Sony Ice Cream Sandwich updates delayed to mid-April

With the roll outs beginning to gain momentum, brands are seeding Google’s latest operating software Ice Cream Sandwich to their range of handsets. The brand that has been at the forefront in dishing out the operating software has been Samsung and other brands are having a difficult time keeping up. Ever since Ice Cream Sandwich was announced, Sony, formerly known as Sony Ericsson had been providing regular updates as to when the brand will release Android 4.0 to their existing range of handsets. In December, the brand hadannounced through a blog post that the first 2011 Xperia smartphones will be upgraded to Android 4.0, starting from end of March/ early April 2012 and will include the Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V and Xperia Ray. However as per a recent report by Android Community, the website states that instead of the late March or early April release, the aforementioned handsets will receive Ice Cream Sandwich by mid-April.

Sony pushes back ICS update

As per the report, the website details, “In addition, Sony said that they won’t be sending out any updates over the air, as most Android manufacturers do in conjunction with mobile carriers. If you want an Ice Cream Sandwich update (when it becomes available), you’ll need to download it directly from Sony’s website and install it via their desktop clients, PC Companion and Bridge for OSX users. Sony says that they want to make sure customers make an informed decision before the major upgrade.”

In a related report by GSMArena, other handsets, which include Xperia Arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia Neo, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, Xperia Active, and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will have to wait a while more before they receive the official update of Android 4.0 from Sony. The owners of these handsets would have to wait until the end of May or the beginning of June to get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich. 

Those using an Xperia Play, Arc S, Neo V or Ray can be a little brave and install the beta ROM of Android 4.0 but face the risk of nullifying their warranty.

Amazon App Store daily revenue more than Google Play

Astudy done by mobile analytics firm, Flurry, shows that the Amazon App Store generates more revenue per user on a daily basis than Google Play store. To perform the study, Flurry examined some top ranking apps across the iOS App Store, the Amazon App Store and the Android Market, which was recently rebranded as Google Play store. Combined, the apps averaged about 11 million daily active users. They calculated the amount of revenue those applications generated by comparing the apps in the Amazon App Store and Google Play store. Which means, they assigned the iOS App Store 100 percent revenue and found the Amazon App Store at 89 percent and Google Play at 23 percent of the App Store revenue. What this means is, for every dollar that the iOS App Store makes, the Amazon App Store makes 89 cents and Google Play makes 23 cents. Flurry had another report back in December, which showed that the Android Market generated 23 cents for every dollar that the iOS App Store generated.

Scoring more than Google itself

Flurry explains the dominance of the Amazon App Store over Google Play store by the strategy that the retail giant employs. For one, the Amazon App Store, like Amazon itself utilizes the one-click method of payment and purchase. Users of Amazon already have their credit card information stored on the retail giant, which by-the-by arguably pioneered the one click method, which makes it easier for users to purchase applications from the Amazon App Store. Furthermore, Amazon promotes apps for their 'quality' and usually has promotions to give users an incentive to come back to the App Store every day. Flurry says, "Amazon, who invented the one-click purchase, perfected online shopping with data, efficiency, and customer service." They also say that running a retail store is not one of Google's strong points.

Flurry believes that the success of Amazon with running an Android app store might convince other companies to get into the same game. They say that Samsung might be one such OEM that might use the Android platform to build a market of their own. 

NEWS / TABLETS Nokia Lumia tablet render lets us peek into the future

We just happened to stumble upon a brilliantly made design of a Nokia tablet running Windows 8 and we thought, why not gaze through the crystal ball. We couldn't stop wondering about what could happen if this tablet did come into existence in the near future. But wait, before we get our thinking hats on, we’ll mention an important development. As reported by My Nokia Blog, an interesting article was spotted in a Finnish newspaper “Kauppalehti Optio” that spoke about Nokia working on a revolutionary new device. Could be a phone, could be a tablet, could be anything. But here’s what the article spoke about. Basically, Nokia Design Chief, Marko Ahtisaari has been working in full swing on Nokia’s upcoming revolutionary new device (or technology) that could change the way user interfaces currently exist.

Drool!

With this device, "the user does not need to bend down and push their finger on the screen.” Are we seeing augmented reality? Are we seeing something similar to Sony’s floatation touch technology? Details are too crude to signify anything substantial, but here’s what he had to say about Apple’s iPhone and iPad design. He mentioned that they have been poorly designed. He also likened them to a poorly designed house where the road from the kitchen into the dining room is always going through the front door. Come to think of it, he’s probably talking about switching between apps and multitasking out here. He also mentioned that Android and Symbian were somewhat like doll houses, which means that you have your own furniture and you can use only that. As compared to that a WP7 interface is more natural.

While he may be right in his own regard, we would love to see a design like this in the near future. A brilliant polycarbonate outer shell, a crazy fluid UI, Microsoft Office integration and probably a lot more, would definitely make this tablet something worthy enough to look out for. A tablet by Nokia is definitely in the pipeline. Whether it’s going to be like this, isn’t something that we are really sure of right now. But since its all speculation, why not choose what you would want to see in Nokia’s next tablet! Let us know in the comments section below.

TRAI scores a biggie with ban on unwanted calls and SMS

Coming down heavily on the then common spate of unwanted calls and SMSes has been one of TRAI's most profound moves. The regulatory body's The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2010, which came into being from December 1st, 2010, had its regulations implemented only post September, last year and as of March 29, 2012, TRAI has had a victorious march. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had among other provisions, allowed customers who did not wish to receive unsolicited commercial calls and SMSes to register their preferences under what it referred to as the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR). Little did the body know the response it was to get from customers, who quite understandably were miffed with an endless stream of unwanted commercial calls and SMSes, citing promotional offers, new schemes, among others things. Now, in an official release, TRAI has let the numbers talk. The official statement details that as of March 29, 2012, a total of 161.66 million customers have registered their preference on NCPR.

Letting the numbers speak! (Image credit: Getty Images)

Additionally, TRAI had affirmed that those who sent such unsolicited commercial calls and SMSes from their individual numbers, would be served with a notice and the number would be disconnected on second violation. This move, too got TRAI good numbers. Quoting from the official statement, "Accordingly, after implementation of regulations on 27thSeptember 2011, 36156 subscribers have been issued notices and 22769 subscribers have been disconnected. In case of telemarketers, in 94 cases telemarketers have been penalized. Also, 4 telemarketers  have been blacklisted." Moreover, registered subscribers who're still receiving such unwanted commercial calls and SMSes can now lodge a complaint by dialing or sending an SMS to 1909.

Tightening the noose around the ongoing spate of unwanted commercial calls and SMSes, smooth adoption of mobile number portability, transparent functioning, more visibility of services to prepaid customers, among others have been the several issues picked up by the TRAI. The body, over the past year has been looking at radically changing the way services are being doled out to the customers, and with such numbers, it surely does seem that things are going their way. 

LG Display begins mass production of first ever plastic e-paper display

LG Display, a leading manufacturer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display announced that it has started mass production of the world's first plastic electronic paper display (EPD) for use in eBooks. The 6-inch XGA (1024 x 768), e-ink, plastic EPD is expected to revolutionize the eBook market with its advancements in functionality and design. This new flexible display paves the way for a whole new line of eBook readers with new and unique form factors. The world's first mass-produced plastic EPD from LG Display will first be supplied to ODM companies in China, followed by completed products to be released in Europe at the beginning of next month.

A big leap for eBook readers

The new display offers users a paper-like reading experience with a plastic substrate that is as slim as a cell phone protection film, and a flexible design that allows bending at a range of 40 degrees from the centre of the screen. Compared to glass EPD of the same size and resolution, LG Display's plastic EPD realizes a super slim thickness of 0.7 mm, which is 1/3 slimmer than the existing glass EPD; as well as a weight of 14g, which is more than 1/2 times lighter. Traditional eBook screens are more prone to damage, if dropped from a height due to the type of display used, but when LG’s plastic EPD was put through repeated drop tests, from 1.5m above the ground or the average height of reading when standing, it was able to sustain damage a lot better. When put through a break/scratch test involving hitting the display with a small urethane hammer, no scratches or breakage resulted. As EPD gets thinner, lighter, and more durable with the introduction of plastic EPD, eBooks will be able to offer certain unique benefits, compared to smart devices and tablets, including reduced eye fatigue and more efficient electricity consumption in addition to lower prices.

The display is made using a unique technique to utilize the high TFT process, typically employed in general LCD manufacturing and with temperatures exceeding 350 degrees in the production of its plastic EPD. By overcoming the obstacles associated with applying the existing production process to heat susceptible plastic, LG Display achieved a breakthrough with the successful mass production of plastic EPD able to maintain strong durability in high temperatures. Expect to see a new wave of devices in the coming months.

Google Drive likely to launch in mid-April; will offer 5GB space

It appears that the initial rumours of Google’s online storage service are coming true, after all. We talked about a possible screenshot that showed the service in action. Now, there are fresh rumours that the service may be launched as early as next month. TalkAndroid has got their hands on a screenshot of the the new service. There’s a clear mention of 5GB of free space being made available with the service. There’s a Download Google Drive button as well, which suggests that a local OS installation is possible as well. Of course, the domain http://drive.google.com will also be accessible to mobile phones, tablets and desktop users using a web browser. The subdomain is currently active on Google’s site, but it throws up a 404 error, as of now. 

It's coming soon!

There was initial news that Google would be providing 2GB of space with the service, but that has clearly been upped to 5GB. The service should offer great integration between all of Google’s services as well as all the devices that their users use. Google should, however consider upping that space to above the 20GB mark as there are already services that offer much more storage space. Microsoft’s service SkyDrive offers 25GB of free space to its users. If Google Drive does launch in the next couple of weeks, it’s safe to assume that future releases of Chrome OS and Android - Jelly Bean will have Google Drive integrated into the OS.

Google’s Drive service should compete with other major free online storage services, such as Box.net and Dropbox. The last screenshot we had talked about included a software installation, which means that the service would be accessible directly from the desktop, possibly from Windows Explorer. The ability to quickly save files to the cloud without having to manually access a web page and use the web interface would be great. This would be a neat little feature to have on existing Google Android and Chrome OS devices. Being able to directly store documents and data directly through the operating system would be handy.