Definitely helpful after significantly altering a wireless service plan, AT&T is starting to send video bills that walk the customer through new charges.
Announced earlier today on AT&T’s Innovation Space blog, the wireless service provider is launching a video service that’s designed to explain specific charges on a monthly billing statement. Called the AT&T Wireless Video Bill, the video is automatically generated at the end of a billing period and includes voice narration to increase understanding of new charges on a bill. Within a sample video bill, AT&T subscribers will find the total amount owed for the month, the upcoming due date for the next payment and details about the previous payment issued to AT&T.
AT&T subscribers will also find information about monthly recurring fees as well as line-item details about data overage fees, the one-time fee tacked onto a bill when a new mobile phone is activated as well as fees related to late payments or changes in the service plan.
In addition, AT&T is using the video platform to encourage people to sign up for automated payments instead of waiting for a bill to arrive to issue a monthly payment to AT&T. The wireless company plans to send the video bill to new AT&T customers during the first two months in addition to sending it to current customers that make any changes to their service plan.
AT&T hasn’t rolled out the video bill nationwide yet, but is currently testing the new feature with several thousand customers located in the Mountain Time zone. In order to gauge the usefulness of the video bill, AT&T surveyed a segment of the audience receiving the video bill. According to the respondents, eighty-five percent of the subscriber base found the video bill to be helpful and approximately four out of five customers watched the entire three minute video to completion. In the area where the video bills are being distributed, AT&T has noticed a significant drop in the number of calls placed to customer service. These types of calls usually involve customers asking questions about new charges on a bill.
Based off the success of the video bill in the Mountain Time zone, AT&T is planning to push the service to all subscribers in the United States by early 2013. AT&T is the first wireless service provider to launch an automatic video bill service. However, AT&T already rolled out video bills to DSL, Digital TV and home phone users during late May 2012. Very similar to the wireless video bill, customers can understand the breakdown of monthly charges within a bundled package of AT&T services.
For instance, the U-verse TV portion of the video bill outlines the television package as well as any discount applied due to an ongoing promotion. It also lists video-on-demand charges, extra premium movie packages like HBO or Showtime as well as fees for high definition channels and extra receivers for multiple televisions within the home. If a customer adds a premium movie package in the middle of the billing period, the video bill will explain what segment of the previous month the customer is being charged for in the next bill. The video bill will also explain similar changes to the Internet package if a customer chooses to increase or decrease the speed of the connection by signing up for a new package.
A new study has shown that most Internet traffic from mobile devices comes from iOS devices, such as various models of iPhones and iPads.
The year 2012 saw an overwhelming number of mobile product launches: two new generations of iPad and an iPad Mini from Apple, Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, the iPhone 5, and Samsung Galaxy S3, among others. While tablets and mobile phones play many different roles in today’s world, one thing is for sure: more devices means more users surfing the Internet.
The folks over at Chitika Insights decided to see if these releases had any impact on which platform tended to frequent the Web more frequently over the past few months. To do this, the company monitored ad impressions coming from an iOS or Android device from May 27 through Nov. 27, noting the differences in Web traffic volume.
According to Chitika’s findings, 67 percent of the measured Web traffic during this time period came from iOS devices. Android accounted for about half of the overall traffic at 33 percent. Android traffic appeared to hit a peak around the end of August, which can likely be attributed to strong Galaxy S3 sales. Traffic from iOS devices saw an upswing in October and November following Apple’s iPad 4 and iPad Mini release.
While these numbers represent a sizeable discrepancy between operating systems, Chitika notes that little has changed in the overall distribution between Android and iOS. This is largely because of Apple’s iPad, the data analysis website says.
“While third-party and our own observations have pegged smartphone Web traffic share as a near-tie, Apple has a decided advantage in the tablet marker, where its iPad is unquestionably the hottest seller in the sector,” the report reads. “This advantage is the largest contributing factor to Apple’s lead over Android.”
The data also suggests that users typically stick with one operating system rather than switching between Android and iOS when upgrading their device. If this is true, Android device manufacturers are largely competing amongst each other, while Apple does not have to worry about its user base being challenged.
Interestingly enough, while iOS devices seem account for most of the Web traffic among mobile devices, Android has dominated the market share for 2012. As a recent report from the IDC noted, Android accounts for 68 percent of the mobile market while iOS claims 18 percent.
Please come home for Christmas, plead Nexus 4 buyers
The bargain Google Nexus 4 smartphone has returned to sale in the UK, but new buyers face a wait of up to five weeks for delivery.
The £239 (8GB) / £279 (16GB) smartphone flew off the shelves in less than half an hour when it launched last month and hadn't been seen on the Google Play store since.
The LG-made handset became available again for the first time at 5pm on Tuesday evening, but it already seems unlikely that many users will receive their smartphone in time for Christmas.
Crave reports that initially the shipping estimate was listed as 1-2 weeks, but that soon inflated to 4-5 weeks - at which it remains.
Unfathomably long
The unfathomably long wait for delivery mirrors the 3-4 week wait some early adopters were asked to endure during the first run of sales in Britain.
The shortages have overshadowed what should have been an overwhelmingly positive launch for Google, given the Nexus 4's stunningly competitive price point and impressive feature set.
Both devices are still listed as available and you can still order them through the Google Play Store, but surely something that already exists, but takes over a month to deliver, is simply out of stock?
NASA has released a new coffee table book and downloadable PDF and iPad app that illustrates stunning photography of our planet.
One of the neat things about applications like Google Earth and Google Maps is the ability to virtually travel to different places around the planet. Thanks to features like detailed satellite imagery and street view, we can visit millions of places while surfing the Web in our pajamas, even if the areas are off limits to most people in reality. If you’re into this type of exploration, NASA has released a new book (print and digital), “Earth as Art,” that features 75 amazingly beautiful terrain photos taken by satellites orbiting Earth.
The images show places like the “Himalayas, Arizona’s Painted Desert, the Mississippi River Delta spreading into the Gulf of Mexico (shown above), a Saharan dune sea in Algeria, and Byrd Glacier in Antarctica,” according to NASA’s release. Although NASA is behind the project, the images were captured by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat 5 and 7 environmental satellites, in addition to NASA’s Terra, Aqua, and Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) environmental satellites.
The book is available as a free downloadable PDF or as an iPad app that lets you zoom in on the images and find out more information about the images. To show off the photos at your next Tupperware party, the book is also available as a 158-page hardcover coffee table edition for $44.
Google's Android mobile operating system accounted for most of the mobile market share in 2012, and it is expected to keep that spot for another four years.
The debate between Android fans and iOS lovers about which mobile operating is superior will always be a heated one among techies, but the International Data Corporation (IDC) appears to have made its decision. According to the IDC, Android will remain the top mobile software in the United States through 2016.
While the future may be looking bright for Android, the entire mobile market has taken a slight downturn. The IDC’s report indicated that this year’s global phone market has been projected to only grow by 1.4 percent year-over-year. This is the lowest annual growth rate in three years, the IDC says.
“Sluggish economic conditions worldwide have cast a pall over the mobile phone market this year,” Kevin Restivo, one of IDC’s research analysts, said in the report. “However, the fourth quarter will be relatively bright due in part to sales of high-profile smartphones, such as the iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy S3, in addition to lower cost Android-powered smartphones shipped to China and other high-growth emerging markets.”
Android, however, is likely to thrive due to large selection of devices from a wide range of partners. Samsung is the leading Android smartphone manufacturer, but competing vendors LG and Sony are “not to be overlooked,” the IDC says. Both of these companies cracked the top five when it comes to top Android device makers.
Apple’s iOS operating system is expected to maintain its second place spot, but will continue to ship lower volumes than Android until Apple considers lowering its price points, the report said.
“In order to maintain current growth rates, Apple will need to examine the possibility of offering less expensive models, similar to its iPod line,” the IDC wrote.
Android has claimed a whopping 68.3 percent of the mobile market share for 2012, while Apple clear in second accounting for 18.8 percent of the market. Other platforms, such as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Phone didn’t claim much of the market, each measuring at 4.7 percent and 2.6 percent respectively.
However, Microsoft’s mobile platform is expected to make a stunning jump over the next four years. In 2016, Windows Phone is expected to account for 11.4 percent of the mobile market. This is a 71.3 percent increase for Windows Phone – the largest projected growth of any other mobile software on the market.
The AllShare Cast Wireless Hub makes it possible to mirror your Samsung smartphone, tablet, or PC screen to an HDTV, but is the convenience worth $100?
Samsung’s wireless AllShare Cast technology makes it easy to share the screen from a Samsung smartphone, tablet, or PC on Samsung HDTVs without wired tethering. AllShare is great for presentations, photo slideshows, watching video, and comes standard with several new Samsung mobile devices (including the upcoming ATIV Smart PC) and SmartTVs. But what if you have a phone or tablet but don’t want to buy a new Samsung TV just for AllShare? Or what if you want the ability to set up AllShare anywhere you go, including grandma’s house during the holidays or the HDTV in a hotel room? Samsung has a solution for that, too: the AllShare Cast Wireless Hub.
This $100 device works with any HDTV or HD monitor, all you need is a free HDMI port. But is it better than less expensive wired solutions? We went hands-on to find out.
Setting up the Hub is easy and took just a few minutes. We weren’t pleased that it needed a firmware update out of the box, but it didn’t take long. Once set up, devices will connect to the Hub automatically once AllShare is on.
The Hub mirrors what’s on the screen by default, but it’s also possible to use it as a controller for presentations or while watching video. There are no restrictions on which apps you can use, so everything from YouTube and Google Play Movies to Netflix and Hulu Plus will work. The Hub is capable of 1080p playback, though when playing some HD content the picture isn’t as sharp as we’d expect. Nor is the audio stunning. Still, video played smoothly.
Games are a different story. Audio started lagging after a few minutes of gameplay and occasionally the video would lag as well – not good in a fast-paced game. Thanks to this, playing games wasn’t as nice an experience as a wired connection offers.
We were able to control the screen from up to 15 feet away, but the more distance we put between the phone and the Hub, the more we noticed small issues. Since AllShare utilizes DLNA technology, other wireless signals can interfere. Users in private homes won’t notice many issues, but those in office buildings or apartment complexes will have more trouble the farther apart the phone is from the Hub.
Given all that, is the AllShare Wireless Hub a good buy? Getting one is far cheaper than buying a new SmartTV and, when used with a laptop, gives you access to more content. No more needing to get Hulu Plus to access it on the big screen. And since the Hub is so small – 2.5 x 3.5 inches, 1.75 ounces – it’s great for use when traveling.
Overall, wired connections offer better performance but keep your phone or tablet tied to the TV whereas wireless connections allow you to roam freely but mean some degradation in quality. If wireless convenience appeals to you, this device is a good choice.
The AllShare Wireless Hub will make a good holiday gift for anyone with a Galaxy S3 (except the Verizon Wireless version, which doesn’t have AllShare), Galaxy Note 2, or Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet who likes to watch video or share pictures on the big screen. You can buy it for someone on your list or yourself directly from Samsung or at Amazon, NewEgg, and other electronics retailers.
The next iPhone may have a wireless charging system, if a recently published patent by Apple is any indication.
And while there are other phones with wireless charging capabilities, like the Nokia Lumia 920, what Apple's aiming for is a little different.
The patent covers "various embodiments of a wirelessly powered local computer environment." It uses a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) to wirelessly charge devices up to 1 meter away. That's right - no contact required.
The patent was filled November 2010, but was published just a few days ago.
Charging into the wireless
Apple's proposed system is a departure from current wireless charging apparatuses. Those require some sort of contact on a pad or plate to power devices back up.
There are a few examples of wireless charging already on the market, but the tech has yet to gain major traction. As mentioned, the Lumia 920 has a wireless charging accessory which needs contact to charge. But the plate is a bit pricy at $99 (UK£45, AUD$95).
Being able to charge devices from a meter away is a notable advancement and may help proliferate the technology. At the very least it means devices won't have to crowd around and touch a physical object to charge.
Schiller says
The patent should give hope to those who were disappointed by the iPhone 5. Wireless charging was on the wish list of many Apple fans during the media hype lead-up of the latest iPhone.
But those hopes were dashed when Apple unveiled the Lightning connector and Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, said there would be no wireless charging in the handset.
"Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated," Schiller told AllThingsD the day the iPhone 5 came out.
Schiller was defending Apple choice to switch to the Lightning connector and said USB ports were much more ubiquitous, making the new connector more versatile. But this patent might mark a change of position.
About face(time)
If Apple goes forward with wireless charging will Schiller have to eat his words?
Perhaps not, as Schillers's statement may not be blasting wireless charging but rather speaks to Apple's commitment to simplicity.
To that effect, the patent is meant to tackle the "unwieldy" configuration of the many wired chargers and power sources needed for multiple wireless devices.
If Apple can cut through that clutter it would make charging iPhones, iPads and iPods together a lot simpler.
But Apple's charging system can also reach beyond portable devices. The system could keep a wireless keyboard and mouse powered without the need to change out AA batteries. And Apple loves its wireless keyboards and mice.
More patent disputes?
Though the patent was published a few days ago, some already hear the drum beat of patent war approaching.
Tech startup WiPower already patented the whole concept of wireless charging in 2008. Since then, it was acquired by chip-maker Qualcomm which then joined The Alliance For Wireless Power, which is working on a similar no-touch charging system.
Apple's well known court rival, Samsung, is also in the alliance.
WiPower's original patent and other Samsung intellectual properties form the backbone of the alliance's standard. All this means we might yet see another round of patent infringement lawsuits between Apple and Samsung, though for now we'll just dream of a world without wires.
Toshiba has announced that its Excite 10 SE tablet, the successor to the Excite 10 LE, will launch on Dec. 6. It features Android 4.1 out of the box.
Just when you thought companies and manufacturers have finished launching their new tablets for the holiday season, the folks over at Toshiba have introduced a new contender. The 10-inch Excite 10 SE tablet will be available for $350 beginning Friday, the company announced on Tuesday.
Android lovers should note that Toshiba’s new tablet will ship with Android 4.1 right out of the box. The 10-inch slate also boasts a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor that clocks in at 1.5GHz, an AutoBrite HD screen featuring a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and stereo quality speakers.
“Our Excite family of tablets continues to grow with options to suit a wide range of consumer needs, from portability and gaming to versatility and power,” Carl Pinto, VP of marketing for Toshiba America, said in a statement. “We designed the Excite 10 SE to be a full featured tablet that offers a pure, Android Jelly Bean experience, while maintaining an attractive price point.”
The Excite 10 SE measures in at 0.4-inches thick and weights 22.6 ounces. Users will find a 3-megapixel rear- facing camera with auto focus and digital zoom in addition to a front-facing HD camera. Bluetooth 3.0 and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi capability is also included, and the tablet features microSD and Micro USB ports for expanded storage.
This marks Toshiba’s third 10-inch tablet in the Excite line to date. The first slate of this size to debut under the Excite brand featured specs nearly identical to the new device. The original 10-inch Excite, however, came with a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera rather than a 3-megapixel camera and had a slightly less powerful 1.3GHz processor. However, the most noteworthy difference between the two similar tabs is the discrepancy in price. The 16GB of Toshiba’s first-generation Excite 10-inch tab was priced at $450, while the new gadget starts at $350 for the same storage capacity.
Toshiba touts its Excite 10 SE to offer the best 10-inch tablet experience for that price, as most larger-sized slates begin at around $400. Asus’ Transformer Prime is one of the few 10-inch tablets that fall in that price range, sporting a price tag of $345.
The low price will certainly give Toshiba an advantage, but in an industry so saturated it can be tough to compete with the likes of Apple or Google. The Excite 10 SE will be available at the end of this week through ToshibaDirect.com and other select retailers.
Windows Phone 8 is apparently a smash hit with developers, or at least Microsoft seems to think so.
Speaking out on Twitter over the weekend, Windows Phone Apps Team Senior Director Todd Brix claimed an impressive 100 percent growth in app revenue and downloads in the wake of Windows Phone 8.
"If you build it, they will come. 100%+ increase in WP developer revenue & app downloads since WP8 launch in Nov," Brix tweeted.
Today he added some clarification to the statement, which had already started generating buzz and more than a few calls for specific sales data.
"100% = growth 30 days after 10/29 announce in US. Just sharing a nice trend FWIW. Not announcing raw sales," he said.
Talking in trends
Taken simply as a general trend, improved sales and downloads for Windows Phone apps is to be expected.
While Windows Phone 8 hasn't exactly set the sales charts on fire, it is at least outperforming its predecessor.
So with four times as many Windows Phone 8 handsets are getting sold, sure, we'll buy it that the Windows Phone 8 app ecosystem received a boost as well.
The devil is in the details
An increase of 100 percent or more seems a bit of a stretch, but certainly possible. After all, very few new apps were being released a month prior to the Windows Phone 8 launch, as many developers saved their apps for the new mobile OS.
The initial numbers could be shockingly low, or the new download statistics could be staggeringly high. However, without actual sales data in hand it is easy to assume the worst, especially when competitors like Apple and Google are all too eager to make even the smallest milestone known by the world.
The continued lack of specificity from Microsoft is worrying, suggesting that the software giant is not as proud of the data as it claims to be. Just sharing a troubling trend, for what it's worth.
At least initially, this update will only be available for Android, and it’s available immediately to a select number of countries including Australia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Venezuela. It will be rolled out to other countries shortly.
Mobile phone owners now might find the platform more attractive to use for messaging friends and family since it no longer forces users to connect with their Facebook accounts. But like other messaging apps, the app requires users to sign up with their phone numbers in addition to their names so that Facebook is able to pull the contact information from the native contact list on your smartphone. It helps to sync your contact list to find out whether someone else is using the app already.
If you send a message to someone that doesn’t have Facebook Messenger downloaded or isn’t logged into Facebook, Facebook will notify the recipients to download Messenger.
The social network isn’t holding back either. Its aggressive uncharacteristic strategy is evidence to the Facebook’s vested interest and willingness to invest in Messenger at whatever the cost may be. With competing messaging apps in the market that boast tens of millions to an upwards of hundreds of millions of users, Facebook’s time to capitalize on its users and platform really is right now.
There’s a lot of busy to be had with third party messaging systems, and Facebook is looking to capitalize while the time is right and before the competition gets any thicker. There’s a good chance that friends or family are already on Facebook, meaning that there’s a good chance that they have Facebook Messenger on their mobile devices already. That alone lessens the burden of convincing users to adopt Messenger.
But ultimately it’s the rebranding of Facebook’s messaging app that’s going to be critical to Messenger’s success. Facebook wants users to think of the app as an SMS alternative, but until today Messenger was a messaging platform like AIM and Google Chat that happened to be optimized for a mobile device. It doesn’t help that Facebook Messenger is in reality one package posing as three different products. The mobile messaging app is to become an SMS app, its messaging feature on the Web app was branded as an email client, while the chat column you find on the right side of your profile page is an in-app chatting product.
This update to the iOS app is in the works, but no details have been released about the release.
The marketing intelligence and analysis company IDC has revisited its smartphone market predictions for the following four years. It's become quite a tradition for IDC to post different numbers in each report, which serves to show just how impossible task it is trying to achieve, predicting a market as dynamic as this one.
Nevertheless, the company suggests that Anrdoid will lose some of its market share and will slip from this year's 68.3% to 63.8% in 2016. IDC believes that despite the slide, Google's mobile OS will continue to be the market leader thanks to various low-end and mid-range offerings from LG, Sony, and Samsung.
IDC's previous predictions that Windows Phone will overtake iOS by 2016 have been altered and now Microsoft's smartphone OS is predicted to take just 11.4% of the market (as opposed to 19.1% from six months ago). HTC and Nokia are going to drive the OS forward, but Samsung, ZTE and Huawei will also help grow Microsoft's share.
iOS on the other hand will continue to take second place in the heated mobile OS battle. The Apple platform held 18.8% of the market share in 2012 and according to IDC its share will remain relatively stable - 19.1% in 2016.
RIM will continue to fight for its survival and is betting all in on the soon-to-come BlackBerry 10 OS. IDC reckons RIM will be dependent on "channel advocacy" and "sales associates who can effectively tell the BlackBerry story". As a result, the company's 2016 market share is expected to stand at 4.1% from 4.7% in 2012.
Rather unsurprisingly, platforms with suspended development like MeeGo, Bada OS and Symbian will virtually go distinct by 2006 with an aggregated market share of 0.1%. However, up and rising mobile OSes like Samsung's Tizen and Jolla's SailFish which are based on Linux will still struggle to break ground. IDC predicts they'll manage to get 1.5% of the market share combined.
Ultimately, these predictions are bothering on pure speculations as seenbefore. An industry like the smartphone market is developing at fast rates and it's next to impossible to make such long term predictions accurately.
Valve co-founder Gabe Newell called Windows 8 a "catastrophe" earlier this year. After more than a month on shelves, Microsoft's new operating system has certainly lived up to Newell's words in the gaming industry.
Windows 8 hasn’t been the hit with consumers that Microsoft was hoping it would be, at least not yet. In the video game industry, it has been the abject failure game developers like Valve’s Gabe Newell said it would be even though some of Valve’s customers have already adopted the new operating system. About 237,600 of them based on data from the company’s latest survey of Steam users.
Valve compiles a monthly overview of Steam’s membership through a voluntary, optional survey of its users. It breaks down what PC technology Steam users are running the client and games on, covering everything from video cards, graphics processors, operating systems, etc. Based on the latest survey, 0.44 percent of Steam users are running Windows 8. With 54 million active users on Steam, you get 237,600 Windows 8 users on Steam provided that Valve’s data is consistent across all its users. It’s likely not, but it’s a reasonable estimation.
The short version: Windows 8 is definitively not a hit with PC gamers, even if some of them upgraded to the new OS. It isn’t just Steam that proves Microsoft’s bid to win the Apple audience isn’t connecting with video game players. The NPD Group reported that Windows PC game sales crumpled in the month after Windows 8’s release, shrinking by 21 percent between Oct. 21 and Nov. 17 compared to the same month the previous year.
“It hasn’t made the market any worse, but it hasn’t stimulated things either,” said the NPD’s Stephen Baker, “It hasn’t provided the impetus to sales everybody hoped for.”
Even Microsoft’s own partners are badmouthing the OS. “Demand for Windows 8 is not that good right now,” said David Chang, the CFO of PC maker Asus.
Video game developers have been opposed to Windows 8 since Microsoft first announced the operating system, because it was an attempt to make PCs a closed platform rigidly controlled by Microsoft. If you wanted to make a PC game and sell it through the Windows 8 store, you had to abide by Microsoft’s approval process and store rules, much like on Apple platforms. Independent apps can be purchased and run on Windows 8, but the process would not be as open as on past Windows platforms.
Windows 8 isn’t actually the least used operating system amongst Steam users, though. That distinction belongs to Apple’s OS X 10.7.4.
Qualcomm will provide funds to further develop IGZO screens
The rumors of Sharp being saved by an investment from Qualcomm turned true Tuesday, as the U.S. technology company has made a deal to become a minority shareholder in Sharp.
Back in November, it was thought Qualcomm and Intel would both offer support to the struggling Sharp, however Tuesday's announcement revealed Qualcomm, through its Pixtronix subsidiary, as the only investor.
As part of the deal, Qualcomm has offered to invest up to $120 million (UK£74.5, AUD$114.5) in Sharp, with $60 million (UK£37.2,AU$57.2) due by the end of 2012.
There is currently no timetable for the other half of the investment to be paid, but Qualcomm will not provide more cash unless Sharp can prove profitable by the end of the fiscal year.
Low-power rescue
Qualcomm's investment in Sharp provides the Japanese manufacturer with the capital to continue work on its indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) displays, and Reuters reported the two will work together on developing the technology.
Sharp's IGZO LCD screens provide a low-power solution for tablets and smartphones, requiring power only when in use, rather than constantly being active.
The Aquos Pad will be the first device to use an IGZO display, and the 16GB 7-inch tablet is due to arrive in Japan by the end of this year.
Sharp and its partners, such as Apple, have been secretive about whether or not the IGZO displays will be utilized in iPads and iPhones in the future, but technology that improves battery life and screen resolution could help revolutionize the next wave of touchscreen devices.
It's also worth pointing out IGZO LCD technology may not just be limited to smaller screens, and the screens could possibly make it onto television sets down the line.
Qualcomm's investment is a major deal, and could prove to inject life back into the fledgling Sharp as 2013 begins. The company announced in September that it would lay off almost 20 percent of its workforce by 2014.
Qualcomm will provide funds to further develop IGZO screens
Tuesday afternoon the rumors of Sharp being saved by an investment from Qualcomm became true, as the U.S. technology company has made a deal to become a minority shareholder in Sharp.
Back in November, it was believed Qualcomm and Intel would both offer support to Sharp with some much needed equity, however Tuesday's announcement revealed Qualcomm as the only investor.
As part of the deal, Qualcomm has offered to invest up to $120 million (UK£74.5, AUD$114.5) in Sharp, with $60 million due by the end of 2012.
There is currently no timetable for the other half of the investment to be paid, but Qualcomm will not provide more cash unless Sharp can prove profitable by the end of the fiscal year.
IGZO LCD back on track
Qualcomm's investment in Sharp provides the Japanese manufacturer with the capital to continue work on its Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) displays.
Sharp's IGZO LCD screens provide a low-power solution for tablets and smartphones, requiring power only when in use, rather than constantly being active.
The Aquos Pad will be the first device to use an IGZO display, and the 16GB 7-inch tablet is due to arrive in Japan by the end of this year.
Sharp and its partners, such as Apple, have been secretive about whether or not the IGZO displays will be utilized in iPads and iPhones in the future, but technology that improves battery life and screen resolution could help revolutionize the next wave of touchscreen devices.
It's also worth pointing out IGZO LCD technology may not just be limited to smaller screens, and the screens could possibly make their way into television sets down the line.
Qualcomm's investment is a major deal, and could prove to inject life back into the fledgling Sharp as 2013 begins.
Sharp will have to continue to work to resolve its financial issues though, as recovering from such a drastic collapse will take some time and effort.
Gmail is the email service of choice for many people, but the mobile app that accompanied it was barely usable for far too long. Stop looking for alternatives and head back to the source, because Google has updated Gmail for iOS. Version 2.0 has a new look and desperately needed features.
For those who have been scouring the App Store for an app that makes Gmail usable on iOS or have been sulking since Google bought out the best alternative email app in Sparrow and has sparsely updated it since the July purchase, you can finally return to the source of the problem. Google got around to updating its iOS app to Gmail 2.0 today. Six months of development seems to have paid off, as the app offers a new design and some heavily requested features.
The project manager for the Gmail iOS app, Matthew Izatt, laid out what users can expect with the update in a blog post. “You’ll get a totally new look and feel, plus a bunch of improvements like profile pictures in messages, numerous new animations from swivels to transitions and infinite scrolling in the message lists,” Izatt stated. A clear effort was made by the Google team to make the Gmail app look and feel like a whole new experience, which is needed after the bad taste the old versions have likely left in the mouth of users.
More than just looks, Gmail 2.0 on iOS also brings plenty of functions that were previously missing. The ability to manage up to five Gmail accounts within the app promises to give folks with multiple inboxes the access they crave. Integration between Gmail and other Google products have also been included, further immersing users into a Google-made universe. “You can RSVP to Google Calendar invites as well as +1 and comment on Google+ posts directly from the app,” Izatt detailed on the Gmail Blog.
Following the Gmail Android app update and an update to Google Drive on both Android and iOS, it appears that Google is definitely committing more resources to its mobile offerings. The Gmail app shows the company is learning–or at least taking the best ideas from the companies it buys out. Either way, the changes are more than welcome.
Pogoseat is a new ticketing app that offers seat upgrades so fans can get closer to the action in a sports stadium or music venue.
Anyone who’s been to a live sporting event knows the pain of watching from the nosebleed seats, staring at empty chairs rows and rows ahead. You have two choices in this case: Jump on down and risk getting caught in the act, or paying the difference for a seat that’s closer to the action – which isn’t exactly possible in most cases. But Pogoseat, a startup based in California, wants to help fans to upgrade seats in an instant with its mobile app for both Android and iOS devices.
Buying an upgrade is as straight forward as it sounds. For now Pogoseat is partnered with NBA team, the Golden State Warriors, and Stanford Men’s Basketball so should you want to buy ticket upgrades at any one of these team’s games, you just open up the app, find an empty seat, and buy the ticket within the app. The ticket gets delivered straight to your phone so all you have to do to claim your seat is to show your digital ticket to the usher for that section.
“Our goal is to make sure that my grandma can use it. If she can use it easily, then we’ve solved the problem,” Pogoseat co-founder, Evan Owens, tells me.
Pogoseat benefits both the fans and the teams by opening up the doors for teams to sell otherwise unsold seats. “It’s a great way for teams to monetize on unused inventory,” says Owens. “It’s a great way to engage their fan base.” By engagement he means that users can get closer to the courtside seats, but that statement will soon hold more weight once Pogoseat implements new social media features. Owen says the app will soon allow you to see if your friends are at the game, and the ability to upgrade to seats next to your friends (if those seats are open) will also be added.
So far, the app has been used during six Warrior home games, and a total of 1,572 fans have used the app. Among these users, 26 upgraded their seats with Pogoseat. During preliminary testing throughout those six games, users on average have spent about $24 dollars for an upgrade. But this varies widely, as Owens tells me that fans have spent up to $150 on an upgrade.
Brandon Schneider, Vice President, Ticket Sales & Services for the Golden State Warriors says so far the team has been satisfied by the results and is on the brink of a massive marketing push to Warriors fans. “It has definitely been successful. We just launched on opening night. We started really slowly because we wanted to make sure it worked with our ushers, our arena staff. [We wanted to make sure] the technology itself was really smooth before we really started pushing it out there.” Schneider adds that for now, Pogoseat has been used among fans that “happened on” the app. “So we’re just now in the process of going more widespread, pumping advertising in our arena, in our tipoff publication, emailing it to ticket buyers so they know it’s there.”
The ticket prices fluctuate based on the number of seats available, the location of the seat, what teams are playing each other, and 37 other data points for calculating seat pricing, which is all done by the Pogoseat algorithm. But the Warriors get the final say on ticket prices. “Pogoseat has given us the flexibility to set pricing. Some teams may do it differently. The big thing for us is to maintain the integrity for the brand,” says Schneider. Schneider says that the Warriors are currently working with Pogoseat on a feature that will allow users to purchase vacated seats. So if a fan has purchased another seat at a different part of the stadium, someone else can upgrade to that vacated seat. Another feature that the Warriors are looking at is a secondary market for ticket holders that for one reason or another aren’t able to make it to the game. These ticket holders would ideally sell their seats on Pogoseat and get a share of the revenue earned from the sale.
You might recognize that there’s an opportunity for Pogoseat to sell tickets directly, but Owens emphasizes on multiple occasions that he has no interest in offering such a service. It’s understandably a competitive space dominated by Ticketmaster and Stubhub, as well as a handful of smaller distributors.
While the app is currently limited to the Warriors’ and Stanford Tree basketball games, Owens tells me that the app will be deployed by additional NBA teams, although he declined to name the latest crop of partners as the contracts were in the finalizing stages.
After the junior member of the new DROID lineup, the DROID RAZR M, received the Jelly Bean update almost a full month ago, it was with ever-growing anxiety that we all waited for similar updates to come to its elder brothers, the DROID RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD.
That time has finally arrived and DROID owners can now enjoy the benefits a more detailed notification area, Google Now, and Google Voice Search.
The updates should be available to both the RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD via OTA updates.
The DROID RAZR HD is available on contract from Verizon for $199.99, while the DROID RAZR MAXX HD and DROID RAZR M are available for $299.99 and $49.99, respectively, also with a 2-year commitment.
After over 250 million downloads of its first title, Cut the Rope, ZeptoLabs is finally ready to try something new. Pudding Monsters will be released on December 20 on iOS and Android. New graphics and gameplay promise to make it just as addicting as ZeptoLabs' first title.
Cut the Rope has been an App Store darling since its initial release. Never falling out of favor with mobile gamers, the title is rarely absent from top games or most downloaded apps lists. The developers can’t live off of Om Nom, the candy-gobbling star of Cut the Rope, and his adventures forever. ZeptoLabs has announced its next game: Pudding Monsters.
What could Pudding Monsters possibly be about, you ask? Well, it’s about blobs of pudding that team up with other blobs of pudding to fight back against an evil man who steals and eats pudding. Of course it is. What else could it have possibly been? If there are three things ZeptoLabs proved it did very well with Cut the Rope, it’s cuteness, quirkiness, and fun. It appears Pudding Monsters will invoke all three traits.
Opting to move away from the physics-based gameplay of Cut the Rope and create an easy-to-approach, casual puzzle game, Pudding Monsters will focus more on timing and observation. It will require players to manage different pieces and game elements to accomplish the goal of creating a mega-sized pudding blob. Though ZeptoLabs is promising a step up in game design and graphical detail, it also plans for Pudding Monsters to be just as easy to pick up and play at any time as its previous title was.
Anxious players will have a two-week wait until they are able to get their fix of pudding, but there should be no shortage of platforms to play it on. ZeptoLabs made Cut the Rope available on as many mobile platforms as it could and offered a web-based app, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t do the same with it’s upcoming title. It will first be available on December 20 on iOS and Android. If you’re afraid you’ll miss Om Nom too much, don’t worry: Chief Executive Misha Lyalin promised 2013 would bring more of him inside and outside of the Cut the Rope universe. We have a feeling no crossover with Pudding Monsters is expected, as the pudding wouldn’t stand a chance against the green monster and his undying appetite.
Have you been experiencing any iPhone 5 problems? Join us as we run through the most commonly reported issues with Apple's flagship smartphone and try to find workarounds or solutions.
Apple sold 5 million iPhone 5 units in the first three days after release. Considering most of these buyers never saw, held or played with an iPhone 5 in person, that’s a big leap of faith. While we haven’t seen any flubs the scale of “Antennagate” this time around, there have been plenty of complaints about the new smartphone.
Let’s take a look at the most common gripes people seem to have. While not necessarily universal or even exceptional in the world of smartphones, these are the iPhone 5 problems that people have been complaining about the most online and around the world. Wherever possible, we’ll also let you know how you can work around these issues or fix them if you’re encountering them as well.
Apple Maps
It’s no secret that Apple and Google are no longer exchanging Christmas cards. The “thermonuclear” war Steve Jobs initiated on the Android platform is far from over. With iOS 6 and the new iPhone 5, Apple stripped out the Google Maps app as the default and replaced it with its own Maps app. A flurry of stories in the days following release focused on mistakes and inaccuracies in Apple’s new navigation system.
The data is inaccurate for many places, the app is buggy, and many core features of Google Maps that people had come to rely on simply don’t exist in Apple’s Maps app. The fuss in the press got so bad that Apple CEO Tim Cook actually apologized publicly, and promised the app would improve over time.
Workaround: There’s no way to fix the Maps app, and no telling how long it will take Apple to get it right, but in the meantime you can always turn to an alternative. Here’s a roundup of the best alternative map apps for iOS. We’ve been hearing that the Google Maps app for iOS 6 is just around the corner for a while now, but right now the only way to access it on your iPhone 5 is through the browser: Point it to maps.google.com.
Scratches on the body
Reports of the iPhone 5’s anodized aluminum casing getting scratched and scuffed very easily started to emerge quite quickly after the launch. A number of people found the coating was easily scratched off around the edges and chipped on the back panel, revealing the silver aluminum beneath. There were also reports of iPhone 5 units being scratched right out of the box.
Apple’s marketing boss, Phil Schiller, responded to an email from a complaining customer to say, “Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. That is normal.”
Workaround: Assuming your smartphone isn’t scratched on arrival then you should invest in a bumper or go shopping for iPhone 5 cases. If it does get scratched you could always polish off the coating to create a silver highlight around the edge or even laser engrave something on the back.
Purple glare on photos
The camera on the iPhone 5 is supposed to be the best yet, but many users have reported a strange purple glare. The effect seems to rear its ugly head when there is a strong edge or out-of-scene light source. The standard lens flare effect we’re all used to seems to have a purple hue when using the iPhone 5 camera. In direct comparisons with other cameras, such as that on the iPhone 4S, the difference is pretty clear.
Workaround: Apple released a support document addressing this issue and suggested that, “Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.”
Light leakage
A few people reported that light was leaking out around the power connector on the white iPhone 5. It’s not really noticeable unless you are in low light or dark surroundings, but it is a flaw.
Solution: Show the offending iPhone 5 at an Apple store and they’ll replace it with a new one.
Rattling from inside
A number of people reported a rattling noise coming from inside their new iPhone 5 when lightly shaken. Apparently in the rush to meet demand some iPhone 5 units shipped with a battery that was not properly set.
Solution: Take your iPhone 5 to an Apple store and they’ll fix the loose battery or offer you a replacement.
Date and time bug
There have been several threads in the Apple and Verizon forums about a bug with the date and time incorrectly updating on the iPhone 5. Some users reported that the device was losing minutes, but others complained of it being hours out of sync and even changing the date by several days. The majority of complaints concern Verizon customers, although there are some complaints from Sprint customers as well. Many people have suggested it is related to the LTE network, but neither Apple nor Verizon was keen to take responsibility.
Solution: You can try switching the update from automatic to manual in Settings > General > Date & Time. Some people have suggested switching off LTE or resetting the phone, but there’s no definite fix. If you experience this problem then complain to your carrier. Some customers suffering from the problem have reported it magically vanishing so there’s a good chance that Verizon is working on it behind the scenes. Judging by reports of similar issues from people on Verizon with other phones it is likely not an Apple problem.
Screen flicker
Reports of an intermittent screen flicker on the iPhone 5 have also been pretty common. This glitch most frequently appears on the virtual keyboard in the App Store when users go to enter their password to purchase an app. It turns up as flickering lines across the bottom of the screen over the keyboard, but it’s relatively minor.
Solution: Wait for the next iOS update because it looks like a software glitch and will likely be fixed when Apple rolls out a platform update. There’s not really anything you can do about it in the meantime.
Unresponsive touchscreen
A few complaints have come in that the iPhone 5 touchscreen is randomly dropping touch input when a finger is dragged forwards and backwards diagonally across the display. Some people have even reported a completely unresponsive touchscreen or the screen going blank for a few seconds. There have also been complaints about the touchscreen registering touches when the user hasn’t touched that part of the display. While this doesn’t seem to be a widespread issue it is clearly a pretty extreme problem. There could be more than one issue here, some tests suggest the quick swipe failure is an iOS issue, but the more severe unresponsive or wrongly registering touches problems are likely to be hardware related.
Solution: If your problem is severe then take your iPhone 5 to an Apple store and show them the issue and you’ll get a replacement. You could try resetting or restoring your iPhone 5, but this is probably a hardware problem and you shouldn’t have any trouble getting a replacement. If you are experiencing the quick swipe problem then you may just need to wait for an iOS update.
Other problems
If you’ve encountered any other iPhone 5 problems or you want to volunteer some fixes then post a comment. With the severe problems we’ve suggested that you visit an Apple Store to get them resolved. That’s because this will always be the quickest way to find a fix or get a replacement phone. If you are unable to get to an Apple Store then contact customer support, but you can expect to be asked to run through troubleshooting steps and then have a bit of wait time before they’ll ship you a replacement.
It's time to open up multiple browsers can dust off your F5 key, as the Google Nexus 4 will be back in stock on the UK Google website at 5pm.
The smash hit handset with a crazily reasonable price tag sold out in 30 minutes flat when it initially went on sale in November – leaving many with a sour taste in their mouth after missing out.
Fear ye not though, for the search has confirmed the Nexus 4 will be going back on sale at 5pm, although stock levels are unclear – fingers crossed they are plentiful and that Google's website can cope with the influx of visitors.
Powerhouse
The LG made handset sports an impressive 1.5Ghz quad-core processor, 4.7-inch HD display, 2GB of RAM, 8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera, NFC connectivity and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
It's available in 8GB and 16GB flavours, with the former setting you back just £239 and the latter only slightly more expensive at £279.
Market research in the UK has revealed the Samsung Galaxy S3 as the most popular smartphone for the seventh month running, beating the new iPhone 5, which in turn was beaten by its predecessor, the iPhone 4S.
Research carried out in the UK has revealed that for the seventh month running, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is more popular amongst buyers than the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5. The data comes from uSwitch, a site which offers consumer advice, and is made up of monthly sales, pre-orders and live search information.
Apart from the Galaxy S3’s continued success, which echoes its global performance, Samsung dominates the rest of the top ten most popular phones chart too, taking five of the total available positions. HTC, LG and Sony manage to squeeze a single device each into the list, with Apple taking the last two spots with the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5.
While some may expect the iPhone 5 to be a close second to the Galaxy S3, it’s actually Apple’s older mode, the iPhone 4S which sits behind Samsung’s flagship smartphone and the new iPhone 5 sits in third. Current UK prices mean the iPhone 4S is available for free on many tariffs, pricing it around £50/$80 less than the iPhone 5 on the equivalent plan, which could explain its sudden increase in popularity.
Apple’s much publicized production problems may have hurt iPhone 5 sales more than we know too, with customers perhaps choosing the iPhone 4S instead, rather than wait several weeks for the new model to be re-stocked. It appears these issues are close to being solved, and could see the iPhone 5 regain ground next month. The data shows the iPhone 4S has swapped places this month with the previous second place phone, the Galaxy S2, which now sits fourth.
Best of the rest
After these four comes the LG Nexus 4 in fifth place, an excellent showing considering almost everyone would have purchased it online through Google Play, where it sold out in a short space of time. Again, like the iPhone 4S, the Nexus 4 is available at a very low price point, considering its specification. If Google had provided more stock, one wonders where it would have been placed.
In sixth it’s the Samsung Galaxy Ace, followed by the supremely popular Galaxy Note 2 and the Sony Xperia U. In ninth, it’s another new device, the HTC One X+, a position which illustrates how far HTC has fallen recently, as the specification of the One X+ is on a par with the Galaxy S3 and the Nexus 4, yet can’t match either for popularity. Finally, bringing up the rear in tenth is the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2.
The data used to create this chart is good until the end of November, so it has provided us with a pre-Christmas rush snapshot of the most popular phones jostling for position. Whether the Galaxy S3 can maintain its hold on the number one spot through December remains to be seen, as while it’s obviously incredibly popular, the iPhone — in both its forms — is sure to be near the top of many Christmas lists.
The heavily delayed Samsung Ativ S will indeed land in stores before the year is out, the Korean manufacturer has confirmed.
Initially scheduled for a mid-November release when it was announced during the Windows Phone 8 event at the end of October, the Ativ S has experienced some explained delays which has seen it miss a host of rumouredrelease dates.
A Samsung spokesperson told TechRadar, "We've heard from HQ that the product will be available by the end of this year."
No further info
The representative was not able to furnish us with any more details regarding an exact Samsung Ativ S release date, nor was there any explanation as to why there has been such a mighty delay.
The Ativ S is Samsung's first smartphone to run Mircosoft's latest mobile platform, Windows Phone 8, but it's currently losing ground to the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC 8X, both of which have been on sale for a while now.
We were impressed with the handset in our hands on Samsung Ativ S review and although it's not arriving on time, it still has the chance to steal the Windows Phone 8 show.
Nokia's financials aren't what you'd call great lately, and as a result the company is selling its headquarters building in Espoo, Finland for €170 million.
The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, but the company has no plans to move out afterwards. Instead it will lease it back and continue its operations there. The building offers 48,000 square meters of office real estate and has been housing Nokia's HQ since 1997.
Here's what the chief financial officer of Nokia, Timo Ihamuotia had to say.
We had a comprehensive sales process with both Finnish and foreign investors and we are very pleased with this outcome. As we have said before, owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business and when good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets. We are naturally continuing to operate in our head office building on a long-term basis.
Nokia is obviously in dire need of money and is trying to cash in on just about everything valuable it holds. In June the company sold its Vertu subsidiary and now its the HQ turn to go. Hopefully, the cash will help the company continue normal operating until the WP investment pays off. That Q4 report will make for a pretty interesting read.
The Times newspaper is using the Nexus 7 tablet to attract new readers to its digital edition, by offering the tablet for £50 provided an 18-month subscription package is taken out at the same time.
The Daily will publish its final issue this month after News Corporation bigwigs decided to pull the plug on the original iPad-only newspaper, proving it’s not easy to sell subscriptions to enhanced print-style media to a digital audience. Newspapers and magazines need to find alternative methods to attract new audiences, and The Times has come up with an interesting twist of its own.
The Times has always been open to trying new methods of improving its digital readership numbers, and was one of the first to produce a cross-platform, web app for use outside the iTunes App Store, when Apple was turning the screws on publications with its controversial subscription rates. This time, it has edged away from Apple’s abode and set up home on Android, offering a cut price Nexus 7 to those who take out an 18-month subscription to the newspaper.
As the Nexus 7 is already cut price, The Times knew it needed a big discount to capture our attention — so how does £50 ($80) sound for the 32GB model? That’s £150 ($240) cheaper than the tablet’s retail cost, but to get that price you need to sign-up for the 18-month subscription, which costs £17.33 ($28) per month. Alternatively, if you don’t mind paying up front, the deal gets even sweeter, as you can get the whole package — the 32GB tablet and an 18-month Times Digital Pack subscription — for £299 ($490). That saves more than £50 on the pay-monthly deal, and more than £200 ($322) if everything was purchased separately.
New approach to an established sales method
The Times Tablet Edition for Android was updated late last month, making this the right time for such an offer, as not only will it provide the new app with important coverage, but it makes a decent Christmas present too. Sadly, the reviews currently posted on Google Play for the app aren’t very positive, with many users complaining of poor performance.
The Times’ subsidization of the Nexus 7 isn’t really anything new, and is similar to both Google and Amazon’s approach with its tablet sales, which are priced low to attract consumers who then buy content. Other newspapers and magazines have used similar tactics before too. UK network O2 offered a 10 month free subscription to the Telegraph when customers signed up for a tablet-friendly data-only micro-SIM plan, and earlier this year Barnes & Noble offered a one-year subscription to the New York Times with discounted versions of the Nook Color, Nook Simple Touch and Nook Tablet.
So, how will the offer do? According to Tom Whitwell, Editorial Director of Times Digital, who tweeted that the promotion is already off to a “very strong start.” While he would say this, it’s difficult to think of many other deals as tantalizing as this one, particularly because The Times’ Digital Pack subscription covers daily editions of the newspaper, phone and website access too, plus the Nexus 7 is one of the most popular gadgets available at the moment. Tempted?
AT&T owners of the Galaxy S III, rejoice! The wait is finally over - the Jelly Bean update for your favorite droid is now available.
Unfortunately, there is no over-the-air option for now, and you will have to use Kies to get the update. Just install the latest version of Samsung's proprietary software, connect your Galaxy S III and check for updates. It should be there waiting for you.
After the update procedure is done, your Galaxy S III will be running on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and the latest TouchWiz UI on top of it. If you want to learn about every new feature coming with the update just head over to our review.
This makes AT&T the third major US carrier to release Jelly Bean to its Galaxy S III units, after Sprint at the end of October and T-Mobile last month.
Verizon is the last one left, as the procedures required to approve the update for distribution are obviously more tedious at the Big Red. We are hoping they will be over soon, though.
The Android distribution statistics for November just arrived, showing an over two-fold increase in the Jelly Bean market share.
Version 4.1 Jelly Bean is now on 5.9% of the Android devices from 2.7% last month, while the recently released 4.2 Jelly Bean already powers 0.8% of the droids out tehre. Undoubtedly, the release of the new Nexus devices has to do something with it, butthe release of JB updates from Samsung and HTC has also helped a bit.
The Ice Cream Sandwich share also grew to 27.5%, 1.7 percent points higher than it was in October. It's unlikely for this number to drop below 20% any time soon, as the majority of low- and mid-range devices are now rocking this Android version of the OS out of the box.
Naturally, the growth of both Jelly Bean and Ice Cream Sandwich is at Gingerbread's expense. It's still taking the largest piece of the pie at 50.6%, but that's 3.3 percent points lower than last month and 5.2 percent points lower than it was in September.
To check out more details on the latest Android distribution numbers, check out the source link below.
The majority of Android users are still living in the past
The latest breakdown of Android versions has turned up and it still doesn't make great reading for the Droid-loving community with over half of all devices running Gingerbread or lower.
The fragmentation of the Android platform has for some years been something that gloating Apple fans have merrily highlighted as one of the major failings of Google's mobile OS over the Cupertino firm's iOS offering.
Android Jelly Bean was launched back in June and since version 4.1 landed we've also seen 4.2 arrive, although the latest incarnation still only finds itself on 6.7 per cent of Android devices.
Gingerbread still number 1
Even Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is now over a year old hasn't managed to climb into top spot, accounting for a relatively mediocre 27.5 per cent of the Android market.
It is Gingerbread though which is still stealing the Android show, with version 2.3.x of Google's famous OS still running on 50.8 per cent of devices – and that's two years after it was initially launched.
Gingerbread has seen a drop over the last few months, as it was claiming 57.7 per cent back in September, with Jelly Bean was languishing at 1.2 per cent.
So while the trend is slow growth towards the newer iterations of the Android platform, the tedious upgrade path means a vast number of users are still stuck on the older versions of the software.
This is something Apple users generally don't need to worry about – unless that is you have an iPhone 3G or first generation iPad.
It certainly feels like Samsung is taking over the world right now – at least, the Android world. There's no doubt that last year's Galaxy S2 was arguably the phone of the year.
And not in recent times, discounting Apple of course, can we remember the anticipation and expectation of a phone as much as the Galaxy S3.
If you needed a barometer of this, just look at how it was unveiled. Not at MWC like lots of others, but its own event, proving the Galaxy line has reached the level where it can guarantee hoards will come just for an unveiling.
But that's last season's device, and we're looking forward to the next level of what to expect in the Galaxy SIV. The trickle of 'sources' talking about this new device is starting to build to a steady stream, so we're on hand to help let you know which whispers have a notion of truth about them - as well as providing our wishlist of what we want Samsung to improve on the new handset.
Samsung Galaxy S4 screen
The Galaxy S2 had an amazing Super AMOLED Plus display – and boy, was it vibrant. The S3 upped the screen size from 4.3-inches to 4.8-inches and the pixel density went from 217 to 306 to take a run at the iPhone's Retina Display.
But, Samsung also opted for a PenTile approach, to the chagrin of geeks. What does that mean for the end user?
Well, the screen looks great but you can make out pixels if you really, really strain. And some of the vivacity and colour saturation is lost. On the plus side, Samsung reckons the screen will last longer – but we'd rather see a much more S2-like screen with a sharper resolution - and given that's now appeared on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, we're pretty hopeful we'll get it on the Samsung Galaxy S4 too.
There seems a much more likely option in the shape of the 5-inch 1080p screen that could offer up an eye-splitting 441ppi, making it easily the highest res out there. It would probably need to be shrunk down a smidge to fit into the palm, or Samsung could actually just make the phone even closer to the edges of the screen. Dare we dream of an edge-to-edge display like on the 9000 series TVs?
However, the bad news is that due to reported manufacturing issues these may have been delayed... does that mean the phone will have to be pushed back as well?
Samsung Galaxy S4 release date
It seems more than likely that Samsung will eschew MWC 2013 once more for the release of its top handset, instead focusing on the launch in May 2013, which we'd really like to see.
This makes sense for a number of reasons: time to allow the current customers to buy the S3, being able to scoop up all the customers about to come out of contract from the S2 and also not making its fans feel like its throwing out a new flagship phone every three seconds.
However, that didn't stop the rumour mill deciding that the Galaxy S4 launch was set for March 2013, based on something a Samsung 'representative' said to the media. The brand quickly took to Twitter to discredit the rumours, so it looks like the middle of the year launch is still firmly on the cards.
Since then another rumour, of a phone dubbed 'Project J', has emerged, and that's set for an April unveil... so it seems we're looking at a Q2 2013 Samsung Galaxy S4 launch as it stands, which means you'll probably be able to actually hold one in your hands come May.
Samsung Galaxy S4 specs
There's not a lot around about specs at the moment, but the rumours emanating from the good ol' internet rumour mill are certainly enough to make us excited.
The first is that the S4 will have a quad-core chip, which might sound a little 'last gen' to many. However, it will be based on ARM's A15 architecture, bringing with it a big boost in power for all those resource-intensive tasks we love to do all the time.
But then again, that's not Samsung's way really, is it? We want to see bigger, bangier and faster, so doubling it again to an OCTO-core would be the way to go.
Rather than just making it super powerful though, the eight core innards would split into two groups: A15-spec chips for the big stuff, and A7 when things need to get a little lower power, bringing with it the best of both worlds.
The other big news that we think should be on our wish list is the fact that Samsung's internal storage bods have been hard at work bringing the flash memory down in size and up in speed... so think even thinner phones with higher capacity that can be written to up to 10x faster. We're now looking forward to the S4 even more now.
Samsung Galaxy S4 battery
Ok, we admit we always want more. The S2's 1,650mAh was manageable and the S3's 2,100mAh blows that out of the water. But it's still only OK.
You can get by on a day of moderate use but if you use this phone heavily (and we're talking watching TV shows on the morning and evening commute alongside your normal tinkering), this handset will still want a plug in at some point.
Motorola has proven it can be done by whacking a 3,300mAh power pack into the RAZR Maxx which can still be considered a skinny Minnie. Something of that size – along with ICS and Samsung's power management abilities – would really be the icing on the Ice Cream Sandwich.
Samsung Galaxy S4 design
We've lost count of the amount of people we've shown our device off to who've replied with the words: "Yeah, it's great but looks like a bit of a toy." It's a double-edged sword: the plastic is used to keep this handset nice and light, but does detract from what should be a premium device.
A bit of glass wouldn't go amiss. Android users, say what you like about the iPhone 4/4S (and we know you won't be short of words), but aside from being smash-tastic, the glass really adds that premium and expensive feel that the S3 just doesn't have.
Forget what your mum told you – it's what's on the outside that counts too, so the Samsung Galaxy S4 needs to step it up in the design stakes.
Better S-Voice
S-Voice just isn't there. At least Siri had the nous to call itself a BETA so that it could be excused for not getting things right at times. The problem we have with S-Voice is it just doesn't seem to be able to do much.
Sure, it can tell you what the weather is like if you really can't be bothered to look out the window. And it'll save you 10 seconds by setting an alarm.
But it's just not powerful enough - and is, frankly, awful for something that's supposed to be a headline feature on one of the world's best smartphones.
We've actually been using Speak To It Assistant far more often because it's superior. Samsung could do worse than buy a company like this to give the Galaxy S4 a real chance of being the best voice-controlled mobile out there.
Better Mac support
Yep, we know many consumers believe Mac users account for only 0.000001% of Android owners (why wouldn't they just buy an iPhone, right?)
But there are lots who like Apple computers as well as Android devices. And up until the S3, they got on famously.
But Android has changed the rules and how storage works so that it follows the MTP Protocol which plays along brilliantly with Windows but can't stand Macs.
Yes, we know this is a Google issue and not something that Samsung can be blamed for. But having said that, the HTC One X also runs Ice Cream Sandwich and it has managed to tweak the code enough for there to not be a problem.
Please Samsung – don't shut them out. Ice Cream Sandwich may be frozen – but we shouldn't be, so when you bring out the Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie-powered Galaxy S4, let's get some support.
Samsung Galaxy S4 accessories
Samsung unveiled the SIII alongside a raft of accessories – the usual things like cases were complimented by the C-Pen (like the Note 2's S-Pen but smaller) and the dongle for connecting to your TV to stream stuff.
The problem is, they're all so expensive: £20 for the C-Pen and the best part of £70 for the AllShare Dongle. They're not mainstream accessories – and little wonder.
If Samsung made these cheaper – or even threw them into the box for the Galaxy S4 (highly unlikely, but we can dream) then it would make for a much happier customer.
Perhaps a premium package where you spend a little more but get the accessories at the same time would work... people like to get the most out of things when they get their shiny new device.
Better charging
Plug it in and charge until it's full. That's always been the way. But we'd love to see a more advanced version of charging - ditching the wires should be more prevalent.
Maybe something similar to the conductive methods used by Palm in the Pre which never really caught on. The idea being that you don't have to plug the phone in to charge, just place it on a particular mat or place and it does it automatically.The S3 has that functionality, but it's hardly been well-publicised since launch.
The likes of Nokia with the Lumia 920 have been banging on about the amazing world of wireless charging for ages now, with a range of accessories too. Given that it will all be based on the Qi wireless charging standard, we'll soon see reams of coffee shops and airports with these charging stations littered around - just don't forget to watch your phone.
Or how about something really radical – like a battery that can also charge kinetically on the S4. Sure, it would be slow but wouldn't it be great if you could go for a run and manage to gain an extra 10 or 20% just by doing so to get you through the day? Radical – yes. But Samsung is known for its innovation.
Improved speakers
As beautiful and wonderful as the S3 is, the speaker still sounds tinny. Ringtones sound cheap and when it is on its back, they're also muffled. At least the iPhone has a bit of bass.
But what about going a bit further? Have three or four powerful but small speakers around the rim so when you play music, it comes out loud and with a bit of bass.
Hell, even make it so strong that it negates the need for a travel dock so you can play music at a decent volume when you nip away for the weekend or are sitting on the beach. That'd be a real selling point.
S-Voice just isn't there. At least Siri had the nous to call itself a BETA so that it could be excused for not getting things right at times. The problem we have with S-Voice is it just doesn't seem to be able to do much. 
