Biz-Tech

Samsung builds chips to supercharge your smartphone

Chips boast a 20% reduction on power use:

Samsung today announced production of its first ultra-high-speed, 4Gbit low-power mobile DRAM chip, which uses the company's most compact circuitry to date. The new double data rate 3 (LPDDR3) mobile DRAM, which is produced using a 20-nanometer manufacturing process, can transmit data at up to 2.1Gbps per pin. The new DRAM performance is more than double that of the preceding memory standard mobile DRAM (LPDDR2), which had a data transmission rate of up to 800Mbps.

With 2.1Gbps performance, a mobile device with the Samsung chip embedded could transmit three full HD videos, collectively 17 GB in

length, in one second.

Samsung said its new LPDDR3 mobile DRAM enables seamless display of full HD video on smartphones with five inch-or-larger screens. In comparison to a 30nm-class LPDDR3 DRAM, the new device generates more than a 30% improvement in performance and 20% savings in power consumption, the company said.

The new 20nm process node also offers mobile devices 2GB of memory by using four of the new chips, which have a height of .8mm or about .3 inches. “By providing the most efficient next-generation mobile memory with a very large data capacity, we are now enabling OEMs to introduce even more innovative designs in the marketplace,” Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president of memory sales for Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.

(Computerworld.com)
 

AT&T lets people control homes using smartphones

US telecom titan AT&T launched a service to use smartphones or tablets to activate home alarm systems and perform other duties like open doors for guests or adjust the temperature.

A Digital Life home security and management system tailored for mobile Internet lifestyles was rolled out in an array of US cities for monthly subscription prices starting at $30 after installation charges.

“People rely on their mobile devices more than ever, so Digital Life offers an easy and convenient way to secure their homes, protect their families and simplify their lives from virtually anywhere,” AT&T senior vice president Kevin Petersen said in a statement.

Applications tailored for personal computers as well as smartphones or tablets powered by Apple, Android or Windows mobile software let people remotely control cameras, door locks, lights, thermostats and appliances.

AFP

Facebook buys mobile app builder Parse

Facebook said it was buying a startup specializing in powering mobile applications as part of its drive to make the social network friendlier to smartphones and tablet computers.

Facebook did not disclose how much it paid for San Francisco-based Parse, but online reports valued the deal at $85 million.

“By making Parse a part of the Facebook platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices,” Facebook said in a blog post.

Parse provides software developers tools for building applications and handles behind-the-scenes tasks such as data storage and servers to handle services for app users regardless of which mobile devices are involved.

“This removes the need to manage servers and a complex infrastructure, so you can simply focus on building great user experiences,” Facebook said.

Parse was founded in June 2011 and was reportedly embarking on a new round of funding when Facebook stepped in to make the purchases.

“In just under two years, we've gone from a rough prototype to powering tens of thousands of apps for a very broad spectrum of customers,” Parse chief executive Ilya Sukhar said in a blog post.

“Combining forces with a partner like Facebook makes a lot of sense.” Facebook has made a priority of following its more than one billion members onto smartphones and tablets, which are fast becoming the preferred gadgets for connecting with the leading social network.

AFP

Android reigns, Windows gains in smartphones

Google's Android mobile operating system extended its dominance in smartphones in the US and other major markets in early 2013, according to a survey published.

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said Android was used on 49.3 percent of smartphones sold in the US market in the first quarter, compared to 43.7 percent for Apple's iOS, the operating system for the iPhone.

Android has thus boosted its lead from a year ago, when was ahead of Apple by a margin of 47.9 to 44.6 percent.

In other major markets, Android was even more dominant -- with 93.5 percent of smartphones in Spain, 73.6 percent in Germany, 69.4 percent in China, and 63.3 percent in France.

Japan was the only country in the survey where Apple was in the lead, with a 49.2 percent market share to 45.8 percent for Android.

But the survey also showed gains in several countries for a relative outsider, Microsoft's Windows Phone, following the upgraded platform introduced in late 2012.

In the United States, Windows boosted its share to 5.6 percent from 3.7 percent a year ago, Kantar said. Windows grabbed 10.9 percent of smartphone sales in Italy, 7.2 percent in France and 7.0 percent in Britain.

“As iOS and Android continue to battle it out for top selling smartphone OS, we have seen Windows steadily grow over the past year and is now at its highest sales share figure so far,” said Kantar analyst Mary-Ann Parlato.

“Windows' strength appears to be the ability to attract first time smartphone buyers, upgrading from a featurephone,” she said, adding that this means prospects are positive for Windows, especially in the United States.

AFP

A customer checks iPads at a booth of Japanese mobile communication giant Softbank at a Tokyo electronics shop on April 30, 2013. Softbank, which goes ahead with a 20 billion USD takeover of US firm Sprint Nextel, said its annual net profit slipped 7.8 percent on investment-linked losses. Softbank posted a net profit of 289.40 billion yen (2.96 billion USD) on sales of 3.38 trillion yen, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier. AFP