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Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Is Android in Trouble?

April 30, 2012 by 3 Comments


The Kindle Fire Rules Android Market
A recent study by comScore shows that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet has remained a hot property, doubling its market share in just two months. According to the study the tablets share of the Android market jumped from 29.4% in December 2011 to 54.4% in February 2012.

The report does not count Barnes & Noble’s Nook due to classifying it as an ereader and not a multipurpose tablet, but if you combine the two they have a huge share of the Android market, and it appears that Android users opt for the lower cost offerings from Amazon and Barnes & Noble rather than the pricier ones from players like Asus.

So with Apple dominating the high end and these two at the low end of the tablet market what else is there. I suspect lots of room to grow in both. Many of the first generation Android tablets were touted as iPad killers and were not. They should instead seek to meet specific market needs and stop worrying about other players’ products.

Google Patent Trial shows past expectations.
One piece of evidence that has come out during the Oracle vs Google trial around Java patents has been the revelation of what Google’s expectations for Android were two years ago according to a presentation at the trial.

Some of the information listed was highlights that included device activation and searches while the lowlights noted that the company was behind in music, video and books and said that Apple was maintain momentum with strong product launches.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of information available from the trial, and The Verge has a full readout on what is going on as well as a great deal more data on Android sales and expectations.

Has Google lost control of Android?
Joe Wilcox over at Beta News makes a strong argument that Google has lost control of Android and that it could have very negative repercussions to the developer if it does not actively and quickly reassert control over the platform.

Fragmentation is occurring, and as he noted the most successful implementation of Android that used by Amazon in its very popular Kindle line, does not greatly resemble the version that is available elsewhere. Proprietary versions of the operating system can cause big problems.

The old saying that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” certainly resonates here. This issue occurred with DOS before Microsoft exerted control over the OS. Then again with Sun Microsystems’ Java, which it just barely managed to prevent fragmentation, interestingly enough, at the hands of Microsoft.

So I imagine that Google’s first priority if to get the Oracle lawsuit finished prior to any work on the OS but I would not be surprised if shortly afterwards the company announced a developer conference and new guidelines for developing on the platform.

Samsung is the King-of smartphones
Samsung released its sales figures last month and it has knocked off Nokia as king of the hill in smartphone sales. Samsung has shipped 93.5 million phones in the first quarter and of that number 44.5 million were smartphones.

Nokia had been top dog for 14 years, with a very brief sojourn at the top for Apple. In the first quarter Nokia is estimated to have shipped 82.7 million phones while Apple shipped 35.1 million in the same period.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics Samsung’s strong quarter helped move its overall market share to 25.4% from 19.3%, year over year while Nokia went in the opposite direction falling from 30.4% to 22.5%

For the quarter Samsung posted a $5.2 billion profit on $39.8 billion in revenue. Aside from the strong growth in handsets the company also experienced strong sales of its tablet products such as its Galaxy Note.

Winklevoss twins announce venture capital firm
The Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame have launched a venture capital firm called Winklevoss Capital. The firm will focus on early stage, disruptive startups. They said that they expect to close a couple of deals within the next few months.

A $20 trillion rock?
I love all of this space mining talk. The value of what they are doing just keeps going up and up. In case you missed it a company called Planetary Resources and bills itself as an asteroid mining company was announced last week.

Among its backers are Ross Perot Jr., James Cameron, some Google billionaires and Microsoft. The plan is to develop not only the capability to mine asteroids but also to have space-based refilling stations for spaceships.

I have no idea if this will get off the ground but I really hope it does because it sounds like it will be very interesting to follow. The first asteroid that it has its eye on has an estimated value of $20 trillion dollars.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Asus, Barnes & Noble, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Lawsuit, Mashable, Samsung, Tablets Tagged With: , ,

Friday Grab Bag: The Olympics are 98 Days Away!

April 20, 2012 by 1 Comment

Next week in pro football news, the ever popular draft is coming. One interesting thing about the NFL regular season schedule being released this week is that Las Vegas already has lines on the games! Not sure if it is time yet to lay a dime on Green Bay giving the points however.

Intel delivers high capacity solid state drives for consumers
Intel has delivered the Solid-State Drive 330 Series, a lineup that is directly targeted at the consumer market. Now being a consumer you might wonder why you would want one of these drives and the answer is easy. They have the capacity to store your growing digital music/video/images collection that might not fit on your smartphone or tablet, or even computer.

The drives will be available in the 60GB, 120GB and 180GB capacities and is a SATA 6Gb/s-based SSD. The difference between a SSD and what is probably in your computer is that a traditional hard disk drive has rotating material and so is much more prone to damage from dropping or other accidents. A SSD is what is in your smartphone, or at least the underlying technology is.

Exercise cycle delivers feedback wirelessly
Ever ridden an exercise bike and found that the data that it provided was worthless, or like at my gym, the data technology always seems to be broken? Well a company called Body Bike wants to fix all that with a wireless solution that can provide feedback using Ant + wireless technology developed by Ant Wireless.

The Body Bike Connect uses the wireless technology to send a wide range of information including VO2 max, calories, distance, and average, percentage and maximum values to an Ant enabled console. It also can be used to handle personalized settings.

Foursquare tops 20 million users
Now I have to admit I am not a Foursquare user. I don’t care that you are buying a cup of coffee or getting your haircut. Why do you think that is interesting to anybody but stalkers and home thieves? Well enough of the rant, as I see that the location-based check-in service startup has 20 million users, up from 15 million in December.

Google’s Motorola plans driving partners to rivals?
There is growing speculation that part of Google’s plans for its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility is to emulate what Apple is currently doing, becoming a vertically integrated developer. What that means is that it would develop the hardware, the operating system and possibly even the chip, for future Android devices. Currently it helps partners design products that are sold as Nexus systems.

This would make it very tough for partners to compete with Google’s own products, and could be a major impetus for them to look for alternatives. While Apple’s iOS is out two alternatives remain that already have at least a bit of mainstream acceptance.

The two are Research in Motion, which reportedly is in talks to license its technology to Samsung. The second and possibly more viable alternative is Microsoft. Its Windows 8 is due soon and it has Intel helping to promote the technology.

Apple and Samsung to settle?
Among the many patent battles being fought across the globe, two of the bigger participants are Apple and Samsung with over 20 cases between the two pending, and now it looks the top bosses will be talking face to face about how to settle the issues.

The two companies have agreed to settlement talks that will be presided over by a San Francisco-based magistrate judge. At the meeting are expected to be Apple chief executive Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung, as well as the general counsel for both companies.

BBC will stream all Olympic games
The BBC is taking an aggressive broadcasting stance for the upcoming Summer Olympics. With the games in its own backyard the broadcasting giant said that it will be broadcasting up to 24 streams of live HD sports to cable and satellite broadcasters for television viewing.

This will enable viewers to watch every Olympic sport, if they were so inclined. The move is an expansion of its previous plan that had called for all of the games to only be broadcast online. In addition it will be broadcasting on BBC One and BBC 3 as well as radio coverage.

This move, coupled with NBC Sports promising to put a huge amount of the games online mean that viewers can now see events that they wish to rather than simply the ones that the broadcasters have determined that viewers want.

No Greek Warship for Olympics?
A Greek trireme powered by 170 rowers has been scratched from the opening ceremonies of the upcoming London Olympics- the reason is that they are afraid that it will be too popular, causing I guess people to actually want to come to the opening ceremony.

That is really too bad because it not every day you see a replica of the Olympias, an ancient warship that was used in one of history’s most important battles sailing by. I hope they are not planning on canceling the basketball portion of the Olympics because I hear that is very popular as well.

Filed Under: Android, BBC, Contests, Cycling, Golf, Google, Humor, Lawsuit, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Microsoft, Monday Night Football, NBC Sports, NFL Draft, Olympics, Samsung, Skiing, Smartphone, Startup Tagged With: , , ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Preliminary Windows 8 Tablet Specs

April 16, 2012 by 2 Comments

Intel takes wraps off of Windows 8 tablet specs
Intel has showed the expected features and capabilities of the Windows 8 tablets at its Developer Forum in Beijing last week, a nugget that was dug up by Cnet. Not surprising is the chip powering these next generation devices will be Intel’s Z2760 ‘Clover Trail’ processor.

The chip is a multithreaded dual core processor with a feature called ‘burst mode’ that enables it to accelerate performance for short periods of time. There will be two basic designs, one a 10-inch model and the second a slightly larger 11-inch that will feature a keyboard.

It will have an estimated 9-hour battery life, support 3G/4G and also have NFC (near field communications) and Wi-Fi Direct. Its weight will be roughly 1.5 pounds and it s expected to be 9 mm thick. A second half 2012 release date is expected for the tablets based on the specs, but that is based on Microsoft releasing Windows 8 in that time frame.

Expect a wave of tablets of all size in next few months
A host of tablet manufacturers have tablets in the pipeline and they will start appearing on shelves very shortly, according to multiple reports. Samsung, Nokia, and even possibly Apple have products that should be are nearing the market.

The Asus Transformer Pad 300 is expected to hit the streets next week with a 4G LTE supporting pad that is expected to have a $399 price tag for a 32GB model. Amazon reportedly has three Kindle Fire models on the designing board including a 8.9-inch one.

Then there is the long awaited Google Nexus Tablet that has been rumored for some time and s expected to be built by Asus. It is believed to be a 7-inch tablet that will have a $199 starting price point. For more information on these and others including Nokia, Apple and Samsung’s potential offerings head over to the International Business Times site.

Apple loses appeal on ‘push’ email
Chalk one up for Motorola Mobility as a German court has upheld a ban that prevents Apple from using ‘push’ email in its iCloud and MobileMe service in Germany. The court, based in Mannheim, confirmed that Motorola owns the patent and that Apple must pay to use it.

The ruling keeps the services shut down in Germany and Apple is liable for damages and has been ordered to provide information that will enable the courts to determine the amount of the damage.

A look at how the current patent wars are hurting the market
A nice, general piece on the growing problem of patent conflicts and how it has erupted into major warfare. The rise of patent trolls, including corporate ones and how companies now go out and buy patents simply for protection. Nothing groundbreaking but nice to see that the issue is making more news.

On the same topic the fact that most of the patents in the smartphone area are held by international companies could stunt the growth of home grown developers in China, the world’s largest smartphone market.

Local handset manufacturers sold 455 million units last year but have been warned that they may be violating copyright laws with their devices. The news came from The Mobile Terminal White Paper, issued by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research.

Twitter tried to buy Instagram first
I did not hear about this when the huge deal went down with Facebook but apparently there was more than one company lining up for the photo sharing company. Seems that Twitter co-founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey had tried in the past to purchase the company, but failed to get any real traction on a deal.

However, since Dorsey was one of the investors in Instagram, he will be seeing a pretty penny from the deal. For a nice look at Instagram head over to the NY Times for this piece.

Pew study highlights technology rift
A recent study by the Pew Research Center shows how much of a gap still exists between have’s and have not’s in terms of technology. While a full 19% of Americans now have some form of tablet, be it a fully loaded Apple iPad or a bare bones Barnes & Noble Nook, a greater percentage, 22% do not even have Internet access.

The report is focused on digital access in this country and provides some great snapshots of who uses which technologies including cell phones and laptops as well as tablets, and that is broken down by a variety of demographics.

It is interesting to see that a fairly large number of adults that do not have Internet access do so because they believe that it adds nothing to their lives. Also the rise of mobile Internet access has helped level the playing field in areas that had traditionally lagged n terms of access and use.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, Asus, Barnes & Noble, Facebook, Google, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Lawsuit, Motorola, Samsung, Smartphone, Social Media, Tablets, The New York Times Tagged With: , , , , , ,

U.S. Justice Department Charges Apple, 5 Publishers with Price Fixing

April 11, 2012 by 3 Comments

High flying Apple, whose market value recently topped $600 billion, has been hit by charges from the United States Justice Department alleging that Apple and five publishing partners have engaged in price fixing.

The charges allege that Apple and five publishers: Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, Penguin Group (USA), and Macmillan conspired to end competition on ebooks and set a higher price, with Apple being guaranteed a 30% commission on each sale.

The deal was reached in 2010 the reports said, right when Apple introduced the iPad and was aimed at Amazon and was intended to limit Amazon’s ability to discount ebooks, which it was then selling at $9.99 for new and recently released offerings.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal three of the publishers have already reached an accord with the Justice Department and have said that they will terminate any such agreement with Apple. Those are Hachett, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.

The overall outcome of this will be interesting to see. In the past the Justice Department has gone after some other major players in hi-tech, notably IBM and Microsoft, and has won its cases. Apple has been increasingly litigious in recent years but this is a much bigger foe than someone such as Samsung or Motorola Mobility.

However when you ask people about what Apple does, very few would mention that it makes a competitive e-reader. In fact some may not know that is a very valuable use of the iPad, showing that this is not really a major market for its products.

So why not settle? It has been reported that three of the publishers already have, but also that Apple has been fighting the charges. I suspect that in the long run Apple will find that it is cheaper simply to tag along on the settlements negotiated by its former partners.

Filed Under: Amazon, Apple, Apps, iPad, Kindle, Lawsuit, Motorola, Samsung, Tablets, Top News, Wall Street Journal Tagged With: ,

Toshiba Shows 13.3-inch Tablet — Perfect for Watching Sports?

April 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a tablet but so far none have met your needs, with the small Galaxy Note not even in the conversation, the kindle and Nook not even close to the correct size and the iPad and its ilk closer but no cigar? Then Toshiba might just have what you are looking for.

Toshiba’s Digital Products Division has introduced its line of Excite tablets today with a trio of offerings including one that features a 13.3-inch display, along with a 7.7 and a 10.1-inch offering to fill out the new Excite line.

The company said that it believes that a one size fits all model does not work in the tablet space and that it believes that the growing usage of tablets in an increasingly wide number of user applications calls for multiple sizes and features.

The three will share a few features including operating with the Android 4.0 OS, a Tegra 3 Super 4-Plus-1 quad core processor, having scratch resistant Gorilla glass and a full suite of Google mobile service applications. All three will also feature a 5MP rear facing camera as well as a 2MP front facing camera and stereo speakers.

The company recently unveiled the details on the 10-inch model so we covered that here but both the 7-inch, which will compete with the Nooks’ and Kindles’ of the market as well as the 13-inch monster are the talk of the release. The Excite 10 tablet will be available for purchase at the beginning of May 2012 for $449.99 for the 16GB model, $529.99 for the 32GB model and $649.99 for the 64GB model.

The company said that it sees the Excite 13 tablet as one that will appeal to groups for things such as watching movies, playing games and sharing photos. The tablet is 0.4 inches thick and weights 2.2 lbs. It features a 13.3-inch LED backlit display with 1600 x 1900 resolution. The Excite 13 tablet will be available for purchase at the beginning of June 2012 for $649.99 for the 32GB model and $749.99 for the 64GB model.

The Excite 7.7 is targeted at an on-the go user that does not want the bulk of a larger tablet. The Excite 7.7 tablet will be available for purchase at the beginning of June 2012 for $499.99 for the 16GB model and $579.99 for the 32GB model

I have to say that I really like their thinking on this product. It is not positioned as another iPad killer but rather as a product that serves different segments such as family and group use or users on the go rather than delivering a banal push for a tablet user. Samsung’s growing success with its Galaxy Note and other tablets shows that consumers are open to alternative sizes if they have the features that fit their needs.

I can certainly see the popularity of the person that brings a 13.3-inch tablet to an event where a group of friends can watch a playoff game that they would have missed if not for the tablet- even the ten-inch displays would not serve their needs as well. I wonder what the top end of tablet size will be? I suspect not any larger for mainstream users.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, iPad, Kindle, Samsung, Tablets, Toshiba Tagged With: , , , ,

Microsoft to buy $1 Billion in AOL Patents

April 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Patent protection is apparently the name of the game these days in the high tech world, and if so Microsoft just bought itself a chuck of protection in a deal with AOL that will give Microsoft 800 patents for approximately $1 billion.

The patents were sold after an auction in which other major consumer electronics and social media players reportedly participated. The deal is expected to close by year end 2012 and AOL said that it intends to pass a large portion of the sales down to shareholders. As part of the deal Microsoft is buying a business unit of AOL.

Patents are increasingly being used as a weapon against competitors, either being used to ban their products such as what Apple, Samsung, Motorola and others are doing in various places around the globe or being leveraged for financial purposes, such as Motorola demanding $4 billion a year in royalties from Microsoft.

This growing use of patents has lead to a number of major players making big buys similar to what Microsoft has done here. The Google $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility for example; Facebook recently purchased 750 patents from IBM and Sony and Apple gained a huge number of new patents via their $4.5 billion purchase of Nortel Networks.

From reports this looks like the bulk of the patents that AOL currently holds. It said that the company retains approximately 300 patents including ones in advertising, search and mapping. Microsoft will grant the company a license to the purchased patents as well.

I wonder what companies will feel Microsoft’s wrath in the patent market space. I believe that they must have had talks with AOL about what patents will protect them from rivals and which ones AOL believes are currently being violated. Stay tuned because it has probably never been a better time to be a patent or intellectual property lawyer.

Filed Under: Apple, Google, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Yahoo Tagged With: , , ,
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