Microsoft Surface RT Tablet Will Reportedly Go On Sale For Just $199 Alongside Windows 8 On October 26

With everything that is currently going on in the technology industry, it sometimes gets quite difficult to keep all of the announcements in memory and remember what hardware or software is going to be introduced to the marketplace. With the iPhone and iOS 6, the Nexus 7, the chatter surrounding Windows 8 and more recently; the imminent launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note II, I had actually totally forgotten about the impromptu media event where Microsoft introduced us to their Surface tablet. When Apple announces an iPad, it is pretty much available immediately. When Google announced the Nexus 7, it was available for immediate pre-order and was dispatched a couple of weeks later. Microsoft announced the Surface and then, well, nothing happened.

The lack of immediate action shouldn’t detract from the fact that on the face of things the Surface actually looked like a pretty incredible product and certainly one that reinvigorated the appetite of those tablet admirers who didn’t feel like becoming part of the iPad domination. Microsoft did a pretty impressive job of keeping the gadget a big secret before the announcement, and in all honesty, did an equally impressive job of keeping the device specifications and pricing points from us as well. Nothing much has changed in the following couple of months and we have all been left with nothing more than speculation to go on.

The company has already admitted that building and releasing their own hardware will more than likely upset the status quo with OEMs due to the fact that they are essentially competing with their partners, but all is fair in love and business and thankfully we may have a little bit more information about the mysterious NVIDIA-powered Surface RT. Reports are emerging today that suggest the Redmond company is set to launch the Surface RT on October 26th, and it will enter the market at a very appealing $199 price point. Very interesting news indeed.

One of the major talking points since the Microsoft announcement has been the price of the tablet, with consumers fearful that it would be priced way above and beyond other devices of similar ilk on the market. If true, the $199 price tag will immediately thrust the Surface into the same financial leagues as the Google’s Nexus 7 and less capable devices like the Kindle Fire and possibly the new iPad Mini if it ever materializes. Stay tuned fellow tablet lovers, as things could be about to get interesting in this space.

Internal Study Reveals In Court Why People Choose Android Over iPhone

Considering it has been bubbling away and growing in size for the last eighteen months, it is going to be extremely interesting to see how the Apple vs. Samsung patent case progresses and ultimately pans out. It appears that both sides have fairly credible evidence to present to Judge Lucy Koh and the selected jury, but one of the most interesting parts of the case from an outsider’s point of view is the level of information that the companies have been forced to leak into the public domain as part of their own defense.

As the litigation continues, so does the information trail, and this time it is an internal Apple report that has come to our attention, which is part of a survey carried out by Apple in order to find out why the public make the conscious decision to purchase or upgrade to an Android-powered device rather than an iPhone. The results of the survey are broken down into a fairly simple horizontal bar chart and actually highlights a few interesting responses from the public that we possibly wouldn’t have guessed off our own backs.

It seems that the main reason why users opt for an Android device is purely down to their current network provider not being able to offer the iPhone. The desire to stay with their preferred network, either as a new purchase or an upgrade, accounted for 48% of those who took part in the survey and raises an interesting question about just how dominant the iPhone would be in the marketplace today if Apple had deals in place with additional networks at the time.

• Wanted to stay with current wireless service provider: 48%
• Trusted the Google brand: 36%
• Preferred larger screen: 30%
• Preferred the Android market for apps(Gmail, Google Docs, Google-Voice): 27%
• Wanted better integration with google services: 26%
• Wanted the latest and greatest smartphone: 26%
• Wanted turn by turn GPS navigation: 25%
• Wanted the latest technology: 25%

In places like the United Kingdom, this wouldn’t have been such a big issue considering the iPhone is available – and has been for quite some time – on all major network providers such as Orange, Vodafone, O2 and Three UK. However, in the United States, Apple has an exclusivity deal with AT&T dating back to the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, meaning they were unable to offer the device on networks like Sprint and Verizon until now. Additionally, those who took part in the survey also indicated that they leaned towards Android due to the trust which they placed in the Google brand as well as enjoying having access to a larger display.

$60,000 Worth Of Computers And Personal Stuff Stolen From Home Of Late Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and former CEO, is responsible for some of the most iconic products seen in modern technology, and his untimely death in October from pancreatic cancer left a huge hole not only in his own company, but the tech sphere in general.

As his family try to deal with their loss, some particularly heartless and unscrupulous individuals have, according to a report over at MercuryNews, sneaked into his Silicon Valley home to take away more than $60,000 worth of computers and other treasured items.

The suspects are now said to be held in custody for the for the recent illegal act, although no information has been revealed regarding whether the goods actually belonged to Jobs himself. Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tom Flattery, who is a member of the high-technology crimes unit, noted the Jobs home on the 2100 block of Waverley Street in Palo Alto was entered and goods were taken back on July 17, and some weeks later, Kariem McFarlin, 35, was arrested for the crimes.

[image credit: Forbes]

McFarlin is now in jail on $500,000 bail, and it is widely presumed his family were not at the premises at the time when this happened. The fact the house was under renovations meant scaffolding and various other construction paraphernalia were present in and around the house, which may have made breaking and entering that little bit easier on the assailant.

Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of the late, great innovator, was not at the home at the time, but will no doubt have found the thought of somebody sifting through their property as very disconcerting indeed.

Jobs was in charge of Apple when it first brought forth the iPod, and since then, the Cupertino, California-based company hasn’t really looked back. Jobs continued as the company’s talisman through many generations of iPod before it introduced the revolutionary iPhone smartphone in 2007.

The MacBook range, while still a great deal behind Windows notebooks in terms of sales units, has revolutionized the way we look at computing on-the-fly, as has the iPad, which was released under the Jobs reign in 2010.

Had illness not caught up with Jobs, he would doubtlessly be leading Apple into its next direction, and Tim Cook certainly has a lot of work to do if he’s to emulate the success of his predecessor.

Android 4.1 Update For Galaxy S III Reportedly Coming By The End Of This Month

Most of the attention of the technology loving world has been lavished on Apple and Samsung over the last two weeks, partly because they are the two largest smartphone vendors in the world and are currently actively competing against each for the top spot, but also due to the fact that they are currently locked in a fairly bitter legal dispute in California to resolve whether or not Samsung did indeed “slavishly” copy the design of the iPhone. As entertaining as the court case is, and as enjoyable as the information that it is unearthing, we should really try to step away from the fact that two of the industry’s largest names have had to go down this route and instead concentrate on the wonderful products they both offer.

Apple obviously have us all on a red-alert state of excitement with the imminent announcement of the next-generation iPhone, as well as Samsung finalizing the launch details of their rather sizeable Galaxy Note II phablet. The Korean giants also has one of the most popular smartphones on the market at the moment, the Galaxy S III, and if internet speculation is to be believed then those S III owners could be set to receive a nice little sugary upgrade in the coming weeks.

Those who are new to Android or relatively new to smartphone ownership can sometimes struggle to understand the way the distribution of the operating system works, especially if they have come from being an iOS user. Whenever a new version of iOS is launched, Apple immediately pushes the download to compatible devices, allowing users to always be on the latest version if they desire. Unfortunately for users, Android doesn’t follow the same distribution philosophies, and those who own the Galaxy S III are currently stuck with Ice Cream Sandwich, which isn’t really a great issue to be honest, but it is nice to be able to use the latest version of something.

If the speculation turns out to be true then Samsung could make the Jelly Bean 4.1 update available to S III owners starting on August 29th, which will be an extremely productive day for the world’s largest smartphone vendor as it is also the day they grace the IFA trade show with the announcement pertaining to the second-generation Galaxy Note. As is usually the case with Android’s over-the-air updates, just because the manufacturer gives the go-ahead doesn’t mean users will immediately be able to to access the download. Carriers often have to approve the update themselves, meaning there will be a time delay that is entirely dependent on the network.

Nokia, Microsoft Sends Out Event Invites For September 5, Possibly To Announce New Windows Phone 8 Lumia Devices

The next moves of Microsoft and the Windows Phone 8 platform are extremely critical in mobile space. Currently dominated by iOS and Android, no other platform has the potential to compete with the two titans quite like Windows Phone 8, and although some details are still scarce, the evolved mobile ecosystem will cater to more powerful devices than ever before.

Although plenty of manufacturers are jumping on the Windows Phone 8 bandwagon, the focus is rightly centered around what Finnish company Nokia has in store. The once-domineering manufacturer lost its way somewhat in the mobile market, and has since focused most of its efforts on Microsoft’s OS, ditching support for its own Symbian OS in the process.

Despite Windows Phone having not made a huge indent on Android and iOS’s supremacy, the Nokia Lumia devices have certainly caused something of a stir. The Lumia 900 in particular, yielded praise from many, including Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak, who lauded it as one of the best devices on the market, with WP7.x being, in his eyes, the best mobile platform.

It’s now looking like both Nokia and Microsoft will be announcing the first Windows Phone 8 device on 5th September. Invites have been sent out to by the two companies regarding a Windows Phone-centric event on September 5th, which, incidentally, is also the same day as Nokia World’s opener.

Rumors have been rife that Nokia would be announcing something on the first week of September, and although the invitations have not confirmed this to be the case, it’s unlikely to be anything else.

The invites are said to make reference to Nokia’s Maps service, so there will be plenty of discussion with regards to that, but even though companies often try to make software the focal topic of discussion, there’s little doubt the tech world will be more keen to see what the devices will look like.

Going by the first few Lumias, we’re expecting similarly slick designs throughout, but the hardware packed within will certainly be of the most interest. Will we finally see our first dual-core Windows Phone?

Windows 8 RTM Enterprise 90-Day Evaluation Trial Now Available

Microsoft is now offering a 90-day trial of Windows 8 Enterprise edition for development and evaluation purposes.

Set to arrive on October 26th for general public, Windows 8 will drop for desktop, tablet and smartphone simultaneously, it appears to be the most significant update to the OS to date. Much like the Release Preview we’ve all already had the chance to play around with, the RTM (final shipping version) build comes with a few additional changes and tweaks.

Earlier today, Microsoft released the final bits of Windows 8 RTM to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Students with DreamSpark Premium accounts will get access to it on August 25th.

For those of you who don’t have access to either of the above mentioned subscriptions, Microsoft has made available the 90-day trial of Windows 8 Enterprise edition that can now be had for evaluation purposes. We recommend that you give it a shot in case you’re very eager to jump off the Windows 7 bandwagon and are seriously planning to upgrade to Windows 8. The option is there.

This evaluation provides a 90-day trial of Windows 8 Enterprise edition. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available as ISO images in the following languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, English (UK), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish. In order to use this evaluation, you must register and the product must be activated online with Microsoft-hosted activation and validation services. Microsoft does not provide technical support for this software.

Perhaps the only downside to it is that once the 90-days evaluation period is over, you cannot upgrade it to the final version, your desktop will go black, and your PC will shut down on an hourly basis.

Things to Know Before You Start

• The evaluation edition will expire and cannot be upgraded.
• To upgrade, the evaluation must be uninstalled and a non-evaluation version of Windows must be re-installed from your original installation media.

For those of you interested, the download links for both x86 and x64 versions of Windows 8 Enterprise evaluation for developers can be found at the source link from Microsoft below.

WSJ: Apple In Talks With Cable Providers To Bring Live Channels On A New Set-Top Box Device

According to a report over at the Wall Street Journal, Cupertino, Calif. based outfit Apple is currently in talks with cable television networks in an attempt to utilize its Apple TV device as a proper set-top-box. Although once described by CEO Tim Cook as a “hobby” of Apple’s, the gizmo has slowly but surely evolved into a decent product – one which now uses an A5 processor to pump out 1080p media to HDTVs.

Apple has a wealth of TV-based content already via the iTunes Store, although that will not interfere with what is apparently being prepared here. The fruit company, it is alleged, will not build its own database of TV shows and content in order to compete with the services already in existence, but essentially route those services through Apple TV. The idea is not perhaps as prosperous to Apple as having its own TV service, but it’s most certainly a start, and it doesn’t necessarily mean Cook’s company won’t consider such a move in the future.

The current third-gen Apple TV device only emerged in March alongside the iPad 3, but the WSJ report also stipulates Apple’s cable TV ventures wouldn’t necessarily be catering to the current Apple TV box. The plans could either be for a next-gen Apple TV device, or – sorry, we couldn’t help it – the incessantly-mentioned connected TV set Apple is said to be plotting.

Although Apple’s TV set is, to many analysts, a foregone conclusion, it seems to keep cropping up as a rumor before dying down, and the discussions Apple is said to be holding will undoubtedly pour gasoline on that fire once more.

Apple Inc. is in talks with some of the biggest U.S. cable operators about letting consumers use an Apple device as a set-top box for live television and other content, according to people familiar with the matter.

As the Journal’s report continues, “two people briefed on the matter” would not discount the possibility of the technology being embedded into a television set, whilst also adding Apple has prototyped such a project in the past. The report also adds that talks between Apple and the networks have yet to reach any agreements, although one suspects if the company wants things to work out in this particular field, it has the means to make it happen.

Long Live Flash: Adobe Stops Supporting Flash On Android

Adobe’s Flash has come under a lot of scrutiny over the past few years, notably from Apple, whose then-CEO Steve Jobs wrote an open letter outlining his reasons for not implementing it on any of his company’s iOS devices. Things have gone downhill from there, and with HTML5 becoming more and more widely-utilized, Flash is most certainly being phased out from our devices.

Although iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices have never been able to run Flash – something which can be of annoyance to those frequenting Flash-reliant sites – Android smartphones and tablets have both been supported, although Adobe pledged to pull the plug on support for Google’s mobile platform in an announcement made late last year, and some time back as well.

The company, which maintains and develops pivotal software like Photoshop, noted at the time that August 15th would be the date support would cease, and true to its word, there will no longer be any support for Adobe Flash. It is, and still will continue to be available at the Google Play Store, but those running newer devices are strongly urged not to download the abandoned software.

The news is certain to arouse mixed emotions within the tech industry. Like many contentious and divisive subjects, Flash has become a love it or hate it affair in the eyes of most, and those not in favor of Flash tend to see installing it on their own devices as some form of contamination. That said, there’ll likely be quite a few folk disheartened to see the support end – particularly since the Web hasn’t been completely HTML5-ified at this point in time, and many hunts still depend on Flash Player in order to operate properly.

The Google Play listing notes:

Flash Player is no longer being updated for new device configurations. . Flash Player will not be supported on any Android version beyond Android 4.0.x.

That discounts anybody on Android’s buttery smooth Jelly Bean (4.1), as well as anybody planning to purchase one of the seemingly many upcoming Android devices.

Flash is in the process of being phased out for all smartphones, but although there’ll be an immediate mixture of celebrations and public lamenting, I do feel it’s a step in the right direction.

Apple Couldn’t Have Sold Any iPhone Without The Help Of Our Patents: Samsung

For those of us who are on the outside looking in, it appears that the war of the patents between Apple and Samsung isn’t likely to come to any kind of mutually beneficial end any time soon. Both companies are exercising their right to accuse the other of infringing on patents which they individually own, claims that have resulted in certain Samsung devices being banned from sale in the United States. Samsung had earlier appealed the decision but found themselves on the wrong end of the result as the hearing judge decided not to overturn the decision in favor of a trial.

The official trial for this case is set to begin next week, and in normal circumstances it would be big news to know that two of the world’s largest technology companies and the two biggest players in the mobile tech game are about to go head to head in a court of law. But considering this has been ongoing for a considerable length of time, it just seems like an everyday occurrence now. In the run up to the case next week we can obviously expect both sides to be finalizing their cases, but it is the trial documents from Samsung’s legal team that provide an insight into what the Korean company hopes to achieve as the outcome.

The document itself is obviously extremely in-depth and presents the arguments of the company and outlines what they are hoping to gain from going to trial. Although Samsung is the one who is currently on the wrong side of the fence, their legal document makes some rather startling claims including one that claims Apple wouldn’t have been able to sell a single iPhone without the help of their patented technology:

Samsung has been researching and developing mobile telecommunications technology since at least as early as 1991 and invented much of the technology for today‘s smartphones. Indeed, Apple, which sold its first iPhone nearly twenty years after Samsung started developing mobile phone technology, could not have sold a single iPhone without the benefit of Samsung‘s patented technology.

Samsung is also claiming that they were in advanced stages of product development before Apple even entered the smartphone market with the original iPhone back in mid 2007. The document claims that the design features on the products in question were similar to those of the resulting iPhone but in no way did the Samsung change their design direction to copy the iPhone after it became public knowledge. The document is packed to the rafters with insightful and interesting information, including but not limited to, claims that Apple is using their patented technology that relates to communicating with other devices without actually paying for it.

Regardless of what happens during the official trial, it will be extremely interesting to see what the judge makes of both Apple’s and Samsung’s legal briefs.

Apple Celebrates Yet Another Win Over Motorola Mobility In German Court

It is proving to be extremely difficult to keep score in the on going legal disputes between Apple and Motorola, with both companies notching up temporary victories in the last few weeks. Today however, the victory banner will be printed with Apple’s name, as the Higher Regional Court in Karlsruhe, Germany, have ruled in the fruit company’s favor against Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI).

The ruling comes via an appeals court and relates to the recent ruling in Germany which forced Apple to remove all iPhones and iPads from their online store which featured 3G technology. The original ban came as a result of yet another patent complaint filed against them by Motorola, once again in Germany. The claim was made as MMI believed that Apple’s 3G-capable iOS devices infringed on a patent they owned relating to UMTS technologies.

The victory for Apple in the appeals court will temporarily block the previous verdict, meaning Motorola cannot enforce the original ruling, leaving Apple free to place all 3G-capable devices back on the German version of their sales site. To ensure the ruling went in their favor, Apple revised license-agreement terms that it offered to Motorola, which was confirmed by a court issued e-mail. The court also confirmed that Motorola Mobility would be in violation of its legal duties if it insisted on the sales ban:

At the current state of the proceedings, it is to be assumed that Motorola Mobility would violate its duties under antitrust rules if it continues to ask Apple to stop the sales.

Both companies are involved in a number of disputes, not only against each other, but also against other technology companies in the industry. However, Bloomberg are reporting that this particular litigation is centered around what is known as a standard essential patent that companies are required to license to competitors, as the production of products would not be possible without the technology. The same site is also reporting that Apple have filed an additional complaint with the EU against the soon to be Google-owned company which accuses them of violating a promise to license industry standard patents on fair and agreeable terms.

The ruling made today will obviously help Apple going forward in this case, but as we have seen with previous patent infringement cases, anything can happen. Whatever the final outcome may be, I think it is pretty safe to say that both companies will continue to pursue each other through the legal systems in order to gain the upper hand.