The Galaxy S III wasn’t the only new thing shown at Samsung’s event on Thursday. The company showed the device running an Android version of Flipboard, the popular iPad and iPhone reading app. Flipboard confirmed the move, but offered scant details. “Previewed on Samsung S III today, Flipboard is coming to Android phones soon,” the company said on Twitter, pointing users to a page where they could provide their e-mail to get further updates. That Web page indicated that Flipboard will be available first for “select” Android models. “We plan to come to other Android phones this summer,” a Flipboard representative told AllThingsD , adding that “there’s no specific launch date at this time.”
Read MoreThe worst-kept recent secret in tech — aside from Google Drive — is out: Audio-gadget maker Jawbone has created a monster Jambox. The original Jambox, for those not familiar, is a nifty Bluetooth-equipped speaker that wirelessly connects with the iPhone, iPad and Android phones to play music. It’s easy to see why, even at a price point of $199, the little Jambox has become the best-selling speaker in the U.S. — it’s small, sleek, and it works; plus, it’s easy to travel with, as I noted in this review of a competing speaker . Starting today, a new, bigger version of the Jambox is available for preorder, and is expected to hit stores on May 15. The bigger Jambox is called — wait for it — Big Jambox. Big Jambox is 10 inches long by 3.1 inches wide and 3.6 inches high, closer to the size of the shoebox-style box the original Jambox comes in. It weighs 2.7 pounds, is made of stainless steel with a polymer base and sides, and has music-control buttons on the top of the speaker, in addition to volume control. Soundwise, Big Jambox definitely packs more power and better sound than the standard Jambox. It’s got Jawbone’s signature LiveAudio technology, which is supposed to digitally enhance the sound coming out of the speaker to create “3-D” sound. The company claims 15 hours of continuous play on Big Jambox without needing to recharge the built-in battery, although that’s with the volume output at 85 decibels, and not maxed out at 110 decibels. Like the little Jambox, Big Jambox also acts as a two-way speaker for phone conversations and conference calls. And there’s a bonus feature for Android users: If a calendar reminder pops up on your phone while it’s paired to the speaker, the Jambox will read the reminder out loud, then patch you directly through to any phone numbers you might have put in the reminder. Unlike the little Jambox, Big Jambox allows more than one person or one device to be paired with the speaker at the same time. It will be interesting to see whether consumers buy into Big Jambox as much as they did the original. With its “little” Jambox, Jawbone was focused on mobility — in terms of both mobile-phone connectivity and portability.
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THE professional social network Linkedin has released an iPad app in an effort to encourage more users to engage with the service. Writing on the Linkedin blog, Manish Sharma, Linkedin’s product manager, said the app aims “to provide the most engaging experience for iPad users.” The app is designed to be a personal assistant, with features such as calendar integration and a focus on Linkedin’s personalised news feed, which shows what news articles are popular among friends. “Our mobile platform is the fastest growing consumer service on Linkedin. We aspire to be the place where every professional comes throughout the day,” Sharma wrote,
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SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) fiscal second-quarter profits nearly doubled as the consumer electronics giant reported strong sales of its iPhone and iPad products. Shares rose 7.2% to $600.76 in after-hours trading, and briefly went above $600 again, as results topped analyst expectations. Apple said it was the highest revenue and earnings ever for the March quarter. The latest results come after Apple reported a blockbuster first-quarter, which set new sales and profit records, thanks to the surging popularity of its smartphone and tablet computer. The company's iPhone continued to be a key driver of growth in the latest period,
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Rumormongers have been spreading tales of a miniature, 7-inch Apple tablet since before Apple even released its first iPad in 2010. The first rumor hit in September 2009, and now — some 17 individual rumors later — the speculation refuses to die. A Chinese site called NetEase reported Monday that a pint-size Apple tablet will land in the third quarter of this year to “counter attack” upcoming Windows 8 tablets. The device will cost between $250 and $300, and Foxconn and Pegatron will be manufacturing the tablet for Apple. Or so says the latest scuttlebutt. What are we to make of a rumor
Read MoreI am very, very skeptical about Walmart’s new “disc to digital” service , where you pay money to convert your old DVDs into files you can access from the cloud. Who wants to haul their discs to a store — and take out their credit card — to do something that should work at home, for free? BTIG Research’s Rich Greenfield has the same take, more or less. But Greenfield has actually gone ahead and tried the service out ( registration required ), and he thinks the experience itself is … really good: “We believe Vudu is a very well done iVOD/EST service and, at worst, Vudu will gain far greater consumer awareness from the industry’s disc-to-digital marketing campaign.” I still think the overall concept is flawed here. If Hollywood wants people to embrace this idea, which is designed to promote high-margin movie purchases instead of lower-margin rentals, it shouldn’t involve travel and an upfront payment. And some of the fine print will trip people up, as well. As I noted last month, Walmart’s scheme comes with some important asterisks, like the fact that Disney/Pixar titles won’t work, and that iPad users can only stream the files to their machine, and can’t download them. But give Walmart credit for a digital product that seemingly does at least some of what it ought to do, right out of the box. Greenfield has a seven-minute walk-through of the process (spoiler: contains no violence, nudity or adult themes), if you’re interested:
Read MoreAccused of misleading consumers about the 4G capabilities of its latest iPad in Australia, Apple is taking the country’s regulators to the mat. And it’s armed with a controversial argument. It’s not the iPad that’s been mislabeled. It’s Australia’s 3G networks. In a brief filed with the Federal Court in Melbourne, Australia, this week, Apple — which last month agreed to notify consumers that its new iPad is not compatible with Australia’s 4G LTE network, and to offer refunds to early purchasers who feel they were misled by its branding — refused to stop marketing the device as “iPad Wi-Fi + 4G.” Its argument for doing so? Many of Australia’s 3G networks can reasonably be described as 4G under international definitions . “The iPad with WiFi + 4G is a device which performs in accordance with the descriptor ‘4G’ in terms of data transfer speed,” Apple argued in its brief, according to the Australian, which first reported on the document . “The descriptor ‘4G’ … conveys to consumers in Australia that the iPad with WiFi + 4G will deliver a superior level of service in terms of data transfer speed (consistent with accepted industry and regulatory use of that term), and not that the iPad with WiFi + 4G is compatible with any particular network technology promoted by a particular mobile service provider in Australia.” In other words: No, the iPad with WiFi + 4G doesn’t support Australia’s true 4G LTE network, but it does support networks that are fast enough to be defined as 4G. So, no harm, no foul. And as silly as that might sound, it’s technically true. When the International Telecommunications Union, which sets the marketing standards for wireless networks, expanded its definition of 4G service in December of 2010 , it said this of the term 4G: “As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as ’4G,’ although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed.” And if that’s the definition, Apple argues, then there’s no reason to change the branding on the “iPad Wi-Fi + 4G” in Australia. It’s all semantics. But will a court buy that argument? We’ll find out in May, when the case is expected to be given a full hearing. (Image courtesy of Someecards )
Read MoreA new development in Apple’s teutonic tiff with Motorola. Motorola has been granted a second injunction banning push email notifications from Apple’s iCloud and MobileMe services in Germany. Too bad it’s essentially the same injunction. The Mannheim regional court today ruled against Apple in another case brought against it by Motorola , banning push email notifications from the company’s email services in Germany, something it already did back in February against another Apple entity. It also ordered the company to pay Motorola Mobility damages for violating its patents, though an amount hasn’t yet been specified (as far as I can tell). Apple, of course, contends that the ruling is invalid. In a statement given to AllThingsD it said: “This is the same case Motorola already brought against another Apple entity and the court’s decision does not impact product availability. Our customers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want. However, we disagree with the court’s decision and plan to appeal the ruling.” And there’s really not much else for it to do.
Read MoreNearly two days after the Department of Justice filed antitrust charges against Apple and major book publishers , Apple is responding. Here’s comment from Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr: The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore. Apple’s response is similar to ones made by Penguin Group and MacMillan, two of the five publishers named in the suit. The three other publishers — HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster — signed settlements with the DOJ immediately after the suit was filed Wednesday morning. (News Corp., which owns HarperCollins, also owns this Web site.) It’s worth noting that Apple’s pricing policy with books and apps differs from the setup it has with the music industry. In that relationship, Apple pays the music labels a wholesale price for their digital assets, and then sets the retail price itself.
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