Latest figures from market research firm IDC reveal that Google Android and Apple’s iOS continued to dominate the smartphone scene in 2014. Microsoft and BlackBerry, however, both showed marked declines.Android enjoyed an 81.5% share of the market over the whole year, up from 78.7% in 2013. Apple slipped slightly to 14.8% from 15.1%.Windows, however, saw a 0.6% drop from 3.3% to 2.7%, while BlackBerry managed to take a mere 0.4% of the market, down from 1.9%.The figures for the last quarter of 2014 show a similar picture, with Apple enjoying a slight surge due to its record–breaking iPhone sales for the three months from October to December.Android saw a small drop from 78.2% to 76.6%, while Windows and BlackBerry both experienced declines of 0.2%.The stats bear out the harsh truth that beyond Android and iOS, rival operating systems are struggling to compete.Windows, despite a glitzy new launch, remains niche and unloved by developers, while BlackBerry’s relevance has shown a huge fall since its heyday almost ten years ago.
Showing posts with label IOS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IOS. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Citing unnamed sources, Business Insider says that the relationship between the branches became especially strained in 2012 when Samsung's Korean office reportedly sent a team to audit the U.S. branch's Dallas office:
The Dallas-based employees had to go through all materials they used to sell and market Samsung's mobile products. They were accused of falsifying sales, bribing the media, and a bunch of other damaging actions that hurt morale in the office. The same US-based office that helped turn Samsung into a brand as recognizable as Apple was suddenly being punished for its work.After three weeks, the Korean auditors found nothing wrong with the way the US office had been operating and went home. But the damage had been done, and the perception remained at the Korean headquarters that despite its success, the US team was up to no good.
Overall, the piece is a pretty crazy read, and it will be interesting to see if the company is able to use its upcoming Galaxy S6 launch as a platform to turn around its recent slumping smartphone sales.
Google is releasing a set of tools designed for businesses and employees who want to get work done on Android-powered smartphones, setting up a skirmish on another key front of mobile computing.The technology unveiled Wednesday launches Google's attempt to turn Android phones into the digital hub of people's personal and professional lives. The expansion will pit Google Inc. against Microsoft Corp. and BlackBerry Inc., which have been focusing on the corporate market for years. Google will also be dueling its biggest rival in mobile computing, Apple Inc., which forged a partnership with IBM Corp. last year to build more iPhone and iPad applications tailored for businesses and government agencies.Google and Apple have become so dominant that 96 percent of the smartphones sold last year run on the companies' software, according to the research firm IDC. But most people use those phones to take pictures, message their friends, check Facebook and Twitter and engage in other personal endeavors. In many cases, people also may check their work email on their phones.But Google and Apple are trying to make it more enticing and convenient for people to transplant more of their professional lives on to their phones. As part of that process, the companies are rolling out more business-oriented applications and tougher security to make employers feel more comfortable about their workers using their phones for their jobs."Our vision is that every employee out there should have a work-enabled device in their hands," said Rajen Sheth, director of product management for Android's push into the office.Far more people already own Android phones than iPhones, a lead that Google hopes works to its advantage in the corporate mobility market. IDC estimates that more than 1 billion Android phones were sold last year, compared to 193 million iPhones. The huge disparity has largely been driven by Google's decision to give away its Android software, helping to make the devices running on the software more affordable than iPhones. By design, Apple has focused on more affluent consumers.The corporate and government market is appealing because employers are willing to spend more people on applications and security than most consumers.Google announced its Android for Work program at a conference eight months ago, but needed more time to test the technology before its release.The tools include the ability to create separate personal and professional profiles on the same phone in an effort to reassure workers worried about their bosses snooping on their private lives. Even though the data is kept in separate silos, Google has created a way for work programs and personal apps such as Facebook to appear on the same home screen for convenience.Android for Work will be automatically available on phones running on the most recent release of the operating system, "Lollipop," or version 5.0. An Android for Work app can be downloaded to make the package work on phones running older versions of the software. Google's Play store is also opening a section devoted to work applications.
Google’s Android has gobbled up market share world wide, now accounting for over 80% of all smartphone shipped globally. But when it comes to actually making money, Apple is eating all the profits as it continues its focus on premium devices. Today Strategy Analytics said that Apple in Q4 last year accounted for 89% of all smartphone profits, equating to $18.8 billion, with Android taking only 11%, or $2.4 billion.
The blow for Android is softened only slightly less so only by the fact that other platform players like Microsoft, Blackberry and Firefox seemingly made no profit at all.
The figures given here relate to profits generated by handset makers, not the services ecosystem and potential profits made by app publishers and others, which, of course, includes Google itself, which adds new users of for its mobile search business, mobile ads business and other apps with each unforked Android sale.
Overall, smartphone handset profits were up 31.4% compared to the same quarter a year ago.
When it comes to who is performing best among Android OEMs, the results speak of the growing competition for Samsung.
Neil Mawson, research director for Strategy Analytics, says the “three big profit drivers” for Android are Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi.
“Samsung is the Android giant that delivers most of Android’s smartphone profits worldwide,” he tells me. Mawston says the company is not breaking out exact shares, except to say that “Samsung accounted for well over half of all Android smartphone profits globally in Q4 2014.”
As a point of comparison, in 2013, Samsung accounted for 95% of Android profits. That was a time where there was significantly more parity between Apple and the Korean handset maker both in terms of unit sales and revenues, with Apple accounting for “only” 57% of profit at the time.
It’s not too surprising that Apple — which last quarter had the most profitable company of any quarter, ever — is dominating in smartphone profits, but what is striking is just how wide the gulf has become.
The bigger picture seems to be that Android handset makers are in something of a race to the bottom at this point: the markets that are driving growth in smartphone adoption these days are emerging economies, where consumers are price sensitive. That’s leading to the production of a number of models that are pushing down the average sale price for devices, which long ago dropped below the $100 mark.
Apple may have missed the boat (so far) when it comes critical mass in market share in these developing markets, but it has more than made up for it by making a killing in places where it is strong. China is one such crossover example. While there is clearly a market for lower-cost and Android devices, Apple has been posting record sales in the country, reporting sales of $16 billion in the country in Q4. (China is not — yet — however overtaking Apple’s sales in markets like the U.S.)
In the world of smartphones, Android’s gains do not equal Apple’s loss. But Android’s gains might translate into Android losses down the line, Strategy Analytics notes.
“Apple’s strategy of premium products and lean logistics is proving hugely profitable,” Mawston writes in the report. “Android’s weak profitability for its hardware partners will worry Google. If major smartphone manufacturers, like Samsung or Huawei, cannot make decent profits from the Android ecosystem, they may be tempted in the future to look at alternative platforms such as Microsoft, Tizen or Firefox.”
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Apple has shared some information around how Touch ID and its Secure Enclave keeps information private in an updated security document newly posted to its “iPhone in Business” microsite. The new info provides an inside look at how exactly the Secure Enclave generates and communicates encrypted and temporary identification information to the rest of the system to make sure that fingerprint data is never exposed to anything beyond itself.
Each Secure Enclave is provisioned during fabrication with its own UID (Unique ID) that is not accessible to other parts of the system and is not known to Apple. When the device starts up, an ephemeral key is created, tangled with its UID, and used to encrypt the Secure Enclave’s portion of the device’s memory space.Additionally, data that is saved to the file system by the Secure Enclave is encrypted with a key tangled with the UID and an anti-replay counter.
The Secure Enclave portion of the A7 chip is of course responsible for handling fingerprint data collected by the Touch ID sensor. Apple goes on to detail how the A7 processor helps gather the fingerprint data, but can’t actually read said information itself, and how the exchange that takes place between the A7 and the secure enclave is encrypted to prevent any hijacking of the data at that point.
Communication between the A7 and the Touch ID sensor takes place over a serial peripheral interface bus. The A7 forwards the data to the Secure Enclave but cannot read it. It’s encrypted and authenticated with a session key that is negotiated using the device’s shared key that is built into the Touch ID sensor and the Secure Enclave. The session key exchange uses AES key wrap- ping with both sides providing a random key that establishes the session key and uses AES-CCM transport encryption.
As for Touch ID itself, Apple details how the fingerprint-based unlocking and iTunes purchasing authorization tech works in a completely new section of the iOS Security document. It mostly explains what users likely already know about Touch ID: When it does and doesn’t work (i.e. after a restart), but also adds a few things that might not be clear from normal use – Touch ID unlocking stops working after an iPhone 5s has been left locked for 48 hours or more, for instance, requiring a text or number-based password input.
Apple also reiterates its firm “no third-parties” rule with Touch ID and fingerprint information, which is worth recalling given Samsung’s different take on the matter, with its Pass API announced earlier for platform developers.
Touch ID authentication and the data associated with the enrolled fingerprints are not
available to other apps or third parties
The document also includes previously revealed technical data around the Touch ID scanner itself, which takes an 88-by-88-pixel, 500-ppi raster scan of the finger being applied, which is then transmitted to the Secure Enclave, vectorized for the purposes of being analyzed and compared to fingerprints stored in memory, and then discarded. This info, it’s worth recalling, is never transmitted to Apple’s servers, nor is it stored in iCloud or the iTunes backup of a device.
Apple closes the section on Touch ID with a detailed, step-by-step explanation of how unlocking the smartphone with the tech works, which is worth a look if you’re unclear on the behind-the-scenes magic or security protections involved:
On devices with an A7 processor, the Secure Enclave holds the cryptographic class keys for Data Protection. When a device locks, the keys for Data Protection class Complete are discarded, and files and keychain items in that class are inaccessible until the user unlocks the device by entering their passcode.On iPhone 5s with Touch ID turned on, the keys are not discarded when the device locks; instead, they’re wrapped with a key that is given to the Touch ID subsystem. When a user attempts to unlock the device, if Touch ID recognizes the user’s finger- print, it provides the key for unwrapping the Data Protection keys and the device is unlocked. This process provides additional protection by requiring the Data Protection and Touch ID subsystems to cooperate in order to unlock the device.The decrypted class keys are only held in memory, so they’re lost if the device is rebooted. Additionally, as previously described, the Secure Enclave will discard the keys after 48 hours or 5 failed Touch ID recognition attempts.
Another new section details iCloud Keychain, the syncing service that stores your passwords for use across platforms. Apple notes the system is designed to prevent unauthorized access to iCloud Keychain stored information in the event of a compromised iCloud account, and to prevent third-party access to any passwords housed in the service.
Below is an excerpt of how iCloud makes sure that keychains are recovered only by authorized users, without even actually transmitting the local iOS security code to Apple itself.
iCloud provides a secure infrastructure for keychain escrow that ensures only authorized users and devices can perform a recovery. Topographically positioned behind iCloud are clusters of hardware security modules (HSM). These clusters guard the escrow records. Each has a key that is used to encrypt the escrow records under their watch, as described previously.To recover a keychain, the user must authenticate with their iCloud account and password and respond to an SMS sent to their registered phone number. Once this is done, the user must enter their iCloud Security Code. The HSM cluster verifies that the user knows their iCloud Security Code using Secure Remote Password protocol (SRP); the
White Paper 26 iOS Security code itself is not sent to Apple. Each member of the cluster independently verifies that the user has not exceeded the maximum number of attempts that are allowed to retrieve their record, as discussed below. If a majority agree, the cluster unwraps the escrow record and sends it to the user’s device.
Apple has also added new information about iMessage, FaceTime encryption, single sign-on and Airdrop in terms of areas of interest to check out. If you’re a fan of learning how things work, or just want to know what steps Apple takes to protect any biometric information (and other data) it collects and transmits during normal iOS operation, the entire security document is definitely worth perusing.
Even though Windows Phone is definitely making inroads and is considered to be the fastest-growing smartphone operating system, in 2013 its market share came in at less than 4 percent, according to research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics. Consumers are (still) much in love with Android smartphones and iPhones, giving Windows Phone too little attention.
In its latest smartphone market forecast, IDC claims that Windows Phone will still lurk in the shadows four years from now, as its market share in 2018 is estimated to climb to just seven percent. Shipments of devices running the tiled mobile OS are expected to reach 121.8 million units, which would be a huge improvement over the roughly 35 million units in 2013, but still not nearly enough to catch up to Apple's iPhones or Android smartphones, which shipments IDC estimates will reach 249.6 and 1,321.1 million units, respectively.
"Windows Phone stands to grow the fastest among the leading smartphone operating systems, with continued support from Nokia as well as the addition of nine new Windows Phone partners", says IDC. "Most of these new vendors come from emerging markets and could help bring the Windows Phone experience to customers there".
Currently, Nokia is the largest Windows Phone vendor, with a market share of 89.3 percent . The Finnish maker's commitment is understandable when we consider Nokia is primarily a Windows Phone manufacturer, unlike HTC and Samsung which devote their efforts to Android and place Windows Phone in second, or third, place. As Microsoft adds more vendors things can possibly change, but for the time being the bulk of Windows Phone sales will still come from Nokia. And this means the tiled smartphone OS' performance is almost entirely tied to Lumia sales. If Nokia has a bad quarter, so does Windows Phone. This will not change until Lumia's market share decreases significantly.
As Microsoft becomes the largest vendor, following the acquisition of Nokia's phone-making business, the responsibility of giving Windows Phone more and more consumer appeal falls almost entirely in its hands.
Maybe, But Not Likely
Windows Phone would be able to grab a higher market share in 2018, but, based on the data IDC provides, this growth will be impossible to materialize given the huge number of Android smartphones that are estimated to ship then. And, even though iPhones are not as popular in comparison, Apple will still ship at least twice as many smartphones as all Windows Phone vendors, combined.
Based on the data that is included in the table above, Windows Phone shipments will need to top 173.85 million units to break the 10 percent market share barrier in 2018, which is 52.05 million units more than estimated (way more than the 2013 shipments to be added on top to reach the milestone).
Android, iOS and BlackBerry are expected to cede market share to Windows Phone and other smartphone OSs by 2018, which can, in part, be accounted to penetration and saturation as the market is no longer expected to grow significantly, only by 8.3 percent in 2017 (and, less in the year after, if the trend is accurate). In 2014, shipments are estimated to reach 1.2 billion units, 200 million more than in 2013.
Cheap Sells, Definitely
"2014 will be an enormous transition year for the smartphone market", notes IDC's Ryan Reith. "Not only will growth decline more than ever before, but the driving forces behind smartphone adoption are changing. New markets for growth bring different rules to play by and 'premium' will not be a major factor in the regions driving overall market growth".
I have often mentioned the smartphone average selling price (ASP), as it is a good indicator of where sales are going and which types of devices are most popular. The lower the ASP, the higher the preference towards cheaper smartphones is. In 2018, the ASP is expected to drop to $260, which is considerably lower than the $335 from 2013.
"In order to reach the untapped demand within emerging markets, carriers and OEMs will need to work together to bring prices down", says IDC's Ramon Llamas. "Last year we saw a total of 322.5 million smartphone units ship for under $150 and that number will continue to grow going forward. We've already seen numerous smartphone announcements targeting this priceband this year, with some as low as $25. Just as the dynamics have changed for overall smartphone growth, so have the dynamics for smartphone pricing in the markets where continued growth is expected. Not all vendors will want to get into this space, but those that do must make deliberate choices about their strategies in order to succeed".
Basically what Llamas is saying is this: go cheap and be ready to pay the price for embracing this strategy if it all goes south. The commoditization of smartphones will make them hugely affordable as time goes by, but that will come at a cost to vendors as they will have very low margins per unit. They will have to either sell a huge number of units to make up for it to strive, or find alternative ways of generating revenue, like offering paid services. A change of dynamics can have disastrous consequences for some companies, if they do not adapt their strategies to account for the continuing drop in ASP.
In the mobile market a cold war is going on among Android and iOS for outright supremacy. Android’s success is mainly based on the sales as well as its device options. Even though iOS platform is well built and its security is top-notch, Apple’s iOS is not held in such high regard. Apple’s software has high quality that can be compared to Android but it lacks many features that users find on Android. Nowadays a strong reason is required for the user to select an Android device over an iOS one. Here is a list of ten reasons due to which Android beats iOS as compiled by Business Insider:
Customization: Android includes the option to customize your Smartphone according to your taste. You can change your default home screen with vibrant themes. Jelly Bean 4.3 enables you to make different accounts which containing selected apps. This comes in handy when you have kids who get their hands on your handset. In comparison, iOS doesn’t offer customizing option to their users.
Sharing Option: In Android sharing option is made easier with its wide range of applications, but in iOS sharing is more limited. While Android users can share things through installed app like Mail, Whats App, and WeChat, iOS user have only some basic options like Text, E-mail, Facebook, Flicker and Twitter. The sharing ability of Android enables the user to try out many sharable Apps that are available in Google Play Store. Android with its endless sharing option is the king in sharing domain.
The "1 percent" is often used to disparage the American elites at the very top of the wealth scale. When it comes to smartphones, however, the "1 percent" is the bottom of the heap.
Research firm Gartner says 94 percent of smartphones sales last year were either iPhones or Android devices. Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices made up another 5 percent combined.
What about the remaining 1 percent? They are the wannabes such as Firefox and Sailfish.
I had a chance to try out some of these little-known systems at the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain, this week. Many of them aren't even available in the U.S., where I live. Although I don't see myself replacing my Samsung Android phone even if I could, some of these alternative phones have features I envy.
— Firefox OS, from Mozilla
Firefox is better known for its Web browser. Now, the people behind it are trying to adapt it to run smartphones targeted at emerging markets.
Firefox OS was launched last summer with three phones, priced around $50 to $70. They are available in 15 countries, but not in the U.S.
At the Barcelona show, Mozilla unveiled plans to expand to additional markets in Latin America and eastern Europe, while ZTE announced two new models. Chipmaker Spreadtrum Communications Inc. also announced a blueprint for any phone maker to make $25 smartphones using Firefox OS.
The home screen and icons resemble what's found on iPhones and Android.
Where Firefox OS starts to differ is in apps. With iPhones and Android, you go to an app store to get new apps. With Firefox OS, you typically have instant access to all apps, the same way you can visit a website for the first time without installing anything.
The catch is you need an Internet connection to use apps that aren't on your phone, but many apps need that access anyway to refresh news, social networks or restaurant guides.
Firefox OS also has a universal search for all content on the phone and online.
There's another neat feature coming to Firefox OS. Swipe from the left side of the screen to flip through recent apps one by one, just like hitting the back button on a Web browser.
— Sailfish OS, from Jolla
Sailfish is based on the Linux operating system and comes from the Finnish company Jolla (pronounced "yolla"). Former Nokia employees created Jolla after that struggling cellphone maker abandoned an in-house operating system in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone.
There's only one phone out so far, and it's sold only in Europe for 399 euros ($546). But Jolla has ambitions to reach Russia and Asia and to partner with other phone makers.
Jolla Ltd. also announced last week that it will release a free app that Android users can install to replace the regular Android interface with Sailfish's.
I can see getting the hang of Sailfish over time. It emphasizes gestures over tapping. You can access many functions by swiping from an edge on the screen.
The home screen has nine large rectangles, similar to an elongated tic-tac-toe board. These are filled with up to nine of your open apps, so you can instantly get to any one
You can tap to open an app, but what's neat is you can reach a task directly by pressing gently on the rectangle and dragging your finger. For the mail app, drag from the left to create a message, or drag from the right to refresh messages. For the phone app, drag from the left to get the dialer, or drag from the right to get your list of contacts.
This saves time once you get used to the gestures.
To close an app, you can swipe down from the top edge like a window shade. If you're already on the home screen, swipe down to lock the phone.
Apple introduced similar gesture controls with its iOS 7 update last fall, but Sailfish goes much further.
There aren't many apps written for Sailfish yet, but Sailfish phones have a special tool for running most Android apps. You won't get some of the gesture functions, though.
— Ubuntu, from Canonical
Like Sailfish, Ubuntu is based on Linux. Unlike Sailfish, there aren't any Ubuntu phones yet. But the company behind it announced partnerships with two phone makers last week. Phones are due to come out this year, likely to European and Asian markets first.
Ubuntu's home page has a series of so-called scopes, arranged by category. One video scope might consist of icons for movies on your phone. Another might have items in your Netflix queue. You can refine what's presented through a universal search. The idea is to let you access content easily, without having to open an app first.
Swipe from the left edge to get a launcher. The top has all your open apps, while your favorite apps are underneath those. There's also a home screen scope to search for installed apps and those in the app store.
Swipe from the right edge to get your most recently used app. Swipe further for a carousel of all open apps. Just pick one to go straight to it.
These systems all have good innovations to help users, but people will find the phone and app selections quite limiting. Sailfish has potential if it can run well on existing Android phones, while Android apps can run on it. I look forward to trying that out when it's released in the first half of the year.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Google has been trying for some time to equip cities and theme parks with free WiFi. Now you also working on an app that is designed to simplify the typical multi-step login process.
According to sources from Engadget Google is working on a special app for Wi-Fi authentication, with which the device should be automatically enabled for public WiFi networks. For this to work with Starbucks together, which also makes sense because between the two companies was established in July last year, a partnership that aims to improve Starbucks WIFIsWith the new apps it should be possible to log into private and business Wi-Fi networks, without having to first typical multi-step log-in process as the typical accept the Terms and conditions and such other things go through. Fittingly, this is known, among other things, after Google, Microsoft and Time Warner Cable with WifiForward have formed an association, which is to advance the spread and quality of WiFi networks continue.As would look and run exactly everything that has not been said - is certainly one the networks but first need to store into the app to allow automatically unlock. Google plans to release apps for Android and iOS appear exactly when is unclear.
Friday, February 21, 2014
The mobile market may still essentially be a two horse race, with Android and iOS enjoying a significant lead, but there are lots of upstarts trying to make inroads, too. One of those is Firefox OS, Mozilla’s attempt to bring a web-first focus to smartphones. Geeksphone has been an early Firefox OS hardware supporter, and now it has put the Revolution up for sale, a higher-end device than its earlier efforts, complete with the ability to dual-boot to both Android and Firefox OS out of the box.
If you’re used to working in a corporate environment but also being cool during evenings and weekends, then you might be familiar with dual-booting: I’ve been known to have my Macs run Windows on a Boot Camp partition for when I need to pierce the veil and travel to the Microsoft realm. It’s actually a pretty common scenario in desktop computing, and there are a number of products including virtualization software designed to facilitate it. But is there the same kind of utility in the mobile world?
Firefox OS is definitely still an outlier when it comes to the mobile platform landscape, and as such, there’s very little in terms of pressing reasons to have it as an option. That said, the eternally curious and those who sympathize with Mozilla’s approach to software, open source and the web will probably find plenty to love about Firefox OS on a device with decent mid-range specs (it appears mostly on lower-end hardware, in keeping with Mozilla’s target market for the OS).
Specs for the phone include a dual-core Intel Atom processor at 1.6GHz, as well as HSDPA cellular support, and an 8 megapixel rear camera with a 1.3 megapixel front shooter. The Revolution retails for €222, and is sold direct from the Geeksphone website. Shipments start going out March 4, so eager shoppers won’t have to wait long before they start acting like mobile chameleons.
While the iPad still generated 51% of all tablet traffic on apps affiliated with the Millennial Media ad network in 2013, traffic from Android tablets grew to 48%. That’s a significant change compared to 2012, when iPad was at 58% and Android tablets, at 41%.
Considering that these figures are based on traffic for the overall year, and assuming the trend has continued, it’s not unreasonable to estimate that Android tablets are now on par with, if not superior to, the iPad in terms of usage of ad-supported sites and apps. (It’s still possible that iPad users may use, on average, more paid apps than Android tablet users.)
Millennial Media today published a 2013 year in review report highlighting some mobile device trends.
Among the top most-used mobile devices on the Millenial media network, four were tablets in 2013, vs. three in 2012. The top three were, in both years:
- the iPad (all models combined, apparently), which went from 66% to 60% of the “tablets in top 20 devices” traffic;
- the Samsung Galaxy Tab (also all models combined, presumably), which grew from 22% to 23%; and
- the Amazon Kindle Fire, which grew from 12 to 13%.
In 2014, the fourth tablet was the Nexus 7, which took 4% of the “top 4 tablets” traffic.
Regarding the OS, this was only a two horse race. Windows went from nowhere in 2012 to just 1% of tablet traffic in 2013. Oddly, Millennial still registered 1% of tablet traffic in both years coming from Blackberry devices. Who knew Playbook usage would be so resilient.
A new native mobile app for Android devices has been launched by ebookers.com.
The OTA claims the app is the first from an online travel agent in Europe to allow customers to book flights, hotels and car hire on one app and on the move.Ebookers is offering exclusive mobile deals of up to 65% off hotels via the app, which also allows access to booking details and flight status information.The agent said it was developed as predictions suggest more than one billion Android-powered devices will he bought in 2014, an increase of 23% from 2013.Ebookers' iOS app for Apple users first became available in April last year and has driven a two fold increase in mobile hotel bookings, the firm said.Rob Define, ebookers vice president, international product strategy and mobile, said: “The demand for accessibility and ease to search and book travel is growing exponentially.
“Travel bookings on mobile devices are over three times where they were a year ago and in December we had periods where over 50% of our hotel bookings were made on mobile devices”
“We know the mobile booking trend will continue and ebookers will be a leading force when developing easy-to-use mobile solutions – we’re confident that our ebookers Travel apps for Android and iOS do just that.”
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) looks set to pick up a load more users in the coming weeks after the mobile company rolled out its popular app to more Android users Tuesday.You’re right, the social messaging app launched on Android back in October, though only for handsets running Ice Cream Sandwich (v. 4.0) or higher. Now, anyone with a device running Gingerbread (v. 2.3) can also get hold of the free app.Considering more than 20 percent of Android handsets are still running Gingerbread – many of them in emerging markets – the wider compatibility has the potential to give the app’s user base a significant boost.Since taking the reins in November, BlackBerry boss John Chen has stated on several occasions that a heavier focus on BBM is part of the company’s strategy to get the struggling business back on its feet. It’s also set to concentrate more on the enterprise market with sales and services, an area in which it performed strongly when the Waterloo, Ontario mobile maker was in its prime a few years back.When BBM launched for iOS and Android four months ago, it hit 10 million downloads in its first 24 hours after going live. Since then, the app has been gradually knocked into shape via several updates, the most recent of which brought free voice calls, a feature BlackBerry users have been able to make use of for over a year.The launch of BBM for more Android users demonstrates BlackBerry’s eagerness to exploit the better performing parts of its business, though increasing competition in the social messaging space means the long-term success of BBM is by no means guaranteed.
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