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...
I like Google's Play Books app even though it's severely crippled due to Apple's policy of prohibiting links to external stores, which doesn't make it very useful if you want to browse and download some new reading material to your device (to shop books, visit Google Play in your browser).
Other than that, it's a solid reading app and perhaps a nice gateway drug to Google's other content stores.
It's been a while since Google last updated Play Books so today saw an interesting update which has brought out three useful features. I've included the description and a few nice screenshots right after the break...
In another showing of the key differences between Google and Apple, the Internet giant on Thursday announced that relevant advertising will now start appearing in the native Google Maps app for iOS and Android devices.
Relevant advertising will appear at the bottom of the screen after you perform a search, Google said, adding that ads may include a title, ad text and a link to get directions.
Great, Google, just great! You can go ahead and sell me at a premium to advertisers all you want, but I hate ads and am switching over to Apple Maps as we speak...
The PC market - once comprised of hulking desktop machines and slim laptops - increasingly relies on tablets for a fresh infusion of sales. The latest instance of this new world order comes from market researcher Canalys, out with its PC forecast which includes tablet shipments.
Viewing tablets as PCs results in Apple losing more than eleven percent in PC sales. Why? Because iPad sales are cooling amid lack of a refresh. Although just twenty percent of Apple sales are traditional PCs, the firm continues to lead the PC market. However, in a post-PC era, delays of introducing a new iPad means Apple's lead was trimmed during the second quarter of 2013, the research firm announced Wednesday...
Unlike the auto which loses much of its value the moment you drive off the dealer's lot, iPhones tend to remain valuable to owners. According to new research, Apple's handset does better at retaining its value, compared to Android phones. In a related study, trade-in programs are increasingly important to smartphone owners deciding on carriers.
Although the value of Android phones fell by as much as a third in three months, iPhone prices actually go up. The price of an iPhone 4 asked on eBay was 10.3 percent higher than at the start of the three-month period, one Wall Street analyst found...
The long wait before Apple introduces new iPhone models is causing its iOS smartphone platform to lose marketshare to Android. The iPhone's iOS slipped to 13.2 percent of the smartphone market, a drop from 16.6 percent during the same period in 2012.
Meanwhile, Android's lock on the smartphone market grew tighter, nearing 80 percent as Samsung and a bevy of Chinese brands boosted the Google-made software. Despite the small drop, No. 2 iOS is expected to regain its lost turf when Apple unveils new products in September, according to market research firm IDC...
Google has come under fire this week for the way that its Chrome browser handles password storage. The criticism comes in light of some new findings posted by software developer Elliott Kember, who says he's discovered a flaw in the way Chrome handles passwords.
Apparently, in the browser's settings panel there's a section that lists all of the websites in which a user has a stored password for, and their corresponding passwords. The data is hidden initially, but the passwords can be exposed with a simple click of the mouse...
Good news for the Cupertino legal team this week. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has finally handed down its opinion on the company's appeal of the ITC's dismissal of its patent complaint against Motorola Mobility, and it's sided with Apple .
The ruling overturns a decision by the US International Trade Commission from March of last year, when the six-member panel exonerated Motorola from claims of infringement on certain Apple patents, thus allowing the company to pursue its complaint...
Hot on the heels of releasing the official AdSense app for Android last week, the Internet giant Google today announced the software's availability on Apple's iPhone and iPod touch devices. The app lets you access your AdSense account and view reporting data, including the key earnings information, top custom and URL channels, ad units and sites reports, payment alerts. I've included more information and a few screenies below...
Tablet sales slowed during the second quarter, falling 9.7 percent to 45.1 million units, according to IDC researchers Monday. Because interest in tablets rises and falls with Apple's iPad, the slowdown in sales during the second quarter was attributed to the lack of a new iPad device being introduced by Apple.
In the horserace between Apple and Samsung (which will unveil a next-gen Note phablet on September 4), the iPad remains the top-selling tablet, although growth fell 14.1 percent on shipments of 14.6 million iPads, down from 19.5 million during the first quarter of 2013, IDC announced Monday. No. 2 Samsung also saw tablet shipments slow to 8.1 million units, down from 8.6 million devices during the previous quarter, though the South Korean vendor saw a 277 percent annual growth in tablet shipments...