Android

iPad grows lead over Android tablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Apple's iPad continues to dominate the tablet market, accounting for more than two out of three tablets sold during the second quarter of this year, per market research firm Strategy Analytics. Specifically, the iPad rose from 62 percent in the year-ago quarter to 68 percent global market share, which the research firm says is its highest level for almost two years. So not only did Apple retain the iPad's sizable lead, it's also managed to grow by six percentage points...

Developers think iOS will win the battle for enterprise

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

Apple's iPad and iPhone are picking up steam in enterprise lately as big business abandons RIM's sinking BlackBerry platform. Apple's main rival in the enterprise market is of course Google, whose Android is lagging behind iOS in corporate email and security features, but Google makes up for it with its online suite of Office replacement apps called Google Apps, something Apple doesn't have in its offering.

Despite this advantage, developers polled by the mobile platform company Appcelerator and market research firm IDC think iOS has a significant lead over Android. Moreover, 53.2 percent of respondents think iOS will win the battle for enterprise versus 37.3 percent saying that Android will win...

Developer forced to make Android game free due to rampant piracy

Cody Lee ∙ July 23, 2012

We've complained, on more than one occasion, about the high rate of piracy on iOS. It's not uncommon to see pirated copies make up 90% or more of an app's total download numbers. It's bad.

But apparently, it's even worse on Android. Popular mobile developer Madfinger Games says it has decided to make its Dead Trigger title free due to rampant piracy on Google's platform...

Opera says iOS is still top platform for mobile advertising

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Opera (yes, the browser people) published its first ever State of Mobile Advertising report this week, a study regarding the effectiveness of advertising on different mobile platforms.

As you might have expected, Apple's iOS came out on top. Despite Android's lead in overall marketshare, users seem to browse the web and click on ads more on Apple's mobile OS...

Google re-invents patent system, says iPhone inventions belong to everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 20, 2012

Google is feeling lots of heat lately as Apple, Microsoft and Oracle show some notable progress with Android lawsuits. Apple in particular holds a number of patents that cover trademark features the iPhone popularized, like slide to unlock and other multitouch gestures.

The Internet giant should also beware of the latest Apple patent grant which covers virtually all of the iPhone's user interface innovations. Perhaps in realization of its defensiveness, Google has changed tactics.

The company is now arguing that because the iPhone has become so popular, Apple's proprietary and patented inventions should really become industry essential patents. Seriously?

First screenshots of Firefox OS arrive

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Mozilla's Firefox OS may be driven by HTML5 but it sure looks a lot like an unusual cross between iOS and Android. It's already got strong support from carriers and now the first screenshots depicting the user interface and various system apps have surfaced.

The interface looks distinct enough to stand on its own, even though Mozilla clearly borrowed some of the best design practices from iOS and Android...

Android is still losing one-third of current users to the iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

A few interesting observations from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster's note to clients (via Fortune), issued this morning. Munster conducted his annual cell phone survey and found out that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of polled respondents would pick an iPhone as their next handset. Only one in five (19 percent) plan to go with Android and just 2.5 percent, or one in forty, will stay loyal to their BlackBerry, a result of RIM's downturn.

What's more, 51 percent of respondents who planned on making the iPhone their next smartphone (whether current iPhone users or not) said they were waiting for the next iPhone...

Google in a state of IP denial over Android, warns patent expert

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 16, 2012

Dispelling a notion that rivals are taking Google to court out of frustration over their inability to slow down the Android freight train, patent expert Florian Müeller makes a point in a post over at his FOSS Patents blog that a collective market capitalization of the various corporations suing Google is approximately $1.06 trillion versus Google's $188 billion market cap.

More important than that, he says, "the companies who claim that Google's Android infringes on their intellectual property are too diverse to believe in a conspiracy". Müeller also notes that the Japanese giant Fujifilm, which mostly played defensive role in litigation, has also sued Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility for Android's alleged infringement of four of its patents...

Apple involved in 60% of all major mobile patent suits

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

When Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone back in 2007, he commented "and boy have we patented it." The CEO knew that Apple had something special on its hands, and that everyone else was going to try and replicate it.

He was right. Those patents he was referring to have since been involved in hundreds of lawsuits around the globe. In fact, a new report suggests that Apple is actually at the center of 60% of all major mobile litigation...

WSJ confirms Amazon has smartphone in the works

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Rumors that Amazon is working on its own smartphone have been bouncing around for nearly a year now. But the speculation has really ramped up over the past couple of weeks.

Following a scoop from Bloomberg last week, a new report is out today claiming that the online retailer is currently testing an Android handset with a 4-5-inch display...

Sprint intervenes, opposes Galaxy Nexus ban

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 10, 2012

The iPhone-friendly carrier Sprint, the nation's third-largest telco, today filed amicus brief (a legal opinion) with the Federal Circuit concerning a sales injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone sought by Apple. Sprint is arguing that no party, Apple included, should be allowed to leverage a sales ban as "a staple of the smartphone wars".

The carrier paints itself as an "unwitting victim" of the large-scale Apple-Samsung legal wrangling, saying it just wants the issue to be fully resolved without an immediate ban...

The exodus begins: corporate America abandoning BlackBerry for iOS and Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

As Research In Motion's woes deepen amid lay offs, outrageous losses five times bigger than projected and news that its long-expected BlackBerry 10 software won't arrive until next year, a significant number of high-profile and profitable corporate customers are readying contingency plans, a tell tale sign that, unfortunately, the window of opportunity for the BlackBerry as we know it is closing fast...