Motorola Blames Android Market for Performance Issues

Motorola's CEO, Sanjay Jha, blames Google's Android Market for performance issues on smartphones while participating at a webcast presentation at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Technology conference.

He said that out of the total Motorola Android smartphones returned, 70% are sent back because applications affect performance. Google's mechanism is different from other mobile software markets: everyone can upload an application while Google removes only malicious software bits.

"For power consumption and CPU use, those apps are not tested. We're beginning to understand the impact" said Jha. Motorola's own Motoblur, started out initially as a social application, will have a larger impact and more important role in Android smartphone life. "We are getting to the place that we should be able to warn you" for instance when using a certain application that will drain x percent of your battery life.

Source: PCWorld
Via: MobileBurn

HTC ChaCha Gets Its First OTA Update

The HTC ChaCha is the Taiwanese manufacturer's "Facebook" phone -- along with the HTC Salsa -- and both were introduced at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The HTC ChaCha has just received its first ever over-the-air update according to the European support website. 

The new firmware is about application and system enhancements HTC brings to the table with a new version 1.18.401.1. If you already have a ChaCha you should get the over-the-air update notification on your smartphone. Our advice is to back up your data, connect to a WiFi network and download via wireless to reduce data costs and download time. 

Source: HTC

Panasonic Is Staying Away From Uber-Competitive U.S. Market

Panasonic dove in the smartphone business and is already preparing it's first Android-powered handset, the P-07C pictured above -- with Gingerbread, NFC and mobile TV and 4.3-inch screen -- which will be available on Japan's DoCoMo network soon.

Company President Fumio Ohtsubo said that the U.S. market is a tough one. "U.S. demand for smartphones is huge but the prices are cutthroat. I don’t think will come here", he said. The company had earlier plans of U.S. market presence starting 2012 but the recent confession from Panasonic president should set everyone off as we're not likely to see a Panasonic Android in the U.S. (natively) anytime soon.

Source: Forbes
Via: IntoMobile

AT&T HTC HD7S Hardware Tour & HD7 Comparison

The HTC HD7S on AT&T is very similar to the older HD7 on T-Mobile, however there are some significant differences and improvements. As with most Windows Phone 7 devices, the HTC HD7S is running a 1Ghz Snapdragon QSD8250 processor with 576Mb RAM, 512MB ROM, and 16Gb of storage. The 4.3" SuperLCD screen has a 480x800 pixel resolution and 4 point multi-touch. You've also got the usual WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, Assisted GPS, 5Mp camera with dual LED flash, 1230mAh battery, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, and a Micro-USB 2.0 port. The device dimensions are 68 x 122 x 11.2 millimeters, and it weighs 162 grams.

What's different about this device is its Super LCD screen that's supposed to be better than the older LCD screen on the HD7. The HD7S also has some improvements in the camera as well as the hardware buttons (thankfully!) The hardware buttons on the HD7S, and especially the camera button, are now actually usable. The camera button's half-press is easy to feel and the full press is much more distinguishable than the older HD7. The power button has a nice click to it as well. Unfortunately capacitive buttons are still capacitive buttons.

Now what about that screen? The brightness seems about the same as the older HD7, but the color reproduction definitely looks better on the HD7S. The blacks are a bit blacker as well, but the whites are more grey, and the older HD7 clearly has a better range of contrast as you'll notice in our display tests. The HD7S also does not handle continuous tones very well. Ugly lines (banding) show up in graphic blends and gradients. You'll see this in your photos occasionally as well. This is, in part, due to the number of colors that Windows Phone 7 is currently allowed to display. Which screen do you like better, the HD7S or the HD7?

Nokia's CEO Disappointed At His Engineers For Not Using iPhones?

Say What? You'd guess that the largest handset maker in the world would have better things to do than just drool at the competition, but I guess every management style is different. In a shocker report,Businessweek's recent article talks about Stephen Elop's sinking Nokia adventure, and how he once showed disappointment to his team of 11,600 engineers because very few of them showed any interest in the competition they face. 

After very few hands were raised as he asked his enormous team of engineers just how many of them had ever used an iPhone or an Android phone, his immediate response was: 

“That upsets me,” Elop said. “Not because some of you are using iPhones, but because only a small number of you are using iPhones.”

“I’d rather people have the intellectual curiosity to try to understand what we’re up against,” said Elop. 




Surely it's a smart route to know your enemy before planning your next strike, but history has proven that trying to copy the competition won't bring positive results in the long run. If any of you remember, Windows Mobile once evolved to a one handed, soft-key based UI trying to copy Nokia's footsteps when Windows Mobile 5 was released, and we all know how that story ended. Both iOS, Android and even the new Windows Phone 7 have proven to be a true evolution in how Smartphones should be, but at the expense of not copying any of their competitors. I guess this is just another reason why Nokia isn't floating back to the top any time soon under Elop's administration. 

Via: Cult Of Mac 
Source: Businessweek