Mobile Phones News Blog

Nivio, a cloud service provider, has launched a new service that will allow users to access their Windows based PCs through tablets and smartphones. The new service, named nDesktop, will be available for Android phones and tablets running OS version 2.3 and above, iPhone 4 and above, and iPads. It can also be accessed through HTML-5 compatible browsers.

“The nDesktop allows users to switch on and access a full Windows desktop from all their devices in less than 30 seconds,” Nivio said in a press release.

Besides, Nivio has announced two new services. With the new Nivio nDrive, users can create a document using their laptop, save it, then edit it with their iPad at home or work offline and synch the files later. nDrive lets you share files, pictures and other docs with friends and coworkers.

Users also benefit from the new nApp Store. The app store has some free apps like Adobe Acrobat, while others are paid. Users will need to log in through simple User name and password to access all that they have on their desktops.

Currently Nivio is offering beta users a special launch promotion of nDesktop for up to 10 hours at $5 (Rs 250 approximately) per month with an additionally discounted price for students at $2 (Rs 100 approximately). This promotion also includes 10 GB of free storage and nDrive to ensure users can effortlessly synchronise their data across all their devices.

The services will be available from 14th of next month.

India specific pricing of the services has not been announced, though the services can be used anywhere in the world. India specific pricing would certainly be better at attracting users to the service.

Nivio has many India connections including a co-founder of Indian origin and many Indian developers working from New Delhi.

Fears over growing public unrest in North Korea following the death of leader Kim Jong-Il were heightened this week by the assertion of the new regime that attempts to defect would be severely punished and that the use of mobile phones will be regarded as an offence.

During the state-imposed 100 days of mourning, attempts have been made by some citizens to flee the country, amid food shortages and an exceedingly bleak economic forecast. Some 23,000 defectors have made it to South Korea, whilst others try to get across the Chinese border. Human rights groups have reported that anyone caught trying to make the break has been sent to hard labour camps, or even executed for repeat offences.

The mobile phone comes into play when struggling escapees try to contact anyone over the border to assess the situation in neighbouring countries. This is seen as a gross violation of the state’s strongly inward-facing laws, and is punishable by hard labour – branding offenders as war criminals trying to gather intelligence, no matter how innocuous their actual intentions may seem.

North Korea’s former leader, Kim Jong-Il, died of a heart attack shortly before Christmas. His son, Kim Jong-un, took the reins a couple of days later. It’s been speculated that he’d been ruling by proxy for some time anyway but now the big test comes, as he tries to restore order to reports of civil unrest in some areas.

Google seems to be on a design overhaul spree of its Android operating system. After launching the Android Design website, the internet giant has now decided to remove the in-application menu or the action key for applications in devices with Android 3.0 and above versions.

With the removal of the in application menu button, users will have to use the action bar which according to Google will help in providing a more authentic and a faster access to most apps as opposed to the menu key.

This is being done in order to give Android a more unified look and feel altogether. With the introduction of the Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Google is aiming to standardise the application keys so that users have no issues working on the newly announced operating system that has already been rolled out for some major devices across the globe.

Just about a couple of days back, Google had also announced the launch of the Android Design website that helped designers and application creators to make simple and beautiful looking applications that are consistent form Google’s point of view.

Google has sent out a clear message to all the developers, developing applications and content for Android, for the incorporation of the new key pattern in their apps. Also in this regard, guidelines have been released along with the updated software development kit (SDK) for easier transition of older applications.

But older devices, prior to Android Honeycomb, will not have to undergo this transition. According to a Google post, developers will have to add a few additional lines of codes that will help these apps in running on newer devices in the desired way.

Android users with this transition can expect things to be better and simpler and all application going forward will be based on a simpler interface.

Just over a week after a conductor in New York bemoaned the downfall of polite society and its consequent surge in mobile phone usage in public places, a video of yet another unwanted musical interruption has now gone viral.

Violist and music prodigy Lukas Kmit was playing during a recital at a Jewish synagogue in Presov, Slovakia, when his performance was rudely interrupted by that Nokia ringtone. The crowd gasped, and Kmit didn’t look too pleased.

However, rather than remonstrating with the owner of the offending phone, he reacted quickly by playing his own rendition of bars 13-16 of Francisco Tarrega’s Gran Vals – the world-famous Nokia ringtone – in response. The crowd cheered as the recipient of the phone call quite rightly shouted an apology over the music, before Kmit took a moment to compose himself and continue with his performance.

It’s since been claimed that this viral video was a sneaky marketing ploy on the part of Nokia and one that has since been refuted, after it emerged that the incident was not staged.

Gran Vals is supposedly heard around the world approximately 20,000 times per second. Surely it’s not something anyone needs to hear at a recital? Check out the video below:

Augmented reality is a technology that combines the real world with digital information. It gives users the impression that they are interacting with real and physical objects. The technology itself is not exactly new and is being used in a varied of applications from GPS systems to fitness apps.

There are numerous cool augmented reality apps already in the market. However, not all are perfect or match expectations. While many have unshakeable image recognition technologies, getting real time information or even recognising objects and colours is still a challenge.

Future

The future of augmented reality seems to be more inclined towards haptics and tactile feedback (which uses sense of touch).

Earlier, Senseg, which claims mastery over such technology, had demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show, haptic technology that allowed users to feel their apps on the touchscreen by manipulating an electric field. With the technology, users will now be able to feel bumps and ridges, and also figure out which areas are more rough than others. The company believes if users are able to get the feel of anything other than glass, it would be a better experience.

The company demonstrated an Android tablet with a touchscreen, which had different textures on it. Users get used to such a touchscreen quickly and may not want to go back to a regular touchscreen. Senseg has deliberately made the effect subtle so it doesn’t distract the users while making its presence clearly felt. The company is still working on different kind of sensations.

Another app from application developer CrowdOptic may point towards a new trend in augmented reality apps. The new technology of CrowdOptic focuses on crowds, such as in concert or sports events.

When the camera of the smartphone is pointed at a player during a sporting event, it displays real time information about the player and the game. The details and context can also be shared through different social networks. So far, getting information on moving objects through augmented reality apps was not possible.

World’s largest handset maker, Apple may come out with the fifth generation iPhone 5 this summer (April), according to a report published on a website.

Quoting sources at Foxconn, which manufacturers iPhone for Apple, the website (9to5mac.com) said, “We received word from a reliable source at Foxconn in China that the iPhone 5, as it is currently being called, is now gearing for production. The source said various sample devices are also floating around (they vary slightly from one another), so it is impossible to tell which one will be the final.”

As per the report, the Apple iPhone 5 may have a 4 inch display and would have a different form factor (design) than its older cousins (iPhone 4S and 3G S etc). The upcoming device would be longer and wider, the report added.

Despite the rise of Android, Apple has managed to keep growing. Infact, according to a research, Apple has managed to grow its market share last year significantly to become the world’s largest handset maker. The release of iPhone 5 is expected to give its sales a further boost.

Apple’s iPhone 4S was launched in India in November 2011, a month after it was released in the USA. So, if the company releases iPhone 5 in April, we can expect it to come to India probably by June.

The Samsung Galaxy S II was one of the few smartphones to challenge the iPhone 4, and now its sequel is giving the iPhone 5 a run for its money in the release rumour stakes too.

Like the iPhone 5, the Galaxy S III has at least two potential release windows, and conflicting rumours point to both.

Here’s some background. The Galaxy S II was announced during Mobile World Congress 2011, making it only a short leap to assume the Galaxy S III would be coming during the 2012 show. The rumours more-or-less backed this up, and we all settled back to wait for some quad-core Galaxy goodness in late February.

But then, a rumour saying Samsung was having second thoughts about releasing the phone at the show appeared, all due to the lengthy approval process the device needs to go through to make it to the USA. The Galaxy S II didn’t appear there until September 2011, presumably causing worry for Samsung’s bean-counters should it happen again.

Instead of telling the US networks to hurry it along, the launch was said to have been delayed until summer, when all the marketing and promotion could be done at the same time. A sensible and financially sound decision, but one driven by the power carriers have over the market in the USA.

Now here’s the latest: Samsung is ‘still reviewing’ the plan for MWC and the launch of the Galaxy S III, according to a Samsung executive answering a question during an earnings call. This means two things – that a Samsung exec has accidentally confirmed the Galaxy S III, and that it could still be there at Mobile World Congress.

We wonder how many more times this rumour will flip-flop between now and 27 February.