iPhone Murah Bakal Pakai "Casing" Plastik?

techradar.com

Kabar tentang iPhone versi murah terus berembus. Kali ini DigiTimes melaporkan bahwa kemungkinan Apple bakal menggunakan bahan plastik untuk smartphone entry level yang ramai dirumorkan itu demi menekan harga.
Sumber yang dikutip menyebutkan, bahan luar (chassis) iPhone murah akan terbuat dari campuran plastik dan bahan metal dengan desain khusus yang menonjolkan elemen-elemen metal di dalamnya.

100 Juta Ponsel "Low End" Jalankan Facebook

The Verge
Facebook for Every Phone

Facebook mencatat sejarah baru di pasar negara berkembang. Saat ini, setiap bulannya ada 100 juta pengguna ponsel fitur yang terkoneksi dengan Facebook melalui aplikasi Facebook for Every Phone.

Facebook for Every Phone merupakan aplikasi yang berjalan di sekitar 3.000 model ponsel fitur yang tersedia di pasar global. Ia merupakan aplikasi berbasis Java yang dioptimalkan untuk konsumsi data (internet) rendah, tetapi menawarkan fungsi dan fitur laiknya aplikasi di ponsel pintar.

Prediksi Terbaru Harga iPhone Murah

Rumor tentang iPhone versi murah terus bergulir. Salah satu yang terbaru adalah, Apple kemungkinan bakal merilis perangkat iPhone versi murah seharga 350 hingga 400 dollar AS atau kurang dari Rp 4 juta.
Banderol iPhone berbahan plastik ini diprediksi oleh Brian White, analis dari Topeka Capital Markets. Prediksi tersebut dibuat setelah ia berbincang-bincang dengan perusahaan yang banyak bekerja sama dengan Apple. Perusahaan-perusahaan tersebut ia temui pada sebuah ajang pameran teknologi di China beberapa waktu lalu.

10 Aplikasi Terpopuler Android dan iPhone 2012

Lembaga survei Nielsen baru saja melansir data aplikasi iPhone dan Android paling populer di tahun 2012 ini. 

Dari data tersebut, diketahui aplikasi yang paling digemari di iPhone adalah Maps, sedangkan untuk Android, aplikasi yang paling sering digunakan ialah Google Search.

12 Game Android Terbaik 2012 versi Google

Menjelang berakhirnya tahun 2012, Google memilih 12 game terbaik yang berjalan di sistem operasi perangkat mobile Android. Semuanya bisa diunduh di toko aplikasi online Google Play Store.

Beberapa game terbaik ini diyakini bisa membuat candu pemainnya. Mulai dari yang gratis, hingga berbayar. Dari game jenis strategi, kasual unik, adu tembak, hingga balapan.

Telepon Seluler Terbaik 2012

Sekitar 10 tahun yang lalu, telepon seluler masih dianggap sebagai barang mewah yang mahal dan digunakan kalangan terbatas. Jenis dan merek ponsel yang beredar pun tidak banyak.

Tapi kini, kita bisa menemukan banyak ponsel dari berbagai merek di berbagai tingkat harga mulai dari Rp200 ribu hingga belasan juta rupiah. Di tengah serbuan ratusan model ponsel yang ada di berbagai kategori tersebut, ternyata ada beberapa model yang menonjol dari berbagai faktor, mulai harga, desain sampai kinerja.

5 Ways to Watch TV and Movies on Your iPad

The iPad can perform many wonderful feats. One of our favorites — its ability to stream television shows, movies and even some live broadcasting on a high-res screen. And we don't even have to tote around a heavy laptop.

ABC was the first major network to allow iPad users to stream full episodes. Ever since, many other networks have jumped on the mobile bandwagon. For the most part, these apps are free of charge. Most importantly, they're filled with full episodes of the shows you missed or want to watch again.

[More from Mashable: Can E-Books and Libraries Coexist?]

Sorted by category, here are the best entertainment programming apps to download for your tablet.

Channels

If you want to search for a show by channel, chances are there's an app for that. Most channels offer digital viewing of full episodes via their platforms, as well as added features and bonus material, such as schedules, social fan interaction and video clips. Check out ABC,ABC Family, The CW, Discovery Channel, Disney, NBC, PBS, TBS,TLC and TNT.

[More from Mashable: 14 Holiday Movies You Can Watch Online]

Movies and TV

You’ve probably already heard about Netflix and Hulu, both of which have compatible iPad apps. These popular options are only accessible though paid subscriptions, which cost $7.99 per month.

If you don't want to shell out the cash, you can access other platforms to stream movies. Crackle, for instance, may be more limited in terms of available content, but it is free to download and easy to navigate. The service offers movies and TV shows, as well as originally produced programming, such as The Unknown, a horror series starring Dominic Monaghan, of Lost and Lord of the Rings fame.

For another free option, try TV.com. The app includes shows from CBS, The CW and Showtime, searchable by channel, title or popularity.

If you're looking for timeless entertainment, try Tap TV, a platform full of hundreds of old cartoons, the best YouTube videos, silent classics and documentaries. Curators hand-select felicitous content to populate this app.

Browsing

Sleek and simple in design, NextGuide is a personalized program guide that aggregates information across multiple video apps and keeps you informed about when and where your shows are playing. You can customize notifications for certain actors or even your favorite sports team.

Similarly, use BuddyTV to select your favorite shows and personalize your viewer preferences. Soon enough, the service gives you suggestions based on what you chose. An in-app TV guide allows you to select your favorite channels and see what is airing at that very moment. Additionally, you can view previews, recaps and opt for reminders when your favorite shows are about to air.

Live TV

Rejoice, for technology has bestowed upon us the ability to watch live television on our tablets.

Sports fans, WatchESPN offers streaming feeds from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU, depending on your TV provider. The app gives you access to thousands of live events from college basketball to the NBA playoffs, and shows like SportsCenter.

For news, CNN lets you live stream select programming, again dependent on your provider.

You'll also find that a lot of cable TV providers offer livestreams within their own apps. See: Cox TV Connect, DirectTV, Time Warner, Cablevision and DISH Network. Most also allow you to set your DVR and turn your iPad into a remote control.

Interactive

As if the show wasn’t enough, certain apps allow you to interact with the content.

With Viggle, you can sync to a featured show and answer trivia questions as you watch. For every correct reply, you earn reward points you can redeem at retailers such as Best Buy, Burger King, Fandango and Old Navy.

Known for identifying music, Shazam also works with TV. Tap into a show you are watching and access cast information, episode soundtracks, actor tweets and merchandise links.

For an out-of-the-box viewing experience, try Boxfish. The app captures every word spoken on the TV. It processes the information in real time to see what topics are being discussed. You can set notifications for certain words or topics, view topic-specific clips and determine the number of times it has been mentioned the past few days.

BONUS:

Quilted Cover

This quilted cover, by Belkin, includes an adjustable stand, protective corners and magnetic tab closure to help ensure the screen stays covered. $39.99. Available now.

Click here to view this gallery.

Images courtesy of Flickr, Wayan Vota and Photo Giddy

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Windows 8: A ‘Christmas gift for someone you hate’

Microsoft (MSFT) is no stranger to criticism these days, and the company’s new Windows 8 platform is once again the target of a scathing review from a high-profile user. Well-known Internet entrepreneur and MIT professor Philip Greenspun handed Windows 8 one of its most damning reviews yet earlier this week, calling the new operating system a “Christmas gift for someone you hate.” Greenspun panned almost every aspect of Microsoft’s new software, noting that Microsoft had four years to study Android and more than five to examine iOS, but still couldn’t build a usable tablet experience.

“The only device that I can remember being as confused by is the BlackBerry PlayBook,” Greenspunwrote on his blog after using Windows 8 on a Dell (DELL) XPS One All-in-One desktop PC. The acclaimed computer scientist noted that Microsoft omitted all of the best features from the most popular touch-focused platforms and instead created a user interface he describes as a “dog’s breakfast.”

“Suppose that you are an expert user of Windows NT/XP/Vista/7, an expert user of an iPad, and an expert user of an Android phone… you will have no idea how to use Windows 8,” Greenspun wrote.

He continued, “Some functions, such as ‘start an application’ or ‘restart the computer’ are available only from the tablet interface. Conversely, when one is comfortably ensconced in a touch/tablet application, an additional click will fire up a Web browser, thereby causing the tablet to disappear in favor of the desktop. Many of the ‘apps’ that show up on the ‘all apps’ menu at the bottom of the screen (accessible only if you swipe down from the top of the screen) dump you right into the desktop on the first click.”

The only praise Greenspun offered was that “some of the supplied apps are wonderful,” pointing to Microsoft’s Bing Finance application as an example.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/windows-8-christmas-gift-someone-hate-photo-151046847.html

Inilah Daftar Lembaga Negara yang Berpaling dari BlackBerry

Inilah Daftar Lembaga Negara yang 

Berpaling dari BlackBerry

==============================================================

1. Transportation Security Administration (Mei)
Mei 2012 lalu, lembaga keamanan transportasi AS yang bersandar dengan produk Microsoft Windows dan perangkat BlackBerry mengumumkan rencannya untuk menghabiskan USD3 juta untuk membeli produk Apple guna menyokong misi melawan terorisme.
2. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (September)
Delapan tahun setia dengan produk BlackBerry, akhirnya instansi pemerinatah mengumumkan untuk beralih ke iPhone dengan alasan produk besutan RIM itu tidak lagi memunuhi kebutuhan teknologi. Dengan keputusan ini 17.676 pegawai pun akan memperoleh iPhone untuk mengganti perangkat lama mereka.
3. Defense Department (Oktober)
Departemen Keamanan AS membuat kerjasama dengan Apple dan Google Andorid untuk menyediakan piranti lunak dan perangkat mobile pegawainya. Program Defense Information Systems Agency awalnya akan menyediakan 162,500 perangkat dan pada akhirnya akan mendukung 8 juta perangkat.
4.National Transportation Safety Board (November)
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) telah menghentikan penggunaan smartphone BlackBerry dan berpaling menggunakan iPhone. Instansi itu beralasan, smartphone besutan Research In Motion (RIM) itu tidak memenuhi standar yang telah ditetapkan. Alhasil, sekira 400 pekerja, akan menggunakan produk besutan Apple, iPhone 5 guna menunjang pekerjaannya.

Research In Motion (RIM) terus berbenah jelang peluncuran platform anyar mereka BlackBerry 10 (BB 10)di awal 2013, Salah satunya memperoleh sertifikasi dari National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Meski sudah mendapatsertifikasi Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 yang menyatakan produk BlackBerry memenuhi syarat untuk digunakan oleh institusi pemerintah, sayangnya sejumlah institusi di Amerika Serikat mulai meninggalkan BlackBerry.

Berikut sejumlah institusi di negeri Paman Sam yang meninggalkan perangkat BlackBerry dihimpunOkezone dari berbagai sumber, Kamis (22/11/2012):

RIM pun harus merelakan USD2,1 juta berpindah tangan ke Apple. “RIM tidak lagi memenuhi kebutuhan teknologi mobile kami. Sebagai gantinya iPhone akan digunakan oleh semua pegawai. Layanan yang ditawarkan iPhone akan memungkinkan individu meningkatkan kemampuannya dengan mengandalkan teknologi mobile yang aman dan platform yang dapat dikelola sesuai dengan misi badan,” kata pihak United States Immigration and Coustums Enforcement.

| Source: http://www.it-manado.com/news/inilah-daftar-lembaga-negara-yang-berpaling-dari-blackberry/

How new Google Nexus 10 compares with rivals

Google has started shipping a larger version of its Nexus tablet computer, one that comes closer to competing with Apple's full-size iPad and other tablets. Here's a look at how the Nexus 10 compares with other tablets with similar screens.

Google Inc.'s Nexus 10

— Price: $399 for 16 gigabytes of storage, $499 for 32 GB

— Screen size: 10.1 inches diagonally

— Screen resolution: 2560 by 1600 pixels, at 300 pixels per inch.

— Weight: 1.33 pounds.

— Cameras: 5-megapixel camera on back and a low-resolution camera on front, for videoconferencing

— Battery life: 9 hours for video playback, 7 hours for Web browsing.

— Operating system: Google's Android

Pros: Access to a variety of games, utilities and other software for Android devices, though not as extensive as apps available for iPad. Longer, narrower screen better suited to movies. Cheaper than newest full-size iPad.

Cons: Integrates with Google Play store, which is still new and isn't as robust as Apple or Amazon's stores. Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards. No option for cellular wireless broadband.

Apple Inc.'s iPad:

— Price: Starts at $499 for 16 gigabytes of storage, goes up to $699 for 64 gigabytes, more for versions with cellular data access. (Apple still sells the older, iPad 2 for $399.)

— Screen size: 9.7 inches diagonally

— Screen resolution: 2048 by 1536 pixels, at 264 pixels per inch.

— Weight: 1.44 pounds

— Cameras: 5-megapixel camera on back and a low-resolution camera on front, for videoconferencing

— Battery life: 10 hours.

— Operating system: Apple's iOS

Pros: Unmatched access to third-party applications, high-quality Apple software and the iTunes store. Widest range of cases and accessories available. Available with access to fast 4G wireless broadband networks, starting at $629.

Cons: Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire HD 8.9" (available Nov. 20):

— Price: $299 for 16 gigabytes of storage, $369 for 32 GB.

— Screen size: 8.9 inches diagonally

— Screen resolution: 1920 by 1200 pixels, at 254 pixels per inch.

— Weight: 1.25 pounds.

— Cameras: Front-facing camera.

— Battery life: Undisclosed.

— Operating system: Modified version of Google's Android

Pros: Cheap and portable. Convenient access to Amazon store. Dolby audio. Available with access to fast 4G wireless broadband networks, for $499.

Cons: Small selection of third-party applications available from Amazon. No rear camera for taking video and photos.

Samsung Electronic Co.'s Galaxy Tab 2 10.1:

— Price: $399 for 16 gigabytes of storage

— Screen size: 10.1 inches diagonally

— Screen resolution: 1280 by 800 pixels, 149 pixels per inch

— Weight: 1.24 pounds

— Cameras: low-resolution front camera, 3-megapixel back.

— Battery life: 11 hours.

— Operating system: Google's Android

Pros: Storage is expandable with microSD memory cards. Can act as a universal remote control for an entertainment center. Option for wireless broadband starting in November.

Cons: Selection of third-party applications not as good as iPad's, but wider than Kindle. Screen resolution lower than iPad's.

Samsung Electronic Co.'s Galaxy Note 10.1:

— Price: $499 for 16 gigabytes of storage, $549 for 32 GB

— Screen size: 10.1 inches diagonally

— Screen resolution: 1280 by 800 pixels, 149 pixels per inch

— Weight: 1.3 pounds

— Cameras: low-resolution front camera, 5-megapixel back.

— Battery life: 9 hours.

— Operating system: Google's Android

Pros: Comes with a pen, for jotting notes and drawing on the screen. Slightly thinner and lighter than an iPad. Longer, narrower screen better suited to movies. Storage is expandable with microSD memory cards. Can act as a universal remote control for an entertainment center.

Cons: Selection of third-party applications not as good as iPad's, but wider than Kindle. Screen resolution lower than iPad's. No option for wireless broadband. Pen sensor slightly shortens battery life.

Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook HD+

— Price: $269 for 16 gigabytes of storage; $299 for 32 GB

— Screen size: 9 inches diagonally

— Screen resolution: 1920 x 1280 pixels, 256 pixels per inch

— Weight: 1.14 pounds

— Cameras: None.

— Battery life: 10 hours of reading, 9 hours of video

— Operating system: Modified version of Google's Android

Pros: Cheap and portable. Storage is expandable with microSD memory cards. Easy access to Barnes & Noble book store.

Cons: Selection of third-party applications is small. Barnes & Noble lacks wide range of content. Lacks cameras and option for wireless broadband.

Microsoft Corp.'s Surface:

— Price: $499 for 32 gigabytes of storage, $100 extra for keyboard cover. $699 for 64 GB version, includes keyboard cover.

— Screen size: 10.6 inches diagonally

— Screen resolution: 1366 by 768 pixels, 148 pixels per inch

— Weight: 1.5 pounds.

— Cameras: Front and back cameras

— Battery life: 8 hours.

— Operating system: Microsoft's Windows RT.

Pros: Storage can be expanded with microSD memory cards. Comes with free Microsoft Office software. Models running full version of Windows 8 coming soon, offering compatibility with programs available for traditional Windows computers.

Cons: Operating system lacks good track record on tablets. Selection of tablet-adapted third-party applications small. No option for wireless broadband.

So it looks like Samsung might not have tried to copy the iPhone

An original or a copy?

You remember the recent court case in which a vast amount of money was awarded to Apple?

Yes, the one in which Samsung was told to hand over $1.05 billion because quite a few of its products seemed to infringe on Apple's patents.

Well, those who like poring over these things have been spending long and, no doubt, sober nights examining the documents that were presented to the court -- documents that have now been unredacted.

What odd suggestions these documents make.

I am grateful to Groklaw for reading and reading and reading until its eyeballs were larger and more oblong than a Galaxy S3 screen.

Much of its reading seems to center on personal information about jury foreman Velvin Hogan and his bankruptcy issues.

However, the part that fascinated me concerned the allegations that Samsung might have told its designers to "make something like the iPhone."

Groklaw locates the fuller version of the Samsung internal documents in question and something peculiar appears. The senior executive at Samsung who presided over internal meetings actually is heard to say: "I hear things like this: Let's make something like the iPhone."

He goes on to lament: "When everybody (both consumers and the industry) talk about UX, they weigh it against the iPhone. The iPhone has become the standard. That's how things are already."

And yet there appear to no words that suggest the iPhone is to be copied.

Instead, one document ends with: "To everyone, he said you must think at least six months ahead; be the solution to the problems that related departments come looking for. Be people with creativity."

The document is full of exhortation to do better and to focus on "comfort and ease of use." Some would say that defines the iPhone.

Yet there seems no actual, well, evidence that there was a "copy Cupertino" order.

Indeed, Groklaw unearths further notes from the same meeting which say, for example:

Android users outraged over Motorola's broken promise

Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside is under fire for an abandoned pledge to update three 2011 phones to Ice Cream Sandwich.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET )

Doran Else bought his Photon 4G last October, lured by the fast dual-core processor and by the close relationship between Motorola and its new owner, Google. Motorola had recently joined theAndroid Upgrade Alliance, promising to release operating system updates to all its phones for 18 months following their release.

But for Else and thousands of others, those operating system updates turned out to be a mirage. Last Friday, buried in a Motorola forum, the company quietly abandoned its update pledge, killing off plans to ever update the Photon 4G. The Electrify, a re-branded Photon available on the US Cellular network, and the Atrix 4G, a flagship phone that debuted on AT&T in the United States, got the axe as well.

"Just seems they were happy to join the alliance when it helped them sell handsets," Else said in an e-mail. "Now that it's time to do the work, they're all dropping devices. This latest announcement from Moto is just ridiculous."

The result is that Else and thousands of people in the middle of two-year carrier contracts will have to use Android 2.3, known as Gingerbread, for the foreseeable future. Motorola had promised owners of the Photon, Electrify, and Atrix an upgrade to to Android 4.0, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, which would bring a host of new features and security updates. Instead they are stuck on Gingerbread, an operating system that was already a year old when Else bought his phone.

There was no word on why the company had twice said upgrades were coming -- first in the third quarter of this year, then the fourth quarter -- or why it had bothered joining the Android Upgrade Alliance, if it couldn't meet its requirements.

The Photon 4G is among the phones Motorola won't upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET )

Same old song
Every few months, it seems, we hear a new version of an old story: the maker of an expensive smartphone announces it won't be upgraded to the latest version of Android, and consumers cry foul.

But this one is different. First, Motorola told customers they would upgrade the phones for 18 months after they came out, a statement that drove sales of the devices. Second, Google owns both Android and Motorola, making it all the more puzzling why the business units didn't work together to make an upgrade happen.

Finally, there are signs that for some Android devotees, Motorola's abandonment of its year-old phones is the last straw.

We asked Motorola smartphone owners how they were feeling about the company -- and Android -- these days. Jacob Depenbusch, a Photon owner, offered a typical account. He researched a variety of Android phones and settled on the Photon after learning it was on the upgrade path.

"My family and myself all bought the Photon because it met the specifications of being upgraded to ICS," Depenbusch said. "Had they not promised an update, the phone would've been out of the question. And then they reneged on the promise. They benefited financially from lying to us, and these phones certainly aren't cheap. This is an appalling business practice."

Several owners said they had filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau over their treatment by Motorola. Others said they had purchased a Motorola for the last time. That's despite the fact that Motorola is offering a $100 credit to anyone willing to purchase a new phone from the company.

"The fact they are offering $100 to swap to another Motorola phone is laughable," said Danny Brewer, who owns an Atrix. "I will not be touching it or another Motorola phone with a barge pole. I don't want a new phone -- I want my current phone, that I have to keep for another year, as that's how long my contract is for.

"There are very few companies that I have felt I needed to boycott," he added. "But Motorola has just earned that honor."

The really unfortunate part of this? Most of the people who we interviewed love their phones. They find them fast, reliable, and fun to play with. They want to keep using them well into the future. They'd just like to do it on Ice Cream Sandwich -- an operating system that was released to manufacturers a year ago.

But does it matter?
In June, writing about the sorry state of Android updates, CNET contributor Danny Sullivanasked whether users actually cared. Noting that Android's market share continued to expand despite the spotty track record with updates, he noted that Gingerbread remained a perfectly useable operating system.

"That's the reality check that can go missing when looking at update figures," he wrote. "People are clearly still able to use their phones despite not having the latest version of Android."

But you don't have to be a power user to crave regular updates to your phone's operating system. Often, updates do more than add new bells and whistles -- they fix security exploits, improve battery life management, and make phones more useable in general.

Ice Cream Sandwich, meanwhile, wasn't just a superficial update to Android; it revamped the user experience and added a lot of key features: visual voice mail, app folders, resizeable widgets, and an improved camera app, as well as improved designs for its contact and e-mail apps.

Moreover, by signaling a company's willingness to keep investing in products for as long as their customers are under contract, they foster loyalty to a brand. (Andrew Cunningham, writing at Ars Technica, highlights another benefit -- the more people are using the same operating system, the easier the platform is for developers to build on. That benefits everyone who uses it.)

sumber : http://news.cnet.com