My how the tables have turned. Five years ago Apple was running its 'I'm a Mac' ads, attacking the perceived weaknesses of PCs running Microsoft's Windows software. And now we have Microsoft making ads that attack Apple products.
The Redmond company's latest in a series of Cupertino-bashing commercials pits the 41MP camera of Nokia's Lumia 1020 against that on the iPhone 5. And as you can imagine, the spot paints iPhone users in a not-so-favorable light...
We've seen how mobile killed traditional music, draining sales from retail CD stores. Console games appear headed for the same fate. Worldwide revenue for handheld console makers fell during the second quarter of this year, pushing companies like Nintendo and Sony into third place behind the first-place Apple App Store and No. 2 Android-based Google Play.
According to a joint report by research firm IDC and app analytics company App Annie, consumers spending on mobile games in the Google Play store rose during the quarter as Android games picked up 1.6 percent of the market between the first and second quarter of 2013. The Google Play store has taken steps to attract more gaming dollars by tailoring its service for developers...
EA has been very busy this week, announcing its new 'Heroes Of Dragon Age' RPG, and offering up details on FIFA 14. And it's not slowing down; today it announced it's teaming up with Mythic Entertainment on a new strategy title.
The game will be a reboot of the cult classic Dungeon Keeper, a popular strategy title from the late 1990's that involves building up a dungeon and protecting it from invaders. And it'll be landing on both iOS and Android this winter...
In every analysis listing market share, there is that mysterious 'Other' category which lumps together all the lesser-known players. Now comes word 'Other' is making a name for itself, as the Apple iPad's share of the increasingly important China market was almost cut in half during the second quarter.
Researcher IDC said Tuesday Apple's tablet market share in China fell to 28 percent during the second quarter of 2013, down from its usual level above 50 percent. Some 46 percent of tablets shipped to China were made by 'Other' tablet brands, often low-cost Android devices, according to the research firm...
A new survey of iPhone and Samsung buyers includes both confirmation of what we suspected, as well as a few surprises. Topping the list: 20 percent of new iPhone owners previously used an Android smartphone, or one out of each five iPhone owners.
The South Korean Android handset wasn't capable of doing much damage to Apple, however - just seven percent of new Samsung owners switched from the iPhone. Overall, Apple does well at retaining iPhone owners, its largest group of buyers having owned a previous version of the smartphone.
For Samsung, its strength is in attracting other Android handset owners and first-time smartphone buyers, according to the survey released Monday...
What with Android having a numerical edge on Apple's iOS, chances are good that popular iPad apps will find their way to Google's Play store, right? To the contrary, just half of the hundred most popular iPad apps in the US are available for Android tablets, according to a research firm Wednesday.
Of the top hundred iPad apps in the US App Store, thirty don't even appear on Google Play and eighteen more are not optimized for Android tablets, just smartphone versions cartoonishly displayed on a larger screen....
Another Google service has bit the dust as the Internet giant announces it will be removing Messenger from Google+ for Android and iOS over the coming days. OBviously, as the focus turns to Hangouts, Messenger is no longer needed. Granted, the writing's been on the wall ever since Google released Hangouts for iOS and Android back in May, its answer to the unification of the many Google chat services under a brand new moniker...
Smartphones - once the preserve for geeky first adopters - are now the norm. You notice the change on the street, on television and now with such traditional research firms as Gartner. Sales of smartphones in the second quarter reached 51.8 percent, compared to an astounding 21 percent decline in feature phones, or dumb phones as they're also called, according to the researcher. At the same time, the Asia/Pacific region marked the highest smartphone growth, reaching to 74 percent...
The issue over smartphone thefts has taken on a British flavor. London's mayor now says he supports calls by American law enforcement officials asking Apple and others to beef up ways to prevent stolen phones.
In a statement, London Mayor Boris Johnson said smartphone makers should "take this issue seriously." Already, a half-dozen American officials have joined the 'Secure Our Smartphones' campaign, stretching from Hawaii to Delaware...
Android's growing popularity in Asia, particularly in Japan and South Korea, has helped Google's Play store for Android record a revenue jump of 67 percent over the past six months. By comparison, Apple's App store revenue has climbed just fifteen percent during the same timeframe, according to analytics firm Distimo.
The impressive numbers for Android apps belie the fact that Apple's App Store continues to be the largest with more than two times the revenue as Google Play. In April, we commented on a report from competing analytics company App Annie showing relative parity with downloads but Apple having 2.6 times the revenue...
The judge in the government's antitrust lawsuit has weighed in on settlement negotiations between the Department of Justice and Apple.
The iPhone maker could reopen staggered renegotiations with e-book publishers, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote reportedly said Monday.
Government lawyers had recommend that Apple agree to drop its current e-book contracts and abstain from a new agreements for five years. Judge Cote, who ruled Apple conspired with publishers to raise prices of e-books ahead of the iPad's launch, also wants to hold another hearing, possibly to review guidelines she is suggesting...
It seems we may be nearing the end of a long and tortuous death march by Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry. After attempting to beat Apple and its own game, then talking about doing a Dell and going private, BlackBerry is now putting out the "For Sale" sign.
Underlining its latest move, BlackBerry's biggest investor resigned from the company's board. However, with a market share hovering near 0 percent, will the smartphone maker attract a buyer?...