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RIM’s New CEO Thorsten Heins Not A Favorite Of Investors

Posted by Paul Barraza on January 23rd, 2012

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have stepped down as co-CEOs of Research In Motion and Thorsten Heins has been named the new CEO.

While we are happy to see a potential change in attitude at the top RIM’s corporate ladder, myself and obviously investors think this is too small of a change. As of writing, RIM shares are down by about nine percent in North America at $15.52.

Not the best way to start off as a new CEO, but only time will tell if this is the right choice. Hopefully Heins makes a very bold move soon and states major changes coming and shows us all a very solid and firm attitude to changing the downward spiral of RiM. Without a move like that I think we are all going to say “New CEO, Old RIM, No Change.”

Following is the press release provided by RIM:

Waterloo, ON – The Board of Directors of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced that, acting on the recommendation of its Co-Chief Executive Officers to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Heins was also appointed to RIM’s Board. The Board acted after conducting its own due diligence. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Mike Lazaridis, former Co-Chair and Co-CEO, has become Vice Chair of RIM’s Board and Chair of the Board’s new Innovation Committee. As Vice Chair, he will work closely with Mr. Heins to offer strategic counsel, provide a smooth transition and continue to promote the BlackBerry brand worldwide.

Mr. Heins said he looks forward to continuing to work with Mr. Lazaridis, globally recognized as a technology pioneer. He said, “Mike created a whole new way of communicating and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration.” Read more

 
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Waterproof Your Phone Without A Case!

Posted by Rachel Alvarez on January 23rd, 2012

How many times have you dropped your phone in water or spilled liquid on it? Those “oh sh!#” moments could be gone forever with Liquipel.

Liquipel is a waterproof coating applied to your device using nano technology. The coating is not visible to the human eye and virtually untraceable. It keeps the same look and feel of your device without compromising the performance. Penetrating your entire device, Liquipel coats all vital components, inside and out, providing you with optimal protection against contact with liquid.

My first thought was does it really work? Yes! We had the privilege of getting hands on with this amazing product at CES 2012. Liquipel was by far one of the most innovative products showcased this year, and even I, the most skeptical of our team, was blown away by how well it worked. We were shown a treated iPhone that still worked after being completely submerged in water. In order to show us even further how well Liquipel did its job, we were shown a treated tissue paper versus an untreated one. The treated one actually repelled the water, with the water simply beading up on it and rolling off, while the untreated version soaked the water up and became a soggy mess.

Currently, Liquipel is only available to select devices. The approved list includes:

  • iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S
  • HTC Evo 4G
  • HTC Evo Shift 4G
  • HTC MyTouch 4G
  • HTC Thunderbolt
  • Motorola Droid X/X2
  • Samsung Charge

Although there is only a limited amount of devices currently able to be treated, Liquipel states that they are diligently working to expand the list of approved devices, so keep checking back with them.

Currently, Liquipel is only available in the U.S., and they are based in Santa Ana, California. If you reside locally, you may bring in your product to their physical location to be treated. If not, you must send in your device to be treated. Treatment times vary between 1-3 days of receiving your device to as little as 2 hours of receiving your device. Return shipping prices vary as well.

Liquipel has several treatment options on their website, from $59.00-$79.00. They are also currently offering free return ground shipping during their grand opening event.

You can get additional information at their website by clicking here or watch a video demonstrations via Liquipel’s YouTube channel here.

Overall, Liquipel seems to be a product that will truly change the way our electronic devices are used, and we are excited to see their approved product list grow in the future. This is definitely one product everyone will want to be have access to.

 
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AT&T Attempts To Appease Data Users With New Data Plans

Posted by Troy D. Brown on January 18th, 2012

AT&T is launching a new data plan structure this Sunday, January 22. People on unlimited plans may actually decide to bail to these news plans as AT&T crippled users devices on unlimited plans once they crossed the 2GB mark.

If you want to move to one of these new plans you must make the change yourself, they are not automatic. While these plans still offer too little data for the price, AT&T has dropped the price per Gigabyte to $10 from the current Rate $12.50 per Gigabyte.

We also find it fishy that AT&T claims 97% of their users use under 2GB a month but are taking away the $25 2GB plan and replacing it with a $30 3GB plan.

The new smartphone plans include:

AT&T Data Plus 300MB: $20 for 300MB
AT&T Data Pro 3GB: $30 for 3GB
AT&T Data Pro 5GB: $50 for 5GB, with mobile hotspot / tethering

Smartphone customers needing additional data can pay $10 per additional gigabyte on the AT&T Data Pro 3GB and Data Pro 5GB plans; AT&T Data Plus users will receive an extra 300MB for $20.

The new tablet plans* include:

AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB

[Via AT&T]

 
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Hands On With the Samsung Galaxy Note

Posted by David Brown on January 17th, 2012

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Without a doubt, the most advertised product at CES this year was the Samsung Galaxy Note. It seemed like every other bus on the strip or at the convention center was skinned with Note advertisement, and everywhere you turned you saw Note booths doing caricatures. It seemed a little overkill at first; advertising a 5 inch phone/tablet hybrid so heavily, especially after the poor adoption of the Dell Streak 5.

However, once I made my way to the Samsung booth, which happened to be the largest in the entire show, I finally got my hands on one. Yes, it’s huge. And yes, it is also a phone. However, what completely sets this apart from anything else is the included “S Pen”. Not just a stylus, the S Pen actually registers pressure sensitivity on the screen, turning it into a mini Wacom Cintiq. It also allows a long tap with the pen on any screen, from any application, and it will immediately screenshot it, allowing you to annotate or draw on top of the image.

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I love this phone. Even without Ice Cream Sandwich, which we were assured would be coming to the device eventually, it ran smooth as silk. Inside the monstrous body was a 1.4ghz dual-core processor, 1gb of RAM, a 5.3″ HD Super AMOLED screen at 1280×800 resolution, a giant 2,300mAh battery, 8MP rear camera with 1080p video with 2MP front shooter, and an HSPA+ radio for 4G speeds. Coming from my art background, I immediately recognized the potential for a portable sketchbook on your phone. Yes, there are apps like Autodesk’s Sketchbook Mobile that allow you to use a stylus to to create some pretty impressive art, but they lack the pressure sensitivity, which allows for natural lines like you would make with a pencil. It could also be incredibly useful for things like taking a screenshot of a Google Maps screen and annotating on it, then sending it to someone asking where you are or how to get somewhere. Students could potentially remove paper note taking from their lives. The possibilities are endless.

As of right now, the Note is set to debut stateside on AT&T. When I asked about a WiFi only device or a CDMA version coming out, the Samsung rep said “he wasn’t aware of any,” but that he had been asked the same question all day long, so obviously there would be a demand for it. There unfortunately isn’t a release date set for a US launch, but the rest of the world has had it for a couple months, and Samsung reportedly shipped 1 million units, so it will more than likely be pretty soon. Of all the phones ever released, this is the one that has the most potential to pull me from Verizon if a CDMA version isn’t released.

Check out a couple videos demonstrating the S Pen in action after the break.

Read more

 
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PowerTrekk Fuel Cell Charger Earns Our Title of “Most Disappointing CES Product That Should Have Been Amazing”

Posted by David Brown on January 17th, 2012

When I received a press email before CES titled “CES Debut: New gadget charges your phone with water”, I was ecstatic. I imagined running away from society to live in the hills, armed with nothing but a Bear Grylls knife and my water charger. I imagined all the times I had gone through the day to end up with a dead battery, and how that would never happen again as long as I had my water charger. It immediately became the thing I was most interested in seeing in the entire show of more than 3000 companies. Who cares about new phones or cases or accessories when your phone is dead? Your phone would never be dead with this. I fell in love with my fantasy of this product.

scene1_green

Then I actually saw it. On my trip to the Venetian CES Halls, stuffed in the back corner of an exhibit hall that had nothing to do with mobile technology, I found PowerTrekk. I was so excited! I saw the product being demonstrated as I walked up to their booth. The charger itself looked great. I walked a little closer, trying to overhear what was being said. I saw the charger get opened. I saw the water reservoir. And then I saw something I was not expecting: a removable “PowerPukk”, which provided the power. Until then, I had assumed that this was some sort of hydrogen fuel cell technology that harnessed some small amount of solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Turns out, they have devised some chemical, which they claim is completely biodegradable and recyclable, which reacts with water to produce an electric current.  Still holding onto hope, I dove in and asked the pivotal question… “How long does the PowerPukk last?” The answer? “1 full charge.”

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I was heartbroken. All of my dreams of perpetually water charging my USB devices were shattered. Travelling the American Discovery Trail while still connected with a fully-charged phone at all times was now out of the question. What PowerTrekk had done and failed to mention was essentially create an incredibly-expensive battery that is about the size of a small can of cat food, and then require that battery to use water in order to output any power. One PowerPukk outputs 1500mAh of power to either charge whatever it’s plugged into, or charge the 1500mAh Lithium Ion battery in the top half. The price of this madness? €199, which at the time of this writing is over $250 US. Each PowerPukk costs €1.99, which is about $2.50. So for slightly more than the cost of a brand new Galaxy Nexus on contract with Verizon, you can buy a charger that will charge your phone about 2 times and require a tablespoon of water on top of it before needing to buy another Pukk.

Granted, the company’s vision is to provide reliable, ecologically friendly power to USB devices. It does that. However, the cost of doing that is outrageous. To put it in perspective, you could buy approximately 100 replacement batteries for your phone from eBay, or 2 external battery packs with a combined output of over 50 amp hours, which is enough to charge a typical smartphone over 30 times from dead to full.

Overall, if having a renewable way of charging your phone is a priority, your best bet is solar. The PowerTrekk Fuel Cell Charger is expensive, limited, wasteful, and underpowered. Looks like my dreams of a hydrogen fuel charger are still just that.

You can take a look at the PowerTrekk charger here at the company website.

 
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T-Mobile Reveals The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G

Posted by Paul Barraza on January 16th, 2012

T-Mobile made a few announcements during CES and among those announcements they revealed the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G. The Blaze 4G will be the third smartphone in T-Mobile’s line-up to take advantage of their 4G HSPA+ 42.

The Blaze features a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor, a Super AMOLED display, pre-loaded with a variety of entertainment features and will be powered by Android’s OS.

The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G is expected to arrive sometime later this year. No additional information has been given at this time, but that’s normal for CES. Just keep checking back in for additional information. Not to step on Android’s toes, but if you’re interested in the Windows Phone series T-Mobile started carrying the Nokia Lumia 710 and it’s available now for $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two year agreement.

 

 
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Review: Kingston Wi-Drive

Posted by David Brown on January 11th, 2012

 

With CES in full swing now, and the need for collaboration between our editing and blogging team with all the hundreds of pictures and videos everyone is taking, I was pleasantly surprised when our friends at Kingston let us try out their 16gb Wi-Drive. Essentially a USB flash drive with a wi-fi hotspot built in, this would allow everyone to share the same storage right from their phones. Labeled as iPhone/iPod only, their is also a beta Android app in the market that works surprisingly well, on top of the hidden ability to use it from any web browser on the network.

The Yay:

Battery: The Wi-Drive has a built-in rechargeable battery. I haven’t been able to find any specifics on the length of a single charge, but I haven’t been able to run it out yet.

Simplicity: This really couldn’t be any easier to use. Holding the power button turns it on, doing it again turns it off. That is the only thing you can physically do with the Wi-Drive. After jumping on the Wi-Drive hotspot, the app is very easy to use. You can even navigate to its IP address from any browser on the network, so accessing it from a laptop is just as easy as using a phone.

Configuration: The configuration options of the Wi-Drive are accessed either from the app, or from navigating to its IP on your network, exactly like you would configure a router. Once their, you can configure all your standard Wi-Fi options, including adding WEP/WPA security to it to prevent people from jumping onto it and tampering with your files.

Weight: Despite being essentially the same size as my phone, it is incredibly light, and wouldn’t be a burden at all to leave in your backpack all day.

Compatibility: The Wi-Drive is advertised as compatible only with Apple iOS devices. However, there is a Beta Android app in the Android Market that works fine.

Charger: Although not really a selling point, the Wi-Drive also comes with a 1.2amp USB wall charger. Not only does that charge the drive fast, it also charges whatever else you plug into fast. For comparison, computer USB ports charge at 0.5amps, most Android phones charge between 0.8 and 1amp, and iPhones charge at 1amp.

The Nay:

Connection Method: One fatal flaw that prevents the Wi-Drive from coming with me everywhere now is the fact that it uses Wi-Fi to connect to other devices. This causes a problem because if you’re phone is connected to the Wi-Drive, it no longer has a data connection. This means that anything besides calls and text messages are out of the question while connected to it. This is a big deal because using group chat apps like WhatsApp to collaborate with the rest of your team who isn’t with you is impossible while connected to it. I would have preferred Bluetooth, or at least a Bluetooth option. Also, it is limited to 3 concurrent connections at once, which seems a little low to me. This could potentially be raised in a future firmware upgrade, but right now it’s a little on the low side. Read more

 
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OnLive Brings Cloud Based Windows 7 To iPad

Posted by Troy D. Brown on January 10th, 2012

OnLive has done it again. First they made thin client gaming and now they have created a virtualized Windows 7 environment for the iPad. This development, announced at CES is going to free many iPad users from having to carry a Windows PC in addition to a laptop.

The basic service will be free and includes 2GB of storage with access to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. A paid version of the service will be available for $9.99 a month and includes 50GB of storage and priority cloud service (faster).

Look for the app on Thursday. We will post when it shows up in the app store. To see OnLive Desktop in action follow this link.

This service will be coming to Android, Mac and PCs in the near future.

 
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CES Unveiled And Startup Debut Pre-Shows Before CES

Posted by Paul Barraza on January 10th, 2012

CES officially starts today and before the fun begans CES Unveiled took place Sunday, January 8th in Las Vegas at the Venetian. CES Unveiled was a pre-show media event that allowed us to take a look at the new products that are being introduced throughout 2012. There were 73 companies that made an appearance and among them were companies like Speck, Line 2, Belkin, LG, Samsung, and Case-Mate. Full list of the companies that showed up can be seen below.

Ending the night was the Startup Debut event that took place at the Mandalay Bay on the 64th floor, which was a much smaller event that only had about 20 exhibitors showcasing their products. Companies that attended the Startup Debut event are:

  • DocBeat
  • Evertune
  • Frequency
  • GENWI
  • HipGeo
  • InsureMonkey
  • Liquipel
  • Multi Touch
  • PlayScreen
  • SnapCuts
  • Swag of the Month
  • Trac.ky
  • TravelDNA
  • TourWrist
  • UberFun
  • Walls360
  • WeVideo
  • Wemo Media
  • Worlize
  • WOWee One

Stay tuned as CES pushes into high gear. We will be bringing you breaking news with in depth follow up and the close of the show.

 
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Review: Huawei Springboard

Posted by David Brown on January 6th, 2012

Huawei is everyone’s favorite brand that they don’t know how to pronounce (it’s WAH-WAY for anyone who needs to know). Historically confined to bargain phones and smaller carriers, Huawei is breaking its own mold with its latest products. The Springboard is one of the products that has the potential to bring Huawei into the big leagues.

At first glance, this does not look like a Huawei product. The build quality is amazing. With the exception of two plastic accents at the top and bottom of the tablet, it is all aluminum and and glass. While not necessarily light or slim, the tablet feels great in the hand, similar to the tank-like build of Motorola’s original Droid. Fans of Samsung phones and tablets will think it’s a monster, however.

Under the 7″ screen lie all the goodies you would expect of an Android 3.2 tablet on T-Mobile: a 1.2 ghz Qualcomm dual-core processor, 768mb of RAM, 8gb internal storage with a micro SD slot for expanding, WiFi/HSPA+/GPS radios, support for 1080p playback, and a gorgeous IPS display.

However, all of this greatness didn’t come without a price. There was one glaring issue that almost made the tablet unusable until I happened to figure out a workaround, and a couple nitpicky things that prevent this tablet from being a true champ.

The Yay:

Build: This tablet is practically dripping quality. A nearly solid aluminum chassis that reaches all the way around the tablet to the glass feels great in the hands, and gives a pleasant heft and sense of sturdiness that some other tablets are lacking.

Screen: The screen on this is amazing. At 227 pixles-per-inch, this IPS display is bright, easy to read in all lighting conditions, and has great color accuracy, with none of the ghosting or weird artifacts that happen with Pentile screens.

Battery: The 4100mAh battery is rated for 6 hours of use, and it easily reaches that. In my testing, pretty constant use with reading and watching Youtube over WiFi brought me to about 50% after 5 hours.

Software: Huawei chose to play it safe and leave a vanilla Honeycomb experience on the tablet, which in my opinion is a great idea. This means that updates can get pushed out much faster, as there is no fiddling with custom skins like MotoBlur or Touchwiz.

Camera: The camera is surprisingly clear for being only 5mp. The 720p video that is records is also pretty good, but does suffer from blur when the camera is moved too fast. Read more

 
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Female Android User? We Do Exist!

Posted by Rachel Alvarez on January 6th, 2012

As a not so “techy” college girl, having used an Android smartphone for the past year has been interesting. For reference, I have been using the R2D2 Motorola’s Droid 2. Initially, my phone intimidated me, as I was converting from an LG EnvTouch that caused me nothing but problems. My decision to go with a Droid 2 was influenced mainly by the fact that it had a keyboard, and the R2D2 back cover was cute too. Within hours of setting up my new Android device, with the help of the very techy boyfriend, I was hooked.

As time went on, my love increased for my cute little Android phone. I downloaded more apps than I’ll ever use, and I even bought a clear case to protect it. Quickly though, I found my battery being drained impossibly fast. A quick stop on eBay and $10 later, that problem was solved with 2 backup batteries I have stashed in my purse at all times. I have heard both the good and the bad sides of Android, but for me, it’s mostly been good. The openness of the Android OS is what I have heard most people rave about, but for me, it’s just a phone that has apps and works. I don’t intend to change the ROM of my phone, nor do I know how. I mostly use my phone to play some of my favorite games (Words With Friends and Tiny Tower have consumed my world), Tweet, and keep myself updated on Facebook. Being in college and perpetually broke, I’ve also turned my phone into a money-saving machine with apps like Groupon, HotelTonight, and Deal Leak. I’m just a simple girl who was looking for a phone that worked, and that’s pretty much what I got, initially.

Now that my little phone’s 1st birthday has come and gone, it has entered a fussy phase. My phone has taken to turning itself off and on, or it throws a freezing tantrum when I try to make a call. While this may be centered around the R2D2 version of this particular Android phone, it is quite frustrating. I’ve had nothing but good things to say about Android until this, however. I have seen other Android devices work perfectly fine compared to mine. I’ve played with iPhones, and while there was nothing wrong with them, there was nothing spectacular about them to me either. The one and only thing I am super envious of Apple users is their abundance of accessories. Unfortunately, Android phones will never be able to compete with that. Many people, myself included, like the idea of being able to change out the case of their phone to something stylish or at least cute, but with my phone, that’s just not possible.

Overall, I would say I’ve had a good run with my phone, but I’m ready for a new device. I am especially interested in the Google Nexus or possibly the Droid 4, as a physical keyboard will always be my preference over a touch screen one no matter how many keyboard apps I have. Have I thought about converting to the iPhone? Yes, but I will most likely stick to the Android system I have grown to love. In a perfect world, I’d be able to have an Android device with a keyboard that had all the accessories of an iPhone, but for now, I’ll settle for a phone that simply works.

 
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ASUS Locks Bootloader on Transformer Prime; Apologizes and Promises Unlock Tool in the Future

Posted by David Brown on January 4th, 2012

ASUS has had a pretty bad start to the New Year. With an update that was meant to bring camera, GPS, and touch screen enhancements, they also decided to make public that the bootloader is locked. Being the first quad-core Android tablet, this came as a huge shock to the Android development community, and triggered a backlash on an epic scale. With a locked bootloader, there is no knowing just how far a Tegra 3 can be pushed. If you remember back to the days of the original Droid, which featured a 550mhz processor, it was comfortably overclocked to over 1.2ghz which thousands of people used daily with no issue.

In the wake of this disastrous PR move, ASUS on their Facebook page basically told everyone to hang tight while a response could be made about their decisions. ASUS Italy, on the other hand, went ahead and basically said “deal with it”. ASUS USA came to the rescue to put all the questions to rest.

“Thank you very much for all of the support you have given to ASUS. Eee Pad Transformer Prime received excellent reviews and great demand when it launched in December 2011. Now, we are continuing to make the Transformer Prime available in the worldwide market, and doing our best to fulfill the incredible demand. ASUS strives to create the best products and provide the best service for our customers, and will be releasing an FOTA update for the Transformer Prime shortly. This update, version 8.8.3.33, will improve the focus of the camera, the fluidity of the touch experience, and the APK capabilities in Android Market.

ASUS has been working hard to make the highly anticipated Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich available on the Transformer Prime, and today, we have good news for you. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich FOTA worldwide update for the Transformer Prime will start from Jan 12th, 2012. Thank you for your patience and support through this process.

In addition, we would like to address your concerns related to GPS and bootloader on the Transformer Prime.

The ASUS Transformer Prime is made from a metallic unibody design, so the material may affect the performance of the GPS when receiving signals from satellites. Please note that this product is not a professional GPS device, and signal performance can be easily influenced by factors including, but not limited to: weather, buildings, and surrounding environments. Please understand there are limitations when using the GPS function. To avoid inconveniencing users who demand a powerful GPS device, we made the decision to remove it from our specification sheet and marketing communications. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Regarding the bootloader, the reason we chose to lock it is due to content providers’ requirement for DRM client devices to be as secure as possible. ASUS supports Google DRM in order to provide users with a high quality video rental experience. Also, based on our experience, users who choose to root their devices risk breaking the system completely. However, we know there is demand in the modding community to have an unlocked bootloader. Therefore, ASUS is developing an unlock tool for that community. Please do note that if you choose to unlock your device, the ASUS warranty will be void, and Google video rental will also be unavailable because the device will be no longer protected by security mechanism.

Thank you for all the understanding and support for the ASUS Transformer Prime. Happy New Year!”

So there is some silver lining buried in there. Unfortunately, the GPS problem is hardware, and is likely there to stay. The bootloader will remain locked until after January 12th, when ICS is rolled out to the tablet. While there is no timeline on the release of the unlock tool, my guess is pressure from the Android community will make it happen sooner rather than later.

via [Android Community]

 
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