MP camera as the S II, which will result in a slight extrusion on the phone’s backplate. Inside is the usually assortment of an LTE radio, WiFi, GPS, and, although not specifically mentioned in this report, NFC is highly likely. No word on screen size. But early adaptors might want to hold off. Samsung is reportedly set to launch a large line of Galaxy S3 phones in 2012. etnews states that Samsung is preparing several S3 flavors. One model will have a better camera and one will use a stylus (like the Note!). There will even be 3D variation. The exact release schedule is not mentioned but expect a steady stream of S3 phones this year and early next. The Samsung Galaxy S II was a massive success but it could have been better. The company announced the phone at MWC in late February 2011 but it didn’t hit markets until May/June. The company is seeking to eliminate that lag by not launching the S3 at MWC this year. The phone will instead get its own event closer to launch, and if etnews is to be believed, the phone will be released this coming May. The scene is set. The lines are drawn. The summer of 2012 is set to play host to a massive battle: the iPhone 5 vs the Samsung Galaxy S III. But don’t get caught up in the nonsense war. Stand on the sideline and watch as two, likely awesome, smartphones trade shots. In the end it doesn’t really matter. The consumer wins no matter what.

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Report: Samsung Planning A Full Line Of Galaxy S3 Phones, First Model To Hit This May

Hunch Takes A Deep Data Dive On The Tastes And Interests Of eBay Users

ACMAir — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:00:51 +0000

In November, eBay acquired Hunch, a service that provides a “taste graph” of personalized recommendations based on users’ interests. eBay wants to use Hunch’s technology to used to drive more personalized, relevant shopping experiences on the marketplace through data analysis. And over the course of the past month, the team over at Hunch has spent some time figuring out the differences in tastes and interests of people who have shopped on eBay and those who have yet to make their first eBay sale or purchase. The results are based on responses from a survey of nearly 70,000 Hunch users (two-third of which are eBay users). Here are some of the results. eBay purchasers are 61% more likely to be early adopters of technology. For example, eBay users are 54% more likely to use Twitter. Non-eBay users are 90% more likely to buy music in the form of a CD vs. other music formats. You can check out the rest of the results in the infographic below:

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Hunch Takes A Deep Data Dive On The Tastes And Interests Of eBay Users

Rdio Releases New Android App, Ought To Be Ashamed Of Its Windows Phone App

blogger — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:48:44 +0000

Today, Rdio is releasing a brand new application for Android phones chock-full of fresh features, which is awesome. Mainly because it gives me an excuse to write up a related rant I would have published at some point anyway. But let’s get the new Android app part out of the way first: “The new app offers intuitive navigation with one-click access to features previously available on Rdio for Android, along with several new enhancements and key features including collection, playlists, new releases, top charts, recommendations, and support for Android Ice Cream Sandwich’s new remote control client. Now Android users not only have easy access to Rdio’s catalog of more than 12 million songs, they can also take advantage of Rdio’s rich social features and extensive music discovery options.” Great. Swell. Cool. If you’re an Android phone user. Which I’m not, at least not anymore. A few months ago I started using Nokia’s Lumia 800 as my primary smartphone. One of the apps I really need on any platform happens to be Rdio, which I gladly pay for every month. There has been an official WP7 Rdio app since November 2010 , so no problem. At least, it shouldn’t be a problem. Instead, it’s a major source of daily frustration. You see, the Rdio app for Windows Phone has one fatal flaw: it doesn’t actually play music. It also doesn’t go out to buy my groceries for me, nor does it clip my toe nails, but the point is that I have a right to be flabbergasted by its lack of music playing ability. You know, because I pay the company for being able to play music on my phone. Not for crashing apps. Not for playlists, albums and songs that never load. Not for ‘black screens of death’ while I’m discovering new music. Not for half-assed offline syncing features. Browsing the company’s help forums, it seems I’m not the only one who’s frustrated by the extremely poor quality of Rdio’s Windows Phone app (with some people even taking to canceling their subscriptions as a result of their justifiable dissatisfaction). For months, Rdio employees have been promising complainers that the issues will be resolved on those very forums, but so far these promises have not been kept. I mean, they’re still asking users to restart their devices to see if that fixes the problem. Well, it doesn’t. Rdio folks, please just look at those ratings and user reviews on WP Marketplace , and be ashamed. Look, I get it. I’m in the minority as a Windows Phone user, and there’s no critical mass in sight yet. You have every right to focus your development efforts on apps for iOS and Android, given that most of your users likely use devices that run those operating systems. It’s a sensible thing to do. The thing is, I’m a paying customer. I fork over $9.99 a month to access my Rdio account on the Web, my Sonos system and my phone. That phone happens to be a Windows Phone device, which you built an app for, which you’re actively advertising on your website. Yet, it’s helplessly broken. The Spotify app for Windows Phone, meanwhile, works perfectly. There’s absolutely no reason for me to put up with this, and I’m close to canceling my subscription over this. Not really because your Windows Phone app has issues, which is understandable, but because you’ve demonstrated clearly that you do not care about repairing them and giving your paying customers any reasonable indication of how to fix it themselves, or when a problem-fixing update will finally make its way to the Marketplace. My view is this: either you develop an app for a mobile platform and proudly commit to enhancing and supporting it over time, and fixing problems that may arise within a reasonable timeframe, or you stay away from that platform entirely. I don’t know or care if Nokia or Microsoft paid you to build the app, but you should hang your heads in shame for offering it to users in its current state. Rant over, for now. But hey, at least the new Android app apparently rocks , right?

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Rdio Releases New Android App, Ought To Be Ashamed Of Its Windows Phone App

Verizon And Redbox Taking On Netflix With New Joint Venture

Achilles — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:38:31 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the mysterious Project Zoetrope will soon be seeing the light of day. Verizon and Redbox owner Coinstar have just taken to the wires today to announce their new joint venture in video entertainment, with their subscription services poised to launch in the second half of this year. Details are still light at the moment (though a 9:30 AM conference call should shed some light on things) but the new service certainly has Netflix in its sights. What we do know so far is that Verizon looks to combine a “video on demand streaming and download service” with Redbox’s physical media rentals from their 35,000+ kiosks nationwide. If the information given to us from an inside source holds true though, expect to see the yet-unnamed video service hit a host of platforms — think iOS, Android, Xbox, and the like. I probably don’t need to remind you that Verizon is a major player in both the home entertainment and mobile space, and it’s exactly that breadth that they and Redbox want to built off of for their new service. The two companies are apparently in pursuit of what they call the “borderless lifestyle,” where the entertainment content consumers want will be available on the device (or media format) of their choosing. It has the potential to be a far more attractive option than Netflix for some customers, if only because using Netflix’s mail order service requires a little bit of forethought. Spur-of-the-moment types will likely appreciate the ability to swing by the local drugstore and pick up a few DVDs for the night when their new movie of choice hasn’t yet appeared in their Verizon/Redbox streaming account yet. That question of content is what will ultimately make or break this new service, and hopefully they have some aces up their collective sleeves, as the new joint venture and Netflix will likely compete head-to-head on new DVD and Blu-ray releases. In all likelihood, Netflix will have Verizon/Redbox beat when it comes to the size of their physical media catalog, so Verizon/Redbox may look to play up their “borderless” streaming side of things. Even that could be a risky move, as Netflix’s anemic margins on streaming video content show that it’s a tough model to run with. Update: Well shucks, the conference call lasted all of four minutes and didn’t shed any new light on the situation.

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Verizon And Redbox Taking On Netflix With New Joint Venture

White Galaxy Nexus Gets An Official Launch Date

Achilles — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:52:16 +0000

It’s hard not to love the Galaxy Nexus, even if you’re not a Fandroid. With a 4.65-inch 720p display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and Android 4.0 ICS to boot, what’s not to love? Well, if you’re being picky, perhaps you’re yearning for a white GalNex, in which case I have good and bad news. Which do you want first? The good news is that the white Galaxy Nexus is indeed an official product and it will be available on February 13, which gives you a whole day to use a combination of Google Wallet and Fab to find your sweetheart a nice Valentine’s Day gift. The bad news is that, according to TrustedReviews , the white GalNex is only available to the UK this week. (Bad news for us, anyways.) Wait, there’s one extra bonus bit of good news: If you have enough dough, the white GalNex is has a pentaband HSPA+ radio, meaning it will work on both AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks. And by “enough dough”, I specifically mean at least £496.79 ($770), which is what the 16GB model seems to be going for over at UK online retailer Handtec . Past it’s pale appearance, all the specs will remain the same between the black and white models. However, if you happen to remember when we first noticed the white Galaxy Nexus , you’ll recall that the render within the post showed an all-white bezel. That isn’t the case with the official version, as the front bezel of the phone is still solid black and the back portion of the phone is white.

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White Galaxy Nexus Gets An Official Launch Date

Nokia: The White Lumia 800 Will Ship This Month Starting With European Markets

Achilles — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:56:20 +0000

Forget about the Lumia 900 for a minute. Nokia just announced white Nokia Lumia 800 is finally on the release block and scheduled to hit stores later this month. Availability will be limited to Europe initially but it will eventually hit other countries as well. Other than the stark white exterior, it’s essentially the same phone as its colored counterparts. The albino edition (not the official name) still has the same 3.7-inch screen, 16GB of storage, 1.4GHz processor and WinPhone 7.5 operating system. Nokia didn’t go into pricing details, probably because the phone is set to hit so many different markets, each with a different pricing strategy. However, Nokia has seemed to stress affordability with their Windows Phones so far so this white edition will likely follow the same mantra. Alright, enough with the Lumia 800, bring on the 900!

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Nokia: The White Lumia 800 Will Ship This Month Starting With European Markets

Citing “Short-Term Difficulties”, HTC Forecasts Weak Q1, Significant Revenue Drop

bestcbstore — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:20:27 +0000

Smartphones and tablets maker HTC this morning said it foresees a huge drop in revenue (PDF) in the first quarter, citing “short-term difficulties” as it gears up to – reportedly – launch four new phone models at the Mobile World Congress later this month. The Taiwanese company sees revenue dropping as much as 36 percent in Q1, to between NT$65 billion and NT$70 billion (roughly $2.2 and $2.4 billion) due to this “product transition”. In PR speak, that sound something like this: Despite short-term difficulties, momentum will resume in the upcoming product cycle driven by HTC’s brand strength, innovation, and design/engineering capabilities The smartphone maker also said it expected gross margin to come in at around 25 percent, and operating margin at 7.5 percent, which is down from 27.1 percent and 12.7 percent in the previous quarter. Again, HTC says it expects these margins to “normalize” after the debut of the new phones. In other words, HTC has a heck of a lot riding on these new smartphones selling like hotcakes, as it feels the pressure from Apple’s overwhelming iPhone success and an increasing number of manufacturers churning out and selling competing Android-powered devices by the millions. Also read: It’s About Time: HTC To Refocus Smartphone Efforts Around “Hero” Devices Is HTC’s 20% Revenue Dip Last Month A Sign Of Things To Come?

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Citing “Short-Term Difficulties”, HTC Forecasts Weak Q1, Significant Revenue Drop

Pedestrian Map App, Lumatic, Raises $800K From Joi Ito And 500 Startups

A D M I N — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:10:45 +0000

All the major map apps like Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Mapquest have walking directions as a standard feature, but the folks at Lumatic don’t think they are good enough. It is creating mobile maps designed for pedestrians, cyclists, and people who use public transit. Originally a TechStars company called Omniar, serial entrepreneur Scott Rafer (MyBlogLog, Lookery, Mashery) joined as CEO a year ago. He recently raised a seed round of $800,000 from Joi Ito’s Neoteny Labs, 500 Startups, Chamath Palihapitiya, Allen Morgan, Ted Rheingold, and other angels. Lumatic has an Android app which works right now only in San Francisco. When it gives you directions, it chooses routes which are optimal for walking, cycling or public transport. As you walk through the streets, the app displays a street-view with photos and arrows pointing in the right direction. The app is built on top of Open Street Map , but the user experience is centered heavily on using photography, landmarks, and visual cues to help people navigate cities. Fighting Google Maps in this category is going to be a tough slog, but if the app can gain a following there plenty of money in local commerce and advertising to make it a worthwhile pursuit.

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Pedestrian Map App, Lumatic, Raises $800K From Joi Ito And 500 Startups

In The Future, The Business Founder Will Not Be Ignored

A D M I N — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:50:55 +0000

Editor’s note: Adam Rodnitzky is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Favo.rs . He programmed his first startup using ColdFusion in 1999. Rodnitzky is based in San Francisco, and you can follow him on Twitter @rodtwitzky . The entrepreneurial world loves nothing like a good meme. One of the more recent ones making the rounds from Palo Alto to Paris is that a startup simply can’t get off the ground without a technical founder. Investors, entrepreneurs and tech journalists alike will tell you that if you’re not a whiz kid fresh out of Stanford’s CS program, you are essentially not fundable — entrepreneura non grata. Well, I am here to tell you that they are right. For now. Soon, however, I believe we’ll see a marked shift in who holds the cards in the startup world. First, let’s flesh out the current argument a bit more. It starts like this: to be successful, a startup requires a founder with a deep technical skillset. This is so a functioning beta can be built that attracts users and demonstrates traction. In some cases, the driver of new user acquisition may in fact be a unique new technology itself (example: Sphero or Lark ). Users and traction attract investors. Investors inject capital that then accelerates growth. A fast growing startup can eventually be a target for an acquisition or IPO, which completes our argument that a strong technical founder leads to a higher likelihood of startup success. Oh, and if the startup doesn’t grow fast enough? Then the core engineering team forms the foundation for the new exit: the acq-hire. So, for the moment, the technical founder is in the spotlight. So much so, in fact, that they can often be funded without the presence of their natural counterpart: what we call the idea person, the product visionary, the business founder. But, soon enough, the business founder’s time will come. Here’s why. If Moore taught us anything about technology, it’s that it advances at an exponential rate. And that includes the tools that we use to build it too. It’s not a stretch to deduce that there will soon come a time when new development tools and environments eliminate some or all of the technical hurdles required to properly execute a startup in preparation for traction and funding. After all, those technical hurdles are already obscenely low compared to where they were even a decade ago. During the Web 1.0 era of the late ’90s and early ’00s, massive teams of engineers were required to build even a basic content-driven startup, one that could now be built by a single engineer today. Actually, that’s not entirely true. A rich content-driven startup can be created by zero engineers today. Thanks, WordPress ! But who cares about a content-driven startup, you say? Good question. Let’s ignore how the Cheezburger Network , TechCrunch and Groupon all started, and focus on apps instead. A decade ago, your app would have been built using the LAMP stack , Perl or Java. If you were serious (and you raised a ton of capital), you might have even dropped MySQL and used an Oracle database instead (which meant hiring an extremely expensive and extremely crotchety Oracle DB admin). Today? You’ll build a better app in less time and with fewer people using Python with Django or Ruby on Rails. Easier, but still not the domain of the business founder. But this, too, will change. The same leap that took us from LAMP to RoR will happen again, reducing the amount of people, skill and time required to build a robust web or mobile app. I have no doubt that – at this very moment – there is a talented engineering team busily building modular, drag-and-drop development environments so that those without their skill sets can develop with nearly the same ease that they can. In a way, they may be coding themselves into irrelevance. In this future state, where the technical hurdles required to build a robust app are virtually eliminated, we’ll experience even more app overload then we do today. When that happens, what separates the winning startups from those that lose will primarily reside within the domain of the business founder’s traditional areas of expertise: optimizing the user experience, executing innovative marketing, and hacking traffic and traction. Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom for the technical co-founder in the future. For one, many of the most successful technical founders also happen to be great business founders (Drew Houston from DropBox , for instance). And smart business founders will always recognize the benefit of teaming up with an awesome technical partner as well. After all, when any tech-focused startup proves traction and viability, then it needs to ensure that its technical foundation can scale efficiently and reliably to support rapid growth. Then again, if my theory proves to be correct, finding that technical co-founder shouldn’t be nearly as hard in the future as it is now. So take note of the business founders’ plight today. See how they are slighted by the Valley’s tastemakers. Feel their frustration as potential technical co-founders ignore their ideas and instead execute their own. Encourage them as they clumsily try and learn Python the hard way . Most importantly, however, start to pay attention to them. If the past decade is any indication of what the next one will be like, then it won’t be long before the business founder has the advantage that today’s technical founders enjoy. And, when that time comes, they’ll refuse to be ignored. Image excerpt from Leadership Freak