Sales of Xperia Tablet S Suspended By Sony

Sony reported on Friday that it is putting a halt on the sales of Xperia Tablet S, which was launched in the previous month due to a manufacturing slip-up that made a few units vulnerable to water spoilage. This is one of the most thwarting anomalies as one of the main selling factors of the tablet is that is water resistant. The 64 GB Android-powered tablet is found not to be splash proof as stated in its features. The out of order tablets are hindrance in the efforts of Sony in building a goodwill in the smart phones and tablet market, which currently rules by Samsung and Apple Inc.


Xperia Tablet S started selling in September and Sony at the outset sold its first two tablets that were launched last year under its brand name; however this model was debuted by Sony under the brand name of Xperia for the first time to merge the tablet line-up with the smart phones that are marketed under its brand name already. Sony informed that it will require a few weeks to inspect and mend the damaged units due to delays in getting hold of the parts required to fix the glitch.

Amusingly, Jeffrey Van Camp, DT’s mobile expert quoted a number of manufacturing flaws in a thorough review of Sony’s Xperia Tablet S, which has caused such a setback to the tablet stressing on its inferior design which has eventually led it down.

Around 60% of the 100,000 units that were initially shipped by Sony were showing production error committed by one of the contract manufacturers of Sony. There’s a gap between the display screen of the tablet and its back, which could let the water seep in and cause damage to the device. Sony also affirmed that the unsold units will be scrutinized to wipe out the defected ones and in the meanwhile, it will also offer free check and repairs to its users who , if required.

Source : solar-panel-reviews

Sony’s Xperia Tablet S not waterproof after all

Sony has halted sales of its Xperia Tablet S because of leaks. Not of the type that have hit Apple of late, but literal leaks.

Sony unveiled its new Xperia Tablet S at IFA 2012 at the end of August. This is the new version of the Tablet S from 2011, with a nice new screen, Android 4.0, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, and some other much-needed improvements and additions. A key selling point is also the fact that the Xperia Tablet S is water-repellent to the IPX 4 standard. Except it isn’t. Currently.


A manufacturing defect has been discovered in some units of the Xperia Tablet S which means there are gaps between the screen and the case. This means water (or any other liquid) can seep in to the device. This is a bit of a problem when around 100,000 units have shipped, including a percentage overseas.

Sony has stopped selling the Xperia Tablet S, and is offering existing owners a free inspection of their device, with the promise to repair or replace affected units. More information on the program will be released later this month. In the meantime owners are advised to register their devices in order to be kept up with any new developments. And not to get them wet, naturally.

This is a huge headache for Sony, which is already struggling compared to the competition. The original Tablet S hardly set the world alight, and the new Xperia Tablet S, though a solid performer that is smartly priced at between $399 and $599, faces increasingly tough competition. The last thing Sony needed was for a fault in the manufacturing process to impede its chances of success even further.

For those wondering what the fuss is with waterproofing, seeing as few other companies bother with it, it is apparently an important selling point in Sony’s native Japan

Source : tablet blorge

Samsung Galaxy Camera Release Date: Coming Soon to AT&T

AT&T recently confirmed that Samsung's Galaxy Camera will be available on the carrier; however the company did not confirm an official release date or price.

AT&T did, however, state that the Galaxy Camera will launch in the coming weeks and expressed its excitement for the device in a press release this week.

"Wirelessly enabling Samsung's Galaxy Camera will create a significant shift in how consumers share and communicate with photos and videos," said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, AT&T Emerging Devices.

"By posting instantly to social networking sites or sending directly to another device, the person behind the lens is essentially offering family and friends the opportunity to share in the moments as they are actually experiencing them," he continued. "We're excited that the AT&T wireless network will help enable these opportunities."

The Galaxy Camera is a unique point-and-shoot camera that comes with a 4.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD Screen. It also boasts a 21x optical zoom lens and a super-bright 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor for shooting high-quality images close up and in low light conditions. It is powered by a quad-core 1GHz processor and runs Android 4.1, JellyBean software with 4G connectivity on AT&T.

"Once again, Samsung has defined a new category of mobile devices and AT&T is leading the way to bring this device to consumers. The Galaxy Camera brings together Samsung's latest innovations in mobile and optical imaging technologies to provide the first connected camera running on the latest Android platform," said Dale Sohn, President of Samsung Telecommunications America.

Source : christianpost

Motorola wins German patent case against Microsoft

Mobile phone maker Motorola achieved a rare victory against software giant Microsoft in a patent case before a German court on Friday, the latest in a wave of patent lawsuits by technology firms fighting over market share.

The regional court in Mannheim ruled that Motorola Mobility, part of Google, did not infringe a Microsoft patent which enables applications to work on different handsets.

This allows application developers to avoid writing separate codes for each handset saving time and development costs.

Germany has become a major battleground in the global patent war between makers of mobile phones, tablet computer devices and their operating software because court actions there have proved relatively cheap and quicker than in other jurisdictions.

Microsoft has won three patent cases against Motorola in Germany. As a result of these rulings, smartphones with the disputed technology are no longer available on the German market.

"This decision does not impact multiple injunctions Microsoft has already been awarded and has enforced against Motorola products in Germany," said David Howard, associate general counsel at Microsoft.

Google bought lossmaking Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion last year, in its largest acquisition ever, aiming to use the company's patents to fend off legal challenges against its Android mobile platform and expand beyond its software business.

Other technology companies have also invested billions of dollars in buying up patent portfolios that they can use against rivals.

Motorola could not immediately be reached for comment.

Source : reuters

Samsung operating profits nearly double, sells 60 million smartphones in Q3

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics Co. forecast another record quarterly operating profit, likely driven by strong sales of high-end smartphones that offset weak semiconductor orders.

The guidance for Samsung’s third quarter earnings showed it was on track to report a record-high profit for a fourth straight quarter, despite legal tussles with Apple Inc. that resulted in a $1 billion compensation judgment in August.

But analysts said a rise in marketing spending will decrease the company’s profit in the October-December quarter and sustaining fat margins in premium mobile devices could be increasingly tough.

Samsung estimated in a regulatory filing that its July-September operating income nearly doubled to 8.1 trillion won ($7.3 billion) from 4.25 trillion won a year earlier.

The result was better than the market consensus of 7.6 trillion won, according to a poll of 26 analysts by FnGuide Inc., a financial information provider.

The world’s largest maker of mobile phones, memory chips and TVs estimated its quarterly revenue at 52 trillion won, up 26 per cent from a year earlier and meeting expectations.

Shares of Samsung closed 0.2 per cent higher in Seoul. Samsung will announce its full quarterly results including net income and a breakdown for each division toward the end of this month.

Analysts believe Samsung’s mobile communications business that sells smartphones, media players and tablet computers generated almost 70 per cent of its operating profit in the last quarter. Its growth has been driven by runaway demand for Samsung’s Android-powered smartphones that outweighed weak orders for memory chips and thin margins in television sales. Samsung surpassed Apple and Nokia in annual smartphone sales for the first time in 2011, according to Strategy Analytics.

Nomura Securities estimates Samsung sold 60 million smartphones in the three months ended Sept. 30, including 18 million of the Galaxy S III. That is above 50 million smartphones that Samsung is believed to have sold in April-June. The company doesn’t release its quarterly smartphone sales.

Robust sales of high-end smartphones also contribute to the profitability of Samsung’s other divisions that supply lucrative mobile components used in the gadgets.

“Smartphones are the driving force behind the record-high profit,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at IBK Securities.

Even as Apple reportedly reduced orders of Samsung components for its iPhone 5, analysts believe Samsung’s display division likely earned more profit that a year earlier as demand for smartphones benefited sales of AMOLED, a high-resolution screen used in Galaxy smartphones.

Most brokerages said Samsung’s operating profit will be at its peak in the third quarter as earnings in the fourth quarter are likely to decline with seasonally weak demand for semiconductors and increased marketing spending to compete with rival mobile phone makers. New smartphone models from Apple, Motorola, Nokia and LG Electronics are jostling for attention in the fall and winter and will call for larger handset subsidies to attract consumers.

Samsung is also trying to overturn a U.S. jury’s verdict that it should pay Apple $1 billion for patent infringements. The judge’s decision is expected in December and some analysts reflected the fine in forecasts for Samsung’s fourth quarter earnings.

A bigger threat to Samsung’s earnings in the long run will be a handset price war, analysts said. High-end smartphone sales that fueled Samsung’s earnings growth since last year may not be as lucrative next year because competition with Apple could pressure margins and sales growth could slow in developed countries where smartphones are now widely used.

“The high-end smartphone market is split between Samsung and Apple, with their operating profit margins staying high at 30-50 per cent at present,” Nomura analyst Marcello Ahn said. “Going forward, if price competition between the two intensifies, we think smartphone margins may decline at a pace faster than our expectation.”

The slow revival in the global economy as well as the persistent debt crisis in Europe could delay a revival in the personal computer industry, crippling sales of memory chips.

Source : calgaryherald

Keep Computer And Smartphone Screens From Destroying Your Eyes

Staring at a screen all day can cause eye strain and other vision problems. Keep your eyes healthy and prevent other issue like neck and shoulder pain by practicing good “eye-gonomics”.

The Vision Council has published a helpful 16-page guide to avoiding digital eye strain. The first step is to identify symptoms of digital eye strain: red or dry eyes, blurred vision, general fatigue or headaches. Back and neck pain can also be caused by poor workspace ergonomics.

Remembering to blink and using the 20-20-20 rule (take a 20-second break every 20 minutes and look at something 20 feet away) are among the many tips The Vision Council offers to combat eye strain.

One of the more interesting tips is to make sure your computer screen is far enough away from your eyes using the “high five test”: If you can’t give your display a proper high five, you’re sitting too close. You should be sitting like so:...............

Source : lifehacker

Does the Acer Iconia W700 Kill Microsoft's Surface Tablet?

Acer is the Windows 8 tablet forerunner with its preview of the Iconia W700-6465 - one of our first tastes of what Microsoft has up its sleeve for what pundits are calling the "post-PC era."

The Iconia W700 is kind of a stealth move. It looks like a tablet, but it has the guts of a full-featured laptop. That way you'll get the tablet experience while still being able to run your company's legacy apps made for Windows laptops and desktops. The details on Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet are still a bit sketchy at this point, but we do know that it will run the full version of Microsoft Windows 8 (like the Iconia W700), and the Surface Pro will also be a slate tablet that has laptop-like components. Question is, with the force of one of the world's largest PC makers behind it, does the Acer Iconia W700 kill Microsoft's Surface Pro before it even leaves the gate?


The Iconia W700-6465 is the top of the line tablet in the W700 line. It's priced at $999.99, which is not unheard of for a high-end ultrabook laptop. For example, the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A-R5102F goes for $999.99, and also comes with an Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of memory, 128GB SSD, and a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution screen, all specs that match the W700. Granted, the Zenbook Prime has a physically larger non-touch screen, thicker chassis, and full QWERTY keyboard, but the two are very much alike. With its dock, the W700 will feel very much like a "real PC" on your desk.

You will be able to buy an Iconia W700 tablet on Window 8 launch day, Oct. 26.

Microsoft's Surface Pro will come with a 13.5mm-thick chassis (which is thicker than the 11.9mm of the W700), 10.6-inch, 1,920-by-1,080-resolution screen, 64 or 128GB SSD, and weighs about 2 pounds (which is close to the 2.36 pounds of the W700). The Surface Pro is running second banana status to the WinRT-powered Microsoft Surface tablet, since the ARM-powered base Surface tablet will come out sometime in October 2012, while the Surface Pro is slated for January 2013.

That's the killer: Most, if not all of the mainline PC manufacturers (HP, Acer, Dell, and others) are expected to have their true blue Windows 8 tablets in market three months before Microsoft's version. If Win8 tablets take off, Microsoft Surface Pro will be the latecomer to the party and will still be on the starting line in January. If the market is fickle and Win8 tablets don't take off during the holidays, then Surface Pro will be entering a tiny niche market. Either way, Microsoft will have a tough fight ahead of it to make a mark in the tablet hardware market with the Surface tablets.

Source : pcmag