Kindle Fire Takes 50% of the Android Tablet Market

Amazon has proved that when it comes to Android tablets, people are going with the cheapest option rather than better options. I'm not even referring to the fact that the iPad is a better tablet than the Android based competition, I'm implying that there are better Android tablets out there than the Fire. The Kindle Fire sacrifices speed, storage, security, and screen quality for price. However, this plan seems to be working, as it's the only Android tablet that actually gained market share between December of last year and this past February. Most consumers are still going with the iPad, but as far as Android tablets are concerned, the Kindle Fire is winning. But are consumers really choosing price over quality?

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iOS Envy in App Form

Are you an Android user suffering from buyers remorse or iOS envy? Don't worry, you're not alone, in fact, there are plenty of people like you. So, you should check out this Android App, which makes a fake iOS springboard. The app isn't a theme, and it just launches the default Android apps. Still, the app has been downloaded between 1 and 5 million times, and has a rating of 4 stars (so it hopefully isn't malware, I take no responsibility if it is, blame Google). All those downloads, just for making an app launcher that looks like iOS? It's a bit sad that Android users are that desperate for a better operating system that they're willing to use an app launcher that emulates another OS. One commenter stated how much he loved it on his Galaxy Note, and many others requested that it be made into a theme, so they never have to use the Android UI. The app isn't perfect, but like iTunes on Windows, it's like giving ice water to people in hell.

Looks like there are plenty of people looking to switch to iOS. It's okay, join us, we have more apps, better games, easier jail breaking, better hardware, and we don't suffer from buyers remorse.

Via CultOfMac

 

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More Proof Android is a Stolen Product

I've posted before about how Google wasn't working on a touchscreen smartphone until Eric Schmidt laid eyes on the iPhone. Google took the idea of an app centric touchscreen smartphone from Apple, and ran with it. Needless to say, the people at Apple who worked hard over a few years on the design for iOS and the iPhone weren't too happy.

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ShadowGun Updated for new iPad

ShadowGun Is an impressive third person shooter available on iOS for both iPhone and iPad. It's an over-the-shoulder style shooter reminiscent of Gears of War. Before the update, I impressed others by showing this game off on both my iPad and iPhone. But now, the graphics have been updated specifically for the new iPad. This means full retina graphics, and 4x antialiasing. The game is also available on Android, but looks unimaginably better on iOS. Don't believe it? Compare the screenshots, you can find ShadowGun on Google Play here. Even the screenshots on the App Store looks better! Let alone the actual, full sized screen shots from a retina display iPhone, iPod, or iPad. I couldn't even use the full resolution photo for this post.

Not only does ShadowGun look fantastic, it's also a great game. If you've got an iOS device, and you like shooters, I highly recommend shocking this game out. You can download ShadowGun on the iOS App Store here.

 

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Pebble Becomes Most Funded Kickstarter Project

The Pebble watch, a smart watch that connects to iPhones and Android phones through Bluetooth, has become the most funded Kickstarter project ever. Currently the project has raised over $3,439,000, and continue to rises. Previously, the most funded project on Kickstarter was Double Fine Adventure, a video game that raised $3,336,371. The Pebble had already raised over $100,000 more than that. obviously many people have been excited for this watch, which has only gotten better since first being announced. The small company has promised to make it waterproof, and release the SDK earlier to people can get started making apps for the watch. These this came at the request of Kickstarter users, and thanks to the funds that they raised, it was also made possible by the kKickstarter users.

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Pebble: The Watch that will Connect to your Smartphone

I don't wear my watch all the time, usually just for work. The Pebble could change all that. It's a watch that uses Bluetooth to connect to an iPhone or Android device. From there, it can display a whole lot of information on its e-ink display. It can also control your music and more from the controls on the side. Plus, you can download apps, watch faces, and more to expand upon the functionality of the watch. The developers created apps for running, biking, and plenty of new watch faces. They're also making the sdk available for free so other developers can create apps for the watch. These apps can take advantage of the watch, smart phone it's connected to, or the accelerometer within the watch. The apps are sent to the Pebble using an app on the smartphone. Plus, thanks to the e-ink display, the watch has a battery life of 7+ days, and charges over USB.

It's a smart watch in a smartphone world, and it's about time. Pebble Technology put the Pebble up on Kickstarter today with the goal of raising $100,000. They met that goal in no time, and they've already raised over $380,000. In fact, they raised over $25,000 while I was writing this article. The watch will ship in September, and you can preorder it now for just $115. Check out the Kickstarter page here.

via MacStories

 

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Walter Isaason: Steve Jobs was Furious with Google

Yesterday, Larry Page, current CEO of Google, claimed that Steve Jobs was not actually mad with them. In fact, he said the whole "thermonuclear war" against Android was "for show". If you wanted another definition for scumbag, here's one: "man who tries to put words in a dead man's mouth". But hey, he could be right, no way to prove him wrong, right?

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iPhone 4S vs Galaxy Nexus Instagram

You thought I was joking about Instagram photos getting blurrier? John Gruber Tweeted these two photos, one taken with an iPhone 4S, and the other taken with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Aka, the flagship Android device from Samsung and Google.

Same subject, same time, same filter. The photo on the left was taken with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. On the right, the iPhone 4S. Now you know why it took Instagram so long to arrive on Android devices.

 

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Instagram for Android Reveals more Fragmentation Issues

Android users have been waiting on a port of Instagram, the photo editing and sharing social networking app, for some time. Today, it finally arrived, and not without the same issues that the Android version of Temple Run faced. Due to fragmentation, the app cannot do live previews of filters when taking photos. This works fine on iOS, but because the developers have so many platforms to develop for, some more demanding or less powerful than others, they couldn't add the feature. Not only that, apparently users are experiencing bugs. One issue is that the app will save three copies of the photo. Not only that, but it doesn't allow users to select where the photos will be stored. This is important on Android, because devices will often have very little on board storage, instead relying on user purchased sd cards.

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Android Fragmentation has never been Explained so Well

Don't believe that Android fragmentation is a real concern? Think again. Today, Temple Run was finally release on Android. Although, instead of being greeted with fanfare, they instead got a lot of users asking whether or not it would run on their device, or complaining that their device couldn't run the game. No wonder developers are fed up with Android!

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iOS Gaining Marketshare Rapidly

iOS is still the top mobile operating system, as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch are incredibly popular. But, when only considering smartphones, Android holds the number one spot. But, its time at the top may be coming to an end. Recently, Nielsen revealed in a survey that the iPhone made up 43% of all smartphones. This is s huge gain in marketshare, as the iPhone only held 32% of the market last year, and even less in years before. Android took 48% of the market this year, and Blackberry took up 5%, The rest is defined as "other" by Nielsen, although its probably primarily made up of Windows Phone 7.

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Google Makes More Money from iOS than Android

Google doesn't make money directly from sales of iOS devices, however they do make money from ad revenue and the use of Google maps in the iOS map app. As it turns out, the revenue they get from ads displayed on iOS devices, their iOS apps and Apples use of Google maps for the map app greatly exceeds the amount of money they make from Android. In fact, for every dollar Android makes them, iOS generates four dollars for Google. In other words, from a financial perspective Google would be smart to stop Android development and instead focus their efforts on improving their iOS applications. If they could increase use of their iOS apps, they'd be able to cover all the money they made off Android..

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Why Android Tablet Apps Suck

As if it wasn't bad enough for Android tablets. They already have far fewer apps than are available on iOS, but add on the fact that, according to PC Magazine, the apps suck. Sascha Segan, writer for PC Magazine, explained why the iPad is a clear winner in the app wars, and why they gave the iPad the honor of top tablet.

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iPhone Tops JD Power User Satisfaction Survey

Unsurprisingly, Apple has taken the top spot with their iPhone in J.D. Power and Associate's user satisfaction survey. In fact, it was the only brand that received 5 stars. In fact, their score was so high that it offset the average, as only one other company was above the industry average, HTC. Although, even HTC only scored 4 stars.

Apple has taken the top spot in every customer satisfaction survey for quite a few years now. It's no wonder why Apple is the most valuable company in the world. They make great products, and their customers are consistently the most satisfied customers. The customer support is amazing and their products are so great that users rarely need it. Besides, how else could you explain all the Apple centric blogs written by raving fans? Ahem.

via iMore

 

 

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New iPad MUCH Faster than iPad 2 and Tegra 3

When the 3rd generation iPad was revealed, Apple boasted that the A5X chip served up graphics twice as fast as the iPad 2, and four times faster than the Nvidia Tegra 3 (which is used in top-of-the-line Android tablets). Today, a Chinese source got their hands on the new iPad, and finally ran some graphics benchmarks. What did they find? Apple's not kidding around when it comes to performance, and they're definitely not lying either.

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Just Another Reason Developers are Frustrated with Android

The above chart could require some explanation. What you have on the Y axis is the percentage of users who are using that version of their operating system. In general, adoption of a new operating system grows, then shrinks after the next OS is released. You can see a perfect (and nearly parabolic) example of that with iOS 4. It rose to nearly 100%, and then started dropping after the release of iOS 5, which has been growing even more rapidly than iOS 4. Their study only caught the drop of iOS 3, as it doesn't go that far back.

The other operating systems on there? Those don't look too clean, and there's a reason for that. Android devices don't see the same update process as iOS. On iOS, when it's updated, all iOS devices that can run the latest OS get it on release day. But for Android, users have to wait for their manufactures to create their own version of the OS. Worse yet, they're motivated to do just the opposite, forcing users to buy the next phone if they want an upgrade.

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iOS Far Better than Android with HTML5

When designing websites, I often wish everyone would use Safari. Why? It has amazing HTML5 support. Firefox, Opera, IE, and even Chrome pale in comparison. Sure, Chrome may beat Safari in some simple benchmarks, but when it comes to support of everything HTML5 has to offer, and displaying it in a pleasing manner, Safari is the best. Turns out, the same is true with mobile browsers. 

Spaceport, which made a cross platform gaming SDK created a test they call PerfMark for HTML5. Basically it manipulates a number of images at 30fps, which looks natural. The test produces a score for each browser. Safari on iOS on the iPhone 4S scored 252. The iPad 2 scored 327. But what about the flagship Android phone, the Galaxy Nexus? It's newer than the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, which would lead you to believe it would score better, right? Wrong. It only scored a 147. The Kindle Fire fared far worse, scoring just 25. 

So, if you want to take advantage of new HTML5 websites, there's only one mobile OS you should be looking at: iOS.

via tuaw

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Android Users, Don't Download "Temple Run"

Temple Run is a fantastic (and addictive) game for iOS. Android users, unsurprisingly, are feeling left out. While there is no official Android version of Temple Run, there are plenty of clones. Normally, clones are just poor versions of the real game. There are a lot of popular iOS apps and games that will never be released as Android apps. This leaves space and demand for clones. They're normally harmless, albeit terrible versions of the original. However, the clones of Temple Run are far more dangerous. They come with hidden trojans and malware. Download the game, and your Android phone is infected.

Of course, the iOS version of Temple Run is the real thing, and quite a fun game at that. That's why Android users want it so badly. But if you're an Android user, wait for the official app if it's ever released. Sure, it won't have Game Center support like the iOS version, but at least it won't have malware.
This goes for any game clone. If a developer is willing to clone a game, and possibly face legal trouble, they may be willing to use some malicious code to make some extra money off of unsuspecting users. Don't download clones.
via Forbes

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iOS and Android Apps can Access Your Photos

Smartphones are paving the way for privacy issues. The latest can be troubling for anyone who has ever sent or stored naughty photos on their phone. As it turns out, app developers can take your photos off your phone and upload them to their servers. The problem comes up in both iOS and Android.

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New iOS Apps Outnumber Android 3:1

The App Store is bigger, and now it's growing faster too.

Flurry posted a study about the growth of new apps on iOS and Android. They found that during last month, there were three new iOS apps for every new Android app. iOS already has a lead over Android of over 150,000 apps, and now it's growing faster than Android as well. Consumer and developer interest for Android has been dropping for some time, and now the numbers are starting to reflect that. But why has Android interest been dropping?

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