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3 out of 4 phones in enterprise bear the Apple logo

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Remember the days when corporate IT departments looked at the iPhone as some kookie West Coast toy bound to mess up their networks? You know, when RIM - that is, BlackBerry - had a lock on big biz. Those days are definitely gone. Today, more than three out of four mobile phones in enterprises bear the Apple logo.

What's more, Android's presence in business has fallen to the point where Microsoft is nibbling at its heels. During the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple's corporate presence rose to 77 percent of mobile device, up from 71 percent during the same period in 2011, according to Good Technology. Even better for Apple executives, the iPhone and iPad took five of the top five mobile devices in businesses...

Former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki accepts an advisory role at Google-owned Motorola

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

Guy Kawasaki, now a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and book author, was instrumental in marketing the Macintosh in 1984. A well-known blogger, Kawasaki just tweeted he has gone Android by accepting an advisory role at Google-owned Motorola which is said to be working on a mysterious iPhone contender tentatively code-named X Phone.

Kawasaki's new advisory role with Motorola will see him focus on product design, user interface, marketing and social media. One of the first orders of business was to create a Google+ community about mobile devices, he confirmed...

Exchange bug makes iOS 6.1.2 the fastest-adopted iOS version yet

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Nearly 35 percent of iDevice owners have adopted Apple's iOS 6.1.2 software in less than a week following its February 19 release, an ad network announced Tuesday. That iOS 6.1.2 became the most popular iOS version in such a short time is largely attributed to a glitch with Exchange calendars that resulted in increased network activity and reduced battery life for some iOS 6.1 users. While in line with previous iOS 6.x adoption rates, this particular data point evidently indicates folks continue to obsess over their mobile gadgets' battery performance...

Major blow to BlackBerry as Pentagon warms up to iOS and Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 26, 2013

The U.S. government and its defense agencies have been dropping BlackBerries for iPhones and Androids for some time and at an alarming pace, too. Back in March 2012, the U.S. Air Force placed a cool $9 million order for 18,000 iPads. Last December, The Washington Post dug up a Defense Department document revealing the Pentagon had tapped contractors to test iOS and Android devices.

Then Bloomberg last month claimed Consolidated Analysis Center Incorporated, a federal contractor, altered thousands of iPads for use by high-ranking government officials, including the President. And finally, Tuesday came the official confirmation that the U.S. Defense Department is working to open its networks to about 100,000 mobile devices from Apple and Google...

Bloomberg: Google’s music streaming service launching worldwide in Q3

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 25, 2013

Piggy-backing on last week's reports by The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times asserting Google's been looking to enhance its Music service with streaming features akin to those of Spotify, Bloomberg today learned from its own sources that the service is likely targeted for a third quarter start. What's more, Google is reportedly planning to release this as a worldwide offering from the get-go.

One of the people familiar with Google's thinking told Bloomberg the service would work on both Android and non-Android devices, without explicitly referring to the iPhone...

Passing 300M users, Shazam announces revamped iPad app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

The media discovery and recommendation engine Shazam at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on Monday said it surpassed 300 million users and announced updates to its app for iPad and Android tablets in the coming weeks. Some of the newly added capabilities include a much faster tagging with automatic resubmissions (handy during poor network reception), better Shazam Friends interactions and a new streamlined way to share your finds via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and email.

Also on tap for iPad and Android tablets: a revamped home screen with updated layouts for tagged results from TV and music and a brand new interactive mapping feature letting you see what people aroun the world are discovering and sharing using Shazam mobile apps. What's best, Shazam is now providing the two premium features - fast (and unlimited) tagging in as little as one second and full-screen LyricPlay lyrics - as part of the free tablet experience...

Google said to be working on streaming music service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

This is pretty interesting. Hot on the heels of rumors that Apple is looking to get into the streaming music space, a new report popped up late last night alleging that Google too is working on a service of its own.

Citing 'people familiar with the matter,' The Wall Street Journal is claiming that the search giant's Android unit has been negotiating with music companies to start a paid subscription music streaming service...

App Store and Google Play games top handheld entertainment

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Is it game over for Nintendo, Sony and other handheld entertainment companies? That's the question as a report released Thursday shows consumers spent more on games downloaded from app stores than those designed for dedicated handhelds. Indeed, during the fourth quarter of 2012, more than 20 billion games were downloaded to smartphones and tablets. Perhaps anticipating today's finding, Sony announced Wednesday its new PlayStation 4 will support used games...

Google Maps SDK for iOS updated, now available to all developers

Cody Lee ∙ February 21, 2013

When Google released its standalone Maps app for iOS back in December of last year, it also seeded an SDK to select developers. The software development kit allows developers to integrate Google's mapping data into their apps.

Today, Google has lifted the limitation, opening up its Maps SDK to all developers. The announcement comes alongside a nice little update to the dev kit, which now features ground overlays, and other new mapping tools...

Is Apple losing its coolness edge to Microsoft and Android?

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 21, 2013

In the contest for coolness, the amorphous concept potentially driving young consumers to smartphones, tablets and other devices, Apple has some competition. While the iPhone maker is seen as cooler now than previously by 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, even more people point to Android as the king of cool.

Even more surprising is Microsoft apparently isn't your father's software giant. The Windows maker - long viewed as buttoned-down and behind the technology curve - has revamped its image, thanks largely to the firm's smartphone and Surface tablet...

Google launches its Retina Chromebook, the Pixel

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-XTpdDDXiU

Following a credible leak recently - and just hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that "Google is developing touchscreen devices using Chrome Operating System" - the Internet giant on Wednesday introduced its premium Chromebook with a Retina-class display. Tentatively named Chromebook Pixel, it features a 12.85-inch 2,560-by-1,700 screen that Google proclaims “the highest pixel density (239 pixels per inch) of any laptop screen on the market today.”

By comparison, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has a 2560-by-1600 220 pixels per inch screen and the 15-incher has an even crisper 2880-by-1800 display at 220 pixels per inch. The Pixel's 400 nit display also has a 178-degree viewing angle and is driven by the same crappy Intel HD Graphics 4000 platform as the MacBook Air. Other specs of the 3.35lbs computer include a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 chip with 4G of RAM, mini DisplayPort, two USB ports, a 2-in-1 card reader and 32 gigabytes of built-in flash storage.

But unlike Apple's notebooks, Google's responds to touch, potentially opening door to the Gorilla arm syndrome which, according to Apple, rules out multitouch on notebook screens...

Apple and Google app stores are nearing saturation point

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Making it big in mobile apps is getting tougher. That's the finding from a company which researched how many new developers reach the top level at either Apple's iOS App Store or Android's Google Play. In fact, just two percent of first-time App Store developers enter the top 250 list of publishers while only slightly more - three percent - reach that level at Google Play.

As a result, three times as many "newcomers" to the app game publish for Google Play than the iOS App Store. According to analytics firm Distimo on average six Android apps are published for every two Apple titles. And the news doesn't get much better for newbie app developers hoping to cash-in at either app store...