After Sony cut off its supply of capital to the ill-fated Sakai production plant that it jointly owns with Sharp, it became clear that the final goodbye may be little more than a formality. And here it is, in the form of a cold, resolute press release stating that Sony is selling its seven percent stake back to Sharp and taking back the 10 billion yen ($126 million) it originally invested. The only reason given is the "rapidly changing market for LCD panels and LCD televisions," which is a polite reference to the fact that profits from big TVs are well below what these companies predicted back in the heady days of 2008 and early 2009, when the impact of the global economic crisis loomed without yet being fully apparent. Fortunately for Sony, which is in the delicate stages of reform, the solid pre-nuptial agreement it had in place with Sharp should protect the company from having to revise its financial forecasts for the coming year -- not that those were particularly great in the first place.
Nokia's 808 PureView may not even be blasting retinas in stores just yet, but that doesn't mean those Finnish cameraphone obsessives aren't already cooking up a buffet of high-megapixel ideas for the future. Vesa Jutila, Head of Product Marketing for the incoming 808 PureView, said that there was plenty more high-spec digital imaging products in the pipeline. While he wasn't about to be drawn on specifics for any future Lumia-Pureview unions just yet, there were "multiple ways" that Nokia could run with its new imaging jewel. Slimmer models are a possibility, still containing high-end Zeiss optics and Nokia's oversampling techniques avoiding the need for optical zoom. He added that the next generation of Nokia camera sensors are already being worked on -- the 808 PureView was borne from an idea back in 2007. Jutila included one more soupçon of information: future PureView products "would not necessarily have the same 41-megapixel sensor" that we've been playing with recently.
Navigating through airport security is hardly the most fanciful way of kicking off a vacation, but this summer, a handful of frequent fliers in France will take part in a field trial that aims to streamline the process and make it a bit more enjoyable. Fifty lucky travelers armed with BlackBerry smartphones will take part in a pilot study that tests the authentication technology recently developed by Orange and SITA. Upon their arrival at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport, the handset's NFC-capable SIM card will serve as an access pass to the car park, the premium access zone for departures and even the private lounge area. Smartphone integration will provide travelers with real-time flight information, and it's said that the handset will even remember the location of one's vehicle in the car park. As the system is hardware-based, the identity verification technology will even work when the smartphone is turned off. The Toulouse-Blagnac airport aims to have a broader NFC implementation available by 2013-2014, which may allow users to board flights and pay for goods with their mobile device. To learn more about the vision, you'll find the PR after the break.
Bandwidth is a precious commodity on military vessels. Ships in the US Navy fleet are generating more data, but the pipe it's getting pumped through isn't getting any larger. What's more, with limited connectivity options on the table, the sea-faring military wing is missing out on all the smartphone and app store fun. Rather than turn green with envy, or turning their dress whites is for camouflage cargo pants, the Navy is beefing up its mobile tech arsenal, beginning with the U.S.S. Kearsarge, U.S.S. San Antonio and U.S.S. Whidbey Island. The ships will serve as test beds for a nautical LTE system, with a range of about 25 miles. The 4G network will serve as a localized platform for wirelessly feeding data to sailors, as well as a way for the enlisted to connect to the outside world. On the backend, the Marines are working on a new satellite broadband service that should be able to provide ships with 300 megabits of shared bandwidth. Satellite internet and off-grid LTE might induce yawns in some, but they're certainly a major part of modernizing our fighting forces. For more info, check out the source link.
