Earlier today Nokia announced the Nokia Lumia 520, and now US mobile carrier T-Mobile has announced a version of the device that will be available exclusively through T-Mobile, the Nokia Lumia 521.
The Nokia Lumia 521 will share similar specifications to the T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 521, which will include a a 4 inch IPS display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, and a dual core 1GHz Snapdragon processor.
The new AsusPadfone Infinity was unveiled earlier today at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) exhibition and will be equipped with a quad-core Snapdragon 600 clocked at 1.7GHz processor.
The Asus Padfone Infinity will also be fitted with a 5 inch display with a resolution of 1080p and 440 ppi pixels, and will be supplied running Google’s latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster today issued a new research report sharing data from research firm NPD covering Apple’s U.S. Mac sales for the month of January. According to NPD’s data, Mac sales were up a strong 31% year-over-year for the month.
Munster attributes the strong performance to Apple finally being able to roll out orders of the new iMac, even as the company remains significantly constrained with multi-week waits for new orders through its online stores. Apple announced the new iMac in late October of last year, but did not begin taking orders until the end of the November with the larger 27-inch models not arriving until several weeks later.
We have analyzed domestic NPD retail data for the month of January which suggests Mac sales were up 31% y/y through the first month of the March quarter. We believe the reason for the significant improvement in the sales data is primarily due to Apple catching up with iMac supply, which the company noted to be constrained in the December quarter. CEO Tim Cook noted that iMac sales were down 700k units y/y in December (we note iMac sales are likely far less impacted by iPad, thus the vast majority of the y/ y unit decline is likely supply).
It remains to be seen if the strong sales will hold up for the remainder of the quarter, and thus Piper Jaffray is maintaining its estimate of a 5% year-over-year decline for the full quarter when global sales are considered.
NPD’s data also reveals a bit of a surprise for the iPod, showing U.S. unit sales up 3% year-over-year and revenue up 2%. Piper Jaffray has been modeling for a 17% decline in total iPod sales for the quarter as the device continues to lose favor with consumers shifting music consumption to smartphones. But even a strong showing for the iPod is unlikely to have a significant impact on Apple’s bottom line, as the line represented just 4% of Apple’s sales in the holiday quarter, typically the strongest one for iPod sales.
The upcoming iOS 6.1.3 update, which was seeded in beta form to developers last week, will put an end to new versions of the evasi0n jailbreak.
Forbes reports that evad3rs team member David Wang (aka planetbeing on Twitter) tested the patch over the weekend and found that one of the five exploits the hack uses was repaired.
Wang tells me that he’s analyzed the 6.1.3 beta 2 update and found that it patches at least one of the five bugs the jailbreak exploits, namely a flaw in the operating system’s time zone settings. The beta update likely signals the end of using evasi0n to hack new or updated devices after the update is released to users, says Wang, who says he’s still testing the patch to see which other vulnerabilities exploited by the jailbreak might no longer exist in the new operating system.
Despite evasi0n’s record number of downloads, hitting seven million installs just four days after release, Apple has been relatively slow to patch the bugs that make evasi0n possible, compared to some previous jailbreaks.
The Cupertino-based company pushed the iOS 6.1.2 update six days ago, without a fix for evasi0n, which has now been available for download for three weeks. According to Forbes, it took Apple just nine days to fix Jailbreakme 3.0, the jailbreaking tool for the iPhone 4.
Wang is predicting that the iOS 6.1.3 update might take as long as a month to be released, and he also mentioned that the evad3rs have discovered additional bugs in the operating system, which could lead to a new jailbreak in the future.
iOS 6.1.3 will bring improved Maps to Japan along with a fix for the Passcode bug that was discovered after iOS 6.1.
In pictures: Tom Jenkins’s gallery from Wembley
Swansea City reclaimed the glory in the only way possible. Thrust into the role of Goliath by Bradford City’s remarkable journey to Wembley, Michael Laudrup’s team delivered their own romantic tale with ruthless perfection to win the first major trophy in Swansea’s history – in the club’s centenary year. League Two’s David did not even draw a sling.
The inaugural Capital One Cup final proved the stuff of nightmares for Bradford’s manager, Phil Parkinson, and a team that have illuminated the competition and stirred the emotions, but never came close to suggesting they had another upset in them at Wembley.
The team 11th in League Two were soundly beaten and eased out of contention before half-time. They were also reduced to 10 men with over half an hour to play when their goalkeeper, Matt Duke, so often the penalty shootout hero en route to the final, was sent off for a professional foul on Jonathan De Guzman.
For Swansea, the perfect day. They are unaccustomed to the favourites’ tag and had everything to lose with their first trophy in touching distance. But the philosophy that has revived a club that was close to elimination from the Football League a decade ago under Roberto Mart nez, Brendan Rodgers and now the enduring legend that is Laudrup, held firm. Their joyous support could not have wished to see a finer performance, patient, solid and clinical, and those from south Wales could relax and celebrate the moment the excellent Nathan Dyer scored Swansea’s third two minutes into the second half.
The Premier League side were composed from the first whistle, although created few clear openings until Bradford ventured forward for the first time – accompanied by a wild noise from the 32,000 from Yorkshire behind them – and showed why containment was always their best policy as they were undone on the counter-attack. Garry Thompson’s cross from the right was cleared by Swansea who broke through Wayne Routledge. He picked out the outstanding Michu, whose instinctive shot was parried by Duke but only into the path of Dyer who slid in to convert.
Laudrup had made one surprising call in his team selection, moving Ki Sung-yueng from midfield to central defence in the absence of the injured Chico Flores after several defenders failed their audition at Liverpool last weekend. Ki handled the aerial threat of James Hanson superbly, Bradford were unable to exert any pressure in the Swansea half, and the second they had to avoid before half-time arrived from the La Liga combination of Pablo Hern ndez and Michu. Hern ndez threaded a pass into the area through the legs of Bradford’s skipper, Gary Jones, and the Spanish striker threaded a shot into the bottom corner through the legs of Carl McHugh.
Seconds after the restart Ki released Dyer down the right. He exchanged passes with Routledge, cut inside the Bradford substitute Andrew Davies and produced an emphatic finish beyond Duke. The Bradford keeper was then shown a straight red card by the referee, Kevin Friend, for tripping De Guzman at the end of a flowing Swansea move.
It was the correct decision by the letter of the law, though not the spirit of this final as shown when Ashley Williams ran over to console his opponent as he trudged from the field. Dyer and De Guzman spent over two minutes arguing over who should take the spot-kick. Professionalism ruled over the prospect of Dyer’s hat-trick and De Guzman found the bottom corner from 12 yards.
The replacement keeper, Jon McLaughlin, denied Michu a fifth but, after Bradford fans celebrated their first corner on 86 minutes and first shot on 88, the rout was completed when De Guzman turned in Angel Rangel’s right-wing cross. “The small fairytale against the big fairytale,” was how Laudrup had described the final. Small but perfectly formed as far as Swansea are concerned.
Outgoing pontiff’s blessing pleases crowds outside the Vatican, but Roman Catholic church faces more controversy
When Benedict XVI switched from Italian to French for his final Sunday blessing, Agn s Cantale and her friends shrieked with delight. They had travelled nine hours in a coach from Geneva to join tens of thousands of believers in bidding farewell to the pope they had grown up with. Now, singing and waving Swiss flags emblazoned with the word “merci“, they showed no signs of flagging.
“We are here to show our gratitude,” said Cantale. “We’re all in our early 20s so he was the pope of our adolescence and we are very attached to him.” If she had been upset by his resignation, she was not showing it. “It’s a great gesture of humility and courage,” she said. “And that is coherent with who he is.”
When the soon to be former pontiff emerged at noon, frail and smiling, at his window overlooking St Peter’s Square, the crowds erupted with applause and cheers. In the final angelus of his eight-year papacy, Benedict thanked his followers repeatedly – in Italian, certainly, but also in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish. He had been called, he said, to devote himself to yet more “prayer and meditation”. “But this does not mean abandoning the church,” he said. “Indeed, if God is asking me to do this, it is so I can continue to serve the church with the same dedication and the same love with which I have done thus far, but in a way that is better suited to my age and my strength.”
Outside in the square all was celebration. As the pilgrims streamed down via della Conciliazione, the souvenir shops were doing a roaring trade in Benedict postcards, Benedict figurines and the odd papal pendant. But, as he disappeared into the quiet of his study, the 85-year-old German will have known that inside the Vatican the mood was rather different. With cardinals arriving in Rome from for one of the most unexpected and unusual conclaves in history, the Roman Catholic church has once again found itself the focus of controversy and conspiracy.
On Sunday, the Vatican spokesman confirmed the pope had received a report concerning allegations relating to inappropriate behaviour 30 years ago by the head of the church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien.
Just a day before, the same spokesman had launched an angry tirade at the media for printing “gossip, misinformation and sometimes slander” concerning Benedict’s resignation and the selection of his successor.
Controversy continues, meanwhile, to surround the role in conclave of several cardinals, most notably Roger Mahony, archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles, who is under fire from thousands of Catholics in the United States and Italy for apparently having shielded priests accused of sex abuse. He claims he has been scapegoated. But the grassroots fury shows no sign of ebbing away and the peaceful papal transition the Vatican wants seems unlikely.
For the estimated 100,000 worshippers and tourists who turned out on Sunday, however, controversy was not the order of the day. With his abdication scheduled to take effect from 8pm on Thursday, this was one of Benedict’s last appearances in public as infallible head of the Catholic church. Nuns from the Philippines had held a prayer vigil since dawn, and others from Latin America had crafted a banner reading “thank you”, covered with cutouts of the Holy Father’s face. Young people lay in sleeping bags in St Peter’s Square.
Angelica Gerber, from Berlin, had come to Rome especially for this “important point for the church”. “I became Catholic because of him, and now I want to say goodbye to him,” she said. When she heard of his resignation – the first papal abdication in nearly 600 years – she was “very affected and sad”, she said. “But now I think it’s a very strong step and a humble step.”
Genesis Mendoza, a 21-year-old from New Jersey, agreed. “It took me by surprise … but at the same time it takes a lot of courage, and I respect that,” she said. Clearly emotional, Mendoza said she considered herself lucky to have come to Italy for the first time during such an historic period for the church. “I’m really honoured and proud and blessed to be here,” she said. “It means so much to me; I’m kind of tearing up.”
Phil Nickinson and Alex Dobie of are on the ground at Mobile World Congress, and they’ve just gone hands-on with the all new Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, a tablet that sits roughly between the iPad 4 and iPad mini in size, but boasts the Wacom-style digitizer-gone-mobile that Samsung’s Note line is famous for. Since we’re all one big happy Mobile Nations family, Phil and Alex also brought along their iPad mini so they could put the two competitors head-to-head.
As we’ve been saying for a while, we’re slowly becoming convinced that the 7-to-8-inch form factor represents the sweet spot for tablets. We’ve only spent a short time with it, but the Note 8.0 seems to be a promising entry from Samsung in this category — though we’ve still yet to learn how much it’ll cost. The device is due to launch internationally in Q2 in 3G, Wifi-only and 4G flavors.
So sit back, relax, grab a tasty beverage, and hit play. Then go check out all the rest of the Galaxy Note 8.0 coverage at Android Central, and tell me what you think. How does the Note 8.0 stack up to the iPad mini for you?
Hey everyone! It’s time for a mighty Mobile Nations podcast network update, and a peak at some really cool stuff we have planned for 2013! First of all, we have all-new album art for the shows. The original concept was created by superstar designer Marc Edwards of Bjango to be crisp, clean, and modern. It’s tough to make a whole catalog of shows consistent yet retain all their individual personalities. With Marc’s help, I think we’ve nailed it. And by popular demand, we’ve even added a small TV logo to the bottom of all the video podcast album art so you can distinguish them from their audio counterparts at a glance. We absolutely love them, and we hope you do too. (And yes, we’ll be making all of them available as HiDPI/Retina wallpaper for your phones and tablets later this week!)
If you haven’t recently, please make sure you leave a review and rating for your favorite Mobile Nations shows, where ever and when ever you can. It encourages services (like iTunes) to feature us, that helps us get more great listeners and viewers like you, and we appreciate it a lot!
Now on with the shows!
Android Central remains the biggest, baddest podcast in the Google-space, and we’re not slowing down with it any time soon. Our next project with Phil, Jerry, Alex and team is to try and integrate Google+ Hangouts into the live broadcasts. You’ve been asking about it and we want to do it. Neither Hangouts nor our switcher software is all the way there yet, and we want to make sure we keep at least 720p for the recordings, so there some challenges to overcome still, but we’re working on it. We’ll update you as soon as we know more!
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BlackBerry is back, baby! And with it, the CrackBerry Podcast is back! I know in the past the CBCast has been more special event than regularly scheduled event, but with BlackBerry 10 released, the BlackBerry Z10 on the market, and the BlackBerry Q10 and more to come, Kevin, Adam, Bla1ze and the gang have never been more exited. Besides, I’ve told Kevin that if he doesn’t podcast at least one or twice a month from now on, he doesn’t get any Burger King. So you know it’s on.
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We’ve been mixing it up on the iMore show a lot lately. With our previous cast busy with their real lives and my joining MacBreek Weekly, it’s caused some changes. I’ve done a few solo shows, but also had on an amazing array of guests, including Clayton Morris of Fox, Ryan Block of GDGT and Engadget, MG Siegler of parislemon and TechCrunch, Jim Dalrymple of the Loop, Arnold Kim of MacRumors, and more. We’re going to be doing something else interesting soon, so stay tuned!
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With the launch of Windows Phone 8 and the Surface, there’s been an explosion of Microsoft mobile news of late, and Daniel and Jay have been bringing us absolutely all of it. With great sources and even better insight, they’ve been breaking down what devices are coming, which carriers they’re going on, and which apps you absolutely need to check out.
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We’ve all been traveling a lot, and at different times, so it’s been tough getting everyone together for a Mobile Nations Podcast, where Kevin, Phil, Daniel, Derek, and I talk about the bigger picture stuff, trends in mobile, and what they mean for Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, webOS, and iOS. We’re going to do our best to knock out at least one show a month though, and we expect you to yell at us any and every time it even looks like we’re slowing down.
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Ad hoc is our newest show, and also our most diverse. Basically, Guy and a bunch of us geeks — the group always varies — were arguing about something on the Internet, and then realized it would work much better as a podcast. The topics will vary, but always be about our favorite stuff. The first one was on the future of Star Wars post-Disney acquisition, the second on the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. The next one is going to be on the Batman.
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Debug is our development show, where Guy English and I pour some virtual drinks and chat with the people who code the apps and games we love. We’ve had on the people responsible for Letterpress, Kaleidoscope, 1Password, Twitterrific, Tweetbot, Hundreds, the Zephyr jailbreak, and — oh, yeah — Karateka and Prince of Persia! And we’ve got a ton more to come!
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Iterate is our design show, where Marc Edwards, Seth Clifford, and I talk to the people responsible for the look and feel of our favorite apps and games. We’ve been doing quite a few roundtables lately, including the realities of trying sell apps, skeuomorphism vs. digitally authentic design, along with interviews with everyone from the Iconfactory, to the New York Times, to Carbon, to DoubleTwist. And lots more to come!
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If you hadn’t noticed, all the previous shows were about stuff — using and making it. ZEN & TECH is about you, and the quality of your life. The last few shows have been all about Fitness Month, exercise, nutrition, and sleep, but Georgia and I are also in the middle of a series on parenting in the digital age, as well as continuing our weekly episodes on everything from de-cluttering to coping with family, sex to handling stress. You’re the most important gadget you’ll ever own, and we want to help you take care of yourself.
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We’re thrilled with the reaction we’ve been getting to all the shows over the last few months. We’ve invested a lot of money in equipment and services to try and make the best shows we can, and while we still have a long, long way to go, we’re definitely making some progress! Downloads are way up, and the video shows in particular have been through the roof lately (sometimes beating the audio shows in terms of downloads!)
And as always, we’re still only just getting started!
Likelihood of weak government and rise of populist former comedian add to apprehension as Italian campaigning ceases
Political parties in Italy were forced to cease campaigning on Saturday, as the country prepared for a general election that is being closely watched across the eurozone amid fears of a damaging stalemate.
As candidates observed a mandatory 24-hour purdah ahead of polls opening, citizens were urged to vote. The polls are open on Sunday and Monday. A survey released in the run-up to the ballot suggested that the centre-left Democratic Party, led by Pier Luigi Bersani, held a five-point lead over a conservative coalition led by the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The outgoing premier, Mario Monti, heading a centrist coalition, is also running. But a lacklustre campaign has seen his chances fade in recent weeks.
Political analysts have suggested that the most likely outcome – which could ensure stability – is a governing alliance between Bersani and Monti. But Monti’s faltering campaign has led to concern that he will not win enough senate seats to boost the centre-left bloc. A resulting weak government could lead to market fears over Italy’s ability to implement measures to kick start its faltering economy.
Whoever takes power will face the arduous task of pulling Italy out of the longest recession it has faced in a generation. The election takes place amid deep public resentment at austerity measures brought in to curb national debt. Adding to the uncertainty has been the campaign of the comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, an anti-establishment figure whose Five Star Movement is expected to poll strongly. Latest voter-intention surveys put him at around 16%, which would make his movement the third-largest electoral force.
As campaigning idrew to a close on Friday evening, Grillo stole the spotlight in Rome by attracting an estimated 500,000 people to hear his tirades against corrupt politicians and bankers. The success of the former comedian’s “Tsunami Tour” has underlined the discontent felt by a large proportion of Italians regarding mainstream political parties.
“Grillo is saying the things that all ordinary Italians are thinking, he is giving us hope,” said 41-year-old Luca Pennisi, a pastry chef at a caf in Rome where several customers were still unsure who to vote for. “It’s time to change the system, get rid of the old politicians and stop wasting public money,” Pennisi said, adding that he had watched Grillo’s final rally on the internet and would definitely vote for his grouping.
Others are less sure. A survey released on Tuesday found that 28% of Italians had yet to decide who to vote for, or were considering not voting at all. On Saturday, the Interior Ministry urged some 47 million eligible voters to vote, adding that it had made preparations for bad weather, including snow in some regions, to ensure that everyone could have the chance to cast their ballot.
“Elections are a fundamental moment for a democracy and we want all our citizens to experience them in the best way possible,” interior minister Anna Maria Cancellieri said in a video posted on the ministry’s website.
While Grillo’s campaign ended on a high, others entered the mandatory 24-hour purdah on a quieter note. Berlusconi, who has promised tax refunds as a central plank of his platform, cancelled a planned appearance at a Naples rally, blaming an eye problem. Bersani rounded off at a theatre in Rome, while Monti held a similar event in Florence.
Despite fuelling anger among many Italians by introducing an austerity package while the country continues to struggle against rising unemployment, Monti – who replaced Berlusconi in November 2011 – is still supported by some who believe that the measures were necessary.
“My vote will go to Monti for a very simple reason, I think he is the only serious proposition,” said one Rome resident, named Vito, who was on a stroll through the city on Saturday.
The PS4′s 8 GB of DDR 5 RAM and welcoming PC architecture has been a hit with developers. While the system’s game, feature and service reveals have split consumers down the middle, almost every studio with a PS4 game in development is raving about the hardware.
