Samsung has surpassed the 100 million mark in apps downloaded from its Samsung Apps store. This store is accessible by the Korean manufacturer’s mobile phones, such as the bada-powered Samsung Wave, as well as some of its Smart TV sets. Samsung Apps was launched in June 2010, meaning downloads from the online web store has occurred at a rate of over a million a month. The company still has some way to go before catching up to apps leader Apple, with the latter announcing at the beginning of the year that it reached the ten billion mark in apps downloaded. 

 

 

 

Motorola Mobility isn’t only (aparently) making moves toward developing its own web-based mobile operating system (OS), it’s also moving into the Smart TV market. The company announced this week that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dreampark, a Swedish IPTV software provider. Dreampark’s software (called Dreamgallery) enables operators to provide services over TV networks. The Swedish company’s software portfolio is expected to be integrated into the Motorola Medios service management software suite. This purchase is expected to close in Q2 of 2011, but the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

 

 

 

IT security firm Kaspersky Lab has announced the release of a special edition of Kaspersky Internet Security in partnership with Scuderia Ferrari. Kaspersky Internet Security Special Ferrari Edition,launched now to coincide with the start of the Formula 1 season, sports all the functionality of Kaspersky Internet Security 2011, but also features a Ferrari Virtual Academy video simulator that has been included with the product’s installation disk.

 

“Ferrari is a symbol of speed, reliability and world-class driving performance. Our Ferrari-inspired security product brings users a taste of that excellence when using their computers or browsing the Internet,” stated Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab.

 

Unfortunatey this product is not yet available in South Africa.  

 

 

 

According to Apple tech site iLounge, Ron Walker, who is a Jump Master for the US Air Force, was flying in an airplane at around 240 kph at a height of about 305 m. It is his job to check if the plane is in the correct position and then send the Air Force’s parachute jumpers out. While he was peaking out of the plane to check for nearby landmarks, his jacket pocket (which carried his iPhone 4) opened up unexpectedly, sending his smartphone plummeting down to earth. 

 

He and his friends then proceeded to download the Find My iPhone app onto one of their phones. This app pinpointed the smartphone’s position in a wooded area. They drove to it on ATVs to see if Walker might be able to back up his data for transfer to a replacement unit, which they assumed he would need to get after such a fall. Walker was relieved to locate the device in full working order with only scratches and dirt (on the Griffin Motif TPU case of the phone) to show for its ordeal. He believes that his iPhone 4 survived because it was probably significantly slowed down by tree leaves and needles just before hitting terra firma.