Motorola sells refurbished Xooms with previous users data

Motorola has quite the situation on their hands after revealing that some refurbished Xoom tablets were resold without completely wiping the previous owners data. 

Motorola Mobility said Friday that approximately 100 refurbished Xooms were sold by Woot.com in late 2011 without clearing all personal information from the devices. The tablets that were resold could still have everything the original inputed into the device including photos, documents, user names, passwords and applications. The company is calling the mistake a "refurbishment process error."

Doing the right thing, customers who returned the tablets to retailers will receive a complimentary two-year membership of Experian ProtectMyID. Experian's services will alert customers if anything goes wrong with their identity but are also advised to change passwords to email and other online accounts. Of course all the blame can't be put on Motorola, most users should have and did perform a factory data reset before returning and therefore are not threatened. 

Those who bought a refurbished Xoom from Woot.com are asked to contact Motorola directly to find out if the tablet they bought was properly resold. Customers can go to motorola.com/xoomreturn or call customer support. Motorola says the affected tablets were bought from October to December 2011.

iOS developer “reluctantly” admits to building Internet tethering easter egg into “iRandomizer Numbers” app

According to a report from InformationWeek, iOS developer and CEO of Shmoopi, LLC, Nick Kramer, has admitted to including a so-called "easter egg" in his iRandomizer Numbers app, which is currently available on the App Store, that allows users to take advantage of Internet tethering without paying extra through a carrier. 

Kramer says that he initially built the feature for his "family and close friends" and didn't think that the extra, unannounced "feature" would leak out to the general public. To use Internet tethering through the app, you have to enter the number "1984" in the minimum field and "31337" in the maximum field. Normally, the app is just a random number generator. 

Kramer goes on to explain that he published the app at a high price tag of $4.99 to discourage normal users from purchasing the app, because of the hidden Internet tethering feature included. 

Including an undocumented or hidden feature in an iOS app is against Apple's current App Store Review Guidelines for developers, which means iRandomizer Numbers is subject to removal by the company. It would join an ever-growing list of apps that attempt to sneak in Internet tethering into the App Store, the last being the app "Handy Light" back in 2010. 

Nick Kramer, CEO of Shmoopi, LLC, acknowledged in an email that his app supports tethering. "Reluctantly, I will admit that my application 'iRandomizer Numbers' does have a hidden tethering feature," he wrote. "I say reluctantly because I didn't plan on the feature being released. I designed the tethering functionality for my family and close friends not thinking it would be disseminated outside that circle."

If you're thinking about picking this app up, now is probably the time to do it.

Apple Genius Bar employee not following procedure resulted in customer receiving errant iMessages

The Loop has posted a statement from an Apple spokesperson regarding the reason of why one Apple customer began receiving iMessages on their iPhone that were meant for the Genius Bar employee that helped the customer diagnose an issue with the device. According to previous reports, the customer had an issue with the iPhone, brought it into an Apple Store for checkup, and shortly after began receiving messages that were intended for the employee that worked on the device. 

The Loop says that the employee followed incorrect and unofficial procedures by using the SIM card from their iPhone in the customer's iPhone, leading to confusion of phone numbers between the smartphones. It was initially believed that this was a bug with iMessage, Apple's iOS-to-iOS messaging service that debuted in iOS 5, but Apple has since stated that this is a "rare situation." 

“This was an extremely rare situation that occurred when a retail employee did not follow the correct service procedure and used their personal SIM to help a customer who did not have a working SIM,” Apple representative Natalie Harrison told The Loop. “This resulted in a temporary situation that has since been resolved by the employee.”

RIM offering free PlayBooks to Android developers who submit their apps to App World

Desperate for a more attractive application market Research In Motion is offering Android developers free BlackBerry PlayBooks to those who submit their applications to the BlackBerry App World. 

The promotion was announced by RIM VP of Developer Relations Alec Saunders on Twitter earlier this week. Even with a large incentive like free hardware it is hard to tell if developers will take the time to convert applications for the struggling PlayBook. 

RIM offers developer tools for Android such as the Eclipse plugin for Android to help sign and test apps before distribution. The plugin also works with the BlackBerry PlayBook for running and debugging. 

Research in Motion launches “Be Bold” advertising campaign

Today, Canada-based Research in Motion unveiled the first set of its new "Be Bold" advertising campaign, which focuses on how BlackBerry devices can be used in the public. The new ads feature new actors, but have the same general idea of RIM's previous ad campaigns, which means many aren't very impressed. 

The new ads are below:

Android “Bouncer” service revealed – scans Android Market for malicious content

Google today announced a new service that it will be rolling out dubbed "Bouncer." Bouncer is a feature that will automatically scan the Android Market for any possible malicious content, without interrupting a user's normal experience on the store. 

The service performs a set of analyses on new applications, applications already in Android Market, and developer accounts. Here’s how it works: once an application is uploaded, the service immediately starts analyzing it for known malware, spyware and trojans. It also looks for behaviors that indicate an application might be misbehaving, and compares it against previously analyzed apps to detect possible red flags. We actually run every application on Google’s cloud infrastructure and simulate how it will run on an Android device to look for hidden, malicious behavior. We also analyze new developer accounts to help prevent malicious and repeat-offending developers from coming back.

Apple denied preliminary ban request on Galaxy Tab 10.1N and Galaxy Nexus in Germany

According to Bloomberg, a German court has denied Apple's request of a preliminary ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.N and Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the country. Apple claimed that a patent it controls related to touchscreen technologies in tablets and smartphones is being infringed upon in Samsung's devices, but the Munich Regional Court thought otherwise. 

"Samsung has shown that it is more likely than not that the patent will be revoked because of a technology that was already on the market before the intellectual property had been filed for protection," Presiding Judge Andreas Mueller said when delivering the ruling.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N is a modified version of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 designed specifically for sale in Germany. The tablet went on sale late last year and sports a slightly modified bezel design and different speaker location. 

BlackBerry “London” smartphone leaked

CrackBerry has posted a leaked image of what appears to be the long-rumored BlackBerry "London" smartphone, which will likely be Research in Motion's first BlackBerry 10 OS device. Comparing the image above to some previous leaks of the same phone show that the London seems to have undergone some serious design changes over the past few months. 

The London featured above looks very similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, sporting rounded edges and an all-black finish. 

Talking hardware for a moment, we're hearing that both the TI OMAP5 and Qualcomm chipsets are being tested (1.5GHz dual core processors). If we look ahead by looking at BlackBerry history, it could be that Qualcomm is for the CDMA carriers. All we know is that with the BlackBerry PlayBook rocking and rolling the PlayBook OS at 1Ghz, that with 1.5Ghz as a baseline BlackBerry 10 phones will not be lacking in the performance department.

The BlackBerry London is expected to be released in the U.K. sometime this year, while the BlackBerry "Laguna" and "Lisbon" will be for the U.S. 

Samsung plans to launch a “revolutionary” device in its first ever Super Bowl ad this Sunday

There's two reasons why we watch the Super Bowl every year. The first is obviously the game itself (who's your pick - Pats or Giants?) and the second are the advertisements that companies run in between the game. They're what everyone talks about for the next week, maybe even more than the game itself. Some companies have already revealed at least parts of their Super Bowl ads that will be airing to millions of people worldwide, but many are keeping the special commercial under wraps for the time being.

Samsung has tweeted out today that it will be using the Super Bowl to "launch a device so revolutionary only an ad in America's biggest game can do it justice." This will be the South Korean-based company's first advertisement ever that will air during the Super Bowl.

We're telling fans first: Next Sunday we launch a device so revolutionary only an ad in America's biggest game can do it justice.

— Samsung Mobile US (@SamsungMobileUS) January 30, 2012

The company is hinting on its Twitter account that the ad will be regarding the Samsung Galaxy Note, the 5.3-inch Android smartphone that will be launching on AT&T on February 19. 

The ad is set to run sometime during the fourth quarter of the big game and Samsung is calling it "one of the longest in the game." 

Samsung announces Galaxy S Advance

Today, Samsung announced the Galaxy S Advance smartphone, which sports a dual-core 1 GHz processor and is powered by Android OS 2.3 (a.k.a. "Gingerbread"). The device features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display at a 480 x 800 pixels resolution and has a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. It also comes with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting. 

The GALAXY S Advance’s curved glass design enhances handling of the phone and fits the user’s facial form easily and naturally. Its 4.0” Super AMOLED display provides the stunning visuals users have come to expect of Samsung GALAXY smartphones, offering unparalleled color reproduction and ensuring that photos and videos captured with the device’s 5MP camera can be enjoyed with vivid clarity.

The Galaxy S Advance weighs in at about 0.2 pounds. 

Rollout plans and pricing of the device is currently unclear.

Samsung Galaxy Note coming to AT&T on February 19

Today, AT&T revealed that the previously announced Samsung Galaxy Note will be arriving on its network on February 19, 2012. The Galaxy Note, which comes in either carbon blue or ceramic white finishes, will be available for $299.99 with a new two-year contract from the carrier. In addition, customers will have the ability to pre-order the device beginning on February 5 either on AT&T's website or in-store. 

The Samsung Galaxy Note will be the first smartphone ever to sport a 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display at a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The device also includes a stylus called the "S Pen," which allows users to "create fine lines and detail" on the Galaxy Note. 

Motorola Mobility reports Q4 2011 financial results – revenue of $3.4 billion

Today, Motorola Mobility reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, announcing a net revenue of $3.4 billion. However, the company did report an $80 million net loss in the quarter, despite net revenues of $13.1 billion for all of 2011. Mobile devices accounted for $2.5 billion of the revenue in the holiday quarter, with 10.5 million devices shipped. 

In regards to its acquisition by Google, Motorola says it "continues to work closely with Google to complete the proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility as expeditiously as possible." The company believes that the deal will be closed sometime in early 2012. Google acquired Motorola back in August 2011 for $12.5 billion. 

AT&T reports Q4 2011 financial results – $32.5 billion revenue

Today, AT&T reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, announcing a consolidated revenue of $32.5 billion, up 3.6% year-over-year. The company says that it sold 9.4 million smartphones in the holiday quarter, representing the best period of three months in AT&T history. The quarter also saw 7.6 million iPhones activated on AT&T's network, as well as giant gains for Android. 

For the full year 2011, compared with 2010 results, AT&T's consolidated revenues totaled $126.7 billion versus $124.3 billion, up 2.0 percent; operating expenses were $117.5 billion, compared with $104.7 billion; net income attributable to AT&T was $3.9 billion versus $19.9 billion; and earnings per diluted share was $0.66 compared with $3.35. Excluding significant items, earnings per share totaled $2.20, compared with $2.29.

The company also says that it added 208,000 AT&T U-Verse TV subscribers for a total number of 3.8 million customers. 

“Speaktoit Assistant” launches in iOS App Store as another Siri alternative

We've just been exclusively informed of the initial release of "Speaktoit Assistant" into the iOS App Store (link). The app functions similarly to Siri in the sense that, the user inputs a question (either by typing it out or speaking), and the assistant will give you a response. Speaktoit also allows you to customize the avatar that you see on the screen, giving the app a little personal feel to it. 

Speaktoit is powered by Nuance technology, just like Siri and Evi, the also relatively new competitor to Siri released earlier this week. 

Speaktoit Assistant is a virtual buddy for your iPhone or iPod that uses natural language technology to answer questions, find information, and connect you with various web services, such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Evernote, and many others.

The Assistant works with your device to get maps, search for news and images, look up weather reports, convert currency and measurements, send email, and much more.

No need to memorize special commands or complex interfaces - simply speak or type in everyday language and the Assistant will understand and respond with what you need.

A major feature of the app is the ability to speak to it naturally, meaning users won't have to follow strict language guidelines to receive an intelligent response. 

The app is currently available on the App Store for $0.99. 

Motorola Mobility files lawsuit against Apple over patent infringement

According to Reuters, Motorola Mobility has filed a lawsuit against Apple in a Florida federal court, claiming that Apple infringes upon some of its patents. The company, which was acquired by Google last year, believes that Apple is using six of its patents in the iPhone 4S and iCloud. The patents in question deal with wireless antennae, software, data filtering and messaging. 

This lawsuit is only the newest in what has been a long battle between Motorola Mobility and Apple over several different patents relating to smartphone technologies. 

HP announces “Open webOS 1.0″

Today, HP gave the first details regarding the now open source webOS mobile platform, cleverly dubbed "Open webOS 1.0." The company released Enyo, its JavaScript app framework, under an open source license, allowing developers to port their apps to other mobile platforms. 

This initial open source release includes Enyo 1.0, which allows current developers of Enyo apps for webOS devices to distribute their apps to other platforms. While this release is not intended to be expanded any further, there is considerable utility for our current developer base in releasing it.

Today’s release also includes the core of Enyo 2.0, which will be the foundation for Enyo going forward. It expands Enyo’s “write once, run anywhere” capability to even more platforms, from mobile devices to desktop web browsers. It works on many of the most popular web browsers, including Chrome, IE 9, Firefox, and Safari.

HP says that the current release of version 2.0 doesn't include UI widgets, but a future release will. In addition, the company notes that a future release will include a version of WebKit, a platform that web browsers are based from, with support for HTML5, Silverlight, Flash, 3D textures and multi-touch. 

More information is available at the official Enyo website.

HP announced last month that it plans to keep webOS, which was killed in August 2011, around as open source development. 

Research in Motion 2012 to early 2013 product roadmap revealed

BGR has compiled a list of what it claims to be Research in Motion's (RIM) product roadmap for 2012 to early 2013. The list of devices include several BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones, as well as a new PlayBook tablet and a couple of BlackBerry 10 OS devices. 

The full roadmap is below:

• RIM plans to introduce two new Curve smartphones within the next few months: the BlackBerry Curve 9230 and the BlackBerry Curve 9320. The 9230 will be an EDGE smartphone and the Curve 9320 will be an HSPA device.
• While we don’t have confirmation on the size, we have heard that RIM will introduce a new PlayBook tablet with 1.5GHz processor, built-in HSPA+ 42Mbps cellular data support and NFC around May or June.
• RIM’s BlackBerry London is still on track for a September launch.
• There is now another BlackBerry 10 smartphone in the works that will launch as part of RIM’s Bold series. The phone features a touchscreen display and QWERTY keyboard, and it is planned for a December release.
• A QWERTY slider running BlackBerry 10 has been talked about for the first quarter of 2013.

RIM's near future has been very shaky as of late, with a report coming earlier this month that the company was working on only one new smartphone at the time. Earlier this week, RIM's Co-Chief Executive Officers stepped down and they have been replaced by now former COO Thorsten Heins. 

Verizon reports Q4 2011 financial results – $28.4 billion revenue

Earlier today, Verizon reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, announcing a total revenue of $28.4 billion. The company says that it saw a record-breaking revenue growth for the holiday quarter, which was fueled by strong wireless sales.

Verizon Wireless accounted for $18.3 billion revenue in Q4, up 13% year-over-year. It also notes: "1.5 million retail net additions (excluding acquisitions and adjustments), largest increase in three years, includes 1.2 million retail postpaid net customer additions; 108.7 million total connections, includes 92.2 million retail customers."

On the wireline side of things, Verizon reported 201,000 FiOS Internet and 194,000 FiOS Video net additions, with a net increase of 98,000. 

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX arrives on Verizon Wireless on January 26

Today, Verizon Wireless announced that the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX, the successor to the still relatively new DROID RAZR, will be hitting store shelves on January 26, 2012. The RAZR MAXX includes performance enhancements when compared to the original smartphone, but Motorola is also touting a huge increase in battery life. The company says that users can expect about 21 hours of usage on a single charge. 

Other specifications of the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX:

• Dual-core 1.2 GHz processor
• Runs on Verizon Wireless 4G LTE
• 8-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of recording in 1080p HD video
• HD front-facing camera 
• 16 GB of onboard storage
• 8.99 mm thin

The DROID RAZR MAXX will be available beginning January 26 for $299.99.

AT&T and T-Mobile file request for transfer of wireless spectrums

According to The Wall Street Journal, AT&T and T-Mobile have filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking for approval of a transfer of $1 billion worth of wireless spectrums. This move is a result of the failed $39 billion AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

AT&T said it would turn over the airwaves, or spectrum, along with $3 billion in cash to T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG after pulling out of the deal as opposition mounted from the FCC, Justice Department, state attorneys general and rival carriers.

“This additional spectrum will help meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services,” said Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile’s senior vice president for government affairs, in an emailed statement. “We hope the FCC will move swiftly to approve the license assignments.”

T-Mobile has made it clear that it is in need of new wireless spectrums, especially considering that it is the only major U.S. carrier that hasn't rolled out a 4G LTE network. 

AT&T withdrew its acquisition request of T-Mobile on December 19, following nine months of hearings and debates with the U.S. government over the deal.