Judging from my editorials this month, you'd think webOS suddenly got exhumed from the grave. I've mentioned Palm's defunct operating system in a piece on new smartphone platforms, on Android multitasking, and in an editorial about
Sparrow, the elegant, delightful Gmail -- and general mail -- created for the Mac and brought over to the iPhone, has announced they've been acquired by Google. Sparrow CEO Dom Leca announced the deal on the Sparrow blog, saying in part:
Now we're joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.
And in a more personal email sent out to users:
We will continue to make available our existing products, and we will provide support and critical updates to our users. However, as we’ll be busy with new projects at Google, we do not plan to release new features for the Sparrow apps.
That last part is the kicker from a user perspective, and immediately brings a few thoughts to mind:
- Congratulations to Dom and the whole team at Sparrow. They made a great product and it got the biggest attention in the business.
- Once again, a small team of indie developers coded circles around a big company, and just like Instagram and Facebook, and Tweetie and Twitter, the big company was smart enough to notice and pounce on it.
- While it's still too early to tell about Instagram, Twitter absolutely destroyed any and all value Tweetie had, completely replacing the iPhone app, and leaving the iPad and Mac apps to languish as abandonware.
- If Google were smart, they'd keep Sparrow as wholly-owned, in-house competitor to the lackluster Gmail for iPhone app, and rather than allowing it to fall into a slow, maintenance-mode driven death (which is sounds like it's doing), they'd keep it vibrant and in active development. They'd let Sparrow be Sparrow.
- Sadly, given Google's abysmal track record with everything from Twitter-competitor Jaiku to the apps spun out of the Slide acquisition, it's probably better this way -- users get quick if brutal closure rather than false hope and drawn out disappointment.
Congrats again to Sparrow, and farewell!
Source: Sparrow blog
App Store Apps News
[From iPhone and Mac Gmail app, Sparrow, acquired by Google]
More and better Google Maps roll out. Nokia's financials flopped in Q2. Apple and Samsung have met, but Samsung doesn't want you to know that.
You can catch The Daily Dose every Monday through Friday right here on The Next Web. Make sure to hit the subscription button of your choice below to get The Daily Dose as soon as it's available.
Google Maps gets more detail in Europe, Africa and Asia, including attractions, roads and ferry routeshttp://tnw.to/b23z
Nokia's Q2 2012: $1 billion operating loss, $9.21 billion in net sales, 4 million Lumia phones sold http://tnw.to/g246
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Samsung execs this week to discuss patent issues http://tnw.to/g23x
After being announced during Google's (GOOG) annual I/O Developer Conference last month, the Chrome Web browser for iOS has received positive feedback from users. The browser quickly became the most popular free app in Apple's (AAPL) App Store and has since remained among the most popular free downloads. According to the latest data from online advertising network Chitika, Chrome now owns more than 1.5% of the iOS browser market. While Safari continues to dominate the market, of course, the firm found that almost 14.5% of iOS users surf the Web using other apps. Most of the this traffic doesn't come from dedicated third-party browsers, however, but instead from in app-browsing through programs like Facebook and Tweetbot. Chitika's press release follows below.
Chrome for iOS Grabs 1.5% Share of iOS Browser Market
New Live Tracker Monitors Chrome for iOS Adoption in Mobile Market in Real Time
On June 28th, Google announced the availability of its web browser, Chrome, on iOS 5, which over time may serve to shake things up. Until now, Safari has seen little to no competition from any mainstream browsers in the iOS environment. While iOS users do have alternate ways of surfing the internet, be it through an app or Facebook referrals (to name a few), Safari has experienced an effective monopoly in the iOS browser market. With the introduction of Chrome on iOS, Safari now has a legitimate competitor in the mobile browser market (which is always good for consumers). After its initial release, Chrome for iOS held a top position in the rankings for free apps in the iTunes market and continues to post moderate levels of growth.
Chitika Insights has been tracking the launch and adoption rate for the new Chrome for iOS browser to determine how much share they are taking from Safari for iOS, and how quickly. Our latest Live Tracker has just been launched, with the purpose of measuring Chrome for iOS adoption rate in real time.
The main pie chart featured on our Chrome for iOS Adoption Tracker shows current shares of browser usage on iOS 5. The three fragments we are analyzing include; Safari, Chrome, and "Other" (comprised mostly of app traffic), as seen below. (Note: Image below represents data on July 17, 2012)
Directing your attention below we have highlighted a few interesting data points revealed by the tracker as of July 17, 2012:
- Chrome's share of iOS traffic is above 1.5% of all iOS web traffic. However, considering it launched just over two weeks ago, this current figure and continued growth seen on a week on week basis means share is on the rise
- 14.5% of iOS users chose to surf the web on a platform other than Safari. This statistic helps expose the greater story of how consumers interact, share, and navigate the web using smartphones and the constantly increasing number of applications available to them
The second element of our tracker analyzes historical browser usage for iOS. With this dynamic chart, we can infer Chrome's adoption rate in real time (with a six hour delay to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data).
In addition, users can filter out individual browsers to get a more specified perspective of a browser's recent activity.
A few insights pulled from the trackers historical data include:
- Chrome didn't make an impact in Chitika's network until July 2, but its share of traffic shot to over 1% between the July 2 and 3, which may be due to word of mouth and its high profile status on the app store
- Chrome's traffic share tends to fluctuate daily. Its current prime usage hours occur between 7 AM and 10 AM where it peaks at around a 2% share, but then slide back down later in the day. This indicates a high degree of morning use and can be correlated with consumer behavioral patterns in mobile usage
If Google Chrome's share of web traffic continues to grow on iOS, it will be particularly interesting to see if it cannibalizes share from other browsers, or starts cutting into Safari's lead. Will Apple respond to this new competitor by introducing new features to their Safari mobile browser and making other long sought after improvements? With this new tracker, we will now be able to see whether Chrome on iOS is a contender or a pretender, as well as what effect it will have on the overall market – in real time.
Original Page: http://www.bgr.com/2012/07/18/chrome-for-ios-browser-market-share-1-5-percent/
We knew it was coming, and even Ralph de la Vega himself publicly admitted it was in the pipeline, but today AT&T has whipped the covers from its new shared data plans. Mobile Share will enable customers to use a single data allocation across all of their devices with unlimited calls and text -- letting you add up to 10 devices to a plan. Users can pick how much data they expect to use each month and then pay an additional fee to add the rest of their family's handsets (or just use all your own, if you're Steve Wozniak). The plans will arrive in late August and will sit alongside the current individual and family offerings and the company will allow current customers to switch without a contract extension. We've got PR for you after the break if you wanna get yourself ready for the switch.
Continue reading AT&T unveils Mobile Share, lets you add 10 devices to a single plan
Filed under: Cellphones
AT&T unveils Mobile Share, lets you add 10 devices to a single plan originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Three years ago I was lucky to join the Windows Phone team at a time when we were “resetting” our approach to mobile operating system software. We made big changes to our design, our approach to partners, and our platform. The result was Windows Phone 7.
Now it’s time to start telling you about the next exciting chapter of our story: Windows Phone 8. Officially announced this morning in San Francisco, it’s the most advanced mobile OS Microsoft has ever made and will arrive on new phones later this year.
Many of Windows Phone 8’s new capabilities come from a surprising source: Windows, the most successful and powerful operating system on the planet, and one used by more than a billion people. Yes, you read that right: Windows Phone 8 is based on the same core technologies that power Windows 8. As a result, Windows Phone 8 will unleash a new wave of features for consumers, developers, and businesses.
Today I’ll give you a high-level sneak peek at the Windows Phone 8 platform and tell you just some of what it’s going to make possible. I’ll also share some exciting news about apps and updates for current Windows Phone customers. This isn’t a full disclosure of everything in Windows Phone 8—look for a more complete tour of new features later.
The power of Windows
If you’ve seen Windows 8, Microsoft’s groundbreaking new release for PCs and tablets, you’ve probably noticed it bears more than a passing resemblance to the look of Windows Phone. Here’s how the Windows 8 Start screen looks in the latest preview release.
more on
