Samsung Announces Plans for iPad Challenger
Samsung is the next consumer electronics manufacturer to come out swinging against Apple’s iPad. A senior executive confirmed plans to release a “slate PC” during the second half of this year.
The key differentiating points for this tablet will address what Samsung feels are two major shortcomings of the iPad: lack of processing power and not enough connectivity options.
“I do feel that that slate-type platform has legs but I think the legs need to be far more powerful, for example an Atom-based product which has far greater flexibility, not to mention inputs and outputs,” said Director of Samsung Australia’s IT division Philip Newton at the Samsung Forum in Singapore. “This has more potential than an iPad.”
The goal is to build a device powerful enough to become the primary computing machine for many people. The ARM chip that powers Apple’s iPad was deemed not powerful enough to make the tablet form factor truly shine; hence Samsung reports that it is looking at two platforms from Intel to power the unnamed device: Atom or the Moorestown System on a Chip.
The slate will be a device “you could take to university and do a PowerPoint presentation on it, for example, or a device that could be taken home or to the office and docked,” Samsung’s Emmanuele Silanesu said .
Samsung is no stranger to the “in-between smartphone and laptop” zone, having released the Q1 ultra-mobile PC (pictured above right) back in 2006. Silanesu assures us that the forthcoming new tablet will have a much stronger focus on the consumer market than the Q1, which “was a very niche product for a vertical market… It was limited (in functionality), the price was relatively high, and it wasn’t an attractive device for consumers.”
It’s not terribly much to go on yet, but how do you think Samsung’s planned device might stack up against the other crop of iPad alternative hopefuls? Are you interested in some flavor of tablet device, and if so, what features should it have?
[via Boy Genius Report]
Tags: apple, atom, ipad, moorsetown, Q1, samsung, samsung tablet, Tablet, tablets
MOG bringing unlimited music streaming to iPhone and Android, Rhapsody taking iPhone music offline
While we all wait patiently for Apple to concoct its own subscription-based, unlimited music streaming service (hello, Lala acquisition!), MOG is jumping on the opportunity right away. Er, almost right away. Down in Austin this week, the company announced that an iPhone and Android app would be out “in early Q2″ in order to bring unlimited music streaming to both operating systems for $10 per month. We’re told that a catalog of seven million songs will be available, but there’s no way to know if 6.99 million are of the “no one cares” variety. At any rate, your monthly fee will also allow unlimited streaming from the desktop, but alas, you’ll be left with nothing but hollow memories should you ever stop ponying up. In related news, Rhapsody has announced (video after the break) that offline playback support is coming to the iPhone, with the updated app expected to be passed along for Apple’s confirmation “shortly.” Granted, the Rhapsody to Go subscription is $5 per month more than MOG’s option, but with all this competition popping up, we wouldn’t be shocked to see that slide lower in due time.
MOG bringing unlimited music streaming to iPhone and Android, Rhapsody taking iPhone music offline originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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PayPal Transfers Made Simple: Just Bump iPhones
The newly released 2.0 version of PayPal’s iPhone app [iTunes link] can transfer money to another iPhone when you bump the two handsets together. Don’t worry, though; you probably won’t do it by accident.
PayPal licensed the tech developed by Bump Technologies, which also powers that iPhone app that friends people on Facebook when you shake your phone.
With this app, you can either enter the e-mail address of your friend’s account or bump your phones together to download the necessary info. Then you enter the amount and send. Your friend can also request money by bumping his or her phone against yours.
Other new features in PayPal’s updated app include a tip calculator, the ability to transfer money from your PayPal account to your bank account and the option to request money from contacts bill or invoice-style. The app is available now, and it’s free.
Tags: App, apple app store, iphone, iPod Touch, paypal
AirStash brings the WiFi, neglects the storage, for a cent under $100
When we last saw the AirStash, it was keeping its mystique about it and refusing to disclose any salient details beyond the fact that it’ll function as a wireless SD/SDHC card reader. Today, the fog of war is lifted with the news that the AirStash is now officially on sale for $99.99, and will come with a battery good for five hours of continuous data streaming. Marketed primarily at iPhone OS devices, it creates a wireless network that allows any WiFi and browser-equipped computer to access the storage cards within it. The UI is built around HTML5 and recharging is done via a USB connection, which also turns the AirStash into a simple SDHC card adapter when plugged in. Check out our hands-on with it from CES over here and look for a full review coming up shortly. We do care so very deeply our portable storage.
AirStash brings the WiFi, neglects the storage, for a cent under $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mac virtualization face-off: VMware Fusion 3 vs. Parallels Desktop 5 (video)
With Steam officially hitting Mac in just a few weeks many Apple gamers have suddenly lost their need to emulate. But, for those who are hoping to get busy in a little Command & Conquer 4 under Snow Leopard this week — or any of the other myriad of PC-only gaming options — virtualization is the only way to go — short of rebooting into Boot Camp, of course. Parallels is the most commonly used solution, but how does VMware’s Fusion 3 stack up for gaming? Not too well, as it turns out. MacTech sat the two down together on matching Mac hardware and ran them through a number of benchmarks, including 3DMark. The results of that test fall heavily in the favor of Parallels, offering better framerates and far more consistent visuals, which you can see for yourself in a video below. Most of the many, many other tests run favor that option as well, but we won’t spoil all eight pages worth of results just waiting for you on the other end of that source link.
Continue reading Mac virtualization face-off: VMware Fusion 3 vs. Parallels Desktop 5 (video)
Mac virtualization face-off: VMware Fusion 3 vs. Parallels Desktop 5 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple vs. Google gets personal: ‘Steve Jobs simply hates Eric Schmidt’ (video)
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Apple_vs_Google_Steve_Jobs_simply_hates_Eric_Schmidt’; Nothing sells papers (or ads) like turning a little corporate competition into something personal. Case in point, a New York Times piece from the weekend titled “Apple’s Spat With Google Is Getting Personal,” that opened with this rather ominous, one-sentence paragraph:
“It looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Cue the orchestra. The lengthy piece chronicling the relationship between the Silicon Valley titans was formed by two dozen interviews with industry watchers, investors, and current and former employees. It covers a timeline spread that began with Google and Apple working in harmony to prevent Microsoft’s domination of online services and mobile devices, and ends with Apple’s patent lawsuit against HTC that reeks of a proxy battle against Android and Google. According to the NYT then, the heart of the dispute is betrayal, or Jobs’ belief that Schmidt (a former Apple board member) “picked his pocket” by developing cellphones that “physically, technologically and spiritually resembled the iPhone.” Here’s how one especially feisty encounter is described:
“At one particularly heated meeting in 2008 on Google’s campus, Mr. Jobs angrily told Google executives that if they deployed a version of multitouch – the popular iPhone feature that allows users to control their devices with flicks of their fingers – he would sue. Two people briefed on the meeting described it as “fierce” and “heated.”"
And that’s just the beginning. Read the rest after the break.
Continue reading Apple vs. Google gets personal: ‘Steve Jobs simply hates Eric Schmidt’ (video)
Apple vs. Google gets personal: ‘Steve Jobs simply hates Eric Schmidt’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple App Store Has Twice as Many Apps as Facebook [UPDATED]
Correction: Information within Flurry’s report inaccurately stated that Apple’s app store has more than twice the number of applications as the Facebook platform. The Flurry report meant to say that Apple had more than twice the number of apps as Facebook at its 18 month mark than Facebook did during its 18 month mark (November 2008)
Based on the updated report, we have struck out incorrect sections of this article. We apologize for the error.
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A study by mobile application analytics company Flurry reveals that Apple’s App Store now has more than twice the number of applications as the Facebook Platform, despite Facebook’s much larger market of users.
Flurry estimates that as of its eighteenth month this January, the App Store for iPhone, iPod touch and (shortly) iPad devices has 140,000 applications, while the Facebook Platform only reached 60,000 apps in its first 18 months. The discrepancy might exist because the App Store provides a clearer path to revenue and return on investment than Facebook’s until-recently ad-supported application platform.
Regardless, the difference is surprising because Facebook has 400 million users, while the iPhone OS used by App Store applications has significantly fewer.
iPad Spurs Increased Developer Activity
The report revealed that developer activity for App Store software has increased 185% since Apple announced its iPad device. In general, Flurry’s report voices tremendous expectations for the iPad; we’ll see if consumers buy the device in large enough numbers to justify the development surge.
Where Did iPhone Developers Come From?
Flurry also did some research to find out where iPhone developers got started. Did they start with iPhone apps, or did they serve up something else beforehand, and if so, what what was it?
It turns out that the iPhone is still a viable place for startups with no established brands or customers — for now. This might change as companies with the resources to market their apps continue to enter the market. Upstarts probably won’t have the resources to compete for attention.
The majority of iPhone app developers come from other backgrounds; the graphs below show which ones. But around one fifth of developers are native to the iPhone OS and the Apple App Store.
Tags: apple, apple app store, application platform, apps, developers, development, facebook, facebook platform, iphone, iPod Touch, online games, video games
