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Japan’s Top 3 Mobile Carriers Agree To Support Global NFC Standard

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 04:18 AM PST

paypal-nfc

Japan, one of the most advanced mobile nations in the world, doesn’t want to be a “cell phone Galapagos” anymore, at least when it comes to payments over NFC. Paying with cell phones is already ubiquitous in Japan, but now the country’s top three telcos (NTT Docomo, KDDI au, and SoftBank Mobile) are trying to switch from the Nippon-only Osaifu Keitai system to the Type A and Type B NFC standards used globally.

The problem for the carriers is that Osaifu Keitai (“Portable Wallet”), which is based on Sony’s FeliCa RFID smart card technology, isn’t compatible to the Type A and B NFC standards. Docomo, KDDI, and SoftBank have set up the so-called Japan Mobile NFC Consortium to coordinate the domestic adoption of those standards with “service suppliers and handset manufacturers”.

The background here is that with this move, the carriers are not only streamlining domestic mobile payment services but making it easier for Japanese handset manufacturers like Sharp or Panasonic to sell their devices abroad. In fact, Japanese business daily The Nikkei is reporting that handsets incorporating Type A and B NFC standards from Japanese makers will be released at the end of next year.

With over 120 million cell phones in use, Japan is currently the 7th biggest mobile market in the world.

Via Engadget

Report: Nintendo 3DS Sales In Japan To Pass The 4 Million Mark Earlier Than Expected

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 03:09 AM PST

3ds white

It’s a common platitude in the gaming industry: it’s the killer titles that make or break a video game system. One case in point is Nintendo whose 3DS sales in Japan, one of the biggest video game markets in the world, are expected to cross the four million mark two months earlier than expected.

Just two weeks ago, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said this will happen “in February next year”, but Japanese business daily The Nikkei is now reporting that cumulative domestic sales of the 3DS will reach four million before year-end. The newspaper is referring to stats from Tokyo-based market research company Enterbrain, which says Nintendo managed to sell a weekly record of 390,000 systems between December 12-18 (and 380,000 units between December 5 and 11).

Enterbrain reports that Nintendo has sold 3.6 million 3DS in Japan so far and projects that sales in the Christmas week will lift big N over the 4 million mark.

Sales were fueled by the recent launches of Monster Hunter 3G, Super Mario 3D Land, and Mario Kart 7. The holiday season sure did its part as well, but the recent numbers from Nintendo are especially impressive when you take into account that Sony launched its Vita in Japan just last week, too.

Daily Crunch: Robot At Rest

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 01:00 AM PST

Fly Or Die: The Mid-Size Tablet Revolution

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:39 PM PST

Screen Shot 2011-12-21 at 10.43.21 PM

There’s been a recent interesting trend in the tablet market: devices 8 inches and smaller that are as powerful as their bigger cousins but considerably more portable and convenient. In this episode of Fly Or Die we talk about the mid-size trend and decide whether a smaller tablet makes for a better tablet.

The devices we discussed, the Motorola Xyboard 10-inch and 8-inch, are interesting because they are approximately the same device but in a slightly different form factor. It’s worth noting that I like the 8-inch better than the 10 and would even posit that a smaller, 7-inch iPad would be a hit. Here’s hoping.

It Had To Happen Eventually: Hasbro Sues Asus Over Transformer Name

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 06:46 PM PST

prime

Call me naive, but I just assumed that when Asus showed off a device called the Transformer Prime, they had some sort of deal to license or at least provide some kind of royalty to the Transformers franchise. Apparently not, as Hasbro has just filed a lawsuit alleging that Asus is infringing on the Transformers trademark.

Now, if the device were just called the Transformer, I think I would come down on Asus’ side here. After all, transform is a common word and although it may recall to mind certain memories from the 80s (and, to a lesser extent, the last few years), it is just a word and it also describes the transforming capacity of the device. But then they had to go and call it the Prime. What’s next, Soundwave speakers? A Bumblebee netbook?

No doubt Asus will try to excuse themselves by saying that both Transformer and Prime are common words that describe the device in question, which exists in a market totally unrelated to that of Hasbro’s toys and media. I don’t think that anyone will buy that, though. “Transformer Prime” is almost certainly a deliberate riff on Optimus Prime. And while Hasbro doesn’t make computers, Transformers games and accessories do exist for PCs and a judge is likely to agree that the whole thing is pretty blatant anyway.

What will happen? Hasbro is asking for damages and an injunction against sales of the product until they work this out. Asus would be wise to cop to the mistake, pay off Hasbro, and license if it can. Although the tablet hasn’t been a big seller, Asus has been pushing the brand pretty hard and will have to weigh saving it against paying what’s due.

HP Sends $19 Refunds To Overcharged TouchPad Sale Partakers

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 03:05 PM PST

cashhh

If you were one of the lucky few that managed to snag a TouchPad during HP’s (maybe) final fire sale of TouchPad inventory two weeks ago, you might be receiving a little present soon via PayPal.

It seems that some people were charged quite a bit extra for shipping. It seems a bit fussy to complain about when you’re getting a device like this for such a ridiculous price, but hey, not everyone can spare ten bucks these days. Not only that, but there was chaos at eBay and PayPal during the promotion; many commenters complained of errors, lag, and lost orders. Fear not: you will be compensated for your troubles.

An email is going out to purchasers of the device that reads partially:

Due to an error in the calculation of Shipping & Handling fees for the HP TouchPad, you were charged an additional $10 in shipping fees for your order. We have recognized this error and HP’s eBay store will credit $10 to your PayPal account for each HP TouchPad you ordered. eBay and HP are also aware that in some instances, the shopping experience of HP’s eBay store was impacted by the overwhelming response to the HP Touchpad deal. eBay and HP are committed to delivering the best shopping experience possible on eBay and are providing you with an additional $9 credit to your PayPal account for each of your HP Touchpad orders.

So basically, they negated everyone’s shipping fees. How nice!

I suppose that as long as they were throwing money out the door, a few more handfuls didn’t matter when the satisfaction of their customers was at stake. HP still has plans for webOS despite open-sourcing it, so seeding a few good memories of the OS can’t hurt.

[thanks to Jeff for the tip]

Intel Shows Off Smartphone Reference Design, Claims Performance Gains Over ARM

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 02:35 PM PST

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We’ve been waiting for Intel’s promised smartphone effort for a long, long time now. The few desultory pushes by the likes of Acer and niche OEMs has done little to dent the dominance of rival ARM, whose low-power chips have become an indispensable part of smartphone architecture.

Just last week, though, Intel gave a private showing of a smartphone prototype that appears to be more or less feature complete and ready to be established as the basis for a platform. The device was running Gingerbread (Android 2.3), but funnily enough actually resembles an ice cream sandwich.

The choice of OS is probably just indicative of the test environment; Intel has professed their interest in the newest version of Android, and will likely want their debut to involve it. Look at that phone, though, the similarity really is uncanny. Anandtech has a few more pictures like the one above.

In addition to showing off the reference design, which is just a starting place or example for manufacturers and may not be representative of future products, Intel showed some stats that indicated the new “Medfield” systems powering the phones was no slouch:

These are all Intel’s internal measurements, of course, and as you can see there are no model numbers or actual statistics shown. But we can probably trust the general indication that the Medfield platform is competitive with shipping devices running fairly new ARM and NVIDIA designs. MIT’s Technology Review also noted a few interesting features in their hands-on: a burst mode on the camera that shoots 10 full-size shots at 15 FPS (!), hardware acceleration of certain web and app tasks, and wireless casting of HD video to a TV. We know they have also invested in custom Android distributions, but none were present at the event.

Medfield is a die-shrink and redesign of Moorestown, a redesign of the Atom series, which as you remember was mostly found in netbooks. But although its pedigree might not sound like the best for mobile devices, it seems like Intel has truly focused on making the platform handset- and tablet-friendly.

Speaking of tablets, they also showed a reference design for a tablet:

No, not the most beautiful device we’ve ever seen, which is why it’s at the end of the article here. They showed it running Windows 8 in the slide deck but presumably it would run Android just as well.

Intel expects the first Medfield-based devices to be revealed in the first half of 2012, and hinted that we might see some at CES in January. We’ll be sure to drop by Intel’s booth to bring you pictures and video as soon as we can in that case.

Samsung Teases Android-Controlled Smart TVs For CES 2012

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 02:30 PM PST

thang

Smart HDTVs will be a big trend at CES 2012. Nearly every major brand will release major updates to existing lines along with completely new products. However, Samsung has long sold a successful line of smart TVs, but a just-released CES 2012 teaser video shows the upcoming models will be a bit different. They’re going to ditch remotes. These HDTVs look to be controlled by mobile devices.

The teaser video only shows a few quick seconds but it’s the logical next step. Smartphone remotes for Google TV are nothing new. Both Google and Logitech released apps shortly after the platform debuted in 2010. Samsung, already a pro at smart TVs and Android, will likely release a bespoke solution crafted just for Samsung devices.

The bigger question involves the fate of the current line of Samsung Smart TVs. An Android-powered version seems inevitable but the company has so far seen success with its current, non-Android platform. Last January, company proudly proclaimed 2 million apps were downloaded to Samsung Smart TVs. Despite previous statements, Samsung could be completely abandoning its current platform for the new kid in town: Google TV and/or Android.

Microsoft Bows Out Of CES 2013, Cites Marketing Transitions

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 09:45 AM PST

zone

This year will be Microsoft’s last year at CES where the company usually runs the keynote and takes up a huge portion of the show floor. “In looking at all the ways that Microsoft is now reaching its' customers today (its' owned events, marketing campaigns, retail stores, etc.) this felt like a natural time to make this transition,” wrote an MS PR rep.

This will also be the last time CEO Steve Ballmer keynotes the show.

Microsoft has enjoyed a great partnership with CEA over the years, and they will continue to view CES as an important connection point to do business with our partners across the phone, PC and entertainment industries; it's a perfect platform for this.

The software (and hardware) giant usually commanded a great swathe of the CES show floor including tents outside the convention center. Traditionally a PC-centric show, CES has slowly moved into an event dedicated to iPhone/iPod accessories and, to a lesser extent, other electronics including cameras, PC components, and mobile devices. Because there are currently a plethora of potential shows where Microsoft could exhibit, including both MWC in Barcelona and CTIA for mobile and its own events for Windows-related news, not to mention a huge presence at E3 for Xbox, it’s clear that the audience at CES is now less important to Microsoft on the aggregate.

Kindle iPad Update Adds Print Replica Textbooks, PDF Support

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:55 AM PST

kindling-packs-and-product

Amazon has updated the Kindle app for iPhone and iPad, adding some basic improvements to the standard assortment of reader functions. These include the addition of “print replica” textbooks so students can follow along with the paper copy in class as well as improved PDF support and a personal document system that lets you send files to an Amazon address for conversion.

They’ve also improved the magazine interface for easy downloads and storage. You can also sideload PDFs for reading on the go.

As if that weren’t enough, Conan O’Brien brings us someone who may or may not be Jeff Bezos addressing the many complaints folks have had regarding the Kindle Fire, including the poorly-place on/off button and its as-of-yet undiscovered tendency to catch fire.

To Prevent Theft: Car Seat Identifies Drivers Sitting Down

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 07:54 AM PST

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A group of researchers at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo has developed a car seat [JP, PDF] that can identify drivers when sitting down. The trick is that the system measures the pressure people apply on the seat through a set of 360 sensors.

Each sensor is measuring pressure by its own and sends the information to a laptop, which aggregates the information to show key data like the highest value of pressure, area of contact on the seat (see below), and other factors. According to its makers, the system was able to identify drivers with 98% accuracy during experiments.

According to a recent report in Japanese business daily The Nikkei, the research team now aims at working together with car companies to commercialize the technology as effective anti-theft systems in two to three years. Development at the institute started last year.