Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

HTC is going after the space increasingly left by RIM in the enterprise sector after a big investment in Magnet Systems.

The Taiwanese brand has splurged $35.4m (£22m) on the deal, which sees it nab a 17.1 per cent stake in the firm.

Magnet Systems is run and created by Alfred Chuang, who previously created business software with BEA before selling to Oracle for a multi-billion sum. He since founded the new firm, which created the WIN platform, for more tailored enterprise support.

It created Sales WIN last year, which models the way salespeople interact with customers to provide in-depth data which can be used to improve the overall platform, helping make businesses more efficient through software.

In it to WIN it

What HTC intends to do with the stake is unclear, although it's highly likely to want to use some of the tools in its range of smartphones.

WIN will be available at a charge to businesses, so one possibility is HTC will be a vendor of compatible handsets, leading to attractiveness when larger businesses are looking to equip their sales force with smartphones.

It's a bold move for HTC given the current financial situation it finds itself in: despite critically-acclaimed smartphones, the brand is still lowering profit estimates and recently lost $40 million through its OnLive investment.

Source : techradar[dot]com

A new method of projecting 3D images on to cinema screens has been trialled, which does away with the need for glasses.

Despite many cinemagoers' reservations about the technology, 3D is big business in movies and many a cinema chain is cashing in on the tech, putting up prices for 3D movies and adding another premium on top of this with the purchase of 3D glasses.

This could be set to change, however, if Seoul National University has anything to do with it.

New technique

A new study into 3D by the university has found that glasses-free 3D could work on the big screen and only one projector is needed, rather than multiple projectors as first thought.

The technology uses angled slats, in much the same way that 3D works on a handheld like the Nintendo 3DS, but has been modified so that it works from multiple viewpoints.

This parallax barrier technology is similar to what is used in the Toshiba ZL2, where lenticular "lenslets" allow multiple viewers to watch the same 3D space.

The team at the Seoul National University have apparently managed to modify this for use on cinema screens.

The key to making the 3D work is a special coating on the cinema screen that, combined with the adaptive barrier technology, created enough multiple images to theoretically accommodate a cinema.

Lead scientist Byoungho Lee said that this method "might constitute a simple, compact, and cost-effective approach to producing widely available 3D cinema, while also eliminating the need for wearing polarising glasses".

There's no word on when, or indeed if, this trial will roll out to cinemas but it's good to know there's work being done to rid the world of 3D glasses.

Source : techradar[dot]com

Here's a picture of what could be the upcoming Sony Xperia J handset.

If this is a genuine leak, the Xperia J (codenamed ST26i) will be a budget handset, but with a 4-inch screen and Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Though according to Mobile-Review, the screen is said to offer "poor colour reproduction, excessive glare and low viewing angles".

Inside is a 1,700mAh battery, and a 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7227a processor. That processor is considerably less powerful than most smartphones nowadays, so it's very much a low-end handset.

A 5MP camera sits on the back, capable of capturing video at 640x480-pixels. That's a lot lower than HD resolution. An LED flash is also expected, as well as a front-facing camera, though there's no word on the resolution of the latter. Given the specs so far, we'd expect it to be VGA.

Expected at IFA

Sony is expected to announce the Xperia J at IFA, the German tech trade show that kicks off next week. The Xperia J is expected for the global market, so we should see it in the UK, though there's no word on a release date.

We're expecting a suitably low price to match these low-end specs.

An update to Android Jelly Bean doesn't look likely, at least not anytime soon. Sony is more likely to prioritise its higher-tier handsets.

A 4-inch screen and Ice Cream Sandwich aren't unheard of on a budget Android offering. The Huawei Ascend P1 is now on sale, and that has a 4.3-inch screen and ICS, as does the ZTE Grand X.

Via TalkAndroid

Source : techradar[dot]com

Confused.com has today launched an app which assesses your driving skills and scores each journey you make, and is offering cash incentives for its use.

MotorMate, available free for Android and soon for iPhone, mirrors in-car telematics technology where a 'black box' is fitted to a car to monitor how it's being driven, potentially enabling insurers to set premiums according to a person's driving habits.

MotorMate monitors and scores a driver based on number of journeys, distances travelled, types of roads used, speed, time of travel and levels of acceleration and braking.

Each journey made while running the app is scored out of five stars and once you've driven 250 miles, an overall score is given along with feedback on how you can improve.

Confused.com is offering incentives to use the app: a free in-car phone cradle and charger for driving 20 miles (until 31 October), £25 cash back after driving 250 miles (until 31 October), and a further £25 cash back if users of the app buy a motor insurance policy through Confused.com (before 31 July 2012).

How it works

MotorMate has been developed in partnership with The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and driving technology company My Drive and allows drivers to see how they compare with RoSPA's expert drivers.

Richard Jelbert, product director at MyDrive, explains: "The system works by monitoring the phone's GPS each second, continuously checking for smooth and careful driving."

"As well as helping drivers become safer drivers, the Confused.com MotorMate app allows customers to try the telematics experience before having to commit," Joanne Garcia, head of emerging products at Confused.com added. "By using the app drivers can really understand how they drive and over time they can improve on their driving skills, making them a safer driver and hopefully making our roads safer too."

Future versions of the app are set to include an online dashboard offering a detailed view of trips taken and driving prowess as well as social media integration, where drivers can post their scores to Twitter and Facebook.

MotorMate app is available to download from Google Play now and will be available to download from the iOS App Store at the end of August.

Source : techradar[dot]com