Chris Davies

Author Archive for Chris Davies

EU to Google: Your search antitrust concessions aren’t good enough

Chris Davies, May 28th 2013 Discuss [4]

Google's attempts to diffuse the risk of antitrust punishment in Europe look to be insufficient, the EU's competition commissioner has warned, saying it is "almost 100-percent" likely that more concessions will be demanded. The search company had submitted a list of potential ways it could level the playing field - including giving rivals prime position in results pages - back in April, but according to the EU's antitrust chief, they're unlikely to be considered enough. Read The Full Story

iPhone 5S “Retina 2″ and iPad maxi the latest Apple rumor-grist

Chris Davies, May 28th 2013 Discuss [26]

Apple is thinking bigger for its next-gen iPhone and iPad models, according to rumors filtering out of Asia, with chatter of an "iPad maxi" alongside a far-higher-resolution iPhone 5S in the coming months. The rumors, which as with any iOS mutterings should be taken with the requisite pinch of salt, suggest Apple is looking to take on more directly not only the digital textbook market, but challenge big-screen Android phones with a jolt in pixel-dense resolution. Read The Full Story

Toshiba REGZA Z8X Ultra HD TVs set to bring hybridcast to Japan in June

Chris Davies, May 28th 2013 Discuss [1]

Toshiba is jumping onto the Ultra HD bandwagon, pricing up its trio of 4K TVs, the REGZA Z8X series, for Japan. Set to hit (reinforced) store shelves in late June, the Z8X range will kick off at 58-inches and rise to 84-inches at its biggest, with the largest model price at 1.68m yen ($16,430) and include native NHK "hybridcast" support that blends traditional broadcasts with internet-funneled add-on data. Read The Full Story

Opera Next browser released with Chromium engine under the hood

Chris Davies, May 28th 2013 Discuss [4]

Opera has launched a new version of its desktop browser, Opera Next, complete with the Chromium engine from Google's portfolio. "Made from scratch" according to Opera, the new version features a redesigned Speed Dial interface with support for folders; shortcuts can be dragged and dropped on top of each other to instantly create a folder, and there's a combined search box which merges in bookmarks too. Read The Full Story

Foxconn own-brand expansion tipped as Apple orders plateau

Chris Davies, May 28th 2013 Discuss [1]

Apple's tussle for market share with Samsung has forced Foxconn to consider launching its own brand of accessories, sources claim, as the long-time iPhone manufacturing partner hunts alternative sources of income. "Limited order growth" among Foxconn's bigger clients has been blamed for the strategy shift, one Hon Hai executive told the WSJ, with sources claiming that the company is no longer satisfied with contract manufacturing and instead wants to leverage its own brand. Another possibility is white-label content supply, branching out into media Foxconn would supply to its existing customers. Read The Full Story

LG denies Nexus 5 plans but teases Android tablet and mystery phone

Chris Davies, May 28th 2013 Discuss [5]

LG may just have revealed its second Nexus 4 variant, the long-anticipated white model, but the company isn't working with Google on the "Nexus 5" according to the VP of LG Europe. "The Nexus 4 was a great success despite the production problems for us and Google" exec Won Kim told All About Phones; "However," the VP continued, "we do not need such a marketing success again." Meanwhile, LG did confirm a new tablet was in the pipeline, as well as non-Android phones. Read The Full Story

Nexus 4 White finally gets official

Chris Davies, May 28th 2013 Discuss [6]

The long-rumored white Nexus 4 has finally been made official, with LG whipping the covers off the paler version of the pure-Android smartphone. Functionally-identical to the existing Nexus 4, which until now has only been available in black, the new color “Nexus 4 White” variant comes with the same Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 display, and is expected to begin a global roll out at the end of this month.

LG_NEXUS4_WHITE

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Samsung Galaxy S4 mini gets premature confirmation

Chris Davies, May 27th 2013 Discuss [0]

One of Samsung's surprises for its "Premiere 2013" event on June 20, the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, may well have been spoiled, and the company only has itself to blame. Details of the Galaxy S 4 mini were temporarily available at the Samsung Apps site, with the handset cropping up in not one but two variants, the GT-I9195 and the SGH-I257. Read The Full Story

Samsung June 2013 “Premiere” event teases new Galaxy and ATIV devices

Chris Davies, May 27th 2013 Discuss [1]

Samsung will bring a new batch of Galaxy and ATIV phones and tablets to play in a launch event in late June, the company has confirmed, teasing the new range ahead of its UK debut. The event, to be held in the evening of June 20 at London's Earl's Court Exhibition Center, has been dubbed "Samsung Premiere 2013" and will presumably see at least two devices added to the company's line-up. Read The Full Story

Xbox One Siri-style speech system and Skype remote play rumored

Chris Davies, May 27th 2013 Discuss [2]

The Xbox One will be able to spot new people even if they're not actively playing, speak to gamers in a manner similar to Siri on the iPhone, and allow stuck players to seek help over Skype, it's rumored. Microsoft was coy with showing all of the new Kinect's features, according to Polygon's sources, at the Xbox One launch last week, saving some of the more advanced two-way interaction for closer to launch. Read The Full Story

Nokia smartphone chief teases Lytro-style “computational photography” up next

Chris Davies, May 27th 2013 Discuss [0]

Nokia‘s push to differentiate its Lumia smartphones with PureView camera technology will see “computational imaging” – where shots can be tweaked and modified thanks to clever lens tech – come to the fore, smart devices chief Jo Harlow has teased. “Being able to capture even more data [is an area of exploration]” Harlow told DNA, “data you cannot even see with the human eye that you can only see by actually going back to the picture and being able to do things with them.” The comments are already being seen as further evidence that array cameras from Nokia-invested Pelican Imaging could show up in Lumia devices sooner rather than later.

nokia_lumia_925_pureview_camera

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Better Place folds as battery-switching EV plan can’t go the distance

Chris Davies, May 27th 2013 Discuss [1]

Ambitious plans to make electric cars as quick to refuel as their gas counterparts, by setting up a huge network of swap-out battery stations, have ended in liquidation, as Better Place folds up after chewing through $850m in investment. "After a year's commercial operation," the company said on Sunday, "it was clear to us that ... wider public take up would not be sufficient and that the support from car producers was not forthcoming." Better Place's most recent funding chase proved a tougher sell than earlier rounds, and there's no longer sufficient cash to keep things operational. Read The Full Story