BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — Samsung is serious about its Galaxy Note hardware, and has had a rare fit of intense product focus. The Notes are being pushed as artists’ devices. This much is obvious from the artists painting people’s portraits in the Samsung booth, and the caricatures covering every surface like a kids pre-school scrawlings plastered on a proud parent’s fridge door. But Samsung has also got some great developers on board.
In an effort to make the stylus cool again, Samsung has announced its latest developers challenge for apps that integrate the S-Pen on the Galaxy Note. Up for grabs is $205,000 in cash and prizes as well as exposure and recognition in Samsung digital social media. All developers have to do is use the Samsung S Pen SDK to integrate S Pen functionality into a new or existing Android app that runs on Galaxy Note. This is a great way to attract development for S-Pen integrated apps and an even better way for developers to stand out in what seems like an abyss of apps.
It seems AT&T has a thing for niche products as they have announced another oddity to their lineup. Beginning March 4th, AT&T will offer the unique foldable Sony Tablet P on contract for $399.99. This clamshell tablet has been out for quite some time but hasn’t made it state side until now. It features a Nintendo DS like setup with dual 5.5″ 1024 x 480 touch screens which can be used for viewing tasks independently or in conjunction to form a larger display. Other specs include:
Mobile customers have been waiting for what seems like forever for family shared data. One carrier that’s been slowly working on making it happen is Verizon. Not to long ago we saw leaked training material from Verizon that showed they were gearing up for some sort of family shared data plan. We now have a better idea of when to expect these changes as Verizon’s Communication CFO Fran Shammo spoke about them in an investors meeting yesterday.
Panasonic earlier announced they would re-enter the European smartphone market with their Eluga smartphone. If you thought that was going to be the end of that, you were wrong. Panasonic has also unveiled its beefier, larger screened Eluga Power. The Eluga Power joins the phablet club by offering a 5″ 1280×720 HD LCD screen. That puts it up there with the Galaxy Note and LG Vu as far as screen size goes. Other specs include:
