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AT&T announces home automation platform, eco-ratings for consumer devices

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:03:30 +0000

Today, AT&T revealed that it’s working on a new home monitoring and automation platform known as Digital Life. While it’ll be marketed toward service providers, the IP-based system will allow business and residential users alike to remotely monitor cameras, lighting, thermostats, motion detectors, window and door sensors, along with a litany of other devices. It’ll be demonstrated next week in Barcelona as part of the GSM Association’s Connected Home experience. As you’d expect, we’ll be there to bring you a peek of AT&T’s handiwork.

The company has also announced that, later this year, customers will find eco-rating labels on AT&T-branded mobile devices. With this initiative, shoppers may evaluate criteria such as a product’s energy efficiency, the percentage of recycled materials used in manufacture, and the inclusion of metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury. These factors and more will be presented as a composite score that evaluates the sustainability attributes of each device — think of it as an easy way to get your green in gear. You’ll find the PR for both announcements after the break.

Continue reading AT&T announces home automation platform, eco-ratings for consumer devices

AT&T announces home automation platform, eco-ratings for consumer devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony outs 350Mbps TransferJet chip for smartphones, tries not to stare at Toshiba

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:04:10 +0000

With Toshiba’s toes having already crossed the 560Mbps wireless transfer speed barrier, Sony is instead forced to emphasize that its new TransferJet chip has “industry-leading short-range sensitivity.” Crucially though, the miniaturised 6mm x 6mm device also boasts lower consumption compared to Sony’s previous offerings, making it suitable for smartphones and tablets rather than just cameras or laptops. The product should start appearing in devices some time after August and will sell to OEMs for ¥500 ($6) — which means it doesn’t beat Toshiba on price either.

Sony outs 350Mbps TransferJet chip for smartphones, tries not to stare at Toshiba originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic: Eluga means ‘Elegant, user-orientated gateway,’ not a cry of distress

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:34:17 +0000

No, it’s not the noise people make when they’ve eaten too much caviar. Panasonic’s revealed the reasoning behind calling its long-heralded smartphone Eluga — apparently it stands for “ELegant, User-orientated GatewAy.” The company’s also revealed a few more specs and tidbits following on from yesterday’s rather sketchy announcement. You’ll find an 8-megapixel camera sitting flush to that 7.8mm body, NFC and an “eco mode” that will shut down non-essential features when you’re nursing your nearly-empty battery. That 1.0GHz TI OMAP processor we revealed to you yesterday will be joined by 8GB storage, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. You’ll buy the phone with Gingerbread 2.3.5 installed, with ICS promised to arrive “from June,” by which point you’ll have probably learned how to pronounce the name without looking ill.

Continue reading Panasonic: Eluga means ‘Elegant, user-orientated gateway,’ not a cry of distress

Panasonic: Eluga means ‘Elegant, user-orientated gateway,’ not a cry of distress originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter Adds Another International Google Exec To Its Sales Team: Stephen McIntyre

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:23:45 +0000

Twitter says that 70 percent of its users come from outside the U.S. at the moment, and so it makes sense that this is where it is also investing more to grow the rest of its business. Today the company announced that it has appointed another sales executive to beef up its efforts outside its home market.

Stephen McIntyre, most recently of Google, will be overseeing Twitter’s international self-serve business, based out of Dublin. His appointment comes about a week after reports emerged that Shailesh Rao, currently based in New Delhi, India, would be leaving Google to join Twitter. Rao is now Twitter’s new VP of International Revenue.

T-Mobile lost more customers in Q4, will launch LTE in 2013 with spectrum from AT&T

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:21:14 +0000

In T-Mobile USA’s first earnings report since the proposed merger with AT&T fell through in December, it noted a loss of 802,000 customers in Q4, but there is some good news. Thanks to the AWS spectrum it’s receiving due to the termination of said deal, it plans to launch LTE services in 2013. Check out the report after the break, we’ll have more details in a moment.

…developing

Continue reading T-Mobile lost more customers in Q4, will launch LTE in 2013 with spectrum from AT&T

T-Mobile lost more customers in Q4, will launch LTE in 2013 with spectrum from AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S II celebrates 20 million sold, just in time for MWC

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:54:46 +0000

After crossing the 10 million units moved threshold back in September, Samsung has joyously announced ahead of MWC 2012 that its Galaxy S II family of phones has sold 20 million since launching in April. According to Samsung, taking just ten months to hit the mark puts it ahead of the original Galaxy S (hovering around 22 million sold) by seven months. The hallmarks of this model — in its many forms as seen above for AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint — has been the Super AMOLED Plus screen, slim design and dual core CPUs, all of which made it a record breaker right out of the gate. Of course, we’re always looking forward and with rumors about the Galaxy S III swirling, we’re just hoping US customers aren’t stuck on the outside looking in for so many months this time around — oh, and a fully functional GPS would be nice too Drop off your congratulations, suggestions and speculation for the future of the Galaxy phones in the comments below.

Samsung’s Galaxy S II celebrates 20 million sold, just in time for MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZTE to unleash eight new phones at MWC, hopes multi-core chipsets and LTE push them into third place

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:10:15 +0000

If the trio of slabs ZTE announced earlier this week weren’t enough for you, sit tight, the outfit just announced it’s bringing a total of eight new phones to Barcelona next week. The new handsets will reportedly flaunt multi-core processors, LTE radios and the latest versions of the Aneroid and Windows Phone platforms. This announcement both echos and one-ups the recently announced Mimosa X, which gets its dual-core chops from an NVIDIA Tegra 2, but boasts only HSPA+, rather than the promised LTE. ZTE says it hopes the new devices will help it become one of the world’s top three handset providers by the year 2015. Seem far off? Don’t worry, at least the phones will be here by Monday. Read on for ZTE’s official press statement.

Continue reading ZTE to unleash eight new phones at MWC, hopes multi-core chipsets and LTE push them into third place

ZTE to unleash eight new phones at MWC, hopes multi-core chipsets and LTE push them into third place originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Optimus 4X HD unveiled: Quad-core Tegra 3, Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.7-inch display

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:10:50 +0000

If LG failed to impress so far with the slew of Android 2.3 phones it’s shown off in the run up to MWC 2012, perhaps the Optimus 4X HD can make up for it. This 4.7-inch beast is its first to feature a 1.5GHz quad core Tegra 3 as its CPU, a 4.7-inch True HD IPS LCD (1280×720) and ship with Ice Cream Sandwich this spring. Check out the machine translated Korean press release after the break for a few more specs.

…developing

Continue reading LG Optimus 4X HD unveiled: Quad-core Tegra 3, Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.7-inch display

LG Optimus 4X HD unveiled: Quad-core Tegra 3, Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.7-inch display originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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M3 Android NFC Communicator mixes something old, something new for prepaid subs

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:19:36 +0000

Malaysia may not be on the tip of anyone’s tongue when wireless comes to mind, but that’s not stopping local outfit DMD Mobile from attempting to make its mark. Set for an official unveiling at next week’s Mobile World Congress, the M3 Android NFC Communicator is the outfit’s clumsily titled stab at the prepaid market in South Asia and the Middle East. The touchscreen handset, to be available in both 2.6-inch portrait QWERTY and 3.2-inch candybar form factors, comes loaded up with a surprising mix of last- and current-gen specs: 650Mhz single-core CPU running a skinned version of Gingerbread 2.3.5, support for dual-band HSPA+ (850 / 2100MHz) and quadband GSM, VGA front-facing / 3MP rear cameras, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi and NFC. Sure, it’s not the most thrilling of forward-looking devices to surface this year, but priced at RM500 (that’s about US$165), it’s certainly more of a great deal than it is bargain bin entry. Hit up the source below for additional info on this low-hanging mobile fruit.

M3 Android NFC Communicator mixes something old, something new for prepaid subs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New privacy policy standards agreed to by world’s major app store owners

Paul — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:05:13 +0000

The California Attorney General has struck a deal with the world’s major app store opperators that will see new privacy policy standards put in place. Apple, Google, Microsoft, HP, RIM and Amazon have all agreed to require any software that uses personal information to provide a privacy policy that can be viewed in the store before an app is downloaded. The agreement will bring the various markets in line with the California Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires developers provide such a policy. In addition to providing links links to the relevant documents in an obvious and consistent location, the companies will have to offer a simple way for users to report devs that violate the rules. For more details about the deal check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading New privacy policy standards agreed to by world’s major app store owners

New privacy policy standards agreed to by world’s major app store owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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