Notable this year is Apple, with its whopping $156 billion in 2012 sales, jumping into the top 10 for the first time in its 37-year history. And Google, with its big $50 billion year, bulled its way up almost 20 spots to hit No. 55. Perhaps most impressive, however, is Facebook, which with the youngest CEO in the Fortune 500 made the list for the very first time at 487.

Ranking companies by income is a fairly arbitrary measure, since it reveals little about how much companies actually earn, but it does show scope and scale. A grain of salt is definitely indicated, however, as Google’s profits, for instance, are many multiples of Dell’s despite that Dell is ranked No. 51 and Google is No. 55.

Here are the 41 technology companies that Fortune included on its list.

• 6: Apple
• 15: HP
• 20: IBM
• 35: Microsoft
• 49: Amazon
• 51: Dell
• 54: Intel
• 55: Google
• 60: Cisco Systems
• 80: Oracle
• 131: Xerox
• 133: EMC
• 176: Computer Sciences
• 163: Jabil Circuit
• 194: Qualcomm
• 196: eBay
• 218: Texas Instruments
• 222: Western Digital
• 240: SAIC
• 267: CDW
• 270: Liberty Interactive
• 302: Applied Materials
• 304: Motorola Solutions
• 318: Micron Technology
• 326: Corning
• 327: Broadcom
• 352: Congnizant Technology Solutions
• 379: Symantec
• 408: NetApp
• 420: Sanmina
• 429: Harris
• 436: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding
• 441: NCR
• 473: Priceline.com
• 464: AMD
• 477: Avaya
• 482: Facebook
• 487: SanDisk
• 489: Pitney Bowes
• 494: Yahoo
• 499: CA Technologies

A couple of caveats:

I have not included telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Verizon, although a good argument can be made that they are now, primarily, technology companies, simply because Fortune did not classify them in any recognizable technology category. And I have included retailers like CDW and companies like Pitney Bowes, which Fortune classifies in categories like Computers, Office Equipment, and Information Technology Services.

One interesting note: While Facebook has the Fortune 500′s youngest CEO, Dole Food’s David Murdock, at 90 years old, is the Fortune 500′s oldest CEO.

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BREAKING: Apple wins case brought by Google’s Motorola over phone sensors; Google’s bid to block imports blocked

— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) April 22, 2013

Motorola filed suit against Apple with the International Trade Commission in August of 2012, alleging that Apple infringed seven of its patents, including location reminders, e-mail notification, phone/video players, and Siri voice recognition. Google took ownership of the company in May of 2012, and Motorola’s stockpile of more than 17,000 patents was likely one of the key reasons the Android mobile operating system creator bought the company.

Apple has successfully reached patent licensing agreements with Android manufacturers such as HTC, as has Microsoft, but Google has not been able to use its Motorola patent arsenal to force a similar agreement with Apple — or at least not publicly.

Apple did offer $1 per device to settle case, reportedly.

In a instant of shocking legal clarity, the judge in the Apple/Moto case said earlier this month that Apple and Google apparently had no interest in actually resolving this case, but were using the legal system and their various Android/iOS lawsuits as ”a business strategy that appears to have no end.”

Interestingly, it’s been less than a month since Google issued a unilateral declaration of peace on certain patents that it has placed in a pool for use by software developers working on open source software. The patents that formed the basis of this complaint against Apple, naturally, did not make the cut.

This case may yet be appealed to United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Image credit: sfllaw/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

This Apple’s still got some bite.

After weeks and months of good news for Android, ComScore’s U.S. subscriber market share report released today says that Apple is actually growing overall iPhone sales and iOS platform penetration, while Google’s Android is dropping.

In terms of the installed base of devices, Apple owned 38.9 percent of the market as of February 2013, leading second-place Samsung by almost 18 percentage points. Apple’s market share is up 11 percent from the previous quarter, which ended in November 2012. Since Apple’s iPhone is synonymous with Apple’s mobile operating system — it’s not available on any other device — iOS also grew 11 percent in the quarter.

Source: ComScore

Top smartphone OEMs February 2013

Meanwhile, Google’s Android actually dropped overall market share.

While at the end of November 2012 Android owned 53.7 percent of the market, at the end of February 2013 that had dropped to 51.7 percent — losing two percentage points for an almost 4 percent reduction. That’s astonishing for a platform that has had so much momentum and so many manufacturing partners.

Source: ComScore

Top smartphone platforms – February 2013

Samsung did pick up market share, adding a percentage point for five percent growth in the quarter, while HTC dropped further still, as did Google-owned Motorola, and LG.

The numbers contrast quite starkly with numbers that Kantar Worldpanel released just three days ago, which showed iPhone sales down, Android up slightly, and Windows Phone growing rapidly. Those are sales numbers, so you expect some discrepancies with installed base numbers. The question is how ComScore shows an overall increase in iOS marketshare while Kantar says there’s been a drop in iPhone sales.

I’m checking with both companies for updates, but one potential reason is that ComScore numbers only apply to consumers age 13 and up, which could skew the numbers Apple’s way. But essentially, if ComScore’s numbers can be trusted, this means that Apple had a stellar Christmas quarter — which we already knew from its massive $54.5 billion first quarter earnings.

The question in analysts’ minds is whether Apple can keep this up … and whether it can replicate this kind of success in Europe as well as in emerging markets in Asia.

Judging from Apple’s stock market woes, the answer so far is no.

photo credit: Marco aka MenfiS via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

With the new Galaxy S4, Samsung is moving farther and farther away from Google. In fact, you have to wonder, will Samsung turn into the new Amazon?

Just look at the new Galaxy S IV, unveiled yesterday.

It has AirView to control your phone as if it was an Xbox and the camera was Kinect; facial recognition technology to pause video when you glance away or scroll a document based on your gaze; S Translator to translate text, as if there was no Google Translate; Galaxy S Voice Drive, which emulates Apple’s Siri; and if you want to get apps on your Samsung Android phone, Samsung’s pushing its own Hub app store, with nary a mention of Google Play.

The reality is that Samsung’s position as the premier Android device developer in the world gives it a ton of clout. And it seems to be using that power to ween users from Google.

We have seen this movie before.

Amazon almost certainly owns the Android tablet market, except its tablet doesn’t really run Android. Or, at least not the version of Android that Google produces. And, instead of connecting to Google services and the Google app store, Amazon’s Android products link into Amazon’s media ecosystem and Amazon’s private app store. Which is a brilliant if somewhat parasitic business model.

Samsung may very well be moving down this road.

The Korean company has made at least two attempts to create its own smartphone operating system: the now-abandoned Bada mobile OS, and Tizen, an effort with Intel to create a Linux-based OS for smartphones that is ongoing. But a simpler and cheaper solution might be the Amazon model: Accept the Android OS from Google with a smile and a nod, strip out as much Google as you can, load up as much proprietary software as you can, and ship, ship, ship.

Wham, bam, thank you ma’am!

“All signs are pointing to Samsung trying to pull off a Great OS Escape within the next year or two,” analyst Aapo Markkanen wrote this morning. “Doing it with an Android fork would be far too risky … so the hero’s role is now reserved for Tizen.”

That’s one reason, according to Google’s just-former Android head Andy Rubin, Google acquired Motorola: a hedge against any one Android partner getting too big, too powerful.

The big question now as we come off a year in which Samsung sold 400 million phones globally is this: Is that hedge big enough?

You can bet Google execs are asking that question. And you have have to start wondering when investors will start to factor that risk into Google stock, which is currently near a five-year high.

photo credit: Louish Pixel via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google had its first $50 billion year in 2012. But with its massive investments in mobile, someday it might make that much just on the little plastic and metal devices we carry in our pockets.

In fact, digital ad company WordStream has counted no fewer than 21 ways that Google is monetizing mobile, from good-old-fashioned Google AdWords to Groupon-light Offers to augmented reality assistant Google Goggles and, someday, Google Glass.

Google even wants to replace your dead-cow wallet with a shiny digital one. But if you won’t buy what you want with Google Wallet, it hopes to at least guide you to your next purchase with Google Shopper.

Here’s the full list, in visual form, along with WordStream’s perception of how well Google is using its mobile tools to generate mobile money:

photo credit: Louish Pixel via photopin cc

“With Apple and Samsung in an epic battle over smartphone supremacy, the biggest issue that no one talks about is overall reliability,” FixYa CEO Yaniv Bensadon told me via email.

FixYa’s smartphone reliability report says that Samsung smartphone owners have consistent issues with microphone and speaker quality — plus battery life problems, particularly with the Nexus line. According to the report, Nokia users say their phones are laggy and have a poor app ecosystem — this is not a shock — and Motorola customers say their phones have too much pre-installed crapware, poor quality touchscreens, and bad cameras.

How did FixYa arrive at these conclusions?

The product Q&A site took 722,558 troubleshooting requests posted by smartphone owners to its site and analyzed the data to see what issues were reported most for each manufacturer. Then FixYa normalized the data for relative market share — as defined by Statcounter.org — and derived a Smartphone Reliability Score.

The upshot? Apple wins, big time, and it’s not even close:

1. Apple: 3.47
   26 percent market share, 74,163 problem impressions
2. Samsung: 1.21
   23 percent market share, 187,520 problem impressions
3. Nokia: 0.68
   22 percent market share, 324,439 problem impressions
4. Morotola: 0.13
   1.8 percent market share, 136,436 problem impressions

“Our newest FixYa report looks at lines like the iPhone, Galaxy, or Lumia,” Bensadon said in a statement. “The result is a scaled approach to fairly compare these top companies to truly see who is the most reliable, and who is barely even competing.”

FixYa also provided data on the most common problems for each smartphone manufacturer. Browse that data in the gallery below:

One big question I had was on the market share data … it’s not U.S. market share, certainly, where Apple had 53 percent market share last quarter. When I checked with a company representative, he said the data provided by Statcounter was for global market share.

It’s worth noting that Statcounter’s numbers differ somewhat from other reports we’ve seen.

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For laptops, Samsung and Apple were tied, according to the Brand Keys’ 2013 Consumer Loyalty Engagement Index, released today. But Samsung led in flat screen TVs, and, in perhaps the biggest shocker, beat out Apple for consumer loyalty in smartphones.

“This is the first year that Samsung beat out Apple in smartphones,” Brand Keys president Robert Passikoff told me this afternoon. “When Apple was number one, everyone said, ‘Well sure, it’s Apple.’ But the fact is that Samsung always had a larger share of the marketplace.”

Source: Brand Keys

Customer loyalty – smartphones

If you’re wondering whether this is just some dinky little no-name survey, think again. The Brand Keys customer loyalty index surveys 39,000 people, making it generalizable to the entire United States population with 95 percent confidence. And if you’re also wondering how big the delta between number one and number two actually is, Passikoff says there’s a “significant difference.”

“It’s not terrible to be number two,” Passikof said. “But in both cases I think consumers are looking for higher degrees of innovation. It was only after Samsung and other companies came out with smaller tablets that Apple brought out the iPad mini. It was only in reaction.”

Asus followed Samsung and Apple as the laptop vendor with the third-most-loyal customers, with Toshiba and Sony right on its heels. In smartphones, LG took third place after Samsung and Apple, followed by Nokia and Sony, who were tied for fourth. Motorola, HTC, and BlackBerry rounded out the top eight.

Amazon handed Apple some more bad news in the e-reader category, leading the field with its Kindle tablet. Barnes & Noble’s Nook took second, with Apple, Kobo, and Sony following. One big caveat here: it’s likely consumers don’t think of the iPad as an e-reader first and foremost, but rather as a general-purpose tablet, which may have affected these rankings.

I asked Passikoff about exactly that:

Source: Brand Keys

Customer loyalty – laptops

“That’s absolutely so. When we initially added the category, iPad never showed up. And then later it did … its primary product value is not as an e-reader. But we don’t define what products go in which categories: consumers do.”

But, adding injury to insult, Amazon beat out Apple in the dedicated tablets category as well. Apple and Samsung tied for second in that category, followed by Barnes & Noble in a tie for third, and Acer, Lenovo, and Toshiba in a tie for fourth. Google showed up in the tablets category, also in a tie, in fifth place with Sony.

Clearly, consumers are a little confused about what is a tablet and what is an e-reader — a rapidly disappearing difference — and that confusion played a role in Apple’s rankings. But just as clearly, Samsung’s products, innovation, and advertising are helping that company shape an extremely positive reputation.

Image credit: Dean Takahashi

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Four-star U.S. general Oliver P. Smith is credited with the statement: “We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.” He must have worked for Google in a different universe.

Google subsidiary Motorola has terminated its International Trade Commission complaint against Apple. That complaint was aimed at an import ban on basically all Apple devices due to alleged infringement of no fewer than seven patents, covering location reminders, media players, alerts and notifications, and yes, Siri-style voice recognition.

Now, however, Motorola has unilaterally and mysteriously withdrawn the complaint.

I checked with Google for an explanation, and received one almost immediately. What the response had in terms of speed, however, it lacked in detail. Google is stating only the following:

“As we have said many times before, we will continue to vigorously defend our partners.”

Googler with pink employee (no, not really)

Beyond that, everything is guesswork. Could this mean that there is some kind of deal being done between Google, Apple, and the major Android manufacturers that might lead to a lasting patent peace in mobile electronics?

Well, pink unicorns would be nice too.

That may be too much to ask for. But Google’s clearly saying here that it is “vigorously” defending Android licensees. If it’s not doing that in the ITC, it must be either doing that at the local court level … or, dare we hope, at the negotiation table.

There is one other option, of course.

The last time Apple, Android, and the ITC hooked up, HTC was the Google proxy victim, and the result was not pretty for the only significant non-iOS smartphone platform. HTC lost, and the trade commission judge found that its phones infringed two key Apple patents.

ITC battles are dangerous because they could lead to import bans and nearly immediate massive revenue losses. And Google/Motorola could be trying to avoid a tit-for-tat ITC action from Apple.

Or, perhaps Google has simply chosen another field of battle.

photo credit: portobeseno via photopin ccbandita via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Surprise, surprise, Apple is being sued again. A San Diego gaming and restaurant software company is suing Apple for infringing four of its patents in the new iOS 6 Passbook app.

While it’s no shock to hear Apple’s being sued, it’s a tiny bit shocking that Samsung’s not on the other side of the V. A little more shocking is that the company involved is not, exactly, a patent troll — Ameranth actually has real, for-sale products. And perhaps even just a bit more shocking is that the company has received strategic investments from both Microsoft and Motorola.

Ameranth v. Apple is all about about Passbook.

Passbook is Apple’s entrant in the mobile wallet sweepstakes. Currently, it’s for tickets, boarding passes, and gift cards, and while it may graduate at some point to hold your VISA or American Express credit cards, currently Apple has only lightly integrated with  one credit card provider.

But it has the potential to grow, and to grow into the mobile wallet space highly coveted by giants such as Google, Microsoft (which just demoed a mobile wallet on Windows Phone 8), eBay, MasterCard, and others.

Ameranth says the software violates four of its patents: 6,384,850, 6,871,325, 6,982,733, and 8,146,077. The first two are both titled “Information management and synchronous communications system with menu generation,” and the second two are similarly titled: “Information management and synchronous communications system with menu generation, and handwriting and voice modification of orders.”

And yes, the patents are just about as bland as their titles: fairly generic-seeming data synchronization routines, plus data display.

But, Ameranth states in its court filing, several of its patents have been cited by Apple:

One of the Ameranth patents-in-suit, U.S. Patent No. 6,384,850 — the first patent issued in this Ameranth patent family — was cited as a prior art reference in two Apple iPhone patents issued to named inventors Bas Ording and Steven P. Jobs.

That, plus the fact that Ameranth has actual products, makes this more than just a money grabbing patent troll assault. Perhaps not much more — a cursory glance at Ameranth’s home page reveals more focus on patents than seemingly anything else — but definitely more.

The really interesting part comes in Ameranth’s PDF product overviews, such as this one for its Poker Room Manager software. Just after the obligatory “Ameranth has a very strong IP portfolio” statement, with reference to acquired patents, is this: “Ameranth has received strategic investments from Microsoft, Motorola/Symbol, Springboard Capital, and Western Pacific Capital.”

A strategic investment is often small in dollars but large in, well, strategy. And sometimes strategic investments cover a company’s posterior portions via guaranteed patent protection.

Food for thought, no?

VentureBeat contacted Ameranth for more information, but we have not heard back yet. We will be contacting Microsoft and Motorola for any comments as well.

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

NEW YORK CITY —  At a press event in New York City today, Motorola announced the latest entries in its line of successful kevlar-backed Razr smartphones.

First up was the Razr HD, a device that’s been rumored for months now.

Razr HD’s central feature is its 4.7-inch high-definition display, which will be joined by a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and 1GB RAM. As expected, the device comes with an LTE radio built in, though Motorola made the surprising decision to ship it with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, not Jelly Bean.

Alongside the Razr HD, Motorola also announced the Razr HD Maxx, a similar device offers a talk time of up to 21 hours. Both the Razr HD and Razr HD Maxx will be available in stores before the holidays, Motorola says. While there was no mention of cost, Motorola is likely to price the Razr HD at $199 and the RAzr HD Maxx at $299.

Motorola also unveiled the Droid Razr M, a mid-range device that was leaked in August. While largely similar to its more expensive counterparts, the Droid Razr M is meant to be Verizon’s answer to Sprint’s Photon Q 4G LTE. The device, which will be in stores next week, retails for $99.

“We believe customers expect value from our partnership with Verizon,” Verizon vice president Tami Erwin said about about the Razr M.

Wednesday has been a big day for device announcements, with Nokia unveiling a pair of Lumia devices at an event in New York City this morning.

We’ll have a hands-on with the new devices in the coming hour.

The American taxpayer? She might hate it too.

The Institute for Policy Studies released a report this morning on 26 companies that pay their executives more than the entire corporation pays the U.S. government in taxes. The problem? Tax code structures that encourage high executive pay by allowing deductions for performance-based pay, for one.

The 26 firms, which have 537 foreign subsidiaries in tax havens like Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and Gibraltar, each had an average of more than $1 billion in pre-tax income … and tax benefits averaging $163 million. And IPS estimates the four biggest direct tax subsidies cost taxpayers over $14 billion a year.

AMD paid chief executive Rory P. Read $15.6 million while paying negative $3 million in taxes (if only we all could pay negative taxes). AT&T paid Randall Stephenson $18.7 million while collecting a sweet tax check of negative $420 million. And Google’s new pet, Motorola, must have some good accountants: The company shows up on the list not once but twice.

Motorola Mobility showed up for CEO Sanjay Jha, paying him a whopping $47 million while paying precisely zero, zilch, and nada in U.S. corporate income tax. Of course, the company lost half a billion dollars in 2011: You need talented people to lose that much in just 12 months. And Motorola Solutions — the part of the original Motorola that Google did not buy — tossed Gregory Brown a relatively paltry $29.3 million while paying taxes of just $2 million.

It’s kind of what we said last week: In the income battle between the CEO and you, you’re not winning.

The full list:

Source: IPS

Companies that paid their CEO more than they paid in 2011 taxes

photo credit: Vermin Inc via photo pin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

ComScore just released its June 2012 U.S. mobile report, and the results were mostly predictable.

The unholy trinity of Google, Samsung, and Apple captured 50 percent of the mobile phone market, and 84 percent of all smartphones run either Android or iOS. But Apple is growing slightly faster in both categories.

Samsung manufactured 25.6 percent of all phones in use in the U.S. as of June 2012, ComScore says, while Apple had a 15.4 percent share of the entire mobile market, which includes both smartphones and feature phones. Motorola, which is owned by Google, came in at 11.7 percent, while LG has almost 19 percent market share.

Source: ComScore

Top mobile manufacturers

When it comes to smartphone platforms, Google is in the undisputed lead, with a 51.6 percent share. Apple has a 32.4 percent share but grew 1.7 percent over March 2012 numbers — faster than any other platform vendor. In fact, the only other mobile operating system to grow was Android, with an uncharacteristically anemic .6 percent growth rate.

Source: ComScore

Top smartphone operating systems

Predictably, RIM was down 1.6 percent, and Symbian (Nokia) also dropped.

Windows Phone, supposedly a platform of the future, also dropped a small amount. Most likely that drop was due to turmoil around Windows phones and upgradeability: If devices on the shelf right now can’t be upgraded to Windows Phone 8, what’s the point of purchasing a Windows Phone today?

ComScore also asked the 30,000 survey respondents a few usage questions. The highlights include:

• 75 percent of mobile subscribers send texts
• 50 percent use downloaded apps
• 36.9 percent access social networking sites via their mobile device
• 33 percent play games on their phones
• 27.6 percent listen to music on their phones

Image credit: David Hammonds/ShutterStock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google has been tight-lipped on the reasons for its acquisition of handset maker Motorola, other than the buyout would “supercharge Android.” However, the Internet giant apparently had more plans than to load up on patents.

Motorola’s intellectual property comprised less than half of Google’s purchase price — $5.5 billion of the overall $12.4 billion — Google told analysts Tuesday.

A number of companies, including Google have seen patents as a shield against legal attacks from Apple and others. But Motorola’s collection of mobile technology patents appear not to be the overwhelming value for the Schaumburg, IL-based cell phone maker. Indeed, since the acquisition cleared federal antitrust scrutiny in May, Motorola has added $233 million in operating losses for its new parent, offset somewhat by $1.25 billion in added revenue.

But if Google has a reason for buying Motorola beyond patents, it did not discuss it with analysts interested in the Mountain View, Calif. firm’s earnings. The most descriptive comment came from finance chief Patrick Pichette. “Clearly, everybody should expect some changes at Motorola,” he said during the conference call reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Google also told federal regulators Tuesday the Motorola takeover contributed $2.9 billion in cash, $2.6 billion from “synergies expected to arise from the acquisition,” $730 million from customer relationships, and $670 million from assorted assets.

The real value of Motorola’s patent portfolio comes when it can safely lead Android devices through a minefield of legal threats surrounding its nebulous hardware history. As smartphones and computers collide in the marketplace, having a distinct background as a cell phone manufacturer, rather than software creator, could give Google and all of its Android allies the cover so far lacking.

It’s an unfortunate truth: if you want a phone that will last all day, get a dumbphone. Smartphones aren’t designed to last all day, and as the features and uses increase incrementally, the battery life has stayed a consistent not long enough. Business and power users know this all too well – it’s one of two reasons why too many of us carry around two phones at all times.

Motorola may have just solved that problem. The award-winning Droid Razr (and one of Venturebeat’s most interesting phones of 2011), the thinnest Android smartphone available today, will now come in two models, standard and Maxx. The Maxx variant is much thicker than the 7.1mm at 9mm (for comparison, the iPhone 4/4S is 9.3mm thick), and the giant 3300mAh battery fills that extra 1.9mm of space. The largest competing smartphone battery found at CES was in the Samsung Galaxy Note, a 5.3″ phone tablet, with a 2500mAh battery.

The Droid Razr atop the Droid Razr Maxx

The repercussions of such a device are far reaching. Motorola claims exceptional battery life, with 21.5 hours of continuous talk time, 15 hours of native video playback, 10 hours of GPS navigation, and 6 hours of HD streaming over Verizon’s LTE network. That is nearly double what competing high-end smartphones can achieve. With the 3pm charging session now in question, there’s no doubt that the Droid Razr Maxx may be the most important handset for business and power users this year. It may set them free to carry one phone around, perhaps for good.

If the Razr Maxx sells well – and I expect it will because everyone has a black hatred for constantly charging their phones – it may provide the kick for companies like Samsung and Apple to stress battery life on phones for true full-day use. Everyday consumers may not require extended batteries, and some handset makers like Apple have whole businesses which revolve around accessorizing their phones with battery cases, additional chargers and batteries, etc. The Razr Maxx will give Motorola a competitive edge in this way, eliminating a number of hidden costs for consumers while simultaneously providing today’s top of the line phone hardware.

At CES I had some time to play with the Razr Maxx, and in the hand it feels bulky and thick, but still comfortable. The kevlar back is only slightly different from the Droid Razr, and thickness is the only real difference. Instead of the phone thin everywhere but the camera, it has uniform thickness. And because the Razr Maxx is identical in every other way to the Droid Razr, it is practically the same phone. Other upcoming phones, like the Nokia Lumia 900 and Sony Xperia S, can only boast 7 and 8.5 hours of talk time, respectively. Compared to 21.5 from the Razr Maxx. For any phone competing on battery life, the Razr Maxx wins, no contest. The Razr Maxx does look and feel bloated and lacks the sleek design of the Droid Razr, but I’ll take battery life over look and feel any day of the week. Do keep in mind that even at 9mm of thickness the Razr Maxx is still very, very thin.

There is only one major setback, and that is the Maxx shipping sans Android 4.0. No date has currently been given for the update, and the Maxx will ship with Android 2.3.5. The announcement of the Droid Razr Maxx also comes with a lower price for the Droid Razr, which will ship for $199 instead of the current $299 with contract. The Droid Razr Maxx will release in the next few weeks, pending Verizon’s release schedule, for $299 plus 2-year service contract.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Amazon’s ultra-cheap Kindle Fire has already shipped between 3 and 4 million units. Combined with news of excellent Black Friday sales last week, the Fire may already be the number two tablet after the Apple iPad.

As far back as August, analysts have predicted that a less expensive, Amazon-made alternative to the iPad could sell up to 5 million units before the end of the year. Amazon appears to be making those predictions a reality with its Kindle Fire, which retails at $199 and can be used to read e-books, browse the web, play casual games and download content like movies and TV shows. If it sells more than 5 million units, the Fire would be the best-selling Android-based tablet in the world, beating high-profile tablets from Samsung and Motorola.

The 3-to-4 million Kindle Fire unit shipping estimate comes courtesy of Digitimes. Citing unnamed sources, the report says Quanta — Amazon’s manufacturer — has already shipped up to 4 million units and will likely have 5 million shipped before the end of 2011.

The Kindle Fire launched Nov. 15 and features a 7-inch screen with 1024 x 600 resolution, a TI OMAP4 dual-core processor and 8GB of on-board storage. The tablet offers applications from Netflix, Facebook, Rovio, Electronic Arts, PopCap and more, which likely fueled adoption.

The Kindle Fire’s two largest competitors are the iPad, which retails for a minimum $499, and the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet, which runs for $249. The iPad does a whole lot more than the Kindle Fire, but because it costs at least $300 more, penny-pinching consumers may decide they can do without those extra features. The Nook Tablet offers better base specs and performance than the Kindle Fire, but it lacks a content ecosystem of movies, TV shows and music to download.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

After all the hoopla surrounding Apple‘s iPad 2 launch has settled, Motorola announced that a Wi-Fi-only version its Android-based Xoom tablet will be available in stores on March 27.

While the lack of a 3G wireless connection may limit its appeal, the device may appeal to cost-sensitive device buyers who will primarily use the tablet at home or work and don’t want to pay an additional monthly fee for connectivity on the go

The device will be available at seven distributors: Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Staples, Walmart and select Sam’s Club locations. The device can be bought for $599 in a physical store or online.

The specs are the same as in the 3G version which launched weeks ago — dual cameras, 10.1-inch screen, Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS, 32GB of storage and so on — besides the obviously missing 3G connectivity.

Personally, the idea of Wi-Fi-only devices isn’t appealing to me. Sure, Wi-Fi is certainly available in plenty of places these days, especially in big cities, but with what is essentially a mobile device, I hate to be out of service just because there’s no Wi-Fi.

That’s not to say the demand isn’t there by any means. So far some of the major manufacturers have been offering the more expensive 3G models, and it’s a no-brainer for Motorola to bring its slick tablet to those who are willing to negotiate connectivity for affordability. Combine that with the big-time retailers that are going to carry the Wi-Fi Xoom, and Motorola is sure to shift some units.

The timing of the announcement is clever: it was certain that the iPad 2 was going to steal all the attention of tablet-minded folks around the world when it was released. After a pause, Motorola is reminding everyone about Android tablets again, even if some people are not too impressed with the OS as an iPad killer. And with recently announced Flash support and a more competitive price, the Wi-Fi-only Xoom is a serious alternative for potential tablet buyers.

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