We’re back with another week’s full on news summary. It’s been a fairly quite week in the mobile phone world, though LG have livened things up by introducing an impressive six new mid-level models. Samsung have been showing off their new, highly impressive touch screen, while Pink Floyd has laid down a marker in the ringtone world, in preventing the already struggling EMI record label from selling off their esteemed experimental tracks as ringtones. There’s no confirmed date on that iPad, still, though we have heard rumors that and Irish launch might be seriously delayed. More on that when we have it…
- Samsung have released a video explaining the beautiful new Super AMOLED screen, which is included as part of the new Samsung Wave model released at the World Mobile Congress. The screen drew plenty of media attention, and has been touted by many as the most impressive screen ever found on a mobile phone. The video is aimed primarily at manufacturer who might one to use screen in making their next model, and highlights benefits like a thinner screen, no need for an extra layer of material in order to develop touch technology, and the increased level of color transmission that can be achieved by not having the double layering required for most touch screen phones. Picture quality on the new technology is noticeably more vivid than the more traditional forms of mobile screen, while Samsung have also been able to demonstrate that the technology allows the screen to be viewed from a wider angle and respond to touch technology more quickly.
- Bluetooth have announced a new version – 4.0 – will be launched by the end of 2010. While many phones currently on the market still use the old – 2.1 – version of Bluetooth, the 3.0 version is increasingly prevalent, and has advantages in terms of data transfer capacity. The new version is expected to develop this still further, including the ability to connect to WiFi at a speed of up to 25 MBits per second. The new version of the technology is also being touted as a major battery saver, using significantly less power than the old version to run transfers.
- Pink Floyd has one a landmark ruling that will prevent EMI from cashing in on their tracks as ringtones. The famous psychedelic band argued that selling their tracks outside of a full album compromises their artist integrity, and – with the backing of a number of their fans – have succeeded in barring their record label from selling any of their music as either an individual track or a ringtone. A clause in Pink Floyd’s contract was key in making the decision: the band had previously stipulated that EMI cannot sell their music outside of its original format without their consent, something that EMI admitted to the court they had already done. EMI made a huge loss last year, and may suffer further with one of their biggest names being forced to withdraw from a money maker like iTunes music library (which only allows music that can be downloaded as individual tracks and an album). The case is thought to be the first time that a band has ever successful taken a record label to court over the way in which their music is distributed.
- LG has released a whole heap more mid-range phones. Unveiling their new products at a Dutch press show, the Korean firm confirmed the release of six new mid-range phones, though we are yet to hear any confirmation on price, availability or thorough specifications. The models – called the LG Pure, LG Cookie Music, LG Jacquar 5, LG GT405, LG KS365 LG GT400 Viewty Smile – have various focuses and all look like competent mid level phones at first glance. Presumably, the firm’s aim will be to take on the more established mid range brands in terms of both price and performance.
- Apple’s developer contracts have finally been leaked into the public domain. The contracts have always come with a stringent privacy requirement, preventing developers from talking about certain things within the company. A freedom of information request allowed the Electronic Frontier Foundation to attain this copy of the contract, which includes some harsh restrictions on public statements, reverse engineering of any kind and limits on Apple’s liability should the developer have any problems. An interesting read for anyone who’s considering using an app as a business marketing technique (or a business in its own right).
- Google have drastically reduced their expected sales of the Nexus One. Having initially given expected 2010 sales figures as 3.5 million, Google has reduced this estimate by 5/7ths to just one million. The company has blamed the lack marketing, which can be roughly translated as ‘we only sell our phone on the Internet” – it was always going to be a drawback! Still, we think it’s an excellent model. If you do want one, you can grab it here.
A relatively quiet week, perhaps, but the mobile world, with so many different companies involved these days, rarely stops altogether. We’ll be back with a whole lot more next week.
