Gartner is projecting a 7.3% decline in the traditional desktop and laptop computer category this year, although ultramobile devices (portables running a full desktop OS such as Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet, pictured above) are expected to offset the decline slightly — so the collective drop for these two categories is projected to be 3.5%.

But the real engine of growth is of course tablets, with worldwide shipments forecast to total 197 million units in 2013: a 69.8% increase on 2012 shipments of 116 million units. By 2017, Gartner expects tablets to be outshipping desktop computers and ultramobiles combined, although it does not make a specific prediction for the tipping point year for tablets. (IDC said last month that it expects tablet shipments to outstrip PCs this year, and portable PCs next year.)

Over its forecast period Gartner also projects steady growth for smartphones. Overall, the total smart devices market is projected to grow 9% this year, to reach 2.4 billion units.

“You need to own consumers in terms of mobile and tablet in order to remain relevant in this market,” said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. Gone are the days when Windows is the “default” option for the majority of consumers, thanks to alternatives being too technical (Linux) or too expensive (Macs), she said. “Consumers have options and consumers are choosing and Microsoft can not take that for granted that they’ll be the one to be chosen.”

Images are bigger, icons are clearer, and from what we’ve seen it looks to be a big improvement that falls in line withGoogle’s new-found focus on design. That said, we’ll have to wait for it to roll out completely before passing further judgement — some users on Android 2.2 and above should start seeing it from today, but Google says it’ll take a few weeks to reach everyone.

 Android apps are made for laptops and portable devices including smart phones. However they have limitations when coming to loading and storage. This enforces Android apps developers to develop applications that lay emphasis on reliability and effectiveness. There are many parameters on which the performance of an application is measured. One of most well known measures of apps performance is the battery life. If the application you have developed is not powerful or impactful then battery life of your Android mobile will get shortened easily. Hence, it is strongly recommended that you should optimize the performance of your application to ensure better battery life.

You can optimize the performance of your android application by avoiding other things that are not required for your application. Many amateur Android developers usually do not consider these things related to the application and in the end they have an application that is not so good. You should not create something only because you have to create something. Your application idea should be something unique and meaningful. Whenever Android application development is done just to build an application then the end result is disastrous and may not be able to impact any users.

Android apps developers should bear in mind that when they are using C / C++ it is a good idea to use some setter or getter methods as directly using the fields may invite some restrictions on accessing the application. However, when it comes to Android it is not good to call virtual methods within the class. Instead you should ensure that you use the virtual method calls to the public and not the class.