Google Launches Nexus 6P & 5X Smartphones - Can They Compete Against Apple?

Google unveiled new Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X smartphones on Tuesday. Google also announced a brand new device called Chromecast Audio, an updated Chromecast stick and a launch date for Android Marshmallow. The company unveiled new Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X smartphones on Tuesday. Google also announced a brand new device called Chromecast Audio, an updated Chromecast stick and a launch date for Android Marshmallow. According to Product Chief Sundar Pichai, there are now 1.4 billion active Android users. The latest version of Android, Marshmallow, will start rolling out next week to older Nexus devices and to other Android hardware after that.

The Nexus 6P is Google's new top-of-the-line Nexus smartphone. Its star feature is a 12.3 MP camera optimized for low-light photos. On the back, a black rectangle stretches across the aluminum body. The strip, which makes the phone look a bit like a Cylon, conceals some of the new camera's electronics. It also has Made by Huawei, the 5.7-inch phone also has the big camera, new USB-C port and a speedy fingerprint sensor, interestingly located on the back of the phone. The 6P is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and costs $499 to start. Smaller, $120 cheaper, and with some pared-down specs, the new Nexus 5X is an updated version of the Nexus 5. It is made by LG and has a lot of the same big features as the 6P, including the powerful camera and USB-C port. It starts at $379. Both phones are available to pre-order in Google's online store.So can Google compete as a 'so-called' smartphone vendor against the likes of Apple and Samsung? Share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

Apple Begins iPhone 6S and 6S Plus Shipments

Apple began shipping the  iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus today, and many people must do the annual soul searching that comes after an Apple release. Do you jump now, wait another year, or stick with your Android phone? Many smartphone owners are on an every-other-year upgrade cycle.

A few hardcore Apple lovers get the latest iPhone annually. Waiting years until your last phone is a broken, sluggish, former shell of itself is also a completely valid upgrade philosophy. The iPhone 6S screen detects pressure, a feature Apple calls 3D Touch. Pressing harder than a tap mostly triggers shortcuts and previews. The phone issues different vibrations to let you know you've pushed hard enough. Is it any good? Getting around the phone is absolutely faster, when you do it right. The 3D Touching takes a bit of practice. I keep making the same mistakes, like not pushing hard enough on an icon and making all the apps jiggle instead. Or pressing on things that don't support 3D Touch. Will these enhancements meet customer expectations and continue to drive Apple's explosive revenue growth? Send your comments to the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

Sprint and T-Mobile Pricing Wars Over the Apple iPhone 6s and 6S Plus

Apple's new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus begin shipping on September 25.  The price war between Sprint and T-Mobile continues to rage on. Sprint slashed the cost of its iPhone Forever plan to $1 a month for a 16 GB iPhone 6S on Thursday, and $5 a month for a 16 GB iPhone 6S Plus.

However, consumers have to trade-in an iPhone 6. The iPhone Forever plan lets customers lease iPhones from Sprint, and upgrade to a new device whenever Apple releases a new smartphone. Regular price for a 22-month commitment with a trade-in is $22 a month, and $27 a month. Sprint's (S) latest deal comes just a few days after T-Mobile announced a huge deal of its own upgrade-anytime "Jump On Demand" plan. T-Mobile (TMUS) cut its monthly Jump On Demand price from more than $25 a month to $5 a month for an iPhone 6S on Tuesday. The company also cut the price for the iPhone 6S Plus from about $31 a month to $9 a month. Like Sprint, T-Mobile will only give you the promotional price with the trade-in of an iPhone 6. But, T-Mobile lets you upgrade up to three times per year -- whether you want a new iPhone or any other smartphone. What will be the outcome of these pricing changes on customer demand, especially give the fact that the consumer needs to trade-in their current iPhone 6? Share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

US Federal Court Rules in Favor of Apple over Samsung in Trademark Case

A federal appeals court in Washington ruled that Samsung has to update its smartphones' software to remove slide-to-unlock, autocorrect and quick link software that directly mimic Apple's similar features on the iPhone. But the ruling comes long after Samsung has changed the way those features work on its smartphones. For example, you no longer need to slide a button to unlock Galaxy phones -- you can just swipe your finger anywhere on the screen. Samsung's keyboard has also been updated several times since the ruling.

Samsung said in a statement that its Galaxy smartphones will continue to be sold and supported by the company. It also said it is looking for further review of Thursday's decision. The court said it had granted Apple a "narrow" ruling, saying it did not want to take Samsung's devices off the shelves. Rather, it instructed Samsung to remove the infringing features -- if there are any remaining on customers' devices -- without recalling its smartphones. Apple first filed its lawsuit in February 2012 -- ages ago in technology terms. (The Galaxy S II was the newest Samsung smartphone to be listed in the lawsuit when the case was filed -- Samsung released the Galaxy S6 earlier this year). What impact will this ruling have on Samsung as it seeks to remain competitive with Apple in the global smartphone market? Share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

Amazon Introduces the New $50 Fire Tablet

Amazon will begin shipping its new Fire Tablet on September 30. With a price tag of just $50 this limited use-limited application device can be purchased individually or in a 'six-pack'. Undoubtedly this device offers no challenges to the Apple iPad Pro or comparable tablets from Samsung, Sony, Dell, HP or Casio. But is seems to has its niche in the low cost, low end of the tablet market segment for consumers with simple feature requirements.

The Fire Tablet provides a 7" IPS display (171 ppi / 1024 x 600) and fast 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. Rear and front-facing cameras, new Amazon Underground, a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $10,000 in apps, games and even in-app items are actually free - including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs and more, access to more than 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, apps and games, 8 GB of internal storage, free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with Fire devices and  a microSD card for up to 128 GB of additional storage. So how will consumers response to this new mini-tablet? Share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

comScore Releases Smartphone Market Share Report - Apple and Samsung Dominate

As of April 2015, Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 43.1 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the #1 smartphone platform with 52.2 percent platform market share. Facebook ranked as the top individual smartphone app. 188.6 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (76.9 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in April.* Apple ranked as the top OEM with 43.1 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 1.8 percentage points from January). Samsung ranked second with 28.6 percent market share, followed by LG with 8.4 percent (up 0.4 percentage points), Motorola with 4.9 percent and HTC with 3.7 percent (up 0.1 percentage points).

Android ranked as the top smartphone platform in April with 52.2 percent market share, followed by Apple with 43.1 percent (up 1.8 percentage points from January), Microsoft with 3 percent, BlackBerry with 1.5 percent and Symbian with 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, Facebook ranked as the top smartphone app, reaching 71.1 percent of the app audience, followed by YouTube (57 percent), Google Search (51.8 percent) and Facebook Messenger (51.8 percent). Read the complete report at: https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Market-Rankings . Send your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

High Tech Hit Parade: Samsung in August, Apple in September and Microsoft in October - What's on Tap?

Following major hardware announcements by Samsung in August and Apple this past week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will unveil a line of Windows 10 devices at a New York event on October 6. Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) did not release any details about which products it would present. But the company is widely expected to announce a new Surface Pro 4, two Lumia smartphones, and possibly even a new wearable or an update to its existing Microsoft Band smartwatch. A spokesman declined to comment on specifics. He would only say there will be a "variety of Windows 10 devices."

Microsoft's new gadgets are expected to build on the new features of Windows 10, which debuted in July. The Surface Pro, for example, is a full-powered PC that looks and acts like a tablet. The latest model, the Surface Pro 3, has a 12-inch screen, a kickstand, and weighs less than two pounds. It's meant to attract people who want a three-in-one device -- a popular customer base that other tech companies are going after too.Can Microsoft break-through? Share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

Apple's Big Announcement: The Day After - Awaiting Customer Reaction

Yesterday Apple dazzled the tech world with multiple 'upgrade' announcement to the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. With a tech brand second to none around the world both Apple and the tech media wait to her customer reaction. While enhancements to existing products are almost always good for customers the big question remains: Will these enhanced products fuel Apple's voracious revenue and market share growth worldwide?

In short, time will tell. A larger iPad, upgraded IoS driving the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, Apple Watch improvements and a more robust Apple TV offering should enable Apple to stay on track for innovation, customer satisfaction and sustained revenue growth. But the question being heard more and more often is what comes next? Yes, there is significant growth potential in each of these product categories. Nonetheless, what is the next big technology niche which Apple may not just enter, but conquer? Could it be the Apple Car? Or some other little known, yet emerging market segment, which could pave the way for the next upward move in the company's global growth for 5-10 years to come. Send your comments and predictions to the Smartphone and Tablet Zone. In the interim, read Apple's press releases from yesterday's announcements at: http://www.apple.com/pr/

Apple Announces iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPad Pro, Apple Watch and Apple TV Upgrades

Holding true to its established pattern of announcing new products in September and shipping the products in the following months, Apple stayed the course today with upgrades to the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPad Pro, Apple Watch and Apple TV. This announcements will hopefully give customers - both consumers and businesses what they have been asking in terms of increased functionality and performance.

Two key questions remain: First, what will competitors such as Samsung, Google and others have to say about these news products? And second, will the two iPhone upgrades delivery the revenue streams necessary for continued growth until the iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV reach escape velocity? In the meantime, share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone. Watch the complete event on taped delay at: http://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2015/

Motorola Debuts MOTO X Pure Edition Android Smartphone

The newest smartphone from Motorola Mobile Computing System includes 2.5GHz Qualcomm^® Snapdragon™ 801 with quad-core CPU (MSM 8974-AC), Adreno 330 @ 578 MHz GPU, Natural Language Processor, Contextual Computing Processor. The display screen is 5.2" AMOLED 1080p FULL HD 1920x1080 423 ppi Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass 3. 

Bands (by model include): Moto X - Pure Edition (GSM Unlocked with T-Mobile SIM - XT1095): GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700 (AWS), 1900, 2100 MHz), 4G LTE (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 17).  AT&T (XT1097): GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700 (AWS), 1900, 2100 MHz), 4G LTE (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 17). Verizon (XT1096): GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz), CDMA (850, 1900 MHz)4G LTE (2, 3, 4, 7, 13). How well will the MOTO X be received by consumers around the world? Share your comments here at the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

Sony Introduces the New Xperia Z5 Premium Smartphone

With a 4K Ultra HD display, this 5.5” smartphone offers times the resolution of Full HD for an unrivalled viewing experience. Xperia Z5 Premium takes a giant leap in display technology, adding more pixels to reach an ultra-sharp 806 PPI. That’s around 10x the pixels of a Full HD TV. It The Xperia Z5 Premium scales up your photos and movies to 4K quality. Xperia uses Android 5.0, Lollipop. Inspired by Google™ material design and advanced by Sony’s expertise.This smartphone comes the Quick Charger UCH10 which provides 5 1/2 hours of battery life in just 10 minutes of charging time.

 Functionality available on Sony Xperia™ Z3, Z3 Compact, Z3 Tablet Compact, Z2 and Z2 Tablet starting from November 2014 include PlayStation®4 System, DUALSHOCK®4, Sony Entertainment Network and high speed internet connection required. Can the Xperia Z5 Preium compete with the Apple iPhone 6 (7?) and Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge+? Share your comments with the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.

New KeyRaider Malware from China Effects Some 225,000 iPhone Accounts Worldwide

New reports indicate that KeyRaider malware is mostly found in Chinese websites and apps that provide software for jailbroken iPhones. But the malware has spread far beyond China, showing up in 18 countries, including the United States. Once infected with the KeyRaider malware, a jailbroken iPhone will give up all of its owner's iTunes App Store information to the hackers, including the Apple (AAPL, Tech30) account username, password and the iPhone's unique ID. It also steals all the information about the owner's App Store purchases and prevents people from recovering their phones once they've been hijacked.
The hackers aren't keeping all that for themselves: They have allowed other people to take advantage of the stolen account information.

This is by no means the first major hacking attack attributed to the Chinese.  The hackers have uploaded software that lets other people purchase iTunes apps for "free," using the victims' accounts. About 20,000 people have downloaded the software that lets them steal from the 225,000 effected iPhone owners.What will be the global impact of this hacking episode on iPhone customers? Send your comments to the Smartphone and Tablet Zone.