Chrome finally comes to Android, get the new beta now

If you’re running the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, a.k.a. Android 4.0, on your smartphone or tablet, you can run along right now and download Chrome for Android.

The latest addition to the Chrome family is a mobile beta that brings a (purportedly) better and faster browsing experience to Android devices. Perhaps most exciting of all, it allows for the desktop-to-mobile syncing and sign-ins we have loved so much in competitor Firefox for Android.

“Like … Continue Reading

As it abandons U.S. devices, Peek raises $15M for Asian expansion (exclusive)

Gadget blogs pounced on mobile-internet device maker Peek yesterday when the company announced it was killing off service for its devices running on T-Mobile. What they missed was a $15 million fund raise from Peek, confirmed by chief executive Amol Sarva to VentureBeat, as the company expands its business aggressively in Asia.

On January 30 users who had paid $299 for “lifelong service” on the companies bare bones email and Twitter devices were surprised to … Continue Reading

Sorry Facebook, mobile users just want to text

Mobile content usage spanning everything from downloading apps to browser and social network usage continues to escalate, but nothing is taking off quite like texting.

Nearly 75 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers now send text messages, according to new data from analytics firm comScore.

The data, gathered from a monthly online survey of 30,000 mobile subscribers ages 13 and up, reflects an ongoing shift in the changing behaviors of the more than 234 million … Continue Reading

Facebook’s monster mobile numbers: Over 425M users across Android, iOS, other platforms

With Facebook’s just-released S-1 filing, we’re getting a better picture of how the company is competing in the mobile sphere. We already knew the company had more than 800 million registered members, and now we know it had more than 425 million monthly active mobile users in December 2011, a stunning accomplishment.

“Mobile is really coming into its own right now, and Facebook is going to play heavily in this space,” Altimeter Group analyst Rebecca … Continue Reading

Everyone except grandma is comparison shopping via mobile, study finds

Grandma and grandpa may not be doing it, but the rest of us are — and quite frequently at that. Of course, we’re talking about the growing phenomenon of using a cell phone while shopping in stores to look up product prices or reviews.

More than half of all adult cell-phone owners (52 percent) used their phone to either phone a friend, look up product reviews online, or comparison price shop during a 30-day holiday … Continue Reading

Why Walmart is using Node.js

Node.js has been the delight of San Francisco hackers for the past couple years now, but startups and indie developers aren’t the only ones using JavaScript on the server side.

At Node Summit today, Walmart executives talk about why the real-world retail giant has chosen to work with this relatively new, extremely trendy technology.

Any time a big company makes a decision — any business decision — it is balancing two factors: risk and profit. … Continue Reading

Android may finally surpass iOS for developers in 2012

While Android has for sometime been outpacing iOS on the consumer side in terms of growth and market share, developers have still clung to iOS for building new apps.

However, new research shows that 2012 might be the year that changes.

According to research and analysis firm Ovum, developers will start thinking of Android as more important than iOS for development projects and apps in the coming 12 months.

“A smartphone platform’s success is dictated … Continue Reading

Apple attacks Samsung’s Android devices in Germany. Again.

Apple has once again gone after Samsung in Germany, filing suits to ban sales of the Galaxy S Plus and the S II.

The latest in a string of patent suits takes aim at 10 smartphone models. The suit was filed in the Dusseldorf Regional Court, Reuters reports.

This is separate from a former lawsuit against five Samsung tablets.

The continuing Apple-Samsung saga has Apple claiming that Samsung’s Android tablets and smartphones are too close … Continue Reading

Samsung to invest a record $41B in 2012, all eyes on mobile

Samsung Group announced today it would invest $41.4 billion in new technologies, more than the company has ever invested in previous years.

The investments will encompass efforts in research and development, mergers and acquisitions, and building new facilities, Samsung reps told reporters. The company also said it will be hiring as many as 26,000 new employees in 2012.

Industry experts expect a good chunk of that change will be spent on logic chips and OLED … Continue Reading

Our test for the best cell phone service provider at CES 2012

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, everybody wanted to talk. And when they talked on their mobile phones, they put a great deal of stress on the mobile phone carriers. We tried to figure out who handled the load the best.

CES is the biggest technology convention in the US. This year it once again broke attendance records with 153,000 analysts, exhibitors, and journalists. Regardless of your place in the industry, having mobile … Continue Reading

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, hands-on with the first smartphone with enough battery life for a full day’s business use

It’s an unfortunate truth: if you want a phone that will last all day, get a dumbphone. Smartphones aren’t designed to last all day, and as the features and uses increase incrementally, the battery life has stayed a consistent not long enough. Business and power users know this all too well – it’s one of two reasons why too many of us carry around two phones at all times.

Motorola may have just solved … Continue Reading

Sneak peek at SteelSeries’ pocket-sized controller for tablet and smartphone gamers

One of the most persistent problems with gaming on smartphones and tablets is the lack of physical controls. This has created an opportunity for developers to create unique game experiences, but more traditional-styled games that have found commercial and critical success, like EA’s Dead Space and Gameloft’s N.O.V.A. 2, mimic the control style found on traditional gamepads. Touch controls are good enough to play, but are still a far cry from the feel of a … Continue Reading

Qualcomm pulls heartstrings, explores how mobile is changing lives (video)

Starting things off on an emotional beat during his CES keynote this morning, Qualcomm CEO and chairman Paul Jacobs unveiled a series of videos that show how mobile devices are changing the lives of people all over the world.

The videos feature people from all walks of life — from a hip and well-connected techie in New York City, to a fisherman in India. Qualcomm also explores how mobile is helping with personal healthcare and … Continue Reading

Wal-Mart buys iPhone app agency to improve mobile commerce

The group responsible for bringing multinational retail corporation Wal-Mart into the era of mobile and social commerce has just expanded. WalmartLabs, the retail giant’s eight month-old social and mobile product incubator, has acquired Small Society to help improve customers’ mobile experiences, the group announced Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Small Society is behind several recognizable customer-centric applications for iPhone for brands such as Starbucks, Zipcar and Whole Foods.

“We believe that mobile … Continue Reading

Here’s how AT&T and Sprint are using Carrier IQ’s data

Moblie carriers Sprint and AT&T have revealed how much they each use data from Carrier IQ, the mobile data monitoring service that’s been raising eyebrows across the globe.

In the ongoing saga of Carrier IQ, we’ve focused a lot of attention on the company but relatively little on how carriers are using the information it gathers. The company collects information on around 150 million cell phones around the world — information about battery performance, app … Continue Reading

A Facebook tab for your mobile app

App makers, how do get your mobile app on your Facebook Page? Mixed Media Labs, the startup that aims to be the friend of every mobile developer, has an answer in its latest feature: the App.net Facebook tab.

The Facebook tab can be installed on any Page — it shows up as a green “Download app” icon in Facebook’s left-hand menu — and when clicked, features app content and download options.

A Page’s visitors can … Continue Reading

Carrier IQ: Actually, we don’t give your data to the FBI — or any other law enforcement

Carrier IQ has responded to speculation that it’s turning over your mobile data to law enforcement with an interesting rebuttal.

In an email to VentureBeat, a company spokesperson wrote, “Just to clarify all of the media frenzy around the FBI, Carrier IQ has never provided any data to the FBI.”

Carrier IQ is a company that monitors mobile data on more than 100 million phones around the world. It sends reports related to app performance, … 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

Google goes to Hollywood with new mobile movie search experience

It’s almost that time of year when we take off from work to celebrate the holidays. Of course, year-after-year we quickly realize that we’re left with far too much time to spend with family, and so we take a trip down the street to see what’s playing at the local cinema.

Now Google is offering up its own escape route with an enhanced mobile movie search experience.

When you query movies or theater names on … Continue Reading