• Google and Samsung Delay Nexus Prime Launch Due to Steve Jobs Mourning

    // Gradly // Android, Apple, blog, Gadgets, google, iPhone, Mobile, News, Samsung, Steve Jobs No Responses

    Google and Samsung announce that the Galaxy Nexus, a.k.a the Nexus Prime, will not launch at the Mobile Unpacked conference October 12 next Wednesday, as expected and teased.

    Google and Samsung “just felt it was the wrong time to hold a launch event, as the world continues mourning Jobs”:

    The decision to postpone things was made late last night at the top levels of both companies, sources said, with Jobs’ death being the reason. There are no delays with the product itself, sources insisted.

    Samsung and Google later updated their original press statement, which now reads:

    We believe this is not the right time to announce a new product as the world expresses tribute to Steve Jobs’s passing.

    They are likely to make an announcement on the launch late next week.  The new Google phone is built by Samsung and is rumored to have a 4.65-inch, 720P display with dual core 1.5GHz Samsung processor, NFC, 1GB of RAM and runs over Android Ice Cream Sandwich. It will likely be one of the stronger competitors for iPhone 4S.

  • Samsung Teases Nexus Prime, Promises to be BIG

    // Gradly // Android, Apple, blog, Featured, Gadgets, google, iPhone, News, Rants & Raves, Samsung, Tech. No Responses

    Samsung, with a great timing, you know how to time this Samsung, don’t you? Just a day after the disappointing iPhone 4S announcement yesterday, comes a teaser of what looks like the Samsung Nexus Prime. with a tagline “Something BIG is coming,” and both the Samsung and Google logos at the end of the clip.

    The device is said to have 4.6” display 720 x 1280 pixels. the new Samsung Nexus Prime will probably make a debut at CTIA in San Diego October 11th, and it promises to be big.

  • Google to Acquire Motorola for $12.5 Billion

    // Gradly // Acquisition, blog, google, Mobile, News No Responses

    Google and Motorola Mobility have just announced an agreement whereby Google will acquire Motorola for $12.5 billion (or $40 per share).

    The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

    Full press release below:

    Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

    Combination will Supercharge Android, Enhance Competition, and Offer Wonderful User Experiences

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

    “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

    The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

    Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

    Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”

    Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said, “We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices.”

    The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the US, the European Union and other jurisdictions, and the approval of Motorola Mobility’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2011 or early 2012.

  • Mind Blowing 3D Maps by C3 Technologies [Updated]

    // Gradly // 3D, Acquisition, Apple, blog, google, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, News, Rants & Raves, Tech. 7 Responses

    You are familiar with your current mapping services when it comes to Google Maps, Bing Maps or Google Earth, But a new technology will let you get beyond that and the Swedish company behind it thinks you actually deserve more and… seriously.

    Enter mind-blowing 3D mapping technology from Swedish startup C3 Technologies, the company that showcased their 3D maps on iPad at the CES show. Unlike your Ma and Pa’s maps, C3 Technologies calculates the terrain and buildings directly from aerial images. The approach takes into account the positions and angles of the cameras that took aerial images in order to give each pixel its geographical position with very high accuracy.

    When we say high precision, we mean it hundred percent because C3 maps incorporate recently declassified missile targeting technology by Saab, a well-known Swedish aerospace company. As a result of all this, you get military-grade, pixel-perfect realistic representation of the terrain that can be rotated and paned around to a stunning effect. And at CES, they showed off 3D view of San Francisco running surprisingly smoothly on an iPad, see above

    In addition to 3D maps, C3 also makes awesome street level imagery captured using “an advanced multiple camera system with overlapping viewing angles to capture the entire surroundings in stereo.” Topping it all off are incredible interior views of restaurants, hotels and other points of interest that can be found along the street.

    Don’t you think that would be amazing if this was chosen as the maps to power the upcoming iPhone 5?!

    Update:

    C3 Technologies was acquired in July and the buyer is a western company and currently kept secret. Certainly the big players such as Apple, Microsoft and Google are the prime candidates.

    As noted by macrumors, Apple is a good fit for the company, as they have already admitted to be working on their own turn-by-turn direction GPS service, and we’ve also found evidence that they have licensed map data from a number of companies. It would also reduce their dependance on Google’s mapping solution which presently is used on iOS devices. Apple previously purchased mapping company Placebase and has been aggressively hiring for their Geo Team to take Maps to the “next level”.

    [via brightsideofnews]