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:
What does an AMOLED display look like up close? Pretty cool, actually.
AMOLED shenanigans and new microscope lens Olympus LUCPlanFl 20x/0.45
http://3.14.by/en/read/samsung-amoled-Olympus-LUCPlanFl
Tomi Engdahl says:
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Mattel to introduce Wi-Fi enabled Barbie using ToyTalk technology to analyze speech and produce relevant responses — A Wi-Fi Barbie Doll With the Soul of Siri
A Wi-Fi Barbie Doll With the Soul of Siri
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/technology/a-wi-fi-barbie-doll-with-the-soul-of-siri.html?_r=0
Ever since Siri appeared as a regular feature on the iPhone, certain young children — and, let’s face it, some of their parents — have spent hours chatting up the virtual assistant, curious about the details of her humanoid back story.
Siri, where do you live? Siri, do you have a boyfriend? Siri, how old are you?
“To converse with a mobile device is an assumed truth if you are 10 years old today,” Oren Jacob, the chief executive of ToyTalk, a company that creates conversational characters for children, told me recently at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. “That is not true of high school students.”
Founded in 2011, ToyTalk already produces popular animated conversational apps — among them the Winston Show and SpeakaZoo — that encourage young children to engage in complex dialogue with a menagerie of make-believe characters. Now the company’s technology, originally designed for two-dimensional characters on-screen, is poised to power tangible playthings that children hold in their hands.
This fall, Mattel plans to introduce Hello Barbie, a Wi-Fi enabled version of the iconic doll, which uses ToyTalk’s system to analyze a child’s speech and produce relevant responses.
It was probably inevitable that the so-called Internet of Things — those Web-connected thermostats and bathroom scales and coffee makers and whatnot — would beget the Internet of Toys.
A recent study conducted by researchers at Georgetown University, for instance, compared two groups of toddlers. One group played with plush toys that had been preprogrammed to say the child’s name, and to say that they had the same favorite food and song as the child; the other played with plush toys that called each child “Pal” and liked different things. When the same toy character on-screen presented math skills — like arranging cups in order of size — the first group of toddlers performed better than those who played with less-personalized plush toys.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Apple Stores will have Watch display tables at launch, try-on area with devices that run demo loops, and plan to offer combined Apple Care+ for iPhone and Watch
Apple Store revamp for Apple Watch revealed: ‘magical’ display tables, demo loops, sales process
http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/29/apple-store-revamp-for-apple-watch-revealed-magical-tables-demo-loops-sales-process/
While the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition has been receiving a lot of attention due to its premium pricing and aesthetic, Apple will sell far more of the lower-priced Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport models, and has created a different customer journey for those customers, according to sources briefed on the plans. Most of the sales process will be familiar to buyers of other products from the Apple Store, but a number of steps are different, including the process of visiting a “magical” display case, trying on different models, playing with demo units, considering Apple Watch accessories, and actually finalizing the purchase. Below, we detail the entire customer experience for the upcoming Apple Watch launch…
Tomi Engdahl says:
Affirmative wrist action: Pebble Time raises 20 MEELLION BUCKS on Kickstarter
78k backers chuck tons of cash at colour-screen smartwatch
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/29/pebble_time_kickstarter_ends_with_20_million_dollars/
Startup Pebble Time – which, we’re told, plans to start shipping its wrist-puter in May – raised more than $20m during a month-long Kickstarter campaign.
A quarter of the cash was ponied up within the first few hours of the biz crying out for money to support its development of the outfit’s 9.5mm-thick Pebble Time smartwatch.
In total, the firm raised $20,338,986 from 78,471 backers.
Pebble Time’s wrist – wrapped in black, white or red casing – is expected to come with a $199 price tag.
It has a back-lit colour e-paper Gorilla Glass screen that the company claimed would be readable in daylight. Pebble Time also promiseed up to seven days of battery life
Tomi Engdahl says:
FDA ‘Taking a Very Light Touch’ on Regulating the Apple Watch
As wearable health devices proliferate, how will they be regulated?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-30/fda-taking-a-very-light-touch-on-regulating-the-apple-watch
With Apple Inc. and fellow Silicon Valley companies edging further into health care, the U.S. agency in charge of oversight says it will give the technology industry leeway to develop new products without aggressive regulation.
Bakul Patel, who oversees the new wave of consumer-focused health products at the Food and Drug Administration, said most wearable gadgets such as the soon-to-be-released Apple Watch and health-focused applications for smartphones have a way to go before warranting close scrutiny from the agency.
“We are taking a very light touch, an almost hands-off approach,” Patel, the FDA’s associate director for digital health, said in an interview. “If you have technology that’s going to motivate a person to stay healthy, that’s not something we want to be engaged in.”
The FDA is mapping out its role at a time when health care and consumer technology are blending. Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. and other companies are building products loaded with sensors that have the potential to eventually gather all sorts of information about blood pressure, body temperature, glucose levels, hydration, oxygen levels and outside air conditions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony’s augmented reality glasses are now available for $840
http://www.androidauthority.com/sony-smarteyeglass-now-available-597275/
Sony’s Google Glass-like head unit, dubbed SmartEyeglass, is now officially available for purchase in ten different countries. Similar to Google Glass, Sony’s SmartEyeglass (SED-E1) developer edition lets you interact with your surroundings by letting you take photos, send text messages and much more. It’s compatible with any Android device running 4.4 KitKat or higher, and can be paired with the SmartEyeglass app in the Play Store. Unlike Google’s product, SmartEyeglass is controlled by a wired remote that stays connected to the device at all times.
For those interested in trying out the first generation product, SmartEyeglass is now available in the United States, Germany, the U.K. and Japan for $840.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why MediaTek Pushes Cross-Device Sharing
CrossMount links, shares resources among TVs, handhelds
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326154&
MediaTek, the world’s third-largest chip designer, is aiming to create a technology standard that will link and share software and hardware resources of televisions and handheld devices in ways that would fulfill their unrealized potential.
The Taiwan-based company, whose chips each year go into about 400 million smartphones, 100 million smart TVs and 50 million tablets, sees an opportunity to use its CrossMount technology, announced earlier this month, to unify the components of consumer devices in ways the company has only started to imagine.
At MediaTek’s headquarters in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park, the company demonstrates a few examples to tease the imagination. A smartphone controlling the large display of a TV. A TV mounting a smartphone camera, making it a remote baby monitor. A TV turning a smartphone touch panel into a remote control for the TV. A smart television mounting the microphone of a smartphone to enable a voice search on the internet for images of Lady Gaga.
“The most unique aspect of CrossMount is the ability to use components in other devices,”
MediaTek has scheduled the commercial rollout of the technology this year around October 1, on China’s National Day, when a number of PRC tech companies traditionally launch new products.
CrossMount will be inside smart TVs and smartphones from Chinese brands including Lenovo, TCL and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. The new technology will also debut in all of China’s second-tier smartphones around the same time, according to Hsieh.
“We want to light a fire,” Hsieh says.
“Few companies in Asia want to create standards, but we want to try,” Hsieh says.
MediaTek Sails Uncharted Waters With CrossMount
It’s ‘way more than DLNA,’ says CTO
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325865
MediaTek, on the eve of the Mobile World Congress, has revealed a new cross-device sharing technology called “CrossMount.”
CrossMount, a “new industry standard” that’s royalty-free and open to all comers, makes sharing of multimedia content easy among multiple devices, said MediaTek. More important, it allows the hardware and software resources in devices — smartphones, tablets and TVs, for example — to be shared and combined to add features or improve performance, explained Kevin Jou, MediaTek’s chief technology officer.
“We aren’t just talking about Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) type of applications such as sharing content by pairing two devices. We are talking about connecting multiple devices (more than one) and enabling something way better than DLNA,” Jou told EE Times.
Just as DLNA leverages UPnP, CrossMount uses UPnP as its foundation for media management, discovery and control. CrossMount’s new wrinkle is the ability to share and combine resources among multiple devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gmail for Android gets a unified inbox view
All your mail, from all your accounts (even non-Gmail ones), in a single list.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/03/gmail-for-android-gets-a-unified-inbox-view/
With Android 5.0 Lollipop, Gmail the application became the generic mail client for Android, meaning you can funnel your Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Exchange, POP3, and IMAP mail all to a single app. In the past, you’ve had to switch between accounts in the navigation drawer to see all your mail—now things are getting a lot easier thanks to a unified inbox.
The Official Gmail Blog just announced that, starting today, an “All Inboxes” option will show up in the Gmail for Android navigation drawer (presumably, this requires an app update). The new option will display all your incoming mail from all your accounts in a single list.
Just because an e-mail is displayed in Gmail doesn’t mean it goes to Google’s servers. Third-party mail (Exchange, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) stays on a third-party server, and Gmail on Android just downloads the mail to your device and displays it.
All your mail, together in one place
http://gmailblog.blogspot.fi/2015/03/all-your-mail-together-in-one-place.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearables market action is all in the wrist says market-scryer IDC
Tech specs aren’t going to make it and the wearables market is smaller than PCs
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/31/wearables_market_action_is_all_in_the_wrist_says_marketscryer_idc/
The wearables market will be dominated by wrist action, according to market-watcher IDC, and will remain smaller than the PC market.
The firm today predicted that 2015 will see 45.7 million wearables shipped, up from 2014′s 19.6 million units. By 2019, total shipment volumes are forecast to reach 126.1 million units. Devices worn on the wrist will dominate the market for the foreseeable future
To put that number in perspective, IDC thinks that this year 293m PCs will exit factory doors worldwide and another 291.4m will do so in 2019. That’s more than double the number of wearables predicted to sell in the same year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Next Billion-Dollar Market Opportunity Is Mobile Enterprise
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/30/the-next-billion-dollar-market-opportunity-is-mobile-enterprise/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity_1730_-6756628249295673238
Enterprise mobile applications – like enterprise cloud applications a decade before – are poised to become a $100 billion market opportunity. I’ve worked with enterprise technologies exclusively for more than a decade and have watched as cloud apps took the enterprise by storm, giving businesses more flexibility and power than ever before. Now, enterprise mobile is taking a page from enterprise cloud’s play book – but with a twist.
Obviously, mobile technology is less expensive, more accessible, and easier to use in many ways than cloud technology, and that makes it attractive to the enterprise. But what may not be so obvious regarding the allure of mobile for the enterprise is the degree to which it will democratize the use of technology for businesses in underserved sectors and far-flung locations.
There are more than 3 billion people globally who work in some capacity. Yet only 20 percent of them have ever had access to technology to help them perform their jobs more effectively. That leaves 2.5 billion workers not being supported by technology today.
A significant portion of those 2 billion-plus workers without technology are in the developing world, with 50 percent in Asia-Pacific, 10 percent in Latin America and another 10 percent in the Middle East and Africa. This global opportunity is enormous, and mobile technology is uniquely poised to capitalize on this market as the heavy infrastructure improvements necessary for hard-wired solutions are expensive and time consuming to deploy.
Overall, we’re talking about some pretty staggering numbers, but just how big is the mobile enterprise opportunity? Consider this quick calculation. If we take the 2.5 billion workers that don’t have desk jobs and assume we can monetize each one at about $40 per year (a mere 10 percent of what is spent today on technology for a typical desk-bound worker) we’re looking at approximately $100+ billion in annual revenue.
This opportunity is vast in many ways – and it is also unlike anything we’ve seen in enterprise technology in the past.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google announces new advertising options for Android app developers aimed at increasing installs, including the mobile Google Display Network
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/google-expands-advertising-options-for-mobile-developers-designed-to-increase-installs/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Infinit’s New Mobile Apps Might Be The Best Way To Transfer Those Pesky HD Videos
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/infinits-new-mobile-apps-might-be-the-best-way-to-transfer-those-pesky-hd-videos/
French startup Infinit just released its mobile app for both iOS and Android. In addition to providing a simple way to send files to your friends and colleagues, it is now a full-fledged AirDrop replacement as well. As a reminder, Infinit is a file-sharing service that differs from WeTransfer or CloudApp as it uses peer-to-peer technology to boost file sharing between two users. And there isn’t any file size restriction.
Until now, many video game developers or post production specialists were using Infinit to send big files to their colleagues. For instance, Infinit can handle a huge uncompressed 100GB video file without breaking a sweat. You don’t need to leave your computer open as Infinit can pause and resume your uploads.
At first, the company didn’t see how a mobile app would be useful for these particular use cases. But chances are that your phone is now your primary camera. You might want to send a few HD videos from your last vacation. Right now, it is very complicated to send those files to your friends, or even to your computer. Infinit makes this a little easier.
Finally, Infinit is a great way to share files between your own devices. Maybe you are using a Windows PC, an Android phone and an iPad — Infinit now runs on all these platforms. And I find the user experience much more effective than using AirDrop, uploading a file to Dropbox or sending an email to myself.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Qualcomm SoCs by 2016
Adding unlimited layers sans STVs
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326174&
The future of three-dimensional (3D) very large scale integration (VLSI) for system-on-chips (SoCs) will not stack die connected by through-silicon-vias (TSVs), but will build them on a single layered die, according to Karim Arabi, vice president of engineering at Qualcomm speaking at the International Symposium on Physical Design (ISPD-2015, Mar. 29-April 1).
Qualcomm’s motivation, according to Arabi, is market share in the 18 billion smartphones that he predicts will be produced by 2018 — “more than all the computers and other electronic devices combined,” he told us.
Qualcomm is creating two basic types of 3DV interconnection methods with the hope of deploying them by 2016. These new types of 3D interconnection comes in two flavors face-to-back (F2B) and face-to-face (F2F).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Watch details begin to emerge
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4439064/Apple-Watch-details-begin-to-emerge?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150331&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150331&elq=69a232042fd6473091b1736c21236236&elqCampaignId=22305&elqaid=25071&elqat=1&elqTrackId=1350cd72b5194ae4ae8ab683a0924155
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Times Rolls Out One-Sentence Stories on Apple Watch
http://www.nytco.com/the-times-rolls-out-one-sentence-stories-on-apple-watch/
The New York Times has developed a new form of storytelling to help readers catch up in seconds on Apple Watch. One-sentence stories, crafted specially for small screens, will provide the news at a glance across many Times sections, including Business, Politics, Science, Tech and The Arts.
One-sentence stories are accompanied by The Times’s award-winning photography and short, bulleted summaries. Readers can use Handoff to continue reading any story on iPhone or iPad, or tap “Save for Later” to build a personal reading list.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple begins releasing the first set of third-party Apple Watch apps
http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/26/apple-watch-apps-3/
The Apple Watch is still almost a month away from shipping and 15 days away from being available to preview in Apple Stores, but a select few apps selected by Apple to be available for the Apple Watch have started hitting the App Store today. These app updates that add Apple Watch support include Twitter, Things, Target, Dark Sky, and Sky Guide, and many more apps are continuing to roll out with support.
The apps are likely being released publicly now to allow the inevitable Apple Watch reviewers to access third-party Apple Watch apps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IDC: Smart socks will outsell Google Glass
The wonderful world of wearables will work itself up to 46m units in 2015
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2402317/idc-smart-socks-will-outsell-google-glass
THE WORLDWIDE WEARABLES INDUSTRY WILL see shipments of 45.7 million units by the end of this year and 126.1 million units by 2019, according to the people who know at analyst firm IDC.
Sage minds have considered the market as it stands and as it moves forward. IDC estimates decent growth, while Forrester predicts a tripling, within four years. Analysts all agree that the Apple Watch will light a fire under the wearables market.
Shipments last year were just under 20 million, so an increase of 134 percent between now and then suggests that IDC is on the money here.
“Smart wearables are about to take a major step forward with the launch of the Apple Watch this year,”
“The Apple Watch raises the profile of wearables in general and there are many vendors and devices that are eager to share the spotlight.
“Basic wearables, meanwhile, will not disappear. In fact, we anticipate continued growth here as many segments of the market seek out simple, single-use wearable devices.”
Wrist-worn wearables currently account for some 90 percent of shipments, but this will fall to 80 percent by 2019 as other options, including clothing and eyewear, become more popular.
Tomi Engdahl says:
iDrink breathalyzer iPhone case comes with driving game
http://www.cnet.com/news/idrink-tucks-a-breathalyzer-into-your-iphone-case/#ftag=CAD590a51e
The iDrink concept puts a new spin on the smartphone breathalyzer by including a game that gets more difficult the more you drink.
The renders for the case also show it with a built-in bottle opener.
The iDrink fixed-funding campaign is aiming to raise $20,000.
The iDrink team is clear that the device will be for reference use only and will not be FDA-approved.
The iDrink
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-idrink–2
iDrink Inc. is launching its first product called the iDrink. iDrink is a
unique phone case that capitalizes on the rapid growth and popularity of
breathalyzers, as well as smart phone gaming. The iDrink case uses a built in
breathalyzer, that runs off of its own separate rechargeable battery. The app will read the user’s blood alcohol content (BAC), which is then displayed to the user. The user can then use their current location to hail them a cab while they play the only video game in the world that changes difficulty based on the user’s BAC level. iDrink will not only discourage drunk driving, but keep the user entertained while they sober up!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Aaron Smith / Pew Internet:
Survey: 64% of US adults own a smartphone, 10% of whom do not have broadband at home
U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/
The traditional notion of “going online” often evokes images of a desktop or laptop computer with a full complement of features, such as a large screen, mouse, keyboard, wires, and a dedicated high-speed connection. But for many Americans, the reality of the online experience is substantially different. Today nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, and 19% of Americans rely to some degree on a smartphone for accessing online services and information and for staying connected to the world around them — either because they lack broadband at home, or because they have few options for online access other than their cell phone.
Indeed, 7% of Americans own a smartphone but have neither traditional broadband service at home, nor easily available alternatives for going online other than their cell phone. This report documents the unique circumstances of this “smartphone-dependent” population, and also explores the ways in which smartphone owners use their phones to engage in a wide range of activities.
Certain groups of Americans rely on smartphones for online access at elevated levels, in particular:
Younger adults — 15% of Americans ages 18-29 are heavily dependent on a smartphone for online access.
Those with low household incomes and levels of educational attainment — Some 13% of Americans with an annual household income of less than $30,000 per year are smartphone-dependent. Just 1% of Americans from households earning more than $75,000 per year rely on their smartphones to a similar degree for online access.
Non-whites — 12% of African Americans and 13% of Latinos are smartphone-dependent, compared with 4% of whites.
Compared with smartphone owners who are less reliant on their mobile devices, these smartphone-dependent users are less likely to own some other type of computing device, less likely to have a bank account, less likely to be covered by health insurance, and more likely to rent or to live with a friend or family member rather than own their own home.
The connections to online resources that smartphones facilitate are often most tenuous for those users who rely on those connections the most
Users are turning to these mobile devices as they navigate a wide range of life events:
62% of smartphone owners have used their phone in the past year to look up information about a health condition.
57% have used their phone to do online banking.
44% have used their phone to look up real estate listings or other information about a place to live.
43% to look up information about a job.
40% to look up government services or information.
30% to take a class or get educational content.
18% to submit a job application.
Lower-income smartphone owners are especially likely to use their phone during a job search.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CRAYFIS Hijacks our Cellphones for a Worldwide Cosmic Ray Detector
http://hackaday.com/2015/04/01/crayfis-hijacks-our-cellphones-for-a-worldwide-cosmic-ray-detector/
Although scientists have known about Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) for years, nobody can pinpoint their origin. When these UHECRs hit the ground, however, they cause a widespread local disturbance called an air shower. This air shower is a wide dispersion of photons, muons, and electrons at sea level. The means of observing this air shower mandates a widespread geographic region for detecting them.
One solution would be a very big detector. Physicists [Daniel] and [Michael] discovered an alternative to pricey hardware, though. By leveraging the CMOS sensors in our smartphones, they can borrow some CPU cycles on our phones to create a worldwide detector network.
According to their paper, the CMOS camera in our smartphones is sensitive to the spectrum of radiation induced by muons and photons from these air showers.
Observing Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays with Smartphones
http://crayfis.io/paper.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Google’s ARC now runs Android apps on Chrome OS, Windows, Mac, and Linux
Google’s ARC now runs Android apps on Chrome OS, Windows, Mac, and Linux
“App Runtime for Chrome” takes a big step toward making Android a universal binary.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/googles-arc-opens-up-to-developers-runs-android-apps-on-most-desktop-oses/
In September, Google launched ARC—the “App Runtime for Chrome,”—a project that allowed Android apps to run on Chrome OS. A few days later, a hack revealed the project’s full potential: it enabled ARC on every “desktop” version of Chrome, meaning you could unofficially run Android apps on Chrome OS, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. ARC made Android apps run on nearly every computing platform (save iOS).
ARC is an early beta though so Google has kept the project’s reach very limited—only a handful of apps have been ported to ARC, which have all been the result of close collaborations between Google and the app developer. Now though, Google is taking two big steps forward: it’s allowing any developer to run their app on ARC via a new Chrome app packager, and it’s allowing ARC to run on any desktop OS with a Chrome browser.
ARC runs Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS thanks to Native Client (abbreviated “NaCL”). NaCL is a Chrome sandboxing technology that allows Chrome apps and plugins to run at “near native” speeds, taking full advantage of the system’s CPU and GPU. Native Client turns Chrome into a development platform, write to it, and it’ll run on all desktop Chrome browsers. Google ported a full Android stack to Native Client, allowing Android apps to run on most major OSes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alexis C. Madrigal / Fusion:
A problem with Periscope and Meerkat: broadcasters struggle to keep up with the flood of real-time comments
The interesting problem with Periscope and Meerkat
http://fusion.net/story/111772/the-interesting-problem-with-periscope-and-meerkat/
Periscope and Meerkat are mobile livestreaming apps. Lots of tech people are talking about these apps, and using them feels like exploring a new frontier. Livestreaming isn’t new, but broadcasting video from a smartphone to your Twitter feed is, and maybe that experiences will capture lots of people’s attention and become huge. (Or not.) Stranger things have happened.
But, in any case, neither app is a huge data hog, at least according to the cursory test I ran. I hit 20 megabytes used after 3 minutes on Periscope and 4 minutes on Meerkat
But while running a test on Periscope and Meerkat’s data consumption, I discovered a different, but significant, problem that may hamper these apps’ growth: namely, the difficulty of keeping up with a flood of real-time comments.
While I was testing Periscope, something like 80 people began to watch me. And as the people started piling into the Periscope room and the comments started flying around (most were about my shirt, my hat, and my ears, among hellos and shoutouts), I realized that I could not maintain my line of thought. Anyone who wanted to actually talk about what I was doing was drowned out by randos—and as soon as I tried to respond to one comment, there were three more pushing it off the screen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Network competition? Puh-lease. It’s all about the Apple-Android Axis of Fondle
Rival mobile OSes in race for third place
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/09/fcc_competition_sprint_at_and_t_verizon_t_mobile_apple_android/
MWC 2015 “Competition is the best protector that a consumer and the best friend that an innovator ever had,” the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler told Mobile World Congress last week.
Regulators worldwide have ensured that there is an equal playing field of mobile network operators (MNOs), usually about four, but most – Wheeler included – seem unaware MNOs are no longer the power-brokers. The power lies with the companies that control the access devices and all the pre-installed apps.
Today, two mobile operating systems, Android (Google) and iOS (Apple) hold 96 per cent of the smartphone market and 95 per cent of the tablet market, according to IDC that. So assuming competition is healthy for the smart device market, the question has to be: which of the smaller players can mount a challenge to the big two?
Do we need a third OS? “Of course! Consumers and carriers want selection and do not want to be beholden to any one or two specific platforms,” IDC research manager Ramon Llamas told us.
So, who are the contenders for third place?
But some of the smartphone wannabes are trying. At the tail end of 2013 we saw the much-anticipated Ubuntu-powered smartphone – plus there are mobile offerings from Microsoft, BlackBerry, Mozilla, Tizen and Sailfish. All were out in force at MWC, and all except Tizen came armed with a raft of product announcements.
there really are reasons why a new OS (perhaps one of these) could break the Android and Apple stranglehold.
Ubuntu has avoided the “wot no apps” problem by inventing the “Scope”, a contextual home-screen dashboard.
Jolla showed off an attractive (mid-market priced) tablet, with a similar multitasking capability to the BlackBerry 10 OS.
Tizen is also a Linux, from South Korea. Vendors backing it include Intel and Huawei, but it is most closely aligned with former parent Samsung. The backing of the world’s largest device manufacturer gives Tizen credibility, but today’s reality is Android powers virtually all Samsung’s smartphones; Tizen only powers the Samsung Z, a low-end handset, so far only sold in India. However, Tizen powers other devices – including Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatches and high-end TVs.
Mozilla (US) launched Firefox OS in 2013. Despite being priced to appeal to developing markets, with a number of hardware and operator partners, it has yet to make its mark.
BlackBerry (Canada), formerly a strong contender, outsold Apple prior to 2011, with 16 per cent market. The launch of the BlackBerry 10 OS failed to halt the slide to a pitiful 0.4 per cent (IDC, 2015),
Microsoft launched two Windows smartphones at MWC: Lumia 640 and 640XL. These budget 3G phones (a recent trend for Microsoft) are LTE-enabled with dual SIMs, which are popular in emerging markets.
Microsoft’s dominance in the PC/PC server business and promise of greater compatibility between desktop and mobile could help in terms of some form of cross-platform development. In addition, Microsoft has much deeper pockets than smaller rivals, and it has shown a willingness to invest huge sums in the platform. The reality is despite being an industry heavyweight, Microsoft market share is lower today than in 2010.
Research from Strategy Analytics suggests Forked Android is growing sharply: it powered 20 per cent of global smartphones sold in Q2 2014, up 20 per cent on the previous quarter. Google’s own variant controlled 65 per cent, and is growing by 13 per cent per quarter.
The rise in Forked Android is clear evidence that manufacturers and operators want to take back control over the environment on the handsets they manufacture and sell. The nascent open-source OS vendors Tizen, Ubuntu and Sailfish all stress the openness and ability to tailor their OSes to the clients’ requirements in a way that isn’t possible with Apple, Google, Microsoft and BlackBerry.
Similarly, in China, the government appears increasingly concerned about the country’s dependence on Android, Apple and Microsoft
The priority in China, however, is creating a home-grown OS for desktop and mobile called China Operating System.
Another blind spot is security, and there’s plenty of room to improve – especially in the Android camp. Google’s operating system attracts more malware than other mobile OSs (according to Lookout). Privacy-wise, Android also suffers from the perception that Google’s ad-funded business model makes customer data a commodity to be bought and sold.
Both Microsoft and BlackBerry can press home their advantages here, but Microsoft has the benefit that it’s already trusted in the enterprise across many areas of IT.
Does this give Ubuntu, Sailfish, Tizen and Firefox a chance? Definitely.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Watch app developers are facing a load of really weird problems
http://uk.businessinsider.com/problems-apple-watch-developers-tick-digital-crown-functionality-media-2015-3#ixzz3WA3ca9wP
On April 24, the Apple Watch will go on sale for the first time. Apple’s debut smartwatch will have a stable of apps available to download upon launch — and this has created a bizarre challenge for developers.
They are being expected to build products from scratch for a platform they’ve never used or seen before, without even fully knowing how it works. Many people still aren’t certain what consumers will actually use the Apple Watch for.
Read more: http://uk.businessinsider.com/problems-apple-watch-developers-tick-digital-crown-functionality-media-2015-3#ixzz3WA3mCPXS
Tomi Engdahl says:
WebOS replace applications between devices
Fujitsu Laboratories has developed WebOS technology, which allows smartphones to be autoaattisesti connect various peripherals and sensors, regardless of what smartphone running System is running.
Traditionally, peripherals connect to your smartphone or tablet is required own application, which is tailored to the mobile device operating system. Andrdoille or iOS therefore.
Fujitsu’s technology enables typically HTML5-coded web apps can be run on smart devices. Once the device has been “taken over” can be run in a variety of cloud-based applications and services.
As a result, service providers and equipment manufacturers to develop applications that are not tied to a particular operating system. It enables users to connect a variety of peripherals, smartphones and tablets.
In order to separate drivers can be mounted to avoid, Fujitsu’s developers coding for a separate web app run time layer, which is mounted on the device’s operating system. This software layer is connected to the cloud-based service, so the software containing devices can be controlled in the same application, the operating system.
The company’s goal is to make the technology commercially available in the 2016 period.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2634:webos-korvaa-sovellukset-laitteiden-valilta&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steven Musil / CNET:
Samsung estimates $5.4B operating profit in Q1, a decrease of 31% from a year ago, beating analyst expectations; forecasts 12% sales decline YoY
Samsung beats estimates but expects profit decline in Q1
Electronics giant estimates operating profit declined 30 percent year-over-year.
http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-beats-estimates-but-expects-profit-decline-in-q1/
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Smartphone
http://hackaday.io/project/5083-diy-smartphone
DIY Smartphone using Raspberry Pi A+ Pi, Camera, PiTFT, and Adafruit FONA with custom mobile OS.
Introducing the tyfone: A DIY smartphone anyone can make. The tyfone uses the Raspberry Pi for processing and has a 3.5in touchscreen. The tyfone uses an Adafruit Fona to give the tyfone the capability to make calls, send sms messages, and get the time using a RTC. The tyfone also has a 5mp camera module giving it the power to take HD photos and send them to dropbox over WiFi. Speaking of Wifi, the tyfone has a USB wifi adapter so it can communicate with the internet along with cellular networks. All this technology is enclosed in a 3D printed case.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lookout Apple Watch: Olio Smartwatch Challenges Apple with High End Wearable Tech
http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2015/03/65052-lookout-apple-watch-olio-smartwatch-challenges-apple-with-high-end-wearable-tech/
Apple Watch has a new competitor and I am not talking about the Google/Intel thing. This watch has been created by a former Apple employee and you can immediately see the design DNA in this incredibly crafted watch.
Olio, positioned as a “boutique” watch company, has launched a smartwatch that puts design and materials at a premium – something watch collectors and enthusiasts will surely appreciate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EE springs Wi-Fi phone calls on not-spot sufferers, Tube riders
When there’s no signal in your neighbourhood, who ya gonna call? Er, anyone you like
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/07/ee_wifi_calling/
EE today said it will be the first UK mobile network to roll out full-blooded next-generation Wi-Fi calling.
Subscribers will not need to install any special apps: their phones should be able to seamlessly and automatically send and receive text messages, and make and receive calls, via wireless networks when there is no cellular network signal. You’re out of luck if there’s no usable Wi-Fi to latch onto, obviously.
This new feature uses part of the LTE spec that’s been a very long time coming: IP-Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), which was defined more than a decade ago.
LTE mobile broadband is an all-IP network, meaning calls and texts can go over Wi-Fi if that’s available and VoLTE (Voice over LTE) is implemented. Otherwise, it will drop back to 3G for circuit-switched calls, which is useless if there’s no cellular signal.
EE told us it has been working on the Wi-Fi calling service for three years. It requires support from the handset makers and the operating system builders. Roughly speaking, 4G handhelds that went on sale from mid-2014 can take advantage of the service.
This includes phones powered by Windows Phone 8.1 (such as the Lumia 640), and Android 5 (such as the Samsung Galaxy S6). Apple’s iOS 8.3 can use the service when that upgrade is released to the public, but you’ll need an iPhone 6/6+ or 5S.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Abhijeet M. / SamMobile:
Samsung’s round smartwatch to be called Gear A, come in two variants, one with Bluetooth, one with 3G and calling support
Exclusive: Samsung’s round smartwatch to be called Gear A, have 3G and calling support
http://www.sammobile.com/2015/04/07/exclusive-samsungs-round-smartwatch-to-be-called-gear-a-have-3g-and-calling-support/
A perfect smartwatch? There’s no such thing, but Samsung has said that it is working on getting as close as possible with the Orbis, its upcoming round smartwatch. We’ve exclusively broken a lot of details on the Orbis in the last couple of months, and we now have more information on what we believe could be the most premium smartwatch from Samsung yet.
First off, we can confirm that the Orbis will be launched as the Gear A, or at least that’s what the signs are pointing to at the moment. The Gear A will come in two variants – a standard one with Bluetooth connectivity, and one with 3G and calling support (both variants should support Wi-Fi.)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don Reisinger / CNET:
iFixit teardown shows Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is difficult to repair, gives it 3 out of 10 for repairability
Teardown shows Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is tough to repair
http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-tough-to-repair-teardown-shows/
The smartphone, which has a curved screen at the edge, received a score of three out of 10 for repairability from iFixit.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Teardown
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+S6+Edge+Teardown/39158
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphone-Enabled Replicators Are 3-5 Years Away, Caltech Professor Says
http://build.slashdot.org/story/15/04/07/2228257/smartphone-enabled-replicators-are-3-5-years-away-caltech-professor-says
In just a few years, we could see the mass proliferation of DIY, smartphone-enabled replicators. At least, Caltech electrical engineering professor Ali Hajimiri and his team of researchers thinks so. They’ve developed a very tiny, very powerful 3D imager that can easily fit in a mobile device
Smartphone-Enabled Replicators Are 3-5 Years Away, Caltech Professor Says
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/smartphone-enabled-replicators-may-be-three-to-five-years-away
Hajimiri claims the imager may soon allow consumers to snap a photo of just about anything, and then, with a good enough 3D printer, use it to create a real-life replica “accurate to within microns of the original object.”
It’s called the nanophotonic coherent imager (NCI), and it’s small—it spans just a single square millimeter, and therefore easy to integrate into a smartphone—and cheap, since it’s made out of silicon, like most sensors. It is also exceedingly accurate, Hajimiri says—it utilizes LIDAR, a remote detection and sensing technique that bathes the intended object in lasers.
The light that is reflected off of the object is then picked up by on-chip detectors, called grating couplers, that serve as ‘pixels,’ as the light detected from each coupler represents one pixel on the 3D image.”
Hamiri tells me he sees the technology moving to mass market in three to five years.
There’s a strict limit on what consumers could be able to print, of course, imposed by the quality of the fabricator available and the materials at hand. But 3D printer (and Star Trek) enthusiasts will no doubt be enthused by the prospect—hell, one of Makerbot’s popular product lines is called the Replicator.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bonking with Apple is no fun ‘cos it’s too hard to pay, say punters
Strong start but service is losing its lucre lustre
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/08/apple_bonking_loses_its_lucre_lustre/
Apple Pay users find bonking unsatisfying, and once they’ve tried it many don’t want to do it again, according to a new study.
The overall trends appear promising for the fruity firm’s foray into personal finance, with 66 per cent of iPhone 6 users having signed up for the service since it launched less than six months ago, and of those, 88 per cent have actually tried using it.
These are impressive numbers, way higher than we’ve seen with other mobile wallets where only a tiny proportion of customers have signed up, and then only around half went on to actually try it. Last week, Vodafone politely declined to give us figures for its wallet.
Unfortunately, it’s all downhill thereafter for the Apple Pay numbers from Phoenix Marketing International’s study, with over two thirds of users having at least one problem at the check-out.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steely wonder? It’s blind to 4G and needs armour: Samsung Galaxy S6
A promising comeback – and an end to Landfill Android
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/08/samsung_galaxy_s6/
Samsung can’t do anything without a cacophonous bang, whether the product is good, bad or indifferent. Yet in a sober assessment, Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 is the best phone you can get today that isn’t an iPhone, and is actually preferable to an iPhone on several counts of quality and convenience.
On the plus side it’s a neat and compact design, just like an Apple. On the other hand, the S6 inherits the iPhone’s increased slippiness, fragility, and lack of expandability, while a sealed battery makes it less appealing as a hand-me-down in the future.
It isn’t a ground-breaking or even particularly distinctive styling, but it does bring Samsung into the modern world
This is Sammy’s first year making aluminium devices and perhaps this shows it hasn’t mastered the art of antenna design just yet. The all-metal HTC M9 doesn’t have this problem. Caveat emptor: if you regularly use your device in areas of poor signal, then ownership of the S6 might prove to be a challenge.
It’s the improvements to the software that are the most welcome and would induce me to abandon the no Samsung rule. The clutter and duplication has been tamed; there’s one of everything, with Samsung goodies (some of which are quite useful) moved over to be optional downloads.
Although it looks more childish than its competitors (the themes so far are entirely aimed at teenage girls) TouchWiz is generally practical and thoughtful.
Touchwiz has also taken some of the edge off Google’s stark Lollipop design.
In fact, being dependent on Google’s Android is both Samsung’s biggest advantage and its biggest hindrance, as Google leaves Samsung very little scope to innovate
Samsung and the rest of the industry should have established UDI by now. Samsung turns off Google’s Play binary blob by default, but you can turn it back on. Against the odds, Samsung’s Knox work and its important partnership with BlackBerry give Samsung another advantage – it’s a solid enterprise fleet purchase.
Where the Galaxy S6 really stands out is ease of use for taking photos and videos
The display is outstanding, not merely for resolution – matching the 2,560 x 1,440 Quad HD resolution
Like on Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung has added OIS (optical image stabilisation) and while this lags behind Nokia (now owned by Microsoft Mobile devices)
A few of the more gimmicky features such as 4K Video (capped to five minutes at a time, to avoid a Singularity event), slow motion video, and object tracking are all present.
Performance is largely a non-issue these days, but the eight-core Samsung Exynos 7420 is surprisingly not the fastest we’ve seen
The Galaxy compares well on active power consumption compared to the bigger display of the iPhone 6 Plus.
However it’s 2015, and flagships increasingly look like a vanity exercise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Under the hood of Google Maps 5.0 for Android
http://googlemobile.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/under-hood-of-google-maps-50-for.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Apple Watch has a steep learning curve, but can be a life-changer after apps are streamlined and initial bugs are fixed
Apple Watch Review: Bliss, but Only After a Steep Learning Curve
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/technology/personaltech/apple-watch-bliss-but-only-after-a-steep-learning-curve.html?_r=0
It took three days — three long, often confusing and frustrating days — for me to fall for the Apple Watch. But once I fell, I fell hard.
First there was a day to learn the device’s initially complex user interface. Then another to determine how it could best fit it into my life. And still one more to figure out exactly what Apple’s first major new product in five years is trying to do — and, crucially, what it isn’t.
It was only on Day 4 that I began appreciating the ways in which the elegant $650 computer on my wrist was more than just another screen. By notifying me of digital events as soon as they happened, and letting me act on them instantly, without having to fumble for my phone, the Watch became something like a natural extension of my body — a direct link, in a way that I’ve never felt before, from the digital world to my brain.
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Apple Watch review: nicest smartwatch, but performance issues with apps and location services, much more expensive than rivals
http://www.theverge.com/a/apple-watch-review
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Watch Review: You’ll Want One, but You Don’t Need One
The company has succeeded in making the world’s best smartwatch
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-04-08/apple-watch-review-you-ll-want-one-but-you-don-t-need-one
Any way you figure, the Apple Watch is an epic product release. It’s the company’s first new product category since the iPad and the first new product since the death of Steve Jobs. It was created almost entirely under the guidance of Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, and it’s the first device from Apple that was designed—hardware and software—by Jony Ive. Apple has also sunk money into new retail experiences (led by left-field hire Angela Ahrendts, the former CEO of Burberry), and positioned the device as both the latest must-have gadget and a bona fide luxury item. The watch starts at $359 and climbs above $10,000. To say it’s a major moment for the company would be an understatement.
No one is questioning Apple’s ability to mint money with its gadgets and services (see: $178 billion in the company’s cash reserves), but the ambitions of the watch speak to Apple’s broader ambitions. With a possible entry into the auto market on the horizon, Apple’s success at getting into—and winning—a whole new category of product is kind of a big deal. Although analysts’ predictions for 2015 Apple Watch sales range from 8 million to 41 million, putting them in roughly Year One iPad range, no one even knows whether the thing is a good product.
Apple faces two huge challenges with the watch. It has to make a beautiful gadget
Because it’s a brand-new product category, the company has to make a case for the very existence of not just its watch, but any watch.
It has to persuade people that they need technology on their wrists. So far, the biggest question about wearables—there are already plenty of products on the market—is really: Who needs one?
For all the noise Apple has made about what a remarkable time-telling device its watch is, I found it lacking for this reason alone. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t keep excellent time—it just doesn’t offer the consistency of a traditional timepiece.
Perhaps one of the most difficult things to wrap your head around is the way the watch extends—and often replicates—the functions of your phone. You can receive and send text messages on the device, for instance, but doing so on the small screen with your hand cocked in the appropriate position isn’t ideal if you’re working on something longer than a one-line reply.
The notification scheme is a little maddening at first. Apple sends a push notification every time you get a corporate e-mail, personal e-mail, direct message on Twitter, message on Facebook, and for interactions in countless other services. Each of these notifications pings the watch.
Yes, all these new functions, notifications, and tapping do make the Apple Watch very distracting. In some ways, it can be more distracting than your iPhone
Eventually I realized that this problem wasn’t about fixing the iPhone or fixing the watch. It’s not about making notifications more subtle or less frequent
The watch is not life-changing. It is, however, excellent. Apple will sell millions of these devices, and many people will love and obsess over them.
So Apple has succeeded in its first big task with its watch. It made something that lives up to the company’s reputation as an innovator and raised the bar for a whole new class of devices. Its second task—making me feel that I need this thing on my wrist every day—well, I’m not quite sure it’s there yet
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Galaxy S6: A New Slate
Teardown.com follows the chips, and the money, in Samsung’s S6
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326300&
Tomi Engdahl says:
OxygenOS
https://oneplus.net/fi/oxygenos
Pure Android experience optimized for the OnePlus One
The new operating system from OnePlus, based on Android 5.0.2 OxygenOS
Tomi Engdahl says:
Katherine Boehret / Re/code:
How Other Smartwatches Stack Up to Apple Watch
http://recode.net/2015/04/08/how-other-smartwatches-stack-up-to-apple-watch/
A guide to help you choose among the many available smartwatches
Tomi Engdahl says:
Megan Geuss / Ars Technica:
Microsoft applies to be a Money Services Business and for money transmitter licenses in all 50 states, paves the way for payment platform
“Microsoft Payments” may join Apple, Android, Samsung in pay platforms
Windows 10 for phones supports Host Card Emulation, licensing makes it official.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/04/microsoft-payments-may-join-apple-android-samsung-in-pay-platforms/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Invisible Design Behind the Apple Watch’s Many Faces
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/apple-watch-design/
Yet what Dye seems most fascinated by is one of the Apple Watch’s faces, called Motion, which you can set to show a flower blooming. Each time you raise your wrist, you’ll see a different color, a different flower. This is not CGI. It’s photography.
“We shot all this stuff,” Dye says, “the butterflies and the jellyfish and the flowers for the motion face, it’s all in-camera. And so the flowers were shot blooming over time. I think the longest one took us 285 hours, and over 24,000 shots.”
“We thought that there was something beautiful about jellyfish, in this sort of space-y, alien, abstract sort of way,” he says. But they didn’t just visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium with an underwater camera. They built a tank in their studio, and shot a variety of species at 300 frames-per-second on incredibly high-end slow-motion Phantom cameras. Then they shrunk the resulting 4096 x 2304 images to fit the Watch’s screen
Tomi Engdahl says:
Owen Williams / The Next Web:
Twitter is testing the ability to pin apps to brand profiles in its iPhone app
Twitter is testing the ability to pin apps to brand profiles
http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2015/04/10/twitter-is-testing-the-ability-to-pin-apps-to-brand-profiles/
Twitter is testing yet another interesting new feature; some brands are now able to pin their apps directly to their Twitter profiles in its iPhone app.
The change was spotted by a tipster on profiles of some verified business accounts including Periscope, Vine and Uber.
It now prominently shows the company’s app, its rating on the App Store and a button to download or open it if it’s already installed.
Last month, Twitter was testing giant new app install advertising right inside user feeds. That test, combined with this new test, indicates that Twitter is pushing to become an even larger source of both app discovery and installs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Source: Google close to making Android Wear work with iPhone using companion app
Exclusive: Google is close to making Android Wear work on the iPhone
But will Apple let it happen?
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/9/8375931/android-wear-iphone-google-apple-compatible
Google is working on getting its Android Wear smartwatch platform to work with the iPhone, and it is close to finishing the final technical details, according to a source close to the development team. If Google released it and if Apple allowed it on its platform, it would put Android Wear smartwatches directly in competition with the soon-to-be-released Apple Watch for the first time.
In its current state of development, Android Wear works along with a companion app on the iPhone and supports basic functions like notifications
Pebble, who makes a smartwatch that works with both Android and iOS, has managed to get features like music control and watch apps working on its smartwatch with the iPhone. So it’s possible that Google could do the same.
Some third-party developers have already hacked together a solution that makes Android Wear work on iOS. Another developer has discovered “iOS related code” in Android 4.4 that he believes implies that Google has been working on iOS compatibility for Android Wear.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Min-Jeong Lee / Wall Street Journal:
Samsung Facing Supply Shortages for Curved-Screen Galaxy S6 Edge
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/samsung-facing-supply-shortages-for-curved-screen-galaxy-s6-edge-1428550414-lMyQjAxMTE1NDAwOTUwMTk4Wj
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Sensors to Monitor Environmental Triggers for Asthma and More
http://www.techbriefs.tv/video/Wearable-sensors-to-monitor-tri;RF-Microwave-Electronics
Researchers from the National Science Foundation-supported Nanosystems Engineering Research Center (NERC) for Advanced Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) at North Carolina State University are using nanotechnology to develop small, wearable sensors that monitor a person’s immediate environment, as well as the wearer’s vital signs. These sensors would monitor environmental concerns, such as ozone, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide levels at the same time that they are monitoring vital signs, such as heart rate and hydration. The sensor’s data would be transmitted wirelessly to the wearer’s cell phone, and even to a doctor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dan Frommer / Quartz:
Over 1M US Apple Watch preorders, with two-thirds for Sport line, and black bands most popular, according to shopping data firm Slice Intelligence
http://qz.com/381791/apple-watch-pre-orders-were-1-million-in-the-us-on-its-first-day-a-shopping-data-firm-estimates/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mattel upgrades View-Master to this decade with Google virtual reality glasses technology:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe2l9twSeJE
Tomi Engdahl says:
Luis D. / PhoneArena:
Sharp announces 5.5″ 4K (2160 x 3840) IGZO display with 806 ppi, in mass production from 2016
Sharp not even joking, announces 5.5-inch 4K IGZO display with mind-blowing 806ppi pixel density
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sharp-not-even-joking-announces-5.5-inch-4K-IGZO-display-with-mind-blowing-806ppi-pixel-density_id68189
Like it or not, 4K smartphone displays are heading towards us, and there’s nobody left to stop them! After Samsung casually hinted at 4K AMOLED displays for the upcoming Galaxy Note 5, Japanese purveyor of IGZO screens and border-less smartphones Sharp climbed on the stage to announce the world’s first 5.5-inch mobile display with a 2160 x 3840 pixels Ultra-HD (4K) resolution. The panel is scheduled for mass production in 2016, and comes with a mind-boggling pixel density of 806 pixels per inch.
Looking a little ahead, the announcement is made even crazier by the perspective of a non-too distant future, where smartphone displays have reached 8K (4320 x 7680) resolution – that’s 16 times as many pixels as ye olde 1080p display, as well as the resolution employed for top-end full dome theater projections! If you think we’ve finally lost it, well, LG is allegedly making an 8K 27-inch display for Apple, so shrinking it down to phablet-size is a matter of time and technological progress.
Still, it’s only 2015, and we’re “only” enjoying 1440p resolution displays on our high-end Android devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Michael Crider / Android Police:
LG G4 flagship smartphone details leak, will feature a 13MP camera, 5.5-inch screen, removable battery, leather and plastic rear covers
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/04/12/lg-shows-off-the-leather-clad-g4-and-most-specs-in-a-huge-web-leak/