Huawei smartphone shipments increased 33% in 2014
With the battle for Chinese smartphone dominance in full swing, we’ve heard a lot of speculation as to which company will come out as the dominant mover among the Chinese giants. With 2014 officially gone, Huawei can certainly enter the new year with confidence, as a report indicates the company experienced a 33% increase in smartphone shipments in 2014 alone.
According to an internal memo seen by Reuters, an increase of around a third brought the company’s smartphone sales to 11.8 billion dollars in 2014, with a total of 75 million devices sold for the year. As impressive as those numbers are, Huawei had originally set a sales target for 80 million devices sold, meaning that even the 40% year on year increase of sales still might not be enough to bring the satisfaction the company had hoped for.
The numbers are scheduled to be officially announced by Huawei within a few weeks, but Maggie Qi (spokeswoman for the company) declined to comment on the internal memo.
The battle for top Chinese vendor between Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo Group has not only demonstrated the shift taking place within the smartphone sector, but has also put smartphone powerhouse Samsung in a very tight spot.Regardless of who comes out on top, 2015 is certainly shaping up to be a very interesting year for the smartphone world.
Review – Logitech T650 Rechargeable Touchpad
Windows 8.1 has made us rethink the way we interact with our computers. The traditional type and click keyboard/mouse setup has been augmented with touch screens and gestures, sometimes to the point that mice are being left out of the equation all together in favor of touchpads.
Accessory of the Day: Active noise-cancelling headphones $42.99
Sometimes you need to just drown out the sound of the world. Enter the Audio Technica QuietPoint headphones with 90% background noise-reduction. Living in a big city, I can’t wait to put these through their paces. While Audio Technica also offers an over-the-ear option, these in-ear buds are rated 4/5 stars with over 800 positive reviews and a price point of only $42.99 (Prime eligible). What are you favorite noise-cancelling headphones?
The post Accessory of the Day: Active noise-cancelling headphones $42.99 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Car Dash for Windows Phone updated – adds FM tuner and more
Car Dash is an automotive dashboard Windows Phone app that puts a vast selection of features at your fingertips while on the road. The large touch interface makes it easy to access HERE maps, MixRadio, access contacts and more.
The Windows Phone app has been updated a few times since we last visiting things with the most recent update (version 3.7) being pushed out the other day. The last series of updates most notably adds an FM tuner and speedometer to Car Dash and helps add to the app’s appeal.
HTC’s Jeff Gordon promises the “best ever” product lineup for 2015, lots of surprises
With 2014 just behind us and CE just days away, it’s no small claim to say that the tech world is waiting for the event with eager eyes. HTC is no stranger to making headlines, and if Jeff Gordon, the company’s Senior Global Online Communication Manager has anything to say (which he does), the year-at-large might be something special.
In a series of Tweets today, Gordon minced no words in claiming that 2015 will see the best product line-up in the company’s history, using such phrases as “blow your mind” and promising “some huge surprises.” Take a look:
HTC's 2015 roadmap will be our best ever–with some huge surprises that will blow you away.
— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 31, 2014
It’s important to note that Mr. Gordon didn’t confirm anything specific for CES 2015, though he did make reference to it by noting many companies make product announcements on the 5th, even though the show doesn’t actually open until the 6th.
There have been many rumors and purported leaks circulating around the Internet recently, including continuous mentioning of the HTC Hima, which is largely believed to be the follow-up to last year’s One M8, a device that not only turned heads, but actually made the jump over to Windows Phone as well, perhaps a first for the mobile market.
HTC is also stated to release a sequel to its RE handheld recording device, though it’s unknown if the 2015 variant will feature the same periscope-esque inspiration. In the tablet world, there has been talk of the Taiwanese company offering a non-Nexus “Nexus 9″, which could mean a similar speced piece of hardware with HTC’s signature premium build quality.
The most solid piece of evidence about something interesting coming from HTC next week is this teaser for an upcoming Desire phone.
As Gordon also reminded his followers that HTC is back in (the) black, this year will be a very important one to determine how long the balance sheet remains so. What kind of surprises would you like to see from HTC this year?
Now you can install Google Play on your Amazon Fire phone
Amazon made their debut in the smartphone market by introducing the Amazon Fire Phone. It is an Android powered smartphone featuring Amazon’s very own Fire OS. Although, it is Android but a user can only use the Amazon App store with the Fire Phone, which means no access to Google Play Store but thanks to someone over at XDA, Fire Phone users can now access the Google Play Store. The best part is that there is no requirement of rooting the phone, however it is not something official so be ready to take the risk.
If you are interested in using Google Play Store on your Fire Phone, check out the video below:
Let us know what you think about it in the comment box below.
Source: XDA
The post Now you can install Google Play on your Amazon Fire phone appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google Calendar breaks out the fireworks for New Year
It seems it’s not just the Hangouts team doing something a little special to kick off 2015. Fire up the Google Calendar Android app today and you’ll be greeted by a full-width animation and fireworks to ring in the new year. Naturally, in true Material Design style, scrolling down collapses everything into a daytime scene, showing any appointments you might be unfortunate enough to have this morning. Head past the break to see the animation in action.
Samsung is testing at least three different prototypes of the Samsung Galaxy S6
Samsung intends for the Samsung Galaxy S6 to blow our socks off – this much was obvious when we heard that Samsung had codenamed the Galaxy S6 “Project Zero” as if to imply that they are starting from scratch. Well, it seems Samsung is doing just that, and is actually currently testing with at least three […]
The post Samsung is testing at least three different prototypes of the Samsung Galaxy S6 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
It’s been 30 years since Britain’s first mobile phone call
Exactly 30 years ago today, two men made history by completing the first mobile phone call in the UK. As everyone celebrated the opening seconds of 1985, Michael Harrison, the son of former Vodafone chairman Sir Ernest Harrison, rang his father from Parliament Square in London. The call was supposed to be a surprise; Michael had snuck away from his family’s New Year’s Eve party in Surrey and driven up to the capital earlier that evening.
In his possession was the Transportable Vodafone VT1, a cumbersome 5kg block with carry handle, antenna and tethered receiver. One of the network’s technicians punched in the correct number and passed Michael the handset, as a curious crowd tried to work out who the minor celebrity was and exactly what he was doing. The call connected after just a few rings (perhaps it wasn’t such a surprise for Sir Ernest Harrison) and the pair chatted briefly: “Hi Dad, it’s Mike. Happy New Year. This is the first ever call on a UK mobile network.”
The Transportable VT1 took 10 hours to charge and offered 30 minutes of call time.
On that night, Michael didn’t fully appreciate what had happened. It was a watershed moment, of course, but he couldn’t possibly imagine the mobile phone phenomenon that would follow. “I could see that there would be a market for something so empowering,” he says, “but I saw this then as a niche, high-end product for those who really had to be, as opposed to would like to be, contactable all the time.” Little evidence of the call now exists, save for a few grainy photos (shown above: Michael on the left, Ernest on the right).
Ernie Wise, of comedic duo Morecambe and Wise fame, also made a call on New Year’s Day. Dressed in a Victorian costume, the British star rang Vodafone’s headquarters in Berkshire from St Katherine’s Dock in East London. The PR stunt attracted plenty of media attention and led many to assume that it was him, not Michael, that placed the first call.
Vodafone and competitor Cellnet (which later became BT Cellnet, then O2) launched the UK’s first mobile networks in January 1985. But Ivan Donn, then a 23-year-old salesman for Vodafone, had been looking for early adopters since September 1984. He didn’t have any hardware to demo and, of course, the network wasn’t live yet, but he still managed to persuade his friend Mungo Park to take the plunge. The young investment banker bought Vodafone’s first commercial phone, the VM1, for £1,475. Unlike the Transportable Vodafone VT1, which went on sale slightly later, it had to be installed in a car.
Mungo Park, the first person to buy a mobile phone in the UK.
That meant heavy boxes in the boot and passenger footwell, an aerial poking out of the roof, and a bulky receiver up front. But none of that mattered to Mungo. He was working with American companies that traded on the New York Stock Exchange until around 9pm UK-time. The primitive mobile phone meant he could take calls on his way to work — something city commuters now take for granted. “We would be able to leave [the office] at 6pm, or 7pm, or 8pm and be in communication with Wall Street on the way home,” he says. “Transactions would happen that wouldn’t normally happen that day. So the thing probably paid for itself in the first week. It changed everybody’s life.”
Of course, there were shortcomings. Coverage was restricted to the Greater London area for the first few months, which clearly limited its appeal for anyone living outside the city. But slowly Vodafone and Cellnet expanded their services, increasing demand and making mobile phones more attractive to businesses. Roger Southam was Vodafone’s first enterprise customer. He worked in property, so much of his time was spent travelling up and down the country. The ability to call someone on location, instead of driving back to the nearest office, saved him roughly a day every week. “I could stay on top of things and I was always contactable,” he says. “It just gave a freedom and flexibility to my work style.”
The VM1. While classed as a “mobile,” the hardware was always bound to a vehicle.
Smartphones have matured to a point where making calls is, for many people, now little more than a footnote. Internet connectivity has ushered in a new age of communication where messaging apps, email and social networks are the norm. But the simple phone call continues to endure. Even now, there’s something brilliant about being able to punch in a number and talk to someone wherever they are. In that sense, very little has changed since Michael Harrison made that first call from Parliament Square all those years ago.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
HTC apparently has ‘some huge surprises’ coming in 2015
According to HTC‘s Jeff Gordon (he’s their Senior Global Online Communications Manager), 2015 is going to be a big year for HTC. Of course, as their head online PR guy he’s not going to say that 2015 will be a ho-hum year for the Taiwanese manufacturer of some of our favorite smartphones and the latest Nexus tablet, but we can’t help but be interested in what HTC is planning on bringing to bear in the coming year.
AIVAnet 