The curtailed availability of the second-gen iPad comes after Proview called for a complete customs ban of imports and exports of the tablet. The company admitted that such a block would be difficult if not impossible to implement, but hinted that it would be open to an out-of-court settlement by Apple as a workaround.

Nonetheless, sales of the iPad 2 continue from Apple’s own online store in China, as well as from other third-party retailers. Although reports earlier this week suggested officials from the Chinese Administration of Industry and Commerce had seized some iPad 2 stock from retailers, the tablet is still supposedly broadly available if only unofficially.

Although Apple bought the iPad trademark from a Proview subsidiary some years ago, the company maintains that the deal did not include use of the name within China. A court agreed back in December, and Apple now faces a potentially difficult appeals process unless it agrees to a settlement.

Update: According to Sina Tech, the decision to pull the iPad 2 from sale on the two sites was at Apple’s own request. The company apparently told the retailers that the changes were necessary “according to their sales strategy” though did not specify whether it was down to the Proview case. As for Proview’s lawyer, he claims the company has not approached online retailers about freezing iPad 2 sales, and “does not understand” Apple’s motivations for the move.  [via M.I.C. Gadget]

[via Tech in Asia]

Nokia has already warned that such a slump is likely to continue through 2012, with interest in Symbian devices fading faster than previously expected. Meanwhile the company is pushing ahead with Windows Phone, though Microsoft’s platform only had 1.9-percent of the worldwide smartphone market share in Q4 2011.

Android held the Q4 smartphone OS top place, with 50.9-percent of the market worldwide, while iOS had less than half that amount at 23.8-percent. Both saw significant increases year-on-year however, unlike RIM whose share dropped from 14.6- to 8.8-percent.

Overall, Gartner says smartphone sales worldwide reached 149m units in Q4 2011 and 472m units for the full year, a rise of 47.3- and 58-percent year-on-year respectively. Smartphones made up almost a third of overall device sales, though 2012 growth is predicted to slow somewhat. Of course, market share and league tables doesn’t necessarily equal success for individual companies: iOS may be less popular than Android, but since only Apple uses it the Cupertino company keeps the spoils to itself. Meanwhile, Android’s dominance has to be shared between the many Android devices and multiple vendors using Google’s platform.

The company already offers Bluetooth speakers with the HTC Rhyme, but according to the tipsters and more substantial “wireless boombox” is in the pipeline. That would use Bluetooth to stream audio from HTC phones and tablets, as well as presumably offering some degree of remote control over playback.

HTC has apparently been in talks with Spotify previously, as well as other streaming music providers, around powering a service for HTC devices, but the negotiations failed to go anywhere. Instead, Iovine is believed to be using his heft in the industry to create a Spotify rival, something fellow music execs are tipped to approve of as it could potentially dilute Spotify’s rising star.

The service will be preinstalled on HTC devices, though it’s unclear as to whether it will demand a subscription or, like Nokia Music on the Finnish company’s Lumia devices, be a free addition intended to encourage shoppers to pick HTC phones and tablets rather than those of rival manufacturers, even if they run the same underlying OS. Pricing plans and other details are still being worked on, supposedly, but HTC is tipped to have “long harbored” ambitions around streaming music services. The company already offers streaming video using its HTC Watch rental system.

HTC could reveal the new music platform as early as the Barcelona mobile show at the end of February, where it’s also tipped to be bringing three new Android smartphones – including the Ville and Edge – and a new tablet. We’ll be at Mobile World Congress bringing back all the details as they’re announced, and you can keep up with all the news in our MWC 2012 hub.

The fix prevents existing prepaid cards from being swapped from one user to another, something Google says it believes will help tighten up Wallet security overall. As for the temporary lock-down, Google reckons that – despite there being no evidence of real-world hacks – it took the step merely as a precaution.

“Yesterday afternoon, we restored the ability to issue new prepaid cards to the Wallet. In addition, we issued a fix that prevents an existing prepaid card from being re-provisioned to another user. While we’re not aware of any abuse of prepaid cards or the Wallet PIN resulting from these recent reports, we took this step as a precaution to ensure the security of our Wallet customers” Osama Bedier, Vice President, Google Wallet and Payments

Still, Google maintains that those with rooted devices shouldn’t use Google Wallet. “Sometimes users choose to disable important security mechanisms in order to gain system-level “root” access to their phone” the company said in a statement last week, “we strongly discourage doing so if you plan to use Google Wallet because the product is not supported on rooted phones.”

It remains to be seen whether the security blip will impact adoption of Google Wallet, or indeed dissuade current users from trusting the service. Let us know how you feel in the poll below.

[Thanks Carl!]

So, unlike the FilmOn AIR tuner or the Elgato EyeTV, each of which can tune into free-to-air TV using a tuner physically connected to the device, each Aereo subscriber gets their own tiny antenna in one of the company’s centers. Those antennas can pick up HD-quality transmissions, assuming they’re available, and offer content from over twenty channels including shows from ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

Aereo Official Intro:

Your individual tuner streams the channel to an HTML5 app, which can be used in desktop browsers, on phones and tablets, and even on some smart TVs. The company expects its subscribers may still want to sign up to on-demand services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, but even with those fees included it still undercuts traditional cable.

However Aereo may face legal headaches from broadcasters over how, exactly, it’s using TV signals. The company isn’t simply offering a tuner, one lawyer told the LATimes, but is modifying the signal to suit distribution to phones, tablets and computers. That could see it fall foul of copyright laws, though no broadcaster has officially commented as yet.

The city-by-city roll out is a byproduct of the antenna cluster architecture, and Aereo isn’t saying when it might expand outside of NYC.

“The customs have told us that it will be difficult to implement a ban because many Chinese consumers love Apple products” Proview Technology chairman Yang Long-san told Reuters. “The sheer size of the market is very big.”

Instead, the company is chasing piecemeal blocks at a local level. ”We have applied to some local customs for the ban and they’ll report to the headquarters in Beijing” Yang confirmed. Earlier this month, some evidence of that strategy had been seen in Chinese retailers, with government officials confiscating iPad 2 units out on public display. However, a heated unofficial trade in the tablets continued, with buyers still able to grab the iOS slate “under the counter.”

According to Yang, the best option for ending the iPad trademark saga is an out-of-court settlement. That wouldn’t be new for Apple, however; the company has argued it acquired worldwide rights to the trademark from a Taiwanese Proview subsidiary in a deal several years ago. However, Proview managed to convince the court that the deal did not cover use of “iPad” in China.

Meanwhile, the retailer’s pre-order page for the 32GB Nexus – which had initially been promising deliveries in early January, based on Samsung’s own timescales, but was then pushed back to February and subsequently into March – has been updated to show the phone as discontinued. The alternative suggestion is the existing 16GB model which went on sale last year.

The decision by Samsung is made all the more frustrating because the Galaxy Nexus’ storage options are more limited than most Android devices. While in many cases onboard capacity is less important, as there’s a microSD slot to augment it with affordable memory cards, the Galaxy Nexus lacks such expansion.

It’s been suggested that Google is trying to push reliance on its cloud storage options – Google Drive rumors resurfaced earlier this month, suggesting a full online storage product was imminent – but also that Samsung has been struggling to meet production demand of the cheaper 16GB model. Either way, GSM network users hoping to get 32GB for their media will have to struggle on without it.

[via Android Community]

Hardware

Porsche Design starts as it means to go on, with an oversized box first presenting the P’9981 and its desk-stand in one dense foam layer, before revealing different chargers for near-global use, USB cable and headphones, various documentation and your exclusive technical support card, complete with PIN, to access freephone assistance. It’s not quite Vertu’s Concierge, mind; the team will help you set up your P’9981 and figure out its quirks, but not book you theater tickets.

The smartphone itself is certainly distinctive. RIM basically handed over the key parts of its Bold 9900 flagship, and Porsche Design dressed them up in a Dynasty-era suit, shoulderpads and all. It’s a resolutely aggressive, blunt design, all sharp edges and squared-off corners, with plenty of metal and metal-effect plastic, and it’s heavy too, feeling twice its actual 155g weight in the hand.

Porsche Design itself gets top billing, its name engraved into the brushed stainless-steel bar above the display; RIM’s BlackBerry logo is relegated to just below the earpiece, above the 2.8-inch 640 x 480 touchscreen. The display is bright and crisp, though lacks the color saturation of an AMOLED, while the touch response is good. The metal bar continues around the edge of the P’9981 – though with a polished mirror finish, rather than brushed – though the keyboard itself is plastic.

Porsche Design P’9981 hands-on:

BlackBerry devices are famed for their keyboards, in fact you could construct a reasonable argument that it’s QWERTY text-entry that has kept the company afloat the past few years. Porsche Design does away with the 9900′s ‘board – one, we decided, of the best on the market – and replaces it with a heavily-stylized version with pronounced ridges. It’s not a bad keyboard – the spacing is good, as it spreads across the entire 67mm width of the phone, and the keys are clicky and responsive – but it’s definitely a step back from what the donor BlackBerry offers.

It’s also unevenly illuminated, with the backlighting focused in two patches that leave the center column of letters dimmer than the rest. No great functional issue, and you can still see them in low-light conditions, but it’s a noticeable flaw and one – since the backlighting is often active when the P’9981 is docked in its charger-cradle – you’re presented with all the time.

Sandwiched in-between the keyboard and the touchscreen is the usual row of call, menu and navigation buttons. They’re large and plasticky, and rock somewhat unnervingly under your finger. In their midst is the optical trackpad, which doubles as a select button, and is swiftly responsive. The left edge of the phone offers the 3.5mm headphones socket and a microUSB port, while the right has volume keys flanking a mute button (that doubles as a play/pause button in the media app) and a camera shortcut (that can be reprogrammed). On the top there’s a lock button.

If the front of the P’9981 is Terminator sturdy, the back is oddly unreassuring. An ingot of metal bears the 5-megapixel camera – which supports 720p but uses EDoF fixed-focus rather than auto-focus – and single LED flash, but the rest is a plastic panel that, despite being covered with leather, feels unduly cheap in comparison to the rest of the phone. There’s a little flex around the camera section, and the panel itself doesn’t click reassuringly into place as we might’ve hoped.

Peel it off, and you can see the antenna stuck to the back – connected with two discrete pins just above the Porsche Design branded 1,230 mAh battery – as well as the microSD card slot to augment the 8GB of internal memory. You’ll need to pull out the battery to swap the SIM card. This European unit has dualband 3G/UMTS (for up to 14.4 Mbps downloads and up to 5.76 Mbps uploads, network depending), quadband GSM/EDGE, WiFI a/b/g/n (with 2.4/5GHz support), Bluetooth and NFC, along with GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer and twin microphones for noise cancellation. Like the Bold 9900, the Porsche Design P’9981 runs BlackBerry 7 on a single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 1.2GHz processor, paired with 768MB of RAM.

Software

RIM has hung its long-term hopes on BlackBerry 10, the QNX-based OS for phones and tablets expected to debut by the end of this year. Unfortunately, that leaves the P’9981 running BlackBerry 7, just as on the Bold 9900, and it’s a platform that’s seriously showing its age compared to iOS and Android.

Porsche Design, as the name might predict, makes no modifications to the software itself beyond an ill-advised icon redesign. The paired down iconography is certainly in keeping with the rest of the P’9981, but it also leaves app menus confusing: you have to make a conscious effort to tell the difference between each icon. It’s something you’ll no doubt get more adroit at handling, the longer you live with the handset, or indeed you can change the skin altogether.

Beyond that, our primary frustration with BlackBerry 7 is its general sense of being a patchwork platform: some aspects feel relatively fresh, but other areas feel like they’ve been dragged over from RIM’s OS several years back. The text-based elements of the UI are generally the swiftest but also the points that feel most dated in comparison to rival software; in contrast, BlackBerry App World is sluggish and the BlackBerry Maps app is a lesson in frustration compared to Google Maps or Nokia Maps.

RIM has worked hard on the internet experience in BlackBerry 7, and it’s certainly improved from earlier iterations. You still get a throwback mouse cursor, though we came to appreciate it more after finding how much finger-navigation obscures the touchscreen. Pinch-zooming in the browser works, but that compact display also makes it feel clumsy.

As always, the email experience is the primary reason for using a BlackBerry, though it’s at its best if you’re an enterprise customer with a BlackBerry Exchange Server. If you’re on the Gmail train then you’ll have to use IMAP – Google discontinued its Gmail for BlackBerry app late last year – though there’s the Enhanced Google Mail Plug-in from RIM itself that adds spam and archive support, integrates Gmail inbox searches with BlackBerry 7′s universal search, and imports your contacts. Still, the best Gmail experience continues to be on Android in our opinion, with iOS following behind that.

We’ve covered BlackBerry 7 more in our Bold 9900 review, but the long and short of it is that the OS feels dated and is well overdue a replacement. BlackBerry 10 can’t come soon enough.

Camera

5-megapixels is midrange but acceptable for a smartphone, particularly one with business aspirations like the P’9981, but the fixed-focus is a disappointment. Not a surprising one – the Bold 9900 used EDoF after all – but still another black mark against the Porsche phone.

It means you’re limited in how close you can get with your macro shots, and in general images lack crispness in comparison to auto-focus cameras. Color balance is solid, and there’s a nice amount of detail in shots from the P’9981, but unlike, say, the iPhone 4S or Galaxy S II, you wouldn’t want to rely on the BlackBerry for all of your photography needs.

As for video, 720p is your high-definition maximum but the ensuing clips are good. Colors are accurate, if a little muted, and the digital image stabilization is neither ineffectual nor over-aggressive and helps smooth out a shaky hand. We found the sheer heft of the P’9981 also helped on that front too. Recorded clips can be sent via Bluetooth or WhatsApp, or uploaded to YouTube, though not emailed directly from the camcorder app.

Porsche Design P’9981 720p HD Video Sample:

Phone and Battery

Just behind email performance in the Big BlackBerry Book of Achievements is traditionally voice call quality and battery life: on this, the P’9981 drops one of the balls. Calling quality is great, with a loud earpiece and speaker for hands-free use, crisp – but not overly-processed – background noise reduction, and tenacious grip on a mobile signal. We also like how both your mobile network and current WiFi SSID are shown in the status bar.

Unfortunately, whereas at one time BlackBerry devices could be expected to run for days, the P’9981 follows in the Bold 9900′s metaphorical footsteps and tarnishes the family tradition. The 1,230 mAh battery may be Porsche Design branded but it’s otherwise exactly the same powerpack as the 9900 uses, and it’s simply not up to the challenge of the 1.2GHz processor.

RIM does its best to hide that fact, underclocking the chip most of the time so that you’re running on a fraction of those cycles, but step beyond simple email and you’ll find calls, web browsing, photography and third-party apps all take their toll. Left to its own devices and the P’9981 will run for a couple of days, even with email updating in the background, but actually use it as you might a rival smartphone and you’ll struggle to finish a day. The desk charger cradle does at least make topping up the juice more straightforward.

Wrap-Up

It’s hard to imagine the Porsche Design P’9981 convincing the everyman: its severe styling is too divisive, BlackBerry 7 OS questionable, and general specifications uncompetitive in places. Then again, the everyman isn’t the limited edition BlackBerry’s target audience. Like Vertu and “luxury” editions of other manufacturers’ phones, the appeal of the P’9981 is more about who hasn’t got it than who wants it.

$2,350 is a ridiculous amount of money for a smartphone. A quarter of that gets you an iPhone 4S or a Galaxy Nexus, either of which outclass the P’9981 on functionality, usability and – many would argue – style. However, just as Porsche Design borrowed the Dynasty shoulderpads, the P’9981 is the cellular equivalent of Alexis Carrington: brash and unforgivingly blunt, an unapologetic backhanded slap to the face of anybody who thinks their mainstream handset makes them special.

The rest of us will continue to buy iPhones, and Android phones, perhaps even some Windows Phones, and wait to see whether RIM can relaunch itself in Q4 with BlackBerry 10. The biggest problem with the P’9981 isn’t its love-it-or-hate-it design, or its mediocre camera, or even its insane price tag: it’s the fact that it highlights just how tired BlackBerry 7 is. In the end, even $2,350-worth of metal and leather and Porsche branding can’t hide that.

The EC’s concerns are more general, having been satisfied that it was not in Google’s best interest to limit Android to solely Motorola. “Upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues” competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement. ”Of course, the Commission will continue to keep a close eye on the behavior of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents.”

“In light of the importance of this industry to consumers and the complex issues raised by the intersection of the intellectual property rights and antitrust law at issue here, as well as uncertainty as to the exercise of the acquired rights, the division continues to monitor the use of SEPs in the wireless device industry, particularly in the smartphone and computer tablet markets. The division will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anticompetitive use of SEP rights” Department of Justice Antitrust Division

Last month, the EC announced that it was investigating Samsung over claims of antitrust behavior around its use of 3G/UMTS patents and licensing thereof. The Korean company had attempted to use those wireless patents in litigation against Apple, with Apple firing back that its rival was demanding unfair terms for the use of the technology.

As for consumers, meanwhile, there remain questions around how the deal will impact Google’s Nexus program and software on future Motorola devices. For Android OEMs, despite Google’s Andy Rubin saying the Nexus partnerships are still up for grabs for any company, not just Motorola, it’s unclear how much internal support the Android software team will give its newly-acquired hardware division.

Five multi-coated glass elements, in four groups, are sandwiched inside, with a dial on the front used to adjust the aperture. Lensbaby is positioning the new model for portrait photographers as well as those wanting tilt-shift style shots; there’s a simulator here which can mimic the sort of effects it’s capable of.

Close ups of 17-inches are supported, and because the Edge 80 mounts on Lensbaby’s existing lens bodies it’s overall a cheaper way of outfitting your camera bag with kit; assuming, of course, that you want more than one single effect. The lens bodies themselves start at $150 for the Muse.

Other elements of the campaign include sponsored Twitter messages, online and real-world adverts and radio ads on the Howard Stern show, along with a commercial filmed in Buenos Aires. One theme Sony is particularly keen to push is the relatively seamless integration of gameplay between the PS Vita and the PS3, with the advert storyline showing how one gamer picks up the same title on the portable that he began playing on the home console.

The challenge, though, will be avoiding the same fate that befell the Vita in Japan. Despite having initially sold out in preorders, sales subsequently dived and retailers cut pricing in response. The decline was blamed in part on a shortage of solid early titles, something Sony had even said it would avoid being an issue back in December.

Even before the PS Vita arrives on the US market, set for February 22, some are already predicting that it will be the last of Sony’s dedicated portables. Even Sony might have quietly come to the same conclusion; the PS Vita OS itself is tipped to show up on future Sony smartphones as the company pulls together its future mobile strategy.

“Isis Browser is a core application of HP’s webOS platform written using the Enyo framework. As of today, it is a work in progress aiming to incorporate the latest open source technologies, such as QtWebKit and JavaScriptCore, into the webOS platform. The source code of the Isis Browser stack, QtWebKit, and Qt 4.8 is available on GitHub where we will continue our development” Isis Project

Isis is based on the QtWebKit engine, itself released into open-source by Nokia, and the webOS teams have apparently been working some time to bring the platform over to it. The promise is boosted performance and broader compatibility with sites in general; however, there’ll also be “enhanced support” for legacy products, including Flash.

“We’ve benchmarked the new Isis webOS browser and have found it to be extremely responsive compared to other browsers made for general consumption. It has a fast render pipeline and JavaScript execution profile, which is critical to Enyo and other web technologies. It is extensively supportive of HTML5 and CSS3. Standards-compliance is important to developers because they can use technologies like Enyo to develop cross-platform web applications that already work well on webOS” Fred Patton, webOS team

As for the Open webOS Governance Model, that’s been based on the Apache way and laid out as follows:

• Open webOS will made available under the Apache license, Version 2.0.
• Open webOS will use the contributor committal model in use on most open source projects.
• Open webOS will be segmented into multiple projects to give developers ample opportunity to join and remain active in the development effort.
• The Open webOS project website will host a wiki, a source code repository, a mailing list, and a bug tracking system.
• We will use Github or an equivalent tool to as the code repository.
• We will use JIRA or an equivalent tool to track issues.
• Our plan is to allow multiple committers to branch and merge code in the open to allow multiple development branches to occur at once.

These latest releases keep pace with HP’s schedule of open-sourcing webOS, which has been broken down into a series of monthly milestones. Together with Enyo, released last month, today’s tools supposedly allow for ”an immersive user environment that can be built on any web platform”, something we think Mozilla might be pleased about. Iris is compatible with HP TouchPad devices running webOS 3.0.5, meanwhile.

Lurking on the counter like an oversized microwave, the INSIGHT100 can identify liquids, powders and gels inside sealed containers such as glass or plastic bottles or tubs, even if those containers are opaque. The system is said to have a false alarm rate of 1.5-percent or less, and each scan takes under five seconds.

The magic is in something called Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS), bouncing certain spectra of light off a substance depending on the molecules that substance is made up of. As each substance scatters light in different ways, the INSIGHT100 can recognize which are safe and which could be potentially dangerous. Cobalt says it can subsequently update the scanner’s database as new molecular “fingerprints” are identified.

Having already been approved by the European Civil Aviation Conference for its abilities to check for liquid explosives, it’s seemingly down to airports to decide whether to include the INSIGHT100 in their scanning arsenal. Of course, loosening the regulations around bottled water might make things easier for travelers, but it would also cut into a useful extra revenue stream for retailers and airlines; whether they’ll be so happy is questionable.

[via Gizmag]

Even if Apple branches out into a second slate, it’s unlikely to subsequently follow Samsung’s path of a different tablet for every individual buyer. Part of Apple’s constraint is app resolution, or more accurately maintaining compatibility across multiple screen resolutions. Right now that means the initial iPhone (320 x 480), the Retina Display introduced by the iPhone 4 (640 x 960), and the iPad (1024 x 768). Talk of the Retina Display toting third-gen iPad has suggested a literally doubled resolution, to 2048 x 1536, with evidence of suitable graphics found in recent iOS 5.x betas.

The limiting factor isn’t technology, or even apps and usability – despite what Steve Jobs might have said – it’s supply. Apple needs to have sufficient amounts of whichever panel it settles on, likely a 7.85-inch IPS LCD according to previous rumors and past evidence, to ensure it can meet the expected demand. We’ve already seen what an LCD shortage can do to iPad availability, after all.

A 7.85-inch 1024 x 768 panel, therefore, would allow a so-called “iPad mini” to use the same apps as the existing iPad 2. Meanwhile, the  9.7-inch iPad could go on to adopt the high-resolution display in iPad 2S/3 form and, potentially, a higher sticker price, Apple perhaps assuaging any consumer frustrations with a price cut for the existing iPad 2.

Although rumors have suggested Apple will shift to a larger, perhaps 4-inch display on the next-gen iPhone 5, a tweener tablet and sticking with 3.5-inch smartphone screens arguably makes more sense. No dip in pixel density for the new iPhone, unlike if it spread its current 640 x 960 across a bigger panel, and no need for developers to cook up new handset versions of their apps, if instead the resolution changed.

We won’t know for sure until we see the first signs of Apple’s 2012 tablet strategy early next month, but until then let us know how excited you are about the upcoming iPad 2S/3 in the SlashGear poll below.

Sony’s Kaz Hirai – at the time chief of the company’s Computer Entertainment division, and since made overall CEO – said that the PlayStation Suite platform “isn’t an ecosystem where we want to keep everything within the Sony family.” Instead, it’s intended to be Sony’s first “cross-platform endeavor” he explained.

The PlayStation Suite has, so far, been limited to Sony and Sony Ericsson hardware. As well as the gaming smartphone, certification has been extended to Sony’s Tablet P and Tablet S hardware, giving the slates access to the PlayStation download store with various classic PSOne titles.

The news goes some way to addressing the question of whether Sony intends to try to sell customers all of the hardware – phone, tablet, TV and computer – in its “four-screen” strategy, or of ceding some of the market by embracing a cross-manufacturer ecosystem. Hirai has been blunt in suggesting that Sony must look to user experience not simply hardware if it wants to turn its fortunes around, and part of that strategy appears to be bringing other OEMs onboard to fill in potential gaps in its line-up.

Attempting to pacify critics of the impending deal, Android-chief Rubin pointed out that Google intends to operate Motorola as a separate company. When it comes to partnering on future Nexus devices, he maintained, Motorola “will be part of that bidding process” but not guaranteed to win.

Still, Rubin’s comments belie Google’s obvious interest in Motorola’s upcoming product range, something chairman Eric Schmidt conceded in September last year. “We actually believe that the Motorola team has some amazing products coming … We’re excited to have the product line, to use the Motorola brand, the product architecture, the engineers” Schmidt said, “[we like] having at least one area where we can do integrated hardware and software.”

Exactly how those two approaches will pan out remains to be seen. Motorola has already shown itself willing to take on Google at its own game, pushing out a developer version of the DROID RAZR to challenge the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus; even if other manufacturers secure future Nexus contracts, they’ll face the prospect of competing Motorola devices that have potentially just as much input from Google as their own do. As Rubin described the Nexus strategy, ”all the teams [from Google and the OEM] huddle together in one building, they jointly work and these development efforts go on for 9-12 months”, something that seems likely to also be the case for Google’s greater involvement in Motorola’s impending range.

For consumers, there’s still no guarantee that the devices they buy will run the latest version of Android or, indeed, get a timely update. Motorola’s track record on this has been patchy; the XOOM tablet launched in early 2011 with all but the name pointing to it being the “official” Google Android slate, but lagged behind rivals for OS refreshes. Meanwhile, Motorola persists with its UI modifications to its smartphone range, contributing to delays in updates there.

Long-time Apple supplier Foxconn is up first for FLA inspection, not least because the company has seen several worker suicides over the past 18-24 months and come in for criticism over production line conditions. Apple said that Quanta and Pegatron would be next in line, with their investigations coming sometime in the spring.

It’s possible that Apple’s comments that all of the suppliers “pledged full cooperation with the FLA, offering unrestricted access to their operations” relate to the company’s general contractual conditions, rather than any specific notification of the new investigations. Quanta declined to comment on the audits.

Apple’s decision to request independent checks by the FLA come after widely-reported criticism which singled the company out over poor treatment of supply chain employees. Executives at the company, it was suggested, were aware of problems experienced by staff at Foxconn, Pegatron and others, but chose not to act upon that knowledge because it could impact manufacturing timelines and costs. The allegations prompted “outrage” from CEO Tim Cook.

In fact, Remove can be set to automatically delete any problems it identifies, though you can switch over to manual mode if you decide you’d like to keep something in-frame instead. Obviously the problems themselves have to be moving, since Scalado is cutting out transient objects based on a stationary background.

Scalado Remove demo:

Remove uses similar technology to Scalado’s previous photography app, Rewind. That used composite images to piece together the best group portrait shot, with facial recognition used to scroll through the various expressions your subjects have made:

Scalado Rewind demo:

Scalado will be showing off Remove at MWC 2012 later this month, though the company isn’t saying when we might see it show up on devices commercially.

The smaller iPad will have a screen resolution the same – or “similar” – to the existing iPad 2, or 1024 x 768, one source indicated. That would suggest Apple was sticking with the 4:3 aspect ratio, sensible given iPad apps are currently designed for that. Similar rumors – citing the same suppliers – broke last October, with a 7.85-inch screen size tipped.

However, while the supplier insiders say Apple has been showing potential designs for the new tablet around suppliers, it’s also pointed out that such product flirtation isn’t unusual: and, it often doesn’t amount to a commercial device. Although the company has been slow and steady with its iPhone range, sticking to a single “flagship” device at any one time and keeping older models on the market to satisfy lower price points, Apple is supposedly considering an iPod-style strategy with tablets where different models would address different use-cases.

If true, the new “iPad mini” would be another example of Apple dismissing a product category before subsequently entering it. Steve Jobs memorably blasted 7-inch and similar tablets as “tweeners” back in October 2010, arguing that their scale “isn’t sufficient to create great tablet apps” and suggesting that such models should include sandpaper so that users could file their fingers down to a usable size.

“Apple has long contemplated different tablet designs” the WSJ’s sources say, though again there’s no guarantee that contemplation will lead to production. Nonetheless, even with a third-gen iPad expected on March 7, this looks to be a rumor that won’t die any time soon.

At first glance, obsession is an easy explanation. “Throw a lot at the wall and see which stick” is certainly a workable strategy, if an inelegant and profligate one. You could, though, give Samsung the benefit of the doubt and highlight that it’s merely refreshing an existing product point, bringing a single-core slate running a smartphone iteration of Android up to date with dual-core and Google’s latest tablet-centric build. The existence of the 7.0 Plus does somewhat muddy that argument, however.

Will the scattergun approach to tablets work for Samsung? On the one hand, it’s exactly the strategy the company has taken with smartphones, and it’s been a successful one. Samsung broke the 300m device barrier in phones last year, with a roadmap about as different to, say, Apple’s as you could imagine. Not just two or three generally similar devices targeting entry-, mid- and flagship-range buyers, but almost a different handset for every possible sub-section of the potential audience.

So, if you want a roughly iPhone-scale smartphone, running Android, but cheaper and with a mid-range camera… oh, and you specifically want it in metallic blue, Samsung likely has the model for you. If you tick most of those boxes, but prefer something a little larger than an iPhone, but don’t care too much about photography, there’s a device in Samsung’s range that should satisfy you as well. In short, there’s everything from bargain-basement to Galaxy S II flagship (with the GSIII on the way).

In the end, though, the tablet proposition boils down to price. Tablets aren’t generally sold with a subsidy, unlike cellphones, and that means there’s a minimum tideline that all manufacturers have having to challenge. Some of Samsung’s phones are sold free-on-contract: in contrast, a “bargain” slate is a $199 Kindle Fire or a $249 NOOK Tablet. Apple’s iPad isn’t the target here, beyond an aspirational figurehead: something to make consumers aware of tablets’ existence and fuel a desire for them.

If Samsung can bring the Galaxy Tab 2 in at under $300 – pricing is yet to be officially confirmed, but that looks to be the way the tag is heading based on rumors so far today – with the lure of Ice Cream Sandwich and the content ecosystem the company has created, it could stand a chance. A street price closer to the NOOK Tablet would be even more convincing. That’s also roughly the price of a high-end multifunction remote control; if you’ve got a Samsung Smart TV, you could turn your Galaxy Tab 2 into a universal remote and an extra, streaming screen with the free apps Samsung offers in its download store.

That works today, but whether Samsung – or the market – can sustain what feels like a new tablet every other month remains to be seen. Viewed from outside, it looks like a ridiculous challenge. Arguably, Samsung doesn’t have to convince everyone with every iteration: it only has to persuade those people on the market for the latest tablet at any one time. For now, then, the model works; Samsung just needs to find its breakthrough device sooner rather than later.

“I laugh at the vast majority of critics when they say ‘Oh, you should have made this CEO transition, like, four years ago.’ Yeah, right – like, to who?” Martin said to the newspaper, highlighting other high-profile CEOs drafted in to save electronics companies like Dell, HP and – back when Steve Jobs was away from the helm – Apple, but who proved far from able to rise the challenge.

Despite being defensive of Balsillie and Lazaridis, and their clinging to the co-CEO positions, Martin does conceded that RIM misread the market over smartphones. “People were saying we can’t make powerful phones like Apple Yes, we can, but we couldn’t believe consumers would put up with that kind of battery inefficiency and that kind of network inefficiency” he says of the internal arguments about which direction BlackBerry handsets should evolve in. Personally, he claims to have championed the idea of a better browser for several years, something RIM only really moved to address with BlackBerry 7.

An increasingly combative attitude appears to be in fashion at RIM. Shortly after taking the reins, new CEO Heins blasted Android devices as “all the same“; ironically, a subsequent leak purportedly showing one of the first BlackBerry 10 smartphones indicated a device that, observers pointed out, was markedly similar to what Android manufacturers were pumping out.

[via Venturebeat]

The search giant has been cagey about revealing exactly what will be going on in the new facilities, saying only that the extended office space – believed to occupy around 800,000 square feet – will be used for “additional meeting and work space.” However, details discovered in city filings suggest Google is ramping up for an increased focus on hardware and hardware testing.

For instance, one facility will include an “RF screen room [which] will be used to test the WiFi performance and development of a consumer product” according to one of Google’s real estate team last year. The building is assigned to the “Google/@home” division, though other areas are supposedly for the “X Lab” or “Project X” teams working on some of Google’s more clandestine projects, such as HUD Smart Glasses.

At the center of the Googleplex is expected to be the Google Experience Center, a 120,000 square foot hub ”to share visionary ideas, and explore new ways of working” that, as one architect on the project wrote in 2011, will “operate somewhat like a museum, exhibit, or mercantile space allowing flexibility in the exhibits so that as Google’s products and needs change, the space can adapt.”

Google is near to acquiring Motorola Mobility, its biggest hardware play to-date, though other elements of physical product development have seemingly already been underway for some time now. Whether the company can convince both the public and the privileged guests of the Experience Center that Google hardware stands a chance of succeeding where, say, Google TV has struggled, remains to be seen.

"HTML5 is a compelling technology for developing apps, and is quickly improving. Combined with the freedom to build what you want and distribute it directly to users on your own terms, it has great potential. But just as there are gaps to be filled from a technology point of view, there are gaps to be filled from an ecosystem point of view. The Web lacks standard, consistent ways to find, rate, review, purchase and prove ownership of apps. Mozilla’s goal is to foster an ecosystem that combines the best elements of the Web with the best elements of the app model" Mozilla Foundation

Although it might be the easy - and, given the challenges faced from Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari and Microsoft's Internet Explorer, some might argue sensible - route to make the apps Firefox-only, Mozilla is targeting cross-browser compatibility. The common standards the group intends would "support multiple app stores, direct distribution of apps by app developers, app portability and true end-user ownership of their apps."

As for distributing that software, Mozilla plans to extend its existing web-app Marketplace to cover phones and tablets in addition to desktop users. Apps will be supported in any browser, no matter the device or OS, and developers will be able to release paid as well as free titles.

Part of Mozilla's challenge is opening up broad hardware access to apps created in HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, which currently lack the flexibility of native code. To do that, it's pushing ahead with "Boot to Gecko" (B2G), the web-powered mobile platform for phones and tablets that, while using a trimmed-down Android base layer, will boot straight into a browser-style interface for native support of HTML5 and other web-app coding. Mozilla is aiming for a public product demo of B2G sometime this quarter.

[via CNET]

The rocketing share price comes at the tail end of a record breaking financial quarter for Apple. The company announced that, for the first time, it had surpassed $40bn in revenue, as well as selling 37m iPhones and 15.43m iPads. The market had expected revenues under $40bn and just 30m iPhone sales, so the news had an instant impact on Apple’s shares.

More recently, the company has reacted to claims of worker mistreatment in its supply chain, requesting a full audit from the Fair Labor Association to counter allegations of poor conditions. It’s unclear exactly how much of a sway that news may have made; rumors recently that Apple plans an iPad 3 event in the first week of March is likely to have been a bigger consideration.

The upward rise looks unlikely to change any time soon. Apple is expected to reveal the iPhone 5 later in the year, and even the aging iPhone 3GS continues to be a strong seller despite the influx of Android devices. Meanwhile new Apple TV products are also expected, along with a significant Air-style refresh of the MacBook Pro.

“We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers … The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports” Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

As well as the production shop floors themselves, the FLA will have access to dormitories and other facilities at each site. They will also review procedural documentation, with the first results of the findings – as well as any recommendations – expected in early March 2012.

Foxconn is apparently up first – a reaction it seems to leaks from within the manufacturer suggesting conditions there were particularly grim, in addition to the several suicides of workers at the company’s facilities over the past 18-24 months – with Quanta and Pegatron opening up later in the spring. All suppliers have “pledged full cooperation with the FLA, offering unrestricted access to their operations” Apple says.

The assessment, when complete, will have investigated facilities where more than 90-percent of Apple’s products are assembled.

Apple was the subject of a widely-discussed investigation by the NYTimes, in which inside sources at the company said high-level management was aware of worker mistreatment but failed to act on that knowledge as it might impact production schedules and/or costs. Tim Cook reacted strongly to the allegations, describing them as “offensive” and pointing to Apple’s own annual responsibility reports as well as its relatively recent membership of the FLA.

NEC BIGLOBE – a cloud content and ISP in Japan – says it expects the system to be useful in sports and hobbies, for instance “helping the user identify fish and fishing techniques right on the river.” Alternatively it could be linked with GPS and knowledge of other users’ locations, so that a skier could have their friends flagged up “by looking at icons that are geospatially correct inside the users view through the glasses.”

Technical details on the platform are scant – we’re still digging – though the STAR 1200 glasses Vuzix was showing off at IFA 2011 uses a pair of transparent 852 x 480 displays that together mimic a 16:9 aspect 60-inch display viewed from 10 feet away. They’re paired with a front-facing 1080p Full HD camera and 6-axis motion tracking.

Vuzix STAR 1200 hands-on:

As for the user-recognition, that’s presumably a cloud-based process rather than being handled by a smartphone or other mobile device carried by the user. While the STAR 1200 glasses are decidedly clunky, Vuzix has more recently shown off a new set of Smart Glasses that manage to squeeze transparent displays into a more aesthetically-pleasing design.

“How much would you be willing to pay for the ability to record 300hrs of TV?” the Boxee survey asked, offering a choice of $5 per month, $10 per month, $15 per month or “Not interested” as possible responses.

Currently, the $49 Live TV adapter allows Boxee Box owners to tune in to free-to-air TV broadcasts and watch them in real-time. However, while there’s an SD card slot and external drive support on the Boxee Box, the tuner dongle doesn’t permit recording of content; instead, viewers are expected to use streaming catch-up services, such as Hulu and Netflix, if they missed the show first time round.

The Boxee team said it was evaluating the possibility of DVR features and that, if it proved viable, would have more to announce later in the year. It seems a free upgrade to do that isn’t the company’s priority, though, which could come as a frustration to owners of the STB.

There are several signs that this is a budget model, targeting the entry-level in Samsung’s expansive tablet line-up. For a start, the main camera is fixed-focus, and has no LED flash; the front-facing camera, meanwhile, is VGA resolution rather than the more typical 1.3-megapixel or above. It’s also 10.5mm thick, not vast in the grand scheme of things, but still chubbier than other recent slates Samsung has produced.

That comparative heft is used to accommodate WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and – likely optional – HSPA+ connectivity. There’s also either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, plus a microSD card slot for augmenting that. A 4,000 mAh battery rounds things out, though Samsung isn’t saying how long that should last for.

Software, meanwhile, is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – the first Samsung slate to come preloaded with ICS, it seems – with TouchWiz modifications, the various content hubs, ChatON IM app, KIES Air and DLNA support. Pricing is unconfirmed, as is availability, though we’re assuming the Galaxy Tab 2 will be cheaper than the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

[via SammyHub - thanks Kote!]

Unfortunately, right now there’s little more than naming information for the new HTC apps. It’s unclear whether HTC has followed in Apple’s footsteps and created – or licensed – a true Siri-style digital personal assistant, or whether it’s the more mundane voice-dictation and shortcut system we’ve seen on other Android devices. Still, we’ve been saying HTC should push ahead with its services as a way of differentiating itself from other smartphone manufacturers, so this could be a good sign.

As for video editing, the functionality is apparently not that which Google baked into Ice Cream Sandwich, but an app of HTC’s own. Again, no screenshots or real details at this stage, but the software has apparently been branded to suit HTC Sense 4.0.

The HTC Endeavor – along with the HTC Ville – is expected to make its official debut at Mobile World Congress later on this month, and we’ll be there to bring back all the details. The smartphones are part of what HTC has described as its “Hero Device” strategy, a return to quality-over-quantity that the company hopes will turn around its fortunes.

Pegatron, perhaps unsurprisingly, opted to stick with Apple’s contract rather than that of ASUS. The OEM won iPhone construction contracts last year, and is apparently angling for iPad 3 contacts now. Zenbook production is expected to cease with Pegatron at the end of March, and switch over to either Compal or Wistron.

ASUS is said to be trying to keep news of Apple’s OEM machinations low-key, with a spokesperson only telling the paper that it always attempts to be flexible in its supply chain.

Pegatron was not responsible for the Zenbook design, which was supposedly carried out entirely in-house by ASUS’ own teams, and so Apple’s pressure is not believed to connected to any reusing of ideas on the OEM’s part. However, it’s suggested that this insistence on suppliers “choosing sides” between Apple contracts and those of other companies that fail to meet with Cupertino approval is not likely to end at the Zenbook.

[via DigiTimes]

As well as wallpapers, ringtones and other customizations exclusive to HTC devices, there are also signs that HTC has been tweaking its shortcuts system. The lockscreen now shows not only the four app shortcuts as in previous versions of Sense, but a choice of either individual contact shortcuts – as shown below – or notifications.

HTC refers to the two layouts as “productivity” and “contacts”. There are also new, squared-off widgets, losing the bubbly, over-designed stylings of HTC’s older UI and replacing them with cleaner lines to match native Ice Cream Sandwich graphics.

The wallpapers are higher-resolution, too, fitting in with talk that the Endeavor – among other new HTC phones – will have a 720p HD display. 1GB of RAM, a 1.3-megapixel front camera and Dropbox integration are all tipped too.

We’re expecting to see full details on the HTC Edge/Endeavor at Mobile World Congress later this month.

[Thanks ibolito!]

The tipster isn’t the only one, either. Best Buy online shows the Apple TV as not available for shipping, as is also the case at Target; Walmart has removed the Apple TV from its online store completely. It’s a similar story at other online retailers, with only existing stock left on-hand in stores seemingly available.

International sales also seem limited, with retailers in the UK and Germany also showing either no supplies or small numbers. Apple’s own online store does still have stock, however.

It’s possible a new Apple TV could debut at Apple’s well-rumored early March event, so far expected to see the third-gen iPad get its official launch. However, Apple has slotted previous Apple TV refreshes as the “One other thing” in other events, so a shared spotlight for the third-gen variant isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

Exactly what specifications the new Apple TV might bring is generally unclear. Mentions of the new set-top box in iOS 5.1 betas suggest it will come with Bluetooth 4.0, a low power version of the short-range wireless technology, though most users are hoping for 1080/60p Full HD support; the current model is limited to 720p. iOS app support would also be a sensible addition – the current model is capable of it, though not officially – to better compete with Google TV.

Some retailers have pulled all of their visible stock, it’s suggested, in an attempt to avoid seizure by the authorities. However, under-the-counter sales are still going ahead. Those stores which didn’t move quickly enough have had visible stock removed.

Proview convinced Chinese courts that it held the iPad trademark back in early December 2011, having filed a suit the previous year. It filed the iPad trademark back in 2000, well before Apple’s tablet plans went public, and thus holds the rights to use the name within China.

Apple launched the iPad 2 in China last year, despite the ongoing trademark suit, and as of today is still offering online sales of the second-gen slate. The company is expected to appeal the ruling, though until that happens availability of the iPad may become more difficult in the country.

[via DigiCha]

There’s also a “From TV” channel for content pulled from broadcast. Each channel gets a new-style page, with easier access to playlists and individual videos. It’s also possible to subscribe to channels with a single click, while pressing up or down on your remote scrolls through related videos or other titles from the same user.

Mid-playback, meanwhile, scrolling up or down shifts through the video information dialog, overlaid on top of the clip. This supports the usual thumbs up/thumbs down rating system, along with add-to-playlist and the comments dialog; that’s when having a QWERTY remote like those supplied with the second-gen Sony Google TV hardware would come in handy.

Overall, the app is meant to be faster and less glitchy, both of which are vital is Google is to corner the smart TV market in 2012. The new YouTube app is a free download for Google TV users.

There are still several issues still to be overcome before Android on the N9 is a realistic prospect, however. Currently the battery indicator isn’t working – the N9 says it needs to be plugged in, though it’s clear from the video that that’s already the case – and network connectivity is also non-functional at present.

When we last saw evidence of the hack, OpenGL support was also causing headaches. That’s implicit to the N9′s 2D/3D graphics, and without compatibility in the ICS port using Android on the Nokia smartphone would be less than comfortable.

Still, an early alpha is promised as in the pipeline, and hopefully as more people weigh in on the hack the coveted 3.9-inch MeeGo phone might get a second wind as dual-booting demand flourishes. More on the N9 in its untampered form in our original review.

[Thanks Kevin!]

Although Apple was historically known for its premium pricing, rival manufacturers and carriers offering Android tablets have struggled to match or significantly undercut the iPad’s sticker price. It’s unclear at this stage whether Apple will be forced to raise the cost of the iPad 3/2S because of the new technologies involved, but even if it does, the company could salve the pain by slashing the price of the existing model.

Apple has shown it is willing to play the long game on building out its product range. Although rumors of an “iPhone mini” have persisted almost as long as the original iPhone speculation itself, Apple has preferred to wait until its existing line has matured to the point where production costs allow for free-on-contract pricing. The launch of the iPhone 4S saw a three model smartphone line-up for the first time, the aging iPhone 3GS kept on as the “new” entry-level model while the superseded iPhone 4 grabbed the mid-tier spot.

That sort of strategy could well work for the iPad, especially given the tablet – unlike its smartphone counterpart – isn’t generally subsidized by carriers. Previous leaks from iPad 2 display suppliers have lent weight to the idea that Apple will maintain production of the second-gen model, and a more affordable device – say, from $399 or even less – would significantly increase pressure on any new tablets launched at MWC 2012.

Even so, HTTPS – or HTTP Secure – is vital to sites where user data is particularly sensitive, such as online banking and communications where the risk of eavesdropping is possible. The system adds an added encryption layer of SSL/TLS to regular HTTP traffic, with a certified server ensuring a trusted link between it and the user.

The censorship is not the first move against a free internet by the Iranian government. A monitoring system is believed to be in place, and ISPs are legally required to keep records of all data sent and received by subscribers. Similarly, internet cafés and other places with public web access must keep records of users, including full name, national identification number, postcode and telephone number, in addition to a record of which sites are viewed.

It’s possible the government is hoping to prevent any possibility of public unrest, blocking off private communications that activists could use to organize protests.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Google is listed as the manufacturer of the devices, described as “in the prototyping phase”, and says that they will be connected to home internet connections via WiFi. Staff in Mountain View, Los Angeles, Cambridge and New York will all be involved, using the gadgets at work and at home. It’s also possible that the device is Google’s HUD Smart Glasses project, being tested in the wild.

Although the Home Entertainment System was immediately connected with the Android@Home, there are other possibilities for these latest filings. Google has also requested permission to test a “fiber residential gateway” including WiFi and Bluetooth wireless options as part of its 1Gbps Google Fiber project that recently broke ground in Kansas City.

This next-gen personal communication device, therefore, could be related to Google Fiber – perhaps linking wirelessly to the residential gateway, as some sort of portable Google Voice or Google Talk comms gadget – or it could be an element of the home entertainment system. Although talk so far has positioned that system as a Sonos rival, Android@Home supports a broad range of functionality thanks to the underlying app support, and personal communications could easily be an aspect of that.

Google demonstrated Android@Home at Google I/O 2011 last year; it’s entirely possible the new hardware could be prepared for the same show this year, which is expected to take place in late June 2012.

[Thanks Si!]

There’s also an 8-megapixel main camera with LED flash and 1080p Full HD video recording, a front-facing camera for video calls, and WiFi hotspot support for tethering other devices. Motorola has splashed plenty of enterprise-level software at the DROID 4, too, with government-grade encryption (FIPS 140-2) and the Citrix Receiver app preloaded.

However, even if you’re planning on using the DROID 4 for play rather than work, the 1.2GHz dual-core processor should be easily sufficient. OS is Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, but an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade is in the pipeline.

More on the Verizon DROID 4 by Motorola in our hands-on and unboxing from earlier this week; stay tuned for the full SlashGear review.

Hardware

While the key components of the Web Cube may be the same as your average, pocket-sized mobile hotspot, the device as a whole is much bigger. Almost a 10cm cube (it’s 9.5cm high) it’s a distinctive addition to your desktop, with white base and top plates sandwiching a frosted midsection that reveals a fluted inner pillar. An array of blue LEDs cause the whole thing to glow when a device is connected via WiFi.

Physical controls are limited to a single button on the top, which doubles as a WPS pairing key and, with a longer press, a power button to shut the Web Cube down. Three of the top edges have tiny hatches, one sliding out for the SIM card, another hiding a reset button and external antenna port, and the last a microUSB port used for firmware updates. Unfortunately you can’t plug an external drive into the USB connection and share its data across the network.

Inside the Huawei-made device there’s a HSPA+ radio supporting up to 21.6 Mbit/s downloads and up to 5.76 Mbit/s uploads, network depending, along with a WiFi b/g/n router supporting up to five WiFi connections at any one time. 3G signal strength is shown via blue LEDs on the top panel.

Setup

Three is aiming for plug and play simplicity with the Web Cube, and the most confusing part is probably going to be loading the SIM. The quick-start guide shows where to slot it in, though hopefully in-store sales staff will do that for most users; then it’s just a case of plugging in the mains power lead and watching the Web Cube load up automatically.

Both the SSID and WPA2 encryption key are preconfigured, each printed on the base of the Web Cube as well as on the back of the quick-start guide. We were connected and surfing in sixty seconds from plugging the modem in, in fact.

As with most routers, there’s a browser-based control panel for checking status and accessing more complex settings. The home view shows data connection, upload/download speeds and a data counter, along with icons for signal status and how many WiFi clients are connected; you can also turn off the main body light. There’s also text message support, including incoming and outgoing messages; it’s worth noting that any WiFi user can access this and send SMS billed to your account. While you can’t turn off text messaging or lock it down with a passport, you can put in an incorrect service center number and block the functionality that way.

Log into the admin pages, and the Web Cube’s true router abilities become visible. It may look toylike but there’s most of the advanced settings and options that you’d expect from any wireless hardware: a DHCP server, static routing, MAC filtering and optional WiFi bridging, a firewall (sensibly on by default) and IP filtering, virtual server support and a DMZ. If you want to lock down the Web Cube to only support visiting certain sites, you can do it.

Performance

Mobile broadband download speeds are obviously dependent on carrier coverage, and the Web Cube’s 110cm cable doesn’t give you a huge amount of flexibility to move the modem around. Still, the integrated signal strength meter does make positioning easier, though we’d recommend doing some online speed tests just to see where the best results can be had.

Shifting the Web Cube one meter closer to the window saw download rates double (to 4.06 Mbps) and upload rates more than quintuple (to 1.72 Mbps), for instance, so there are significant benefits to be had in experimenting. At least, unlike most wired home broadband connections, you can take your pick of locations, as long as they’re near enough to a power socket. Moving to the other side of the building saw download rates jump to 5.89 Mbps and upload rates to 2.74 Mbps.

As for WiFi strength, we had no problems keeping a connection even with three walls (one external brick) and solid wooden doors between us and the Web Cube. In fact, our test computer was still showing full signal strength at the time. This could be the Web Cube’s biggest advantage over traditional mobile hotspots, which generally suffer from relatively short range WiFi radios.

Pricing

Three offers two options for Web Cube data packages. If you’re willing to commit, you can get 15GB of data per month on a two year £15.99 agreement, and pay nothing upfront for the modem itself. Those feeling more flighty can opt for a £15 month-to-month package, getting them 10GB of data instead; they’ll also have to pay £59.99 for the Web Cube.

There’s no unlimited data option, however, and Three tells us the target audience wouldn’t really want it, though we’re not so sure that’s actually the case.

Wrap-Up

It’s easy to be dismissive of the Web Cube, at least at first glance. Three’s HSPA+ can deliver reasonably speedy burst rates but still lags behind top-tier wired broadband connections, while you also miss out on the battery-powered portability of a traditional mobile hotspot. Unlike the carrier’s own WiFi Hub – which shares a USB modem’s connection over WiFi – you don’t get wired ethernet either, and the Web Cube is even larger.

Where the Web Cube begins to show merit is in its ease of setup and WiFi performance. Ignore the advanced settings – as most users will – and you can be up and running moments after plugging in. It’s portable enough that you can take it on holiday with you, and the data plans, while missing an unlimited option, are probably enough for casual users. The dramatically stronger WiFi range than a battery-powered hotspot singles the Web Cube out for semi-fixed usage too.

Definitely a niche gadget, then, but if you fit the target demographic then there’s plenty of appeal. We can see the Web Cube being ideal for broadband-shy grandparents or catering to a temporary office; it’d make a good backup option if your home broadband goes down. More advanced users will undoubtedly be able to find cheaper ways to share out a 3G connection, but if simplicity is your guiding star then the Web Cube will take some beating.