It’s only been about a couple of weeks since the announcement of T-Mobile USA’s HTC Wildfire and it’s now available for purchase. For those who don’t mind a small device that packs a decent punch and Gingerbread, you can purchase it for $80 on-contract. T-Mobile’s site should get you on your way.
I must say that when my brother-in-law informed me that he and my sister decided to replace their roof with a steel paneled roof, I was shocked. I had visions of a World War II quonset hut with its dull silver finish and sloping igloo type shape. Then after visiting them and viewing the stylish deep green panels, I was thoroughly impressed. My whole attitude toward metal roofing changed. The roof added so much class to their home, I could barely believe it was the same house. You can be sure, as soon as my roof needs to be replaced, I’m on board.
The latest update to the Rdio Android app brought, among other things, a peculiar item to its recent changes list. Below bug fixes, TELUS integration, and giftcard support is listed “Android ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ Support.” But, to the best of our knowledge, that particular OS update is still months away. So what gives?
Well, that particular OS update is indeed still months away. Google gave us a launch estimate of Q4, and it would be extremely unlikely for the new build to launch any sooner. No SDK has been made public yet, either, though a chance remains that an early build may have been forwarded to certain developers under a hush-hush agreement. The app may have also been updated based on a series of guidelines provided by Google but based on any actual build at all. There also remains the possibility that Rdio is simply talking out of their ass. Whatever the answer is, we’re taking this to mean that when Ice Cream Sandwich does land towards the end of the year, Rdio will be ready to go instantly.
[via AndroidCentral]
As someone who has never been a big fan of cases and has definitely never used a screen protector, I felt it was our duty to share this comic with you. Enjoy!
Google’s latest report has just shown up. Though the surprises are not major, we are seeing some improvements. Android 2.2 is still taking the lead, but that’s something that might not last long. It seems the latest Android versions (Gingerbread and Honeycomb) are starting to gain more momentum, while the other versions are slowly starting to disappear.
As evidenced in the graph, there is a huge boost in the latest smartphone Android versions, Android 2.3.3 – 2.3.4 Gingerbread. Since not many devices have these versions, it might just mean a lot of people are currently getting their upgrades to the latest devices.
Let’s take a look at the numbers from last month in order to better understand the changes. The first graph was taken from the June 1 report, and the one to the right is from this month.
As you can see, all older versions of Android are slowly but surely diminishing, including the almighty Froyo. Even the earlier builds of Gingerbread are starting to go away, as they are overtaken by Gingerbread 2.3.3 – 2.3.4. The latest Gingerbread versions went from 8.1% to 23.7%–the biggest jump we have seen lately (in a two-month period). Also, Honeycomb has just broken through the 1% threshold and reached a healthy 1.3% (across all 3 versions). This may not be that impressive, but at least we know Android tablet platforms are starting to gain some popularity.
It seems to be a good month for Android! Froyo is still seated at the top, but users are leaving the older versions. And a large number of people are coming to the latest. Tablets are getting a bit more popular, so let’s strive for reaching that 2%!
So, what Android version do you have? What device are you rocking? Are any of our readers still on Android 2.1 and below? How many of you jumped to Android 2.3.3 – 2.3.4 lately? How and why?
At a media event today in NYC, Samsung has been giving a first look at the fresh-out-of-the-oven TouchWiz UX for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to member of the press. It was also announced that the update, which will overhaul the user interface of the currently stock Honeycomb Tab 10.1, will begin rolling out to the general public beginning this Friday, August 5th. The update will feature many enhancements and tweaks, including,
- Live Panel: Magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, news, photo gallery, all on the home screen. The visual layout of Live Panel is completely customizable for one-touch entry into each users most important information.
- Mini Mode Tray: One-touch access to commonly used applications–Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator, Music–which overlay in a pop-up window on display screen for powerful multi-tasking.
- Clipboard: Advanced copy & paste functionality allows Galaxy Tab 10.1 users to store photos, Web pages, YouTube links, etc., on the clipboard for easy sharing via email and social network sites.
- Indicator Quick Panel: Quickly toggle on/off Wi-Fi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display.
- Photo Editor: Rotate, crop and adjust colors on high quality digital images
Time Inc. today announced a commitment to have all 21 of their US titles digitized and optimized for “all major tablet platforms” by year’s end., the first magazine publisher in the US to set such a goal. Magazines including Entertainment Weekly and InStyle will get the same treatment as People, Sports Illustrated, Time, and Fortune with editions published directly to tablet. In addition to bringing new titles into the fold, Time is making their current digital offerings available as subscriptions and single-copy sales for the NOOK Color.
Time Inc. to Launch Tablet Editions for Its Entire U.S. Portfolio of 21 Titles by Year End
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As part of Time Inc.s industry-leading effort to deliver its iconic brands everywhere consumers want them, the company today announced that all 21 of its U.S. titles will be available as tablet editions by the end of 2011. Time Inc. will be the first major U.S. magazine publisher to make all of its titles available on all leading tablet platforms, with products designed specifically for this medium.
"Having our entire portfolio available on tablets will create a significant new digital reach for our advertisers."
Brands including INSTYLE, REAL SIMPLE and ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY will now join PEOPLE, TIME, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and FORTUNE with digital tablet versions. To date, Time Inc.s digital magazine and other content apps have been downloaded more than 11 million times. Hundreds of thousands of current print subscribers have upgraded their subscriptions to include the tablet editions at no extra cost, with thousands more being added each week. Time Inc. has also sold more than 600,000 digital single copies of those four titles."Now is the time for us to make this bold commitment. In the coming year, there will clearly be many more consumers using tablets, accelerating demand for content and driving advertiser interest. We are putting ourselves in a great position to take advantage of these opportunities," said Maurice Edelson, EVP and a member of Time Inc.s interim management committee. "Having our entire portfolio available on tablets will create a significant new digital reach for our advertisers."
Today, the company also announced an agreement with Barnes & Noble to sell digital subscriptions and single-copy issues of FORTUNE, PEOPLE, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and TIME on the NOOK Color starting later this month, with the rest of the portfolio to follow by year-end. The Barnes & Noble agreement adds the NOOK Color to a growing list of platforms where Time Inc. distributes its digital titles, including Apple iPad, Android Marketplace, HP TouchPad and Next Issue Medias store.
Time Inc. offers consumers an All Access approach that includes print and digital subscriptions, as well as digital-only subscriptions and the ability to purchase single copies. Additionally, each of Time Inc.s 28 million print subscribers will have the option to upgrade their subscription to include the digital edition at no additional cost. The digital editions will be presented using reader software that is native to each platform.
Print ads will be incorporated into the tablet editions. The company plans to report digital sales and subscriber information to ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) beginning in January 2012. Time Inc. research shows consumers place a high value on digital editions that include ads.
Sharp has unveiled their Galapgos A01SH tablet for the Japanese, a 7-inch tablet running Android 3.2. The slate features a 1024×600 resolution, dual-core Tegra 2 processor, and a built-in 42Mbps data connectivity. Other specs include 1GB of RAM, 5MP rear and 2MP front-facing camera, and 8GB of internal storage. Pricing hasn’t been revealed but the tablet should be on sale by the end of the month in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Sharp is committed to bringing at least a few of their tablet products to the US, and we recently saw the A01SH pass through the FCC. Today’s product unveil did not come with any additional details for plans to release the device in other regions, however.
[via Electronista]
QSD8250, QSD8650, MSM8255. What do these letters and numbers mean to you? Probably not much unless you’re a chipset nerd like us, who spends a lot of time reading Qualcomm’s Wikipedia page. But for the average consumer (or even the average techie) these weird model numbers couldn’t be more meaningless. And that’s a problem. In today’s world, even chipset makers like Qualcomm need to market their products to the average consumer.
In order to that, Qualcomm will now start to classify its Snapdragon chips by systems. In the S1 category we have last-gen 1 GHz chips that power mass market smartphones. On the S2 tier we have single-core high performance chips that run at speeds of up to 1.4 GHz. Moving on to dual-core processors, we have the S3 chips, which can run at speeds of 1.5 GHz. Devices powered by S3 chips include the HTC EVO 3D and Sensation 4G. Finally, we have the S4 system. This include those Krait-based chips that will arrive early next year. With up to 2.5 GHz speeds and four CPUs, these are the chips you want to keep an eye out for.
Once Qualcomm announces new chips, they’ll be branded as S6, S7, S8 and so on. S1 chips will always be S1 chips. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get my hands on some sweet 5 GHz 16-core S10 goodness.
While this “rebranding” doesn’t necessarily kill the old model numbers, it’ll certainly make it much easier to compare Snapdragon chips to each other. You’ll know that, if you have a S4 chip inside your device, it’ll most likely be superior to your friend’s S3-powered phone.
Having said that, I don’t see my mom or dad bragging about their Snapdragon S3 phones anytime soon. But hey, at least we chipset enthusiasts will be able to keep our sanity from now on.
![QCT_Snapdragon_Infographic_Detailed_WEB[2]_575px](http://www.androfun.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/7252e_QCT_Snapdragon_Infographic_Detailed_WEB2_575px-75x75.jpg)
When Amazon opened the doors to their Android Appstore some four months ago, no one knew exactly how the project would turn out. It was exciting because before Amazon, alternative app stores never made much of an impact. And if anyone could change that, it would have to be the company looking to sell everything from “A” to “Z.”
Well things haven’t been all bad for the Amazon Appstore since launch, but they haven’t been all good either. In a recent sit down with Venture Beat, Aaron Rubenson, director of the Amazon Appstore, spilled the beans on how the Appstore has fared so far.
According to Rubenson, things are great. He says that despite the Amazon Appstore only housing some 14,000 apps (that’s still a lot more than the 4,000 they started off with in late March), sales of apps have been very successful. Over a million in fact. He also says that the limited number of apps introduced so far has been intentional. In order to better catalogue apps, work in discovery options and fine tune cross promotions, a limited number of quality apps is necessary.
The limited number of apps available has also helped highlight areas where Amazon needs to spend more time, such as games. Games are the largest portion of Amazon’s sales at this point, something Rubenson says is “more or less tracking with what the industry sees.” While Rubenson couldn’t openly respond to a question on whether or not Amazon was working on developing games of their own, the possibility is certainly there.
Other than sales numbers and monetization, the hot subject of the night was Amazon’s Free App of the Day and developers’ rights. When Venture Beat asked, “does the promotion of an app as a free app really help the app later on when the promotion ends and then you start selling it for money again?”, Rubenson responded with:
“When developers are trying to get their product discovered, the promotion as a free app of the day is a very powerful marketing vehicle. Then once that core base of customers has a product installed, they tell their friends about it. That spurs more downloads. It rises in popularity in our store. That makes it more popular as people are scrolling through the bestseller list and notice it there. So it starts the virtuous cycle from a marketing perspective. And then increasingly as developers are using various forms of monetization post-purchase, such as advertising or in-app purchasing technology, there are all sorts of downstream monetization opportunities as well once you have that initial base.”
Aaron Rubenson Amazon
In theory, Amazon gives an app away, that app becomes popular, more people start buying and the developer walks away with more business and more money to put in the bank. Unfortunately, that’s not always how it works. You see not only does the “virtuous cycle” not always work that way, but Amazon also has a few secrets they’re looking to hide.
In an article by TechCrunch’s Jason Kincaid, Kincaid writes that he was “very clearly told that even if Amazon decided to make an app free, developers would still be making 20% of their list price. In other words, they’d still make money.” Amazon is now trying to back out of that. Developer Shifty Jelly is a prime example of how this can negatively affect a company.
When Shifty Jelly’s Pocket Casts was scheduled to hit the Appstore as the Free App of the Day, Amazon pressured Shifty Jelly into taking exactly 0% of what the app originally cost instead of the 20% Amazon promised. Not only that, but Amazon was kind enough to ask by “putting really restrictive clauses at the bottom of their emails,” that “…no one is even allowed to discuss these back door deals they are doing.” Shifty Jelly eventually agreed to the 0%, as to get in on some of that marketing action Rubenson is so keen on leaning on, and the outcome was worse than they could have possibly imagined.
Along with getting no money for the over 100,000 copies of their app that was given away that day, Shifty Jelly has seen no jump in sales numbers whatsoever. In fact the company is losing money because now they have to pay to maintain new servers for everyone who took advantage of Amazon’s generous offer. Sounds great, right?
As I said at the beginning of all this, things haven’t been all bad for the Amazon Appstore since launch, but they haven’t been all good either. They’re making great strides in app discovery and figuring out new ways to promote apps, though at what cost? By using secret money-grubbing marketing tactics and putting developers out of business? If that’s the case, then it doesn’t sound like Amazon is really doing any good at all.
People have been reaching out to Amazon for questioning, and believe me, everyone is eagerly awaiting a response.
