Droid Razr Maxx is ‘longest-lasting’ smartphone
Verizon is now offering Motorola’s Droid Razr Maxx for $300, with a claimed battery life of up to 21 hours. with a dual-core, 1.2GHz processor, 4.3-inch screen, and an eight megapixel camera, the device is otherwise similar to the previously released Droid Razr, but it’s thicker by approximately 2mm.
The Droid Razr Maxx (pictured) is now available on the Verizon Wireless network for $300, after being announced with minimal detail at CES earlier this month. Motorola’s answer to the “but” that followed otherwise-positive reviews of its relatively new Droid Razr, the Razr Maxx is said to feature a battery life of up to 21 hours on a single charge, making it the longest-lasting smartphone on the market.
All those positive reviews should work in the Razr Maxx’s favor, as it’s equipped with all the same features as the Droid Razr, though in not as slim a form factor. Given the ruler treatment, the Droid Razr comes in at 7.1mm thick, while the Razr Maxx measures 8.99mm and the iPhone 4S 9.3mm.
Further filling out the Maxx’s resume are its dual-core, 1.2GHz processor and compatibility with Verizon’s super-quick 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.
The Razr Maxx runs Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, but is upgradable to 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”). it features a 4.3-inch AMOLED HD touchscreen, an eight-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video capture, and a front-facing camera for video chatting over 4G, 3G, or Wi-Fi.
The Maxx can enable up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices to hop on Verizon’s 4G network, comes with 32GB of memory and — asking to be taken to work — features remote-wipe capabilities and government-grade encryption.
Knowing what the Razr Maxx is up against, Motorola created “Smart Actions” as a sort of next best thing to Apple’s Siri. with the former, the phone can be made helpful in certain rules-based ways, such as launching Google Maps when the user is in the car.
Customers who purchase the Razr Maxx will need to subscribe to Verizon’s Nationwide Talk plan, which begins at $40 a month, and purchase a smartphone data package, which starts at $30 a month.
“we are a premium-priced product, but we will win in the marketplace. …. there are niches of people that want to be on the best network in the world,” Verizon CFO Fran Shammo told analysts during a Jan. 24 call on the carrier’s 2011 fourth-quarter results.
Despite pulling in $28.4 billion in revenue and selling more than twice the number of iPhones than it did the quarter before — 4.2 million Apple handsets, up from 2 million — Verizon finished at a loss of $2.02 billion. the two main contributors to its fall to red were pension costs, which it had warned investors of in advance, and the high cost of supporting the iPhone.
Verizon’s incremental spending during the quarter was up 6.3 percent, Shammo said, due to a combination of “3G capacity requirements, driven by the Apple iPhone, and the continued rapid expansion of our 4G LTE network.”
The price Apple charges the carriers for each iPhone also forces them to pay a higher subsidy than with any other handset, in order to offer the iPhone to consumers at a price competitive with their other handsets. But as the iPhone is a device users switch carriers for, and iPhone users are said to be the most lucrative customers over the long term, Verizon and its competitors find the iPhone’s initial right hook worth suffering.
Michelle Maisto is a writer for eWEEK.
Related stories:
Droid Razr Maxx is ‘longest-lasting’ smartphone
Related Websites
Categories: Technology Tags: ces, droid, iPhone, measures, megapixel, term evolution
App Stores Should Cooperate to Improve Smartphone Security
App store vendors need to collaborate more closely to keep smartphone users safe, including putting together a system for grading application security, according to E.U. cybersecurity agency ENISA.
On Tuesday, the agency published a report detailing defense measures it feels app store owners need to implement to keep users safe.
These measures include a new security focused reputation mechanism, which would accumulate views and grades on how a developer or application has performed from a security point of view. Today, there is no way for a user to find out how secure an application is and to what extent it has been checked for vulnerabilities, which is a concern, according to ENISA. Instead users rate applications for their functionality, ENISA wrote.
Implementing such a rating would also motivate developers to think more about security.
“Currently, there is no incentive for, for example, Android developers to invest a lot in security, because their apps will be listed with less secure apps that were developed in one day by amateurs,” said Marnix Dekker, who co-authored the report.
The mechanism would work better if it was implemented across many app stores, which means vendors would have to cooperate. Today, there is no collaboration across the security teams at the different app stores, according to Dekker.
“That is counterproductive and not very efficient,” said Dekker.
Working together they should also try to come up with a more common way of handling patches, Dekker said.
The report doesn’t grade the security in existing app stores, Instead it details what measures should be in place to keep them as secure as possible. besides a system for grading security it highlights the need for app reviews and the possibility to remove applications, using a so-called kill-switch.
“We see a number of new app stores being set up, and just because they are not that popular or have a large market share we still think it is important that security is addressed in the same rigorous way as has been done by the bigger app stores,” said Dekker.
The device security is also key, including how applications run on the smartphone, preferably in a sandbox with limited privileges, and from where they can be installed.
Smartphone vendors have to find a balance between restricting software downloads from untrusted sources and being overly restrictive, which could encourage users to jail-break and possibly introduce higher risks, according to the report.
This is another area that could benefit from vendors cooperating.
Today, users that want to download applications from Amazon’s Appstore for Android have to allow untrusted sources, which could allow a hacker to send an e-mail to a user saying that they should download this cool app, and then take over the phone, according to Dekker. Here users would benefit if Amazon as well as other legitimate third party app stores and Google could come together, he said.
Smartphone security is getting more and more attention from vendors and authorities. In June, Symantec published a report comparing the security in compares Android and iOS security.
The latter won the most categories, but neither was very good at protecting against phishing, Symantec said.
App Stores Should Cooperate to Improve Smartphone Security
Related Websites
Categories: Technology Tags: collaboration, cybersecurity, measures, security teams
Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 Smartphone and Operating System Comparison
Here is a comparison of three Smartphones by three different manufactures with three different operating systems, to see which Smartphone comes out on top and for what reasons. For a fair comparison, the comparison is broken down into four categories which include the handset design, operating system, multimedia features and technology.
The Smartphone’s in question include the HTC 7 Mozart (a Windows Phone 7 Smartphone), the BlackBerry Torch 9800 (which runs on the BlackBerry operating system) and the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S (which is powered by Android).
Handset Design
The HTC 7 Mozart has a touch screen form casing with a 3.7 inch widescreen WVGA touch screen. Its casing weighs 130 grams and measures 11.9cm by 6.02cm by 1.19cm and it has a brushed aluminium casing with a stunning swirl effect etched into the back of the casing.
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 has a slide opening form casing with a HVGA touch screen measuring 3.7 inches in size. Its casing weighs 161.1 grams and it measures 11.1cm by 6.2cm by 1.46cm plus it comes in a dark grey coloured casing with stylish chrome effect edging. this is the only Smartphone with a slide out full QWERTY keyboard.
The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S Smartphone has a touch screen form designed casing complete with a 4 inch super AMOLED display. the casing weighs 118 grams and measures 12.24cm by 6.42cm by 0.99cm and it comes with a sleek black coloured exterior.
In conclusion to the handset design the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is a clear winner due to it having the largest and clearest touch screen. it is the lightest Smartphone to hold although it has the widest casing design due to its larger screen, plus this is the most stylish and attractive handset of the three.
Operating System
The 7 Mozart supports a Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system with an easy to use user interface which supports many apps including a HTC Hub app and social network integration. the tile layout interface is extremely user friendly and the touch screen is highly responsive.
The Torch comes with a BlackBerry 6 operating system complete with a BlackBerry use interface which is easy to use and operate especially for BlackBerry users. it has a user friendly interface and a classic BlackBerry style and performance.
The Galaxy S however comes with an Android operating system and with a fun user interface, complete with a colourful and customisable home screen and highly useable user interface.
In conclusion to operating system it would be a tie between the Galaxy S and the 7 Mozart, as both Android and Windows Phone 7 are so much fun to use and offer the user a great range of apps and most importantly provide high quality usability.
Multimedia
The HTC 7 Mozart has a built in music player and supports a Zune music hub plus it comes with high quality SRS surround sound support and Dolby mobile. it has a8 megapixel camera with video record support. there is a built in video player and it supports amazing gaming thanks to its Xbox LIVE integration.
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 has an integrated media player which supports music and video playback plus there is a colourful album art display provided and a track listing function. it has a 5 megapixel camera lens with flash, zoom and image stabiliser. Games can be downloaded and the Torch provides a fun gaming experience.
The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S comes with a music player which has easy to use touch screen controls plus album art display and music storage facility. there is a 5 megapixel camera which comes with an automatic focus, smile detection, LED flash and video recording capabilities. Video playback and downloadable games provide more entertainment on this Smartphone.
In conclusion the HTC 7 Mozart is the hands down winner regarding multimedia features as it comes with an amazing digital camera feature, highest quality sound features and highly useable and an outstanding gaming experience via Xbox LIVE.
Technology
The 7 Mozart supports 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and assisted GPS navigation with Bing maps. it has 8 gigabytes of internal memory plus 512 megabytes of ROM and 576 megabytes of RAM. Talk time can vary depending on features being used but approximately 5.5 hours of talk time can be gained over a 3G network.
The Torch 9800 supports many technologies including 3G HSDPA and HSUPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and assisted GPS with BlackBerry maps. it has 512 megabyte of internal memory plus comes with a 4 gigabyte memory card and will support up to 32 gigabytes via its memory card slot. An estimated 5.8 hours of 3G talk time can be expected from a fully charged battery.
The I9000 Galaxy S Smartphone supports 3G HSDPA and HSUPA, Wi-Fi technology, Bluetooth technology and assisted GPS with Google Maps. it is available in two memory options which include a 8 or 16 Gigabyte internal memory option plus it can hold up to 32 gigabytes of external memory via its memory card slot. it battery provides an estimated 6. 3 hours of talk time over a 3G network but this can vary depending on features being used.
The technology category is the hardest to judge as all three Smartphone have similar or identical technologies and capabilities, but in conclusion to technology features the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S would have to be the winner as the assisted GPS navigation was preferred with Google Maps support, and its memory option was large providing ideal storage for the Smartphone.
In conclusion
All in all the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is the overall winner in this comparison closely followed by the HTC 7 Mozart. Each Smartphone chosen for this comparison has its own unique features and the BlackBerry Torch 9800 comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard which many users require on their Smartphone, so should not be ruled out. All three Smartphone’s are impressive to use and the choice is actually the end users preference.
I hope this helps you choose the right Smartphone or operating system for you.
Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 Smartphone and Operating System Comparison
Related Websites
Categories: Technology Tags: measures, mozart, multimedia features, operating systems, windows phone
HTC's Incredible addition to the Android phone market
Consider the sleek Droid device, running Google’s Android software, that Verizon Wireless’s site touts. Its form and features could make that carrier’s older devices look a little old and busted.
That might be a problem if you bought the sleek Droid device that Verizon touted in November. While the Motorola Droid finally gave Verizon a respectable competitor to Apple’s iPhone, it compares poorly with the HTC Droid Incredible that Verizon began selling Thursday.
That smartphone, $199.99 to new or renewing customers, is a remarkable piece of work by multiple measures. Its 3.7-inch touch screen has a higher resolution, 480 by 800 pixels, than my first laptop’s display. Its camera’s 8-megapixel resolution exceeds that of many “real” cameras, even if its lack of an image-stabilization mode limits you to blurry or flash-oversaturated photos indoors.
At some point, HTC’s engineers even crammed an FM radio into the thing.
And where Verizon offered no way for Droid owners to lend that device’s mobile-broadband connection to a computer, the incredible ships with “tethering” enabled. Note, however, that Verizon provides software only for Windows and charges $25 a month extra for tethering in most cases; the unsupported PdaNet program also works on Macs and is free.
(The incredible requires a voice-plus-data bundle, starting at $69.98 but not including text messaging or visual voice mail.)
In a quick evaluation, the incredible showed itself to be one of the fastest, most responsive smartphones I’ve seen. With multiple applications open, it zipped from screen to screen without bogging down or pausing. Older Android devices can stumble when multitasking, and the iPhone, for now, can’t multitask at all.
Barely thinner than Apple’s iPhone 3GS despite employing a user-replaceable battery, the incredible lasted five hours and 50 minutes on a call even with its Bluetooth, GPS and WiFi wireless options all enabled.
And, like other Android phones, the incredible can run a vast and growing number of add-on programs — some 50,000 by an outside estimate — in addition to such standard applications as the brilliant driving-directions software introduced on the Droid.
(Confusingly enough, Verizon’s two other Android phones, HTC’s Droid Eris and Motorola’s Devour, ship with significantly older versions of Android.)
HTC added to Android’s usual features with some worthwhile enhancements, most notably a smarter, auto-correcting on-screen keyboard that gets closer to, but doesn’t match, the elegance and efficiency of the iPhone’s.
Its included Windows software can also synchronize the Incredible’s calendar and contacts list with Microsoft’s Outlook. that remedies one sticking point for many would-be Android users: the need to move their data to Google’s own Web services first.
But HTC and Verizon missed a chance to include comparable sync tools for a Mac’s Address Book and iCal and for Apple’s iTunes music software. The model lent by Verizon had enough storage to do much of an iPod’s work, with about 6.5 gigabytes of storage free and a microSD Card slot open for more.
It could be enough to make a Motorola Droid owner think again about the wisdom of that purchase — but then again, the phones forecast for this summer might inflict the same punishment on incredible buyers.
Sprint’s Evo 4G, for example, will match the Incredible’s camera but will add a second, front-facing camera for videoconferencing; offer a bigger screen; and connect to that carrier’s new, much faster 4G network.
Verizon, presumably, will have to match that with its own upgrade at some point — perhaps with a “Droid Inconceivable”?
And then there’s whatever new iPhone Apple will ship this summer. The prototype model infamously lost in a Silicon Valley bar featured its own higher-resolution screen and pair of cameras, among other virtues.
Those aren’t the only options to note. Palm — considered scrap-heap material a week ago –will gain some badly needed money and marketing resources after its impending purchase by HP.
And Microsoft, after years of inertia, has decided to rewrite its smartphone software from scratch. Its upcoming Windows Phone 7 may bring a surprise or two toward the end of the year, if buyers can wait that long.
More so than in any other area of computing, the smartphone market looks like a hothouse environment right now. It’s fascinating to watch things grow so fast– but at some point, I won’t mind seeing it return to the placid stability of the digital-camera business.
Living with technology, or trying to? Read more at http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward.
HTC's Incredible addition to the Android phone market
Related Websites
- Google Improves Image Search for Android and iPhone
- LG Aloha/LU2300 Android QWERTY Will Launch on Verizon as “Ally”
- Mobile Broadband and Mobile Internet Connection Glossary at Life Articles
- How can broadband internet connection is made to both the computers which are in networking? | PC Tutorial
- Mobile Broadband and Mobile Data Connection Glossary
- BSNL Wimax Broadband connection tariff | It happens in INDIA
- Singapore To Start New FM Radio Station | Gov Monitor
- jWIN JX-M55 Shower AM/FM Radio with Mirror Buy $ 19.15 | Televisions Lcd Hdtv
- » Motz Wooden HazelNut Speaker/FM radio for MP3 playersToday’s Review:
Latest Technology Review,News And Buying Guide - In search of better scrobbling: Some recent improvements to Last.fm | Radio Survivor
Categories: Technology Tags: cameras, fm radio, measures, ships
