Many have tried, but all of them have failed. And now, Sony Corp. is the newest kid trying to take over Apple Inc.’s block.

Citing unidentified sources, the Wall Street Journal said Sony is developing a line of handheld devices that would go head-to-head with Apple’s niche products, particularly the iPhone and iPad.

Much like the iPhone, Sony’s upcoming smartphone would have multimedia functions such as video gaming while its iPad equivalent would have the traits of a netbook, an e-reader and a portable gaming device.

Aside from those new products that would be launched later this year, Sony will also be launching this month a new online media platform initially called as Sony Online Service, which is being billed as its answer to iTunes.

The Sony Online Service will offer similar contents being offered by iTunes, but it is banking on its wider range of device matches, offering old game titles to get a step ahead.

Sony’s aggressive push toward Apple’s portable market is in response to its lagging mobile device business, and its Chief Executive Howard Stringer said the new products are at the heart of its turnaround plan.

While Sony is gearing for Apple’s market, Steve Jobs’ technology giant is also doing the same, eyeing the portable gaming industry largely occupied by Sony’s Playstation.

Well, Sony and Apple’s face-off should be a good thing for consumers. Let us just hope, at least for Sony’s sake, that its new line of products can really challenge Apple’s leadership so we can see quality hikes and price drops. (Grace R)

Source: Wall Street Journal

With the latest smartphone news from Google Nexus One and Apple’s iPhone, Microsoft isn’t taking the competition sitting down.

However, Microsoft still firmly believes in partners they can rely on to supply the hardware while they focus on the software. This is why Microsoft is bringing out the Windows Phone coupled with cellular phones of different styles and prices courtesy of Samsung, HTC, Cherry Mobile Sony Ericsson, LG and Acer.

Moreover, Microsoft launched Windows Mobile 6.5 as the new OS of the Windows Phone. This new OS features a new free service called My Phone for all WinMo 6.0 and above wherein you can sync your phone data—like pictures, music and SMS—to a password-protected website for security and safety.  continue reading…

After much anticipation last year, Google has finally released their first Android smartphone: the Nexus One.

This millimeter-thin ‘superphone’ aims to show what the equally-much-anticipated Android OS 2.1 for mobile devices can do. There’s no doubt it’s one of the highly capable Android phones on the market today thanks to its undeniably fast 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. continue reading…

The Palm Pre has debuted early this year to much acclaim, earning the Best of CES 2009 award. When it was finally released last June, it overcame the media hype and garnered a deluge of positive reviews from the technology press.

The Palm Pre suddenly put its maker, Palm Inc. back in the smartphone spotlight. Apart from the sexy pebble-shaped hardware, the Pre’s other main draw was the seriously cool Palm webOS

Announced only last September this year, the Pixi is the second Palm device to run on the much-praised webOS. With the Pixi, Palm hopes to create a lower-end device similar to what it did with the Centro, a budget smartphone with QWERTY keys. continue reading…

After seeing the immense profit potential of the market, computer maker Dell Inc. said it plans to break into the smartphone business.

In a statement posted on its website, Dell unveiled its plan of launching its Android-powered Mini 3 smarthpone, first in China, and later in Brazil via local carrier partners China Mobile and Claro.

“Our entry into the smartphone category is a logical extension of Dell’s consumer product evolution over the past two years,” Dell Global Consumer Group President Ron Garriques said.
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