Samsung Galaxy S II and Note get late ICS Christmas presents, arriving Q1 2012

Samsung has cemented its plans for the roll-out of Ice Cream Sandwich, and it looks likely to land on most of its top drawer Android devices. This (unsurprisingly) includes the Galaxy S II, its LTE variant, the Galaxy Note, the Galaxy R and whole range of Samsung tabs, from the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus to the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The update is penned to arrive first on both the Galaxy S II and Note in Q1 2012, with other devices following, although the Korean giant says that separate announcements will be made on the finer points -- depending on the "market situation and carriers' requirements".

Toshiba debuts Windows 7-based Dynabook WT301/D tablet for Japan

Toshiba's tablet attention may be focused primarily on its Android-based tablets these days, but the company's not leaving Windows behind just yet -- at least in Japan. That steely-looking slate pictured above is its new Dynabook WT301/D, which packs a 10.1-inch display, an unspecified Atom processor, a 64GB SSD, and Windows 7 Professional edition for an OS. No indication of a North American release for this one, but those in Japan will apparently be able to pick it up sometime next month.

Skype turns into Santa, gives you free airport WiFi during the holidays

They don't call this the "giving time of the year" for nothing. A couple of years back we saw Google hook up the traveling masses with gratis WiFi, and today Skype is matching the big G's kindness by giving you a holiday gift of its own. Starting on December 21st thru the 27th, you'll be able to cling to an hour of costless internet access while you're waiting on your flight -- as long as you're in one of the 50+ airports included in the deal (map shown after the break). Aside from being outside of the lounging areas capable of accepting the courtesy, Android users are being left out of the equation, as the present can only be used by those who own a Mac, PC or iOS device. Now, the nice gesture would be even better if we knew that our fellow travelers wouldn't be hogging all the bandwidth...

ITC slaps import ban on HTC Android smartphones

A decision meted out by the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has led to an import ban on HTC Android smartphones, w.e.f April 19, 2012. The verdict, which read, "Personal data and mobile communication devices and related software covered by claims 1 or 8 of the '647 patent that are manufactured abroad by or on behalf of, or imported by or on behalf of, [HTC and its affiliates] are excluded from entry for consumption into the United States, [...]", according to a post by Foss Patents cannot be considered as the final victory of Apple. 

Patent woes

Interestingly, the ruling does not cover all of HTC Android smartphones. According to the verdict, Apple had accused HTC of violating on a certain patent that pertained to a data tapping feature. The feature, in question deals with "a patent on an invention that marks up phone numbers and other types of formatted data in an unstructured document, such as an email, in order to enable users to bring up other programs (such as a dialer app) that process such data."

So, essentially, the import ban won't affect all of HTC Android smartphones, but only to those, which have this feature. The post further reveals that, "If Google can implement this popular feature, which users of modern-day smartphones really expect, without infringing on the two patent claims found infringed, this import ban won't have any effect whatsoever."

The ITC is a U.S. trade panel that investigates patent infringement involving imported goods. It is a popular venue for patent lawsuits because it can bar the importation of infringing products.

WD launches 1TB Scorpio Blue laptop hard drive in India

WD today announced that it has started volume shipments of its WD Scorpio Blue 9.5mm, 2.5-inch mobile hard drive with 1 TB capacity. Designed for mainstream notebook computers, the new WD Scorpio Blue 1 TB hard drive utilizes 500GB-per-platter areal density and is now available in the highest capacity for 2.5-inch hard drives in the industry-standard 9.5 mm, two-platter (2-disk) form factor. The drive is priced at Rs.10,650 and comes with a two year warranty.

As slim as they come

Some of the highlights of the drive include:

• Low power consumption – Advanced power management features and algorithms optimize the way the drive seeks for data, which significantly improves power consumption.

• Cool and quiet - In a notebook drive, silence is golden. WD's exclusive WhisperDrive technology yields one of the quietest 2.5-inch hard drives on the market.

• Reliable – WD’s SecurePark parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non-operational shock tolerance.

• Shock Tolerant – WD’s ShockGuard technology, now increased to a best-in-market 400Gs shock specification, protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks.

• Advanced Format (AF) - Technology being adopted by WD and other drive manufacturers to continue growing hard drive capacities. New drives featuring AF are optimized for operation with the following operating system software: Windows 7, Windows Vista and Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard (PVT models only).

• Tested for compatibility - WD performs tests on hundreds of systems and a multitude of platforms in its FIT Lab and Mobile Compatibility Lab to give customers confidence that drives will work in specific systems.

PS Vita hits Japan, sells well but has teething issues

Sony’s latest handheld, the PlayStation Vita hit Japan last week and so far it seems to be doing rather well for itself. According to Adriasang, this successor to the PlayStation Portable (PSP) sold 321,000 units in the first two days itself. While this is a rather impressive figure, Nintendo’s 3DS did 371,326 units in its first week. Of course you have to consider the fact that the Vita is priced pretty high.

Are you excited about the Vita?

Like any new console launch, the Vita unfortunately has a few teething problems of its own. Australian tech site, Smarthouse is reporting that many users cannot shut down their Vitas after charging it and that the touchscreen is pretty unresponsive, freezing the system in the process. Sony is aware of these problems and has issued a fix but according to Gameinformer, this fix is a most banal process. Instead of allowing users to link their PSN accounts to the Vita and then download the update, the Vita forces them to create a trial account, download the update and then switch over their original PSN account.

I only hope Sony irons out all these issues by the time the Vita launches in India this February.

Nokia and Microsoft get bitter over comments on Lumia 800 review

Nokia has been pinning its hopes on the Lumia 800, ever since it made its debut, while Microsoft plans to stay at par with competitors, such as iOS and Android with its Windows Phone OS. Now, it so seems that Nokia and Microsoft are working together at defending their products, too. An Indian site, which reviewed the Nokia Lumia 800 had its comments section see some anonymous comments, apparently from employees at Nokia and Microsoft, obviously raving about the device and seemingly unhappy with the review, reports The Guardian.

In defense

Astonishingly, it wasn’t a hands-on review and was purely based on the technical specifications. In terms of specs, it was compared to the Samsung Galaxy S Plus handset. Now, the reviewer concluded that,   although Nokia places its Lumia 800 in the same league as that of the iPhone, it doesn’t seem anywhere close. The reviewer also went ahead to call it a ‘noPhone’ (now that hurts!).

Several comments followed showing resentment. The comments were supposedly from IP addresses, which reportedly belonged to Nokia and Microsoft. The reviewer disclosed the data about the IP addresses in a later post. He also clarified that it was a feature comparison, based on the spec sheet for the price sensitive Indian market.

Obviously, it neither puts the reviewer, nor the companies in any better position.