Not long after "leaking" Nokia's first Windows smartphone, codenamed "Sea Ray," CEO Stephen Elop told a Finnish newspaper that even if the new MeeGo-based N9, launched the day before, succeeds, it will be Nokia's last device on the Meego operating system.
"In Elop's words, there is no returning to MeeGo, even if the N9 turns out to be a hit," wrote the Finnish daily, the Helsingin Sanomat.
On Thursday, Elop stirred the blogosphere when he teased what he called the first Nokia Windows device, which is rumored to be launching this fall.
Unfortunately it left a sour taste in the mouths of MeeGo fans, most of whom are passionate, long-time Nokia users and developers. In February Elop, who joined Nokia from Microsoft in 2008, announced a billion-dollar agreement with Microsoft that puts the Windows Phone 7 operating system in Nokia handsets; Nokia's own Symbian and MeeGo operating systems would be relegated to "science projects."
"I have taken part in the conversations with the teleoperators and I have been part of the consumer test groups. The feedback has been extremely positive and I am sure that the Windows Phone system will be a great success", Elop says of the strategic partnership announced with microsoft in February of this year.
Elop desperately needs Nokia's recent partnership with Microsoft, which fills Nokia handsets with Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system, to succeed. He faces lowered sales targets for the rest of the year, rumors of a Nokia selloff, layoffs in the thousands, and alienation by Nokia's most loyal followers.
In the same interview Elop said he was "sure" upcoming Nokia Windows phones would be a "great success."
"I understand completely that the investors want to see the results of our new strategy in their full glory. This will take some time, but once we are in a position to introduce the results of our strategy, I am sure the doubts will disperse," he said.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Huawei unveils 7-inch Android 3.2 Honeycomb dual-core tablet, MediaPad news
Chinese network equipment manufacturer Huawei has announced the launch of the Huawei MediaPad, the world's first 7-inch Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet.
The MediaPad is a complete entertainment powerhouse driven by Qualcomm's dual-core 1.2GHz processor, supported by Huawei Device's Hi-Space cloud solution and Google Android Market. The MediaPad provides a fabulous user-experience in a stylish, high-performing and ultra-portable package.
The MediaPad is Huawei Device's smartest, slimmest and lightest tablet yet, measuring just 10.5mm (0.4 inches) deep and weighing approximately 390g (0.86 pounds). It supports 1080P full HD video playback and features a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and 5 megapixel auto focus rear facing camera with HD video recording capabilities. With HSPA+ 14.4Mbps and high-speed WiFi 802.11n Internet connectivity, the MediaPad doesn't just entertain – it keeps you connected.
"With the Huawei MediaPad, we are demonstrating yet again that design, functionality and performance is within anyone's reach," says Victor Xu, chief marketing officer, Huawei Device.
"The 7-inch tablet remains the preferred size for portability and Android Honeycomb 3.2 is dedicated to enhance the full potential of 7-inch tablets," Xu said and added the MediaPad opened up new worlds of entertainment for consumers by removing the barriers to tablet ownership and thus enabling access to high-quality mobile entertainment experience fully integrated with cloud-based internet content."
The MediaPad supports HSPA+ data services, Flash 10.3 videos and comes preinstalled with applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Let's Golf and Documents to Go. With the 7-inch IPS touch screen, the MediaPad offers a standout visual experience for photos, movies and applications. Entertainment and gaming experience are taken to the next level with the MediaPad's 1.2GHz Dual-Core processor, HD playback and HDMI port.
The MediaPad is a complete entertainment powerhouse driven by Qualcomm's dual-core 1.2GHz processor, supported by Huawei Device's Hi-Space cloud solution and Google Android Market. The MediaPad provides a fabulous user-experience in a stylish, high-performing and ultra-portable package.
The MediaPad is Huawei Device's smartest, slimmest and lightest tablet yet, measuring just 10.5mm (0.4 inches) deep and weighing approximately 390g (0.86 pounds). It supports 1080P full HD video playback and features a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and 5 megapixel auto focus rear facing camera with HD video recording capabilities. With HSPA+ 14.4Mbps and high-speed WiFi 802.11n Internet connectivity, the MediaPad doesn't just entertain – it keeps you connected.
"With the Huawei MediaPad, we are demonstrating yet again that design, functionality and performance is within anyone's reach," says Victor Xu, chief marketing officer, Huawei Device.
"The 7-inch tablet remains the preferred size for portability and Android Honeycomb 3.2 is dedicated to enhance the full potential of 7-inch tablets," Xu said and added the MediaPad opened up new worlds of entertainment for consumers by removing the barriers to tablet ownership and thus enabling access to high-quality mobile entertainment experience fully integrated with cloud-based internet content."
The MediaPad supports HSPA+ data services, Flash 10.3 videos and comes preinstalled with applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Let's Golf and Documents to Go. With the 7-inch IPS touch screen, the MediaPad offers a standout visual experience for photos, movies and applications. Entertainment and gaming experience are taken to the next level with the MediaPad's 1.2GHz Dual-Core processor, HD playback and HDMI port.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Huawei announcing Honeycomb Android 3.2 tablet?
We know that Huawei will be announcing details about their MediaPad at an event that's happening in about an hour, but we now know what this 7-inch tablet will be running on--Android 3.2 (Honeycomb), based on information available at their booth in CommunicAsia 2011.
We don't yet know what new features the OS will introduce, but we will be updating once we get more information at their event.
Stay tuned.
We don't yet know what new features the OS will introduce, but we will be updating once we get more information at their event.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Lenovo's MeeGo Netbook: Hands On
It hasn't been exactly smooth sailing for MeeGo, Intel's Linux-based operating system that was developed to go up against offerings from Google and Apple. But there have been signs of life here at Computex 2011, beginning with Asus's launch of the EeePC X101. And now there's the Lenovo Ideapad S100, which was spotted in the wild running a version of MeeGo that's actually usable. Let's take a closer look.
The Ideapad S100 looks like your average netbook from the outside: Its black plastic construction is topped off with a bit of texture that does an exceptional job warding off finger prints and smudge marks. Obviously, black doesn't grab the attention quite as well as the multiple color offerings available on the EeePC X101, but it's a well-designed netbook nonetheless.
The tiled keyboard is full size and arguably the S100's best asset, as the keys are slightly scalloped and elevated to an ideal height. The clickpad, with its mouse buttons integrated into the touchpad, is roomy and clicks with ease. I didn't experience any weird cursor movements or miltitouch gestures kicking in when they shouldn't.
The MeeGo experience is the main attraction here, and this particular skin is very similar to the one found in the EeePC X101. Everything is laid out in "Panels". For instance, a "People" panel gives you access to social networks and chat-clients like Facebook, AIM, Twitter, and Flickr. There's a "Status" panel that all these social networks feed into. The "Internet" panel makes use of the Chromium browser to surf the internet, and there's a "Media" panel that handles all your photos and videos. For the most part, working with all these panels was smooth and very pleasant. None of them crashed or took a tremendously long time to load or respond. The Wi-Fi signal was very spotty in the convention center, so I couldn't get the browser to load any of my favorite websites.
What I did get to work (but couldn't on the EeePC X101) is Intel's AppUP store, which is intended to go up against Google's Marketplace and Apple's App store. The selection of paid and free apps isn't worth writing home about, but it's a start.
The S100 comes with the usual netbook features that include three USB ports, Ethernet, and VGA (the X101 doesn't have VGA and Ethernet). It runs on an Intel Atom N455 processor and 1GB of memory.
Lenovo hasn't officially announced that a MeeGo-running Ideapad S100 is U.S. bound, but if the pricing in mind is anywhere near Asus's ballpark (less than $200), there might be some potential here.
The Ideapad S100 looks like your average netbook from the outside: Its black plastic construction is topped off with a bit of texture that does an exceptional job warding off finger prints and smudge marks. Obviously, black doesn't grab the attention quite as well as the multiple color offerings available on the EeePC X101, but it's a well-designed netbook nonetheless.
The tiled keyboard is full size and arguably the S100's best asset, as the keys are slightly scalloped and elevated to an ideal height. The clickpad, with its mouse buttons integrated into the touchpad, is roomy and clicks with ease. I didn't experience any weird cursor movements or miltitouch gestures kicking in when they shouldn't.
The MeeGo experience is the main attraction here, and this particular skin is very similar to the one found in the EeePC X101. Everything is laid out in "Panels". For instance, a "People" panel gives you access to social networks and chat-clients like Facebook, AIM, Twitter, and Flickr. There's a "Status" panel that all these social networks feed into. The "Internet" panel makes use of the Chromium browser to surf the internet, and there's a "Media" panel that handles all your photos and videos. For the most part, working with all these panels was smooth and very pleasant. None of them crashed or took a tremendously long time to load or respond. The Wi-Fi signal was very spotty in the convention center, so I couldn't get the browser to load any of my favorite websites.
What I did get to work (but couldn't on the EeePC X101) is Intel's AppUP store, which is intended to go up against Google's Marketplace and Apple's App store. The selection of paid and free apps isn't worth writing home about, but it's a start.
The S100 comes with the usual netbook features that include three USB ports, Ethernet, and VGA (the X101 doesn't have VGA and Ethernet). It runs on an Intel Atom N455 processor and 1GB of memory.
Lenovo hasn't officially announced that a MeeGo-running Ideapad S100 is U.S. bound, but if the pricing in mind is anywhere near Asus's ballpark (less than $200), there might be some potential here.
Nokia to announce 'next disruption' 21st June: MeeGo rumoured to make an appearance
Nokia looks set to unveil a 'new market disrupting device' on June 21 as part of the Nokia Connection 2011 event in Singapore. Rumours are already flying with the first MeeGo device being favourite.
Invites for the event have been going out with very little information but it's been made clear this will simply be a product demonstration and that any questions should regard the hardware and features of the new device.
Back in February Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, spelt out that the company would be working around three pillars of operation: smartphones, which are based on Windows Phone, the Next Billion, which are low cost devices aimed at connecting the world, and 'the next disruption' of which MeeGo was purported to be the first from the gate.
Nokia Connection 2011 is an annual event held in conjunction with CommunicAsia 2011. This year, Nokia Connection takes place on 21 June at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The event is a showcase of the latest devices and services to customers, operators, media and analysts from the region. http://www.nokiaconnection.net/
Invites for the event have been going out with very little information but it's been made clear this will simply be a product demonstration and that any questions should regard the hardware and features of the new device.
Back in February Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, spelt out that the company would be working around three pillars of operation: smartphones, which are based on Windows Phone, the Next Billion, which are low cost devices aimed at connecting the world, and 'the next disruption' of which MeeGo was purported to be the first from the gate.
Nokia Connection 2011 is an annual event held in conjunction with CommunicAsia 2011. This year, Nokia Connection takes place on 21 June at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The event is a showcase of the latest devices and services to customers, operators, media and analysts from the region. http://www.nokiaconnection.net/
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Asus Padfone and MeeGo-Based Eee PC Expand Choices
The product announcements are coming fast and furious from the trade show floor at Computex in Taipei, including a virtual sea of tablets. There are a number of interesting contenders in there, to be sure, but two new offerings from Asus--my favorite hardware maker--strike me as being particularly rich with possibilities.
First, of course, is the widely anticipated Padfone, a convergent device that combines Android smartphone and tablet computer, giving consumers a choice of screen sizes for each situation or computing task without having to worry about data transfer hassles or multiple SIM cards.
With the Padfone, the smartphone docks inside the tablet. While it's there, it can recharge from the tablet's larger battery and the tablet can make use of the smartphone's 3G internet connection. With dual interfaces for both the pad and phone, layout is automatically adjusted for all activities, including videoconferencing, Web browsing and emailing.
Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/229019/asus_padfone_and_meegobased_eee_pc_expand_choices.html
First, of course, is the widely anticipated Padfone, a convergent device that combines Android smartphone and tablet computer, giving consumers a choice of screen sizes for each situation or computing task without having to worry about data transfer hassles or multiple SIM cards.
With the Padfone, the smartphone docks inside the tablet. While it's there, it can recharge from the tablet's larger battery and the tablet can make use of the smartphone's 3G internet connection. With dual interfaces for both the pad and phone, layout is automatically adjusted for all activities, including videoconferencing, Web browsing and emailing.
Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/229019/asus_padfone_and_meegobased_eee_pc_expand_choices.html
Computex 2011: Intel's plan to tackle tablets
The rise of the tablet is part of a broader movement toward what Intel call companion computing, a category that includes all sort of personal and mobile devices from smartphones to netbooks to convertibles and sliders. In an event at Computex today Intel executives said companion computing was still in the early stages and discussed the strategy for getting Atom chips into these devices.
Intel believes that no one companion computing device will work for everyone and that there will be a lot of innovation in the hardware and software as companies developer different user experiences over the next 10 years. But it all “starts with the silicon,” said Doug Davis, VP and GM of Netbook and Tablet Group.
Intel introduced Atom three year ago and it will ship its 100 millionth Atom SoC this month. But most of those have gone into netbooks and the vast majority of mobile devices use processors based on the ARM microarchitecture designed by companies such as Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, Texas Instruments and Nvidia and manufactured by semiconductor foundries. Intel’s strategy to break into tablets and smartphones is to leverage its lead in process technology and manufacturing.
Davis reiterated that for the next several years, Atom would scale at a faster rate than Moore’s Law until it catches up with Intel’s Core processors for PCs and servers. The first 32nm Atom SoCs will begin shipping in volume production later this year followed by 22nm Ivy Bridge versions in 2013. By 2014, Atom and Core will be aligned on 14nm.
“Intel gets this and we’re investing in this space,” Davis said. “We’re accelerating our process technology roadmap.”
But today Intel is still shipping several 45nm Atom SoCs. This includes the N series for netbooks. Intel demonstrated the Asus Eee PC X101, a 10-inch netbooks announced at Computex which uses an Atom processor and the MeeGo operating system and costs about $200. One of the first laptops to use Google’s OS, Samsung’s 12-inch Chromebook Series 5, has an Atom N570 dual-core processor.
Another 45nm SoC, the Atom Z670, or Oak Trail, was designed specifically for tablets. It has a smaller footprint and uses less power, but still has the performance for tasks such as 1080p video playback (as well as HDMI). At the Computex event, Intel showed a number of ODM (Original Device Manufacturer) designs-both “shipping systems and development platforms”-running Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Intel also demonstrated an interesting Fujitsu LifeBook slider and a Fujitsu Stylistic Windows slate for business.
Read more: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/computex-2011-intels-plan-to-tackle-tablets/6043
Intel believes that no one companion computing device will work for everyone and that there will be a lot of innovation in the hardware and software as companies developer different user experiences over the next 10 years. But it all “starts with the silicon,” said Doug Davis, VP and GM of Netbook and Tablet Group.
Intel introduced Atom three year ago and it will ship its 100 millionth Atom SoC this month. But most of those have gone into netbooks and the vast majority of mobile devices use processors based on the ARM microarchitecture designed by companies such as Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, Texas Instruments and Nvidia and manufactured by semiconductor foundries. Intel’s strategy to break into tablets and smartphones is to leverage its lead in process technology and manufacturing.
Davis reiterated that for the next several years, Atom would scale at a faster rate than Moore’s Law until it catches up with Intel’s Core processors for PCs and servers. The first 32nm Atom SoCs will begin shipping in volume production later this year followed by 22nm Ivy Bridge versions in 2013. By 2014, Atom and Core will be aligned on 14nm.
“Intel gets this and we’re investing in this space,” Davis said. “We’re accelerating our process technology roadmap.”
But today Intel is still shipping several 45nm Atom SoCs. This includes the N series for netbooks. Intel demonstrated the Asus Eee PC X101, a 10-inch netbooks announced at Computex which uses an Atom processor and the MeeGo operating system and costs about $200. One of the first laptops to use Google’s OS, Samsung’s 12-inch Chromebook Series 5, has an Atom N570 dual-core processor.
Another 45nm SoC, the Atom Z670, or Oak Trail, was designed specifically for tablets. It has a smaller footprint and uses less power, but still has the performance for tasks such as 1080p video playback (as well as HDMI). At the Computex event, Intel showed a number of ODM (Original Device Manufacturer) designs-both “shipping systems and development platforms”-running Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Intel also demonstrated an interesting Fujitsu LifeBook slider and a Fujitsu Stylistic Windows slate for business.
Read more: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/computex-2011-intels-plan-to-tackle-tablets/6043
Acer shows off Windows Phone Mango handset, MeeGo tablet
Taiwanese PC maker Acer took a rather sudden hit last April when Gianfranco Lanci resigned as CEO of the company, saying it should have been focused on competing with HTC and Apple in the mobile space instead of with HP in the PC space.
At the Computex trade show in Taipei, Acer this week has shown off its scattershot approach to covering the mobile device market, which will include, among other things, a 10" tablet running Intel's MeeGo operating system, and a Snapdragon-powered smartphone running Windows Phone 7 "Mango."
Acer was one of the new Windows Phone hardware partners Microsoft announced last week, and the company has been showing off a device running Mango tentatively called the Acer W4. It has a 3.6" (480 x 800) touchscreen, is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor, has "up to" 8GB of onboard storage, a 5 megapixel camera, and Quad-band GSM and HSPA 800/1900 or 900/2100 connectivity.
Pricing and regional availability have not been announced for this device yet. However, it will join Fujitsu, ZTE, and Nokia in the first crop of Mango-powered smartphones which are expected to arrive around October 2011.
Acer's first public spin with MeeGo was back at Mobile World Congress 2011 in February, when Intel announced the MeeGo Tablet UX, and mentioned Toshiba, Fujitsu, Asus, and Acer would all be participating in the project. In May, when Intel officially launched its Oak Trail chip for tablets, the company promised MeeGo tablets as early as May.
The M Series Acer showed off at Computex, however, runs on a Moorestown Atom processor. Aside from that, it has a 10" (1280x800) touch display and chassis very similar to the Iconia Android prototype that made its way around the trade shows earlier this year. That particular model, however, launched at retail very shortly after being officially announced, so there is a distinct possibility that Acer could bring this MeeGo tablet to market in an expedient fashion.
MeeGo, meanwhile, is a big topic of discussion at Computex this year, and in addition to Acer's tablet, the Linux-based mobile OS was shown off on notebook computers by Lenovo, Samsung, and Asus. The official MeeGo site, however, has been down for most of the day.
At the Computex trade show in Taipei, Acer this week has shown off its scattershot approach to covering the mobile device market, which will include, among other things, a 10" tablet running Intel's MeeGo operating system, and a Snapdragon-powered smartphone running Windows Phone 7 "Mango."
Acer was one of the new Windows Phone hardware partners Microsoft announced last week, and the company has been showing off a device running Mango tentatively called the Acer W4. It has a 3.6" (480 x 800) touchscreen, is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor, has "up to" 8GB of onboard storage, a 5 megapixel camera, and Quad-band GSM and HSPA 800/1900 or 900/2100 connectivity.
Pricing and regional availability have not been announced for this device yet. However, it will join Fujitsu, ZTE, and Nokia in the first crop of Mango-powered smartphones which are expected to arrive around October 2011.
Acer's first public spin with MeeGo was back at Mobile World Congress 2011 in February, when Intel announced the MeeGo Tablet UX, and mentioned Toshiba, Fujitsu, Asus, and Acer would all be participating in the project. In May, when Intel officially launched its Oak Trail chip for tablets, the company promised MeeGo tablets as early as May.
The M Series Acer showed off at Computex, however, runs on a Moorestown Atom processor. Aside from that, it has a 10" (1280x800) touch display and chassis very similar to the Iconia Android prototype that made its way around the trade shows earlier this year. That particular model, however, launched at retail very shortly after being officially announced, so there is a distinct possibility that Acer could bring this MeeGo tablet to market in an expedient fashion.
MeeGo, meanwhile, is a big topic of discussion at Computex this year, and in addition to Acer's tablet, the Linux-based mobile OS was shown off on notebook computers by Lenovo, Samsung, and Asus. The official MeeGo site, however, has been down for most of the day.
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