Nokia to unveil Windows phone next week: Microsoft

Microsoft said Thursday that Nokia is going to launch phones using Windows' new mobile operating system next week, giving a major boost to the US firm's come-from-behind phone software business.

Windows Phone division chief Andy Lees said the Nokia devices were a huge development for Microsoft as it struggles to capture a piece of the market for mobile operating systems already dominated by Apple, Google and BlackBerry.

"We are very excited about them (Nokia) being in the market," he told the All Things Digital AsiaD technology conference in Hong Kong.

"They have a lot of resources throughout the world and they will be a major accelerant to us."

Lees said the Finland-based maker of mobile phones saw Microsoft's "road map" for its new operating system and "decided to bet their whole company on Windows Phone based on that".

He said Google, maker of the popular Android operating system for mobile phones, was "very nervous" at Microsoft's entry into the market, even though Windows Phone has a long way to go before it rivals more established products.

"We've been working hard on building an architecture that allows us to leapfrog our competitors by using the best components available," Lees said in reference to its hardware partners such as Nokia and Samsung.

Microsoft and Samsung last month announced they would cooperate in the development and marketing of Windows Phone.

Samsung and Google unveil Galaxy Nexus smartphone

Samsung Electronics unveiled its newest Galaxy Nexus smartphone Wednesday, the first to use the latest version of Google's Android operating system.

The new phone is seen as the Samsung-Google partnership's answer to Apple's iPhone 4S, which in less than a week on the market has already sold more than 4 million units.

At a glitzy unveiling in Hong Kong, Google executive Andy Rubin said Android's latest "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system demonstrates innovation "that works on phones and tablets and everything in between."

Rubin said features like Android Beam and Face Unlock showcased Ice Cream Sandwich's capabilities.

Android Beam allows transfer of data between two smartphones by holding them together, while Face Unlock uses facial recognition technology to activate smartphones, rather than conventional passwords.

However, during a demonstration at the Hong Kong unveiling, the Face Unlock feature failed to activate the Galaxy Nexus.

Executives of South Korea's Samsung said the Galaxy Nexus will go on sale in November in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including China and Japan. They did not reveal the new smartphone's price or its sales volume targets.

Samsung and Taiwan's HTC Corp. are the biggest users of the Android platform, which is engaged in a furious competition with Apple's own operating system for market share in the rapidly expanding smartphone sector.

The U.S. International Trade Commission issued an initial ruling Tuesday that Apple's iPhone does not violate four patents owned by HTC, a blow to the Taiwanese company.

On Monday, Samsung asked Japanese and Australian courts to block sales of Apple's new iPhone 4S in those countries over alleged patent violations. The actions are part of an intensifying patent battle between the smartphone giants.

Samsung is also appealing an Australian court's decision last week to temporarily ban sales of Samsung's new Galaxy tablet computer. Apple accused Samsung of copying the iPad and iPhone and violating Apple's patents.

Samsung announces lce Cream Sandwich phone

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Nexus, which will become the first device to run the latest version of the Google's Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

The device will come with a large 4.65 Inch Super AMOLED display, which will boast of HD resolution of 1280x720, reproducing 316 pixels per inch.

Besides this the device will come equipped with a curved teardrop design, a button less front, a 1.2 GHz TIOMAP processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel camera with 1080p video capabilities, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and LTE versions for supported markets.

While the hardware itself is impressive, the Galaxy Nexus is Google's Ice Cream Sandwich flagship phone, which will make for a pure Google experience.

Ice Cream Sandwich brings numerous enhancements to the table, such as a unified interface for both tablets and smartphones, enhanced multitasking, a new font called Roboto, facial unlock capabilities, a new lock screen, zero shutter lag for cameras, enhanced voice dictation, a new NFC sharing mechanism called Android Beam, enhanced Android Browser with tabbed browsing, folder support, enhanced text input with improvements in the virtual keyboard and cut, copy and paste functionalities and improved Email features.

Samsung, for the moment, has only announced that the device will launch in Japan on the DOCOMO network in November, so there are no details regarding international availability and price. The device will be available in 32 GB and 16 GB models. 

RIM unveils next generation BlackBerry BBX platform

Research In Motion (RIM) on Tuesday set out to rev up its BlackBerry and PlayBook lines with a tactic from Apple's winning playbook -- sexy, entertaining software applications.

Co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis opened a major RIM developers conference here with a humble acknowledgement that the company stumbled with a recent BlackBerry service outage and quickly shifted to talk of an upbeat future.

"The worldwide outages we experienced were unfortunate," Lazaridis said during an opening presentation at the BlackBerry DevCon Americas gathering.

"We restored full service as quickly as we could," he said. "Now, we are focused on making things right for our more than 70 million BlackBerry users."

Lazaridis then unveiled a next-generation BlackBerry BBX platform designed to let developers build rich, quick applications to run on RIM smartphones and its PlayBook tablet computers.
RIM has sold 165 million BlackBerry smartphones and more than a billion applications have been downloaded from RIM's online App World, according to Lazaridis.

The launch of the new BlackBerry 7 line of handsets was touted as the best in the company's history.

Lazaridis said that BBX, named in tribute to its combination of BlackBerry and QNX Software Systems technology, provides a powerful new platform for developers for programs focus on anything from work to games.

"BBX is a single unified platform for the entire world -- phones, tablets, and millions of inventive devices we use every day of our lives," said QNX chief executive Dan Dodge.

"You get reliability and security; our architecture is safe by design."

Sony Ericsson launches the Xperia Neo V and the Xperia Pro

Sony Ericsson has announced two new smartphones in the Xperia range - the Pro and the Neo V running on the latest Android Gingerbread OS.

The Xperia Neo V will come equipped with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a Reality Display powered by the mobile Bravia Engine and new 3D Sweep Panorama made for the in-built 5 megapixel camera.

The Xperia Pro will feature a slide out QWERTY keypad, 1GHz processor, 8.1 megapixel camera with EXMOR-R technology and a 3D Sweep Panorama mode, alongside a Reality Display equipped with the mobile Bravia Engine.

Sony Ericsson will also collaborate with Bharti Airtel to provide 500 MB of 3G/2G data free per month, for the first three months from the date of purchase.

The Xperia Neo V is already available in the market for Rs.17,500 and the Xperia Pro will be available next week for a price tag between Rs.22-23,000.