Android

Millennial: iPad growing, Samsung rises to 46% of Android app use

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 19, 2012

For the second day, Samsung has been named the new leader. After Tuesday unseating Nokia as the top cellphone maker in 2012, the Galaxy vendor today topped HTC as the Android maker which gets most used to access mobile ads. According to ad firm Millennial, Samsung had 46 percent of Android app use, double the 26 percent of 2011.

HTC - which is bleeding money and is rumored to have cut in half shipments and delayed new devices - fell to #2, dropping 30 points behind Samsung. But for Apple, perhaps the best news is what the Millennial end-of-year report did not find...

Redbox Instant, Verizon’s Netflix-killer, launches as private beta on iOS and Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4X2FUQLuG8

Redbox Instant is a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Redbox, a subsidiary of Coinstar that specializes in the rental of DVDs, Blu-ray discs and video games via automated retail kiosks. Today, they started gradually rolling out their service, accompanied by the iOS and Android client which lets you stream unlimited movies from their catalogue for eight bucks per month.

There's a free trial available, too, and you also get four DVD credits to boot from. The partners do not specify how many Hollywood movies are available for streaming. What we do know is that titles from Warner Bros and EPIX are included and that Redbox Instant won't stream television shows, at least not initially. Something tells me that Netflix should be worried. Isn't competition good for all?

Samsung passes Nokia as the world’s top phone brand in 2012

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 18, 2012

The cellphone industry has a new king. South Korea's Samsung is #1 in the market, unseating the Finnish-based Nokia after fourteen years. As 2012 wraps up, Samsung is responsible for 29 percent of all cell phone shipments, up from last year's 24 percent.

Conversely, Nokia slips to #2, dropping to 24 percent of the market, a fall from 30 percent posted in 2011. Nokia's departure from a top spot it held since 1998 is largely due to the predominance of smartphones, an area where Samsung thrived and Nokia faltered, according to the hardware research firm iSuppli...

Microsoft’s post-PC trouble: capturing the profits of bygone days

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 18, 2012

Before PC demand dwindled, software giant Microsoft was happy with licensing its Windows software to computer makers. Now that we are taking the first steps into the post-PC era, the Redmond firm still wants its profit. But how do you charge a $50 per-tablet royalty fee when the device itself costs $199?

Enter the $499 Surface, says one independent analyst. While Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire both sell for $199, the Surface carries the much higher price tag because Microsoft stubbornly refuses to give up the 30 percent profit margin it's accustomed to receiving for Windows and Office software licenses...

Brazil launches its IPHONE, powered by Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2012

Forget about the iPhone, the best phone in the world - here comes the IPHONE, an Android-powered smartphone announced today by Brazilian electronics maker IGB Electronica SA (IGB). The company said in a securities filing that the first model will be called "Neo One". The firm claims to have a trademark for the "IPHONE" term in Brazil, originally applied for in 2000, way before Apple even began thinking about creating a phone. Somebody give Apple's lawyers a buzz...

China is now the world’s largest Android smartphone market

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Just how important is China to the top two smartphone platforms: Google's Android and Apple's iOS? The Asian nation is now the largest single market for Android, with the United States a distant second. What's more, half of the smartphones sold in America next year could be Android-powered unless Apple "makes radical changes to its aging iOS", one research firm warns Tuesday.

China is rushing to turn in their feature phones for more powerful smartphones, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. Smartphones grew at an 85 percent clip compared to 2011. That's nearly double the 45 percent year-over-year growth worldwide. Just in 2012 alone, an astounding 786 million smartphones were sold in the 1.33 billion people market...

Apple retains European smartphone lead over rapidly-growing Samsung

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 17, 2012

The UK continues to be Apple's European fortress against the invading hordes of Android smartphones. That's the word from Internet firm comScore, which announced Monday most European cell phone owners have adopted smartphones. In the United Kingdom, Apple is holding onto a slim 4 point-lead.

Meanwhile, South Korea-based Samsung experiences double-digit growth. Germany is the only European nation where smartphone penetration has not reached at least 50 percent. In the UK and Spain, two countries where consumers have largely abandoned landlines, smartphone adoption is at 62.3 percent and 63.2 percent, respectively.

But the real story could be the tight race between Apple and Samsung, fueled by Android's growing presence in Europe...

Has Google just won the iOS maps war?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEz1sSKCpIc

While most people consider the return of Google Maps to Apple's App Store an all-around positive, one observer sees the move as a 'mixed blessing' for club Cupertino. Not only is the familiar mapping application once again available, but the Android maker Google may now overshadow Apple's own efforts to make a difference in the increasingly competitive mobile mapping arena. As we reported yesterday, the new Google Maps for iOS is the top free app for the iPhone.

Indeed, Google admits the iOS app - which adds turn-by-turn directions - is superior to the Android version from a design standpoint. But for Google, returning to iOS means it also reconnects with iPhone users and a wealth of data...

Looks like it’s gonna be a very Merry Apple Christmas indeed

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Despite a blitz of advertising and promotions, consumers across the globe are choosing Apple products during the run up to Christmas. After interviewing more than seventy shoppers in ten cities, Reuters reports consumers are not swayed either by Wall Street concerns or Madison Avenue come-ons. Instead, in shopping malls in the US, Europe and Asia, the key is Apple's simplicity.

Samsung - Apple's chief rival - is gaining no converts in shopping malls. Only in Singapore and Bangalore, India did Reuters find consumers picking Samsung products over the iPhone or iPad. In Mexico, despite having a mall covered with ads and displays promoting the South Korean firm's products, the iPad mini is selling like hotcakes...

Another survey says more than half want an iPhone 5 for Christmas

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

After getting off to a shaky start, more than half of consumers shopping for a smartphone plan to buy an iPhone 5, according to a new Wall Street survey. Likewise, Twitter chatter indicates a growing number of Internet users hope to find Apple's new handset under the Christmas tree.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster told investors Thursday that 53.3 percent of a group polled Wednesday said they plan to purchase the iPhone 5 over the next month. That number is just slightly below the 54.9 percent found in mid-October, following the new smartphone's launch...

Amazon opens Kindle store in China with iOS and Android apps

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

When it comes to China, much of the conversation centers on smartphones and tablets. Amazon is attempting to change that picture, opening a Kindle store to compete against home-grown e-book companies. One problem: there isn't a Chinese-language Kindle available, yet.

So, Amazon, which competes against Apple, is offering iOS e-reading applications, as well as versions for Android devices. Although Chinese regulators approved the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire in June, Amazon is still working on content deals with Chinese publishers.

Apparently, the aim of the store is to establish the Amazon Kindle brand name. Local e-commerce giant China Dangdang has offered ebooks since 2011, building a library of 100,000 titles, reports say...

Google chairman: Android is clearly winning the smartphone war

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Google chairman Eric Schmidt thinks his company is clearly winning the smartphone war with Apple and he goes on the record to say it in no ambiguous terms. The numbers certainly support Android's position as the world's most popular smartphone platform in terms of volume.

According to Gartner, both Samsung and Apple controlled nearly half the world's smartphone market in the third quarter, or 46.5 percent. When it comes to mobile operating system share for smartphones, Android is in the clear lead with nearly three-quarters the market, or 72.4 percent, up from 52 percent in the year-ago quarter. Apple's iOS held 13.9 percent. However, when it comes to the profits, Apple leads smart device profits and by a large margin, too...