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Consumers Prefer Mobile Devices Over PCs for Media and Entertainment, According to ForeSee
Apple Can't Dump Samsung, Needs Those iPad Displays
Samsung Gets Knocked Down Again; Tech Expert Discusses Obama Veto of the Apple Import Ban
Apple's iPhones Retain Their Value. Samsung's Androids Don't.
Apple Cedes Market Share in Smartphone Operating System Market as Android Surges and Windows Phone Gains - IDC
Microsoft Recycles Old Anti-iPad Arguments In Latest Tranche Of Surface Ads
Autogrammar Is Coming to Autocorrect
Magnetyze Smartphone Case for iPhone 5 Offers Lightweight Protection, Full-Speed Magnetic Charging
Pho.to Lab PRO for iPhone is Getting Free - For 36 Hours
Wind River Selected by PATEO for iOS Connectivity on Android Automotive IVI Systems
Turn Your iPhone Into A Mobile Scanner For Free
Consumers Prefer Mobile Devices Over PCs for Media and Entertainment, According to ForeSee
Customers prefer consuming media and entertainment websites and apps via mobile devices over personal computers, according to new research from customer experience analytics firm ForeSee. User satisfaction with mobile media and entertainment sites and apps scores 77 on the studys 100-point scale. Satisfaction with media and entertainment websites via PC scored 67 in a similar study conducted in April, 2013. Released Wednesday, ForeSee's Mobile Satisfaction Index: Media and Entertainment Edition highlights 22 top U.S. streaming video, sports and news companies.
ForeSee produced the Mobile Satisfaction Index for retail (78), travel (77), and financial services (77), in addition to the media and entertainment edition. No industry has demonstrated exceptional customer experience in the mobile environment, though each industry has its stronger performers.
"With the fast pace of consumer adoption of smartphones and tablets, companies need to recognize the mobile platform is at least as important as the desktop web environment," says Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee. "These mobile benchmark scores suggest there is much work to be done. Companies see the opportunity and they are trying to move fast, but they must be sure to do things the right way to meet the expectations of customers or risk turning them away to competitors."
Streaming TV and Movies
Streaming media is growing, and the streaming TV and movies category is the best scoring category at 78. Apples iTunes scores the highest of any measured company in the study, using a slightly different model than its streaming counterparts to secure a score of 80. iTunes customers download content before viewing, setting the service apart from its true streaming competitors.
Netflix, which has been transforming itself from a DVD delivery company to a streaming media and content development powerhouse, ties HBO GO at 79 and has nearly as many subscribers as HBO. Amazon's streaming service isnt as successful as its online retail operation. Amazon Instant Video registers 78, while Hulu Plus and Crackle lag further behind at 75.
"Netflix may be the most disruptive and innovative company in the space. It is making major infrastructure investments so it can deliver high quality video to any customer, anywhere, on any device. The company knows that its only as good as the content it can deliver, so Netflix goes a step further and into HBOs turf to develop quality original content worthy of Emmy nominations," says Eric Feinberg, Senior Director of Mobile, Media and Entertainment. "Amazon is dipping its toes into the water by offering Instant Video to its Prime members. Amazon is what Netflix used to be."
While premium content is a significant factor in customer satisfaction, performance is the key. Users want fast page loads and are dissatisfied when error messages or playback issues occur. iTunes position on top makes sense, given that it bypasses these performance issues. The study finds that performance is the main driver of satisfaction for streaming websites and apps. Consumers are most satisfied when accessing content with their home Wi-Fi connection (78), and least satisfied when using streaming media on public Wi-Fi (73).
Sports mobile sites and apps score 77 in aggregate, with scores as low as 74 and as high as 79. Though ESPN is often considered the leader in sports coverage, it is in a three-way tie for second with Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report, scoring 77. Fox Sports leads the category at 79.
ESPN is the 800-pound gorilla of sports coverage, but customers complain that there are too many mobile choices in where to connect, too many mobile sites and apps. Fox Sports, on the other hand, has plenty of marketing muscle especially with the impending launch of Fox Sports 1, and a more unified mobile strategy, offering a more focused app strategy, said Feinberg.
The most satisfied group in the sports category is comprised of customers who reported to frequently view ads, registering 81 in satisfaction. Twenty-three percent of sports mobile sites and apps users surveyed fall into this group, the highest among the three media and entertainment categories.
Satisfaction with the mobile sites and apps for news organizations scores 77 to match the aggregate score for Media and Entertainment. Fox News and NBC News tie for first at 79, followed by four news entities at 78. Satisfaction with mobile news sites represents the largest spread of scores of all three categories measured in the study, with CBS News scoring the lowest at 73. Trust seems to be a factor when it comes to user satisfaction. According to the study, only 20% of those surveyed strongly agree they could trust the content on the news mobile site or app they visited.
Other Key Findings
Satisfaction matters: Satisfied users of mobile news, sports and streaming TV and movie sites and apps report they are 80% more likely to use the mobile channel as a primary resource, 72% more likely to give positive recommendations, and 58% more likely to use the mobile channel again.
How mobile is mobile?: More than half (52%) of those surveyed are accessing news, sports, and streaming mobile sites and apps from home, as opposed to only 9% who do so on the go.
Seeing Stars isn't Satisfaction: App store ratings for the measured sites do not always match scientifically calculated satisfaction scores.
Mobile preferences: 65% of those surveyed reported using a smartphone for their last mobile media and entertainment experience, compared to 35% who did so on a tablet.
Apps over Mobile Sites: More survey respondents used mobile sites (66%) than apps (34%), but app users are generally more satisfied (78 vs. 76).
The index was conducted through a consumer panel of more than 5,500 surveys collected during the first half of June. The full report includes more user behaviors, factors affecting customer satisfaction, and other data. It can be downloaded for free at:
http://www.foresee.com
Apple Can't Dump Samsung, Needs Those iPad Displays
The Register's Jasper Hamill says Apple and Samsung's unhappy union could be set to continue as it emerged that Cupertino still depends on its arch-enemy to supply its display screens.
Hamill cites a research note by NPD DisplaySearch noting that Apple bought more 9.7 inch screen panels from Samsung than it did from LG Display in April and June of this year - critical components used to manufacture the iPad 4 - and while the rival firms have spent much of the past year locked in patent disputes, that didn't stop Apple from snapping up 2.3 million units from Samsung in the first quarter of this year. This then jumped up to more than 4.1 million in the second quarter, according to the researchers.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/7iDsYX
Samsung Gets Knocked Down Again; Tech Expert Discusses Obama Veto of the Apple Import Ban
In a move that surprised some more than others, the Obama administration overturned an import ban on certain Apple products last weekend. The decision comes after Apple won their patent lawsuit against rival tech giant Samsung for widespread intellectual property infringements. Tech Expert Karl Volkman of Chicago's SRV Network, Inc., weighs in on the next steps for the two companies.
"This is another blow to Samsung, who was hit particularly hard this past year with infringement fines and an embarrassing loss to Apple," says Volkman. "Now, on top of the fines, Samsung has lost $1 billion in market value based on the overturning of the import ban."
The International Trade Commission originally banned older models of iPhones and iPads from being imported based on allegations that the products were violating Samsungs patents. The models include iPhone 4, 3GS, 3G, iPad 1 and iPad 2. The Apple products wont be blocked by customs as was originally scheduled to start Monday. Samsung released a statement this week saying they were disappointed with the decision as they thought the ITC had correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license. The overturn of the ban is final and cannot be appealed by Samsung.
"The Apple-Samsung rivalry is an ongoing battle, but the market value hit is a big loss for Samsung," continues Volkman. "For awhile there many thought that Samsung could dethrone Apple in the smartphone arena, but with the Obama veto it doesnt look like that will be happening anytime soon."
Karl Volkman, the Chief Technology Officer of SRV Network, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, is an IT Professional with over 30 years of experience.
For more information on SRV Network, Inc. visit:
http://www.srvnetwork.com
Apple's iPhones Retain Their Value. Samsung's Androids Don't.
Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports that Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster has performed a simple experiment that says a lot about the comparative value of Apple and Android smartphones.
Since April, He notes that Jaffray and colleagues have been monitoring the resale prices of six devices on eBay and China's Taobao Marketplace - three iPhones and three Samsung smartphones running on Google's (GOOG) Android platform. In three months, the prices for Samsung's Android phones fell anywhere from 14.4% to 35.5%. However, the only iPhone to lose anywhere near that much value was the iPhone 4S in China, and the price of the iPhone 4 actually increased during the three-month period, up 1.4% in China and 10.3% in the U.S.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/MDisr2
Apple Cedes Market Share in Smartphone Operating System Market as Android Surges and Windows Phone Gains - IDC
Despite beating Wall Street expectations in terms of shipment volumes, Apple's share in the worldwide smartphone operating system market posted a year-over-year decline during the second quarter of 2013 (2Q13). Meanwhile, Android and Windows Phone both managed slight increases during the same period. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 236.4 million smartphones in 2Q13, up 51.3% from the 156.2 million units shipped in 2Q12. Second-quarter shipments grew 9.3% when compared to the 216.3 million units shipped in 1Q13.
Without a new product launch since the debut of the iPhone 5 nearly a year ago, Apple's market share was vulnerable to product launches from the competition. But with a new iPhone and revamped iOS coming out later this year, Apple is well-positioned to re-capture market share.
"The iOS decline in the second quarter aligns with the cyclicality of iPhone," says Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team. "Without a new product launch since the debut of the iPhone 5 nearly a year ago, Apples market share was vulnerable to product launches from the competition. But with a new iPhone and revamped iOS coming out later this year, Apple is well-positioned to re-capture market share."
"Last quarter we witnessed Windows Phone shipments surpassing BlackBerry and the trend has continued into the second quarter," said Ryan Reith, Program Manager with IDC's Mobility Tracker Programs. "Nokia has clearly been the driving force behind the Windows Phone platform, and we expect that to continue. However, as more and more vendors enter the smartphone market using the Android platform, we expect Windows Phone to become a more attractive differentiator in this very competitive market segment."
Smartphone Operating System Highlights
Android maintained its leadership position, with strong contributions from Samsung and its Galaxy S4. Not to be overlooked were LG and Chinese vendors Huawei, Lenovo, and ZTE, which each recorded double-digit shipment volumes in the millions. Combined, these vendors accounted for 62.5% of all Android-powered smartphone shipments during the quarter. Still, the remaining vendors within the Android ecosystem should not be overlooked, as many have developed a strong local presence within key developing markets.
iOS finished the quarter as the clear number 2 operating system, showing that, even without new product launches, demand remains strong. Moreover, Apple added new mobile operators to its camp, boosting short-term volumes and cementing long-term end-user relationships. What remains to be seen is how the new iOS 7 will be received once it reaches the market later this year, as much of the look and feel of the user interface has been revamped.
Windows Phone posted the largest year-over-year increase among the top five smartphone platforms, and in the process reinforced its position as the number 3 smartphone operating system. Driving this result was Nokia, which released two new smartphones and grew its presence at multiple mobile operators. But beyond Nokia, Windows Phone remained a secondary option for other vendors, many of which have concentrated on Android. By comparison, Nokia accounted for 81.6% of all Windows Phone smartphone shipments during 2Q13.
BlackBerry saw its market share decline during the quarter, reaching levels not seen in the history of IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker. However, BlackBerry has shown steady progress since the launch of its BB 10 platform, which has grown to three models, additional mobile operators, and a greater presence within its total volumes. It is still early days for the platform, however, and BlackBerry will need time and resources to evangelize more end users.
Linux, with few vendors supporting the open source platform and virtually no global presence, barely scraped together a single percentage point of market share during the quarter. Most vendors have transitioned to Android, and those that remain have limited presence within specific markets. It should be noted that IDC includes Linux-branded shipments in these numbers, and excludes Android-branded shipments. Several other branded variations of Linux, including Firefox, Tizen, and SailFish, are expected to launch later this year, providing a potential boost to volumes and market share.
For more information about IDC visit:
http://www.idc.com
Microsoft Recycles Old Anti-iPad Arguments In Latest Tranche Of Surface Ads
AppleInsider Staff report that Microsoft continues to bash the iPad in its latest Surface RT commercial, revisiting and re-airing old arguments against Apple's tablet, such as the lack of keyboard and higher price point., but
While some of Microsoft's points are valid criticisms of the iPad, the fact remains that Apple sold 14.6 million iPads in the last quarter, and MS sold how many Surfaces? They haven't told us but a pretty strong consensus maintains that it couldn't have been many, relatively speaking, hence recent fire-sale proce cuts to reduce inventory, and a $900,000 writedown on unslod Surface units.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/9FuZuL
Autogrammar Is Coming to Autocorrect
The Atllantic Wire's Rebecca Greenfield notes that as much humor as autocorrect's mistakes have bestowed on us, it would be nice if our "smart" phones understood the most embarrassing of grammar errors, changing our "its" to "it's" and correcting all those small, but incredibly frowned upon grammar crimes that we commit far too often.
So she applauds the developers at Nuance who have come up with a technology called "future context" that can look at an entire sentence, or a sentence fragment, and if it thinks that, say, an "its" should be an "it's," a little underline will show up, prompting the user to change it.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/zPH2kx
Magnetyze Smartphone Case for iPhone 5 Offers Lightweight Protection, Full-Speed Magnetic Charging
Magnetyze by BuQu Tech protective cases and magnetic charging cables for the Apple iPhone 5 smartphone are available beginning immediately at Magnetyze.com, the company has announced.
Magnetyze by BuQu Tech applies patent-pending magnetics technology to keep iPhone and Android smartphones protected, charged and ready to grab and go. Magnets integrated into the lightweight iPhone 5 protective case and at one end of the USB cable (included) make full-speed charging a breeze and eliminate multiple cords, clumsy cradles and the need for new charging accessories with every smartphone upgrade.
"Magnetyze solves a number of common complaints from smartphone users," says Ophir Marish, CEO of BuQu Tech. "These include difficulty plugging their charger into their phone and the damage this often causes to their smartphone port, as well as the cost of purchasing new charging accessories every time they upgrade."
With Magnetyze, there's no more struggling with plugs and phone ports: iPhone 5 users simply attach the magnet at the end of the charging cable to the magnet on the back of the Magnetyze protective case for instant full-speed charging from any USB power source. The custom-designed Magnetyze protective case (available in black or white) protects the smartphone from everyday hazards and enables users to easily access the iPhone 5s camera and functional buttons.
Upgrading is also easy. With Magnetyze, users need only replace the protective case all of their charging accessories will continue to work with any smartphone outfitted with a Magnetyze case. Magnetyze desk chargers, car chargers, wall chargers and other accessories work with both Android and iPhone smartphones.
The new iPhone 5 protective case and quick-connect magnetic charging cable join a growing family of smartphone chargers and charging accessories that include the iPhone 4/4S and the Samsung Galaxy S3, both available online at the company's website, http://www.Magnetyze.com. A full line of Magnetyze protective cases and magnetic charging accessories is slated to be available on Amazon.com later this year.
For more information, visit:
http://www.magnetyze.com
Pho.to Lab PRO for iPhone is Getting Free - For 36 Hours
VicMan LLC has announced a giveaway Pho.to LAb PRO for iPhone for free. The app enables editing images by putting effects on (more than 500 effects), adding frames and lets users share their images to the majority of popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. The PRO version is ad-free and adds no watermarks to the resulting images. The limited promotion lasts for 36 hours.
"App Store offers plenty of photo editing apps ranging from simple editors to complicated apps with multiple tools, filters and effects. However, not many of them are able to include such a wide range of effects and filters as Pho.to Lab PRO does," says a VicMan spokesperson. "Pho.to Lab PRO is designed for all users who do not have any specific skills in collaging and montaging. It is meant for simple, easy and quick image-processing. We offer filters and effects that were carefully picked up from a number of our users suggestions. The app itself is the result of cooperative work of developers and apps users."
The Pho.to Lab PRO goes without ads and watermarks, unlike the Free version. Moreover, it includes extra groups of premium photo effects with basic and advanced editing tools and features. Users can apply more than 500 photo filters including simple frames, intellectual face-in-hole effects, artistic filters and multiple photo collages. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, it requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Every day over 15,000 photos are processed with the Pho.to Lab PRO. The app has neat and users-friendly interface. Photo-editing is done quickly and easily, literally in two clicks. To make a montaged photo users do not need to adjust or crop their images.
Enhancing images categories:
(*) Users can make photo montages and turn themselves into astronauts, medieval knights, or into a beautiful fairy, or place their faces on a billboard or a banknote, an ancient book or airbrush them on a posh car. Automatic face detection helps to do it easily and quickly
(*) Photo filters can reintroduce the instant nostalgia of photo booth pictures such as Neon or just make it really artistic with Fire, Chalk & Charcoal, Pencil Drawing, Oil Painting, Impressionist Art, Jigsaw Puzzle, and more
(*) Lovely backgrounds give an opportunity to change surroundings to a dreamlike scenery, old city scape or delicate wings of tropical butterflies
(*) Other categories presented in the app include human-to-animal montages, magazine covers, headwear, caricature effects, and collages for multiple photos.
Besides, users can save final images to Camera Roll, share it easily to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or send as a message to their friends.
Device Requirements:
(*) iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
(*) Requires iOS 5.0 or later
(*) This app is optimized for iPhone 5
(*) 3.8 MB
Pho.to Lab PRO 1.92 is $4.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Photo & Video category. On August 8, 2013 starting from 5 AM PDT Pho.to LAb PRO for iPhone is Free for 36 hours.
VicMan:
http://www.vicman.net/
Pho.to Lab 1.93:
http://ios.pho.to/
Download from iTunes:
http://bit.ly/16vTRgx
Pho.to Lab PRO 1.92:
http://bit.ly/1cwFXRz
Trackback URL:
http://bit.ly/146pU3A
Wind River Selected by PATEO for iOS Connectivity on Android Automotive IVI Systems
Wind River, a specialist in embedded and mobile software, is working with PATEO to deliver iOS device connectivity for Android-based in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems.
With the ongoing popularity of iOS devices, consumers increasingly desire a familiar consumer electronics experience wherever they go, including in the car. PATEO is using Wind River Connectivity Solution Accelerator for Android to add iPod connectivity capabilities to their Android-based IVI systems to access multimedia content from iOS devices. A pioneer within the Chinese automotive industry, PATEO provides a variety of automotive technologies and solutions such as intelligent and connected car terminals and R&D platforms, and is a member of GENIVI and the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC).
The Wind River software enables external platforms such as a cars central IVI unit to perform like an accessory to view and play content from the iOS device docked into the car. Additionally, a user-customizable IVI home screen allows users to place frequently accessed application icons where they need them most. A wide variety of iOS devices are supported, including the iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, iPod and iPod nano.
"The increasing demand for richer experiences in the car has made it vital to track the technologies that resonate with consumers and bring them to the automotive market. The automobile is a complex environment and introducing new software and capabilities is a highly complicated task," says Kelvin Du, vice president of PATEO. "In order to deliver the highest quality and get to market quickly, it is critical to work with an expert like Wind River who possesses extensive automotive, embedded, and open source experience. Wind River is helping us address new challenges in the rapidly changing automotive market."
"Seemingly never away from their personal devices, consumers are integrating them into virtually every aspect of their life, including the automobile. Moving forward, car makers must include built-in IVI support for all manner of devices," says Georg Doll, vice president of automotive solutions at Wind River. "Whether it's today's popular iOS devices or others, we continue to listen to the market to deliver on what customers need. With decades of proven automotive and embedded technologies and open source expertise, Wind River is able to help companies adapt to the quickly evolving and complex demands of the automotive market while keeping development schedules on time and on budget."
More information about Wind River automotive solutions and technologies is available at:
http://www.windriver.com/solutions/automotive/
Turn Your iPhone Into A Mobile Scanner For Free
Pixelnetica has announced the release of a new Free version of SharpScan with all of the functionality of the Professional product. SharpScan is the industry-leading mobile scanning app for the iPhone. Its unparalleled image processing speed and quality allows user to scan documents and photos on the go in less than 3 seconds per page.
Simply taking a picture of a document with the iPhone camera does not result in document quality images. Photos display geometric distortion resulting from the angle of the camera in relation to the document and often have unwanted background shadows. SharpScan was created to overcome these inherent shortcomings and to produce high-quality documents from the iPhone just as if they were scanned with a conventional scanner. Scanner-quality documents can now be produced on-the-go quickly, easily, and conveniently from any iPhone.
SharpScan's unique Smart Crop feature offers fully automated boundary detection, cropping, image alignment, and perspective correction for fast, accurate image acquisition, though these parameters may be adjusted manually by the user as well.
Non-destructive image editing features are included that allow the user the freedom to edit and experiment with their documents with the confidence that they can always revert to the original image. SharpScan it is the only mobile scanning app on the market that creates tiny true Black-and-White, scanner-quality, PDF images. Combined with the lossless image compression results in files which are up to 20 times smaller than a normal JPEG, an extremely important feature when data transfer speed or cost is an issue.
SharpScan's provides a pleasant mobile experience through its intuitive user interface. The menus are laid out clearly and are easy to navigate and the controls are simple to master allowing users convenient access to all of its advanced features, including document password protection, printing and integrated sharing via email, Dropbox and etc.
"SharpScan raises the bar for mobile scanning applications to a new level," says Pixelnetica CEO, Dmitry Harchenko, "It's designed to take full advantage of the iPhone's hardware capabilities such as muticore processing and GPU acceleration. Our proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms that accurately identify the edge of a document and automatically make cropping decisions without help from the user are unmatched by our competitors."
But Pixelnetica is not resting on its laurels. The company is hard at work on a new version that will feature improved algorithms, faster speeds, and high quality as well as support for tablets and synchronization across devices via the cloud. Users of the current version will receive the upgrade free of charge. The only difference between the free version and the full versions is that the free version includes in-application advertising and the PDFs include a reference to the product, though the images themselves remain unaffected. These minor limitations can be eliminated at anytime by purchasing the full version conveniently from the app.
Device Requirements:
(*) iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
(*) Requires iOS 6.0 or later
(*) Optimized for iPhone 5
(*) 7.7 MB
SharpScan 1.0 is currently available for download on the Apple App Store for Free in the Productivity category. Both SharpScan and SharpScan Pro are available through the Apple store. For more information, including screenshots, demonstration videos, tutorials, and answers to Frequently Asked Questions, please visit Pixelnetica online.
SharpScan 1.0:
http://www.pixelnetica.com/
Main Features:
http://www.pixelnetica.com/jetscanner-features.html
Download from iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id669911832
YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Pixelnetica
Facebook Profile:
http://www.facebook.com/Pixelnetica
LinkedIn Profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/pixelnetica
Twitter Profile:
http://twitter.com/Pixelnetica
Trackback URL:
http://goo.gl/ytrstw
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