Earlier this month, Apple crossed a record 25 billion downloads from more than 550,000 available apps, while Google in December surpassed 10 billion downloads from 400,000 available apps. Analytics firm Flurry on Friday announced the results of a new study that examined various mobile app markets, and interestingly enough, the study found that apps in Amazon’s competing Android Appstore earns three times more revenue than those within Google’s own marketplace. Apple’s App Store took in the most revenue, with the Amazon Appstore earning 89% of the revenue Apple did and Google’s Play marketplace making just 23%. “Another way to interpret the results is that for every $1.00 an app generates in the iTunes App Store, it generates $0.89 in the
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China officially tops one billion mobile subscribers
We heard last year that China was approaching 900 million mobile phone subscribers, and it looks like it’s now finally hit the big one. The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology confirmed today that, as of the end of February, the…
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Selling used Android phones poses huge identity theft risk, expert says
Android users who are looking to sell their old devices should be wary of the possible consequences. McAfee identity theft researcher Robert Siciliano warned that personal data from Android devices is not completely removed after a user activates the built-in wipe option, The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday. “What’s really scary is even if you follow protocol, the data is still there,” Siciliano said. If you have a BlackBerry or Apple device, Siciliano said your data can be fully deleted by following the manufacturer’s directions. As for smartphones running the Android operating system and computers running Windows XP, Siciliano recommends that people don’t bother with selling them at all. “Put it in the back of a closet, or put
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LG Optimus Elite gets photographed, decked out in Sprint and Virgin livery
Not a fan of that 5-inch, IPS display on the Optimus Vu? Perhaps, you’d be more interested in a smaller, lesser-specced member of the family. According to PocketNow, the Optimus Elite is sprinting its way toward The Now Network and Virgin Mobile, wit…
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Research In Motion is dead
I saw from the inside and outside how RIM transformed the mobile landscape, and how the company even battled its own inner demons throughout the years. Here are my thoughts on the company’s worst quarter in five years: RIM grew incredibly fast. It grew faster than the company knew how to manage, and RIM slowly — and then quickly — slipped as a result. This is the company that used to make users choose between a device with Wi-Fi and no GPS, or GPS and no Wi-Fi, just to have two products on the market instead of one. This is the company that refused to take the consumer market seriously for a number of years. This is the company that
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Sprint outlines LTE coverage plans at RCA Expo
Sprint customer? Still supping from the 3G cup? Well if you were wondering if you’ll ever get to try the sweet taste of LTE, wonder no more. The Now Network revealed a coverage map at the RCA Expo, and the image above was kindly grabbed by PC Mag’s Sa…
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Bump Pay lets you tap a friend for cash
Taking cues from an ING Direct app that used its API, Bump Technologies has developed its own version of the mobile payments software, enabling phone-to-phone “Bump” transactions using PayPal. Yes, PayPal. That minor processing detail aside, the servi…
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Sprint rumored to launch HTC One X as the EVO One
Reports last week indicated that Sprint would launch a smartphone code-named the HTC Jet on June 10th. The handset was a variant of HTC’s One X and would launch nearly two years after Sprint’s iconic HTC EVO 4G, the carrier’s first WiMAX-enabled smartphone. New information from AndroidCentral, however, claims that the device will be called the HTC EVO One and is slated for a June 6th release. The EVO One is equipped with a 4.7-inch 720p AMOLED display and a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, the same CPU found in AT&T’s upcoming version of the One X. The handset will also supposedly feature a 2,650 mAh non-removable battery, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, an 8-megapixel rear and 2.0-megapixel front facing
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Sprint won’t launch any new WiMAX devices, exec confirms
While speaking at the Competitive Carriers Global Expo, Sprint’s senior vice president of networks Bob Azzi said that while the company has experienced success with its WiMAX handsets, it will not launch any additional WiMAX devices. The announcement comes after Sprint previously confirmed that it would continue to offer 4G WiMAX devices through 2012 and support the service through 2015. Instead, the company plans to focus on its Network Vision project and upcoming 4G LTE netowrk, Fierce Wireless reported on Thursday. “We are wrapping up final field integration tests,” Azzi said. “The technology works and delivers more benefits than we expected.” The executive noted that the company’s Network Vision project will result in a 50% reduction in cost-per-gigabyte to deliver
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Nearly 1 billion smart connected devices shipped in 2011
The International Data Corporation on Wednesday announced that shipments of smart connected devices —including PCs, tablets and smartphones — reached 916 million units and surpassed $489 billion in revenue in 2011. “Whether it’s consumers looking for a phone that can tap into several robust ‘app’ ecosystems, businesses looking at deploying tablet devices into their environments, or educational institutions working to update their school’s computer labs, smart, connected, compute-capable devices are playing an increasingly important role in nearly every individual’s life,” said Bob O’Donnell, vice president of Clients and Displays at IDC. The firm estimates that worldwide shipments of smart connected devices will top 1.1 billion in 2012 and double to 1.84 billion by 2016. IDC’s numbers represent a compound annual
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