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Huawei announced a 3.7-inch smartphone that offers Android 2.3, a curved unibody design, and a new 3D user interface. Billed as Hauawei's “sexiest” phone yet, the Vision runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, offers a five-megapixel camera, and measures just 0.39 inches at its thinnest point, says the company.
Latte has begun shipping a five-inch, Android 2.3 portable media player (PMP) tablet for $190. The Latte Ice Smart uses a Telechips 8903 ARM11 processor to deliver 1080p video to an HDTV via a mini-HDMI port, and offers Wi-Fi and a USB On-the-Go (OTG) port, says the company.
Qualcomm announced new branding and a roadmap for its “Snapdragon” family of mobile chipsets. With clock speeds ranging from 1GHz to 2.5GHz, the devices will be grouped into System 1, System 2, System 3, and System 4 tiers, and 28nm quad-core versions will start sampling early next year, according to the company.
Android malware affects from 500,000 to 1 million smartphone users, who are two and a half times as likely to encounter malware today as six months ago, according to a Lookout Mobile Security analysis. Meanwhile, security experts are debating the threat of an Android Trojan that records one's phone calls.
Keynotes and tracks were announced for the ESC (Embedded Systems Conference) Boston, set for Sept. 26-29, including keynotes on embedded security and medical devices. ESC Boston offers a Linux/Android track, featuring a session on Android's Open Accessory Kit, as well as giveaways to “All Access” users of a BeagleBoard-xM board and a Texas Instruments programmable, wireless-enabled eZ430-Chronos sports watch.
At this week's Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, security researchers will be addressing SSL vulnerabilities, mobile attacks, Chrome OS security gaps, and “war-texting” — a snooping technique that could also enable a car to be started remotely. Meanwhile, the nominations for the 2011 Pwnie Awards at Black Hat include a nod to Sony for its incompetence at security.
Wind River announced a new version of Wind River Platform for Infotainment, its Genivi-compliant automotive stack designed for building Linux-based in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems. The new version adds support for ARM processors, as well as Apple iPhone and iPod integration, Wind River Hypervisor support for multi-OS virtualization, and a new application and GUI framework, says the company.
Pandigital began selling a $170, seven-inch Android tablet called the Nova Digital Reader, a lighter spinoff of its previous Novel color e-reader. This follows a similar, $180 “Planet” device the company launched two weeks ago, with both tablets featuring seven-inch, 800 x 600 touchscreens, 802.11n, and front- and rear-facing cameras.
IDC analysts say processor shipments will grow 9.3 percent this year, a drop from the 10.3 percent predicted earlier, due in part to lower consumer demand for PCs. However, the research firm adds that CPUs with integrated graphics — such as Intel's “Sandy Bridge” Cores and AMD's Fusion line — are thriving, accounting for more than 60 percent of processors through 2Q 2011.
WIMM Labs announced an Android-based wearable device reference platform and open SDK designed for applications including sports and health monitoring wristwatches. The tiny WIMM One Module features a 1.4-inch capacitive touchscreen, up to 32GB memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and motion tracking capability, and will be made available with a WIMM One Developer Preview Kit in the third quarter.
Motorola's Photon 4G is a fast, solid multimedia smartphone, featuring Android 2.3 on an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and an eight-megapixel camera, says this eWEEK review. Yet, the fun really starts with this Sprint 4G phone when you buy the optional Motorola HD Station and begin pushing content to an HDTV.
Hong Kong based Marvel-Digital announced a Android 2.3-based TBT-10C 7″ Mercury Pad Tablet for $259, featuring a 1GHz Samsung “Hummingbird” Cortex-A8 processor and a seven-inch, capacitive multitouch display. Meanwhile, a detailed comparative review between the iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has given the edge to the Android tablet for its greater flexibility.
Chinese firm E-King announced an Intel Atom Z670-based tablet that will reportedly be offered with Windows 7, Android, or MeeGo operating systems. The “Talent T9” is said to include a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, a 32GB solid state disk (SSD), a mini-HDMI port, plus a 3G cellular.
A start-up called Vinci is taking pre-orders at Amazon.com for a seven-inch Android 2.3 tablet designed as an educational tool for toddlers. The safety-compliant Vinci Tab is equipped with a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 4GB or 8GB of flash, a seven-inch, 800 x 480 touchscreen, a three-megapixel camera, a wrap-around handle, and a variety of early-learning apps.
Canalys tracks smartphone sales in 56 countries around the world, and released a summary of its data for Q2 2011 on August 1. According to the firm, Google's Android operating system led in 35 countries and achieved a global market share of 48 percent.