mobilepostcross – Page 2 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Facebook introduces verified Pages and Profiles

Taking a page out of the book of other social networks , Facebook is now making it possible to verify celebs and other high-profile people and companies. The feature, which consists of a small blue checkmark sitting next to their name, extends to Pages and Profiles of popular individuals and businesses, as a way to limit the confusion a reader may experience when trying to filter between real and fake accounts. It appears that Facebook is taking upon itself the duty of deciding who to verify, but it’s still a good way to ensure that your favorite Engadget Facebook Page is manned by — you know — actual Engadget editors (nudge nudge, Mark!). Filed under: Software , Mobile , Facebook Comments Source: Facebook

Corning intros Lotus XT Glass for next-gen mobile displays, touts more efficient production (video)

Corning’s Lotus Glass promised a world full of thinner, more advanced mobile displays when it was unveiled in 2011, but it hasn’t always been easy to build with the volumes or features that customers want. Enter the company’s new Lotus XT Glass as the solution: clients can produce it more reliably at high temperatures, leading to more usable panels for our LCDs and OLEDs. The improved yields should not only result in larger device volumes than the original Lotus Glass could muster, but push the technological limits — Corning notes that hotter manufacturing allows for brighter, sharper and more efficient screens. The glass is commercially available today, although we’ll still need to wait for gadget makers to choose, implement and ship it before we notice the XT difference. Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Mobile Comments Source: Corning

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Corning intros Lotus XT Glass for next-gen mobile displays, touts more efficient production (video)

Windows Phone steals third place from BlackBerry in IDC smartphone ranking

First and second place in the smartphone OS wars is a foregone conclusion with Android and iOS (respectively) strongly entrenched , but the battle for third place is now full of intrigue. BlackBerry and Microsoft have each stepped up their games with their respective BB10 and WP8 OS’s of late, but so far it’s Redmond prevailing, having jumped two spots from last quarter to take third place, with a 3.2 percent share over BlackBerry’s 2.9 percent. While those two are fighting for third place scraps, Android kicked up its smartphone OS dominance with 75 percent of the global market, which is a huge jump from last year , while iOS fell back slightly to a 17.3 percent share. Between them, those titans owned 92.3 percent of the pie, but it’s arguably Windows Phone that has raised its game the most, with a senior IDC analyst claiming that this latest ranking “validates the direction taken by Microsoft and key partner Nokia.” Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile Comments Source: IDC

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Windows Phone steals third place from BlackBerry in IDC smartphone ranking

Ultra Mobile debuts $19 calling plan with unlimited international SMS

If you’re living on a tight budget but still need to keep in touch with loved ones who live abroad , you’ll be glad to know of a new calling plan from Ultra Mobile. The upstart MVNO offers discounted access to T-Mobile’s network, and for $19 per month, you’ll fetch unlimited text messages to 194 countries, 250 voice minutes (with $1.25 toward international calling), and 50MB of data usage. For comparison, Simple Mobile offers a $25 plan that includes unlimited international texting and domestic calling, but if you let your thumbs do most of the talking, Ultra Mobile brings a lot of value to the table. You can snag its $19 plan starting tomorrow, which might be the perfect match for whatever Nokia has up its sleeve . Filed under: Wireless , Mobile Comments Source: FierceWireless

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Ultra Mobile debuts $19 calling plan with unlimited international SMS

Dish Network bids $25.5 billion for Sprint, goes head-to-head with Softbank

In the battle for Sprint’s heart, Dish Network always seemed to be stuck in the “friend zone”. That’s not the case anymore, however, now that Dish has quietly lobbed an informal $25.5 billion offer to purchase the carrier. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that after Dish was knocked-back in its attempts to buy Clearwire , the satellite TV company scrounged together the cash to beat Softbank’s multi billion dollar deal . If the bid is made formal, then Sprint’s board will have to decide if Softbank’s massive size and buckets of cash can be trumped by Dish’s spectrum reserves , pay-TV business and ability to skip commercials in a breeze. Update: Dish clarified on a conference call that its bid for Clearwire is still on the table for the company to consider even if it was turned down, and that the Sprint offer is not contingent on the carrier closing out its Clearwire purchase . Should the deal go through, the plan is target underserved and rural customers, rather than competing with inner-city fiber-based services. Softbank may find itself beaten by the higher offer, but if Dish succeeds, the Japanese company would still hold around 5% of Sprint’s shares. Filed under: Cellphones , Home Entertainment , Wireless , HD , Mobile , Sprint Comments Via: The Wall Street Journal Source: Dish

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Dish Network bids $25.5 billion for Sprint, goes head-to-head with Softbank

Facebook Home official, replaces your app icons with social info (video)

Today Facebook finally took the wraps off Home , a suite of apps and a home screen replacement for Android phones. It’s not just a new UI for launching apps however; it replaces the lockscreen with Cover Feed and prioritizes updates from people instead of apps. There is a standard paginated launcher, that is always just a swipe away. But the focus is on the full-screen images that are your new welcome screen. These are status updates from friends that you can easily flip through and double tap to like when someone posts something exciting. Plain text status updates are placed over a user’s cover photo, to keep the appearance consistent with photo-centric posts. Notifications are presented as small cards, which Facebook applies an algorithm to, in order determine the updates that are most important to you. Just like with the standard Android UI you simply swipe notifications off screen to dismiss them. But, if you want to remove all of them in one shot, you long press a single notification and the rest will be drawn to it and you’ll be able to dismiss the entire stack. Gallery: Facebook’s Android event: Facebook Home Filed under: Software , Mobile , Facebook Comments

Existing iPhone 5 handsets cannot have AWS support enabled, but Apple is shipping the new A1428 carrier-unlocked on April 12th

Starting April 12th, Apple retail shops as well as Apple’s online store will begin selling the new and gently tweaked A1428 model of the iPhone 5 . For those paying attention, that’s the same model number as AT&T sells today , but Apple’s enabling support of the AWS bands from the factory on the new guy — and sadly, Apple affirmed to us that it’s not something that can be enabled via a simple software update for A1428 iPhone units already in circulation. To say that another way, existing iPhone 5 owners on AT&T cannot simply apply a software patch to have AWS support added. You’ll need to buy a new phone next month. That said, the A1428 edition of the iPhone 5 that Apple will start hawking on April 12th (in lockstep with T-Mobile’s launch date ) will arrive unlocked out of the box. By default, Apple will sell these at full MSRP in a “SIM-in unlocked fashion,” as confirmed to us by an Apple representative here at T-Mobile’s event in New York City . Of course, those wishing to pay T-Mob’s advertised $99.99 up front price will also be able to do so right at an Apple store, but eager jetsetters that are simply looking for a frictionless way to purchase an unlocked iPhone 5 that works on both AT&T and T-Mobile’s LTE bands have but a few weeks to wait. Oh, and yes, we confirmed with Apple that the new A1428 will indeed support AT&T’s LTE network. In other words, your T-Mobile iPhone 5 will run uninhibited on AT&T’s LTE network if it’s unlocked. To boot, Apple is quickly phasing out the existing A1428 hardware, and will soon replace all of them with the new, AWS-enabled model. In theory, that would mean that iPhones purchased through AT&T (after April 12th) would also ship with the appropriate firmware to let AWS support run free, but of course, then you’re up against AT&T’s far less friendly unlocking policy . For US users anxious to snag a truly unlocked iPhone 5 that’ll hum along on pretty much every LTE band in the developed world, Apple informed us that its 24-hour locations will begin selling these promptly at 12:01AM on 4/12. For those who order from Apple’s online site, you’ll need to phone up T-Mobile to have the unlock applied. Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Apple , AT&T , T-Mobile Comments

Google Chrome’s World Wide Maze turns your favorite website into 3D game that’s played on your phone (video)

Google’s latest Chrome experiment is a marble maze game that binds your smartphone to your PC through those shareable tabs. Once you’ve opened the same tab on both platforms, you’ll be put in control of a metallic Nexus Q lookalike, steered by the accelerometers baked into your smartphone — as well as power and jump buttons. Better still, there’s (arguably) an infinite number of levels to tackle, with the experiment transforming your favorite sites into a multi-stage mazes. You’ll need a phone that’s running at least iOS 5.0 or Android 4.0 to make the connection. Take it for a cautious spin at the link below. Filed under: Cellphones , Gaming , Internet , Software , Mobile , Google Comments Via: Engadget Japan Source: Chrome World Wide Maze

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Google Chrome’s World Wide Maze turns your favorite website into 3D game that’s played on your phone (video)

Google Chrome’s World Wide Maze turns your favorite website into 3D game for your phone (video)

Google’s latest Chrome experiment is a marble maze game that binds your smartphone to your PC through those shareable tabs. Once you’ve opened the same tab on both platforms, you’ll be put in control of a metallic Nexus Q lookalike, steered by the accelerometers baked into your smartphone — as well as power and jump buttons. Better still, there’s (arguably) an infinite number of levels to tackle, with the experiment transforming your favorite sites into a multi-stage mazes. You’ll need a phone that’s running at least iOS 5.0 or Android 4.0 to make the connection. Take it for a cautious spin at the link below. Filed under: Cellphones , Gaming , Internet , Software , Mobile , Google Comments Via: Engadget Japan Source: Chrome World Wide Maze

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Google Chrome’s World Wide Maze turns your favorite website into 3D game for your phone (video)

GarageBand for iOS gets Audiobus support, plays nicely with other apps

Still haven’t found the sound you’re looking for in Apple’s iOS GarageBand offering? The newly released version 1.4 broadens the music app’s horizons, thanks to Audiobus compatibility, letting it work alongside titles like Animoog, ThumbJam, Samplr and pretty much all of Korg’s iPhone offerings. Sounds created on those apps can now record directly into GarageBand — assuming, of course you’re using it on an iPhone 4S, 5th-gen iPod touch, iPad 2 or later. You can pick up the latest version of the app in the source link below. Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Mobile , Apple Comments Source: iTunes

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GarageBand for iOS gets Audiobus support, plays nicely with other apps