Tag Archives: cnet
Sony’s Waterproof Smartphone
Ever dropped your phone in water and thought you were doomed? Well, with the newest Sony phone, you’ll no longer have to be extra careful around pools and toilets.
The Xperia ZR can be submerged underwater for 30 minutes and withstand depths up to five feet. And with a 13-megapixel front-facing camera and 16x digital zoom, users can create full HD underwater videos and photos. (Via YouTube / Sony Xperia)
The director of Xperia Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications said the new phone “ … pushes the boundaries on where and how consumers can use the full potential of their smartphone.” (Via CNET)
A writer for Mashable explains this phone’s water resistance is a little better than the Sony Xperia Z that came out in April. You could only take that phone into 3.3 feet of water. The writer also points out…
“ … for both devices, this specifically means ‘fresh water,’ meaning you probably shouldn’t take it with you for that ocean dive, but it’s still a very nice feature to have, especially with the summer approaching.”
Just last week, Sony reported its first return to annual profit in five years. The fluctuating yen and sale of assets like a Manhattan skyscraper are said to have helped. According to The Telegraph, the Xperia is “crucial to its future success.”
No word yet on if you’ll be able to talk or text underwater; besides we don’t know how those muffled conversations would actually sound. Sony is expected to release the phone in select markets by the end of June.
Smartphones Outsell dumb phones!
It’s official — smartphones are now the most popular type of phone worldwide. The first quarter of 2013 marks the first time smartphones out-shipped feature phones.
The latest International Data Corporation report shows out of the 418.6 million mobile devices shipped worldwide, smartphones claim 216.2 million, or 51.6 percent, of the total. (Via The New York Times)
The smartphone market has been on the rise in the past year with a 41.6 percent improvement since the first quarter of 2012.
With these stats, MediaPost numbers the days of the simplistic feature phones, even in emerging markets where standard devices are typically more popular.
“This tipping point in the phone market shifts the center of power to those vendors that are most reliant on their smartphone lines.”
Though this may not come as much of a surprise to some, IDC Senior Research Analyst Kevin Restivo told ABC it marks a big shift in how people view their phones.
“Phone users want computers in their pockets … The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away.” (Via ABC)
CNET notes clear upticks in shipments for each Top 5 mobile company with LG seeing the biggest increase at 110 percent.
So, which company can call itself the smartphone king?
The Los Angeles Times reports Samsung took a strong lead in the first quarter with 70.7 million smartphone shipments — that’s 32.7 percent of the smartphone market share for the quarter, dominating the next top company, Apple, at 17.3 percent.
In addition, GigaOm says Samsung’s throne on the smartphone hierarchy will likely remain unchallenged.
“Unless Samsung stumbles in a big way, it’s not likely that another Android handset maker will outsell Apple’s iPhone any time soon. For all intents and purposes, Samsung is the de facto Android standard, having built a huge audience with its line of Galaxy smartphones.”
Samsung is so dominant in the smartphone market, it shipped more smartphones than its four closest competitors combined.
Celebrities trial Twitter App
The highly anticipated Twitter Music app came out on Friday. If you haven’t seen it that’s because you’re not famous. The app has only been released to celebrities.
Reports surfaced earlier that Twitter would release the app this weekend, coinciding with Coachella. Turns out that’s partially true, after a few famous people tweeted they were using the app. (Via Twitter / @TwitterMusic)
Ryan Seacrest tweeted: “playing with @twitter’s new music app (yes it’s real!)…there’s a serious dance party happening at idol right now” (Via Twitter / @RyanSeacrest)
And Wiz Khalifa said: “Man this new Twitter music app is insane!” (Via Twitter / @wizkhalifa)
As for all of us non-famous people? We’ll have to wait another week before we can use the app.
All Things D reports this celebrity advance-week release is a good move writing, “as long as the celebrities don’t spend their time tweeting about how much they dislike the app, it will be a smart move by the Twitter folks. They get to stoke demand and do some last-minute bug-testing at the same time.”
The app itself has four main tabs including: Suggested, #NowPlaying, Popular and Emerging. According to CNET, it suggests artists and songs to listen to based on a variety of signals like Twitter accounts you follow. Songs are streamed to the app via SoundCloud.
You can also follow an artists Twitter page through the Twitter Music app. But The Huffington Post brings up the question if there’s enough room for the Twitter Music app in an already crowded space.
Pandora and Spotify already have powerful followings and other big names like Apple and Google may soon be joining the music streaming arena. “Twitter certainly has some advantages: it already has over 200 million active users… But that doesn’t guarantee that tweeters currently using the service to follow news or celebrities will like to use it to discover music.”
But with almost 2.5 million people following Twitter Music’s page prior to its release, it seems many people are looking forward to it.
