The platform wars is over: Apple and Google both won. Microsoft wanted to be the third mobile ecosystem, and it has got clear solid third position, but quite small market share of overall smart phone market. Apple now sells around 10% of all the 1.8bn (and growing) phones sold on Earth each year and Android the next 50%, split roughly between say 2/3 Google Android outside China and 1/3 non-Google Android inside China. So Apple and Google have both won, and both got what they wanted, more or less, and that’s not going to change imminently.
Wearables and phablets will be the big device stories of 2015. I think that the wearables will be the more interesting story of them, because I expect more innovation to happen there. The smart phone side seemed to already be a little bit boring during 2014 – lack of innovation from big players – and I can’t see how somewhat bigger screen size and higher resolution would change that considerably during 2015. CES 2015 debuts the future of smartphones coming from all places – maybe not very much new and exciting.
Say good-buy to to astronomical growth in smart phone sales in developed countries, as smartphone market is nearly saturated in certain regions. There will be still growth in east (China, India etc..), but most of this growth will be taken by the cheap Android phones made by companies that you might have not heard before because many of them don’t sell their products in western countries. The sales of “dumb phones” will decrease as cheap smart phone will take over. Over time this will expand such that smartphones take almost all phone sales (perhaps 400m or 500m units a quarter), with Apple taking the high-end and Android the rest.
The current biggest smart phone players (Samsung and Apple) will face challenges. Samsung’s steep Q3 profit decline shows ongoing struggles in mobile – Customers sought out lower priced older models and bought a higher percentage of mid-range smartphones, or bought from some other company making decent quality cheap phones. Samsung has long counted on its marketing and hardware prowess to attract customers seeking an alternative to Apple’s iPhone. But the company is now facing new competition from low-cost phone vendors such as China’s Xiaomi and India’s Micromax, which offer cheap devices with high-end specs in their local markets.
Apple has a very strong end of 2014 sales in USA: 51% of new devices activated during Christmas week were Apple, 18% were Samsung, 6% Nokia — Apple and Apps Dominated Christmas 2014 — Millions of people woke up and unwrapped a shiny new device under the Christmas tree. It is expected that Apple also will see slowing sales in 2015: Tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted Apple will face a grim start to 2015 with iPhone sales plummeting by up to a third.
In few years there’ll be close to 4bn smartphones on earth. Ericsson’s annual mobility report forecasts increasing mobile subscriptions and connections through 2020.(9.5B Smartphone Subs by 2020 and eight-fold traffic increase). Ericsson’s annual mobility report expects that by 2020 90% of the world’s population over six years old will have a phone. It really talks about the connected world where everyone will have a connection one way or another.
What about the phone systems in use. Now majority of the world operates on GSM and HPSA (3G). Some countries are starting to have good 4G (LTE) coverage, but on average only 20% is covered by LTE. Ericsson expects that 85% of mobile subscriptions in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa will be 3G or 4G by 2020. 75%-80% of North America and Western Europe are expected to be using LTE by 2020. China is by far the biggest smartphone market by current users in the world, and it is rapidly moving into high-speed 4G technology.
It seems that we change our behavior when networks become better: In South Korea, one third of all people are doing this ‘place shifting’ over 4G networks. When faster networks are taken into use, the people will start to use applications that need more bandwidth, for example watch more streamed video on their smart phones.
We’re all spending more time with smartphones and tablets. So much so that the “second screen” may now be the “first screen,” depending on the data you read. Many of us use both TV and mobile simultaneously: quickly responding to email, texting with friends, or browsing Twitter and the news if I lose interest with the bigger screen. Whatever it is I’m watching, my smartphone is always close at hand. There is rapid increase of mobile device usage—especially when it comes to apps.
The use of digital ads on mobile devices is increasing. Digital ad spend is forecast to increase 15% in 2015, with research saying it will equal ad spending on television by 2019. Mobile and social media will drive 2015 spending on digital to $163 billion, with mobile ad spending expected to jump 45%. “Almost all the growth is from mobile”
Mobile virtual reality will be talked about. 3D goggles like Sony Morpheus and Facebook’s Optimus Rift will get some attention. We’ll see them refined for augmented reality apps. hopefully we see DIY virtual reality kits that use current handsets and don’t cost thousands.
Google glass consumer market interest was fading in the end of 2014, and I expect that fading to continue in 2015. It seems that developers already may be losing interest in the smart eyewear platform. Google glass is expected to be consumer sales sometime in 2015, some fear consumer demand for Glass isn’t there right now and may never materialize. “All of the consumer glass startups are either completely dead or have pivoted” Although Google continues to say it’s 100% committed to Glass and the development of the product, the market may not be.
The other big headliner of the wearables segment was Apple’s basic $350 Watch. Apple invest its time when it released the Apple Watch last quarter, going up against the likes of Google’s Android Wear and others in the burgeoning wearables area of design. Once Apple’s bitten into a market, it’s somewhat a given that there’s good growth ahead and that the market is, indeed, stable enough.
As we turn to 2015 and beyond wearables becomes an explosive hardware design opportunity — one that is closely tied to both consumer and healthcare markets. It could pick up steam in the way software did during the smartphone app explosion. It seems that the hardware becomes hot again as Wearables make hardware the new software. It’s an opportunity that is still anyone’s game. Wearables will be important end-points both for cloud and for messaging. The wearable computing market is one of the biggest growth areas in tech. BI Intelligence estimates that 148 million wearable devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers will ship in 2019.
I see that wearables will be big in 2015 mainly in the form of smart watch. According to a survey by UBS, 10% of consumers said they were very likely to buy a smartwatch in 2015, even though so far, no smartwatches have resonated with consumers. I expect the Sales of fitness wearables to plunge in 2015 owing to smartwatch takeover. In the future you need to look at exercise and fashion products as being in the same space. Samsung, Motorola, LG, and Apple debuted or announced smartwatches in 2014, so it’s no surprise that smartwatches are expected to be huge in Las Vegas at CES January’s show.
The third mobile ecosystem Windows phone has some new thing coming as Microsoft ready to show off Windows 10 mobile SKU on January 21. But it does not well motivating to me. After all, the vision of a unified Microsoft world extending across all screens is great, and it’s what Microsoft has needed all along to make Windows Phone a winner. The problem that hits me: if you fail enough times at the same thing, people stop believing you. It’s not just that Microsoft keeps failing to integrate its mobile, desktop, and console products. But Microsoft keeps claiming it will, which starts to loose credibility.
Mobile will change on-line sales in 2015: Phones have already radically altered both the way Americans shop and how retail goods move about the economy, but the transformation is just beginning — and it is far from guaranteed that Amazon will emerge victorious from the transition (this will also apply to other “traditional” players in that space).
Mobile payment technology reaching maybe finally reaching critical mass this year. Long predicted but always seeming to be “just around the corner,” mobile payments may finally have arrived. While Apple’s recent Apple Pay announcement may in retrospect be seen as launching the coming mobile payment revolution, the underlying technologies – and alternative solutions – have been emerging for some time. Maybe it isn’t going to replace the credit card but it’s going to replace the wallet — the actual physical thing crammed with cards, cash, photos and receipts. When you are out shopping, it’s the wallet, not the credit card, that is the annoyance.
Mobile money is hot also in developing countries: ordinary people in Africa using an SMS text-based currency called M-Pesa. M-Pesa was invented as a virtual currency by mobile network provider Vodafone after it was discovered that its airtime minutes were being used and traded in by people in Africa in lieu of actual money. In Kenya, a critical mass was quickly reached, and today, over 70% of the 40 million Kenyans use M-Pesa.
Mobile security will be talked about. Asian mobiles the DDOS threat of 2015, security mob says article tells that Vietnam, India and Indonesia will be the distributed denial of service volcanoes of next year due to the profieration of pwned mobiles.
Intel is heavily pushing to mobile and wearable markets. Intel is expected to expand its smartphone partnership with Lenovo: Intel will provide both its 64-bit Atom processor and LTE-Advanced modem chips for the Lenovo phones. The 4G phones follow Intel’s announcement in October of its first 4G smartphone in the US, the Asus PadFone X Mini. Now Intel remains well behind Qualcomm — which controls two-thirds of the global mobile modem market — and MediaTek as a supplier of chips for smartphones and tablets. Intel faces tough competition trying to fight its way into mobile — a market it ignored for years. Intel in early 2015 will introduce its first 4G system-on-a-chip under the new SoFIA name. Such chips include both a processor and modem together and are sought after by handset makers because they’re smaller in size than separate processor and radio chips, and use less power (matching Qualcomm’s Snapdragon).
Mobile chip leader Qualcomm will be going strong in 2015. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 is not only a killer part, it has raised the bar on what a mobile SoC has to be in 2015. It can power devices that drive 4K (3840 x 2160) TV, take 4K videos, run AAA games and connect to 5-inch HD display. There are finished, branded products just waiting to be released. I am convinced Qualcomm is on track to deliver commercial devices with Snapdragon 810 in mid-2015. I expect Qualcomm to be strong leader throughout 2015.
More material worth to check out:
New questions in mobile
http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2014/11/20/time-for-new-questions-in-mobile
What’s Next in Wireless: My 2015 Predictions
http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/issues-insights-blog/2015-predictions.htm
1,230 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Behind Android M: Google focuses on the core user experience with Now on Tap and many small refinements
http://www.theverge.com/a/sundars-google/android-m-google-io-2015
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile Apps are NOT Desktop Applications
http://www.twinprime.com/around-the-globe-in-130-milliseconds/
Distributing software has never been easier. No need to spend years polishing a bug-free masterpiece and then physically shipping shiny CDs to a fancy retail operation. The over-the-air model shortens the initial time-to-market and modernizes the App life cycle via user reviews and software updates. From the user’s perspective, there’s no need to go through a tedious installation procedure, worry about missing drivers, or wonder which new virus is coming on board. Millions of certified Apps are just one touch-screen click away, at low-cost or no-cost, to be installed upon the exact place and time of desire. The success of mobile Apps has inspired more and more hardware platforms, from televisions through wearables and cars to adopt the App concept. In fact, having an enthusiastic developer community has became a key element for every new platform.
The impact of this new model of software distribution goes beyond technology – Mobile Apps are not Desktop Applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Strap-on fiddle factor: We peruse ten Apple Watch apps
Extracting the most value from a pretty expensive wristjob
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/01/product_roundup_ten_apple_watch_apps/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xiaomi gears up for phone-free UK launch
But Chinese mobe firm has at least hired a phone-fixing outfit
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/01/xiaomi_gears_up_for_uk_launch/
Rising dragon Xiaomi launches its Mi brand and online store in the UK on Tuesday.
However, before you rush off to order its cheap-but-good phones, you need to know that only four products are available – and none of them are phones.
The initial items are two batteries (10400mAh and 5000mAh), expensive semi-open headphones, and a fitness band.
The company is definitely ramping up to sell phones at some point, however, and has hired customer care company B2X to look after support and repairs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ASUS reveals ‘Zensational’ style-over-substance kit
This year’s smartmobes and fondleslabs are trying to look like handbags
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/01/asus_reveals_its_new_zensations/
Computex day zero kicked off in Taipei today, and after some pleasantries got down to business with an ASUS keynote that pitched style over substance as a good thing.
Shih instead declared that “Inspiration is what surrounds us, like the mesmerising beauty and power of nature. The fusion of simplicity and peace. The perfect balance between beauty and strength” before exhorting us all to “Join me on this journey to Zensation!”
The first step on that journey turned out to be the ZenAiO, “A fusion of art and technology” in the form of an all-in-one PC with a Corei7, GTX 960M gaming graphic that Shih reckons will make your home more beautiful and make you a fragmeister to reckon with. Voice recognition and Intel’s RealSense both get guernseys, the better to help you chat with Windows 10′s Cortana personal assistant or play controller-free games
The new phone has image enhancement softwaere Chuang likened to “digital makeup” and 13MP front and rear cameras so you can always look digitally selfie-tastic. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 makes the 5.5 incher hum.
Shih returned with a new range of ZenPad fondleslabs which he deemed “The perfect fusion of fashion and technology.”
“Just like carrying a bag or a wallet that is both stylish and practical, a tablet can serve as a loyal companion that hosts all your essentials in style,” Shih said. The new range therefore comes with lots of lovely new finishes and cases.
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB Type-C will turn your phone into a battery pack to charge other phones
http://mashable.com/2015/05/28/android-m-usb-c-battery-charging/
Here’s yet another reason to embrace the new reversible USB Type-C port.
It was only mentioned in passing at the Google I/O developers conference, but Google announced the ability for smartphones running Android M with USB Type-C (Apple simply calls it USB-C) ports to recharge other smartphones. The potential here is enormous.
Your phone’s battery can be used like an external battery pack for other devices. With a two-way USB Type-C cable, you could quickly “lend” a friend’s dying smartphone some quick power.
Whether or not you embrace it, USB Type-C is the future of connectivity. Not only is it reversible, but it’s also very versatile: It can provide power, output video and transfer data. On laptops, it’s a little more controversial; accessories still haven’t adopted USB Type-C (yet) and you’ll need to buy dongles or external docks to regain all your legacy ports.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple takes aim at Google in VR market with Metaio acquisition
Firm likely to announce virtual reality plans at next month’s WWDC
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2410624/apple-takes-aim-at-google-in-vr-market-with-metaio-acquisition
Tomi Engdahl says:
Welcome to Project Soli | Google shows off the future of technology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgOewn-TFY0
Project Soli is developing a new interaction sensor using radar technology. The sensor can track sub-millimeter motions at high speed and accuracy
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t Buy the Apple Watch
http://www.qotd.io/read/don-t-buy-the-apple-watch
Seriously, Just Wait A Year
If you’re a casual tech consumer and you buy the Apple Watch this year, I’m going to laugh at you. Sure, it’s undeniably sexy, and the Apple marketing machine has totally succeeded in making the watch the next gotta-have-it gadget to complete your technologically sophisticated setup, but it’s an unwise expenditure for anyone looking for a long term reliable smartwatch.
Depending on which options you spring for, this little wrist accessory will cost you somewhere between $349 and a whopping $17,000. A quick Amazon search shows that similar wrist-mounted devices that pair with your phone will go for far less.
There are other watches that will also pair with an iPhone to do cool stuff. They simply won’t be called the Apple Watch, and thus they fall into the shadow of the tech giant.
This is Apple’s move — to catch the biggest fish with the deepest pockets first, then slowly win over the late adopters by releasing a newer, better version of the same thing every year.
With 24 hours in a day, it’s disappointing that this watch’s battery is only good for 18.
If you use the watch heavily, it will last even shorter still.
This problem is a function of device size. A smaller device strapped to your wrist means there’s less space within it for hiding a battery.
There’s a better one on the way soon
For as long as Apple has been releasing iPhones, iPods, and iPads, it’s been releasing better versions of the same thing the following year that are lightly tweaked and redesigned. I have historically declined to buy the first version of anything, and it’s saved me money by waiting until a company releases something I actually want and will actually use.
This is the first version of a new product line that will only improve over time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Japan, EU: we’ll research 5G unicorns together
Joint work on standards, spectrum and applications
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/02/japan_eu_well_research_5g_unicorns_together/
We don’t know what 5G will look like yet, apart from fast and probably expensive, but Japan and the European Union have agreed to cooperate to research the coming-in-2020 mobile standards.
Under the agreement announced Friday, the partners will work together on standards efforts, and to harmonise the radio spectrum to be used in Japan and the EU.
The agreement says the research will also cover trackable and snitchable connected cars and electronic health applications, as well as €12 million to go on projects to “help develop the Internet of Things,Cloud or Big Data platforms”.
The agreement formalises a memorandum of understanding signed between the EU’s 5G public-private partnership and Japan’s 5G promo body, the 5GMF in March 2015.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Report: Nintendo considering Android based OS for next generation console codenamed NX — Why you should want a Nintendo Android console — Could Nintendo really switch to Android? — Japan’s most respected business newspaper, the Nikkei Shimbun, today raised the possibility …
Why you should want a Nintendo Android console
An Android foundation could help return Nintendo to relevance
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/1/8696979/nintendo-nx-android-is-a-good-idea
Could Nintendo really switch to Android?
Japan’s most respected business newspaper, the Nikkei Shimbun, today raised the possibility that Nintendo’s mysterious upcoming system — codenamed NX — may be based on Google’s Android operating system.
Although it would be an unusual move for the Japanese giant, which is famously hesitant to cede control over any aspect of its products, there are a lot of reasons why it might make sense — and why it wouldn’t contradict Nintendo’s own philosophy.
The most obvious reason for Nintendo to use Android as a starting point is that it would give the company a considerable leg up toward having its own credible, modern operating system. Anyone who’s used a Wii U will know how far behind Nintendo is in this area; the software is inexplicably slow, even after multiple updates and workarounds, and despite its tablet-focused approach, it doesn’t offer anywhere near the functionality of the most basic Android mobile devices.
Whatever your thoughts on the Android operating system itself, they wouldn’t be likely to have much bearing on any Nintendo implementation. The company’s philosophy is to create unique console hardware as a canvas for its talent, and a move to Android at the system level wouldn’t lead to, say, Nintendo releasing its top-tier titles straight to the Google Play store for anyone to download, or relying on Google for media services.
But Nintendo ultimately wants more software on its platforms, having struggled to attract third-party content ever since the N64 in the ‘90s, and an Android-based NX could prove more appealing to developers than the often-awkward proprietary hardware. Although Amazon’s devices run Android at their core and should be easily compatible with most Android apps, some developers have decided against the seemingly simple task; the lack of built-in Google services means many apps have to implement Amazon’s own replacement APIs, which can be non-trivial. Many games and media services, however, only really need to run their own content, meaning that in theory there’d be fewer obstacles to getting them up and running on the NX. Nintendo would have to do some legwork, for sure, but a gaming-focused Android OS could afford to be less complex than a phone.
I can’t say whether there’s any truth to this report or not, but I do think Nintendo could make it work. Imagine a suite of devices from set-top box to tablet to gaming handheld, all with input options designed by Nintendo. Each would run Nintendo’s own speedy operating system, yet would have access to countless compatible Android games and media apps. And each would play premium Nintendo games created specifically for the hardware and released nowhere else.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Juro Osawa / Wall Street Journal:
Liu Jun steps down as head of Lenovo’s mobile business, replaced by Chen Xudong, head of Lenovo’s ShenQi smartphone unit
Lenovo Mobile Chief Liu Jun to Step Down
The move comes less than a year after the company’s purchase of Motorola Mobility
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/lenovo-mobile-chief-liu-jun-to-step-down-1433213501-lMyQjAxMTA1MDA0MjIwMjIyWj
The head of Lenovo Group Ltd. ’s mobile business is stepping down less than a year after the Chinese technology giant bought Motorola Mobility to beef up its smartphone offerings.
The management change comes as Lenovo has struggled to compete against upstart Xiaomi Inc. in China’s smartphone market over the past year.
In China, the world’s largest smartphone market, Lenovo’s market share has declined as it has faced fierce competition from Chinese rivals Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies Co., as well as global giants Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. In the first quarter, Lenovo was the fifth-largest smartphone vendor in China with a 8.3% share, compared with a 10.2% share a year earlier when the company was the second-largest vendor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple revamps App Store Games section, focuses more on editorially curated game recommendations, instead of algorithmically generated lists
Apple Revamps The App Store’s Games Section With Increased Focus On Editorial Content
http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/01/apple-revamps-the-app-stores-games-section-with-increased-focus-on-editorial-content/
Apple quietly made a number of changes to the way it features and organizes mobile applications in the iTunes App Store in May that are of particular interest to mobile game developers. Previously, developers relied on algorithmically generated sections highlighting new and trending titles as a way of having their games found, but now many of these lists are gone.
Now missing are lists like “New,” “What’s Hot,” and “All iPhone (Free & Paid),” for example. In their place, including for the first time ever in the Games’ subcategory pages, are editorially curated lists instead.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cell phone can be utilize it’s radiate waste energy
Ohio State University has now developed a technique that could prolong the operating time of a battery by up to 30 per cent. The technology being commercialized through a new start-up company.
When the phone is connected to an access point or a Wi-Fi router, it’s waste of enormous amounts of energy in this context. According to researchers, 97 percent of cell phone radio radiation will never reach the destination.
The researchers developed a circuit to capture some of this energy and convert it to an electrical current. Patented technology be recovered from cell phone radio emits radio energy and converts it directly to the DC. The necessary circuitry can be implanted in a mobile phone casings.
The researchers stress that the radio energy collection impair the quality of the Internet connection device. Every direction of the emitted energy is recovered only a very small part.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2917:kannykka-voi-hyodyntaa-sateilemansa-hukkaenergian&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Will a magnet destroy your smartphone or hard drive? We ask the experts
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-magnets-really-affect-phones-hard-drives/
I’ve always been extremely paranoid about magnets getting anywhere near my electronics. I have a vision of screens warping, precious files vanishing into the ether, and my smartphone shutting down forever.
I wondered if my fear was irrational. Do magnets actually pose a terrifying risk to our gadgets, and where did we get the idea that they’re dangerous in the first place? Let’s find out.
Most modern electronics, like our smartphones, are not going to be adversely affected by small magnets; but is that all there is to it?
“The vast majority of magnets that you come across day to day, even many of the super-strong ones on the market, will have no adverse effect on your smartphone,” says Matt, “In fact, within the device there will be a number of very small magnets which perform important functions.”
Most modern electronics, like our smartphones, are not going to be adversely affected by small magnets; but is that all there is to it?
How do magnets affect smartphones?
“The vast majority of magnets that you come across day to day, even many of the super-strong ones on the market, will have no adverse effect on your smartphone,” says Matt, “In fact, within the device there will be a number of very small magnets which perform important functions. For example, the new Apple Watch uses a magnetic inductive wireless charging system.”
Matt warned that magnetic fields can temporarily interfere with the digital compass and magnetometer inside your smartphone
“Apple recommends avoiding the use of magnets and metal components in cases.”
Manufacturers have to ensure that the built-in magnetic compass is not affected by their cases.
Do we need to worry about magnets?
“At home you will be surrounded by magnets – they are in every computer, speaker, TV, motor, smartphone, to name just a few applications,” says Matt, “Modern life would simply not be possible without them.”
It seems that magnets have unfairly gotten a bad press, but it’s still important to exercise caution when wielding the strongest magnets.
“Strong neodymium magnets aren’t toys,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Confirmed: Sony Mobile Cuts 1,000 Workers In Sweden As Handset Maker Restructures
http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/01/report-sony-mobile-cuts-975-workers-in-sweden-as-troubled-handset-maker-restructures/?ncid=rss
The shakeout among less successful mobile handset makers continues apace. Sony Mobile is cutting 1,000 jobs in Sweden, one of the company’s key manufacturing and R&D centers, as part of a larger restructuring to push the struggling handset maker into profitability. The news, first reported by Swedish local publication 8till5, was confirmed to us directly in a statement
The reduction will cut the total number of people working at Sony Mobile’s operations out of Lund, Sweden by nearly half, with 1,200 people remaining.
Sony Mobile itself — which was previously a joint venture with Ericsson (hence the Swedish legacy) before Sony took over the whole business — has been limping for a while now.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:
Blocks modular smartwatch will start crowdfunding campaign this summer, will run Android Lollipop
Blocks Wearables will start taking orders for its modular smartwatch this summer
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/2/8702241/blocks-wearables-smartwatch-qualcomm-processor
We got a sense of what Blocks Wearables is trying to achieve back at CES earlier this year. There, the company showed off a design mock-up for a smartwatch that could have interchangeable modules, a concept similar to what Google has been shooting for in smartphones with Project Ara. While the CES design wasn’t a working watch, it sounds like Blocks is getting closer to that goal: today, the company is showing off some new renders of the upcoming device and announcing that the watch will be powered by Qualcomm.
Specifically, the main watch face “module” will include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, something not altogether different from what you’ll find in a number of Android Wear smartwatches.
At CES, the company said it would build modules for extended batteries, GPS, cellular connectivity, contactless payments, or a heart-rate monitoring link.
The other unique bit about Blocks is that the watch will run Android Lollipop — but will be able to work with Android and iOS devices. It’s not running Android Wear
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Gestures at 60 GHz
Researchers demo consumer radar-on-chip
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326726&
Google showed at its annual developer conference a 60 GHz device that acts as a radar-on-chip for controlling with gestures small-screen devices. The technology isn’t yet authorized by the FCC, but Google’s ATAP research team believes its Soli will find use in wearables.
“We propose to use the vocabulary of hand motions for [device] interactions,” creating a generic input device that eliminates the need to interact with a smartphone,” said Project Lead Ivan Poupyrev in a talk at Google I/O here. “It doesn’t have to be a virtual touch pad…your hand can become a variety of controls — a virtual dial, a slider,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pixelworks Scores Design Win with Asus
Pixelworks’ IC closely tied to Qualcomm and Intel apps processors
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326748&
Pixelworks, Inc. has scored a design win with Asus for Iris, Pixelworks’ mobile display processor chip.
Pixelworks’ Iris is now incorporated into Asus’ new 8-inch tablet called ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580C) — featuring an 8-inch screen with 2048 x 1536 pixels and Intel’s quad-core processor — Atom Z3530. The Taiwanese company just rolled ZenPad S 8.0 out this week at Computex in Taipei.
On high-resolution mobile displays, Iris offers users less motion blur in movie/TV viewing, rendering sharper and cleaner images in video game playing, while creating enhanced usability in a range of lighting conditions for productivity applications, according to Pixelworks.
Pixelworks’ mobile display processor has already been designed into a host of mobile products ranging from Ultrabooks with a 13-inch display to tablets and 5-inch screen smartphones.
Mobile device manufacturers all face an “incredible need to differentiate their products,” observed Miller. “Some are turning their device into a selfie phone, while others are adding new audio features.”
With display processing capabilities that offer color processing, contrast optimization, advanced scaling, sharpness and ambient lighting compensation, Pixelworks’ Iris chip promises clarity optimized for display characteristics.
“If Apple is the gold standard, we will help them [mobile OEMs and ODMs] get closer to that,” said Miller.
Many mobile devices today typically come with higher resolution screens and they are often used for power-hungry applications such as video streaming. This combination puts heavy pressure on a system’s power requirements.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Google plans expansion of Baseline Study for later this year with Study Kit apps that enable collection of health data on iOS, Android, and Chrome — Google Tests ‘Study Kit’ Apps To Collect Health Data Before Wider Launch Of Baseline Study This Year — In July 2014, Google announced Baseline Study …
Google Tests ‘Study Kit’ Apps To Collect Health Data Before Wider Launch Of Baseline Study This Year
http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/02/google-tests-study-kit-apps-to-collect-health-data-before-wider-launch-of-baseline-study-this-year/
In July 2014, Google announced Baseline Study, a Google[x] “moonshot” that involves collecting and analysing diagnostics from people to paint a picture of “what it means to be healthy.” While Baseline Study started as a limited pilot with Duke University and Stanford University in July 2014 with 175 participants, TechCrunch has learned that Google is now preparing for the next stage of the project: a bigger launch for later this year.
As part of that, the company has confirmed that it is testing something called the “Study Kit,” the first apps that are being used to collect data.
Study Kit comes in the form of iOS and Android apps as well as a Chrome extension — all of which are currently only open to a limited number of registered participants in the Baseline pilot.
The Study Kit apps actually first appeared around the end of March, but people were left guessing as to what they were.
Some believed they were Google’s answer to Apple’s ResearchKit open-source project, which lets medical nonprofits and other organizations set up research projects
In actuality, the bigger ambition for Google’s Baseline Study is at once more singular and more complex-sounding.
“It may sound counter-intuitive, but by studying health, we might someday be better able to understand disease,”
Initially, data for the project was gathered by way of blood and urine samples from participants. The apps are essentially the second wave for how Baseline collects data.
As for the third, a feature in the WSJ notes that longer term, the plan is to use other wearable connected devices to provide data to Baseline, for example special ‘smart’ contact lenses that can monitor and transmit a person’s glucose levels.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Lowensohn / The Verge:
SoundHound’s new Hound voice search app handles complex queries faster than Siri, Cortana, and Google Voice Search
SoundHound’s new voice search app makes Siri and Cortana look slow
Hound is fast, just not everywhere — and that’s a problem
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/2/8701489/soundhound-hound-search-app-ios-android
Nearly a decade ago, SoundHound founder Keyvan Mohajer took an idea to a group of investors. He wanted to make a system that let people talk to computers casually, as if speaking to another human. That was not a new idea of course; 1968′s 2001: A Space Odyssey had a talkative computer as one of its main characters. But Mohajer believed such a thing was no longer science fiction and could become commonplace. The only problem? It might take 10 years to build it.
Now, nearly a decade after that pitch to investors, Mohajer’s original vision is here in the form of Hound, a voice search app that can handle incredibly complex questions and spit out answers with uncanny speed. Right now, you have to ask those questions inside the Hound app, but the company hopes to get the technology everywhere — even your toaster. That may never happen, but the company’s demonstration of Hound — which was fairly scripted in our case — is astonishing enough to make me believe it’s a possibility.
Mohajer started with a zinger. “What is the population of capital of the country in which Space Needle is located?” he asked briskly. It’s an oddly worded question, but intentionally so, meant to show how well it can extract and process what’s being said. Ask it on any other service (even Wolfram Alpha), and you’ll get the digital equivalent of a head scratch. But here, a robotic voice instantly replied, “The population of Washington, DC is 601,723.” There were two Washingtons there, and it got the right one.
Hound the app functions and feels almost exactly like Google’s Voice Search, but seems much faster at identifying words and delivering answers.
Mohajer says the speed comes from SoundHound combining two technologies that are typically separated on competing services. Hound is doing both voice recognition and natural voice understanding in a single engine
That said, our test also took place over Wi-Fi, and in a perfectly quiet room, making it impossible to tell whether Hound maintains these speeds in the real world.
Unlike Siri or Cortana, Hound doesn’t have a personality. Instead, it’s a sass-free robotic voice. One other area where it’s different is the number of sources it’s pulling from. From the outset, Hound will have about 50 domains, or services it’s tying into through APIs; things like currency converters, news sites, flight status information, and navigation. Mohajer says the plan is to ramp that up into the millions. “Siri launched with 10 domains, and three years later it’s at about 22 new domains, so it takes a long time,” he says.
“Our vision is that everything can be enabled to have this interface, from millions of phones to billions of other types of devices like consumer electronics and cars,” Mohajer says. “We can’t be the company to build this for every company — we need to enable them to do this for themselves.”
But until that happens, most will know Hound for its app, which will be available only as an invitation-only beta on Android to start, followed by iOS where it will exist as a stand-alone app.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hannah Jane Parkinson / Guardian:
Google is developing a tool called Im2Calories to identify food in pictures and determine its calorie count — Google wants to count the calories in your Instagram food porn — Artificial intelligence technology Im2Calories aims to identify pictures of food posted to Instagram, and tell users the calorie count of their meals
Google wants to count the calories in your Instagram food porn
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/02/google-calories-instagram-food-porn
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s Android payment system got a great ally
Large companies’ race for mobile payment of intensifying.
Google’s recently announced a new mobile payment system on Android operating system. Now, the credit card company Visa says it will start co-operation with the Android Pay payment system.
Android payment system programming interface is built on Google’s (HCE) Host Card Emulation platform, which enables close-up payment.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/2015-06-02/Googlen-Android-maksuj%C3%A4rjestelm%C3%A4-sai-mahtavan-liittolaisen-3322099.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft WiFi will offer ‘hassle-free Internet’ to Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Windows Phone users
http://venturebeat.com/2015/06/02/microsoft-wifi-will-offer-hassle-free-internet-to-windows-mac-android-ios-and-windows-phone-users/
Microsoft is working on a new service called Microsoft WiFi, details of which leaked today at microsoftwifi.com. While the website has since been pulled, it described the service as offering “hassle-free Internet access around the world” so users can be “productive on the go.”
“We can confirm that we are working on a new service, called Microsoft WiFi, that will bring hassle-free Wi-Fi to millions,” a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. “We look forward to sharing additional detail when available.”
Locating Wi-Fi spots near you will apparently be achieved using the app’s “interactive map.” Unfortunately, this service won’t be available to everyone. The webpage also explained that you had to be “eligible” before you could download and use the app, though there will be versions for businesses and individuals alike.
At launch, Microsoft WiFi will only be available to:
Active Skype WiFi subscribers
Employees of organizations with Microsoft Office 365 for Enterprise
Customers who received a special WiFi offer from Microsoft
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pocket comes to Firefox!
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/38.0.5/whatsnew/?oldversion=38.0.1
The world’s most popular save-for-later service is now available in Firefox. Sign in with your Firefox Account and you can save articles, videos and more to enjoy anytime, anywhere.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ericsson: Average smartphone user to consume 14GB data per month by 2020
70 percent of population will have a smartphone in five years’ time
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2411424/ericsson-average-smartphone-user-to-consume-14gb-data-per-month-by-2020
THE AVERAGE SMARTPHONE USER will plough through 14GB of data each month by the year 2020, according to a new report from Ericsson.
Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report predicts that there will be over six billion smartphones in use across the world by 2020, up from 2.6 billion in 2014.
The company said that such widespread access to mobile network services means that 70 percent of the world’s population will become smartphone owners in five years’ time, while 90 percent will be covered by mobile broadband networks.
Ericsson expects that the biggest growth will be in the Asia Pacific region which will make up 1.9 billion of new smartphone subscriptions, as shown in the chart
With smartphone adoption to soar over the next five years, the Ericsson report said that data use will increase tenfold by 2020, when 80 percent of all mobile data traffic will come from smartphones.
It also expects that the average smartphone user, in North America at least, will eat through an average of 14GB data each month, up from 2.2GB today.
Video traffic will be the primary driver of this, with predicted growth of 55 percent a year until 2020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile networks will soon reach all
Mobile broadband networks reach as much as 90 per cent of the world’s population by the year 2020. Ericsson Mobility report also says that in 2020 up to 70 per cent of the world’s population carries with it a smartphone.
This means that smartphone interfaces in 2020 already 6.1 billion. 80 percent of new subscribers will be in Asia during the next few years, the Middle East and Africa.
The number of mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide will grow Ericsson research around 30 per cent a year, which meant around 150 million new subscriptions in just the first quarter of 2015. By the end of 2020 85 per cent of all connections will be mobile broadband subscriptions, so that they are about 7.7 billion.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2926:kannykkaverkot-tavoittavat-pian-kaikki&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile Apps are NOT Desktop Applications
http://www.twinprime.com/around-the-globe-in-130-milliseconds/
Distributing software has never been easier. No need to spend years polishing a bug-free masterpiece and then physically shipping shiny CDs to a fancy retail operation. The over-the-air model shortens the initial time-to-market and modernizes the App life cycle via user reviews and software updates. From the user’s perspective, there’s no need to go through a tedious installation procedure, worry about missing drivers, or wonder which new virus is coming on board. Millions of certified Apps are just one touch-screen click away, at low-cost or no-cost, to be installed upon the exact place and time of desire. The success of mobile Apps has inspired more and more hardware platforms, from televisions through wearables and cars to adopt the App concept. In fact, having an enthusiastic developer community has became a key element for every new platform.
The impact of this new model of software distribution goes beyond technology – Mobile Apps are not Desktop Applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook Lite Is A Stripped Down Android App For The Developing World — Facebook can be painfully slow on weak network connections or prohibitively expensive on stingy data plans that are common in India, Africa, and Southeast
Facebook Lite Is A Stripped Down Android App For The Developing World
http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/04/download-facebook-lite/
Facebook can be painfully slow on weak network connections or prohibitively expensive on stingy data plans that are common in India, Africa, and Southeast Asia. So today, Facebook is launching a bare-bones, low-resolution version of its Android app that works well on crummy networks or outdated phones, and burns much less data than its normal smartphone apps. It will roll out today in Asia, and come to parts of Latin America, Africa, and Europe in the coming weeks.
Facebook Lite is designed specifically for the developing world to help the social network on-board its next billion users. Facebook Lite doesn’t offer data-intensive features like videos or Nearby Friends. But if users are willing to accept that and lower-resolution image thumbnails, they can access Facebook quick, smooth, and cheap from the most remote corners of the planet.
Feet On The Ground
From the top-of-the-line smartphones, LTE networks, and unlimited data plans of Menlo Park, California, you might not think anything was wrong with Facebook. But it’s nothing like where most of Facebook’s users live, and certainly not where its will need to look to reach the 2 billion user milestone.
“Roughly a year back, that’s when we realized that our current Facebook experiences needed a lot more work, specifically in emerging markets and more specifically where networks are bad”
Untapped Markets
Facebook’s been chasing the developing world for years. A half decade back it launched Facebook Zero, a text-only version of Facebook subsidized by carriers as a way to convince people they wanted the Internet.
More recently, Facebook launched its big Internet.org initiative to bring access to the 5 billion people without the web. The partnership with telecom companies sees Facebook building drones that rain Internet down on rural areas like Google’s Project Loon Balloons, and building data compression technologies.
It’s also launched the Internet.org app, which provides carrier-subsidized free access to a limited set of “basic Internet services” including local health and civic information, news, Wikipedia, and Facebook and Messenger. Carriers hope a free taste of the Internet will inspire people to buy data plans, but Internet.org has encountered criticism that picking and choosing what services are free goes against Net Neutrality.
But Facebook can’t get carriers to pay for everyone’s free Internet access
Lite On Data Usage
Today, Facebook Lite begins its official global rollout. At under 1 megabyte in size, Shankar says it can be downloaded in seconds for cheap on even slow 2G connections. I played with it for a few minutes, and was surprised by how slick and full-featured it was despite the compromises.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Molly McHugh / Wired:
Mac app Unicorns lets you plug in your phone or tablet and live-stream what’s on its screen
New Livestream App Lets Strangers Watch You Use Your Phone
http://www.wired.com/2015/06/unicorns-app/
The success of Periscope and Meerkat shows livestreaming offers something beyond the practical intent of the technology. Beyond demos and instructional presentations, livestreaming apps provide direct access to a streamer’s personal experiences. A trip to the grocery store or a walk to work becomes a ride-along, a participatory event. As mundane as these tiny moments seem, they can be fascinating once streamed because the presentation is hyper-realistic, unfiltered and intimate. These snippets of life are more engaging than the carefully curated images posted to Instagram and Facebook.
Now comes Unicorns, an app that streams whatever you’re doing on your phone—playing a game, texting, swiping through Tinder. It’s like a combination of Periscope or Meerkat and Homescreen, the app that takes a shot of your homescreen and serves as a discovery platform for others, a peek into what apps people are using and what essentials get the coveted dock spot.
“Your homescreen is personal, which makes it more exciting!”
Using Unicorns is simple. You download it to your Mac desktop, then connect your iOS device to your computer. Start the app when you’re ready to stream. None of what you capture is public until you’re ready
Once you start the stream, everything that happens on your phone becomes a part of the show.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple:
Apple Watch arrives in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan June 26; backorders and some models in retail stores within two weeks
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/06/04Apple-Watch-Arrives-in-Seven-More-Countries-June-26.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fraunhofer Institute for Optics Research Center IOF has developed tiny smart glasses that consists of two parts: the micro display to produce an image and optics reflects the image desired.
The glasses advantage is very small size. Micro-display has a size of only 8 x 15 millimeters.
The optics needs only 5 mm space.
In now marketed smart glasses content is usually projected on another edge of the glass, Fraunhofer concept, the content reflected there, where it is associated. If the economy takes something like a monument, the related information is projected next to the monument.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2934:googlen-alylaseille-minikokoinen-kilpailija&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Were you again left second to smartphone? 34% of young people fail to dating partner
Young people of 16-24 year olds 34 per cent of Finnish tells the attentive smartphone to better than love to.
With more than 55-year-olds, only 11 percent consider their phones more than love to. These data derive from Samsung Respons Analyse research company commissioned the poll.
The smartphone is an important part of Finnish life. Finnish, with 61 percent going to panic if the phone is lost.
The Finns are a shy people, so that the phone will facilitate interaction with others. 82 per cent of Finnish is a phone with a more social than without it.
Most phones use middle-aged 35-44 years.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/2015-06-04/J%C3%A4itk%C3%B6-taas-kakkoseksi-%C3%A4lypuhelimelle-34–nuorista-laiminly%C3%B6-seurustelukumppaniaan-3322613.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fitbit continues to dominate the smart bracelet markets with more than a third leg, but the Chinese Xiaomi bit my 25 percent of the market even entered the market only in the second half.
Wearable technology, which at the moment means smart watches and fitness bracelets, continue strong growth. IDC’s figures show that in January-March, the deliveries tripled sit sat down last year to 3.8 million this year to 11.4 million.
The impact of Apple Watch does not appear in the figures, since it began shipping until 24 April.
Source: http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/2015/06/05/kiinalaisnousukas-ravistelee-rannekemarkkinoita/20157239/7?rss=8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Market Remained Strong in the First Quarter Despite the Pending Debut of the Apple Watch, Says IDC
03 Jun 2015
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25658315
The worldwide wearable device market (commonly referred to as wearables) recorded its eighth consecutive quarter of steady growth in the first quarter of 2015 (1Q15). According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 11.4 million wearables in 1Q15, a 200.0% increase from the 3.8 million wearables shipped in 1Q14.
“What remains to be seen is how Apple’s arrival will change the landscape,” added Llamas. “The Apple Watch will likely become the device that other wearables will be measured against, fairly or not. This will force the competition to up their game in order to stay on the leading edge of the market.”
“As with any young market, price erosion has been quite drastic,” said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “We now see over 40% of the devices priced under $100, and that’s one reason why the top 5 vendors have been able to grow their dominance from two thirds of the market in the first quarter of last year to three quarters this quarter. Despite this price erosion, Apple’s entrance with a product priced at the high end of the spectrum will test consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for a brand or product that is the center of attention.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shipments in wearable devices triple as prices dip
http://www.cnet.com/news/wearable-devices-see-steady-growth-thanks-to-lower-prices/
Smartwatches and activity trackers were a hot item in the first quarter of the year, according to IDC. Now we’ll have to see what effect the Apple Watch has.
During the first quarter of the year, a total of 11.4 million wearable devices shipped around the world, triple the 3.8 million shipped during the same quarter in 2014, IDC said Wednesday. The gain was especially significant as the first quarter usually sees a dip in sales and shipments for tech products following the strong holiday season.
The market for wearables, which includes smartwatches and activity trackers, has taken time to catch on among consumers. As more products have hit the market, customers are now seeing a greater diversity, triggering more interest. Demand for wearables is also on the rise in emerging markets. But IDC attributed the latest surge in growth in part to lower prices.
“As with any young market, price erosion has been quite drastic,”
A report released Tuesday by investment firm Global Equities Research said that Apple has so far received 7 million orders for its watch but has only been able to ship 2.5 million orders, presumably due to supply constraints.
For the first quarter, however, Fitbit let the pack with 3.9 million shipments of its fitness and activity trackers, IDC said.
In second place was Chinese vendor Xiaomi, which shipped 2.8 million units of its $13 Mi Band fitness monitor. The number was impressive according to IDC since the product just started shipping in the second half of 2014 and had been largely limited to Xiaomi’s home base of China.
Garmin took the No. 3 spot by shipping 700,000 units of its health and fitness trackers. Largely geared toward hikers, runners and other sports enthusiasts
Samsung shipped a total of 600,000 wearable for the quarter, up from 300,000 for the same quarter in 2014.
Tomi Engdahl says:
India’s Micromax Churns Out Phones Like Fast Fashion
Handset maker designs dozens of new models a year, most costing less than $150
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/indias-micromax-churns-out-phones-like-fast-fashion-1433456543-lMyQjAxMTA1MDA0NDIwMjQyWj
Early last year, product planners at India’s best-selling phone maker decided consumers wanted a handset that could be operated in many of the country’s 20-plus official languages.
Four months later, Micromax Informatics Ltd. unveiled the $110 Unite, which let users label their apps, type, send messages and interact on social media in 21 different scripts—from Marathi and Gujarati to Tamil—rather than just English and Hindi, as is common for Indian phones.
Many handset companies wouldn’t have released another smartphone for months.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Source: http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/2015/06/05/kiinalaisnousukas-ravistelee-rannekemarkkinoita/20157239/7?rss=8Jurassic Part: Vertu announces lizard-skin phones
Reptiles join telco supply chain
Vertu, makers of super-expensive phones for the insanely rich, has announced two new lizard-skin phones, coming in at a cool £7,600.
Sadly, the device isn’t quite state of the art
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vertu announces lizard-skin phones
Reptiles join telco supply chain
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/07/vertu_announces_lizard_skin_phones/
Vertu, makers of super-expensive phones for the insanely rich, has announced two new lizard-skin phones, coming in at a cool £7,600.
Sadly, the device isn’t quite state of the art
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Music-Sharing Network For the Unconnected
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/15/06/07/2316248/a-music-sharing-network-for-the-unconnected
Operating as personal offline versions of iTunes and Spotify, the téléchargeurs, or downloaders, of Mali are filling the online music void for many in the country. For less than a dime a song, a téléchargeur will transfer playlists to memory cards or directly onto cellphones. Even though there are 120,000 landlines for 15 million people in Mali, there are enough cellphones in service for every person in the country. The spread of cell phones and the music-sharing network that has followed is the subject of this New York Times piece.
A Music-Sharing Network for the Unconnected
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/a-music-sharing-network-for-the-unconnected.html?_r=0
The spread of cellphones in this way has driven innovation across the continent. M-Pesa, a text-message-based money-transfer system, has made financial services available for the first time to millions. Another enterprise tells rural farmers by text what their crops might sell for in distant markets; mass-texting campaigns have helped promote major public health initiatives.
Yet for many Africans, the phone is not merely, or even principally, a communications device.
a new kind of merchant has sprung up along Fankélé Diarra Street. Seated practically thigh to thigh, these vendors crouch over laptops, scrolling through screen after screen of downloaded music. They are known as téléchargeurs, or downloaders, and they operate as an offline version of iTunes, Spotify and Pandora all rolled into one.
For a small fee — less than a dime a song — the téléchargeurs transfer playlists to memory cards or U.S.B. sticks, or directly onto cellphones. Customers share songs with their friends via short-range Bluetooth signals.
This was the scene Christopher Kirkley found in 2009. A musicologist, he traveled to Mali hoping to record the haunting desert blues he loved. But every time he asked people to perform a favorite folk song or ballad, they pulled out their cellphones to play it for him; every time he set up his gear to capture a live performance, he says, “five other kids will be holding their cellphones recording the same thing — as an archivist, it kind of takes you down a couple of notches.”
What make its existence possible are not smartphones but so-called feature phones, which do little more than make calls, take highly pixelated pictures and play music. And yet they are indispensable.
The cellphone network had been down for days
would anyone need a cellphone without a network connection?
A cellphone is a digital Swiss Army knife: flashlight, calculator, camera and, yes, audio player. Mali’s homegrown, offline digital music has created a space for sharing songs that is in many ways more vibrant than the algorithm-driven way music is so often experienced in the United States — more personal, more curated, more human.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Clive Thompson / New York Times:
Swiss watchmakers Montblanc, Ateliers deMonaco, and H. Moser adopt very different strategies to compete with the Apple Watch
Can the Swiss Watchmaker Survive the Digital Age?
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/can-the-swiss-watchmaker-survive-the-digital-age.html
Masters of one of the world’s most revered forms of analog craftsmanship take on the smartwatch.
“If you want to go for the real complex stuff,” he said, “here it is.” The watch, a gorgeous chunk of white gold, includes more than 400 painstakingly machined, polished and hand-assembled parts. One of them is a circular metal gong, struck by small hammers that mark the time with two-tone melodies. The watch’s mechanisms — including its “balance wheel,” whose oscillation is visible through an opening in the watch face — are so precise that the device loses or gains only two seconds a day. The Grand Tourbillon Minute Repeater sells for just over $200,000, and Koeslag has made just eight of them.
“Very special watches, for very special people.”
Koeslag has designed for Frédérique Constant, a midrange watch brand. These will sell for as much as $30,000.
Last fall, however, Koeslag set off on a very different, decidedly 21st-century project: a smartwatch. In response to Apple’s plans to introduce a high-tech watch this year, the chief executive of Frédérique Constant, Peter Stas, decided the company would produce its own. It would not be a minicomputer with a screen, like Apple’s. Instead, it would combine the functions of a Fitbit, a device that tracks physical activity, with a traditional Swiss timepiece, a $1,200 entry-level Frédérique Constant watch. A Silicon Valley company would produce the tiny sensors that count steps and measure sleep cycles, and this information would be transmitted to a phone through a Bluetooth connection. The phone would also control the watch — resetting its hands in different time zones, for example. From the outside, the watch wouldn’t look “smart” at all, but it would be packed with electronics. Koeslag’s job was to bring to life this chimera of Swiss engineering and Silicon Valley wizardry.
Koeslag faced a significant problem, though: He had never worked with chips and sensors before. He didn’t even own a soldering iron. Swiss watchmakers don’t need them; their devices are put together with screws and screwdrivers.
Koeslag faced a significant problem, though: He had never worked with chips and sensors before.
“Under the microscope, we actually welded it on, by hand,” he said. To install it properly, he sought advice from an associate at a technology company. “I said, ‘I have to place this big antenna, which way do I put it?’ ” The technician told him it couldn’t be done manually; technology companies use robots to fix in place components that require that kind of precision. “And I said, ‘Well, we’ll see.’ ”
By January, he finally had a prototype working well, just in time to show it off at Baselworld, the annual Swiss jewelers’ and watchmakers’ fair. Watch designers typically boast about their latest “complications,” clever ways of creating gear work to power new features, like calendars or extra dials.
This year, though, the chatter at Basel kept coming nervously back to the Apple smartwatch. Frédérique Constant was producing its enhanced watch, and a few Swiss companies were announcing similar plans. But what did this trend mean for the industry? Should they move into smartwatches? Adding chips might help these watchmakers ride the high-tech wave, but it also risked eroding what made them special.
any observers had predicted that Apple would spell trouble for Swiss watchmakers, and now Koeslag had some personal data to prove it.
Smartwatches have been around for years, but none have received as much attention as the Apple Watch.
It was recognizably a watch, complete with a crown that controlled on-screen apps, but it had Apple’s distinctive aesthetic, with its minimal lines and sleek curves; the watch is a smaller version of an iPhone, essentially.
Very few companies can turn out such consistently glossy electronics
“No company in the world is finishing and anodizing to Apple’s level,” the product designer Greg Koenig has written.
Swiss watchmaking emerged from a radically different background, one rooted in meticulous manual labor. The industry got its start in the 16th century after John Calvin persuaded the City Council in Geneva to impose sumptuary laws banning jewelry, and the city’s skilled jewelers joined forces with the makers of pocket watches instead.
many of these French exiles happened to be watchmakers, and they settled in Switzerland.
By the 20th century, Swiss watches had become famous for their reliability and complexity. They are also marvels of energy efficiency, because dozens or even hundreds of components depend on tiny wound springs for power.
In the early 1970s, centuries of tradition were overturned by an upstart technology: quartz watches.
The resulting timepiece is far more accurate and much cheaper than most mechanical watches. Swiss inventors actually helped pioneer this technology, but watchmakers regarded it as beneath them.
When Swiss companies declined to make quartz devices, inexpensive Japanese watches from companies like Seiko became popular around the world.
In the 1980s, Swiss companies came back. Swatch introduced a line of inexpensive quartz watches, and other Swiss companies followed its lead.
In the 1990s, as Ryan Raffaelli, a Harvard business professor who has studied the Swiss industry, has written, Swiss watchmakers hit on an even more profitable strategy: marketing their expensive mechanical watches as luxury items steeped in history.
Sales of Swiss watches rebounded; exports have more than doubled since 2000, rising even in the years after the economic meltdown.
These days, nobody needs a watch to know the time. Time is all around us, displayed on every computer, phone and microwave oven. The Swiss watchmakers realize this. They market their mechanical watches as not only accurate but also deeply symbolic.
Is the smartwatch the next “quartz crisis”? Few Swiss executives think smartwatches will kill off the high-end market. Nobody, they argue, who spends $50,000 on a piece of handmade eternity will regard an Apple Watch as a substitute. But luxury brands also sell a great many less-expensive quartz watches, and this is where the Apple Watch poses a threat.
“If a young man, young woman, is 25 years old, would they rather put 1,200 Swiss francs” — about $1,300 — “for a watch that tells you what time it is and the date, or will they buy, for only $800, a watch that tells you everything?” Biver said. “For me there is no doubt we will have a very tough competition in the $1,200 price segment.”
“What does it mean to be a watchmaker in a digital world?”
“The Swiss watch industry sells tens of millions of watches a year, and they are wearable objects that people tend to keep,”
Bernheim and Stas are diplomatic about the Apple Watch. “We try to be nice,” Stas said. But he thinks its limitations — especially the hassle of charging it every night — will deter some would-be owners. “There will be plenty of people who are going to buy them. I think the real question will be in three months, five months, if people are still going to wear them.”
He is even more dubious that any Silicon Valley company could create something with aesthetics lovely enough to penetrate the European luxury market. “We have to be very clear here,” he told me, leaning back on his black chaise longue. “Luxury business is coming either from Paris, or it’s coming from Italy, and watches are coming from Switzerland. They’re not coming from the U.S.” He shook his head. “Silicon Valley — my God, what they’re wearing and everything! They really don’t have this culture of refinement. We bring something else to the story.”
When I visited Alexander Schmiedt, who runs the company’s watch business, in the village of Villeret, he handed me a smartwatch prototype. The actual timepiece is entirely mechanical, from Montblanc’s “TimeWalker” line of watches. It contains no circuitry.
Instead, the computerized parts are in the wristband. This “e-Strap” features a small rubber module that sits on the wrist’s underside.
“You don’t want to put the technology inside the watch,”
“It would mean that after a predetermined while, the watch itself would become outdated.”
At Montblanc, he said, the engineers tell a story to illustrate the perils of high-tech obsolescence: At graduations in the 1990s, students receive gifts from their parents — some the latest mobile phone, others a Montblanc fountain pen. Decades later, a phone from the ’90s is a useless relic. But the Montblanc pen is as good as ever; indeed, the years have imparted character. “It has a meaning, it has little scratches,”
When I spoke to Meylan, he was even more direct. Making smartwatches is a mistake, he argued, particularly for elite brands. To be sure, he said — as many of his peers did — the Apple Watch will probably be successful. “With the right battery, eventually it’ll become something very useful that I will probably wear myself,” he said. But he considers putting smartwatch technology inside a mechanical Swiss timepiece to be brand suicide. “It shouldn’t be a gimmick,” he said. “Especially in our range.” His company, like Montblanc and Ateliers deMonaco, sells watches that cost tens of thousands of dollars. They shouldn’t be creating “some kind of monsters that are a merger of a mobile phone and an actually beautiful mechanical watch.”
When I spoke to Meylan, he was even more direct. Making smartwatches is a mistake, he argued, particularly for elite brands. To be sure, he said — as many of his peers did — the Apple Watch will probably be successful. “With the right battery, eventually it’ll become something very useful that I will probably wear myself,” he said. But he considers putting smartwatch technology inside a mechanical Swiss timepiece to be brand suicide. “It shouldn’t be a gimmick,” he said. “Especially in our range.” His company, like Montblanc and Ateliers deMonaco, sells watches that cost tens of thousands of dollars. They shouldn’t be creating “some kind of monsters that are a merger of a mobile phone and an actually beautiful mechanical watch.”
“At two meters distance, you will not know, ‘Is this guy wearing a TAG Heuer Carrera connected or is this guy wearing a chronograph Carrera normal?
That will give us the watchmaking appeal, which the computer guys at Apple, Samsung don’t have.”
Even if the Swiss smartwatch never takes off, many of the watch executives I spoke with said that the Apple Watch might be good for sales of high-end mechanical watches. Why? Because a generation of Americans has grown up without the habit of wearing a watch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung all but confirms Galaxy S6 Active with official user manual
http://9to5google.com/2015/06/03/samsung-galaxy-s6-active-user-manual/
At this point we have to believe that Samsung just doesn’t care very much about keeping the Galaxy S6 Active – a ruggedized variant of the flagship Galaxy S6 – a secret, as information about the device has leaked multiple times already starting early last month. Today we get what is essentially a complete rundown of the device in the form of its user manual, courtesy of none other than Samsung US.
The manual, clocking in at 108 pages, includes everything
Since this manual is coming straight from the dragon’s mouth, we feel it safe to consider all the details within official and confirmed
With this phone having already been submitted for FCC approval, which typically happens when a device’s specifications and hardware design are set in stone, and considering the launch of its predecessor in June of last year, we should be seeing this device officially confirmed by Samsung pretty soon.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Android Apps That Drain Your Battery
http://www.lifegooroo.com/be-tech-savvy/the-android-apps-that-drain-your-battery
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Lite is an Android app for super-slow internet connections
All the spam, half the calories
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2411856/facebook-lite-is-an-android-app-for-super-slow-internet-connections
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook has launched a stripped-back version of its Android app called Facebook Lite.
Aimed squarely at emerging markets, Facebook Lite tips the scales just at 1MB, which means it will load and update quickly for those with super-slow mobile internet connections.
“More than a billion people around the world access Facebook from a range of mobile devices on varying networks. In many areas, networks can be slow and not able to support all the functionality found in Facebook for Android.
“Facebook Lite was built for these situations, giving people a reliable Facebook experience when bandwidth is at a minimum.
“Facebook Lite is less than 1MB so it is fast to install and quick to load. It includes Facebook’s core experiences like News Feed, status updates, photos, notifications and more.”
The service is rolling out now to parts of Asia, and will arrive in Latin America, Africa and Europe in “the coming weeks”.
Facebook Lite arrives as part of the company’s push to make sure that everybody has access to Facebook the internet, most notably with its Internet.org initiative.
However, the project has faced growing criticism in recent months, many claiming that Internet.org tramples over the principals of net neutrality.
Last month more than 60 firms, including the US Centre for Media Justice and SavetheInternet.in, signed an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg voicing their concerns.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pushing Place Tips, Facebook Offers Free Bluetooth Beacons To U.S. SMBs
Facebook is expanding its location-based program to reach walk-in consumers with marketing messages.
http://marketingland.com/pushing-place-tips-facebook-offers-free-bluetooth-beacons-to-u-s-smbs-131462
In January Facebook introduced Place Tips as a way for businesses to serve marketing messages to people visiting their real-world locations.
Triggered for users who check in at a location or have their location settings activated in Facebook mobile apps, Place Tips offer advice, recommendations and other information from friends with have visited the location and from the business itself.
Place Tip information shows up at the top of News Feeds for people in stores or other locations giving local businesses a prime opportunity to connect to consumers. Each person’s Place Tips are unique, Facebook said. “At a restaurant, Place Tips can show the menu, reviews and frequently mentioned information about the establishment, like a signature cocktail or popular table,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Place Tips for a retail store can help customers find business hours, locate popular items and learn about upcoming events.”
Facebook says that Place Tips have caused “a steady uptick in Page traffic from in-store visitors” for local businesses that are using them.
Businesses interested in applying for a free beacon, can sign up here. Businesses with active Facebook Pages will be given priority
Facebook Bluetooth® Beacons
https://www.facebook.com/business/a/facebook-bluetooth-beacons
When people visit your business and open Facebook, they’ll see Place Tips with information about your business like:
A welcome note and photo
Prompts to like your Facebook Page and check in
Posts from your Facebook Page
Their friends’ recommendations about your place
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Numbers from WWDC: Siri 40% faster, 100B apps downloaded, $30B paid to developers, 2,500 Apple Pay banks — Numbers from WWDC: Siri gets 40% faster, more accurate, 2500 Apple Pay banks, iOS/OS X growth, more — Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the company’s WWDC keynote presentation today …
Numbers from WWDC: Siri gets 40% faster, more accurate, 2500 Apple Pay banks, iOS/OS X growth, more
http://9to5mac.com/2015/06/08/numbers-from-wwdc-siri-gets-40-faster-more-accurate-2500-apple-pay-banks-iosos-x-growth-more/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Should a Smartwatch Be a Watch?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1326806&
With iPhone, Apple wasn’t making a phone. It was creating a new product category whose main purpose was a great Internet connection on a handset.
As I see it, Apple Watch’s contribution to the global electronics industry is the teachable moment it has offered on how to define a brand new product category.
I’m not saying that Apple Watch has nailed the smartwatch. Many consumers are still weighing its stylish design and clever interface against its one-day battery life and expensive price tag.
Compared to the cost and ingenuity needed to design the new version of a pre-determined product category, defining a whole new category from scratch is, obviously, much harder.
But Apple did it once with the smartphone, when iPhone pretty much established a standard that everyone else now mimics. The question is, can Apple do it again?
Traveling in China last month, I found many people – chip designers, system OEMs and industry analysts – in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing furiously debating over their own definitions of the smartwatch.
Instead of taking a wait-and-see attitude — like most of us jaded folks here in the United States would do, to see how well Apple Watch sells — many of my Chinese acquaintances are ready to damn the market and go full speed ahead. I found this refreshing.
One chip executive in Beijing who spoke on condition of anonymity told me, “You know, Junko, I’m just a chip designer. I don’t really know what kind of a smartwatch people like.”
However, he added this: “I know one thing. Everyone should think carefully of its product definition. Just because a smartwatch is called a watch, should it be a watch?”
Neither watch nor phone
Apple’s designers are walking a fine line. Apple Watch is neither watch nor phone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
News & Analysis
Xiaomi: Behind Closed Doors
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326790&
It’s the classic underdog story that everyone loves: How Xiaomi, a barely known Chinese company, burst into the most competitive mobile handset market to become — in just five years — the world’s third largest smartphone vendor.
Close observers are familiar with some of the unusual and imaginative actions Xiaomi has taken to prevail in a cut-throat market. Its unconventional strategies include pricing a high-performance phone for less than its bill of materials, selling only on the Internet (no retail stores or third-party distributors), and using no ODMs to design a box. It limits its range of models and maintains a longer product cycle. It thrives on frequent software updates — on a weekly basis.
Most important, Xiaomi is arguably the first consumer electronics vendor in the world who genuinely understood the power of the Internet and exploits it effectively to build trust and royalty for its brand among the masses.
Some people say that Xiaomi is all about marketing. There is certain truth to that.
Moreover, Xiaomi’s active online user forum, said to consist of 40 million members who post 200,000 messages a day, is a powerful force for keeping those managers close to their public. Who wouldn’t like to have such a huge fan base?
Of course, that’s not to say that Xiaomi has no vulnerabilities. Questions for Xiaomi’s future include how to manage and pay equally close attention to products emerging from its many eco-system companies, and what happens when the current generation of Xiaomi fans — mostly young and restless — grows older and rich enough (to ditch a Xiaomi phone and get an iPhone).
Consumers are finicky, even in China, and the smartphone market is volatile. There is no guarantee that Xiaomi will continue to grow at such a fast pace.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple: Swift is going open source with support for iOS, OS X and Linux
In other news, hell has frozen over
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2412166/apple-swift-is-going-open-source-with-support-for-ios-os-x-and-linux
APPLE HAS ANNOUNCED that its Swift programming language is going open source, supporting iOS, OS X and Linux. In other news, hell has frozen over.
Swift 2 made its debut during Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on Monday, with the first version programming language making its debut during last year’s keynote.
Swift 2 brings with it a bunch of new features for Apple developers, including error handling, protocol extensions, Apple’s Xcode integrated development environment and new optimization technology, Federighi told the crowd.
The most notable announcement however was that Swift is going open source, in a huge move for Apple that sees it following in the footsteps of its increasingly open source rivals Google and Microsoft.
What’s more, as well as being available on iOS and OS X, Apple is also releasing developer tools for Linux, meaning writing apps for Apple platforms will no longer require owning an Apple device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Novice designed a mobile game to Apple
None of the government measures do not help, unless the product is of interest the consumer or customer.
Its wings to try a little unusual story of the game, when the App Store started selling trampoline man game Fall Mania this week. Creator of the game, Juho Glad had a web and mobile service design background, but no previous experience in the game industry.
- The whole canal beauty of it, but also those of the individual game developers have easy access to their games post. Sometimes they may arise in these viral hits, such as Flappy Birds or My Summer Car
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/viihde/2015/06/07/noviisi-suunnitteli-mobiilipelin-applelle/20157285/66?rss=6