Google Wallet has already been available on a few smartphones and tablets, and now the search giant has announced more phones onto the list. From now on, users of Sprint’s HTC One, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S4 and US Cellular’s Note II will be able to use Google Wallet to purchase in store via NFC-based contactless payments.

You can download the app for free by heading to Google Play here.

Meanwhile, Google has also announced a way to make sending payments simple, which will be as easy as sending an email. They are integrating Google Wallet with Gmail, and sometime in the coming months US users over 18 years old will be able to send money through Gmail via a $ icon in the attachment options. “It’s free to send money if your bank account is linked to Google Wallet or using your Google Wallet Balance”, but you will be charged a flat fee of 2.9% per transaction for payments using your linked credit or debit card. Receiving money will always be free.

Check out the video below to know more about the upcoming service.

[Source]

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In an economic forum in Tokyo, Android-co-founder Andy Rubin said, “The exact same platform, the exact same operating system we built for cameras, that became Android for cellphones.” So, I guess products like the Nikon Coolpix S800c and Samsung Galaxy Camera aren’t that far-fetched after all.

The original intention for Android was to provide a platform for a smart camera that would sync easily with computers. Rubin described a 2004 marketing pitch for Android where he spoke of a camera that hooked up to a computer connected to an “Android Datacenter.” However, they decided that the digital camera market “wasn’t actually a big enough market,” but the smartphone market was growing. In either case, Android was designed to be a mass market platform from the get-go.

“We wanted as many cellphones to use Android as possible,” said Rubin. “So instead of charging $99, or $59, or $69 [like how other companies license their software], to Android, we gave it away for free, because we knew the industry was price sensitive.”

[Source]

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While we may not necessarily be all that surprised that Android was the most popular Android platform of the bunch, taking home nearly three-quarters of the market is still quite the feat for Google and its hardware partners. There were some pretty great launches leading up to Q4, like the Nexus 4 and the Galaxy Note II, but I imagine an even bigger part of that has to do with some of the more budget-friendly models that sport Google’s mobile OS.

What’s interesting is that when you account for all mobile phones, and not just smartphones, Android still made up 34 percent of phones shipped during that period. Out of every three phones shipped, one of them was running Android. I’m guessing it helps that several prepaid carriers have a cheaper Android smartphone option. These entry-level devices help to encourage those who are still using “feature phones” to get into the world of smartphones. You can’t say the same about iOS or Windows Phone.

[Source]

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I haven’t quite decided if the newest accessory from HTC is absolutely genius or completely nuts. It seems that HTC has realized that the trend of bigger phones is catching on and yet not everyone wants to hold these bad boys up to their ears. The solution? A phone for your phone.

Yep, this bluetooth-connected dumb-phone seen in the photo above provides an easy, comfortable lightweight solution for your calling pleasure. It doesn’t have its own number, instead relying on your larger phone or phablet to provide it with the connection for calling.

When I first caught wind of the HTC Mini, my first though was “WTF”. Giving it a little time to grow on me, I think there is SOME limited potential for this gizmo. Right now the HTC Mini is being targeted at the Chinese market, at it is here that the phone makes a lot of sense.

Why? There seems to be a growing trend in China were some folks are carrying larger phablets and phones for their web, texting and multimedia needs. Additionally, they are carrying a “dumb phone” for straight up calling and other ‘basic’ uses. These folks might love the idea of having both devices yet not having to worry about two numbers. OR, if they want to keep numbers seperately, there are many larger Chinese phones that have dual-SIMs that might work with this kind of configuration.

Again, the HTC Mini is probably a niche device, but that doesn’t mean that it is a bad idea. Just one with limited appeal. Outside of China? Honestly, if it could eventually be adjusted to work with tablets, this could be pretty useful.

Imagine having your mobile broadband-capable tablet in your backpack and your HTC Mini in your pocket for taking calls. This is again a limited use scenario, but there are folks that would find this interesting.

Bottom-line, the HTC Mini is a crazy idea. Whether the idea is totally crazy and meant for failure or crazy like a fox? That remains unseen.

What do you think, any possible uses you can think of for the HTC Mini or is this a concept that HTC is better off shelving away?

[ source ]

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A new rumor has surfaced suggesting that Foxconn could be preparing to make its own tablet and smartphone hardware in the near future.

The new rumor comes from DigiTimes, who has a history of spreading rumors that aren’t always 100 percent accurate. Still, they’ve had some good calls too. Does this sound completely crazy? Not really. While building devices like the iPhone and iPad is very lucrative for the company, having their own hardware could help expand their presence even further. Many techies also know that Foxconn builds great phones for other companies, so that might give consumers some confidence that these would be quality products. Of course Foxconn is also known for treating employees badly, and so many consumers outside of China might possibly be leery of buying their stuff.

If they did make such a move, odds are it would only be in the Chinese market and perhaps a few other parts of Asia. This would help them expand without stepping on the feet of its parnters like Sony, Apple and countless others.
Foxconn already has a chain of retail stores in China and plans to open them up in Brazil as well. These stores currently carry PCs, motherboards and other components. Adding smartphones to the mix doesn’t sound that crazy. It’s still hard to say whether there is any merit to the rumor or not.

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a small line of Chinese-only devices hit the market running local operating systems like Aliyun OS. If any of this is true, Foxconn just needs to tread carefully and not risk existing partnerships with the bigger phone producers out there.

What do you think? Just a pointless rumor, or something that could prove to be true?

[ source ]

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The NPD Group just did a little bit of market research and while it found that there was a 9 percent growth in smartphone unit sales in Q2 2012 compared to the same time last year, that growth was driven by increases in prepaid smartphone sales and not the on-contract variety. In fact, sales of post-paid smartphones remained flat.

“Prepaid smartphones are no longer just cheap, also-ran options, focused on older and less capable phones,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at The NPD Group. “As the smartphone market matures, and as growth slows, carriers have been smart to aggressively market some of their best current smartphones on a pre-paid basis to a new set of customers, in order to keep sales humming along.”

Not surprisingly, Apple (31%) and Samsung (24%) are leading the charge in terms of market share, followed by HTC (15%), Motorola (12%) and LG (6%). You can pick up cheaper variants of the Samsung Galaxy series, for instance, on a prepaid basis. Of course, they’d prefer if you bought a Galaxy Note or a Galaxy S III, but they want to keep putting new phones in your hands.

While prepaid smartphone sales continue to increase, I haven’t found that wireless carriers are getting much more competitive to capture this growing market. Let’s not forget that AT&T no longer allows GoPhone customers on per-day or per-minute prepaid to purchase prepaid data packages. In order to do that, you need to be on a per-month prepaid plan.

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When it comes to manufacturer leads in the smartphone market, Apple continues to holdsthe lead, followed distantly by Samsung with 17% of all Android device sales, and HTC with 14% of all Android device sales.

Where does Windows Phone fare in all of this? For now, Windows Phone devices are still being outsold by all other platforms, including the older Windows Mobile platform. Newer phones accounted for 1.7% of device sales in the 2nd quarter, while 3% came from Windows Mobile.

What is clear is that smartphones are now just a regular part of daily consumer lives, and not just a special commodity. With Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 on there way later this year, the balance could eventually shift but, for now at least, it seems that the only two operating systems with any real major stake in the smartphone world remain to be iOS and Android.

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There is a limit to how big the display of a smartphone can be and it’s always better if we can watch photos and videos on devices with bigger screens. But in the future, a new LED projector being developed by the researchers at Fraunhofer could be able to help.

A smartphone in the future, like an iPhone 5, could be equipped with this projector to project images onto a surface and you will be able to interact with the projection with your finger the same way you would do on the phone’s screen. The projector is based on an insect’s compound eye and it actually consists of small microprojectors.

Researcher Marcel Sieler says, “Our projector consists of hundreds of tiny microprojectors in an array, each of which generates a complete image. This technology, known as ‚array projection, is modeled on nature – on the compound eye found in some insects – and with it for the first time we can create very thin and bright LED projection systems with tremendous imaging properties”.

Each microprojector will project the same image onto a surface and all the individual images will overlap to result in a very sharp and bright overall image. And based on how far it is from the surface, each microprojector can also independently adjust the focus of its image. The necessary data for this could be provided by the phone’s position sensor and camera. The researchers made the projected screen touch sensitive via the use of infrared beams.

But the system needs more work to be done on it and it won’t be available in smartphones sometime soon. But they will be showing it off at the Optatec trade fair in Frankfurt later this month.

The post iPhone 5 Could Have Kinect-like Micro Projector appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

You may not have any problems finding a building in a busy city via the GPS receiver in your handset, but it won’t be helpful once you step inside one. How will you find the elevator or the bathroom or the fire exit? This problem could soon be a thing of the past all thanks to a new system, called the MST-Smartsense Sensor, from Fraunhofer which uses simple sensors to enable in-building navigation. They have introduced a tiny module that could work with tablets and smartphones.

All you have to do is enter the building and scan a QR code, and your current position will be displayed on your mobile device. When you start moving around, the system’s built-in pedometer and compass will determine your speed and direction. No GPS required here as it can tell your location based on stride length.

These include an acceleration sensor that registers the motion of the body, and a magnetic field sensor that measures the alignment of the body through its position in relation to the earth‘s magnetic field. In tandem, they map a highly precise movement pattern. “Sensor fusion” is the term von Rosenberg uses to refer to such intelligent coupling of multiple sensors. The fascinating thing is that the module does not have to be calibrated by the user. On its own, it detects if the individual has long legs, or is just taking baby steps.

The system comes equipped with its own processor and needs less power to work. But the same feature could be made available via a modern mobile device provided it has a built-in pedometer. But do you really need such a system to find your way around in a building? It certainly would be very useful for those of you who have a tendency to get lost in big indoor locations like malls.

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Your smartphone allows you to stay in touch with your family and friends, take photos and videos, play with thousands of apps, and do a lot more, and in the future, it might also give you the power of x-ray vision. Yes, you read that right. A new imager chip, designed by the researchers at UT Dallas, could turn your handset into a portable x-ray vision device that can see through walls, wood and other objects.

The research involves tapping into the terahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum, their plan is to integrate terahertz receivers with the chips made using CMOS technology which form a part of many consumer electronic devices out there.

According to Dr. Kenneth O, professor of electrical engineering at UT Dallas, “CMOS is affordable and can be used to make lots of chips. The combination of CMOS and terahertz means you could put this chip and receiver on the back of a cellphone, turning it into a device carried in your pocket that can see through objects”.

The possibilities will be endless if the CMOS terahertz system is perfected and implemented. It can be put to use in hospitals as any doctor can utilize it to perform a quick x-ray on the patient, so there won’t be any need to stand in queue to get into the radiology department. It could be used by contractors for taking a peek at the insides of walls or it could even be used to check for counterfeit money.

And you don’t have to worry about whether someone would take a look at what’s under your clothes with their smartphones (or be happy thinking you can do that) as the researchers are focused on developing the system for use in the range of less than four inches.

So, anyone want to be superman?

[Image Source]

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