Apple knocks HTC (and Android) on its side with patent victory
Come April 19, 2012, Android-powered HTC smartphones may be a bit harder to find on store shelves in the U.S.
In its final determination, the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that HTC violated two claims of an Apple patent — the patent deals with software that turns phone numbers and addresses into actionable links — and has ordered a ban on the import and sale of infringing HTC devices. The ruling goes into effect … Continue Reading
Analysts: Market for new game handhelds shrinking compared to heyday
The legacy of Nintendo’s Game Boy may not end with the 3DS, but two industry analysts suggest the Kyoto, Japan-based company’s line of portable video game players and its ilk may be past their prime.
Nintendo’s 3DS and Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Vita are facing increased pressure from smartphones and other game-capable mobile devices for both consumers’ time and money. While the handhelds are targeting two different audiences – the Vita and 3DS are intended for … Continue Reading
Android owners love Facebook, ignore Google+
Facebook is the most popular Android application — excluding the Android Market app — among Android owners 18 and up. Roughly 80 percent of device owners ages 18-to-34 have used the Facebook app within the past 30 days, according to new research released by analytics firm Nielsen.
The company looked at data usage on the smartphones of thousands of consumers who opted in to an ongoing study.
It’s not all bad news for Google. The … Continue Reading
BlueStacks runs Android apps on a desktop
BlueStacks, which lets users run Android applications on any x86-based Windows PC, is the latest in a string of attempts to bring the bells and whistles of a mobile operating system to traditional computers.
That means three of the largest mobile operating systems have now either made it, or are on their way to making it, to traditional computers. Apple’s latest operating system, Lion, promises to bring a lot of features from its iPhone operating … Continue Reading
DEMO: QPrize winner Enterproid is the mullet haircut for Android phones
Qualcomm QPrize winner Enterproid, which develops software that adds an additional profile to Android phones for business use, launched today at the DEMO Spring 2011 conference in Palm Desert, Calif.
Enterproid gives Android phone users what some might call a mullet, the controversial haircut that’s sometimes described as “business in the front, party in the back.” In Enterproid’s case, this takes the form of access to another phone profile for business use that’s wrapped in … Continue Reading
Layar Player lets others embed augmented reality in iPhone apps
Augmented reality company Layar said today that it has launched a new augmented reality player that can be embedded for free in iPhone applications.
The new Layar Player from the Amsterdam-based company came out of beta testing today and is available for agencies, brands and developers to embed into their own iPhone apps. Those apps can be used by the 1.4 million active users on the Layar platform. That’s in addition to iPhone users who … Continue Reading
Kongregate takes another crack at launching online arcade on Android
It’s round two in the Google versus Kongregate mobile arcade match — and hopefully there will be less drama this time around.
Flash game portal Kongregate has released a new version of its mobile arcade application on the Android Marketplace after its first application was abruptly pulled, in a move more characteristic of Apple, for violating the terms of service.
The latest version of the application explicitly uses the web browser to run each game … Continue Reading
Eric Schmidt sees next decade as age of "augmented humanity"
Eric Schmidt may not be chief executive of Google for long (he turns that title over to Larry Page on April 4). But he isn’t going to stop sharing his vision for the future.
The chairman of Google talked about the next decade and how it will be a time when we are the masters of technology, and not visa versa. You could think of it, he said, as the era of “augmented humanity.” If … Continue Reading
Cisco security exec cheers on Android's security flaws
Cisco is rooting for Google’s Android mobile operating system — but probably not for the most genuine of reasons.
The provider of networking technology is betting that Google’s relatively open approach to allowing apps on its mobile platform will let in less-secure code, forcing IT professionals to bring in Cisco’s technology to secure their networks, said Tom Gillis (pictured right), general manager of Cisco’s Security Technology Business Unit.
The Android operating system is more open … Continue Reading
Android trojan horse Geinimi spotted stealing user data in the wild
Another trojan horse for devices running Google’s Android mobile operating system — this one capable of stealing information and uploading it to remote servers — has been spotted on third-party Android application marketplaces.
The Geinimi trojan horse gets onto your device via games and other applications that users download off third-party application marketplaces outside of the official Android Marketplace. Applications that are corrupted by Geinimi ask Android users to verify a much larger set of … Continue Reading
Nvidia CEO: Oh, the places those magical Android tablets will go
Graphics chip maker Nvidia’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang thinks Google’s Android team is pretty much the best thing since sliced bread.
Huang praised Google for its work on the Android mobile operating system on Nvidia’s earnings conference call yesterday and said Nvidia has very high expectations for the next generation of Android tablets.
Nvidia, which traditionally caters to gamers and designers with its beefy video cards, said stated in its quarterly earnings report yesterday that it … Continue Reading
The biggest phone makers in the world are falling behind
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Apple, BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion and HTC were the only major phone makers to gain ground in the phone market over the course of the past year ending in the third quarter, according to a report by Gartner.
Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson — all manufacturers of voice-centric feature phones as well as smartphones — all saw significant drops in total market share. That’s likely … Continue Reading
iPhone users pay the least for monthly wireless service
While iPhone users seem to spend a lot more money in general, they still have the last laugh when it comes to wireless bills — on average, Windows Mobile users pay the most for their wireless services and iPhone users pay the least, according to a recent study by Pageonce.
The study found that Windows Mobile users typically spend around $205 every month on their wireless bills, followed by Android users paying $197 and BlackBerry … Continue Reading
Why Foursquare doesn't owe its success to the iPhone
Location-based check-in service Foursquare saw a massive amount of success, both globally and in the United States, because it focused on multiple mobile platforms rather than a single one like Apple’s iPhone operating system or Google’s Android, according to Foursquare executive Holger Luedorf.
Foursquare went against the grain in embracing the fragmentation of the smartphone marketplace, said said Luedorf (pictured left), vice president of mobile partnerships with Foursquare, in an interview with VentureBeat editor-in-chief Matt … Continue Reading
Is Apple's iPhone OS dominating mobile enterprise use?
Activations of devices using Apple’s iPhone operating system for business far outnumbered those of Windows Mobile, Google’s Android operating system and Nokia’s Symbian, according to a report by Good Technology. The report did not include activations of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry operating system since RIM devices use only the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for corporate email access.
Not including activations of RIM’s BlackBerry line, the iPhone 4 accounted for more than 30 percent of mobile device … Continue Reading
Google on track to acquire a new company every 2 weeks
Google is now on track to acquire a new company every two weeks this year. It’s on quite the shopping spree, but for a company that made $24 billion last year alone, it might be exactly what the doctor ordered to keep up with significant competition in the smartphone and search markets.
Google has so far announced 19 acquisitions in 2010, well past the seven deals it closed last year and accounting for 28 percent … Continue Reading
Credit Suisse: Verizon iPhone will get 1.4M users from AT&T in 2011
An estimated 1.4 million AT&T subscribers will shift to Verizon with the advent of a Verizon iPhone in early 2011, according to a report released today by Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse’s report relies on a supposed February 15 launch of the Verizon iPhone (based on a Bloomberg report) and other mounting evidence that Verizon will soon get its hands on Apple’s goods.
A survey conducted by Credit Suisse indicated that 23 percent of AT&T iPhone … Continue Reading
Is Facebook working on a mobile phone?
Although Facebook has emphatically denied the report, Techcrunch insisted in a story today that Facebook is working on building a mobile phone.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company reportedly became concerned about the growing power of Apple and Google with the rise of the iPhone and Android platforms. Making apps alone, the report said, may not be enough to counter a competitive threat.
A spokeswoman for Facebook denied the report, saying to Mashable, “The story, which … Continue Reading
Research in Motion is alive and kicking, but still needs a boost
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion continued to grow in the second quarter of 2010 with an additional 12.1 million BlackBerry devices shipped, but wasn’t able to meet its expectations for 4.9 – 5.2 million new subscribers reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The BlackBerry maker added 4.5 million new subscribers in its second quarter of 2010, down from the 4.9 million it added a quarter earlier.
BlackBerry most recently unveiled its proposed iPhone killer, the … Continue Reading
Motorola snags Aloqa to put location-aware mobile content in plain sight
Motorola has acquired location-based service search developer and darling of MobileBeat 2009 Aloqa for an undisclosed chunk of change to enhance its factory-shipped MOTOBLUR phone user interface with location-based push content.
The technology will allow Motorola phones to push content — such as App data or even advertising — to users wherever they happen to be walking or driving at the time.
Motorola has been on a bit of a shopping trip lately, picking up … Continue Reading
