SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Before his death, Apple Inc's Steve Jobs famously promised to go "thermonuclear" against smartphones running Google's Android software, saying they use technology ripped off from the iPhone. The massive legal attack he launched, now in its third year, didn't destroy Android. Instead, it's turned into a costly global war of attrition. Read more...
JD Power: poor LTE battery hurting Android rating vs. iPhone
The rush to have 4G for its own sake has cost Android phone designers in the actual happiness their devices, JD Power found in its first phone satisfaction study of 2012. Those who had LTE devices, almost all of them Android, gave noticeably lower scores to battery life, at 6.1 out of 10 on average versus 6.7 for those on 3G. Read more...
JD Power: poor LTE battery hurting Android rating vs. iPhone
The rush to have 4G for its own sake has cost Android phone designers in the actual happiness their devices, JD Power found in its first phone satisfaction study of 2012. Those who had LTE devices, almost all of them Android, gave noticeably lower scores to battery life, at 6.1 out of 10 on average versus 6.7 for those on 3G. The added speed ended up itself compounding the problem, since they used their devices more often and cut the battery life short that much sooner... Read more...
More third-gen iPad videos, photos appear on web
A pair of Asian websites that have gotten mysteriously early access to the as-yet-unavailable third-generation iPad have been busy testing the devices, reporting on the improved camera, graphics systems and RAM capacity of the new machine while also confirming that the A5X processor has the same clock speed as the previous model. The improved graphics processor, however, more than makes up for this, tests show.... Read more...
Apple says Samsung violated court order by denying source
Apple late last week accused Samsung of violating a court order for evidence in its main US lawsuit. The Korean company had supposedly only given Android source code for one version each of the devices at stake, such as the Galaxy Tab 10.1, before a December 31 deadline Read more...
More tips back Google using ASUS for sub-$249 ‘Nexus’ tablet
Google's rumored Nexus-like Android tablet has once more been attached to ASUS by a leak late Thursday. The seven-inch tablet was now thought by Digitimes' contacts to be coming as soon as May for between $199 to $249. Read more...
Apple TV now treats DVD digital copies as iTunes purchases
Users trying out the new Apple TV software update v5.0 have uncovered a significant change in the way the unit (both the previous 2011 version and the new 2012 edition) handle "iTunes digital copies" that are often found on purchased Blu Ray and SD DVDs of movies. Once the digital copy is transferred to iTunes, other devices can just stream the movie from iCloud -- effectively an "iTunes Match" for movies at no additional charge.... Read more...
Apple airs new TV ad spotlighting iCloud syncing
Apple has debuted a new TV spot that shows off some of the abilities of its free iCloud service, highlighting the synch and automatic download features that keep calendars, contacts, music and app purchases in sync across multiple devices, along with the similar ability of Photo Stream to put photos taken on one device to show up almost instantly on other devices as specified by the user.... Read more...
Pyle debuts 300-watt iOS sound bar docking system
Home, car and recreational audio equipment maker Pyle has unveiled its new PSBM60I iOS Sound Bar Docking System that both charges the devices and uses them to deliver up to 300 watts of sound utilizing a 5.25-inch woofer, two three-inch full-range speakers and two one-inch tweeters. Read more...
TiVo to offer four-stream transcoder boxes by late summer
TiVo, which just announced better-than-expected earnings earlier today, has also announced a forthcoming model that offers "four-stream transcoding" and the ability to send those streams over the internet to up to four devices, both for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets for either pre-recorded material or live TV. The future product, modelled after last year's TiVo Preview, may also offer Netflix and other online video services.... Read more...