unlocked cell phones: 3/13/11

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which has seen its market share eroded by the iPhone and Android devices, is holding on by its high margins and still-dominant corporate email services. But even that stronghold is crumbling.
Consumers and investors alike are seeing opportunities for Apple and Google to introduce more secure products that rival RIM's encrypted platform. The PlayBook, to launch on April 10, will be the first device to run on its beefed-up new operating system, dubbed QNX, which RIM plans to integrate into a series of super-smartphones.
In June, RIM paid $200 million for the QNX platform, getting an industrial-strength microkernel, rather than a typical monolithic kernel. The software is the brains behind many nuclear power plants and massive Internet routers, and also controls several entertainment systems in cars, as well as dashboards. And it's the backbone to RIM's strategy for a turnaround.
But RIM is facing two issues which could be a critical battle for its survival. The first is Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs, who blindsided the industry with the popularity of the iPhone. It now has a growing developer community building every conceivable app to improve the iOS experience.
The second is in Google, which recently surpassed both Apple and RIM in smartphone market share. Google gives Android away to anyone who wants to develop products for it, and companies like Motorola and HTC have staked their fortunes on the growing software.
Both Apple with 350,000 apps and Android with 200,000 now have thriving ecosystems with third-party programmers busy churning out new software to support the platforms. RIM has developers working on its BlackBerry software, but it is rapidly losing ground.
With the PlayBook, RIM is developing software that would allow the tablet to run Android apps, increasing the number of programs by piggybacking on Google's success. It's also working with game developers like Electronic Arts to add popular titles such as "Need for Speed Underground" and "Tetris." It's also integrating an iTunes-like music store.
The PlayBook has a 7.0-inch touch screen, compared with the iPad's 9.7-inch display and weighs under a pound, versus the iPad 2's 1.3 pounds. It also features front- and rear-facing cameras for video conferencing and Adobe's Flash software.

Galaxy Player (Android) coming to United States

The one unheralded weapon in Apple’s iOS arsenal version Android is the iPod touch. This relatively low-cost media player can hook in tens of millions of users into the iOS app ecosystem and there hasn’t really been a credible Android competitor until now. Samsung said it will be bringing the Android-powered Galaxy Player to the United States.

The Galaxy Player is essentially the Galaxy S without the phone. You still get a 1-GHz processor, 4-inch display, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, Android Market support and more. The rear camera will only be 3.2-megapixels and there’s a front-facing camera for photos and videos. There will also be a model with a 5-inch WVGA TFT-LCD screen.

The Galaxy Player personal media devices will come loaded with Android 2.2 and the company promises that it will be upgradable to Android 2.3. There’s no word on when this will be coming though and Samsung’s history with software updates in the United States may make some question how quickly that will come.

The Galaxy Player looks like it will be a solid option for those who want smartphone-like capabilities without the long-term contract. We still don’t know how much these things would cost but I’d imagine we could see these around the $200-$300 mark depending on the size and capacity.

Will this be enough to damage Apple’s iPod touch market share? I think that would be an incredible challenge because Apple absolutely dominates the personal media market thanks to its iTunes ecosystem stranglehold.

The Microsoft Zune HD was arguably a better product than previous iPod touch devices but it never gained much traction. Part of that is the iOS product allowed users to dive into the App Store world and the Microsoft one only had a few, relatively-weak apps. Microsoft has finally put the nail in the coffin on the Zune.

Will the Galaxy Player have the same fate?

Tech Industry Crippled in Quake Aftermath

The list of tech-related businesses hobbled by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan continues to multiply, with battery makers, semiconductor companies and LCD display makers facing shortages and slowdowns that may affect mobile device makers in coming months.

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The global supply of rechargeable batteries may take a hit with plant closures by Sony, while halt of shipments may hurt supplies of circuit chips used in mobile devices. Prices of components like LCD panels and memory chips could rise due to shortages sparked by the earthquake, which has damaged factories and wrecked the transportation and power infrastructure critical to manufacturing.
Overall shortages and delays of these critical components may affect prices and delay launches of products reliant on Japanese parts, beginning with the rechargeable batteries included in so many mobile devices.
"It's too early to tell when we can restart output," said Hiroshi Okubo, spokesperson for Sony, speaking on the company's eight closed battery plants in Fukushima prefecture. Sony is grappling with uncertainty over obtaining materials to make batteries, as well as transportation difficulties and power shortages, according to Okubo.
Panasonic, which controls Sanyo Electric, Japan's biggest maker of rechargeable batteries, has halted operations at some of its plants located north of Tokyo as well. Sanyo hasn't seen an impact on lithium-ion battery production so far, according to Sanyo spokesperson Akihiko Oiwa, who added that Sanyo's rechargeable-battery operations are based in western Japan.
LCD screen shortages could impact in particular LG's mobile phones as well as TV makers.
Hitachi's LCD display factory has suspended operations, and slow shipments may affect LG's mobile phones and Nintendo's handheld DS business if the factory is halted for longer than a month, according to analysts at ISuppli. Hitachi has not yet determined when its LCD display company can resume operation, but the company is considering leveraging its relationship with Taiwan-based Chimei Innolux to minimize the risk of a production decline.
Panasonic's factory producing LCD TV panels has been shut down and that may influence the availability and prices of products, it said.
"There has been some damage, though not a fire or a collapse," at Panasonic's LCD factory in Mobara, Chiba prefecture, said Akira Katoda, a company spokesman. Panasonic hasn't determined when to restart the factory, he said, and may consider shifting LCD operations to a plant in Himeji, western Japan, in order to avoid severe shortages.
The chip industry is also likely to be affected if companies like Hitachi Chemical and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical suspend their factories for more than two weeks, according to analysts. Nippon Chemi-Con's halting of aluminum-capacitor production may disrupt semiconductor chip supplies as well.
The domino effect of the quake on the tech industry highlights the sector's reliance upon Japan, which produces about 40 percent of the world's electronics and audiovisual components and 60 percent of the silicon used to make semiconductors.
The quake in Japan was one of the strongest recorded in the world's history, and the largest-ever for Japan, leading to massive loss of life. The quake also led to a series of explosions in the country's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that have resulted in the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

Letterman Does Top Ten Reasons to Buy IPad 2

Many are debating whether to buy the new iPad 2 -- it's thinner, lighter and more powerful. Or is there more?

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Well, David Letterman Tuesday night offered Top Ten Reasons to Buy the iPad 2 on CBS.
10. Special microchip makes it obsolete 50 percent faster.
9. Apple will sell it to you for $100 if you tell 'em Dave sent you.
8. So thin you can use it to chop vegetables!
7. Comes with a camera on the front, one on the back, and one in your neighbor's shower.
6. This is off topic, but who buys tickets to see a live Charlie Sheen show?
5. New app which makes any room smell like biscuits.
4. No Number 4 -- writers still online for an iPad 2.
3. Isn't it about time you did something for you?
2. Instead of a touch screen, it has a lick screen.
1. In this economy, who doesn't have 600 bucks to throw around?

The iPad 2 starts at $500, not $600, Dave. Feel free to add your own reason in comments!

Verizon's 4G Network Doubles AT&T Speeds

Verizon has the fastest 4G network, more than twice the speeds of second-place AT&T, according to a PC World study, but the numbers illustrate the difficulty of blanket network comparisons.

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In testing with a 4G-equipped laptop, Verizon's new LTE network stomped the competition in cities where it's available, but the carrier's 3G network, used by all its smartphone users, posted lackluster results that were even a bit slower than in similar tests conducted last year. That doesn't bode well for the influx of iPhone 4 users, but when the company's first 4G handset arrives this summer, it should be very fast.
The beleaguered T-Mobile, facing spectrum shortages and currently in discussions to be acquired by Sprint, actually had the fastest smartphone network performance and placed second only to Verizon's LTE on laptop tests.
AT&T, the nation's largest carrier, placed in the middle of the pack, and Sprint did well on smartphone tests but came in last for laptop use.
Despite the attractiveness of average numbers for analysis, taken as a whole, the results show that blanket statements about network performance aren't worth much, since regions and availability of networks play a large part of perceived speed. For example, if you need laptop connectivity in one of the 38 markets served by Verizon's 4G network, its LTE offering blows everything else out of the water -- but as soon as you find yourself in an area covered by its 3G network, you'll see some of the slowest speeds measured in the tests.
Also, the difference between the slowest and fastest speeds for a given carrier across different cities is often more than the difference between the slowest and fastest carrier on average. This means that where you live can be a more significant variable than the network you choose.
The good news is that almost across the board, speeds have improved in the U.S. over the course of the last year. However, subscribers are wise to privilege their local experience and word-of-mouth from friends over national averages that mask substantial city-to-city variation.

Motorola DROID X 2, DROID 3, and Targa to come after the BIONIC

If you have been following Verizon's upcoming phones, you're probably aware that the DROID BIONIC will be the next major release by Motorola, as it will be their first 4G LTE smartphone for Verizon and will feature a qHD display, 8MP camera, and a dual-core processor.

After that, there are plans for a DROID X 2 (model MB870 code named Daytona) and a DROID 3. From what we've heard, neither of these will support 4G LTE, with the DROID X 2 also using the qHD display and dual core processor (but still looks like the original DROID X body), and the DROID 3 having a better keyboard design. Below are a few new images as both, but unfortunately the keyboard isn't shown on the DROID 3.

But what is really interesting is the device with the code name Targa, as it looks to be in the DROID X model series (notice the camera hump on the back), but is much more fashionable with a chrome accents on the sides. This device will also support 4G, as it is clearly shown on the back cover. We can also see a front facing camera for video chats, capacitive buttons on the bottom, HDMI out on the side, and under the rear camera it looks to say "13MP / AF" but it is hard to make out. Hopefully it will also have a qHD display a dual-core processor, but our guess is this device probably won't be out until Q4 for the holidays.

It's good to see that Motorola is moving right along with its phone designs.

Motorola Droid X2

Motorola Droid 3

Apple delays iPad 2 launch in Japan for obvious reasons

Apple said it will be delaying the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan as the country deals with recovering from the massive earthquake and subsequent disasters related to it.
The Apple iPad 2 was launched March 11 and you can check out our unboxing on the streets of SXSW 2011 here. The second-generation tablet was supposed to go on sale March 25 but the company said it will delay that “while the country and our teams focus on recovering from the recent disaster.”
It’s the right thing to do, as the iPad 2 is cool and probably would have been well-received in Japan but in the end, it’s just a gadget. There’s no real importance to it when you’re comparing it to the struggles that the people of Japan are dealing with right now.
We’ve also heard reports that Apple went above and beyond for its employees during the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan. It let employees sleep on the store floors, opened late to let people charge their devices and use the WiFi and it also paid for accommodations of many employees who couldn’t get home.
If you’re like me, you believe that the actions of Apple in Japan are just common decency during a crazy situation. Still, you have to give at least the individuals involved credit for coming through when they needed to.
The iPad 2 is still sold out in some U.S. stores and the Apple online store is still saying you’ll have to wait 4-5 weeks until your tablet is delivered.
If you already have your hands on one and might want to make some extra cash, the iPad 2 is selling well on eBay. The device will hit 26 new markets on March 26, so the price may fall down once there are more units in the wild.
Our thoughts are with Japan.

Sprint Gives Rebates to Lure Customers

Sprint is attempting to lure customers from rival carriers by offering those who switch a $125 service credit.

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