Acer Liquid J Android Phone

Cellcom Communications

telus phones

telus mobiles

bell telephone company

service bell

bell products

bells stores

phone bell

Bell Store

rogers rate plans

virgin mobile rate plans

virgin mobile contracts

This Case Uses Your iPhone’s Electromagnetic Energy to Display Glowing Notifications

Cellcom.ca

Telus

Mobile Phones

Mobile Contracts

Bell Satellite

cellcom phones

cell phones

cell phone companies

cell phone

cellphones

cellcom internet

bell internet

Surprise! Every smartphone emits trace amounts of electromagnetic energy, in levels that are measurable but not harmful to humans. Every smartphone does it; the technology site CNET even ranks smartphones, based on the radiation they emit. 

Armed with that knowledge, a team of young Ukrainian entrepreneurs invented the Lunecase, an iPhone case that harnesses that energy to power notification displays in a unique and compelling way. The Lunecase snaps onto the back of your iPhone and, when you receive an incoming call or text message, lights up with the appropriate notification. 

Yes, we’re talking about the case itself: It has two built-in light displays — one that resembles a phone, and one that resembles Apple’s Messages icon — that illuminate when you get a call or an SMS, respectively. Despite this illumination, the case does not require a battery or any charging whatsoever: Instead, it’s using those trace amounts of electromagnetism to power itself. That allows the case to stay thin. No battery, no bulk.

Pretty cool, no? The Lunecase is now seeking funding on Kickstarter, and it’s off to a fast start. If you act fast, $29 will get you a black Lunecase. Once 200 of those have been bought, the price goes up to $35. Models are expected to start shipping in August of this year. 

The team behind the Lunecase is Concepter, a Ukrainian startup that previously found massive Kickstarter success with its iblazr iPhone camera flash. The iblazr raised almost $200,000 when it debuted on Kickstarter in 2013. 

The Lunecase is Concepter’s second attempt at crowdfunded gold. Here’s the team’s pitch video (rest assured that the Concepter guys are better at engineering than they are at dubbing speech over video):

We first profiled an early version of the Lunecase back at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. That prototype case simply illuminated a small ring of LEDs when there was a new notification on the phone. This one appears more refined, and more functional. 

$35 is more than you’d spend on a monochrome case that simply protects your phone, obviously. There’s a bit of gee-whizzery about this case, a “look what my case can do!” vibe to it. If you’re looking for an iPhone case that’s a conversation starter, the Lunecase is a neat place to start.

Five things you can do with Windows Phone 8.1

Cellcom Communications Bell Satellite cellcom phones cell phones cell phone companies

Cellcom Montreal

Bell

Bell Mobility

Android still triggers the most mobile malware, says F-Secure

Cellcom Communications fido rate plans fido contracts telus contracts telus rate plans rogers contracts rogers rate plans

telus contracts

telus rate plans

rogers contracts

rogers rate plans

Google's mobile OS gets targeted by 275 out of 277 new malware "families" spotted last quarter by the security specialist.

\

Android dominates the mobile landscape not just in market share but in malware, according to new data from F-Secure.

Analyzing malware discovered during the first quarter of the year, F-Secure found that Android was targeted by 275 out of 277 "threat families." In contrast, iOS and Symbian each accounted for one a piece, according to F-Secure's "Q1 2014 Mobile Threat Report." And what exactly is a threat family?

In its hunt for malware, F-Secure analyzes samples of apps from app stores, developer forums, and other online locations. Any app infected by malware is placed into a family based on common code and behavior. A full 91 percent of all the families and threats uncovered are identified as malware. The rest are classified as unwanted apps that may pose a risk if misused.

The top 10 Android malware families accounted for 76 percent of all the threats seen last quarter, F-Secure said. And among all the apps collected and analyzed, almost 14 percent were malicious Android apps. Most of the malware samples discovered were Trojans, which attempt to surreptitiously send text messages, steal data, or download more apps onto the device.

F-Secure's latest Mobile Threat Report is based on app samples collected from January through March 2014 and then scanned and analyzed for potential malware. So how worried should Android users be over the threat of mobile malware? That issue has been an ongoing debate between Google and Android security vendors.

In the past, Google has charged that Android security providers exaggerate the threat of malware in order to hawk their own products. The security vendors have countered that argument by saying that Android's very popularity has made it an open target for cybercriminals.

Either way, the threat should not be taken lightly. Despite Google's efforts to better scan for and catch malware, malicious apps do continue to seep into the Google Play store. Just last week, researchers found malware in the form of wallpaper apps that tried to turn devices into bitcoin miners. Google was forced to remove five such malicious apps.

To better protect yourself against mobile malware, F-Secure offers six suggestions in its report:

• Lock your device. Make sure no one gains physical access to your device.
• Use anti-theft protection. You can use a tool like Android Device Manager to remotely lock or erase a lost or stolen device.
• Set up message barring. Android 4.2 introduced a feature that warns you of potential "premium rate" text messages. You can also ask your carrier to block premium-rate calls or messages.
• Download only from trusted sources. Avoid downloading apps from unknown third-party stores.
• Scrutinize permission requests. Check the permissions granted to each installed app.
• Scan downloaded apps. Consider using security software to scan each app before you install it.

Samsung Galaxy Gamepad for Android Smartphones ...

Cellcom Communications Bell Satellite cellcom phones cell phones cell phone companies cell phone

bell phones

bell mobility

bell.ca

bell canada

The top five free, paid, and trending Windows Phone apps as of April 27th

Cellcom Communications telus phones telus mobiles bell telephone company service bell bell products bells stores phone bell

bell phones

bell mobility

bell.ca

bell canada

The Windows Phone Store is home to over 250,000 apps worldwide. Let's take a look at the Windows Phone Store and see which apps are at the top of the charts when it comes to the free, paid, and trending categories. You might even discover your new favorite app!

Currently in the Windows Phone Store, the top-five free apps are Nokia Creative Studio, Video, Facebook, OneDrive, and Weather. The top-five paid apps are Windows Phone Explorer, Metrotube, WP Themes, WPCentral, and Flashlight+. The top-five best rated apps are Flixster, Camera360, Sleep, Jalali Calendar, and Preview for Developers. The top-five trending apps are Transparency Tile, Music+, Aerize Explorer, Tilesparency, and Windows Phone Explorer.

We're getting quite a few new "transparency" apps that aim to make your tiles transparent on Windows Phone 8.1. This is all thanks to Windows Phone 8.1's ability to set a Start Screen background. Having a transparent tile allows you to see your background. It also comes as no surprise to see Preview for Developers make it to the top-five best rated list, as this app allows you to install the Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview.

Let's highlight some apps that were sent to us via the Windows Phone developer community:

Windows Phone Explorer ($1.99) - This app allows you to explore your files on your Windows Phone 8.1 device. The functionality is basic and features support for OneDrive. The functionality is very basic as it allows you to open files, save file to your local phone storage, delete files, and browse files and folders. 

No word if new features will be added soon, but this app seems to have quite a large following already with high ratings in the Windows Phone Store. This app is also the top-paid app, at the time of this post.

Sky Blaze (free) - "Dawnbreak Studios presents a fast paced arcade game with graphics never seen before on a mobile screen! Smash rockets to create stunning firework explosions across the sky," the app description reads.

Sky Blaze features a beautiful visual style never seen before and a unique modern soundtrack. Put on your headphones and get ready to dance! Swipe green rockets while avoiding the red ones. Blue rockets builds combos to maximize your high score and yellow ones starts small minigames. Compete with your friends in the online scoreboard or locally on your phone.

The game features two modes, and more game modes can be unlocked via in-app purchase. The app developer claims that this is not mandatory and that payments should be fair. Therefore, the in-app purchase is based on how generous you feel and not based on a fixed price.

Witch Potion (free) - "Get ready to make potions! Exclusively on Windows Phone 8! A black magic surrounded the realm and is hurting the adorable creatures! Solve the puzzles, make potions and help them!" the app description reads.

The game requires you to solve 120 challenging puzzles to help 8 different creatures. Each chapter of the game introduces new challenges and new game elements. The goal of the game is to minimize the number of moves you take to maximize your score.

"Find yourself being challenged in ever-changing MATCH-2 puzzle game – Witch Potion! Combine blood drops, rotten eggs, horse shoes and more to make potions to help poor creatures including Yeti, Ogre, Mermaid, Pegasus and many more! Be a part of a fabulous adventure!" the app description adds.

Surv (free) - "Built specifically for the windows phone, Surv allows you to create and participate in quick polls on things that interest you. You can ask fun “What would you rather” questions, get the community’s feedback on something you are trying to decide on, or get the public opinion on a specific topic. You can also send a private poll to a friend to get their opinion," the app description reads.

This social app works in two ways. First, you can ask a question, tag your question in a category, and add up to three choices. You can even attach an image via your camera roll or by taking a new photo. Second, you can choose to post the poll publicly, or privately with your friends.

WinGym (free) - This app is a fully featured fitness app that allows you to learn over 130 different exercises, along with the ability to manage sets for the exercises in routine. Here are the key features of this app:

• You can add custom exercises (with photos) and use them in your routines.
• More than 130 exercises, with photos and descriptions (more exercises will be added soon).
• We have exercises for girls.
• You can manage sets for the exercises in routine.
• We have additional information about gym trainings, warm-up, diet, sport diet and etc.
• Notification for routines. You will never forget about your training!
• Detailed statistics for the body params (biceps sizes, waist, weight and etc).
• Graphical representations for your progress. 

This app is free for a limited time, as it has just made its debut in English markets. With this app, you can create your own exercises and use them in your training routine. You can take photos, write descriptions for you custom exercises. In a future version of this app, the developer plans on integrating the ability to share exercises with others. 

Stay tuned for next week's Windows Phone Store app highlights. Do you have any Windows Phone apps to share? 

Apple's iPhone 5c ate up Android while Google's Moto X flopped: why everyone was wrong

Cellcom Montreal cellphones cellcom internet bell internet  bell phones bell mobility bell.ca bell canada rogers phones rogers mobiles fido phones fido mobiles bell internet montreal

While we don't have exact sales numbers for either model, it is now clear that iPhone 5c was a remarkable success, not just as 2013's second most popular smartphone of the holiday season (after Apple's top of the line iPhone 5s), but also in its intended strategic roles as both an mid-market smartphone and a compelling Android alternative.

Speaking to analysts during Apple's Q2 earnings conference call, chief executive Tim Cook stated that 69 percent of iPhone 5c buyers were new to iPhone, while 60 percent had switched from an Android phone. For the cheaper iPhone 4S, the ratios were even higher (although the sales volumes were much smaller): 85 percent were new to iPhone, while 62 percent switched from Android.

"And so we're incredibly pleased with this," Cook stated. 

Of course Cook was pleased! Apple managed to pull off something that had previously seemed completely impossible: it continued to sell premium, luxury class $650 iPhones at prices three times higher than the volume sales of the overall smartphone market, without making significant concessions on either margins and profitability or, more importantly, without giving up valuable market share. 

In fact, in the most valuable markets, Apple achieved meaningful (and in some cases incredible) increases in market share. Apple's iPhone achieved 55 percent market share among smartphones inJapan, Cook noted.

The company's corporate controller Luca Maestri drew attention to growth in the very developing markets where analysts had insisted that Apple's iPhone mix was incorrectly priced and configured, stating, "In Greater China, Brazil, Indonesia, Poland and Turkey, iPhone sales grew by strong double-digits year-over-year, and in India and Vietnam sales more than doubled."

Virtually everyone who had offered an opinion about Apple's iPhone mix got everything wrong. Apple not only launched the world's best selling phone with enough innovative features to impress the company's own customers to buy an upgrade, but also managed to convert its "last year" best seller into a lower priced middle tier phone with the ability to win over Android users better than all of the leading Android flagships. Apple was so incredibly successful that it even surprised Apple. 

On the other hand, there was no talk from anyone about how many "middle tier" phones Samsung sold, nor even any curiosity about the specific product mix that was driving that "80 percent" ratio of Android phones. 

Android Wear Stackable Notifications

Cellcom Montreal Mobile Phones Mobile Contracts Bell Satellite cellcom phones cell phones

cell phones

cell phone companies

cell phone

cellphones

OneDrive 4.1 update for Windows Phone

Cellcom.ca Mobile Contracts Bell Satellite cellcom phones cell phones cell phone companies cell phone

bell fibe TV

bell home phone

fido rate plans

fido contracts

telus contracts

Smartphone lull a golden opportunity for Microsoft

Cellcom Communications phone bell Bell Store  bell fibe TV bell home phone

Cellcom Communications

Cellcom Montreal

Bell

Bell Mobility

Bell Mobile

Fido

Rogers

Telus

Critics have derided Microsoft’s US$7.5 billion acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business but the deal may be closing at the perfect moment—during a slowdown in smartphone innovation.

The acquisition closed Friday after an almost eight-month long approval process. The new subsidiary, dubbed the Microsoft Mobile and the Devices division and headed by former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, has a tremendous amount of work to do to become a serious contender either at the high end or low end of the smartphone market.

However, this may be an opportune time for Microsoft and its thousands of new employees. Innovation has slowed down in the high-end segment of the mobile phone market. New products such as the Galaxy S5 from Samsung Electronics, HTC’s One M8 and the Xperia Z2 from Sony are only small upgrades compared to their predecessors.

“This market isn’t moving forward quite as quickly as it has in the past. While it is taking a breather, Microsoft and Nokia can up the game and try to close the gap,” said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics.

Microsoft has recognized this chance to make up some lost ground.

“The pace of innovation we are delivering is, I’ll argue, accelerating, while some of our leading competitors appear to be slowing down. If you’re behind you have to go faster than the guy in front of you to catch up and that’s exactly what we are trying to do,” said Greg Sullivan, director of Windows Phone at Microsoft.

The company is making progress on both hardware and software. For example, the upcoming Lumia 930 has the same screen resolution, RAM and GPU as the Galaxy S5. Previous flagship models from Nokia haven’t compared as well to the competition.

Moving forward, Microsoft has to make sure it gets access to upcoming processors especially from Qualcomm—including the Snapdragon 805, and then the 64-bit ARM-based Snapdragon 808 and 810—quicker than it has in the past, according to Mawston.

Some of what Microsoft’s competitors are trying to do to differentiate their products plays on Nokia’s strengths. When HTC, Samsung and Sony launched their new top-of-the-line smartphones they all bragged about camera upgrades, which is what Nokia is best at.

“We’ll continue to focus on that as a core area of differentiation for us,” Sullivan said.

The recent announcement of Windows Phone 8.1 is another sign that Microsoft is on the right track. With the upgrade, the OS finally is getting a drop-down menu called the Action Center, with quick access to notifications and settings for things like Wi-Fi, Flight Mode and Bluetooth. But the headline feature is Cortana, a voice-controlled digital assistant that’s powered by Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

“Actually, Windows Phone, when someone gets it in their hands, looks different and moves away from that grid of icons. It’s a more fluid interface and more interactive in some ways with the live tiles. That’s what Microsoft needs to push hard now,” said Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight.

Windows Phone 8.1 is available now in a Developer Preview test version, and will ship in final form over the coming months to existing Windows Phone 8 users and on new smartphones.

In addition to new features, Microsoft is also lowering the bar for developers who want to create apps for the OS, the lack of which has been a big stumbling block for Windows Phone. The app gap compared to iOS and Android has shrunk, but it’s still there, according to Wood.

With Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update, developers build “universal” Windows apps once that run with little or no modification in PCs, tablets and smartphones. Developers can use the universal app project template in Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 RC to build these apps using the common Windows Runtime API. They can also modify existing Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps and make them “universal” ones.

“The universal apps announcement is inspired,” said Stuart Douglas, an independent front-end system developer in the U.K. who plans to take “full advantage” of this new capability.

The universal app concept will be expanded to include the Xbox as well. Games in particular are going to be interesting as developers start taking advantage of the options the concept affords them, according to Sullivan. He envisions titles that combine big screen game play on the Xbox with sensors, cameras and GPS on smartphones and tablets.

To make Windows Phone more attractive to game developers, Microsoft has to make better use of its Xbox consoles, according to Mawston.

Douglas, who has built about five Windows 8 business apps, is impressed with other Windows Phone 8.1 features, like the Word Flow keyboard and new Action Center. He has high expectations for the Nokia deal because he considers the quality of Nokia phones to be on par with those from Apple and Samsung.

“I hope that the acquisition will open a large number of different mobile/tablet devices to enrich the Windows 8 platform,” Douglas said via email.

Microsoft also has to make Windows Phone a better fit for low-end smartphones priced under US$100 without a contract, which are becoming increasingly important as much of the future growth in the mobile market is expected in this segment. The Lumia 520 has already shown there is a lot of potential. If that device hadn’t been a hit, it’s doubtful that Windows Phone would still be around.

Two months ago at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft announced support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 200 and 400 processors, which open the door for cheaper devices. It also announced nine new Windows Phone partners, including Foxconn, Karbonn, Lava, Lenovo, Longcheer and ZTE, which are expected to make low-priced Microsoft phones a reality.

“When we announced these new partnerships, I think it’s fair to say that the ink wasn’t quite dry. That was the beginning and a little over a month later, April 2, [Windows Phone Program Management manager] Joe Belfiore held up a couple of prototype devices from a couple of those manufacturers running our software already,” Sullivan said.

Microsoft’s recent decision to license Windows Phone for free will also make it easier for partners to launch low-cost devices.

Exactly when the products will start shipping is up to the vendors, but they will show that Windows Phone offers better performance on low-cost hardware than Android, according to Sullivan.

“The idea that you don’t have to sacrifice the user experience just because you chose an affordable device is a big advantage for our platform, and one we plan to extend,” he said.

With the acquisition, Microsoft also gets Nokia’s new X smartphones, which are based on the Android Open Source Project software and were also announced at Mobile World Congress. The X family’s existence is a sign of frustration on Nokia’s part and symbolizes Microsoft’s inability to lower the cost of Windows Phone.

Selling Android-based smartphones probably isn’t what Microsoft wants to do, but there are redeeming factors. The interface on the X, X+ and XL has been designed to look like Windows Phone, with tiles that can be resized. The thinking behind that is to make it easier for users to upgrade to a device that runs Microsoft’s OS. Also, the Google services available on Android devices have been replaced by Microsoft services such as Skype, Outlook.com and OneDrive for hosted storage.

“I suspect in the short term Microsoft will put up with the X family, because it looks like it’s going to be relatively popular. It will be a good way of getting the Microsoft user interface down to lower price points, and give Google a bit of a jab in the ribs,” Mawston said.

As long as there is a price gap between the low end of Windows Phone and X family, backing the latter makes sense, Wood agreed.

“Otherwise Microsoft is just leaving money on the table. But if it can get Windows Phone down to the same price point or if the X phones starts to look like it’s cannibalizing the low end of Windows Phone, decisions have to made quickly,” he said.

For now, Sullivan doesn’t want to comment on the future of X phones and feature phones. But for Windows Phone to succeed in the low end, Microsoft needs to lean on Nokia’s know-how.

“Nokia has huge installed base of several hundred million units across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe that Microsoft can take advantage of,” Mawston said.

“Nokia employees that today work on feature phones, particularly the Asha team, should be redeployed to drive down Windows Phone to lower price points,” Wood said.

Even though Microsoft seems to be making a lot of good decisions, success is far from assured, according to Wood.

“There is still a big, big gap between where Android and iOS is and where Windows Phone is. But credit where credit is due, they are slowly but surely making progress,” Wood said.

When Steve Ballmer announced the acquisition in the beginning of September last year, just after revealing he was stepping down as Microsoft CEO, he said:

“Today’s announcement is a bold step into the future. For Microsoft it’s a signature event—a signature event!—in our transformation. We think this is a win-win for employees; win-win for shareholders, and win-win for customers of both companies. Through our partnership we have already accomplished so much, and yet clearly the opportunity ahead is remarkable.”

If all that turns out to be true, Ballmer will have a nice story line for his autobiography. But if not, the chapter on Microsoft in the 21st century may not end well.

TOP 10 BEST SMARTPHONES of 2012

Cellcom Montreal service bell bell products bells stores phone bell Bell Store  bell fibe TV bell home phone fido rate plans

Rogers

Telus

Mobile Phones

Mobile Contracts

Bell Satellite

cellcom phones

Rumor: Apple's 'iPhone 6' may sport curved edges, display glass

Cellcom.ca bell telephone company service bell bell products bells stores phone bell telus rate plans rogers contracts rogers rate plans virgin mobile rate plans virgin mobile contracts

A report on Wednesday claims Apple's next-generation iPhone may employ a curved chassis design and accompanying display glass, a vast departure from the substantially squared-off design used on existing Apple handsets.

Citing a "trusted source," Japanese blog Mac Otakara reports the so-called "iPhone 6" will sport "rounded" edges and a curved display glass much like the design seen on Samsung's Galaxy S III. The publication's sources have a decent track record in predicting future Apple product designs, especially regarding displays and screen tech.

Aside from the Galaxy S III, Apple's supposed iPhone design is akin to an existing iPhone bumper made by Japanese company Squair (seen above). The metallic bumper, made out of Duralumin, features a largely rounded-off edge that protrudes from the iPhone's chassis. It is unclear if the iPhone 6 will boast such a severe curvature. 

To accommodate the rounded edges, a slightly curved display glass is also said to be part of Apple's design plans. Based on what can be gleaned from the report, it seems like the top glass will not feature a convex face, but rounded edges to sit flush with the chassis. 

Finally, the iPhone 6 will do away with the dual glass-covered antenna windows seen on the back of iPhone 5 and 5s models, the source said. It is unknown what method of radio transmission will be utilized in the upcoming handset, though Apple will likely take steps to avoid another "antennagate" debacle.

Earlier this month, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a research note that Apple would release two new iPhones this year, a 4.7-inch version and a larger phablet-style 5.5-inch model. Kuo believes the 4.7-inch iteration will use a 1,334-by-750-pixel display with a resolution of 326 pixels per inch in a bid to maintain congruency with current apps. The 5.5-inch version would be a more traditional 1,920-by-1,080 pixels, which translates to 401ppi.