Archive for the ‘Mobile Development’ Category

RIM expects Tablets to nudge back iPhone to pure communication devices.

Mar 1, 2011 Mobile Development, News

The smartphones may be ruling the personal telecommunication space but according to RIM’s UK MD Stephen Bates Tablets may nudge them back to pure communication devices. Speaking at a seminar, Bates said “We’re all now used to having smartphones and the instantaneous appeal of social interaction, but now we’re looking for more from our devices – more media and more consumption.”

He further added, “Demand is being met by smartphones for now, but the form factor isn’t ideal.  We’re going to see a change in behavior; the tablet is going to come in as a media device and we’re going to see the smartphone drifting back to pure communications.”

Speaking on RIM’s future plans, he says “These days, you hear a lot about apps but at BlackBerry we have a wider focus. We’re about delivering the ultimate communications platform, including social networking.”

“We have more users of Twitter on BlackBerry than any other platform, and Facebook has told us that BlackBerry users are three times more interactive on Facebook than any other device users,” he added.

Many studies have predicted Tablets to be the device of future. Currently, the Tablet market is ruled by Apple’s iPad but leading companies like RIM, Samsung etc., too have either entered or are planning to enter the Tablet market. Apple too will be releasing the next-generation iPad very soon.

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Adobe banking on Air and Flash to win developers.

Feb 14, 2011 Mobile Development, News, Uncategorized

Adobe is heavily relying on Adobe Air and Flash to win the hearts of mobile developers. The company shared some statistics on Air and Flash, with the developers in the ongoing Mobile World Congress.

Adobe’s applications are now being run on over 84 million smartphones and tablets running iOS and Android. The company expects the figures to cross 200 million smartphones and tablets by the end of 2011.

Developers have shown good interest in building Air apps. Around 1,500 apps have been developed for Android Market in the first couple of months of the introduction of Air apps.

According to Adobe, over 20 million Flash Player 10.1 installed smartphones were shipped in 2010 and it expects the shipment to cross over 132 million smartphones to be shipped in the first half of the this year.

According to Anup Murarka, director of product marketing, there is an increased demand from the market to develop apps that run on multiple platforms. To provide that developers would need the right tools that can help them leverage their work. Adobe, he thinks, is in a great position to aid developers to develop apps that support cross-platforms.

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Juniper Research predicts mobile augmented reality apps to touch $1.5 billion by 2015, to be facilitated by big mobile app developers.

Feb 7, 2011 Android Development, BlackBerry Development, Mobile Development, News, iPad Development, iphone development

A latest study by Juniper Research has predicted that global revenues from mobile augmented reality (AR) applications and services are expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2015. The report title- ‘Mobile Augmented Reality: Opportunities, Forecasts & Strategic Analysis 2011-2015′- says that a growing number of top retailers, brands, and mobile vendors are showing great interest in investing on augmented reality applications.

According to the study, the installed base of Augmented Reality capable smartphones has grown from 8 million in 2009 to over 100 million in 2010. AR applications which in the beginning were of interest of smaller application development companies and researchers at technological institutes are now increasingly facilitated by large mobile app developers.

Other key developments highlighted in the report are- release of AR-software development kit for Android by Qualcomm, Samsung’s pronouncement to preload AR browsers onto their handsets in select markets and advertising campaigns on mobile featuring AR elements from leading brands such as Carlsberg and Coca Cola.

According to report author, “One of the key benefits from this heightened activity is the fact that it generates press interest and public awareness: even if consumers don’t necessarily understand how it works, they can see real life examples of AR in action. Likewise, it serves to generate wider interest amongst brands and developers who can see potential applications for AR technology; it educates the market” says Dr Windsor Holden, author of the report.

However, the report also cautioned that both mobile application developers and customers are still not convinced about the exact benefits of AR in customer relationship as efforts in the past have either failed or delivered very little of benefits.

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Android Market Web Store brings more options to Android application developers.

Feb 4, 2011 Android Development, Mobile Development, News

Google has launched Android Market Web Store yesterday, a move which could boost Android app developer’s interest in Android OS as it provides more options to them to market and increase visibility of their applications. The mobile app marketplace is getting fiercer and all major players are luring app developers to develop apps for their app store.

Search engine giant Google and iPhone maker Apple are battling hard to gain the maximum space in the smartphone application market. Apple’s app store has more than 350,000 apps and recently it achieved 10 billion downloads. Google, on the other hand, is trying hard to compete with Apple and hence is making efforts to get mobile app developer’s attention for its Android platform.

The Android Market Web Store allows users to select their favorite apps and download it using a web browser. The app is linked to the Google account of the user and then can be easily sent to an Android device registered to the account.

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Smartphone penetration higher among ethnic and racial minorities in US, finds Neilsen.

Feb 3, 2011 Mobile Development, News

As per a blog post on the website of market research firm Neilsen, smartphone penetration is higher among ethnic and racial minorities in the United States. Around 1/3 rd or 31 percent of the mobile phone users in the country own a smartphone. It further reconfirms the growing popularity of smartphones in U.S., and many studies which predict that smartphones are fast replacing feature phones.

The smartphone penetration figures for various ethnic groups are- Asian/Pacific Islanders (45%), Hispanics (45%) and African-Americans (33%). On the other hand, only 27 percent of the White mobile users own a smartphone.

Among recent buyers, those who purchased a phone in the last 6 months, only 42 percent were whites.  The figures are 44 for African Americans, 56 percent for Hispanics and 60 percent for Asians/Pacific Islanders.

In the battle between smartphone OS, recent buyers have shown strong preference for Android. 43 percent of the buyers in the last 6 months have opted for an Android phone. The figures are 26 percent for Apple and 20 percent for Blackberry.

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Android leading platform, says Canalys.

Feb 2, 2011 Android Development, Mobile Development, News

Recently released data by Canalys reveals that Android is the leading platform for smartphones worldwide. 32.9 million Android based smartphones were shipped this quarter, whereas worldwide smartphone shipment figures for Nokia’s Symbian platform fall slightly to 31.0 million. However, Nokia has retained its place as the leading smart phone vendor, with 28% market share.

As per the report, the last quarter of 2010 also saw upsurge in the worldwide smart phone market with total shipments of 101.2 million units, a year-on-year jump of 89%. Around 300 million units of smartphones were shipped on 2010 signaling an increase of 80% from 2009.

The volumes of Android-based smart phones were boosted by strong performances from its vendors chiefly LG, Samsung, Acer and HTC, who grew 4,127%, 1,474%, 709% and 371% correspondingly year-on-year.

‘2010 has been a fantastic year for the smart phone market. After a difficult 2009, the speed with which the market has recovered has required real commitment and innovation from vendors and they have risen to the challenge,’ said Canalys VP and Principal Analyst Chris Jones.

“But vendors cannot afford to be complacent. 2011 is set to be a highly competitive year with vendors looking to use new technology, such as dual-core processors, NFC and 3D displays, to differentiate their products and maintain value” he adds.

Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remained the largest market with shipments of 38.8 million units and a year-on-year growth of 90%. Nokia maintained its leadership position in EMEA and Asia Pacific. However, RIM overtook Nokia in Latin America.

In United States, RIM’s Blackberry recaptured the first place from Apple. ‘The US landscape will shift dramatically this coming year, as a result of the Verizon-Apple agreement. ‘Verizon will move its focus away from the Droid range, but the overall market impact will mean less carrier-exclusive deals, while increasing the AT&T opportunity for Android vendors, such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung.’ commented Canalys Analyst Tim Shepherd.

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Europe moving closer to global common mobile phone charger.

Jan 5, 2011 Mobile Development, News

Europe is inching closer towards the introduction of a global common mobile phone charger that will enable all data-enabled handset owners to charge their devices through a common charger. As per a press release, the European Standardisation Bodies CEN-CENELEC and ETSI have presented the harmonised standards needed for the manufacturing of the global common mobile phone charger. The development follows the agreement signed by 14 mobile phone manufacturers-Apple, LGE, Motorola Mobility, NEC, Emblaze Mobile, Research In Motion (RIM), Huawei Technologies, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, TCT Mobile (ALCATEL), Texas Instruments and Atmel (IP/09/1049)- in June, 2009.

European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: “I am very happy that the European Standardisation Bodies have met our request to develop within a short space of time the technical standards necessary for a common mobile phone charger based on the work done by industry. Now it is time for industry to show its commitment to sell mobile phones for the new charger. The common charger will make life easier for consumers, reduce waste and benefit businesses. It is a true win-win situation.”

The introduction of a common charger will save users from a lot of inconvenience. The new charger is also expected to be environment-friendly as it will take into account safety risks and electro-magnetic emissions. The charger is likely to reach European markets in the early months of 2011.

Mobile Apps to Grow Seven-fold, Says IDC

Dec 22, 2010 Mobile Development, News

Mobile AppsAccording to the latest released report by International Data Corp, mobile app market is set to witness some explosive growth in the coming years, as mobile application developers create apps catering to every aspect of a human’s life. The annual mobile apps downloads is expected to grow seven-fold. The report projects over 10.9 billion mobile application downloads this year and the figure is expected to sky-rocket up to nearly 77 billion by 2014. Apart from smartphones, new and emerging mobile device categories like media tablets, eReaders etc., too are expected to contribute to the astounding growth figures.

“Mobile app developers will ‘appify’ just about every interaction you can think of in your physical and digital worlds,” notes Scott Ellison, VP, Mobile and Connected Consumer Platforms. “The extension of mobile apps to every aspect of our personal and business lives will be one of the hallmarks of the new decade with enormous opportunities for virtually every business sector,” he adds.

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Nokia’s Ovi Store Now Sees 3 Million Downloads a Day!

Nov 19, 2010 Mobile Development, News

Nokia OviWhen it comes to number one mobile manufacturer in the world, every mobile-user will say in one breath- Nokia and today Nokia published a bunch of impressive stats regarding their Ovi Store. On the company blog, they stated that their application store sees a “whopping three million downloads a day”. This ‘huge’ number are futher supported by figures like, they said that there are now over 165 million Ovi users in 190 countries and 250,000 people join every day. 90% of the users who visit the Ovi Store download an app (average visitor downloads 2.6 apps).

More astonishing stats, More than 400 000 new developers in past 12 months; 92 developers each top 1 million download mark; 1.5 million downloads of Qt software development toolkits.

“Ovi Store is on a strong trajectory fueled by new apps and games from a growing number of partners and more than 250,000 new consumers signing up for Ovi every day,” said Tero Ojanperae, Executive Vice President, Services, Nokia. “The number of daily downloads has increased from about 2 million to 3 million since September. We anticipate our progress will continue as we have just begun shipping our new Symbian smartphones.”

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Windows encourages mobile app developers to get into Windows phone 7 app development

Nov 11, 2010 Mobile Development, News, Windows Mobile

Microsoft encouraging Windows  7 mobile  app development by allowing free developer registrations . Now its high time for Microsoft to get back into mobile market again . Check out the mail from Microsoft’s development team below :

I’m Jacob Mullins, Partner Development Manager at Microsoft.  My focus is to help software developers be more successful, and with the upcoming launch of Windows Phone 7 I wanted to make it easier for mobile app developers, like you, to get your Windows Phone 7 apps to market faster.

Thus, we created the Windows Phone 7 Developer Program which provides you with:

  • An easy development roadmap
  • 1-to-1 expert technical support
  • Code samples and snippets
  • Easy ways to monetize your app via the first real-time mobile ad exchange built by Microsoft Advertising.

Register for the free Windows Phone 7 Developer Program today!

If you’d like to know more about the Windows Phone 7 Developer Program, please don’t hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn.

Jacob Mullins
Partner Development Manager, Microsoft

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