Samsung Accounted for a Third of Smartphone Sales Last Quarter, While Apple’s Share Fell
Samsung’s second-quarter smartphone shipments hit 76 million last quarter – up 56 percent from the prior year, and giving the company a 33 percent share of the global market.
iStockphoto | aluxum
Apple, meanwhile, shipped 31.2 million iPhones, a 20 percent year-over-year rise, and good for second place worldwide. However, that trailed the overall smartphone industry, and meant that Apple’s market share fell to 14 percent – its lowest level since the second quarter of 2010, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics.
“The current iPhone portfolio is under-performing and Apple is at risk of being trapped in a pincer movement between rival 3-inch Android models at the low-end and 5-inch Android models at the high-end,” Strategy Analytics’ Neil Mawston said in a statement.
Overall, smartphone shipments hit 230 million for the second quarter, up 47 percent from a year earlier, and representing 59 percent of all mobile phones sold.
“The smartphone industry’s shipment growth rate, which is higher today than a year ago, is being driven by surging demand for 4G models in developed regions like the US and 3G models in emerging markets such as India,” Neil Shah, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.
Korea’s LG doubled shipments from a year earlier to 12.1 million units, enough to give it five percent global market share and the No. 3 spot, just ahead of China’s ZTE and Huawei, each of which shipped more than 11 million smartphones.
A Facebook (iPad) Update Turns the App Into an Entertainment Hub
Over 70 percent of people who use Facebook for iPad played a Facebook-connected game in the past 90 days, so the company is helping them discover or re-engage with games through a new home page sidebar it starts testing today on its iPad app. It includes social notifications for native mobile and Facebook web games you already play, video trailers for games you don’t, plus Trending news articles and Trending videos popular with your demographic. The growth opportunities could entice more developers to integrate Facebook into their games, and Facebook plans to eventually sell ads for games in this space. By filling the extra screen space with what tablet users love, Facebook hopes its home on iPad can become a more essential part of people’s live…even if that means bouncing them into other apps or showing them YouTube videos.
Read the full story at TechCrunch.
After Hacking Attack, Apple’s Dev Center Site Is Up and Running Again
Eight days after taking it down in response to a security breach, Apple has restored the website for its Developer Center.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. But the entry page of the site was clearly visible this afternoon. Some sections, like forums, were still offline. Certificates, identifiers and profiles were back online.
An email circulated to Apple developers said, “Thank you for bearing with us while we bring these important systems back online. We will continue to update you with our progress.” It has also added a system status page so members can keep track of what’s back and working and what’s not.
Access to the site had been curtailed for several days as Apple investigated the circumstances of a security incident said to have occurred on July 18.
The company said in an email to its developer community (see below) three days after the incident took place that the site had been accessed by what it called “an intruder.”
Apple said in the original email disclosing the breach that it would be “completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database.” It hasn’t gone into any further detail about the nature of the attack.
The Apple developer site grants access to iOS 7, OS X Mavericks and other software development tools. When it first went down it was marked with a notice saying it was down for maintenance. A later notice apologized that maintenance was taking longer than expected. Developers were told that memberships that would have expired during the downtime had been automatically extended.
Since extended downtime of this sort is rare with Apple, people in the dev community naturally began to wonder what was up. Apple finally came clean about the attempted attack and said that “…we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers’ names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed.” Still no word on that.
Here’s the full text of the email sent around to developers.
Developer Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles Now Available
We appreciate your patience as we work to bring our developer services back online. Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, software downloads, and other developer services are now available. If you would like to know the availability of a particular system, visit our status page.
If your program membership expired or is set to expire during this downtime. It will be extended and your app will remain on the App Store. If you have any other concerns about your account please contact us.
Thank you for bearing with us while we bring these important systems back online. We will continue to update you with our progress.
iPhone 5 to include system-wide voice Assistant
9to5Mac spilled the beans on the plentiful amount of new features coming in the iPhone 5, which they seem to have confirmed with sources. There’s a lot we already expected, but the big news of the leak this morning is a voice-controlled Assistant.
Apple acquired Siri back in 2010, and up until now we haven’t heard much about Apple’s implementation of its technology. Assistant will be an exclusive feature to the iPhone 5, as it needs the extra processor power and RAM. It’s a system-wide voice navigation tool for controlling just about anything with your voice. Pressing and holding the iPhone’s home button will bring up Assistant, effectively replacing the original Voice Control function. From there, you can schedule appointments in the Calendar app, send a text message (or iMessage), get directions, and pretty much everything else.
The commands for Assistant are easy, but more extensive than before. Voice Control’s interface had quick commands scrolling by so you always knew how to go about speaking, but Assistant supposedly has the familiar Info button in the corner, which brings up common commands for completing tasks. Again, this is a lot like a Voice Control 2.0, in that most of the functionality in the iPhone 5 – as opposed to just making calls and listening to music – can now be controlled by voice. Presumably, Apple will release an Assistant API for developers to expand its usability even further.
In addition to this software news, there’s some interesting hardware specs. A beautiful 8 MP camera will be in the rear of the device and will include support for native panorama shots. The dual-core A5 chip and 1 GB of RAM will be inside, which is important to note because both show Apple’s need for better multitasking capabilities in the future. One thing 9to5Mac was silent about in the report is the iPhone 5 s new design. Most think it will feature a curved aluminum back, especially after the recent leaked cases from Case-Mate. There’s no information on the size of the display either. However, they did point out the new antenna system will have built-in support for both GSM and CDMA networks – ergo AT&T and Verizon.
Time is winding down for the big announcement. The hype is increasing, as are the leaks. We’re fairly certain the Apple event will take place on October 4th, which means those traditionally vague invitations from Cupertino should be going out some time this week. Stay tuned!
Apple can’t get “multi-touch” trademark
Apple has been denied a trademark for the term “multi-touch,” reports MacRumors. Apple originally applied for the trademark on January 9, 2007, just one day before the first iPhone was introduced.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office denied the initial trademark application, but per USPTO rules, Apple was able to appeal the original ruling. However, the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has now upheld the initial ruling.
The USPTO’s trademark attorney pointed out that “multitouch” has become such a generic term used in myriad devices besides Apple’s iPhone and iPads. As noted by MacRumors, there are several factors that determine if a name, or “mark,” has the “acquired distinctiveness” which would allow a company to receive a trademark on it. Those include a mark’s length and exclusivity of use and the company’s advertising expenditures promoting that mark.
The lack of a trademark for “multi-touch” will in no way affect how Apple can advertise their devices; it simply means that Apple can’t claim trademark infringement if others advertise “multi-touch” technology in their devices.
Skype update for iOS adds anti-shake, Bluetooth connectivity and ads for freeloaders
Skype’s latest app upgrade brings a few substantial features, some good, one not so. Alongside a new anti-shake video call function (limited to the iPhone’s back-facing camera), you can now pair Bluetooth headsets with the VoIP calling service, something apparently “long requested” from Skype fans. However, users have to fork out for credit to avoid seeing advertising that’s also baked into the new version. The update’s now up for grabs on both the iPhone and iPad, though there are reports of a few teething troubles, including missing credit and account details. We’ve also been experiencing issues, with the app unwilling to play nice with our Bluetooth headsets, though oddly, we can still hear the Skype call ring through. Hopefully we’ll see another update that sorts this out soon.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLKE58eA-S8
Fix for the iOS 6.1 Microsoft Exchange bug will be released by Apple
Apple has claimed that they have found fix for the bug causing excess activity on the Microsoft Exchange account. This fix will be available in the upcoming update of the software. This bug is too much frustrating, even for the corporate IT department. They have also blocked their devices from Exchange servers, according to ZDNet.
This is of course not the first fix released by Apple for its latest iOS. In previous week, they have also launched bug fixing update for the iOS 6.1.1 aiming on iPhone 4S. This update is targeted to fix the issues of euro pen carrier holders, related on the 3G connection of the phone.
Darrell Etherington has noted that Apple has launched its new update in just five days for their iOS device. This may be due to warning issued by two European mobile operators- 3 Austria and Vodafone UK for text messages. They have warned them to update iPhone 4S to the iOS 6.1 due to worst 3G connection problems.
Apple has taken immediate action as this bug is proving annoying for the enterprise users which are finding it difficult to work around. Apple does not really want these users to shift back to iOS 6.0.
According to the statement given by Apple, “Users of iOS devices who has availed Microsoft Exchange related bug will now be able to encounter increased network working in reduced battery life. The extra network working will be encountered in logs on Exchange servers and it will lead on blocking iOS device.
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Up by Jawbone aims to keep you healthy
Wristband and app combo
Jawbone, maker of funky headsets, has announced its latest product, Up. Think of Up as like one of those charity wristbands that have been popular over the last few years, except much cleverer.
And that’s because Up features a sophisticated motion-tracking engine that helps you monitor a number of key aspects when it comes to your health.
“The MotionX engine inside the Up band is the result of years of technology development and innovation. MotionX is both extremely accurate and power-efficient, which is critical in delivering a 24/7 product experience small enough to wear,” said Philippe Kahn, CEO and founder of Fullpower, developer of the MotionX technology.
Combined with the free iPhone app, Up allows you to keep track of your activity by monitoring steps, calories burned, distance, pace, and active versus inactive time throughout the day; your sleep including hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep (deep versus light) and overall sleep quality; and finally what you’ve eaten.
You take photos of the food you’ve eaten and the app analyses this along with info such as where you’re eating and when you’ve eaten.
The wristband is designed to be worn 24/7 and will even give you reminders during the day to eat, be active or rest. You can also join fellow Up users on an online community to help you stay motivated.
“As the global health crisis mounted, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to see if we could leverage our resources, talents, and ecosystem to try and help make a difference,” said Hosain Rahman, Jawbone CEO and founder.
“Up is Jawbone’s first step in giving people tools to become engaged as consumers of their own health. It’s a complete system designed to integrate seamlessly into one’s total lifestyle, 24 hours a day, not just the few times a week people may work out.”
The Up band comes in three sizes (small, medium, large) and seven colours and will be available for $99.99 on 6 November. A global launch is planned for later in the year.
What the iPhone 4S really costs: We reveal, piece by piece, what it actually costs Apple to make the 4S
Just saved up for a new 499 iPhone 4S? Then look away now…
It might have underwhelmed the devotees, but sales of Apple’s iPhone 4S topped four million in just three days following last month’s launch, and it’s still the must-have smartphone this winter. Of course, those sleek looks don’t come cheap. Or do they..?
Out of contract, the iPhone 4S will cost you 499, but we can reveal that the nuts, bolts and high-end circuitry inside cost far less – see below for the total.
Expert analysts from technology firm iSuppli have prised open the pristine casing and totted up the cost of each component.
Some are reassuringly expensive – the touchscreen and display unit cost 23 – but others are less confidence-inspiring.
Next time you’re cursing the battery life, remember it’s only worth 3.68.
More than skin covers | Skinthemoon 