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- Video: KDDI’s iida INFOBAR Android Handset Boasts Unique Design, UI [Update: New Video]
- iPhone 4, App Store Get A Bevy Of Records In The Guinness Book
- Apple Files Text-To-Speech/Speech-To-Text Patent For Phone Calls
- Samsung Postpones Their Mysterious May 24th Event Indefinitely
- This Rilakkuma iPhone Case Has Ears
- Samsung Galaxy S II Gets Renamed 3x For American Debut: AT&T Attain, VZW Function, and Sprint Within
- Will Nokia Become The IBM Of Handsets?
| Video: KDDI’s iida INFOBAR Android Handset Boasts Unique Design, UI [Update: New Video] Posted: 17 May 2011 03:33 AM PDT Japan’s second largest mobile carrier KDDI au unveiled its summer line-up of cell phones today, and one of the 15 new models is particularly interesting: the so-called INFOBAR A01 [JP], which is part of KDDI’s designer sub-brand iida. The biggest selling points are the Android phone’s pretty unique design and UI. First, the specs:
And the UI is simply beautiful, as you can see in the video embedded below (it’s in Japanese, but that doesn’t matter too much in this case): KDDI plans to start offering this Android INFOBAR in Japan this summer. Update:
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| iPhone 4, App Store Get A Bevy Of Records In The Guinness Book Posted: 16 May 2011 01:51 PM PDT
Joining the Muckno Mania festival and Jean-Francois in the big book today: the Apple iPhone 4, and Apple’s App Store. The deadly duo that is iPhone 4/App Store walked away with not two, not three, but four records under its collective belt. The titles it claimed:
Throwing the iPhone and the App Store in amongst the likes of the DS and the PSP seems almost.. cheap. It’s plenty reasonable to stretch the definition of “game portable” to include the iPhone and iPad — it can, after all, provide a gaming experience very much on par with anything else out there. To directly compare the number of “launch” games or otherwise compare quantities, however, is to pit apples against oranges — as much as we love mobile games around these parts, we’re not going to pretend that the majority of games on iOS are of the same caliber or complexity as most of the stuff on DS or PSP. [via IntoMobile]
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| Apple Files Text-To-Speech/Speech-To-Text Patent For Phone Calls Posted: 16 May 2011 01:20 PM PDT
Apple, it seems, feels your pain. The tech giant recently filed a patent application for a text-to-speech/speech-to-text converter. This system should be a step above most current text-to-speech converters that employ an web-based service from companies like Nuance, as Apple's patent describes a hardware-based conversion that occurs on the logic board of the phone. This text-to-speech (and vice versa) system will also differ greatly from Android's text-to-speech service, which focuses mainly on search and navigation. Apple's system, on the other hand, will be used for transmitting a synthesized voice through the phone. If and when this technology comes to fruition, the iPhone's microphone would detect the ambient noise level and determine whether or not text-to-speech functionality would be needed. After a prompt appears asking to use text-to-speech, the callee can type messages that are relayed to the caller after being translated from text to speech. Most of the time, it's actually more difficult to be heard in a noisy environment than it is to hear the other end of the call. But in some cases, like at a concert or in a bar, hearing and being heard both become completely impossible. According to Apple's patent application, the company already has this base covered. When in a situation like those mentioned above, the user can actually have their caller's words translated to text, and then respond by text. That text is then converted back to speech heard by the caller. The only question now is when — and if — we'll get to enjoy it.
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| Samsung Postpones Their Mysterious May 24th Event Indefinitely Posted: 16 May 2011 12:48 PM PDT Oh noes! Just a few weeks back, Samsung told the press that they were going to be announcing something come May 24th. We guessed that “something” was the Galaxy S II’s US launch details — and, given that the Galaxy S II is one of the finest pieces of Android we’ve seen so far, we were pretty excited. Consider our bubble burst. Samsung just hit us up to let us know to cancel our flights and give up our hotel rooms, because their May 24th event has been “been postponed to a later date.” Sad trombone, folks. Sad. Trombone.
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| This Rilakkuma iPhone Case Has Ears Posted: 16 May 2011 08:46 AM PDT
However, this one costs, inexplicably, $19 when the old version, without ears, cost $12. I’m no economics scientist, but ears don’t cost $7.
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| Samsung Galaxy S II Gets Renamed 3x For American Debut: AT&T Attain, VZW Function, and Sprint Within Posted: 16 May 2011 08:38 AM PDT
Interestingly enough, the case advertised on WXG's site seems to be available for all three versions of the phone, which means that they make look pretty similar. If so, the Galaxy S predecessor will be taking its own path, as the original Galaxy S build seemed to differ a bit between domestic carriers. Either way, now that we have some names to dote over, the real question is when the Attain, Function, and Within will hit American shelves. [via Pocket Now]
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| Will Nokia Become The IBM Of Handsets? Posted: 16 May 2011 07:37 AM PDT
What we thought we knew: As of February 11, 2011, the partnership would bring Windows Phone into the mix as Nokia's primary OS for high-end devices, Bing would act as Nokia's default search engine and Nokia Maps would come pre-installed on Windows Phone devices. As far as the consumer is concerned, Nokia would still be making your phones, and Microsoft would be developing your operating system, with the exception of low-end Nokia phones, which will remain on Symbian. Well, all that seems to have changed, now that Murtazin has claimed that Microsoft is in talks to acquire (or, more likely, take a large chunk of) Nokia's handset unit. The Mobile Review editor even claims that the deal could close by the end of this year. Now, obviously this information isn't official, and should thus be taken with a grain or two of salt. In the case that it is true (and I wouldn't put it past Microsoft), let's just take a little look at what this rumored deal may mean for the future. First, it would mean that the Windows Phone platform ends up right where it started, encased in a Microsoft-built handset. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that Microsoft spent billions getting Windows Phone onto Nokia's handsets, only to take over Nokia's handsets and put the OS back on Microsoft phones. Talk about taking the scenic route. Plus, what will happen to Nokia after this? If the original plan called for Nokia to make the phones, and Microsoft to make the OS, then the new plan puts Nokia in charge of a sentence we can't quite Finnish. Ahem, finish. I guess all that would be left of the world's biggest handset manufacturer would be its consulting arm, much like IBM's business position now. In 2002, the technology manufacturer shifted away from hardware and boosted its consulting services with the purchase of PricewaterhouseCoopers to the tune of about $3.9 billion in cash and stock. Since, IBM Global Services has become the fastest-growing part of IBM's business. Perhaps Nokia will follow suit? Regardless, Windows Phone isn’t going anywhere and barring a total meltdown of RIM it will probably be in the #4 spot in terms of handset adoption for most of the next few years. However, a move like this could put WinPho on the map, especially in countries where the name Nokia is synonymous with quality.
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We've learned some pretty amazing (and incredibly arbitrary) things from the Guinness Book of World Records. Did you know that the record for most people dressed as Smurfs was set on July 18, 2008 by 1,253 attendants of Ireland’s Muckno Mania Festival? Now you do. Or did you know that Jean-Francois Vernetti of Switzerland set the record for the largest "Do Not Disturb" door-hanger collection with 8,888 hangers (way to go, Jean-Francois!)? Bam, another brain wrinkle!
I had a beautiful Rilakkuma 
Tech industry insider and Mobile Review Editor Eldar Murtazin hit us with what could be the most shocking bit of leaked | You are subscribed to email updates from MobileCrunch To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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