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Mobile Sports Report Monday TechWatch: Poor Android Apps Revenue?

November 21, 2011 by

The Kindle-It’s Cheap!
Love it or hate it, the Kindle Fire is making its mark, and a primary reason is that it is less than half the price of rival tablets such as Apple’s iPad. A compilation of reviews at Network World is less than kind to the device for all uses aside from reading books.

I keep wondering why people compare it to an iPad when it looks to be trying to take a slice of the market that only somewhat overlaps. My Dad wants a Kindle, I want an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy and we want them for different purposes.

Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire- a Side by Side Look
Decided you want a small form factor tablet but cannot decide which one you want or how they compare to each other. Engadget kindly did the work for you by taking a hard look at the features of these two recently released devices so that you can make an informed holiday purchase. Among the areas they look at are performance, form factor, software and display.


Android Apps poor Revenue Stream?
A report in Business Insider claims that despite the huge platform advantage that the Android platform is enjoying over rival Apple iOS and the rest of the pack, it’s payback to developers lags at just 7% of what iOS developers receive. The report said that Android revenue for developers is dwarfed by the revenue for the iOS. According to a study from Piper Jaffray that breaks down to $330 million for Android developers compared to $4.9 billion for the iOS community. Could they have possibly dropped a zero or two?

More Patent Goodness
Slashdot notes that Apple’s iOS 5 has a Reminders feature that can be location based and a patent pending called Computer Systems and Methods for Collecting Associating and/or Retrieving Data (Snappy title that). Amazon was just granted a patent on its Location Based Reminders while Google has a patent on Geocoding Personal Information that includes location based reminders. Microsoft, not wanting to be left on the sidelines has a pending patent called Geographic Reminders.
There are also some older patents involved from Microsoft. I see a lot of legal fun and the horde of lawyers that they all employ gleefully rubbing their hands together and buying themselves new helicopter pads for Christmas.

IT Execs don’t seem to mind new Mobile Technology
CIO Magazine found that CIOs are rapidly starting to embrace employees using their own mobile technology such as smartphones and tablets for work. According to its 2011 CIO Magazine Consumerization of IT Survey 49% of its respondents said that allowing their employees to do work on personal devices from home or the office. An issue that has the potential to slow this is the ability or inability of most IT departments to support every hardware and software platform.

Latest Apple Rumors
Thicker iPads, how will I be able to handle the 0.7 mm difference? All metal iPhones that are larger with a 4-inch screen, will the world be able to survive? A revamped MacBook Pro in 2012- that will kill my holiday buying plans! Anyway if you are looking for the latest rumor about Apple’s next generation plans head on over to Cnet which has kindly rounded them all up in a nice tidy bundle.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apps, iPad, iPhone, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Monday’s Tech Tidbits: Motorola Edition

November 7, 2011 by

Motorola goes Xoom Xoom
Motorola has added two Xoom models to its tablet offerings. Both Xoom 2 models run Google’s Honeycomb 3.2 version of the Android operating system that is designed for tablets. The Xoom 2 features a 8.2-inch display and the Xoom 2 Media Edition comes with a 10.1 inch display and runs on a 1.2GHz processor and includes 1GB RAM and 16GB of storage. They are now only available in the United Kingdom and Ireland with no announced U.S. release date.

Smartphone adoption in US approaching 50%
According to the latest mobile user survey from Nielsen only 43% of all U.S. mobile phone users have a smartphone, but the figure graphs higher with most younger age groups. While the 12-17 and 45-54 segments only have a 40% smartphone average, 62% of the 25-34 age group and 54% of both the 18-24 and the 35-44 age groups use a smartphone. The Android OS is the most popular with 43% of the market followed by Apple’s iOS with 28%.

New Motorola Tablet prototype outed.
Multiple sources are reported what they claim are the features for the pending Motorola Corvair, a 6-inch tablet that will be running the Android 2.3 operating system. What sets this device apart is that it is designed to work with a television, both as a remote control device but also use the TV as a display to mirror what is on the tablet’s screen. It is expected to be a low cost device the question will be will Motorola sell it on the retail market or work with cable companies to get it into users’ hands?

Apple losing patent fights with Google, Samsung?
A German court has dealt a blow to Apple, ruling that it has violated a pair of Motorola Mobility patents and forbidding Apple from selling any mobile device in the country. The ruling, by the Mannheim Regional Court prevents Apple from selling its popular iPad and iPhone products in Europe’s largest market.. Apple is suing three major Android developers, Samsung, HTC and Motorola and they in turn have launched legal counter attacks against Apple.


US Cellular to iPhone-No Thanks!
US Cellular said that turned down the opportunity to carry Apple’s popular iPhone but decided not to because it is too expensive, the company said. The sixth-largest U.S. cellphone company said that the terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint. While Apple charges customers $199 for the entry level iPhone 4S, it charges phone companies $600. The companies are expected to make up the difference on service contracts.
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/11/07/mobile_internet_sales_to_hit_record_15_per_cent_of_total/

Mobile Devices impacting online sales
It is estimated that a full 15% of all web purchases will be made from devices that run either the Apple iOS or the Google Android operating system. According to research from IBM the two operating systems impact is three times what it was a year ago in terms of being the platforms used to make purchases. The two represented 11% of the market in October and the estimate is for the holiday season in the U.S. market.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, iPad, iPhone, Motorola, Samsung, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Monday’s Tech Tidbits-AT&T loves Wi-Fi!

October 24, 2011 by

Looking for a Wi-Fi hotspot? Well according to AT&T the number has been growing by leaps and bounds as users made 301.9 million AT&T Wi-Fi connections in the third quarter. The biggest growth areas? Stadiums and hospitality facilities.

Motorola Mobility seeks to reestablish Razr with the new Droid Razr, an LTE Android smartphone expected to be released next month. Can the company regain its pre-iPhone glory?

I feel old this morning. Apple’s iPod turned 10 years old last Sunday.

Google delivered Ice Cream Sandwich last week replete with a host of features-the first product with the new OS is Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. I wonder how developers like it compared to the rival iOS or earlier Android versions?

Looks like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7 Plus tablet is headed to the US. Expect it to cost around $400 for the 16GB version and be available Nov 13th from Best Buy and Amazon, according to Gizmodo.

Apple’s iPad market share has peaked. Apple’s iPad market share is growing. Who do you believe? Speaking of bad iPad news stories are emerging that you can partially hack an iPad2 with a simple magnet.

Microsoft says that it will target the mid-market smartphone segment with future releases of its Windows-based phones. Rumor is that a platform code-named “Tango” is in the works, following up on its current “Mango” release.

Continued bad news for BlackBerry– a study by Enterprise Management Associates shows that 30% of RIM users in enterprises with 10,000 employees or more plans to switch to a different platform.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apps, AT&T, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, Samsung, Tablets, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday’s Tech Tidbits: Apple iPhone Edition

October 17, 2011 by

Samsung and Apple still claiming patent violations
Samsung has quickly struck at Apple’s new iPhone 4S, a product that sold 4 million units since last Friday, by asking for an embargo in Australia and Japan on the product, claiming patent violations. Apple and Samsung are both claiming that the other is violating its patents.

Apple to unlock iPhone?
In other iPhone news the report is that Apple will be offering an unlocked version of the phone in the next few weeks. The good news is you can add SIM cards in countries to avoid the ridiculous roaming charges, the bad news is that it will be expensive, and only GSM compatible.

Google kills unpopular products
Google continues to clean house-product wise. The company plans to focus on its successes such as Android and Google +. The latest two to be cut are the lamentable Google Buzz, its poorly thought out social networking program and Jaiku.

Google seeks to defrag Android development
Look for Google and Samsung to deliver Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) this week, after delaying its debut due to the passing of Steve Jobs. ICS is an effort to unify the Android ecosystem after it has been under increasing criticism for increased fragmentation and slow updates. Be interesting to see how well it works.

Samsung will also expand its Smartphone lineup
Following the ICS news Samsung also has a new Android-based smartphone that it plans to drop onto the market this week as well. The company is maintaining a very hard driving stance in the market both in regards to new products and aggressively taking on Apple.

Is the market waiting for a Microsoft OS for tablets?
That is what the Boston Consulting Group is claiming in a recent report. A survey found that a majority of consumers would prefer Microsoft’s Windows over Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. Really?

Android app downloads to be tops by Summer
Xyologic, a startup that tracks and indexes the App Store claims that the monthly Apple iOS app downloads will be surpassed by the monthly Android app downloads by June 2012. Aren’t there already more Android-based devices out there?

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Boston Consulting Group, Google, iPhone, Samsung, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,
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