As reported here on Cell Phones Etc. and across the Web, here’s your daily brief on what happened in the world of mobile phones this Monday, May 16th, 2011.
Official: Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab getting Gingerbread update in mid-May
Here’s good news for you Galaxy S owners out there itching to upgrade to Android 2.3. Sammy’s finally confirmed it’s coming, and those in the UK and Nordic countries will be the first to get it. It’s going to being rolling out this month, with other regions, including North America, set to get some Gingerbread goodness “according to the regional plan.” Yeah, they could have at least been more specific about it, but hey, news that Gingerbread is coming to all Galaxy S smartphone should be good enough on its own.
Engadget
The evolution of Nokia and Ovi
Evolution is synonymous with change, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen with Ovi. It’ll undergo a make-over, and the first thing officially out the door is the Ovi name. It’ll be relaunched and simply known as Nokia services, but essentially, it’ll still be the same Ovi Nokia fan boys have become accustomed with. The “evolution” will kick off in July with a completion date set by end of 2012. The name change may seem a bit trivial, but for a company who’s trying to stay competitive in the mobile phone biz, this might just be what they need for a fresh new start.
Nokia Conversations
LOOX F-07C: Fujitsu’s Symbian/Windows 7 Dual Boot Cell Phone Unveiled
What runs on an Intel Atom 1.2GHz processor with 1GB RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium? You’d most likely answer a netbook, but throw in Symbian as a secondary OS and a 4-inch 1,024×600 resolution LCD display into the mix, and I’m pretty sure you’ll now be scratching your head. Well, that’s exactly what Fujitsu’s newest handset has to offer. The LOOX F-07C is a dual-booting smartphone that runs on Symbian, and yes, Windows 7. It’s equipped with a slide-out full QWERTY keypad, a 5.1-megapixel camera, and trackball for navigation. This baby’s debuting in Japan this summer, and as most interesting finds in Japan go, won’t be available elsewhere.
MobileCrunch
Apple patent application implies text-to-speech features in the next iPhone
We’ve heard that Microsoft will be debuting speech-to-text via their Mango update. And based on this latest patent finding, it appears that Apple won’t be far behind, and will be upping the ante by offering both speech-to-text and text-to-speech functionality. Of course, as patents go, this isn’t a guarantee that it’ll make it to the real world. But with the current trend and tech nowadays, it’s definitely got high probability marks.
Geek
Nokia to start talking to Microsoft about phone unit sale week
Still on Nokia news, Eldar Murtazin, the guys who’s very familiar with all things Nokia, has revealed that Nokia will begin “negotiations about the sale of it’s phone unit to Microsoft” this week. If we heard this 2 years, preposerous would be the first thing that came to mind, but given Espoo’s recent dealings with Microsoft, let’s just say we wouldn’t be shocked if this actually pushes through. Surprised, maybe, since the phone unit has and still is the core of Nokia’s existence, but no longer shocked given their present state. Nokia PR has replied with a comment saying: “We normally don’t comment on rumours as you know, but we have to say that Eldar’s rumours are obviously getting less accurate with every passing moment.” It’s a leading statement, but not an outright denial. So for now, we’re casting this one into the rumor bin though we’ll still be keeping tabs on this story as this has history written all over it if this turns out to be true.
Unwiredview
