Amaete Umanah - Chronicles of Tech Geek » Google

Apple Dominates, Android No. 2 in U.S. Mobile Web Usage – Grew 110 Percent Last Year

Amaete Umanah — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:54:47 +0000

The mobile Web grew 110 percent in the U.S. last year and 148 percent worldwide as measured by growth in pageviews, according to a new Quantcast Mobile Trends report. Even so, the mobile Web accounted for only 1.26 percent of Web consumption in the U.S. (and 0.99 percent worldwide).Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch drove much of this growth. In the U.S., Apple has a commanding 65 percent market share of mobile Web access as of the end of December, 2009. Only 41 percent of that is from the iPhone. The other 24 percent comes from the iPod Touch, which has been growing rapidly as a mobile Web device even though it only has WiFi. Globally, Apple also dominates in every market except Africa (where simpler and cheaper Java phones still rule).

TechCrunch

Google Nexus One Launches Today

Amaete Umanah — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:46:21 +0000

Google Inc. is again trying to shake up the mobile market. In holding an event Tuesday in which it was expected to outline its vision for how a mobile phone should be made and sold, the Internet search leader will likely raise the stakes in its bid to gain more control over how people surf the Web while they’re on the go.

The catalyst in Google’s latest attempt to redefine the mobile market apparently will be the Nexus One, the first smart phone designed by the company’s own engineers.

Google has said little about the phone except to confirm that its workers received the handsets three weeks ago for a final round of internal testing. Google is expected to provide the first concrete details about the phone, along with the company’s vision for how such devices should be made and sold, during a news conference Tuesday at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View.

In its invitation to the event, Google said the wireless market has only seen “the beginning of what’s possible” with the free Android operating system that it introduced for mobile phones in late 2007.

Android was designed to make it easier to interact on a mobile phone with Web sites and services, including Google’s, while providing an egalitarian platform to run applications developed by outside programmers.

The applications don’t have to go through an extensive review before they can be distributed to Android-powered devices, a contrast from the control that Apple Inc. holds on its hot-selling iPhone.

Until now, Google has been content to let other companies design the devices relying on Android. And those devices thus far have largely been distributed like most other mobile phones, tethered to major wireless carriers that typically require buyers to lock into two-year contracts in return for discounts on the handsets.

Huffington Post

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Andriod hits 20,000 Apps

Amaete Umanah — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:08:45 +0000

There are now more than 20,000 Android applications and games, according to statistics from a site that tracks the platform’s marketplace. According to AndroLib, Google’s open source mobile platform gained 3,544 new applications and games in November. The site estimates that 37.8 percent of the 20,033 currently available apps and games are paid-for, with the rest being free. By way of contrast, Apple’s more mature iPhone platform has around 100,000 available apps and games.

Google Wave Opens Up to 1 Million Users

Amaete Umanah — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:21:11 +0000

When Google asked what you liked and disliked about their new real-time communication application, you unquestionably said that you wanted more invites to share with friends and family. Problem solved!

Today Google decided to play Santa with Wave invites. It has just doled out significantly more invites to existing users.

In conjunction with the invite rollout,Google is also hinting that they’ll soon reach the 1 million user mark. The title of their post suggestively hints that “a million stamps” have been licked, which we take to mean that they’ve now opened up Google Wave to a million users.

Source: Mashable

Motorola DROID

Amaete Umanah — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:50:42 +0000

Motorola’s second Android device, the DROID, comes hot on the heels of the CLIQ before it — but it’s a very different beast. The DROID sets several important Android firsts, packing a high-powered OMAP3 core, massive 854 x 480 display, and a heavily reworked version of the platform dubbed 2.0 while leaving Motorola’s custom social networking platform, MOTOBLUR, out of the equation. In the US, it has become one of Verizon’s very first Android devices — and it’ll see duty internationally as the MILESTONE.

If you must compare the DROID to the iPhone, then know that the Android platform still has a ways to go before the experience of using the phone is as seamless as the one Apple has created — but also know that Apple has a long way to go before its messaging, email, and customization can match what Google is offering. Both products have very distinct strengths and weaknesses