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China TD-SCDMA and W-CDMA 3G subscribers by the end of 2011: China Mobile lost its original growth momentum

January 21, 2012 3:17 pm / 4 Comments on China TD-SCDMA and W-CDMA 3G subscribers by the end of 2011: China Mobile lost its original growth momentum

While China Unicom (W-CDMA) has been able to maintain an average 9.8% month by month growth of 3G subscribers in Q4 CY2011, China Mobile’s growth performance during the quarter has been significantly lower, 5.9% month by month on average. In fact China Mobile lost its momentum during the last 5 months of the year with only 6.2% average monthly growth while China Unicom’s has been an average 9.2% monthly growth during the same period which is even sligthly better than the average 9.1% during the first 7 months of the year:
The analysis of this significant trend you can find in The new, high-volume market in China is ready to define the 2012 smartphone war [Jan 6, 2012] which was based on November data.

Intel 2011: a year of records, milestones and breakthroughs

January 21, 2012 12:23 pm / 2 Comments on Intel 2011: a year of records, milestones and breakthroughs

Intel’s CEO Discusses Q4 2011 Results – Earnings Call Transcript [Seeking Alpha, Jan 19, 2012] + Q&A

–> Intel’s industry position and prospects for years ahead [Dec 9, 2010 – March 21, 2011]

reinvented the transistor with our 3-D Tri-Gate technology

–> Intel’s SoC strategy strengthened by 22nm Tri-Gate technology [May 10 – Nov 30, 2011]
unveiled a new generation of personal computers, the Ultrabook
- The industry will bring more than 70 new Ultrabook designs to market this year.
- I’m not seeing this level of excitement in our customer base since, even before Centrino, which is 2003. People are very excited about the feature set and having the PC reenergized.
- I think initially … this will be replacement of existing notebook sales and customers and so forth.
- As we go through the course of 2012, particularly as — and into ’13, as Windows 8 machines rollout, you have the possibility [of cannibalizing notebook sales], and then as I look at our design wins, the probability of many of those machines incorporating touch. At that point, it’s hard to tell what the market impact is going to be because the PC now has the characteristics of the best of all tablets and very high performance-capable machine — notebooks.
- … our goal this year will be to exit the year at about 40% of consumer notebooks being Ultrabook.
  
  –> Intel’s SoC strategy strengthened by 22nm Tri-Gate technology [May 10 – Nov 30, 2011]
  –> Supply chain battles for much improved levels of price/performance competitiveness [Aug 16, 2011]
  –> More on supply chain battles for … [Aug 31, 2011]
  –> VIZIO’s two pronged strategy: Android based V.I.A. Plus device ecosystem + Windows based premium PC entertainment [Jan 11, 2012]
And
when Windows 8 launches, we’ll be ready with both PCs and tablets.

–> Windows 8 Metro style Apps + initial dev reactions [Sept 15, 2011]
–> Windows 8: the first 12 hours headlines and reports [Sept 14, 2011]
–> Windows 8 gaining smartphone like “connected standby” capability [Nov 23, 2011]
–> A too early assesment of the emerging ‘Windows 8’ dev & UX functionality [June 24 – Aug 19, 2011]
–> Microsoft’s next step in SoC level slot management [May 27 – June 2, 2011]
–> Microsoft on five key technology areas and Windows 8 [May 24, 2011]
–> Acer’s decision of restructuring: a clear sign of accepting the inevitable disintegration of the old PC (Wintel) ecosystem and the need for joining one of the new ecosystems under formation [April 1 – Aug 2, 2011]
–> CES 2011 presence with Microsoft moving to SoC & screen level slot management that is not understood by analysts/observers at all [Jan 7, 2011]
- Our intention is to participate broadly … from day one, as you see the Android tablets coming out and Windows 8 tablets coming out.
- And you’ll see us well-positioned in multiple price point on those. And who knows where those prices go over time, but our intention would be to use the advanced silicon integration capability we have to be able to drive the build material cost down, integration up in tablet space, which I think is going to be a sweet spot for Intel.
- [regarding much lower Android tablet sales than most expected for 2011:] actually, they were about where I thought they would be, but I was well below what many of you had. I think the thing is, tablets are a little bit about hardware and an awful lot about software. And I think that until you get to Ice Cream Sandwich, the offering isn’t as powerful as what’s out there with Apple. And as the Ice Cream Sandwich tablets start shipping, I think you’ll start seeing a little bit better receptivity, Google just added the music store, the videos are better, everything got a little bit better bit ICS. And so I think the better test is year 2 here, in terms of is there anyone that can compete with the iPad?
  
  –> “A new tablet from Vizio will come with Intel’s upcoming Atom chip, code-named Medfield, and will run Google’s Android operating system” –> VIZIO’s two pronged strategy: Android based V.I.A. Plus device ecosystem + Windows based premium PC entertainment [Jan 11, 2012]
  –> Intel: accelerated Atom SoC roadmap down to 22nm in 2 years and a “new netbook experience” for tablet/mobile PC market [April 17, 2011]
- And then the other part of that test, of course, is the Windows 8 tablets that are being queued up for production. So I don’t know that the whole tablet thing is settled down by any stretch, and I do have a lot of interest in, if you heard me at CES about these hybrid and convertible designs as they apply to clamshells, where there’s a significant blurring between what people do with tablets and what people do with PCs. So the jury is out on I think the long-term segmentation by form factor.
- But I do think you’ll see more progress on the Android side as a result of ICS.
closed 2 large acquisitions: Together, McAfee and IMC added $3.6 billion in revenue and new strategic capabilities in security and connectivity that will allow us to extend our strategies across the continuum of computing.
- McAfee: has already announced the Deep Safe platform, around which we are building a family of products to take advantage of the combination of McAfee software and Intel silicon to deliver first-of-its-kind protection against day 0 threats.
  and
- Infineon Wireless Solutions: the Infineon acquisition has given us a very strong position in basic phones and feature phones. They shipped 400 million modems this year into the cell phone business.
  
  –> New Mobile and Communications Group (MCG) at Intel [Dec 16 – 30, 2011]
in the fourth quarter, we announced the acquisition of Telmap, whose location-based search and navigation expertise will allow us to add differentiated services to Intel architecture-based devices from Ultrabooks to smartphones
broke ground on the world’s first 14-nanometer fabs, D1X in Oregon and Fab 42 in Arizona:

–> Be aware of ZTE et al. and white-box (Shanzhai) vendors: Wake up call now for Nokia, soon for Microsoft, Intel, RIM and even Apple! [Feb 21 – March 25, 2011]
–> mentioning that in 3 years down to 14nm: Intel: accelerated Atom SoC roadmap down to 22nm in 2 years and a “new netbook experience” for tablet/mobile PC market [April 17, 2011]
- Turning to 2012 … We are forecasting an increase in capital spending to $12.5 billion as we build the world’s first high-volume manufacturing factories for 14-nanometer process technology.
- In terms of the makeup of the specific capital in ’12, it’s more heavily weighted than what we’ve historically seen to building buildings. … it’s a 2-year cycle and we’re building buildings. So we’re seeing that it’s more than 1/3 of the total capital in ’12. I think that piece starts to come down in ’13. The equipment piece actually comes down from ’11 to ’12, and that’s a little more — it’s heavily weighted towards 14-nanometer equipment that we’re putting in place.
2011 revenue and earnings were the best in Intel’s history
- surpassed $50 billion in revenue for the first time, after crossing $40 billion for the first time just last year
  - a fantastic year for our Data Center Group, with revenue up 17% on record microprocessor units, exceeding $10 billion for the first time
  - storage revenue was up 42% to a new record high
  - Embedded Communications Infrastructure business was up 18%, also to a new record high
  - record notebook microprocessor units in 2011, as the PC Client Group grew 17%, fueled by demand in the enterprise and emerging markets
    - China, now the largest PC market in the world, represents 20% of all PC demand, and grew a remarkable 15%. Even with that, China has a household penetration rate of just 35%, versus almost 90% in the U.S
  - Sandy Bridge microprocessors accounted for approximately 40% of the company’s total revenue
    
    –> Intel’s SoC strategy strengthened by 22nm Tri-Gate technology [May 10 – Nov 30, 2011]
  - We’ll launch Ivy Bridge, our first 22-nanometer product, in early spring. Ivy Bridge will improve on the graphics performance of Sandy Bridge by more than 70%. We have a very fast ramp of Ivy Bridge, strong demand …
  - In terms of utilizations, we’re running full out today. We’re just at the beginning edge of 22-nanometer [with the ramping 4 big 22-nanometer factories]. Every unit that we can get out there, we can sell. So we’re running the new stuff full out. … those first wafers that come off the line for 22-nanometer, these are big factories, the very first products are coming off the line now. Those tend to be pretty expensive [therefore Q1 gross margin forecast is 63% vs 64% for the full year on a high 9 — high single-digit revenue growth] and that cost comes down over the course of the year as well.
- this was our second consecutive year of more than 20% revenue growth
volume shipments of our Sandy Bridge server product, code-named Romley, have begun: We’ll launch Romley for servers in the first quarter. We’re seeing right now, stronger demand for Romley than we did from the Nehalem at the same point of its life sort of 2 years ago. The product is in high-volume production now getting ready for our customers assistance launches later this quarter and into early Q2.
- … the Data Center business we have today is not your grandmother Server business that we had for many years, right? There’s other elements in there around storage and networking equipment.
- And the other big element of that is the sales to the large Internet data centers that are being built up around the world. … They tend to be a function of when Facebook or Google or Amazon decides to turn on a new Data Center and they buy x 100,000 units. Or there’s a new generation and they want to have a quick complete swap out.
- And as a result, we’re seeing a change to the historical linearity that we saw in this — in the enterprise Data Center business for many years. So I think you should probably get used to a little bit more lumpiness here and look at the overall year-on-year growth, which is what we’ve been trying to discuss at the last couple of analyst meetings.
we also demonstrated Knights Corner, the first single-chip coprocessor capable of delivering a teraflop of computing power

–> “Knights Corner, the first commercial Intel MIC (many integrated core) architecture product, will be manufactured using Intel’s latest 3-D Tri-Gate 22nm transistor process and will feature more than 50 cores. Furthermore, Intel promises compatibility with existing x86 programming model and tools.” –> Intel’s Knights Corner: 50+ Core 22nm Co-processor [tom’s hardware, Nov 16, 2011]
China is the world’s largest market for mobile phones with more than 950 million subscribers. It’s also at the forefront of the smartphone boom and will be the home of the world’s first 32-nanometer smartphone.
Last week at CES, Lenovo announced the K800 smartphone based on our Medfield SoC. The K800 will be available on the China Unicom network in Q2, and will showcase Intel architecture in a phone with very competitive battery life and outstanding performance.

–> New Mobile and Communications Group (MCG) at Intel [Dec 16 – 30, 2011]
–> “A new tablet from Vizio will come with Intel’s upcoming Atom chip, code-named Medfield, and will run Google’s Android operating system. … Intel’s Medfield & Atom Z2460 Arrive for Smartphones: It’s Finally Here [AnandTech, Jan 11, 2012] …” –> VIZIO’s two pronged strategy: Android based V.I.A. Plus device ecosystem + Windows based premium PC entertainment [Jan 11, 2012]
–> Intel SoC for Cloud Clients [June 27 – Aug 23, 2010]

[Also] announced the Medfield-based smartphone reference design that boasts a sleek form factor, 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of 1080p video playback and 14 days of standby power, clearly demonstrating the low-power, high-performance capabilities of Intel architecture. Yet as the performance of this device that really showcases what’s possible when you combine advanced process technology and the world’s most popular computer architecture. Though Medfield is our very first smartphone SoC, independent testers appointed to benchmarks to place Medfield reference design among the very best in the markets.
It was this differentiated performance and exceptional roadmap and exciting new usage models that led to our multiyear, multi-device strategic relationship with Motorola Mobility. The first of these Intel architecture-based devices will go through carrier certification this summer with commercial availability shortly thereafter. And while the Lenovo and Motorola designs are exciting first steps, we’re not done making announcements in the smartphone space.
On phones, our strategy is a little bit different [from those of PC’s and tablet’s]. We’re coming in at the top of the smartphone market. Our value proposition initially is aimed at best performance and very competitive feature sets and very good battery life. Over — and then let me say on the other end of the market, the Infineon acquisition has given us a very strong position in basic phones and feature phones. They shipped 400 million modems this year into the cell phone business. So over time, what we’ll want to do is grow that capability up by integrating the apps processor and the comm processors onto the same chip, while we drive our initial positions in apps processors from the top down.
[regarding: given that all the smartphones also have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS and … . Do you have that capability today internally? ] Yes, we’ve got the multi-comm capability in-house. A lot of that came with the acquisition from the Infineon group. And that’s got 2G, 3G, they have an LTE solution underway. We’ve had Wi-Fi forever, and we’ve had Bluetooth for many years. So all of those are being integrated into our comms capabilities. In fact, we’ve integrated those business units now into a single unit to be able to accelerate that.
I did not say, I want to be very clear, I did not say that our intent would be to integrate Medfield to baseband. I said over time, you’ll see us move from the low-end baseband-only business in the feature phones and value phones to having it a more integrated capability. I didn’t say when and what generation. I’m really not at liberty to discuss that. But the major thrust over the next year or 2 is going to be to have very high-performance modems as a comps processor and the best-of-class apps processors for smartphones.

AH-IPS technology from LG Display and True HD IPS of LG Mobile LTE superphones: Nitro HD (AT&T) and Spectrum (Verizon)

January 19, 2012 8:45 pm / 2 Comments on AH-IPS technology from LG Display and True HD IPS of LG Mobile LTE superphones: Nitro HD (AT&T) and Spectrum (Verizon)

Penetration rate of IPS/FFS panels in mobile PC sector to reach 20% in 2014-2015, says DisplaySearch [Jan 19, 2012]

The penetration rate of IPS (in-plane switching) and FFS (fringe-field switching) panels in the mobile PC (including notebook, netbooks and tablet PCs) segment is expected to climb from 11% in 2011 to 20% in 2014-2015, Display Search has indicated in a Chinese-language press release.

While IPS/FFS LCD panels held a 31% penetration rate in the LCD TV segment in 2011, DisplaySearch estimated that the penetration rate of IPS/FFS panels in the desktop monitor sector, in which IPS/FFS is being used for specific applications such as medical equipment, will soar to 25% in 2015 from 7% in 2011 as LG Display aims to make IPS panels a standard for desktop monitors.

LG Display (LGD) has been the top supplier for IPS/FFS panels, accounting for 80% share of IPS/FFS panels in 9.1-inch sizes and above. Panasonic LCD serves as a major supplier of IPS/FFS panels for TV applications. LGD plans to venture into the development of AH-IPS technology for display devices in the next few years, DisplaySearch noted.

While Samsung Electronics and some Taiwan-based flat panel makers will also roll out IPS panels, China-based BOE Technology has begun shipping 32-inch TV panels using FFS technology, DisplaySearch noted.

LGD is also a major vendor for small- to medium-size IPS panels, taking up a 25% share in the below 9-inch size segment, and other vendors including Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba each also hold a certain market share in the sector. However, when Japan Display will officially be set up in 2012, the company will become the largest supplier for small- to medium-size IPS/FFS panels, said DisplaySearch.

LG Display introduce new AH-IPS technology for Tablet PCs and smartphones at SID-2011 [Oct 26, 2011]

LG Display introduce AH-IPSat the SID-2011 in Los Angeles. AH-IPS is a new advanced high performance In-Plane switching technology.

LG Display’s3.5-inch smartphone panel supports 960×640 pixel resolution at 326 PPI, delivering the most detailed images among smartphones available on the market.

What is AH-IPS?

AH-IPS technology, an advanced form of IPS, has realizes 1.5 to 2 times the resolution of typical LCD panels. This ultra high resolution becomes particularly valuable when the emphasis is on displaying highly detailed images. The technology also improves display’s color accuracy, which in turn leads to reproduce the original color precisely without color distortion. In addition, it provides greater lighttransmission which translates into lower power consumption while delivering exceptional picture quality, making it ideal for use in outdoor settings.

The AH-IPS panels deliver ultra high resolution, notable for their superiority in use for smartbooks, tablet pcs and smartphones. LGDisplay shows off a full line-up of products which deliver ultra high resolution, including 3.5- and 4.5-inch panels for smartphones, 7- and 9.7-inch panels for smartbooks, and 55- and 84- inch panels for TVs at the exhibition. In particular, by highlighting the strengths of AH-IPS, the company plans to solidify its competitive edge in the smart mobile market. The Company is already enjoying dominance in technology, supply capability, and cost competiveness based on its extended experience in mass production.

“Consumers can enjoy crisp and clean pictures in any device like smartphones and smartbooks with LG Display’s proprietary AH-IPS technology,” said President and CEO of LG Display Mr. Young Soo Kwon. “Our goal is to be the world’s No. 1 display maker that consistently delivers groundbreaking technologies like IPS to innovate the display industry.”

Resolution is generally defined by the total number of pixels whereas image crispness is measured by pixels–per-inch (PPI) which refers to pixel density per unit area. The ultra high resolution technology employed by AH-IPS adds a greater number of pixels than the PPI that can be recognized by the human eye at a typical distance. This makes it more difficult for the naked eye to distinguish each individual pixel, thus making the image sharper.

Apple use IPS-LCD technology for the Iphone (Retina) Ipad etc. Now Apple got some new advanced technology from LG-Display. We will see this kind of displays in the next generation Iphone

LG Nitro HD — True HD [LGUSAMobile, Jan 13, 2012]

LG Display’s AH-IPS Panel Receives the World’s First Quality & Performance Mark from Intertek for Color Accuracy [LG Display press release, Aug 24, 2011]

LG Display [NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220], a leading innovator of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology, announced today that its Advanced High Performance In-Plane Switching (AH-IPS) technology received the Quality & Performance Mark from Intertek, a global product testing and certification company, for color accuracy. The 4.5-inch AH-IPS panel designed for mobile devices is the first LCD module in the world to receive the certification given to products that outperform others in the same category after rigorous independent testing.

AH-IPS was also recognized as superior to a comparable AMOLED display in terms of power consumptionin the same tests.

The two products Intertek tested, a 4.5-inch (HD, 720 x 1280, 329ppi) AH-IPS display scheduled for release in the second half of 2011 and a 4.3-inch (WVGA, 480 x 800, 217ppi) AMOLED display adopted in the Samsung Galaxy S2 handset, are regarded in the industry as the leading smartphone displays.

In tests of color accuracy, the color reproduction of LG Display’s 4.5-inch AH-IPS display was shown to be three times more accurate, receiving a color accuracy^*rating of 0.012 compared with 0.037 for the 4.3-inch AMOLED display. The less accurate color gamut that AMOLED recorded can be proven to result in color distortion, based on a 2008 report by the Advanced PDP Development Center Corporation which showed that when color accuracy exceeds 0.015, colors are perceived differently by the human eye.

In terms of power consumption, the 4.5-inch AH-IPS with a brightness of 600 nits was found by Intertek to consume a constant level of power at 624mW on all color expressions compared to as much as 1,130mW for the 4.3-inch AMOLEDwhen displaying full-white colors. The result demonstrates that, despite its larger and brighter display, AH-IPS can be regarded as a more energy-efficient and environment-friendly display than AMOLED.

Considering current smartphone trends where users are increasingly browsing the Internet and accessing social networking services which heavily utilize white backgrounds, power consumption is expected to grow in importance for consumers, particularly as next-generation 4G smartphones are said to consume 1.5~2 times more power than current smartphones.

“The certification from Intertek proves that AH-IPS is more suitable for mobile displays than AMOLED,” said Sang Yeoup Rhee, Vice President of AH-IPS Marketing in LG Display. “With credible global testing demonstrating the superiority AH-IPS, LG Display plans aggressively to promote and to highlight the superior performance of AH-IPS to consumers.”

Intertek tested color accuracy through a spectrophotometer that measured color temperature against standardized display color, and power consumption under 14 different color patterns using a standardized international test for power consumption under the same conditions.

*Color accuracy is measured numerically by △u’v’. A lower value indicates a smaller gap between the original color and reproduced color

About LG Display

LG Display Co., Ltd. [NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220] is a leading manufacturer and supplier of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, OLEDs and flexible displays. The company provides TFT-LCD panels in a wide range of sizes and specifications for use in TVs, monitors, notebook PCs, mobile products and other various applications. LG Display currently operates eight fabrication facilities and six back-end assembly facilities in Korea, China and Poland. The company has a total of 50,000 employees operating worldwide. Please visit http://www.lgdisplay.com for more information.

Amazing True HD IPS Display [LGUSAMobile, Dec 21, 2011]

LG Nitro HD Launch Event In True HD [Dec 5, 2011]

LG Mobile with celebrity photographer Tyler Shields ushered in the next evolution of mobile device display technology last night during the launch event for LG Nitro HD, the first smartphone in AT&T’s portfolio with a True HD AH-IPS (Advanced High-Performance In-Plane Switching) display. Taking place at the ultra modern New Museum in New York’s SoHo district, guests were able to experience the advantages of LG Nitro HD and its striking 4.5-inch display first-hand, which will be available in AT&T stores and online Dec. 4 for $249.99 with a two-year contract.

LG NITRO HD DELIVERS FIRST TRUE HIGH-DEFINITION EXPERIENCE FOR AT&T CUSTOMERS [LG press release, Nov 28, 2011]

Exclusive to AT&T Customers, Android-Powered LG Nitro™ HDProvides High-Definition Display, Lightning-Fast Processing Speeds and AT&T 4G LTE Capabilities

Key Facts

• LG Nitro™ HD, the first smartphone in the AT&T* portfolio with a true high definition screen becomes the third 4G LTE smartphone for AT&T customers.

• Available in AT&T stores and online Dec. 4 for $249.99 with a two-year commitment.
[No Commitment Pricing $550]

• Dual-core 1.5 GHz processor and access to AT&T’s 4G LTE makes Nitro HD the ultimate high-performance superphone.

• AT&T 4G LTE recently expanded to 15 markets. AT&T plans to reach 70 million Americans with 4G LTE by year-end 2011.

LG Nitro HD

The LG Nitro™ HD, featuring a 4.5-inch True HD AH-IPS display, will be available exclusively to AT&T customers beginning Dec. 4 in company owned stores and online. Setting a new standard for a mobile device, LG Nitro HD comes equipped with a stunning true high-definition touchscreen display, a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor and access to AT&T’s 4G LTE where available, making it the ultimate high-performance superphone. Not only is LG Nitro HD powerful and incredibly fast, it also features multitasking abilities and offers the latest evolution in mobile device display technology for higher image resolutions and text readability.

Taking advantage of LG’s new proprietary True HD technology, LG Nitro HD’s 4.5-inch AH-IPS (Advanced High-Performance In-Plane Switching) display supports resolutions up to 1280 X 720 pixels and offers unrivaled color accuracy, brightness, battery efficiency and performance. LG Nitro HD’s 500 nit display luminance allows for clear viewing in direct sunlight and RGB stripe pixels deliver incredibly accurate true-to-life color rendering.

LG Nitro HD offers incredibly quick speed, power and efficiency in a slim design (5.27” X 2.67” X 0.41”) making it easy to view, create and share in HD. LG Nitro HD multitasks seamlessly and with AT&T 4G LTE and HSPA+ where available, it easily browses even the most content-heavy websites and runs HD games with ease, including HD gaming from the Gameloft HD game store and Zynga Poker HD.

An 8-megapixel HD camera and 20 GB of total memory (4 GB on-board plus 16 GB via In-box microSD) allows users to capture and view crystal-clear True HD images and video. Wi-Fi Direct™ technology and DLNA® features offer wireless HD content streaming options, making it easier and faster than ever to share HD content with the people and networks that matter the most.

AT&T is the only U.S. carrier providing 4G using both HSPA+ and LTE technologies. HSPA+, when combined with enhanced backhaul, provides customers with compatible devices 4G speeds, meaning customers get a faster and more consistent 4G experience, even when outside of an AT&T 4G LTE area.

Pricing and Availability

Be one of the first to experience the phenomenon of LG Nitro HD on Dec. 4, available exclusively in AT&T company owned stores and online for just $249.99 after a two-year contract.

Quotes

“With the LG Nitro HD as one of our last smartphones to arrive in 2011, we’re closing out the year with a bang,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “We’ve seen others get close to a true HD experience on Android superphones this year, but Nitro HD is the one that does it right.”

“LG continues to push the boundaries of what is possible on mobile devices today,” said Tim O’Brien, vice president of marketing for LG Mobile. “LG Nitro HD will be the first smartphone available for AT&T to feature True HD AH-IPS capabilities, and the advantages of a crystal clear display are immediately evident after seeing the device first hand. In addition to sporting the clearest and crispest display on the market, LG Nitro HD will be one of the fastest and most powerful smartphones available.”

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. 4G speeds delivered by LTE or HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul, where available. Deployment ongoing. Compatible device and data plan required. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Learn more at att.com/network.

Limited-time offer]. LG Nitro HD with new 2-yr wireless agrmt of $39.99 or higher and min $15/mo data plan is $249.99. Wireless Service: Subject to Wireless Customer Agrmt. Coverage and svcs not avail everywhere. Credit approval req’d. Activ. Fee up to $36/line. Geographic, usage, and other terms, conditions and restrictions apply, and may result in svc termination. See store or visit att.com for complete details and coverage maps. Data: Min $15/mo, 200MB, data plan required. If you exceed your initial 200MB allowance, you will automatically be charged an average of $15 for each additional 200MB provided. All data allowances and overages must be used in the billing period provided or they will be forfeited – details att.com/dataplans. Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge up to $1.25/mo. is chrg’d to help comply with gov’t obligations and chrgs; it is not a tax or gov’t req’d chrg. Early Termination Fee (ETF): After 30 days, ETF up to $325 based on device (details att.com/equipmentETF). Restocking fee up to $35. Taxes and other charges apply.

VERIZON WIRELESS AND LG MOBILE CONTINUE LEGACY OF INNOVATION BY OFFERING A TRUE HD MOBILE EXPERIENCE WITH SPECTRUM™ BY LG [LG press release, Jan 9, 2012]

Latest LG Smartphone Boasts True HD IPS Display, Verizon Wireless 4G LTE, Dual-Core Processor and ESPN ScoreCenter App with Exclusive HD Feed

LAS VEGAS – From the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Verizon Wireless and LG Mobile today announced Spectrum™ by LG smartphone, exclusively for Verizon Wireless. Spectrum is the first smartphone for Verizon Wireless to feature a 4.5-inch True HD In-Plane Switching (IPS) display, the same display technology used in premium LG HD televisions. Intensifying its HD capabilities, Spectrum by LG will give customers exclusive HD access to the ESPN™ ScoreCenter application. Spectrum will be in the Verizon booth (Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, Booth #30259) and LG booth (Las Vegas Convention Center, Central Hall, Booth #8204).

ESPN’s ScoreCenter app is supported by an exclusive HD video feed, giving customers the exclusive access to ScoreCenter stats, images and videos in 720p HD. Scoreboards and live game details include in-game stats, news and video. Personalization features allow fans to customize their ScoreCenter experience by highlighting their favorite teams and leagues from around the world, all in crystal clear high-definition.

Showcasing LG’s True HD technology, Spectrum by LG supports 1280 x 720 resolution and offers one of the brightest and sharpest displays available on a mobile device. Spectrum’s 500-nit display luminance and Real-Stripe RGB pixels offer users clear viewing in direct sunlight and accurate true-to-life color rendering.

Spectrum also features a Qualcomm® 1.5 GHz dual-core processor combined with 4G LTE connectivity for robust power, multitasking and download speeds. Verizon Wireless leads the way in 4G with the fastest and most reliable 4G network in the United States, covering more than 200 million people in 190 markets.

Key features:

• 4.5-inch True HD IPS display provides natural colors and brilliant, undistorted HD images in 16:9 aspect ratio. Pictures and texts are incredibly sharp with 329 pixels per inch (PPI) screen density.

• Protected by Corning® Gorilla® Glass, the True HD IPS display uses Real Stripe subpixel arrangement so images never get blurred.

• Android™ 2.3 Gingerbread (Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade available the first half of 2012); support for Google™ Mobile Services including Gmail™, YouTube™, Google Talk™, Google Search™, Google Maps™ and access to more than 300,000 apps available to download from Android Market™.

• Preloaded Netflix app allows Netflix subscribers to stream the latest movies in high-definition quality.

• Qualcomm 1.5 GHz dual-core processor makes multitasking seamless. Customers can surf the Web, check email and update social networks effortlessly.

• ESPN’s ScoreCenter app offers the most comprehensive sports coverage available on an Android device whether you follow the NFL or Premier League, ICC Champions League or MLB™, NASCAR or Formula One™. Customers can follow teams from more than 500 leagues around the world with an exclusive 720p high-definition feed for Spectrum by LG while connected to the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network or Wi-Fi.

• Spectrum supports Dolby® Digital Plus, which allows users to maximize their HD multimedia experience. Dolby Digital Plus can stream up to 7.1 channels of surround sound through home entertainment systems.

Additional features:

• 8-megapixel rear-facing autofocus camera with LED flash to snap beautiful pictures and 1080p video capture

• Front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat

• SmartMovie HD app—create and edit HD videos right on the Spectrum by LG

• Mobile Hotspot capability—share 4G LTE connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices

• Bluetooth® Version 3.0

• 16 GB microSD™ card pre-installed with support for up to 32 GB microSD card

• SmartShare—share media wirelessly to DLNA®-enabled devices

• HDMI mirroring capable via MHL

Pricing and availability:

• Spectrum by LG will be available on Jan. 19 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at http://www.verizonwireless.com for $199.99with a new two-year customer agreement.

• Customers who purchase a Spectrum by LG will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 monthly access and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

Customers Can Score the Game Winner

LG and ESPN are teaming up to give fans the chance to score an unbelievable sports weekend, including two tickets to ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Event and a trip to the big game in Indianapolis on Sunday, Feb. 5. Customers can visit http://www.SpectrumbyLg.com or http://www.verizonwireless.com/spectrum for official rules, details and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of sports history.

For more information and product images, please visit LG’s online press kit at http://www.LGnewsroom.com/ces2012.

True HD is now mobile [LG data sheet, Jan 9, 2012]

Spectrum by LG sharpens the vision of what’s truly superior in mobile technology. Beneath its exceptionally large 4.5″ True HD IPS display is a mighty combination of power and speed.

A Qualcomm® 1.5 GHz dual-core processor compliments Verizon 4G LTE connectivity, generating an astoundingly fast overall experience. You’ve never seen this before—expect to be blown away.

Perfecting the Pixel – The True HD IPS display utilizes Real Stripe subpixel arrangement, which is denser and 1.4 times sharper than PenTile™ subpixel arrangement on typical Super AMOLED display

True HD IPS Super AMOLED

Take It All In

The 1280 x 720 pixel resolution provides additional screen space for more visible page content when compared to a typical smartphone screen.

Down to the Details

The 4.5″ True HD IPS display provides brilliant, undistorted HD images at a 16:9 aspect ratio. With 329 pixels per inch screen density, pictures and texts are sharp even at the smallest details.

Record videos at 1080p and snap beautiful pictures with the 8 MP camera/camcorder.

Super Powered Multitasking – By utilizing the dual-core processor plus the 4G LTE connectivity, multitasking is seamless on Spectrum. It zooms its way through web surfing, emails, and social networks effortlessly

GOOGLE™ INTEGRATION

• Android™ 2.3 Platform (Gingerbread)

• Android Market

• Google Maps™ Navigation

• Preloaded Apps: Alarm/Clock, Browser, Calculator, Camera, Contacts, Email, Gallery, Gmail,™ Google Search, Latitude,™ Maps, Market, Messaging, Music, Phone, Places,™ Polaris Office, Richnote, Smart Movie HD, Video Player, Voice Dialer, Voice Recorder, Voice Search, Voicemail, YouTube™

CONNECTIVITY

• Verizon 4G LTE Network₁

• 4G Mobile Hotspot – share a data connection with up to 10 other devices (or 5 devices on a 3G network₂)†

• Bluetooth® Version: 3.0

• Save Up to 100 Bluetooth Pairings₃

• Supported Bluetooth Profiles: headset, hands-free, serial port, advanced audio distribution (stereo), messaging access profile, audio/video remote control, object push, file transfer, phone book access, audio/visual distribution, audio/visual control transport protocol

• Wi-Fi® Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n

• Wi-Fi Direct™ – connect directly to another Wi-Fi Direct device without having to join a wireless network

• S-GPS Support for Location Accuracy

₁Verizon’s 4G LTE Network not available everywhere.

₂Depends on device memory and network availability.

₃Depends on available memory

†Verizon Wireless service required. Features based on carrier program availability.

ENTERTAINMENT

• True HD IPS Solution – 16:9 aspect ratio, 1280 x 720 pixel resolution at 329 ppi provides more visible page content and sharper details

• 1080p HD recording₁

• Smart Movie HD – make and edit HD videos

• SmartShare – share media wirelessly to DLNA®-enabled devices

• HDMI® mirroring via MHL₂

• Video Player with Touch Lock, Dolby® Sound Effect, Next/Previous Button, More Menu Options and Resume Play Function; supports DivX,® WMV, MP4, 3GP, and 3G2 Formats

• Music Player for MP3, AAC, AAC+, M4A, WMA, AMR, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, and WAV Formats

• Convenient Music Controls – access music playing controls from the Notifications panel

• Preloaded Verizon Apps: Backup Assistant, Guided Tours, My Verizon Mobile, V CASTSM Media Manager, V CAST Tones, Verizon Video, VZ Navigator®

• TuneWiki – discover new music via recommendations from friends and fellow users; play music, radio, and video with synchronized lyrics

• Accelerometer – switch portrait/landscape view; control games by turning/tilting phone₃

• USB Mass Storage₄

₁Content must be shared on larger HD display for 1080p playback.

₂MHL Adapter required (sold separately).

₃Only available on certain interactions with the touch screen.

₄USB cable and microSD™ card required (both included).

CAMERA/VIDEO

• 8 Megapixel Rear-Facing Autofocus Camera and Camcorder with LED Flash

• 1.3 Megapixel Front-Facing Camera for Self-Portraits and Video Chat

• Rear-Facing Camera Resolutions: 3264 x 2448 (default), 3264 x 1836, 2560 x 1920, 2048 x 1536, 2304 x 1296, 1280 x 960, 1536 x 864 pixels

• Front-Facing Camera Resolutions: 1280 x 960 (default), 1280 x 720, 640 x 480 pixels

• Image Editor – zoom, crop, and rotate

• Face Tracking – automatically finds and focuses on faces

• Tag Location – add geographic data to images

• Customizable Brightness,1 Scene Mode, ISO, White Balance,₁ Color Effect,₁Timer, and Shot Mode

• Camera and Video Zoom: up to 4x

• Full HD Video Recording – record video in 1080p HD for sharing or playing on a larger display₂

• Video Resolutions: 1920 x 1088 (default),₃1280 x 720, 720 x 480, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 176 x 144 pixels

• Audio Recording – record video with or without sound (mute)

₁Available in both camera and video modes.

₂Content must be shared on larger HD display for 1080p playback.

₃Depends on available memory.

CONVENIENCE

• Simultaneous Voice and 4G Data – browse the web or send email while on a voice call

• Connect to Social Networks

• Enhanced HTML Web Browser

• Text, Picture, Video, Group (send a message to a group of contacts who can see and reply to the group), and Location Messaging†

• Mobile Instant Messaging

• Email – mobile personal & corporate email

• One-Touch Speakerphone₁

• Speaker-Independent Voice Commands

• Text-to-Speech

• MP3 Music Ringer Support (song clips)†

• 31 Unique Ringtones + Vibrate & Silent Modes

• TTY/TDD Support

• Contacts – unlimited fields₂ for numbers, email addresses, a group, physical addresses, organization names, IM screen names, web addresses, events, notes, nickname, and picture ID₃

• Speed Dial – 98 entries + 1 voicemail default

• Proximity Sensor – locks touch screen and buttons while talking on phone

• Touch Vibration for Tactile Feedback₄

• Languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, French, German, or Italian

• FOTA – upgrade firmware over the air†

₁Only available during a call.

₂Depends on available memory.

₃Depends on photos stored in your gallery.

₄Only available on certain interactions with the touch screen

SPECIFICATIONS

• Technology: CDMA 1x, EVDO Rev. A, LTE

• Frequencies: 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA DCN, 700 MHz LTE

• Data Transmission: LTE, EVDO Rev. A, 1xRTT

• Processor: 1.5 GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S3

• Weight: 4.99 oz.

• Display: 4.5″ True HD AH-IPS, 16:9 display ratio, 1280 x 720 pixel resolution at 329 ppi, 16.7M Color, LCD Capacitive Touch Screen

• USB: 2.0 High Speed

• Standard Battery: 1830 mAh

• Usage Time: up to 498 minutes₁

• Standby Time: up to 348 hours₁

• Micro USB Charging Port₂

• Memory: 4 GB onboard + 16 GB pre-installed microSD card (slot is expandable up to 32 GB)₃; 1 GB RAM

₁Certain features may use more power and cause actual time to vary.

₂USB Cable included.

₃1.81 GB for apps; 16 GB microSD card included. Additional memory cards sold separately

ACCESSORIES

• Standard Battery*

• Travel Adapter and USB Cable*

• 16 GB microSD Memory Card*

• Extended Battery (3,040 mAh)

• Wireless Charging Pad (WCP-700)

• Wireless Charging Battery Door

• Media Charging Dock

• Vehicle Mount

• Vehicle Power Charger

• Bluetooth Headsets (HBM-235, HBM-570, HBM-905)

• Bluetooth Headset with Charging Cradle (HBM-585)

• Bluetooth Headset with Speakerphone and Solar Charging Cradle (HBM-810)

• LG TONE™ (Bluetooth Stereo Headset HBS-700)

*Included with phone

Pixel Qi finding ruggedized devices are the 2012 opportunity

January 16, 2012 6:49 pm / Leave a comment

“In addition we have got many design wins what is the next crop of tablets and other mobile devices coming out this year. We will see how those will do against Apple and so forth.” Then: “A small fab can produce one million panels a day. … A couple of million dollars are needed to adjust the process for Pixel Qi. … A committed order of at least half million is needed to start. … We have 1st tier design wins now. We will see what will come out of that.”
Mary Lou Jepsen in the very last video from Charbax (see embedded in the end)

Pixel Qi sunlight readable displays at CES 2012 [Jan 11, 2012]

Pixel Qi’s LCD displays work in direct sunlight and can be used without a backlight. Turning off the light makes the screens look nearly black and white, but cuts the screen’s power consumption by as much as 80 percent. In an Android tablet, the screen could use as much as 75 percent of the device’s power.

from the accompanying Liliputing article:

The company has been showing off its display technology for the past few years, but few consumer products have shipped with Pixel Qi screens. The Notion Ink Adam tablet was available with an optional 10 inch, 1024 x 600 Pixel Qi screen, and the OLPC XO 3.0 tablet will also be available with a Pixel Qi display. But the display company has also had success with more specific markets where outdoor readable displays are a necessityrather than an option.

For instance, military tablets with GPS have been used by paratroopers who need to land on the ground and situate themselves immediately without first looking for shade. Pixel Qi has also been talking to companies interested in using sunlight readable displays in cars, trucks, tractors, and other motor vehicles.

At CES, Pixel Qi is showing off the same three screen sizes and resolutions as last year:

7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel

10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel

10 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel

But the company has improved viewing angles and reflection. The screens still don’t have the best viewing angles around. If you look at the display from too sharp an angle, colors will wash out — but that’s not a problem that’s unique to Pixel Qi. While some high-quality devices with IPS displays can be viewed from nearly 180 angles without any loss of clarity, many other cheaper displays offer poorer viewing angles.

Coming 2012! SOL’s 7″ Android-Windows Tablet [SOL Computer, Jan 13, 2012]

Sol Computer introduced a 10 inch Windows netbook and 10 inch Windows tablet with Pixel Qi sunlight viewable displays last year. Now the company is adding two new 7 inch modelsto its lineup, one with Google Android, and another with Windows.

Pixel Qi screens are dual-mode LCD displays which work as full-color screens when the backlight is on, or high-contrast, nearly black-and white displays with the screen off. What makes them special is that you can still see the screens even when the backlight is off, using nothing but ambient light.

Sol founder Chris Swanner says the tablets and netbooks have been popular with pilots and other professionals that work outdoors and in bright, sunlit environments where you really don’t want to have to deal with glare — and where a Windows device that can run highly specialized applications is a must.

This is a niche product though, and it costs a lot to add the Pixel Qi screens to a small number of devices. The Windows tablet has an Intel Atom processor, a capactive touchscreen, and a $1099 price tag — and Swanner says he’s not making a lot of profit at that level. But he’s selling around 20 to 30 devices a month. If volume were to go up, pricing could conceivably go down.

The two new tablets will have 7 inch, 1024 x 600 Pixel Qi displays. A prototype of the Android tablet was on-hand at the Consumer Electronics Show, but I was told that the hardware hasn’t been finalized — the plastic case may be sturdier on the final unit.

Sol Computer 7 inch Android tablet with Pixel Qi display [Jan 10, 2012]

This is a 7 inch Android tablet with a Pixel Qi screen. Final pricing and hardware specifications haven’t been finalized yet.

from the accompanying Liliputing article:

Sol doesn’t have a working prototype of the new 7 inch Windows tablet yet, but Cynovo, the Chinese company Sol works with to build its tablets had a similar model with a standard 7 inch LCD display to show.

Pricing hasn’t yet been set for the new 7 inch tablets, but they’re expected to cost less than the 10 inch, $1099 model.

The New Sol Tablet PC Featuring A 10″ Sunlight Readable Display [SOL Computer, Aug 12, 2011]

$1,099.00

Here is the latest sunlight readable Tablet PC offered by Sol Computer.com. We named it the Sol Tablet PC because it will add “some SOL to your life”. Take this Tablet PC anywhere and you will always be able to see the no glare screen display in brilliant high resolution. We have incorporated the latest Pixel Qi transflective back light technology built into our PC Tablet which provides a unique AntiGlare LED Display. Our Sol Tablet PC can be viewed perfectly in direct sunlight – no other tabletPC or IPad can make such a claim. Also, because the Sol Tablet PC has this antiglare technology built into it’s LED no glare screen, battery consumption is reduced significantly. In fact, this Win 7 Tablet PC, when viewed in full sunlight (reflective mode), LED power consumption is cut by up to 80%. This increases battery life to more than 10 hours!

$59.99

Checkout our Newest Product – DryCASE Tablet™ a flexible, crystal clear waterproof case that allows complete use of your tablet or e-reader while keeping it dry and clean. The vacuum seal takes all the air out of the case so there is no way that water can enter. There can be no exchange of gas (air) for liquid (water). The vacuum seal also allows full use of your touch screen because it seal flush on the face of the tablet.

“Only one tablet has been successful in the last year” [in the next video from Charbax Mary Lou Jepsen names as “the tablet from Cupertino everyone is familiar with”, i.e. Apple iPad, saying that “unfortunately we are not in that tablet”] – CFO John Ryan – from the video embedded into the article below:

Pixel Qi Shifting their Business Strategy away from Consumer Electronics [Good e-Reader, Jan 12, 2012]

Pixel Qi is well known for developing a new breed of screens that deliver an unparalleled experience in direct sunlight and draw very low power. The company has seen their technology showcased in the early One Laptop per Child program in Africa, which initially drew industry wide attention to the company. In the last year their screens were featured in various ZTE Tablets in China and recently in the Notion Ink Adam. In the last six months 3M invested heavily in the future of Pixel Qi and has influenced the direction of the company away from consumer electronics to more specialized industries, such as the military.

We have spoken with both the CFO and CEO over the years at various industry events and their decision to gravitate away from the fickle nature of e-readers and tablets was a wise decision. The company instead plans to focus their attention on specialized market segments that would benefit more from their technology and lead to more long-term contracts.

One of the first ways they will deploy their Pixel Qi technology is within the military and give soldiers a new way to receive mission data. If you look at your average paratrooper or ranger they are constantly receiving revised mission parameters and in harsh conditions like a dessert. Being in very bright environments or dark make no different with Pixel Qi, whose very essence is low-power no-glare technology which would make lives easier. Most military operations worldwide still employ maps and written communications, to receive updates to their mission requires many steps and circumstances change many times. The plan is for soldiers to have heavily versatile tablets that last for weeks and are wired into mission control to receive new updates on the fly. Another way their technology will be employed is with the hydro electric community where operators are frequently in high elevations in direct sunlight.

3M’s investment in Pixel Qi is allowing the company to deal with multiple fabs in Taiwan where the company is based and diversify their portfolio. Obviously when you receive a huge investment from a mega-corporation whose reach is all-encompassing you will receive a ton of connections within very specialized niches. 3M is found everywhere from cars, phones, hospitals, and tape. This will turn the company around and we were told in the near future their technology will be everywhere, but in products we will never see. Obviously Pixel Qi is not stepping totally away from the end user experience and they are currently dealing with a number of existing clients in future product launches. Check out our whole interview where CFO John Ryan talks to us in detail about the new direction of the company and demonstrating two new screens they brought with them to CES 2012.

We spoke with CFO John Ryan of Pixel Qi at CES 2012 where he talked about the new direction of the company, the influence of their new investor (3M) and where the company is going for the rest of the year. This is a great interview and gives you an unique prospective you can’t find anywhere but Goodereader.com

Pixel Qi at CES 2012 [Charbax, Jan 15, 2012]

The 1280×800 10.1″ Pixel Qi screen is ready, here it is demonstrated under bright spotlight simulating the sun as well as in some prototypes of upcoming Android tablets. Founder, CEO and inventor Mary Lou Jepsen talks about the latest news from Pixel Qi, where they are going, what they are up to.

Google adding a style guide (design guidelines) to Android (4 years late)

January 13, 2012 6:08 pm / 1 Comment on Google adding a style guide (design guidelines) to Android (4 years late)

While it is still quite distant from Microsoft’s achievements in design, and taken together with Nokia even more so, it is better to be late than never come to that discipline at all. And Google is definitely here by any accounts now. A couple of quite impressive illustrations:

– “Pure Android” dialer, action bar and settings design solutions in the upper row vs. the corresponding iOS designs:

– “Pure Android” sampling of UI elements from Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7:

– “Pure Android” sampling of icons from Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7:

Introducing the Android Design site [Android developers, Jan 12, 2012]

[This post is by Christian Robertson, who leads the Android visual design group. He is also the designer of the Roboto font family. —Tim Bray]

Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) is our biggest redesign yet — both for users and developers. We’ve enhanced the UI framework with new interactions and styles that will let you create Android apps that are simpler and more beautiful than ever before.

To help you in that mission, we’re introducing Android Design: the place to learn about principles, building blocks, and patterns for creating world-class Android user interfaces. Whether you’re a UI professional or a developer playing that role, these docs show you how to make good design decisions, big and small.

The Android User Experience Team is committed to helping you design amazing apps that people love, and this is just the beginning. In the coming months, we’ll expand Android Designwith more in-depth content. And watch this blog for a series of posts about design, and invitations to Google+ hangouts on the topics you care about most.

So head on over to Android Design, and make something amazing!

Matias Duarte interview: Android Design guidelines announcement [TheVerge, Jan 12, 2012]

Google’s Matias Duarte dropped by our trailer today to talk a little about Android, including the announcement that his team is introducing a new Android Design website and style guide.

Four essential twitter reflections on that:

mjeppsen Matt Jeppsen
4 yrs after Android was released. Brilliant. RT @verge: Google introducing UI & style guidelines for Ice Cream Sandwich http://bit.ly/zfgXSF

razvanpetru Razvan
Reading the Android UI guidelines, one thing’s clear – they’re not in the same league as iOS/WP7 yet.

JCDunn Jonathan Dunn
I like the intent behind the Android design guidelines. Content too. Adoption’s the nut. Especially w. an uncurated app ecosystem.

nickheer Nick Heer
“Please stop making iOS-style apps” is a good call from Google: http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/pure-android.html

Please note that before Android had only rudimentary User Interface Guidelines [June 1, 2009]:

Icon Design Guidelines and Android Icon Templates Pack»

Your applications need a wide variety of icons, from a launcher icon to icons in menus, dialogs, tabs, the status bar, and lists. The Icon Guidelines describe each kind of icon in detail, with specifications for the size, color, shading, and other details for making all your icons fit in the Android system. The Icon Templates Pack is an archive of Photoshop and Illustrator templates and filters that make it much simpler to create conforming icons.

Widget Design Guidelines

A widget displays an application’s most important or timely information at a glance, on a user’s Home screen. These design guidelines describe how to design widgets that fit with others on the Home screen. They include links to graphics files and templates that will make your designer’s life easier.

Activity and Task Design Guidelines

Activities are the basic, independent building blocks of applications. As you design your application’s UI and feature set, you are free to re-use activities from other applications as if they were yours, to enrich and extend your application. These guidelines describe how activities work, illustrates them with examples, and describes important underlying principles and mechanisms, such as multitasking, activity reuse, intents, the activity stack, and tasks. It covers this all from a high-level design perspective.

Menu Design Guidelines

Android applications make use of Option menus and Context menus that enable users to perform operations and navigate to other parts of your application or to other applications. These guidelines describe the difference between Options anontext menus, how to arrange menu items, when to put commands on-screen, and other details about menu design.

This is in sharp contrast to the other platforms as per:
UI Guidelines for mobile and tablet web app design [Mobile Web Programming, Oct 15-20, 2010]

Official user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) guidelines from the manufacturers, links to which you can find below, are a source of inspiration for mobile web and app design. Here, you will find guidelines, samples, tips, and descriptions of common mistakes. Many of the guidelines focus on native application development, but we can apply most parts of them to mobile web design too.

Remember to provide the best possible experience on each platform. Do not deliver an iPhone experience to a BlackBerry user. Every platform has its own UI and usability guidelines that every user is expecting on your app.

iOS Human Interface Guidelines (iPhone, iPod and iPad) – PDF version

~~iPad Human Interface Guidelines~~iPad HIG was merged with iPhone in iOS HIG (see above)

UI Guidelines for BlackBerry 6.0 Smartphones – PDF version

UI Guidelines for BlackBerry 4.x, 5.x Smartphones – PDF version

Android User Interface Guidelines

Nokia N9 & Meego 1.2 Harmattan UX Guidelines

UI Guildelines for BlackBerry PlayBook – PDF version

BlackBerry Browser Content Design Guidelines (PDF)

Motorola’s Best Practices for Android UI

Nokia Design & User Experience Library

Symbian^3 UI Style Guidelines (PDF)

Nokia Developer Design Portal (PDF)

Symbian UI Wiki

Nokia Series 40 UI Style Guide

Bada Application UI Guide

Sony Ericsson UI Rulebook

UI Guidelines for Windows Mobile

Windows Touch UI Guideline

UI Design & Interaction Guide for Windows Phone 7 (PDF)

webOS UI Guidelines

Hildon UI Guidelines for Nokia Maemo

MeeGo UI Design Guidelines (shared by Mark Jones)

More tips on mobile web design on the Programming the Mobile Web book.

Do you know any other UI Guideline? Insert the link on the comment area.

Now a verdict on the new Android Design Guideline from the maturity point of view:
Half-Assed [Nick Heer, Jan 12, 2012]

On one hand:

Android OEMs and app developers will be provided with a set of in-depth guidelines on how to build atop of Android.

The initial version of the guide includes information like typography, color palettes, and other stylistic advice, as well as a breakdown of the components making up the Android UI.

That’s great for everyone. Developers get a clear idea of what an Android app should look like, and how it should behave. Users get a consistent, reliable experience.

On the other hand, though:

Matias stresses that what we’re seeing today is a purely optional aid for Android designers, not something that Google will seek to enforce.

Half-assed.

The Pure Android page is a wise attempt to note Android conventions and to try to convince developers not to adopt iOS conventions. It’s a good guide throughout, but without more direct intervention from Google, Android will remain a convoluted and fragmented platform.

Exclusive: Google Launches Style Guide for Android Developers [WIRED, Jan 12, 2012]

Matias Duarte, the head of user experience at Android, aims to change the way developers design for the platform.
…

On Thursday, Google launched Android Design, a web site created specifically to help aid developers in the creation of applications for ICS [version 4.0, also known as ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’]. The site offers a comprehensive visual to third-party application developers, giving suggestions on everything from how to implement different visual elements to overall back-end patterns for the OS itself.

In theory, it will help developers better understand just how the Android team thinks about layout and implementation, while simultaneously giving suggestions to interaction designers on how to maintain visual integrity. Basically, it will help both first-time developers and Android veterans make apps look less crappy.

“We haven’t really had a style guide,” Duarte says. “We haven’t really given you a lot of guidance on how to migrate your application from a phone, perhaps, to a tablet. We’ve done so only by example.”

Which has been a chief complaint of developers whenever another version of the OS is released. Developers are forced to reverse engineer the code from the new version and translate that to the previous version of Android to figure out how to move their app to the new software environment. What’s more, Android averages a new version launch about twice a year. It’s an incredibly fast pace in the mobile world, not to mention a pain in the ass for mobile developers who just want to keep their apps up to speed.
…
“This is the second part of our Ice Cream Sandwich launch,” he says. As this site goes up, I can feel like it’s finished. Like ICS is truly complete.”

Continuing with some more twitter reflections on the style guidelines:

gameshints Erik
Will crappy android apps be a thing of the past? New style guidelines from the android team: http://developer.android.com/design/index.htmlandroid.com/design/index.h…

Godzilla07 Jacob
Another thing for Android porters to ignore “@verge: Google introducing UI and style guidelines for Ice Cream Sandwich http://bit.ly/zfgXSF”

PANCAKESo Terry
#Android #Design site. Finally a good resource for patterns, style guidelines and building blocks of android UI design. http://developer.android.com/design/index.htmlandroid.com/design/index.h…

A few other twitter reflections on the style guide:

tsuki_chama Ian Renton
Wow, Android finally has a UI style guide. Shame that didn’t arrive four years ago!

noscope Joen
From the Android style guide (http://moc.co/8b): “Don’t mimic UI elements from other platforms” — Amen!

Meza Meirion Williams
Android’s UI grows up: A decent style guide for UI, UX and designers of Android applications http://developer.android.com/designandroid.com/design

Developer_Tech Developer Tech News
Developers get design help from #Android, thanks to new style guide http://bit.ly/ylxLSg #Dtech #appdev #google #design

Nokia’s Lumia strategy is capitalizing on platform enhancement opportunities with location-based services, better photographic experience etc.

January 12, 2012 6:46 pm / 4 Comments on Nokia’s Lumia strategy is capitalizing on platform enhancement opportunities with location-based services, better photographic experience etc.

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Updates: – Bing Translator on Nokia Lumia [Nokia Conversations, April 27, 2012]

When travelling overseas there are sometimes barriers that get in the way of having fun, or just being able to survive in far-away lands. The main one is often the language. Bin that old dog-eared phrase book and instead step into the future, with the Bing Translator app – your very own personal assistant when it comes to understanding what’s being said, or what’s the menu.

Gone are the days of looking blankly at the menu in a foreign restaurant and relying on the pictures for reassurance. No longer do we need to thumb our way through an out-of-date travel guide for something that resembles a translation of “Which way to the train station?”. With the Bing Translator app for your Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 900, you’ll be able to spend more of your holiday-time with your feet up, relaxing.

…

As useful as that is, sometimes you need to get your point across using the spoken word rather than a written one. This is when thevoice function comes in very handy.

If you need to ask somebody where the nearest public toilet is, for example, just say it into the phone and you’ll be presented with a written version along with a speaker icon. When pressed this will read out your translated phrase in the language you’ve selected.

Alternatively, if you just want to quickly translate something, it may be easier to type the words in manually. You can do this using the keyboard function. Select what language you’re translating from and to, type in your text and voilà! The text has been deciphered.

…

Bing Translator is free and is available for your Nokia Lumia 610,Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 900.

– Lumia 900 Introduction to Trigger Smartphone Renaissance for Nokia and Microsoft [IHS iSuppli’s press release, Jan 18, 2012]

With the introduction of its critically acclaimed Lumia 900, Nokia Corp. has set the stage to regain some of its lost smartphone market share—and to re-establish Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone as a leading contender in the cellphone operating system (OS) business.Largely based on Nokia’s strong support, Windows Phone is set to regain the No. 2 rank in the smartphone operating system in 2015. Finnish-based Nokia in 2009 lost its second-place worldwide ranking because of rising competition from Google Inc.’s Android and Apple Inc.’s iOS.In 2015, however, Windows Phone will account for 16.7 percent of the smartphones shipped, up from less than 2 percent in 2011, according to the IHS iSuppli Mobile & Wireless Communications Serviceat information and analysis provider IHS (NYSE: IHS). This will allow Windows Phone to slightly surpass Apple’s iOS to retake the market’s second rank behind Android, as presented in the table below.Meanwhile, Nokia stands to stem its plunge in smartphone market share.

Once the perennial leader in global smartphone shipments, Nokia by the second quarter of 2011 had fallen to the third rank in the market behind Samsung and Apple.

“One of the hottest new products unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show was the Lumia 900, a Windows Phone-based smartphone sporting a flashy set of features that makes it competitive with the best alternatives offered by the Android camp,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. “This hot product represents Nokia’s first step to reclaim its market share. Combined with Nokia’s efforts to drive the development of the Windows Phone ecosystem, the Lumia 900 and its successors will help Microsoft to reclaim its No. 2 ranking in smartphone operating system market share in 2015.”

Coming to America
The Lumia 900’s flashy feature set, along with Nokia’s strategy for selling the product, shows that the company is targeting the North American region, a market that, even in the height of Nokia’s dominance, historically had been an Achilles’ heel for the company.

“The introduction of the Lumia 900 shows that Nokia believes the road back to smartphone dominance runs through North America,” said Francis Sideco, senior principal analyst for consumer and communications at IHS. “And the way to win North America is through its operator channels.”

The Lumia 900 was developed with North American market dynamics and smartphone users in mind, with the product having been designed in and launched first in the region—another departure from Nokia’s historical approach of repurposing devices designed in and for other parts of the world. The smartphone’s large 4.3-inch organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) touch screen display, 12-megapixel camera as well as partnerships with Rogers, Telus, AT&T and T-Mobile are concrete examples of Nokia executing on this strategy.

LTE to the Party
Another feature of the Lumia 900 also illustrates how serious Nokia is about addressing the North American market: its support of the high-speed Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G standard.

“In the past, Nokia always introduced new technologies in its home European market first,” Sideco said. “However, for the Lumia 900—Nokia’s first LTE phone—the company initially is rolling it out in North America. This demonstrates Nokia’s commitment to re-enter the region.”

Furthermore, Nokia is targeting the mobile network operator (MNO) channel to sell its phones in North America. Nokia previously eschewed the MNO approach, limiting its penetration into the region.

The company likewise is leveraging Microsoft’s business/enterprise sales channels to appeal to corporate customers in the region, offering value-added services in a play for the enterprise sector. Such moves will position Nokia to compete with Research In Motion Ltd., whose Blackberry phones are popular among corporate users.

Opening Windows of Opportunity
Although Nokia is not the only seller of Windows Phone smartphones, the company is expected to dominate the market, accounting for 50 percent of all Microsoft OS-based handsets sold in 2012, IHS iSuppli predicts. The company’s share then is set to rise to 62 percent in 2013. Nokia’s portion of the market will begin to decline in 2014, as other companies increase their sales of Windows Phone products.

Nonetheless, Nokia will drive the development and expansion of the Windows Phone market, opening up opportunities for other players, Lam said. “Because of Nokia’s support, apps developers will eagerly shore up the Windows platform. This will cause other makers of Windows Phone devices, such as Samsung and HTC, to offer more products supporting the OS—further expanding the market.”

Read More > Apple Leads with Mixed 3G Technology Adoption in Mobile Handsets

– Windows Phone will overtake iPhone in just three years’ time, say respected tech analysts [Daily Mail, Jan 20, 2012]

Windows Phone will become the number two smartphone operating system in the world by 2015, predict analysts iSuppli.

The analysts say that Android will remain the top operating system – as it is now – but Windows Phone will steadily rise until it overtakes iOS, the operating system used in Apple’s iPhones and iPads.

The key to the revival will be Nokia – and in particular its U.S.-focused Lumia 900 handset, which launched at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

…

End of Updates

Congratulations, Nokia, now get to work [c|net, Jan 12, 2012]

On Monday, during an afternoon crowded with other press conferences, Nokia pulled in a packed house to introduce the Lumia 900 for AT&T. Given the leaks that preceded the announcement, the news wasn’t surprising. But that didn’t stop the Lumia from taking CNET’s Best of CES award in the smartphones category.
…

The Lumia 900 won because it’s a great device (I’ll get to why in a moment), but there’s more to it than that. It’s also exciting because it marks the first clear and strong collaboration between a manufacturer, carrier, and Microsoft. And that’s something that the OS has missed for a long time.

Consider that unless you actually turned them on, it wasn’t clear that the earlier devices even had WP7. For the most part, it was almost as if the OEMs just took an Android phone, cleared the memory, and installed the new OS. Indeed, there was little unique about them beyond what was inside.
…

Two other authorative appraisals:
– Why Windows Phones Are the Most Exciting Handsets at CES [Wired, Jan 12, 2012]
– Best phone of CES 2012: Nokia Lumia 900 [ZDNet, Jan 12, 2012]

And finally the company itself Interview: Chris Weber of Nokia [TheVerge, Jan 12, 2012]

Chris Weber is President of Nokia for North America.

With Nokia’s second announcement “milestone”, now for the North American market I was astonished to find quite another article even subtitled as NEWS ANALYSIS: Nokia has its sights set on becoming the most important company in the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem. The only trouble is its strategy will fall short for a number of reasons. [eWEEK, Jan 11, 2012]. Since the title goes as “Nokia’s Windows Phone Strategy Will Fail: 10 Reasons” I need to only list the reasons here and let people to read the article itself:

The product designs are subpar
Nokia’s brand loyalty is waning
Microsoft has lost mobile customer trust
Windows Phone 7 can’t attract enterprise customers
Consumers would rather go with Android
The price is cheap (but that’s not a good thing)
The marketing is off
The first device should have been the winner
There’s no fanfare
There’s a general lack of market understanding

Then I suggest an indeed in-depth analysis of Nokia’s strategy which should go as far as clear understanding of Nokia’s differentiators both within the Windows Phone offerings and outside of them. As a result of that the reader him/herself could decide what is the truth about the Nokia smartphone strategy.

Before looking into Nokia’s key differentiators for Windows Phone based Lumias here is a good presentation of the company’s latest overall approach with Lumias, especially for North America which is the lead market for them in the developed countries space:

Chris Weber on Nokia Lumia 900, Lumia 710 and North America [nokia, Jan 10, 2012]

Chris Weber is President of Nokia for North America, and in this interview with Nokia Conversations at the CES 2012 show in Las Vegas he talks about the new Nokia Lumia 900, Lumia 710 and Nokia’s re-entry into North America.

Here “beautiful design” is mentioned as one of the most important differentiators for Lumias. We have already discussed this extensively in a separate post: Best practice industrial and user experience design – Nokia and Microsoft [Dec 17, 2011]. The second thing mentioned specifically here is the screen technology. Again, this has already been discussed quite extensively in The leading ClearBlack display technology from Nokia [Dec 18, 2011].

Although not specifically mentioned in the above video interview there were three unique differentiators already introduced with Lumia announcement in October:
– Free Nokia Music and MixRadio
– Free Navigation (i.e. location-based services, Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps)
– Free ESPN Sports Hub
which were described as part of the Nokia Lumia (Windows Phone 7) value proposition [Oct 26 – Nov 2, 2011] post.

Then we had an extensive post on Nokia’s North America centric approach for Windows Phone 7 [Aug 11 – Dec 20, 2011] from which a specific positioning information should be highlighted here as well: “Nokia and T-Mobile deliver a leading entry-level Windows Phone experience to the nearly 150 million Americans still to make the transition to smartphones.” Chris Weber is just mentioning that in the interview above so you could quite easily come by that if not included here.

So please keep in mind all those things when getting familiar with this next step in Nokia’s Windows Phone based smartphone strategy!

Nokia Lumia 900 [press.nokia.com, Jan 10, 2012]

Coming exclusively to AT&T in the coming months in cyan and matte black, the Nokia Lumia 900 has a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack Display for rich, bright images both indoors and out, faster connection speeds based on cutting-edge 4G LTE technology, and a long-lasting 1830 mAH battery for enjoying content all day.

The primary camera includes Nokia’s exclusive Carl Zeiss optics, with large aperture (F2.2) and wide angle focal length (28mm) for high-quality, uncropped images even in low-light conditions. In addition, the Nokia Lumia 900 includes a front-facing camera boasting a large aperture and a wide angle lens that ensures sharp, bright images for high-quality video calling, right out of the box

Lumia 900’s unique “dual wide mode function” based on large aperture (F2.2) and wide angle focal length (28mm) camera for high-quality, uncropped images as was demonstrated by Nokia SVP, Kevin Shields on the Nokia CES press conference: Nokia Lumia 900 [Jan 9, 2012] from [11:26] on:

… typical smartphone which will have 35mm focal length … most smartphones today when put into wide mode, in 16:9, they chop-off the top and bottom … Cameras with the 28mm focal length [and wider aperture] like Lumia 900 … that gives you the idea what the same scene would look like taken from the same position [see the image above the embedded video] … [from immediately preceding “industrial design” part: … 20 years of investments in polycarbonate … color inherent in the material …]

First Nokia smartphone designed specifically for the US features LTE, large display and exclusive applications [Nokia press release, Jan 9, 2012]

Las Vegas, US – Today at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nokia and AT&T announced the Nokia Lumia 900, the first of Nokia’s Windows® Phone-based range to feature high-speed LTE* connectivity. With Nokia’s largest display, the Nokia Lumia 900 delivers a rich content experience from a phone that still fits easily in your hand.

…

Nokia’s third Lumia smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 900 builds on Lumia’s head-turning design on the outside and a rich social and Internet experience on the inside. People Hub is the quickest way to connect with friends with Live Tiles for real-time updates and a fast Web browsing experience with Internet Explorer Mobile.

“The introduction of the Nokia Lumia 900 with AT&T is another significant milestone in the ongoing rollout of Nokia’s global smartphone strategy,” said Chris Weber, president of Nokia Americas. “The Nokia Lumia 900 is designed specifically with the US in mind and the announcement of this collaboration with AT&T, in addition to other recent announcements, signifies a new dawn for Nokia in the US.”

The Nokia Lumia 900 benefits from a range of leading content experiences:

– The AT&T U-verse Mobile** app lets U-verse TV subscribers browse the U-verse TV program guide, schedule and manage their DVR recordings, and watch hit TV shows while on the go. The U-verse Mobile library includes more than 100 TV series and more than 700 TV shows from a variety of genres.

– Nokia Drive, available to download from Windows Phone Marketplace, provides free voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation with a dedicated in-car user interface that turns the Nokia Lumia 900into a GPS navigation device.

– The exclusive ESPN sports hub is pre-loaded on Nokia Lumia smartphones, and provides a one-stop sports application for news, videos and scores.

– The CNN App for Windows Phonesprovides the latest news and video from CNN’s reporting around the globe and direct access to iReport, CNN’s participatory news community. Launching globally for free in the next month, the CNN App will be exclusive to Nokia users for 90 days.

– The Univision App will be exclusive to Nokia Lumia users in the U.S. and Puerto Rico for 18 months, delivering unique and exclusive Spanish-language content experiences, including Univision entertainment, sports and soccer coverage, plus news, cooking and local content for different U.S. markets – all in one App.

– A partnership with EA to bring over 20 of the world’s most popular games to the Windows Phone marketplace, coming first to Nokia Lumia devices.

“Nokia and AT&T worked hand in hand to bring the Nokia Lumia 900 to market. Our powerful 4G networkreally amplifies the benefits of the Nokia Lumia 900. Sharing high quality images and videos with its integrated social networking functions is faster than ever; content from U-verse Mobile is more enjoyable on the crisp 4.3-inch screen, and with its huge battery people can do more without worrying about recharging,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president of devices for AT&T. “Together, we are working to supercharge the ecosystem around the Nokia Lumia 900 and the Windows Phone platform.”

*Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. 4G speeds delivered by LTE or HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul, where available. Deployment ongoing. Compatible data plan required. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Learn more at att.com/network.

**U-Verse Mobile: Access to select content requires qualifying U-verse TV plan or monthly subscription fee, and WiFi connection and/or cellular data connection. Available content may vary by device and/or U-verse TV subscription and is subject to change. Data charges may apply.

Read more about the Nokia Lumia 900 on Nokia Conversations.
http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/01/09/nokia-lumia-900-born-for-the-usa

From the above listing of services you may miss the Free Nokia Music and MixRadio announced in October. In fact you shoul look into Lumia 900 US specification to find the equal (or even better) replacements:

Music Services

Zune

AT&T Radio

The Verge noticed a quite important hardware differentiator not mentioned anywhere:
Lumia 900 doesn’t have a Pentile Matrix display, Nokia confirms [The Verge, Jan 11, 2012]

Nokia’s official US Twitter stream and our own photos have confirmed a commonly held suspicion: the Lumia 900 doesn’t have a Pentile Matrix subpixel layout. Unlike the Lumia 800, its AMOLED display has its subpixels in an RGB arrangement instead of RGBG. The effect of this change is that you’ll get better fine-grain detail on the 900 while also avoiding the subtle color-fringing that the Lumia 800 exhibits on high-contrast edges (such as between black and white). Nokia has been somewhat evasive about this issue up until that tweet, perhaps in an effort not to diminish its other AMOLED displays. Still, we’d say this is easily the best undocumented upgrade of CES 2012.

Edward @mobile_ed 11 Jan 12

@NokiaUS is the Lumia 900’s display PenTile? No one has been able to get a straight answer so far.

Nokia US @NokiaUS 11 Jan 12

@mobile_ed No, the display isn’t Pentile.

Although Nokia calls the displays on all three of its Lumia devices ClearBlack — with that branding referring to the anti-reflective polarizer — the underlying display tech differs. See below for a comparison.

More information

On differentiation strategy:

The best report in my view is The Engadget Interview: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop at CES 2012 (video) [Myriam Joire, Jan 11, 2012]. Suggest to watch on the linked page since there is no possibility to embedd that here. Some quite important answers:

– Photography, cameras and that all experience is core part where we intend to differentiate in the future.

– A large amount of software development [is] happenning at Nokia to support our efforts on Windows Phone because we build on that platform. Something like Nokia Drive, as an example of location based services. Even in the are of photography, one can imagine that even (sic!) all Windows Phones have cameras, all will take pictures and all will have gallery, you can imagine an environment where unique software included in a Nokia environment, a Lumia product, to make sure the quality of photographic experience is better than evrybody else’s.

– So when you have a platform you can do a lot of things in and around of that.

– Differentiation with location based services, such as Nokia Drive, is just the beginning. There is so much more to come.

– Nokia specific APIs are possible later because Nokia has reserved the rigth to have such, although very much aware of the dangers of [platform] fragmentation.

– Lumia 900 will be available in a couple of months. Nokia will be very aggressive with the price. Even for the first time smartphone purchasers will be introduced.

The next on the list of best reports is PC Magazine’s Nokia CEO: MS Purchase Rumors Bogus [Jan 11, 2012]. Some exerpts from that written report which add information to all that given above:

PCMAG: How should we expect to see promotion and marketing for Windows Phone here in North America?

Elop:I think what you will see, and you’ll see us emphasize, is the most important thing for us to do is to introduce people to the concept that defines the Lumia experience, including the Windows Phone elements. What our work shows is that when someone has a Lumia device in their hand…their overall willingness to recommend the device to a friend goes up very high. People really enjoy the experience. But they have to see it to experience it.

We’ll take the steps in stores to make sure that sales associates understand how the products are differentiated. We’re seeding a large number of devices into the markets where we introduce the products, so large numbers of sales people and sales managers in stores have the devices in their hands…you’ll see us really try and connect the consumer with that first experience of Windows Phone, and any step that we need to take or any barrier that needs to be knocked over between those two points is what we’ll focus on in our marketing.

PCMAG: Within the Windows Phone ecosystem, there are other vendors who are putting out other phones with fancier specs.

Elop:I’m going to differentiate on “fancier specs,” because the specs that I appreciate are who takes the best picture, who has the best video-conferencing imagery and so forth. What we’ve done with the Lumia 900 is we’ve done a lot of work around the optics of the camera. We demonstrated this during our press conference; for example, with the primary camera, we showed how with a variation in focal length and wide aperture, our pictures…get a much wider collection of the information, regardless of pixel count or anything like that.

Part of this is part of our marketing opportunity, to help show people the results. Where is the best picture? And that is the spec I’m most interested in.

PCMAG: How do you communicate quality, as opposed to just “higher numbers are better?”

Elop: It’s the same argument on many different functional specs. You’ve got N+2 of these, we have N; is that better? Often it doesn’t matter, or it’s even worse. Part of our marketing opportunity is to help explain and show the experience, so when you pull out a Lumia and see the experience with that processor, with that screen and say, wow, this is fast, it doesn’t matter that someone else has something that appears to have more of something.

Then cnet’s Nokia CEO talks of Windows Phone foothold in U.S. [Jan 10, 2012] comes on the list. The notable excerpts giving additional information are:

The Lumia 900 was supposedly designed specifically for the U.S. market, but what does that mean? Which features were more critical to U.S. consumers versus others around the world?

Elop: For one, LTE is really important in the U.S. And it’s not as relevant right now in Europe, because there aren’t as many commercial LTE networks deployed. But here in the U.S. LTE is the centerpiece. But adding LTE costs more, and it also impacts the design of the product. You need a bigger battery, which drives the size and thickness of the device.

But larger screens are also much more popular here in the U.S. than in other parts of the world.

Years ago, Europe and Japan were much more advanced than the U.S. But that’s changed in the last 4 or 5 years. The U.S. is where we see much of the innovation and application development.

We also want to move the emphasis away from feeds and speeds. That’s what we were trying to show during the event yesterday when we showed the camera. There are a lot of things you can do to improve the camera on a cell phone through the science of photography with focal length and aperture.

…

How important is the U.S. market to Nokia?

The U.S. is very important. This is where the innovation and app development is happening, and it’s being echoed around the world. So it’s very important for us to participate and be right in the middle of the innovation. We need to compete here so that when the innovations developed here land elsewhere we aren’t a step behind.

You’ve mentioned that LTE is very important in the U.S. market, and it will eventually be important elsewhere. But the frequencies that U.S. carriers are using for LTE are different than the frequencies used in other other parts of the world. And there was a recent report from the GSM Association that warned of a fragmentation issue. How does that affect Nokia as a device maker?

A similar thing happened when 3G was first deployed, and over time carriers around the world became more aligned. It’s to their benefit to get commonality. But for us it’s not an impossible technical problem. It creates more work for us. And it may be more expensive to build devices. But it can be done.

The bigger problem is around spectrum shortages. This is a problem that varies dramatically region to region. And different countries are handling it in different ways. I don’t know how to solve the problem, but it does land in the price of products.

Following that there is The Wall Street Journal with Nokia’s Chief Takes Aim at U.S. Market [Jan 10, 2012] with the following excerpt here:

…
WSJ: Nokia has been a failure in the U.S. for years. What’s changed this time?

Mr. Elop: The very specific approach we’ve taken—and this does represent a shift in strategy for Nokia—is we’ve been more deliberate in the introduction of a device that’s specifically targeted at U.S. consumers. Start with the work we have done jointly with AT&T to ensure that it’s a 4G device, taking advantage of high-speed networks. That’s a crucial requirement for the U.S.

We have added capabilities like front-facing cameras, a long-lasting battery and a larger screen. In the U.S. that is an important part of consumer consideration.

WSJ: How can you expect to compete against Apple and Google in the U.S.?

Mr. Elop: Yes, there are some strong contenders on the field. But a key part of the reason behind selecting the Windows Phone platform for our smartphones was that we felt there was a fresh and different and contemporary user experience that stood apart from what has become common across both Apple and Android.

WSJ: Why would anyone buy this phone instead of an iPhone?

Mr. Elop: People are selecting these products [with the Windows operating system] because of ease of use. What you’re able to get is that complete experience without going into an application and coming out and then going into another. Instead, things like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are integrated deeply into the experience. People look at that and see that’s a far smoother experience. There are people who are looking to make switches. I won’t say whether it’s specifically [from] iPhone or Android.

WSJ: Why not just forget the U.S. market altogether?

Mr. Elop: The first and primary battlefront is in the U.S. It’s in that market where a lot of the new thoughts are being delivered, where new applications are being generated. It allows us to take advantage of some of the innovation starting first in the U.S., for example the 4G networks.
…

Finally a video Interview: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop [TheVerge, Jan 10, 2012]:

On the current Microsoft thinking alongside the increased market presence thanks to Nokia:

Interview: Joe Belfiore of Microsoft [TheVerge, Jan 11, 2012]

A “must to watch” for every serious person. Therefore no excerpts are possible. A “fundamental” interview with information not available before.

Interview: Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman talks Windows Phone [TheVerge, Jan 11, 2012]

Josh sits down with Microsoft director [in the Windows Phone marketing group] Aaron Woodman for a frank conversation about Windows Phone at CES 2012.

Notable remark by Aaron Woodman about the business approach (not exact transcript):

1. Great products, because if not there will be no more excuses for sure

2. Retail, in …some places like US via carriers, because without it actual customers won’t meet Windows Phone

3. General market awareness, including the extension of general Windows brand awareness to the phone as well, since without as large as only possible the first two efforts could not succeed either, and also because this is the task Microsoft is expected to do (while the previous two are with partners)

Finally on “beautiful design”:
The Nokia Lumia 900 is simply better by design [Conversations by Nokia, Jan 10, 2012]

An in-depth look at the design of the world’s greatest Windows Phone with Jamie Langford from Nokia Design

LAS VEGAS, USA – The Nokia Lumia 900is designed with people in the United States in mind and Nokia Conversations has a unique insight into how it was crafted for one of the world’s most discerning mobile markets.

Jamie Langford explains how the Nokia Design team met the brief for the latest addition to the Lumia range of phones – which includes the Nokia Lumia 710 and Nokia Lumia 800.

“It’s all about media, with the large screen and sleek unibody, delivering a powerful statement.”

Jamie, who leads the industrial design team working on Symbian and Windows Phone products, says the Nokia Lumia 900 is a phone which puts content first, making it “instantaneous, responsive, and intuitive”.

“With faster network access, Nokia Lumia 900provides consumers noticeably faster Internet browsing and better video streaming,” he says.

“The large display is fantastic for any number of experiences from imaging to gaming to video chatting.”

He is talking about the Nokia Lumia 900′s stunning 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack screen, which not only delivers superior viewing and touch experiences, but is also designed to reduce reflections. So you get crystal clear images, indoors and out.

“US consumers seek convenient access to multimedia content, so the combination of 4G LTE and the large display is very compelling.”

“As a matter of fact, Nokia Lumia 900 comes preloaded with AT&T’s U-verse Mobile which allows U-verse subscribers to browse TV program guide, schedule and manage their DVR recordings, and watch TV shows.

“And Nokia Lumia 900 has been designed with a large customized 1830 mAh battery in support of all-day usage.”

The blueprint is even more impressive when you realize that the advanced hardware which powers the mobile phone sits in a unibody case not much bigger than the display itself. The shape is cleverly crafted to sit comfortably in the hand.

This harmonious fusion of design and technology has all been achieved in a very short time.

Jamie continues:

“Our design team started work on Nokia Lumia 900 about a year ago. The challenge was to take the Nokia Lumia 800 to a larger display size with LTE architecture and re-enter the US market with AT&T.”

Luckily the potentially most challenging aspects of the joint venture were already taken care of, he says.

“When we started the collaboration with the Windows Phone design team, we discovered amazing similarity in the principles and approach with Nokia design.

“Reduction and simplicity drove the design of both the user interface and the hardware. The first result was the Nokia Lumia 800, and Nokia Lumia 900 extends this approach to a larger display.”

It’s a powerful combination. The Nokia Lumia 900 represents the full potential of these great brands working together. With AT&T’s high performance LTE network, that potential will now be experienced broadly in the US market.

And the Windows Phone user interface is a fantastic experience on the larger screen. With bold graphics, clear typography, and fast navigation, the phone allows people to spend less time figuring out what to do with it, and more time using it.

The success of previous Nokia designs has helped to achieve the seamless experience offered by the Nokia Lumia 900, says Jamie.

“The lineage from the Nokia N9 and Nokia Lumia 800 is evident in the Lumia 900. We continue to challenge how we make products – just like the Nokia N9 did.

“We are in a continuous learning and refinement mode, so we took lessons from both these previous devices.

“We spent lots of time with the program team to solve the physics of packaging a 33 per cent larger display with a larger battery and complex antenna architecture while meeting the product requirements of the US market. To do this in less than a year is a significant achievement.”

It’s the same approach, insisting on a human minimalist design, which has worked so well for Nokia giving their handsets a purity that others fail to match. And, it’s this incredible attention to detail which has resulted in a product that is beautifully balanced and easy to use.

“The Nokia N9 and Lumia 800 were derived from the same approach of extreme product making based on the principle of reduction and simplicity,” says Jamie, who joined Nokia in 1999. “The learnings and discoveries will continue to influence the way we design going forward.”

When you see the Nokia Lumia 900, you can’t resist picking it up and touching it. The unibody is a single piece of injection-molded polycarbonate plastic which somehow feels like metal. That’s because the premium plastic has been worked on by using machining techniques used for metals. And it provides a killer property not open to phones with metal cases. The specially-developed plastic allows outstanding antenna performance, resulting in fewer dropped calls and lost data connections.

The attention to detail is impressive. Even the product specs are printed on the internal SIM drawer to avoid any visual clutter on the external surface. The speaker holes have been individually milled to make them as small as possible, so they are less likely to collect fluff from a pocket.

And the audio jack is perfectly concentric to the form, and has been custom-made so it can be in the best place for use.

The framing around the active display minimizes any “dead banding” to give the highest area of visual screen in the most compact space possible.

The polycarbonate material gives the Nokia Lumia 900 yet another design advantage. Color. Color has always been at the heart of the Nokia brand. It has been taken to a new level. The unibody case is dyed all the way through, so it can never scratch off or wear away. It looks newer longer.

Early versions come in a stealthy matte-black and a bright cyan, or blue as most people call it. More colors will follow later in the year.

And the color thread runs through the accessories including Nokia speakers, Bluetooth headsets, even the protective soft covers; creating an end-to-end story that is coherent and consistent.

The signs are already good that people will love Nokia Lumia 900.

“Based on early customer reactions in the US, the design is considered very sleek and modern,”

“The LTE, 8 megapixel camera, and noise cancelation resonates well with people. Strong battery life was particularly appealing as well. And everyone appreciates the front-facing camera for video chatting.”

The Nokia Lumia 900 is simply better by design.

VIZIO’s two pronged strategy: Android based V.I.A. Plus device ecosystem + Windows based premium PC entertainment

January 11, 2012 3:54 pm / 3 Comments on VIZIO’s two pronged strategy: Android based V.I.A. Plus device ecosystem + Windows based premium PC entertainment

The VIZIO Internet Apps® Plus (“V.I.A. Plus”) ecosystem of devices was launched on June 28, 2011 with the introduction of VIZIO’s first tablet. Each VIZIO V.I.A. Plus product features a VIZIO-designed user interface that is not only intuitive but also consistent across screens, for superior ease-of-use for the casual, non-technical user. It is built on the Android™ platform. All the information about that innovative ecosystem is available in an earlier “collection post” on this blog: Innovative entertainment class [Android] tablet from VIZIO plus a unified UX for all cloud based CE devices, from TVs to smartphones [Aug 21, 2011].

We will look into the essential expansion of V.I.A. Plus announced at CES 2012 later. Here is sufficient to include just a short piece from the above mentioned collection in order to make the concept of V.I.A. Plus ecosystem absolutely clear (before we will go into the details of the brand new Windows based premium PC entertainment from VIZIO):

VIZIO Tablet [VIZIO video, Aug 1, 2011]: the value proposition video from the vendor which is extremely well demonstrating not only the VIZIO-specific V.I.A. Plus UI but the whole new user experience:

– [0:04] Listen to music – [0:19] Get social – [0:51] Read books – [1:10] View pictures and watch videos – [1:33] VIZIO’s Theater 3D. Leave behind the expensive battery powered glasses, the screen flicker, the darkened picture. – [1:46] Browse the web – [2:28] Control of your entertainment at your fingertips [i.e. the software based remote control] … [Watch at the end how easy is in the V.I.A. Plus user interface to switch over from your tablet to a Theater 3D TV set when viewing a 3D video on YouTube! See also the Theatre 3D related indormation further down in this post.]

This week Vizio has added the alternative, Windows based PC entertainment to its portfolio as well: VIZIO Bursts Into the Computing Realm with Five Innovative and Sleek PCs Set to Redefine Consumer Entertainment [VIZIO press release, Jan 9, 2011]

CES — VIZIO, America’s #1 LCD HDTV Company*, announced today an innovative line of five premium personal computers designed to turn the PC market upside down and accommodate the entertainment needs and wants demanded by consumers. Set to launch with Windows 7 in spring 2012, the elegantly designed PCs will provide an entertainment experience only VIZIO can deliver, complete with top notch 2.1 audio and video quality. The personal computing line consists of two all-in-one computers, two thin + light notebooks and one notebook. VIZIO’s line was developed to raise the bar in personal and home entertainment while also keeping powerful performance at the forefront.

Much like its entrance into the HDTV category nearly a decade ago, VIZIO believes it has identified a need in the PC world for a device that addresses a recent change in consumer behavior. Growing popularity in video streaming services has resulted in the need for personal computers that can stream content for a family movie night and put together an important business presentation the following day. The VIZIO PCs address this change by meeting both the entertainment and productivity demands.

VIZIO PCs will be a continued progression of the VIZIO Internet Apps (V.I.A.) Ecosystem, which provides a seamless, cohesive entertainment experience across multiple screens. As the V.I.A. experience spans across the brand’s HDTVs, Blu-Ray players, tablets and more, today’s announcement represents a natural extension of the experience over to the PC as well. Together with Windows, VIZIO’s PCs will deliver power, mobility and familiar ease of use, ensuring a fast, fluid and immersive user experience that distinguishes them from devices that function and those that are truly entertaining.

“PCs are often associated with productivity and the workplace, routinely lacking the excitement that would be expected with what and how consumers want to use their PCs today – as an extension of their entertainment experience,” said Matt McRae, Chief Technology Officer. “VIZIO wanted to change that. Our new line of VIZIO PCs are truly high quality and consumer focused, delivering enhanced multimedia capabilities while upholding our high standards of performance, style and design.”

Complete with high-performance hardware, the VIZIO PCs boast a clean system image optimized by Microsoft and an elegant industrial design incorporating authentic, high-quality materials that is sure to turn heads both on-the-go and in the living room. Known for HDTVs that boast stunning high-definition pictures, VIZIO engineered its new line of PCs to meet the same high-quality standards.

Always committed to pushing the envelope, VIZIO believes their groundbreaking PCs will alter the way consumers view computing. With entertainment at the heart of the VIZIO PCs, users will find that consuming content will be just as desirable as on their HDTV. With an already high demand for devices that are able to multitask between work and play, the consumer’s choices are limited. VIZIO accepted the challenge and has elegantly bridged both worlds to provide a Windows-based PC that offers a rich entertainment experience alongside tools needed for getting work done.

“We’re excited to see VIZIO enter the PC market and the positive impact they will have on the Windows ecosystem,” said Steven Guggenheimer, CVP OEM Division, Microsoft. “With their expertise in providing connected entertainment experiences and an innovative go-to-market approach, we look forward to working with VIZIO to bring premium consumer PCs to market.”

VIZIO anticipates its entry into the PC category will challenge consumers to expect more from their computers enabling them to play as hard as they work. Discover more at http://www.vizio.com/CES.

*Source: IHS iSuppli Corporation Research Q4 2011 Market Tracker Report of Q4 2010 – Q3 2011.

About VIZIO
VIZIO, Inc., “Entertainment Freedom For All,” headquartered in Irvine, California, is America’s #1 LCD HDTV Company. In Q2 2007, VIZIO skyrocketed to the top by becoming the #1 shipping brand of flat panel HDTVs in North America and in Q3 2007 became the first American brand in over a decade to lead in U.S. LCD HDTV shipments. Since 2007 VIZIO LCD HDTV shipments remain in the top ranks in the U.S. and were #1 for the total year in 2009 and 2010. VIZIO is committed to bringing feature-rich consumer electronics to market at a value through practical innovation. VIZIO offers a broad range of award winning consumer electronics. VIZIO’s products are found at Costco Wholesale, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Target, BJ’s Wholesale, and other retailers nationwide along with authorized online partners. VIZIO has won numerous awards including a #1 ranking in the Inc. 500 for Top Companies in Computers and Electronics, Fast Company’s 6th Most Innovative CE Company of 2009, and made the lists of Ad Age’s Hottest Brands, CNET’s Editor’s Choice, CNET Best of CES 2011 – Television, IGN Best of CES – Television, Bluetooth.org Best of CES, Good Housekeeping’s Best Big-Screens, PC World’s Best Buy, Popular Mechanics Editor’s Choice and OC Metro’s 10 Most Trustworthy Brands among many other prestigious honors. For more information, please call 888-VIZIOCE or visit on the web at www.VIZIO.com.

The V, VIZIO, VIZIO Internet Apps, Theater 3D, CinemaWide HDTV, Full Array TruLED, Edge Lit Razor LED, 240Hz SPS, 480Hz SPS, Entertainment Freedom and Entertainment Freedom for All names, logos and phrase are registered or unregistered trademarks of VIZIO, Inc. All other trademarks may be the property of their respective holders.

SOURCE VIZIO, Inc.

Brand New Line of Gorgeous Vizio Products from CES 2012! [TEKHD, Jan 10, 2012]

Veronica Belmont talks to the CTO of Vizio, Matt McRae, to get the newest and unreleased info on the latest line of products including the All-In-One, complete with the highest performance processors in the world!

CES 2012: Vizio takes on the iMac [IGNentertainment, Jan 9, 2012]

Get a first look at Vizio’s slick all-in-one computer, recorded from this year’s CES event! While it takes its visual cues from Apple’s iMac line, Vizio’s all-in-one line features not one but two HDMI inputs which will work regardless of whether or not the computer is running. This makes it an intriguing solution for gamers who have limited space to work with. Watch the video then leave us a comment telling us what you think!

Note that there is certainly an outstanding design professional behind these products: Scott McManigal, Senior Director of Global Design who has been with VIZIO since June 2009. Before he had been with OpenPeak, Herbst LaZar Bell, BMW Group DesignworksUSA (10 years!), Mattel Toys and Patton Design. It is no wonder that the new PCs got immediate recognition from media with headlines like:
– The New Vizio PCs and Notebooks Are Worthy of Apple [Gizmodo, Jan 9, 2012]
– Vizio PCs and Laptops are the closest to Apple when it comes to style [Newlaunches.com, Jan 9, 2012]

A First Look at Vizio’s new line of ultrabooks [CNETTV, Jan 10, 2012]

Sharon Vaknin gets the lowdown on Vizio’s new line of ultrabooks.

CES 2012: Vizio Takes On the MacBook Air [IGNentertainment, Jan 9, 2012]

HDTV manufacturer Vizio is branching out with a line of ultra thin and light notebooks! The sleek line of notebooks have design cues which remind us of the shiny products from Apple, which is definitely a good thing. Details are scarce but IGN Senior Producer Ty Root and Executive Editor of IGN Gear Scott Lowe got an early peek, so take a look and leave us a comment telling us what you think!

So far there are no tablets among these premium PC entertainment offerings. VIZIO will introduce them surely when Windows 8 will be launched late summer as the earliest.

The CES 2012 expansion of the V.I.A. Plus

From the V.I.A. Plus related press release (see later): Among the V.I.A. Plus products to be included in VIZIO’s Las Vegas showcase are the 65-inch, 55-inch and 47-inch V.I.A. Plus HDTVs with Theater 3D™, the VBR430 Blu-ray Player and the VAP430 Stream Player, all of which incorporate the latest Google TV experience. VIZIO will also show two V.I.A. Plus enabled [Android] tablets—the current VTAB1008 and the new 10″ VTAB3010. [The tablets are Android based (as all of the V.I.A. Plus system). Detailed information on that: Innovative entertainment class [Android] tablet from VIZIO plus a unified UX for all cloud based CE devices, from TVs to smartphones [Aug 21, 2011].]

Vizio 10 inch tablet hands on [AndroidCentral, Jan 10, 2012]

Vizio 10-inch tablet preview [TheVerge, Jan 10, 2012]

Vizio’s New 10-inch Tablet to Have Intel Chip, Android [IDG News, Jan 10, 2012]

A new tablet from Vizio will come with Intel’s upcoming Atom chip, code-named Medfield, and will run Google’s Android operating system, a source with knowledge of the product plans said.

The M-Series tablet with a 10-inch screen was announced by Vizio at the Consumer Electronics Show, and the device will be “coming soon,” according to Vizio’s website. The tablet is being shown at the trade show in Las Vegas this week.

Vizio has not shared further details on the tablet, saying it is “powerful” and has Wi-Fi. The tablet provides “a world of entertainment right at your fingertips,” according to the company’s website.

The Vizio tablet could be the launching pad for Intel’s Medfield chip, which is not yet available in devices. The Medfield chip has been designed for smartphones and tablets, and Intel later this week is also expected to announce its first smartphone customers for the chip.

Intel’s Medfield & Atom Z2460 Arrive for Smartphones: It’s Finally Here [AnandTech, Jan 11, 2012]

It’s here. Intel’s first smartphone SoC that you’ll actually be able to buy in a device before the end of the year. The platform is called Medfield and Paul Otellini just announced its first device partners.

Medfield starts out as a bonafide mobile SoC. Whereas Moorestown was a “two-chip” solution, Medfield is just one – the Penwell SoC:

…

There’s only a single version of Medfield being announced today: the Intel Atom Z2460. The Z2460 features a single Atom core with a 512KB L2 cache, a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU and a dual-channel LPDDR2 memory interface. In a world where talking about four Cortex A9s and PowerVR SGX 544MP2s isn’t uncommon, Medfield starts out almost sounding a bit…tame. But then you see its performance:

Although running what appears to be a stock Gingerbread browser, Intel’s Medfield reference platform posts SunSpider performance better than any other smartphone we’ve tested – including the Galaxy Nexus running Ice Cream Sandwich. Intel promises that Medfield’s performance will scale on ICS as well – the gap should be maintained. We’ve seen high results from reference designs in the past, but the Medfield platform is a little different as you’ll soon see – it’s a complete smartphone design that should be representative of handsets that hit the market later this year.

Medfield isn’t a one trick pony either, performance is similarly dominating under BrowserMark:

These are tablet-like scores. Here the Galaxy Nexus running ICS comes close, but once again Intel expects that on the same OS Medfield should be faster than any of the currently available SoCs.

I asked Intel where its SunSpider and BrowserMark performance advantages came from, especially considering we’ve typically only seen huge gains with new browsers and not new SoCs. Their response pointed to a bunch of factors, but one stand out issue was the A9 has a great execution core but seems to be more limited on the memory interface. Atom can support far more outstanding misses in L2 than the Cortex A9, which chokes bandwidth to the processor for anything not already in the L2 cache. This may be one of the reasons why we’ve never been able to get really high bandwidth numbers out of A9 based SoCs. It’s probably safe to assume that things will be different with the Cortex A15, but for now it’s little things like this that give Medfield a performance advantage.

GPU performance is understandably not as impressive. We couldn’t get offscreen numbers of GLBenchmark 2.1 but we did get results at the device’s native resolution (1024 x 600):

3D performance is better than the OMAP 4460 due to Medfield’s 400MHz GPU clock compared to ~300MHz in most OMAP4 devices.

Performance without power considerations is meaningless, especially in the smartphone world. Luckily for Intel, Medfield seems very competitive there as well. …

…

Medfield, at least in Intel’s reference platform, looks very good.

The actual values are pretty astonishing as well. Sub 20mW idle, sub 750mW during a call on 3G and although not pictured here, Intel’s internal data suggests ~1W power consumption while browsing the web compared to ~1.3W on the iPhone 4S and Galaxy S 2. I’ve done my own measurements on 4S web browsing and came up with a very similar value.

Intel Measured Smartphone Power Consumption
(Identical Display Brightness)

Standby (3G) Talk (3G) Browsing (3G) Video Playback 720p

Apple iPhone 4S ~38mW ~800mW ~1.3W ~500mW

Intel Medfield Reference ~18mW ~700mW ~1.0W ~850mW

Samsung Galaxy S II ~19mW ~675mW ~1.2W ~650mW

The performance and power data both look great for Medfield. You would think that this data, assuming there’s nothing fundamentally wrong, would be enough to convince a handset maker to actually give Intel a shot. You’d be right.

In addition to disclosing Medfield performance data, Intel is also announcing partnerships with both Motorola and Lenovo. The former is a broad, multi-year agreement stating that Motorola plans on creating many devices based on Intel silicon – the first of which will be a smartphone due out before the end of the year. Tablets will follow at some point as well.

Lenovo on the other hand will actually be taking and tweaking Intel’s own Medfield reference platform, and releasing it in China in Q2.

All of this is exactly what Intel needed: a start.

The CPU
…
The GPU, Process & Roadmap
…
What’s Different This Time Around: Google & A Sweet Reference Platform
…
ARM Compatibility: Binary Translation
…
Final Words
…
Medfield and the Atom Z2460 are a solid starting point. Intel finally has a chip that they can deliver to the market and partners to carry it in. Intel also built a very impressive reference platform that could lead to some very interesting disruptions in the market.
…

VIZIO and Google TV Join Forces to Create a State of the Art Stream Player [VIZIO press release, Jan 10, 2011]

– New stream player turns any HDTV into an enhanced smart TV with access to countless entertainment content and online services as well as powerful search and web browsing capabilities
– Part of the VIZIO Internet Apps Plus ecosystem, the new VIZIO Stream Player incorporates the power of the latest Google TV in combination with premium setup experience and included Bluetooth universal remote with touchpad control
– Integrated app and TV watching experiencelet users multitask seamlessly and access photos, audio and video stored on networked computers, hard drives and smart phones

VIZIO and Google today jointly announced the introduction of the VIZIO VAP430 Stream Player, an innovative stream player that turns any HDTV into an enhanced VIZIO Internet Apps Plus® (V.I.A. Plus) smart TV that incorporates the latest Google TV. The Stream Player allows consumers to access countless entertainment content and online services with web access through a fully capable Chrome browser, and to also enjoy photos, music and video stored on any computer, hard drive or smart phoneconnected to a local network and/or the cloud.*

With the VAP430 connected to an HDTV over an HDMI cable, users can quickly and seamlessly access content and services from their favorite apps and websites using the included Bluetooth premium universal remote control with integrated touchpad. In addition to movies, TV shows and music on demand, the VAP430 lets users search the web for even more entertainment options using the Flash-capable Chrome browser.

“We’re excited about what Google TV brings to our new VAP430 Stream Player,” says Matthew McRae, VIZIO’s Chief Technology Officer. “This isn’t just an ordinary streaming box that accesses a few predetermined video services. It’s a true entertainment portal that opens up everything the Web has to offer, as well as all the content consumers already have stored on computers and hard drives. And the incorporation of Google TV and our V.I.A. Plus interfacemakes it all incredibly easy to setup and a joy to use.”

Using the included premium remote with QWERTY keypad and integrated touchpad, viewers can easily search for any program or content they want from their favorite apps or the Internet. Users can also check out new apps from an ever-expanding Android Market, or access personal medialike videos, photos and music that are stored on devices connected to the same home network as the stream player. Images are displayed right on a connected TV set, and sound plays through the TV or a connected audio system.

“We’re thrilled to partner with VIZIO on the launch of their Stream Player,” said Mario Queiroz, head of Google TV. “VIZIO has established itself as a leader in the consumer electronics market. Combining Google TV with VIZIO’s innovative, easy-to-use consumer electronic products will bring more great entertainment and Android apps to the living room.”

Painless Setup, Powerful Capabilities

Part of the V.I.A. Plus ecosystem, the slick yet discreet VAP430 can easily compliment any HDTV using an HDMI cable. Installing the VAP430 and connecting it to the Internet is blazingly fast and simple to do with the built-in setup experience and 802.11n WiFi connection.

The VAP430 also has an HDMI pass-through that lets the user connect a cable or satellite box to the stream player and pass the signal over to the TV for a truly integrated TV watching experience. The smart TV interfaceoverlays the live TV signal so multitaskers can search for the next thing to watch without completely stepping away from what they’re currently watching.

Bluetooth capability also makes it simple to enjoy content from smart phones through the connected TV wirelessly. And with the USB input, connecting any USB drive directly to the VAP430 takes only seconds.

VAP430 is the first V.I.A. Plus device to launch this year, followed by the VBR430 3D Blu-ray player, which combines the features of the VAP430 with Blu-ray’s state-of-the-art high-definition video and audio playback capabilities.

Preorders for the VAP430 will begin this spring 2012. Find out more and sign up to be the first at www.vizio.com/ces

* The VIZIO Internet Apps® (V.I.A.) platform requires Internet access, equipment and subscription services that are not provided.

See also (especially because VAP430 is likely based on Marvell’s platform): Google’s revitalization of its Android-based TV effort via Marvell SoC and reference design[Jan 5, 2012]

VIZIO Expands the Next-Generation VIZIO Internet Apps Plus® (V.I.A. Plus) Ecosystem, Announcing New HDTV, Blu-ray Player, Stream Player and Tablet Products That Share a Unified User Experience Across All Screens [VIZIO press release, Jan 10, 2011]

– V.I.A. Plus provides access to a world of apps on each device with attention to details that optimize the entertainment experience on each and every screen
– V.I.A. Plus offers today’s most advanced and functional smart TV user experience, with an intuitive, app-centric interface optimized for the 10-foot viewing experience
– New V.I.A. partners to include iHeartRadio®, The Wall Street Journal® and M-GO®
– VIZIO’s expanded line-up incorporating the Google TV platform include the 65-inch, 55-inch and 47-inch HDTVs with Theater 3D, the VBR430 Blu-ray player, and the VAP430 Stream Player

VIZIO, America’s #1 HDTV Company*, announces the continued expansion of its next generation of the award-winning VIZIO Internet Apps® platform: VIZIO Internet Apps Plus (V.I.A. Plus). V.I.A. Plus brings a unified user experience to a wide range of devices that include HDTVs, Tablets, Blu-ray players, Media Players and more. From the big screen to mobile devices, V.I.A. Plus bridges the worlds of entertainment, content and services with one sophisticated and intuitive interface. V.I.A. Plus accesses a world of apps on each device, with attention to details that optimize the entertainment experience on each screen.

Among the V.I.A. Plus products to be included in VIZIO’s Las Vegas showcase are the 65-inch, 55-inch and 47-inch V.I.A. Plus HDTVs with Theater 3D™, the VBR430 Blu-ray Player and the VAP430 Stream Player, all of which incorporate the latest Google TV experience. VIZIO will also show two V.I.A. Plus enabled tablets—the current VTAB1008 and the new 10″ VTAB3010.

“The way users consume content has changed drastically over recent years. Technology has enabled nearly every device with a screen to connect to some form of delivery platform, each with its own mechanism for searching, browsing and viewing content.” said Matthew McRae, Chief Technology Officer, VIZIO. “V.I.A. Plus focuses entirely on what users care about – their content. By delivering a seamless, intuitive experience that is consistent across multiple screens, V.I.A. Plus products distinguish themselves from devices that function and those that are truly entertaining.”

The V.I.A. Plus experience features an intuitive, app-centric interface on every device, making it easy for consumers to understand and navigate as they move between devices. Users can also access thousands of apps from the Android Market™ for even more entertainment options.

“We’re thrilled to partner with VIZIO on the launch of the Stream Player,” said Mario Queiroz, head of Google TV. “VIZIO has established itself as a leader in the consumer electronics market. Combining Google TV with VIZIO’s innovative, easy-to-use consumer electronic products will bring more great entertainment and Android apps to the living room.”

In addition, VIZIO is announcing new partners who are collaborating to bring their content and services to the V.I.A. Platform, including:

iHeart Radio– iHeartRadio, Clear Channel’s industry-leading digital radio service, brings users a best-in-class customizable digital listening experience, one which combines the best of both worlds to deliver everything listeners want in one free, fully-integrated service: More than 800 of the nation’s most popular live broadcast and digital-only radio stations from 150 cities, plus user-created Custom Stations which provide listeners more songs, better music intelligence, more user control and deeper social media integration.

The Wall Street Journal®– WSJ Live from The Wall Street Journal offers up to four total hours of live video programming each business day from across The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, including the Journal, Dow Jones® Newswires, Barron’s™, MarketWatch®, SmartMoney® and AllThingsD.com. Users can access seven half-hour live shows, breaking news updates, exclusive interviews, and special events coverage. The service also offers more than 2,000 videos per month from an extensive library of on-demand content.

M-GO™ video-on-demand– M-GO from Technicolor is a next-generation app that combines all of your media including movies, music, apps, live TV, and more. M-GO will come pre-loaded on VIZIO HDTVs and Blu-ray Players with VIZIO Internet Apps or VIZIO Internet Apps Plus. The app will help consumers find the content they’re looking for through its extensive content library and state-of-the-art discovery engine, while also providing a unique second screen functionality for searching additional content.

“We are extremely excited to be partnering with VIZIO to bring consumers all of their media anywhere, anytime, and anyway they want it,” said John Batter, CEO of M-GO. “As consumers continue to access digital media at home and on the go, it is even more important to provide them with a consistent experience that is easy to navigate and convenient to use. VIZIO’s technology combined with our accessibility to content does just that.”

On V.I.A. Plus enabled HDTVs, Blu-ray players and Media Players, users can multitask between apps and traditional TV content through an interface designed for the 10-foot viewing experience, created specifically for situations where users want to sit back and enjoy the ultimate in channel and web surfing. Users can also complement their entertainment experience with VIZIO tablets for seamless access to their favorite apps and content in any room in the home or on the road.

With a wide range of apps on each device, V.I.A. Plus enables consumers to choose from a new universe of entertainment options, redefining the TV experience with multi-screen access, gaming, full browsing and enhanced search capabilities, and the ability to view live events streamed over the Internet.

Navigating V.I.A. Plus is simple and intuitive, using the QWERTY keypad and integrated touchpadthat’s built into the premium Bluetooth remote control included with every V.I.A. Plus product. Users need no technical know-how to get their new devices online, thanks to the advanced wireless Internet access and simplified onscreen setup.

Smart Blu-ray

The VBR430 Blu-ray player is the most advanced on the market today. Not only does it offer the incomparable entertainment power of V.I.A. Plus with Google TV, the player comes with a touchpad universal remote with QWERTY keypad that makes it easy to control apps, content and other functions. As part of the VIZIO Internet Apps Plus ecosystem, the VBR430 also lets users access video, audio and photos stored on any DLNA-compatible computer, network-connected hard drive or cell phone connected to a home network. Built-in WiFi makes network connection easy, and Bluetooth capability provides yet another conduit for streaming media from cell phones and computers.

Smart TV Plus 3D

VIZIO’s V.I.A. Plus products will also include Theater 3D technology, for crystal clear, brighter and flicker-free 3D, viewable with lightweight, comfortable, battery-free 3D glasses. The TVs feature LED backlighting with smart dimming technology to achieve dynamic contrast ratios of 1,000,000:1 or greater.

The Ultimate Stream Player

The VAP430 Stream Player with Google TV is an innovative media player that turns any HDTV into an enhanced VIZIO Internet Apps Plus (V.I.A. Plus) smart TV. As sales of stream players are poised to pass Blu-ray players in unit volume sales (by 2013, according the CEA U.S. Unit Shipment Forecast of January 2011), the VAP430 is the perfect solution for media multitaskers who consume most of their media over the Internet. The VAP430 is the one of the most advanced Stream Players with built-in HDMI ports that lets users connect existing components like gaming consoles or set-top boxes for unified access to all media sources through the VI.A. Plus touchpad remote. It even supports 3D content and 3D streaming.

Many of the new VIZIO V.I.A. Plus products will be on display at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas during the Consumer Electronics Show, January 10 – 13, 2012. For more information, please visit www.vizio.com/ces

* Source: IHS iSuppli Corporation Research Q4 2011 Market Tracker Report of Q4 2010 – Q3 2011.

Vizio’s Google TV delayed until early fall, now edge-lit [C|net, Jan 10, 2012]
LAS VEGAS–Google TV has a way of disappointing expectations, and one strong case in point is the Vizio’s VIA Plus platform for TVs.

At CES 2011 we named the VIA Plus models as our favorite TV product of CES. They used Google TV to deliver what the company described as interoperability between the TV and Android-equipped phones and tablets. Among other features, Via Plus was also said to support the OnLive gaming service. Those extras, along with the same kind of full-array local-dimming backlightwe know and love, was enough to convince us that the so-equipped TVs were going to be pretty awesome.

Unfortunately, because of what Vizio describes as Google TV-related issues beyond its control, they never came out.

We asked about the VIA Plus sets during a pre-CES briefing with Vizio and were told they were still on the company’s product release roadmap. The new release date is “early fall.” They will have different model numbers and at least one change for the worse: that backlight is now an edge-lit affair. Vizio further specified that the new VIA Plus models would have a 240Hz refresh rate, passive 3D, and three screen sizes: 47-, 55-, and a new 65-inch option.

On the bright side, maybe having all that extra time to perfect VIA Plus will allow Vizio to do something really special with Google TV’s Honeycomb customizations. We’ll see.

Strong business backings from Taiwan that enable such bold strategy expansion for VIZIO

Vizio sees 2012 with optimism [Nov 2, 2011]

TV brand Vizio has indicated sales of Japan-based brands such as Sony, Panasonic and Sharp have been weak. However, South Korea-based brands such as Samsung and LG have been growing becoming Vizio’s biggest competitors. Vizio estimates 2011 shipments of LCD TVs to reach over six million units.

According to William Wang, CEO and founder of Vizio, the strategy to face the South Korea-based players is to improve products, such as by providing customers with the best 3D TV. If products can be sold with cheaper retail prices, then do it.

Wang indicated Vizio’s biggest partner is still Taiwan-based Amtran Technology, which accounts for 70-80% of Vizio’s OEM orders. Foxconn is responsible for small-size products. Wang complimented Taiwan’s technology, innovation and product quality.

The recent weak demand in the TV market has been causing panel makers to suffer huge losses, Vizio stated. Except for shipments in the first quarter 2011 which were comparable to those of 2010, the rest of the quarters in 2011 have all seen declining shipments.

Wang concluded that panel makers have been suffering due to oversupply and lack of consumer confidence due to weak economic conditions in Europe and the US. However, 2011 should be the year when the industry hits rock bottom, which means firms should face 2012 with optimism.

CES: Value Outweighs Price, AmTran Says [excerpt on the VIZIO site, Jan 6, 2010]

Behind Vizio’s success is a partnership with Taipei-based AmTran Technology, a contract manufacturer that specializes in computer monitors and televisions. The company, which owns a 23% stake [i.e. majority] in Vizio, now makes annual revenue of about $2 billion, more than quadruple the $428 million it reported in 2004.

To read more about this article please click here.

[Hon Hai/Foxconn is said to be the 2nd largest shareholder ov VIZIO as well as having 10% of shares of AmTran]

[click here >> WSJ Blogs, Jan 7, 2010]

In a rare interview, its chief executive and chairman Alpha Wu spoke to The Wall Street Journal about his views on the fast-changing industry at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

The Wall Street Journal: Why have your products been so successful?

Mr. Wu: We think very simply about how we can provide the best value to customers world-wide. I have pretty good relationships with key component makers in Japan, Taiwan, China and now Korea, and I make sure we get high-quality components, so we can provide high-quality displays. We try to have attractive prices, but that can’t be the only reason for customers to buy. Value is more important than anything. We try to provide attractive prices, but that can’t be the only reason for customers to buy.

We also keep very tight production schedules. We learned from our customers that we must meet schedules. As long as we have discipline over our schedule, we can compete against anybodybecause when a rival announces a new technology, we can develop similar products quickly and take the market.

WSJ: Why do you think the traditional television makers in Japan are having such a hard time in the television market, particularly in the U.S.?

Mr. Wu: To be a pure original equipment manufacturer is a tough business. That’s why we teamed up with Vizio. The Japanese engineers work hard and demand perfect products, but they don’t know the market very much. In the U.S., people don’t want very high-end products especially in the current economic situation. Japanese consumers, however, are more willing to invest in expensive products.

Products that are made in Japan with Japanese components by Japanese suppliers are very important to them, but their factories aren’t as advanced as ours because they’re old. An older managementalso makes them less able to accept new technologies and innovation.

WSJ: 3D televisions are expected to be big news at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. How soon do you expect this technology to take off?

Mr. Wu:3D movies are absolutely coming. 3D televisions might take two or three years. One big problem that has to be overcome is glasses. No one wants to wear glasses to watch TV. Plus if you have five people in the family you need five pairs of glasses. The technology is also not mature yet.

WSJ: What is your vision for AmTran’s future?

Mr. Wu: We want to support the best brand with the best technology products. We are trying to do it in different regions, step by step. We’re trying in Taiwan, Japan and China. Maybe someday we’ll try in Europe.

One of our customers, Bang & Olufsen, has a remote control that I use at home every day to control the curtains, lighting, television and audio. That’s our dream too, but to provide it to the mass market.

WSJ: What kind of opportunity do you see in the Chinese market?

Mr. Wu: By 2011, China’s market for televisions will be bigger than the U.S. From our point of view, we have some advantages — we know China better than people in other countries. Whoever can become No. 1 in China and in the U.S. will be No. 1 in the world.

Amtran Technology Co Ltd (2489.TW) – Overview – Full Description [Reuters, excerpted on Jan 10, 2012]

AMTRAN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. is principally engaged in the manufacture and distribution of monitors and digital televisions. The Company provides liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, which are applied in personal computers (PCs), workstations, automobile instruments, point of sale (POS) equipment and automatic teller machines (ATMs), among others, as well as LCD televisions. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company obtained approximately 94.89% of its total revenue from digital televisions. The Company distributes its products primarily in Japan, Europe and the Americas.
» Full Overview of 2489.TW

Amtran sees increased 4Q11 revenues [Jan 10, 2012]

Taiwan-based TV OEM firm Amtran reported December revenues of NT$6.44 billion (US$214 million). Fourth quarter revenues reached NT$19.66 billion, the highest quarterly revenues in 2011, accounting for 35% of 2011 total revenues.

Due to sales during the year-end holiday season in the North America market, total shipments in December reached 660,000 units while total shipments in fourth quarter reached 1.94 million units, outperforming the previous three quarters in 2011. According to Amtran, total shipments in 2011 reached 5.35 million units. Shipments of products in the range of 32-37 inch accounted for 54% of the firm’s total flat TV shipments. Amtran noted that sales of large-size products (42-, 47-, 55-, and 65-inch) LCD TVs accounted for 46% of total revenues.

Amtran expects LCD TV shipments to increase as the firm develops products such as internet TV, smart TV and 3D TV.

Amtran faces challenge to attain 2011 LCD TV goal [Aug 17, 2011]

Taiwan-based Amtran Technology’s LCD TV shipments reached nearly two million units in the first half of 2011, according to industry sources. But the maker may have difficulties achieving its shipment goal of five million units for the entire 2011 given that its major market, North America, has been weak.

Amtran, the chief manufacturer for Vizio, shipped a total 4.2 million units of LCD TVs worldwide in 2010.

Smarterphone end-to-end software solution for "the next billion" Nokia users

January 9, 2012 7:58 pm / 4 Comments on Smarterphone end-to-end software solution for "the next billion" Nokia users

In Smart Devices, Nokia will build a winning ecosystem together with Microsoft using their global reach, iconic products and location services.

In Mobile Phones, Nokia will realign and increase its investments to connect the next billion people to the Internet, bringing great devices and rich services to the global marketplace much quicker.

And beyond great mobile products, Nokia will continue to innovate and invest in future disruptions that will define the industry in years to come.

From: Nokia announces next steps in transformation [Conversations by Nokia, April 27, 2011]

Update from Nokia’s CEO Discusses Q1 2012 Results – Earnings Call Transcript [Seeking Alpha, April 19, 2012]

… In the area of Mobile Phones, we continue to renew our Series 40 portfolio. For example, we recognized the need for dual SIM and delivered 8 dual SIM devices over the past year. We delivered consumers more aspirational designs and experiences through 7 new Asha products. The Net Promoter Scores for some Asha devices are the highest we’ve had for Mobile Phones products.

We acquired Smarterphone, a Norwegian company that brings new user interface technology and expertise to Nokia. We’ve increased download rates from feature phones to more than 4 million a day by improving store access and payment schemes and adding new apps like Whatsapp, Foursquare and EA.

We released a new version of Nokia Life, which delivers education, health, agriculture and entertainment services via SMS. And we delivered a new proxy browser, and we’re now bringing the browser and web apps down to super low-end devices. However, as we highlighted last week, there are still areas where our future phone portfolio is at a competitive disadvantage. We plan to address some of these issues in Q2.

That being said, the structural shift from feature phones towards low-priced smartphones is a challenge. Our increased investments in Mobile Phones R&D are intended to address these challenges. …

From Q&A part of that:

… we’ve been taking some very deliberate steps to not only pick up the pace, but to make it easier to accelerate the pace around the development in Series 40. I mentioned as one example, the acquisition of Smarterphone in this space to give us more flexibility and speed as it relates to the user interface elements, for example, of that platform. So this is — it’s a good example of something where, from a code and engineering perspective, we’re paying off a bit of a debt and having to catch up and accelerate. But you’re seeing the progress being made. But still in the near term, it causes us some problems, which is what gives me some confidence that we can continue to catch up and address those challenges. It’s just that the competition is ahead of us in a couple of spots, and we’ve got to nail that. …

Update from the Nokia CEO regarding the Mobile phones business and the Smarterphone acquisition:

PCMAG: Recently you guys acquired Smarterphone, the feature phone OS company, and there had previously been some talk of your feature phone OS Meltemi. What are you going to do with those projects?

Elop: We haven’t provided details of a key element here [i.e. on CES 2012] of our overall strategy. Last February we announced three pillars to our strategy. And one of those pillars was about increasing the R&D investment in the mobile phone space. You’ve talked there of the fact that QT would be the development platform for that initiative. Clearly there’s some new work going on, new investments, you’re seeing little bits and pieces of acquisitions and things happening. We haven’t been more specific than that, but clearly there’s an initiative underway there that relates to our mobile phones efforts to connect the next billion people to the Internet.

PCMAG: Could this be a platform to supersede S40?

Elop: So again, we haven’t provided any details, but S40 is a platform that continues to see significant investment. It’s getting smarter and smarter with each successive device and release, so there’s still a lot of activity there.

[From: Nokia CEO: MS Purchase Rumors Bogus [PC Magazine, Jan 11, 2012]]

Ferd Capital sells Smarterphone AS to Nokia [Ferd Capital press release, Jan 5 [after Jan 6 only in this PDF], 2012]

Egil Kvaleberg is a world class software architect and founder.

Ferd Capital has sold its portfolio company Smarterphone AS (Formerly Kvaleberg AS) to Nokia Corporation (OMX: NOK1V, NYSE:NOK, FWB: NOA3), the world’s leading producer of mobile phones. The transaction was completed in November 2011.

Smarterphone is based in Oslo, Norway and delivers an operating system for the feature phone segment of mobile handsets. The software makes it possible to deliver a user experience similar to smart phones on affordable hardware, and allows unique flexibility for tailoring handset software to different markets. Ferd Capital invested in the company in 2007 and has invested a total of 6,5 MEUR in the company.

“Egil Kvaleberg is a world class software architect and founder. His internationally recruited and unique team situated in Oslo has created an operating system for lower end mobile phone that provides highly advanced functionality on very moderate hardware” says Annar Bohn, Investment manager in Ferd Capital. “Our belief in the team, technology and the long term market for feature phones remains firm, and we believe the company has now found a fantastic new home with Nokia”, he continues.

“Ferd Capital is an active Nordic investor in both the venture and buy-out segments of private equity and see continued strong opportunities within both segments” says Bjørn Erik Reinseth, Partner in Ferd Capital. “Large international players acquiring Norwegian technology companies is a strong recognition and a good foundation for future innovation and growth”, continues Reinseth.

In addition to Ferd Capital, The company was also financed by Innovation Norway, Haavard Nord (Trolltech founder) and Lars Øberg. Carnegie acted as advisor to the selling shareholders. [Ferd owned 80% of the shares]

Nokia Strategy 2011 [Conversations by Nokia, March 10, 2011]

Nokia Strategy 2011 consists of three pillars:

Smartphones;

The next billion;

Future disruptions.

Smartphones

Beginning 2011, Nokia will use Microsoft’s Windows Phone for its main smartphone operating system. The reason for this is that the smartphone battle is now a war of ecosystems rather than just devices. An ecosystem consists of devices, services, third-party providers, a strong app market and delighted customers. Microsoft, Nokia and its other partners will form a strong ecosystem to bring innovation and choice into the market. MeeGo now becomes a platform for future disruption of the market through innovative and different devices. Symbian will continue to be supported and developed as the full product portfolio takes shape.

Articles:

Open Letter from Stephen Elop and Steve Ballmer
Welcome to the Third Ecosystem
Nokia Strategy and Financial Briefing
Stephen Elop and Steve Ballmer answer questions from Nokia Conversations readers
The future is glanceable

The next billion

Around 3.2 billion people do not currently own a mobile phone. Nokia’s reach, extensive product portfolio and market presence worldwide make it the best-placed manufacturer to supply the next billion mobile phone users with great devices and rich services suited to local needs. In addition, we’ll be taking the Internet to the users of these phones in their next step. The Series 40 operating system, Ovi Life Tools and Java development are keystones here.

Articles:

Mobile Phones: the next billion
Mary McDowell on the next billion
Launch: the Nokia X1-00

Future disruptions

Innovation in the field of mobile devices is far from over and Nokia is determined to play a key role in the future of this field. MeeGo will play a key part in this, and continued support for revolutionary research and development work across Nokia’s worldwide research labs, the Qt development framework and independent providers will help to fuel this further.

Articles:

Rich Green at Nokia Developer Day
13 reasons to get stuck on Qt

Nokia in brief [Nokia, April 7, 2011]

…
Nokia as of April 1, 2011

Smart Devices: our business unit which focuses on smartphones, and additionally on exploring nextgeneration opportunities in devices, platforms and user experiences to support our industry position and longer-term financial performance.

Mobile Phones: our business unit focused on bringing a modern and affordable mobile experience to people around the world.

NAVTEQ: a leading provider of comprehensive digital map information and related location-based content and services for mobile navigation devices, automotive navigation systems, Internet-based mapping
applications, and government and business solutions.

Nokia Siemens Networks: jointly owned by Nokia and Siemens, is one of the leading providers of telecommunications infrastructure hardware, software and professional services globally.

Detailed information about the Smarterphone now under Nokia:

2010 in review: Under-the-radar trends at Mobile World Congress [Feb 22, 2010]

… Kvaleberg (a little-known Norwegian engineering company) has productised its 10-years of feature phone integration know-how into Mimiria, a feature phone OS with a clean-room UI architecture that makes variant creation a swift job requiring only 2-3 engineers to customise. …

Smarterphone launches Smarterphone OS 3.0 at Mobile World Congress [Feb 16, 2011]

Ferd Capital’s portfolio company Smarterphone AS (previously Kvaleberg AS) today announced version 3.0 of Smarterphone OS, the smart operating system for inexpensive mobile phones.

The OS was from the beginning designed to run efficiently on limited resource hardware, yet still offering smart solutions, attractive and intuitive user interfaces. Version 3.0 brings this concept further, being optimized for phones in the $25 to $75 price segment.

“Globally, there are 4 billion mobile phone users. Despite all the attention given to high end smartphones, the majority of the 4 billion can not afford such a device,” says Egil Kvaleberg, CEO of Smarterphone. “With Smarterphone OS, inexpensive phones can be smart, too. Their users are just as keen to have easy and natural access to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as users of high end phones.”

To demonstrate the flexibility and agility of their solution, Smarterphone will, during the Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona, show ‘Radial,’ which is a fresh approach at reshaping the dynamics of the mobile phone human interaction. Audun Foyen, director of products at Smarterphone, says: “Radial is an option we offer customers who may want to differentiate in a certain direction. We remain equally committed to more conventional touch and keypad solutions.”

Smarterphone felt the Mobile World Congress was the only natural choice for the premiere of Radial. “We are dedicated to MWC and see great value in attending the event every year,” says Michael Orr, SVP Business Development and Sales at Smarterphone AS.

More details on Radial: http://smarterphone.com/documents/Radialconceptuserinterface.pdf

About Smarterphone
Smarterphone provides a complete and licensable software solution for mass market smart phones, Smarterphone OS, pre-integrating all software components and applications, enables manufacturers to rapidly create low-cost handsets with features and functionality similar to that found in expensive high-end smartphones. The solution is turnkey, whereby Smarterphone takes the software through all phases all the way up to carrier acceptance.

Smarterphone “Radial” user interface demo [SmarterphoneAS, Feb 16, 2011]

Shows demo of the new “Radial” concept user interface from Smarterphone. The video was shot at MWC 2011

Products [Dec 12, 2010]

Smarterphone 3.0 is a software applications suite for mobile handsets that provides all of the layers from the hardware up to the end-user applications and what they need to interact with each other. This unique way of linking the hardware abstraction layer to the applications ensuring that we provide our handset users with a satisfying and high-quality experience. Our engineers have designed Smarterphone with operators in mind; we are fully adhere to the major operators’ requirements. Our team of engineers have wide-ranging experience in the cellular UI industry and are always available to provide support for operators. Our developers have gone above and beyond working on Smarterphone to seamlessly integrate the end-user applications with each other and with the underlying hardware. We developed a scripting language that allows our engineers to quickly and easily adapt our software with any hardware platform. The settings are tailored to be compatible with any hardware platform. And our task-switcher makes it easy for users to multi-task with several applications at once time.

Some of Smarterphone’s major features are listed below:

social media

sophisticated text entry (character recognition, predictive)

advanced web browser

advanced address book, integrating all connected services

theme switching

image viewer with thumbnail scrolling

media player for audio and video

messaging: email, MMS and SMS

JavaME applications engine

touch-screen (resistive or multi-touch capacitive)

wifi

Bluetooth

calendar and to-do

world wide weather forecasts

currency converter with auto updates

Smarterphone has developed a sotfware solution that is pre-integrated, finished, and ready to roll, yet also offers unique possibilities for customization and differentiation. This combination, previously thought impossible, we have achieved by our unique software architecture that integrates and includes all applications in one seamless design. These possibilites have been made possible by an architechture that totally separates the software components that manage all aspects of the user experience from the components that actually implemnents the functionality. This is how we can offer a software package that we can very quickly tailor to any customer’s requirements, with confidence that the risk and cost will be low. All Smarterphone applications are integrated under the same regime, so that end-users with a common look and feel to every application simlpy is automatically ensured. To see a complete list of features, click here.

Smarterphone includes a full suite of applications for mobile phones built using the Smarterphone framework components. All the applications are designed according to the model-view-controller (MVC) design pattern. This means that application logic and application data are kept completely separate from the user interface itself. It is, therefore, a very simple operation to make deep changes in the user interface, even in its structure and flow.

Smarterphone‘s, components are already fully integrated. This allows you to bring you products quickly to the market place, since software integration has traditionally been the major bottleneck.

Smarterphone is a solution for a complete feature phoneuser interface in accordance to the most demanding operator requirements.

Smarterphoneis highly competitive on total cost.

Smarterphoneoffers very rapid and scalable concepts for adapting to different UI designs and requirements, including new applications.

Smarterphoneis made for modern, highly visual UI designs.

Smarterphoneis based on an inherently reliable software architecture.

Smarterphone is supported by a team with a wide base of experience in the cellular UI industry.

More information:

Smarterphone [wikipedia entry, excerpted on Jan 9, 2012]

…
The company’s main product is Smarterphone OS, which is a platform-independent full mobile phone operating system and applications suite for the feature phone segment. Smarterphone OS, then called Mimiria, was first unveiled at the Mobile World Congress show in February 2008, and has been used for such handsets as the Kyocera C4700, Vibo T588, and the Madrid LiMo device. The Smarterphone architecture is clean-room, with a very strict model-view-controller design that enables variations to be implemented with little effort. ^[8] The user interface of Smarterphone OS is programmed in a scripting language, which is a variant of Scheme with object-oriented extensions.

Smarterphone OS includes a user interface (MMI) software stack, implementing a full user interface and middleware for 2G and 3G feature phones. It also integrates a range of third-party modules such as Java ME JVM from Oracle Corporation, mobile browser from Obigo, MMS and SMS stack from Mobile Messaging Factory, predictive text input from Nuance and Cootek, and handwriting recognition from Sinovoice.
…

New Smarterphone OS release [Oct 12, 2011]

We are proud to annonce version 3.2 of Smarterphone OS. In this release we are featuring

– MultiSIM. It makes possible to use more than one SIM card.
– BiDi. This feature adds support for bidirectionalwritting. Necessary in languages like Arabic or Hebrew.

The software has also turned even more social, with many improvements to Facebook integration like:

– Video upload support.
– Better support for comments and status.
– Use pictures of friends in the address book.
– Posting of pictures.
– Chat.

We have not forgotten about Twitter and we made it easier to use.
Support for uploading videos to Youtube has been added.

Usability improvements

– Geonames integration in Worldclock and Weather.
– Better datetime picker.
– Conversational Messaging.
– Cut’n’Paste.

UI improvements

– New screen transition effects.
– Configurable Widget bar (on left, or right, top or bottom).
– Idle screen desktop shortcuts.
– Scrollable wide desktop with background parallax effect.

There are many changes users won’t directly see, but they will feel them.
I am of course speaking about performance. The software is noticibly faster and has a smaller memory footprint.

– Jorge

Mimiria GW4 presentation [kvaleberg, June 30, 2008]

Presentation of the Mimiria software solution from Kvaleberg for the Wistron GW4 cellphone

Kvaleberg AS delivers complete software solution to Taiwan handset manufacturer [from SmarterPhone/Kvaleberg press releases]

Oslo, 18 July 2008) Kvaleberg AS has delivered the Mimiria Software Suite to Taiwan manufacturer Wistron NeWeb’s (WNC) GW4 handset. The delivery represents a significant milestone on Kvaleberg’s development effort, and demonstrates the unique advantages Mimiria provides for handset manufacturers.

The handset will be available commercially in Wistron’s key markets, and simultaneously provides Kvaleberg with a reference handset model. Porting the Mimiria software suite was completed in record time, and takes advantage of all the functionality available on the handset. Normally it takes 9 – 18 months to develop fully functional software for a new handset hardware design. By virtue of Mimiria, the process took under 3 months for the GW4.

We are very pleased with the cooperation with Wistron, and are proud of the excellent performance and intuitive user interface we have created for Wistron’s handset, says Egil Kvaleberg, Managing Director of KvalebergAS.

Kvaleberg as our partner has good experience with software suites in the mobile industry and Kvaleberg’s Mimiria Software Suite provides highly flexible solutions that allow us to cost effectively pursue multiple markets, said Wilson Zhang, Senior Director of WistronNeWeb Corp.

The GW4 is a feature rich hardware platform which enables demonstration of the central capabilities of the Mimiria Software Suite. In comparison with traditional feature phones, the model distinguishes itself by having a touch screen, full QWERTY keypad, and WLAN capability.

Mimiria is a complete, turnkey, pre-integrated software suite in which all components of mobile phone software are included. Customers get access to a package that can run on any mobile phone hardware platform and operating system with a minimum of integration work. The solution is designed so that the user interface can easily be adapted to any operator or manufacturer requirements.

Kvaleberg has also added operator specific user interfaces to the GW4. The adaption took three weeks from start to finish. It proves that Wistron can quickly provide the GW4 to demanding mobile phone operators in Europe or the United States.

Kvaleberg mainly provides Mimiria to mobile phone manufacturers in Asia who want to launch their models in North America and Europe. Kvaleberg AS has sales offices in China, San Diego, Korea and Taiwan. The main office is located in Oslo, Norway.

Kvaleberg receives EUR 2 million in funding from Ferd Venture [June 6, 2007]

Ferd Venture invests EUR 2 million in Kvaleberg AS, a software company headquartered in Oslo, Norway. The company has developed a new and fully integrated software application suite for mid- and low tier mobile phones (feature phones). The purpose of the funding round is to accelerate international expansion.

Kvaleberg offers mobile phone manufacturers an integrated software suite containing all applications needed in addition to those supplied by the chipset manufacturers. This includes all end user applications one would expect from a mobile phone today. Kvaleberg’s offering makes it possible to reduce development cycles by 50% while ensuring compliance with the most stringent requirements from mobile operators.

– We strongly believe in the demand for Kvaleberg’s software solution. It targets the larger part of the mobile phone market and will be important to phone manufacturers in both mature and emerging markets, says Bjørn Erik Reinseth – responsible partner at Ferd Venture.

Kvaleberg has worked with leading international players in the business, including OpenWave, NEC and Broadcom, and is known as one of the best development teams in mobile software and software integration. The company’s main competitors are the internal development programs within the phone manufacturers, but the company believes there will be a gradual move towards standardised software solutions.

The funds will be used to strengthen both the sales and service capabilities internationally. In addition to the HQ in Oslo and an office in the US, Kvaleberg will also establish representation in Asia.

– We are very pleased with attracting Ferd Venture as an investor in Kvaleberg and especially appreciate the added competence on business development, says Egil Kvaleberg, founder and CEO of the company. Lars Øberg will serve as Chairman of the Board.

About Kvaleberg AS
KvalebergASwas founded by CEO Egil Kvaleberg in 1993. Through cutting edge mobile software application competence and insight the company has become internationally acknowledged as solid suppliers of top quality products. Historically, the company has focused on professional services, but will now focus on it’s integrated software application suiteaimed at mobile phone producers.

The company is headquartered in Oslo, has 13 employees and is owned by Ferd Venture and management.

Visit www.kvaleberg.no for more information.

World-class software [July 3, 2007]

Turnkey software solutions for mobile telephone manufacturers represent a specialised but large and growing market. Kvaleberg AS offers world-class solutions.

In order to understand how Kvaleberg AS works, we need to look at how international mobile telephone manufacturers operate. Here we see that the bigger well-known companies are committing a lot of resources to developing expensive “smart” handsets with advanced functions, while handsets in the budget and medium price classes have become more or less standardised in terms of features and functionality. Accordingly, well-known manufacturers (such as Motorola and Sony-Ericsson) are increasingly turning to independent specialists to develop and manufacture their handsets in the budget and medium price classes. This can be a very cost-effective solution with short development lead times, partly because the specialists produce more or less the same product for a number of customers. Handset models are then tailored for the particular customer, with some minor differences in appearance and user interface – and of course the customer’s well-known brand name.

ODM
“Original Design Manufacturer” or ODM is the industry term for these independent suppliers, most of which are based in the Far East. They are often large companies, but names such as Lenovo, Arima, and Compal, are relatively little known even though they account for a large and increasing portion of the one billion mobile handsets sold every year.

Outsourcing on the increase
“Many ODMs have decided to outsource the development of handset software, and this is where Kvaleberg AS comes into the picture as an attractive partner. Since its launch in 1993, the company has become a widely recognized advisor, offering one of the world’s leading development environments for mobile handset software and software integration. Kvaleberg has now capitalised on this position to develop a complete turnkey software suite offering all the usual applications that consumers now expect from their mobile handsets”, explains Bjørn Erik Reinseth.

Advance software
The software suite can be quickly and easily customised for different user interfaces, hardware solutions and functionality. It is often the case that up to 90% of the software can be reused when a new handset model is developed, and this reduces the normal development period of 12 to 18 months to between 6 and 9 months.

“ODMs operate in a market where competitiveness depends on the speed of innovation, making software a critical factor. Mobile network operators impose strict requirements, while at the same time inexpensive handsets make it all the more important to make best use of processing and storage capacity. This is the area in which Kvaleberghas developed world-class expertise and solutions”, addsBjørn Erik Reinseth.

Software refinements and marketing
Ferd Venture has invested NOK 15 million in Kvaleberg. The company intends to use the new financing for sales and marketing and for the last stages of refining the software suite that it plans to launch this autumn. The company currently has 16 employees, with its head office in Oslo and an office in California. Work is now under way on opening an office in Taiwan, which is a central location for the majority of the company’s customers. The investors in the company other than Ferd Venture are the founder Egil Kvaleberg and certain employees.

Bjørn Erik Reinseth was responsible for work on the Kvaleberg investment, with Annar Bøhn and Pål M. Rødseth making up the team.

Series B investment [from SmarterPhone/Kvaleberg press releases]

(Oslo, 25 January 2011) Smarterphone today announced the completion of a Series B investment of 5 million USD by Ferd Capital, a privately-owned Norwegian industrial and financial group.

Smarterphone, formerly Kvaleberg AS, is the creator of the mobile handset software Smarterphone OS that enables mobile phone manufacturers to build and sell 3G smart phones at a low cost in high volume markets.

“We believe that Smarterphone could become the Wal-Mart of mobile handsets“, said Bjørn Erik Reinseth, Partner of Ferd Capital. “Apple iPhone and Android-based phones have paved the way for smart phones worldwide, however, they require sophisticated hardware and therefore become too expensive for most people in the world. Smarterphone are able to build the advanced features of these high-end phones in low cost 3G handsets, thereby making every phone smart“.

One of the key focus areas of Smarterphone is the concept of the smart mobile phone as a seamless integration of all modern means of communication into one device, always available. “Taking a picture and immediately sharing it on your Facebook wall should be just as easy and natural as making a call or sending a text message,” said Egil Kvaleberg, Founder and CEO of Smarterphone. “With our solution, this kind of versatility is affordable for everyone.”

News [selectively from SmarterPhone/Kvaleberg press releases]

Kvaleberg enters into sublicense agreement with SinoVoice

(Oslo, 29 October 2009) Kvaleberg have today signed a licensing agreement with

SinoVoice of Beijing, China. Handwriting recognition is considered to be an extremely important feature on handsets for the Chinese handset market, and this agreement allows Kvaleberg to offer the InfoQuick™ Chinese handwriting recognition software to customers all over Asia as part of Mimiria.

Kvaleberg signs licensing agreement with CooTek

(Oslo, 22 October 2009) Kvaleberg have today signed an agreement with

CooTek of Shanghai, China. CooTek TouchPal offers predictive text input for over 20 languages, and input speeds of up to 450 characters per minute. Kvaleberg AS are extremely pleased with both the performance and memory footprint of the prediction engine, and with the support from the CooTek team. The agreement allows Kvaleberg to offer the CooTek TouchPal text entry and prediction product as a pre-integrated component of the Mimiria software solution

Nuance signs license and bundling agreement with Kvaleberg

(Oslo, 30 June 2009) Kvaleberg today signed an agreement with Nuance of Belgium, the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions, that allows Kvaleberg to offer the eZiText™ and eZiType™ mobile phone keypad text entry and prediction engine as integral parts of the Mimiria software solution.

Kvaleberg approved as Sun Value Added Provider for Java™ ME

(Oslo, 20 March 2009) Kvaleberg today was approved by Sun Microsystems as a Value Added Provider for components in the Java Platform, Micro Edition like CLDC, MIDP, WMA and MMAPI. The agreement allows Kvaleberg to integrate and configure Java ME on devices together with the Mimiria platform, as Wireless Performance Packs. Additionally, Kvaleberg takes full responsibility for the Java compliance process, including carrying out the TCK testing process. This agreement allows Kvaleberg to offer a full one-stop-shop for Mimiria, including the Java ME solution, further strengthening the value provided to the Mimiria customers.

Kvaleberg signs agreement with Obigo

Kvaleberg have now signed a licensing agreement with South Korean

Obigo. The agreement allows Kvaleberg to offer the Obigo Q7 Browser in combination with the Mimiria software solution. The Obigo Q7 Browser is a very capable browser for modern Full Internet content. The Obigo browser also supports WAP, and is compliant with demanding operator’s requirements. It is thus a perfect component for Mimiria, which is aimed at mass-market 3G phones.

Kvaleberg AS partners with SmarterPhone

Kvaleberg AS to integrate SmarterPhone into Mimiria (Oslo, Norway 16 February 2008)

Kvaleberg AS announced today that they have signed a contract with SmarterPhone that will allow them to integrate SmarterPhone’s Unified Messaging Engine (UME) into Mimiria, Kvaleberg’s turnkey software suite for mobile phones. This partnership will allow Kvaleberg’s customers a wider choice, giving access to SmarterPhone’s capabilities for SMS, MMS, Email, and instant messaging in its flagship software, Mimiria.

About Kvaleberg AS

Kvaleberg AS, a software development company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, was founded in 1993 by Egil Kvaleberg and employs 24 developers. Mimiria is Kvaleberg’s flagship software, which is a turnkey suite of mobile phone software and applications offering a complete solution for handset manufacturers. Kvaleberg AS has sales offices in San Diego, California; Beijing, China; and Taiwan. For more information on Kvaleberg AS or Mimiria, contact Audun Føyen at +47 918 42 168 or send an email to audun@smarterphone.com. Kvaleberg’s Web site can be found at www.smarterphone.com.

About SmarterPhone

SmarterPhone is a provider of innovative software solutions for mobile devices, specializing in embedded messaging software. Available in an SDK, its Unified Messaging Engine (UME) allows OEMs to deliver an exceptional messaging experience to the user, while reducing integration costs and speeding time-to-market. For more information about SmarterPhone, contact Zim Kalinowski at +44 789 99 135 63 or send an email to zim@smarterphone.com. SmarterPhone’s Web site can be found at ume.smarterphone.com.

Kvaleberg signs license and distribution agreement with Beep Science

Kvaleberg AS has signed a license and distribution agreement with Beep Science AS for Beep Science OMA DRM 2.0. This enables Kvaleberg to pre-integrate Beep Science’s industry leading OMA DRM 2.0 technology into the Mimiria applications suite.

About Beep Science

Beep Science AS is a leading provider of mobile Digital Rights Management (DRM) software solutions, enabling exciting new digital content services around the world. Founded in 2000, the company has established itself as internationally recognized specialist within the field of Mobile DRM. Beep Science provides DRM clients to device manufacturers and platform vendors and DRM servers to mobile operators and service providers. Beep Science’s DRM products are based on Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) industry standards as well as supporting other DRM schemes in the market. The company’s customers include major ODMs and OEMs and mobile operators worldwide. For further information, please visitwww.beepscience.com.

Kvaleberg signs license and distribution agreement with Openwave Systems Inc

Kvaleberg AS has signed a master license and distribution agreement with Openwave Systems, Inc. for the Openwave® Mobile Browser, the Openwave V7 Framework, the Openwave SMS/EMS/MMS Client and Openwave AirTX Predictive Text. This enables Kvaleberg to make this world-leading Openwave portfolio of mobile handset solutions part of its complete, pre-integrated Mimiria application suite. The agreement allows Kvaleberg to offer its customers a complete one-stop shopping solution for mobile handset software.

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Marvell® ARMADA® PXA168 based XO laptops and tablets from OLPC with $185 and target $100 list prices respectively

January 8, 2012 8:08 pm / 1 Comment on Marvell® ARMADA® PXA168 based XO laptops and tablets from OLPC with $185 and target $100 list prices respectively

CES: One Laptop Per Child – The New XO v3.0 [Jan 11, 2012]

The new OLPC XO v3.0 laptop is unveiled at CES 2012. Demoing at the Marvell booth (the company that developed the processor found on board the XO) Giulia D’Amico, Director of Business Development [at One Laptop per Child], talks about some of the features found on the new device.

Related information: Marvell’s SMILE Plug for the “Classroom 3.0” initiative [Feb 1, 2012]

One Laptop Per Child XO-3 [Yves Behar’s fuseproject news blog, Jan 9, 2012]

6 years of design development with Nicholas Negroponte and the non-profit organization he founded, One Laptop Per Child, has led to the next generation XO-3 tablet. More than 2.4 million children in 25 countries received the original XO Laptop, and these kids have been our inspiration to create the next generation of this educational tool.

One Laptop Per Child is a technology story about how to provide low-cost educational tools to millions of children. For those children, and for us, it is also a creative story about how to design specifically for young students. Every decision made by the OLPC engineering team and the design team at fuseproject has been about adapting technology to children’s needs at a cost that makes the tablet affordable for developing countries.

The first impression of the XO-3 is its extreme simplicity. The focus is on the screen, while the surrounding green rubber border provides a safe tactile grip for children’s hands. The back surface has a bumpy texture and integrates a rear-facing camera. The connectors, power switch and speakers are arranged on the bottom edge, facing the user. Our approach has been to minimize complexity, while delivering a high quality, and a heightened touch feel. There is playfulness in the way one can adapt the cover to different needs, while each design detail and material is chosen to deliver maximum value.

Fuseproject Unwraps The Third-Gen One Laptop Per Child: A $100 Tablet [Fastcompany’s Co.Design blog, Jan 10, 2012]

With the XO-3, OLPC unveils a design that will allow it to be customized for myriad markets.

Let’s get this out of the way. The OLPC XO-3, the $100 tablet addition to the One Laptop Per Child family, newly launched at CES 2012, is much thicker than the concept tablet, which they showed in 2009. Plus, it’s missing the ring!

The original XO-3 concept, featuring a slimmer design and that lovely ring.

See the earlier information on this blog here: Marvell ARMADA with sun readable and unbreakable Pixel Qi screen, and target [mass] manufacturing cost of $75 [Nov 4, 2010 – July 20, 2011]

“They’re still the ultimate goal,” says Yves Béhar, founder of fuseproject and OLPC Chief Designer. The key component that enables the thinness of the concept tablet is flexible color e-paper, and that has been slow to come to market. When it does, the OLPC team anticipates that the robustness and low power consumption will make for an ideal very thin and lightweight tablet.

…

Tablet interfaces can be easily swapped out in different milieus.

Testing and getting back reports of usage on the ground is a core part of the OLPC design process. From their previous experience, they knew localization would be key for this product. For instance, one of the benefits of a tablet form factor is that keyboards and other interfaces are entirely done in software, so it’s easy to swap them out for different languages and milieus. Easier than doing it in hardware, anyway.

There is localization in the hardware as well. This is localization not for language but for the infrastructural conditions of the places where the tablets will be used. Every XO-3 comes with a removable cover. “The cover is the multiple personality side of the tablet,” says Béhar. They can be simple passive protection, but depending on the needs of a particular locale, other capabilities can be built in.

For example, one version of the cover comes with a solar panel on the inside along with a thin battery. When you are in school, using the machine, you can leave the cover out in the sun to power the battery. When you put the cover back over the tablet, the battery connects and recharges the machine. Béhar says they are also working on a version of the cover with antenna that will enable the tablet to communicate with satellites. There are more accessories to come. “We learned a lot with the original OLPC XO,” says Béhar.

Marvell and One Laptop per Child Unveil the XO 3.0 Tablet at CES
Also: The first Marvell ARMADA powered XO 1.75 laptop will begin shipping in March to school children in Uruguay and Nicaragua [Marvell press release, Jan 8, 2012]

Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL), a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, and One Laptop per Child, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help every child in the world gain access to a modern education, demonstrated a fully functional version of the much-anticipated XO 3.0 – a low-cost, low-power, rugged tablet computer designed for classrooms around the globe – at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show.

“We’re proud to introduce the XO 3.0 tablet, showcasing the design, durability and performance features that make it a natural successor for our current laptops, which have been distributed to more than 2.4 million children in 42 countries and in 25 languages,” said Edward McNierney, Chief Technology Officer of One Laptop per Child. “The XO 3.0 builds on many of the technology breakthroughs we made with the XO 1.75, including the use of the Marvell® ARMADA® PXA618 processor, resulting in a significant decrease in power consumption–a critical issue for students in the developing world.”

“Marvell is committed to improving education–and the human condition–around the world through innovative technology for Smartphones, tablets and a myriad of new cloud-delivered services. Partnering with One Laptop Per Child is one way we can deliver a revolution where it matters most–to benefit children in some of the poorest places on the planet,” said Tom Hayes, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. and a member of the OLPC advisory board. “Marvell has been with One Laptop per Child from the start and we’re doing whatever it takes to help the organization realize its mission of providing meaningful educational opportunities to the 500 million school-aged children around the world.”

Marvell and One Laptop per Child also announced today that the XO 1.75 laptop will begin shipping to customers in March 2012. Over 75,000 units of the XO 1.75 have already been ordered by OLPC projects in Uruguay and Nicaragua. The XO 1.75 uses the Marvell ARM-based ARMADA PXA618 SOC processor, which compared to the earlier XO 1.5, maintains performance while using only half the power. The XO 1.75 features a sunlight-readable screen and all the other features and design characteristics of the two previous versions of the XO laptop.

The XO 3.0 tablet will also feature the Marvell ARMADA PXA618 SOC processor and Avastar Wi-Fi SOC. Other features include:

Unique charging circuitry; the XO 3.0 is the only tablet that can be charged directly by solar panels [see that above as built into the internal side of the protecting cover], hand cranks and other alternative power sources

Standard or [a somewhat more expensive] Pixel Qi sunlight-readable display

Android and Linux operating system support

A First Look at the new XO 3.0 tablet from One Laptop Per Child [Jan 10, 2012]

A Look At OLPC’s XO 3.0 Tablet’s Solar And Kinetic Chargers [Forbes, Jan 8, 2012]

…

Due to the simplicity of the model, McNierney expects to see a lot of interest in the solar cover. Since the panel produces 4 watts of energy and the tablet uses 2 watts, one hour of solar charging should enable 2 hours of tablet run-time.

The hand crank charger is more experimental. Like the solar cover, it is separate from the core tablet but connects via a port. It also hearkens back to the first concept designs for OLPC which had built-in hand cranks on their sides. That feature was eventually dropped for structural weakness reasons.

That history may make OLPC customers leery of the new hand cranks. McNierney acknowledged that most customers may bypass the hand cranks but he insisted they are usable. (Six minutes of hand-cranking should produce an hour of run-time.) To test the feature, the organization took out the tablet batteries to see whether the devices could run just by hand crank. The test worked, said McNierney. “If something can generate DC power, we can use it,” he added.

OLPC isn’t specifying which energy source customers need to use. McNierney pointed out that different countries will have their own preferences, based on culture, climate or other factors.
…

This effort goes back quite a time: Marvell ARMADA with sun readable and unbreakable Pixel Qi screen, and target [mass] manufacturing cost of $75 [a collection of information on this blog, Nov 4, 2010 – July 20, 2011]

One Laptop Gets $5.6M Grant From Marvell to Develop Next Generation Tablet Computer [Xconomy, Oct 4, 2010] [see that as built into the internal side of the protecting cover]

The One Laptop per Child Foundation and Santa Clara, CA-based semiconductor maker Marvell have cemented a partnership announced last spring, with Marvell agreeing to provide OLPC with $5.6 million to fund development of its next generation tablet computer, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte tells me. Negroponte says the deal, signed in the past week or so but not previously announced, runs through 2011.

“Their money is a grant to the OLPC Foundation to develop a tablet or tablets based on their chip,” he says. “They’re going to put the whole system on a chip.”
…

– One Laptop per Child and Marvell Join Forces to Redefine Tablet Computing for Students Around the World [Marvell press release, May 27, 2010]
– Marvell Joins ‘One Laptop Per Child’ Initiative [Marvell press release, May 8, 2006]

OLPC XO-1.75 Costs $185 and Starts Shipping in March [OLPC News, Jan 7, 2012]

…
With regard to the price I confirmed with OLPC Association’s CFO Bob Hacker that the XO-1.75’s list price will be $185. As with the XO-1 and XO-1.5 the exact price depends on a number of variables such as the specific hardware configuration (RAM and NAND flash for mass storage) and other details.
…
An interesting detail here is that it seems like Uruguay decided to go for 8GB of NAND flash for mass storage while Nicaragua opted for 4GB.

XO-1.75, XO-3, Nell? – What Will OLPC Show at CES 2012 Next Week? [OLPC News, Jan 8, 2012]

…

The XO-1.75 looks identical to the XO-1 and XO-1.5 from the outside yet its hardware guts are quite different as OLPC switched from an x86 architecture to an ARM platform. I had previously expressed doubts whether this move would really led to a much improved battery life. However reading an e-mail that Richard Smith (OLPC Foundation’s Director of Embedded Engineering) sent out in November it seems like my guesstimates where quite off as he mentions feeling…

“…safe in saying that regardless of what you do on the 1.75 you are going to get 3.5 hours of battery life. Period.”

Additionally he wrote:

An interesting data point is that the 1.75 is the first laptop of the XO series that has ran 100% from a solar panel for an extended period. During my solar testing I often swap in different batteries. The 1.75 can consistently survive battery removal under moderate solar conditions when connected to the OLPC 10W solar panel.

Aside of these promising power characteristics the XO-1.75 also includes a three-axis accelerometer which people like Bert Freudenberg and Saadia Husain Baloch have already used for some cool things such as this little eToys project or an “etch-a-sketch” program in Turtle Art.
…

XO-1.75 [wiki page on laptop.org, Dec 12, 2011]

The XO-1.75 laptop is a refresh of the XO-1 and XO-1.5 laptops. In our continued effort to maintain a low price point, OLPC is again refreshing the hardware to take advantage of the latest component technologies. This design, while separate from the XO-3 tablet effort, uses the same very low power electrical design. It continues to use the same industrial design and batteries as XO-1. The design goal is to provide an overall update of the system within the same industrial design and external appearance. Overall, the target was to greatly improve the power consumption while reducing the purchase cost.

XO-1.75 machines will ship with a new software release based on Fedora 14, including both Sugar and GNOMEsoftware.

Specifications
…
Block Diagram
…
Software
…

XO 1.75 C1 [wiki page on laptop.org, Dec 5, 2011]

XO-1.75 Laptop C test model 1, also known as C1.

The C1 are the last prototypes of the XO-1.75 built. Electrically, these are very similar to the B1 prototypes. A small number were made in September, 2011, for final testing.

These are the first XO-1.75 laptops marked as such. XO-1 laptops have a smooth hinge cover, and XO-1.5 laptops have three small raised dots inline on each side of the hinge cover. XO-1.75 laptops have seven small raised dots on the hinge cover, arranged in two rows.

While three version of C1 were built (SKUs 200, 201, and 202), testing out various alternate component suppliers, from a software and functionality point of view all versions should be identical. Unlike the B1 prototypes, all C1 laptops provide SDRAM for the DCON.

Photographs:

If you disassemble the laptop (instructions), you will see:

The XO-3 tablet debuts at CES [the official OLPC blog, Jan 7, 2012]

Our XO-3 prototype is debuting at CES this weekend, and will be shown off next week at the Marvell booth. …

If you are heading to CES, you can stop by and see it yourself! Ping Giulia to set up an appointment, or drop by the Marvell booth. Charbax of olpc.tvwill be on site as always, recording some video and interviews.

The XO-3 will sport a 1024×768 Pixel Qi screen, half-gig of RAM, and a Marvell Armada PXA618 chip. Some of the soft cover designs proposed so far include a built-in solar panel. More updates coming over the next week; for now, here is our CES press release.

The XO-3 is still planned to enter production at the end of this year.
…

[debuting at CES >>>] The $100 OLPC Tablet Is Really Real [Gizmodo, Jan 7, 2012]

Building on its success with laptops designed for developing countries, the One Laptop Per Child project is set to unveil a long-awaited tablet at CES next week. Here’s what you get for $100.

The OLPC has been kicking around the idea of a super-affordable tablet for over a year. Originally known as the XO-3, but now dubbed the XO 3.0, the tablet will feature an 8-inch 1024×768 screen with some models also offering a PixelQi 3qi display that mimics E-paper. A Marvell Armada PXA618 chip and 512MB of RAM reside in the tablet’s ruggedized shell and will run either Linux Sugar or Android OS.

With a bare-bones feature set, the OLPC tablet should cost about $100 per unit—up from the original estimated price of $75, but still way cheaper than virtually any other tablet on the market.

The coolest feature that the XO 3.0 can be powered by hand-cranking—to the tune of 10 minutes of run time for every minute of work. Why isn’t this available on, well, everything? I’d gladly spin a handle for a few minutes if it meant I wouldn’t have to beg for outlet time at coffee shops, carry spare chargers, and constantly dread the “low battery” notification. [Electronista]

XO 3 A1 [wiki page on laptop.org, Dec 12, 2011]

XO-3 Tablet Alpha test model, also known as A-test or A1.

The A1 was the first prototype of the XO-3built. The bring up happened in early December 2011.

The number of boards obtained was small, and distribution was limited to demonstrations, hardware testing, and UI development. Much of the software development is being done on XO-1.75 laptops, due to the similarities.

Bare circuit board, no case or display

Rev. A motherboard

Photographs:

Please understand that this motherboard is still in the process of slimming down, and despite being less than half the area of an XO-1.75 motherboard, will continue to get smaller in coming months. We also intend to restore an internal SD slot, allowing for storage expansion and repair of motherboards with failed eMMC devices. –wad

…

Marvell ARMADA 618 Application Processor
1GHz, 1080p Encode/Decode, 16MP ISP, 45 MTPS 3D, Security Enabled
[Marvell product brief, May 3, 2010]

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

The ARMADA™ 618 processor is Marvell®’s latest application processor targeted for next generation, high-definition (HD)-capable smartphones. Featuring a gigahertz-class CPU, integrated full HD 1080p encode and decode, an integrated ISP capable of 16MP image capture, an integrated audio processing engine for extremely low power audio playback and exceptional high quality sound and advanced 3D graphics, the ARMADA 618 consumes extremely low power, while maintaining high processing performance at attractive price points. This allows manufacturers to deliver high-performing features in lightweight form factors, with the extended battery life that consumers look for in their smartphones.

The ARMADA 618 is based on a 1GHz Marvell-designed ARM v7-compatible CPU offering best-in-class performance. An integrated 3D engine renders 45M triangles-per-second for an immersive gameplay experience, via a complete floating point pipeline and unified vertex and fragment/pixel shading, to generate contrast-rich scenes in high definition resolution and color, ensuring complete compatibility with the most hotly anticipated mobile game titles.

With respect to video, the ARMADA 618 features Marvell’s award-winning Qdeo™ technology with an integrated video accelerator that can seamlessly encode and decode h.264 High Profile 1080p video at 30fps. In addition, the ARMADA 618 incorporates a complete Image Signal Processor which can capture high resolution color pictures as well as stream 1080p video at 30fps. This enables smartphones to access the latest HD content from the web, record and playback HD videos and capture high quality images previously only seen in SLR-class cameras.

The ARMADA 618 offers support for high performance LPDDR memory, a highly flexible display controller capable of four simultaneous displays at up to 2K x 2K resolution and a highly robust security subsystem that includes a secure execution processor. The ARMADA 618 also features support for the next generation of peripheral interfaces, through support for MIPI DSI display, MIPI CSI camera, MIPI HSI and MIPI SLIMbus. Additional peripheral interfaces supported include USB 2.0 HSIC, SD/SDIO/MMC, eMMC, HDMI w/PHY and a standard set of lower bandwidth peripherals. Legacy peripherals such as Parallel LCD and Parallel Camera interfaces are also supported. The ARMADA 618 offers optimized OS support for Linux, Android™, Windows Mobile and Flash® 10, as well as industry standard APIs. Available in both a 12x12mm POP and a 12x12mm Discrete package, ARMADA 618 customers will have one of the broadest, most flexible choices of platform in the industry to create truly innovative and marketable products.

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Fig 1. Marvell ARMADA 618 Application Processor

APPLICATIONS

The Marvell ARMADA 618 platform offers customers a development platform for creating ARMADA 618 based smartphones. The platform incorporates the ARMADA 618 processor, the Marvell Avastar™ 88W8787 for 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and FM tuner support as well as a Marvell 3G baseband for high speed cellular data and voice access. The platform demonstrates the full suite of Marvell technologies for smartphone applications in a compact form factor that is easy for developers to use with powerful expansion options for adding more platform capabilities.

Social Good Summit : Day 1 : Nicholas Negroponte [Sept 28, 2011]

One Laptop per Child founder Nicholas Negroponte aims to tackle universal education through technology. Already the organization has gained success in Uruguay, where every single child between the ages of five and fifteen have a laptop. But to achieve universal education, Negroponte argues that building schools and training teachers are not enough. In fact, he points out that many teachers in the developing world are illiterate themselves (shocking stat: 25% of teachers in Afghanistan are illiterate). He believes that children can learn on their own. The organization will be testing this notion out.

One Laptop Per Child Redux [Jeff Shear on Miller-McCune, Dec 23, 2011]

Declared dead just two years ago, the plan to provide every child in the developing world with a computer shows signs of life.

The New York Times called it, “The Laptop That Will Save the World,” while the renowned Computer Graphics Laboratoryat Stanford University referred to it as “a monumental feat of engineering and design.”

Dressed up like a toy in a Kermit-the-Frog green and white plastic shell, this durable little computer was the progeny of the nonprofit organization, One Laptop Per Child.

When the laptops went into mass production in November 2007, OLPC’s ambitious plan aimed to place a free computer into the hands of the world’s 1 billion impoverished children. Education is the exit ramp off the endless road of poverty, the organization argues, and because young people naturally take to computers, the idea is to use them as a way to bridge the so-called “digital gap” between the haves and the have-nots. The little laptop is seen as both a virtual classroom and teacher, with playful software designed for self-learning and an Internet connection to the Internet Archive, which has a dedicated OLPC gateway to its 1.6 million book library.

But in 2009, Scrooge came knocking on the organization’s door, accompanied by One Laptop’s own three ghosts: rough economic times, soaring costs, and technical glitches. Tumbling financial markets crippled donations, while its skittish supporters, chiefly philanthropies and foundations, abandoned it for greener pastures. Desperate to stay afloat, it fired half its staff, and cut pay to the 32 who remained.

These days, the company has been reorganizing, rehiring, reinventing, and aggressively making its way into the developing world. As many as 3 million of the nonprofit’s laptops are now in the hands of children and educators in 46 countries spanning 25 different languages. The company has staffed back up to 53 employees, although some are temporary software writers.

And in early 2012, a new super-low cost tablet, the XO-3, will debut, with a promised price-point of $75 for the nonprofit. Significantly, the XO-3 will be available outside OLPC. One Laptop hopes to prod the big manufacturers into using their distribution channels for their own branded versions of the tablet.

This is a big change for OLPC, an acknowledgement that they aren’t the only kid on the cheap-computer block. While iPads, Kindles, and other low-cost computers and tablets are sweeping the market, none of them are designed specifically as educational devices for primary and secondary school students. Intel’s Learning Series does make the Classmate netbook, but even discounted it goes for $505.

How does a computer designed for education differ from one used for education? “A child can do anything to this software and never break it,” explains Walter Bender, a co-founder of OLPC and a former director of the MIT Media Lab that created Sugar, the XO’s user interface. “Why? When you make mistakes you’re learning. When you don’t, you’re being incremental. Yet if penalty is high for making mistakes, you stop taking risks, you stop learning. We try to give kids a safe place to do trial and error, to go out there and do it in a way they can’t screw up.”

OLPC turnaround has reignited its bravado and swagger, stunts included.

Next week, the company plans to drop XO-3 from a helicopter — Santa has gone high tech — into the hands of some the poorest 5-to-8-year-olds in the remotest regions of the world. (Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Liberia are likely candidates ) In a recent interview appearing in New Scientist, the father of OLPC Nicholas Negroponte explained that the idea is to discover how much a child working on his own can learn from a computer with just “modest” intervention. In turn, OLPC will learn from the kids. After two years, trained researchers will return to the site to evaluate its effects.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Negroponte is recognized as one of the forefathers of the digital revolution. As chairman of MIT’s renown Media Lab, Negroponte announced the birth of the One Laptop Per Child project in January 2005 at the World Economic Forum. He carried around a prototype of a $100 laptop to meetings, and by the time he had packed his bags to fly home, he had collected letters of intent from several national leaders to buy as many as 9 million. That was very good news because the resulting economies of scale lowered costs to OLPC.

Negroponte soon sadly discovered that a letter of intent was a long way from a hard-boiled contract. Manufacturers who saw the original numbers and leapt on board to churn out laptops for $100 reversed themselves when actual orders came in for fewer than 800,000 machines, and their prices doubled.

The price hike hurt Negroponte’s grand design and also scuffed his reputation. He failed to deliver on his out-sized promises. At a well-attended technology conference in 2006, he told his audience his year-old operation — which had yet to begin mass production — would not launch without five to 10 million units in the first run. Further, he predicted that by 2008, OLPC would have 100 million to 200 million computers in place around the world.

Negroponte was both boastful and crotchety, a formula for making enemies. He was rude, too, scoffing at the idea of offering test runs to prospective countries. Speaking before a large audience, he said, “When people say we’d like to do three or four thousand [OLPC laptops] in our country to see how it works. [We say,] ‘Screw you. Go to the back of the line. …’”

And it wasn’t just Negroponte’s attitude that didn’t sit well with partners. A $100 computer selling for more than $200 looked to them like a raw deal. Some donors thought that the high cost of the laptop was eating up money better spent immunizing children from measles and providing mosquito netting to fight off malaria.

Even Miller-McCune piled on with a widely quoted story by Timothy Ogden titled “Computer Error,”which suggested that the downfall OLPC might be a blessing in disguise. Ogden argued that, “If the goal is improving education for children in the developing world, there are plenty of better, and cheaper, alternatives.”

In the world of foundations and philanthropies, charities with donations under seven-figures, view organizations like OLPC as a zero-sum game. A dollar spent here is a dollar unavailable to spend there, a large part of Ogden’s thesis. Holden Karnofsky, co-executive director of GiveWell, which evaluates charities says, “If someone only has $100,000 to donate, they’re not going to buy computers. They’re going to give to a proven global health program.”

Large foundations, however, don’t see giving as a zero-sum game. “They look for programs that work,” says Rob Reich, at the Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society at Stanford University. “To use a phrase from a different realm, they want to maximize their return on investment.”

And that’s exactly what Negroponte was trying to do as he pulled OLPC out of its 2009 tailspin. That September, he split OLPC into two nonprofits. One was a cutting-edge research foundation based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which he chaired. The other was an association based in Miami and run by Rodrigo Arboleda Halaby, a longtime Negroponte associate and former classmate at MIT.

The business end of OLPC was left to Arboleda, whose mantra is, “OLPC is a mission and not a market.” OLPC has ever been out to make money. The association doesn’t talk about sales; it talks about “deployments.” A high-powered entrepreneur and former trustee of Save the Children, Arboleda made two significant changes to OLPC. First, he focused the association’s energies where it had its earliest and greatest successes: Eighty-percent of OLPC’s first million sales came from Latin America.

Arboleda also looked to Latin America to restaff. He hired Roberto Interiano, a former vice minister of foreign relations for El Salvador, to manage overseas operations. Dr. Antonio Battro, an Argentinian researcher in the field of “neuroeducation”became the association’s chief education officer. It was a good fit; OLPC already used his research, while Battro says, “We believe the computer gives the child access to higher levels of logical thinking.”

Arboleda’s second big move was to take OLPC off life support. “Our original financial model was devoted to donations,” he says. “You can’t go with hat in hand begging.” The association is now a contract-driven enterprise, working chiefly through governments.

And one more thing: the new tablet being introduced early next year aims square at Africa’s sweet spot. Rwanda has already deployed 110,000 OLPC laptops as part of an effort to create an industrial/service-based economyby 2020. Ten years into the program, its Ministry of Education claims nearly universal school enrollment and a dropout rate falling from 47 percent to 25 percent. Arboleda says he is thinking about dubbing 2012 the Year of Africa.

Matt Keller, OLPC’s “global advocate,” and his family will be moving to Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia, where he plans to make the Horn of Africa his base in the next nine months. “What we’re asking ourselves,” says the former legislative director of Common Cause and senior program officer for the U.N.’s World Food Program, “is whether children in non-literate communities with no access to schools can teach themselves to read by using the XO-3.”

A hundred million African children have no access to schools, let alone electric power. The back of the XO-3 tablet is a solar panel used for re-charging.

“The XO-3 is a world in a box that can be accessed by any child anywhere. My chief aim is to reach kids off the grid in remote sub-Saharan Africa,” he says of the project also being backed being backed by the artificial intelligence unit at MIT. “We want kids to be connected to other kids everywhere.

“It’s not a choice between mosquito netting, health and education,” he insists. “It’s not a zero-sum game. When kids are educated, good things happen. A generation of children who learn to think critically, analytically and rationally will change the status quo.”

Happy New Year! Reflections on OLPC in 2011 [the official OLPC blog, Dec 31, 2011]

As we prepare for 2012, here is a quick look back at the past year of OLPC. We distributed our two millionth laptop (now 2.5M), and our largest programs in Latin America (Peru) and Africa (Rwanda) grew steadily. Austria’s Julieta Rudich and Journeyman Pictures produced a fine documentary about Plan Ceibal in Uruguay (the world’s first complete olpcprogram), and Peru provided XOs and compatible robotics kits to all of their urban schools.

In East Africa, we expanded our work with African nations and donors to improve education for children across the continent. We were invited by both the African Union and the UN to open an OLPC office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Addis is a major hub for African diplomacy, and the support there for our mission has been stunning. We have become a full partner of the East African Community in Tanzania, and our recent country report on Rwandahas driven further interest in the region.

A Rwandan student workshop in Kigali

In the Middle East, we continued working with the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the UN to provide thousands of Palestinian children with XO laptops, integrating them into schools. It took ten months to work the laptops through customs in Gaza. But at a forum in Ramallah in June, teachers from Bethlehem and Gaza showed how OLPC was helping to end isolation and to excite learning for their children. Third grade girls in refugee camps are teaching others and writing computer programs. The testimony of these women to the power of persistence was extraordinary.

In Afghanistan, we founded a regional OLPC Afghanistan office, and briefed General Petraeus on the project. We believe that one laptop per child and connectivity, across the country, will transform this generation and their communities. Today we are working with the Education Ministry to support four thousand children in 10 schools, and are looking into expanding in Herat Province.

On the technical side, we focused on driving down laptop power needs by switching over to ARM chips in the XO-1.75 and upcoming XO-3 tablet. The tablet should be chargable by a solar panel that could serve as its carrying-case. We are studying new waysto help children learn to read, including where there are no schools at all.

In society, the idea that every child should have access to their own computer and to the Web – as a basic part of learning, whatever their family income – continued to spread. In addition to ongoing national programs in Argentina, Portugal, and Venezuela (for secondary students), two full-saturation laptop programs for older students are developing in India – an inexpensive tablet is being distributed to university students, and in Tamil Nadudual-boot laptops from six different manufacturers are being provided to secondary students.

Reaching the least-developed countries in the world remains our goal and our most difficult challenge. While our largest deployments are funded directly by implementing governments, rural successes may be driven by foundations, NGOs, and individual donations. OLPC Rwanda, today one of the largest educational technology projects in Africa and part of a ten-year government plan, was seeded with ten thousand laptops given by Give One, Get Onedonors.

So to our supporters: thank youfor your development, contributions, and collaboration, your feedback from the field, and your encouragement! This is all possible thanks to you.

Happy New Year to all — may 2012 bring you inspiration and discovery. We have some excellent surprises planned for the new year. And we would love to hear your reflections as well — please share stories from your own school projects in 2011.

OLPC’s XO-3 Tablet to Debut at CES [IDG News, Jan 7, 2012]

One Laptop Per Child’s XO-3 tablet is ready to ship after years in the making, and working units will be shown next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, OLPC founder and chairman Nicholas Negroponte said.

The tablet has an 8-inch screen and will be priced at less than US$100 as originally planned, Negroponte said via e-mail. Like OLPC’s XO-1 laptop, the XO-3 will be offered as an educational tool for children in developing countries. Negroponte declined to say if it will also be sold at retail.

The XO-3 was first announced in late 2009 with availability targeted for early 2012. At the time, skeptics questioned OLPC’s mission, accusing it of losing its educational focusin favor of designing hardware at unachievable price points.

The XO-3’s on-time release will help erase unpleasant memories of the XO-1 project, for which the laptop shipped late and at double the promised $100 price tag.

The XO-3 uses a Marvell chip with an ARM-based CPU running at 1GHz and will run Linux-based software such as Google’s Android or Chrome operating systems. It will be offered with optional technologies, such as a power-saving Pixel Qi screen and a solar charger for the battery.

“[The XO-3] price will be $100 or lower. But this time there are options, so we cannot guarantee the final price,” Negroponte said

The tablet provides about eight to 10 hours of battery life, though some audiences may choose a smaller battery capacity to reduce the purchase price, said Ed McNierney, chief technology officer at OLPC.

The internal batteries can be charged by “just about anything that produces DC power,” he said. The charging options include solar panels or hand cranks, and a study is under way to see if the battery can be detached and the tablet powered directly through a solar cell.

“Our ability to accept erratic, variable, noisy power inputs is extremely important to us, and something no other tablet has even attempted,” McNierney said.

The tablet is also available with a traditional LCD screen. But the optional Pixel Qi display absorbs ambient light to brighten the screen, reducing power consumption and extending battery life.

Eight inches is the right size for the display, McNierney said, because a 9.7-inch display is too big for children to handle, and 7 inches “seems too small to be usable.”

Microsoft’s Windows will not run on the device, only Linux-based OSes, Negroponte said. The nonprofit has abandoned its pursuit of Windows for tablets, even though Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 will work on ARM processors. Negroponte has said the tablet on display at CES will run Google’s Android OS.

OLPC didn’t share further specifics, but the tablet may include a camera and USB ports, according to some design details shared with IDG News Service in July, .

The XO-3 ultimately will replace the XO-1.75 laptops that are currently shipping, Negroponte said.

OLPC is not dependent on a specific manufacturer for the tabletand will work with “whomsoever wants to roll-out the tablet, for whatsoever purpose, at a very large scale,” Negroponte said, adding the objective is to see prices plummet.

As part of a two-year project to study educational development among young children in developing countries, researchers will collect data from XO-3 tablets used by three-to-eight-year-olds in India, Tanzania and Sierra Leone. Software on the tablets will record audio and video and adapt a reading platform to the needs of the children without human intervention. The project will study how children interact with the tablet and will aid in the study of tools for self-learning and critical thinking among children. One goal is to provide basic comprehension and reading, which is important in countries where teacher training is inadequate.

“In the reading experiment, where we ask can a child learn to read on his or her own, we imagine many hours of use per day, as many as six or eight. Frankly, the reading experiment may be the most important thing I have ever done….if it works,” Negroponte said.

The study will be run out of the MIT Media Lab and be conducted in partnership with Tufts University, Newcastle University, and OLPC.

OLPC XO-3 tablet delayed [networkworld, Nov 3, 2010]

OLPC XO-3 Tablet Delayed [IDG News, Nov 3, 2010]

Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of One Laptop Per Child said that the XO-3 tablet computer will debut sometime in February 2011, about 45 days later than originally planned.

Negroponte said that he wants the screen to be flexible so that it is more resistant to breaking, but that it doesn’t need to roll up.

“The issue has been really finding an unbreakable material, which may not be plastic, it may be glass or some flavor of glass,” he said during a video interview at MIT.

At first the XO-3 won’t be branded OLPC, rather made by Marvell, with the actual XO-3 to follow.

The tablet will eventually cost US$75 and during a May 2010 interview, Negroponte said hitting that mark wouldn’t be a problem.

Sitting in his sparse office in the MIT Media Lab, which he founded 25 years ago, Negroponte said that the job of the XO-3 is “pushing where normal market forces wouldn’t otherwise.”

“We’re going to push down on price, we’re going to push on non-breakable, we’re going to push particularly on power because we want to hand crank these things,” he said. “Our characteristics are ones that the market wouldn’t do normally, but that we will bring sooner or prove that can be done.”

Once the XO-3 tablet does debut, it will co-exist “for some time” along with the original laptop.

“It is unclear to us now both in the labs and imagining the future if the haptic version of the tablet keyboard is going to be sufficient to allow you to use it as a general purpose computer,” Negroponte said.

Nick Barber covers general technology news in both text and video for IDG News Service. E-mail him at Nick_Barber@idg.com and follow him on Twitter at @nickjb.

The new, high-volume market in China is ready to define the 2012 smartphone war

January 6, 2012 8:23 pm / 9 Comments on The new, high-volume market in China is ready to define the 2012 smartphone war

Follow-up: Boosting the MediaTek MT6575 success story with the MT6577 announcement [June 27, 2012]
– China TD-SCDMA and W-CDMA 3G subscribers by the end of 2011: China Mobile lost its original growth momentum [Jan 21, 2011]

Updates: China market: Local vendors to roll out CNY300 smartphones [DIGITIMES, July 13, 2012]

China-based handset makers are ready to begin volume shipments of smartphones priced at CNY300 (US$50) in the second half of 2012 compared to the previous focus on CNY600 models in the first half of the year, according to industry sources.

Competition among chipset solution vendors, promotions by telecom carriers, and the rise of new brands in China have contributed to the rapid decline in prices of smartphones in China, the sources revealed.

The top-3 telecom carriers had previously focused purchases on smartphones with a price tag of CNY1,000, but some local handset makers are now willing to offer quotes at around CNY500 in order to win orders, said the sources, adding that the pricing will serve as an indication for channel operators to follow.

While quotes for 2G smartphones in China have already dropped to below US$50, prices for 3G models currently range from US$60-80 and are expected to reach US$50 soon, the sources asserted.

Sub-CNY1,000 smartphones accounted for 21% of all smartphones sold in China in the first quarter of 2012, compared to a ratio of 12% a year earlier, according to IDC.

– China market: Nearly 195 million handsets shipped in 1H12 [DIGITIMES, July 10, 2012]

There were 194.913 million handsets shipped in the China market during the first half of 2012, consisting of 106.874 million (54.83%) 3G handsets in 801 models and 88.039 million (45.17%) 2G handsets in 1,298 models, according to statistics published by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Of the shipment volume, 94.855 million or 48.67% were smartphones in 822 models of which 801 models or 97.44% were based on Android. China-based vendors accounted for 75.16% of the half-year shipment volume, and international vendors 24.84%.

The monthly shipment volume of smartphones exceeded that of feature phones for the first time in April 2012, with the corresponding proportion increasing to 56.9% in June.

China market: Breakdown of total handset shipment volume, 1H12

Generation
Technology standard

Number of models

Shipment volume (m handsets)

3G
WCDMA (China Unicom)

476

53.099

CDMA2000 (China Telecom)

174

28.197

TD-SCDMA (China Mobile)

151

25.578

2G
GSM

1,272

81.915

CDMA1x

26

6.076

Source: CATR under MIIT, compiled by Digitimes, July 2012

– Second- and third-tier handset makers in China may not adopt Windows Phone 8 platform [DIGITIMES, July 5, 2012]

Microsoft has been eager to promote Windows Phone 8, Windows 8 and Windows RT. Despite having partners such as Nokia, Samsung, and HTC for Windows Phone 8, severe price competition in China will likely prevent second- and third-tier handset makers from switching from Google’s Android.

China-based handset makers have been aiming at customers switching from feature phones to smartphones for the first time and hence have little desire to adopt new platforms.

Industry sources indicated that competition in China’s smartphone market has been cutthroat. First-tier brands such as ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad and Lenovo have been introducing models at the price range of CNY1,000 (US$157). To increase market exposure, second-tier brands such as Haier and Konka have been introducing models below CNY500 in efforts to obtain cooperation with telecommunications service providers. The price difference is significant, said industry sources.

Microsoft hopes to increase market share in China’s smartphone market. However, Windows Phone 8 is unlikely to compete with Android in features such as localized applications and marketing resources, added industry sources.

Nevertheless, Microsoft has been adding new alliances such as Huawei and ZTE. Industry sources believe the two firms hope to generate more profits by providing products with different platforms.

– China smartphone market 2012: Trends and analysis [DIGITIMES Research, July 3, 2012]

Abstract

The China handset market has exhibited strong growth, with the total number of mobile users in the country reaching 980 million people according to figures from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), an increase of 130 million over the 2010 figure. Digitimes Research estimates that mobile user numbers could top 1.13 billion in 2012.

Digitimes Research estimates that the China handset market reached some 390 million units in 2011, representing 16% growth on 2010; the market is likely to grow to 430 million units in 2012, representing further growth of 9%. Thanks to the expansion of 3G service coverage and further falls in budget smartphone prices, the share of the handset market accounted for by smartphones is likely to reach 32% or around 143 million units, 70% of which will be Android handsets.

Digitimes Research believes that market share rankings for the China smartphone market will change significantly during 2012. Samsung and Apple will take the top two places, while the big four China-based brands – Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and Coolpad – will take third to sixth places, while Nokia will drop to seventh; these seven firms will collectively account for 85% of shipments.

In other words, the many other brands hoping to seize a share of the market will essentially be confined to competing for a potential market of just 15% of overall shipments or around 21 million handsets. Given such a situation, Digitimes Research projects that many of China’s best known smaller brands such as Xiaomi, TCL, Gionee, Tianyu, Oppo and BBK will see shipments of no more than a few million handsets.

– China-based white-box vendors expected to ship 200 million smartphones [DIGITIMES, April 17, 2012]

China-based white-box vendors, mainly due to the availability of inexpensive new chip solutions, have been increasing the production of smartphones, with the total shipment volume expected to reach 200 million units in 2012, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Taiwan-based MediaTek is offering the makers its MT6575 a chip solution for use in entry-level smartphones in the first quarter of 2012 and will offer the MT6577, a solution for high-level smartphones, in the middle of the third quarter of 2012, the sources indicated. MediaTek will ship 50-70 million chips to China-based white-box vendors to account for nearly 30% of smartphones to be shipped by these vendors in 2012.

In addition, Qualcomm has strengthened its marketing in the China market by offering turn-key solutions to white-box vendors, with prices for a chips lowered to US$6, the sources cited eMedia Asia as indicating.

China-based white-box vendors sell more than 60% of their smartphone output to overseas markets, including 2.5G models for markets where deployment of 3G networks is not mature yet, the sources indicated. White-box vendors are expected to see larger market demand if their production costs for entry-, medium- and high-level smartphones drop to US$60, US$85 and US$130 respectively, the sources pointed out.

– China market: Handset makers upgrading hardware specifications of sub-CNY1,000 smartphone models [Feb 17, 2012]

China-based handset makers, including ZTE, Huawei Device, Lenovo and Coolpad, have continued to upgrade the hardware specifications of their sub-CNY1,000 (US$159) smartphone models due to intensifying competition in the segment, according to industry sources.

With the introduction of dual-core 1GHz CPUs for high-end models in 2011, the single-core 1GHz CPU is likely to become one of the standards for entry-level smartphones in China this year, the sources indicated.

Additionally, some vendors have also begun to adopt 4-inch displays for their sub-CNY1,000 models, instead of 3.5-inch displays used previously, the sources added.

Coolpad has recently launched a 4-inch model, the 7260, and saw sales of the model reach 30,000 units a month in the initial period, the sources revealed, adding that monthly shipments of the 7260 may top 100,000 units soon.

– China handset makers to push sales of sub-CNY1,000 smartphones to mature markets [Feb 16, 2012]

Having mass-produced smartphones with a price tag of around CNY1,000 (US$159) for the China market since 2011, China-based handset makers ZTE, Huawei Device, Lenovo and Coolpad plan to push the sale of sub-CNY1,000 smartphones to mature markets including North America and Taiwan, according to industry sources.

Sales of smartphones by Coolpad, Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei combined currently account for 30-40% of China’s smartphone market, with the ratio likely to surpass 50% by year-end 2012, the sources estimated.

In the Taiwan market, Coolpad has recently a WCDMA model with a suggested retail price of NT$5,990 (US$203). However, the company plans to launch more entry-level smartphones later and aims to take up a 3-5% share in the segment. Coolpad shipped about 270,000-280,000 CDMA models in Taiwan in 2011, the sources revealed.

– Chinese smartphone market sees explosive growth [Feb 16, 2012]

Judging from the structure of the smartphone market in 2011, Chinese smart terminals brands such as ZTE and Huawei seem to be on a trend of full-scale explosion. Having been suppressed by foreign brands for a long time, Chinese smartphones begin to take a solid footstep in the smartphone market by working closely with telecommunication operators and making full use of their “Chinese characteristics”, breaking the old pattern of market that has long been dominated by foreign brands. According to industrial participants, Chinese brands are rising in the 3G era.

According to media report, the Coolpad 7260, one of China Unicom’s 1000-Yuan smartphones, created a record sales of 110,000 units three days after it was put on the market, refreshing the shipment volume record of 1000-Yuan Chinese 3G smartphones, scoring a victory in its first battle. Also, this number gives the market more expectation for Unicom’s 8 new models of 4.0 series “WO 3G” 1000-Yuan smartphones that are co-launched by China Unicom and technology-intensive Chinese mobile phone manufacturers.

It is learned that these new 4.0 series 1000-Yuan phones boast three major features: big, fast, and HD. Big screens, previous 3.5-inch screens are replaced by 4-inch screens; fast processing speed, previous 600MHz CPUs are replaced by CPUs that are higher than 800MHz now; fast upload speed, supporting HSUPV; fast running speed, memory upgrades from 256M in the past to 512M now. High-definition picture taking, camera are required to increase from 2-3 million pixels to 3-5 million pixels.

According to person from China Unicom, the re-defined 1000-Yuan smart terminals introduced by China Unicom in May, 2011, and the numerous star terminals subsequently co-produced by China Unicom and Chinese mobile phones manufacturers have won excellent market response. Among these products, ZTE’s V880 scored daily sales of more than 10,000 units and monthly sales of more than 300,000 units. After months of promotion, the 1000-Yuan smartphones strategy remains effective, propelling the fast growth of China Unicom’s 3G subscribers.

In November, Unicom’s net growth of 3G subscribers was as high as 3.384 million with total 3G subscribers amounting to 36.534 million, making it the operator with the fastest 3G subscriber growth rate. This indicates that 1000-Yuan phones have accumulated significant subscriber base in the market and have established some brand effect. Presently, China Unicom makes use of the favorable conditions and defines the standards of 4.0 series 1000-Yuan smartphones, and offers high subsidy for the newly defined 4.0 series phones, with the purpose of making deployment in the middle-end market and grab a say of Chinese smart terminals in advance.

According to industrial participants, “users-friendly price and high-end experience” is the key to the success of China Unicom’s customized 1000-Yuan smartphones. Consumers’ favor for China Unicom’s customized terminals comes from its preferential subsidy policy, rather high-end configuration, and the user experience brought by the WCDMA network. Market research statistics show that the number of 3G subscribers worldwide in 2011 approached 1.3 billion, of which WCDMA subscribers accounted for 76 percent. In China, as per October 2011, WCDMA smartphones accounted for 69 percent of all 3G smartphones. Currently, China has become the largest smartphone market in the world, with nearly 70 percent of the phones being WCMDA. It is thus quite clear that WCDMA mobile phones are the mainstream in China and even all over the world.

Industrial participants point out that with the rapid development of smart terminals in the 3G era, the competition pattern of the mobile phone market will become even more complicated. In the meantime, the industry thinks positively of the marriage between domestic mobile phones and China Unicom’s WCDMA. Amidst the fierce competition of the terminal market globally, however, Chinese smartphones need to understand the market better, and puts more efforts in products R&D and brand image improvement, hoping to evolve from the “copycat” image to a national brand as soon as possible.

End of updates

The new high-volume smartphone market has been established by China Unicom with Lenovo and ZTE involvement from August 2011 on under the so called ‘RMB 1000’ [US$158] inititiative of the carrier.

As visible on the chart (see left) China Unicom was able to return to the previous 10% month/month growth rate of the 3G subscribers as the result of this approach. Unicom’s main rival the much bigger China Mobile was, however, unable to sustain that growth rate. One of the reasons is certainly the fact that China Unicom has so far been the only Chinese operator with official iPhone offerings. By looking to the enlarged picture of the chart for the August-November period one can nevertheless see that the gap in month/month growth rates of the two companies has been steadily growing. This cannot be explained in other ways than by this 1st stage of the ‘RMB 1000’ initiative. Since in the end of December the initiative has been extended to the RMB 1500 [US$238] price cap with not less than 8 models joing the offerings under this umbrella, this will define an obvious smartphone war for 2012.

The first stage of this initiative has already radically redefined the 3G smartphone market for W-CDMA customers in China:
– the ‘RMB 1000’ [US$158] Android phone (Lenovo A60) has slightly better graphics performance than either the 4.26x more pricey iPhone 3G S or the 1.62x more pricey best classic Android phone (Sony Ericsson WT19i)
– the Dhrystone performance of that phone is quite enough comparing to both (2/3d of the iPhone and 4/10th of the Sony Ericsson device)

Smartphone and its availability (+ recent price)	Lenovo A60 August, 2011 ($145 in Dec’11)	Sony Ericsson WT19i November, 2011 ($235)	Apple iPhone 3G S June, 2009 ($618 8GB from Nov’11 on)
DMIPS	812.5	2100	1200
GLBenchmark 2.1 Egypt High (+ Standard) (Frames) http://www.glbenchmark.com/:
Top	2787 (3174)	2653 (4806)	2714 (3352)
Average	2765 (3159)	2653 (4806)	2646 (2913)
Median	2757 (3155)	2653 (4806)	2646 (3257)
Screen size	480 x 320	480 x 320	480 x 320
SoC w/ core inside	MediaTek MT6573 w/ 650MHz ARM11	Qualcomm MSM8255 w/ 1GHz Scorpion	Samsung S5PC100 w/ 600MHz Cortex-A8
GPU inside the SoC	PowerVR SGX 531	Adreno 205	PowerVR SGX 535

Note: For realistic graphics performance the results of the ‘High’ version of the GLBenchmark 2.1 are used here since this is showing how the GPU is performing in high-quality rendering with “multi-sample anti-aliasing and at least 24 bits of color- and Z-buffer depths”. Also the results are shown here for the so called ‘Egypt’ benchmark as it “tests OpenGL ES 2.0 and represents the newest and most demanding benchmark” according to Anandtech. To understand what we are talking about here is also a video demonstration of the 2.1 Egypt benchmark by the globally recognized and accepted creator of it, Kishonti Informatics Ltd:

Since China Unicom launched the second stage of its ‘RMB 1000’ in the end of December, when not less than 8 models with a higher, 1500 [US$238] price cap have been joining the offerings, we can safely argue that what is happening now in China will apply to the global markets as well. We have already shown in an earlier post that China becoming the lead market for mobile Internet in 2012/13 [Dec 1, 2011], so there is no question about that.

Please find below a collection of all related information. It is necessary to highlight here the fact that with the higher, 1500 [US$238] price cap we are already in the 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9 and A5 CPU performance territories which mean 2500 and 1570 DMIPS respectively. The screen is also larger, 4” as well as the resolution is 800×480.

Another thing that needs to be highlighted here is China Unicom’s very attractive contract plan, described below as:

Customers who select the RMB 96 [US$15] per month two-year contract plan can receive the handset for free with a RMB 1,599 prepaid deposit. Users who purchase a smartphone without a contract plan for RMB 1,299 can later select a two-year contract plan starting at RMB 46 [US$7.3] per month and receive free calling credit.

NOW THE DETAILED COLLECTION

China Unicom Releases Eight Low-cost 3G Smartphones [Marbridge Daily, Jan 4, 2012]

During a recent [Dec 26, 2011] event in Beijing, China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) unveiled eight new “RMB 1,000” smartphones with 4-inch displays and CPUs clocking up to 1 GHz, as well as announcing its 3G smartphone policy for 2012.

The eight phones, all priced under RMB 1,500 [US$238], including China Wireless Technologies (2369.HK) subsidiary Yulong’s Coolpad 7260, the Hisense (600060.SH) HS-U8, ZTE (0763.HK; 000063.SZ) V889D, Huawei U8818, Lenovo (0992.HK) A750, TCL Communication Technology (2618.HK) W989, Amoi N89, and Philips W635. The Coolpad 7260 and Hisense HS-U8 hit the market in late December 2011.

Unicom expects China’s RMB 1,000 smartphone market to reach 90 mln units sold in 2012, while 60 mln smartphones priced between RMB 1,000 and RMB 2,000 will be sold, including both well-known domestic and international brands. Unicom expects the iPhone to continue to be the carrier’s flagship strategic product in the high-end RMB 2,000 or more smartphone market, and Unicom will continue to strengthen its line-up of operator-customized Android smartphones as well as a range of Windows Phone handsets. Unicom will also push dual-mode, dual-standby, dual-SIM smartphones.

The WCDMA/GSM dual-SIM, dual-standby Coolpad 7260 features a 4-inch WVGA 16 mln color HD multitouch display, Android 2.3, and Coolpad’s secure cloud services. The Hisense HS-U8 WCDMA/GSM dual-SIM, dual-standby smartphone is 1.6 mm thick and features a 5 MP autofocus camera and 3 MP front-facing camera. Both are available with contract plans. Customers who select the RMB 96 [US$15] per month two-year contract plan can receive the handset for free with a RMB 1,599 prepaid deposit. Users who purchase a smartphone without a contract plan for RMB 1,299 can later select a two-year contract plan starting at RMB 46 [US$7.3] per month and receive free calling credit.

China Unicom’s 3G network already covers 341 cities and over 95% of county towns nationwide. HSPA+ peak downlink speeds reach up to 21 MB in 56 key cities. Nearly 20,000 Unicom service centers offer 3G services, as well as nearly 10,000 non-operator stores run by hundreds of major retail chains. Unicom 3G service is also available through mainstream e-commerce channels. According to a source within Unicom, non-operator channels contribute over 50% of China Unicom’s 3G growth.

According to an industry source, China has 900 mln handset users, 90% of whom have a handset priced under RMB 2,000.

Regarding the full contract plan the only available information is from the Chinese press release: China Unicom released eight new definition of thousands of intelligent machines new 4.0 series [translated by Google, Dec 26, 2011]

Attachment: Cool 7260, Hisense HS-U8 contract plans

(A) “Stored send phone calls” contract plan

(B) “purchase mobile phones to send calls” contract plan

China Unicom releases low-end smartphones to woo 3G users [Want China Times, Dec 28, 2011 ]

A China Unicom promotion offers free smartphones paired with 3G service packages.

China Unicom, one of China’s three major state-run telecom operators, has teamed up with several local cell phone vendors to launch its latest low-end smartphone in a bid to attract more 3G users.

Along with eight handset vendors — including Hisense, ZTE and Huawei — China Unicom on Monday unveiled its latest low-end smartphone, marketed as the “1,000-yuan (US$158) smartphone 4.0.” The new smartphone is equipped with a 1GHz processor and 4.0-inch screen, an improvement over the 3.5-inch screen of an earlier model.

The launch is widely seen as a move to attract more phone users to 3G smartphones. The number of [W-CDMA i.e. China Unicom’s] 3G users in China has increased to over 36 million, just three years after 3G licenses were made available in 2009.

“(The phone) is a win-win situation for chip makers, cell phone manufacturers and distribution vendors, and the boost in the 3G business is attributable to inexpensive cell phones,” said China Unicom general manager Lu Yimin.

“The launch of the inexpensive 4-inch-screen phone signals that the battleground has shifted from high-end phones to mid- to low-end phones,” said Fu Liang, an independent analyst.

Telecom operators agree that lowering the prices of 3G smartphones will be key in bringing the technology to 2G subscribers, who mainly use mobile phones to make calls, the analyst said. They realize that a price tag of 1,000 yuan will be instrumental in initiating that shift, the analyst said.

The boost to business is most obvious among handsets jointly launched by Chinese electronics makers Lenovo and ZTE. The two companies currently lead the market for phones that use the WCDMA network standard, with Lenovo selling 340,000 of its A60 phones and ZTE selling 240,000 of its V880 handsets per month, according to an analyst. In 2012, the analyst estimated, the number of phones priced under 1,000 yuan will climb to 90 million, while those priced between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan (US$316) will number around 60 million.

China Unicom has seen its 3G subscribers rapidly increase since it partnered with cell phone vendors such as Huawei and Lenovo to roll out inexpensive models in China. According to data from the three major telecom operators in China — China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile — 3G subscribers using China Unicom’s network increased to by 3.38 million in November, while China Mobile and China Telecom saw their 3G users rise to by 2.68 million and 2.16 million, respectively.

China Unicom today released an upgraded version of the new definition of thousands of intelligent machines 4.0 [Google translation, Dec 26, 2011]

… The first listing contains the models are Coolpad 7260 [酷派 Yulong], Hisense [海信] HS-U8, ZTE [中兴] V889D, Huawei [华为] U8818, Lenovo [联想] A750, TCL A996, Amoi [厦新] N89 and Philips* W635 …
…

* Sang Fei [桑菲通信]:

Sang Fei is one of China’s biggest mobile communication enterprises with a large export market and a fast-emerging domestic brand presence. A core subsidiary of China Electronics Corporation (CEC) [a highly specialized contract manufacturer in Taiwan] and SED Group [Shenzhen SED Industry Co., Ltd., a state-owned enterprise, which contains 20 solely-funded enterprises and Joint Ventures enterprises, is a publicly listed company on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange [from: the staff is over 5000, the yearly turnover is over 1000 million of U.S Dollar]] …

…

Sang Fei has evolved into a multi-million mobile communications player on the international stage since it was established in 1996 as a joint venture between electronics giant Royal Dutch Philips Electronics Ltd and SED. In 2007, its official buyout of Philip’s global mobile phone businessof Philips, backed by decades of knowledge transfer from the Dutch company, marked the beginning of a new chapter in Sang Fei’s history.

Although it has retained the world-famous Philips brand for its mobile phone products, Sang Fei has stamped its own mark on the business. With an accumulated output exceeding tens of millions, its mobile phones are well recognized by both the industry and customers from home and abroad …

Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 [Google translation, Dec 26, 2011]

… Five models are using Qualcomm Snapdragon S1

Coolpad 7260
[MSM7227T based with 800 MHz ARM11 processor, 4” display],

Hisense HS-U8
[MSM7227A based with Cortex A5 processor],

ZTE V889D
[MSM7227A based with 1.0 GHz Cortex A5 processor, 4” display],

Huawei U8818 [MSM7227A based with 1.0 GHz Cortex A5 processor, 4” display] and

Philips [Sang Fei] W635 [MSM7227A based with 1.0 GHz Cortex A5 processor, 4” display]. …

[i.e. Lenovo A750, TCL A996 and Amoi N89 are not:

Lenovo A750 has MediaTek MT6575 SoC with a 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9 core and HSPA+ support, and 4” display

Amoi N89 quite probably has MediaTek MT6575 SoC with a 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9 core … as well

TCL A996, meanwhile has the following specifications:

Network standard: GSM / WCDMA

Size: 123 × 65.5 × 12.9mm

Screen: 4.0 inch IPScapacitive screen resolution of WVGA (480 × 800)

Battery Capacity: 1500mAh

Standby time: 300 hours

Talk time: 4 hours

Operating System: Android 2.3

Processor: [Broadcom ARM11-based] BCM 21552

Memory: RAM 512MB/ROM 512MB, support Micro SD expansion (up to 32GB)

]

TCL increases smartphone sales 24x to over 1 mln units [Dec 9, 2011]

Chinese handset maker TCL shipped 1.1 million smartphones as part of the 39.15 million units of mobile phones and other products it sold in January-November, 24 times more than the 42,384 smartphones it shipped in the year-earlier period, when total product shipments stood at 39.15 million units. Due to the increasing popularity of handsets that carry social networking functions, the group continued to launch more Facebook phones, strengthening its brand reputation and expanding market share. In November, FrenchTelecom-Orange announced that it would launch the first of three new phones featuring a Facebook key, the Alcatel One Touch 908F. TCL said that the Alcatel phones with Facebook keys are set to be launched across Africa and Europe before the end of the year. TCL, which produced the Vodafone 555 Blue phone as a white-label product, expects its Alcatel One Touch branded phones to raise the product mix towards higher revenue-earning smartphones. TCL is also involved in future mobile technologies, including Terahertz spectrum (0.1-10THz). Still not fully utitilised, the band is being considered in China where TCL has produced a phone supporting THz communications, the Xianguyn A919.

Top TCL Executive Visits Taiwan’s Electronics Makers With Huge Procurement Hint [Dec 7, 2011]

Taipei, Dec. 7, 2011 (CENS)–TCL Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Li Dongsheng said his company will not limit spending on procurements of Taiwan’s electronics products when recently visiting some Taiwanese electronics heavyweights, including chip vendor MediaTek Inc.

TCL, currently the world’s 25th biggest producer of household appliances, plans to ship 12 million LCD TVs and 50 million mobile phones in 2012. Industry executives estimated the company to budget more than US$1 billion for sourcing Taiwan’s electronics products next year.

Among Taiwan’s contract suppliers on TCL’s outsourcing lists are MediaTek Inc., AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), and Chimei Innolux Corp. Li visited MediaTek’s and AUO’s Taiwan headquarters a few days ago. He said his talk with MediaTek Chairman M.K. Cai mainly focused on cooperation over smartphone development.

However, both AUO and MediaTek executives declined to comment on the meetings.

TCL is now MediaTek’s biggest customer, purchasing up to 30 million mobile phone chipsets from MediaTek in 2010. Li touted that TCL is already among the mainland’s first-tier handset makers, shipping around 45 million systems in 2011. The company shipped 36.2 million mobile phones in 2010.

Taiwan’s industry executives noted that TCL is also one of MediaTek’s major customers of TV chips. TCL has reportedly designed MediaTek MT6573 chip, MediaTek’s first 3.75G 3.5G smartphone chip unveiled early this year, into its mobile phones. MediaTek’s 3D TV chip launched early this year has also entered into TCL TVs.

Handset chips and TV chips have accounted for over 90% of MediaTek’s revenue.

Li pointed out that unlike tepid LCD TV demands in Europe and North America, the mainland’s LCD TV market will grow at least 10% in 2011. He estimated the mainland to turn out a total of 90 million LCD TVs throughout this year, with nearly half of which set aside for the mainland’s domestic market. Although TCL has secured supply of 30 million LCD panels with LCD maker BOE Co., Ltd. of the mainland, the volume is far short of its demand.

Li stressed that his company has entered into cooperation with LCD maker AUO and several Taiwanese LED makers to ensure steady supplies for its TVs.

Backend firms gearing up for new MediaTek solution [Dec 23, 2011]

IC packagers Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), and substrate makers Unimicron Technology and Kinsus Interconnect Technology are all getting ready for the launch of MediaTek’s MT6575 single-chip solution, according to industry sources.

The upcoming MT6575 will run at 1GHz – an upgrade from 650MHz that the predecessor MT6573 has – targeting growing demand for low-cost smartphones. MediaTek adopts the advanced 40nm process for its MT6575 chip line, and uses wire bonding instead of flip-chip packaging in the products for cost reasons, the sources indicated.
[from: MediaTek MT6575 chips [are] using the new 40-nanometer process, compared with the previous generation chip [the] MT6573 [is] smaller, [the] single-wafer die production is up to 1,200 pieces, [which is] an increase of nearly 50%, [thus] help[ing to] reduce costs.]

MediaTek has delivered samples of the new MT6575 solution for design-in to about 40 companies since December, the sources said. It expects to start shipping in volume to customers between January and February 2012, the sources noted. [from: first in December for a small amount of trial production, about 400,000 single month]

Shipments of MediaTek’s MT6575 solution are likely to top 1.5 million units in January, and further expand to three million in February, the sources estimated. The anticipated boost in shipments will buoy sales at its backend suppliers in the first quarter of 2012, the sources said.

ASE remarked at its most recent investors meeting that shipments would decrease 3-4% sequentially in the last quarter of 2011. Looking forward, fewer working days in January might affect the company’s sales performance, said ASE, without elaborating further.

Kinsus has estimated flat sequential growth in fourth-quarter sales. Sales for the first quarter of 2012 would slide as a result of seasonal factors, the company said.

From a MediaTek product document:

MT6573（ap+modem+pmu） + MT6162（rf） + MT662（wifi,gps,bt,fm）

MT6573: ARM11 AP, ARM9 Modem processor，HSPA。
MT6573: 8 Mega pixel camera, OpenGL ES2.0

MediaTek MT6573 is a highly integrated 3G system-on-chip (SOC) which incorporates advanced features like HSPA R6 modem, 650MHz ARM11 CPU, 3D graphics(OpenGL|ES 2.0), 8M camera ISP, LPDDR 400MHz, FWVGA(854×480) video decoder. MT6573 can helps phone manufacturers build high performance 3G smart phone with PC-like browser, 3D gaming and cinema class home entertainment experience.

World-Leading Technology:

Based on MediaTek’s world-leading mobile chip SOC architecture and 65nm advanced process, the MT6573 is the grand new generation smart phone SOC. It integrates the MediaTek HSPA R6 modem, 650MHz CPU, 3D graphics, FWVGA video decoder and power management unit.

Rich Feature for High Valued Product:

To enrich camera feature, MT6573 equips a 8M camera ISP with advanced features like auto focus, anti-handshake, continuous video AF, face detection, burst shot, optical zoom, panorama view and 3D photo.

Incredible Browser experience:

The 650MHz CPU brings PC-like browser experience and help accelerate OpenGL|ES 2.0 3D Adobe Flash 10 rendering performance to an unbeatable level.

3G chip market opening price war or acceleration of intelligent mobile phone [Dec 15, 2011]

… With MT6573 scenery, MediaTek then released their latest MT6575, treatment efficacy faster, as high chip MSM7227A. Frequency up to 1GHz, using ARM CortexA9, support for HSPA+. By comparison, MT6573 is inferior many, the chip using ARM11 AP processor frequency is 650 MHz, modem support HSPA speed of 7.2Mbps / 5.76Mbps. …

MediaTek reiterates 4Q11 sales guidance [Dec 29, 2011]

Following a report regarding falling feature phone and smartphone demand in China, MediaTek has said its sales guidance for the current fourth quarter should remain on track. MediaTek expects fourth-quarter sales to fall somewhere between a decrease of 2% to an increase of 5% sequentially.

MediaTek’s consolidated revenues for October and November totaled NT$15.16 billion, already making up 62-66% of the company’s targeted NT$22.9-24.5 billion for the fourth quarter.

Industry sources were quoted in a recent report suggesting a recent slowdown in chip orders from China’s handset market would imply an early arrival of the low season. Many Taiwan-based handset chip suppliers, which rely heavily on the China market, might report 5-10% sequential decreases in December revenues, the sources were quoted as saying.

Qualcomm cuts chip prices for Chinese smartphones [Dec 25, 2011]

Deep price cuts in new dual-core chips produced by American telecom equipment manufacturer Qualcommand used in smartphones produced in China could intensify competition between the company and Taiwan-based integrated circuit designer MediaTek.

The move marks the beginning of a new round of price slashing, Gao Guiming, senior vice president of A’Hong Communication & Digital Information, told the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily.

The US$7 reduction in the price of Qualcomm’s new dual-core chips will pit the company in direct competition with MediaTek in the market for smartphones priced at around 1,000 yuan (US$158). Gao pointed out that MediaTek remains a follower in the smartphone market and that Qualcomm’s price cut will force the Taiwanese firm to follow suit in order to expand its market share in China.

Smartphone shipments in China reached 24 million units in the third quarter of 2011, surging 58% from the second quarter and leading the country to pass the US as the world’s biggest market for the devices, according to data compiled by research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics. Total sales volume in China is projected to expand to 153 million phones in 2012.

Qualcomm’s latest price cut signals its plan to supply smartphone manufacturers with “public boards” designed for common use by various producers to quickly develop low-cost handsets.

Qian Zhijun, product director at Qualcomm China, revealed at a summit on smartphones held in Shenzhen last month that his company’s new research and development center in Shanghai will help producers shorten the time needed to roll out new products. Qualcomm aims to use its QRD development platform to help producers put new models on the market within 30-60 days, compared with the more than six months required today.

Sources at MediaTek say there is still no news about the company’s possible plans to cut prices in response. MediaTek president Hsieh Ching-chiang stressed in November that providing customers with low-cost customized chips has long been the company’s forte and that the smartphone sector will see little change.

Hsieh implied that MediaTek still has an advantage over Qualcomm in terms of offering more comprehensive services to clients. He revealed that MediaTek has shifted most of its resources to the smartphone sector. Hsieh expects the company’s shipments of dual-core chips for intelligent handsets to double to 20 million sets in 2012.

Liu Wenquan, an industry analyst based in Shenzhen, says an intense price war is unlikely in the near future as aggressive promotion by Chinese telecom service carriers has brought about skyrocketing demand for low-cost smartphones. MediaTek’s MT6573 chips are still in short supply, he said.

Analysts said Qualcomm’s major targets in China are larger smartphone producers, not mobile phone copycats. Senior vice president Jeff Lorbeck stated that the QRD development platform will be open mainly to companies that have already won Qualcomm technology certification and authorization.

Further, Qualcomm’s price still hovers about US$10 higher than similar products from MediaTek, which maintains the advantage of higher flexibility as well as closer and smoother communication with Chinese smartphone manufacturers.

Gu Wenjun, an analyst at market research firm iSuppli, said the Chinese market is too big and diverse for any single chip supplier to maintain a dominant role. The best policy for Qualcomm and MediaTek is to take better care of their largest clients, he suggested. Smartphone manufacturers are expected to continue the policy of choosing two or even three core chip suppliers in order to produce a variety of smartphones to satisfy consumers’ tastes, added Gu.

ZTE Skate [V960] Review CNET [cnetuk, Nov 23, 2011]

In this video review, Amie Parker-Williams does a double take when she gets her mitts on the ZTE Skate, the identical twin of the Orange Monte Carlo. While the two phones may have been cast in the same mold in terms of design, the Skate thankfully comes without the Orange bloatware, and is better off for it. Hit play to take a closer look at this glossy Android blower.

China Unicom Hopes To Sell Cheaper Phones Next Year [Dec 20, 2011]

Chinese telecom operator China Unicom announced its strategic focus for 2012 and said it will focus on the sales of phones with the prices between CNY1,000 and CNY2,000.

On December 12, 2011, China Unicom and ZTE, the Chinese telecom equipment maker, jointly launched a customized phone named Skate V960, which is recognized as a strategic productby Yu Yingtao, general manager for the sales department of China Unicom.

Yu previously revealed during an interview that many manufacturers were developing phones with the prices between CNY1,000 and CNY2,000 and China Unicom will bring surprises to users in 2012. The company plans to introduce more cost-effective products then.

Following the launch of Skate V960, other Chinese and International makers such as Huawei, Motorola, HTC, and Samsung will provide more options in this price range, said Yu. Products of this price range hold a 20% share of the market in China, which means a user group of about 50 million people. Therefore, China Unicom will cooperate with first-class makers in China and the world to meet the demands of these consumers.

However, Yu pointed out that it does not mean the company will focus less on smartphones with prices lower than CNY1,000, because these products own 63% share of the market and more international brands expressed their intention to launch CNY1,000 smartphones. According to Yu, for the year 2011, China Unicom’s sales of CNY1,000 smartphones made by ZTE, Huawei, Lenovo, Coolpad, and Amoi is expected to be over 10 million units.

ZTE SKATE [V960], Smart Choice, Bright Life [ZTEGlobal, Sept 22, 2011]

ZTE Smartphone Sales Top 12M Units [Dec 13, 2011]

ZTE Corporation (000063, 0763.HK) has met its 2011 annual sales target of 12 million smartphones, reports 163.com, citing company vice president He Shiyou. The companysold three million smartphones last year.

He said ZTE is currently planning its 2012 sales target, and that there will be more than a doublingof the smartphone sales target.

ZTE and China Unicom (600050, 0762.HK) jointly launched the Skate V960 smartphone priced at 1,499 yuanon December 12.

The Skate V960 mobile phone was first rolled out in overseas markets, including Brazil, Spain, Hong Kong, Germany and the U.S., before its launch in the domestic market.

He said ZTE will continue to cooperate with operators in terminal sales, and will develop other sales channels as well.

ZTE Skate – Light your smart world [ZTEGlobal, Oct 13, 2011]

ZTE V960 [= Skate] product page[translated by Google, Sept 23, 2011]

Frequency range GSM: 900/1800/1900 UMTS: 900/2100 HSDPA: 7.2Mbps DL
Chipset Qualcomm MSM7227-T [800 MHz]
Size 126.5 * 68 * 11.2mm
Weight 140g (with battery)
Antenna comes with built-in antenna modeling straight memory
Memory: 200 MB of available space is greater than the available expansion card memory MicroSD memory card expansion (up to 32 GB)
The main screen 800 * 480 pixels, 262K TFT color screen, 4.3-inch external screen without camera
5M pixel camera take a picture: up to 2560 * 1920,
Shooting video: up to 640 * 480
Digital zoom: 1.6 times
Battery Standard battery: Li-ion 1400 mAh
Side keys (volume keys) with the keyboard menu, home, back
Touch-screen full-touch capacitive touch-screen interface,
Bluetooth extension, MicroSD card, USB 2.0 Full Speed
SIM card insertion, 3V, 1.8V
Stereo headphones with a microphone headset hands-free speaker with charger 5pin Micro-USB
Sensor support gravity sensor, light sensor, proximity sensor

China-based branded smartphone vendors to produce sub-US$100 models [Nov 3, 2011]

China-based branded handset vendors including Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei Technologies are expected to venture into the production of smartphone models with a price tag of around US$100 in 2012 – a move which will add pressure on white-box vendorsin China as well as on upstream parts and components suppliers, according to industry sources.

The China-based makers are responding to growing competition from foreign branded smartphones vendors including HTC, Apple and Samsung Electronics, which have recently expanded their product lineups for the entry-level and mid-range markets, the sources noted.

Although HTC has refuted market rumors that it plans to launch smartphones for the US$100 segment, the sources said HTC has been trying to reduce its production costs by introducing models with comparable hardware specifications but running on different operating systems.

Taking the HTC Titan and HTC Sensational XL for example, the hardware specifications of the two models are comparable, but the HTC Titan runs on Windows Phone platform, while the HTC Sensational XL is powered by Android 2.3.4.

Apple’s launch of 8GB iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS is also a vivid indication of the vendor’s ambition to expand its share in the entry-level and mid-range smartphone segments, the sources commented.

Qualcomm competing with MediaTek in China market with price competition [Dec 6, 2011]

In view of increasing adoption of the MT6575, a 1GHz chip solution developed by Taiwan-based MediaTek for use in 3G handsets and smartphones, by several China-based vendors and white-box clients, Qualcomm has lowered its quotes by keeping them close to MediaTek in order to strengthen its price competitiveness, according to China-based white-box vendors.

Following selling the 650MHz chip MT6573 in the China market during early October peak sales period, MediaTek has begun offering the MT6575featuring mainstream a computing speed of 1GHz and four functions, GPS, FM, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, in one chip. The specifications plus price and rich content available on MediaTek’s handset development platform have made M6575 strongly competitive in the China market, the sources indicated.

Qualcomm has had its MSM7727 and MSM7727Acompete with MediaTek’s MT6573 and MT6575 respectively, the sources noted.

Based on a general price level of about US$10 for a 3G handset chip, the MT6575 is competitive enough in price, the sources indicated. To be competitive, Qualcomm has to decrease prices because its quotes for 3G handset chip solutions are mostly higher than MediaTek by more than 20%, the sources pointed out.

The competition for 3G handset chip solutions between Qualcomm and MediaTek will extend from China to emerging markets in 2012, the sources indicated.

The new frontier in mobile computing: Q&A with Qualcomm EVP Steve Mollenkopf [May 31, 2011]

…

Q: Convergence has been talked about for years, why is now such a critical time in the evolution of the market?

A: If you look at the current market situation, there are there are three areas that have driven the industry to reach critical mass.

First of all, advancements in semiconductor designhave substantially increased the amount of computing power that you be put into the small thermal envelope needed to efficiently power a mobile phone or portable device. What this means is that you can now put the same processing power in a smartphone or another type of handheld device that used to be in a notebook, and that is really opening up the market to new designs and usage models.

The second thing that is shaping the current market is that the shift to next-generation mobile networkshas meant that a lot of data can be quickly delivered to – and enjoyed by – mobile devices, with multimedia and Internet content driving demand. High-speed 3G and 4G networks really enable an enormous amount of connectivity to occur with mobile devices.

The third area where the market is really evolving is that the dynamics of the software markethave changed a great deal. Most developers used to focus on the PC ecosystem, and a major priority driving software vendors in the past was making sure that they maintained backward compatibility for their applications. If you look at the market now, most people are developing for smartphone platforms and those platforms are migrating up. This has broken the link of being encumbered by legacy applications. This phenomena is only going to accelerate even more as we move into cloud computing and most user data and applications end up being positioned somewhere in the cloud.

So what this means is that currently there is a kind of perfect stormin the mobile environment that is bringing the best of all worlds together. It is really going to change the way mobile devices are used and it is also going to change the technology in them.

Q: While users are expecting more from their mobile devices, system providers have to deal with more complexity, making it harder to quickly deliver products to market. Can you explain how Qualcomm can help enable its partners in this area?

A: It’s true. What you see, particularly as you start moving into mobile computing is that the devices are very complex. For market players, this means that your solution needs to excel along many different vectors. It has to have a high-performing processor. It has to have a high-performing graphics engine. It has to have a high-performing modem. It has to be a high performing connectivity solution.

Moreover, all of those areas need to be blended together in an optimal manner. It doesn’t make sense for a device to simply be a collection of assets. All the areas need to work properly together for that system to be a success. What that means for semiconductor solution providers is that you need to have all of these assets in house in order to best enable your customers.

Really, when the complexity of the solution becomes quite high, it is going to be very difficult for many players to deliver that system solution efficiently and at the speed that is required in order to be competitive in the market. A lot of solution providers may excel in one area or another, but not really in all areas. This makes things more difficult for downstream system providers. What Qualcomm has endeavored to achieve is to try to excel across multiple vectors. We have been lucky in that we have had the scale to invest, to allow us to be successful.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your hardware features, especially Snapdragon?

A: Referring back to Qualcomm being able to succeed across multiple vectors, the Snapdragon is a perfect example. One misconception many users have about Snapdragon is that it is a processor but Snapdragon is an integrated system. It doesn’t refer solely to the processor or to the graphics engine. It doesn’t refer to the connectivity assetsor the modem individually. It refers to all of them together in an integrated solution.

Looking back at the first Snapdragon we did, which was really the first 1GhHz processor in a mobile phone; that was when we really began enabling the market with a much differentiated product relative to what the market had seen before. We are now on our fourth generation productand we will continue investing heavily in the platform as we move forward.

In terms of processing on the ARM-based Snapdragon platform, we currently have a mix of the highest performance and lowest power mix in the industry with our 28nm versions of the device. On the network side, Qualcomm has always been known as a leading modem company and we integrate the modem into the processor. Together with the GPU, the SoC (system on chip) family of solutions delivers one of the most integrated solutions today. In addition to providing us with a leadership position, this is pretty important because it allows our partners to develop unique designs. For example, the first LTE smartphone from Verizon is built around our Snapdragon platform.

And it is not just about hardware. A solution provider needs to be able to deliver software support as well. For example, currently we deliver Android over multiple chipsets at the same time. This is important because there are many tiers of devices, from high-end tablets down to entry level smartphones. With Qualcomm being able to deliver solutions that cover all market segments, we enable our partners to be competitive with a full range of products as well.

We started talking about complexity and finished with integration, but integration is really just the ability to pull together many different types of technologies into one easily deliverable package, whether it is one physical package or one system solution tied together by one set of software. As the market progresses and becomes more complex, fewer companies can deliver on this. That is why Qualcomm is leading the way.

Q: How does this level of integration help you enable your partners?

A:Combining all the levels of integration in our family of solutions allows for more creativity for system houses. OEMs can spend their resources and investment in areas that help differentiate their products. It is a much more efficient way to deliver technology.

In addition, our highly integrated solution actually expands the market by enabling more partners to participate in system design. By providing so much to our partners, we don’t limit our customer base to companies with very large engineering teams only. Many more companies are able to go to market with our products.

…

Taiwan foundries cut prices 10-15% [Dec 30, 2011]

Taiwan-based foundry service providers have cut their prices for wafers built on mature node processes to reflect lower production costs, according to sources at IC design firm. The move is also aimed to encourage customers to build inventory, the sources said.

Some fabless IC firms tend to accept their foundry partners’ low-price offerings in consideration of their long-term relationships, the sources indicated.

Chip inventories throughout the supply chain have actually been lowered to safe levels, the sources said. However, companies hold a wait-and-see attitude rather than restocking because of an uncertain business outlook, the sources pointed out.

Inventories climbed to excessive levels between the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter, due to a combination of negative macroeconomic factors such as weak consumer confidence in the US and the European crisis.

In other news, despite slow demand for mature process manufacturing, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) continues to see orders heat up for advanced 28nm technology, according to sources at non Taiwan-based chip suppliers.

Foundry orders losing momentum [Nov 22, 2011]

Foundry chipmakers have seen short lead-time orders lose momentum, according to industry sources. Short lead-time orders were a key factor contributing to their revenue growth in October and better-than-expected results in the third quarter.

A surge of short lead-time orders was previously expected to emerge around this time amid low inventories in the semiconductor supply chain, the sources pointed out.

But fabless IC clients are now unable to meet order estimates placed earlier with the foundries, and have requested delivery to be delayed until after the first quarter of 2012, the sources indicated.

Major foundry players including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) might post double-digit sequential dips in revenues for the first quarter of 2012, due to a slowdown in orders, the sources said. Gross margin and operating margin for the quarter will also come under downward pressure along with their utilitzation rate declines, the sources added.

But starting from the middle of the second quarter, foundries are expected to see orders pick upwith clearer order visibility, the sources believe.

TSMC at its most-recent investors meeting estimated consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of 2011 would slip 1-3% sequentially. The firm reported higher-than-expected results for the third quarter driven short lead-time orders.

UMC has guided wafer shipments for the fourth quarter would decrease about 10% sequentially with ASPs up 5%. It did not provide a revenue guidance.

Both TSMC and UMC have not disclosed their revenue forecast for the first quarter of 2012.

China market: Handset demand weak [Dec 26, 2011]

Demand for feature phones in China has turned weaker than expected since the middle of October, according to sources at Taiwan’s LCD driver IC design houses. Smartphone demand in China is also slowing down recently, bringing further adverse impact to some firms’ sales performance, the sources indicated.

The slowdown in orders reflects an early arrival of the low season, the sources observed.

Many of Taiwan’s handset chip suppliers which rely heavily on the China market are likely to report 5-10% sequential decreases in December revenues, the sources estimated, citing falling demand from the region. Sales might further decline 10% or more sequentially in the first quarter of 2012, as a result of fewer working days during the long Chinese New Year holiday and seasonality, the sources noted.

However, most of Taiwan’s handset chip designers will see their sales recover starting the second quarter of 2012 when China-based handset firms’ inventories will be low, the sources said.

MediaTek likely to post higher revenues in December [Dec 21, 2011]

Brisk orders from China-based smartphone vendors who are preparing for Lunar New Year sales campaignsare buoying MediaTek’s sales in December, according to industry sources. The IC design firm is expected to post sequential growth in consolidated revenues for the month, the sources said.

The sources estimated MediaTek’s December consolidated revenues at between NT$7.7 billion (US$255 million) and NT$9.2 billion [US$305 million].

MediaTek previously guided consolidated sales for the fourth quarter would be NT$22.9-24.5 billion, compared to NT$23.38 billion in the third quarter.

MediaTek accumulated NT$79.36 billion [US$2,628 million] in consolidated sales from January through November, a 24.8% decline from 2010.

MediaTek posts lower-than-expected sales in November [Dec 8, 2011]

MediaTek has reported consolidated revenues grew 1.2% sequentially to NT$7.63 billion (US$252.9 million) in November. The figure came below market watcher estimates of NT$8.5-9.5 billion.

MediaTek’s November sales were affected by its China-based white-box clients’ lower-than-expected smartphone shipments, according to industry sources. Shipments were disrupted by tight supplies of ambient light sensorsfrom Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions (TAOS), the sources revealed.

TAOS’ back-end operations in Thailandhave been suspended causing disruptions to its ambient light sensor shipments to customers, which also include brand-name consumer electronics vendors such as Apple, HTC and Nokia, the sources indicated. With its ambient light sensor availability becoming tight, TAOS is giving priority to orders placed by the first-tier brands, at the expense of those from second-tier and China’s white-box companies, the sources said.

TAOS is unlikely to provide adequate supplies of its ambient light sensors by the end of 2011, which would continue to disrupt certain CE manufacturers’ deliveries, the sources noted.

Previous reports quoted industry sources saying MediaTek had enjoyed brisk demand for its solutions targeting low-cost smartphones, and an influx of short lead-time orders from clients in China after the country’s National Day holidays.

MediaTek sales to top NT$9 billion in November [Dec 5, 2011]

Buoyed by an influx of short lead-time orders from handset clients in China, MediaTek will report better-than-expected sales results for November 2011, industry sources have said.

MediaTek’s consolidated revenues are likely to top NT$9 billion (US$298 million) in November, hitting the highest monthly level for 2011, according to the sources. The company saw its sales decrease about 5% sequentially to NT$7.53 billion in October.

MediaTek reportedly has enjoyed brisk demand for its MT6573 smartphone solution – targeting low-cost smartphones. In particular, demand received a boost driven by orders from China during the country’s National Day holidays in Octonber, the sources observed. Next-generation MT6575 is scheduled to start shipping prior to Lunar New Year, the sources indicated.

The upcoming MT6575 single-chip solution will run at 1GHz, an upgrade from 650MHz that its predecessor has, the sources revealed. In addition to white-box handset makers, a number of brand-name firms targeting the China marketreportedly will adopt the solution from MediaTek, the sources indicated.

MediaTek previously reiterated that its sales estimate of NT$22.9-24.5 billion for the fourth quarter remains unchanged. The company posted consolidated revenues of NT$23.38 billion in the third quarter, up 11.4% sequentially but down 17.1% on year.

Motorola increasing orders to Taiwan production partners, say sources [Dec 6, 2011]

Motorola Mobility has been strengthening its ties with Taiwan-based handset ODMs and parts and components suppliers with procurements from those production partners to increase 10% sequentially in the second half of 2011 and to further expand by 10-15% in 2012, according to sources in the supply chain.

Motorola’s increased orders to Taiwan production partners reflect a steady integration process between Google and Motorola as well as the vendor’s stepped-up efforts to launch new models, including the Razr XT910 flagship model [(Dec) TI OMAP 4430 based, with dual Cortex-A9 @1GHz], the high-end Milestone 3, [ME883 (July), XT860 (Sept) and ME863 (Sept) – all OMAP 4430 based, with dual Cortex-A9 @1GHz], the DEFY+ [MB526 (Sept) OMAP 3620 based, with Cortex-A8 @ 720 MHz] social networking phone and the entry-level XT319 [XT319 (Oct) with Qualcomm MSM7227T @ 800 MHz], in the fourth quarter of 2011, revealed the sources.

Motorola’s ODM handset orders to Taiwan production partners are expected to total 11-13 million units in 2011, of which over 90% are feature phones, estimated the sources, noting that Taiwan ODMs may receive more orders for smartphones from the vendor in 2012.

Motorola’s ODM partners include Arima Communications, Compal Communications and Foxconn International Holdings (FIH), while parts and components suppliers include Merry Electronics and Chi Cheng Enterprise.

Merry has reported consolidated revenues of NT$880 million (US$29.1 million) for November, increasing 25.47% on month and 9.67% on year and representing the highest monthly figures in 47 months, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).

MediaTek, Spreadtrum, MStar sharing China market of handset chips [Dec 13, 2011]

Taiwan-based IC design house MediaTek and MStar Semiconductor and China-based fellow company Spreadtrum Communications are sharing the market demand for handset chips, according to China-based white-box vendors of handsets.

MediaTek, following victorious sales of its 3G chip MT6573 during the peak sales period in early October 2011, has launched 1GHz 3G chip MT6575 and received good market response, the sources pointed out. MediaTek’s shipments of MT6575 are expected to peak prior to the 2012 Lunar New Year in late January, the sources indicated.

Spreadtrum has dominated the market segment of TD-SCDMA, China-developed 3G standard, chips, with shipments of TD-SCDMA chip SC8800G on the rise, the sources noted.

While MediaTek and Spreadtrum have shifted focus to 3G chip solutions, MStar has focused on marketing of 2.5/2.75G chips with many new products, the sources indicated. MStar’s monthly shipments of 2.5/2.75G chips have climbed to 5.0 million units, more than triple the level in the first half of 2011, the sources pointed out.

Currently, MediaTek has a market share of 60% for 2.5/2.75G chips, while Spreadtrum and MStar have those of 25% and 10% respectively, the sources noted.

MStar reports on-year revenue growth for November [Dec 9, 2011]

MStar Semiconductor has announced consolidated revenues of NT$3.25 billion (US$107.7 million) for November, down 4.4% on month but up 6.5% on year, according to a company filing the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

For the first 11 months of 2011, revenues amounted to NT$32.52 billion [US$1,077.7 million], increasing 3.5% from a year earlier.

MStar taping out 3.75G [?3.5G?] handset solutions in 4Q11 [Nov 9, 2011]

Taiwan-based IC design house MStar Semiconductor will begin to tape out 3.75G [?3.5G?] handset solutions supporting TD-SCDMA and CDMA technologies soon with end market devices to hit the market in the first quarter of 2012, according to company chairman Wayne Liang.

Shipments of handset solutions will increase 30-50% sequentially in the fourth quarter, pushing handset solution revenues to 15% of the company’s total revenues in the quarter compared to 10% in the third quarter, Liang predicted.

Fourth-quarter revenues are expected to top US$311-329 million, up or down in a range of 3% from the previous quarter, Liang said at an investors conference. Gross margin will range 40-42% in the fourth quarter compared to 42.1% in the last quarter.

Shipments of TV chips will drop slightly in the fourth quarter, and demand for TV chips is expected to continue growing in emerging markets in 2012, but the prospects in the US and Europe are still unclear, said Liang.

MStar posted net profits of NT$1.62 billion (US$53.8 million) in the third quarter, up 7.2% sequentially. Third-quarter earnings translated into an EPS of NT$3.06 compared to NT$3.73 posted by rival MediaTek, according to data from the companies.

China market: 2.5G handset chipset prices falling [Nov 24, 2011]

Prices for 2.5G handset chipsets have slipped more than 10% in the fourth quarter of 2011, and will continue to fall at the same rate in first-quarter 2012 due to continued oversupply in the market, according to sources at white-box handset makersin China.

With branded and white-box handset vendors shifting their focus to smartphones, demand for 2.5G feature phones in China is decelerating, the sources said. Taking sales during China’s National Day holidays last month as an example, supplies were tight for many top-selling smartphones while 2.5G devices were unremarkable, the sources indicated.

As end-market demand began to fall, chipmakers including MediaTek, MStar Semiconductor and Spreadtrum Communications decided to lower their prices for 2.5G solutionsto stimulate demand and protect their market shares, the sources pointed out.

Another cause of the intensified price competition is high similarity of products. MediaTek’s 40nm-made 2.5G chipset that comes with a high level of integration enabled the company to stand out from the crowd in the first half of 2011, when competition with rivals was less fierce, the sources said. However, with MStar and Spreadtrum both launching 40nm, highly-integrated solutions, competition has intensified leading prices to fall in the second half of the year, the sources noted.

In addition, MediaTek, MStar and Spreadtrum have stepped up R&D efforts for the development of 3G WCDMA and TD-SCDMA chipset solutions, according to the sources.

Motorola to adopt MediaTek solutions for WCDMA smartphones, says paper [Oct 14, 2011]

Motorola Mobility will adopt MediaTek’s MT6573 solutions for its WCDMA-enabled smartphones, the Chinese-language Commercial Timescited Daiwa Securities analyst Chen Hui-ming as indicating.

Motorola’s order volume to MediaTek is still unclear as it will depend on market demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays as well as Motorola’s cooperation with China-based telecom carriers, Chen was quoted as saying.

In addition, China-based Huawei Technologies is also likely to adopt smartphone solutions from MediaTek in early 2012, said Chen, but added that Huawei is going to buy MediaTek’s new 3.75G solution, the MT6575, instead of the MT6573. Huawei previously purchased most of its handset solutions from Qualcomm.

MediaTek Pursuing Japan’s 4G Biz [Nov 30, 2011]

… MediaTek President C.J Hsieh touted that MediaTek chipsets are not inferior to Qualcomm’s. MediaTek MT6573, for instance, supports EDGE and WCDMA specifications with its Bluetooth, LAN, GPS and FM wireless designs.

The company plans to ship 20 million smartphone chipsets in 2012, 10 million more than its goal for 2011. Totally, the company will deliver 550 million chipsets for various types of handsets this year. The shipment increase comes against the backdrop of the forecast that global market penetration of smartphones will increase to 50% from 2011’s projected 30%.

Hsieh believed that his company’s smartphone chipsets will be quickly flowing into global markets along with its mainland Chinese customers striving to ship mobile phones to Europe and North America.

Orders for MediaTek 3.75G 3.5G smartphone chip soaring [Oct 13, 2011]

China’s brand-name handset vendors, including Lenovo, ZTE and TCL, have ordered more MT6573 3.75G 3.5G smartphone chips from MediaTek, according to industry sources. To meet the continued rising demand, the fabless IC firm has asked for additional foundry capacity equivalent to 6,000-8,000 12-inch wafers from United Microelectronics Corporation(UMC), the sources indicated.

Backend service providers including Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) and Sigurd Microelectronics are also pinpointed by the sources as beneficiaries of the increased orders.

MediaTek released additional orders to UMC as well as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for foundry services in August – equivalent to a combined 25,000 12-inch wafers – to satisfy brisk demand for its MT6573 solution, which is gaining acceptance from the company’s principal customers in China, the sources revealed.

MediaTek is expected to see monthly shipments of its MT6573 chipset solutions to reach 1-1.5 million units in October and November, and continue expanding to 3.5-4 million in December, the sources estimated. The growing shipments will boost the company’s sales in the fourth quarter of 2011, the sources said.

In addition, acknowledging the MT6573’s popularity, Huawei Technologies reportedly is asking MediaTek to accelerate development of the chip’s successor, the sources said. Dubbed the MT6575, the next-generation single-chip solution could start shipping as early as the first quarter of 2012, the sources indicated.

MediaTek shares closed up 2% at NT$336 (US$11.10) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on October 13. The price scored the highest in eight trading days.

In other news, ASE, SPIL, KYEC and Sigurd are likely to see their revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 stay flat sequentially, the best-case scenario amid a global economic downturn, according to the sources. Orders from MediaTek as well as the depreciation of the NT dollar are seen as the major contributing factors.

MediaTek asks for additional capacity from UMC due to increased orders for MT6573 chip [Aug 24, 2011]

Due higher than expected orders for its MT6573 3.75G smartphone chip, MediaTek has asked for additional foundry capacity equivalent to several thousands of wafers from United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), according to industry sources.

MT6573 has been adopted by Lenovo and other China-based vendors because its FOB price of US$60-70is much lower than US$100-120 quoted by MediaTek’s competitors and functional performance is better, the sources said. Based on orders received, MediaTek will ship more than one million MT6573 chips in September 2011, with monthly shipments to increase to 2-3 million chips in November and December, the sources indicated.

Due to the additional orders for foundry services, UMC has offered a 10% discount for all orders from MediaTek, the sources indicated. Similarly, MediaTek has asked Advanced Semiconductor Engineering and Siliconware Precision Industries to offer a 10% discount on IC packaging and testing services for the fourth quarter in exchange for additional orders, the sources said.

MediaTek profits improve sequentially in 3Q11 [Oct 28, 2011]

MediaTek has announced net income of NT$4.07 billion (US$135.38 million) for the third quarter of 2011, an increase of 22.4% from the prior quarter, but down 41.6% from the year-ago quarter. Third-quarter EPS were NT$3.73, compared with NT$3.05 in the previous quarter and NT$6.39 of a year earlier.

Consolidated revenues amounted to NT$23.376 billion [US$777.6 million] in the third quarter, up 11.4% sequentially but down 17.1% from a year earlier. The on-quarter revenue growth was mainly driven by seasonality and the increase of handset sales volume.

Third-quarter gross margin was 45.1%, or 0.8pps and 7.1pps lower than the previous quarter and the same period of last year, respectively, due mainly to decreased handset chipset prices.

MediaTek 3.5G-chip shipments likely to hit 1 million mark in September [Sept 30, 2011]

Shipments of MediaTek’s MT6573 3.5G chipset solution approached one million units in August, and are likely to exceed the mark in September, according to industry sources. Shipments have been fueled by roll-outs of new 3G handsets in China.

Monthly shipments of MediaTek’s MT6573 chips are expected to reach 1.5 million units in the fourth quarter, and climb further to two million in 2012, the sources said.

However, MediaTek has internally estimated that its sales for September will decrease slightly from August levels, the sources indicated. The company also maintained its revenue guidance for the third quarter at NT$22-23 billion (US$721.5 million-754.3 million), the sources revealed.

The sources previously predicted that MediaTek’s September sales would post another on-month growth following the 16.3% sequential rise in August. But a number of clients in China had actually made advance orders, which constrained the company’s sales growth in September.

MediaTek’s sales for the fourth quarter are set to decline about 10% sequentially, due to generally low order visibility, the sources said. The company has not given its outlook for the quarter.

Lenovo places short lead-time 3G chipset solution orders with MediaTek, says paper [Sept 27, 2011]

Lenovo has placed short lead-time orders for MT6573 3G solutions with MediaTek recently as the first batch of 500,000 units of its A60 smartphone, priced at CNY1,000 (US$156), have nearly sold out since the device launched in August, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Timesreport.

Due to strong sales of the A60, other vendors in China, including ZTE, Huawei Technologies, and Beijing Tianyu Communication Equipment, plan to launch low-priced smartphones soon, with chipset solutions also coming from MediaTek, the paper said.

MediaTek’s shipments of MT6573 chips are expected to top 1.2-1.3 million units a month prior to the arrival of the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on January 22, 2012, added the paper.

Short lead-time orders buoying TSMC sales [Sept 14, 2011]

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ((TSMC) has disclosed that its consolidated revenues for the third quarter of 2011 are expected to exceed its guidance given in July, thanks to some “rush” orders from customers.

Industry sources speculate that the short lead-time orders were placed by the foundry’s fabless clients including Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek and MStarSemiconductor, which enjoyed rising demand for their smartphone solutions targeting China and other emerging markets.

However, demand for smartphones coming from the Europe, Japan and US markets remain sluggish, the sources indicated. The major chip providers actually are bracing for unusual weak demand during the Christmas and year-end shopping season, the sources added.

TSMC’s sales and utilization rate for the fourth quarter may come under downward pressure, as order visibility remains opaque, the sources said.

TSMC reported NT$37.64 billion (US$1.29 billion) in consolidated revenues for August 2011, up 6.2% sequentially. Consolidated sales for July and August totaled NT$73.08 billion, already making up 69-72% of the company’s targeted NT$102-104 billion for the third quarter.

LENOVO LePhone A60 [Sept 9, 2011]

Price: USD169.00

Specifications

Features
Android 2.3 / Capacitive / Dual-SIM Dual-stanby

Network
GSM + GSM or GSM + WCDMA, WCDMA:900/2100, GPRS/EDGE:900/1800/1900

Processor
MTK MT6573 650MHz / GPU PowerVR SGX 531

RAM
256MB RAM

Flash Memory
512MB ROM

Expansion Memory
Extend Memory up to 32GB micro sd card

Operating System
Androind 2.3

Languages
Multi-language: English, Chinese

Screen
3.5 inch 320x480pixels, Capacitive Multi-Touch screen

Video
rm,.rmvb,rv,.wmv,.mp4,.3gp,.asf, .m4v,.avi,.mov,.mpg.mpeg,.flv,.f4v,.asf,.mkv

Audio
RA, AAC, AAC+, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, MIDI, AMR NB,AU,AIFF, M4A, F4A

Peripherals Support
3.5mm Stereo Interface, Micro USB v2.0

Wireless
802.11b/g, Bluetooth, FM radio

GPS
Yes

Camera
Front: 0.3MP, Back: 3.2MP

Color
Black / White

Battery
1500mAH, 3.7V

Size & weight
116.5×60×13.2mm, 135 grams

Package Content
110-230V USB Charger, Battery, USB cable, Earphone

MediaTek buoyed by rising demand for Lenovo smartphones [Sept 15, 2011]

Brisk sales of Lenovo’s A60-series smartphone in China has been boosting MediaTek’s shipments of its 3.5G solution, the MT6573, according to market sources. Order momentum is expected to remain strong to sustain the chip supplier’s sales growth in September and the third quarter.

The new Lenovo smartphone hit store shelves in China earlier in the third quarter, but has been selling well thanks to its rich feature set and affordable price point, the sources said. With demand outpacing supply, the A60 has been quoted at as high as CNY1,100 (US$172) by local channel operators, up about 30% from the just over CNY800 original priced, the sources indicated.

Meanwhile, in view of the Lenovo A60’s rising popularity, China’s channel operators have released more orders for the device prior to China’s National Day holidays, the sources observed. The booming demand will simultaneously push up MediaTek’s sales generated from the orders placed by Lenovo, the sources said.

MediaTek began to ship its MT6573 3.5G chipset solution to China in August. The company was quoted as saying in previous reports that it aims to ship 10 million 3G smartphone solutions in 2011.

MediaTek has estimated consolidated revenues at NT$22-23 billion (US$743-777 million) for the third quarter of 2011. Sales grew 16.3% sequentially to NT$8.31 billion in August, and are expected to post another sequential growth in September.

Market watchers now expect MediaTek to enjoy a more than 15% sequential increase in third-quarter sales, exceeding its guidance of 5-10% growth given previously.

Spreadtrum increases TD-SCDMA chip orders to TSMC, says paper [Sept 29, 2011]

China-based handset solution vendor Spreadtrum Communications will increase its orders for TD-SCDMA baseband chips to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Spreadtrum has avoided directly competing with MediaTek in the 3G and 4G segments and instead focuses on TD-SCDMA chips in cooperation with China Mobile. Spreadtrum currently holds 56% of the TD-SCDMA chip market in China, the paper said.

The TD-SCDMA chips will be made on a 40nm process at TSMC, while Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) will handle the backend packaging and testing, said the paper.

Handset solution vendors competing neck and neck in 3G smartphone market in China [Sept 13, 2011]

Demand for smartphone solutions in emerging markets, particularly in China, is gaining momentum, pushing chipset vendors to compete neck and neck to grab a large piece for the growing market, according to industry sources.

Qualcomm and MediaTek are both targeting the WCDMA solution market in China, and the two companies have landed orders from some branded handset vendorsin China, the sources noted.

China-based chipset vendor Spreadtrum Communications has received orders for TD-SCDMA solutions from Samsung Electronics, while rival Taiwan-based MStar Semiconductor has ventured into the EDGE solution segment.

Qualcomm’s launch of QRD (Qualcomm reference design) in 2010 paved the way for the company to gain more 3G solution orders in 2011, and the US-based solution vendor is expected to further enhance its market leadership with the launch of its next generation QRD, said the sources.

HTC, a strong supporter of Qualcomm, also plans to strengthen its marketing in China in 2012which will also help Qualcomm expand its share in China’s smartphone market, the sources added.

MediaTek has continued to exert efforts to reduce its production costs through integration of hardware, software, firmware and even applications, said sources, noting that MediaTek also reportedly plans to cut the prices of 3G solutions by 10-20% at the end of the third quarter in order to compete with Qualcomm’s forthcoming second-generation QRD.

Meanwhile, MStar‘s shipments of EDGE solutions have reportedly reached over five million units a month recently and will soon become a growth driver for the company, the sources added.

Smartphones moving toward hardware competition [Aug 30, 2011]

The global market competition among iOS, Android, Windows Mango and BlackBerry platforms is expected to heat up in the fourth quarter as international vendors are going to launch flagship smartphone models, with hardware specifications expected to develop toward 1.5GHz dual-core processors, large screens over 4-inch, ultra-slim form-factors and supporting HSPA+download speeds of 21Mbps, according to Taiwan-based handset makers.

Given some mid-range smartphones have already adopted 1GHz processors, the new flagship high-end smartphones are trended towards processors clocking at 1.2-1.5GHz, the sources noted.

In addition to market speculation of dual-core A5 processors for Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 5, new flagship models from Samsung Electronics, HTC and Sony Ericsson will also be powered by dual-core CPUs, the sources added. However, Nokia and RIM (Research in Motion) are not expected to roll out dual-core models until 2012.

HTC, Samsung and LG Electronics (LGE) are also expected to roll out models with display sizes ranging from 4.3- to 4.5-, or even up 4.7 inch, the sources indicated.

Taiwan handset ODMs bracing for structural upheaval [Aug 23, 2011]

Taiwan-based handset ODMs are bracing for repercussions of structural upheaval to be brought by Google’s intention to buy Motorola Mobility and Hewlett-Packard’s (HP’s) plan to stop selling WebOS-based smartphones, according to sources at Taiwan’s handset industry.

Even before the announcements of the latest deals in the hectic smartphone industry, Taiwan-based handset ODMs have mostly failed to perform well due to lackluster sales of smarphones of their branded handset clients, including HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and even Motorola and Sony Ericsson, the sources noted.

Although Taiwan handset ODMs have diversified their product roadmapsto include models supporting Android, Windows Mobile and WebOS platforms, their operations would still be affected by Google’s and HP’s stunning announcements, said the sources, adding that Compal Communications and Foxconn International Holding (FIH) are expected to suffer the most.

While some handset ODMs have also ventured into the development of tablet PCs, shipment volume of tablets from those handset ODMs have been smaller than expected due to the dominance of the Apple iPad in the market, the sources pointed out.

Handset vendors reportedly cutting back chipset orders for 4Q11 [Aug 19, 2011]

Some handset solution suppliers have indicated that a number of handset vendors, including Apple and HTC, have scaled down their chipset orders for the fourth quarter as compared with the third on concerns of the global economy, according to sources at Taiwan-based chipset makers.

While most smartphone vendors are likely to reach their shipment targets for the third quarter, they have begun to reduce orders for parts and components for the fourth quarter in preparation for a possible impact from changing economic conditions, the sources noted.

HTC raised its internal shipment target for 2011 to 70 million units in the first quarter, from 50 million units it projected at the end of 2010. However, the company has recently revised downward the target to 50-60 million units, according to sources familiar with HTC’s roadmap.

Sources in the supply chain of iPhone have revealed that Apple has also scaled down its orders for handset parts and components to be shipped at the end of third quarter.

MediaTek to increase investment in 3G, says chairman [July 19, 2011]

MediaTek will further strengthen its deployment in the global 3G chipset market by pouring more capital and resources into the development of platform products and application software, according to company chairman Tsai Ming-kai.

Buoyed by rapid growth in applications for mobile connectivity, the 3G industry and market in China has been developing in a fast manner, and MediaTek aims to grow in tandem with China’s booming 3G industry, Tsai said at a WCDMA supply chain conference held by China Unicom in China recently.

MediaTek will also cooperate with the WCDMA operators and makers of the WCDMA supply chain in China on technology development and marketingto accelerate the advancement of the WCDMA industry in China.

MediaTek has offered its highly integrated MT6268 WCDMA solution plus multiple application software platforms to handset makers to develop and manufacture high performance WCDMA handsets.

MediaTek to ship 3G solutions in August [July 13, 2011]

MediaTek has confirmed that it will begin to ship its HSUPA solution, the MT6573, to clients in August, but the company declined to comment on market speculations that it has landed orders for a quantity of over one million units each from clients including Lenovo and ZTE.

The specifications and performance of the MT6573, which is set to run on Android 2.3.3 platform, are similar to those chips adopted by Apple’s iPhones and HTC’s 3G smartphones, indicating that MediaTek has begun to make inroads into the global 3G chipset market, commented industry sources in Taiwan.

Other China-based handset makers, including Ningbo Bird, China Tianx and Shanghai Ragentek Communication Technology, have also decided to adopt the MT6573 solutions, the sources added.

Qualcomm likely to slash 30% off entry-level 3G solutions in next 9-12 months, says paper [June 16, 2011]

Qualcomm is likely to slash its prices for 3G smartphone solutions by 30% in the next 9-12 months in order to prevent other chipset makers from grabbing its share in the entry-level 3G solution segment, the Chinese-language Commercial Times quoted Michael Chou, a semiconductor analyst with Deutsche Securities in Taipei, as indicating.

More first-tier branded handset vendors are likely to adopt Qualcomm’s solutions for the production of entry-level and mid-range 3G smartphones in the next 12 months as Qualcomm has migrated the production of its chipset solutions to a 40nm processat Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Chou said.

Qualcomm’s price-cutting strategy will affect the performance of Asia-based chipset makers, including MediaTek and MStar Semiconductor. Deutsche Securities has recommended a sell rating on shares of MediaTek and a hold rating on MStar, said the paper.

MT6573 Innovative Platform for Mainstream Smartphones [Feb 11, 2011]

Overview

The MediaTek MT6573 platform incorporates a highly-integrated core chipset, a full range of connectivity solutions and supports the latest versions of the popular Android^TM operating system. The MT6573 platform supports a quad-band, 3G/HSPA modem with mobile broadband rates of 7.2Mbps in the downlink and 5.76 Mbps uplink, as well as quad-band EDGE. The integrated applications processing system combines a 650 MHz dedicated ARM®11 subsystem for the Android operating system; support for advanced 3D graphics; multi-format video capture and playback up to FWVGA 30fps; high-resolution camera support to 8MP and a high-end FWVGA, touch-screen display. This platform chipset is completed with a full range of connectivity solutions for Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, FM and Mobile TV from MediaTek.

Key Features

• The core chipset of the MT6573 integrates the modem, applications & multimedia subsystem and all necessary power management functions into a single SOC.

• Combined with a single-chip, multi-mode, multi-band transceiver, it enables extremely small footprints that allow for smaller, more innovative industrial designs and form-factors.

• Additionally, the integrated 3D graphics capability brings gaming and user interface capabilities that were previously available only to high-end smartphones.

• Finally, the platform provides for advanced camera and multimedia features that include smile and face detection, panorama and burst shot, as well as high-resolution video capture and playback.

• The platform can be delivered as a full system solution consisting of hardware reference design and fully-tested, compliant software suite that can improve design efficiency and speed time to market for customers in the rapidly changing smartphone market.

MediaTek’s newly announced MT6573 application processor integrates POWERVR graphics [March 8, 2011]

New SoC brings advanced graphics to mass-market smartphones

MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, and Imagination Technologies, a leading multimedia and communications technologies company, announce that MediaTek’s new application processor, features POWERVR graphics acceleration.

The MT6573 incorporates a POWERVR Series5 SGX GPU (graphics processing unit) from Imaginationto enable advanced smartphone graphics applications including gaming, navigation and location-based services, augmented reality and highly visual and dynamic user interfaces for the mainstream volume phone market.

MediaTek delivers innovative, feature-rich yet cost-effective solutions to meet consumer’s entertainment, communication and information needs. MediaTek is launching the MT6573 platform to address the accelerating demand for smartphones with features that can delight users at price points that meet the needs of operators in developed markets and consumers in emerging markets.

Says Hossein Yassaie, CEO, Imagination: “We are delighted that MediaTek has delivered this highly capable new mass-market application processor, which will enable its customers to address new levels of capabilities and meet emerging consumer demands for advanced performance in lower-priced smartphones. We look forward to building on our strategic relationship with this important semiconductor partner.”

Says Jeffrey Ju, General Manager of the Smartphone Business Unit at MediaTek: “MediaTek is committed to ensuring that wireless consumers across the globe can access the most advanced mobile technologies. Imagination delivers industry leading graphics technology and support, as well as an extensive and strong ecosystem of developers capable of utilising the technology. We are thrilled to have POWERVR graphics acceleration in MT6573, and the benefit of Imagination’s insight and experience as a strategic partner going forward.”

MediaTek announced the MT6573 platform for mainstream 3G smartphones [Feb 11] (emphasis is mine):

The MT6573 platform incorporates a highly-integrated, core chipset, a full range of connectivity solutions and supports the latest versions of the popular Android^TMoperating system. The MT6573 platform supports a quad-band [i.e.: all 4 GSM bands, the 850 and 1900 MHz bands – used in Americas – and 900/1800, used elsewhere], 3G/HSPA modem with mobile broadband rates of 7.2Mbps in the downlink and 5.76 Mbps uplink, as well as quad-band EDGE. The integrated applications processing system combines a 650 MHz dedicated ARM®11subsystem for the Android operating system; support for advanced 3D graphics; multi-format video capture and playback up to FWVGA 30fps; high-resolution camera support to 8MP and a high-end FWVGA, touch-screen display. The platform chipset is completed with a full range of connectivity solutions for Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, FM radio and Mobile TV from MediaTek.

The core chipset of the MT6573 integrates the modem, applications, multimedia subsystem and all necessary power management functions into a single SOC. Combined with a single-chip, multi-mode, multi-band transceiver, it enables extremely small footprints that allow for smaller, more innovative industrial designs and form-factors. Additionally, the integrated 3D graphics capability brings gaming and user interface capabilities that were previously available only to high-end smartphones. Finally, the platform provides advanced camera and multimedia features that include smile and face detection, panorama and burst shot, as well as high-resolution video capture and playback. The platform can be delivered as a full system solution consisting of hardware reference design and fully-tested, compliant software suite that can improve design efficiency and speed time to market for customers in the rapidly changing smartphone market.

… The MT6573 platform is currently sampling to lead customers and will be in mass-production by mid 2011.

Experiencing the Cloud

Author Archives: Nacsa Sándor

China TD-SCDMA and W-CDMA 3G subscribers by the end of 2011: China Mobile lost its original growth momentum

–> New Mobile and Communications Group (MCG) at Intel [Dec 16 – 30, 2011]

–> Intel’s SoC strategy strengthened by 22nm Tri-Gate technology [May 10 – Nov 30, 2011]

Google adding a style guide (design guidelines) to Android (4 years late)

Post navigation

	Standby (3G)	Talk (3G)	Browsing (3G)	Video Playback 720p
Apple iPhone 4S	~38mW	~800mW	~1.3W	~500mW
Intel Medfield Reference	~18mW	~700mW	~1.0W	~850mW
Samsung Galaxy S II	~19mW	~675mW	~1.2W	~650mW

China market: Breakdown of total handset shipment volume, 1H12
Generation	Technology standard	Number of models	Shipment volume (m handsets)
3G	WCDMA (China Unicom)	476	53.099
	CDMA2000 (China Telecom)	174	28.197
	TD-SCDMA (China Mobile)	151	25.578
2G	GSM	1,272	81.915
2G	CDMA1x	26	6.076

Author Archives: Nacsa Sándor

–> Intel’s industry position and prospects for years ahead [Dec 9, 2010 – March 21, 2011]

–> Intel’s SoC strategy strengthened by 22nm Tri-Gate technology [May 10 – Nov 30, 2011]

–> New Mobile and Communications Group (MCG) at Intel [Dec 16 – 30, 2011]

–> Intel’s SoC strategy strengthened by 22nm Tri-Gate technology [May 10 – Nov 30, 2011]

Spectrum by LG sharpens the vision of what’s truly superior in mobile technology. Beneath its exceptionally large 4.5″ True HD IPS display is a mighty combination of power and speed.

A Qualcomm® 1.5 GHz dual-core processor compliments Verizon 4G LTE connectivity, generating an astoundingly fast overall experience. You’ve never seen this before—expect to be blown away.

More information

The CES 2012 expansion of the V.I.A. Plus

Strong business backings from Taiwan that enable such bold strategy expansion for VIZIO

Detailed information about the Smarterphone now under Nokia:

Kvaleberg enters into sublicense agreement with SinoVoice

Kvaleberg signs licensing agreement with CooTek

Kvaleberg approved as Sun Value Added Provider for Java™ ME

Kvaleberg signs agreement with Obigo

See the earlier information on this blog here: Marvell ARMADA with sun readable and unbreakable Pixel Qi screen, and target [mass] manufacturing cost of $75 [Nov 4, 2010 – July 20, 2011]

Declared dead just two years ago, the plan to provide every child in the developing world with a computer shows signs of life.

Lenovo A60 August, 2011 ($145 in Dec’11)

Sony Ericsson WT19i November, 2011 ($235)

Apple iPhone 3G S June, 2009 ($618 8GB from Nov’11 on)

GLBenchmark 2.1 Egypt High (+ Standard) (Frames) http://www.glbenchmark.com/:

MediaTek MT6573 w/ 650MHz ARM11

Qualcomm MSM8255 w/ 1GHz Scorpion

Samsung S5PC100 w/ 600MHz Cortex-A8

PowerVR SGX 531

Adreno 205

PowerVR SGX 535

NOW THE DETAILED COLLECTION

China Unicom Hopes To Sell Cheaper Phones Next Year [Dec 20, 2011]

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Lenovo A60
August, 2011
($145 in Dec’11)

Sony Ericsson WT19i
November, 2011 ($235)

Apple iPhone 3G S
June, 2009 ($618 8GB from Nov’11 on)

GLBenchmark 2.1 Egypt High
(+ Standard) (Frames) http://www.glbenchmark.com/:

Samsung S5PC100 w/
600MHz Cortex-A8