Mobile data increased very much last year. I expect the growth to continue. If operators do not invest enough to their network and/or find suitable charging schemes the network can become more congested than before.
4G mobile device speeds becomes the new standard. As competition move to that end, there will be fast growth there. Shipments of ’4G’ LTE devices, that is handsets, dongles and tablets, reached almost 103 million units in 2012, according to figures published by ABI Research. It interesting that almost 95% of the devices shipped went to North America and the Asia-Pacific.
3G will become the low-cost option for those who think 4G option is too expensive. What is interesting to note is that not everyone who upgraded to an LTE-capable device last year took out an LTE subscription; in fact, only around half of LTE device owners also have an LTE subscription.
The shift to 4G can take many more than year to fully happen even in USA. ABI expects the rate at which 3G subscribers with LTE handsets upgrade to LTE connections will gather pace over the next two years. And even longer in Europe. Carriers should not be panicking. And 3G will live and expand besides 4G for quite a long time. For many of those living outside cities, 3G internet connections are still hard to come by.
Apple and Samsung will continue to make money this year as well as people rate Apple and Samsung more highly than ever. Accountant Deloitte predicts that Smartphone sales to hit 1bn a year for first time in 2013.
Samsung is currently the world’s leading seller of phones and televisions. Those leaders should be careful because competition is getting harder all the time. Samsung boss has given warning on this to employees. Remember what what happened to Nokia.
Android will dominate smart phone market even stronger than before. Digitimes Research: Android phones to account for 70% of global smartphone market in 2013.
Windows Phone 8 situation is a question mark. Digitimes predicts that Shipments of Windows Phones, including 7.x and 8.x models, will grow 150% on year to 52.5 million units in 2013 for a 6.1% share. There is one big force against Windows Phone: Google does not bother doing services for Windows Phone 8, Google’s sync changes are going to screw Gmail users on Windows Phone and there are issues with YouTube. Does Windows Phone even have a chance without Google? For active Google service users the changes are pretty that they get this phone.
Competition on smart phones gets harder. It seems that smart phone business have evolved to point where even relatively small companies can start to make their own phones. Forbes sees that Amazon, Microsoft, Google, will all introduce branded mobile phones.
Patent battles are far from over. We will see many new patent fights on smart phones and tablets.
Mobile phones still cause other devices to become redundant. Tietoviikko tells that last year mobile phone made redundant the following devices: small screen smart phones (4 inch or more now), music buying as individual tracks or discs, navigators (smart phone can do that) and a separate pocket size camera. Let’s see what becomes redundant this year.
Many things happens on Linux on mobile devices. Ubuntu now fits in your phone. Firefox OS phones from ZTE will come to some markets. ZTE plans to make Open webOS phone. Meego is not dead, it resurrects with new names: Samsung will release Tizen based phones. Jolla will release Sailfish phones.
Cars become more and more mobile communications devices. Car of the future is M2M-ready. Think a future car as a big smart phone moving on wheels.
Nokia seemed to be getting better on the end of 2012, but 2013 does not look too good for Nokia. Especially on smart phones if you believe Tomi T Ahonen analysis Picture Tells it Better – first in series of Nokia Strategy Analysis diagrams, how Nokia smartphone sales collapsed. Even if shipment of Windows Phone 8 devices increase as Digitimes predicts the year will be hard for Nokia. Tristan Louis expects in Forbes magazine that Nokia abandons the mobile business in 2013. I think that will happen this year, at least for whole mobile business. I have understood that basic phone and feature phone phone business part of Nokia is quite good condition. The problems are on smart phones. I expect that Windows Phone 8 will not sell as well as Nokia hopes.
Because Nokia is reducing number of workers in Finland, there are other companies that try to use the situation: Two new Finnish mobile startups and Samsung opens a research center in Espoo Finland.
Finnish mobile gaming industry has been doing well on 2012. Rovio has been growing for years on the success of Angry Birds that does not show slowing down. Supercell had also huge success. I expect those businesses to grow this year. Maybe some new Finnish mobiel game company finds their own recipe for success.
Late addition: Wireless charging of mobile devices is get getting some popularity. Wireless charging for Qi technology is becoming the industry standard as Nokia, HTC and some other companies use that. There is a competing AW4P wireless charging standard pushed by Samsung ja Qualcomm. Toyota’s car will get wireless mobile phone charger, and other car manufacturers might follow that if buyers start to want them. Wireless charge option has already been surprisingly common variety of devices: Nokia Lumia 920, Nexus 4, HT, etc. We have to wait for some time for situation to stabilize before we see public charging points in cafeterias.
1,261 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphone with Sailfish OS coming soon to India
http://www.themobileindian.com/news/10385_Smartphone-with-Sailfish-OS-coming-soon-to-India
Sailfish operating system, which is based on Nokia’s abandoned Meego operating system and claims to have great multitasking capability, will soon be introduced in India. A spokesperson of Zopo Mobile, a Chinese player which recently entered India, said to The Mobile Indian, “The company is working on a Sailfish operating system based handset and will soon introduce it in the market.” The operating system is said to provide better multitasking than existing smartphones.
The OS will not just compete with well established OSs like Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry, but also with developing operating systems like Firefox, Tizen and Ubuntu. Unlike Tizen, Firefox, and Ubuntu, Jolla’s Sailfish is focused on the premium segment
Tomi Engdahl says:
Unlocking your new smartphone is now illegal: What you need to know
It is now illegal under federal law to unlock your cell phone without permission from your wireless carrier. Here’s a quick guide to answer all your why, how, and WTF questions.
Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/unlocking-your-new-smartphone-is-now-illegal-what-you-need-to-know/#ixzz2JGz6nfET
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple, Samsung get knocked down a peg
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57565853-94/apple-samsung-get-knocked-down-a-peg/
The two consumer electronics giants provided evidence in their quarterly financial reports that growth is slowing in the handset market and competition is picking up.
Apple isn’t the only one feeling the heat despite a blow-out quarter; Samsung is seemingly getting punished for its success too.
Both companies have been posting explosive growth in recent quarters and generating the bulk of the mobile industry’s profits.
But for Apple and Samsung, record-breaking quarters just aren’t enough. There needs to be proof that these trends will continue in the coming quarters, and neither company was particularly reassuring.
In fact, there’s an increasing worry that Apple and Samsung’s best days are behind them, and that the top two players in the industry are finally succumbing to the competitive pressures and harsh business environment that have punished the rest of the field.
Already, growth rates aren’t quite as high as they had been, and in the case of Apple, its iPhone sales fell short of analysts’ expectations. During Samsung’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call last night, the company warned that market conditions would be a little tougher this year.
IDC noted during its quarterly mobile market share report that Huawei is now the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, a first for the Chinese company. While its market share is still fairly low compared to Samsung and Apple, it’s making steady progress, as are other Chinese vendors. These companies are expected to move up the stack instead of only providing inexpensive phones.
And even if the mobile market slows, it’s still growing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is It Illegal To Unlock a Phone? The Situation is Better – and Worse – Than You Think
https://www.eff.org/is-it-illegal-to-unlock-a-phone
Legal protection for people who unlock their mobile phones to use them on other networks expired last weekend. According to the claims of major U.S. wireless carriers, unlocking a phone bought after January 26 without your carrier’s permission violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) whether the phone is under contract or not. In a way, this is not as bad as it sounds. In other ways, it’s even worse.
First, the good news. The legal shield for jailbreaking and rooting your phone remains up – it’ll protect us at least through 2015. The shield for unlocking your phone is down
Unlocking is in a legal grey area under the DMCA. The law was supposed to protect creative works, but it’s often been misused by electronics makers to block competition and kill markets for used goods.
Now, the bad news. While we don’t expect mass lawsuits anytime soon, the threat still looms. More likely, wireless carriers, or even federal prosecutors, will be emboldened to sue not individuals, but rather businesses that unlock and resell phones. If a court rules in favor of the carriers, penalties can be stiff – up to $2,500 per unlocked phone in a civil suit, and $500,000 or five years in prison in a criminal case where the unlocking is done for “commercial advantage.” And this could happen even for phones that are no longer under contract. So we’re really not free to do as we want with devices that we own.
Phones are, of course, the tip of the iceberg of problems the DMCA has created. It kills aftermarkets, interferes with legitimate research, and squelches creativity in new media.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Brings 3-D Animations to Mobile With New Chrome for Android
http://www.webmonkey.com/2013/01/google-brings-3d-animations-to-mobile-with-new-chrome-for-android/
Google Chrome for Android is beefing up its animation powers. For now the new WebGL support is limited to developers willing to install the beta channel and delve into Chrome’s settings, but expect support for sophisticated WebGL animations to land in the final version of Chrome for Android soon.
WebGL is a JavaScript API for adding hardware-accelerated 2-D and 3-D rendering to the HTML5 Canvas tag. It’s the cornerstone of many sophisticated animations on the web — think cutting-edge games or interactive videos like Google’s earlier Ro.me experiment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WhatsApp violates privacy laws over phone numbers: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-whatsapp-privacy-idUSBRE90R0T520130128
WhatsApp, one of the most popular apps in the world, contravenes international privacy laws because it forces users to provide access to their entire address book, Canadian and Dutch data protection authorities said.
Produced by California-based WhatsApp Inc, it provides a free internet alternative to SMS, or text messaging, sending more than a billion messages every day.
The investigators found that WhatsApp retained the mobile numbers of non-users, contravening privacy laws.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Drop Your Phone in the Sink – We Dare You
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1392&doc_id=258042&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
On some Design News message boards, we’ve discussed how great it would be if consumer electronics like smartphones and tablets were rougher and tougher. What if you could actually drop one into the sink by accident, or into your plate of spaghetti sauce, and no harm would be done?
A nanoscale coating that’s now being applied to some smartphones will let you do that (though we don’t recommend it). Aridion, developed by P2i, is used by Motorola on its RAZR and XOOM phones, and by Alcatel on its One Touch phones. About 30nm thick, or 1,000 times as thin as a human hair, the hydrophobic polymer coating is applied to completed products at the end of the manufacturing process. It coats exterior surfaces, ports, and even interior components, protecting them against liquids and stains, according to a P2i video
The coating, based on perfluorinated carbon compounds, is applied via a plasma-enhanced vapor deposition process that lays it down on all of the device’s internal and external surfaces. The process takes place under low pressure in a vacuum chamber at room temperature.
The vaporized polymer bonds at the molecular level to materials, reducing corrosion and water damage. The polymer layer reduces surface energy, so instead of being attracted and spreading out on the device’s surface, water and other liquids bead up and roll off.
According to P2i, Aridion does not affect conductivity or the functioning of components, and is so thin that it doesn’t change the product’s look and feel.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Full-HD Voice: Understanding the AAC codecs behind a new era in communication
http://www.edn.com/design/consumer/4405424/Full-HD-Voice–Understanding-the-AAC-codecs-behind-a-new-era-in-communication
We have grown accustomed to “HD Everywhere” by consuming high-fidelity content in most aspects of our lives. State-of-the-art audio and video codecs such as MPEG AAC and H.264 have set our expectations by assuring the highest rich media quality at very low bit rates.
With Full-HD Voice, a new era of audio quality for the telecommunications market has begun. Unlike Plain Old Telephone Services (POTS), ISDN and mobile phone calls, Full-HD Voice offers an unsurpassed level of quality, resulting in calls that sound as clear as talking to someone in the same room, or listening to high-quality digital audio.
The current high-quality codec family behind Full-HD Voice is Enhanced Low Delay AAC (AAC-ELD). In addition to the millions of calls already being made today using AAC-ELD, this technology is set to enable many new Full-HD Voice applications, including telepresence at home and mobile rich media telephony.
This paper explains the advantages and opportunities of Full-HD Voice, including how AAC-ELD meets the high quality requirements users expect today. Full-HD Voice already leads the industry with the latest communication advancements and is set to drive future innovations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google extends Windows Phone support for Exchange ActiveSync until July 31st
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/30/3933246/google-windows-phone-exchange-activesync-extension-july
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Google originally announced its plans to cutoff Exchange ActiveSync support for new users today, January 30th, but the company has revealed to The Verge that it plans to extend this to July 31st. In a statement issued to us, a spokesperson says the company will “start rolling out this change as planned across all platforms but will continue to support Google Sync for Windows Phone until July 31, 2013.”
The change of heart follows Microsoft’s requests for Google to extend its Exchange ActiveSync support for six months.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can Any Smartphone Platform Overcome the Android/iOS Duopoly?
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/13/01/31/1951232/can-any-smartphone-platform-overcome-the-androidios-duopoly
“‘BlackBerry’—launched its much-anticipated BlackBerry 10 operating system”
“Microsoft is still dumping tons of money and effort into Windows Phone.”
“Apple iOS and Google Android running on 92 percent of smartphones shipped in the fourth quarter of 2012″
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s Automotive Invasion Continues as Honda Embraces Siri
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/01/honda-siri/
Apple’s automotive invasion continues, with Honda’s announcement that Siri Eyes Free will come to three models this year. That follows Chevrolet’s integration of Apple’s virtual assistant last fall, a trend that will continue throughout the year as seven more automakers look to Cupertino for help.
But this is about much more than putting Apple’s virtual assistant into cars. It’s about giving automakers voice controls on the cheap and giving drivers what they really want: a seamless connection between their iPhone and their car.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Becomes Largest Mobile Phone Vendor in United States in Q4 2012
http://blogs.strategyanalytics.com/WDS/post/2013/02/01/Apple-Becomes-Largest-Mobile-Phone-Vendor-in-United-States-in-Q4-2012.aspx
According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, mobile phone shipments grew 4 percent annually to reach 52 million units in the United States during the fourth quarter of 2012. Apple became the number one mobile phone vendor for the first time ever, capturing a record 34 percent market share.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apps? No root? Your device serves others: Berners-Lee
http://www.zdnet.com/apps-no-root-your-device-serves-others-berners-lee-7000010661/
“The right to have root on your machine,” that is, full administrator access to your computing devices including smartphones, is a “key issue,” Sir Tim Berners-Lee told a geek-heavy audience at the Linux.conf.au 2013 conference in Canberra this morning.
“The right to have root on your machine is the right to store things which operate on your behalf,” he said.
Summary: Sir Tim Berners-Lee has warned that if you don’t have administrator access on your device and it’s full of proprietary apps, it really serves masters other than you.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel hiring Windows Phone engineers, x86 windows phones may be on the way
http://wmpoweruser.com/intel-hiring-windows-phone-engineers-x86-windows-phones-may-be-on-the-way/
We know Windows Phone 8 can run on x86 processors, with Greg Sullivan saying just a few weeks ago:
“Our architecture is such that it’s hardware independent. For the same reason that Windows 8 [tablets] could run on ‘Wintel’, right now Windows Phone is on Qualcomm. We have a portable OS architecture.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wine On Android Is Coming For Running Windows Apps
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTI5MjA
A port of the Wine software to Google’s Android platform is being worked on.
Following the FOSDEM talk today in Brussels about Wine on ARM (notes on the Wine ARM talk will come in a later Phoronix article today or tomorrow), there was a brief showing of Wine on Android.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FTC issues new privacy guidelines for mobile firms
‘Clean up your act, or Congress may do it for you’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/02/ftc_mobile_privacy_guidelines/
Protecting consumers’ privacy on their mobile devices is a complicated business, and platform vendors, app developers, and advertising networks all have their part to play, according to new guidelines from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Platform vendors must lead the way
In the FTC’s view, that effort must start with the mobile platform vendors, because their unique position within the mobile ecosystem enables them to set privacy disclosure requirements and enforce them on companies further down the food chain.
“Platforms such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Blackberry are gatekeepers to the app marketplace and possess the greatest ability to effectuate change with respect to improving mobile privacy disclosures,” the report states.
For example, the FTC recommends that platform vendors design the APIs that expose users’ sensitive data so that they display just-in-time notifications to the user whenever an app tries to use them, and that they require the user’s express consent before they actually grant access to the data.
Wanted: a Do Not Track for mobile
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia will manufacture navigation systems for Toyota cars.
In 2014, Toyota Touch & Go navigation systems begin to be based on Nokia’s mapping service HERE. The first cars with HERE-based map system will go on sale in Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
Previously, Nokia has agreed to co-operation on positioning systems with BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes and Hyundai.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/digi/2013020416635988_du.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toyota and Wetter.com choose HERE
http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/01/31/toyota-and-wetter-com-choose-here/
Currently, four out of five cars with in-dash navigation are powered by HERE. This means that automobile manufacturers can deliver innovative solutions and we can help fulfill the requirements of the automotive industry.
The latest automotive brand to select HERE to power their next generation Touch&Go navigation and infotainment systems is Toyota, who are in good company with the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Hyundai. Toyota has signed up to use our search with high-quality industry mapping information and community-generated content, including millions of ratings, reviews and images fed directly into their cars from early 2014 in Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
With HERE, Nokia is the leading mapping company providing end-to-end mapping, navigation and location solutions for the automotive industry. But with maps, and specifically with our location platform, our partners can build services that go beyond navigation. That’s the beauty of our business; we can support different kinds of services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Carriers Put on Notice About Providing Regular Android Security Updates
https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/wireless-carriers-put-notice-about-providing-regular-android-security-updates-020413
Activist Chris Soghoian, whom in the past has targeted zero-day brokers with his work, has turned his attention toward wireless carriers and their reluctance to provide regular device updates to Android mobile devices.
The lack of updates leaves millions of Android users sometimes upwards of two revs behind in not only feature updates, but patches for security vulnerabilities. Today during a session at the Kaspersky Lab Security Analyst Summit, Soghoian made a call for legislators to get involved in calling AT&T, Verizon, TMobile and Sprint on the carpet for their practices, or cede control to Google for providing regular updates to devices.
“With AndroidChris Soghoian, the situation is worse than a joke, it’s a crisis,” said Soghoian, principal technologies and senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union. “With Android, you get updates when the carrier and hardware manufacturers want them to go out. Usually, that’s not often because the hardware vendor has thin [profit] margins. Whenever Google updates Android, engineers have to modify it for each phone, chip, radio card that relies on the OS. Hardware vendors must make a unique version for each device and they have scarce resources. Engineers are usually focused on the current version, and devices that are coming out in the next year.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Study: People don’t use or understand digital wallets
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57567491-93/study-people-dont-use-or-understand-digital-wallets/
Digital wallets from Square, Visa, MasterCard, and others have a major perception problem, a study from ComScore finds.
Visitation Rights says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco: Our mobile data appetite doubled in size in 2012 (and it’s getting bigger)
http://gigaom.com/2013/02/05/cisco-our-mobile-data-appetites-doubled-in-size-in-2012/
Summary:
Globally the average mobile user consumed 201 MB a month in 2012. In North America, we binged on more than triple that amount. By 2017, Cisco says, those numbers will increase by a factor of 10.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BlackBerry Z10 “Off to a Better Start Than Lumia 920”
http://allthingsd.com/20130205/blackberry-z10-off-to-a-better-start-than-lumia-920/
More preliminary evidence that the new BlackBerry Z10 is off to a better start than some had foreseen: A pair of research notes lending further credence to early reports of strong demand for BlackBerry’s first BlackBerry 10 handset.
“Initial feedback we have received from distributors on the first days of sales is particularly positive.”
He surveyed a number of BlackBerry vendors in the U.K. over the weekend and heard that BlackBerry Z10 sales were strong. Some store locations reported sell-outs, while others said they had only limited stock remaining.
Off to a better start than the Lumia 920.
Now that is encouraging!
So is there reason for optimism? There would appear to be, yes — but a cautious optimism. BlackBerry may now have a device and operating system that are resonating with consumers, but it’s coming from behind in a race in which it has already been lapped many times by more than one rival. And it continues to face a number of daunting headwinds. The coming year isn’t going to be an easy one, by any means.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook isn’t making its own phone, but it’s pre-loading its software into millions of devices
http://gigaom.com/2013/02/06/facebook-isnt-making-its-own-phone-but-its-pre-loading-its-software-into-millions-of-devices/
Summary:
Facebook wants the first app accessed by new smartphone owners in emerging markets to be its social networking service. It’s working with Spreadtrum to ensure its software will come pre-installed in millions of inexpensive Android phones.
Facebook wants to ensure that billions of people in emerging markets have access to its mobile apps when they buy their first phones.
Technically any Android phone user could simply download the Facebook app from Google Play (Facebook is often pre-installed on smartphones, in fact) but the Spreadtrum agreement ensures the software will be optimized for even the lowest end smartphones expected to make their way into countries like India. Facebook won’t have to deal with OS fragmentation on those devices, or worry about whether their hardware is capable of supporting its app’s features. Spreadtrum will work with Facebook to test app updates and new features to ensure they’ll work across the phones already in the market.
Also, having your app icon sitting front and center on a new phone’s home screen can’t hurt when introducing yourself to a new country.
“Working with Spreadtrum will extend Facebook’s reach in emerging markets, leveraging the rapid shift from feature phones to smartphones that is now taking place globally,” Facebook VP of mobile partnerships and corporate partnerships Vaughan Smith said in a statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows Phone 8 hasn’t slowed Microsoft’s mobile freefall
New data shows Redmond’s smartphone share is smaller than ever
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/07/winphone8_share_still_shrinking/
Four months after its formal launch, not only has Windows Phone 8 failed to win Microsoft a bigger piece of the mobile pie, but Redmond’s share of US smartphone subscribers is actually still shrinking, according to the latest figures from analytics firm comScore.
As we know from Nokia’s own financial disclosures, things haven’t exactly been rosy at the Finnish firm since it signed its devil’s bargain with Microsoft in 2011. Sales of Windows Phone–powered Lumia handsets have been slower than expected, and during the fourth quarter of 2012, Nokia’s overall unit sales volume was down 24 per cent from the previous year’s Q4.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Becomes 3rd Smartphone Platform in US in Q4 2012
https://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=8185
Summary
Microsoft Windows Phone overtook BlackBerry OS to become the third largest smartphone platform in the influential United States market during Q4 2012. It was the first time Microsoft has surpassed Blackberry since 2006. Meanwhile, Android lost share in annual terms for the first time ever.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ubuntu OS smartphones to hit stores in October
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57568089-94/ubuntu-os-smartphones-to-hit-stores-in-october/
The open-source operating system for PCs and TVs is making its way to mobile. Look for the first phones to arrive in the fall.
It’s been said that Ubuntu’s open-source operating system would be available on smartphones by the end of the year, and now it’s confirmed that consumers can get their hands on such devices in October.
app developers will get access to the OS later this month
It’s not yet clear which smartphones will run Ubuntu’s OS, but app developers will be able to work with the OS on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus.
Tomi Engdahl says:
No, we don’t really need another smartphone OS
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57561675-85/no-we-dont-really-need-another-smartphone-os/
Ubuntu, Tizen, and Firefox OS are all around the next bend, but with more-established platforms struggling, can the market support the noobs?
commentary Would you ever consider buying a smartphone running Ubuntu, Tizen, or Firefox as its operating system? For most of you, the answer is and will probably remain: No.
Why would you? Android and iOS fight for worldwide domination, with no signs of slowing down. Both have extremely well-developed ecosystems that make sharing information across services and even across individual handsets a fairly simple, unified process. App development is strong, and OS updates are regular enough to give phone owners new party tricks to show off.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Walkie Talkies: Recycled phones embedded in fancy footwear
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57568007-1/walkie-talkies-recycled-phones-embedded-in-fancy-footwear/
Recycled cell phones get a fashionable new lease on life as they’re embedded into the soles of high heels, Wellington boots, running shoes, and men’s dress shoes.
The shoe phone is not a new idea. Just ask Agent Maxwell Smart.
The “Walkie Talkies” project presents recycled cell phones built into classic footwear.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung cell phone battery explodes in man’s pocket
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57568095-94/samsung-cell-phone-battery-explodes-in-mans-pocket/
For the second time in a year, a lithium-ion battery in a Samsung mobile device catches fire.
Lithium-ion batteries are notorious for overheating, catching on fire, or exploding. Yet, they’re in most electronics that people use daily.
One such battery set ablaze over the weekend while in a man’s pants pocket, according to the Associated Press.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Big Shift, Google Aims To Boost Mobile Ad Campaigns – And Its Own Revenues
http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2013/02/06/in-big-shift-google-aims-to-boost-mobile-ad-campaigns-and-revenues/
It’s no secret that the rapid shift of online activity from computers to smartphones and tablets presents a big challenge to online advertising leaders, from Google to Yahoo to Facebook. No other issue weighs as heavily on these companies’ shares today as the mass move to mobile.
The reasons: On the smaller screens, ads are relatively bigger and more intrusive, so not as many can run. At the same time, the impact of mobile ads on eventual sales is harder to track, so marketers aren’t willing to pay as much for them.
It’s one of the biggest changes yet to the AdWords system that accounts for the vast majority of Google’s revenues.
Tomi Engdahl says:
800 million Android smartphones, 300 million iPhones in active use by December 2013, study says
By the end of this current year, 1.4 billion smartphones will be in use: 798 million of them will run Android, 294 million will run Apple’s iOS, and 45 million will run Windows Phone, according to a new study by ABI Research.
Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/06/800-million-android-smartphones-300-million-iphones-in-active-use-by-december-2013-study-says/#TFl2ZwU5k9gdwuhw.99
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple & Samsung capture 103% of handset profits as rivals lose money
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/02/06/apple-samsung-capture-103-of-handset-profits-as-rivals-lose-money
Together, Apple and Samsung accounted for 103 percent of mobile phone profits in 2012, a number made possible because of losses incurred by rivals Motorola, Sony and Nokia.
Apple took a commanding 69 percent of handset profits last year, more than doubling the next closest company, Samsung, which accounted for 34 percent. Together, that gave the two companies more than 100 percent of the industry’s profits, according to research released on Wednesday by Canaccord Genuity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ABI: Windows Phone To End 2013 With 45M Handsets In Play, BlackBerry 10 Close To 20M — Out Of 1.4BN Global Smartphone Total
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/07/abi-windows-phone-to-end-2013-with-45m-handsets-in-play-blackberry-10-close-to-20m-out-of-1-4bn-global-smartphone-total/
The analyst predicts Google’s platform will take a 57 per cent share of the global smartphone pie, while Apple’s iOS will cut itself about a fifth (21 per cent)
the relative newcomers to the market of Microsoft, fuelled by its rebooted Windows Phone 8 platform, and BlackBerry with BlackBerry 10, will end the year powering millions of devices apiece — albeit, their share of the pie will still be in very low single digits, with Windows Phone taking around three per cent, and BlackBerry 10 around half that share.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile app allows you to speak a different language in seconds
iTranslate Voice for iOS is quick, accurate, and it translates to more than 30 languages
http://www.electronicproducts.com/News/Mobile_app_allows_you_to_speak_a_different_language_in_seconds.aspx
By downloading Sonico Mobile’s iTranslate Voice to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you don’t have to go through the trouble of memorizing certain foreign lingo. For less than a dollar, this nifty app will quickly translate words, phrases, and texts, and it can do so for more than 30 languages and dialects.
To break the language barrier, all you have to do is tap the microphone and tell iTranslate Voice what needs to be translated. Within seconds, it will speak back in your choice of language. It’s as simple as that.
To recognize the words you speak, iTranslate Voice uses machine translation software, along with highly developed voice recognition. For its state of the art technology, this impressive translation tool is currently priced surprisingly low, at only $0.99.
Though it depends on 3G or Wi-Fi connection to work, iTranslate Voice is nothing short of astounding.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Voice over LTE rollouts require new ways of thinking about test
http://www.edn.com/design/test-and-measurement/4406440/Voice-over-LTE-rollouts-require-new-ways-of-thinking-about-test
LTE is now a market reality and is becoming firmly entrenched as a wireless network standard in markets all over the world. A recent report from the GSA (Global Mobile Supplier Association) stated that the number of commercial LTE networks now stands at 105, deployed across 48 countries. It is anticipated there will be 195 deployments by the end of 2013.
The progress of network development has been rapid. While some operators are still in the trial phase, the first movers to the technology have already deployed commercial ‘voice over LTE’ (VoLTE) services to their subscribers.
Of course, VoLTE is where the promise of LTE is realized, providing a service that replicates all the features of traditional voice and offers the end-user a superior alternative to OTT VoIP applications, which are now readily available over wireless networks. With VoLTE, operators are able to deliver an end-to-end QoS through the evolved packet core (EPC) as well as over the radio network – which is also improved through MIMO (multiple in and multiple out) antennas.
This is no small task and provides engineering as well as test and measurement challenges to mobile operators moving rapidly towards VoLTE. The vendor ecosystem has responded with the provision of big data ‘geoanalytics’ platforms that provide an operator with an end-to-end view of user quality of experience across the core and radio access networks.
Tomi says:
Taxi race: can Uber and Hailo deliver a real-time revolution?
Silicon Valley thinks taxi apps will be the next megabrands
http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/7/3964394/taxi-race-can-uber-and-hailo-deliver-a-real-time-revolution
Each of these companies has a slightly different take, and not all will survive. But these apps could double or triple the size of the market for taxi and car services, Ravikant estimates. He did the math and found that between gas, garages, insurance, and the cost of the car, he could actually save money by using a combination of the smorgasbord of taxi apps available in San Francisco — and he can sit in the back seat on his phone instead of having to drive.
Silicon Valley has the tendency to gang up on any new idea that seems good, but the heat around taxi apps seems… uncalled for, especially considering that it’s not a particularly easy business to go into. The industry is heavily regulated, which has caused obstacles, and it’s a shrinking business. According to the research firm IBIS World, the taxi and car industry was growing at four to five percent before the recession, but has been shrinking by one percent every year since.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Secure mobile app replaces your house key
ShareKey enables you to unlock doors with a wave of your smartphone
http://www.electronicproducts.com/News/Secure_mobile_app_replaces_your_house_key.aspx
Having a key ring stuffed in your pocket isn’t the most pleasant shape. They can be sharp, bulky, and you’re always checking to make sure it’s there. But like the watches, cameras, and CD players before them, key rings are on their way to being gobbled up by mobile phones.
Thanks to ShareKey, the Android mobile app, leaving the house and worrying about your keys is a thing of the past.
ShareKey communicates with smartlocks on the door via NFC (near field communication), which allows wireless data to be exchanged across a small range. This system allows any smartphone to be accessible to the house, but only for a specified amount of time.
ShareKey isn’t like UniKey and Lockitron, which send instructions via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia sold luxury phones manufacturer Vertu unit last summer. Now Vertu has rejected the Symbian and the Windows platform, and moved to a competing camp. The new Vertu Ti is an Android phone with a price tag starting from EUR 7900.
Ti-Vertu model continues the traditions in which the phones design and materials are more like top watches as smart phones.
Although Vertu has never invested in the latest electronics, the phone features are modern. The device has Google’s Android 4.0 operating system and a 1.7-gigahertz processor. The internal memory is plenty, 64 GB.
Source: http://www.tietokone.fi/uutiset/nokian_myyma_vertu_7900_euron_android_puhelin
Tomi Engdahl says:
Opera formally adopts WebKit as its Web browsers reach 300 million users
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/13/opera-300-million-users-webkit/
Opera has announced that its range of Web browsers is now being used by 300 million people each month to navigate the Internet across mobile phones, PCs, tablets and more. The Norwegian firm is marking the milestone with the announcement that it will transition its browsers over to the open-sourced WebKit, in a move that will eventually end the development of its own rendering engine.
Mobile remains the area where Opera is seeing the most traction. Spurred by deals with global operators and handset makers, the company announced last month that its Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers clocked a record 229 million active users during December 2012.
Mini is the more popular option and is available for almost every mainstream device, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry,
The move towards the open-sourced WebKit engine — Opera is also committing to Chromium — will bring further benefits to Opera users across all platforms. In adopting it, Opera removes the need to continue the development of its own rendering engine, which frees up resources to develop new features and build new products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Watching porn is bad for your smartphone
http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/11/technology/security/smartphone-porn/
We’re not making any moral judgments here. But it is definitively a bad idea to visit pornography sites on your smartphone or tablet.
Nearly one-quarter of malware on mobile devices comes from porn websites, according to a new study from Blue Coat, a Web security and optimization company.
Mobile users don’t check out porn sites often — less than 1% of all mobile traffic is pornography. But when they do go to those sites, the risk of inadvertently downloading malware to their devices increases three-fold. That makes watching porn on smartphones a far bigger threat than viewing porn on a PC.
Porn led to more malware on smartphones and tablets than e-mail spam, malicious websites, and fake apps combined.
“When you click a link on a mobile phone, it’s harder to know what form of Russian roulette they’re playing.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android becoming mobile malware magnet, says report
http://www.zdnet.com/android-becoming-mobile-malware-magnet-says-report-7000011197/
Summary: As for the breakdown of Android malware, Blue Coat noted 58 percent was Android root exploits and rogue software.
The Android platform is becoming a key mobile target for cybercriminals, who are getting much more efficient with their malware, according to a Blue Coat Systems report.
In a mobile malware report, Blue Coat notes that Android is a popular target.
As for the breakdown of Android malware, Blue Coat noted 58 percent was Android root exploits and rogue software. Android malware via malnets—networks designed to deliver malicious payloads—was 40 percent of the total.
The Android malware issue is increasingly a buzz kill for the enterprise. CXOs are balking at having to support multiple flavors of Android and have largely focused on Apple’s iOS for their bring your own device policies.
Another notable nugget from the Blue Coat report was that pornography is a key threat vector on mobile devices. The catch is mobile users go to porn sites less than 1 percent of the time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Phone sales dropped – the first time since 2009
Sales of mobile phones has taken a downturn, says market research firm Gartner in recent statistics.
In 2012, mobile phones were sold to end-users, a total of 1.75 billion units. The drop in 2011 was 1.7 per cent.
While smartphone sales continued its growth path and rose in the last quarter of a record 207.7 million units the device. Growth in the previous year was 38.3 per cent.
Basic phones sales continued to slow. During the fourth quarter were sold 264.4 basic units, representing 19.3 per cent drop in the previous year.
The last time the global mobile phone market dipped in 2009. This year, the decline in sales was driven by the difficult economic situation, with varying consumer preferences and intense competition, Gartner suspects.
“At the moment, none of the manufacturer is not clear number three global smartphone business,”
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/puhelinten+myynti+notkahti++ensimmainen+kerta+sitten+2009n/a878522?s=u&wtm=tivi-13022013
Tomi Engdahl says:
No “Plan B” for Microsoft’s mobile ambitions: CFO
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/13/us-microsoft-cfo-idUSBRE91C1L720130213
Microsoft Corp has not made much of a dent in Apple Inc’s and Google Inc’s domination of mobile computing, but a top executive hinted on Wednesday that it will not stop trying and does not have an alternative strategy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tesla, Ford, Amazon Hint At Cloudy Future For Cars
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/02/14/026230/tesla-ford-amazon-hint-at-cloudy-future-for-cars
“The automobile, once the most analog of technologies, is rapidly becoming a smartphone on wheels: Amazon announced Feb. 13 that Ford SYNC Applink-equipped vehicles will include the Amazon Cloud Player, allowing drivers to access their music libraries via voice command or dashboard controls. Ford isn’t the only automotive company seeking to integrate cloud computing into the driving experience. Tesla Motors’ Model S electric sedan boasts a 17-inch capacitive touch-screen in place of the usual dashboard buttons and dials. And who could forget Google’s self-driving car? This isn’t a future everybody wants”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Britain Could Switch Off Airport Radar and Release 5G Spectrum
http://science.slashdot.org/story/13/02/14/0349251/britain-could-switch-off-airport-radar-and-release-5g-spectrum
“Britain is considering switching off air traffic control radar systems and using “passive radar” instead.”
“It will also save money and energy by eliminating transmitters — and release spectrum for 5G services.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Charge your smartphone, become a cyberspy
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57568765-71/charge-your-smartphone-become-a-cyberspy/
It seems that some in the U.S. Army garrison in South Korea charge their smartphones using government computers. This is something of a cybersecurity oopsie.
There’s just never enough battery life on your smartphone, is there?
Now, efficiency is very important to the Army. Which means it’s always tempting to charge a smartphone by plugging it into a computer.
The small drawback at a U.S. Army outpost is that these would be government computers. Which may have all sorts of secrets within, some that Julian Assange has never seen or even heard of.
As the U.S Army itself informs us on its Web site, these heedless smartphone owners have become the most virulent cybersecurity violators in the whole of South Korea.
You see, in a recent seven-day period alone, there were 129 such cyberviolations detected by the Korea Theater Network Operations Center.
Most apparently charge up innocently. It’s a reflex reaction, like not thinking straight.
As Lt. Col Mary M. Rezendes, 1st Signal Brigade operations officer-in-charge, said of these scofflaws: “They don’t realize that computers recognize their phones as hard drives and that their software puts our network at risk.”
Perhaps the U.S. Army might provide special charging stations, so that confusion can be kept at a minimum.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Crisis: Teens have started sleep-texting
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57569003-71/crisis-teens-have-started-sleep-texting/
It seems teens can’t get enough of texting while they’re awake. They’re now apparently texting unconsciously in the middle of the night. It’s like sleepwalking, but potentially more amusing.
Yes, it’s just like sleepwalking, except you can be really, really mean. LOL.
There’s a serious aspect to all this, naturally.
As Elizabeth Dowdell, a nursing professor at Pennsylvania’s Villanova University, told CBS Philadelphia: “The phone will beep, they’ll answer the text. They’ll either respond in words or gibberish.”
So far, then, it’s no different from when they’re awake.
However, the professor warned portentously that these texts “can even be inappropriate.”
The professor says that when the teens wake up they have no memory of these texts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tamagotchi Is Reborn as an Android App
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/02/tamagotchi-life-android-app/
The Tamagotchi is back — as an app.
Everything you had to do with the original toy, you have to do here, including picking up its digital poop.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside the $10k Android smartphone: How Nokia’s ‘black sheep’ built the Vertu Ti
http://www.zdnet.com/inside-the-10k-android-smartphone-how-nokias-black-sheep-built-the-vertu-ti-7000011260/
Summary: With a retail price in the thousands and technology that smacks more of middle-of-the-road than high-end, how does Nokia spin-off Vertu justify the $10,000 price tag on its devices?
Despite making the leap across to the Android platform for the foreseeable future, the company had previously been working on a Windows Phone 8-based model, although the complexity of building for Windows Phone has ruled the platform out for now.
The high-end styling of the handsets has inevitably attracted the interest of fake makers, with occassionaly embarrassing results.
“The fake market is immense. They tend to be zinc die casting with chrome plates, so the actual benefits of the materials aren’t there, but some of them have been taken to our service centres to be mended and we have to explain ‘sorry, sir, that’s not one of ours’,” Hutchinson saud.