China smartphone sales to reach 400 million in 2014

 The latest report from tech analyst firm Gartner for the Chinese market has predicted that some 443.5 million mobile phones will be sold in 2014, with 400 million of them being smartphones.

That equates to a 90% smartphone penetration rate, which could even go as high as 95%. With over 1 billion mobile phone users, China is quickly living up to its name as one of the premier developing mobile markets. It will continue to get more attention from smartphone manufacturers as penetration of smart devices continues to rise.

It took 75 tries before MS decided on the Xbox One design

 In a recently posted story on Microsoft’s site, the designer of the Xbox One, Carl Ledbetter, revealed that it took 75 prototypes before Microsoft settled on the current console’s design.

President Obama reveals personal data taken by NSA will be in hands of 3rd party

 It looks like the NSA scandal has gotten enough attention to warrant a serious response from the US Government. President Barack Obama has announced that all of the data collected through NSA surveillance will now be viewed by a third party. He has also announced that there will be an end to the collection of data “in-bulk”.

Huawei announces partnership with Arsenal football club

 China-based mobile device manufacturer Huawei and Arsenal FC have announced a new global partnership through the 2015/2016 season.

This is the first partnership that the north London football club has had with a Chinese brand, with both Arsenal officials and players set to take part in communication and promotional activities in the UK and abroad.

Google’s infringes on push notification patent, faces a $125 million fine

 Android OS provides mechanisms for push notifications that leverage two services from Google and apps like Gmail, Facebook and Twitter use it to deliver instantaneous notifications. The problem is that those services infringe on patents held by SimpleAir, an “inventor-owned technology licensing company.”

Qualcomm buys 2,400 patents from struggling HP

 San Diego-based Qualcomm has purchased mobile patents from PC giant Hewlett-Packard, giving the mobile chipset manufacturer 2,400 mobile patents for an undisclosed amount.

Many of the patents now controlled by Qualcomm include those of now-defunct Palm, which was purchased by HP in 2010 for $1.2 billion.

Lenovo to acquire IBMs low-end servers for $2.3 billion

Amid the worst slump in the history of PCs, IBM has come to terms to sell its low-end server business to Chinese manufacturer Lenovo.

The deal will be the largest in Lenovo’s history, amounting to about $2 billion in cash, with the rest coming as Lenovo stock. The second largest will become Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s PC division in 2005, which brought the ThinkPad laptop lineup, among others, under their wing

Sony will unveil its “slimmest” Playstation ever on Jan. 30th

 Sony has a history of releasing bite-sized iterations of their popular gaming consoles that perform better, are quieter, and consume less power. So when the Japanese hardware manufacturer announced it will reveal its “slimmest” Playstation device ever, one might assume that they would announce a trimmed down Playstation 3.

Microsoft sold 3.9 million Xbox One units and doubled its Surface sales in 2013

 Microsoft has announced its earnings report for the fourth quarter and the company has managed to better its performance from the previous year. The company has racked up a record $24.52 billion in revenue in 2013 as compared to the $21.5 billion in 2012.

Apple celebrates 30 years of Macs in a creative way

Apple is celebrating 30 years since the creation of the Mac lineup of computers. Before Apple was synonymous with the iPod, iPad and iPhone Macs were the reason the company survived. Well that and Steve Jobs’ relentlessness.

Thieves Steal $95,000 in Apple Products From Moving Truck

Thieves in Germany robbed a moving truck that was carrying Apple products from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic, reports n-tv.de.

It appears the thieves pulled up behind the truck, got out of their vehicle while in motion, and used a bolt cutter to break into the truck. Around seven pallets of Apple products worth 70,000 euros were stolen. That includes 125 iPads, 4 iPad minis, 30 iPhones, and 2 keyboards. 

BlackBerry sues Ryan Seacrest-backed Typo iPhone keyboard, alleges patent infringement

Troubled device maker BlackBerry on Friday filed suit against Typo, makers of a new snap-on iPhone keyboard case, alleging that the Ryan Seacrest-backed startup "blatantly copied" BlackBerry's own keyboard.
Update: Typo has issued a statement regarding BlackBerry's suit. The full text can be found at the end of this article. 
Typo's keyboard "is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry's iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design," BlackBerry's General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer Steve Zipperstein said in a release announcing the suit. The company did not specify whether it had been in contact with Los Angeles, CA-based Typo before initiating legal action. 

Bravo!!: Sony sold 4.2 million PlayStation 4 units in 2013

It was not long ago when Sony last updated us on the sales numbers of its PlayStation 4 gaming console. However now that Microsoft announced that it has sold more than 3 million Xbox One units in 2013, the Japanese were eager to show that they have topped that number.

Google starts Open Automotive Alliance to promote Android-powered cars

 Google started the Open Handset Alliance, which gave us Android, and now it’s unveiling the Open Automotive Alliance, which aims to bring the mobile OS on the road. The other founding partners are Audi, GM, Honda and Hyundai, along with NVIDIA.

HP chooses Android over Chrome OS for new Slate 21 Pro all-in-one

 The latest Slate 21 Pro AiO from HP comes with Android out of box, but also has the ability to act as a touchscreen display for a Windows 8 PC.

HP also took advantage of the pre-CES festivities by announcing the ProOne 400 and 205 AiOs, the Pro x2 410 and 350 G1 notebooks, and the HP 200 Microtower.
The most notable of the five new products launched by HP yesterday, the Slate 21 Pro is the first from the company to run Android 4.3 Jelly Bean rather than Windows. The 21.5-inch IPS-toting fullHD all-in-one is powered by a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 4 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal memory.

Photos of metal Pebble smartwatch leak hours before announcement

The Pebble smartwatch receives a lot of praise for its functionality, but its looks could be better – imagine if it had a stainless steel casing and Gorilla glass, with a metal wristband to boot. As it turns out, this might be less than a month away from reality as the smartwatch leaked in photos, presumably shortly before its official unveiling at CES.

Apple and Qualcomm facing production issues with their smartwatches

The next 12 months are said to be the year of the wearable devices as the industry embraces the newest trend. However, two of the industry giants in the faces of Qualcomm and Apple are reportedly facing production issues with their respective wearable products.

Samsung reportedly sold 40 million tablets in 2013!!!

 According to a report in Korean media, Samsung has sold 40 million tablets in 2013. The number falls right in line with the manufacturer’s expectations which were revealed during an analyst day in November.

Mozilla launches Firefox OS tablet developer program

Mozilla’s Firefox OS developer program for tablets was just announced today. The company pledges to distribute both hardware and other support to developers dedicated to growing the tablet operating system.

Lenovo announces Miix 2 detachable hybrids and Flex laptops

 Lenovo brought out more convertible laptops than just the refreshed Yoga lineup – the Miix 2 line got 10″ and 11″ models and for those who prefer bigger laptops, Lenovo brought the Flex 14D and 15D.

The Miix lineup consists of detachable laptop/tablet hybrids, while the screens on the Flex lineup can do a swivel motion of up to 300 degrees.

Microsoft sold 3 million Xbox One units in 2013

 Microsoft announced that its latest gaming console, the Xbox One managed to achieve 3 million sales from 13 countries before the end of 2013.

The Redmond gaint’s launched its newest gaming console on 22 November and was available in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, New Zealand, UK and the US.

Finally BBM for Android adds voice chat and channels

 Blackberry Messenger, or, BBM as the cool kids call it, received a warm reception when it was initially for Android, raking in over 10 million downloads within its first 24 hours.

BlackBerry has now a few new BBM features available on the Android version of their application: specifically Voice Calling and Channels. They’ve also ported over 100 new emoticons (your inner teenage girl is squealing, isn’t she?), increased the BBM group size, and added new ways to find friends within the app.

Alicia Keys leaves BlackBerry

Alicia Keys has left her position as a Global Creative Director at BlackBerry only a year after she was hired.

The singer is just a drop in the sea of employees and senior executives that BlackBerry had to let go in order to keep its losses to a minimum. In the last quarter alone, the company clocked a loss of $4.4 billion