Sony forecasts sales of Xperia smartphones to rise 28% to 50 million units in the current year

Sony might be having problems with the company predicting that it will lose the equivalent of $489 million for its fiscal year that ends next March. But smartphones are not the reason for the manufacturer's expected loss. In fact, it forecasts that sales of its Xperia smartphone line will reach 50 million units during the current fiscal year, a 28% improvement from the 39 million units it sold in the fiscal year that ended this past March. That was up 18% from the 33 million smartphones that Sony had sold the previous fiscal year.
Sony has done well with the Xperia Z line that first came to the public's attention during CES 2013. The Sony Xperia Z displayed its ability to withstand submersion in water by continually getting dunked into a tank filled with liquid. Sony's internal rule to build a new flagship every six months then led it to build the Sony Xperia Z1, followed by the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. Unlike most "mini" models, the Z1 Compact kept most of the specs offered by the full-sized version, including the quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU and the 20.7MP rear-facing camera. Many Japanese consumers found the Xperia Z1 Compact to be the better phone.The current flagship model, the Sony Xperia Z2, was unveiled late February at MWC, but has run into delays in some markets. And under Sony's six-month rule, we could see the Sony Xperia Z3 as soon as August. Meanwhile, results for the Xperia Z2 will be included in the next annual profit report, as will the just announced Sony Xperia Z2 Compact, aka the Sony Xperia A2. Unlike the Sony Xperia Z and Sony Xperia Z1, both of which were offered by T-Mobile, it looks like the Xperia Z2 will be available in the U.S. only from Sony's website. Despite rumors that the phone would be a Verizon exclusive, and marketing photos used by Sony that actually showed a Verizon branded model, the last word from Sony is that the only way to buy the Xperia Z2 stateside will be to pick up an unlocked variant from Sony's own website.The Sony Xperia line has come a long way since the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 was launched in late September of 2008. Powered by Windows Mobile, the device sported a 3 inch screen and used a panels UI that never caught on. Back then, the device was powered by a single-core 528MHz processor with 256MB of RAM.



source: WSJ

Nokia makes it snow in South Africa to start promoting the Nokia X in a new ad

The Nokia X is making the rounds and despite our experience that we recounted in our review, Nokia Microsoft wanted to make a point about the X, and did so using snow in South Africa.
What exactly was that point? Nokia created a snow slope in Cape Town as an analogy that the Android powered Nokia X will offer a smooth and fast app experience, by having a bunch of folks race down the hill in inflatable sleds.Each sled is an app, from BBM to Skype, from Angry Birds to Plants vs. Zombies, Nokia wants you to flow smoothly through your favorite apps. The commercial is clearly aimed at your mainstream consumer, and not the resident geek.In addition to being able to side load a bunch of Android apps, the Nokia X has a low price point as an appealing feature as well, with prices starting a bit above the $100 mark. All the color that Nokia is known for will be available as well. If you are in the neighborhood of Cape Town, does snow in South Africa get you excited for the Nokia X?

Nokia Lumia 630 available starting today as the world's first Windows Phone 8.1 handset

The Lumia 630 today became the world’s first commercially-available Windows Phone 8.1 handset. According to an announcement from Nokia Conversations, sales are starting in Asia this week, while Europe and the US should get the smartphone a bit later.  

Initially unveiled in early April, at the same time with the high-end Lumia 930 and the LTE-capable Lumia 635, the Lumia 630 is a device that should offer “an uncompromised Microsoft experience and Lumia experience at a low price point.” Its features include a 4.5-inch display with 480 x 854 pixels, 3G, 5MP rear camera, quad-core 1.2 Snapdragon 400 processor, 8GB of expandable internal memory, and a 1,820 mAh battery. The handset only has 512MB of RAM, but Windows Phone 8.1 (just like Android KitKat) is optimized to run smoothly with that amount of memory anyway. Prices for the single SIM Lumia 630 start at around $160 (€119), while the dual SIM variant is a bit more expensive: $176 (€129). Various color options are available, including black, white, orange, green, and yellow.Interestingly, although the Lumia 630 has Nokia’s logo on the front, the post announcing its release doesn’t mention the Nokia name at all, and that’s probably (or definitely) because Microsoft now owns Nokia’s Devices and Services business. Anyway, you can let us know in the comments if you’re looking forward to buying a Nokia / Microsoft Lumia 630. 

 

 source: Nokia Conversations

Business Korea: Samsung will release its “Gear Glass” at September's IFA 2014

With remarkable certainty, Business Korea claims that Samsung is going to release its smart-glasses in September. According to a insider at Sammy, the so-called "Gear Glass" will be unveiled at the yearly IFA conference, which takes place September 5-10 in Berlin, Germany. It would make sense for Samsung to take center stage with such an announcement, considering Google plans to take its hi-tech Google Glass spectacles out of Beta by the same time.
According to the source, the glasses will run a version of Tizen OS, and will combine an ear piece with a display. This will enable wearers to listen to music with their right ear and look at the display with their right eye. In addition, the glasses will omit the Galaxy branding, just like the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear Fit. The report also claims that Google is zeroing in on commercializing Google Glass by introducing "products with built-in lenses, augmented reality functions, a music player, and a smartphone-connected partial mobile function". The last presumably means making and taking calls. Meanwhile, Apple is still collecting smart-glass patents one by one, and recently got a patent for a head-mounted display that connects with its electronic devices. Microsoft and LG too are developing and patenting an "MS Glass" and a "G Glass".

 
source: Business Corea

Motorola Alert app debuts to keep tabs on loved ones

Motorola’s latest smartphone, the stupid-cheap Moto E, as well as a new LTE edition of the already crazy-affordable Moto G. Sure, we didn’t see any Moto 360 action, but considering what else we got it hardly seems worthwhile complaining. Hardware: covered. But as it turns out that’s only one component of Motorola’s news for us today, and we’re also learning about some new software Motorola’s got for its users, as it releases Motorola Alert.
Alert is a location-based notification app, and has a couple different modes of operation. One lets the user set up zones – say, work, school, or home – and configure the app to automatically send out a notification to other devices when entering or leaving that zone. So, for instance, a parent could configure the app on a child’s phone to automatically send updates when they reach and leave school each day. The users receiving those notifications need not have Motorola Alert installed on their own phones.
The other mode provides designated contacts with an ongoing series of notifications, designed to keep them informed of your movements. Again, this sounds perfect for families, maybe if they split up while out shopping or at an attraction, to let some members keep track of and eventually meet back up with the others.
Motorola Alert debuts with the new Moto E, but should be coming to other Motorola phones, including the Moto X and Moto G, in the near future.


Source: Motorola (Google Play)

Is Nokia uploading Android apps to its Nokia Store before devs even give approval?

The new Nokia X series of Androids may run Google’s platform at their core, but Nokia’s taken a few liberties with its forked version of Android that means the user experience is quite a bit removed from what most Android fans will be used to. Specifically, it’s Android sans Google, and you won’t find Google Play Services nor any of the core Google apps as these phones arrive from the manufacturer (though you can certainly install that all yourself after the fact). With no Google Play Store, Nokia’s had to come up with its own app store offering, and the company’s been doing its best to make sure that the big apps you love from the Play Store are still accessible in the Nokia Store. But is it taking too many liberties in its efforts to keep the Nokia Store well-stocked? That’s what some devs are wondering, after hearing from Nokia that the company has created them accounts and uploaded apps without prior authorization.
Ander Webbs reports that Nokia contacted him about his ADW Launcher (of which we’re already fans), but rather than just asking if he might be interested in making it available in the Nokia Store, the company informed him it had already set up an account in his name and uploaded the app to its servers.
To be clear, it looks like Nokia was still waiting on Webbs’s approval to activate this account and make the app available to users, but that still feels very, very forward of the company. We also wonder if the action of uploading the app may violate copyright laws, as Nokia was never expressly authorized to do so.



Source: Ander Webbs (Google+)

Revamped Spotify app available on Windows Phone

Spotify became available on Windows Phone 8 in February of last year. Sadly, aside from a couple of bug fix updates, the application has been in the same state for about 14 months now. That has changed with a new version of the client available to download.
The music streaming service recently started overhauling its application in order to improve overall UX; it started with the Desktop and iOS, then Android users were able to experience the darker theme, and now all of that is available on Windows Phone, via a revamped Spotify app. Expect a brand new application with performance improvements, UI overhaul, as well as the addition of features that were missing in the previous version: Radio, Discover and Browse.


 

Source: Spotify, Windows Phone Store

Moto G Ferrari Edition introduced in Mexico

The Moto G LTE, and the brand new Moto E, were not the only two phones announced yesterday by Motorola. In Mexico, the two new devices were accompanied by a third one. Not a new device per se, but one that addresses a particular chunk of the market: those who want a Moto G Ferrari Edition.
Expect the same internals as your regular Moto G: 720p screen, Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7, Adreno 305 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 5MP camera, and the rest. However, the changes are on the outside. Aside from the Scuderia badge and Ferrari logo, the phone comes with a Kevlar cover, and unnamed Ferrari accessories. It will cost $4,999MXN (about $387) outright and you should expect it sometime in June.

 Source: Motorola

Sony Xperia A2 announced for Japan

Available in black, orange, lavender, and white, the Sony Xperia A2 packs a 4.3-inch display with 720p resolution, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor clocked at 2.2GHz, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card), 20.7MP camera, 2.2MP webcam, 2,300mAh battery, and an IP55/IP58 certified build. The phone is expected mid-June.

Source: Sony

Apple building Multitasking split-screen iPad In iOS 8

A new report from 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, who has a strong track record in predicting the future of Apple’s software, says that Apple will be building split-screen multitasking into iOS 8, the next major update for its mobile devices. This split-screen functionality will resemble these features as seen in recent Samsung tablets and the Microsoft Surface, the report claims. This comes hot on the heels of a new jailbreak tweak that adds almost exactly that kind of multitasking to iPad called “OS Experience.“
Split screen functionality is something that Microsoft has used to target the iPad in advertisements for its own tablet efforts, and something that is often requested by users in forums and editorials online. The feature in iOS 8 would allow two apps to be used side-by-side, but also make it possible for people to drag things like images, video and text from one app into the other. Apple is also working on a way to let apps running next to each other interact with each other directly while running, too.
It only works in landscape mode, per 9to5Mac’s report, and it is said to be targeted at the larger 9.7-inch iPad specifically, so it’s unclear whether it’ll also work with the iPad mini. This would go a long way to making the iPad an even more capable notebook replacement.
iOS 8 looks to be packing a lot of improvements, including the possible introduction of a Healthbook app which would work with fitness and medical devices, and improvements to Maps with the addition of transit directions. Some of this could be pushed back to an iOS 8.1 update, 9to5Mac cautions, but overall, it looks like the next update will still bring a healthy number of changes even if parts are released at a later date.

Anyone in the US can Purchase Google Glass and be an explorer

Google is opening up the Google Glass Explorer program once again, except this time, they have no intentions to close it. Google states that as long as they have units to sell, anyone can buy them and become an Explorer. Of course, the price is still $1500, but if you are a true early adopter of all things tech related, here is your chance to own a pair. 
While Google continues to work on finalized hardware and software, the company is still looking for feedback from Explorers, meaning your job as a Google Glass owner is a very important one.

We learned a lot when we opened our site a few weeks ago, so we’ve decided to move to a more open beta. We’re still in the Explorer Program while we continue to improve our hardware and software, but starting today anyone in the US can buy the Glass Explorer Edition, as long as we have it on hand.

 

 via:+Google Glass