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.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung’s new low-end smartphones offer Android 4.4 and its redesigned TouchWiz skin
http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2014/06/30/samsungs-new-low-end-smartphones-offer-android-4-4-new-touchwiz-skin-forgetable-names/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Compal optimistic about smart shoes business
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20140626PD202.html
Compal Electronics is optimistic about the smart shoes sector and expects them to become a new star product of the wearable device industry since shoes are worn more commonly than watches, according to company vice president of R&D business Shen Chun-te.
Some market watchers pointed out that vendors such as Apple, Google, Nike and China-based Xiaomi reportedly are already developing smart shoes and Nike has outsourced the development smart shoes to a R&D team founded by Taiwan’s universities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Conformist Google: Android devices must LOOK, WORK ALIKE
Demands watch, TV, and car makers stick to default UI
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/01/android_device_conformity/
Don’t expect to see “skins” like HTC Sense or Samsung TouchWiz on kit made with Google’s new versions of Android for devices, a source familiar with the company’s plans has said.
Much like how Google is forcing device makers to stick to the default UI if they want to carry its new Android Silver brand, gadgets running Android Auto, Android TV, and Android Wear will also all look more or less the same.
“The UI is more part of the product in this case,” Burke told Ars Technica. “We want to just have a very consistent user experience, so if you have one TV in one room and another TV in another room and they both say Android TV, we want them to work the same and look the same.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Disappointed Woz Sells His “Worthless” Galaxy Gear Watch:
Steve Wozniak on Galaxy Gear, Google Glass, & Future of Wearables
http://www.xconomy.com/wisconsin/2014/07/01/steve-wozniak-on-galaxy-gear-google-glass-future-of-wearables/
In recent months, smartwatches and other wearable tech has been the hot topic in interviews with Wozniak. So, when the Woz visited Milwaukee last week to speak at the Flying Car innovation conference, I decided to see if his outlook on wireless devices has changed at all.
The short answer: no.
Wozniak still thinks that smartwatches won’t be truly useful until the screens get bigger.
And he still wants the world on his wrist.
“I want my smartphone here, but I really want the whole thing,”
Samsung, Pebble, and Qualcomm are among the companies that have come out with smartwatches, but thus far, Wozniak’s favorite is one made by Martian.
The worst smartwatch that Woz has tried? The Samsung Galaxy Gear.
“That was the only technology I bought to experiment with that I threw out after half a day, sold it on eBay because it was so worthless and did so little that was convenient,” Wozniak said. “You had to hold it up to your ear and stuff.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm Dominated Cellular Baseband Market in Q1
Intel drops from third to fifth
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322954&
Qualcomm Corp. remained the dominant player in the cellular baseband market in the first quarter of 2014, but Intel Corp. was knocked out of the top three rankings for the first time in three years
Qualcomm accounted for 66% of the $4.7 billion global cellular baseband processor market, which grew only 2.5% from a year earlier, followed by MediaTek and Spreadtrum, with shares of 15% and 5%, respectively. Intel lost its top three spot, falling to fifth place, due to a sharp decline in 2G and 3G baseband shipments during the quarter, according to the report.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Go to g.co/WearCheck to check if your Android phone is compatible with Android Wear
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Closer Look at Android RunTime (ART) in Android L
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8231/a-closer-look-at-android-runtime-art-in-android-l
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s Smarty Pins map game tests your knowledge about location-based events
http://9to5google.com/2014/07/01/googles-smarty-pins-map-game-tests-your-knowledge-about-location-based-events/
Google released another web-based game today called Smarty Pins that will most likely distract you from other things that you should be doing. Powered by Google Maps, this quiz game tests your knowledge about historical and current events by asking you location-based questions. To answer a question, players drop a pin on the correct location and instead of earning points, you’ll rack up miles to keep the game going.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft makes tough loss with (Lumia) Windows Phone smartphones.
Android devices are, however, the gold mine for Microsoft:. Each year, Microsoft nets with the Android devices patent on its way from 1 to 2,000,000,000 U.S. dollars.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1532:microsoft-tekee-android-patenteilla-miljardeja&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
May 12, 2014
Lets Do 2014 Numbers for the Mobile Industry: Now we are at 100% Mobile Subscription Penetration Rate Per Capita Globally
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2014/05/lets-do-the-big-mobile-numbers-blog-where-are-we-in-mobile-stats-in-2014the-mobile-subscription-rate-is-at-or-very-very-nea.html
Lets do the big mobile numbers blog. Where are we in mobile stats in 2014?
The mobile subscription rate is at or very very nearly at 100%. For 7.1 Billion people alive that means 7.1 Billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide. Not everyone has a mobile account or number – babies don’t have mobile phones so some of us have two or more accounts. Hong Kong is past 200% penetration rate for example. But globally yes, we are now at 100%. 7.1 Billion mobile phone accounts in use worldwide.
So first, some context. The PC. Take every type of PC, including desktops, laptops, netbooks and tablet PCs and add them together. What do we have? 1.5 Billion in use worldwide. Mobile is nearly 5 times larger. Televisions? Sure. We are now at 2 Billion TV sets in use globally. But mobile has 3.5 times users. What of ‘paid’ TV viewers – ie cable and satellite TV accounts? Thats only 1 Billion. Mobile has 7 times more paying customers. Landline phones? There are only 1.1 Billion of those left. Mobile is more than six times bigger.
Then lets talk about those numbers. 7.1 Billion mobile subscriptions is not ‘unique users’ and it is not ‘handsets in use’. The number of unique users is now 4.5 Billion or 63% of all humans alive are actually users of mobile phones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
China Economy Passes USA in Size This Year says The Economist – What would Kondratieff think of this within the natural succession pattern of global hegemony ie Long Wave Cycle
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2014/05/china-economy-passes-usa-in-size-this-year-says-the-economist-what-would-kondratieff-think-of-this-w-1.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some of the Things I Learned At Mobile West Africa 2014 in Lagos Nigeria
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2014/06/some-of-the-things-i-learned-at-mobile-west-africa-2014-in-lagos-nigeria.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Three Presentations of Interest: By Raimo van der Klein, Jonathan JMac MacDonald and me
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2014/05/three-presentations-of-interest-by-raimo-van-der-klein-jonathan-jmac-macdonald-and-me.html
to start us today, take a look at Raimo’s slides on “What Mobile Technology is Becoming”
Trust me, if you read my blog, you will appreciate what Raimo has to say and how he sees our industry future.
So then lets move to JMac
And JMac talks about empowering people with Weapons of Mass Communication, how that changes not just commercial transactions but society. And JMac introduces the idea of PaaC ie Privacy as a Currency. That you can pay for something by using your privacy. JMac discusses in the presentation the theoretical idea of a hotel where you pay nothing for hte hotel room but allow the hotel’s in-room videocamera to show your stay. Reality-TV collides with travel industry?
Haha and for those pondering what do these clowns know? I am known as the most accurate forecaster of the mobile industry. Understand what that means. All forecasters are always wrong. The good ones are less wrong than the bad ones. You cannot guess the future exactly correctly, if that happens, it was an accident .Nobody has a genuine crystal ball into the future. But good analysts/forecasters can make reasonably accurate forecasts, and be less wrong than their peers and more often than not, be relatively accurate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
June 2014
Final Q1 Smartphone Market Shares: Top 10 Brands, OS platforms and Installed Base
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2014/06/final-q1-smartphone-market-shares-top-10-brands-os-platforms-and-installed-base.html
Well, it seems that Gartner will not give us their count for Q1 of 2014 smartphone market. So I will do the average of the 3 houses that did report – Canalys, IDC and Strategy Analytics. This does mean we have more room for error.
So the big race Top 10 biggest smarpthone makers in Q1 of 2014:
BIGGEST SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURERS BY UNIT SALES IN Q1 2014
Rank . . Manufacturer . Units . . . Market Share . Was Q4 2013 . . OS systems supported (coming)
1 (1) . . Samsung . . . . 86.8 M . . 30.7% . . . . . . . ( 29.3% ) . . . . . . Android, Windows (Tizen)
2 (2) . . Apple . . . . . . . 43.7 M . . 15.5% . . . . . . . ( 17.8% ) . . . . . . iOS
3 (3) . . Huawei . . . . . . 18.2 M . . . 6.4% . . . . . . . ( 6.1% ) . . . . . . Android (Tizen)
4 (4) . . Lenovo . . . . . . 14.1 M . . . 5.0% . . . . . . . ( 4.7% ) . . . . . . Android (Tizen)
5 (5) . . LG . . . . . . . . . 12.3 M . . . 4.4% . . . . . . . ( 4.6% ) . . . . . . Android
6 (6) . . ZTE . . . . . . . . . 11.4 M . . . 4.0% . . . . . . . ( 3.8% ) . . . . . . Android, Windows (Firefox)
7 (8) . . Coolpad/Yulong . 11.1 M . . . 3.9% . . . . . . . ( 3.7% ) . . . . . . Android
8 ( – ) . Xiaomi . . . . . . . .11.0 M . . . 3.9% . . . . . . . ( 2.6% ) . . . . . . Android
9 (7) . . Sony . . . . . . . . . . 9.6 M . . . 3.4% . . . . . . . ( 3.7% ) . . . . . . Android
10 (9) . Nokia (Microsoft) . 7.1 M . . . 2.5% . . . . . . . ( 2.9% ) . . . . . . Windows, Android
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.8 M
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . 282.6 M
Source: TomiAhonen Consulting Analysis 3 June 2014, based on manufacturer and industry data
This table may be freely shared
Next lets look at smartphone OS wars. And this is truly over. Its Android.
BIGGEST SMARTPHONE OPERATING SYSTEMS BY UNIT SALES IN Q1 2014
Rank . OS Platform . . . . Units . . . . Market share . Was Q4 2013 . . Manufacturers in Top 10
1 (1) . . Android . . . . . . . 229.0 M . . 81.0 % . . . . . ( 77.4 %) . . . . . Samsung, LG Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Sony, Yulong/Coolpad, HTC
2 (2) . . iOS . . . . . . . . . . 43.7 M . . 15.5 % . . . . . ( 17.9 %) . . . . . Apple
3 (3) . . Windows Phone . . 6.2 M . . . 2.2 % . . . . . ( 2.9 %) . . . . . . Samsung, Nokia
4 (4) . . Blackberry . . . . . . 3.4 M . . . 1.1 % . . . . . ( 1.5 %) . . . . . . (None)
others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3 M . . . 0.1 % . . . . . ( 0.2 %)
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . 282.6 M
Source: TomiAhonen Consulting Analysis 3 June 2014, based on manufacturer and industry data
This table may be freely shared
INSTALLED BASE OF SMARTPHONES BY OPERATING SYSTEM AS OF 31 MARCH 2014
Rank . OS Platform . . . . Units . . . Market share Was Q4 2013 . Main Manufacturers of current base
1 . . . . Android . . . . . . 1,209 M . . . 69 % . . . . . . ( 66 %) . . . . . . Samsung, Huawei, Sony, Lenovo, ZTE, LG, Coolpad, HTC, Xiaomi, SonyEricsson
2 . . . . iOS . . . . . . . . . 353 M . . . 21 % . . . . . . ( 21 %) . . . . . . Apple
3 . . . . Symbian . . . . . . 58 M . . . 4 % . . . . . . ( 5 %) . . . . . . Nokia, Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu
4 . . . . Blackberry . . . . . 52 M . . . 3 % . . . . . . ( 4 %) . . . . . . Blackberry
5 . . . . Windows Phone . . 50 M . . . 3 % . . . . . . ( 3 %) . . . . . . Nokia, Samsung, HTC, Huawei
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 M . . . 1 %
TOTAL Installed Base . 1,748 M smartphones in use at end of Q1, 2014
Sources: TomiAhonen Almanac 2014 and TomiAhonen Consulting 3 June 2014
This data may be freely used and repeated
Clearly the world of the smartphone market has NOT fallen in love with the idea that Microsoft will take over Nokia’s smartphone business, and the pairing of ‘Good Cop/Bad Cop’ where Nokia was good and Microsoft bad, now being only ‘Bad Cop’ is producing continuously falling sales of Lumia and Windows Phone (as I predicted).
Tomi Engdahl says:
What is the future of mobile? Q&A with Tomi Ahonen
http://mobithinking.com/future-of-mobile-interview-Tomi-Ahonen
The speed of change and level of innovation in mobile is mind-boggling. One thing is for sure: mobile is, and will continue to be, the communication platform of choice for people across the globe. But what will a mobile device look like and how will people use it?
Tomi Engdahl says:
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY NEWS
http://www.makeit.intel.com/news
Tomi Engdahl says:
Examining Project Volta: We put Android L through our battery test
Do Google’s power optimizations work in the real world?
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/07/examining-project-volta-we-put-android-l-through-our-battery-test/
Thirty-six percent more battery life. Installing the L preview on our Nexus 5 gave us two extra hours of runtime. These tests were done on a beat up, daily-driver phone, so the final numbers aren’t necessarily indicative of what the L preview could achieve on a new device. It’s the difference that matters.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft seeks Office for Android testers as it readies tablet version
Touch-friendly Office Android apps coming before Windows version
http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/2/5863717/microsoft-office-android-tablets-beta
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Launches Juno Reference Platform For 64-bit Android Developers
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/07/02/227239/arm-launches-juno-reference-platform-for-64-bit-android-developers
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Launches Juno Reference Platform For 64-bit Android Development, Bakes In Linaro Support
Read more: http://hothardware.com/News/ARM-Launches-New-Reference-Platform-For-64bit-Developers-Bakes-In-Linaro-Support/#!7C4vF#ixzz36NwyrY62
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Explains OS Shift for Smartwatches
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322962&
Less than six months after announcing it would drop Android for a home-grown operating system, Samsung is getting back in the sack with the open-source OS. At Google’s developer conference last week, officials announced that the Samsung Gear Live would be one of three smartwatches debuting Android Wear, but little attention was paid to the transition.
“We have found that consumers do not have a preference in terms of the OS that their wearable device supports, but the end-user experience is more important to the consumer than the OS,”
Android Wear is voice activated and syncs with smartphones to receive and control information. Users navigate by swiping up and down through cards based on apps from the watch and phone. Samsung previously committed to using the Tizen OS — a Linux-based system that Samsung, Intel, and others launched in 2011 as an alternative to Android — on its Gear and Gear Neo smartwatches, along with a real-time operating system (RTOS) on its Gear Fit fitness band.
Although Tizen has yet to take off as a viable alternative to Android, Samsung will continue to support it on older devices. Ben Bajarin, director of consumer technology at the consultant firm Creative Strategies, suspects Tizen may appear as a platform for Samsung TVs.
“Tizen was Samsung attempting to differentiate their platform in more ways than Google will allow them to,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft to launch cross platform fitness wristband this fall, will work with Android, iPhone and Windows Phone —
Microsoft + Wearables
Yes, it’s real. It’s just not a watch
http://winsupersite.com/mobile-devices/microsoft-wearables
Everyone’s doing it, it seems. Samsung jumped in first. Google formalized it on Android just this past week. And Apple is widely expected to jump into the market someday and retroactively be credited with starting the whole movement. But when it comes to the next crucial digital device market—for wearables—where does Microsoft fit in?
Actually, fit is a good word.
It’s a wristband, not a watch.
From a differentiation standpoint, Microsoft’s wearable will do something that no other wearable platform does. It will work with everything and not just the device maker’s smart phone platform. Where Samsung wearables only work with Samsung phones, Android Wear devices only work with modern Android devices, and Apple’s rumored iWatch will obviously only work with iPhone, Microsoft will take a different approach. It will work with Android, iPhone and Windows Phone.
The focus, however, is the same as with Samsung Gear and similar fitness bands: Using multiple sensors, it will track your fitness
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Play Services 5.0 now available with Android Wear support, security enhancements, more
http://9to5google.com/2014/07/02/google-play-services-5-0-now-available-with-android-wear-support-security-enhancements-more/
Google today announced that a major update to Play Services is now rolled out, bumping it from version 4.4 to 5.0. Many of the details in this update were announced at Google I/O last week, but the company also broke everything down in blog post today, as well. The update began rolling out after I/O, but now is entirely rolled out to devices world-wide.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm buys Wilocity to put gigabit wireless connections in smartphones
http://gigaom.com/2014/07/02/qualcomm-buys-wilocity-to-put-gigabit-wireless-connections-in-smartphones/
Wilocity makes super-fast WiGig chips that can support 4K video streaming and instantaneous transfer of huge media files. With this acquisition, Qualcomm is moving the technology into mobile phones and tablets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google announces the first 100 Project Ara beta testers
http://gigaom.com/2014/07/02/google-announces-the-first-100-project-ara-beta-testers/
Project Ara announced the first 100 people to get a modular phone outside its development team.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Touts 1 Billion App Links Served, Adds Support For Mobile App Ads
http://marketingland.com/facebook-touts-1-billion-app-links-served-adds-support-mobile-app-ads-89665
Tomi Engdahl says:
Watch the videos of the Microsoft enterprise mobility event
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/03/mobility_event/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft to rival Samsung with fitness tracker for iOS, Android and Windows Phone
Device tipped to arrive in Q4 for £200
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2353434/microsoft-to-rival-samsung-with-fitness-tracker-for-ios-android-and-windows-phone
MICROSOFT’S first wearable device reportedly won’t be a smartwatch after all, with new reports claiming that the firm is instead working on a fitness tracker similar to the Samsung Gear Fit.
The fitness tracker also reportedly will display smartphone notifications on its screen that likely will “measure about half the size of a stick of gum”, and will – unsurprisingly – come with support for third-party apps. Previous speculation also points to a two-day battery life.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile phone warning for men: keep it out of your pocket
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11271152
Men who keep a mobile phone in their trouser pocket could be inadvertently damaging their chances of becoming a father, according to a new study.
Scientists at the University of Exeter said their work suggested that exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones negatively affected sperm quality – but further research was needed.
Previous studies have suggested that radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) emitted by the devices can have a detrimental effect on male fertility.
Most of the global adult population own mobile phones, and around 14 per cent of couples in high and middle income countries have difficulty conceiving.
Tomi Engdahl says:
LG drops G3 quad HD Android mobe with FRIGGIN’ LASER camera
Could this be the Android handset of the year?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/27/review_lg_g3_android_smartphone/
This year’s flagship from LG has been designed to put a large, stunning display in your hands. At 1440×2560-pixels
Laser focusing camera enables accurate and rapid snapping
The camera boasts a novel (for a smartphone) infra red laser rangefinder allowing very rapid autofocus – LG says it can focus in 0.276 seconds. The LG G3 also has optical image stablisation (OIS+) along both axes – and this produced a steady video image stream.
There’s good visual feedback on the focus points, and a simplified camera UI. A little over-simplified in the case of video
LG boasts that it can shoot 4K video which it works a treat with the digital zoom, maintaining a respectable quality in all but extreme magnifications. Playback is on the phone isn’t too smooth though and I’d be more inclined to forego 4K for better access to controls.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon will fight FTC in-app purchases changes
Sends a letter to regulator over kid-unfriendly software apps system
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2353480/amazon-will-fight-ftc-in-app-purchases-changes
ONLINE BOOKSELLER Amazon is not keen on making changes to the operation of freemium in-app charging software sold through its application stores, according to reports.
Freemium apps are something of a modern day gingerbread house. They lure children, and some adults, into an often very sickly sweet looking world and attempt to drain them, or more specifically their parental bank accounts, for all they’re worth.
We’ve heard much criticism about them in the past, not least of all the fact that they act like vacuum cleaners on bank accounts, and realistically deliver nothing more than a virtual bow on a virtual pig.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is not keen about them, and neither are other regulators
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your Android phone is a SNITCH: Wi-Fi bug makes you easy to track
Even asleep, your mobe could be blabbing your every move
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/03/eff_android_wifi_tracking_bug/
Your mobile device could be compromising your privacy by broadcasting your location history over the air, even when it is in sleep mode, according to new research by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Of particular concern are newer Android gadgets, specifically those running Android 3.1 “Honeycomb” or later. That version of the Google OS introduced a feature called Preferred Network Offload (PNO), which has a habit of broadcasting the names of the last 15 Wi-Fi networks a device has joined, even when the screen is off.
The idea is to conserve battery by allowing a phone to connect to known Wi-Fi networks even while in sleep mode, since Wi-Fi uses less power than the mobile data radio. The problem, the EFF says, is that your wireless network history can give a worryingly accurate and thorough picture of your movements.
“This data is arguably more dangerous than that leaked in previous location data scandals because it clearly denotes in human language places that you’ve spent enough time to use the Wi-Fi,”
As for Android, the EFF says the only way to be certain that you’re unaffected by the issue is to go into your phone’s “Advanced Wi-Fi” settings and set “Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep” to “Off.” Unfortunately, this means your phone will fall back to the mobile data network while the screen is off, which will increase mobile data usage and power consumption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BYOD Users Work Longer and Earlier
http://www.cio.com/article/2449817/byod/byod-users-work-longer-and-earlier.html
Are your employees more productive using their own smartphone or tablet as part of a BYOD program? This seems to be one of the trickier questions in the mobile in the enterprise debate.
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Sure, employees enjoy the convenience of carrying one phone rather than a corporate phone and a personal phone. Conventional wisdom also says a BYOD policy makes an employee more accessible after-hours, over weekends and during vacations.
According to a recent survey, the average BYOD-carrying employee works an extra two hours and sends 20 more emails every day.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable technologies at CE Week fair video
https://publisher.qbrick.com/Embed.aspx?mid=CA7F2FB7
Tomi Engdahl says:
BlackBerry CEO disses Samsung security: You lot just ‘TALK the TALK’
John Chen joins the queue to knock KNOX
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/04/blackberry_ceo_chen_disses_samsung_knox/
John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry, has dissed Google’s decision to adopt Sammy’s KNOX security platform across the whole Android ecosystem.
In a blog post on the official BlackBerry website Chen is quoted saying:
While we applaud Google and Samsung for their plans, we don’t think it’s enough for security-minded enterprises.
A survey conducted for Microsoft found that the top two issues for corporate customers buying mobile phones are price and security. So it is no surprise that industry leaders are squabbling over who has the most secure OS.
The latest pop at KNOX from Chen comes on the heels of an earlier blog post where he said “KNOX tries to build a fortress upon an insecure foundation”,
Tomi Engdahl says:
LEAKED: Redmond not allowed to sell ‘Nokia’ smartphones after 2015
WP will be even more finished when it’s finished – Belfiore
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/12/windows_phone_microsoft_internal_memo_leak/
Microsoft has 18 months left to use the Nokia brand name on its smartphones and mutant Androids, according to leaked notes prepared for internal marketing guidance.
According to the leaked notes, the Nokia trademark will disappear from Lumia and X (Android) ranges sold by Microsoft next December 2015, but Redmond can keep using it on Series 40 feature phones.
On Twitter, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Windows Phone Joe Belfiore has been justifying the decision to remove deeply integrated social network support from the operating system.
One of Windows Phone’s unique features when it was launched was system level support for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but now Microsoft uses third party APIs – so it’s as badly integrated as iOS or Android, and throws the user into the social network’s own app. Belfiore says this allows Microsoft to update the support for social networks more often.
Tomi Engdahl says:
India’s Kabonn launches £26 Android phone
Only 2G, but…
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/04/indias_kabonn_launches_25_android_phone/
For the same amount of money as an Apple adapter plug, Indian mobile company Kabonn is selling a fully fledged Android smartphone.
The Karbonn Smart A50S is on sale now at a starting price of 2,699 rupees, or twenty-six of your British pounds, SIM-free. It’s only 2G with EDGE support, in part because the IP royalties on 3G are so significant (thank you Qualcomm), but it does have a 2MP pixel main camera, VGA front camera and 2GB of internal memory – of which they claim 600Mb is free. This is expandable to 32GB with a micro SD card.
Based on a 1.2GHz dual core processor
supports Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. The A50S is a dual SIM phone and runs Jellybean.
The second-hand market is important in India and the quality of the packaging affects the resale value
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bank of America
Trends in Consumer Mobility Report
2014
For many, mobile phones are the cornerstone for communication—and increasingly—for transactions.
Mobile and digital will continue to evolve
At Bank of America, mobile is a way of life for our customers. In fact, this year we surpassed 15 million active mobile banking customers —a number that is growing by more than 200 thousand customers per month
As consumers continue to change the way they bank
A majority (85%) of respondents check their smartphone at least a few times a day; 35% say they check it constantly. Nearly half (47%) couldn’t last more than one day without their phone.
If their phone is unexpectedly taken away, nearly four in five (79%) respondents would be willing to give up alcohol or chocolate to get it back.
An indispensable companion
When ranked by importance to daily life, mobile phones rank higher than TV and coffee for most. As
it relates to daily hygiene, respondents said mobile phones are just as important as deodorant, but
thankfully not as critical as the toothbrush!
Fear of disconnect
If lost or stolen, nearly seven in 10 respondents (68%) would be very or somewhat concerned over not
being able to connect with family and friends or missing an important call while waiting on a replacement.
Respondents would be just as concerned about losing contact details (79%) as they would over identity/
security information (79%).
Consumers’ need for constant connectivity extends to mobile banking.
Nearly half (47%) use either mobile or online as their primary method of banking.
Almost two-thirds (62%) have at least tried mobile banking. A vast majority (90%) are using online banking.
When using a mobile banking app, the most commonly accessed functions include checking
account balances and statements (81%), transferring funds between accounts (49%), paying bills (48%) and mobile check deposit (38%). Nine out of 10 respondents (90%) access checking accounts via their mobile banking app.
Most respondents (60%) are not yet comfortable with the idea of using their smartphone as a wallet in
the future, and men report a higher comfort level than women (43% vs. 33%).
Source: http://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/sites/bankofamerica.newshq.businesswire.com/files/press_kit/additional/2014_BAC_Trends_in_Consumer_Mobility.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Exclusive: Samsung’s virtual reality headset will be called Gear VR, launch at IFA 2014
http://www.sammobile.com/2014/07/08/exclusive-samsungs-virtual-reality-headset-will-be-called-gear-vr-launch-at-ifa-2014/
A month ago, Engadget exclusively reported on Samsung’s upcoming VR device, which is being developed in collaboration with Facebook’s Oculus VR. Today, we can confirm that Samsung is indeed working on a virtual reality device, and it’s called the “Gear VR”. Samsung will be announcing the device, alongside the Galaxy Note 4, at IFA 2014.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Photo of Samsung’s Virtual Reality Headset Leaked – Report
http://topics.dirwell.com/tech/photo-of-samsungs-virtual-reality-headset-leaked-report.html
According to SamMobile, the head gear will work by hooking it to a Samsung Galaxy smartphone through a USB 3.0 dock
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is This How Samsung’s Smartphone Success Will Slip Away?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/07/09/is-this-how-samsungs-smartphone-success-will-slip-away/
Yesterday’s second quarter results from Samsung showed a drop in operating income by 24 percent and in operating profit by 10%, which would be a two-year low. Income has now dropped three quarters in a row, and Samsung missed analysts’ estimates by a wide margin.
While the South Korean company suggested mitigating circumstances (including high exchange rate with the dollar) the underlying trend of slowing smartphone sales and ‘sluggish’ tablet demand, coupled with a drop in the average selling price of a Samsung handset, does not suggest a happy ending.
This is a situation that many handset manufacturers have faced before in the past with little success. On the surface everything seems to be going well
Statements that have echoes from Nokia, Palm, Motorola, Siemens, and other mobile phone manufacturers over the last two decades… before sales, revenue, and profits all dropped off dramatically for those companies.
Industry analyst Tomi Ahonen has previously looked at the phenomenon of a rapid handset manufacturer collapse, and his ”cliff theory” makes for interesting reading in light of Samsung’s current statements.
With a fast replacement cycle of handsets, will consumers be happy to buy essentially the same handset again or will they start to look at the options?
in the smartphone world a ‘slowing’ of sales can have a dramatic effect on income
Tomi Engdahl says:
The ‘Cliff Theory’ ie How Handset Makers Die, why in Mobile Phones do Companies Collapse so Rapidly (Siemens, Motorola, Palm, Nokia, Blackberry and Windows Mobile)
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2012/03/the-cliff-theory-of-handset-collapse-why-in-mobile-phones-do-companies-die-so-fast-siemens-motorola-.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gartner has introduced its projections on computers, tablets and smartphones market trends for this and the next two years. Much new is not visible. Mobile growth has calmed down and the traditional PC to slow down the slide continues.
Mobile phones sold this year to 1.863 billion shares. The figure is more than 50 million higher than last year. Next year, sales will increase again to around 85 million devices, Gartner estimates.
All in all, a variety of suitable personal computing devices sold this year, more than 2.4 billion pieces.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1562:perinteisen-pc-n-liuku-jatkuu&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
How accurate are Estimote iBeacons?
http://reprage.com/post/How-accurate-are-estimote-ibeacons/
What was startling is how accurate the Estimote is at very close ranges, around 10cm when a metre from the iBeacon. But even to be accurate within 2 metres at a decent distance from the iBeacon was vastly better than what I was getting with GPS and virtual beacons.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Glass hack allows brainwave control
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28237582
Google Glass has been hacked so that it can be controlled by brainwaves.
By combining the smart glasses with an electroencephalography (EEG) headset, the software makes it possible to take a picture without moving a muscle.
London-based start-up This Place said the tech could be utilised in high-pressure hands-free situations – such as during surgery.
It has released the MindRDR software for free in the hope that developers will adapt it for other uses.
Google made it clear that it does not support the app.
“Google Glass cannot read your mind,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.
“This particular application seems to work through a separate piece of kit which you attach to Glass.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MindRDR is an application for Google Glass that uses a mind reader to take and post photos on social networks
http://mindrdr.thisplace.com
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Now Is The Killer App For Android Wear
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/05/google-now-is-the-killer-app-for-android-wear/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity
While I’ve had Google Now on my phone for a long time now, the more I use Wear, the more I feel like it was custom-made for Google Now. Indeed, this is the first time I really feel Now is living up to its promise. It’s also the first time I find myself paying full attention to Now, despite its prominence on Android before.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A chat with Microsoft’s CEO: why Apple and Google haven’t won yet
“Guess what, you’re not just a consumer.”
http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/10/5888203/a-chat-with-microsofts-ceo-why-apple-and-google-havent-won-yet
Satya Nadella has been CEO of Microsoft for five months, and he’s made it clear he intends to change and re-focus the software behemoth as it navigates the next generation of technological change. To mark the closing of Microsoft’s fiscal year, Nadella released a long, detailed memo laying out his grand vision for the future of Microsoft. He talked about the importance of mobile and the cloud, the end of Microsoft’s focus on devices and services, and laid the foundation for big changes in Redmond. “I consider the job before us to be bolder and more ambitious than anything we have ever done,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple iPhone a danger to China national security: state media
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/us-apple-china-idUSKBN0FG0S520140711
Chinese state media on Friday branded Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhone a threat to national security because of the smartphone’s ability to track and time-stamp user locations.
A report by broadcaster CCTV criticized the iPhone’s “Frequent Locations” function for allowing users to be tracked and information about them revealed.
“This is extremely sensitive data,” said a researcher interviewed by the broadcaster. If the data were accessed, it could reveal an entire country’s economic situation and “even state secrets,” the researcher said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon allowed kids to spend millions on in-app purchases, FTC says
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2452920/amazon-allowed-kids-to-spend-millions-on-inapp-purchases-ftc-says.html
Amazon.com has billed parents for millions of dollars’ worth of unauthorized in-app purchases made by their children, the FTC said in a complaint filed Thursday in a U.S. court.
The FTC’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, seeks a court order requiring Amazon.com to refund parents for unauthorized purchases made by their children. The FTC also wants the court to ban the company from billing parents and other account holders for in-app charges without their consent, the agency said in a press release.
Amazon.com keeps 30 percent of all in-app charges, the FTC said in its complaint. The Amazon case “highlights a central tenant” of consumer protection laws in the U.S., that companies should get customer permission before charging them