Does Windows Phone get a fair shake in US retail stores?

For someone who is thinking about getting their first smartphone, the array of choices can make the purchase a daunting task. While the tech savvy crowd takes to their favorite websites to get in-depth information on available mobile devices, the average customer relies on store representatives to present them with unbiased recommendations based on their needs. The question is, are these people receiving equal and adequate information about the available phones?

In the video below, where the names of people and companies have been beeped out to protect the innocent, a caller plays the role of a flip phone owner looking to purchase his first smart phone. When he asks what smartphones they carry, the representative replies, “We have Androids and BlackBerrys in stock.” After being specifically asked if they carry smartphones from Apple, the representative admits that they do, but they are currently out of stock. The caller then says to confirm, “So all the smartphones you carry are Apple, Android, and BlackBerry?’ to which the representative responds, “Correct.”

Further along in the conversation, the caller states that his son was telling him about a phone with Xbox features. The representative says, “Oh, that’s a Windows Phone.” After being lead a bit, she admits that Windows Phone is another type of smartphone she forgot to mention. She says they carry “a couple” of them but if you’re not into gaming, their 4G LTE phones are their best selling phones.


Japanese phone maker Fujitsu launched Windows 7 and Symbian duel system phone F-07C, this is the first phone in the world running Windows 7 like a PC. 

Bell and Rogers officially announce the LTE HTC Raider, and unlocked one on www.m2cmobile.com

It’s now officially official. We posted internal docs yesterday that showed both Rogers and Bell getting ready to release the LTE-capable HTC Raider. Both companies and HTC have confirmed this Android to be “coming soon” by issuing a press release stating “The HTC Raider will be available in Canada from Bell and Rogers”. However, Bell says this is “coming soon” on their site and Rogers noted on their company blog that they “will begin shipping today and the device will begin arriving in stores tomorrow”. Also missing in the release were price points, our tipsters noted that Bell will release this for $169.95 on a 3-year and $499.95 outright, while Rogers has this marked for a $149.99 3-year price point. You will find unlocked HTC raider on www.m2cmobile.com $689.98.

As we’ve stated before, the specs of the Raider come with a 4.5-inch qHD touchscreen display with a resolution of 540 x 960, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread (probably will be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich), HTC Sense 3.0, HTC Watch, 1GB of RAM, 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording, 1.3-megapixel front facing camera, 1,620mAh battery, Wi-Fi and can create a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 5 devices.

Update: Bell has posted a pic on their site that says the Raider is coming November 1st.

Samsung reconfirms Galaxy S II is getting ICS

The Samsung Galaxy S II is most probably the single best selling high-end Android for 2011, but just like most every other handset around it's running on Android Gingerbread. With the announcement of the Galaxy Nexus and the wind of change coming from Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread will soon start to feel like yesterday's platform. 

Good news is that the Galaxy S II is not going to keep that Android version forever. We've already heard Samsung Italy spill the beans about the upcoming update to ICS for the S II, but now Samsung's UK Twitter account reconfirms that keeping all doubts away.

“Hi, good news - the Galaxy S II will be receiving ICS, but there are no dates confirmed as yet. We will keep you posted,” @samsunguk tweeted.

Now, our guess here would be for early 2012 as the majority of phone makers are aiming to roll out the ICS update around then, but we hope we've erred and it's coming even earlier. In the meantime, you can already get the ICS-based latest version of MIUI ROM on your S II - not a bad alternative, is it?

Some iPhone 4S owners reporting "No SIM card installed" error messages

Back in mid-October an iPhone 4S owner posted a thread stating they were using their phone when it start producing SIM error messages, finally ending with a “No SIM card installed” message. Seventeen pages of responses later, this seems to be a reoccurring issue with no direct tie to any particular carrier or geographic location.

One site, Woo Servers, points out the iPhone 4 use micro-SIM rather than the mini-SIM form factor that was used in previous models. Woo Servers believes that the issue is directly related to a design flaw of the eject mechanism on the new SIM card tray. The blog post states that sometimes the eject mechanism touches the metal contacts on the SIM, creating a short circuit. It goes on to detailing ways to create a barrier with a non-conductive material, such as tape.

The Woo Servers blog post was originally posted back in July of 2010, obviously in reference to the previous model, the iPhone 4, and there has not been any word from Apple on this issue. Perhaps with the additional onslaught of iPhone 4S users experiencing the error as well, we will eventually hear from the creator itself.

New Batteries Last Longer, Charge Faster

Engineers at Northwestern University are creating batteries that last longer and charge faster, a potential solution to battery drain on mobile devices.

Top News

The Score: Technology Gets Cheaper, Gamers Think Like Gamblers

HP Shakes Up Board With Activist Investor

Syrian Protestors Build IPhone App

Judge Declares Warrantless Search Unconstitutional

IPhone 4S Wait Times to Continue

More News >

The technology uses a method to allow more ions to flow through lithium-ion batteries so smartphones, tablets, and even electric cars to hold a charge ten times longer and charge ten times faster. Using the innovation, a typical smartphone is expected to charge fully in 15 minutes and last for at least a week on a single charge.

As consumers use smartphones and tablets for more data-intensive purposes like watching movies, playing games and surfing the web, battery life has become a big concern. Apple just completed software updates on its iPhone 4S to fix battery drain problems, and researchers are always on the lookout for ways to make batteries last longer or charge more efficiently.

Recent innovations include Energy-Minimizing Idle Listening Technology, or E-MiLi, which prevents cell phones from searching for signals while in sleep mode, conserving battery life. Other advances include silicon chips that double processor efficiency, enabling devices to perform intensive activities without battery drain, and even a transparent screen film that allows smartphones to charge up using the sun's rays.

These battery-boosting ideas center on making devices more efficient; however, Northwestern's invention is one of the first to improve the battery itself. This may give the technology wider use across many types of devices.

The engineers report the development also addresses the problem of batteries wearing out over time.

"Even after 150 charges, which would be one year or more of operation, the battery is still five times more effective than lithium-ion batteries on the market today," said Northwestern's Dr. Harold Kung.

Kung predicts the new longer-life batteries could hit the consumer market in five years, good news to smartphone and tablet buyers frustrated at the battery limitations on their increasingly powerful and sophisticated devices.

PC vendors may be readying to abandon tablets

This is definitely news that we never expected to see. Apparently, there are rumors that some tablet makers are going to bow out of the race because they don't believe they can compete in a market with the Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle Fire, and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. 

Today, the DigiTimes reported that anonymous sources in the component supply chain are saying that HP, Acer, Asustek and Dell may give up on tablets next year. Supposedly, a big reason is that both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are bringing very inexpensive options to market, although even before those tablets hit the market HP, Acer and Dell hadn't been able to gain much market share. We're surprised to see Asus on the list though, because the Transformer was the best selling Android tablet for a time. 

There is also talk that the slowdown in iPad demand is proving that the tablet market as a whole is slowing down, but we're not sure the PC market is the solution to that lag. More likely, all of these devices are finding their niches (and all devices are niche devices now, even traditional laptops,) and the markets are settling. Some manufacturers are also waiting on Windows 8 before making a real run at the tablet game, because Windows 8 is expected to be something of a game-changer. Especially given that it is expected to offer the same apps across tablets and PCs. 

Obviously, time will tell, but what do you guys think: has the tablet market already peaked?

Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 now available on www.m2cmobile.com

Good news, Samsung Galaxy Note is already available in the market, you can get it on www.m2cmobile.com