Google Android gains ground - Warc

LONDON: Google Android is now the leading smartphone operating system by new sales in eight major markets worldwide, a list including Japan, the UK and US.

Kantar Worldpanel, the insights provider, reported that Android contributed 45.2% of UK smartphone sales in the 12 weeks ending 12 June, 2011, increasing from 10.7% a year earlier.

Research in Motion, manufacturer of the BlackBerry, also saw a modest annual lift, reaching 22.3%, compared with a starting point of 19.4%.

"BlackBerry's competitive pricing allows younger consumers to switch to a smartphone device at a price they can afford," Dominic Sunnebo, Kantar Worldpanel's global consumer insight director, said.

"BlackBerry is currently attracting the most upgrading shoppers with 84.9% of its new customers previously owning a non-smartphone."

"Our data shows that most first-time smartphone owners look for lower prices."

By contrast, Nokia's Symbian registered a decline from 32.7% to 10.7%, while Apple's iOS witnessed a slide from 30.6% to 18.3%.

However, the iPhone 4 was named as the top-selling handset in the UK for the last 12 months.

Indeed, 74.3% of new Android sales were drawn from individuals not already possessing a smartphone, measured against 1.4% that had formerly utilised an iPhone.

"With 63% of British consumers still owning a non-smartphone, future growth lays with upgrading customers," Sunnebo said.

Staying in Europe, Android's proportion of sales had grown from 3.1% to 41.3% in Germany, alongside improving from 1.6% to 26.1% in Italy.

Similarly, the Google-developed operating system logged a 41.3% share in Spain, an increase from 7.6% year on year, and accrued over 15 percentage points in France, hitting 37.5%.

Apple's iOS posted a decrease of 9.2 percentage points in Germany, to 18.4%, was off by 13.3 percentage points in France, yielding 17.9%, and experienced a smaller 1.5% percentage point fall in Spain, to 5.7%.

More positively for Apple, its share rose by 6.8 percentage points in Italy, attaining 20.6% overall.

"We are yet to see any real signs of consumers switching between Android and Apple," Sunnebo continued. "Apple and Android's customers are intensely loyal when choosing their upgrade."

"One reason for this is the investment consumers make in their device through apps. In France for example, the average iPhone costs €215, and 17% of iPhone owners download more than ten apps each month."

"This investment is then lost if they want to choose a different OS as the apps are non-transferable."

In the US, Google's Android recorded an uptick from 19% to 57%, and Apple delivered an expansion from 21.1% to 28.7%.

Such progress largely came at the expense of Windows and Symbian, both down by around ten percentage points, taking shares of 2.6% and just 0.2% respectively.

Elsewhere, in percentage point terms, Nokia's operating system suffered contractions topping 20 percentage point terms everywhere but the US and France, where this decline stood at 3.9%.

Its share of sales now peaks in Spain, at 40.2%, a figure which can be compared with the 77.8% secured in the country during the corresponding timeframe in 2010.

Android's rise was also confirmed by data from Japan, where it contributed 64.7% of acquisitions in this period monitored, gaining nearly 40 percentage points.

This could be placed in context when assessed next to the slide of ten percentage points, to 27.7%, endured by Apple, and Symbian's drop of 27 percentage points, to only 3.7%.

Data sourced from Kantar Worldpanel; additional content by Warc staff, 12 July 2011

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Microsoft Launches Office 365 Without Support for iOS or Android - PadGadget

Microsoft has announced the much-anticipated Office 365 service that brings Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online to consumers in a cloud environment. Available for a monthly subscription fee ranging from $2 to $27 per user per month, all applications will remain up to date and usable from all anywhere… as long as you aren’t running iOS or Android.

Boasting a variety of collaborative features as well as the ability to hold virtual meetings and communicate via instant messaging, the key benefit is the availability of the Microsoft Office suite of software without the large initial investment that is currently required.

Having tested Microsoft 365 on iOS and Android extensively, Galen Gruman from InfoWorld confirmed what Microsoft tried hard not to say: “Office 365 is basically useless on mobile.”

Initial advertising done by Microsoft certainly led us to believe that this service would be available and intended for use by mobile devices, although they never specifically mention being compatible with any in particular.

This isn’t the only shortcoming either, while Microsoft proclaims compatibility with FireFox, Safari and Chrome browsers, their use of ActiveX and Silverlight controls mean much of the functionality of their apps will be unavailable outside of Internet Explorer.

These deficiencies seem unwise given the numerous other alternatives available for cloud storage, collaboration and document editing and management. It may be that Microsoft is hoping to use this as an incentive to resuscitate Windows 7 based smartphones for use by interested businesspeople, but I think it is more likely that they will alienate and annoy them.

Microsoft Office 365 is available as a free 30 day trial for businesses.

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StockTwits Launches Android App for Access to Real-Time Stock Information on ... - PR Web (press release)

San Diego, CA (PRWEB)

StockTwits®, a real-time social idea network for the investing community and creator of the $(TICKER) tag for the widest syndication of investment information, today announced the availability of StockTwits for Android, making the app available on millions of mobile devices around the world. StockTwits for Android is the only mobile app for the Android platform that provides mobile users a place for stock prices, financial news from across the web curated and filtered by a community of investors and traders, trending tickers and real-time ideas from the StockTwits stream. The StockTwits Android app is available today at http://stk.ly/stdroid.

According to The Nielsen Company, more than one-third of consumers plan to make their next smartphone purchase an Android handset. With its rise in popularity and number of Android-powered handsets on the market today, StockTwits will give millions of consumers access to timely investing information on their smartphones. Unlike other Android finance and stock apps, the StockTwits app provides investors with everything they need to see real-time trends, news and ideas about the stocks they are interested in – and the opportunity to learn from talented investors and traders who are members of the StockTwits community. The app also allows users to share ideas directly from their phone, reaching the StockTwits community as well as the StockTwits distribution network of top social media and financial sites, including Yahoo! Finance, Bing Finance, CNN Money, Reuters, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Key Benefits of StockTwits for Android Include:
Access to real-time stock quotes from the mobile phoneHeadlines and links to the most important financial and stock news curated by the largest social network of investors and tradersThe ability to create a “Watchlist” to quickly and easily access specific investments or ideas on the goStay on top of the market with the “Trending” view of stocks, which is a list of stocks being discussed most frequentlyView and share real-time investment ideas by accessing the StockTwits network from anywhere

“The Android platform is growing exponentially, and with the new StockTwits app, we’re able to give millions of investors a new way to stay in touch with the market from their mobile phones,” said Howard Lindzon, co-founder and chief executive officer at StockTwits. “The app is the best way to see stock prices, trending news headlines and real-time ideas for specific stocks, while keeping up with new ideas in the market through Trending Tickers on StockTwits – features not found in any other mobile app.”

About StockTwits
With offices in San Diego and New York, StockTwits is a real-time, social idea network for the investing community and creator of the $(TICKER) tag for the widest syndication of investment information. It provides a specialized environment created specifically for investors where users can customize information and networks based on interests and investments, and corporations can easily monitor, disseminate and manage communication within the social media environment. StockTwits was named "One of the Best Websites, 2010" by Time Magazine, and was listed as one of the “10 Most Innovative Companies on the Web” by Fast Company.

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Android 4.0 loaded Google Nexus 4G : This "monster" could chomp down Apple - International Business Times

Sporting a "monster sized" screen with high definition capabilities, dual processor, very thin size, and Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, Google's Nexus 4G could give Apple's iPhone 5 some heavy competition as both devices are set to have similar release dates. 

The Nexus 4G rumors have sounded very attractive as the latest Android device may seem to be the most powerful smartphone to hit the market.  One of them says that the device will be powerful enough to run the Android 4.0 operating system which will include 3D features, Open GL head tracking for facial expressions and sensing.  For gamers, they can have USB capabilities enabling them to plug in external hardware devices such as an Xbox controller.  The open platform can allow developers to sync up various devices ranging from remotes, controllers, to bikes.  This opens a huge door of opportunities for apps running on the next generation Nexus 4G. 

According to reports, Apple has many features rolled up in its sleeve for the iPhone 5, including integration with the anticipated iCloud and ramped up iOS.  Speculations on iPhone 5 specs include an A5 processor with large end-to-end screen and very thin sized incorporating a teardrop shape design. 

If the iPhone 5 is to run with the same A5 processor found in the iPad 2, floating in the 1 GHz range, then the Nexus 4G will have an advantage with its 1.2 or 1.5 GHz dual core processor, possibly a 28nm Qualcomm Snapdragon Krait, and 1 GB of ram. 

The Nexus 4G design utilizes a spacious touchscreen but eliminates all the hardware physical buttons, possibly utilizing Google's continuing development of voice search and commands.  The iPhone 5 curved glass touchscreen has also been in talks with reports of Apple already processing machinery to create the touchscreen glass displays.    Apple also will launch their iOS 5 platform that incorporates voice technology through Nuance voice command app.  Apple's move may appear to be a counter to Android, which has already integrated voice features early on with much investment in improving the feature for Ice Cream Sandwich.    

It may still be too early to determine if Nexus 4G can truly take a bite out of its rival, but the specs and rumors have seemed very impressive for this fall's matchup against Apple's iPhone 5.   

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Huawei announces MediaPad: 7-inch Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) tablet - MobileSyrup.com

Huawei officially announced their 7-inch Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) powered tablet called “MediaPad”. This is expected to be available sometime this Q3 “in selected markets”, not sure it Canada will be on the list but Huawei has made major a investment here so you can bet it’ll be available here at some point. No word on what the tablet will cost.

In regards to specs, Qualcomm 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera (1080P full HD playback) with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, HSPA+ (14.4Mbps) and Wi-Fi connectivity, HDMI-out, 10.5mm thin and weighs 0.86 pounds. As for the battery life, a 4,100mAh battery is packed into it which should last only 6 hours. Pre-installed apps include: Facebook, Twitter, Let’s Golf and Document to go.

Source: Huawei
Via: Engadget & IntoMobile

Related posts:

Staples ramping up tablets… will sell the ASUS 10.1-inch Android Eee Pad Transformer and the Acer Iconia 10-inchThe Android 3.1 “Toshiba Tablet” coming to Canada this AugustAndroid 3.0 Acer Iconia tablet has estimated release date of May 13thSamsung to release 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab with Honeycomb?

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Chinese Alternative Android Market GoAPK Funded - paidContent.org

In the gap left by a still-unsatisfying official Android Market, is there a third-party opportunity?

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GoAPK, an independent, web-based download repository for Android apps in China, thinks so, and has just taken an investment of over $1 million to continue building.

Technode: “There’re lots of 3rd party Android markets in China, including AppChina (invested by Innovation Works), which also crossed an aggregate of over 100 million downloads, HiApk (by game vendor NetDragon), Aimi8, Eoemarket and Mumayi. , none of those markets have generated positive and consistent revenue yet ... because the majority of Android apps are offered for free.”

But GoAPK is more than just a download store - as well as listing tens of thousands of apps and a million daily downloads, it has forums counting 3,000 developers.

GoAPK was founded in 2008; the funding comes from online gaming firm Shanda. Datamonitor says Shanda (NSDQ: SNDA) has taken a 10 percent stake.

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) doesn’t necessarily frown on parallel download repositories. Services like AppBrain operate alongside Android Market and offer better discovery, but ultimately link back to the Market. Meanwhile, Google is happy for third parties like Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and carriers to build their own Android Markets.

Posted In: Mobile, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Venture Capital

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Microsoft+HTML: The antidote to iOS and Android - Register

Open...and Shut For a comparatively brief period of time, hardware companies like Nokia and telco operators like AT&T ruled the mobile roost. But as they're now learning – and not doubt stewing over – software is increasingly king in mobile, just like it is on the desktop. The winning strategy in this software-centric world is one that puts software developers first.

Small wonder, then, that Google's open-source Android is on the rise while every other platform, including Apple's iOS, takes a back seat. Over time, the platforms that win will be those that cater to developers, both in terms of making development easy and in terms of making it profitable. Despite Apple's lead, Google looks strong in this area, and the mobile web is not far behind, according to new survey data released as part of the 2011 Developer Economics mobile app developer survey from VisionMobile (warning: PDF).

Among other findings:

Of the top-three mobile platforms, only Android (67 per cent) and iOS (59 per cent) beat out the mobile web as a target development platformWindows, despite its paltry market share, claims second place behind Android in the platforms where developers expect to invest. Windows Phone 7 is "not dead yet," not by any stretchSymbian and Java, however, are dead, with 40 per cent of Symbian developers and 35 per cent of Java developers planning to dump these platformsWhile iOS claimed early loyalty, today's developers play the field, with an average of 3.2 platforms used by developers in the surveyApple trumpets the money its developers are making, and surveyed developers confirm that they make 3.3 times more money per iOS app than Symbian developers do. But this isn't the developers' top wish. Instead, more than 50 per cent say they're looking for platforms where they can find the most users, and only 25 per cent cited the ability to make money on a platform as their key motivation. This is one key reason Android is finding such an enthusiastic audience.

Google long ago realized this would the case. "This is going to sound really cynical, but the only thing that really matters is how many of these we ship - how many Android phones," Google open source guru Chris DiBona said early last year. "There is a linear relationship between the number of phones you ship and the number of developers."

This may also reflect the fact that many app developers aren't yet making much money at all. Roughly 33 per cent of surveyed developers make less than $1,000 per application.

In this first phase of mobile app development, app developers seem to be seeking ways to extend their existing brands to mobile, and to kick the tires on new modes of engagement with users. This is why they can afford to put off dreams of riches.

Devs want popular platforms, but not necessarily to make a killing

It's also perhaps why app stores, which come built-in with as much as a 30-per cent margin hit and are pretty poor for helping apps get discovered, are the primary way app developers hope to make money. A significant percentage (45 per cent) sees app stores as their primary go-to-market strategy, and more than 50 per cent think app stores will lead them to more users than other means.

Such is the early euphoria around app stores. Get in the app store, make millions.

It doesn't tend to work that way, however, since outside the top 10 to 25 apps in any given category, visibility within an app store is hard to come by. On the "normal" web, we had Google to facilitate site/app discovery. On the mobile web, the best we have at present is app stores.

One major media brand with whom I spoke recently indicated that it has built hundreds of apps, with very little to show for it, in terms of downloads or money. Its mobile website gets the vast bulk of its traffic, but its one big app gets the bulk of user engagement.

Apparently, it's difficult to get both engagement and discovery in the same place.

And so mobile app developers experiment. But one thing is making life easier for them: Android. According to the VisionMobile survey, only Android among the mobile operating systems has traction across all major markets. This is partly due to Google's freebie approach to Android licensing, which makes its price right for a wide variety of developers, but also because of the investment Google has made in mobile development tools.

Beyond tooling, Android offers deep API access to the home screen, multimedia codecs, and more, unlike iOS (or mobile web), and also facilitates instant publishing instead of the gauntlet of Apple's secretive app approval process. Mobile is too big to be owned by one company's tools or processes: Google is winning precisely because it doesn't need to bottleneck development in its attempts to control how apps are developed and distributed.

The mobile web, by contrast, is as free as Android, or more so, but harder to develop. According to the survey, it ranked sixth in terms of learning curve. Even so, it still ranks third in terms of developer mindshare.

The mobile web is harder to build for than Android and iOS

Imagine what would happen if Microsoft married its history of exceptional tooling with HTML5? Some complain that Microsoft is giving up its future by not continuing with Silverlight and other home-grown solutions, but that's foolish talk. Javascript rules app development, and Microsoft is smart to jump on that train.

What Microsoft needs to do now is to lead it, by bringing its tooling to mobile web development. This will only work, however, if Microsoft gives up on the need to directly monetize mobile operating systems and, like Google, finds revenue "higher up the stack."

The mobile app development world is changing rapidly. Yesterday, it was Apple's market and today it is Google's. Tomorrow, it could be the mobile web's market to lose, but a great deal of work would need to be done to enable the web to displace native platforms like Android and iOS. Microsoft might be able to help, but first it needs to figure out its on-again, off-again love affair with the web. ®

Matt Asay is senior vice president of business development at Strobe, a startup that offers an open source framework for building mobile apps. He was formerly chief operating officer of Ubuntu commercial operation Canonical. With more than a decade spent in open source, Asay served as Alfreso's general manager for the Americas and vice president of business development, and he helped put Novell on its open source track. Asay is an emeritus board member of the Open Source Initiative (OSI). His column, Open...and Shut, appears three times a week on The Register.

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