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MOG Partners With JVC & Aha, Is Coming To Subaru Vehicles

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 07:00 PM PST

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Music streaming service MOG is today announcing partnerships with mobile, audio and video equipment manufacturer JVC as well as with Aha by HARMAN, an interactive platform that brings web content to the automobile. The companies will begin using MOG’s APIs to integrate the music service into their platforms and products. The first result of the new partnerships is MOG’s launch on Subaru vehicles.

Aha, which lets drivers access web content through their radios, considers itself the “fourth band” of radio, alongside FM, AM and satellite. On upcoming Subaru models, Aha will deliver a number of services, including the on-demand streaming music from MOG and Rhapsody, Internet radio from SHOUTcast, Slacker and CBS Radio, podcasts, audio books, traffic reports, Twitter and Facebook updates, Yelp recommendations and more. The service works through an iPhone or Android app which will integrate with future Subaru vehicles. (Exact models were not announced, but the company was demonstrating MOG in a 2013 Subaru BRZ).

Currently, Aha is available in aftermarket auto sound systems and as a free iPhone app. Prior to the Subaru launch, the iPhone app will be updated with more stations and content. Aha will release its Android counterpart around the same time.

Aha also has newly announced partnerships with Honda and Kenwood. Those join Pioneer, which began integrating Aha into its products last year. At present, Aha says that Subaru and Honda integration is planned to include MOG, while Kenwood and Pioneer is likely.

In addition to the forthcoming Subaru integration via Aha, MOG is also now working with JVC Americas Corp., a subsidiary of the JVC Kenwood Corporation. The company will be integrating MOG into its aftermarket head systems as well, including JVC’s four new AV Multimedia products being released in 2012.

MOG launched its API platform called MOG Fusion, which is designed for use by consumer electronics and auto manufacturers, at last year’s CES. Its other, previously announced partners include BMW, MINI, Airbiquity, Tweddle and Visteon.

Sony’s Z1000 Android-Powered Walkman Takes Aim At Apple And Samsung

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST

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Sony’s really looking to give their Walkman line of mp3 players a shot in the arm with their newest addition to the lineup. Dubbed the Walkman Z1000, it’s Sony’s first Android-powered music player and it’s gunning to give Apple and Samsung a run for their money.

The Z1000 originally debuted in Japan this past September, but Sony’s execs have apparently deigned it nifty enough to transplant to the U.S. market. With its 4.3-inch display, it’s a fair bit larger than an iPod Touch or the original Samsung Galaxy Player but it makes up for the added size with some extra functionality.

On top of the usual features like the ability to download apps from the Android Market, the Z1000 series features DLNA support so users can sling media onto their compatible TVs. It also sports a microHDMI port if the television in question isn’t quite up to snuff, and Sony’s S-Master MX amplifier, which should come in handy when it comes to pumping out the jams.

The new Walkman also sports an interesting design, if I may say so. It’s hard to tell from the press image, but there are two humps that bound the top and bottom of the Walkman’s rear. Whether or not you’ll dig how it feels jammed into your pocket is something else entirely, but one thing’s for sure — you’d be hard-pressed to mistake it for one of its rivals.

Hopefully Sony has learned their lesson from devices like the PRS-T1 ereader, a remarkably handsome device that was plagued by a sadly chintzy feel.

If the thought of a Gingerbread-powered Walkman has you just plain tickled, you won’t have to wait too long to snag one — units are expected to hit shelves in spring 2012. Expect to see 8, 16, and 32GB variants retailing for $249, $279, and $329 respectively.



PlayStation-Certified Sony Xperia S Breaks Cover

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 04:55 PM PST

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Not content to pull back the curtains on just one handset today, news of Sony’s new Xperia S handset has started to make round ahead of Sony’s big Las Vegas press conference.

Gone is the “Ericsson” moniker, but the Sony handset is nothing to sneeze at. The Xperia S packs a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor (what is it with 1.5GHz processors today?), a 12-megapixel camera capable of recording in 1080p, and an NFC chip. It’s slated to be available in both black and silver when it launches, and while I’m a fan of bright orange, I imagine most people won’t have an issue with the color scheme.

Sadly, for a phone that’s supposedly launching in Q1 2012, it only runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, though we know Sony is already working on Ice Cream Sandwich updates for most of their more modern handsets.

The gamers among you will be interested to know that the Xperia S is also PlayStation-certified, so it’s fully compatible with the PlayStation Suite and all of the nifty games that it affords access to. Users will have to be pretty judicious with which games they install though — it will only come with 16 or 32 GB of storage depending on the model they choose.

Watch Nvidia’s CES Press Conference Live (Update)

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 04:01 PM PST

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Sometimes it’s easy to forget companies that aren’t Apple and Samsung and Sony. But chipmakers deserve your love too, which is why you should sit back and relax while you check out this webcast of Nvidia’s live press conference at the CES 2012 International show in Las Vegas.

We have no idea what we’ll see here but chances are it’ll make a big difference in the way we use our gadgetry over the next year. I’ve got my fingers crossed for more efficient processing (read: longer battery life), since we’ve already seen Nvidia’s quad-core chip, the Tegra 3.

Update: Webcast no longer live.



AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 Is Official: 4.3-Inch AMOLED, LTE, 8MP Camera

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 03:45 PM PST

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It’s not exactly a surprise at this point, but Nokia has just officially revealed the long-awaited Nokia Lumia 900.

Formerly known as the Ace, the Mango-powered 900 packs pretty much everything we expected it would — a 1.4 GHz CPU, 512 MB of RAM, and the same sort of 8-megapixel sensor as seen on its little brother the Lumia 800. Despite having the same camera, the 900 definitely beats its little brother when it comes to displays as the 900′s 4.3-inch AMOLED display is a solid step above the Lumia 800′s 3.7-inch LCD.

Of course, there’s a front-facing camera too, and users can get their video chat on thanks to the inclusion of the Tango app.

All of those goodies go inside the same sort of polycarbonate shell as seen on the Lumia 800, and Windows Phones fans will be able to pick up one in either black or a fetching cyan.

As Nokia CEO Stephen Elop hinted at this morning at AT&T’s Developer Summit, the 900 is also the company’s first LTE-based Windows Phone (though not the first LTE Windows Phone we’ve heard about today).

Many people were disappointed to see that the low-end Lumia 710 would be the first Nokia Windows Phone to hit the United States, but I daresay the 900 was worth the extra time. Sadly, the wait stretches on even longer — there’s no word yet on pricing or availability.

Developing…

Samsung Announces The U.S.-Bound Galaxy Note With LTE

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 02:44 PM PST

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It’s official, folks.

Here at the CES 2012 show in Las Vegas, Samsung has officially announced the LTE-equipped Galaxy Note. AT&T will be hooking up the phablet with its brand new 4G LTE service.

The giant phone and/or tiny tablet sports a 5.3-inch 800×1280 Super AMOLED Plus display, an S-pen, which is basically a fancy Stylus, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

We knew this day would come eventually, and it looks like today’s the day.

No word on when shipping begins.



Samsung’s Live Press Conference At CES International 2012

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 01:46 PM PST

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It would be a huge understatement to say that Samsung had a good 2011. But that’s not what today’s about. Today, we’re looking into the future of Samsung and no place is better than the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

If you feel like following along, check out the webcast below. Here is our full Samsung coverage of the Samsung press conference.

Samsung Launches New Smart TV Ad Platform, Samsung AdHub

Samsung Debuts Series 9 Ultrabook: A 15-Inch Display On A 14-Inch Body

Samsung Announces The U.S.-Bound Galaxy Note With LTE

Samsung's TV Content Plan: Renewed Focus On Apps And 3D

Samsung, Rovio Partner To Put Angry Birds On Your Smart TV

Samsung's Smart TV Can "Listen, See, And Do" No Evil

Skimble Passes 2 Million Downloads; Launches Multimedia Workout Plans To Help Get You In Shape

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 01:35 PM PST

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A week into the New Year, and we’re still looking forward to how we can best get back in shape, and bring our attention back to health and wellness. We’ve recently covered a number of startups that are giving geeks and data enthusiasts alternative approaches to getting in shape, including GymPact, Fitbit, Runkeeper, Gain Fitness, and HealthRally, to name a few.

Skimble is another one of these awesome health and fitness apps that is adding to the space by creating a dynamic, multimedia coaching experience that lets your iPad or mobile device coach you through your ab workout or yoga routine. Skimble is a graduate of Rock Health’s incubator and a startup we covered about a year ago when it first released its iPhone app to track gym workouts and fitness activities on the go. Founded by Maria Ly, formerly of the International Product Management team at Google and Gabe Vanrenen, co-founder of Flurry, the startup initially set out to be a multi-sports tracker that helped users track their fitness progress no matter what sport tickled their fancy.

The founding team decided that people instead want guidance and motivation to achieve their wellness goals, and at least unconsciously want to be told what to do by the experts. So, Skimble has integrated a dynamic audio coaching experience into its workouts so that users can get that extra level of audio coaching straight from their iPad, for example. The idea being that, while people would love to hire a personal trainer, most find them too costly and difficult to integrate into their schedules, and fitness DVDs get stale pretty fast.

Thus, Skimble set out to offer a flexible mobile wellness coaching experience, and today, the startup is launching “Programs,” which are two to six week online, multimedia workout plans led by experts and fitness coaches. These programs are available in the latest version of the startup’s Workout Trainer app — both for Android and iOS. These workouts incude step-by-step multimedia instructions and unique timed audio coaching soundtracks and visual cues, which help walk users through their workouts while they’re on the go. The programs can also be customized based on when you want to exercise, what days of the week you have available, etc.

Programs generally cost between $5 and $15, a price point which Skimble hopes will make these workouts attractive compared to spending $80+ per hour on a personal trainer. And the programs run the gamut, too, for those who are just getting started, or for those who want to push their training in particular sports forward — from full body work outs, to ab and core, and yoga to rock climbing. Skimble is now offering thousands of these free and pro workouts, and has seen over two million downloads since launching.

Maria Ly tells us that that the startup is still bootstrapped, but is now profitable and has been seeing encouraging metrics, like a 50 percent download-to-sign-up conversion rate, 30 percent 30-day retention rates, and 20 min in-app session times.

The startup also just signed a deal with the Harvard Medical School to create the “Harvard Health Gym Coach” to create plans designed by Harvard Medical professionals, and it’s through these types of programs designed by experts that the startup hopes to set itself apart from the competition.

It’s also great that users can just pop on their headphones and follow along with audio instructions and progress cues, or create their own workouts using Skimble’s fairly sizable multimedia exercise library — with instant audio. You can also schedule workouts and get reminders on your phone, or share workouts via email, Facebook, and Twitter. Workout Trainer is designed to be a social experience, too, so that you can not only share your workouts but get placed on Skimble’s leaderboard to see how you rank among other users.

The startup has created a modular exercise database that is easy to use and pretty complete compared to the other options out there, and will be releasing more fitness programs and specialized health coaching content this year. The startup is building out its multimedia database and plans to add even more dynamic video, photo and audio coaching content. At this point, Skimble has a dynamic database of thousands of exercises equipped with stop-motion photos, thousands of instructional audio clips and hundreds of videos, (which, according to Ly, will get released soon).

It’s a great resource, so check it out and let us know what you think. Find Workout Trainer on the App Store here and Android here.

Sprint Unveils First LTE Phones: The Galaxy Nexus And The LG Viper

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 01:02 PM PST

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Sprint’s LTE network is only slated to go live in a handful of markets right now, but the country’s third largest wireless carrier is wasting no time in introducing some hew hardware to take advantage of the nascent network.

We were all thrown for a loop when a Sprint Galaxy Nexus popped up in an online ad recently, and the company has just recently confirmed that the handset is indeed the real deal.

Sprint hasn’t been overly forthcoming with detail, but their version of the new Nexus only has 16GB of internal storage (the Verizon model has 32GB), although it reportedly sports a faster processor than its Verizon cousin.

While the Galaxy Nexus will probably be enough to whet Sprint Android fans’ appetites for a while, it won’t be making its debut alone. The LG Viper 4G LTE packs a 4-inch Nova display, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread, and an NFC chip with full support for Google Wallet.

Like another LTE device announced today, the Viper is also meant to ease your sense of eco-guilt, as its case is made partially of recycled plastic and its ships with a super-efficient AC adapter. It certainly lacks some of the wow-factor the Galaxy Nexus has, and early impressions seem mixed, but it could prove to be a solid option for those who LTE connectivity without a hefty price tag.

Apps Are Media: Chasing Salander Expands The Dragon Tattoo Story

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 01:01 PM PST

Chasing Salander

When books get turned into movies, there’s usually little added to the original story. But with interactive apps, the narrative doesn’t have to be dumbed down or retold. Instead it can be explored from a different angle to expand the audience’s understanding of a fictional world. The Chasing Salander iPhone app lets you dive deeper into Stieg Larson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and the rest of the Millenium crime novel series. The app’s 14 scenes tell the untold story of a hitman hunting for protagonist Lisbeth Salander. It features 30 minutes of narration of a specially commissioned script, as well as photographs, maps, and hidden facts.

Norstedts, the first publisher of the Swedish books, received approval to develop the app from the family that owns the rights to the novels. The iOS app’s $4.99 price point may be a little steep. Still, it’s cheaper than what you’ll pay to see the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo film that’s currently in theaters.

The app’s project manager Klas Fjärstedt tells me the Chasing Salander story’s hitman was hired by the secret police force The Section from the series’ third-book. “He’s following a step behind Lisbeth Salander. You get a new story, and it works whether or not you’ve read all the books or seen the movies.”

An eerie ambient soundscape for each scene gives the app an immersive feel. As you listen to the gritty, expressive narration you can tilt your device to pan within the photographs of Swedish locales where the story takes place. I’m not even a fan of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but I quickly found myself engrossed in the mystery.

Apps are media now. Publishers, film studios, and all artistic intellectual property owners should be thinking how to take advantage of the mobile device as a distribution medium. Through companion apps like Chasing Salander, they can create lucrative additional revenue streams, strengthen loyalty of existing fans, and hold the world’s attention between releases. Best of all, apps can promote a primary product by augmenting it, not just repackaging it.

Verizon’s Droid RAZR MAXX Seems To Be The Droid RAZR With Better Battery Life

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 12:54 PM PST

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Remember the exceptionally long-named Droid RAZR MAXX that got spotted in Verizon’s inventory system a few weeks ago?

It’s real now — and so far it seems to be… pretty much the same as the Droid RAZR, save for extra storage space and claims of a super long battery life.

While Motorola benchmarked the original Droid RAZR at around 12 hours of talk time, they claim the new RAZR MAXX variant can pull an almost ridiculous 21 hours of chatter on a single charge. Meanwhile, the internal storage has been bumped from 16GB to 32GB. On the outside, however, they’re essentially identical — even with the bigger battery, the new MAXX maintains the Droid RAZR’s 8.99 mm thick profile.

The new RAZR MAXX will go for $299 on a two-year contract, while the two-month old Droid RAZR will slip down to $199. The latter will also now come in purple, which is.. unique?

LG Officially Unveils The Spectrum With 720p Display And Verizon LTE

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 12:26 PM PST

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LG and Verizon have just announced their latest LTE Android 2.3 Gingerbread-powered smartphone: the LG Spectrum. Most impressive of all its reported specs would be the 720p display, measuring in at 4.5-inches.

The only phone thus far that is able to tout such an impressive display would be the HTC Rezound, which has a slightly smaller screen and measures .53 inches thick. The new LG Spectrum, however, measures .42-inches thick.

LG promises that the Gingerbread-packing phone will definitely get an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is a huge improvement over Gingerbread in my personal opinion.

You’ll find a 1.5GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm under the hood, along with an 8-megapixel camera on the back (capable of 1080p video capture) and a 1.3 front-facing camera for video chat. The Spectrum packs 1.5GB of RAM, which you can couple with an included 16GB microSD card.

HDMI-out of the MHL persuasion is included, and of course, support for Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

The Spectrum will be available at Verizon on January 19 for $199 on a two-year contract. For the specs we’re seeing on this phone, that’s an amazing deal.



Verizon Makes The Motorola Droid 4 Official

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST

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It’s been but 5 months since the Droid 3 hit the shelves — but hey, who doesn’t like a bit of rapid obsolescence in the morning? Meet the just announced Droid 4 for Verizon; it’s got all of the staples people know and love from the Droid line (the slide-out keyboard, the 4 inch display) with one big perk over its predecessors: 4G LTE support.

Here’s everything you need to know:

  • Dual-core 1.2Ghz processor (vs. 1ghz in the Droid 3)
  • 1GB of RAM (vs. 512mb)
  • 8 megapixel camera
  • While it’ll run Android 2.3.5 at launch, Verizon promises that it’ll be updated to Ice Cream Sandwich
  • 16GB onboard memoru
  • A “Water-repellant” Nano coating (which I’m pretty sure means it’s covered in tiny robots.)
  • Support for 4G/LTE (which should pull about 5-12 megabits per second down, and 2-5 megabits per second up)

We’re not even to the first official day of CES, and we’re already getting buried under a mountain of announcements. At this rate, we’ll probably see a Droid 5 announced by the end of the week.

Bring Out The Bull Horns: New Surveys Show Apple Mobile Growth Ahead Of Q1 Earnings

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 12:07 PM PST

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Most investors are expecting a record quarter for Apple, and three new surveys out today are adding to the evidence. Taken together with exciting recent rumors, like the one that Apple might open stores within Target stores, it’s not surprising to see analysts falling over themselves to upgrade their estimates ahead of Apple’s Q1 earnings call on January 24th.

First off, NPD Group says that iOS devices made up 43% of US sales in October and November versus 26% in the previous quarter. Android sales, meanwhile, fell from 60% to 47% over the same period.

A key reason for the latest iOS sales is that Apple began selling the new iPhone 4S and reduced costs for older models in the last three months of 2011. Many analysts had been expecting higher sales over the last part of the summer, and were taken off-guard by Apple’s decision to push the launch to later in the year. As the TechCrunch Apple Group noted over the weekend, if you sold your Apple stock after the company missed earnings estimates in October, you were, in fact, an idiot.

Next up, a new Yankee Group survey indicates that while 25% of shoppers it talked to already owned an iPhone, 35% of everyone surveyed planned to buy one in the next six months. Android, meanwhile, stayed unchanged at 40%. Beyond attrition on other platforms, Apple is soaking up the interest from people who don’t yet own a smartphone. While 47% of the people in the study already have one, 58% of the surveyees said they planned to buy one within the next half a year.

ChangeWave Research rounds out the bullish surveys by saying that 54% of the people in its study were planning on buying an iPhone within the next three months, down from a high of 65% in September (which had been driven in part by strong interest in the 4s release). However, the group also indicated that Samsung had been making big gains with its Android phones, with 13% of those polled expecting to buy from the manufacturing conglomerate in December versus 5% in the September survey.

Apple is currently trading at $423.5 a share, up from a recent low of $363 after Thanksgiving.

[Top image via Heather Cherry.]

AT&T Unveils 6 New LTE Devices, Including Samsung Galaxy Note And HTC Titan 2

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 12:07 PM PST

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As expected, AT&T is making some big plays when it comes to their LTE handset lineup, and they’ve just revealed a handful of new devices at their Las Vegas Developers Summit.

Samsung has come through with two new(ish) LTE phones and one budget-conscious handset. AT&T officially confirmed that the long-awaited Samsung Galaxy Note will soon be hitting carrier stores near you, along with its sizable 5.3-inch HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and its fancy S-Pen writing implement.

The Galaxy S II Skyrocket LTE was also unveiled, and yes, that’s really what it’s called. As you could probably tell, it’s a slightly revamped version of an already slightly revamped version of the Galaxy S II, but its 4.65-inch display, Super AMOLED display, and 1.5GHz dual-core processor make for a impressive piece of kit.

Samsung’s Exhilarate on the other hand is is meant to appeal to the eco-conscious among you. It’s made of 80% recycled materials and it has a 4-inch AMOLED display, but the general lack of detail means it probably not going to be a real barnburner.

HTC is also onboard with the Titan 2, their first Windows Phone to be equipped with LTE. Prevoiusly known as the HTC Radiant, it sports a pretty ludicrous 16-megapixel camera along with its 4.7-inch WVGA display and its 1.5GHz Snapdragon S2 processor. It’s existence is a little puzzling, considering that the original Titan is hardly a few months old, but hey — if Samsung can get away with some incremental hardware bumps, why can’t HTC?

Pantech’s new LTE-capable Element tablet has just been made official, but that’s not all that the Korean company has prepared for AT&T’s big LTE push. Their Pantech Burst handset will be joining the fray soon enough, and while it’s not a barnburner on the level of the Galaxy Note or the Titan 2, it’s looking like a solid option for the budget-conscious with an expected price tag of around $50.

Sony (yep, finally ditched the “Ericsson” bit) also joined in on the fun with their new Xperia ion. It features a 4.6-inch 720p display, a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, and a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera. It’s probably one of the more conservative devices when it comes to design, but there’s something strangely appealing about it anyway.

And where was Nokia during all this? Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was on hand to hint at the existence of an LTE Nokia Windows Phone (which should shock no one), but didn’t drop any specifics. You’re such a tease, Steve!

iOS Market Share Up From 26% In Q3 To 43% In Oct/Nov 2011

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 11:52 AM PST

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According to a new report from research firm NPD, iOS’s U.S. market share (by sales) jumped from 26% in the third quarter of 2011 to 43% by October and November. Android, however, came out on top, with 47% market share during those two months, down from 60% in Q3.

Says NPD, over the course of 2011, the smartphone battle saw iOS and Android distancing themselves from the competition, turning it into “a two-horse race.”

Overall, smartphone sales continue to grow, NPD says, and accounted for two out of every three handsets sold in October/November 2011. For comparison purposes, that’s up from 50% in Q4 2010.

In addition, nine of the top ten phones sold in Oct/Nov are smartphones, with Samsung, HTC and Motorla each having at least one smartphone listed in NPD’s top ten. Apple’s phones are on the top of the list, with the iPhone 4S in the number one spot and the iPhone 4 still doing well in the #2 position.

It’s clear that iOS and Android are dominating the market here, as former leader RIM’s sales tanked from over 20% in Q3 2010 to just 6% in October/November 2011.

We recently got a glimpse of the extent of iOS and Android’s growing popularity, when a previous report from mobile analytics firm Flurry from December had confirmed the massive gains those platforms were making over the 2011 holiday season. The firm found that 6.8 million Android and iOS devices were activated on Christmas Day alone. That was up 353% from the 1.5 million activations a day over the first 20 days of December. It also set a new record: Christmas 2010 had only seen 2.8 activations, Flurry said.

We’ve also been watching Android’s steep market share climbs based on activations – Google’s Andy Rubin tweeted in December that there were now more than 700,000 Android phones activated every single day, which is up from 500,000 activations per day last June. Mobile analyst Horace Dediu at Asymco then estimated that the total cumulative number of Android devices activated so far is between 224 million and 253 million. To compare, last October, Apple announced a cumulative total of 250 million iOS devices sold (including iPods and iPads).

For what it’s worth, research firm Chitika was also reporting today that Android was leading in market share with a 51.6% share versus iOS’s 46.4% share. But this data was based on web impressions from the last week of November and December. That’s not enough data for anything but a quick snapshot of traffic levels during one of the busiest times of the year – holiday activations.

We won’t know for sure how many iPhones Apple is selling until its next earnings report, but thanks to NPD’s new data, we know it’s going to be neck-and-neck.

Flurry: Mobile App Usage Up To 94 Minutes Per Day

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 10:27 AM PST

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Mobile analytics firm Flurry has updated its report from last summer which compared mobile apps to web consumption and found that apps came out on top. In June, Flurry discovered that users were spending 81 minutes per day in mobile apps versus 74 minutes on the web. As of December, the usage of mobile apps has skyrocketed to 94 minutes per day, while web consumption dropped to 72 minutes.

The interesting thing about this data is that the most recent growth in mobile apps usage hasn’t really been at the expense of browsing the traditional web. People have just been using mobile apps more. We should note, however, that Flurry pulls its web data from comScore and Alexa, which aren’t always the best sources and use differing methodologies to determine browsing habits. In addition, users of mobile apps also browse the web, so it’s not so much a question of apps “versus” the web, as it is a look into our data consumption in general (despite Flurry’s positioning it as a battle that’s to be won or lost).

But the bottom line is: apps are hot.

Flurry notes that roughly 40 billion applications have been downloaded from the iTunes App Store and Android Market since their debuts. And we’re only at the beginning of the mobile app era. As Flurry’s end-of-year research found, the addressable market for mobile app developers is still in the millions.

The new report attributes the small decrease in traditional web consumption to a decline in Facebook use. In June, people spent over 33 minutes per day on the Facebook website, and now that number is below 24 minutes. Meanwhile, time spent on the web without Facebook grew by 2% between June 2011 and December 2011.

That doesn’t necessarily mean trouble for Facebook – it just means good news for Facebook’s mobile apps. As an unrelated report recently found, the number of monthly active users of Facebook's mobile apps recently passed the 300 million mark (or 40% of Facebook’s official 800 million+ users). Flurry confirms the same trend, saying “we believe that Facebook users, and users of other traditional style websites, are increasingly accessing services through mobile applications than from desktops.”

In this case, it may be a choice of apps “versus” the web.

As a part of today’s research report, Flurry also provided insight into which mobile app categories were the most popular. Not surprisingly, games led with nearly half (49%) of U.S. users’ time spent. Social networking (30%), Entertainment (7%) and News (6%) followed, with the “Other” category (accounting for everything else) at 8%.

Combined, social networking and gaming is 79%, which offers an interesting perspective on what mobile app users really do on their phones. We play.

Samsung Launches New Smart TV Ad Platform, Samsung AdHub

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 08:50 AM PST

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Today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung launched its advertising platform, Samsung AdHub, for Samsung Smart TVs. With the new service, publishers and brands will be able to deliver video, 3D, and interactive advertisements to the living room through the Samsung Smart TV interface.

The advertisements will allow users to click to view video content, access new apps or services and will be able to launch the TV’s web browser. In addition, the new “Explore 3D” application, Samsung’s branded 3D VOD service, will allow advertisers the unique ability to launch native 3D TV ads on its TV sets.

AdHub, already available for mobile applications (both phone and tablet), allows developers to monetize their content for the Android and Samsung bada (mobile only) platforms. Developers select the ad network they want to use and how they want those ads to appear within their application. On mobile, these ads are targeted “by matching the right ad with the right content,” Samsung explains on its AdHub website.

Now those ads will be available on the big screen too, when the Smart TV in-app advertising solution goes live sometime later this year. TV app developers will be able to then download the Samsung SDK 3.0 for use with the company’s Smart TVs.

Samsung has already launched Smart TV ads in the U.S. and Korea prior to today’s announcement, with Best Buy and State Farm as advertisers. The company also has sales partnerships in place with Rovi and YuMe.

Barnes & Noble Discounts, Gives Away NOOKs With 1-Year Subscriptions To NYT, PEOPLE

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 05:53 AM PST

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Barnes & Noble is now heavily discounting (and even giving away free) NOOK devices with digital subscriptions to a magazine or newspaper, the first time a bookseller has ever done this type of promotion if I’m not mistaken.

The company, which is considering spinning off its NOOK business into a separate unit, this morning said customers who purchase a one-year NOOK subscription to The New York Times will receive a NOOK Simple Touch e-reader at no cost (instead of $99).

Alternatively, customers can also get a NOOK Color for $99 instead of $199 with their NYT subscription, which for the record costs $19.99 per month for full digital access.

Customer who are interested in Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Tablet, meanwhile, can get it for $199 instead of $249 when they choose to purchase a one-year NOOK subscription to PEOPLE (which costs $9.99 per month).

Obviously, Barnes & Noble is counting on the promotion to sell more NOOKs, in which case you can be sure other retailers will follow in their footsteps.

Digital Publisher Safari Books Online Acquires Threepress, Ibis Reader

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 05:21 AM PST

ibis

Safari Books Online, developer of an on-demand digital library for professional content, has acquired web developer and e-reading consultancy firm Threepress Consulting, makers of the Ibis Reader, an HTML5 ebook platform and EPUB reading system for iOS, Android and the Web. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Safari Books Online says the purchase, which was completed on January 1, enhances its capability to deliver customized subscription book, video and learning content online and on mobile devices, thanks to Threepress’ in-house expertise when it comes to EPUB tools, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript and other digital publishing technologies.

Threepress licenses its cloud-based HTML5 reading system Ibis Reader to third parties, but it’s unclear what will happen to the white-label business under Safari Books Online’s wings following the acquisition.

As part of the deal, Threepress co-founders Liza Daly and Keith Fahlgren will henceforth be leading the Safari Books Online engineering team, which the rest of the Threepress staff is also joining.

Safari Books Online, which is a joint venture between Pearson Education and O'Reilly Media (where Fahlgren was previously employed), says its library now contains over 20,000 digital books and videos for technology, creative, business and management professionals.