Google makes 61.9% of the tablet pie is Jelly Bean and KitKat flavored
As phones go, so do tablets. In other words, Android tablets handily became more popular than their iPad counterparts for the first time, according to new data today.
120.9 million people snubbed the iPad Air and iPad mini 2 with Retina display last year in order to pick up one of the many tablets that runs Google's dominant operating system.
These worldwide sales numbers give Android tabs a 61.9% market share in 2013 after having just 45.8% of the tablet pie in 2012, according to market research firm Gartner.
Buyers were interested in low-end smaller screen tablets, suggested the firm, which perfectly describes the inexpensive 7-inch duo, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 and Google Nexus 7.
iPad sales numbers
Apple's 7.9 and 9.7-inch hardware still sold a combined 70.4 million with a market share of 36%. That's up from the 61.4 million sold in 2012, but down from its 52.8% market share.
The company remains the No. 1 tablet maker if the sales and market share are broken down by individual tablet manufacturer, with Samsung and Asus in second and third.
Apple also has the excuse that its redesigned full-sized iPad Air and smaller iPad mini 2 with launched in November of last year. The new mini was actually in short supply too.
Contrast that to Samsung and Google's pint-sized slates. Both the Tab 3 7.0 and Nexus 7 launched in July, giving them an almost four-month head start.
iPad and Android tablet sales are trending toward the numbers we see from their phones. Android-powered nearly 80% of smartphones in 2013, while Apple clung to just 15%, down from 20% a year ago.
Can Apple turn it around?
Apple might have a few tricks up its sleeve when it introduces the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3.
We could see a bigger screen via the rumored iPad Pro and Bluetooth mouse support to match what users like about the extra-large business-friendly tabs like the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2.
Touch ID could make the inevitable phone-to-tab transition and Apple sure has to do something with that Sapphire glass factory. A tougher screen and wireless charging are on a lot of peoples' wish lists.
More than anything, the sales trend could tempt Apple to release a cheaper iPad to compete. Rather than a plastic tablet akin to the iPhone 5C, a price cut could turn things around.
The Oscar selfie seen 'round the world was taken with an "organically" incorporated Galaxy Note 3, according to Samsung.
Viewers cried foul when host Ellen DeGeneres (with the long arm of Bradley Cooper) snapped an A-list-filled selfie that broke a retweet record using a Note 3. Product placement! She was using an iPhone backstage!
A Samsung spokesperson has since told TechCrunch that "[w]hile we were a sponsor of the Oscars and had an integration with ABC, we were delighted to see Ellen organically incorporate the device."
The pic, starring the likes of Kevin Spacey, JLaw and Meryl Streep, has been retweeted almost 3 million times, and to "honor" the achievement Samsung is donating $3 million (about £1.8m/AU$3.3m) to charities of DeGeneres' choice.
She picked St. Jude's Research Hospital and the Humane Society, which will split the cash equally. It's nice to know some good is coming out of something so self-absorbed.
According to a report in The Times of India, the local manufacturer Karbonn Mobiles will release a dual-OS smartphone. Set to launch in June, the handset will bring Android and Windows Phone under the same roof.
Karbonn Mobile has signed a license agreement with Microsoft which allows it to manufacture Windows Phone devices. Recently, the Redmond giant eased its licensing regulations and opened up the Windows Phone platform to more players.
Bringing Android and Windows Phone together surely makes for a slightly odd couple due to the rivalry between the two ecosystems, as well as the similar functionality they offer. We surely are curious to see the market’s reaction to such OS mashup in a device.
It looks like Microsoft is making a new play on mobile gaming beyond its own mobile handsets.
A newly discovered job posting suggests that Microsoft is looking for new software engineers to port the Xbox Live platform to iOS and Android devices. Going beyond the Smartglass app users can already download, it seems Microsoft wants to extend Xbox Live's functionality even further.
One of goals listed in the job description included creating "a modern framework that is open source, light-weight, extensible and scalable across various platforms including Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS and Android."
The description also details that Microsoft is hoping to "win back" game developers from our competitors. Developers that are most likely switched from programming console and PC games to become mobile game makers.
Winning back developers
The Verge confirmed with a source familiar with the Redmond company's plans that it is building a platform to extend Xbox Live functionality to iOS and Android games directly.
Prior to this new job posting, Microsoft has already implemented achievements into the Wordament app on iOS and Android. So it's not a far stretch that it would want more Xbox Live integration in games.
For Xbox gamers, achievements are a big reason why they stick with Microsoft's gaming platform, which could completely steamroll over Game Center on iOS and Android's Play Games service.
Achievements aside implementing more chat messaging, leaderboards, and even voice chat could all add a whole new cross-platform layer to competitive and multiplayer mobile games.
You can also get achievements on the Xbox One, check out our review
Unfortunately the Galaxy S5 does not come with a hot air balloon ride
Just in case the Samsung Galaxy S5 isn't sweet enough on its own, Samsung is adding some extra sugar in the form of a "Galaxy Gifts" bundle of subscriptions, premium apps and more.
It includes a year's premium subscription to the fitness apps RunKeeper and Lark and six months with the similar Skimble and Map My Fitness, six months of The Wall Street Journal and three months of Businessweek+, three month premium subscriptions to LinkedIn and Evernote, and three months of massive 1TB storage with Bitcasa.
It also hahs special offers from select stores when you use Paypal, a free download of the to-do app EasilyDo Pro, $10 (about £6, AU$11) of Cut the Rope 2 credits, a six-month, 50GB subscription to the online storage service Box, and more.
Getting better all the time
All told Samsung says the Galaxy S5 bundle is worth $500 (about £300, AU$560).
The Galaxy Gifts bundle will be included with every Galaxy S5 purchase when the phone launches in April.
With a 5.1-inch full HD display, a 2.5GHz quad-core processor, a 16-megapixel camera, and a fingerprint scanner, the Galaxy S5 is not a gargantuan step up from its predecessor, but carries enough welcome improvements that it will no doubt sell like gangbusters come April.
The Galaxy S5 has a lot in common with the Galaxy Note 3 - here's TechRadar's review
The smartphone megapixels wars are back on as a new image on the web suggest Oppo might have a 50-megapixel camera powered smartphone.
The Chinese phone manufacturer posted a new photo of a Ford classic taken by the upcoming Find 7 smartphone in a whopping 8,160 x 6,120 resolution.
The posted image may have been enhanced by some post-processing trickery, but it seems like the camera can also resolve some good dynamic range. On the surface we can see a lot of sharp details without any noticeably dark shadows or overblown highlights.
There's a fair bit of purple fringing around the leaves in the background as they meet the sunlight but this is usually a fault of the lens. However, it's still too early to call the smartphone camera's quality from just one image.
Widening the camera gap
If the teaser image turns out to really come from the Oppo Find 7 it would dethrone the Nokia Lumia 1020 from having the highest 41 megapixel camera around.
We know megapixels don't account for even half the quality of an image, but it's a big gambit coming from Oppo. The smartphone maker has already put down some big bets on the Find 7. Earlier reports said that the phone will come with a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution display in addition to the more pedestrian 1080p model.
We'll find out if all of this hardware boasting is real very soon when the Oppo Find 7 is announced on March 19.
Avoiding Microsoft's smartphone platform until your favorite apps are available? Turns out at least one smartphone manufacturer feels the same way and plans to sit on the sidelines until Redmond gets its act together.
The Inquirer reported that consumer electronics maker Acer may have a cozy relationship with Microsoft when it comes to Windows 8 notebooks and tablets, but believes Windows Phone 8 has much longer odds for success.
At least that's the sentiment of Acer Vice-President of EMEA Allen Burnes, a former Motorola veteran who claims his company "can't take the risk" on further Windows Phone devices until consumers have a better selection of apps at their fingertips.
"There are a whole bunch of elements around the application space which need fixing, which for us, is a a big deal," Burnes elaborated, referring to the situation as "no good for consumers."
Show us the market
The Acer veep apparently has the numbers to back up such tough talk, having released a single ill-fated Windows Phone handset back in late 2011, the Acer W4.
While Windows Phone currently enjoys more than 10 percent market share in Europe, growth there appears to have stalled, and Microsoft is apparently going to have to find a way to increase that number to at least 15 percent in order to get Acer interested again.
"The fact is, until people start talking about the great experience you can have on Windows Phone, we can't go in on it," Burnes said.
In the meantime, Acer appears fully committed to Android smartphones, despite the company getting into bed with Redmond when it comes to Windows-powered tablets and PCs.
Speaking of Android, check out our review of the Nexus 5!
The LG G Flex smartphone was one of the winners of the iF Design Awards, getting a Gold Award along with 74 other products this year. According to LG, "The G Flex was commended by iF judges for implementing a new approach to the smartphone interface by putting controls on the back and adopting a curved display, thereby adding immensely to the smartphone experience in terms of both ergonomics and quality."
The G Flex is one of the first smartphone of its kind to feature a vertically curved display that follows the contour of your face. It also puts the controls on the back, same as the G2, that allows having thinner bezels. LG also used a special POLED or Plastic OLED display for this phone, which is flexible in nature. The back also features a unique self healing material that automatically hides minor scratches over a period of time.
You can read out full review of the LG G Flex here.
Gonna hazard 'yes it is cold in Moscow right now' as the answer (credit: The Verge)
Microsoft's Siri-alike voice controlled personal assistant will take the form of a blue circle according to the latest leaks.
The Verge got its hands on some shots of Cortana in action on a handset, revealing that you'll be able to set a nickname for Cortana to call you - so if you prefer to be known as Little Slice instead of just regular old Kate then that can be accommodated.
On to more useful features, and Cortana will save information in Notebook that it can easily draw on to provide notifications - similar to Google Now, it'll also monitor things that are mentioned in emails and data you've told it to track, such as flight information.
Badabing
It'll nab its information from Microsoft-friendy services like Bing as well as Foursquare and others.
The name Cortana, which is taken from Halo, may or may not change before the feature debuts, probably at Build in April.
Like Siri, Microsoft has imbued Cortana with some "quirky" (read: annoying) turns of phrase like "I'm absorbing the entire internet" and is no doubt on the look out for someone "quirky" (read: annoying) to advertise it too.
It might not be long before Apple's Retina displays look even more impressive, with Cupertino showing interest in a fix for screen imperfections that could give iMacs and iDevices significantly smoother appearance.
A patent application from Apple, published by the US Patent & Trademark Office on February 27, describes a technology that would work as an added coat to "heal" imperfections created when the display panel lighting gets scratched.
As BGR notes, the imperfections caused by scratches are minor by themselves but by removing them all the viewing experience would noticeably improve.
Fix up, look sharp
As this is something that will be appreciated more on larger displays, the iMac and iPad would obviously benefit more from the technology.
However Apple's interest in the technology may also chime with rumours of the iPhone 6 having a larger screen too.
Details leaked onto Chinese social networking site Weibo suggest the iPhone 6 isn't in for a megapixel bump, but instead Apple will be boosting the camera in different ways.
Camera quality isn't all about megapixels - just take a look at the 4MP HTC One - and Apple's iSight snapper still manages to deliver decent shots thanks to the heap of extra technical nous the Cupertino firm has thrown into the mix.
Apparently you can look forward to a bigger 1/2.6 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, OIS (optical image stabilisation) skills and a 6P sapphire lens on the iPhone 6 - a boost from the snappers you'll find in the iPhone 5 and 5S.
Bezel is so 2013
While the camera looks to gain more, the bezel round the supposedly larger screen of the iPhone 6 is tipped to shrink, with new images emerging, claiming to show the front panel of Apple's next smartphone.
Lined up to what is supposedly the iPhone 4S and 5S front panels, the iPhone 6 does appear to have a slightly larger display and absolutely no bezel either side.
The iPhone 6 front panel? (credit: WeiPhone)
We're not getting too carried away though, as this is highly unlikely to be the real deal for a number of reasons - our guess is Photoshop or a straight up fake 'prototype'.
The gap between the home button and the bottom of the display for example, looks rather clumsy for a start - something you don't expect from a perfectionist like Apple, and the notion of a bezel-less phone would require some serious engineering power.
Apple CarPlay is the much-mooted 'iOS in the car' project that we've been hearing about for years.
With our digital tech barely having made a scratch on the largely analogue in-car experience, the automobile is considered by many to be the next great tech battleground.
Because the lifespan of a car is so long compared to the lifecycle of digital technologies like phones and the software they run, the challenge is to create a smart in-car infotainment system that can stay up to date even as your car ages.
Most of the big names in the auto industry have their own systems, but in the last couple of years they've all been converging on one simple idea – that smart in-car tech needs to be driven by our external devices because they get updated regularly, with the car being just the passive conduit.
We've already seen several cars natively running Android, offering integration with Android smartphones. And that now brings us to Apple CarPlay, a new way of building a car that starts smart and stays that way.
What is Apple CarPlay?
CarPlay is not an in-car system that runs iOS or iOS apps. It's a system that integrates your iPhone apps with your car's digital systems, allowing you to control them and your device, more easily.
The idea is that you plug your iPhone into your car via USB, which instantly handshakes with your vehicle. You can then use the functionality of your iPhone without having to fumble around with it and take your eyes off the road. It's safer, easier and more convenient - or that's the idea, anyway.
Play your iPhone's music through your car's audio system
What can CarPlay do?
The idea of CarPlay is that it allows you to use all your iPhone's functionality without actually touching it. So that includes playing your music, navigating to the shops, taking phone calls, reading text messages and even watching YouTube videos. In theory, there are no limits to the interplay. Perhaps you'll even be able to turn your wipers on and off simply by talking to Siri or unlock your vehicle using your iPhone - but that's a way off even if it's possible.
From the start, you'll be able to use your iPhone's phone and messaging functionality, play your iTunes music, navigate using Apple Maps and watch videos.
However, Apple's plan is to allow third parties to build CarPlay compatibility into their apps, making them compatible with the system.
Confirmed apps with CarPlay features incoming are: Spotify, Podcasts, Beats Radio, iHeartRadio and Stitcher. Expect a smorgasbord of other options to be revealed in time - we foresee a future where all relevant iOS apps are built with CarPlay in mind.
Take calls and have your text messages read out to you
How do you control Apple CarPlay?
There are three ways to control CarPlay, and none of them include touching, looking or even thinking about your iPhone.
1. Control CarPlay using Siri
Using Siri, you'll be able to talk to your vehicle and tell it what to do. That includes playing music from your favourite band or even requesting a specific playlist. You'll also be able to have your messages read out to you before you dictate your reply.
2. Use a touchscreen display
Some CarPlay cars will come with touchscreen displays cooked into the dashboard. Using this display, you'll be able to open and close apps using a very simple homescreen. This will certainly be the most straightforward method of using CarPlay - expect touchscreen options being added to new car models.
3. Use your knobs
Of course, your car will still have physical buttons, knobs and controls and you'll still be able to use these alongside the touchscreen and Siri options. Volume controls, track skip and the like are all seemlessly integrated and will work as expected.
Use Apple Maps as an in-dash sat nav system
Can CarPlay drive me home?
CarPlay is not a driverless technology. So the command "Siri, drive me home" will no-doubt simply trigger a typical pre-planned sarcastic Siri reponse. "You.. are.. having.. a.. laugh.. aren't... you...David?"
However, what CarPlay can do, is use your iPhone's Apple Maps app to guide you while you drive. If you have an in-dash display, the Maps app will launch a sat nav style window that will give you turn-by-turn guidance without you having to put your iPhone in your field of view. If you don't have a display, you'll still get the turn-by-turn audio cues.
Is my iPhone compatible with CarPlay?
CarPlay requires a certain amount of oomph as well as a lightning connector and thus older iPhone are simply not capable of running it. Only the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5 are currently compatible, as well as all new iPhones moving forward.
Are there any CarPlay cars yet?
There are no CarPlay vehicles on the road right now.
But they're hitting the streets this year, with models from Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes and Volvo all getting in on the act.
That's not all though, because many other big names in the car industry have committed to supporting the CarPlay platform with future models.
These include BWM, Chevrolet, Ford, KIA, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot-Citroen, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota.
What does Apple say about CarPlay?
"CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPhone and iOS Product Marketing.
"iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction. We have an amazing lineup of auto partners rolling out CarPlay, and we're thrilled it will make its debut this week in Geneva."
This year's gathering of the phone nerds has just taken place in Barcelona, with Mobile World Congress 2014 seeing stacks of new mobiles revealed by the likes of HTC, Sony, LG and Samsung, all jostling for the prize of securing your 2014 phone contract upgrade.
Key trends this year were the arrival of 4K video capture on several mobiles and a continued emphasis on larger displays that'll push trouser pocket capacity harder than ever in 2014, plus there was the enormous shock of seeing Microsoft-owned Nokia release a whole range of budget smartphones running on rival Google's Android OS.
While there was lots of new tech to see and poke, the event didn't quite expose all of 2014's phone plans, though. Apple wasn't there and Nokia didn't bring any new Windows Phone models, so what we saw was mostly the Android consortium battling to come up with something that stood out from the crowd. These are the ten that got our fingertips the most flustered.
1. YotaPhone 2
Not likely to arrive before very late in 2014, the next-gen YotaPhone was at MWC 2014 in the form of a concept device. And what an exciting concept it is too, expanding on the genius idea of sticking a low power epaper display on the back of the phone by making this B&W display now a full touchscreen.
This means many key phone functions can be carried out via the vastly more efficient epaper screen, meaning battery life ought to be immense when using this always-on screen alone for your notifications. Internally, the ubiquitous Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 runs the show, with the "main" colour screen a 5-inch unit outputting at 1080 resolution – and the epaper screen managing a decent 960 x 540.
2. LG G Pro 2
LG's well-teased 5.9-inch whopper was one of the hits of MWC 2014, with the phablet device and its knock-knock screen unlocking tricks, post-shot refocusing and clever display scaling for one-handed use showing that LG's really getting on the ball with its software features. The hardware's about as impressive as it gets too, with the G Pro 2 running on a 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 3GB of RAM, plus its 13megapixel camera has 4K video capture and a 120fps slow-motion recording option for… whatever that might be for.
3. Sony Xperia Z2
Sony's big new flagship for 2014 is the Xperia Z2, which somehow squeezes even more oomph into a chassis just 8.2mm thick. It's slightly bigger than last year's impressive Z1 slab too, with the Z2 offering a 5.2-inch display that operates at the "full HD" resolution of 1920 x 1080.
Interestingly, Sony's using the Z2 to encourage punters to upgrade their home TVs, with the phone's 20.7megapixel camera able to capture 4K video at the ludicrously high 3840 x 2160 resolution. That ability comes thanks to the upgraded internals, with the Z2 powered by Qualcomm's brand new Snapdragon 801 series chipset clocked at 2.3GHz and paired here with 3GB of RAM. A 3,200mAh battery ought to keep it running for a good couple of days, too. We hope.
4. Huawei Ascend G6
As far as Huawei is concerned, the big selling point of the Ascend G6 is its five-megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera, meaning that, if you like looking at your own face, you can do so in better clarity than on rival hardware. The rear camera's an eight-megapixel unit manufactured by Sony, so proper pics of things other than your gurning face ought to come out nice too.
The G6 is bordering on the 'budget' spec for 2014 elsewhere, though, combining a quad-core 1.2GHz chipset with 1GB of RAM and a low-ish resolution display of 540 x 960. On just a 4.5-inch IPS screen that resolution shouldn't be too much of a deal-breaker, with Huawei compensating with a low RRP of around €249 (£205). Not bad for a slim 4G phone.
The Nokia X runs Android but not Windows Phone... YET
Microsoft has apparently given Karbonn Mobiles the go-ahead to release phones that boot both Android and Windows Phone.
The manufacturer, based in India, reports that its dual-OS handsets will be released by June 2014.
It aims to get them into the hands of both regular joes and professional users, although no one has outlined exactly what the benefits of the dual-OS set-up will be.
Ease off
Karbonn chairman Sudhir Hasija told the Times of India, "Microsoft has eased the regulations and is opening up its platform for other players. We signed the agreement two days ago and will launch a range of Windows Phones in about three months."
If true, this is the latest in a line of actions that show Microsoft is chilling out about having absolute control over the Windows Phone platform.
As well as letting its new pet Nokia make the Android-based Nokia X line-up, the company has lowered the hardware requirements of Windows Phone so it can run on cheaper phones and soak up some of the big business in emerging markets.
We don't expect Karbonn's dual-booting handsets to hit the UK, US or Australia, however there's a chance that other manufacturers are working on similarly two-faced devices like HTC. We'll keep you posted.
So how 'bout that Nokia X? Should Microsoft be worried?
It seems Oppo is turning the dial all the way to eleven with the upcoming Oppo Find 7. After mentioning a 5.5-inch, 2560x1440 resolution display in one of the teaser images in the past (along with a 5.0-inch, 1920x1080 version) and running the new Snapdragon 801 SoC, the latest bit of spec to leak is a 50 megapixels camera. Yes, 50 megapixels.
An image uploaded on Weibo has a resolution of 8160x6120 and the EXIF data clearly mentions the Oppo Find 7 as the camera name. It's hard to judge overall camera quality from just one image but it's a decent looking image nonetheless with a fair amount of detail and not much noise but there is a good amount of purple fringing. The image looks a lot better when resized to around 8 megapixels so hopefully Oppo will have a Lumia PureView like oversampling option.
The phone will be announced in Beijing on March 19 and we'll find out more about it then.
We've lost track of the number of times the new HTC One has been leaked, but a new video appears to reveal pretty much everything there is to know about the upcoming handset.
Posted by YouTuber Roshan Jamkatel, whose Twitter bio reads "I make pranking videos!", the new HTC One is claimed to be up and running alongside its predecessor.
During the poorly narrated 12 minute video Jamkatel claims the HTC M8 sports a microSD slot, two rear camera lenses and HTC's Sense 6.0 Android overlay.
The body appears to sport more rounded corners and rear, while the metal chassis remains and navigation keys are moved on screen - all things which fall in line with previous rumours.
Unhappy HTC?
While we remain sceptical on the validity of the smartphone in this video, the leak has been given slightly more credence after HTC's Senior Global Online Communications Manager was spotted by PhoneArena making direct comments to Jamkatel on Twitter.
Jeff Gordon supposedly tweeted: "it's not going to be a good week for you, my friend," followed by "we have the IMEI and all other info. We'll be in touch," but the posts have since been removed.
If HTC's feathers have indeed be ruffled by this video leak it suggests there may be some truth behind it - Jamkatel's original YouTube post has even been removed, but not before another user was able to post it online.
We have contacted HTC to find out more information on the leak, and we'll update this article when we hear back.
Apple has announced CarPlay, a feature that will integrate your iPhone with your car, allowing you to access your phone more easily using just your voice or the controls on your car.
CarPlay works by connecting your iPhone to your car. After that, you can make and receive voice calls, messages and a lot more using Siri and your voice. Want to use maps for direction? Apple Maps will provide turn-by-turn navigation (where available) and show the map on the car's built-in display. Or you could listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. through your car's speakers. Once connected, your car will essentially turn into a massive docking station and let you access essential functions more easily without having to fiddle with the phone.
CarPlay will make its debut with vehicles being announced at this year's Geneva International Motor Show and cars from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo will be the first to have the feature built-in. Apple also has a whole bunch of other car manufacturers onboard, including BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp, who will launch vehicles with CarPlay built-in sometime in the near future.
CarPlay is available for iPhones running iOS 7 and with a Lightning connector, including the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5 on select cars from the aforementioned manufacturers rolling out later this year.
