Posts tagged Android
Symbian wins half of the Western European smartphone market
Sep 15th
The Symbian platform holds 54.4% of the Western European smartphone market, according to the latest comScore data.
But — surprisingly — despite Symbian’s continued growth in number of smartphone subscribers, its market share has fallen as growth in the Apple OS and Android (Google) platforms has surged in the past year.
Apple’s iPhone 4 alone sold out instantly upon its debut and Google’s Android seems to be racing ahead due to the growing popularity of its OS.
Google’s Android platform is challenging Symbian for the top spot and plans to overtake the incumbent by 2014, says Gartner.
By contrast, Nokia’s portfolio is very weak at the very high end at the moment, while its Ovi Store is not competitive against the might of Apple’s iTunes App Store – with its more than 250,000 apps – or even the smaller but fast growing Android Market.
Nokia’s high end strategy is also effectively on hold, while MeeGo and the Symbian 4 OS continue to be developed.
Meanwhile, smartphone adoption in the EU5 (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy) has grown 41% in the past year to 60.8 million subscribers.
Currently, more than one out of every two smartphones is a Nokia manufactured device, although Nokia accounted for more than two out of every three smartphones a year ago.
Jeremy Copp, European VP Mobile at comScore, said, “Nokia is still the clear leader in the European smartphone market and as the eagerly anticipated N8 launches, all eyes are on Nokia.
“While Nokia has made great strides with offerings such as the Ovi Store and Symbian 3, the pressure is on to reclaim valuable market share. By innovating and bringing new phones to market for a wide variety of audiences, Nokia’s future is not predicated on the success of one handset alone.”
Why Google’s Android is our modern day Swiss Army Knife
Aug 13th
“An Android phone is a handheld computer, a music player, a notepad, a GPS navigation unit and more, all rolled into one sleek device that fits in your pocket”, says Google. But are we taking full advantage?
Google is a pioneer when it comes to the internet, and all things digital. However, in the smartphone sector is suffering in the reputation stakes thanks to the ‘cool’ factor Apple’s iPhone has delivered.
Yet Google’s Android mobile operating system will outpace Apple’s iPhone in number of smartphones in use worldwide by 2012, according to researcher iSuppli Corp. And Google is doing everything in its power to make sure that prediction becomes a reality.
Mobile phones today do so many things for us that sometimes we don’t even think about how we do them. Even though our phones do all these new things, the most natural way of interacting with a phone remains what it always has been: speaking.
With this in mind, Google has introduced Voice Actions for Android.
Voice Actions are a series of spoken commands that let users control their phone using voice. Android users will now be able to call contacts, send texts and email, listen to music, browse the web, and complete common tasks, all just by speaking into the phone.
And of course, users can still conduct a Google search using their voice too.
As always with Google, the product is the marketing itself. In this case, Google incorporated a new YouTube channel launched today called GoogleMobile, where Android users can see senior software engineer Mike LeBeau explaining how to use all the new features:
Androids are already outselling the iPhone in the US after the phones were adopted by Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel, the three largest mobile-phone carriers, according to Nielsen.
Why Apple is winning the smartphone war while Nokia plays catch-up
Apr 30th
Smartphone owners of handset brands including Apple, BlackBerry and HTC are more likely to stick with the same brand when purchasing a new handset, according to new research from YouGov, but why are these devices so special?
Apple owners have the highest level of loyalty with 81% of users expected to buy the brand again. In contrast, LG, a traditional handset brand, comes bottom of the pile with only 10% of users saying that they would buy the brand again.
Remember back in the 90s, and even at the start of the millennium, when you swore you’d never use anything other than a Nokia because of its simplicity and easy usability? Now Nokia is being dubbed out of date.
Traditional mobile phone brands, such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG, do not fair well when it comes to loyalty and according to YouGov, and need to update their features in order to stay in the mobile handset game.
Russell Feldman, research manager in YouGov’s Technology and Telecoms team, says that the traditional phone brands have a battle on two fronts. “Firstly, the number of smartphone owners is growing at a very fast rate and the transitional gold rush to this new technology means traditional handset brands face tough competition from new and exciting brands. Read the rest of this entry »
MARKETING NEWS BITES: Android and iPhone go head to head, Twitter’s phenomenal growth and Hulu’s UK ambitions canned
Apr 28th
A round up of news from around the web:
Challenges are mounting to Apple’s iPhone with rival handsets from Google and BlackBerry ready to hit the shops. The Nexus One, dubbed the “Google phone” before its launch, will be available through Vodafone from Friday and will be free on a £35-a-month two-year contract. The Times
Twitter usage exploded in 2009 with traffic growing from a few million unique monthly visitors early last year to over 20 million by June. However, traffic has since reached a plateau, but other usage metrics continue to show high levels of engagement in early 2010. Adweek
Google has threatened an Aussie web entrepreneur because it says the name of his project is too close to its own. The name of the website in question is Groggle – grog being slang for alcohol. Founder Cameron Collie says the site is designed to help users find the cheapest price of alcohol — or “grog” — in their suburb. ZDNet
Four US senators want Facebook to make it easier for its users to protect their privacy as the website develops new outlets to share personal information. The call for simpler privacy controls came in a letter that the senators planned to send to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – they include Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo; Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska; and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. Stuff
Hulu’s plans to expand to the United Kingdom appear to have been abandoned, meaning the service will likely remain exclusive to the United States for the immediately foreseeable future. The Telegraph
Microsoft’s social phone – one for the kids?
Apr 13th
Microsoft has today launched its new Windows phone – the KIN. But the launch signals so much more than just another handset in the telecoms sector.
In a bid to pry away market share from leader Apple and its iPhone, and close second Google’s Android, Microsoft has come up with a different approach to its challenger handset. It’s going social.
Everybody knows that social media has changed the way we communicate, especially young people.
Kids are leading the world’s transition to digital media. Recent research from the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that (somewhat obviously) kids aren’t afraid of technology because they’ve grown up with it.
So if you want to get a sense of where the world’s media habits are headed, it makes sense to watch what kids are doing (more specifically, kids ages 8 to 18).
Microsoft knows this. It knows kids want their social lives on tap – at the touch of the button. And the KIN should capitalize on this.
And, it’s not about apps, it’s about connecting to existing networks.
According to Microsoft, the KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with new experiences it calls the “Loop”, “Spot” and “Studio”. Read the rest of this entry »
Google makes its first acquisition in the UK
Apr 12th
Google has made its first acquisition in the UK, and it’s not the kind of heavy -hitter you might expect the giant to snap up.
Visual search company, Plink, is just a two-man start-up, based out of Oxford. It’s founders Mark Cummins and James Philbin are now both joining Google to work on Google Goggles.
Publically launched just four months ago, the site shot past 50,000 users in just four short weeks.
The company’s first product, PlinkArt, enables users to identify paintings and artworks with just a snap from their phone’s camera. Once recognised, users can read information on the artwork and artist, share their favourite pieces with friends, or even order a print to hang on their wall.
“We started Plink to bring the power of visual search to everyone, and we’re delighted to be taking a big step towards that goal today,” said Cummins and Philbin in a posting on Plink’s company blog.
“Google has already shown that it’s serious about investing in this space with Google Goggles, and for the Plink team the opportunity to take our algorithms to Google-scale was just too exciting to pass up.” Read the rest of this entry »
Brits love visiting social sites via mobile
Apr 8th
UK internet users make the most of social networking sites via their mobile phones, according to new research from InSites Consulting.
The research found that 32% of UK internet users surf social media sites using their mobiles, while the European average in 26%. The global percentage is also 26%.
The figures aren’t surprising as thanks to the likes of the iPhone and Andorid handsets, surfing the internet via mobile has become somewhat second nature.
In fact, many are no longer even logging on to the internet via their home computers…they have it in their hands via their mobile handsets which they are also using at home.
Mobile app market set to boom! But will it generate marketing revenues?
Mar 18th
Mobile app downloads are expected to increase from more than 7bn downloads in 2009 to almost 50bn in 2012, according to a new report from Chetan Sharma Consulting. The figures mean that app downloads will overtake CD downloads, but what’s in it for marketers?
The Chetan Sharma Consulting study, commissioned by app store Getjar, forecasts that the global mobile application economy will be worth $17.5bn by 2012.
The study also highlights that initially, the focus of making revenue from apps was based on paid downloads or subscription-based models. This however, is about to change.
Today, advertising-based revenue accounts for about 12% of app revenue, but by 2012 this figure is expected to rise to 28%.
It’s no wonder that Google has looked to cash in n the market. Its Android smartphone market now has over 30,000 available apps. This is way behind the Apple App Stores 100,000 applications – but then 30,000 applications is not a small number.
The price of mobile applications ranges from $0.99 to $999 but the average selling price in 2009 was about $1.90, the study says.
Over the next three years this is predicted to decrease by 29% and apps will get cheaper; however, advertising revenue derived from apps is likely to stay relatively flat.
Media rivals fear the great (free) power of the BBC
Feb 18th
The BBC is gearing up for the launch of its first iPhone app, which will also include the iPlayer catch-up service in what is the latest example of traditional media outlets embracing mobile and digital.
In a bid to capture audiences that have started consuming content in different ways, the BBC will launch applications based on its news, sport and iPlayer video services and will offer the content free.
But the move could put more strain on mobile networks that have struggled to handle the amount of data traffic, particularly bandwidth-heavy services such as video.
To be honest, it’s about time catch-up services caught up with smartphones (iPhone, Androids). However, the move is touted to intensify the debate about paid-for content.
However, rival media outlets have suggested that the BBC’s plans for a range of apps is a demonstration of the corporation exceeding its remit.
By offering free news and sports service, rival media groups will find it difficult to compete, generate advertising revenue and sell their paid-for apps.
The Newspaper Publishers Association told the Financial Times that the BBC’s apps would “strangle an important new market for news and information” and so “reduce members’ ability to invest in quality journalism”.
Britons already pay for the BBC through a license fee and programmes are ad free, so it will indeed be hard to compete with.
Meanwhile, we are all waiting to see what newspapers and magazines can offer on the iPad platform – the perceived silver bullet that will save the media industry. Time will tell…
Windows Phone 7 – in detail
Feb 15th
Following reports yesterday that Microsoft was to launch a challenger to the smartphone market currently dominated by Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Andriod and RIM’s Blackberry, the tech giant has unveiled the details of its closely kept mobile secret.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft showed off Windows Phone 7 for the first time. The handset will pull together content from social networking sites and other web services on a scale unseen on competing platforms and will most likely pose a serious threat to its competitors RIM, Apple and Google.
Why?
It’s flashy and new and has been designed with the user in mind, making all those things we use our mobile for more accessible, easier to use and to navigate.
Previous Windows Mobile versions were scrapped to make way for a completely new design that integrates Microsoft’s Zune music player and the Xbox Live gaming service.
The tech giant is ready to hit the smartphone market big time and has already secured partners including Samsung, HTC, HP, Sony Ericsson, Dell, LG and Toshiba.
At the Windows Phone 7 unveiling, Joe Belfiore, VP for Microsoft’s Windows Phone division, said the explosion of applications and web services available on mobile phones meant devices had become far too complex claiming that that phones had started to resemble PCs but “a phone’s just not a PC – it’s a smaller, more intimate device”.
Microsoft wanted a smart design that would separate applications and bring together some of the key things that are most important to people.
It’s five key hubs, that feature on a completely new interface with a ‘start’ page based around live ‘tiles’ representing the most common tasks include people, pictures, office, music + video and games.
The ‘people’ tile is all of a users contacts from Outlook, social networking sites and web mail services – pulled together with thumbnail images into one interface. People the user has recently communicated with rise to the top and for each contact the phone can display their recent activity on various social networking sites.
Under the ‘pictures’ tile is all of the users photos taken with the phone, synced from a PC or uploaded to social networking sites. Photos uploaded by friends to their social media profiles can also be accessed.
The Office’ tile is pretty self-explanatory, it allows users to view and edit documents or make voice, text and picture notes.
Every Windows Phone 7 will essentially be a Zune music player, with users able to sync music and videos using PC software similar to iTunes under the ‘music + video’ tile. Third-party music and video applications such as Pandora are also integrated.
Lastly, finally finding a way to take Xbox to the next level, under the ‘games’ tile users will be able to play games against other Xbox Live users.
Microsoft has said a key priority with the new operating system was maintaining consistency in design. Each Windows Phone 7 device will have three buttons on the front – Start, Search and Back. The tile menu interface will also be virtually the same on all handsets.
The built-in calendar pulls together appointments from both web-based personal calendars and from Microsoft Exchange, while addresses and phone numbers are automatically hyperlinked. Clicking on an address brings it up on Bing Maps.
The maps feature is interesting, and will be a major competitor to Google Maps. By simply typing “sushi” into the search function – which is of course powered by Bing – the user is shown all of the sushi restaurants in the immediate area plotted on a map. From that screen the user can get directions, ring a restaurant or read reviews.
The web browser is based around the same code as the desktop Internet Explorer, and there is full support for multi-touch gestures such as pinching to zoom. But just like the iPhone, Adobe Flash support won’t be present at launch.
So that’s it. It all looks pretty simple to use, and smart too. But one burning question remains: what about apps?
With the actual launch to consumers still so far away, Microsoft said it would reveal more details about the applications that will be available on the platform at its Remix conference later this year.
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