Six Bidders for Colombia's 4G Spectrum Auction

Published on: 19th May 2013

?The Colombian government has received six applications for the country's forthcoming 4G license auction.

The ICT Minister, Diego Molano told the Reuters news agency that bids have been received from Avantel; DirecTV; Claro, Tigo, Colombia Telecomunicaciones and a consortium of companies led by Mexico's Azteca.

The reserve price in the radio spectrum auction has been set at US$250 million, make social donations to schools and provide services to the military.

"The government is pleased that a good number of companies are interested in taking part because that means that we put the right rules for the tender," Molano told journalists.

However, early indications had been that the government would offer seven licenses. With just six bidders, it is unlikely that the reserve fee will be exceeded by a significant amount.

The shortlist of bidders is due to be announced on the 26th June.

On the web: Reuters

Tags: [4g license]  [Colombia] 

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Is Intel inside the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1?

Early Saturday morning, before the rooster was up to crow about the day ahead, we told you about the Lenovo IdeaPhone K900 getting to see the light of day in China. We mainly discussed that the phone has "Intel Inside". According to another GL Benchmark test, a device with the model number GT-P5200 will feature a 1.6Ghz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 Clover Trail+ paired with an PowerVR SGX 544MP working on the graphics. What's the GT-P5200 you ask? While no announcement has been made, it would seem to be the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. We come to that conclusion quite easily considering that the GT-P5100 is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.

Earlier this month, the device was spotted on the AnTuTu Benchmark site running a 1.6GHz processor which dovetails perfectly with the information from the GL Benchmark test. The Korean based OEM is believed to be working on three different models with the GT-P5210 a Wi-Fi only variant, the GT-P5200 giving users Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, and the GT-P5220 allowing users to hook-up with both Wi-Fi and a 4G LTE network. We should note that the tablet produced an impressive 24616 score on the AnTuTu site putting its performance right up there with the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Based on the GL Benchmark test, we expect to see the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 come to market with a 10.1 inch display (natch) carrying a 1280 x 800 resolution. No word yet on when we might see this slate launched, or how much it is going to cost you.

source: GLBenchmark via AndroidAuthority

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Nearly two-thirds of former BlackBerry users hear the siren call from the BlackBerry Q10

Even before the QWERTY equipped BlackBerry Q10 started to rollout late last month in Canada and the U.K., it seemed to be obvious that this was the model that would make or break BlackBerry 10. Even BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins seemed to come around to the idea that the all-touch BlackBerry Z10 was not the device that BlackBerry fans hungered for.

What made Heins' decision to release the BlackBerry Z10 first a possibly fatal error, is that once again the company was demonstrating nothing more than a "me-too" reaction to the large number of touch screen Android and Apple iPhone models that were stealing enterprise business away from BlackBerry, especially in the BYOD niche of that market. Instead of playing to its strengths and offering a model with the physical QWERTY keyboard that the company is known for, the Canadian manufacturer ended up trying to compete in a game it just cannot win. Instead, had it released the Q10 first, it could have differentiated itself from the pack.

Hopefully for the company, it is not too late as pent up demand for the BlackBerry Q10 helped drive strong sales in Canada and the U.K. With T-Mobile making a last second U-turn and deciding to offer the device when it launches in the U.S., there must be something that the carrier's executives saw that made them decide to offer the device.

Meanwhile, a poll taken of 1300 people at this past week's BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando found that 64% of those former BlackBerry users who switched to the Apple iPhone or an Android handset, are tempted by the BlackBerry Q10 to return to the platform. Of over 1200 current BlackBerry users, 76% of them said that the BlackBerry Q10 is enough to keep them loyal to the platform.

The two poll results should put a smile on Thorsten Heins' face this weekend even if he sits back to ponder whether or not he made a mistake by launching the BlackBerry Z10 first.

source: ZDNet

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Dell's thumb-sized Android PC to ship in July

This July, Dell is expected to start selling its Android flavored PC that is the size of a thumb. Actually, it is a USB device that looks like a flash drive and contains the Android OS. Users plug it into the HDMI port on a modern television set, which turns the screen into a smart device. The USB plug-in will cost $100. Code named Project Ophelia by Dell, the latter displayed it during CES in January. It will be shown off again starting this Tuesday at the Citrix Synergy conference in Los Angeles on both a 19 inch and 55 inch screen. Any display can be turned into a PC, gaming machine or a TV set-top box and the device will allow the user to download apps and games from the Google Play Store as well as stream movies from Netflix or Hulu. Also included on the device is Wyse's PocketCloud, which will let users access stored content on mobile devices, PCs and servers. If lost, the device can be remotely wiped.

Jeff McNaught, executive director of cloud client computing at Dell, said that the device is meant to be a cheap alternative to PCs or tablets and the company is working on a way to type when the Ophelia is plugged into a screen. As is the case these days with new devices, developers will get first crack at Ophelia so that they can write apps for them. In August, it will be available to customers of cable or telecom providers bundled with special offers. After that, it will be made available to the public from Dell's website.

source: PCWorld via electronista

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Stock Android version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is an adjusted T-Mobile model?

According to a published report, the stock Android version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 that was displayed this past week at Google I/O, is actually a modified T-Mobile version of the phone (SGH-M919). Using FCC data for the model, and knowing that it offers AT&T and T-Mobile LTE and WCDMA connectivity, the T-Mobile variant of the phone is the only one that fits. The fact that Google is apparently choosing to call the phone's stock Android modification the "Nexus user experience" rather than the "Google Experience" as it once called the Motorola DROID for example, is indicative of Google's intention to deliver all updates directly.

The SGH-M919 supports LTE bands 2,4,5 and 17 while also supporting bands 2,4 and 5 of WCDMA. It is the exact same hardware that AT&T uses for its variant of the Samsung Galaxy S4 minus the RAT (Radio Access Technology) locking that the carrier installs to lock out WCDMA Band 4. T-Mobile customers need to have a connection to this Band so they can have an easier time connecting to their network. Because AT&T uses RAT on its phone, we can eliminate that variant as the "Nexus user experience" model.

So this means that only the T-Mobile version of the device has all the pieces required to be the "Nexus user experience" version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 that will be available from the Google Play Store for $649. It has the correct connectivity match and it also has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 under the hood. The reasons to buy the phone are clear. No TouchWiz, an unlocked bootloader, and the most important of all, prompt system updates. If enough of these phones get sold, we are certain to see some major improvements in the monthly Android distribution stats released by Google, with more users running the latest version of the OS.

source: AnandTech via AndroidAuthoity

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BlackBerry market share doubles in Canada during Q1

Earlier Saturday, we told you about two polls taken at BlackBerry Live this past week that seem to show that the QWERTY equipped BlackBerry Q10 might just help the company grab some business away from competing platforms including iOS and Android. In Canada, this has already started, at least according to Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt. In a note to clients, the analyst says that with the excitement of the release of the new BlackBerry Z10, the company more than doubled its market share in its home country during the first quarter from 6% to 13.5% This is definitely a rebuilding process because in the first quarter of 2011 the company had a market share of 21.8% in Canada. McCourt expects the company to continue to pick up market share thanks to the BlackBerry Q10 which was launched late last month and is off to a good start in the country. Still, BlackBerry has a long way to go to catch up with Apple and Samsung. Apple's first quarter market share in Canada dropped sequentially from 44% to 40.1% while Samsung's slice of the Canadian smartphone pie dropped from 32.1% to 29.8% during the same period.

While BlackBerry's Canadian numbers sound good, the company continues to have a tough time of it globally. According to McCourt, world-wide volumes were down 37% year over year in Q1, while in emerging markets volumes were down 33%. With the company's share in emerging markets down to 2.7% last quarter from 3.9% in Q4, McCourt is counting on the decision to open up BBM to help turn things around. To that, we would add that the launch of the BlackBerry Q5 might also help. This is a lower priced BlackBerry 10 model with the same 3.1inch 720 x 720 screen found on the Q10. Underneath is a physical QWERTY keyboard. The device will be found this summer in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East in black, white, red or pink.

source: Barron's via CNET

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Images and summary from day 2 of Google I/O

It was a day packed with information sessions and sandbox exhibits for the developer community attending Google I/O 2013.

We sat down with some Google team members and developers that are working an area of Android that is making some major strides forward with accessibility for people contending with low-vision eyesight or blindness altogether.

That story will be making its way up later today as will be a follow-up to the new Google Maps and all its upcoming features, plus we will be bringing more developer perspective from the conference. Naturally we will have more general pictures of everything going on at Google I/O 2013 in San Francisco.

Google employees are everywhere talking with developers and they are being quite helpful to the bloggers and media that are on site as well. Everything has gone off without a hitch with exception to the internet connectivity. The Wi-Fi networks are simply getting crushed and based on the personnel roaming the halls scanning the spectrum in every corner, there is just not enough radio spectrum to accommodate everyone.

During the keynote, that issue affected a couple of the demonstrations, so no one has been immune. Thankfully we can plug in to an Ethernet jack to make things happen. While we explore the world of Google as seen through the eyes of a developer on the third and final day of the conference, enjoy these images from day two and keep checking back with us for more news and cool stuff coming from Google I/O!

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