February, 2014

• 26 February

  Chief of Google’s Project Ara talks modular smartphones

  

  It’s been a few months since Motorola announced its modular smartphone idea called Project Ara. Since then, Google has sold the phone maker to Lenovo and it’s been unclear what would happen with the project. But now, new details are emerging. It turns out Google held onto Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group where …

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• 26 February

  Kyocera takes a stab at the future with quirky concept devices

  

  BARCELONA, Spain — In the future, the world will be full of wearables and smartphones that can bend whatever way you want — at least, that’s what Kyocera imagines it will be. At MWC this year, the Japanese phone company showed off some of its quirky concept devices, along with its family of waterproof Hydro smartphones. Though none of these …

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• 26 February

  IBM to take Watson mobile with developer challenge

  

  IBM wants to bring its Jeopardy-winning cognitive computing system Watson to the mobile industry. During a keynote address at Mobile World Congress 2014, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty announced the IBM Watson Mobile Developer Challenge, a global competition to promote the development of mobile consumer and business apps powered by Watson. During the next three months, IBM is calling on software …

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• 26 February

  EA founder raises $6.5 million for children’s learning game

  

  EA founder Trip Hawkins has raised a bundle of cash to build out his learning game for children. Hawkins’ startup, If You Can Company, raised $6.5 million in a Series A funding round led by venture-capital firm Greylock Partners, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Wednesday. Almaz Capital also participated in the round. If You Can Company’s game, called If…, …

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• 26 February

  Hands

  

  Few posts I’ve written have generated as much interest as the one about the Republic Wireless Moto X, and I’m not surprised: For $299 you get one of the most celebrated phones of 2013, with no-contract service plans starting at an impossible $5 per month. The key question on everyone’s mind: How is it? Does Republic’s version of the Moto …

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• 26 February

  Microsoft sends out mixed messages about Nokia Lumia brand

  

  BARCELONA, Spain — Lumia lives! Microsoft will continue the Nokia and Lumia brands when it takes over Nokia’s phone business, although the company is sending out mixed messages on the details of the transition. I chatted about the future of Nokia today with Greg Sullivan, Director of Windows Phone, at industry shindig Mobile World Congress. He confirmed that Lumia as …

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• 26 February

  Motorola’s new Moto X coming this summer?

  

  Some have feared that Lenovo buying Motorola from Google meant the end to the company’s popular low-cost phones, such as Moto X and Moto G. But it appears the Moto X will stay the same at least for a while longer. During this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Motorola held a Q&A on Twitter letting people ask what’s …

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• 26 February

  Kazam’s James Atkins: ‘Consumers don’t want smartphone gimmicks’

  

  BARCELONA, Spain — In the smallest meeting room at Mobile World Congress — hidden up some stairs behind the Ericsson stand — James Atkins is planning a scrappy insurgency against the “oil tankers” of the smartphone business. It’s his first MWC as Chief Marketing Officer of Kazam, the London-based phone maker he started with fellow HTC alumnus Michael Coombes in …

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• 26 February

  Software converts Android apps to Tizen OS

  

  BARCELONA, Spain — Infraware, a Korean software developer and creator of the Polaris Office suite for mobile devices, is showing off how easy it is to convert Android apps to Tizen OS at the Smart Content Korea booth here at Mobile World Congress. With a simple click, the Polaris App Generator software is able to wrap an Android APK and …

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• 26 February

  HTC teases ‘new’ HTC One in BoomSound video

  

  HTC is definitely not going to play the role of “quietly” brilliant for its next flagship smartphone. Related stories: HTC One 2: What we expect Three things I hope to see at HTC’s March 25 event Nokia and HTC mock Samsung Galaxy S5 launch (badly) A new “Technical Translations” video posted on HTC’s YouTube account this week highlights the HTC …

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