Apple iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad, or an Android device.
One of the reasons for app crashes is the proliferation of mobile operating systems on iOS and Android. As Apple and Google have released more new operating systems, each with multiple updates, app developers face more operating systems to test apps on. In data that mobile app monitoring startup Crittercism compiled for app crashes between December 1 and 15, there were at least 23 different iOS operating systems on which apps had crashed and 33 Android operating systems on which apps had crashed. (See the graphs above.) Note that the graphs that separate out Android and iOS show these number of operating systems and the graph that combines both iOS and Android shows less–22 iOS and 17 Android.
Besides the game itself, the Super Bowl is known for one thing, or rather, one group of things. No, we don't mean cheerleaders. We mean commercials.
People love Super Bowl commercials, and some who aren't interested in the game itself because their favorite teams are not in the game, will tune in for the ads, alone. Thus, we have the iOS app, for both iPhone and iPad, Super Ads: Super Bowl Commercials.
At $1.99 in the App Store, the app allows users to view all the commercials from 2006 through 2012. You read that correctly, the app includes --- or at least will --- include 2012. After the game, the app will be updated with the 2012 commercials.
The era of smartphones has officially arrived. More were shipped globally last year than client PCs for the first time ever, according to Canalys.
Vendors shipped 488 million smartphones in 2011 as compared with 415 million PCs, the market research firm said Friday in a report on country-level smartphone and PC shipment estimates for the year. The market shift was made all the more impressive by the fact that Canalys included tablets, no slouches in the growth department themselves, in its figures for PC shipments.
Smartphone shipments in 2011 grew by 62.7 percent compared with figures from the year before, while shipments of 159 million units in the fourth quarter of last year represented a 56.6 percent increase from the same period in 2010.
"Smartphone shipments overtaking those of client PCs should be seen as a significant milestone," said Canalys analyst Chris Jones in a statement. "In the space of a few years, smartphones have grown from being a niche product segment at the high-end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition."
Apple was the single leading smart phone vendor in 2011, enjoying record shipments of 37 million iPhones in the fourth quarter and just over 93 million for the full year. But Google's Android operating system, used by multiple vendors in various handsets that together totaled 238 million smartphone shipments last year, owned the biggest chunk of the market with a 48.8 percent share.
Android phones grabbed better than half the smartphone market in the fourth quarter, when 81.9 million units running Google's mobile operating system shipped for a 51.6 percent share of the market as measured by software platforms.
Apple's share of the smartphone market in 2011 was 19.1 percent, equal to its market share as gauged by software platforms, since the iPhone maker is the sole user of its own iOS mobile operating system.
The era of smartphones has officially arrived. More were shipped globally last year than client PCs for the first time ever, according to Canalys.
Vendors shipped 488 million smartphones in 2011 as compared with 415 million PCs, the market research firm said Friday in a report on country-level smartphone and PC shipment estimates for the year. The market shift was made all the more impressive by the fact that Canalys included tablets, no slouches in the growth department themselves, in its figures for PC shipments.
Smartphone shipments in 2011 grew by 62.7 percent compared with figures from the year before, while shipments of 159 million units in the fourth quarter of last year represented a 56.6 percent increase from the same period in 2010.
"Smartphone shipments overtaking those of client PCs should be seen as a significant milestone," said Canalys analyst Chris Jones in a statement. "In the space of a few years, smartphones have grown from being a niche product segment at the high-end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition."
Apple was the single leading smart phone vendor in 2011, enjoying record shipments of 37 million iPhones in the fourth quarter and just over 93 million for the full year. But Google's Android operating system, used by multiple vendors in various handsets that together totaled 238 million smartphone shipments last year, owned the biggest chunk of the market with a 48.8 percent share.
Android phones grabbed better than half the smartphone market in the fourth quarter, when 81.9 million units running Google's mobile operating system shipped for a 51.6 percent share of the market as measured by software platforms.
Apple's share of the smartphone market in 2011 was 19.1 percent, equal to its market share as gauged by software platforms, since the iPhone maker is the sole user of its own iOS mobile operating system.
Apple temporarily removed older iPhones from its online store in Germany due to a previous legal victory won by Motorola Mobility, according to legal blog Foss Patents. Slashgear later reported that Apple was granted a temporary halt on the ban.
Separately, the site also reported that a German court granted Motorola's request to permanently ban Apple's push e-mail services, a key feature of its iCloud offering.
So apparently Google's decision to cough up $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola for its patent portfolio was a wise move, with the handset manufacturer scoring a decent number of legal victories against Apple. Apple and Motorola have mixed it up in several courtrooms around the world, although the litigation battle hasn't been as intense as Apple's efforts against HTC and Samsung Electronics. That Motorola is taking the high ground on the litigation front bodes well for Google, which plans to use the patent portfolio to defend its Android partners.
Still, this was no decisive victory, with Apple already appealing the ban.
"Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago," said an Apple spokeswoman.
"Although the enforcement of the injunction has been temporarily suspended, Motorola Mobility will continue to pursue its claims against Apple," said a Motorola spokeswoman.
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Apple said it had removed older iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 models from its online store, said Floiean Mueller, who runs Foss Patents, citing a German news service. He notes that the iPhone 4S is still available, most likely because that model switched to a Qualcomm cellular radio, as opposed to the 3G UMTS versions that came before. Also removed were iPads with similar 3G UMTS connections.
The removal has to do with a December ruling that went in Motorola's favor. That ruling found that Apple had infringed on a patent dealing with one aspect of mobile cellular technology.
But Apple told Slashgear that the products would go back on the site. The company argued that the Motorola patent should be licensed under a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory basis because it is considered an essential industry patent. Under that status, known in legal circles as FRAND, Apple should be able to buy the rights to use the patents at the same rates as everyone else because it is an agreed upon industry standard.
Mueller noted that the products were only removed from the online store, and
Rapper T-Pain and Viddy, the mobile social video application, have teamed to produce the first premium Viddy Production Pack. Viddy, free in the App Store, allows users to add visual effects, music, transitions, and even movie stars to your videos, and then share them via social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr.
Production Packs, however, make things even easier for end users. The T-Pain Viddy Production Pack features his hit single "5 O'Clock" featuring Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen, from his latest album, rEVOLVEr.
The T-Pain Viddy Production Pack allows fans to create 15-second music videos (the time-length limit for Viddy) with a video effects layer including T-Pain's signature Steam Punk TV effect.
T-Pain's statement on the new Production pack: "Viddy lets me connect with my fans in a whole new way through mobile video. 15 Seconds at a time... I hope people download my new Pack, capture cool video clips and share with the world what they're doing at '5 O'Clock' in the morning."
Other perks from Viddy: in advance of T-Pain's North American tour, Viddy is a place for fans to find exclusive behind the scenes footage from T-Pain on the road.
Brett O’Brien, Co-Founder of Viddy noted that “T-Pain is known for his innovative Audio Effects and is a perfect partner to launch Viddy’s Special FX marketplace for Artist and Celebrity inspired mobile video production. Viddy is creating a new content market for musicians, celebrities, and brands. Viddy enables artists to showcase their creativity and engage with fans in new and entertaining ways through mobile video."
From that statement, we should be seeing still more of these Production Packs. According to the press release, free Production Pack options include; Solarize, Red, Exposed, Retro, Glam, Black & White, Crystal, Hued, Vintage, Junkd, and 3D. In addition to T-Pain's Production Pack, Viddy also offers branded / partner Production Packs with others, including Snoop Dogg, Incubus, and the Muppets (yes, the Muppets).
While currently an iPhone / iPod touch only app, Viddy is working on versions for iPad, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.
The Viddy T-Pain Production Pack is an in-app purchase, and is only $0.99.
Watch a video showing the "results" of the Production Pack, below.
A new survey by well-known dating site Match.com might give consumers yet another reason to choose --- or not choose --- Android over iPhone: Android users are more likely to have sex on the first date than iPhone or BlackBerry users.
One notable piece of information: the data was obtained from Canadian Match.com users, so there's always the chance Americans might strike out if they go into a first date expecting "something."
That said, in addition, Android users might be the biggest dogs of all as well. Android users are the most likely to have a one-night stand (55 percent).
Other tidbits of information from the survey:
Android: 72 percent of Android users have visited an online dating site, though not necessarily Match.com, while only 58 percent of iPhone users have done so and exactly half, 50 percent of Blackberry users.
BlackBerry users are more likely to drink on a first date. 72 percent said they would have an alcoholic beverage on a first date. At the same time, they are very romantic, with 67 percent of BlackBerry users saying they have experienced "love at first sight."
iPhone users tend to be more clingy, or at least seem to be. iPhone users will generally reach out, either calling or texting the day after a date, while Android or Blackberry users will wait a couple of days before doing so (which we always thought was a sort of "unwritten rule" to avoid looking too desperate.
Kimberley Moffit, a Toronto-based psychotherapist and spokesperson for Match.com said that iPhone users may reach out faster because they "tend to be younger and more savvy with their tech."
We'd have to wonder about that, because Android is typically said to be the platform that's for technophiles, and that consumers who want something that just works should go to iPhone (we've seen plenty of senior citizens using iPhones, and seen very few using Android).
Also, iPhone users are the most likely to date someone in the workplace. Nearly a quarter of iPhone singles have had an office romance in the last five years.
To be clear, the study said that Android users were more likely to have sex on the first date, not that they would be sexier.
A new survey by well-known dating site Match.com might give consumers yet another reason to choose --- or not choose --- Android over iPhone: Android users are more likely to have sex on the first date than iPhone or BlackBerry users.
One notable piece of information: the data was obtained from Canadian Match.com users, so there's always the chance Americans might strike out if they go into a first date expecting "something."
That said, in addition, Android users might be the biggest dogs of all as well. Android users are the most likely to have a one-night stand (55 percent).
Other tidbits of information from the survey:
Android: 72 percent of Android users have visited an online dating site, though not necessarily Match.com, while only 58 percent of iPhone users have done so and exactly half, 50 percent of Blackberry users.
BlackBerry users are more likely to drink on a first date. 72 percent said they would have an alcoholic beverage on a first date. At the same time, they are very romantic, with 67 percent of BlackBerry users saying they have experienced "love at first sight."
iPhone users tend to be more clingy, or at least seem to be. iPhone users will generally reach out, either calling or texting the day after a date, while Android or Blackberry users will wait a couple of days before doing so (which we always thought was a sort of "unwritten rule" to avoid looking too desperate.
Kimberley Moffit, a Toronto-based psychotherapist and spokesperson for Match.com said that iPhone users may reach out faster because they "tend to be younger and more savvy with their tech."
We'd have to wonder about that, because Android is typically said to be the platform that's for technophiles, and that consumers who want something that just works should go to iPhone (we've seen plenty of senior citizens using iPhones, and seen very few using Android).
Also, iPhone users are the most likely to date someone in the workplace. Nearly a quarter of iPhone singles have had an office romance in the last five years.
To be clear, the study said that Android users were more likely to have sex on the first date, not that they would be sexier.
It's dead, Jim, that is to say any hopes of seeing the Samsung Galaxy S III unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) later this month. As rumored, Samsung is delaying the introduction of its next flagship Galaxy S smartphone version and will have a separate event --- still in 1H2012 --- to launch the device.
"Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012. The successor to the Galaxy S2 smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product. Samsung stays committed to providing the best possible mobile experiences for customers around the world."
There are rumors that Apple will be able to move the launch of the iPhone 5 back to what had been prior to the iPhone 4S launch: summer. If it does so, the Galaxy S III and the iPhone 5 might go head to head during that period.
What of Samsung at MWC? They will probably show off their recently introduced Samsung Galaxy S Advance.
It's also rumored that Samsung will show off an 11.6-inch Android tablet, one that will sport a WXQGA (2,560 × 1,600) screen and a Exynos processor. Earlier rumors said it will be the Exynos 5250, which would be dual-core ... but now there are rumors that it could be a quad-core processor instead.
Another possibility is Tizen, which it's been rumored that Samsung is interested in merging with Bada, the company's proprietary OS. Tizen is a Linux-based OS that is the successor to Intel and Nokia's Meego platform. Bada has been doing pretty decently on its own, though, so that's still unclear.
If Tizen were merged into Bada, it could also open up the possibility that Samsung might unveil an Intel-based tablet at MWC. Intel's Mark Miller told PC Magazine at last month's CES that it was hoping to showcase some Tizen-powered tablets soon.
We now know that American alternative rock band The Flaming Lips has at least one iPhone 4S among its members. The band has taken the iPhone 4S-only digital assistant Siri and used it as a "singer" on a song.
The song is "Now I Understand." Uploaded to SoundCloud, it's set to disappear in less than a week, but it's also available on YouTube where we assume it will stay unless there is a copyright issue, which there might be.
At any rate, the SoundCloud blurb says,
"Sound construction piece featuring Lips, Erykah Badu, Siri, and Biz Markie backwards. It's called 'Now I Understand' It's funny and will be available on SoundCloud for one week only!!! Life is beautiful. Music gets you high."
Addressing Lips' frontman Wayne Coyne, Siri repeats, "Wayne, I don't understand, the moon, the stars and the sun," until Erykah Badu begins singing, answering with something like, “And they’re the stars, and the sun."
Siri apparently then "gets it," as the iPhone 4S replies, "Wayne, now I understand." Listen to it, and see if you "understand." And see if you hear Biz Markie backwards, too.
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