T-Mobile USA today became the first of the country’s operators to launch the Samsung Galaxy S III on its website and in retail stores. The flagship Android device will hit shelves at AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular and C Spire Wireless “within the next several weeks,” Samsung said. The Galaxy S III marks Samsung’s latest attempt to challenge the iPhone’s dominance in the smartphone market.
HTC said Thursday it plans to develop smartphones running on Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 platform. The devices will be brought to market “later this year,” the handset manufacturer said. Microsoft and HTC have been working together since 2000. HTC reports it has since sold 40 million phones using Microsoft’s mobile platforms.
Belkin has come out with a new gadget that lets users watch live and recorded television on laptops and Android or iOS smartphones and tablets. Smartphone and tablet users must download a companion application to use the service on wireless devices. The @TV device runs on Wi-Fi and cellular connections. It is expected to become commercially available in mid-July.
Canon, HP, Infineon Technologies and Yahoo! Japan have become principal members of the NFC Forum. The group also added a number of new associate members, including Huawei Technologies, Harman International and Wipro LImited. The new members “will contribute greatly to furthering the adoption of NFC technology and strengthening the knowledge base and impact of the NFC Forum,” chairman Koichi Tagawa said in a statement.
Urban Airship, provider of a push messaging platform, and Roar Engine, a cross-platform game mechanics and virtual goods management engine, today announced a strategic partnership and product integration that offers game developers scalable audience engagement and monetization capabilities. Roar Engine has selected Urban Airship as its push messaging provider and integrated its platform to close-the-loop between frontend and backend logic, enabling server-side game events to trigger push messages directly to gamers.
