Samsung, the creators of the Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note, have placed a challenge above the heads of application developers with its Smart App Challenge 2012. They encourage innovative app developers to create applications for its Galaxy devices (Tab and Note).
With 80 possible winners, and handing out $30,000 – $200,000 for each winning app, Samsung is looking to inspire some of the best Android app developers into creating applications for its mobile devices. Along with the cash reward, winners will also receive substantial marketing for each application with the help of Samsung. Every winning application will receive promotional help via a press release to announce all applications launched across Samsung Electronics global and social media channels. Lastly, each winning application can be part of a marketing campaign with Samsung Electronics that could involve television commercials, print advertisement, and other offline promotions.
The judging is based upon two simple measures: number of downloads (popular consumer vote) or the app’s functionality with the Galaxy S Pen feature, which will be decided using a panel of experts. There will be a total of 60 apps that will be rewarded based on the number of downloads receive during the “Download Counting” period (May 7, 2012 to September 30, 2012). The other 20 winning apps will be selected specifically for stylus pen functionality. The panel will look over each entry and rate each Android app based on the following:
The panel will comprise professionals with Samsung and some outside experts.
The clock is ticking for Android app developers to get each application developed and submitted. The registration start date has already passed, and so has the “Download Counting” period for all applications not intended for the stylus pen category.
According to a December 2011 study, developers are three times more likely to create apps for iOS than for Android. The report found that 73 percent of developers were focusing on iOS products in the fourth quarter of 2011, while 27 percent were working on Android. Flurry, which conducted the study, highlighted several reasons why a developer might choose iOS over Android.
Apple’s app store is considered the healthiest on the market. Not only does it have the most downloads of the big three app stores (Apple, Amazon and Android), but it also has the most apps. Flurry’s report says that the iTunes App Store has 500,000 apps available. Google Play, Android’s store, has 400,000.
An April 2012 article in BGR says, “Android’s tablet sales are expected to account for only 31.9 percent of tablet sales in 2012.” App developers may hesitate to create apps for a market that seems unhealthy compared to that of the new iPad, which is predicted to nearly double the sales of Android tablets. More iPad users mean more potential downloads for apps in the App Store.
Apple’s iPhone has also been untethered from AT&T. Now it is available at Sprint and Verizon, too. Users in contracts with those networks now have the option to choose an iPhone over an Android phone. Increased iPhone use on new networks may be an additional reason for developers to choose iOS.
Some developers say iOS is easier than developing for Android, but that is a matter of opinion. On the other hand, adoption rates indicate that iOS users are far more likely to be using the latest version than are Android users, who are often constrained by the updates available for their particular device. iOS developers can confidently optimize their applications with new features that might only be available with the most recent OS version.
Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Google, said in December 2011 that developers would start leaving iOS for Android after large shipments of smartphones made Android more popular than iPhone. For Android app developers, there is still reason for optimism with a growing market of Android OS users.
Gary Mueller, our Director of Business Development, visited the White House Monday, May 7, 2012 with the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) and other developers to discuss mobile apps.
ACT arranged the meeting as part of its 2012 Washington Fly-in. The group brought mobile app developers to the White House to talk about the app economy and the administration’s proposed Privacy Bill of Rights.
“We are pleased that the White House has expressed interest in pursuing a multistakeholder process that requires the input of the small business app developer community,” said ACT Executive Director Morgan Reed. “As the administration tackles the issue of privacy, we pledge to work together to find solutions that protect consumer privacy and allow the app marketplace to grow. As the association created by developers for developers, ACT will ensure that the voices of app makers continue to be a part of this discussion.”
“As a company with a strong and growing mobile app business, it is important we ensure pending legislation does not impede the growth of mobile application development and its benefits to businesses and consumers,” said Gary Mueller. “We’re pleased that the administration is listening to our concerns to balance its legislation with the needs to foster innovation, job creation and growth in this high tech sector of our recovering economy.”
Monday’s meeting included White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy, Daniel Weitzner, ACT representative Morgan Reed, Gary Mueller, and other ACT members. The White House released the initial framework for the Privacy Bill of Rights on February 23, 2012 and began the process of engaging stakeholder groups to determine voluntary codes of conduct for online privacy.
Chitka Insights has posted the results of a study that shows just how popular Apple’s iPad is compared to other tablets. According to the report, Apple’s iPad accounts for 94.64 percent of all tablet web traffic. The nearest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy, only gets 1.22 percent. The third highest competitor was the Nook, by Barnes and Noble. It had 0.53 percent traffic share and is primarily marketed as an eReader.
Results were collected from the Chitka Insight ad network, composed of over 200,000 sites displaying more than 4 billion targeted ads each month.
A similar study, conducted in 2011 by Rimm-Kaufman Group, showed the iPad’s traffic share at 96 percent. The report, posted by Mark Ballard, indicated that the iPad’s traffic share has grown exponentially since 2010 when it was introduced. The only slowdown they witnessed was in January and February of 2011. Ballard speculated that the iPad 2’s release in March 2011 might have caused new users to wait for the update before making an iPad purchase.
Like the Chitka Insights report, the Rimm-Kaufman study showed that the Samsung Galaxy was in second place, with 1.4 percent of the traffic share. Third place, however, went to Motorola Xoom with 1.3 percent. Other Android devices in a combined category received the same traffic share as the Xoom.
The Rimm-Kaufman report noted that the iPad’s traffic share was outpacing its unit sales, meaning that iPad owners are using the iPad for Internet browsing more often. Overall tablet use is still only 3 percent of Internet traffic, though, and few sites have developed tablet-friendly webpages. Google has designed a tablet-friendly version of its main search page.
Overall mobile Internet use, as of October 2011, was 6.8 percent according to Wired. This includes smartphones, tablets, and other non-computer devices capable of accessing the Internet. Mobile Internet use is increasing every year.
The new ePass app is now available in the iTunes and Google Play Stores.
The ePass app, owned by eCredentials, displays a ticket or identification on your smartphone screen with a barcode that identifies your specific pass. If you’re planning to see a concert, for example, you could forego a paper ticket and instead have your ticket delivered straight to the ePass app on your mobile device. If your company creates plastic ID badges for visitors, you can instead ask them to download the ID with a barcode on the app. An employee with a scanner can read the barcode and verify the pass before letting a person into an event or venue.
The app was introduced online with a video of the NFL’s Pat Summerall. He explains how the app reduces the carbon footprint of businesses and individuals by eliminating the need for plastic and paper tickets, credentials, and passes.
ePass is built with barcode technology, offering companies security by avoiding identity theft and reducing fraud, according to Summerall. There’s a security code push that changes every minute to circumvent counterfeit devices that could attempt to fool the system. While eCredentials also offers a dedicated ePass unit, the app allows a user’s mobile device to double as the unit, eliminating the need to carry an extra device.
The free app is currently compatible with most smartphones, iPads and iPod touches, according to the eCredentials website. Once a user downloads the app and registers their profile, it can be reprogrammed repeatedly for different events. Event organizers can communicate with users via the app and change advertisers, dates, locations and permissions. If an emergency occurs it can text users alerts and instructions.
The app is also cost-efficient, according to the video. Companies no longer have to pay for the paper or plastic to print tickets, media credentials, or other forms of identification. Each customer or employee merely downloads the application, purchases the ticket and receives it on the device. eCredentials technology is built to communicate with admin back-end systems via GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, RFID and Infra Red.
If a company has an app that would benefit from barcode technology, eCredentials allows licensure of the ePass app. It can be integrated with other systems to offer the same security and reduction of waste. According to Summerall’s video, it will reduce the transaction cost for companies that license the technology as well.
eCredentials also offers a strap case assembly for users interested in wearing a smartphone like media credentials or a pass. It clips the phone into either portrait or landscape mode and has a battery backup in the case that can be solar charged.
During May 1-3 of 2012, Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry, are holding not one, but two conferences in Orlando. These would be its BlackBerry Jam and BlackBerry World, both highlighting RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry 10. According to those who were in attendance at the conference, however, not much was given in the way of information.
Eric Zeman from InformationWeek attended BlackBerry World opening day. He was impressed by what he saw, which included a new user interface as well as a new software QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard adapts to user behavior with word prediction. An entirely new feature is the interactive delete tool, where swiping backward across the keyboard deletes entire words.
However, Zeman stated, RIM did not show “the browser, the e-mail program, the BBM and social networking integration, or even how the main home screen and app menu will look.”
Demos of BlackBerry 6 and PlayBook were also noted as being extremely brief, yet intriguing. However, many, including Harry McCracken from Time Techland, didn’t feel that the final versions of these devices lived up to the hype of the demo videos. McCracken worries that the BlackBerry 10 will follow this trend of RIM’s, but BlackBerry 10’s demoed innovative touchscreen keyboard keeps him hopeful.
RIM also knows apps can make or break a smartphone platform. According to Zeman, during the keynote of the BlackBerry Jam conference, RIM “promised attendees that their BlackBerry 10 applications will earn $10,000 in the first year they are available in App World.” And if the app doesn’t earn that much? RIM will reimburse the developer themselves.
The app must be “certified BlackBerry 10,” the criteria for which has yet to be determined, or at least released, by RIM. The app also must be able to net $1,000 on its own in order to qualify for the $10,000. Free apps do not qualify.
With iOS and Android leading the pack, BlackBerry 10 could make or break RIM. What must be seen now is if RIM can really deliver on both the glitz and gumption, and if it can provide it by the cutthroat holiday season.
Samsung announced its new Android 4.0 smartphone today at its Samsung Mobile UNPACKED 2012 event in London.
The new Samsung Galaxy S III features a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display, 2100mAh battery, a quad-core processor and front-facing HD video camera. The 8-megapixel rear camera takes several shots at once and selects the best one.
Samsung emphasizes the “intelligence” of the phone, saying it predicts the user’s intentions:
The Galaxy S III will be available as a 4G phone in North America this summer, 2012.
The White House announced in late March that 15 of the major electrical utilities providers agree to join and support the ‘Green Button’ initiative developed by the Office of Science and Technology.
The initiative looks to persuade utility providers to produce an application for mobile or web that will allow their consumers to track energy usage in a user-friendly manner, and learn how to conserve energy usage.
With this freedom of innovation, developers and utilities providers can work together to design an application with a game context. The intention of the ‘Green Button’ initiative is to provide homeowners current data of their household energy usage, make a game out of conserving energy, and most of all educate users on how to save energy and money.
A recent study conducted by Pike Research shows that 57 million consumers of utilities already use social media regularly to engage with utility providers.
Another research conducted by Delft University of Technology found if you ‘gamify’ such an everyday task as energy conservation, consumers would react to the challenge in outstanding ways. In the study that DUT titled ‘Energy Battle’ an online game, statistics show that adding a gaming context to energy management can yield a 45% increase in savings for the homeowner.
Joseph Romm, Editor for Climate Progress praises the ‘Green Button’ initiative by writing, “The green button will save money and make life easier for Americans nationwide. It may also be the catalyst for innovative companies that can now predictably access energy data and provide tools for residential, commercial, and industrial players.”
With many progressive groups influencing the masses, and the government taking notice – it appears that there is a shift in terms of producing environmental awareness for the future. With the ‘Green Button’ initiative this awareness is to be delivered to the consumer in the form of an application.
In fiscal Q2 results released on Tuesday, Apple stated that soaring sales of the iPhone and iPad in China have helped the company nearly double its profit year-over-year.
The company stated it has shown 88 percent growth in sales of its iPhone product compared to Q2 2011, selling 35.1 million units. iPad sales increased 151 percent, with 11.8 million units sold.
Chief Executive Timothy Cook said in a conference call that China produced $7.9 billion in revenue for Apple just in the second quarter. This value made up nearly 20 percent of Apple’s entire revenue from Q2, and was triple the amount of sales in China in Q2 2011.
Some analysts had expressed concern with how Apple would perform in emerging Asian markets, but this report put them at ease. Societe Generale’s Andy Perkins said, “We believe that the results from China demonstrate that our concerns were misplaced, especially as we only saw sales from China Telecom and China Unicom for part of the quarter.”
China Telecom and China Unicom are two of the “big three” mobile providers in China. The third and largest provider, China Mobile Ltd., has over 600 million subscribers, but uses TD-SCDMA 3G technology, which isn’t used outside China and is not supported by Apple. The provider did sell iPhones to use at its Wi-Fi hotspots.
Commuters in Boston will be able to purchase and display tickets using a smartphone app before the end of the year, according to Railway Age.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is teaming up with Masabi to implement a ticketing system that uses smartphones instead of traditional passes and paper tickets. The move was partially made to save MBTA money, according to Masabi, but it also benefits commuters. Currently, less than half of MBTA’s commuter rail stations feature machines that sell tickets. Commuters at those stations are currently forced to purchase tickets on the train if they don’t have the plastic CharlieCard.
The app will be available on BlackBerry, Android and iOS devices. It will allow commuters to make purchases at home and avoid waiting in line, which should save them time and frustration. When employees ask to see tickets, the app will display an e-copy of the ticket for perusal. Each ticket will include a barcode, helping to cut down on potential fraud; employees will carry smartphones with apps that identify legitimate barcodes. Similar systems are already in use in the UK, where Masabi is based.
Not only will the new system cut down on train-purchases and lost tickets, but it will also lower the MBTA expense budget. The system won’t cost much once it’s installed, unlike the current cards and tickets that are a daily expense for MBTA. There will be less need for cash handling and ticketing machines. Also, less waste will be generated with a smartphone app in place of traditional paper and plastic tickets.
A focus group will test the app this summer and give feedback to creators. It is expected to go live for all commuters in fall 2012. It is the first smartphone rail ticketing system in the United States.