Yahoo has announced that they would no longer support some of their mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, citing pace of change in the mobile space. They said that they have to keep moving, to keep innovating, and to continuously measure and scrutinize what’s working and what isn’t. Some of their latest apps Livestand for iPad, Hub for Android, Play for Android and their popular Yahoo! Mail, Messenger, Sportacular and Flickr would remain.
The list of mobile apps that would no longer supported include
Yahoo! Meme (iPad and iPhone)
Yahoo! Mim (iPad)
Yahoo! Answers (Android)
Yahoo! AppSpot (Android and iPhone)
Yahoo! Deals (iPhone)
Yahoo! Finance (BlackBerry)
Yahoo! Movies (Android)
Yahoo! News (Android)
Yahoo! Shopping (iPhone)
Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search (iPad and iPhone)
The key features of AppSpot and Sketch-a-Search would be integrated into Yahoo! Search app and the iPhone and Android search apps would get an update soon. They would also offer new apps in 2012 that would offer different experience.
Do you use or have used any of these Yahoo apps?
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HTC was the first manufacturer to take up Android, and it is still the number 1 in the most beautiful user interfaces on top of stock Android. Though I am not a big fan of any UI other than stock Android, Sense UI from HTC is the best and easiest user interface a consumer can get. The good looking widgets, transitions, customization options are simply unmatched by any other company. Now with the release of Android 4.0 HTC is coming up with a new version of Sense UI, Sense 4.0 for it’s Ice Cream Sandwich devices.
Sense 4.0 is still not out yet but many people who have been testing it leaked out some of the main changes and features of it. Though we will be seeing devices from HTC running Sense 4.0 at the MWC in a few weeks, let’s have a closer look at some of the features they offer.
Guest Mode
This is a very important feature and a must for all Android devices, I am quite surprised why Google did not make it available on board ICS, maybe in the future upgrades. So guest mode features allows you to keep multiple profiles so if you give the phone to your friend, …
We all have been hearing about the quadcore Exynos which might feature in the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung mentioned in their earnings call today that currently they are sampling the Exynos 5250 SoC and will probably start the mass production for their devices from Q2 2012 on wards if everything goes right.
The quadcore SoC from Samsung does sound great but according to me the dual-core Exynos 5250 with two Cortex – A 15 chips clocked at 2 GHz sounds more interesting and powerful. The SoC also supports WQXGA which is a resolution of around 2560×1600. They are also saying that this beast will have four times superioe graphics compared to the Cortex A9 SoC currently available in the market. Now this really sounds very exciting.
Well we clearly have to wait for some time to see these in device, maybe in Q3 we will be seeing some Samsung tablets equipped with this SoC, they have also mentioned that not only the tablets but also the smartphones will be featuring this powerful SoC. I am sure there will be a head on battle between Samsung and Qualcomm who will be coming up with the Krait based devices. Qualcomm had a really …
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) III for Android has been updated to version 1.3 that brings new features such as support for Asus Transformer Prime and Medion LifeTab tablets. Rockstar games launched the first version, 1.2 on December 15 for Android and iPhone. The new version also comes with new features such as Haptic Feedback, SD card support and more.
New features in Grand Theft Auto III v1.3
The addition of Integrated with Immersion Haptic Vibration Feedback
The ability to tailor your visual experience with new video display settings
The ability to install the game to an SD memory card
Improved controls for Xperia Play and supported gamepads plus full support for the GameStop Wireless Game Controller
Additional technical fixes
Download Grand Theft Auto III for select Android phones from the Android Market for $4.99.
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BlackBerry Curve 9320 and Curve 9220 specs has surfaced in RIM’s 2012 lineup. According to the slides from BGR, these are expected to arrive mid-2012. These are aimed at emerging market and would come with BB OS 7.1 on board.
The BlackBerry Curve 9320 would be the upgraded Curve 9300 and would come with 2.44-inch (320×240 pixels) with 164dpi and QWERTY keyboard, 3G (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps), WiFi, 512MB RAM, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS, 3.2MP EDOF camera with Flash.
The BlackBerry Curve 9220 is expected to come with 2.44-inch (320×240 pixels) with 164dpi and QWERTY keyboard but it would be a 2G phone and would come with a 2.0MP fixed focus shooter. Other features are similar to the Curve 9320.
The rumored BlackBerry 10 phone code-named London might be pushed from Q3 2012 to October. The White versions of the Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 are also in the pipeline that would arrive in Q2 2012.
Source: BGR
RIM’s 2012 lineup of devices has surfaced. This reveals new BlackBerry PlayBook with upgraded 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor and new BlackBerry curve devices. According to the slides from BGR, the upgraded PlayBook would come with 42Mbps HSPA+ Connectivity and NFC support, in addition to OS 2.0 in May or June.
Other features such as 7-inch 1024×600 display, 1GB RAM, 5MP rear camera, 3MP front camera, WiFi 802.11 a/ b/ g / n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, might remain the same. The battery would be 4800 mAh one instead of the 5300 mAh.
Source: BGR
Motorola Mobility has announced their financial Results for the fourth quarter of 2011. They have declared a net loss of $80 million on revenue of $3.4 billion last quarter. They managed to ship 10.5 million mobile devices, including 5.3 million smartphones and 200 thousand tablets in Q4 2011. They have shipped 42.4 million mobile devices and 1 million tablets for the full year of 2011.
Their total loss for the year 2011 was $249 million compared to $86 in 2010. They announced last August that they had entered into an agreement with Google so that Google would acquire them for approximately $12.5 billion. They expect the transaction to happen in early 2012.
Press Release
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Jan. 26, 2012 – Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today reported net revenues of $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, comparable to the fourth quarter of 2010. The GAAP net loss in the fourth quarter of 2011 was $80 million, or $0.27 per share, compared to net earnings of $80 million, or $0.27 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2010. On a non-GAAP basis, net earnings in the fourth quarter 2011 were $61 million, or $0.20 per share, compared to net earnings …
Mobile World Congress 2012 also known as MWC takes place in Barcelona next month from Feb 27-Mar 1.It is the biggest mobile event of the year and FoneArena is going to cover MWC 2012 in full force. As I was adding events to my calendar , I noticed that many events were overlapping. I decided to create this MWC 2012 calendar and made it public so that it will help other attendees plan their show as well. We have included product launches , important keynotes and of course the parties as well ! In case you want to add any event to our calendar or make changes to an existing event , feel free to email us mwc AT fonearena.com
The big events we are looking forward too are the press conferences from the mobile brands including Nokia, Samsung , HTC and Sony ( Ericsson ). Huawei also has grand plans for MWC.
Note: Many brands including Samsung have not announced dates for their MWC press conference but they have something planned for sure.
Make sure you choose the week of Feb26-Mar 1 in the calendar below for the events to show up.
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Please note that the above calendar is set to GMT+1 or …
Nokia just published their Q4 2011 results with predictably dropping sales. What is interesting to note is that the Finnish cellphone manufacturer managed to sell over 1 million Lumia devices. Sales are 31% lower than the same quarter last year essentially selling 19.6 million units. These numbers however are 17% up since Q3 2011.
Nokia achieved over 10 billion Euros in sales, 21% lower than the same quarter a year ago but lost almost 1billion Euros in the last quarter. Something worth quoting by Stephen Elop , CEO of Nokia :
“And, while we progressed in the right direction in 2011, we still have a tremendous amount to accomplish in 2012, and thus, it is my assessment that we are in the heart of our transition.
Specifically, changing market conditions are putting increased pressure on Symbian. In certain markets, there has been an acceleration of the anticipated trend towards lower-priced smartphones with specifications that are different from Symbian’s traditional strengths. As a result of the changing market conditions, combined with our increased focus on Lumia, we now believe that we will sell fewer Symbian devices than we previously anticipated.”
[Update] As part of the ongoing conference call , we’re hearing that Symbian sales are declining …
Nokia’s Q4 results report reveals that it has received a “platform support payment” from Microsoft to the tune of $250 million.
Nokia states that this fee is on a per quarter basis which means that it will be getting more such payments in the future. Over the course of the agreement , platform support payment are expected to figure in billions of dollars. Nokia still has to pay an OS licensing fee of approximately $27 per device sold to Microsoft.
