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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 2

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.

 

 

  • Opera launched a HTML5-based app store solution for TVs
  • The Dolphin browser was updated to 7.3 on Android and 3.0 on iOS
  • Lenovo to launch first Intel-powered Android smartphone, the K800
  • Samsung announced good Q4 2011 results, with 35 million smartphones sold
  • Sony announced Xperia NXT, first Android smartphones without Ericsson
  • HTC has had poor results in Q4 2011 results, selling less devices than Q3
  • 1.67 billion phones will be sold this year, with 3G and 4G chipsets on more than half
  • 16 out of the top 25 mobile companies by revenue are network operators
  • Nokia confirmed North America focus and Lumia 900 device
  • Nokia acquired Smarterphone, a producer of feature phone OS

 

 

 

Opera launched the Opera TV Store, a HTML5-based store solution for connected TVs, where developers can create and publish Web-based TV apps. The store solution's value proposition is described as "uniting multiple devices with a single, powerful browser engine." Opera also made a partnership with the Digital Living Network Alliance, an organization who works on standards and solutions for sharing digital content across different consumer devices.Opera will integrate the company's solution into its Devices SDK, to allow the creation of multiple device management features. Opera also announced a licensing deal with INTEK Digital, a set-top box manufacturer, to include the Opera Devices SDK on the company's Android-based Hybrid TV product, to launch in the first half of 2012.

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 1

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.

 

 

  • There are 700,000 Android devices activated every day
  • Inclusion of the Holo theme made a requirement for Android v.4 or later
  • Mobile devices moved to the top of the most wanted list this holiday season
  • Android devices dominate the top of most searched-for phones in China
  • Intel unveiled a prototype for smartphone hardware based of its Medfield chips
  • 100 million tablets to be sold worldwide in 2012
  • The Nokia Ace, also called the Nokia Lumia 900, rumoured to launch in the US in March

 

 

There are now over 700,000 Android devices activated every day, revealed Andy Rubin, VP of Mobile at Google, on G+. The number is up from 550,000 new device activations announced in November. Andy Rubin also announced that there were 3.7 million Android devices activated on  the 24th and 25th of December, more than double the rate on an average, non-holiday, day.

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 50

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


 

  • The Android Market reached 10 billion application downloads
  • EU regulators suspended review of the Motorola acquisition by Google to wait for more information on its potential of harming competition between Android OEMs
  • HP will keep maintaining WebOS and transfer it to an open source license
  • Sony Ericsson becomes Sony middle of 2012
  • Amazon partnered with a mobile payment services provider
  • Carrier IQ published clarifications of the behaviour of the app
  • The first Nokia WP7 device in the US will be the Nokia Lumia 710

 

 

The 10 billion mark for application downloads from the Android Market has been reached, with a growth rate of 1 billion per month. The Apple app store announced  the same mark in January 2011 and the last  known number is 18 billion app downloads reached in October 2011. 67% of the applications in the Android Market are free - the highest percentage of any major app store - compared to 27% in Apple's app store.

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 49

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


 

  • Android platform distribution: v2.3 at 50%, v2.2 at 35% and v2.1 at 10%
  • The web version of the Android Market has been updated with handset model and app version for reviews
  • Opera Mini will be included in MediaTek's runtime environment for "smart feature phones".
  • Opera joined an initiative coordinated by the European Commission to make the Internet safer for kids by focusing on age-appropriate privacy settings, wider use of content classification and parental control,
  • Dolphin Browser HD v 7.2 launched and gained a new add-on, called the Dolphin Companion
  • Class-action lawsuits in the US and further smartphone security analysis have emerged following the discovery of the Carrier IQ app on smartphones
  • Verizon will not integrate Google Wallet into the Galaxy Nexus, in favour of competitor mobile payments platform Isis
  • Flexible screens on mobile phones might be pioneered next year by Samsung

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 48

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


  • Amazon answered to Congress on privacy in the Silk browser
  • Security and privacy constitute a rising concern on mobile
  • Panasonic to enter European and North American markets with Android-based smartphones
  • Yandex to be the default search engine in Windows Phone 7 devices in Russia
  • Windows Phone 7 devices to launch in China in 2012
  • Samsung's Cortex-A15 chips have been unveiled, to come to devices in Q2 next year
  • Telefonica started testing a mobile payment and ID card system based on NFC technology

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 47

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


  • Ice Cream Sandwich will get Flash support by the end of the year
  • Amazon and Facebook rumoured to be releasing phones next year
  • Opera Mini reached 140 million users
  • Dolphin HD v7.2 beta was released, with the ability to encrypt and save data to SD card
  • China's smartphone market surpassed the US one in Q3
  • Africa became world's second biggest mobile market after Asia
  • Samsung and Google in late-stage talks on Google TV 
  • FCC takes steps against the proposed merger of the US branch of T-Mobile and AT&T

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 46

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


  • Google announced 200 million Android device activations and released the Ice Cream Sandwich source code
  • The Kindle Fire began shipping and was welcomed by mixed reviews
  • The Dolphin browsers reached 10 million users on Android and iOS and released Dolphin Connect for iOS
  • Opera Mini to come on HUMAX set-top boxes sold in the Middle East
  • Nokia plans Windows 8 tablet by June 2012
  • NFC technology coming to SIM cards everywhere
  • South Korea is second only to the US in terms of app downloads from the Android Market

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 45

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


  • Samsung became the biggest smartphone vendor in Q3, followed by Apple, Nokia, HTC and RIM
  • 44% of all Android devices run on v2.3, with 41% on v2.2 and 11% on v 2.1, but Android fragmentation is a costly business
  • The next version of Google TV will run on Android
  • Adobe will stop working on Flash for mobile
  • Opera announced 131 million users for Opera Mini and released platform stats
  • Sony now fully owns Sony Ericsson, and new rumours of WebOS acquisition surface
  • Quad-core Tegra 3 phones are on their way

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 43

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


  • Nokia launched its first WP7 phones, the Nokia Lumia 800 and 710, which feature Internet Explorer 9 mobile and will be released beginning with November in 6 European countries and several countries in Asia
  •  Android overpassed iOS on app downloads, but lags behind on apps/user ratio
  • Mobotap released Dolphin HD 7.0 for Android, featuring preferences, bookmarks and gestures syncing through Dolphin Connect among instances of the browser on Android
  • Opera signed partnerships with MTN, a carrier active in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and Smart Communications in the Philippines
  • ARM introduced its next generation chips, the A7 family, and heterogeneous multiprocessing, a technique to balance performance with battery life
  • NFC and mobile payments are making strides, with the Singapore government engaged in developing infrastructure and Mastercard extending its contactless payment system, Pay Pass,  to mobile phones

 

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Android and mobile browsing insights - Week 42

Every week I post an overview on what's been happening in the mobile (browsing) world and is relevant to Mozilla.


This week is mostly about Android 4.0. There is also news on Opera's new approach for Android, a report on the Internet's contribution to GDP, which reaches up to 6% in mature markets like Sweden, Apple missing analysts' forecasts but coming back in Q4 and a case study on an NFC security implementation.

 

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