Apple looking to expand iPhone and iPad accessories support

Apple has shown interest in expanding support for third-party accessories for the iPhone and iPad, with a new system that would detect an external device and recommend compatible applications available on the App Store.

The concept was unveiled this week in a new application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Entitled "Method and System for Locating an Accessory and an Application for Use With a User Device," the filing describes a system that would identify a range of applications usable with a connected accessory.The system could also work in reverse, and let users know of available hardware accessories that are compatible with applications they already have installed on their iOS device. Such accessories could include game controllers, wireless headsets and external speakers.

Apple's filing even describes a system where a kiosk at a store could connect to a user's iPhone and analyze the applications that are installed on it. From there, a user could be given a list of compatible accessories and their exact locations in that store, such as the aisle and bin numbers.

Accessories could also be sold through online vendors in the same manner. A user could find out on their iPhone what accessories are compatible with their installed applications, and Apple would provide links to online stores where the compatible accessories could be purchased.

"With the number of available accessories growing at an exponential rate," the filing reads, "it is often difficult for a user to determine which accessory supports which software application and vice versa."

Apple has had more limited accessory support in its iOS mobile operating system for years. Starting with the release of iOS 3.0 in 2008, some compatible hardware accessories have automatically prompted users to download a necessary application from the App Store.

The "Application Not Installed" notification alerts users that "This accessory requires an application you do not have installed. Would you like to install it from the App Store?"

But Apple's proposed invention would go multiple steps further, providing users with an extensive list of compatible applications once an accessory is connected. And it would also allow users to discover and purchase accessories compatible with their currently installed software.

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Google to introduce new Android Tablet to compete with Apple's iPad

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has revealed that the company is planning to bring its flagship Android tablet to the market in the next six months to rival Apple’s iPad.

“In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality,” Schmidt told an Italian newspaper.

Google has already had a hand in the development of the Motorola Xoom, but like other Android tablets, it suffered disappointing sales in a market dominated by the iPad. Since then Google has itself become a major hardware manufacturer via its 12.5 billion dollars acquisition Motorola’s devices division, which is currently under consideration by competition authorities.

According to The Telegraph, Schmidt paid tribute to Steve Jobs'' role in kickstarting the tablet market, describing the iPad as “amazing”.

“Steve Jobs was the Michelangelo of our time. A friend of mine and a unique character, able to combine creativity and visionary genius with an extraordinary engineering ability,” the paper quoted him, as saying.

“Steve realised the revolutionary potential of the tablet and created an amazing product like the iPad,” he added.

Schmidt said that competition between Android smartphones and the iPhone will be “brutal”.

In the smartphone market, Google designs the Nexus range as both a testing ground for new versions of Android and to show off cutting-edge hardware. Samsung manufactures the most recent device, the Galaxy Nexus.

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RIM postponing the launch of next generation phones till late 2012

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. said Thursday that new phones deemed critical to the company's future will be delayed until late 2012.

Mike Lazaridis, one of the company's co-CEOs, said the BlackBerry 10 phones will need a highly integrated chipset that will not be available until mid-2012, so the company can now expect them to ship late in the year. He disclosed the delay on a conference call with analysts.

Analysts say RIM's future depends on the new software platform. RIM needs to come up with a compelling BlackBerry as U.S. users have moved on to flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and various competing models that run Google's Android software.

Earlier Thursday, RIM said BlackBerry sales will fall sharply in the holiday quarter, providing further evidence that it is struggling to compete. It also has been having a hard time finding a niche in the tablet-computer market, which is dominated by Apple's iPad.

RIM continues to enjoy success overseas, but market researcher NPD Group says RIM's market share of smartphones in the U.S. has declined from 44 percent in 2009 to 10 percent this year.

The company's stock fell 7 percent in extended trading Thursday.

The delay in BlackBerry 10 phones is the latest in a series of setbacks for the once-iconic Canadian company. Its PlayBook tablet computer hasn't been selling well, forcing the company to sell them at a deep discount. A widespread outage frustrated tens of millions of BlackBerry users in October. RIM fired two executives after their drunken rowdiness forced the diversion of an Air Canada flight. The head of its operations in Indonesia faces charges related to a stampede at a recent promotional sale where dozens of consumers were injured.

RIM said its net income sank 71 percent as revenue fell and the company took a large accounting charge on the PlayBook, which uses the same operating software that RIM's new phones will use.

"We ask for your patience and confidence," Lazaridis said.

RIM earned $265 million, or 51 cents per share, for its fiscal third quarter that ended Nov. 26. That compares with $911 million, or $1.74 per share, a year ago. The company said revenue fell 6 percent to $5.2 billion. The PlayBook charge was $485 million before taxes.

The company shipped 14.1 million BlackBerry smartphones during the third quarter and 150,000 PlayBook tablets, but its fourth-quarter guidance was what investors focused on because it had warned about the third-quarter results earlier.

Although RIM has said it would sell fewer BlackBerrys in the current quarter, the forecast given Thursday appeared worse than expected.

RIM said it would only ship between 11 million and 12 million BlackBerrys in the fourth quarter compared to 14.8 million in the previous fourth quarter.

RIM also said its fourth-quarter earnings would be in the range of 80 to 95 cents per share on revenue in the range of $4.6 billion to $4.9 billion. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.15 a share on revenue of $5.04 billion, according to FactSet.

Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York, said earlier that if RIM reveals that it will ship no more than 12 million BlackBerrys in the current quarter, then the company needs to get its new phones out fast. Otherwise, RIM could lose money in future quarters as it continues to struggle to sell the current, stopgap models.

Misek said late Thursday the BlackBerry 10 phones will now be released three to nine months later than people believed.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis said the guidance was terrible and wondered if it was the start of a collapse.

"If consumers abandon this platform it can happen pretty quickly," Gillis said. "Don't think this is the bottom."

Jim Balsillie, the other co-CEO, said the last few quarters have been among the most challenging times in the company's most recent history. He said executives are working to turn it around, but said it may take time.

"We are not satisfied with the performance of the business in the United States," Balsillie said.

Balsillie said he and Lazaridis have reduced their cash salary to $1 per year, though they will continue to earn stock options and other compensation.

RIM's stock fell $1.15 to a new seven-year low of $13.98 in extended trading Thursday after the results were released.

The stock has lost about 75 percent of its value this year. A company that was worth more than $70 billion a few years ago now has a market value of around $8 billion.

"We recognize our shareholders may feel we've fallen short," Balsillie said

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