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Firefox OS will be cheaper than Android

The first device with Firefox OSwill cost less than $100 (Rs 5,500). This was revealed by Matthew Key, the chief operating officer of Telefonica, a telecom operator which will be using Mozilla's upcoming mobile operating system that was announced recently. He also revealed that Brazil will be the first country to receive the device, which will arrive before March 2013 and will be manufactured by Alcatel and ZTE. 

Key also said, "The operating system will be better and cheaper than the Android operating system from Google, and will also address update and fragmentation issues that plague Android." 

The operating system will be able to reach most parts of the world since its official roll out as prominent operators have said that they will render support to it. These include the likes of like Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Telenor (Uninor in India). 

During the Mobile World Congress in February 2012, Mozilla had said that it will launch its own HTML5-based mobile OS for smartphones. The upcoming OS, which was earlier called Boot To Gecko, will be an open platform, wherein the HTML5 based apps will be able to access functions like calling. 

Even though Google's Android OS also has HTML5-compatible apps, they cannot access such core functions the same way that stock apps can. This flexibility in the platform will mean that the web apps will be compatible with all editions of the OS, including the most recent ones. 

Since the apps will run on the cloud, the devices running Firefox OS will not need expensive hardware, thereby lowering the price of the smartphone without affecting its features. Moreover, the HTML5 support will attract developers since most developers are already well versed with this web standard. 

Phones running on Firefox OS will have all the standard features, such as camera, Bluetooth, USB port and Near Field Communication. The platform will be made available for others after W3C will assess and approve the web API standardisation. 

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 may arrive in August

Speculation is rife that Samsungwill debut the successor to its popular tablet-smartphone hybrid Galaxy Note at the upcoming IFA event scheduled to be held inBerlin in August end.

Likely to be called Galaxy Note 2, the hybrid device also known as phablet, is expected to hit retail stores in October.

According to MK Business News of Korea,Samsung Galaxy Note 2 will feature a 5.5-inch touchscreen, slightly bigger than the current version's 5.3-inch display. However, the dimensions of the 'phablet' are reported to remain same.

Galaxy Note 2 is expected to run on Android's latest iteration, Jelly Bean, and have a 12 or 13 megapixel camera, a significant upgrade from the current version's 8 megapixel snapper. However, Samsung is believed to have decided against using the unbreakable plane (UBP) display, which is more durable than other screens, in the hotly anticipated phone.

It is also being anticipated that the device will have features like S-Voice, Smart Stay and S-Beam. Galaxy Note 2 is expected to be powered by a quad core Exynos 5250 processor and ARM Cortex-A15 CPU.

MK Business News report says that Korean giant Samsung is timing the release of the Galaxy Note 2 to compete head-on against its biggest rival Apple, which is expected to release its latest iPhone during September or October.

At $152 in cost, Google’s Nexus 7 leads way for cheaper tablets 

That $199 Nexus 7 tablet Google sells directly to consumers costs $151.75 in parts, according to anIHS iSuppli teardown and reported by AllThingsD. The bill of materials figure implies that Google could be making a small amount of profit on the 8 GB Nexus 7 tablet and even more on the 16 GB model which sells for $50 more than the base model. With high performing parts and a lower cost of materials, this could signal lower priced tablets in the future or similar pricing for better tablets while still maintaining reasonable profit margins.

IHS iSuppli’s estimate comes after another research firm, UBM Techinsights, suggested the Nexus 7 bill of materials was around $180. However, that figure was solely estimated on paper; the company didn’t have a unit to tear down and examine. I’m more inclined to believe the IHS iSupply figure as a result. The company says the doubling of memory in the 16 GB Nexus 7 only adds $7.50 in material costs, so at a $249 selling price, Google is turning a profit on it. When factoring in production costs and limited marketing / distribution costs, I suspect Google earns around $30 to $50 on the higher-end model, although Asus is sure to get a cut here as it builds the device for Google.

That’s interesting to me because early in Android’s life, Google suggested it could earn around $10 per user solely through advertising and data. By selling hardware directly, Google still has the potential to make money from its software services, advertising, app store and digital content offerings, but even if it doesn’t do so, Google can now turn a profit on hardware.