Google has launched a new Android app called One Today that allows users to donate money to nonprofit organizations. The service displays information about a different nonprofit every day, and you can choose whether or not you’d like to support the project by donating a dollar.
Sharp has this morning announced a ¥10.4 billion ($112 million) investment from Samsung that will provide the latter with a 3% stake in the company. It makes Samsung the biggest individual shareholder in the Japanese display maker, and secures its access to Sharp’s LCD panel supplies.
The investment comes at a time when Sharp has been struggling. The company received a $4.4 billion bailout from the banks in October 2012, and its iPad display orders from Apple were recently cut as consumer demand shifted to the smaller iPad mini, which Sharp is not involved with.
It takes no more than about 30 seconds to run a cloth over your smartphone or tablet display and free it from greasy fingerprints. But if you’re just too darn lazy to do that, check out this tiny little autonomous robot that does it for you. From Takara Tomy, the Automee-S is a 2.75-inch Roomba-like device that (slowly) makes its way around your smartphone or tablet display and gives it a good clean.
Aside from slightly different form factors, today’s smartphones all look pretty similar; they have large displays that take up the majority of the space, and just a few physical buttons. But NEC is hoping to throw something different into the mix. The Japanese company has today unveiled the Medias W N-05E, a folding smartphone that has two 4.3-inch displays.
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has today unveiled the LG Optimus G Pro, a successor to the flagship Optimus G, which offers a much-improved display, a faster processor, and a bigger battery. The device comes just four months after the Optimus G was announced, and it aims to compete with the latest crop of smartphones that pack a full high-definition 1080p display, such as the HTC Droid DNA, and the Sony Xperia Z.
Rumors surrounding the Sony Xperia Tablet Z first surfaced last week, and we expected Sony to confirm them at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. But in Japan on Monday morning, the new flagship tablet was unveiled. And boy, does it look good.
The iPad may be the king of tablets in some markets, but Apple’s device cannot compete with the Nexus 7 in Japan. Its premium price tag is causing tablet buyers to opt for Google’s 7-inch slate instead, despite its smaller display and lack of a rear-facing camera. One survey of Japanese electronics stores has found that the Nexus 7 has claimed 44.4% of the tablet market.
If anyone can continually compliment our cans with tantalizing toilet treats, it’s the Japanese. Introducing the Satis: a smartphone controlled toilet that does everything from power washing your bum to playing “I like big butts” on its built-in speaker system.
HTC often brings its latest smartphones to Europe before they go global, but that hasn’t been the case with the company’s first 1080p offering. The HTC J Butterfly made its debut in Japan first, then came to the United States as the Droid DNA weeks later. Europeans got excited when the Taiwanese company announced the international version — the Butterfly — last week, but it seems their dreams have already been shattered.
The HTC Butterfly isn’t coming to Europe, after all.
SoftBank, Japan’s third-largest carrier, has this morning announced that it will acquire Sprint in a deal worth $20.1 billion. The company will purchase $8 billion in newly-issues shares from Sprint, in addition to $12.1 billion in existing shares — giving it a 70% stake overall.
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