Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /mobile-web/

Google introduces Chrome for Android

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:01:00 GMT

Google has introduced two of its most successful products to one another - Chrome and Android - releasing its Chrome Browser App for Android users.

Available in the Android Market for smartphones fitted with Ice Cream Sandwich, the new Chrome app is 'focused on speed and simplicity' and features many of the same features as the desktop version.

"Today, we're introducing Chrome for Android Beta, which brings many of the things you've come to love about Chrome to your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet," Chrome and Apps Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai wrote on the Google blog.

"Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign in and sync so you can take your personalised web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices."

The new mobile Chrome features 'reimagined tabs' designed specifically to fit on a mobile browser, and makes use of gesture-based controls to move across tabs.

"You can flip or swipe between an unlimited number of tabs using intuitive gestures, as if you're holding a deck of cards in the palm of your hands, each one a new window to the web," Pichai said.

Users can also sync their mobile and desktop bookmarks, making it easy to access sites across different devices. Syncing also extends to autocomplete suggestions - for example, a site visited or searched regularly at home will also appear as an autocomplete suggestion on the mobile browser.

This, according to Pichai, allows users to 'bring your personalised Chrome experience with you'.
"When searching, your top search results are loaded in the background as you type so pages appear instantly," he said. "And of course, both search and navigation can all be done quickly from the Chrome omnibox."

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Apple warns appayola-using app-makers

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:37:00 GMT

App Store competition can be tough, but Apple has warned the consequences of trying to game the system are tougher.

Apple is reminding app-makers that using appayola services - paying to artificially inflate an app's chart ranking - will lead to them being stripped of their ability to release apps in the App Store.

In a post on Apple's Developer website, the company said: "Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts.

"Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership."

The reminder appears to have come in response to a recent conversation on the forum for the mobile games site Touch Arcade. In the forum posting, an independent developer claimed to have been contacted by an ad network charging $5,000 (£3,200) for a guaranteed spot in the App Store's Top 25 placement listing for free apps.

The developer also alleged that the company claimed to use a bot farm to automatically download apps and drive up their rankings, as well as implicating eight free apps currently in the Top 25 listing as using the unnamed bot farm's services.

Making the Top 25 is a coveted position in the App Store, and the potential revenue rewards for download popularity are certainly alluring. However, analysts are quick to point out that long-term business models cannot be built on the artificial use of bot farms.

For example, a really bad game in the App Store may just make it into the Top 25 by using appayola firms, but once "real human" users start playing, the rankings can sink very quickly.

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Android Market gets a Bouncer

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:36:00 GMT

Google has released an automated service for the Android Market to help detect malicious apps when they are uploaded.

The new service - code-named Bouncer - "provides automated scanning of Android Market for potentially malicious software without disrupting the user experience of Android Market or requiring developers to go through an application approval process," VP of Engineering Hiroshi Lockheimer wrote in a blog post.

"Once an application is uploaded, the service immediately starts analysing it for known malware, spyware and Trojans.

"It also looks for behaviours that indicate an application might be misbehaving, and compares it against previously analysed apps to detect possible red flags."

Once scanned, if the app has been identified as malicious it will be scanned manually for confirmation. Following that, the app could be blocked or removed from the store altogether. If it's an instance of known malware, the app won't be uploaded to the store at all.

The Android Market has come under fire for not policing apps more closely, with critics arguing users were being made vulnerable to malware on their smartphones. Unlike Apple, which inspects every app before it's made available to users, the Android Market doesn't require pre-approval for its apps.

Prior to the announcement, Google tested 'Bouncer' for a number of months, reporting the program resulted in a 40 per cent decline in the number of malicious app downloads in the second half of 2011.

"While it's not possible to prevent bad people from building malware, the most important measurement is whether those bad applications are being installed from Android Market - and we know that rate is declining significantly," Lockheimer said.

"Our systems are getting better at detecting and eliminating malware every day, and we continue to invite the community to work with us to keep Android safe."

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Pinterest catches up to social networks with referral traffic

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:12:00 GMT

Pinterest is the fastest growing referral site on the net, eclipsing the likes of YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+, according to new stats released by Shareaholic.

"According to our findings based on aggregated data from more than 200,000 publishers that reach more than 260 million unique monthly visitors each month, Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Google Plus, Linkedin and YouTube combined," head of marketing Janet Aronica wrote on the Shareaholic blog.

The virtual pinboard lets users gather and organise things they find on the web, sharing them with other users on the site.

Users can add photos to their own pinboards, as well as browse other users and discover new things based on interests including clothing, food and interior design.

"Pinterest grew from 2.5 per cent of referral traffic in December to 3.6 per cent of the referrals in January. That's impressive growth from just owning 0.17 per cent of the traffic back in July," Aronica said.

In just six months, the invite-only site has jumped ahead of Google+, MySpace, Reddit YouTube and LinkedIn - coming up against traffic driving titans like Facebook and StumbleUpon.

In contrast, Twitter accounts for 3.61 per cent of referral traffic while Google accounts for 3.62. Unsurprisingly, Facebook is the top traffic driver at 26.4 per cent, followed by StumbleUpon with 5.07 per cent.

Though still leagues away from the top traffic driver, Pinterest received 4000 per cent more visitors than six months prior - earning it the title of 'Number 10 social networking-site' - and if growth continues, Pinterest will soon be one of the top three traffic drivers on the net.

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Angry Birds boss doesn't see Piracy as a bad thing

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:36:00 GMT

Rovio boss Mikel Hed has said he doesn't necessarily see piracy as a bad thing when it comes to Angry Birds.

Speaking at the Midem conference in Cannes, the Angry Birds maker explained the company sees efforts to pursue pirates in the court system as 'futile' - so long as pirated products are not harmful to the brand or ripping off fans.

"We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy.

"We have some issues with piracy, not only in apps, but also especially in the consumer products," he said. "There is tons of merchandise out there, especially in Asia, which is not officially licensed products."

Hed also explained he believes there is a lesson to be learned from the music industry - namely, approaching customers as fans, rather than users.

"We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans. We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have," he said.

"If we lose our fan base, our business is done, but it we can grow that fan base, our business will grow."

Hed also took the opportunity to discuss new avenues for the popular mobile game, saying the company hasn't ruled out working with musicians in the future.

Rather than just a game, Rovio sees Angry Birds as its own channel - where users are spending as much time in the app as they are with their favourite TV shows.

"Already our apps are becoming channels, and we can use that channel to cross-promote - to sell further content," he said.

"The content itself has transformed into the channel, and the traditional distribution channels are no longer the kingmakers."

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RIM co-CEOs resign

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:25:00 GMT

Flagging smartphone manufacturer RIM has named Thorsten Heins CEO following a management shake-up that saw co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis step down.

Balsillie will remain a member of the board, while Lazaridis will serve as Vice Chair of the board's Innovation Committee - offering strategic counsel to help promote the BlackBerry brand.

"There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership," co-founder Mike Lazaridis said in a statement. "Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now."

Calls for Balsillie and Lazaridis to step down came following a difficult year at RIM - competition from Apple and Android ate into BlackBerry's market share, and the company reported a slump in profits in its Q3 results.

Investor patience also wore thin following a series of PR fails - most notably the BBM crash in October - and the poorly-selling BlackBerry PlayBook did little to impress shareholders following its launch.

"Thorsten has demonstrated throughout his tenure at RIM that he has the right mix of leadership, relevant industry experience and skills to take the company forward," Lazaridis said.

Prior to being appointed CEO, Heins served as Chief Operating Officer for RIM.

"Going forward, we will continue to focus both on short-term and long-term growth, strategic planning, a customer and market-based product approach, and flawless execution," Heins said.

"We are in the process of recruiting a new Chief Marketing Officer to work closely with our product and sales teams to deliver the most compelling products and services."

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Apple unveils new and improved iTunes U

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Apple unveiled its new and improved iTunes U - along with iBooks 2 for textbooks - at its education event in New York.

What started as a largely overlooked collection of video lectures and podcasts created by university professors has been redeveloped and re-launched.

Now, users can subscribe to courses on iTunes U, with a single course icon appearing on the iTunes U bookshelf. All the course information - videos, books, documents, course materials and even space for note-taking - are contained in once place, with check boxes so virtual students can check their own progress.

"The all new iTunes U app enables students anywhere to tap into entire courses from the world's most prestigious universities," senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddie Cue said.

"Never before have educators been able to offer their full courses in such an innovative way, allowing anyone who's interested in a particular topic to learn from anywhere in the world, not just the classroom."

Lecturers can also host their own materials for the course outside iBooks - course specific lecture notes and study sheets can all be collated and linked to the iTunes U course binder.

Currently, most of the courses on iTunes U are available for free - with materials from Yale, Stanford, and the Open University all available for download.

"Education is deep in Apple's DNA and iPad may be our most exciting education product yet. With 1.5 million iPads already in use in education institutions, including over 1,000 one-to-one deployments, iPad is rapidly being adopted by schools across the US and around the world," senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller said in a press release.

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Samsung denies RIM rumours

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:12:00 GMT

Samsung has gone into denial - at least in terms of denying the company was ever interested in buying Research in Motion.

The world's second largest handset maker, Samsung Electronics Co, has firmly stated it is neither interested in acquiring the ailing BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion, nor licensing its operating system.

"We haven't considered acquiring the firm and a not interested in (buying RIM)," Samsung spokesman James Chung said. He also added that Samsung had not been approached by the Canadian-based firm for a takeover.

The denial comes on the heels of a report by website Boy Genius Report, which cited unnamed sources as saying that RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie was "going hard after Samsung."

Following Samsung's public repudiation of the dealings, Nasdaq-listed RIM shares dropped by 5.3 per cent after having previously jumped more than 10 per cent following the tech blog report.

Analysts agree with Samsung's position, stating there is no merit to the handset maker buying RIM.

"An acquisition would enable Samsung to have its own operating system but the cost is too high. Samsung didn't buy HP's webOS either for the same reason...BlackBerry sales are collapsing and one plus one will not become two," said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

Samsung has traditionally favoured organic growth over major mergers and acquisitions, though it has been warming to the idea as it seeks to boost software capabilities to compete with Apple and Google.

In a time when most companies are scaling back growth plans, the South Korean company announced yesterday it would invest a record 47.8tn won (£27 billion; $41.7 billion) to upgrade its factories and equipment and towards research and development.

The company also said it would hire 26,000 new employees this year.

Sun-tae also said: "Samsung's got strong cash flow to make bold bets in new technologies. No other IT company can beat it in terms of investment and that's how Samsung finds new revenue sources ahead of rivals and widen its gap."

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Apple co-founder wishes iPhones were like Androids

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:24:00 GMT

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has admitted his Android-powered smartphone out muscles his iPhone much of the time.

"My primary phone is the iPhone," Wozniak said. "I love the beauty of it. But I wish it did all the things my Android does, I really do."

Though still a big fan of the iPhone, Wozniak argues Android has a better built-in navigation, and that voice commands work better on the Google-made operating system than its Cupertino counterpart.

"I used to ask Siri, 'What are the five biggest lakes in California?' and it would come back with the answer," he said.

"Now it just misses. It gives me real estate listing. I used to ask, 'What are the prime numbers greater than 87?' and it would answer. Now instead of getting prime numbers, I get listings for prime rib, or prime real estate."

Android and Apple have been going head to head for smartphone supremacy - Apple visionary Steve Jobs famously vowed to destroy Android. In contrast, Wozniak bears no ill-will towards Android, and is a long-time friend of Android project head Andy Rubin.

Still, even though Wozniak likes his Android, he still believes the iPhone is the better smartphone overall.

"The people I recommend for the iPhone 4S are the ones who are already in the Mac world, because it's so compatible, and people who are just scared of computers altogether and don't want to use them," he said.

"The iPhone is the least frightening thing. For that kind of person who is scared of complexity, well, here's a phone that is simple to use and does what you need it to do," he said.

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Apple rumour mill turning over next-generation graphics

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:25:00 GMT

Now that several months have passed since the release of Apple's iPhone 4S, the rumour mill has started turning once again as techies everywhere begin to speculate about what's coming next from Cupertino.

If the rumours are true, iPad and iPhone users can expect a boost in graphics that would see next generation models with 20 times better graphic power than the models currently on the market.

The boost, according to according to enthusiast site Appleinsider, would come to new devices thanks to Imagination Technologies, who launched its PowerVR Series6 GPU core chip family at CES this week.

The new chip has been touted as providing better performance than the current generation, and "enables Imagination's partners to deliver amazing user experiences in devices from innovative 'natural' user interfaces to ultra-realistic gaming, as well as enabling new applications never before thought of from advanced content creation and image processing to sophisticated augmented reality and environment-aware solutions," Imagination said in a press release.

Imagination GPUs are already built into Apple's central processing units on the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV - including the A5 chip inside the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, as well as the A4 chip inside the iPhone 4 and first generation iPad.

The announcement of the new chip has sparked rumours that the next-generation A6 chip will power the iPad 3 - also rumoured to begin shipping in March.

While reports are all unconfirmed, Apple suppliers are rumoured to be filling orders for the new iPad tablet and insiders are predicting the iPad 3 will enter the market in March 2012.

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