Ubuntu, a flavor of Linux and undoubtedly one of the most loved OSes around the globe, is all set to make it’s debut on tablets. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Continue reading »
Jatinder Singh
Feb 222013
Oct 052012
The computer processor company AMD has announced an app store to bridge the prevalent gap in smooth running of the Android apps on the computer. This store will showcase how the apps will be optimized for its processors. With this, we will be able to download and run popular Android apps on AMD based PC running Windows. The joint efforts of Blue Stack and AMD have enabled the AMS AppZone Player which in turn has led to such possibilities.
This is expected to be a big leap to bridge the gap and enabling the Android apps to be run on AMD-powered devices. With this collaboration, the software developers will now be able to easily tap AMD’s products and keep the great expectations of the users satisfied. Manju Hegde, corporate VP of heterogeneous applications and developer solutions at AMD confirmed the news.
Further, users will be able to download featured apps directly from the AppZone Player or search for the AppZone store. This collaboration is a success already and they are now planning and working with leading OEMs to preload the player on the upcoming AMD-powered devices.
We are waiting fingers crossed for more surprises. Thanks to AMD for the good news!
Aug 272012
The Indian mobile app development market is expected to grow past the $227 million mark in 2012, growing at a 22.6% from last year, as analyzed by Gartner.
Growing at a steady pace, the mobile app development market is expected to surpass the PC software market by a whopping ratio of 4:1 by 2012. According to Asheesh Raina, principal research analyst at Gartner:
Application modernization and increasing agility will continue to be a solid driver for app development spending, apart from other emerging dynamics of cloud, mobility and social computing.
And
These emerging trends are directing app development demand towards newer architectures, programming languages, business model and user skills.
The report also predicts that 90 percent of large, mainstream enterprises and government agencies will use some aspect of cloud computing by 2015.
Open source software tools will continue to erode revenue for some App development categories in design, testing and Web development.
This is being driven primarily by the success of Eclipse and NetBeans, as well as by overall revitalization of the market by new small software providers looking for technical and market disruptive approaches for offering products. Limited budgets and economic conditions compelling enough to focus on cost reduction, also fuel the use of open-source software in various development projects.
The Mobile Asia Expo is scheduled to be held in Shanghai this year from 20-22 June at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai, China.
Mobile Asia Expo comprises of several components:
- A world-class Expo, showcasing cutting-edge technology, products, devices and apps to mobile professionals and mobile-passionate consumers
- A thought-leadership Conference for senior mobile professionals, featuring visionary keynotes, panel discussions and world-class networking
- App Planet, where app developers can learn and expand their knowledge of the popular mobile app marketplace
- A unique Deal Hub platform to connect qualified buyers and world class solution providers face-to-face to do business
- And mPowered Brands, a programme dedicated to accelerating marketers’ knowledge and utilization of mobile as a marketing medium
The expo will have several App developer conferences which will feature keynote presentations, panel discussions, and encourage audience interaction on a wide range of topics.
Normally, 1-Day Visitor Pass is ¥ 100, but you can receive the pass for free during a limited-time “Early Bird” offer. All you have to do us to visit https://registration.itnintl.com/mae12/regonline/RegLogin.aspx and use the code EVP7F747
Notable App developer conferences include
- Blackberry Jam sessions: Being held on Wednesday and Thursday, 20-21 June, these sessions will help developers fast-track BlackBerry application development and bring apps to the community of over 77 million BlackBerry users worldwide.
- CMDC ADC: The CMDC ADC will introduce a host of customisable new products as well as keynote speeches on the latest developments in mobile applications and the mobile industry. Taking place on Wednesday, 20 June from 13:30-17:00, this ADC will include a lucky draw at the end of the session.
- Nokia Developer Day: Nokia’s Developer Day will feature their latest achievements on Windows Phones and the Nokia developer support and incentive program. A special giveaway will be awarded to an attendee at the end of this conference which will take place on Wednesday, 20 June from 15:00-17:00.
Hurry up…Grab while the offer lasts…!!
Happy developing…!!!
First week of June has passed, and the monthly stats from Krusell are in. Here is the list of the Top 10 selling phones for May 2012:
1. (-) Samsung Galaxy i9300 SIII
2. (1) Apple iPhone 4/4S
3. (2) Sony Xperia S
4. (3) Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
5. (5) Samsung Galaxy Note
6. (-) HTC One S
7. (4) Sony Xperia U
8. (-) Samsung GT-B2710 / Xcover 271
9. (-) HTC One X
10. (6) Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc/Arc S
() = Last month’s position.
We can see that Samsung Galaxy S3 has ousted the iPhone 4S from its number one position. It has made a direct entry on the numbero uno spot.
According to Ulf Sandberg, CEO at Krusell
Galaxy SIII has a sleek design, some new features but mostly a great 4, 8 HD super Amoled touchscreen and my guess is that it will stay at the top until Apple launches their next iPhone.
The list is based on the number of pieces of custom made mobile- and smartphone cases ordered from Krusell during May 2012. Krusell’s list is unique due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones on six continents and in more than 70 countries around the globe.
Jun 012012
India, other than being the largest democracy in the world, is also the largest Opera mini consumer in the world. This news comes direct from the horse’s mouth – Opera Software ASA. India has surpassed Russia to claim the numero uno position, While Russia and Indonesia rank as second and third.
The reason behind this is
The growth of Opera Mini products in India is part of the Mobile Internet Generation (“M-gen” among friends). By largely bypassing the need for expensive computer equipment and connections, the M-gen access the web right from their mobile phones.
Since a majority of people do not use high end smartphones, there ultimate choice for browser is the Opera Mini, which runs flawlessly on low end devices. The entire gamut of services offered by the Opera Mini fulfills the exact requirement of the customers.
According to Opera
In April 2012, the consumer base of Opera Mini browser saw a slight decrease in unique users, most likely due to seasonal fluctuations in CIS countries. Seasonal dips occur from time to time and a similar dip was observed around the same time in spring 2010. In all, more than 189 million people used the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile in April. The Opera Mini servers (which do not process pages from Opera Mobile) served 108 billion pages and compressed more than 19 petabytes of data for Opera Mini users. The total number of monthly Opera Mini users exclude Opera Mini Next installations.
Opera Mini is so popular here, that even I use it as the browser of choice on my Galaxy Note.
You can download the printable version from here.
Tablets are the future of tomorrow, so predicts Research2guidance, the analytical firm. According to a report published by them,
The number of new tablet app consumers increased by 58 million. As a result, tablet owners now constitute 8.6% of the installed app consumer base.
While in 2011,
apps in the Apple App Store for iPad grew 180% to more than 140,000 apps by the end of Q4 2011. While this cannot be easily quantified for Android as tablet apps are not separated out, the growth of niche stores and niche store categories focusing on Android tablets reflects their growing presence. For example, Archos Appslib focuses completely on Android tablet apps, while other stores like Android Tapp has a dedicated category.
During 2011, apps in the Apple App Store for iPad grew 180% to more than 140,000 apps by the end of Q4 2011. While this cannot be easily quantified for Android as tablet apps are not separated out, the growth of niche stores and niche store categories focusing on Android tablets reflects their growing presence. For example, Archos Appslib focuses completely on Android tablet apps, while other stores like Android Tapp has a dedicated category.
Also
Several studies have shown that tablet users exhibit different behavior towards app downloading/usage and mobile browsing than smartphone users. Based on the breadth of use cases for gaming, ecommerce, digital publishing and the enterprise – tablet user growth is likely to have a marked effect on consumption in these areas.
In the enterprise, for example, tablets have already been largely implemented at upper levels of management and are quickly working their way throughout organizations – according to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook in 2012, 92% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPads. As more and more use cases are developed and penetration increases, so too will the number of apps being developed for enterprise tablet users. While Apple has already carved out a niche section for iPad and iPhone Business users called “@Work”, other players like Lenovo and Cisco are trying to do the same for Android Business users.
But what about the likes of Galaxy note? The Phablet device which is quickly gaining momentum as the choice of device for user who want a tablet with smartphone functionality and vice versa…!!
Before beginning this review, we must clarify that the definition for the small, medium and large phones has changed since the launch of the Galaxy Note. Those that were considered large are now medium.
We received an Overboard Waterproof case, courtesy of MobileFun iPad Accessories. Let us begin.
The case comes nicely packed and looks nice and shiny in the first go. Though Overboard has mentioned the case to be for small phones, We deem a device like the N8 not to fit the category. Rather, we term it as a medium sized device.
Upon opening, the contents of the package include the case, a hook, a lanyard. And No, the phone does not come inside the package 
The case is made up of waterproof material that feels soft yet strong. We had to open these locks to get a look inside the case.
The phone can be slid through once the locks are open. These locks act a sealing barrier once the phone is inside.
Once securely locked, nothing can enter or exit the case save light
The case did not prove to be any hindrance while operating the phone. The phone responded as snappily as it did outside the case.
Overboard have made sure that the phone’s camera is not missed out. While the front has a larger transparent are to operate the phone to it’s fullest, the rear of the case makes sure that the camera is not covered.
A sample of the camera functioning inside the case
You can use the hook and and the lanyard to secure the phone while you are on the move.
In my opinion, the case is one of the best in it’s class. It can keep you phone safe from water damage. We definitely recommend this case if you device is small to medium in size. But if you have a Galaxy Note, then this case is not a choice as the Note would not fit in.
Oracle, the leader in Java development tools plans to enter the mobile space. Oracle founder, Larry Ellison revealed considering the purchase of Blackberry maker Research in Motion or Palm. The confident Larry added “I had the idea we could enter the smartphone business and compete”.
Plenty of companies were considering the deal and Larry Ellison confirmed in court testimony that his company- Oracle- had considered snapping Palm back in the day. While Oracle thought, HP purchased the Palm for $ 1.2 billion.
Mar 162012
Call it OMG, but a number of big devs out there have been slapped with a lawsuit on stealing user data through their apps without the user consent.
According to Mobile Business Briefing
In a filing made to the US district court for Texas, companies listed include social app developers Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Path, LinkedIn and Twitter, games companies EA, Rovio and ZeptoLab, plus several other high-profile titles.
The suit, on behalf of 13 consumers, calls for firms to stop harvesting data without user consent, and also seeks monetary compensation.
This puts a serious question on the moral integrity of the above developers whom the consumers trust blindly. They might claim whatever, butit is still to be established what has been done with the data that has been accumulated by such means.
We wait for the court to find out.until then, stay tuned…!!
HP has decided to open source parts of webOS 3.0.5 and labeled it as community edition. Though we are very happy about this baby step towards open sourcing, the actual open sourcing is far from real at present.
According to a blog post at HP webOS developer blog
Note that this release is not directly related to our Open webOS project, which remains dedicated to open sourcing an up-leveled version of webOS…
…We are publishing this legacy code to provide members of our community around the globe the ability to work with legacy devices using the current platform. One of our core values is that as many components of future and legacy operating systems should be open to the community. We value the contributions the webOS community has made over the past few years, and hope that this additional release will help you better understand the platform and create a constructive environment for moving forward as Open webOS itself is released.
Finally some sense towards the legacy devices…!!!
Mar 152012
Phil McKinney, the ex CTO at HP, is also known as an ace innovator in the industry. He left HP last year to pursue his “other interests”.
His book Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation promotion saw an interview of his with fellow author Rick Mathieson. According to McKinney
[The Palm acquisition] was going to be a long term effort. Palm was struggling and HP was stepping in, doing the acquisition, and we were basically going to take three years hands-off. Palm was basically going to get cash infusions, resources, and expertise. But Palm was going to be given three years to basically get itself positioned to be a market leader in its space. Now, fast forward to July of 2011 and, one, you had a swap out of the CEOs – Leo comes in as the new CEO – and HP, for whatever reason – I was not a part of this decision – made the decision to kill it, one year into the three year program. This is an example of not committing long term to the resources and not having patience for innovation.
McKinney was in the core team that was responsible for the acquisition of Palm, but he was not there when the plug was pulled.
It’s that part of the month when we post the data for top selling smartphones for the previous month, courtesy of Krusell. The winners for February 2012 are
1. (1) Apple iPhone 4/4S
2. (2) Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
3. (5) Samsung Galaxy Nexus
4. (3) Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc/Arc S
5. (-) Samsung Galaxy Note
6. (-) Nokia Lumia 800
7. (6) Nokia C2-01
8. (9) HTC Sensation
9. (10) Sony Xperia S
10. (-) Sony Xperia Neo/Neo V
() = Last month’s position.
Ulf Sandberg, CEO at Krusell quoted
…the most interesting news are not shown in the top three, where normally all focus is…
…I would like to point out Nokia Lumia 800 which is new on the list and goes straight into 6th place which is an indication that Nokias new smartphone is well received in the market. I also would like to address Samsung’s Galaxy Note, that is representing a new segment for smartphones. Note’s size opens for interesting discussions on how phones and work tools will be designed size wise for the coming years. I can see that there is a lot of demand from the market for carrying solutions when the devices become larger, and that it also demands new innovative ideas.
Seems like Nokia is all up for a fight. Also, the Note, the strongest smartphone of em all is giving a tough fight to the top dogs. In my opinion, the Sammy Android lineup will occupy most of the positions in the coming months.
Stay tuned..!!
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