Motorola defends Android ecosystem, “Happy to focus on products”

Having been bought by Google for in 2011, only to be sold to Lenovo earlier this year, working for Motorola can hardly have been smooth sailing, but the company's VP of software engineering has defended his former employer's defence of the Android operating system following the sale.

Motorola's Steve Horowitz explained to [A HREF="http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/motorola-google-is-android-s-bodyguard-and-that-s-fine-by-us-1233864"]Tech Radar[a] that in a mobile market which Android leads, but which is ever-morphing, he's happy to leave Google to its battles and for Motorola to focus on its own products.

"What Google is successfully doing is taking the role of protecting the entire ecosystem so we can all stop looking at each other and pointing fingers and instead just compete in the marketplace."In protecting the ecosystem, Google might be protecting the technologies and future of Android, but that includes patents acquired from the purchase of Motorola. Those patents didn't transfer to Lenovo as part of the deal to acquire Motorola, with Google keeping a firm hand on the property.Horowitz is seemingly happy with that situation, and for Google to ensure Motorola products can continue making use of patented technologies without issue. "Nobody likes facing battles in the courtroom, right? We have a licence from Google for our patents so we have no problem with Google consolidating and bringing the strength to defend itself."Calling the Android ecosystem "a great place to be", Horowitz and his Motorola colleague will no doubt want to continue adding to their reputations within it. The firm's [A HREF="http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/smartphones/1304926/motorola-moto-x-review-hands-on"]Moto X[a] and [A HREF="http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/smartphones/1303792/motorola-moto-g"]Moto G[a] handsets have impressed so far by all accounts, and both Horowitz and Motorola will hope that continues in the future with Lenovo.

More Battlefield 4 Naval Strike expansion details revealed

Gustav Halling, lead gameplay designer on EA'sBattlefield 4, has taken part in an Ask Dicesession to shed further light on what players can expect from the upcoming Naval Strike expansion.Following on from his recent post detailing the[A HREF="http://blogs.battlefield.com/2014/03/naval-strike-carrier-assault/"]Carrier Assualt mode[a], some of Halling's information isn't exactly new, but the session did provide some very interesting tidbits to whet gamers' appetites.Perhaps most important is the way different units will be able to impact the action. With naval-based combat being the driving force behind the new content, Halling explained that the main challenge was ensuring naval units are even more effective, with others able still able to counter the threat and affect strategic changes in the gameplay:"As always when working with water-based maps the challenge is to give naval units a prominent role on the Battlefield, and at the same time give infantry players enough areas to fight around", Halling explains. It's to be expected that the game's attack crafts should provide the main on-sea threat, while RHIB boats and the new land-and-sea capable hover craft unit provide logistical support.But infantry shouldn't be lost at sea. Halling explains that water-vehicles won't have things all their own way, with players able to "interact within the levels to create and block paths for vehicles, or make other strategic use of the environments." They'll also be able to "close flood doors to stop vehicles from entering a submarine base and capturing the objective inside".The weather may also play a part, adding a little extra chaos, with "many different visual styles" that isn't simply "copying what has already been done in Paracel Storm", but more chaos might also come form the new pieces of kit to be made available. A new M320 grenade launcher gadget allows three successive shots without reloading, albeit with reduced plash damage, while chopper pilots could now be targeted by anti-helicoptor mines.

2014 Mobile News Award winners announced

EE, exertis Micro-P and Lebara Mobile were the biggest winners at last nights 2014 Mobile News Awards gala held in London’s Park Lane Hilton.The telecoms biggest  black tie event, now its 20th sold-out year, was hosted by top TV comedian Greg Davies, who serenaded the 800 plus audience before presenting to the winners.EE collected trophies for Best Network and Best Advertising campaign – featuring Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon and TV chef Jamie Oliver. Lebara also saw double by clinching the Best MVNO gong and the award for Community and Social Enterprise while exteris Micro-P came out on top for Best Hardware Distributor and Best Accessories Distributor.The awards were decided by a panel of 15 independent judges chosen for their industry knowledge and expertise. For the first time Best Network was decided by three criteria of written entry, Mystery Caller Scores, and ratings by independent call measurement organisation RootMetrics. Vodafone clinched its first Best Large Retailer award based on Mystery Shopper scores. Sony Mobile was judged Best Manufacturer and Carphone Warehouse Business won the Best Airtime Distributor category.

Nokia’s Lumia 1020 was voted Innovative Handset while the Dragons Den-backed Reviveaphone product to fix water-damaged phones impressed the judges for Innovative Product. Newly launched global handset trading operation CloudX made a great start, scooping Innovative Service.Other successes on the night went to B2B dealer Uplands Mobile for Customer Service, Evolve Telecom who were named best B2B Dealer, Activ8 best Accessories Manufacturer, ANOVO best Service and Repair, Mazuma Mobile best Recycling Provider and BuyMobiles.net for best Online Retailer.Personality of the year The final award of the evening was decided by a live text vote to determine the Industry Personality of The Year, with the gold medal going to Carphone Warehouse head of B2B Bob Sweetlove.

Samsung Galaxy Beam successor spotted with metal exterior in China

At Mobile World Congress in 2012, Samsung announced a pico projector smartphone known as the Galaxy Beam. Although it was a cool concept, the phone's downfall was its middling specs, aging OS and large chassis. Two years later, it appears that Samsung's working on a successor to the Beam called the SM-G3858, according to China's government database. The Tenaa entry even comes with a few pictures, most of which offer an indication of a projector: there's clearly a bump on the upper back which opens up to a wide lens on the top, and we also saw an extra button that models after the original Beam -- in fact, the icon above the button looks eerily like the one seen here. Curiously, Samsung has shed the sporty misshapen look in favor of a sleek metal build, which certainly seems a better fit for professionals.The database also gives us a glimpse at its specs, some of which are an improvement over the original Beam; the China Mobile-branded phone reportedly packs a 4.66-inch WVGA (800x480) display, Android 4.2.2, a quad-core 1.2GHz chipset with 1GB of RAM, microSD slot with up to 32GB external storage, as well as TD-SCDMA and GSM connectivity (no LTE on this model, although there's a chance this is simply a 3G-only variant of a global model). It's also 11.6mm thick, which is much thicker than most Samsung smartphones but still is nearly a full millimeter thinner than the original. It's still too early to determine whether this is going to be exclusive to China Mobile or available to a global market, but at least we know the phone exists for now; Samsung, we're hopeful, will provide us with the rest of the story at some point down the road.

Samsung Galaxy S5 component supplier hit by fire

Samsung has denied that a major fire at one of its component suppliers will affect the release of the upcoming Galaxy S5 smartphone, suggesting it can easily source the parts needed elsewhere.The Galaxy S5 is Samsung's latest flagship smartphone, which comes at a time when the Korean giant is experiencing slowing growth amid stiff competition. Although the rumoured premium metal chassis has not appeared, the new handset includes numerous improvements over its predecessors including an iiPhone 5s-like fingerprint scanner, a heart-rate monitor, a larger and brighter 5.25in display, and a quad-core 2.5GHz processor which makes it one of the fastest Android handsets we've seen.The company has much riding on its new design, but rumours have already started circulating that stock will be in short supply at launch thanks to a component shortage caused by low yields - the percentage of components that pass testing to the total number of components produced - of the fingerprint scanner sensor. Now, further concerns of shortages have been raised with the news that one of Samsung's component suppliers has suffered a serious fire - but Samsung says it's nothing to worry about.The fire at DAP Corporation thankfully resulted in no injuries, but has shut down production at the facility. Although this will mean Samsung receives fewer components than anticipated, the company has told ITworld that it's nothing to worry about: "We do not expect any production delays of the Galaxy S5, as we rely on multiple contractors," a spokesperson said.

Sony Xperia Z2 stock could be hit by rumoured component shortage

Sony's upcoming Xperia Z2 smartphone is rumoured to be launching in extremely limited quantities, with mass availability being pushed back due to an unspecified issue at a component supplier.Designed to replace Sony's Xperia Z and Xperia Z1 as the flagship handset in the line-up, the Xperia Z2 improves on its predecessor with slimmer display bezels, a lighter and thinner chassis with water- and dust-proofing, and a larger 5.2in display. To further reinforce the handset's premium appeal, Sony is also planning to bundle a set of in-ear active noise-cancellation headphones with every handset.Unfortunately these handsets could be in short supply. According to a post on theEsato forum, a site suggested by Ubergizmo to have been a reliable source of insider information in the past, Sony is having difficulties with one of its component suppliers. Although the supplier is not named, it is said that the issue could to lead to a world-wide delay in the Xperia Z2's mass availability, with only extremely limited stock available at launch.The rumour comes on the back of similar news regarding Sony's various rivals in the market, most notably with Samsung encountering sensor yield issues which could limit stock of its Galaxy S5 handset at launch.

Motorola defends Android ecosystem, “Happy to focus on products”

Having been bought by Google for in 2011, only to be sold to Lenovo earlier this year, working for Motorola can hardly have been smooth sailing, but the company's VP of software engineering has defended his former employer's defence of the Android operating system following the sale.Motorola's Steve Horowitz explained to [A HREF="http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/motorola-google-is-android-s-bodyguard-and-that-s-fine-by-us-1233864"]Tech Radar[a] that in a mobile market which Android leads, but which is ever-morphing, he's happy to leave Google to its battles and for Motorola to focus on its own products."What Google is successfully doing is taking the role of protecting the entire ecosystem so we can all stop looking at each other and pointing fingers and instead just compete in the marketplace."In protecting the ecosystem, Google might be protecting the technologies and future of Android, but that includes patents acquired from the purchase of Motorola. Those patents didn't transfer to Lenovo as part of the deal to acquire Motorola, with Google keeping a firm hand on the property.Horowitz is seemingly happy with that situation, and for Google to ensure Motorola products can continue making use of patented technologies without issue. "Nobody likes facing battles in the courtroom, right? We have a licence from Google for our patents so we have no problem with Google consolidating and bringing the strength to defend itself."

Calling the Android ecosystem "a great place to be", Horowitz and his Motorola colleague will no doubt want to continue