Android

iMessage beware, Google Babble is coming

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 18, 2013

The Internet giant Google, reportedly adamant to solve its instant messaging conundrum, is working on consolidating its many chat services and folding them under a new brand name - Google Babble. Not sure whether Babble is just a code-name, but I'd definitely chose a different moniker because the term 'babble' doesn't just denote chatter, it also means "to utter a meaningless confusion of words" and "talk foolishly or idly".

Be that as it may, a new report Monday claims knowledge of an all-new IM solution from Google designed around organizing chats by conversation rather than by people, no matter what chat service they happen to be using. It's said to support video, audio, file transfers and threaded conversations across all the existing services. Go right past the break for more tidbits...

Apple’s Tim Cook loses top CEO ranking to Facebook in Glassdoor survey

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

It's uncertain what caused it, but the first cracks are appearing in the honeymoon between Apple CEO Tim Cook and company employees.

After being named the top CEO of 2012, Cook slipped to 18th place, behind Google and Amazon. According to employment site Glassdoor, Apple employees gave Cook a 93 percent approval rating, down from 97 percent last year.

By comparison, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg jumped 14 points to land in the top spot for 2013 with a 99 percent approval rating from employees of the social networking giant...

Samsung outspent Apple in 2012 smartphone marketing by $68 million

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 13, 2013

For years, the knock (unfairly) against Apple has been its slick marketing was what pushed sales. A report earlier this week put a dent in that urban myth, showing South Korea's Samsung outpaced the iPhone maker in terms of self-promotion.

Samsung spent $401 million to promote its mobile devices in the U.S. during 2012, above Apple's $333 million during the same period, according to the Wall Street Journal. Although Apple's brand is much better known, Samsung is pouring money toward raising brand awareness in the U.S. market, trying to overcome the lead the iPhone already has.

Indeed, Samsung's marketing budget may be cutting into its profits - spending that will only increase as sales of the company's smartphones climb, say analysts...

Android head Andy Rubin steps down, Chrome VP Sundar Pichai takes the reins

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

In a totally unexpected move, Google Wednesday announced its long-time Android head and Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content, Andy Rubin, is stepping down.

He will be replaced by Chrome vice president Cundar Pichai, who will lead Android, in addition to his existing work with Chrome and Apps. Google CEO Larry Page wrote in a blog post he expects Pichai to "double down on Android", noting "the pace of innovation has never been greater".

Despite Android's indisputable lead in terms of device activations, latest data suggests that Apple's iOS stole some share from Google's mobile platform in the United States, the most important market for smartphones. The iOS platform is also the preferred choice for developers because Apple leads in terms of metrics that matter.

The decision to replace Rubin at the height of his career cries for parallels with Apple CEO Tim Cook's firing of iOS boss Scott Forstall in August 2012, whose abrasive management style is said to have created unnecessary friction between key Apple executives...

As smaller tablets catch on, IDC expects Android to overtake iPad in 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Research firm IDC today updated its tablet shipments forecast to reflect the growing popularity of low-cost tablets coming from the Android camp.

IDC now predicts that Android tablets will overtake the iPad in terms of volume during the course of 2013.

The firm pegged Apple's share of the global tablet market in 2012 at 51 percent, with Android-driven tablets accounting for 41.5 percent of shipments. The new forecast calls for Android’s share hitting a peak of 48.8 percent in 2013, mostly at the expense of Apple’s iOS predicted to drop down to 46 percent this year.

But why stop there, IDC futurists project tablet shipments nearly four years into the future: in 2017, they expect Android to own 46 percent of the market, with the iPad dropping to a 43.5 percent share. As we know all too well, Apple isn't one to blindly pursue market share, as evident in smartphones where it captures three-quarters of industry profits with barely one-tenth of total handset shipments...

Vevo wants to become the next MTV, launches always-on broadcast channel

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 12, 2013

Today at SXSW, Vevo announced a 24/7 channel coming to your traditional television via the Roku set-top box and the Xbox gaming console, but also to the Vevo web site and mobile platforms like Apple's iOS, Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Phone. As you know, Vevo streams official music videos licensed from record labels, both through its web site and via a dedicated YouTube channel, where most of its 52 million monthly uniques come from.

Vevo's mobile apps will be updated with an around-the-clock curated experience of original programming, including live concerts and television shows. The experience is being described as multicast, meaning everyone gets to watch the same programming at the exact same time, regardless of the platform they're accessing it from. Vevo TV will even feature a 24-hour schedule of static programming blocks, just like your regular dumb-ified tube...

Samsung leads Apple, Lenovo in China smartphone market

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 11, 2013

An interesting report on what smartphone brand is leading in China leaked over the weekend. It's interesting because most market updates are distributed far and wide. Instead, the South Korean news agency Yonhap published a private report indicating that country's Samsung leads Apple and others in the huge mobile marketplace.

According to the Strategy Analytics report obtained by Yonhap, Samsung is the number one brand in China with 17.7 percent of the market during 2012. Intriguingly, Samsung's rise coincides with a plummeting Nokia, which previously held the top spot...

Social apps become the third highest App Store category in terms of revenue

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 8, 2013

Last year saw the rise of social networking apps. While not as dominant as games, apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype helped revenue for the category skyrocket nearly 90 percent, compared to the previous year. Likewise, social networking apps flew to third place on Apple's App Store, behind only games and productivity. That's a notable jump from 2011, when social apps ranked only twelveth.

Revenues for the category on the App Store jumped 87 percent year-over-year in January 2013, with a 30 percent rise in monthly downloads now accounting for fiver percent of total downloads. On Google Play, social networking apps became the number one category, besides games, an app research firm announced Friday...

Apple trailed 2012 tablet shipments in India – that is, if you counted phablets

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 8, 2013

Many observers view India as the next China. There is huge potential waiting for the smart device player able to offer India's mobile consumers a low-cost, prepaid product. In just the latest example of analysts scrambling for data to define the market, new research coming from India suggests an explosion of tablet sales - until you dig into the details.

According to India-based CyberMedia Research, tablet shipments in the world's second largest market rose to 3.11 million units by the end of 2012. Demand was particularly on fire during the last two quarters with around 1 million tablets shipping. Although Apple was reported in third-place behind Samsung and an Indian manufacturer, there's a question of whether researchers counted tablets or a cross category of smartphones nicknamed 'phablets'...

Phil Schiller tweets link to Android-slamming mobile malware report

Cody Lee ∙ March 7, 2013

Phil Schiller, although probably the most active Twitter user of the Apple executive team, doesn't tweet much. And when he does, it's usually generic things like "new Flipboard app for iPhone is very nice," or "way to go Giants!!!"

But the Worldwide Marketing SVP switched things up a bit this morning, tweeting out a very deliberate link to a new mobile malware report by F-Labs that slams Android for its malware issues, telling folks to "be safe out there..."

Apple prevails in UK’s Samsung 3G suit

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Apple scored another legal victory against rival Samsung. In a UK court, a judge Wednesday ruled that the iPhone maker does not infringe patents held by the South Korean-based Android smartphone manufacturer. The court's decision marks more than two-dozen failed attempts by Samsung to claim it is owed royalties on standard-essential patents.

The company had alleged Apple did not pay royalties to use its 3G wireless technology patents in the iPhone...

Tablets may consume one-third of mobile traffic in 2013

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

The tablet is taking an increasingly larger bite out of smartphones' share of mobile content. Devices such as the iPad consumed a respectable eighteen percent of mobile traffic in 2012. By the end of this year, tablets are expected to hit nearly one-third of all mobile device traffic, cutting into the dominant position now held by iPhones and similar smartphones.

According to mobile ad network Jumptap, tablets will consume 29 percent of mobile traffic this year, lowering the percentage of content delivered to smartphones to 70 percent, a drop from 2012's 78 percent...