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Even with Dozens of Tablets & Price Cuts, Android Still has only 39% Marketshare

 Android, Digital Media, Tablets  No Responses »
Jan 262012
 
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Despite powering dozens of tablets including the Amazon Kindle Fire, a new survey shows Android’s market share in the tablet market at just 39.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Something must be seriously wrong with the Android software if so many vendors including Sony, Acer, Asus, Samsung, Motorola etc are struggling to get some momentum for their devices.

So far the only way most Android Tablet vendors have been able to move their devices off the shelves is by repeatedly cutting prices to a few hundred dollars below comparable Apple iPad models.

But for those price cuts, Android’s marketshare would have been still lower.

Global Tablet OS Marketshare

The only Android tablet that’s gained some traction so far is the cheap $199 Amazon Kindle Fire.

Apple has been able to keep its tablet prices obscenely high because the competition has been unable to get its act together.

iOS Still Numero Uno

Apple iOS continues to be the tablet king with 57.6% of the tablet market in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a recent survey put out by Strategy Analytics.

Apple shipped 15.4 million units in the fourth quarter compared to 10.5 million units by all the Android vendors combined.

Global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units in full-year 2011, surging 260% from 18.6 million in 2010.

It seems consumers are increasingly going in for tablets in preference to netbooks and even entry-level notebooks or desktops.


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 Posted by at 9:07 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Android’s Share of Smartphones Rises

 Android, Digital Media, iPhone  1 Response »
Oct 052011
 
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The new comScore marketshare numbers for smartphone platforms are out.

And Google’s Android platform has increased its market share to nearly 44% for the three months ending August 31.

Some 84.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones, up 10% from the preceding three month period.

How long before every mobile phone in the U.S. is a smartphone. Given that older iPhone models are now going for $99 (iPhone 4) and older models like iPhone 3GS are free, we should see an uptick in smartphone adoption.

As per comScore, Apple strengthened its #2 position, growing 0.7 percentage points to 27.3% of the smartphone market.

Struggling Canadian company RIM (Blackberry) came in third with 19.7%, followed by Microsoft (5.7%) and Symbian with a tiny 1.8%.

Top Smartphone Platforms 2011

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 Posted by at 5:59 pm  Tagged with: , ,

iPhone 4S Debuts – Misery for Android, Blackberry but Not Worth Upgrading

 Android, Digital Media, iPhone  16 Responses »
Oct 042011
 
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Playing the sadist to its Android, Blackberry and other smartphone rivals, Apple today launched the iPhone 4S at a hall-filled event in Cupertino, California.

The upgrade to the world’s favorite smartphone comes with a faster dual-core processor, a voice-based intelligent assistant Siri and an 8-megapixel camera.

The new phone runs on the Apple A5 chip, the same processor powering the company’s market-leading iPad 2 tablet.

Apple Launches iPhone 4S

Key Features of iPhone 4S

* Supports both GSM and CDMA phone standards making life easier for international travelers

* 8-Megapixel camera with a new custom lens, a larger f/2.4 aperture and an advanced hybrid IR filter that produce sharper and brighter images.

* Can intelligently switch between two antennas to send and receive.

* Supports download speed with HSDPA of up to 14.4 Mbps

* Voice-based Siri ‘Intelligent Assistant’ to make phone calls, sends messages, schedules meetings, sets reminders, and more.

* Battery life of up to 8 hours of 3G talk time.

* 1080p HD resolution video recording

* 3.5-inch multi-touch screen and Retina Display

* Comes in two colors Black and White

* Three different storage options – 16GB ($199), 32GB ($299) and 64GB ($399) with 2-year contract.

* Includes iOS 5 mobile operating system with over 200 new features; and iCloud free cloud services to automatically and wirelessly store customer content in iCloud and push it to all their devices.

* Facetime video calling service to other iPhone users

iPhone 4S will ship on October 14 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK.

No word on availability dates for India but Apple plans to make the iPhone 4S available in 70 countries with 100 carriers by the end of this year.

Besides AT&T and Verizon, Sprint will also be offering the iPhone 4S.

Not Worth Upgrading for iPhone 4 Users

While the iPhone 4S has compelling features that could cause more misery to Apple’s Android and Blackberry rivals, it’s not that attractive if you already have the iPhone 4.

Since SI has already has the iPhone 4, it’s unlikely we’ll upgrade.

In any case, iOS 5 software will be available on October 12 as a free software update via iTunes 10.5 for iPhone 4 users.

But if you’re on the iPhone 3G or 3GS or heaven forbid one of those crappy non-iPhone devices, SI recommends that you drop everything you’re doing, rush out to the nearest Apple store and get yourself an iPhone 4S.

With the launch of iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4 will be available for $99 and iPhone 3GS for free with a two year contract. Now, if that’s not bad news for Android and Blackberry smartphones we don’t know what is.

Related Posts:
History of the Most Popular Phone – Apple iPhone

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 Posted by at 3:53 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Amazon Guns for iPad with $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

 Android, Digital Media, Tablets  10 Responses »
Sep 282011
 
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In hopes of riding the current tablet wave sweeping consumers, E-commerce behemoth Amazon.com today launched a $199 tablet it’s calling the Kindle Fire.

As expected, it’s a 7-inch touchscreen device running a custom version of Google’s Android software.

Amazon Debuts $199 Kindle FireCan Kindle Fire Catch Fire
with Consumers?

Key Features

* The dual-processor tablet weighs 14.6-oz, is WiFi only and does not support 3G connectivity.

* It comes with 8GB of internal storage (supposedly enough for 80 apps, plus either 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books).

* As for battery life, Amazon is promising up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off.

* Kindle Fire includes a browser called Amazon Silk (yes, it supports Flash) and free cloud storage.

Amazon plans to start shipping the Kindle Fire from November 15, in time for the rich pickings of the holiday shopping season.

The Bad and the Good

Kindle Fire lacks a camera or a microphone.

Bad -  This means you can’t use the device to make Skype video calls the way you can with the iPad 2.

If even regular Skype (i.e. non-video version) does not work on the Kindle Fire a lot of folks are going to be disappointed.

Amazon’s main rival the Apple iPad has both WiFi and 3G versions and sports a 9.7-inch screen.

Bad – As we’ve said in some of our earlier posts, the 7-inch screen is rather small for a tablet. Continue reading »

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 Posted by at 10:42 am  Tagged with: , ,

Damn, Apple iPads Own Only 68% of Tablet Market; Android Tablets Slipping

 Android, Digital Media, Tablets  5 Responses »
Sep 152011
 
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These are good times for tablet vendors.

Ahem, only if your company’s name is Apple. ;)

Worldwide media tablet shipments shot up a whopping 88.9% on a sequential basis and 303.8% year over year in the second quarter of 2011 to 13.6 million units, according to market researcher IDC.

Consumers eager embrace of its iPad 2 tablets in the second quarter boosted Apple’s market share to 68.3% from 65.7% in the previous quarter.

Apple shipped 9.3 million iPad 2 tablets in the second quarter.

Apple iPad 2 Own 68.3% of Tablet Market in Q2, 2011Apple Owns 68% of Tablet Market

How are Other Tablet Vendors Doing?

Well, if we were the top executives at RIM (Blackberry), Samsung, Motorola, Asus or any of the other tablet vendors we’d write our will, confess our failures, bid goodbye to the family, take the elevator to the roof and splash our brains into a red gooey patch on the sidewalk. :( Continue reading »

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 Posted by at 12:29 pm  Tagged with:

Ha Ha Ha, Now Free Samsung Tablet for TV Buyers

 Android, Digital Media, Tablets  No Responses »
Aug 192011
 
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We haven’t stopped laughing over Samsung’s plight.

Against the almighty power and popularity of Apple’s iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch tablet has no hope in hell.

Yes, no hope even after $100 or more in discounts.

Now, in what seems like a desperate effort to get the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 off the shelves it will be offered gratis aka pukkat to buyers of Samsung 46″ Class LED 1080p Smart 3D HDTV or a 55″ Samsung TV with a 3D Starter Kit at Best Buy in a limited time promotion.

The free Samsung tablet promotion runs from August 21-27.

Free Samsung Tablets for Samsung TV Buyers  Samsung Galaxy 10.1 - Hard Times

Samsung has stopped releasing shipment figures for its Galaxy Tab.

But given the discounts and strong consumer resistance to non-iPad tablets we have not the slightest doubt that the Android-based Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a market disaster.

By the way, Apple sold 9.3 million iPad in its last fiscal quarter.

No, we don’t believe this ‘free’ offer will give the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 a fillip. Au contraire, it’ll only cheapen the brand value of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Continue reading »

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 Posted by at 5:55 pm  Tagged with:

Why is Google Buying Motorola Mobility?

 Android, Digital Media  6 Responses »
Aug 152011
 
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Google’s proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility throws up the big question ….

Why?

* First and foremost, buying cellphone, set-top boxes and tablet vendor Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion (a 63% premium over Friday’s closing price) is a tacit admission by Google that ultimately Apple’s closed model of controlling all aspects of the smartphone experience (hardware, software and AppStore) is superior.

All but the diehard Fandroids would acknowledge that the iPhone or iPad user experience is far superior to Android be it in the user interface, availability of apps, security or developer support for the platform. We’re on our second iPhone and first iPad (V.2) for the most part have no complaints. Reviews of Android devices have rarely approached anywhere near the gushing praise its primary rivals, the iPhone or iPad.

It’s true that Google’s Android software has made considerable inroads in the smartphone market with 150 million devices and 550,000 activations a day. But when multiple vendors are peddling Android and the widgetry is cheaper than the iPhone, then 150-million doesn’t look that earth-shattering a number as it does on first blush.

* Second, Motorola has amassed a huge cache of patents, an area that Google has found itself to be at a disadvantage vis-a-vis Apple and Microsoft. Motorola has 17,000 patents and 7,500 patent applications.

Android vendors have already seen lawsuits from Apple, Microsoft and Oracle. From Google’s perspective, the patent outlook must have seemed pretty grim. With the acquisition, Google has muscled up on patents and provide a tough challenge to any rival in the court-room. Google executives made no secret today about their intention to protect the Android ecosystem.

* Third, the problem of fragmentation of Android must have been high on the minds of Google executives. While it’s true that fragmentation never occurred with Windows despite multiple PC vendors selling it, with Android there are two layers – manufacturer and carrier – before the gadget reaches consumers’ hands adding to the complexity of rolling out features, pushing updates, security fixes and getting more software developers on board to build apps for the Android platform.

* Fourth, the deal gives Google’s mobile ad programs a big boost by providing a huge captive base of phones to play with. With so much captive real estate available, the sky is the limit for what Google can do with it. For instance, Chrome can be the default browser, and easy access buttons for Google Local Pages/Place Pages can be offered on the Motorola phones.

* Fifth, Google can now be the default search engine on hundreds of millions of phones and tablets.

* Sixth, Motorola’s set-top boxes provide an entree for Google to launch a renewed push into the TV market where its success to date has been limited.

* Just Kidding: Finally, Google wanted to make desi boy and Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha  richer by $90 million (thanks to Jha’s severance agreement). ;)

Android OEMs Screwed

If we were Android licensees HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics today, we’d be looking for long, sturdy ropes. Continue reading »

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 Posted by at 2:22 pm  Tagged with:

iPhone Stops Head Lice; Can Your Android Do That?

 Android, iPhone  No Responses »
Aug 102011
 
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Finally.

Here’s the much anticipated app that promises to bring Nirvana to billions of itchy, scratchy heads.

Folks, a new iPhone application has debuted that provides real time alerts of lice outbreaks at the local level and provide tools to combat it.

The new app The Facts of Lice is available free of cost at www.itunes.com/appstore.

And all you schmucks thought the iPhone could only stream porn.

Now, is there any way that your Android can step up to this ‘Lice’ challenge from the world’s numero uno smartphone, the iPhone.

Coming soon to an iPhone in your pocket: A new ‘Size Matters’ app to boost your length, an app to cure cancer and finally, a much desired app to provide a desperately needed hit for Abhishek ‘Loser’ Bachchan. The last one is in beta but Steve Jobs is said to be taking a special interest in it as part of his work to improve the lives of mentally handicapped children.

By the way, we just downloaded the Lice app with plans to report an outbreak for the entire South Indian state of Tamil Nadu but unfortunately the app is U.S.-centric. :(

Here are details from the iLice oops Lice press release:

——————-
“With 85% of school districts reporting head lice, busy parents need to be informed about outbreaks in their own communities as quickly as possible,” said Risa Barash, Founder of Fairy Tales Hair Care. “The Facts of Lice app allows parents to track lice outbreaks in their own neighborhood so they’ll know when it’s time to increase prevention efforts at home.”

With a few simple clicks to the iPhone, the app provides parents with a centralized database for outbreak notifications, as well as the tools needed to prevent, combat and report outbreaks. Locations are organized by state and zip code, allowing parents to easily keep tabs on lice outbreaks in local communities across the U.S. Features include the:

Outbreak tab, providing real time alerts on reported lice outbreaks. Simply search by state and zip code and the app will instantly confirm if an outbreak has been reported in that area within the past four weeks Continue reading »

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 Posted by at 11:14 am  Tagged with:

Android Users Face Greater Malware Threat Now

 Android, Digital Media  5 Responses »
Aug 032011
 
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Android users face greater threat from malware today than they did six months back.

A new report from security services provider Lookout warns that Android users are two and a half times as likely to encounter malware today than 6 months ago.

As if that were not scary enough, Lookout adds that three out of ten Android owners are likely to encounter a web-based threat on their device each year.

It seems an estimated half million to one million people were affected by Android malware in the first half of 2011. That is a depressingly large number.

Android apps infected with malware went from 80 apps in January to over 400 apps cumulative in June 2011, says the Lookout study.

The open distributed application model for Android, where users can download Apps (that may not even be vetted by anyone) from multiple sources, is a key reason for the greater security issues on this mobile platform. In contrast, Apple exercises tighter control on its application download process with its single source plus a vetting process for each app.

Malware writers are also said to be using new distribution techniques, such as malvertising, drive-by-download and upgrade attack.

In an unsurprising conclusion, the Lookout report discloses that both web-based and app-based threats are increasing in prevalence and sophistication.

Now you know why we use Apple’s iOS mobile devices like iPhone and iPad. ;)

Related Content:
Lookout Mobile Threat Report

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 Posted by at 1:54 pm  Tagged with: ,

Finally, a Decent Android Bazaar; Amazon Debuts Android Appstore

 Android, Digital Media  3 Responses »
Mar 222011
 
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Internet retailer Amazon.com launched its Appstore for Android devices today in a move that could whittle away some of the advantages Apple has enjoyed with its hugely successful AppStore and overcome the disadvantages of Google’s Android Marketplace.

Amazon’s new store can be accessed at www.amazon.com/appstore and comes with a novel feature called “Test Drive” that lets users test apps on a simulated Android phone before buying them.

Currently, there are about 3,800 apps on the Amazon Appstore, a number that’s likely to grow as Android developers flock to the store.

While developers can suggest the retail price for their apps, Amazon will have the last word on the price. The split between developers and Amazon is said to be 70-30, with the higher number in favor of the app publisher.

The Amazon Appstore will include personalized recommendations, customer reviews, 1-Click payment options and video content that shows apps in action.

The much anticipated Angry Birds Rio for Android debuted on the Amazon Appstore today.

Screened, Tested Apps
Amazon said it would screen all app submissions from developers for known viruses and malware and test them to check that it actually does what it claims to do, and test whether the app affects the stability of the other functions of the Android phone.

Amazon’s tests are supposed to include:

  • Installation: To ensure that the application installs and opens, upgrades can be installed and the application can be uninstalled by following the phone’s regular uninstall method.
  • Functionality: To ensure that the application doesn’t crash and the description of the application matches the application’s description.
  • Usability: To ensure that graphics, videos, animation, and text within the app are clear and readable to the user
  • Technical: To ensure that the application doesn’t interfere with, or stop working when, a user receives calls or text messages while the application is running.

A big disadvantage of the Google Android Marketplace is that the apps are not tested before they are offered to users.

A few weeks back, 58 malware apps were discovered on the Android Marketplace. They had been downloaded by as many as 200,000 users to their Android phones before the rogue apps were killed. Continue reading »

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 Posted by at 1:53 pm  Tagged with: , ,
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