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Apart from a few screenshots leaked early last year, not much was known about the next major release of Microsoft Office codenamed “Office 15”. However, as of yesterday, Microsoft has announced that "Office 15" has entered into Technical Preview, with the public beta slated for a summer release.

The technical preview is currently open only to a select few outside Microsoft under a non-disclosure agreement.  Last time around, prior to the launch of Office 2010, people had a chance to sign up for the technical preview. However, this time, Microsoft seems to have taken a less public approach for choosing potential candidates for the technical preview.

In any case, the technical preview means the suite should most-likely be feature complete and relatively stable to let end-users try it out. Details on what’s new are scarce right now, but it could be fair game to expect some Metro-esque updates to the UI, aligning the user experience with other products such as the Xbox Dashboard and Windows 8.

Microsoft is calling "Office 15" as one of the most ambitious undertakings for the Office division, promising a simultaneous update to all its Office products and services across all platforms for the first time ever.  

Either way, it should be interesting to see what new features and enhancements make their way into Office 15. Personally, I would like to see deeper integration with Microsoft’s cloud services such as Office 365 and Skydrive, allowing for easier sharing and collaboration.

Office 2010 brought to the table several new features such as the controversial Backstage View, a consistent Ribbon UI across the suite, and lots of minor enhancements in every app. However, it was by no means a must have upgrade. I guess we’ll have to wait for the public beta to see if "Office 15" fits that bill.

Source: MS Office Blog

ONLINE RETAILER Play has pushed back its launch of the Sony Xperia S smartphone to 13 February.

The firm had originally pegged the availability for today, while rival retailers quoted dates in March. As we expected Play hasn’t stuck with the date and has pushed it back, but it’s kept the same price of £449.

We contacted Play, which told us that the delay is down to the supplier not meeting the schedule. We were also advised that popular demand for the handset could delay an order further than 13 February.

Online retailer Clove said, “We have had inquiries over the weekend as some other online retailers have been promoting the release date of the Sony Xperia S as today’s date, Monday 30th January. This is incorrect and the release date for UK SIM-free stock remains the first week of March; we anticipate stock arriving on the 6th or 7th.”

Ebuyer has a slightly later date of 12 March for the first handset without the Ericsson name, and the cheapest price of £429. Amazon has now added a product page for the smartphone with the same date and price as Ebuyer.

The Carphone Warehouse and O2 both have the Xperia S set to arrive in March on their coming soon pages. Phones 4U and Three will also stock the device but haven’t yet said when.

When it does eventually tip up the Sony Xperia S will offer a 4.3in high definition display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 12MP camera, NFC functionality and an HDMI port. As far as we know it will come pre-loaded with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but will be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich soon after launch, according to Sony. µ

KOREAN SMARTPHONE VENDOR Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S Advance smartphone ahead of mobile world congress (MWC).

The Galaxy S Advance is Samsung’s latest addition to its already crowded Galaxy range of smartphones. This one offers similar specifications to the original Galaxy S but with a 1GHz dual-core processor.

JK Shin, president of IT and mobile communications at Samsung said, “The Galaxy S Advance adds to the successful track record of the Galaxy smartphone range with a phone that combines power and style with all the versatility of Samsung’s Hub services.”

The Galaxy S Advance has the same 4in Super AMOLED screen as the Galaxy S, but it’s curved like the Galaxy Nexus. It also has the same 5MP rear camera and almost identical dimensions. It will come with a better 768MB of RAM, 8GB or 16GB of internal storage and a 1.3MP front facing camera.

It will ship with Android 2.3 Gingerbread rather than Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Samsung touts HSPA connectivity with speeds of up to 14.4 Mbit/s.

The phone isn’t exactly the most exciting to be announced so far this year. Perhaps Samsung wants to fill the gap before it brings out the Galaxy S III.

Samsung has vaguely said that the phone will tip up “later this year” in the UK. Russia will get it first next month, with a “gradual roll out” to follow.

MWC is happening next month in Barcelona, but it’s unclear what the firm will be unveiling. The Galaxy S III is apparently delayed, so it might show off its next generation Galaxy Tab instead. µ

For most people seeking accurate color reproduction and wide viewing angles, IPS has been the screen technology of choice for years now. The main issues against IPS have typically been response time for gamers, a higher black level than VA technologies, and more prominently cost. More and more vendors have been introducing e-IPS displays, which is a more transparent version of IPS that allows for the use of lower powered backlights, lowering the cost to consumers. The tradeoff is that this does have a negative effect on contrast shifts in the panel when viewed at an angle, though color shifts still are not present.

There was a bit of chatter this past fall when AOC introduced the i2353 display, which is an LED backlit IPS panel with an MSRP under 0. Had the prices of IPS panels and components finally fallen to the point where they would be able to start forcing companies to transition to them away from TN for their affordable monitor lines? To find out if the AOC monitor was still able to offer a good level of performance at this price point we requested a review sample, which they quickly provided.

KOREAN HARDWARE GIANT Samsung will unveil its next Galaxy tablet at next month’s Mobile World Congress (MWC).

The firm’s upcoming Galaxy S III won’t be making an appearance at the show, so it will unveil a bigger Galaxy Tab, according to Android and Me. The next Apple Ipad 2 rival will have a screen larger than 10in and will be powered by its Exynos 5250 2GHz dual-core processor.

German technology web site Tabtech reports that it will have an 11.6in screen. Behind closed doors Android and Me saw a prototype of the upcoming tablet at the consumer electronics show (CES) earlier this month, and it was running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Android and Me admitted that it could be wrong but said, “If Samsung was showing off this next-generation tablet behind closed doors at CES, then it should definitely be ready for show time at MWC. Given the fact that the Galaxy S III will be absent, it makes perfect sense that this tablet will be the star of the show for Samsung.”

Samsung announced the Exynos 5250 processor last November, which is based on the ARM Cortex A15 chip design. Back then it said the chip was designed for high-end tablets that would be available in the second half of this year. The chip can support screen resolutions up to 2560×1600, which is what the Galaxy Tab 11.6 is set to have.

Samsung doesn’t comment on rumour or speculation so we’ll have to wait until MWC to see what it announces. µ

KOREAN PHONE MAKER Samsung has reported record quarterly profits, as its Galaxy range of smartphones boosted overall sales.

The firm’s telecoms arm earned a record .35bn profit during the quarter ended 30 December 2011 after a surge in sales of Galaxy smartphones.

Samsung’s profit for the fourth quarter of 2011 was .72bn, up 76 per cent from a year ago and 25 per cent from the third quarter.

Although Samsung did not give its volume of phone sales for the quarter ended 30 December, analyst firm Strategy Analytics estimated the Korean company sold 36.5 million smartphones. This is only slightly lower than Samsung rival Apple’s 37.04 million Iphones shipped during the fourth quarter. Nokia, meanwhile, sold 19.6 million mobile phones.

The Korean firm said it will increase its spending this year by nine per cent to 25 trillion won, with 15 trillion won going to its semiconductor division.

In addition, 6.6 trillion won will go to its flat screen division and the rest will go towards adding overseas production capacity and new research and development centers. µ

A NenaMark 2 benchmark score for an unknown device based on Qualcomm’s upcoming 28nm Snapdragon S4 “Krait” MSM8960 SoC has just surfaced. The device seems to have 1.5Ghz CPU, a 1024×600 resolution display powered by an Adreno 225 GPU and running Android 4.0.3.

The Adreno 225 GPU scores 54.9 fps in the benchmark. To put things in perspective, a Galaxy S2, powered by the Mali-400 MP4 scores 46.2 fps. The important difference here is that the Galaxy S2 has an 800×480 resolution display, which makes the Adreno 225’s performance that much more impressive while powering a higher resolution display.

What remains to be seen is how the Adreno 225 stacks up against the current king-of-the-hill, the PowerVR SGX543MP2, the custom GeForce GPU in Tegra 3 and other upcoming GPUs such as the Mali T-604 and whatever Apple comes up with in its A6 chip. Given the raw performance offered by these next-gen GPUs, it won’t be long before we get console-quality gaming on our handheld devices.

Source: GSMArena via Nena

US PHONE MAKER Motorola has reported an m loss for the fourth quarter of 2011 after selling a mere 200,000 tablets during the period.

The firm reported revenue of .44bn in the fourth quarter, flat on the .43bn it reported a year earlier. Full year revenue was billion, up from .5bn in 2010. The loss on the year was 9m, from m a year earlier.

Overall shipments were 10.5 million phones and tablets in the quarter ended 30 December 2011, down from 11.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company shipped a total of 42.4 million mobile devices in the year, up from 37.3 million in 2010.

This included 5.3 million smartphones during the quarter and 18.7 million smartphones for the year. Motorola sold one million tablets in 2011.

“In the fourth quarter, we received very positive consumer response to Motorola Razr, which combined an iconic brand with ultra-thin in an innovative smartphone. Our Home business continues to be a leader in the industry’s transformation to all IP, with unique solutions that enable rich media experiences across any screen,” said Sanjay Jha, chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility.

Last year Google said it planned to buy Motorola, pending regulatory approval. Jha added, “We remain energised by the proposed merger with Google and continue to focus on creating innovative technologies.”

The company expects its sale to Google to close in early 2012 “once all conditions have been satisfied”.

In a cautionary note, Motorola added that it “reminds stockholders that it is possible that the failure to timely meet such conditions or other factors outside of the Company’s control could delay or prevent completion of the transaction altogether”. µ

KOREAN HARDWARE GIANT Samsung has lost another court case against Apple’s Iphone in Germany.

According to the Korean Times, the decision was made Friday in a Mannheim regional court.

The tit for tat patents war between the two companies continues. However, an official told the Korean Times that a cross-licensing agreement could be the next step, saying, “It’s too early to talk about a cross-licensing agreement, but we have to admit that is a scenario that has become likelier than before.”

The latest decision addresses one part of Samsung’s arguments that Apple’s wireless technology related to 3G infringes its patents.

Only last week, a German court ruled against Samsung in another decision about a mobile technology patent.

The court cases come after Apple sued Samsung last year, saying Samsung’s products “slavishly” copied the Ipad and Iphone. Samsung then countersued Apple and legal battles between the two companies spread across the globe.

Earlier this month, Samsung failed to win a ban on the Iphone 4S in Italy. Meanwhile, in December Apple lost in an early court decision over the future of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany after Samsung changed the design of the device.

Also last week, Apple filed two more lawsuits in Germany, one that alleges design patent infringements in ten of Samsung’s smartphones and another that levels similar charges for five of its tablets. Apple has asked for bans on sales of Samsung’s devices.

Samsung told us, “We are disappointed that the court did not share our views regarding the infringement by Apple of this specific patent in Germany. We will wait for the written grounds of today’s judgment, and after thorough review make a decision about a possible appeal to the Higher Regional Court Karlsruhe.

“Today’s ruling relates to only one of several patents asserted by Samsung in the Mannheim court, and it is of no indicative value as to whether Apple may be found to infringe other of Samsung’s intellectual property rights in Germany. A ruling on an additional Samsung patent relating to telecommunications standards is due to be handed down by the Mannheim court in the next several weeks.” µ