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Internet Calling to Spread to Apps |
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More
people are using Internet services like Skype to make phone calls,
suggesting that voice calls will be increasingly integrated into apps
rather than a separate service.
These numbers show a dramatic uptick from a similar survey Pew conducted in 2007, when only 8 percent of respondents had made calls online and 2 percent did so on any given day. " It's part of a longer term process where people are moving away from land line telephones to cell phones or Internet phones," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, to the WTOP radio station. The research suggests that voice calls will increasingly flow through computing devices, both fixed and mobile, where they can be linked to social networking and other types of communications people routinely carry out on smartphones and PCs. For example, if a friend tweets something funny, a user might be able to call that person directly from the tweet rather than switching to an entirely different modality. Facebook, for example, now supports calls, bringing the voice channel directly into the social networking interface. The survey data will be welcomed by Microsoft, which recently spent a hefty $8.5 billion to acquire Skype, presumably with the intent of integrating the service into future versions of its PC and mobile operating systems. Although more people probably think of Skype as a desktop app rather than something to install on a smartphone, Microsoft may find it even more important for its Windows Phone platform, which doesn't have an integrated VoIP option. That will be increasingly sought after, especially as better 4G connectivity makes both voice and video calls more practical. It's even possible that increased awareness of VoIP on smartphones is feeding into the uptick in usage that Pew reports. |
MediaTek, Yahoo look to enhance feature phone allure
Summary
Taiwanese mobile chipset maker introduces Maui Runtime Environment middleware signs on Yahoo as first partner to offer Web access and services in entry-level feature phones.
Topics
science and technology, technology, yahoo, middleware, computer technology, software, software development, software engineering, software operating systems, internet
Events
CommunicAsia 2011
21 - 24 Jun 2011
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Asian Cloud Frontiers
08 June & 10 June 2011
Mumbai & New Delhi
Planet of the Apps Asia 2011
8 - 10 Jun
Grand Hyatt, Singapore
APAC Transformative ICT Conference
19 Apr - 30 Jun 2011
Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, China, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India
SINGAPORE--MediaTek is aiming to bring Web access and services previously available only on smartphones to feature phone users via its Maui Runtime Environment (MRE) middleware platform, with Yahoo's instant messaging and e-mail services first to be made available.
MediaTek Chairman Tsai Ming-Kai said the Taiwanese mobile chipset maker is committed to helping its phone manufacturing customers create more product differentiations to address the feature phone market. To this end, he introduced the company's MRE software to circumvent " conventional limitations" to preinstall software on feature phones.
Speaking at a media briefing held here Wednesday, Tsai pointed out that feature phones can only contain limited number of preinstalled apps and cannot accept new content downloads. With MRE and " smart-feature phones" to be introduced by its handset partners, these users will now be able to enjoy mobile Internet services " at an affordable price" , he noted.
" MRE has opened the doors to service and content providers to develop all sorts of services, from mobile games and multimedia entertainment to delivery of up-to-date stock market information," he added.
Yahoo's other services such as Flickr and news reports will be rolled out in the fourth quarter of this year, the company noted.
Asked if the middleware will conflict with operating systems (OSes) commonly found in feature phones such as Symbian or Java, Jason Wu, product manager at MediaTek, said most phonemakers will use the chipmaker's feature phone OS when they purchase its chipset.
This way, there will be " no issues" when utilizing the MRE on their phones, noted Wu who was also at the briefing. " It doesn't make [financial] sense for the handset makers to just buy our chipsets but license the OS from someone else," he said.
Its OS is licensed from a third-party developer but MediaTek makes further tweaks before the platform is installed on handsets, Wu explained. The OS has several benefits over other competing platforms such as Java, for instance, where the amount of space needed to deploy the OS as well as middleware on the phone with the MRE is only 140 kilobytes, while Java needs 1.7 megabytes, he added.
He also stressed that MediaTek will not compete with existing service and content partners as it will focus primarily on its chipset business. However, the Taiwanese company will " support" these partners in deploying their apps quickly and creating billing systems when needed later on, he noted.
Its current focus is on fostering the " open" ecosystem and bringing in more content providers onboard the MRE platform, Wu elaborated. In the long term, MediaTek will be looking to open up the software development kit (SDK) for all to use, down to individual software developers, he added.
Mobile key to Yahoo's strategy
For Yahoo, the global partnership will extend its content services to a wider audience, said Rose Tsou, senior vice president of Yahoo Asia-Pacific.
Citing figures from internal studies, she pointed out that in countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, mobile Internet access via mobile phones or PDAs (personal digital assistants) has been growing in all three emerging markets at the expense of fixed access points such as Internet cafes. Tsou added that Yahoo has a 82 percent reach in Southeast Asia markets, particularly for its news, Web mail and instant messaging products.
With these statistics in mind, she said the partnership with MediaTek is an example of how mobile will be a " cornerstone" of Yahoo's business strategy going forward.
" The mobile Internet presents a wealth of opportunity for Yahoo and our partnership with MediaTek will further connect us with our audiences in growing markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and India, where new Internet users are coming online for the first time through their mobile devices," she noted.
Feature phone makers and telcos will also be looking to cash in on the partnership, with Indonesia's Nexian, Malaysia's Spice CSL and Philippines' Cherry Mobile revealed as MediaTek's hardware partners during the briefing.
Nexian, for one, has pledged its support to grow the MRE ecosystem to increase the attractiveness of phones preinstalled with apps running on the platform. Martono Jaya Kusuma, CEO of Nexian's selular group, told ZDNet Asia that " if done right" , MediaTek's partnership with Yahoo will boost its phone sales.
To help populate the ecosystem, Nexian's app development arm will create software relevant for Indonesian users, added Kusuma, at the sidelines of Wednesday's briefing.
He also expressed confidence that MediaTek's price-competitive chipsets and OS will do well against Google Android-powered low-end phones, particularly in the entry-level feature phones segment. This is because Google's mobile OS will not " run well" on low-end chipsets, unlike the Taiwanese company's OS, he said.
Nokia Sees Hard Times Ahead |
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Nokia
today slashed its sales forecasts for the rest of 2011 due to tumbling
prices and intense competition, forecasting a tough transition for the
company until it unveils the fruits of its partnership with Microsoft.
" This update is primarily due to lower than previously expected average selling prices and mobile device volumes," the company said. The lowered forecast bodes a rough transition for the company until it can reveal the fruits of its strategic alliance with Microsoft. The partnership, announced earlier this year, will put Microsoft's Windows Phone OS on Nokia devices, an acknowledgment that the company needed to shore up its software to compete with the rise of app-centered touch screen devices. However, these devices aren't expected to hit store shelves until next year, leading to questions on how Nokia can weather the rest of what the company acknowledges will be a " transition year" -- one that finds a mounting challenge from the crop of Android devices catching fire in the market, especially in Europe, traditionally strong territory for the company, according to Stephen Elop, Nokia chief executive. Elop also said the company also faces trouble in feature phone sales in emerging markets, another sector where it traditionally holds strong within. Nokia is taking steps to staunch the bleeding, investing in a new version of its Symbian platform, Anna, and has begun to sell dual SIM devices last week. The company said it is working on being more proactive with retail pricing and promotions to better compete with consumers. But questions remain on whether it is enough for the company, especially if consumers are hard-pressed to invest in a device whose OS will decline in importance for Nokia once it moves onto Microsoft's OS, despite the company's assurances. To that end, the company is also racing to introduce its first product with Windows Phone in time for the holiday shopping season. " Strategy transitions are difficult," Elop said. " We must accelerate the pace of our transition." The stakes are high for a company that once dominated the global handset market. But Nokia's market share has been eroding, falling 31 percent at the end of last year, 20 percent lower than when the iPhone was introduced, according to market research firm Gartner. Apple is now set to overtake Nokia as the world's biggest phone maker by revenue. The Windows Phone OS has also been struggling to find its footing as well, though the company will roll out Mango, its next version of Windows Phone 7, in the fall, which may find the platform some new fans among consumers and developers. But competitors are not resting on their laurels and will no doubt take advantage of Nokia's transition to cement their own positions, especially as Apple's iPhone 5 sets to bow and the rollout of more Android devices show no sign of stopping. This puts tremendous pressure on Nokia, especially on its first round of Windows devices. Those handsets will need to be unique to be able to jockey for shelf space and attention against its competitors. But the margin for error is narrowing for the company with each passing quarter of what no doubt will be a harrowing transition for the company. |
Nokia Announces Gold-Plated Phone |
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Nokia
has created an 18-carat gold-plated phone, one of its rare diversions
in the luxury handset niche as it begins to claw its way back into the
larger smartphone market.
With such detailing, its 3.5-inch display and 8-megapixel HD camera are almost an afterthought. But for those keeping up with the emerging mobile OS battles, it runs on the souped-up Anna version of Symbian. At $1,100, the Oro joins a small but eye-catching lineup of blinged-out mobile phones, including crystal maker Baccarat's limited edition phone priced at $980 and fine jeweler Cartier's gold-plated phone for $310. But luxury is relative: the Oro's price tag may look like a steal compared to Gresso's $13,000 phone, which made of 200-year-old black African wood, or GoldVish's diamond-encrusted, 18-karat white gold $1.3 million phone. Some may wonder why the company is releasing the phone when it has its hands busy trying to remain relevant in a cutthroat smartphone market, but the company is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to finding customers. " In some areas, possession of such premium products is the passport to being taken seriously," said the company. Working on phones like the Oro may be a pleasant diversion for a company now buckling down to the hard task of clawing its way back into the smartphone market. While the company has held the title of world's biggest handset maker, it has bled market share against Apple and Google, who were better able to anticipate growing consumer preference for app-centric touchscreen devices. Both companies now dominate the mobile phone market, in particular Google's Android OS, which held a 54 percent market share in the U.S., according to a recent study by Kantar WorldPanel Comtech. Meanwhile, Nokia's market share for smartphones dropping from 10 percent to just over 1 percent in the U.S. over the past six months, according to the same study. In a move to regain its footing, Nokia earlier this year announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to put Windows Phone on its handsets, finally recognizing a need for a strong software partner. Microsoft's platform is not expected to appear on Nokia handsets till next year, making the Oro and its brethren this year most likely the last to bear the full-fledged Nokia experience. The handset will sell in China, Europe, the Middle East and Russia, most likely targeting the growing luxury markets in those countries. | |||||||||||||||||
Google Activates 400,000 Android Devices a Day |
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Google
today said 400,000 new Android devices were being activated each day,
highlighting the mobile platform's sharp growth and global dominance.
Barra, who spoke at the Google's yearly I/O developer conference, also said that Android Market now offers 200,000 apps, and customers have installed over 4.5 billion app so far. Google took two years to reach the first billion, but only two months to go from two to three billion. In February, the Internet giant said it activated 350,000 Android devices a day. It's hard to say how Google's numbers compare to Apple's. The last official activation tallies from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company were released in September, when 230,000 iOS devices were coming online each day. At the time, Apple was outrunning Google, but now that's less certain. Android devices outsold other platforms in the first quarter, suggesting Google may have the lead. But Apple's iPad dominates the tablet market. A brisk uptake of both the iPad and iPad 2 sales would boost iOS stats far more than tablets like Motorola's Xoom will contribute to the overall pool of Android devices. Regardless, Android is probably crimping iOS growth, but it's not reversing it -- Apple's market share is slowly increasing. The same can't be said for Research in Motion's BlackBerry platform, which is the main source of Android's growth. Microsoft's Windows Phone OS, though only holding single-digit U.S. market shares, also gave up some ground to Google's juggernaut. |
Weak Economy Helps Apple, Hurts Rivals |
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Apple's iPhone
gained significant market share, despite most rivals stumbling due to
the faltering economy, highlighting that consumers are still willing to
buy the iconic device, even when times are tough.
overtake Nokia and become the world's largest phone maker. That's not surprising, and the anticipation surrounding the iPhone 5 suggests that consumer demand for Apple's products won't be dying down soon. The Cupertino, Calif.-based firm's gains are even more impressive, considering Apple only sells two models -- the iPhone 4 and 3GS -- through AT& T and Verizon. Nokia, Motorola and Research in Motion, meanwhile, all offer several different devices in different price points on various carriers. Verizon alone carries five BlackBerry models. But Apple has seen the growing surge of Android products slowly chip away at its market share. Google, unlike Apple, gives away its software to handset makers for free. The result is a large portfolio of products across a vast range of price points. Google has largely gobbled up market share where Apple is not -- the mid-tier and low-end segments, especially large in emerging markets. But according to analyst Michael Walkley at Canaccord Genuity, the heavily-discounted iPhone 3GS is outselling some new Android handsets, such as the HTC Inspire and Motorola Atrix, suggesting Apple would do well selling a cheaper, smaller version of the iPhone. In February, Apple had reportedly started developing such a device, with a similar set of features as the iPhone 4 -- such as a 1-gigahertz chip and retina display -- but priced considerably cheaper in the $200 range. The device may arrive as soon as mid-year, or be delayed or completely scrapped, according to people familiar with the matter, since Apple routinely works on projects that may or may not reach the market. The poor economy may work in the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's favor, as rivals see sales slip due to shifting consumer spending habits and elastic demand. Meanwhile, Apple's brand though a bit pricey, is less affected by the slumping economy, underscoring its continued momentum in the smartphone sector. The industry as a whole saw a 1.5 percent decrease from the last quarter, the biggest decline since the start of 2009. ISuppli expects the smartphone market to surge by 60 percent for 2011, suggesting things may get better for Apple, and to the relief of competitors as well. | ||||||||||||
Apple Most Valuable Brand, Survey Says |
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Apple
is the most valuable brand in the world, according to a survey, as the
company continues to innovate its way to the top of the market.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has accrued value, according to the study, by keeping its pricing and cachet in the market high. " Apple is breaking the rules in terms of its pricing model," said Peter Walshe, a Millward Brown analyst. " It's doing what luxury brands do, where the higher price the brand is, the more it seems to underpin and reinforce the desire." The company will most likely maintain its momentum as an image and financial leader with products like the iPad 2, as well as the anticipated debut this fall of the iPhone 5. The iPad 2 debuted amidst great fanfare and huge demand in the U.S. last March, and the fervor over the table continues, evidenced by brawls breaking out in a Beijing store last Friday during the product launch in China. This, combined with recent research revealing the company's iPods make up an impressive one-third of Apple's shipments, bodes well for the technology giant. Finally, the iPhone maker has a firm grasp on the app market it helped create with its App Store. While, it's true the Android market is bigger, Apple performs quality control on its apps, gaining greater user trust, and ultimately, more revenue. With fourth-quarter profits hitting $6 billion, largely because of mobile device sales, Apple has money to play with, despite supply disruptions from the recent Japanese quake and tsunami, and its recent ongoing litigation with Samsung. Slipping in the Brandz annual ranking are Finnish handset maker Nokia and Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook tablet. RIM's BlackBerry brand lost a fifth of its brand value, surpassed among technology companies only by Nokia's 28 percent drop. Both companies have failed to keep apace with developments in the lucrative high-end smartphone market in the U.S. However, Nokia hopes to reinvigorate itself once the fruits of its strategic partnership with Microsoft are released next year, and RIM also plans to transition to a high-powered new platform, currently featured on its tablet device, in hopes of attracting new customers. And, while Google tendered its first place ranking to Apple, the search engine giant still reigns supreme in the advertising market. Apple's top spot wasn't the only news in BrandZ's survey. Facebook showed up for the first time, landing in 35th place with a brand value of $19 billion, underscoring the emergence of tech companies as important players in the branding market. Of the top 100 brands named, 19 come from emerging markets, up from 13 last year. Millward Brown's survey is a combination of over two million consumer perceptions in relevant markets and a multiple derived from each company's short-term growth prospects. |
Apple to Overtake Nokia as Top Phone Maker |
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Apple is on pace to overtake Nokia and become the world's largest phone maker, amid increasing competition from rival Google.
iPhones by the millions. Furthermore, global smartphone sales have jumped by close to 80 percent since December, confirming that consumer demand for intelligent devices shows no signs of slowing down. " Conditions in the smartphone market are creating a perfect storm for sustained smartphone growth," said Ramon Llamas, a senior analyst at IDC. Nokia, once the uncontested king of phones, along with others, now has to contend with iPhones, which were boosted by Apple's decision to sell phones with Verizon in February. Still, Apple can't take all the credit. Nokia has been on the slide after failing to transition to app-centric smartphones. While the Finnish phone maker still supplies most of the world's handsets, especially in developing countries, it decided to ditch its own Symbian platform in favor of Microsoft's Windows software, in an attempt to pull itself of a stagnant rut. Whether this plan will work remains to be seen for now, though, Nokia's smartphones have nothing on Apple's iPhone. But Apple is not the only one gaining ground. Samsung and HTC's share went up by ten and five percent, respectively, due to aggressively marketed phones that run on Google's popular Android platform. Though they now place in fourth and fifth, Samsung and HTC will likely see more growth from Android's increasing popularity in the U.S. market. The losers in IDC's report include BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion, which slipped by half a percentage point. RIM has been focusing on budget phones like the Curve, which has been slowing its revenue streams. | ||||||||
Facebook, Google Compete for Skype |
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Facebook and Google are reportedly in a bidding war for Skype, which could create a communications powerhouse.
Should Skype join with Google, it gains solid backing from a deep-pocketed protector. Google, meanwhile, would gain a vast improvement over its current chat client. Skype is doing fine on its own, raising over $860 million in 2010, but a partnership with Google would help the company go public with a bang, eclipsing others recent IPOs like LinkedIn's offering, an important boost for Skype as more and more tech companies flood the market. Skype's video chat and desktop client would help Google compete against other tech companies. Google Talk does not support video chat like Skype, making it inferior to rival Microsoft's online collaboration suite Lync. Furthermore, Google's services are all online while Skype has a desktop app if the two companies can combine these interfaces users will find it much easier and faster to communicate than ever before. Should Skype hook up with Facebook, it would inherit the social network's reach, over 600 million users, and increase the flow of calls across its network. Skype would also reportedly earn between $3 to 4 billion if Facebook decided to bid for its loyalty. And the transition would be easy, as Skype users can already call their Facebook friends from the Skype desktop application any partnership would likely make voice and video calls possible from inside Facebook as well. Facebook would be happy to buy Skype, sources say, as CEO Mark Zuckerburg is reportedly interested in extending its reach to voice and video calls to draw people to spend even more time chatting on the site. Insiders say a tie-up between Facebook and Skype would make more sense than one with Google, which already has Google Voice. Still, given their rivalry, it's possible Google and Facebook are simply competing to prevent the other from winning a valuable asset in Skype. Skype and Google declined to comment. Facebook was not immediately available to comment. |