Mobile Archives - Page 4 of 15

Comscore Study Shows While Android And Samsung Hold The Most Market Share, Apple Is Growing The Fastest

We’ve known that Android was ahead of iOS in market share and have for some time, but today a more recent Comscore study shows just by how much. Android has 50.9% of mobile subscribers worldwide, and has a pretty large margin between itself and Apple who is at 31.9%. Windows Phone still only has 4%, which shows that after months of marketing and a partnership with Nokia, they’re still not gaining much ground on the two giants. While Android has the most market share however, Apple is growing the fastest with a 1.7% jump in percentages from February to May.

Samsung is also still the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, with 25.7% market share. LG is second with 19.1% and Apple is third with a solid 15%. Apple was also the growth leader again in this category, with a gain of 1.7% since February. With two of Android’s manufacturers at the top of their charts as well, it’s no wonder that Android is the top OS in the world today.

Google Adds Payment Card And Offers Support To Google Wallet

It’s no secret that Google Wallet hasn’t hit the masses the way that Google wanted it too. First they had to get NFC-enabled devices on the market, but now that those are here other, bigger problems have arisen. Nobody but Google and Sprint are really pushing it, and most of the carriers are working on their own alternatives. However, Google has found a way to get Google Wallet to the masses by adding some new features that may lure users to actually using it, if they can of course.

Google will be adding Offers and payment cards support to Google Wallet soon, meaning now users will be able to save offers and cards to their Wallet. Offers will remind users when they can use their offer and when it will expire, and payment cards being added is something that Apple really focused on with Passbook, so it was only a matter of time before Google added something similar. The Wallet API’s will also allow companies to add buttons to their sites that will give users the option to easily add offers and cards amounts to their Wallet account as well. Overall, this is a pretty good direction for Google Wallet to be heading, and over time will help the usage grow if it is marketed correctly.

iOS Users Get To Use Google Chrome Before 90% Of Android Users Do

Today was the second day of I/O, and Google announced that they would be delivering Google Chrome to iOS users. That’s great news at first. Mac, PC, Android–they all have Chrome, it’s just second nature to think that iOS has to be next on the list. They were, and Chrome was released today in the App Store and quickly rose to the #1 spot in the store. This is because, well, it’s Chrome and Chrome is awesome. While Google usually doesn’t release the most polished apps on iOS (Gmail was pretty embarrassing to say the least), they really seemed to take the time to not only make Chrome work properly, but really come out polished and beautiful.

Chrome for iOS will sync all of your settings and bookmarks with your Mac or PC’s Chrome settings, and tabs will sync seamlessly from device to device. I know myself and a lot of others are huge desktop Google Chrome fans because of its sleek, lightweight design, and that factor definitely remains constant in the iOS iteration. Chrome is as reserved as it needs to be, and really only shows your tabs above and nothing else unless a menu is opened. Plenty of options are available to play with, and you can even have an unlimited number of tabs. Chrome for iOS is a fantastic app.

This may leave Android users a little sore, however. While Chrome has been on Android in beta for quite sometime (and saw its first stable release yesterday), over 90% of Android users can’t even download and install it. Only Android 4.0 and higher has access to the app, so even phones with ridiculous specs that are limited by Gingerbread or older can’t even view Chrome in the Play Store. This has got to change. Google can not continue to let Android is so fragmented that iOS devices from 2 years ago can use Google Chrome when a 2 month old Android device still can’t.

Google Updates Maps With Offline Use, Chrome Comes Out Of Beta, And Google+ Gets Tablet Support

At Google I/O today after announcing Android 4.1 Jellybean and the Nexus 7 tablet, the Google team also went ahead and updated a few of their apps as well. First, Google Chrome has finally come out of beta and is hitting the Play Store today. It is still only available to devices running Android 4.0 and higher, but it is out of beta and ready to roll in full. Google Maps has also been updated to finally support offline Maps, something they announced would be the “next dimension of Maps.” This will make it much easier for users to navigate with a bad data connection, and those without one at all can download certain maps and use them without any type of connection at all. This version of Google Maps is in the Play Store now and available for download for all users with Android 2.2 and higher.

Google+ finally has a tablet version as well, and an iPad version is on its way according to the Google+ team. This new tablet version is what Google calls the best Google+ experience they have created yet, and it incorporates the newly added events feature as well. Android users have access to this newly optimized app today, and iPad users will get it “soon.” Google+ for Android and iOS recently got a complete UI overhaul and now tablets can have an optimized version so the new UI can properly come to light on the big(er) screen.

Android 4.1 Jellybean Offers A Smoother, More Fluid UI And Rolls Out Mid-July To Galaxy Nexus And Nexus S

Today at Google I/O the Android team got to finally let Jellybean out of the bag (while they did actually “spill the beans” on the front lawn yesterday). Android 4.1 Jellybean will look very similar to Ice Cream Sandwich, but their “Project Butter” objective will allow them to make it much more fluid than before, and Google is calling the UI “fast, fluid and smooth.” Android has always had a little bit of lag to it, and one of the developers stated that with this iteration they were “declaring a war on lag” which is something we always love to hear.

Jellybean will have a much faster frame rate, and has triple buffering graphics making everything the OS does smoother and easier to look at. Responsiveness will also be heightened due to this, and it will make the entire experience, whether native software or not, much smoother. Another big addition to Android 4.1 Jellybean is Google Now, which allows the search function to be more in-depth than ever before. It updates information in real time, responds to voice typing (which is finally offline in Android 4.1), and is aware of things like location and time of day. This is definitely a step in the right direction for search on Android, and making the experience easier to get through is always welcome. Android will now allow the homescreen more leniency to change, as widgets and apps can now push each other out of the way to make room for everything you want on your homescreen. The keyboard has also seen an update, with more predictability and voice typing enhancements as well.

Google is also adding magazines and TV shows to the Play Store, which inceases the amount of content available to include just about everything you could want. Google now boasts 20 billion app installs with 600,000 games and apps now available to Android users. The Play Store unification is bringing Android users everything they want in one, simple media provider, and now we also have TV shows and magazines to choose from.

Android 4.1 Jellybean will be rolling out to the Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus S, and the Motorola Xoom mid-July. This is a very timely update schedule and many users will rejoice to hear it, though with carrier variants of the G-Nex these times could change at a whim. Because Verizon and Sprint have CDMA Nexus’s, their updates can’t be controlled directly by Google, though this OTA update may reach these devices as well. We will be sure to keep you updated on the roll out process and let you know how Jellybean feels to use when we get our hands on a Nexus 7 tablet.

Google Nexus 7 Tablet Ships Mid-July For $199 With Android 4.1 Jellybean

We’ve known for a while now that Google would be announcing their own Nexus tablet and that it would be made by Asus. Google wouldn’t be going after the iPad with this tablet though, they would be opting for a cheaper, smaller solution that still delivers an amazing experience. Much like the Kindle Fire, a $199 price tag and 7-inch screen will definitely be some of the major attractions for this device, and Google’s first official tablet, the Nexus 7, may finally be the Android tablet that gives Android a solid hold in the tablet market.

The Nexus 7 has a 7-inch screen with 1280 x 800 resolution, and a quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 1GB of RAM. Another huge selling point for the Nexus 7 is that it will be the first device to ship with Android 4.1 Jellybean, and will be very media-driven. There is only one camera, a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chats and self portraits, and an NFC chip is on board as well. The tablet is Wi-Fi only with no 3G/4G options, and the battery is 4325 mAh for 8 hours of HD video playback and 300 hours of standby. The Nexus 7 should last just as long as anyone would expect another Android tablet to, and maybe even a bit longer due to the absence of a constant carrier data connection.

The Nexus 7 will ship mid-July for $199 with 8GB of storage and $249 for a 16GB model. The tablet is actually up for preorder right now at the Google Play Store, and for the low price is pretty good deal for anyone looking for a true, pure Android experience on a tablet. The link for the pre-order is below, and we will be sure to share our thoughts on the device as soon as we get our hands on one.

Play Store link

Google Slashes API Usage Cost By 8X And Plans To Deliver “Amazing Maps Experience” To iOS

It’s no secret that Apple’s new Maps app coming in iOS 6 has left Google a little uneasy. It started with Google announcing “The next dimension of maps” just a few days before Apple’s WWDC keynote, and now they have decided to do a little price-cutting to keep developers on board. Back when Google announced that they would be charging developers who pulled large amounts of page loads for their apps and services, and now they seem to be retracting that move a little. Or a lot. Google has cut the price they began charging by 8X, now only charging 50 cents for 1,000 map loads as opposed to the previous $4. This is a pretty big price cut to say that it just came from nowhere.

Google obviously feels threatened by Apple Maps, and they have reason to be only because of the huge amount of iOS devices there are. Sure, Maps in iOS 6 will have fly-over and some pretty animations, but where are the necessary features like transit directions. Google definitely has a pretty solid lead from the start over Apple Maps when it comes to the amount of features and quality, but a lot of iOS users won’t care. There will be some who opt for other maps options, but a majority of the average consumers won’t see much of a difference, let alone enough to find a new solution.

Google isn’t giving up that easily though. In a Google+ comment Jeff Huber, Google’s Senior Vice President of Commerce and Local, stated that they are planning to bring “amazing Google Maps experiences on iOS.” This could mean they will be launching Google Maps into the App Store (hopefully), or that they may be pushing for a web-based client (no so hopeful). Either way, Google is planning on finding a way to compete with Apple’s new Maps solution, and it’ll be exciting to see what they have in store.

Flipboard Finally Released To Google Play Store Complete With Google+ And YouTube Integration

The developers of Flipboard announced months back that they would be releasing their app for Android at some point. They included one detail though, that it would have exclusivity to the Galaxy S III at launch, and the launch has finally come and gone. The developers now have expressed that Flipboard has had a succesful trial period in its beta and launch with the GSIII and is ready for a full-scale Android launch.

This past week Google announced that it would be opening its Google+ API’s to Flipboard (something that Google has not made a habit of whatsoever) and allowing tight integration with the service. Google still has yet to give all or even most third-party developers access to its API’s for Google+, which is opposed to the way that Twitter and Facebook do their dealings. Flipboard was one of only a handful of companies to receive this special access, and hopefully this means Google is closer to finally making its API’s public to all.

With all of this news past, Flipboard has finally published their app to the Play Store in its full version complete with Google+ integration and all. This update will allow users to share Flipboard articles to Google+ as well and +1-ing them, and YouTube integrations is here in this version as well so users can view their subscribed videos right in Flipboard. Not only is Flipboard available in the Play Store, but it has also been published to the Amazon App Store and Nook Store as well. We have the link below and be sure to check it out if you already haven’t.

Play link

HTC One S Coming To Cincinnati Bell On June 25 For $299 With A $100 Mail-In Rebate

HTC’s One series will be branching to more and more carriers as the months pass, and Cincinnati Bell is the latest carrier to get one of these awesome devices. The One S will be hitting Cincinnati Bell on June 25 for $299 on a 2-year contract. However, a $100 mail-in rebate will be present with the purchase so it’s really only $200 spent. This is a pretty good deal for the One S, as it has some great specs for anyone looking for a high-end Android smartphone.

The HTC One S has a 4.3-inch qHD screen, a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm S4 processor, and an 8MP camera that shoots beautiful photos thanks to HTC’s ImageSense software present in Sense 4. The One S runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich so it will have the best looks and experience Android can offer right out of the box. Anyone in Cincinnati looking to pick one of these up? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to visit your local Cincinnati Bell store on June 25.

Sony Xperia Ion Will Be Hitting AT&T On June 24 For Only $99

For AT&T subscribers looking to get the next taste of Sony’s Xperia brand, the Ion will be hitting the carrier on June 24 for only $99. We saw this phone for the first time a few months back and things haven’t changed much now with the official spec release. Sony is still in the business of making very sexy devices, but again, this Xperia will be crippled at launch due to its Android version of 2.3.7. That’s right folks, over 7 months after the release of Android 4.0 ICS, Sony is still releasing a phone with Gingerbread with no word on an ICS update. Sad.

The device’s specs, however, are pretty good as it will easily be able to compete with most high-end devices. It will be Playstation certified, runs on a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, and has a beautiful 4.6-inch screen. A more broad list of specs is below:

4.6″ (measured diagonally) 720p HD Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine for unbeatable HD viewing
HD imaging excellence from Sony: 12MP camera with Exmor R™ for Mobile camera sensor, 1080p HD video recording, 1 MP 720p HD front-facing camera
Easy multi-screen connectivity with HDMI and DLNA®
1.5Ghz dual core processor
16GB internal memory with microSD™ expansion slot supports up to 32GB
PlayStation Certified for high quality mobile gaming

Of course, this device will have to compete with the likes of the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III, both which have better specs and ICS. The Xperia Ion does have that low, $99 price tag though, so at least Sony isn’t over-selling it. The Sony Xperia Ion will be available for $99 with a 2-year contract on June 24.

T-Mobile Announces $4 Billion Deal To Bring LTE-Advanced In The Next 2 Years

T-Mobile is now the only major US carrier that isn’t offering any LTE devices right now. They’re also the smallest major US carrier, and they’re the only one that still doesn’t have the beloved iPhone (which turned out to be less of a carrier-gold-mine than expected after all). However, they have great prices, so customers keep their contracts and are happy to use T-Mobile. However, T-Mobile still has room to improve in their service reliability and availability, and one of the ways they can do this is by finally adding LTE into the mix.

Today, the Senior Vice President of Technology for the company announced that T-Mobile is, in fact, working on LTE–and it’s LTE-Advanced at that. Nokia Siemens and Ericson have worked a deal out with T-Mobile that will allow them to fuel their network improvement over the next two years with a 4 billion dollar investment. This investment will help T-Mobile add HSPA+ to 400 more networks, bring 37,000 of them up to date, and push their LTE-Advanced equipment into usage. T-Mobile fans rejoice. There is no word on exactly when LTE will hit T-Mobile, but this 2-year timeframe is a start. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on T-Mobile’s steady improvements and upgrade to LTE.

My Xbox Live App For Android Finally Released, Retains Windows Phone Metro UI

I for one have been mighty jealous when my Android device was left out the OS’s that got Microsoft’s My Xbox Live app. iOS and WP7 users have been enjoying this app for quite a while now, and today Android users finally can as well as Microsoft published the app to the Play Store earlier today. On top of its availability supporting most versions of Android, it is actually a really good experience throughout.

Android has a UI implemented into the SDK now that a lot of apps are starting to follow after, however, that didn’t stop Microsoft from keeping their Metro UI that we have seen in WP7 and Windows 8. The font has stayed the same as in WP7 as well, and the lower case letters and swiping UI is constant throughout the app. You can edit your avatar’s clothes, send messages, view your achievements and set beacons from your mobile device so your friends will know what games you’re looking to play when home. Overall, I am pretty pleased with the turnout of the official My Xbox Live app for Android, and anyone with an Xbox and an Android device should hit the download below and check it out.

Play Store link

Samsung Introduces TecTiles, Small Programmable NFC Stickers For Your Smartphone

Samsung has just announced their solution to getting NFC out to the masses. They have named it TecTiles, and they are little NFC squares that can be programmed to do just about anything that you would like. Unlike mobile payments, this use of NFC is putting the control right in the users’ hands. Available at launch from all mobile US carriers, these little squares will be sold for $14.99 in quantities of 5. Because they can be reprogrammed at any time, this is a pretty good deal because you can constantly mold them to suit your current needs, whatever they may be.

TecTiles will allow users to do things from send a text message to update your social network, and much more then that. They will allow for specific messages, so things like daily updates or messages to loved ones can be as easy as touching your phone to a square. Samsung has really brought productive NFC use to the mass consumer with TecTiles, and I will definitely be picking a few up myself. It will be interesting to see how third-party vendors will use these as well, because NFC can really be used for so many things. For example, if Foursquare started sticking these squares at the door of every venue, users could just tap their phone to the square to check-in, and in my opinion, that would be pretty awesome to see. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the progress of NFC and how well TecTiles actually work.

Verizon Ushers In Share Everything Plans With Data Shared By All Smartphone Lines

Verizon made a lot of people’s nightmares come true today with their recent announcement of “share-everything” plans, which is specifically a change for most people in the data area of their plan. While some are still grandfathered into unlimited data, Verizon made a pretty big and unhappy splash a while back when their CFO claimed that unlimited data plans would soon be out the door for good for everyone.

This is probably the first and largest step towards doing so: shared data plans. Now with the company making all lines report their data usage to one big pile of GB’s, families will begin to limit their data throughout in the same way they have done previously with minutes and texts. $40 is the cost you will be paying up front every month for every smartphone on the plan, and every line will have unlimited minutes and text messages. Once you get that taken care of you will decide how much data you will want to pay for per month. While some may actually save money on these new plans, a lot of people, especially smartphone users who stream a lot of content (aka the entire Android community) will take a pretty big hit with these new plans. While Verizon hasn’t officially forced everyone over yet, we are definitely getting closer. Check out the pricing for the new plans below:

$50 for 1GB shared data
$60 for 2GB shared data
$70 for 4GB shared data
$80 for 6GB shared data
$90 for 8GB shared data
$100 for 10GB shared data

So is anyone excited for these plans? Maybe some. Let us know in the comments how you feel about Verizon’s new Share Everything Plans and if you will be getting on one anytime soon.