Samsung and Apple’s fight to the death, Android everywhere and Sony Mobile reboots: Gadget Digest

The Gadget Show  Friday 24 August 2012

It’s another Friday already, so it’s time once again to check out just what’s been going on in the wider world of gadgets and gizmos. Read on for our Gadget Digest round up and get all the tech talking points for the weekend ahead.

The jury’s out

Samsung and Apple’s patent infringement case in the US is drawing to a close: after a serious slanging match in the closing comments, the jurors are now sequestered to come to a decision. Did Samsung copy Apple? Did Apple copy Samsung? Deliberately? It’s a complicated case, but its importance can’t be understated. Billions of pounds hang in the balance. The verdict – and fines – the jury serve out could change the smartphone landscape completely.

Android everywhere

Android, Google’s popular open source operating system for mobile devices, can be found in everything from phones to cars. But we saw a couple of interesting new ideas this week, from big fish and gadget minnows alike. Nikon revealed the world’s first ever compact camera powered by Android: you can take photos using the powerful optical zoom and 16 megapixel sensor, and upload them to Facebook over Wi-Fi. British firm Ergo Electronics meanwhile revealed the GoNote, a netbook that costs just £150 and is powered by Android 4.0 – it looks set to be the perfect back to school gift.

Smart TVs smart up

We’re nearing IFA, the giant German gadget expo that kicks off at the end of the month, and we’re expecting a whole slew of new smart televisions that stream all sorts of video from the web. Ahead of that, we’ve seen some interesting new announcements: LG’s giant 4K TV is coming to the UK, while Sky’s Now TV service hit the Xbox, with major expansion plans in place. We also showed you how to turn your existing telly into a smart TV – even for free.

All shift for Sony Mobile

Sony Mobile, which was created when Sony bought out Ericsson late last year, has had a bit of a tough time. Sony’s now looking to give it a boost by bringing its headquarters back to Japan (It’s currently located in Ericsson homeland Sweden). It’s cutting 1,000 jobs in the process, but it could reap the benefits of being able to work more closely with other arms of Sony – including the PlayStation division. And just today, we caught a glimpse of its next phone: the seriously wallet friendly Sony Xperia J.

Kindle competition cooks up

It’s looking like a good Christmas season for British gadget hunters. Amazon looks set to unleash its Kindle Fire 2 tablet in a couple of weeks – perhaps with a UK launch this time too – while the American online retailer is about to get some serious competition. Bookseller Barnes & Noble, now backed by Microsoft, is bringing its Nook e-reader line to the UK in time for 25 December. We can’t wait.

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