Mobile infrastructure must catch up with user needs and demands. Ubiquitous mobile computing is all around us, not only when we use smartphones to connect with friends and family across states and countries, but also when we use ticketing systems on buses and trains, purchase food from mobile vendors, watch videos, and listen to music on our phones. As a result, mobile computing systems must rise to the demand. The number of smart phones will exceed the number of PCs in 2014.
Some time in the next six months, the number of smartphones on earth will pass the number of PCs. This shouldn’t really surprise anyone: the mobile business is much bigger than the computer industry. There are now perhaps 3.5-4 billion mobile phones, replaced every two years (versus 1.7-1.8 billion PCs replaced every 5 years).It means that mobile industry can sell more phones in a quarter than the PC industry sells in a year. After some years we will end up with somewhere over 3bn smartphones in use on earth, almost double the number of PCs. The smartphone revolution is changing how consumers use the Internet: Mobile browsing is set to overtake traditional desktop browsing in 2015.
It seems that 4G has really become the new high speed mobile standard widely wanted during 2013. 3G will become the low-cost option for those who think 4G option is too expensive, not everyone that has 4G capable device has 4G subscription. How the situation changes depends on how operators improve their 3G coverage, what will be the price difference from 3G to 4G and how well the service is marketed.
Mobile data increased very much last year. I expect the growth to continue pretty much as projected in Mobile Data Traffic To Grow 300% Globally By 2017 Led By Video, Web Use, Says Strategy Analytics and Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017 articles.
When 4G becomes mainstream, planning for next 5G communications starts. I will expect to see more and more writing on 5G as the vision what it will be destined to be clears more. Europe’s newly-minted 5GPPP Association plans to launch as many as 20 research projects in 2014, open to all comers, with a total budget of about 250 million euros. The groundwork for 5G, an ambitious vision for a next-generation network of networks that’s still being defined, and the definition will go on many years to come. No one really knows today what 5G will be because there are still several views. Europe’s new 5GPPP group published a draft proposal for 5G. 5GPPP is not the only group expected to work on standards for next-generation cellular networks, but it could become one of the most influential.
The shifting from “dumb” phones to smart phones continue. In USA and Europe smart phone penetration is already so high levels that there will not be very huge gains on the market expected. Very many consumers already have their smart phone, and the market will be more and more on updating to new model after two years or so use. At the end of 2013 Corporate-Owned Smartphones Back in Vogue, and I expect that companies continue to shop smart phones well in 2014.
The existing biggest smart phone players will continue to rule the markets. Google’s Android will continue to rule the markets. Samsung made most money in 2013 on Android phones (in 2013 in West only Samsung makes money from selling Android), and I expect that to continue. In 2013 Apple slurped down enormous profits but lost some of its bleeding-edge-tech street credit, and I expect that to continue in 2014.
The biggest stories of the year 2013 outside the Samsung/Apple duopoly were the sale of Nokia’s mobile phone business to Microsoft and the woes of BlackBerry. BlackBerry had an agonising year and suffered one of the most spectacular consumer collapses in history, and I can’t see how it would get to it’s feet during 2014. Nokia made good gains for Windows Phones during 2013, and I expect that Microsoft will put marketing effort to gain even more market share. Windows Phone became the third mobile ecosystem, and will most probably keep that position in 2014.
New players try to enter smart phone markets and some existing players that once tried that try to re-enter. There are rumors that for example HP tries to re-enter mobile market, and is probable that some other computer makers try to sell smart phones with their brands. In the Android front there will be new companies trying to push marker (for example OPPO and many smaller Chinese makers you have never heard earlier). Nokia had a number of Android projects going on in 2013, and some former Nokia people have put up company Newkia to follow on that road. To make a difference in the market there will be also push on some smaller mobile platforms as alternative to the big three (Google, Apple, Microsoft). Jolla is pushing Sailfish OS phones that can run Android applications and also pushing possibility to install that OS to Android phone. Mozilla will push on with it’s own Firefox OS phone. Canonical will try to get their Ubuntu phone released. Samsung is starting to make Tizen powered smart phones and NTT DoCoMo could be the first carrier to offer a Tizen powered device. None of those will be huge mainstream hits within one year, but could maybe could have their own working niche markets. The other OS brands combined do not amount to 1% of all smartphones sold in 2013, so even if they could have huge growth they would still be very small players on the end of 2014.
As smartphone and tablet makers desperately search for points of differentiation they will try to push the limits of performance on several fronts to extremes. Extreme inter-connectivity is one of the more useful features that is appearing in new products. More context-aware automatic wireless linking is coming: Phones will wirelessly link and sync with screens and sensors in the user’s vicinity.
You can also expect extreme sensor support to offer differentiation. Biomedical sensors have lots of potential (Apple already has fingerprint sensors). Indoor navigation will evolve. Intelligent systems and assistive devices will advance smart healthcare.
Several smartphone makers have clear strategies to take photography to extremes. 40 megapixel camera is already on the market and several manufacturers are playing with re-focus after shooting options.
In high-end models we may be moving into the overkill zone with extreme resolution that is higher than you can see on small screen: some makers have already demonstrated displays with twice the performance of 1080-progressive. Samsung is planned to release devices with 4k or UHD resolutions. As we have seen in many high tech gadget markets earlier it is a very short journey to copycat behavior.
It seems that amount of memory on high-end mobile devices is increasing this year. To be able to handle higher resolutions smart phones will also need more memory than earlier (for example Samsung lpddr 4 allows up to 4 GB or RAM on smart phone as now high-end devices now have typically 2GB). As the memory size starts to hit the limits of 32 bit processors (4GB), I will expect that there will be some push for chip makers to start to introduce more 64 bit processors for mobile devices. Apple already has 64-bit A7 microprocessor in iPhone 5s, all the other phone-makers want one too for their high-end models (which is a bit of panic to mobile chip makers).
You will be able to keep your mobile phone during some flights all the time and browser web on the plane more widely. At some planes you might also be able to make phone calls with your mobile phone during the flight. Calls on flights have been theoretically possible, and United States has recently looked at mobile phone calls allow the flights.
In year 2013 there were many releases on wearable technologies. Wearable is a trend with many big companies already in the space, and more are developing new products. It seems that on this field year 2013 was just putting on the initial flame, and I expect that the wearable market will start to heat up more during 2014. The advent of wearable technology brings new demands for components that can accommodate its small form factor, wireless requirements, and need for longer battery life.
The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable.
Technology giants Google Inc. and Apple Inc. are about to expand their battle for digital supremacy to a new front: the automobile. The Android vs. iOS apps battle is coming to the automotive industry in 2014: car OEMs aren’t exactly known for their skills in developing apps and app developers don’t want to develop so many different versions of an app separately (for Ford, General Motors, BMW, and Toyota). I am waiting for Google’s response to Apple’s iOS in the Car. Next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Google and German auto maker Audi AG plan to announce that they are working together to develop in-car entertainment and information systems that are based on Google’s Android software. The push toward smarter cars is heating up: Right now, we are just scratching the surface.
For app development HTML5 will be on rise. Gartner predicts that through 2014, improved JavaScript performance will begin to push HTML5 and the browser as a mainstream enterprise application development environment. It will also work on many mobile applications as well.
1,857 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
OUCH… right in the Androids! Google hit by another antitrust sueball
This time it’s about ‘illegal monopoly’ of mobile search
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/02/google_android_search_antitrust_class_action/
Google is facing a new antitrust class action lawsuit in the US over its “illegal monopoly” on internet and mobile search.
Consumer rights law firm Hagens Berman said in a statement that the Chocolate Factory had “financially and creatively stagnated the American market of internet and mobile search” with its alleged monopoly.
The lawsuit is claiming that Android is furthering Google’s monopoly over search by using Mobile Application Distribution Agreements to force mobile-makers to preload its own suite of applications onto devices
Tomi Engdahl says:
How much Glass REALLY costs: Google’s $1500 specs have just $80 of components
Researchers reveal exactly what goes into Google’s Glass for first time
Firm expected to launch a cheaper consumer version later this year
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2618129/How-Glass-REALLY-costs-Teardown-finds-Googles-1500-specs-just-80-components.html#ixzz30fi0MYTk
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Glass is Finally Here:
What is Inside and What Does it Cost?
http://www.techinsights.com/teardown.com/google-glass/
Originally the Google Glass was only available to “Explorers” better known as developers. Finally Google offered a one day sale on April 15, 2014 allowing the general public to purchase the Glass for a whopping $1500. At Teardown.com we managed to get our hands on one but it didn’t last long. The teardown is underway! Stay tuned for teardown sequence photos, board shots, component identifications, and an estimated bill of materials.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Glass Parts Estimated to Cost Less Than $80
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/04/30/google-glass-parts-estimated-to-cost-less-than-80/
TechInsights’ Teardown.com business, which takes apart and analyzes new consumer gadgets, recently examined the insides of Glass and put a cost estimate of $79.78 on its components.
A Google spokesman called Teardown.com’s cost estimate “absolutely wrong.” He declined to comment further.
The Glass display, for example, is only a few millimeters wide, but boasts quite high resolution and could have been tricky and expensive to design and manufacture. But Teardown.com estimated that the display, touchscreen and glass cost Google only $3.
Teardown.com said its figures were a rough estimate based on a quick analysis, and are likely to change when it engages in a more thorough exploration.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook just made its boldest moves yet to become the Google of mobile apps
http://qz.com/204805/facebook-just-made-its-clearest-moves-yet-to-becoming-the-google-of-mobile-apps/
Facebook announced a shedload of new features today at F8, a conference for its developers. The new features include a “Like” button for mobile apps, the ability for apps to “deep-link” to things inside other apps—cross-functionality that today usually requires people to exit one app and navigate through another—and the ability to log in to third-party apps “anonymously,” which in reality is the ability only to decide what specific information you share with other apps (thanks a lot, Facebook). As expected, the company also announced a mobile ad network.
All of this should scare the pants off Google. It makes the Android operating system for smartphones, but remains only one aspect of the mobile internet. Facebook’s moves today point to its ambition to become the glue that holds the mobile internet together the same way Google is the glue that holds the web together.
Google’s search algorithm that at its most basic level decides how credible a website is
Something similar doesn’t really exist in mobile.
For Facebook, the strategy is simple. It has already shown its vision for mobile by starting the process of dissembling its monolithic app into a series of smaller ones
Analysts weighing in on Facebook’s announcements today are already throwing around the word “maturity.” With maturity comes clarity of purpose.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Woos Mobile Developers, but Is It Too Late?
http://recode.net/2014/05/02/facebooks-new-mobile-plan-stop-pissing-off-app-developers/
Not so long ago, the key to building a successful app business required piggybacking on an existing big network like Facebook.
But relying on Facebook for your paycheck also meant being subject to the whims of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The “things” in Facebook’s mantra, “Move fast and break things,” frequently meant your app, your business.
So it is no surprise that as Zuckerberg took the stage at the f8 conference this week to woo developers back to the platform, his intended audience wondered if they really needed Facebook.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EE’s dirt-cheap Kestrel 4G smartphone goes on sale
Boasts Cat-4 LTE speeds and HD voice support
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2342948/ees-dirt-cheap-kestrel-4g-smartphone-goes-on-sale
UK MOBILE OPERATOR EE’s dirt-cheap 4G smartphone, the EE Kestrel, has gone on sale in the UK.
The budget LTE smartphone is available now for £99 on pay as you go
The EE Kestrel made its debut at the end of March, with the network touting the 4G smartphone as one of the cheapest available as it looks to challenge the likes of the Nokia Lumia 625.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Shakeup Ahead, CTO Says
Lenovo exec confirms SoC design effort
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322188&
A shakeout in wearables is dead ahead, according to Peter Hortensius. In a wide ranging interview, the chief technology officer of Lenovo told us it’s a pivotal year for the nascent sector and also confirmed that the $34 billion computer giant has created a small chip design group.
2014 is the year wearables have to prove they can “expand beyond fitness devices,” said Hortensius, noting their “inherent limits in display, input, and size that make it difficult to find a winning formula.”
Hortensius did confirm the company has established a small chip design team. Last year EE Times reported Lenovo planned to expand a 10-person team into a 100-person unit to design chips for smartphones and tablets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM tests: Intel flops on Android compatibility, Windows power
Cambridge lab rat’s verdict: ‘We’re still beating ‘em’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/02/arm_test_results_attack_intel/
ARM has rolled out a battery of test results that fire two shots across the bow of Intel’s x86 dreadnought now sailing into Android waters.
The first set of results addresses the fact that when running native apps that haven’t been recompiled to run on Intel-based Android devices, those apps need to be emulated using “binary translation,” which converts native ARM code into native Intel x86 code.
Intel says that users shouldn’t worry – its binary translator will “just work” with “very minimal power implications” and “unnoticeable performance impact for most applications.” ARM – as you might expect – would beg to differ.
“Binary translation – despite what you may have read or despite what you may hear – does have a huge impact to the user and to the performance of the system,” ARM senior technical marketing engineer Rod Watt told attendees at his company’s 2014 Tech Day this week in Austin, Texas.
Watt was only concerned the performance of apps containing native code. But it’s worth noting that only around 20 per cent of the 100 apps he surveyed ran exclusively on Android’s Dalvik virtual machine; the rest contained at least some native components.
Of course, there could be any number of reasons why a developer might choose to not bother to use the Android NDK to port their app to x86 – verification time and trouble, for example – but Watt has a more-straightforward analysis. “It’s an ARM world,” he said. “Developers are writing for ARM; they’re not writing for Intel.”
Maybe those developers writing for ARM should rethink their decisions not to port their apps to x86 Android,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Lumia 520 saves off-duty cop
http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-lumia-520-saves-off-duty-cop/
Brazilian newspaper Globo.com reports that an off-duty policeman was saved from a gun shot by his trusty Nokia Lumia 520, which unfortunately did not survive the encounter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
According to comScore’s January 2014 report, Android led smartphone platforms in the US with a 51.7% share, followed by Apple (iOS) with 41.6%, then Microsoft (Windows Phone) with 3.2% and BlackBerry with 3.1%.
Source: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/cool-project-microsoft-adopt-linux
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s HERE Apps Could Arrive On iOS & Android
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/05/nokias-here-apps-could-arrive-on-ios-android/
One of the ways OEMs can help their products stand out from the competition is by offering up exclusive apps that other brands will not have access to. We’ve seen companies like Samsung do this, and we’ve also seen Nokia do this, but it seems that Nokia might be having a change of heart thanks to job listings.
According to a couple of job listings, it seems that Nokia is interested in bringing their HERE suite of apps onto iOS and Android platforms.
“The ideal candidate will have experience shipping one or more Android / iOS apps, currently on Google Play / Apple Store.”
Unfortunately the listing does not tell us what kind of apps Nokia plans on bringing, apart from broadly mentioning that it will be part of their HERE platform
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple gets patent for “smart” fitness-tracking headphones
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/apple-gets-patent-for-smart-fitness-tracking-headphones/
It might seem that Apple is just starting to consider wearable fitness technology, but a patent reveals that it has been considering this move since at least 2008.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded the patent for “Sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds, and/or headsets.” The patent application describes how headphones and similar products can track health and fitness.
They could also react to certain head movements, using the movements as commands to perform various tasks.
As reported by CNET, the key to the headphones ability to track fitness is a series of sensors embedded into one or more areas of the devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s latest patent application: Smart headphones that recognize your voice
http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/03/apples-latest-patent-smart-headphones-that-recognize-your-voice/
A patent application from Apple, published Thursday and first pointed out by Apple Insider, describes headphones that know when the user is speaking and provide new kinds of noise suppression.
The application, # 20140093093, specifically describes a “system and method for detecting a user’s voice activity using an accelerometer.”
Voice is detected through a microphone array via earbuds and the headset wire, and by an accelerometer, or “inertial sensor,” also in the earbud.
The accelerometer, placed in the ear canal, can act as a microphone by detecting vibration of the user’s vocal chords through “vibrations in bones and tissue of the user’s head,” which the patent describes as “unvoiced speech.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple looking beyond iWatch to fitness-tracking earphones
Apple’s recent patents go beyond the expected iWatch to track fitness and health data directly from your ears
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/19/apple-iwatch-fitness-tracking-earphones
Tomi Engdahl says:
He’s baaaaack … John McAfee flogging crypto IM app Chadder
Claims airtight messaging security for tap-happy youth
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/05/john_mcafee_chadder/
One-time antivirus pioneer and international fugitive John McAfee has lent his support to Chadder, a new instant-messaging app for mobile phones that promises “the highest degree of security and privacy.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Now for Android updated to alert you of nearby stores with products you’ve searched for
http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/05/05/google-now-android-updated-alert-nearby-stores-products-youve-searched/
Google today updated Google Search for Android with a new shopping feature: a card that lets you know about stores nearby that carry products you’ve previously researched on Google. The company didn’t say how long it will remember which products you’ve searched for, or whether there is a limit to how many it will keep track of. You can download the new version now directly from Google Play.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Wallet Is Coming To Glass
http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/05/google-wallet-is-coming-to-glass/
Google Wallet is coming to Glass soon. According to a source close to the company, Google is currently testing a way for Glass users to send money to their friends through Wallet by simply using their voices to ask Glass to “send money.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
When the Government Seems to Take Over Your Phone
http://recode.net/2014/05/02/when-the-government-seems-to-take-over-your-phone/
Q. I was recently awakened by a very loud government-issued emergency weather alert on my iPhone warning of flash flooding in my area. I have two questions: Can the government take over my phone for this purpose anytime it wants? And is there a way to turn these alerts off?
A: These alerts are the result of an agreement between the major phone carriers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and include warnings like yours from the National Weather Service. They are a special kind of text message, sent in a special manner to avoid network congestion.
According to the mobile industry trade association, phone users are automatically enrolled to receive them.
Yes, you can turn them off, though I personally recommend against doing so, since they could save your life or the lives of others.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearables Need Tailored SoCs
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322213&
Wearables won’t go mainstream until they get tailor-made silicon, according to a panel at the Linley Tech Mobile Conference here. The nascent market needs clearly defined use cases and SoCs geared for lower battery life, they said.
“We need to figure out a way to build a more engaging model. To be successful you need the right use case and battery life will be important. Wearables also have to be easy to use and compatible with other devices,” said Linley Group principal analyst Linley Gwennap.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Phablets Put The Hurt On Tablets
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322228&
Tablet makers face challenges as large-screen phones grab more market share, IDC reports.
Phablets and the longer replacement cycle for tablets have left a dent in demand for slates. The growth rate of tablet sales may already be leveling off, according data from IDC. Tablet makers shipped 50.4 million devices, a precipitous drop of 35.7% compared to the holiday quarter, and a meager increase of just 3.9% from the year-ago period. The numbers suggest 2014 may be a difficult one for companies that make tablets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Great Smartphone War
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2014/06/apple-samsung-smartphone-patent-war.print
For three years, Apple and Samsung have clashed on a scale almost unprecedented in business history, their legal war costing more than a billion dollars and spanning four continents. Beginning with the super-secret project that created the iPhone and the late Steve Jobs’s fury when Samsung—an Apple supplier!—brought out a shockingly similar device, Kurt Eichenwald explores the Korean company’s record of patent infringement, among other ruthless business tactics, and explains why Apple might win the battles but still lose the war.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple on medical tech hiring spree, a possible hint of iWatch plans
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/05/us-apple-hiring-insight-idUSBREA4409020140505
Over the past year, Apple has snapped up at least half a dozen prominent experts in biomedicine, according to LinkedIn profile changes.
Much of the hiring is in sensor technology, an area Chief Executive Tim Cook singled out last year as primed “to explode.” Industry insiders say the moves telegraph a vision of monitoring everything from blood-sugar levels to nutrition, beyond the fitness-oriented devices now on the market.
Apple has registered the trademark “iWatch” in Japan. Several Apple patents point to wrist-worn devices, and in February, Apple filed a patent for a smart earbud patent that could track steps and detect gestures of the head.
company has aspirations beyond wearable devices, and is considering a full health and fitness services platform modeled on its apps store.
Apple may face regulatory hurdles if it aims for devices which do more than monitor fitness.
In fall of 2013, the FDA announced that it would focus on regulating applications that attempt to turn a smartphone into a medical device, or that are intended to be used as an accessory to a regulated medical device. That might include apps and attachments to measure lung function or analyze urine, for instance, but not devices such as Nike’s FuelBand, which tracks your steps but does not offer medical recommendations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
50+ crowd are wolfing down tablets: Silver foxes are even migrating to the Twitters
@gramps We’ll see you at #sundaylunch
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/06/tablets_drive_older_people_to_the_web/
Ofcom showing the number of people over 65 going online as 42 per cent compared with the previous year’s 33 per cent.
The Kana figures show those aged over 65 are actually better connected than those aged 55 to 64. The older group will check for emails around every hour while the pre-retirement group will only look every four hours. Older people are also apparently more assiduous about checking voicemail and Twitter.
The Ofcom research is generally at odds with the Kana figures, showing that those aged 55 to 64 use the web more than those aged over 65.
The growth is surprising as neither Android nor iOS has done a particularly good job of targeting the grey market and social networks aimed at the field have been slow to take off.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Most smartphones will be chipset vendor reference designs by 2019
http://www.microwave-eetimes.com/en/most-smartphones-will-be-chipset-vendor-reference-designs-by-2019.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222904943
The emergence of reference design programmes by chipset suppliers such as MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Spreadtrum have greatly helped small vendors, notably in China and India to compete in the lowest tier of the smartphone market.
According to ABI Research more than one-third of smartphones shipped in 2013 were attached to reference designs supplied by key chipset vendors, of which 69% were targeted at below US$200 price points.
Tier-one OEMs have long resisted delegating the device reference design to chipset suppliers as they see it as an integral part of their brand and differentiation. However, fierce competition from small vendors is now forcing tier-one OEMs to change their strategy and consider using third party reference designs, essentially in the cost-sensitive segments of the market (sub-$200). Nokia, Samsung, HTC, LG, Huawei, and ZTE have already started to use this approach, mainly for products targeted at emerging markets.
“These trends will take the competition to another level, forcing OEMs to make more compromises on reference design ownership.”
By 2019, more than two-thirds of smartphone shipments will be based on chipset suppliers’ reference designs, totaling more than 1.18 billion units, of which 23% are targeted at wholesale prices higher than $200.
However, it will be hard for chipset makers to bring their reference designs to the high-end part of the market, notably smartphones at wholesale price higher than US$400.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tesco to flog its own ‘high-end’ smartphone – THAT’S an unexpected item in the bagging area
Kit-Kat (Android) in the technology aisle?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/06/tesco_to_launch_ownbrand_smartphone/
Tesco is preparing to launch its own smartphone later this year, chief executive Philip Clarke revealed this morning.
The Android mobe will follow on the heels of the successful Hudl tablet; has UK’s biggest retailer was able to shift 550,000 units of its own-brand cut-price 7-inch slab. A new version of the Android tablet, the Hudl 2, will be launched in September, we’re told; the new Tesco phone will go on sale by the end of 2014.
the promised smartphone will be targeted at the high-end and come with Tesco apps for buying groceries and clothing, managing a vid-streaming Blinkbox and doing online Tesco banking.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung to Fight Apple Smartphone Trial Verdict: Lawyer
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-05/samsung-will-fight-apple-smartphone-patent-verdict-lawyer-says.html
Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will challenge a jury’s $120 million award to Apple Inc. in a patent-infringement verdict that was “unsupported by evidence,” a lawyer for the Suwon, South Korea-based company said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Snakable’s New USB Charging Cable Will Never Need Duct Tape
http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/05/snakables-new-usb-charging-cable-will-never-need-duct-tape/?ncid=rss&source=gravity&cps=gravity
after repeated use, the cable breaks, the wires are exposed, and then, more often that not, the cable itself becomes unreliable
Snakable, instead, offers a new type of USB charging cable that includes built-in protection from the dangers of over-bending and strain present in today’s cables, with a patent-pending strain relief assembly on its end that has free-moving ball joints to prevent the cable from bending beyond a safe radius.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Glass would it be useful for the blind
B2cloud called the company to develop an application for visually impaired . The voice assistant explains to the user in front of things.
The application is activated when the user takes both hands to catch the object and says, “Okay Glass, what’s this ? ” After this älylasit taking a picture of the object and the application to analyze what kind of thing it is.
Telstra application developed by the hearing impaired to change the conversation partner, speech to text , which the user can easily follow.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/uutisia/google+glassista+olisi+sokeille+hyotya/a986151
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Billion Signposts:
Repurposing Barcodes for Indoor Navigation
http://cs.swan.ac.uk/~csjen/Documents/BookMark.pdf
In this paper we explore the concept
of “piggybacking” on ubiquitous markers to facilitate indoor
navigation. Our initial probe—BookMark—allows library
visitors to scan any nearby book to provide a custom map
to the location of a desired item. In contrast to previous
indoor navigation systems, our approach repurposes existing
markers on physical items that are already in the navigation
space, meaning that no additional infrastructure is required.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Feature Phone Is Dead: Long Live the ‘Basic Smartphone’
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/05/06/1751255/the-feature-phone-is-dead-long-live-the-basic-smartphone
“The numbers have been telling us for a while now that (formerly expensive) feature phones have been slowly displaced by more feature-rich, high-end smartphones.”
“Now, ARM is suggesting that it’s actually quite conceivable for OEMs to produce a ‘smartphone’ for as little as $20″
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gartner Says Annual Smartphone Sales Surpassed Sales of Feature Phones for the First Time in 2013
Smartphones Accounted for 57.6 Percent of Total Sales in Fourth Quarter of 2013
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2665715
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM: The $20 smartphone will be possible “in the next few months”
The chip designer foresees bargain-basement prices for entry-level phones.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/arm-the-20-smartphone-will-be-possible-in-the-next-few-months/
Smartphone prices have been creeping ever downward in the last few years, and ARM is betting that they’re going to go even lower. AnandTech is reporting from ARM’s Tech Day today, and one of the company’s slides predicts that the cost of a phone with a single-core Cortex A5 chip in it will go as low as $20 within the next few months.
ARM notes that even a $25 phone like the Firefox handsets announced at Mobile World Congress has to cut down on RAM and other specs to hit that price point, and it’s unlikely that something with such low specs could run something like Android satisfactorily.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Shares Updated Cortex A53/A57 Performance Expectations
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 6, 2014 8:00 AM EST
http://anandtech.com/show/7995/arm-shares-updated-cortex-a53a57-performance-expectations
With the first Cortex A53 based SoCs due to ship in the coming months, and Cortex A57 based designs to follow early next year, ARM gave us a quick update on performance expectations for both cores. Given the timing of both designs we’ll see a combination of solutions built on presently available manufacturing processes (e.g. 28nm) as well as next gen offerings (20/16FF).
If we compare across the same process nodes (28nm in both cases), the Cortex A53 should give us nearly a 50% increase in performance compared to ARM’s Cortex A7. The Cortex A57 should offer roughly the same increase in performance compared to Cortex A15 as well.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Expects ~1B Entry Level Smartphones in 2018, $20 Smartphones Coming This Year
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 6, 2014 8:00 AM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7993/arm-expects-1b-entry-level-smartphones-in-2018-20-smartphones-coming-this-year
Two factors will drive entry level shipments: the performance of entry-level devices, and their overall cost. ARM believes the floor for an entry level smartphone running Android (today with a single-core Cortex A5 based SoC) is $20, and that we’ll see the first devices on sale at that price point in the next few months. Manufacturing limits will likely prevent cost scaling below $20. Keep in mind that a single Cortex A5 is faster than the ARM11 in the original iPhone, which retailed for $599 in 2007.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huawei’s Ascend P7 wants to be the LTE phone of the people
http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/07/huawei-ascend-p7-hands-on/
With the Ascend P6, Huawei looked to build a smartphone that emphasized design and material quality over performance.
Lesson suitably learned, the company is back with the P7, a handset that’s marketed as a cheaper alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Play Services 4.4 lets devs detect running & walking, embed StreetView, more
http://9to5google.com/2014/05/07/google-play-services-4-4-lets-devs-detect-running-walking-embed-streetview-more/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Evernote + LinkedIn: Powering Professional Relationships
http://blog.linkedin.com/2014/05/07/evernote-linkedin-partnership/?sf25882364=1
So today LinkedIn is deepening our partnership with Evernote. LinkedIn members can scan a business card using Evernote’s mobile app and then directly connect with this contact on LinkedIn to maintain the new relationship. Evernote’s card scanning service is fast, reliable, and literally world-class, with support for seven languages.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Electronics replaces mobile design head
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/us-samsung-elec-design-idUSBREA4702I20140508
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world’s biggest handset maker, has replaced the head of its mobile design team amid criticism of the latest Galaxy S smartphone.
Chang Dong-hoon offered to resign last week and will be replaced by Lee Min-hyouk, vice president for mobile design, a Samsung spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ZTE Open C, the Firefox OS mobe you’ll almost want, now on eBay
First mobe to ship with Firefox OS 1.3 still won’t wow you
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/09/zte_open_c_selling_on_ebay/
Chinese mobe-maker ZTE has announced that the ZTE Open C, its latest phone running Mozilla’s open source Firefox OS, is now available for sale worldwide via eBay.
Tomi Engdahl says:
California Senate approves smartphone ‘kill-switch’ bill
http://www.cnet.com/news/california-senate-approves-smartphone-kill-switch-bill/
After failing in the state Senate two weeks ago, a bill requiring that device makers include antitheft software on phones sold in the state passes muster.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reference design for Bluetooth Smart Beacons, in distribution
http://www.edn-europe.com/en/reference-design-for-bluetooth-smart-beacons-in-distribution.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=10003979&vID=1627&from_mail=1#.U2ybCldM0ik
Distributor Rutronik has the nRF51822 Bluetooth Smart Beacon Kit from Nordic Semiconductor. The reference design is based on Nordic’s nRF51822 multiprotocol Bluetooth Smart and proprietary 2.4GHz-SoC. It allows demonstration and development of iBeacon and proprietary beacon hardware for iOS and Android smartphones to be developed quickly and easily.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft proposes LED light positioning system
http://www.electronics-eetimes.com/en/microsoft-proposes-led-light-positioning-system.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222921045&vID=209
The increased use of LEDs for lighting, with the ability to use them at high modulation rates for communication, could also allow LED lights to act as beacons for positioning services.
A system to do this, called Epsilon, has been developed by researchers from Microsoft Research in Beijing, China, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Ohio State University.
The system has the advantage that with LED fixtures being installed for the primary purpose of providing light there is little additional cost to provide the beaconing system, unlike the case with radio-frequency beacons or the use of Wi-Fi.
Guiding consumers to shops and even products are also use cases for the system.
The authors propose the use of binary frequency shift keying (BFSK) and channel hopping to enable reliable location beaconing from multiple, uncoordinated light sources.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Corning Gorilla Glass vs. Sapphire
http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/news-events/Corning-Gorilla-Glass-vs.-Sapphire
As Corning® Gorilla® Glass surpasses 1.5 billion devices sold worldwide, it’s hard not to reflect on what’s made the product the cover glass of choice for the consumer electronics industry.
Recently, speculation has arisen that manufactured sapphire crystal might become an alternative to Corning’s Gorilla Glass, but according to James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager of Corning’s Specialty Materials segment, Corning’s not too worried:
“Sapphire’s performance as a cover for high-end watches probably leads to the current speculation.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartwatch Report
http://blog.fixya.com/fixyareport/may2014/smartwatch-report.html
The smartwatch industry is one that has been highly anticipated and has had a significant buildup so far, especially since the monumental success of the Pebble and it’s record holding Kickstarter campaign. As consumers, we love our gadgets – and we love them to be smart. As an almost eerie premonition (or possibly inspiration) from fictional characters like Dick Tracy, Knight Rider, and the Jetsons, the smartwatch was a perfect next step in the realm of smart devices.
Although we’ve come leaps and bounds in terms of these devices, smartwatches on the whole leave much to be desired, with a plethora of problems that are all too common across the entire smartwatch category. From untrustworthy batteries, to troublesome speakers and unresponsive voice controls (or no voice controls), to more obvious problems like screen notification issues and a serious lack of real estate – smartwatches share a number of problems in common, which lends to the notion that the space as a whole has some improvements to make across the board.
For the Fixya Smartwatch Report, we have culled data from over 6,000 Fixya users and their troubleshooting requests to find the most common problems with five of the most popular smartwatches in America: The Martian Passport, I’m Watch Smartwatch, Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, Sony SW2 Smartwatch, and Pebble.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia XL starts selling in APAC and IMEA
http://conversations.nokia.com/2014/05/07/nokia-xl-starts-selling-apac-imea/
The Nokia XL dual SIM is the flagship of the new Nokia X family and is the largest and most enhanced model of the three, boasting a 5-inch capacitive touch screen, more RAM and front-and-rear-facing cameras.
Capable of running Android apps, the Nokia XL offers the perfect blend of Nokia apps and Microsoft’s most popular services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Patent application reveals that Microsoft is working on smart watch development.
A patent application has been made in October 2012 , but it came to light only now.
According to the patent , the device resembles Microsoft’s technical characteristics in many ways , for example, the Samsung smart watch.
Microsoft’s application emphasizes the use of is as a tool for exercise, but it tells that the device can also be used for listening to music , alarm clock, sending messages or making phone calls .
Sources:
http://www.digitoday.fi/vimpaimet/2014/05/08/patenttihakemus-paljasti-microsoftin-alykellon/20146500/66?rss=6
http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?Docid=20140121539&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fappft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.html%2526r%3D1%2526p%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPG01%2526S1%3D%28microsoft%252BAND%252B%252522wearable%252Bpersonal%252Binformation%252522%29%2526OS%3Dmicrosoft%252BAND%252B%252522wearable%252Bpersonal%252Binformation%252522%2526RS%3D%28microsoft%252BAND%252B%252522wearable%252Bpersonal%252Binformation%252522%29&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=50B095DE5495
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Electronics replaces mobile design head
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/us-samsung-elec-design-idUSBREA4702I20140508?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world’s biggest handset maker, has replaced the head of its mobile design team amid criticism of the latest Galaxy S smartphone.
Lee, 42, became Samsung’s youngest senior executive in 2010 for his role in designing the Galaxy series, a roaring success which unseated Apple Inc’s iPhone as king of the global smartphone market.
Samsung now sells two times more smartphones than Apple, largely thanks to the success of Galaxy range.
The Galaxy S5, which debuted globally last month, has received a lukewarm response from consumers due to its lack of eye-popping hardware innovations, while its plastic case design has been panned by some critics for looking cheap and made out of a conveyor belt.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Google’s Android Silver could become ‘Wintel for phones’
Then… and now
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/07/googles_wintel_for_phones_will_anyone_dare_defy_the_chocolate_factory/
Analysis In the 1990s, Intel and Microsoft dominated the “open” PC standard – and it appears that Google now wants to do the same for its Android system, via its Silver programme.
Silver has yet to be announced, but industry sources have confirmed the details to us. While the comparison between Google today and Wintel then isn’t perfectly analogous by any means, Google’s move is likely to have a few similar consequences. The Silver programme reduces the incentives for smartphone brands to diversify from a strict set of rules laid down by Google, for example.
Who loses and who wins?
For Samsung, with its deep pockets and its grip on the market bought through strong distribution and a colossal marketing budget, it’s likely to remain doing what it does today with Android: annoyingly creating its own version of almost every basic function. Why change when what you’re doing has been so successful?
But for an HTC or a Sony, the choice is less clear-cut.
It’s not impossible, for example, that Silver opt-outs receive slower updates and second-tier service – a manufacturer going it alone might be a lot less quick to push out upgrades.
Google has gambled, probably correctly, that while manufacturers might grumble, they’ll still toe the line. What they probably won’t do is create a non-Google Android standard. It isn’t really in Sony or Samsung’s DNA to create open platforms.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Now, the smartphone market is in hypergrowth stage. Last year the market grew by 35%. Yes, added more than a THIRD in just one year. No other giant global industry (worth 100 Billion or more) is growing anywhere near this fast (except other sectors of the mobile industry obviously).
Cars, airplanes, televisions, computers, the internet, travel, healthcare, garments, food – nothing outside of mobile is growing this fast annually and smartphones have continued hypergrowth rates for years and years. So as the whole market grows ‘enormously’ almost any handset maker (unless you’re called Blackberry) manages some growth when comparing year to year stats.
Source: http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2014/04/the-microsoft-handset-opportunity-with-nokia-the-full-analysis-of-potential-its-not-looking-good.html