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 blackberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blackberry. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Google has announced today the official launch of an initiative called Android for Work. Through the program, Google has teamed up with several partners to integrate enterprise-level security into the Android platform.
Google originally announced and previewed Android for Work back in 2014 at Google I/O. The main idea behind the program is to allow workers to use their personal phones for work tasks, but keep work and personal content and data separate. Google gave the following breakdown of what users can expect from the initiative:
- Work profiles – We've built on the default encryption, enhanced SELinux security enforcement and multi-user support in Android 5.0, Lollipop to create a dedicated work profile that isolates and protects work data. IT can deploy approved work apps right alongside their users' personal apps knowing their sensitive data remains secured. People can use their personal apps knowing their employer only manages work data and won't erase or view their personal content.
- Android for Work app – For devices running Ice Cream Sandwich through Kitkat, or that don't run work profiles natively, we've created the Android for Work app. The app, which delivers secure mail, calendar, contacts, documents, browsing and access to approved work apps, can be completely managed by IT.
- Google Play for Work – Google Play for Work allows businesses to securely deploy and manage apps across all users running Android for Work, simplifying the process of distributing apps to employees and ensuring that IT approves every deployed app.
- Built-in productivity tools – For everyday business tasks, we've created a suite of business apps for email, contacts and calendar, which supports both Exchange and Notes and provides document editing capabilities for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
To make all of this work, Google has teamed up with a large number of industry partners such as Citrix, Adobe, Samsung, BlackBerry, Cisco, and many, many more. Google says these partnerships have allowed it to create a set of APIs to bring easier management of Android devices to IT departments, as well as create secure business apps and more secure devices.
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
Boeing unveiled its new, ultra-secure “Boeing Black ” smartphone on Wednesday, saying it plans to sell the modular device to government agencies and companies engaged in contractual activities with those agencies related to defense and homeland security.
“The U.S. defense and security communities demand trusted access to data to accomplish their missions. Despite the continuous innovation in commercial mobile technology, current devices are not designed from inception with the security and flexibility needed to match their evolving mission and enterprise environment,” Boeing said in itsannouncement .
The new phone, simply called “Black,” will run a security-enhanced variant of the Android operating system, and will include a 4.3-inch qHD (540×960) display, Dual 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processors, and support for LTE 700/1700/2100, WCDMA 850/1900/2100 and GSM 850/900/1800/1900 bands along with major storage (USB, HDMI, SIM) and wireless (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) standards.
Perhaps the most interesting of Black’s features is the ability to self-destruct if anyone attempts to disassemble the phone to learn about its secrets.
“Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable,” Boeing said.
While disclosing the basic features of the new device, Boeing declined to elaborate on any of its specialized capabilities.
“The device will be marketed and sold in a manner such that low-level technical and operational information about the product will not be provided to the general public,” the company said in an FCC filing about the device.
Boeing’s Black appears to be a direct challenge the BlackBerry, which has long been a favorite for government employees. The Canadian smartphone maker still enjoys a number of government smartphone contracts, and recently announced a new deal with the Pentagon to provide 80,000 BlackBerrys to defense department employees.
In its FCC filing, Boeing said that purchasers of Black would need to sign an agreement that ”specifically designates and protects as ‘proprietary information’ the components, hardware, Product Software, applications, functionalities, or internal structure or workings” of the device, “including without limitation those that can be obtained by disassembling or opening the Product or its software or components.”
The agreement also states that there are “no serviceable parts on Boeing’s Black phone and any attempted servicing or replacing of parts would destroy the product.”
Friday, February 21, 2014
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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