Saturday 30 April 2011

Google to take Apple's app crown by July


Google to take Apple's app crown by July

(Credit: Distimo)
Apple frequently touts the number of applications available to iOS users, which now sits north of 350,000. But that number could be in danger of coming in second place to rival Google in just a few months time.
In a new report by market research firm Distimo for the last month of activity on Apple's various App Stores, the BlackBerry App World, GetJar, Google's Android Market, Nokia's Ovi Store, Palm's App Catalog, and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, the group found Google and Microsoft's efforts to be growing the fastest.
"If all application stores maintain their current growth pace, approximately five months from now Google Android Market will be the largest store in terms of number of applications followed by the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, BlackBerry App World and Nokia Ovi Store," the firm said in its findings. "The Windows Phone 7 Marketplace will also be larger than the Nokia Ovi Store and BlackBerry App World prior to the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace being available for even a full year."
Distimo's research found that Google has already made headway on attacking Apple on the volume front, pushing past the App Store with 134,342 free applications versus the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch's 121,845 free applications. The firm estimates that Google will be 40,000 applications short of evening out with Apple's overall volume by the end of June, and will catch up completely in July.
Distimo notes that any growth estimates are gauged on the past three months of activity across the ecosystem, which "could easily accelerate or slow down."
Not included in that calculation are sales and app volume counted from Amazon's recently launched Appstore, which is not to be confused with Apple's "App Store" (as on-going litigation points out). Amazon launched its currently Android-only mobile application store near the end of last month, which would make it too late to included in this round of tracking. Amazon's store contains many of the same apps available on the Android Market, though could end up building up a library of exclusives over time. Distimo says it will begin tracking Amazon apps in a few months.
Along with the volume tracking, Distimo's report released a year's findings about Apple's App Store for the iPad, which it says reached 75,755 applications at the end of March. Thirty percent of those applications are free, the firm said, with the average price for paid apps hitting $5.36.
Interestingly enough, that $5.36 number is up from the early days of the store, when the average was $4.34 per paid application. Distimo says the trend is unusual, since other application stores tend to have a lowering average price as app volumes get higher.
Based on Distimo's data, books reign as the supreme category on the iPad as of the end of March, with 16,712 book applications. Games come a close second at 13,861 applications. From there it drops off to education, followed by entertainment and lifestyle applications. Worth a mention here is a separate study from forecast firm Simba released earlier today, which found that nearly 40 percent of iPad owners haven't used the device for reading e-books. Most said they used their computer as a primary reading device.

via(Cnet:News)

Friday 29 April 2011

Motorola Atrix 4G To Get OTA Update With HSUPA


Motorola Atrix 4G To Get OTA Update With HSUPA Fix?

It is a known fact that the Motorola Atrix 4G and the HTC Inspire 4G for AT&T came with HSUPA radio turned off by default. We have earlier reported that AT&T might rollout an official Over The Air update to enable the HUSPA radio on both of these devices. And we were right, indeed! Motorola has created a separate page on its website for a software update (v4.1.83) for the AT&T Motorola Atrix 4G. The OTA 4.1.83 highlights some of the important improvements in its change log and first two of them (refer the screenshot below) are suggesting us that it indeed is a fix for enabling HSUPA on the Atrix 4G.

Though we don’t have any official information about the date when the OTA update going to release, we can say it won’t be too long because of the fact that the OTA software update document is already live on the Motorola official website. If you can’t and wait and think that you are geeky enough, you could however enable HSUPA speeds on your Motorola Atrix 4G by hack that has a long procedure, available at XDA forums though we strongly advise you to wait for the official OTA software update to go on air.

[Source] Motorola

Thursday 28 April 2011

Apple iPad 2 arrives in India on April 29


Apple iPad 2 arrives in India on April 29

New Delhi: It's official. The second generation of the world's best selling tablet computer, the Apple iPad is officially landing in India on April 29. Apple announced that it is launching the iPad 2 in 12 more countries, including India, this week. The iPad 2 will start selling in Japan on April 28 and on April 29 in India and nine other countries.
The Apple announcement did not mention the prices in Indian rupees or any specific pricing for India. According to Apple, he iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available for $499 (Rs 22,161) for the 16GB model, $599 (Rs 26,602) for the 32GB model and $699 (Rs 31,043) for the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (Rs 27,934) for the 16GB model, $729 (Rs 32,375) for the 32GB model and $829 (Rs 36,816) for the 64GB model.
Even before Apple announced the official release of the iPad 2 for India, it was already available in the Indian market through online shopping sites, such as HomeShop18.com, and a number of retail vendors.
Apple iPad 2 arrives in India on April 29
The iPad 2 is thinner than the iPhone 4, twice as fast as the first generation iPad and is also camera-equipped for taking photos and video chatting. The battery life is also the same as the original - about 10 hours of usage and a month on standby.
The iPad 2 was launched on March 11 in the US and went on sale in 26 other markets from March 26. Apple has been criticised for its delayed releases in the Indian market, often only months before the company announces a new generation of the product. With a relatively early release in India, Apple could be making amends to appease consumers and sceptics in one of the world's largest growing markets for consumer electronics.
Apple sold 4.7 million iPads of both kinds in its latest quarter. Apple launched the original iPad last April, and it's turned out to be the first really successful tablet computer. The company has sold 19.5 million iPads through the latest quarter. According to Apple the demand for iPads is greater than the supply and the company couldn't manufacture the new iPads fast enough.
The rush for iPads sparked dozens of copycat touch-screen devices, but so far, none have broken into the mainstream consciousness the way the iPad has.
Apple's iPad is expected to continue to dominate the tablet market, controlling more than half of the tablet market for the next three years, but its share is seen gradually declining to 47 per cent in 2015 from 69 per cent this year, giving way to Android devices.

(via:IBN)

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 To Get Android 2.3 Gingerbread This Summer


Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 To Get Android 2.3 Gingerbread This Summer


Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 To Get Gingerbread
Shocked!!! Yes it may become real. Sony Ericsson has just announced on its blog that it will treat Android 2.3 Gingerbread to the Xperia X10 handsets at the end of Q2 or early Q3 this year (summer time), exclusive for non-carrier-branded devices, with carrier updates coming on a individual basis. Xperia X10 is the first Android handset to release from  Sony Ericsson.
Back in January, Sony Ericsson UK made the Xperia X10 handsets’ owners dumb by saying that there will be no more Android updates for the Xperia X10 family beyond Android 2.1 Eclair. "We have listened to our consumers," SE’s Rikard Skogberg noted in the post announcing the update. Theer won’t be over-the-air (OTI) update, users have to connect their X10 handsets to a PC.
The recently announced Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, Play, Neo and Pro handsets will be shipped with Gingerbread on the board
Android 2.3 Gingerbread treatment for the X10 will drop off some features – The camera app will get the standard Gingerbread UI, face recognition and the smile shutter will be gone, Mediascape will be replaced by the newest Sony Ericsson Android media widgets. The handset’s restore and backup apps also will be lost. Xperia X10 Mini, Mini Pro, and X8 handsets wont be upgrading to Gingerbread OS.

T-mobile LG Optimus One comes with Wi-Fi calling Capability


T-mobile LG Optimus One comes with Wi-Fi calling Capability

LG Optimus One will be heading to T-Mobile with best user specifications including ‘Wi-Fi Calling‘ capability, 3G Hotspots & latest Android 2.2 OS(Froyo). Using this amazing Wi-Fi calling capability, users can make calls for free with out using minutes or cell signal while you having broadband internet connection.(see the below image)
Tmobile_LG Optimus One_Wifi calling
LG Optimus One features 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen(320*480 pixels), 3.5 MP camera(2048×1536 pixels), portable hotspot, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Android 2.2 OS, 600 MHz processor, 2GB inbuilt storage, microSD slot for 32GB expansion, Bluetooth 2.1, mini USB 2.0, multiple keyboard languages.
Tmobile_LG Optimus One_Wifi calling_02 Tmobile_LG Optimus One_Wifi calling_04
Full Technical Specifications of LG Optimus One(LG Optimus T)
Network
3G NetworkHSDPA 900 / 2100
2G NetworkGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Dimensions
L x B x H, Vol113.5 x 59 x 13.3 mm
Weight129 g
Display
TypeTFT capacitive touchscreen
Size3.2 inch
Colours & Resolution256k colors, 320 x 480 pixels
Input/ User Interface
InputAccelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
System Properties
Operating SystemAndroid OS, v2.2 (Froyo)
CPU600 MHz processor
Storage Capacity
MemoryInternal: 170 MB/2GB built-in storageExternal:  Up to 32GB microSD cards
Browser & MessagingHTML
SMS, MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
Camera
Still3.5 Megapixels(2048×1536 pixels) with smile shot, auto focus
Secondary(front)No
Video RecordingVGA @ 18fps
Connectivity
DataEDGE & GPRS
Bluetooth & USBv2.1 with A2DP Stereo & v2.0 micro USB
WLANWi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Headset3.5mm stereo headset jack
RadioStereo FM radio
GPSA-GPS
3GHSDPA 7.2 Mbps
Music & Video
Video FormatDivX/Xvid/MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV
Music FormatMP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC
Battery
TypeLi-Ion 1500 mAh Standard battery
Standby TimeUp to 550 hours(3G)
Up to 770 hours (2G)
Talk TimeUp to 7 hours 30 min(3G)
Up to 8 hours(2G)
Other Features
HDMI
Google Maps
Multi-Touch
Social networking integration
Digital Compass
T9
Colors AvailabilityBlack & 2 other colors
LG Optimus One also includes the exclusive LG App Advisor, which recommends 10 highly rated applications every two weeks. The uniquely designed LG UI (user interface) and sleek new accessories such as carkit cradle offer users easier and more intuitive ways to enjoy all the benefits of the brand-new Froyo.