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:
Android’s US market share continues to slip
Don’t look now, Andy, but the iPhone is gaining on you
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/05/android_market_share_slipping/
For the past 100 months, the stat-happy analysts at comScore have been tracking mobile-device subscriber counts with their MobiLens service, and the past few months have shown an interesting trend: in the US, the market share of Android-based smartphones is slipping, and iPhone market share is rising.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft: ‘Facebook Home just copies Windows Phone’
‘Anything Zuck can do, we can do better…’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/05/facebook_home_copies_windows_phone/
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg might think his company broke new ground by building its Facebook Home skin for Android around the idea of “people first,” but according to Microsoft, all the social network has done is borrow a page from Redmond’s playbook.
In a post to the company’s official blog on Friday, Microsoft mouthpiece Frank X. Shaw wrote that Zuck’s presentation announcing Facebook Home reminded him of discussions he heard ’round the water coolers in Redmond … in 2011.
“We understand why Facebook would want to find a way to bring similar functionality to a platform that is sadly lacking it,” Shaw wrote. “But as Android owners know, that platform is complicated enough without adding another skin built around another metaphor, on top of what is already a custom variant of the OS.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Another statistics and some different numbers on mobile trends:
Android up 13%, iOS down 7%, BlackBerry down 81% … and Windows Phone up a massive 52%
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/01/android-up-13-ios-down-7-blackberry-down-81-and-windows-phone-up-a-massive-52/
The mobile operating system market share numbers are in for Kantar Worldpanel’s last quarter, and the numbers are shocking.
Not the Android and iOS numbers: Steady but unspectacular growth for Android and gradual but not catastrophic drops for Apple are pretty much in line with expectations.
Google’s Android now owns more than half of U.S. smartphone sales, with 51.2 percent market share.
But the BlackBerry and Windows Phone numbers are dramatic changes from the same quarter a year ago.
Windows Phone looks to be finally taking off
Kantar Worldpanel is the largest continuous consumer research mobile phone panel in the world, and conducts more than 240,000 interviews per year in the U.S. alone to determine what consumers are buying and using.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook’s ‘Phone’ Is Another Triumph of Mediocrity
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/04/facebooks-phone-is-a-triumph-of-mediocrity/
Maybe you were hoping for something radically new and different from a Facebook phone. If so, Zuck just broke your heart. But so what. Facebook never does anything new. New doesn’t matter in the blue. What matters is this: What Mark Zuckerberg announced today runs software called Facebook Home that makes it easier for people to spend more time with Facebook. And that’s all he really needed to pull off.
In fact, the long rumored Facebook phone turned out not to be a phone at all. Or even a new OS or a fork of the Android operating system like Amazon’s Kindle Fire. It’s something more than an application, and slightly less than an operating system.
Facebook itself is a triumph of mediocrity.
Facebook is really, really good at connecting people. And that means it can be just OK at everything else.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon pictured in leaked image
http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/5/4189290/nokia-lumia-928-verizon-images-leak
Images are surfacing of what purports to be Nokia’s upcoming flagship Windows Phone device for Verizon, the Lumia 928.
The Verge can confirm that the image is in fact genuine.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple looks to protect dropped iPhones by shifting their orientation mid-flight
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/03/21/apple-looks-to-protect-dropped-iphones-by-shifting-their-orientation-mid-flight
An Apple invention discovered on Thursday describes a system that could potentially save the most fragile components of an iPhone, such as the glass screen, by detecting when a device is falling and shifting the handset’s center of mass to control its landing.
In order to work, the system needs a sensor or sensor array that can detect when a device is in freefall and how it is positioned relative to the ground. These can be simple gyroscopes, accelerometers or position sensors
Finally, the system requires a mechanism to either reorientate the device while in flight, or otherwise protect certain sensitive device components in the event of a fall. Here, the patent calls for a number of solutions, including the movement of a weighted mass within the device
Basically, the sensor send signals to the processor, which determines if a device is in a freefall state. If such a determination is made, the protective mechanism is deployed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Disappearing Messages Are Everywhere
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513006/now-you-see-it-now-you-dont-disappearing-messages-are-everywhere/
Smartphone apps that send disappearing messages are gaining in popularity.
You’ve heard it an eye-rolling number of times: anything you post online, or any message you send—be it a seemingly benign text or a photo taken when you were drunk—can come back to haunt you.
A growing number of startups, led by rapidly growing photo-sharing app Snapchat, are challenging the assumption with apps that allow you to send text and multimedia messages that—like in Mission Impossible or Inspector Gadget—quickly self-destruct (minus, of course, an actual explosion). Even Facebook has gotten in on the action, releasing a Snapchat lookalike app called Poke for sending friends notes, pictures, and videos.
On Android, Gryphn’s app replaces the stock SMS texting app and encrypts outgoing messages and decrypts incoming messages. The app doesn’t allow users to take screen shots, and encryption can prevent a message recipient from saving or forwarding a message or set a picture message to disappear shortly after being viewed.
Enterprise apps like Gryphn’s could also help companies comply with various laws that dictate how long they must hang on to certain information—such as messages pertaining to a stockbroker’s sale of a client’s stock.
If ephemeral messaging startups gain in popularity among both consumers and business users, it’s more likely that this kind of capability will bleed into other apps and services, too. “I do believe ephemeral data’s the future. Every single messaging, social, communications app in the future will have ephemeral capabilities,” Sell says. “Now that we’ve done it, it’s really obvious.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook VOICE is what telco barons should fear – not mobes
Just killed a chicken, now your profits are next… bitch
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/08/facebook_voip_just_not_yet/
Analysis Facebook disappointed everyone who was expecting a “Facebook phone” to be revealed last week – including me. But device manufacturers and mobile operators should watch their backs: it’s barely the start of what Facebook can achieve.
If you were Facebook, you’d be pretty daft to sit around watching OTT (over the top) upstarts like WhatsApp and Viber capture a huge user base – by mimicking your core communications services.
OTT players are third parties who piggyback the network operating’s mobile data infrastructure to operate a rival service.
Most operators now see the threat, although some also see an opportunity, too.
Facebook’s new Android app centres around chatting – Facebook Messaging.
It pushes Chat into the home screen, and if you want, over every application. So Facebook is already an OTT player. It just doesn’t have a coherent revenue strategy.
It isn’t Google who should be worried by Facebook’s mobile plans. It’s the mobile operators.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gartner Says Worldwide PC, Tablet and Mobile Phone Combined Shipments to Reach 2.4 Billion Units in 2013
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2408515
Traditional PC Market Predicted to Decline 7.6 Percent as Change in Consumers’ Behavior Drives Transition to Tablets and Ultramobiles
the traditional PC market of notebooks and desk-based units is expected to decline 7.6 percent in 2013
This is not a temporary trend induced by a more austere economic environment; it is a reflection of a long-term change in user behavior. Beginning in 2013, ultramobiles will help offset this decline, so that sales of traditional PCs and ultramobiles combined show a 3.5 percent decline in 2013.
Tablets are not the only device type that is seeing aggressive price erosion. Smartphones are also becoming more affordable, driving adoption in emerging markets and the prepay segment in mature markets. Of the 1.875 billion mobile phones to be sold in 2013, 1 billion units will be smartphones, compared with 675 million units in 2012.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Europe, New Protest Over Google
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/technology/09iht-google09.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
BRUSSELS — European antitrust regulators have received a formal complaint about Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices, even as they move to the final stages of their inquiry into the company’s search practices.
The complaint was filed by Fairsearch Europe, a group of Google’s competitors, including the mobile phone maker Nokia and the software titan Microsoft, and by other companies, like Oracle. It accuses Google of using the Android software “as a deceptive way to build advantages for key Google apps in 70 percent of the smartphones shipped today,” said Thomas Vinje, the lead lawyer for Fairsearch Europe, referring to Android’s share of the smartphone market.
“What is clear in our view is the market dominance of Google,” Mr. Almunia said. “This is obvious.”
Tomi says:
Welcome to the People Party
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2013/04/05/welcome-to-the-people-party.aspx
I tuned into the coverage of the Facebook Home event yesterday and actually had to check my calendar a few times.
Not to see if it was still April Fools Day, but to see if it was somehow still 2011.
Because the content of the presentation was remarkably similar to the launch event we did for Windows Phone two years ago.
When we sat down with a blank sheet of paper and designed Windows Phone, we put three words on the wall to guide the team: “Put People First”.
Those three words were chosen around a pretty powerful but simple insight: People are more important than apps, so phones should be designed around you and the people you care about, not the apps you might use to reach them.
Instead of having separate address books for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Skype, why not bring those together in one place?
So, we understand why Facebook would want to find a way to bring similar functionality to a platform that is sadly lacking it.
Tomi says:
What is the purpose of OpenWLANMap?
http://www.openwlanmap.org/?lang=en
Similar to the OpenStreetMap-Projekt OpenWLANMap is a free alternative project comparing to similar commercial offers. It provides a general database with WLANs and their exact position.
At the moment there are several companies out there that scan networks and collect data about them without asking the owners. These companies make profit with the data of other people. So it should be the time now to have a project that offers these data for free and – what is more important – where users can decide if they want to share their data with the public or not.
Possible applications for these data are navigation systems and position calculation without the need to use a GPS receiver.
Tomi says:
OpenWLANMap: Free WLAN-Based GPS Replacement
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/13/04/09/145234/openwlanmap-free-wlan-based-gps-replacement
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows Phone 8 will support 1080p displays by the end of the year
http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/9/4196022/windows-phone-8-1080p-resolution-support-gdr3-update
Microsoft is planning to update Windows Phone 8 to support 1080p resolutions. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s Windows Phone plans have revealed to The Verge that the company will issue an update later this year that brings support for the 1080p resolution and new 5-inch and higher devices. Windows Phone 8 currently supports WVGA, WXGA, and 720p resolutions.
The update, known as a General Distribution Release (GDR3) for Windows Phone, will set the stage for new devices set to debut for the holidays.
Tomi Engdahl says:
48% of U.S. teens own an iPhone. 62% plan to buy one
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/09/apple-teen-survey-iphone/
The key findings:
91% of teens say they plan to buy a smartphone for their next high-tech device
59% of teens say they are likely to buy an iOS device
21% are likely to buy an Android device
51% already own a tablet
Among teens who own tablets, 68% own iPad
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stop with that LTE-B nonsense… it’s NOT a thing – mobe standards guardian
4G, dude… as if it weren’t confusing enough
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/10/lte_b_3gpp/
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), global custodian of mobile telephony standards up to and including LTE Advanced, has issued a statement insisting that “Advanced” is as, er, advanced as the naming system will go.
“3GPP reaffirms that the naming for the technology family and its evolution continues to be covered by the term LTE-Advanced”
One part of LTE-A, carrier aggregation, is already being deployed by some networks
Carrier aggregation basically involves using two separate LTE channels as a single data connection (twice the bandwidth in twice the spectrum)
Carrier aggregation gets much more interesting when it uses dispersed carriers, where connectivity is shared between channels at, say, 2.6GHz and 800MHz.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Verizon CEO: 50% of our wireless traffic is video
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-ceo-50-our-wireless-traffic-video/2013-04-10
Video accounts for 50 percent of Verizon Wireless’ (NYSE:VZ) network traffic today and by 2017 the carrier estimates video will make up two-thirds of all traffic over the network.
Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam said that the company’s investment in its LTE network is what is making the delivery of that video possible. “With 3G you have video clips but there is buffering. With 4G you can stream video,” he said.
desire to use LTE Broadcast technology to broadcast live events like the 2014 Super Bowl to Verizon’s customers.
McAdam said that he doesn’t plan to replace traditional broadcast TV because the majority of people will want to watch the 2014 Super Bowl in their homes over their existing television. “We don’t want to get in the way of broadcasters,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
“The surge in Android adware can most likely be attributed to users installing what they believe are legitimate applications that contain the embedded adware code,” said Guillaume Lovet, Senior Manager at FortiGuard Labs. “It suggests that someone or some group has been able to monetize these infections, most likely through illicit advertising affiliate programs.”
Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2464
Tomi Engdahl says:
ZTE Geek unveiled with 2GHz Intel Clover Trail+ and a terrible name (video)
http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/10/zte-geek-intel-clover-trail-plus/
Needless to say, this is yet another phone powered by an Intel processor — a 2GHz Clover Trail+ Atom to be exact, which is what Lenovo’s K900 also has.
Over the past two years, ZTE has stepped up efforts in the smart device arena. The new Intel phone is a significant component of the company’s 2011 strategy to shift toward high-end products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Charge Your Mobile Device via Text Message
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=261751&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily
The BuffaloGrid Project
“Many millions of people at the bottom of the economic pyramid are expected to acquire mobile phones, greatly benefiting their lives, business activities, and access to information,” according to the project’s press release. “However, most of these new subscribers will not have direct access to electricity.”
Enter the BuffaloGrid Project’s mobile charging unit, which uses a rather inventive way to charge someone’s phone.
has built a portable micro generator that looks not unlike a plastic beverage cooler and can travel from point to point attached to a bicycle.
A text message is key to the charging process, which works like this: A mobile device user sends a low-cost test message to the charging station, and once the message is received, the LED above the generator’s battery lights up, indicating that it is ready to charge a device. A solar power charge is then transferred to the mobile device via maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technology that can assess environmental conditions for optimal phone charging.
The project is already running trials of the technology in Uganda and Ghana and has reported positive results.
each text message allows a phone to be charged for about 90 minutes
Tomi Engdahl says:
California Court Rules It Illegal To Check Maps On Your Phone While Driving
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20130405/02103822591/california-court-rules-it-illegal-to-check-maps-your-phone-while-driving.shtml
For years, we’ve discussed the problematic nature of “distracted driving” laws that seek to outlaw things like talking on your phone or texting while driving.
Anyway, all of that is preamble to a new court ruling in California, found by Orin Kerr, saying that using a mobile phone to check a mapping/GPS program violates the state’s law against distracted driving. The driver had argued that the laws are about talking on a phone and/or texting/surfing the internet, but that clearly using a mapping program should be allowed. The court disagreed, even as it acknowledged some of the oddities of what that meant, and said it’s really the job of the state lawmakers to figure out what they want to do.
The ruling doesn’t totally rule out using a phone’s mapping program, but does suggest it needs to be set up in a manner where it is done handsfree, where the driver does not need to hold or touch the phone. Basically, the ruling suggests that it’s mostly illegal to touch your mobile phone while driving.
strong gay says:
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading?
I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
IT Spending on (Slight) Rise, Mobile Tops the List
http://www.cio.com/article/731439/IT_Spending_on_Slight_Rise_Mobile_Tops_the_List
Forty-eight percent of the CIOs surveyed expect to increase spending this year, up slightly from this time last year. Mobile, business intelligence, and cloud infrastructure and services are the most cited categories.
Forty-eight percent of CIOs surveyed expect to spend more this year, up slightly from the 46 percent who planned to spend more at this time last year. The average increase expected is 5.9 percent (up from 4.4 percent a year ago).
mobile spending tops the list with 59 percent of respondents reporting that they plan to increase spending in that area.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s Bet On Windows Phone Looks Like A Good One So Far
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2013/04/12/nokias-bet-on-windows-phone-looks-like-a-good-one-so-far/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co
Nokia’s faith in Windows Phone seems to be paying off for now. The company continues to not only dominate the Windows Phone market but also take away market share from rivals such as Samsung and HTC, according to a recently released report by AdDuplex. The usage stats for April show that Nokia has increased its share of the Windows Phone market to 80%, up from about 78% a month ago.
Windows Phone 8′s share of the overall WP market accelerated to 43%, more than doubling from 19% three months back.
Windows Phone allows Nokia to get more marketing might behind the Lumia brand. Not only is it in the interest of Microsoft to promote the platform, but also for the carriers who are looking to increase competition in their supply chain and gradually decrease the impact of smartphone subsidies. With Android, Nokia would have been on its own
We believe that adopting the Windows Phone has given Nokia a fighting chance in the smartphone industry, but its long term ambitions are still tied to the sustainability of Windows Phone, as a viable third alternative to iOS and Android.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Time Warner Cable to Offer Live Mobile TV for Apple Devices
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-16/time-warner-cable-to-offer-live-mobile-content-for-apple-devices.html
Time Warner Cable Inc., the second- largest U.S. cable operator, is adding live out-of-home programming for the first time to its TWC TV application, letting customers watch shows on Apple Inc. (AAPL) mobile devices.
Time Warner Cable will make as many as 11 live national news, sports and entertainment channels available outside the home
The New York-based cable provider is following the lead of Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), the largest U.S. cable operator, and DirecTV (DTV), the nation’s biggest satellite-TV provider, in giving customers certain live and on-demand content on mobile apps.
the premise that consumers want the same TV-viewing experience inside and outside of the house
The trend could add about $1.7 billion a year of revenue to pay-TV operators by allowing them to leverage mobile TV to increase subscriber fees, Needham & Co. estimated last year.
Billionaire Barry Diller’s Aereo Inc. startup, meanwhile, is offering broadcast content over the Internet to mobile devices for $8 to $12 a month.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows Phone Head Myerson: Android “Still Kind of a Mess”
http://allthingsd.com/20130416/windows-phone-head-myerson-android-still-kind-of-a-mess/
In an interview at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference today, the leader of Microsoft’s Windows Phone division, Terry Myerson, said that the software giant’s mobile effort continued to cast it as a “challenger,” but that Google’s Android market was “still kind of a mess.”
“We are in a challenger role,” he said. “Windows Phone is really an incredibly well-funded startup.”
Oh, I believe it, but most focus remains on success in the key U.S. market, where Windows Phone has lagged behind.
Android and Google do better in markets, such as the U.S., where they put “their best innovation, but it sells at a volume of a $200 price point.”
Said Myerson: “If every phone is $200, we are the challenger at the same price; that’s a playing field that is a little harder.”
But Myerson said Microsoft’s Windows Phone efforts also had to differentiate to be successful. “I don’t want to come off too much on price,” he said. “The other part of it is the experience on the device.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Talking heads: how a late-night hack turned into Facebook’s next big thing
Facebook gambles on private messages as the future of mobile
http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/16/4205000/talking-heads-how-a-late-night-hack-turned-into-facebooks-next-big-thing
On a Wednesday almost one year ago, Facebook product designers Joey Flynn and Brandon Walkin decided to work from home. They discussed how frustrating it is that modern smartphones aren’t designed with texting in mind, since that’s what we’re doing most of the time.
“We had always talked about how apps with messaging components inside them are always the best,” Flynn says. “We thought that it would be awesome if every app could have a messaging component.”
The duo threw together a pitch video and received a green light to begin production on Chat Heads: a new form of interactive and omnipresent notifications for your phone. CEO Mark Zuckerberg was impressed. “Everyone liked the idea,” Flynn says.
Chat Heads started as an “experiment,” like most new Facebook products, but was quickly turning into something much bigger. “Status updates and photo posts get more visibility, so people think that we only think about News Feed,” Flynn says, “but private sharing is a really, really, important thing for Facebook.”
In early 2012, Mark Zuckerberg initiated a company-wide shift towards putting “mobile first.” From Messenger to News Feed, each team was responsible for its own mobile experiences across all platforms.
” New private messaging services continued to pop up all over the board, each with its own special feature. Voxer popularized sharing voice clips, Snapchat introduced self-destructing “ephemeral” pictures, and LINE introduced stickers, enormous emojis you can buy by the pack. One by one Facebook assimilated these concepts into Messenger.
“Move fast and break things,” read countless signs on the walls of Facebook headquarters.
Two weeks ago, Facebook made clear that the next big step for Messenger, but also for Facebook, lies on Android. The company partnered with HTC to produce a smartphone — a phone that elevates messaging above sharing statuses and taking photos.
“There’s a difference between the aesthetic we’ve chosen for Facebook Home and for Chat Heads from other traditional Android apps,” Bridge said, “but really we just wanted to create something that felt great and looked beautiful for users.” And what they came up with is barely recognizable as Facebook. “Nobody was shouting at us asking ‘Where’s the blue bar! This is a Facebook product!’” Flynn says.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital advertising reaches a record $36.6 billion in 2012
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-digital-advertising-reaches-36-billion-20130416,0,5332569.story
Digital advertising revenues reached a record $36.6 billion in 2012, propelled in part by triple-digit growth in mobile advertising and strong gains in video, according to newly released statistics from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Internet advertising rose 15% from the record levels of a year ago, with ad revenues surpassing those of cable television in the United States, according to the latest IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report.
For the second year, spending on mobile devices more than doubled as advertisers continue to follow consumers onto their smartphones and tablets. Mobile advertising rose to $3.4 billion in 2012, up 111% from the prior year’s record levels. Mobile advertising now accounts for 9% of all digital revenue.
“This was the beginning of the year of mobile,” Gridley said. “Finally, advertisers are playing a catch-up game with consumers.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
ACLU to FTC: Mobile carriers fail to provide good Android security
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57579978-94/aclu-to-ftc-mobile-carriers-fail-to-provide-good-android-security/
The civil liberties group claims AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint aren’t doing enough to protect users’ private data because they’re not sending out timely Android security updates.
“Android smartphones that do not receive regular, prompt security updates are defective and unreasonably dangerous,” the ACLU wrote. “As the FTC has acknowledged, security vulnerabilities on consumers’ mobile devices may be used ‘to record and transmit information entered into or stored on the device … to target spear-phishing campaigns, physically track or stalk individuals, and perpetrate fraud, resulting in costly bills to the consumer… [and to misuse] sensitive device functionality such as the device’s audio recording feature… to capture private details of an individual’s life.’”
Efren Reidhead says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Who’s Winning, iOS or Android? All the Numbers, All in One Place
http://techland.time.com/2013/04/16/ios-vs-android/
Who’s winning the mobile platform wars, Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android?
It’s one of the blogosphere’s favorite tech topics. Every new nugget of competitive information is fodder for an avalanche of coverage. Oftentimes, a story will declare that Android is beating iOS or that iOS is beating Android.
Really, though, it’s silly to obsess over any one data point. If what you’re after is a clear idea of how the world’s two dominant mobile operating systems are doing — rather than an excuse to make bold proclamations and/or cheer for your favorite — you want to consider lots of data points.
“Android if you’re talking about market share; iOS if you mean financial success. So far, this is a strikingly different market than the PC business back in the 1990s, when market share translated directly into financial success.”
You, of course, are entitled to come to a different conclusion
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
http://www.techspot.com/news/52274-samsung-admits-to-posting-fake-user-reviews-on-the-web.html
Officials in Taiwan are investigating claims that Samsung paid people to post favorable reviews about their products online while at the same time offering up negative feedback on rival HTC’s products. The investigation launched after the Fair Trade Commission received numerous complaints on the matter.
PC Advisor points out that Samsung has not yet received anything from Taiwan’s FTC but admit that the “unfortunate incident” did happen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Lumia sales hit record high of 5.6 million in Q1, nearly 20 million in total
http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/18/4238038/nokia-lumia-sales-q1-2013
Nokia’s latest quarterly earnings show that the Finnish smartphone maker continues to improve its Lumia sales. Following a jump in Lumia sales in Q4 2012, Nokia’s first quarter of 2013 saw the company sell 5.6 million Lumias
Up to March 31st, Nokia has sold 19.9 million Lumias in total since shipping its first Windows Phone device, the Lumia 800, in November 2011.
North American device sales took a hit this quarter with 400,000 shipped in total, a 33 percent decline year-on-year. Nokia previously shipped 700,000 devices in North America during the previous quarter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco estimates: Netflix takes more than 10 percent of mobile bandwidth
“Netflix will take for the current modest content of more than ten per cent of the mobile operators’ bandwidth. Division of labor has to change,” says Korvenmaa.
Mobile operators, the situation is complicated. Pushing into the network all the time Netflix-like content, from which an operator can not get the money.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/cisco+arvioi+netflix+vie+yli+10+prosenttia+mobiilikaistasta/a896137?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-22042013&
Tomi Engdahl says:
The $12 Gongkai Phone
How cheap can you make a phone?
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040
Recently, I paid $12 at Mingtong Digital Mall for a complete phone, featuring quad-band GSM, Bluetooth, MP3 playback, and an OLED display plus keypad for the UI. Simple, but functional; nothing compared to a smartphone, but useful if you’re going out and worried about getting your primary phone wet or stolen.
Also, it would certainly find an appreciative audience in impoverished and developing nations.
$12 is the price paid for a single quantity retail, contract-free, non-promotional, unlocked phone — in a box with charger, protective silicone sleeve, and cable.
This is a really amazing price point. That’s about the price of a large Domino’s cheese pizza
Introducing Gongkai
Welcome to the Galapagos of Chinese “open” source. I call it “gongkai” (公开). Gongkai is the transliteration of “open” as applied to “open source”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Geeksphone’s Firefox OS smartphones go on sale tomorrow, but will there be buyers?
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2013/04/22/geeksphone-firefox-os-keon-peak-launch/
While hardware giants such as ZTE, Alcatel, LG, Huawei and Sony have publicly committed to building and distributing phones running Mozilla’s HTML5-powered Firefox OS, the first company to actually go to market with Firefox OS devices (albeit only developer preview handsets for now) is a bootstrapped Spanish upstart called Geeksphone.
In fact, The Next Web has been informed that people will be able to start placing orders for the startup’s entry-level Keon and the more powerful Peak tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday at the very latest.
With a 12-person team, a 20-year-old CTO and co-founder (see my video interview with Javier Agüera below) and not a single dime in venture capital raised to date, Geeksphone will be opening its online store for customers worldwide in the very near future – as expected.
The pricing isn’t set in stone yet – as you can tell from the interview – but the objective is to keep the retail cost of the Keon and the Peak under 100 euros and around 150 euros.
Geeksphone is initially targeting developers who are interested in building apps for Firefox OS, which shouldn’t be too hard to find because that means mostly Web developers with an interest in mobile and HTML5.
Meanwhile, the big guys are expected to start selling non-’developer preview’ Firefox OS phones with a more polished version of the software – and undoubtedly with much more fanfare – in Venezuela, Poland, Brazil, Portugal and Spain in the next few months, kicking off in June.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Federal Distracted-Driving Guidelines Will Shape Your Next Phone
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/04/nhtsa-dot-distractions/
Uncle Sam wants automakers to make it impossible for you to text your wife, check Facebook and watch a video while you’re driving — suggestions that could have just as much impact on mobile phone manufacturers as automakers.
Specifically, NHTSA wants automakers to nix the ability to enter text for messaging and internet browsing, disable any kind of video functionality (think Skype, FaceTime and watching the latest Lady Gaga video) and prevent text-based information from being displayed, including web pages, social media content, emails and text messages.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft licenses second huge handset maker in a week, China’s ZTE
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/microsoft-licenses-second-huge-handset-maker-in-a-week-chinas-zte/
For several years now, Microsoft has been asserting that any company making Android phones owes it money, because Microsoft has patents that cover various aspects of those phones.
Last week, the company said that the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, which makes 40 percent of consumer electronics worldwide including a variety of Android and Chrome-powered products, had agreed to license its patents. Today, the company announced a patent-licensing deal with another huge Asian electronics company: Chinese telecom ZTE.
Microsoft says 80 percent of Android phones sold in US now pay for its patents.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IHS: Expect 9.4 million ‘smart’ glasses units shipped by 2016
http://www.zdnet.com/ihs-expect-9-4-million-smart-glasses-units-shipped-by-2016-7000014477/
Summary: Are “smart” glasses the new wave of mobile? Based on the fervor around Google Glass, IHS analysts seem to think so.
IHS iSuppli just published a new report with a forecast of approximately 9.4 million units of these fancy spectacles shipping between 2012 to 2016.
That time frame might seem odd considering we really haven’t seen much of this category on the market yet aside from the introduction of Glass at Google I/O last June combined with the recent first wave of prototypes headed to some developers now.
Tomi Engdahl says:
More Smartphones Were Shipped in Q1 2013 Than Feature Phones, An Industry First According to IDC
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24085413
The worldwide mobile phone market grew 4% year over year in the seasonally slow first quarter of 2013 (1Q13) as smartphones outshipped feature phones for the first time. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 418.6 million mobile phones in 1Q13
In the worldwide smartphone market, vendors shipped 216.2 million units in 1Q13, which marked the first time more than half (51.6%) the total phone shipments in a quarter were smartphones. The market grew 41.6% compared to the 152.7 million units shipped in 1Q12, but 5.1% lower than the 227.8 million units shipped in 4Q12
“Phone users want computers in their pockets. The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft to release ‘Switch to Windows Phone’ Android app
http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-reportedly-releasing-a-switch-to-windows-phone-android-app-today
Microsoft wants users of Google’s smartphone operating system to switch to its own platform, and to do so it plans to release a “Switch to Windows Phone” Android app aiding in the transition.
When the app is released next week, Android users who install it will be able to find Windows Phone versions of their apps as well as substitutes for those that don’t have official Windows Phone versions, such as Instagram. The app, which was developed in coordination with a third-party developer, uses Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage service to store an inventory of a user’s Android apps.
Microsoft has increasingly attempted to sway users of Google’s smartphone operating system to its own platform since the latest version, Windows Phone 8, launched in October.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Navigation systems market for many years followed the Berg Insight predicts, and personal GPS navigation devices sales collapse by almost 40 per cent. The company’s figures, sales dropped last year’s 28 million units in just 17 million units in 2017.
Equipment sales have declined in Western Europe and the United States for a couple of years. Eastern Europe and Asia, there is still growth.
The analyst André Malm, Berg Insight estimates that the equipment declining sales for several reasons. In developed countries, there is already a lot of equipment in use, the economic situation in Europe is weak and smartphones for mobile navigation reduces the need for external components.
At the end of last year, smartphone navigation guidance already been used by 150 million people, while the car navigation devices with 230 million users. Of the latter, 80 million was used in a car that came with the device.
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/vimpaimet/2013/04/26/tama-parin-vuoden-takainen-hittituote-kuihtuu-nyt-pois/20136101/66?rss=6
Tomi Engdahl says:
More Smartphones Were Shipped in Q1 2013 Than Feature Phones, An Industry First According to IDC
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24085413
“Phone users want computers in their pockets. The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away,”
In the worldwide smartphone market, vendors shipped 216.2 million units in 1Q13, which marked the first time more than half (51.6%) the total phone shipments in a quarter were smartphones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Crazy situation: Microsoft’s money-maker is … Android
Reality is stranger than fiction. Nokia’s Windows phones, Microsoft gain increases in revenue. The company is, however, greater money-spinner – the worst competitor, Google’s operating system. Microsoft has become an important new Android client license. We calculated what Microsoft might earn Android. The amount may be many times the Windows Phone revenues.
Android 250-1000 million …
How much license revenue Microsoft gets Android phones? The company did not disclose any details. However, it appears that the sums are high.
Citi estimates that HTC would pay for every Android phone about a five-dollar fee (about 3.85 euros).
If Microsoft should be a four-euro license revenue on behalf of the Android phones last year, license revenue would have been a billion euros. Two-euro license fee amount would be half a billion and 250 million euro charge.
Windows Phone, … perhaps 200 million
Asymco estimates that the Windows Phone platform, the license fee would be about $ 15 (about € 11.50).
Windows Phone handset sales is, however, only a fraction of the Android sales. According to IDC, Windows Phone’s market share last year was only 2.5 per cent of total sales, and equipment less than 18 million.
These data have been calculated on the Microsoft Windows Phone operating income of phones, only about 200 million euros.
Source: http://www.tietokone.fi/uutiset/hullu_tilanne_microsoftin_rahasampo_onkin_android
Tomi Engdahl says:
You hear that, Mr Cook? Samsung’s profits have gone UP
Remember when Apple’s used to do that?
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2013/04/26/samsung_q1_2013/
Samsung Electronics is toasting a massive hike in its Q1 profits fuelled by sales of smartmobes and tabs but warned cheaper kit flooding the market may “dampen” its next quarterly numbers.
Sales for the period ended 31 March climbed by 16 per cent to 52.87tn won (£30.7bn), boosting operating profits by 50 per cent to 8.78tn won (£5.1bn) and net profit by 41 per cent to 7.15bn ($6.4, £4.16bn).
According to the Q1 numbers from Strategy Analytics, Samsung seized 33 per cent of global smartmobe market share, almost two times higher than Apple’s Jesus Phone.
In a canned statement, however, Samsung said “we may experience stiffer competition in the mobile business due to expansion of the mid- to low-end smartphone market”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Consumers’ shift to older iPhones raises concerns on Wall Street
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-apple-iphone-20130426,0,7968879.story
So many consumers are opting to buy older iPhone models that some analysts wonder whether Apple has lost its ability to create new versions that dazzle.
In recent months, such an unusually large proportion of consumers are opting to buy older iPhone models that some analysts have begun to wonder whether Apple has lost its ability to create new versions that have enough dazzle to justify their high prices.
Not only has the shift toward cheaper phones nibbled away at Apple’s profit margins, it’s been dramatic enough for some analysts to view the iPhone 5 as a disappointment.
“I think it’s no surprise then that the iPhone 5 is selling worse than expected,” said Brian Colello, an analyst at Morningstar.
“I’m not one who feels like I need to get the coolest things right away,” Macchiavello said. “After a short period of time, the coolest thing isn’t that cool anymore, and then it gets a lot cheaper.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
LTE Innovation Summit: Sprint’s multi-mode network, smart antennas and Wi-Fi
http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20130419/networks/sprint-building-multi-mode-multi-band-network/
Sprint Nextel Corp. is working to deploy a network that will be multi-band and multi-mode, including both FDD and TDD flavors of LTE, according to Doug Alston, director of technology and strategy for the carrier.
Alston was speaking at the LTE Innovation Summit in San Diego, Calif., this week, which covered topics from base station antennas to the role of Wi-Fi and LTE-Advanced network features.
Alston said that after years of the telecom industry talking about a “killer app” for mobile, “The killer app is video. And that killer app is eating us alive. It’s putting a great strain on our networks.”
“Mobility is still important, but indoor and outdoor traffic is important, and high capacity is important,” he added.
Arnaud Meylan, a senior engineer in corporate R&D systems engineering at Qualcomm, told the audience that smart Wi-Fi offload is increasingly part of the wireless landscape.
“People would refuse to buy a phone that does not have Wi-Fi,” he said.
“There hasn’t been a lot of innovation in base stations, compared to other parts of the ecosystem,”
“LTE is driving all of us,” he said, and the three main features of LTE-Advanced are carrier aggregation, extended downlink MIMO and uplink MIMO, and intercell interference reduction.
Tomi Engdahl says:
M-B tech led cops to Boston suspects’ car
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130429/OEM06/304299963/m-b-tech-led-cops-to-boston-suspects-car#axzz2Rr2fuIAc
Carjacking a Mercedes-Benz M class proved to be a critical mistake for the alleged Boston Marathon bombers. When the driver escaped and called police, officers were able to track the vehicle using the crossover’s factory-installed GPS system.
Mercedes was asked to help find the vehicle using the Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance function on the crossover’s mbrace telematics system.
After authenticating the request, Mercedes turned on the tracking feature, said spokeswoman Donna Boland. “The authorities asked that mbrace be activated and … it was,” she said.
Last week Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon proudly tweeted: “Just found out that our mbrace2 technology in the stolen Mercedes helped locate the Boston terrorists! Thanks to our amazing law enforcement.”