Kantar: Android Accounted For 70% Of Smartphone Sales In Q4, But Samsung Is Now “Under Real Pressure” | TechCrunch: " . . . Android continues to be the most popular mobile platform, with its share of smartphone sales climbing in every major market in Q4 2013, now accounting for 69.5% of all sales across 12 key markets versus 23.7% for number-two Apple, according to figures out today from Kantar Worldpanel, a market research subsidiary of WPP. But the story is shifting when it comes to looking at what the engine is behind that growth...."
Android gains in key markets | News24: "In the United States, the survey showed Android share rising more than four percentage points over the past year to 50.6%, while Apple's share declined to 43.9%." Add those 2 together and you get 94.5% of the market, leaving only 5.5% for Microsoft Windows, BlackBerry and everyone else.
“It’s no surprise that everyone is concentrating on high growth China, but currently local brands are proving clear winners. In December, Xiaomi [with Android OS] overtook both Apple and Samsung to become the top selling smartphone in China – a truly remarkable achievement for a brand which was only started in 2010 and sells its device almost exclusively online. The combination of high spec devices, low prices and an ability to create unprecedented buzz through online and social platforms has proved an irresistible proposition for the Chinese.”
http://uk.kantar.com/media/635508/kantar_worldpanel_comtech_smartphone_os_barometer_27_01_14.pd
Global Smartphone Shipments Top 1 Billion For The First Time Thanks To Cheap Android Devices, Says IDC | TechCrunch: "...Samsung continued to lead in worldwide smartphone shipments. Samsung saw a decline in 4Q2013 shipments, but still maintained a double-digit lead over Apple. The Cupertino-based company posted record shipment volume in the quarter, thanks to the launch of new markets for the iPhone 5s and 5c, but it still had the lowest year-on-year increase of all the leading vendors...."
In Developing Countries, Google and Facebook Already Defy Net Neutrality | MIT Technology Review: "... Internet access is expensive in developing countries—exorbitantly so for the vast majority of people. In Kenya the top four websites are Google, Facebook, YouTube (which is owned by Google), and the Kenyan version of Google. That pattern is fairly typical of Web usage in dozens of developing nations. And free services like Facebook Zero and Google Free Zone don’t have many critics among users, says Erik Hersman, founder of iHub, a tech-startup incubator in Nairobi. Asked if it’s seen as problematic, he says, “Not at all.” “In the United States it’s practically free for you to get on Google and Facebook, as Wi-Fi is almost everywhere or cheap relative to income. Here, that’s not the case,” he says. “It’s a different relationship to the Internet when you only get it on your phone, and you don’t have a traditional Internet connection at home or work.”..."
Global Smartphone Shipments Top 1 Billion For The First Time Thanks To Cheap Android Devices, Says IDC | TechCrunch: "...Samsung continued to lead in worldwide smartphone shipments. Samsung saw a decline in 4Q2013 shipments, but still maintained a double-digit lead over Apple. The Cupertino-based company posted record shipment volume in the quarter, thanks to the launch of new markets for the iPhone 5s and 5c, but it still had the lowest year-on-year increase of all the leading vendors...."
In Developing Countries, Google and Facebook Already Defy Net Neutrality | MIT Technology Review: "... Internet access is expensive in developing countries—exorbitantly so for the vast majority of people. In Kenya the top four websites are Google, Facebook, YouTube (which is owned by Google), and the Kenyan version of Google. That pattern is fairly typical of Web usage in dozens of developing nations. And free services like Facebook Zero and Google Free Zone don’t have many critics among users, says Erik Hersman, founder of iHub, a tech-startup incubator in Nairobi. Asked if it’s seen as problematic, he says, “Not at all.” “In the United States it’s practically free for you to get on Google and Facebook, as Wi-Fi is almost everywhere or cheap relative to income. Here, that’s not the case,” he says. “It’s a different relationship to the Internet when you only get it on your phone, and you don’t have a traditional Internet connection at home or work.”..."
Intel’s voice recognition will blow Siri out of the water—because it doesn’t use the cloud - Quartz: "... For true voice interaction with computers, the kind that involves clarifications and a genuine dialogue, our devices are going to have to respond to our voice just as quickly as a human would—or even faster."
Google sees less geeky future with new Glass designs
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Google unveiled new designs for its Glass wearable technology today and signaled that future versions will look more like regular spectacles than a gadget for tech geeks. Four new Glass frames — called Bold, Curve, Thin and Split ...
Apple's Marginal Quarter
Wall Street Journal
This was particularly so with the iPhone. Apple shipped 51 million of these in its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 28. This represented a gain of only 6.7% year over year, and fell short of Wall Street's expectation of about 55 million. The miss was ...
Microsoft Rebrands SkyDrive, Touts Xbox Acquisition
InformationWeek
After announcing strong enterprise earnings last week, Microsoft made two announcements Monday that emphasized its ongoing ambitions to woo consumers: the official rebranding of SkyDrive, the company's cloud storage service, as OneDrive; and the ...
Google buys artificial intelligence start-up DeepMind
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Google has acquired London-based start-up DeepMind to expand further into the field of artificial intelligence. DeepMind describes itself as a "cutting-edge artificial intelligence company." It combines techniques from machine learning ...
Microsoft Buys Rights to Hit Videogame Franchise
Wall Street Journal (blog)
“This franchise, and these fans, are part of the soul of Xbox,” said Phil Spencer,Microsoft's head of videogame development for the Xbox, in a statement. “By acquiring this franchise, Microsoft Studios will continue to offer them more of their ...
Microsoft Backs a Tech Movement That Seems a Threat
Wall Street Journal (blog)
But the Open Compute Project is mainly targeted at hardware–and there Microsoft thinks it has something to offer the group. Besides selling software, Microsoft offers the Bing search engine and competes with the likes of Amazon.com in offering an ...
Google's DeepMind buy would add smarts to search, robots and homes
Computerworld
Google confirmed on Sunday that it has acquired DeepMind Technologies, a London-based artificial intelligence (AI) company. Various reports say the company paid $400 million for the company, though Google has not commented on the specifics of the ...
Microsoft Office Web Apps to be renamed 'Office Online'?
ZDNet
Currently, consumers who want to use the free, Webified versions of Microsoft's core Office apps -- the suite known as "Office Web Apps" -- need to know to go to SkyDrive and click on the "Create" tab to find Word Web App, Excel Web App, PowerPoint Web ...
Evidence Shows Prehistoric Humans Used Fire 300000 Years Ago
RedOrbit
New findings reported in the Journal of Archaeological Science suggest that prehistoric humans were able to control and use fire at their will. A team of Israeli scientists discovered the earliest evidence of unequivocal repeated fire building over a continuous ...
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