Android 5.0 “Jelly Bean” on the horizon

Google may launch the next version of Android before Ice Cream Sandwich is widely adopted

“Ice Cream Sandwich” is still relatively new to the mobile smartphone market, and currently finds itself installed on just 1 percent of Android devices.

This hasn’t deterred Google from planning to release the next major build of the mobile operating system as early as Q2 2012 according to a report by Digitimes.

Citing “unnamed sources within Taiwan-based component suppliers”, Digitimes suggest that Android 5.0 “Jelly Bean” will be a tablet-focused OS similar to Android Honeycomb 3.0.

Jelly Bean is expected to feature a dual boot function similar to Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8.

Google is also considering Android 5.0 for notebooks and netbooks according to the report. This may be due to the slow adoption of the search giant’s Chrome OS for netbooks.

If the report is accurate, Google will launch the next version of its Android operating system a full quarter before large manufacturers have fully rolled out Android 4.0 on all of their devices.

Source: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/quick-news/43585-android-5-0-jelly-bean-on-the-horizon.html 

Apple sold more iOS devices in 2011 than it sold Macs in 28 years

Summary: A startling reminder that the world is not on the desk anymore, or on our laps. It’s in the palm of our hands, or resting in our pockets ready to be beckoned at our every whim.

Here’s the figure from Asymco, quoting Apple chief executive Tim Cook, on the trajectory of popular Apple products in comparison to each other over the course of the products’ respective lives.

The chart is a representation, rather than one produced by Apple.

Apple have sold 140 million Macs running some form of OS X to date in the 28 years they have been available on the market. It sold 55 million iPads to date, and sold 22 million iPods in the first five years since the first device were out on the market. The company sold around 175 million iPhones to date, with 37 million of them in the last quarter alone.

In a nutshell: the iOS device collective reached 316 million cumulative units at the end of last year, while the Mac collective sold only 122 million cumulatively to date.

It goes without saying that there is a clear disparity between the Mac line of hardware and the iOS devices available. Not only in price, but functionality and availability. Apple has long been criticised for creating laptop and desktop hardware that is “overpriced” or “too expensive” for what you are given. It depends entirely on taste and what you want in a device.

But iOS devices are in an accessible league of their own, in that they are handheld, ultra-portable, and cheaper. They are probably more expensive in what they can do nowadays in comparison to what people need and want. The cultural shift has changed from desktops in the mid-1990’s to laptops in the early-2000’s, to handhelds towards the mid-to-end of the decade.

It should therefore not come as much of a surprise that the OS X desktop is becoming more like the iOS device.

Image source: Asymco.

Source : http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/apple-sold-more-ios-devices-in-2011-than-it-sold-macs-in-28-years/69717 

Nuance’s Swype keyboard gets updated for Ice Cream Sandwich

When it comes to Android’s built-in touchscreen keyboard, you either love it or you hate it. And if you’re in the latter category, chances are you’ve at least heard of Swype. It’s one of the most popular alternatives to the default keyboard and is so intuitive that it’s helped set a world record for texting. Because it’s just so on the leading edge like that, it has been updated to work on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Yeah, so that 1% of the Android community that actually have the latest version of Google’s OS can get the latest and greatest version of Swype. It is said to be even more optimized for user control and ergonomics. It also includes a word suggestion feature for those who would rather tap a word after they’ve typed in a few letters than bother to finish writing the entire word themselves. Nuance becomes one of very few small app developers that have taken the time to optimize for ICS.

Because of the difficulty manufacturers have had in upgrading their devices to the latest Android platform, there hasn’t been a lot of excitement surrounding ICS apps. It’s suffering from a similar fate as Android 3.0 Honeycomb, which was designed exclusively for tablets but has had such a limited reach that developers have largely been unmotivated to invest resources there. For an app like Swype, though, which prides itself on being available to as many Android users as possible, upgrading constantly is part of the process.

Source: http://www.slashgear.com/nuances-swype-keyboard-gets-updated-for-ice-cream-sandwich-16213977/ 

Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet eats into iPad’s market share

Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, surpassed Samsung Electronics Co. as the No. 2 seller of tablet computers last quarter, shipping 3.89 million units, according to research firm IHS Inc.

Amazon’s share rose to 14 percent in the period, up from zero in the third quarter, while Samsung slipped to 8 percent from 11 percent, according to Englewood, Colorado-based IHS. Apple Inc., meanwhile maintained its lead in the market, accounting for more than half of shipments .

Amazon rolled out its Kindle Fire tablet in November, aiming to undercut Apple’s iPad by selling a tablet at less than half the price. While the Fire may have taken some market share from the iPad, Apple faced even more competition from its own mobile device, the iPhone, said Rhoda Alexander, who manages tablet research for IHS.

“Shipments of the iPad line fell short of IHS estimates in the fourth quarter as many loyal Apple customers devoted their dollars to shiny new alternatives,” she said in the report. “The primary alternative wasn’t the Kindle Fire -- which debuted to solid sales in the fourth quarter -- but Apple’s own iPhone 4S smartphone.”

Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads to capture 57 percent of the market. The company had a 62 percent share for the year, compared with 87 percent in 2010, when there was little competition. Samsung shipped 2.14 million tablets in the fourth quarter. The whole market rose 55 percent to 27.1 million, according to IHS.

Amazon’s shipment figures fell in line with estimates from Ross Sandler, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets who predicted 3 million to 4 million units in the fourth quarter. Other analysts expected more, with Jordan Rohan at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. projecting as many as 6 million and Anthony DiClemente at Barclays Capital looking for 5.5 million.

Shares of Amazon, based in Seattle, fell 2.1 percent to $180.58 at 3:20 p.m. in New York. The stock had gained 6.6 percent this year before today.

Source : http://www.washingtonpost.com/amazon-passes-samsung-in-tablet-sales/2012/02/16/gIQAzWgIIR_story.html 

Twitter begins self-serve advertising for small businesses

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc. on Thursday formally launched a service to allow small businesses to buy and place ads on the online messaging platform.

Twitter, which for years has sought ways to expand its advertising revenue, hopes the new ad service will at least partially answer looming questions about its long-term business strategy.

Since 2010, Twitter's in-house sales staff has sold "promoted tweets" to large businesses on a case-by-case basis. The company spent last year developing a self-serve system that could handle a far greater volume of ad transactions and, in November, opened the system to a small number of clients for testing.

Officially launched on Twitter's website on Thursday, the new service is limited to merchants and advertisers who use American Express cards. Twitter will open the service to other cardholders in the coming months.

The rollout comes at a critical phase in the company's development and will be closely observed by investors and analysts curious to see if the company will go public anytime soon.

Founded in 2007, the San Francisco-based company lets people send 140-character messages, or tweets, to groups of followers. The company has more than 100 million active users and a valuation topping $8 billion, even though it has not yet established a money-making model.

Co-founder Jack Dorsey said in January that Twitter's "business model has been in development for some time and it works.

(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by Matt Driskill)

Source : http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-twitter-advertising-idUSTRE81G07M20120217

Meet Apple's Mac OS X 'Mountain Lion'

Apple's giving developers a preview of the next version of Mac OS X today called Mountain Lion. The software, due out this summer, once again brings over features from Apple's iOS.

Apple's upcoming Mac OS X 10.8, dubbed Mountain Lion is coming this summer.
(Credit: Apple)

Apple's got a new big cat on the prowl.

Its name is Mountain Lion, and it's the next major release of Mac OS X.

The software is being released as a preview to Apple developers today, with a commercial release to follow sometime this summer through the company's Mac App Store.

Like Lion before it, Apple has imbued the new software with many of the top-billed features from the iPhone andiPad, all with the intent of making its computers more useful and approachable to the millions that have snatched up an iOS device in recent years. It's also a direct response to recently-added features on those devices that--for better or worse--make the Mac a less essential piece of the puzzle.

Mountain Lion's mountain lion.
(Credit: Apple)

Of course, the idea of convergence between the two platforms is nothing new. When taking the wraps off Lion(Mountain Lion's predecessor) in 2010, Steve Jobs said the software was what the company imagined would happen if the iPad and the MacBook "hooked up".

Mountain Lion is very clearly the result of a longer term commitment.

Does that mean we've finally reached a point where OS X (as Apple calls it now, not "Mac OS X") and iOS are on the cusp of becoming one in the same? No. To carry the "hook up" comparison further, it's another step in Apple's strategy to tie users into its ecosystem, creating differences where they're needed, but also blending in similarities that make everything feel more unified.

For years the unification came in the form of iTunes, but as restated by Apple CEO Tim Cook in a talk earlier this week, the company believes that computers are not longer at the center of people's digital lives. In Apple's vision, that role's been taken over by iCloud, and the software that taps into it. In Mountain Lion, iCloud is that glue, taking some of those iOS apps gone OS X and made them work with one another.

That said, the release represents an unusual departure for Apple, which in years past has used its annual developer conference as a place to unveil its major Mac OS releases. Apple broke with that tradition with Lion, instead showing it off about 9 months before it would hit the market. This time around, Apple's giving itself and developers what is likely to be a shorter timeframe to work out bugs and integrate new features.

The end result brings the possibility of both the Mac and iOS devices receiving annual updates, something of an achievement for Apple given that the Mac OS has traditionally held to a release cycle of about every two years. It's also a stark contrast to competitors like Microsoft, which is expected to release its Windows 8 software--the follow-up to 2009's Windows 7--near the end of this year.

What's new
As usual, Apple isn't offering a full look at what the new OS will have when it ships but is instead focusing on 10 features that it will launch with. Among them are ones you may have already heard of and been using for the past three months. That includes software like iMessage, Reminders, and Notes. Those three apps were introduced as part of iOS 5 and are now standalone pieces of software that work like and sync up with their iOS counterparts.

Messages, as it's called in Mountain Lion, will replace iChat, the chat software Apple includes out of the box. Users will still get access to IM networks like AIM, Yahoo, and Jabber, though Apple's added compatibility with the same iMessage service that was introduced as part of iOS 5, which Apple says has now served up 26 billion messages since its October launch. Messages can be used to send and receive iMessages with these users for free, and the conversation can be picked up and continued from any device with that same Apple ID and iMessage enabled.

Mountain Lion's Messages app now works with iMessage to let users carry over conversations from their iOS devices to their computer.
(Credit: Apple)

Alongside the developer preview of Mountain Lion, Apple is also offering a beta version of Messages as a standalone download to users of Lion. Behind the scenes, these new apps are synced up with their mobile counterparts through Apple's iCloud service, which Apple has more deeply integrated into the Mac. That includes a high-profile spot in Finder (the Mac's file viewer), where users can view and access documents they have stored there--just like they would in their iCloud-enabled apps on their iOS device.

Apple's also brought a little bit of iOS fairy dust in the form of two new "Centers" that act as ground zero for certain types of activity. One of those is Notification Center, an iOS 5 feature that takes any notifications from applications--be it a calendar event, an incoming instant message, or a software update--and puts it in an organized list.

Notification Center now sits "next to" the desktop and is accessible from any application you're on. Apple has introduced a new, two-finger swiping motion that opens it up on the side of the screen, as well as a new menubar item in the top right-hand corner of the screen that does the same thing. To coincide with this, there's also a new notification banner and alert system that lets application developers choose between banners and pop-ups that notify you in the corner of the screen (much like third-party app Growl), as well as an alert option that won't go away until you click on it.

The other "center" is Game Center, an app that shows users their full catalog of games, as well as people they've befriended on the service. Just like in iOS, you can view and launch games from here, view achievements, and see leaderboards. That goes hand in hand with a new set of APIs for developers to add multiplayer features to Mac games, including Mac titles that have iOS counterparts.

Sharing content

The new sharing tools built into Mountain Lion.
(Credit: Kent German/CNET)

Two other iOS features to make it into Mountain Lion center on sharing. The first of those is something Apple calls Share Sheets. If you've ever used the built-in Twitter features in iOS 5, the idea here is the same. Apple's added a button to share whatever content you're looking at in applications like Safari, Preview, and iPhoto to other apps and Web services--including Twitter, which users can now post to without having Twitter's Mac OS app installed.

The other sharing addition is screen sharing in the form of AirPlay Mirroring. This is the feature that can take whatever's on your screen and beam it to an Apple TV. It's been a feature on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, with Apple now adding it as a drop-down menu option in Mountain Lion. It outputs whatever is on screen in a 720p video stream to an Apple TV unit on the same Wi-Fi network. Apple's also planning an update to its iTunes software that will be able to spit out video content directly to Apple TV units from your computer.

So what's not from iOS?
Apple has made two specific additions to Mountain Lion that cannot be found on iOS. The top one is Gatekeeper, a new security feature designed to fend off malware by controlling what applications can and cannot be installed.

As a new preference within Mountain Lion's security tools, users can choose between one of the following allowed source options:

(Credit: Apple)

• Mac App Store
• Mac App Store and identified developers
• Anywhere

By default, Apple's got Mountain Lion set in the middle option, which employs a signature system that checks with Apple to see if a creator of a non-App Store app is a registered developer.

Apple says developers can register for these IDs, then sign their software with them in its Xcode development software. When a user tries to install that software for the first time, the system will then check to make sure it has not been altered since being signed, and that the developer is not a known distributor of malware. One important thing to point out about this system is that it will not uninstall unsigned software, or prohibit you from using software you've already installed. It's also been designed to let you manually override the protection measures and install something that hasn't been signed, even if your settings are turned all the way up to App Store only.

Another non-iOS addition is the handful of localizations to OS X aimed at Chinese users, including system-wide tie-ins to local search engines and content sharing sites. That includes Baidu search in Safari, integration withQQ, 126 and 163 in Mail, and sharing to services like Sina weibo, Youku and Tudou. Apple's also made some adjustments to its text input for Chinese users' typing in with simplified and traditional Chinese, along with a dictionary the company says will be more frequently updated to keep up.

What's still missing?
One notable iOS feature that hasn't made the trip is Siri, the voice assistant feature introduced as part of the iPhone 4S. Apple says Mountain Lion is still a work in progress and that features may change ahead of its release, but Siri does not appear to be one of those.

(Credit: Apple)

That's a curious thing given Siri's role on the iPhone 4S. It's tied into a handful of apps that are now a part of Mountain Lion, including Notes, Reminders, and Messages, as well as software that was there in previous OS X iterations, like Mail, FaceTime, and widgets for checking the weather and stock prices.

One clear reason for this could be that a voice assistant feature simply does not have a place on the desktop just yet. More probable perhaps, is that Apple would not want to introduce it to a desktop OS without a way for developers to tap into it, something the company hasn't done on iOS.

A new OS X every year?
With Mountain Lion, Apple has made the rather unusual move of introducing the next version of Mac OS X not at one of its private events but as a preview to developers that will be released to the public later this year.

A brief history of Mac OS X releases.
(Credit: CNET)

As mentioned earlier, the release this summer puts OS X on a track that more closely resembles iOS, Apple's mobile operating system that's seen annual updates since its introduction. In its first few versions of Mac OS X between 2001 and 2003 that's the schedule Apple stuck to, before spanning major OS X releases to every two years (see above).

In an interview last week, the company said this release was a sign of its fast innovation, but will customers who just bought a new Mac or a copy of Lion in the last few months see it like that?

According to Apple's data, half of Mac users are still on Snow Leopard, the version of Mac OS X that preceded Lion. But Lion, which was released last July, has been the company's fastest-selling OS update, with 19 million copies shipped. Those users now account for 30 percent of those on the Mac platform, the company said.

For Apple's software business, an annual release cycle (which the company has not committed to), presents a chance to get consumers to pay once a year as opposed to every two years. And like Lion before it, it's part of a broader strategy to get people comfortable with the Mac App Store, where users now gets these Mac OS updates as well as other software.

The two big questions that remain are whether the two operating systems will converge, and when such a thing will happen. Mountain Lion is certainly another not-so-subtle step in that direction with a handful of iOS apps making their way over to the desktop. But we're not there quite yet. More than anything this release is another move by Apple to make iPhone and iPad users feel at home on a Mac, something that's become increasingly important with those devices now able to exist on their own, without the help of iTunes.


Source : http://asia.cnet.com/meet-apples-mac-os-x-mountain-lion-62213484.htm 

Govt announces uniform telecom licence fee policy

Government has announced a uniform telecom license fee policy. Briefing the newsmen in New Delhi, the Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said that all future licenses would be unified and telecom spectrum in each city would be allotted separately to operators.

The uniform license fee will be upto eight per cent of adjusted gross revenue of the telecom company. Mr. Sibal said, a new telecom policy will come in force from the next financial year. He said that the telecom regulator, TRAI, will announce a migration path for existing license holders to the uniform license regime.

He said, there will be an entry charge for migration to the unified license. Licenses will be renewed for ten years after expiry. The Minister said, mergers and acquisitions in the telecom sector upto 35 per cent of market share will be allowed under a quick and simple process.


Source : http://newsonair.nic.in/news.asp?cat=National&id=NN3106

Myspace announces more than 1M new users

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  A screen capture of the MySpace Web site. (MySpace.com)

  
  

Is Myspace the hot new social network?

In the grey days of prehistory, back when Facebook was just a dream in Mark Zuckerberg’s mind, Myspace was the hit network, attracting over 75 million unique users. When it was bought from News Corp. in 2010, that number was at 33 million and dropping.

Since December, when the company introduced a new music player, sign ups have skyrocketed, the New York Times first reported -- and the company on Monday, Feb. 13, officially announced that more than one million new users had joined the growing service.

“The numbers tell an amazing story of strong momentum and dramatic change for Myspace,” said Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Myspace, in a press release announcing the new user numbers. “And the one million-plus new user accounts we’ve seen in the last 30 days validates our approach.”

The site attributed the new users largely to a new music player, called the Myspace Music Player, which it said offered the largest online catalogue of free music in the world.

 “MySpace is building meaningful social entertainment experience around content, where consumers can share and discover the music they love. Consumers are getting excited about Myspace again - a testament to a great music product,” Vanderhook said.

The music player offers 42 million songs, according to the company,. As well as a recommendation engine that will suggest relevant music you might like.

It also integrates smoothly with Facebook.

Source : http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/13/myspace-announces-more-than-1m-new-users/#ixzz1mLios3mQ

Apple to unveil iPad 3 on 7th March

This was on the cards wasn’t it? With the month of March, or the iPad month as I like to call it, just weeks away, we are getting some really juicy iPad 3 rumors. iMore, which keeps a close eye on Apple related developments has pushed forward a claim according to which the Cupertinos will unveil the iPad 3 on 7th March. How accurate is this claim? We answer this all important question in the next paragraph.

Seeing Apple’s previous dates for iPad launches, 7th March seems to be the correct date, as the previous models of iPad have announced their presence to the world in the early part of March. Secondly, iMore has a very good track record which itself says a lot doesn’t it. Third, 7th March is a Wednesday, which as you know is Apple’s favorite day for product launches.

Coming to the specs parts, iMore’s unnamed sources claim that the next gen iPad will become equipped with a Retina display and a quad core processor. There is a chance that the iPad 2 processor will offer 4G connectivity as well. What effect will this have on the battery life? Only time will tell. My gut feeling is that the yet to be announced tablet will become equipped with a larger battery. What do you say on this?


Source:http://www.geekword.net/ipad-3-release-date-2/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Geekword+%28Geekword%29