Maimpok

In addition to the rumored Nexus-branded device(s) expected to hit stores this holiday season we have one more important mobile device that’s said to start selling this fall. Naturally, I’m talking about Apple’s unannounced iPad mini, a late arrival at the budget-friendly tablet business, but nevertheless an important player for that niche.

Whether you like it or not, the iPad mini will sell like hot cakes, just like its 9.7-inch brethren, and bring some serious competition to a niche where the Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire versions are kings.
Just as rumored before the iPhone 5 event, Apple did not announce the smaller tablet during its September presser, intentionally delaying the introduction of a new best-selling device.
Now, word on the street via Fortune is that Apple will issue press event invitation for the iPad mini announcement this month. In fact, a sourse says that the press “can expect invitations to go out on October 10:

If the rumor is true, and if Apple follows its usual scheduling protocol, that would suggest a special event to unveil the product on Wednesday, Oct. 17, with a launch day of Friday Nov. 2 — plenty of time to capture holiday sales.

These details are yet to be confirmed by the company, but we’ll certainly know more in the months to come. However, a November 2 launch would give Apple plenty of time to sell a boatload of iPad minis during the Black Friday and Christmas shopping sprees.
Japanese blog Macotakara, which has been a rather reliable source of Apple-related intel in the past, says that the new iPad is already in production in Brazil and that it doesn’t have any confirmation that production is also underway in China:

According to my source, iPad mini was started production in Brazilian factory. I don’t have information if it has been produced in Chinese factory, yet.

We’ll be back with more iPad mini details in the future, mainly because it will be an important addition to the tablet ecosystem and a device Google and every other Android tablet maker should pay attention to in the coming months.

A couple of days ago we got another Galaxy Nexus 2 rumor for you – the device was spotted on Carphone Warehouse’s site (the device trade-in section) – at which time we took the opportunity to tell you everything we think we know about upcoming Samsung smartphone.

At the time we noted that there aren’t any leaked pictures available for the handset and we wondered whether the GT-I9260 will look like its predecessor, the original Galaxy Nexus, or whether it will borrow from the design lines of its 2012 brethren, the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
Moreover, earlier today a new Nexus-related rumor suggested that it’s LG that’s going to release a flagship Nexus handset, just as it was revealed a few days ago, thus confirming that the new Galaxy Nexus version will not necessarily be a flagship device.
These are all rumors mixed with speculation from the media, but now that the table is set we can show you a new Google+ video that was published on the Google YouTube channel earlier today. The short clip (just over a minute in length) is just what you’d expect from Google, yet another plug to its growing social network. The video, entitled “Google+ for Android” shows us what Google+ looks and feels like on an Android device.
Before you get bored by the selfless promotion, we’ll point out an interesting thing: the video doesn’t feature just one handset – the Galaxy Nexus, which happens to be Google’s latest Nexus-branded handset – but an extra device which clearly isn’t the Galaxy Nexus.
Is it the Galaxy S3? Is it the Galaxy Nexus 2? Is it a Galaxy Nexus 2 that’s based on the Galaxy S3 when it comes to design choices?
Check out the video again starting at the 0:03 minute mark and stopping after just over 2 seconds. You’ll see the following handset in the girl’s hand. The position of the headphone jack – on the top of the device – combined with the position of the rear camera and the Pebble Blue hue make us believe that we’re looking at a Galaxy S3. But why would Google promote the flagship device of Samsung in its Google+ video? Why not just stick with showing the Galaxy Nexus, which, even though it’s still a Samsung-made device, it’s Google’s third Nexus smartphone.
Moving past the 0:05 minute mark you’d be tempted to say that once Google shows us the front of the device it reveals the fact that this Galaxy S3 does not have a home button, therefore it must be a new device. But that’s not really so. In fact, it looks like this is where the Galaxy Nexus steps in to do the demo. The Galaxy Nexus shows up all the way from 0:05 to 0:59, Nexus 7 not included.
You’ll notice that Google shows the Galaxy Nexus in action for the better part of a minute. Even the girl that initially appears to hold a Galaxy S3 now plays with the Galaxy Nexus. But then again she changed outfits as well, so maybe she decided to accessorize with the right handset, but I digress. The characteristic battery cover with Google branding can be easily spotted right alongside the teardrop shape and the absence of a headphone jack on the top of the device.
But then, at the 1:00 minute mark a somehow different device appears, a Pebble Blue-ish one that looks like a Galaxy Nexus. There’s no Home button, but we have no idea what else is different, as we’re only shown the front side. And that front side is partly lying. We did notice that the volume keys and the on/off switch are inverted, and the same goes for the camera position. We grabbed a screenshot of the phone,  flipped that image vertically, then rotated the images to present them in portrait mode and this is what we ended up with:
The After image (on the right) shows us a Pebble Blue-ish device that looks like the original Galaxy Nexus, doesn’t it? But then the buttons are clearly not in the right position, are they? Did Google really have to mess up the clip when editing it? Here’s how the phone appears in the video:
Then, after the 1:03 minute mark we move back to the regular Galaxy Nexus. So what are we to think? Here are some hypotheses:

•  Google screwed up the video by mistake, by combining images of the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Nexus in the first part of the video. In such a case the device shown at the end is especially annoying, as the image has been clearly tampered with.
•  The Galaxy Nexus 2 is purposely hinted at in the video, without Google wanting to necessarily reveal it. That would explain the combination of images that we mentioned above, although the handset shown at the end is still rather puzzling.

The first explanation seems more plausible, although we’re just speculating at this point. Are we seeing things that aren’t there? What do you think about the whole thing? Were you able to notice anything else that may have escaped us?
Thanks, tipster!

NTT DoCoMo has begun addressing the unique translation problems that occur with Japanese speakers. Because the Japanese language is so different, it makes calls from Japan very difficult. This is because most of Japan’s citizens have to learn other languages in order to properly communicate via phone calls. Now that NTT DoCoMo provides Japanese translation, we are one step closer to having seamless communication throughout the world.

Enter Android. With this new plan, all users with Android 2.2 or above will have access to Hanashite Hon’yaku, an automatic translation service. The only other requirements is that the user must be on the carriers moperaU or sp-mode plans. Once this service is established, it will convert all incoming and outgoing speech into the proper language so that both parties will understand the conversation.
The service will commence on November 1st. For starters it, will translate between Japanese and Chinese, English or Korean. Additional languages such as French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai will added as November progresses.
In addition, NTT DoCoMo will be releasing a service titled Utsushite Hon’yaku. This service will use your phone’s camera lense to capture written text, and then translate it. This service will be released on October 11th to hold you over until next month.

One thing that Google and Microsoft have in common is that they are household names. In most houses that have computers, you’ll sit down to Windows and Google search things. The two tech giants have plenty of things in common. Google controls the mobile market share, Microsoft controls the PC OS market share. They have both been sued by Apple. Their most recent commonality is how much they are worth.

Google recently passed Microsoft for the first time in market cap. This makes Google the second largest tech company in the world. According to Phone Arena, Google now has $249 billion in market cap. That is $200 million ahead of Microsoft’s $248.8 billion. This is a huge achievement for Google.
Of course, these figures are a tad misleading. According to Bloomberg, the market is a wild place. So don’t be surprised to see Microsoft take back the second place crown a couple of times before it becomes permanent.

Could Microsoft take it back from Google?

That is definitely the more interesting question. Google has been pushing out all kinds of new technology as of late. This includes Google Fiber, and the expected announcement of the new Nexus later this month. On top of that, Android recently hit 500 million activations and Google+ hit 400 million users.
Don’t count Microsoft down and out, though. The OS giant has some pretty exciting things coming up in the next couple of months as well. Later this month, Windows 8 will see it’s official release. Given that Windows is Microsoft’s biggest cash cow, that is going to mean quite a bit.
Windows 8 has a lot of promising features. None of which are more important than the marriage of desktop PCs, laptops, phones and tablets into one OS. If it catches on, Microsoft could very well end up controlling a good share of markets they have virtually no stake in now.
The market is a very unpredictable place, but the advantage definitely belongs to Google. They simply have more projects and have extended into more markets than Microsoft. The only tech company that is left to pass is Apple. It is going to be a tough task. Apple has been talking people into overpaying for last year’s technology since before Google even existed.
It is amazing that all this started with a simple search engine. Will Google catch up to Apple? Tell us your thoughts.

Samsung certainly took its sweet time with the Galaxy Note 2 release, but once the ball started rolling it was obvious there was no stopping for the second-gen phablet in its road to world domination. The Galaxy Note 2 still has some time to go until it’ll take over the States, but Europe and Asia are already under siege.

The excitement should be at unprecedented heights, especially after seeing some new exclusive features presented, but also a very impressive drop test performed with one of the first ever Note 2 devices sold worldwide.
So, are you excited about the Galaxy Note 2? Do you intend to handle it with care and not abuse it like that crazy Darcy LaCouvee? You do? Then why not head over to Three UK, the first British retailer to release the phablet, and check out its sweet deals?
In theory, you should already be able to purchase the Note 2 from both Three brick and mortar stores across the UK and from the carrier’s official online store. However, at the time of the writing of this article, the online purchasing doesn’t seem to be active.
If you go over to three.co.uk and hit “buy now” after choosing your desired Galaxy Note 2 price plan, but you seem to reach a dead end, you should either try at a physical store near you if you feel like you can’t take the waiting anymore, or wait for the online glitch to be fixed.

Before anything though, try to look closely at all Three price plans and choose the one that fits your needs the best. There’s a very wide variety of choices, starting with a £34 plan that also requires a £69 payment upfront. You can even choose to pay nothing when signing of your 24-month contract, but you will then be asked to cough up £44 each month for two years.
The most lucrative plan for those of you that use their mobile devices frantically seems to be “The One Plan”, which includes all-you-can-eat data, as well as 2,000 minutes, 5,000 texts, and 5,000 Three-to-Three minutes. If that’s your pick, you’ll have to pay £69 upfront, with the next 24 monthly installments going for £36 each.
Finally, there is a pay as you go option as well if you’d like to break free of contract restrictions, but it’s rather pricey, at £499.99 plus a £10 or £15 add-on. All the offers are available for both the Titanium Grey and Marble White versions of the Galaxy Note 2.
We’re pretty sure you know all there is to know about Note 2’s specs and features, but if you’ve been living under one remote rock for the past month or so, you can check out the full spec sheet by clicking here.
Besides Three, all other major British carriers are also expected to start selling Samsung’s new monster by tomorrow, so keep in touch with our website to find out about their offers, too. In the meantime, tell us what do you think of Three’s prices. Are they fair? Will you be going for an off-contract Galaxy Note 2 or one with a 2-year agreement?

The big talk over the last couple of years has been 4G LTE. Known as Long Term Evolution, it is capable of pretty impressive data speeds. Canadian cell carrier Rogers began deploying LTE last year. It is continuing that deployment by recently adding 18 new LTE sites to its coverage map.
With the deployment, Rogers claims that they can now provide LTE to 60% of Canadians. The new LTE sites include:

• British Columbia: Victoria, Abbotsford, Kelowna
• Alberta: Edmonton
• Saskatchewan: Saskatoon and Regina
• Ontario: St. Catharines/Niagara, Oshawa/Pickering/Ajax, Windsor, Sudbury, Kingston, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, London, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Barrie
• Quebec: Quebec, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières

This adds a very nice compliment to the metropolitan areas that already have 4G LTE coverage. These areas include Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Toronto, and Ottawa. It is especially great news for Rogers customers with LTE-capable phones who can now actually use LTE.

When does Rogers plan to finish its LTE coverage?

Unfortunately, there has been no word on that yet. It will probably be quite some time before they do. If you check out the Rogers network coverage map, you’ll see that LTE is still a very small footprint. Most of its coverage area is still HSPA+.
Aside from launching their next wave of LTE, Rogers also took some time to list some fun facts. Since their first LTE site went live last year, Rogers has seen an 80% increase in data traffic. That makes sense, since web browsing on a 4G network is much more enjoyable than it was on 3G.
Although Rogers is expanding their LTE network, do remember to check out the coverage map before traveling. The LTE sites are in most big cities which is great. However, once you leave the big cities you’ll be stuck with 3G again. The focus is getting it to as many people as possible right now. So travelers will have to wait a little longer before they get LTE on road trips.
Has anyone living in these new areas tried out the new LTE yet? How is it? Let us know in the comments!

If there’s one thing we tech lovers all hate, it would definitely be waiting for unveiled devices to start selling. If there’s another, it’s waiting and not being informed about how much longer should we wait for.
With that in mind — and given that sometimes a week or two can make the difference between perfect release timing and a big fail — could a device that needed eight months (!) to get from unveiling to launch still be attractive?
Probably not, but we know at least one company that hopes some of you will answer “yes” to that question. That’s Acer, who first introduced the CloudMobile phone back in February at MWC 2012 only to make it available today, almost 240 days later.
To make matters worse, the CloudMobile is only up for grabs from one retailer in one country, so if there are people interested in the device they have to live in the UK and make do with Expansys’ pricing policy.
The British online store has the CloudMobile available at £289.99 (around $470) in its unlocked, SIM-free flavor with free shipping in 3-5 business days, or express delivery for an additional £6.98.


I’m not sure how many of you still remember the phone from when we first saw it listed at Expansys or when we spotted its user guide revealing the spec sheet, so here’s the skinny on the CloudMobile. This is a pretty good looking mid-ranger with a decent amount of power under its hood, but that has a couple of major flaws.
The battery looks like the biggest downside here, seeing as it’s pretty hard to believe a 1,460 mAh unit can hold for more than five or six hours of talk time between charges. The low-power dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8260A processor might help out a bit in that department, although you win some and you lose some with the CPU, which is not as snappy as some might have hoped.
The rest of the specs are not half bad, including the 4.3-inch IPS display with 1280 x 720 pix res, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory, microSD support, Android 4.0 ICS, 8 MP rear-facing camera, and NFC, but one should think long and hard if he’s willing to sacrifice battery life and raw speed and pay quite a bit on top of it all.
Is anyone willing to do that? How about if the CloudMobile were to get a launch on other retailers and in other countries for less than what Expansys is charging? How far would Acer have to go to lure you in?