This is my next got a confirmation from Nuance that the company has acquired Swype for “approximately $100 million.”
Nuance makes the popular Dragon dictation software, and also the powers many voice recognition solutions in today’s smartphones. Also, Apple’s Siri is rumored to be powered by Nuance’s technology.
Swype again is a software keyboard which allows the user to slide over the keyboard with his finger, without the time-consuming tapping that is usually associated with touchscreen typing.
Cupertino is mourning after the news broke that Apple’s ex-CEO Steve Jobs passed away. In the image above you can see flags flying at half mast at the Cupertino campus. The image was grabbed by Robert Scoble.
Boeing has chosen Android to power their in-flight entertainment system on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Airlines are able to choose which entertainment system they choose for other aircrafts, but the 787 Dreamliner will feature a package deal to save costs, and hence will come with Android on-board.
This entertainment system will cover music and video playback, together with applications that run on screen sizes ranging from 7 to 17 inches. The first Boeing 787 is expected to be delivered on September 26th.
The success story of Angry Birds doesn’t seem to end, does it? The game reached another milestone today by breaking the 350 million downloads mark. Angry Birds was released in December 2009 on iOS, and now it has spanned to almost every popular platform out there. Angry Birds can at least be played on the following platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, webOS, PlayStation 3, PSP, Windows, OS X and Google’s Chrome browser.
Great Japanese commercial for the Fujitsu IS12T. I don’t think a commercial like this would work well in Europe. Take a look and decide for yourself! Awesome! :)
Intel has allegedly cancelled development of the MeeGo platform due to lack of interest from hardware manufacturers. Intel and Nokia originally created the MeeGo platform to bring a Linux-based OS to smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle systems. Once Nokia decided to change their main smartphone strategy to Windows Phone, the whole MeeGo platform was left on thin support. Now also Intel is planning to withdraw from the project, and no-one are actually working on developing it. I guess this is the final sentence for the platform if this actually turns out to be true. We’ll see if some other developer will pick up the development process of MeeGo, but until that happens, I consider this platform dead.
Japan’s KDDI operator has finally confirmed the rumors of an early ship date of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. They’ve confirmed that the Toshiba-Fujitsu IS12T will in fact ship on August 25. When will we see the other Mango devices go public? The two separate events on September 1 by both Samsung and HTC would indicate that this is the date when the rest of the world will get Mango.
Ameblo has learned that the KDDI bound Fujitsu IS12T will be sold for 73,500 yen (roughly €665) off-contract, and 35,100 yen (€318) with a new 2-year contract. There’s currently no info on whether this device will be sold outside of Japan. It would certainly be cool to have this in Europe too. The IS12T is the first Windows Phone Mango device, and also the first WP device that is water-proof, and has a 13-megapixel camera.
The Finns are crazy mobile phone users. According to a recent study conducted by DNA, one of the largest mobile operators in Finland, 68-percent of 7-year-olds have a mobile phone in Finland. Add one year more, and a staggering 89-percent have a mobile phone! The graph above shows the age on the left, and the percentage above (and the exact value on the right).
According to DNA, parents want their children to have a mobile phone when they go to school. The biggest reason for children of this age to get a phone is the added sense of security. 53% of the parents choose to block premium numbers, and 25% set a balance limit for their children’s mobile phone usage.
