iOS 5 Beta 6 Released To Developers

iOS 5 Beta 6 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Today Apple released iOS 5 beta 6 to developers. The new build is available only to developers with iOS 5 beta 3 and later installed on their iPhones iPads or iPod touch devices. The update comes as an over-the-air (OTA) update.

This time there is a difference in Apple's suggestions on upgrading. it does not recommend wiping your device clean before updating to the iOS 5 beta 6, like with the iOS beta 5.

In addition iOS update, Apple also released updated iTunes 10.5 beta 6) and Xcode 4.2 preview 3.



The update brings in a whole slew of fixes and additions. BGR has a plateful of information on the subject.

BGR

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Injunction Lifted In Europe But Germany.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Injunction http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

When we first reported about the Apple's claim that Samsung Galaxy Tab and iPad looked alike, we jokingly said that at least Samsung's was longer that Steve Jobs one. But it seems Apple has tried to make Samsung Tab smaller and shorter than actual in the papers presented to the court. In our view, Apple iPad is short and fat while Samsung Galaxy Tab is tall and slim. But we are not lawyers, to them it might look similar. I hope the courts in EU have people with better eyesight.

Today the Webwereld (Webworld, translated) published that the suspension of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been lifted everywhere in Europe but Germany. Hooray!

It is good that at least the lift will remain effective till the hearing on August 25th. I guess now this ad about Samsung Tab can run again!

FOSS Patents also have a article covering the subject and Florian writes about real legal issues and it seems that Apple might get turned into Juice over there.. I truly wish Apple's stupid case get thrown out of the court(s) and world continue as it should be.

Hey Apple And The Rest, “Android Will Stay Open” And Alive :) Motorola Mobility In Google's Hands!

Android Will Stay Open http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

I guess Android community must be a bit at ease now that Google(GOOG) has some Mobile muscle behind it to defend and protect Android. Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page wrote a blog post that Google has acquired Motorola Mobility(MMI) not only because of its strength in Android smartphones and devices but it's leadership in "the home devices and video solutions business.”

He is referring to millions of cable modems that is sitting in millions of houses. The Motorola alliance might help Google to get Google TV, into the cable provider domain. Motorola Mobility seperated from Big Motorola and formally launched the new company in January 2011

But the news that will tickle Steve Jobs is that patents Motorola Mobility holds.portfolio of 17,000 patents and another 7,000 patents pending globally should those patent bullies at bay. Good work Google, Motorola! Because I wand my Android phone, not any of the the hyped up phones by Mobile Mafia.



Press Release;

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”

Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said, “We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the US, the European Union and other jurisdictions, and the approval of Motorola Mobility’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2011 or early 2012.

Webcast Information

Google and Motorola Mobility will hold a conference call with financial analysts to discuss this announcement today at 8:30am ET. The toll-free dial-in number for the call is 877-616-4476 (conference ID: 92149124). The call will also be webcast live at http://investor.shareholder.com/media/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=101369&CompanyID=ABEA-3VZHGF&e=1&mediaKey=A21887C59EBAAC12F1BCF4D43C080953. The webcast version of the conference call will be available through the same link following the conference call.

About Google Inc.

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

About Motorola Mobility

Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. fuses innovative technology with human insights to create experiences that simplify, connect and enrich people's lives. Our portfolio includes converged mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets; wireless accessories; end-to-end video and data delivery; and management solutions, including set-tops and data-access devices. For more information, visit motorola.com/mobility.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as Google, Motorola or management of either company “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “foresees,” “forecasts,” “estimates” or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements herein that describe the proposed transaction, including its financial impact, and other statements of management’s beliefs, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on the results of operations and financial condition of the combined companies or the price of Google or Motorola stock. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed transaction and the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals at all or in a timely manner; the ability of Google to successfully integrate Motorola’s operations, product lines and technology; the ability of Google to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Motorola’s business after the completion of the transaction and realize additional opportunities for growth and innovation; and the other risks and important factors contained and identified in Google’s and Motorola's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), such as their respective Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Reports on Form 10-K, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Neither Google nor Motorola undertakes any obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

Motorola intends to file with the SEC a proxy statement in connection with the proposed transaction with Google. The definitive proxy statement will be sent or given to the stockholders of Motorola and will contain important information about the proposed transaction and related matters. SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT CAREFULLY WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE. The proxy statement and other relevant materials (when they become available), and any other documents filed by Motorola with the SEC, may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website, at www.sec.gov. In addition, security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the proxy statement from Motorola by contacting Investor Relations by mail at Attn: Investor Relations, 600 North U.S. Highway 45, Libertyville, IL 60048.

Participants in the Solicitation

Motorola and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Motorola stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about Motorola’s directors and executive officers is set forth in its proxy statement for its 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 15, 2011, and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, filed on February 18, 2011. These documents are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, and by mail at Attention: Investor Relations, 600 North U.S. Highway 45, Libertyville, IL 60048, or by going to Motorola’s Investor Relations page on its corporate website at http://investors.motorola.com. Additional information regarding the interests of participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the transaction will be included in the proxy statement that Motorola intends to file with the SEC.

Contacts

For Google:

Investors:

ir-core@google.com

or

Media:

press@google.com

or

For Motorola:

Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.

Investors:

Dean Lindroth, +1 (847) 523-2858

dean.lindroth@motorola.com

or

Media:

Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.

Jennifer Erickson, +1 (847) 772-1217

jennifer.erickson@motorola.com

Apple Being Sued For Patent Infringement In Fast Booting of Mac OS X.!

Patent Infringement By Apple http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Operating Systems Solutions, LCC, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple for OS X's fast booting operation.

Patently Apple, site celebrating Apple's inventions thinks this a work of patent troll and that LG Electronics is involved some where in the equation.

Looking at the patent, it looks like a legitimate patent and does not seem to be like many Broad patents that are in the play now in the mobile arena. Except for the fact that Operating Systems Solutions, LCC, does not make laptops or computers that use the patent technology, I do not see any similarity to the likes of Lodsys or Macrosolve.

FOSS Patents has a much better review of the fact and thinks it is a precursor to a wider patent war between Apple and LG.

I do not believe in ridiculous patents, that includes some of Apples but I think it is need to be watched as over all, innovation or simple app developments have been thwarted by stupid patents.

Apple should also know when it tries to clamp down on competitors, someone somewhere will use the same sword on Apple. So Apple use that 70 Billion and start buying some more patents, like



FOSS Patents via Patently Apple



Like in these cases and others we use part of the public record for journalistic news posting purposes. Readers should know that we do not offer a legal opinion on the merit of these cases and lawsuits, simply because we have no legal knowledge. The knowledge comes from what we read. Also we do not like patents in the way now issued by USPTO and used by companies and partial. Basically we call most of these patent holders trolls.

Apple Leads Smartphone Shipments In The Second Quarter Of 2011.

iPhone marketshare http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/Top Five Worldwide Smartphone Vendors, Shipment Volumes, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, 2Q11 (shipments in millions)

Looks like Apple has dethroned Nokia from Smartphone market in the second quarter of 2011. Apple shipped 20.3 Million units against Nokia's 16.7 Million units. But Nokia is still the king of world wide mobile handset shipments with 88.5 Million handsets.
Close behind Apple is the Samsung with 17.3 Million units shipped. Samsung also the king of growth with 380.6% growth year over year. All those Android units, like Gakaxy S family, have certainly helped. IDC credits Samsungs service and support to be the key to success; "... steady cadence of device releases and updates has kept Samsung's smartphones well out in front of the competition. Samsung's bada-powered smartphones likewise grew, while demand for its Windows Phone smartphones has cooled off."
Nokia did not fare well but with the Nokia N9 in the horizon, perhaps it will gain some ground but it could be too little and too late. Afer going through the introduction of the Nokia N9, yes I will have it over iPhone 4. But we got to wait and see how the rest of the world think of it. But the planned windows phone 7 on Nokia smartphones might not bid well for the maker.
RIM only had 12.4 Million units and coming at fifth place HTC secured 11.7 Million units. If HTC and Samsung only shipped Android based phones, combined percentage will give Android devices about a 10 Million lead over Apple, even if the Android shipments are at 50%, it will be 5 Million units lead.


IDC Press release;

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. August 4, 2011 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 65.4% year over year in the second quarter of 2011 (2Q11), marking the third consecutive quarter where total shipments exceeded 100 million units. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 106.5 million units in 2Q11 compared to 64.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010. The 65.4% growth was on par with IDC's forecast of 67.3% for the quarter and below the 84.0% year-over-year growth in 1Q11.

"The smartphone market crowned a new leader in 2Q11, and its name is Apple," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. "Ever since the first iPhone launched in 2007, Apple has made market-setting strides in hardware, software, and channel development to grab mindshare and market share. Demand has been so strong that even models that have been out for one or two years are still being sought out. With an expected refresh later this year, volumes are set to reach higher levels."

"The smartphone market leadership change signifies the parity that comes with a fast-growing market such as smartphones," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. "There is no runaway leader in the market, which means there could easily be further Top 5 vendor changes to come."

Market Outlook

For 2011, IDC maintains that the worldwide smartphone market will grow 55.0% over 2010. "The first half of the year has demonstrated strong growth for the smartphone market," added Llamas. "The second half of the year will bring new flagship models and refreshed user experiences to market. These will keep smartphones well out in front of the market, and keep growth on an upward trajectory."

Top Five Smartphone Vendors

Apple's success can be directly attributed to its distribution (more than 200 carriers in more than 200 countries), increased manufacturing capacity, and solid demand within emerging and developed markets from both consumers and business users. Apple's emergence as the number one smartphone vendor worldwide comes at a time when former worldwide leader Nokia is in the midst of a major transition. However, Apple has yet to top Nokia's single-quarter volume record of 28.1 million units. But given Apple's momentum in the smartphone market, it may not be a question of whether Apple will beat that milestone, but when.

Samsung realized the largest year-over-year growth of any vendor among the top five, and key to its continued success was the global popularity of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones. What originally began as a series of high-end smartphones has proliferated well into the mass-market, but has not strayed too far from its high-end roots. Moreover, its steady cadence of device releases and updates has kept Samsung's smartphones well out in front of the competition. Samsung's bada-powered smartphones likewise grew, while demand for its Windows Phone smartphones has cooled off.

Nokia ceded the number one position for the first time in the history of IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker, with smartphone volumes dipping below the 20 million unit mark for the first time since 3Q09. Even as the company released new smartphones running on Symbian^3, demand for its products running on the aged Symbian platform has shifted to other devices. At the same time, Nokia must be considered as a company in transition, as it recently unveiled its first MeeGo-powered smartphone and Windows Phone-powered smartphones, designated as the primary operating system for Nokia moving forward, have yet to reach the market.

Research In Motion posted the lowest year-over-year growth of all the vendors in the top five, but still shipped enough BlackBerry smartphones to be the number four vendor worldwide. The company has released only a few new models so far this year, leaving the bulk of its shipments to be comprised of older, less expensive models. That has allowed its competitors to grab mindshare and market share with multiple new models. In addition, many vendors have targeted business users with enterprise-grade smartphones, which have long been RIM's stronghold. Still, demand for BlackBerry smartphones remained healthy in the face of competition.

HTC marked another upward quarter, having launched and announced several new smartphones to the market. These featured 3D displays and 4G speeds, attesting to HTC's ability to bring devices with the latest and forward-thinking technologies. For a company that got its start providing carrier-branded smartphones, HTC's success at building a strong and readily identifiable brand stems directly from a broad and deep selection of devices, a steady stream of device releases, and a warm reception among carriers and end-users. With a goal of shipping more than 13 million units in 3Q11, HTC is well poised to reach its goal of shipping 50 million units for the year.

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, August 4, 2011

Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors

For more information about IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 or knagamine@idc.com.


Contact
For more information, contact:

Ramon Llamas
rllamas@idc.com
508-935-4736


Kevin Restivo
krestivo@idc.com
416-673-2230


Michael Shirer
press@idc.com
508-935-4200

IDC

15 Billion Apps Served By Apple App Store.

Apple’s App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Apple has done it again! Come on Android, catch up! Apple App store has served 15 Billion app downloads, and I am responsible for at least 150 of them.
Looks like other 200 million odd owners of iPhone, iPad (100,000 apps in the store) and iPod did the same, downloading their favorite apps from 425000 apps in the store.
Apple has also paid developers, $2.5 billions to date and Apple seems to very happy about it, from their press release.

Apple press release;

CUPERTINO, California—July 7, 2011—Apple® today announced that over 15 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store™ by the more than 200 million iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® users worldwide. The App Store offers more than 425,000 apps and developers have created an incredible array of over 100,000 native iPad apps.

“In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Thank you to all of our amazing developers who have filled it with over 425,000 of the coolest apps and to our over 200 million iOS users for surpassing 15 billion downloads.”

“We sparked musical magic when iPhone users experienced Ocarina three years ago,” said Dr. Ge Wang, a Smule co-founder and assistant professor at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. “And now with iPad, we’ve created the Magic Piano and Magic Fiddle apps. Who could’ve dreamt an iPad would make its way into the San Francisco Symphony?”

“iPad provides us with an unparalleled mobile device for creating gorgeous, immersive games,” said Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games. “Infinity Blade has been a runaway hit with customers around the world and we couldn’t be more excited about our success on iOS devices.”

“We’re bringing Martha Stewart, Angelina Ballerina, Sesame Street and many more of the world’s most popular books and magazines to iPad,” said Nicholas Callaway, CEO of Callaway Digital Arts. “We knew the iPad was going to be a revolutionary storytelling device, but never could have anticipated it would become so popular, so quickly.”

More than 15 billion apps have been downloaded from the revolutionary App Store and more than 425,000 apps are available, including more than 100,000 native iPad apps, to consumers in 90 countries. Users of the more than 200 million iOS devices around the world can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, education, sports, health, reference and travel. Apple has paid developers over $2.5 billion to date.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Press Contacts:
Simon Pope
Apple
spope@apple.com
(408) 974-0457

Trudy Muller
Apple
tmuller@apple.com
(408) 862-7426