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9:03 PM
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Xbox Live Developer Interview: Glu Mobile, makers of Bug Village
Goodbye 2011… Hello 2012!
365 days of cut-throat competition. 365 days of carriers losing and winning customers. 365 days of surging mobile technology. 2011 was a benchmark year for Canadian wireless and brought very notable accomplishments. However, all the efforts in the last year will actually setup 2012 for massive success – for both the customers and the industry.
2011 was the year that Canadians fell deeper in love with their phones. The phones became faster, thinner, lighter, and graced our hands with large displays. The average wireless customer was pining for the latest device, unfortunately it wasn’t a BlackBerry, but the newest “Android”. It was the first year that I can think of that more people were asking about Android that any other, yes, more that Apple’s iPhone. At some point over the past 52 weeks Google’s “open source” OS was top of mind. Was it the Samsung Galaxy SII or the Galaxy Nexus that caught Canadians attention? Could it be the massive, gorgeous and vibrant display? Perhaps it was how thin it was? Maybe even its dual-core speeds. Or was it the HTC Sensation? Or the Motorola RAZR – all thin. Wait, what about the Sony Ericsson Play – a “certified PlayStation” gaming device that was first launched in Canada, then in the United States. Whatever it was, Android made its astounding leap in 2011 – two years after Rogers declared the “Android Revolution” started. September 2011 comScore data revealed that 25% of all smartphones in Canada are powered by Android, up from 12.2% in March.
The hype behind the iPhone is still powerful, but not as intense as it was a couple years ago. The same comScore report showed Apple owning 30.1% of the Canadian market. Most likely Apple would have elevated even further if the rumours of the “iPhone 5″ actually panned out. This was the biggest roller coaster ride of 2011. Analysts and overseas reports promised a complete iPhone redesign with a faster processor, better camera, thinner, aluminum backing, glass backing, antenna change, bigger display etc…, we ended up with the same phone, but “better”. Apple shouted it’s the best iPhone yet with a new A5 processor and better 8MP camera, plus Siri the voice assistant. Even without a change in design, lineups happened and Apple sold over 4 million in the first 3 days.
So, according to comScore, Android and iOS have a combined market share of 55.1%. RIM, once acknowledged as an innovator, claimed 35.8% Canadian market share, but unfortunately started to sink really fast. Even with their 75 million BlackBerry subscribers RIM was riddled with embarassment. Customers were more interested in large and powerful touchscreen devices and RIM delivered familiar “iconic” QWERTY devices. The most impressive BlackBerry on the market is the Bold 9900; it’s sleek, upscale, has a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard – it’s the best of both worlds, but it came late to the party. The Torch 9810 and 9810 didn’t prove to be profitable, nor did the all-touch Curve 9380 or the Bold 9790.
We could continue to talk about the ongoing trademark infringement cases, poor BlackBerry tablet sales, services outages, drunken RIM employees, low stock price, upset shareholders, delay of the PlayBook OS until February 2012, or even that their next-gen devices, now named “BlackBerry 10″, are also delayed until the “latter part of 2012″… but what would it accomplish? The bottom line is that RIM hit an unimaginable level in 2011 and absolutely needs to step up and deliver in every possible way in 2012. They need to act like their most recent tagline and “Be Bold”.
Carrier competition was a daily experience. I remember speaking with Anthony Booth, Mobilicity Chief Customer Officer, when he first started his new gig. Booth came from Mars Canada (the chocolate bar) where he was Vice President Marketing. He stated to me that he had never seen competition like this and that “it happens daily”. No other industry is like wireless, it cannot be duplicated. The carriers battled it out in 2011, but the Big 3 prevailed and drastically increased their subscriber base.
Rogers still is king in Canada with the most subscribers. In Q3 big red reported their subscriber base reached 9,288,000, Bell has 7,369,596, and TELUS has 7.2 million – totalling over 23 million subscribers. As for the “newer” wireless players, WIND is inching towards 400,000 subs, Mobility has “attracted” a total of 250,000, Videotron racked up 253,900, and Public Mobile has over 153,000. In addition to these numbers there is SaskTel, MTS – when these numbers are compiled the Canadian wireless subscriber base is well over 26 million, and growing. Prepaid subs at the Big 3 decreased while Postpaid subs increased. The busy Q4 numbers will be announced in January/February and it’s estimated that the year-over-year growth will be between 2-5%.
Just a couple weeks ago there rumours in the industry that WIND Mobile was “in talks” to buy Mobilicity. Both carriers declined to comment, but it would be reasonable to predict that 2012 will see carrier consolidation. The new entrants cannot keep this low handset and low monthly voice and data plans offering up another year. Something has to happen. Perhaps Mobilicity will merge with another, or it might be Pubic Mobile that gets gobbled up. Regardless, 2012 we’ll see one of the new entrants vanish. How the government lays out the upcoming 700Mhz auction will help speed this along – will or won’t they have a set aside?
One of the major trends in 2011 was the continued adoption of smartphones and data devices. All the carriers reported that smartphone usage increased, now representing above 40% of their total postpaid subscriber base. Gone are the days of a simple flip phone – people are demanding devices with more capabilities. With Canadians wanting to be connected all the time – weather to download Angry Birds, log onto Facebook, Twitter, check their email, or even watch movies, 2011 brought LTE (Long Term Evolution) to the forefront for some lucky Canadians. Rogers and Bell successfully deployed their LTE networks across Canada, bringing “peak download speeds of up to 75 Mbps” – in reality it was between 12 Mbps to 25 Mbps. Both carriers coverage map reaches millions of customers (Rogers at 8 million, Bell claims just over 3.5 million) from Yellowknife to Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax. Mass adoption has not happened yet, 2011 was more of “who can get to market first”, and came with ridiculous pricing for devices and plans. 2012 will be very different. TELUS will join the fun, along with Virgin, SaskTel, and MTS and this should drop the prices a bit.
All this new found speed will should finally allow for a greater adoption of mobile content, something that’s been predicted since the Vancouver Olympics. Next year will see a dramatic spike in the way we use our smartphones or tablets. Watching movies, videos and TV (news, sports, syndicated shows) on the go will be the norm. But this will come at a cost of course. Carriers will have to create a better, more affordable pricing structure to make this happen.
Finally, 2011 had minor progress for mobile banking. Sure, Canadians bank by phone, but it’s simply just to transfer funds, check balances or find the closest ATM. The closest thing we had to actually paying for products and services from our smartphone was the BMO and MasterCard “Mobile PayPass Tag”. This gave those who signed up for each service the ability to place a sticker on the back of their clean looking, well designed handset. Something that just destroyed its look. It’s hideous and odd looking, but I understand that it’s a stepping stone to having more devices come with NFC capabilities. NFC (Near Field Communications) has made its way into the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, BlackBerry Bold 9900 and the BlackBerry Curve 9360 – more devices are on tap for 2012 and so is mobile wallet/payment competition. EnStream, the Big 3 joint venture venture, will launch their mobile payment app, plus Google will launch Google Wallet in Canada.
2011 was fundamental for wireless in Canada – but it’s 2012 that will be spectacular. The handsets will become more powerful, speed will be at a premium, mobile content and mobile banking will be at the forefront, the 700Mhz spectrum auction will raise billions for the government, Shaw and Eastlink will launch their wireless networks, plus every carrier will continue to compete for customer loyalty on a daily basis… unfortunately the low-cost subsidy pricing of 3-year contracts will still exist.
Want to root your blPlayBook? You still can - downgrade your OS today!
With the release of OS 2.0.0.6149 (Beta), Research In Motion successfully plugged the security hole that DingleBerry 2.11 used to gain root access to the BlackBerry PlayBook. What's more, Research In Motion also broke the Android Market by disabling Accounts & sync in the version of the Android operating system that runs-- on top of the PlayBook's OS. Even if you managed to jailbreak .6149, the Android Market - the most visible benefit of rooting - wouldn't work.
The issue boils down to the fact that OS 2.0.0.4869 (beta) is no longer available for downloading. If you somehow had access to this version of the operating system, you'd be able to both root your PlayBook and access the Android Market. Now, the folks over at OpenSourceBB have come up with a rather clever way making that version of the OS available again. They've even put up a top-notch guide to accomplishing this feat.
If you've already installed the latest beta OS - 2.0.0.6149 - to your PlayBook, I would not recommend downgrading directly to 2.0.0.4869. Instead, complete a factory reset to the latest consumer release of the PlayBook's OS, then upgrade to the 2.0.0.4869 version of the operating system using the steps provided by OpenSourceBB. From there, you can work on installing the Android Market.
There are many steps now required to getting the goodness offered by the Android Market. You do have to keep in mind that we're getting the PlayBook to do things it was never designed to do. To many - including me - that's well worth the hassle. Plus, rooting your BlackBerry PlayBook at this point is worth like 80.000 Nerd-Cool points.
India Today and Business Today release official apps for Windows Phone
Popular Indian magazine, India Today, has released an official app for
Windows Phone, along with an app for it’s business version, Business Today.
[via WPSauce]
The India Today application allows users to view up-to-date news articles, images, videos and live TV served through the India Today Network. The application is powered by India Today, India’s no. 1 news magazine. The app consists of latest & breaking news, sports news, political news, cricket updates, entertainment news, bollywood & Hollywood news, movie reviews, celebrity interviews, images and videos[Free - Marketplace Link]
The Business Today application allows users to view up-to-date news articles, images, videos and Stock updates served through the India Today Network. The application is powered by Business Today, India’s no. 1 business magazine. The app consists of business news & articles, stock updates, business analysis and videos[Free - Marketplace link]
[via WPSauce]
Best iPhone social apps
Social networking has?benefited?hugely from the smartphone and its 3G
goodness. Now you can post photos, send messages, communicate and tweet with
friends all while on the go. The portability of social networks has also made
them a lot more alive and rich with location sensitive posts and check-ins from
friends explaining what is going on where.?
The problem is that maintaining a decent social profile online isn't easy, especially with so many different networks on offer. ?So, our answer lies with this rather handy list of the very best iPhone social apps to download.
Conference calls are also possible with the app, a particular cool function that isn't seen in many other social apps. It is possible to post location updates and post questions out to all your friends, useful if you are after an answer on where people are meeting or another topic altogether.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3/5
?
Foursquare continues to grow as an app, most recently benefitting from iOS 5 enhancements. The region monitoring built into the newest build of Apple's OS is a logical inclusion into the way Foursquare works.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3/5
?
AIM is heavily incorporated into a multitude of apps but tends to exist best in its own app form. Like most social apps it is simple and easy to use, allowing you to quickly share messages and information without anything nasty getting in the way.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Skype has now made its way onto multiple platforms including Android and the iPad. This means iPhone users need not be bound by FaceTime and iPhone to iPhone video calling. Cross platform interactivity is order of the day here, which is hugely necessary in making a good social app. After all not everyone has the same phone!
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Fring actually boasts pretty decent video quality, especially when you have a
good 3G connection and something like an iPhone 4S. You can even use the app to
call desktop Skye clients. It is pretty special stuff and there isn't many
social apps that can boast such cross network connectivity.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Some will question why you need a dedicated messaging app, but having used it for the morning it's clear to see why. Facebook is trying to get you from just shouting about what you are doing, to becoming a service that allows you to arrange and organise what you are doing - that means more people using the service more of the time.
iTunes:?Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Having a smartphone app pretty much from the outset, especially one as slick as this, means that Google+ has got a serious head start in the app department over other rivalling networks currently launching. It still has a bit of catchup to do in order to play with the big boys but without the crashes, the Google+ iPhone app is one of the best social networking apps available.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Bear in mind that there will be a data cost in sending the card, so if you are roaming then the real cost will be higher, unless you can find some local free Wi-Fi.?Touchnote is a nice app to have sitting in your phone ready to use for those perfect picture-postcard moments. Yes, you will pay slightly more than getting a real card and stamp, but you can’t knock the convenience, or the simplicity, of the app.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free (plus ?1.49 for each postcard)
Rating: 4/5
?
You can then caption stills or recording audio to go along with the slideshow. Photos themselves can be rotated and cropped. Themes can also be selected to act as a background to your shots.?The Blurb Mobile app is heavily social-centric, so once you have created a story you are proud of, you are going to want to tap share. You will be given the option to sign in with Facebook or Twitter or to simply email your creation to whoever you want.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Once you have your pic, the app simply adds it to a virtual postcard. You can flip the postcard over and write a message as well as adding the address.?The address will access your contacts so you don't have to plug in all the details, as well as a UK postcode address finder to make it simple to add new people.?You then press send and away your postcard goes to eCards, who print it up into a regular postcard and stick it in the post – same day posting if they get your card before 4pm.?You do have to pay, and this is via PayPal, with UK cards costing 99p and international cards costing ?1.49, but at least the virtual postcards should make it home before you do - never a guarantee when using the postal system.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free (but you have to pay for the service)
Rating: 3/5
?
Facebook
The most social of all the social networks is always going to be the biggest right? With access to Facebook ?in its entirety and all its chat, messaging and photo functions, the Facebook app is one of the best social apps out there. From boot you can easily do things like post pictures or send friends message, the news feed also sits right at the apps start, keeping you up to date on other's activities.?
One of the best things about the Facebook app is how it is laid out, being incredibly simple to use and granting quick access to all the most important parts of the network. A constant stream of updates also means that the app is very rarely broken or buggy in any way. Better still, Facebook are constantly listening to and improving on its design, so it just gets better with every update.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
With the Premium setup (?6.99) you'll get an unlimited number of active
customised greetings, unlimited storage duration of all your incoming voicemails
and you can get MP3 copies of incoming voicemails sent directly to you via
email.?Another distinguishing feature is that you can type greetings that will
be spoken if you're unavailable. Handy if you're in a meeting and can't record a
message. You can even link in your Twitter or Facebook accounts to see what the
people leaving you messages are up to.
iTunes:?Link?
Price: Free
Rating: 3.5/5
?
Twitter
The official Twitter app is a very simple and easy way to interact with the speediest of the social networks. It will let you send out a 140 character tweet, upload pictures, search, read, reply and retweet, as well as send private messages. The real thing that makes the app work so well is its speed, as you can read through your feed incredibly fast and interact with followers very speedily.
iOS 5 brought proper Twitter integration with it, which allowed you to do things like Tweet photos straight from the camera app or post locations and status updates depending on where you were. A nice little bonus feature and definitely something we would like to see more of.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
iTunes: 4/5
?
LinkedIn
Despite being traditionally associated with business and networking, the LinkedIn app is actually one of the most enjoyable in its appearance and the way it is used. Contacts sit at the top of the screen with profile pictures that can be scrolled and clicked. You can tap your own name and open up a selection of four different app categories like profile and updates, these can then be tapped on and read. It is all very intuitive and makes for a nice seamless app experience.
The hi res retina display graphics are particularly juicy looking, as is the way that invitations and messages are managed. The actual updates feed is more like Twitter than the usual LinkedIn website, it being much easier just to click through and read what people are posting than on the conventional website. LinkedIn today sat at the top of the app shows you trending stories and posts related to your interests and contacts, very useful indeed.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3/5
?
All you have to do is select whatever the item is that you'd like to share
and then physically bump your phone into another handset which also has Bump on
it. The info is then sent up into Bump's servers in the cloud and back down to
the receiving phone. Hey presto, you've shared and looked a bit pseudo cool at
the same time. Of course, if you were really ghetto, you'd probably steal the
other person's mobile and their trainers too.
iTunes:?Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
What with the way of modern times, you can also use the app to check-in and
follow the progress on earning your badges, if you're into that sort of thing.
Finally, of course, you can also upload photos and reviews of things that you
find on your travels.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3.5/5
The problem is that maintaining a decent social profile online isn't easy, especially with so many different networks on offer. ?So, our answer lies with this rather handy list of the very best iPhone social apps to download.
GroupMe
GroupMe is all about messaging in its most basic form. The app is designed to work on every platform possible, via everything from SMS to Wi-Fi and 3G. Contacts remain the same but the platform can operate on virtually everything. It is a much more private social network than most and is geared toward keeping contact with closer friends and familyConference calls are also possible with the app, a particular cool function that isn't seen in many other social apps. It is possible to post location updates and post questions out to all your friends, useful if you are after an answer on where people are meeting or another topic altogether.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3/5
?
Foursquare
We all love a good bit of location based info sharing, Foursquare in particular being about the best out there. Frequent the local pub often? Then use Foursquare to make yourself the mayor. Not the real mayor but more a social one. An electronic leader of friends, family and strangers, thanks to the way the Foursquare works. At first this might seem relatively pointless, but the commenting and information left by others allows the app to build up a clever picture of what is good to see and what isn't.?Foursquare continues to grow as an app, most recently benefitting from iOS 5 enhancements. The region monitoring built into the newest build of Apple's OS is a logical inclusion into the way Foursquare works.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3/5
?
AIM
Aol's instant messenger service is widely used around the world as a means to quickly send messages to friends. Think of it as a replacement for the SMS on the smartphone, it is a 3G powered way of communicating with contacts. The app has recently been redesigned from the ground up, granting greater access to chat groups and easier control over contacts and friends.?AIM is heavily incorporated into a multitude of apps but tends to exist best in its own app form. Like most social apps it is simple and easy to use, allowing you to quickly share messages and information without anything nasty getting in the way.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Skype
One of the original internet based video calling services, Skype has found a rather cosy new home on the smartphone. The addition of a front facing camera on the iPhone 4 and 4S now gives Skype a much more genuine reason for being on your iPhone. It is now possible to call friends on the go, using Skype's video calling capabilities.?Skype has now made its way onto multiple platforms including Android and the iPad. This means iPhone users need not be bound by FaceTime and iPhone to iPhone video calling. Cross platform interactivity is order of the day here, which is hugely necessary in making a good social app. After all not everyone has the same phone!
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Fring
Fring acts as a way to share messages and calls between other smartphone users over 3G and Wi-Fi networks. It allows you to phone friends for free and even make video calls, something which Apple's FaceTime can only manage over Wi-Fi. The app can also interact with other social networking services like AIM and Twitter, allowing one app to rule them all when it comes to communicating.iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Facebook Messenger
The app has been designed for the iPhone and the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen. It will work on the iPad, but it's not iPad friendly, which is disappointing - Facebook clearly didn't believe that you'd wanted to use the Apple tablet to message people.?Punch in your login details, and you're connected. The app runs in the background and you can opt to have notifications either turned on or off, to alert you when you do in fact get a message.?Some will question why you need a dedicated messaging app, but having used it for the morning it's clear to see why. Facebook is trying to get you from just shouting about what you are doing, to becoming a service that allows you to arrange and organise what you are doing - that means more people using the service more of the time.
iTunes:?Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Google+?
The app for Google's social network, Google+, is slick as anything, booting up and immediately offering instant access to all the usual Google+ functions.Notifications like circle adds are handled at the bottom, in a very very similar way to the iPhone Facebook app. You can also start huddles via names, emails or entire circles. Huddles run smooth and aren't a massive drain on battery, making them a useful mobile Skype replacement.Having a smartphone app pretty much from the outset, especially one as slick as this, means that Google+ has got a serious head start in the app department over other rivalling networks currently launching. It still has a bit of catchup to do in order to play with the big boys but without the crashes, the Google+ iPhone app is one of the best social networking apps available.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Touchnote
Touchnote is a nifty way of sending postcards to your loved ones from your smartphone. You can?snap off a photo on your phone and transform it into a printed postcard that gets delivered by the postman at the other end. It’s a fusion of old world and new which is what we like about it.?Touchnote gives you your first postcard free, but after that you’ll pay ?1.49 for a single card, or you can buy in bulk (one free for a five-credit purchase; two free for a 10-credit purchase).?You pay via PayPal or credit card, which is simple enough.Bear in mind that there will be a data cost in sending the card, so if you are roaming then the real cost will be higher, unless you can find some local free Wi-Fi.?Touchnote is a nice app to have sitting in your phone ready to use for those perfect picture-postcard moments. Yes, you will pay slightly more than getting a real card and stamp, but you can’t knock the convenience, or the simplicity, of the app.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free (plus ?1.49 for each postcard)
Rating: 4/5
?
Blurb Mobile
Blurb Mobile works by allowing you to create shareable photo and video layouts, complete with captions and even audio recordings. Once you open the app you will be asked to register and login, get this out of the way and you can?immediately?set about creating your first story.?Once you are setup, you are going to want to start inserting photos and other content into the story. Do this by either shooting straight from iPhone camera to the app, or look through stored images on your handset.You can then caption stills or recording audio to go along with the slideshow. Photos themselves can be rotated and cropped. Themes can also be selected to act as a background to your shots.?The Blurb Mobile app is heavily social-centric, so once you have created a story you are proud of, you are going to want to tap share. You will be given the option to sign in with Facebook or Twitter or to simply email your creation to whoever you want.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Postcards
Sending postcards is part of your holiday. A tedious part, no doubt. You have to struggle with the cashier as you ask for stamps and then you need a postbox and you'll undoubtedly post it in the recycling bin. And that's just in Morecombe.?Fortunately you no longer have to deal with these issues as your iPhone will swing into action with PostCards.?It's an incredibly simple premise which involves you snapping off your own picture using the phone's camera. You can take a picture, or use one you already have on your device (so you could use it with an iPod touch too).Once you have your pic, the app simply adds it to a virtual postcard. You can flip the postcard over and write a message as well as adding the address.?The address will access your contacts so you don't have to plug in all the details, as well as a UK postcode address finder to make it simple to add new people.?You then press send and away your postcard goes to eCards, who print it up into a regular postcard and stick it in the post – same day posting if they get your card before 4pm.?You do have to pay, and this is via PayPal, with UK cards costing 99p and international cards costing ?1.49, but at least the virtual postcards should make it home before you do - never a guarantee when using the postal system.
iTunes: Link
Price: Free (but you have to pay for the service)
Rating: 3/5
?
One of the best things about the Facebook app is how it is laid out, being incredibly simple to use and granting quick access to all the most important parts of the network. A constant stream of updates also means that the app is very rarely broken or buggy in any way. Better still, Facebook are constantly listening to and improving on its design, so it just gets better with every update.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
On Voicefeed
With On Voicefeed it's all about personalisation. You can record different messages that will play to different contacts if you're unavailable, meaning that you can be all mushy to your lady, and super professional for your colleagues.?Using a Google+ like approach to categorising your contacts, you create groups of people (family, friends, colleagues, etc.) and you can record different greetings for each set.?In the free version you'll get three personalised greetings and the app will save your messages for 30 days.?iTunes:?Link?
Price: Free
Rating: 3.5/5
?
iOS 5 brought proper Twitter integration with it, which allowed you to do things like Tweet photos straight from the camera app or post locations and status updates depending on where you were. A nice little bonus feature and definitely something we would like to see more of.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
iTunes: 4/5
?
The hi res retina display graphics are particularly juicy looking, as is the way that invitations and messages are managed. The actual updates feed is more like Twitter than the usual LinkedIn website, it being much easier just to click through and read what people are posting than on the conventional website. LinkedIn today sat at the top of the app shows you trending stories and posts related to your interests and contacts, very useful indeed.?
iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3/5
?
Bump
We'll be the first to admit that there's a touch of the novelty about Bump but taking a popular, ghetto-style greeting and turning into something useful has actually been quite clever. At its heart, the app is a way of sharing information wirelessly from one handset to another and that's whether you're talking contacts, photos, music, events or even other apps.iTunes:?Link
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
?
Qype
Qype is all about user-generated reviews. There are reviews of restaurants, bars, shops, attractions and even the odd park bench; anything basically. The idea of the app is that you can then access all of this information on the move with a particular weighting of relevance added to those nearby which you can view in a top down map mode.iTunes: Link
Price: Free
Rating: 3.5/5
Skype gifts NYC with NYE WiFi, so you can miss the ball drop while Skyping the ball drop
Siri tells kid to “Shut the f**k up”
An eleventh-hour entry for Story of the Year here, as The Sun reports that an iPhone 4S display unit in Tesco told a 12 year-old to “Shut the f**k up, you ugly t***.” Amazing.
Charlie Le Quesne had rather innocently asked Siri: “How many people are there in the world?” when the automaton responded with the foul-mouthed outburst. As much as we’d love to believe that Siri had gone sentient, there’s a perfectly good explanation.
Charlie’s mum, Kim, sobbed: "The phone was a demo version and was low enough on the shelf for Charlie to have a go with it. He asked it a simple question and we couldn't believe the filth it came out with.
"I thought I must be hearing things. So we asked again and the same four-letter stuff blared out. I asked for the manager and after staff heard it they agreed to unplug it."
So what the heck happened? Well, apparently some pranksters had entered the seven-word phrase as the username, which Siri blurts out whenever it answers a question.
Amusingly, Tesco, which clearly has to be seen to be doing something (think of the children!), said: "We have launched an investigation. The handset will be going back to Apple for diagnostic tests." We await the results of said tests with baited breath.
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 26, 2011
US Cellular prepping for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S II
Neither device has been announced for US Cellular yet, but a peek at the company's ESN system shows both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S II listed. Granted, this doesn't make for a promise -- and never does, until it's made official by the carrier -- but it's a pretty strong indication that it's at least in the works and will most likely be coming out in the near future. [AndroidCentral]
Nokia 801t Symbian Anna phone announced for China Mobile
The Nokia 801t has become official for China Mobile and is expected to arrive by the end of the month. The TD-SCDMA device offers Symbian Anna, NFC, a 680MHz CPU, an 8MP EDoF camera with dual LED flash and a CMMB TV antenna. [Engadget Chinese (translated), MyNokiaBlog]
ZTE introduces Fashion TV Android phone
If you've looked at the ZTE Blade -- also known as the San Francisco -- and loved everything about it besides the look, perhaps this version may be of interest. It's called the FTV phone, named after the OEM's team effort with Fashion TV. Frankly, it's a ZTE Blade with a paint job and a few new Fashion TV-related apps and wallpapers. Heck, it even has diamonds; don't get too excited, though, since they're just clip art-style drawings of diamonds included as part of the new exterior. Bling, indeed. No pricing or availability has been set yet. [UnwiredView, GSMArena]
HTC EVO Design 4G and Hero S kernel source released
HTC has released the kernel source for the EVO Design 4G, and its US Cellular cousin, the HTC Hero S. The specific version is 2.6.35 for Gingerbread, which is the current kernel running on the devices. Having kernel source opens up some ridiculously cool mods and hacks, and the development community should have plenty of fun with this. This means that we'll all be having fun shortly after. If you're an interested developer, hit the link below and grab some code.
Source: HTC
Developers
Did the Apple iPhone outsell Android at AT&T's corporate locations by nearly 8 to 1 this month?
According to a source for the Mac Observer, the Apple iPhone represented a large part of AT&T's sales this month. From December 1st through the 27th, two-thirds of the carrier's sales were for Apple's iconic touchscreen device if the information passed along by the tipster is correct. Based on that information, AT&T's iPhone sales outnumbered the combination of all of the carrier's Android phones by 7.8 to 1.
According to Mac Observer, 981,000 copies of the iPhone were sold by AT&T for the month through this past Tuesday while at the same time 126,000 Android handsets were sold by the second largest carrier in the country. Some might consider the numbers to be incorrect considering that the source claims that AT&T's sales of featurephones at 128,000 units was greater than Android sales.
It must be understood that the sales figures are for corporate stores only. This would eliminate phones sold at authorized resellers, telephone and website orders, and other stores that carry AT&T phones like Best Buy and Radio Shack. The fact that these stats only are for a small fraction of AT&T's overall sales might account for the overly lopsided nature of the figures. In addition, Android models own a greater than 50% share of the U.S. smartphone market which would make the nearly 8 to 1 ratio seem unlikely.
AT&T has sold more than 6 million units of the Apple iPhone in the last two quarters and expects to do even better in the current three month period. The three models of the phone offered by the carrier, the Apple iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS accounted for 56% of AT&T's sales in Q3 and if Mac Observer's source is right, that figure rises to 66% in Q4 at AT&T's corporate locations. Featurephones come in next at 8.6% of AT&T's sales with Android third at 8.5%. We might have to see a listing of all of AT&T's quarterly sales before we can come to a legitimate conclusion.
According to Mac Observer, 981,000 copies of the iPhone were sold by AT&T for the month through this past Tuesday while at the same time 126,000 Android handsets were sold by the second largest carrier in the country. Some might consider the numbers to be incorrect considering that the source claims that AT&T's sales of featurephones at 128,000 units was greater than Android sales.
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The Apple iPhone greatly outsold Android at AT&T corporate stores in December
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AT&T has sold more than 6 million units of the Apple iPhone in the last two quarters and expects to do even better in the current three month period. The three models of the phone offered by the carrier, the Apple iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS accounted for 56% of AT&T's sales in Q3 and if Mac Observer's source is right, that figure rises to 66% in Q4 at AT&T's corporate locations. Featurephones come in next at 8.6% of AT&T's sales with Android third at 8.5%. We might have to see a listing of all of AT&T's quarterly sales before we can come to a legitimate conclusion.
Apple iPad 3 Won’t Show up at CES or Macworld
We mentioned this week that there were two new versions of the iPad that sources
were saying would launch in January. The new iPads were supposed to sport
quad-core processors and retina displays. Another source today is claiming that
there will be no new iPad at CES or Macworld.
The sources are going to be correct since Apple has not participated in the Macworld or CES shows in recent years. If Apple doesn’t participate, naturally there can be no new tablets at the shows. Apple might launch the new tablets near the same time that those shows are running.
The sources are also saying no new iTV or Apple TV will launch. Again, that is a given since they don’t go to the shows. When do you think the iPad 3 will surface? Whenever it does, I am hoping the iPad 2 will come in at a price very close to the Kindle Fire.
The sources are going to be correct since Apple has not participated in the Macworld or CES shows in recent years. If Apple doesn’t participate, naturally there can be no new tablets at the shows. Apple might launch the new tablets near the same time that those shows are running.
The sources are also saying no new iTV or Apple TV will launch. Again, that is a given since they don’t go to the shows. When do you think the iPad 3 will surface? Whenever it does, I am hoping the iPad 2 will come in at a price very close to the Kindle Fire.
1983 Apple prototype pictures show iPhone ancestor
Pictures of a phone prototype from 1983 show a touchescreen interface that makes the device seem like an iPhone ancestor.
Here’s a nice little bit of Apple trivia for you. Apple’s first touchscreen technically wasn’t the 2007 launched iPhone. The company had apparently designed a prototype of a touchscreen landline phone back in the 1980s.It’s an interesting look into the early game plan which eventually gave birth to the iPhone. The all-white stationary device’s point of origin seems to be 1983. It features a stylus to interact with the built-in screen, and one of the pictures shows off some sort of accounting and check-writing application; possibly using a modem to pay bills.
The phone prototype never made it into production, but it was supposedly designed by Harmtut Esslinger. The German-American Esslinger is the guy behind the Apple IIc, which was the company’s first push towards a portable computer. The 1983 touchscreen phone definitely has some of the Apple design elements from that period. Hartmut Esslinger later went on to found a company called Frogdesign.
Mashable points out that this actually isn’t the first time these pictures have been passed around the Internet. However, interest in the old prototypes has been renewed thanks to a peek at the Stanford University stockpile of Apple documents, which had previously been locked away. These archives were donated to Stanford back in 1997 when Jobs returned to the company after being forced out.
Apparently there are a large number of prototype’s squirreled away, some resembling Apple’s current products. There’s even a device that looks like a tablet. It would be great to see a museum documenting the trail of Apple’s cast-off ideas, given the company’s
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