Turns out, it’s an app world, after all.

According to app analytics firm Flurry, which tracks app usage on a staggering 300,000 apps on over a billion active mobile devices, we spend an average of 158 minutes each and every day on our smartphones and tablets. Two hours and seven minutes of that is in an app, and only 31 minutes is in a browser, surfing the old-school web.

A big chunk of that 158 minutes is taken up with games — 32 percent — but it’s almost shocking to see how much time a single app and a single company eats up. Eighteen percent of all the time that Americans spend on their phones is spent in the Facebook app, a figure that by itself dwarfs all other social networking apps.

Combined, the others only take up six percent of our time.

There was a time when developers thought HTML5 would kill the mobile app, with experts like Mike Rowehl saying things like: “We’ll forget that we even passed through another era of native apps on the way to the mobile web.”

In an interesting twist, however, HTML5 is actually being used more as a tool for cross-platform native app development. In fact, it’s now the number one choice for developers building apps for multiple platforms.

Flurry also says that people are now using more apps than ever, launching 7.9 per day in the last part of 2012 versus 7.5 per day in 2011 and 7.2 per day in 2010. Consumers are continuing to try new apps as well, with long-term users adding new apps regularly to their existing stack.

“We believe that with consumers continuing to try so many new apps, the app market is still in early stages and there remains room for innovation as well as breakthrough new applications,” Flurry says.

Is the mobile web dead?

Not necessarily — we’re only five years into this ongoing mobile revolution. But today, people are talking with their taps, and they’re overwhelmingly choosing apps.

The fixes, however, are subtle. The most significant one rights a network issue that caused Opera Mini to freeze at start-up. This release also set the app’s fallback language to English rather than Arabic, as it previously was (in other words, an error with a language pack will now revert back to English.) Opera Mini is now also available in Hungarian, and the company says it has fixed backend bugs and stability soft spots.

However, Opera’s mini update may disappoint some users who are on the lookout for Opera Mini to adopt multitouch pinch-to-zoom capabilities, finer-detail zoom levels, improved page rendering, and support for iPhone-optimized Web pages.

The fact that Opera Mini is a proxy browser that more or less beams an image of a Web page to your screen courtesy of Opera’s servers, can account for some of the user grievances. For instance, Opera Mini isn’t a native iPhone app, and therefore doesn’t have access to the pinch-to-zoom technology of iPhone’s Safari browser.

In the meantime, a brand-new entrant into the mobile browser space should have Opera reconsidering its position.

Skyfire, a previous Opera Mobile competitor on Windows Mobile and Symbian phones, has also on Thursday introduced Skyfire beta browser for Android. Skyfire’s browser is based on the same open-source WebKit engine used to build Safari–as such, it already employs pinch-and-zoom. Skyfire definitely has its sights set on a version for iPhone, which would bring it into direct opposition with its Opera Mini rival.

While Opera has gone on record boasting that it’s found a way around Apple’s browser restrictions using its own software code, the company’s stubbornness could lose users who care more about pinching the screen than they do about how quickly pages load.

It’s also worth noting competitor Skyfire’s buzzed-about ability to transcode and stream Flash video through the company’s servers. That, combined with multitouch support, could give Skyfire, and not Opera Mini, the next iPhone edge. Flash video has been the hot topic in mobile of late, with Google affirming that its Android OS update 2.2 will carry it, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ going on record to bestow his kiss of death for Adobe Flash on iPhone.

Opera may yet have a little breathing room to rethink its strategy before Skyfire and others make their iPhone move. Skyfire’s CEO Jeff Glueck told CNET in an interview that while an iPhone version of their native/proxy browser hybrid is certainly in the works, the company wants to make sure it can handle server hits comparable to a million new users in one day, assuming their success were to follow Opera’s in the first full day of its iPhone release.

Resource:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20003802-233.html

1. What does “4G” mean, anyway?

   4G is a marketing term that service providers are using to describe the “fourth generation” of wireless services. Such services may use different underlying technologies, depending on the provider, but they typically offer between four and ten times the performance of “3G” networks.

2. What are the technologies behind 4G services?

   The two main technologies are WiMax and Long Term Evolution (LTE). WiMax is a standard developed by the IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Development of the LTE standard is led by the 3GPP, an industry body for providers that use GSM, the current leading technology for cellular communications. Both WiMax and LTE use advanced antenna technology to improve reception and performance. However, the technologies rely on different types of wireless spectrum.

3. How fast is 4G compared to 3G?

   WiMax providers today are offering contracts that advertise download speeds of between 2 megabits per second and 6 mbps, with peak speeds of 10 mbps and more. Verizon, which will launch LTE networks in the United States later this year, is expecting to offer services with download speeds in the 5 mbps to 12 mbps range. Most 3G data systems today deliver speeds of between 400 kilobits per second (that is, 0.4 mbps) and 1.5 mbps.

4. Why should I want 4G?

   4G’s faster download speeds and better overall data performance will significantly improve the performance of demanding applications such as streaming video, videoconferencing, and networked gaming. You may also be able to replace your home DSL or cable modem service with a 4G service that you can use both at home and on the road.

5. Are 4G services available now?

   Yes, in some places. In the United States, the partnership of Clearwire and Sprint currently offers WiMax-based services in 28 cities–among them, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), and Seattle. Clearwire and Sprint plan to add Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco to this list in 2010.

   On the LTE side, Verizon is the most aggressive of the U.S. providers, with plans to launch commercial services in 25 to 30 as-yet unnamed markets before the end of 2010; AT&T plans to follow with LTE in 2011. Internationally, WiMax services are already in use in many countries, including Japan, Korea, and Russia; and one commercial LTE network is running in Sweden.

6. What providers other than Verizon and AT&T plan to offer LTE in the United States?

   In March, MetroPCS announced plans to launch LTE services in Las Vegas before the end of this year, using a dual-mode 3G/LTE phone made by Samsung. T-Mobile is expected to launch LTE services sometime in the future, but it has not specified a timeframe for deployment.

7. What are the cost advantages of 4G versus 3G?

   Right now, the Clearwire/Sprint plans typically provide true “unlimited” data usage, whereas virtually all 3G cellular plans impose extra charges for downloading more than 5 gigabytes of data per month. Plans from Clearwire and its reseller partners (which include Comcast and Time-Warner Cable) are typically $10 to $20 per month cheaper than the standard $60 per month 3G cellular data plan, too. Verizon has not announced LTE pricing.

8. Can I get 4G on the 3G phone or USB modem that I have now?

   No. The 4G networks are designed to run at different frequencies than the ones current cellular services use, so you’ll need new radio chips tuned to the 4G frequencies.

9. Does 4G support voice calls?

   Not in any current implementation, other than Voice over IP applications like Skype or Vonage. Most early 4G phones will be “hybrid” devices that include a 3G chip to handle voice calls.

10. Are any 4G phones available now?

    As of April 2010, the only 4G phone announced for U.S. markets is Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G, which was unveiled in March and is expected to be available by this summer. (Earlier, HTC shipped a WiMax phone for a network in Russia.) Verizon has said that it expects LTE phones to ship by mid-2011.

    iPhone in the United States under an exclusive contract with AT&T, it has manufactured the phone with chips that connect to AT&T’s 3G cellular network. Many people hope that Verizon, which has more-immediate 4G plans for its network than AT&T does, will begin selling a CDMA version of the iPhone later this year.

11. Can I use 4G while I’m on the road, as with a cell phone?

    Yes. The whole idea behind 4G is that it’s not just broadband, but mobile broadband.

12. Can I use 4G services in different cities, similarly to roaming with a cell phone?

    Yes, sort of. Roaming is supported between different cities covered by the same service, so a Clearwire or Sprint device you buy in Portland should work fine in Las Vegas or Chicago. LTE proponents say that they will support cross-provider roaming, but we’ll have to wait a couple years to see whether that works. And while chip vendors have announced silicon that could link to either a WiMax or an LTE network, no as-yet-announced device can accomplish that trick.

13. Will 4G be offered in rural communities?

    Smaller providers such as DigitalBridge Communications–which has services in Jackson Hole, Wyoming–already offer mobile WiMax similar to Clearwire’s. A company called Open Range Communications has just started offering WiMax services in rural Colorado, and it plans to cover more than 500 rural communities over the next several years.

14. Can 4G services replace my home DSL or cable modem?

    Yes, unless you’re looking for extra-high-speed services for extremely demanding broadband usage. Clearwire’s WiMax service already offers faster speeds than the lower-end DSL plans, and it can match some cable modem offerings. For users who want both home and mobile service, WiMax 4G may be a better deal than the combined price of a stationary service and a 3G data plan.

15. What is a portable Wi-Fi router, and how does it use 4G?

    Clearwire and Sprint sell two versions of a portable Wi-Fi/WiMax router, which uses a link to WiMax on the back end to support a “personal hotspot” capable of broadcasting a Wi-Fi signal that several devices can share. Sprint’s forthcoming HTC EVO 4G phone will be able to act as a portable router, too, sharing its WiMax connection with up to eight other devices via Wi-Fi.

16. I’ve been hearing recently about “HSPA+” or “3.5G” service. What is it?

    T-Mobile USA is in the process of launching a mobile data network based on a more-advanced version of the 3G protocols in use today. Theoretically the network can support speeds of up to 21 mbps, but in tests so far it is only marginally faster than most 3G data services. T-Mobile hopes to have the service available in 100 U.S. cities by the end of 2010.

17. Why do some people say that current 4G services are not “true” 4G?

    Standards bodies have set higher speed goals for what they would like to define as “official” 4G services, performance marks that likely won’t be met for another couple years at the earliest. But marketers think that what’s available now is a big enough leap to justify the “next-generation” label–and they’re the ones who buy the ads.

18. Will “real” 4G services ever be available?

    Both WiMax and LTE backers are working on versions of the technology that will support “true” 4G speeds of more than 100 mbps for downloads, but real products using those versions probably won’t appear for several years.

19. When will this great service be available in my town?

    It all depends on when providers decide that your metro area is worthy! Clearwire and Sprint both have interactive maps on their Websites showing where and when services are likely to be available. Verizon is expected to announce its first LTE cities later this summer or early next fall.

Paul Kapustka is editor and founder of Sidecut Reports, an independent research firm that specializes in wireless technologies.

Resource:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100427/tc_pcworld/4gwireless20questionsaskedanswered

Once derided for being too precious and fragile, the phone is making inroads into not-so-gentle environments thanks to a myriad of rugged covers and young labourers’ obsessions with the device.

Now David Campbell, owner of David Campbell Building, is banking on an app to help other builders become more efficient on and off the building site. He has commissioned the development of the Tradie’s App ($52.99 from iTunes) – an extensive collection of site diaries, purchase orders, pricing and subcontractor agreements to be used by foremen and licensed builders.

This saves tradesmen having to wait to get home after a day’s slog to record what happened on the job.

Campbell promises it gives builders everything they need to run a project on time and on budget, even down to making clients sign for agreed variations on the spot. He should know; he has been trialling it on his luxury home projects for the past six months. Seven of his staff have an iPhone with the app, which they use constantly to manage jobs and send reports back to the boss in the office.

“Without even being on site all day, I know the concreter was there, the brickies were there and built the wall they were meant to build and the client was on site and asked for the toilet to be moved. It saves the guys having to go back to the office to do their paperwork,” he says.

Campbell is no stranger to technology. His website makes use of videos, slideshows and podcast subscriptions to showcase some of his company’s work. The app is his new way to try to capitalise on it. It’s available on iTunes but was down at time of writing, given technical difficulties with an update download, he says.

Campbell says it’s been downloaded by builders in Australia, some in the United Arab Emirates, Canada and five in the US. “We’ve only had 72 downloads but it’s only been five weeks. Some builders have given me comments to say it saves them $50 a day,” he says.

An app for large sites

Another construction company is selling its own construction app, this time for foremen on large and multiple building sites.

Foreman’s Mate was built by All Over Geo for Kell & Rigby, a 100-year-old Australian construction company specialising in large projects. It’s available on the iPhone and will be available on the iPad when it is released in Australia. It costs $200 per month to subscribe from the iTunes store, although there’s currently a 30-day free trial.

“Builders would have to be one of the biggest users of phones. On site you’d rarely see a foreman without a phone glued to their ear. Now they can use a technology they’re already comfortable with to complete a job they might not like, but must be done,” Kell & Rigby chief executive James Kell said.

The company counts Qantas, Vodafone and Apple – including the Apple Store on Sydney’s George St – among its completed projects.

Resource:
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/building-an-app-for-builders-20100427-tnqz.html

Skin doctor Dr Greg Pearson claims that the revolutionary app can improve people’s skin by shining a special light on to the owner’s face while they chat on the phone, reports The Sun.

The light kills off bacteria and promotes collagen growth, claims the medic.

Dr Pearson said: “This would have to go through a lot more clinical study before I could quantify its efficiency.

“I am fascinated by the concept that users would potentially be able to treat their acne while talking on the phone.”

Resource:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100209/868/ttc-now-iphone-app-that-can-cure-acne_1.html

The problem is that while the iTunes Store provides a convenient button for browsing either just iPhone or just iPad apps, the rest of iTunes appears to be ignorant of this distinction. The Apps view, listing all downloaded apps, doesn’t differentiate by default, and when your iPad is connected, the Apps tab for your iPad provides no way to view just the iPad apps.

There are a couple ways to ferret out your iPad and hybrid apps, however. Click on the Apps item in iTunes’s sidebar–your iPad doesn’t need to be connected–to view all downloaded apps. Then choose View -> As List to view those apps in a sortable text list. Next choose View -> View Options and check the box next to Kind (or right-click any column header in the Apps view and choose Kind to enable it); this action adds the Kind column to the list.

Click this new Kind column and your apps are now sorted by app type: iPad app, iPhone/iPod touch app, or iPhone/iPod touch/iPad app (click again to invert the sort order). Unfortunately, iPhone/iPod touch apps end up between the two types of iPad-optimized apps, so it’s a bit of a hassle to view all apps with an iPad interface. But it’s better than nothing, right?

The other way to view apps in such groups is to choose View -> as Grid and then choose View -> Grid View -> Applications. This shows you a graphical view of all your downloaded apps, grouped by app type. I don’t find grid view to be as useful as list view, however, especially if you have lots of apps. (It also sorts the same way as list view, with iPhone/iPod touch apps between the two types of iPad apps.)

Of course, these options don’t help you while you’re deciding exactly which apps to sync to your iPad (in other words, when you select your iPad in the sidebar and view the Apps tab). But it at least makes it easier to see how many of your apps will take advantage of the iPad’s larger screen and other unique features. Here’s hoping Apple fixes this omission, and makes it easier to automatically sync just iPad-optimized apps to your iPad, in an update to iTunes.

Resource:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176021/View_iPad_optimized_apps_in_iTunes?taxonomyId=76

The decision reverses an earlier pledge in which it said it would help get Flash working on the gadgets.

Flash is very widely used on the web and many sites use it to power animations, media players and other multimedia elements.

Despite this, Apple’s products do not support Flash and it has made public statements criticising the technology.

Closed tools

In mid-April, Adobe released software called Creative Suite 5 that contained translation tools that automatically turn Flash code into programs that run on the iPhone.

Shortly before the release, Apple updated the terms and conditions of the license software developers must sign to create iPhone and iPad applications. The revisions prompted a lot of criticism from many iPhone developers.

The revised terms placed strict restrictions on what developers can use to create these applications and effectively banned them from using code translators such as Creative Suite 5.

At the time Adobe wrote that it still intended to deliver the translation tools. Now it has said it will halt development of future translation tools for Creative Suite.

“We will still be shipping the ability to target the iPhone and iPad in Flash CS5,” wrote Mike Chambers, Adobe’s principal product manager for developer relations, on his blog. “However, we are not currently planning any additional investments in that feature.”

Mr Chambers also commented on Apple’s revision of its terms and conditions. He wrote: “…as developers for the iPhone have learned, if you want to develop for the iPhone you have to be prepared for Apple to reject or restrict your development at any time.”

Apple responded in a statement to technology news site CNet in which it described Flash as “closed and proprietary”. Apple preferred to support more open standards which replicate everything Flash can do, added the statement.

Mr Chambers wrote that now Adobe will concentrate on Google’s Android smartphone software and ensure that its Flash technology works well with that.

“Fortunately,” he wrote, “the iPhone isn’t the only game in town.”

Resource:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8639240.stm

The two companies worked together to develop the free application, according to Kevin Thau, from Twitter’s mobile products and partnerships team.

“When you talk about messaging and mobile phones, BlackBerry immediately comes to mind and it was no surprise to us that it has become one of the most popular mobile platforms for Twitter around the world,” Thau wrote in an official blog post.

The application features real-time push of Twitter direct messages, browser integration for Web links in “tweets,” an interface whose look-and-feel can be customized, recognition of Twitter @usernames linked to the users’ profiles and a search engine.

The interface is available in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Brazilian Portuguese.

Social media companies like Twitter and Facebook are busy trying to strengthen mobile versions of their sites and mobile applications, as more and more people become comfortable with posting status updates, checking friends’ profiles and publishing photos and videos from their smartphones.

Resource:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/193909/twitter_app_for_blackberry_released.html

The world’s largest software company is trying a new tack in the hotly contested arena with its long-awaited “Project Pink” devices.

Unlike Apple’s popular device or Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, they are aiming at hyperactive teenagers who want multiple instant messaging accounts, e-mail, games, music and Facebook in a cool-looking package.

The phones won’t be powered by Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 software, and will be priced much lower than the iPhone or Google Inc’s Nexus One.

But investors will be watching closely as Microsoft, which has ceded ground in past years in handheld devices, attempts to reassert itself in a small but significant way.

The Microsoft-branded phones — made by Japan’s Sharp and sold by Verizon Wireless — are the souped-up descendants of the Sidekick, originally made by hip phone developers Danger, which Microsoft bought two years ago.

With distinctive slide-out keyboards and swiveling screens, Danger’s phones are popular with a young urban crowd that has more in common with Microsoft’s Xbox gaming audience than its mainstream business-oriented software.

“This is a trial for Microsoft,” said Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar. “If this goes well or better than they expect, they may be more willing to dip their toe in the water and build a full-fledged phone.”

AGE OF EXPERIMENTATION

Apple’s minutely designed iPhone showed the weakness in Microsoft’s approach of creating mobile software and letting handset makers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola control the rest.

Among the array of Windows-powered phones, few approach Apple’s smooth user experience, which has attracted tens of millions of customers and redefined the smartphone category.

Microsoft admitted as much when as it launched its new Windows phone software in February, saying it was working more closely with phone makers to make sure the resulting products hit the mark. The arrival of the first of the new phones this autumn will determine their success.

In the meantime, Monday’s “Project Pink” phones — which will have a new name at launch — appear to be an experiment in building its own-brand phone, if only for a limited market, reducing the chances of upsetting Microsoft’s handset partners.

“It’s the great age of experimentation in mobile devices,” said Kim Caughey, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. “These companies are doing experiments to figure out how big all these sub-demographics are.”

Microsoft has a good chance of succeeding, said Caughey, citing sales of Xbox sales to a similar crowd.

LOOSE FOOTHOLD

But the scale of the experiment is small. No more than 30 million social networking/messaging phones were sold in the United States last year, according to Wall Street analysts. In total, 1.1 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2009.

Making an impact in a small but important entry level market would be a significant win for Microsoft, which risks losing a generation of young users to Apple and Google.

“This is a critical product for Microsoft, they have been doing very badly in the smartphone market,” said Jack Gold, who heads technology research and consulting firm J. Gold Associates. “They basically have to do something to get back into the market space.”

The latest figures from comScore show that Microsoft lost 4 percentage points of U.S. smartphone market share in the last three months, leaving it with 15 percent, behind Research in Motion and Apple. If current trends continue, Microsoft will be pushed into fourth place this summer by fast-growing Google.

“The last two years, we have really seen nothing out of Microsoft around handheld devices that connect. That’s an eternity in this particular space,” said Professor N. Venkat Venkatraman, chairman of the Information Systems Department at Boston University’s School of Management.

Microsoft missed early opportunities to integrate the Xbox, Zune music player and social networking functions into a handheld format, said Venkatraman. Instead, the company is now offering a “patchwork of ideas from an over-bureaucracy.”

Monday’s phones are not an attempt to revolutionize mobile computing, like Apple’s iPad, but they will be a vital signpost showing Microsoft’s approach to innovation, and may give hints on the likely success of Windows 7 phones later this year.

“This is their last chance,” said Gold. “Microsoft’s got a lot of money, they can stay in a market forever if they choose. But if they don’t get this right over the next six to 12 months, they’re gone.”

Copyright 2010 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Resource:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10335467

As signs mount that the Federal Trade Commission will block its $750 million acquisition of mobile ad company AdMob, Google is preparing for a legal challenge, a source close to the situation said.

“There is a high likelihood Google will litigate,” the source told The Post.

The FTC’s staff wants to challenge Google’s proposed deal the source said, and will soon present its findings to the five FTC commissioners, two of whom have been seated in the last several days.

“My guess is they will be conservative in their judgments,” and might be reluctant to overrule their staff, said Stroock & Stroock & Lavan antitrust lawyer Bruce Schneider, who is not working on this case.

The argument against Google buying AdMob is that it already dominates the online-search advertising market and should not be allowed to do the same in mobile advertising, which is part of the same overall market. Google argues that they are two separate markets.

Apple’s unveiling of a new mobile ad platform, the iAd, yesterday, may help Google’s case, because it shows there will be robust competition in mobile advertising.

If Google sues, a district judge would decide whether to issue a temporary injunction stopping the merger. Judges do occasionally rule against the FTC, like in 2007 when it let Whole Foods buy Wild Oats — though the FTC succeeded with an appeal and eventually reached a compromise with Whole Foods.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on whether it was preparing to litigate, saying only that “there is overwhelming evidence that mobile advertising will remain competitive after this deal closes.”

Resource:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/google_stoked_to_fight_ftc_over_vmYimI695hdri5MjBbPm0L