MobileCrunch |  |
- Google, Why Don’t You Hang On To That Gmail App For A While?
- Apple Promises iOS 5 Update In A Few Weeks To Suck Less Battery Life
- Remember NetZero? Now They Want To Sell You Mobile Broadband
- Infographic: The Mobile World In 60 Seconds
- Siri, Why Are You So Underwhelming?
- Flurry: China’s App Usage Has Gone Through The Roof
- Maybe BBM Music Isn’t So Silly After All
- Take A Peek At China’s Version Of The Motorola Droid RAZR
- BBM Music App Goes Live In BlackBerry App World
- Nokia Strikes Supplier Deal With ST-Ericsson For Windows-Powered Handsets
| Google, Why Don’t You Hang On To That Gmail App For A While? Posted: 02 Nov 2011 04:39 PM PDT  By now you’re probably well aware that Google released their long-awaited Gmail iOS app today, only to unceremoniously yank it from the App Store when people pointed out that it didn’t really work. Google offered a mea culpa by stating that they have removed the app while they correct the problem, and that they’re working on a new version to be released soon. Here’s a thought: just keep it. At least for a little while. I’m sure this must sound a bit petty, but people have seriously been waiting years for a native Gmail app, and they must have been awfully disappointed today. Even if we set the broken push notifications aside for a moment, the app itself was still… shall we say, lackluster? Several people pointed out on Twitter that the app was just a slightly-tweaked version of the Gmail mobile web view that we’ve had access to for years now. Sure, it had some welcome additions, like improved search functionality and the ability to star emails, but it’s still essentially the same old thing. What gives, Google? I can almost forgive the notifications issue — we all make mistakes after all — but what’s with releasing an app that offers little (if any) improvement over what was already available? Now, I’m sure that Google will fix the problem and issue an fixed version in due time, but what they should really do is put it back in the oven, and leave it in there until it’s better than done. I realize that in the grand scheme of things I’m a nobody, but here are a few things I think Google should fix since they’ve pulled the app anyway:
Or not. Like I said, I’m nobody and Google is, well… Google. Here’s hoping that the next version of the Gmail app (whenever it happens to go live) manages to erase the bitter taste that this release has left in my mouth.
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| Apple Promises iOS 5 Update In A Few Weeks To Suck Less Battery Life Posted: 02 Nov 2011 03:28 PM PDT  For the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard the same thing over and over again. “The iPhone 4S is awesome, but…” And it’s a big “but”. The battery life. It sucks. Well, to be clear, it sucks for some users, but not all. For example, I’m not noticing anything out of the ordinary on my device. It’s essentially the same battery life I got with the iPhone 4 running iOS 4, as far as I can tell. But today Apple has acknowledged that some bugs are causing some issues with the battery life. But they say it’s not an iPhone 4S issue, but rather an iOS 5 issue. In other words, it’s software, not hardware. More importantly, a fix is coming. “A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices. We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks,” an Apple spokesperson told us today over the phone. “In a few weeks” sounds a bit vague, but it may actually be a bit sooner than that. This afternoon, Apple issued the first iOS 5.0.1 builds to developers. Guess what’s included? Yep — “Fixes bugs affecting battery life “. They’ll need to test this build with developers for a bit to ensure there are no other bugs, but assuming that goes well, this should be out soon. In the meantime, we published some tips yesterday to help with battery issues if you’re having them. Again, the good news here is that this is a software issue in iOS 5, nothing fundamentally wrong with the iPhone 4S. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with...
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| Remember NetZero? Now They Want To Sell You Mobile Broadband Posted: 02 Nov 2011 03:03 PM PDT  Back in the heady days of the late 1990s, it seemed like everyone and their cousin was trying to break into the ISP business. NetZero once made a name for themselves thanks to their claims of free internet access, and now the company has struck a deal with Clearwire to start selling mobile broadband service under the NetZero name. NetZero’s old gimmick was that you could poke around on the internet for as long as you wanted so long as you were okay with being bombarded by ads. The idea didn’t last terribly long — people managed to find ways to dodge the advertising — but the brand exists to this day as a purveyor of $9.99/month dial-up. Sadly, I don’t think NetZero will be able to match that price for their mobile broadband offerings. There’s no word on pricing, but NetZero expects to have a complement of 4G USB modems and hotspots ready for next year. It’s sort of puzzling to see Clearwire partner up with someone like NetZero, but all it takes is a quick look at what Clearwire has recently been through to understand why. To wit: Clearwire was lambasted by Sprint’s upper brass at a recent meeting, and they’re hurting for capital to build out an LTE network. Sure, Sprint made up for the gaffe by hinting at a long-term network sharing deal, but Clearwire is still in pretty dire straits. Though the deal is sure to net Clearwire some much needed revenue, they’ll need to entice much bigger fish than NetZero if they want to survive. Still, at this point they may need to take whatever they can get: according to Bloomberg, Clearwire just posted a quarterly loss of $84.79 million.
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| Infographic: The Mobile World In 60 Seconds Posted: 02 Nov 2011 01:48 PM PDT  To say that things move quickly in the mobile space is putting it rather mildly, but an infographic from mobile ad exchange Mobclix aims to highlight what goes down every 60 seconds. In case you were curious, in the time it took me to write out that first sentence, over 23,000 iOS apps were downloaded from Apple’s App Store. Mobclix used data directly from app publishers, industry sources, and a little old-fashioned arithmetic to get the 60 second stats you see below. Of course, considering Mobclix’s background, there had to be some ad-related factoids in the mix too. Mobile advertisers will be glad to know (if they didn’t already) that some 4,111 ads are tapped each minute, though it almost makes you wonder how many ads were ignored in the same 60 second timeframe. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I for one will sleep better knowing that between the time I fall asleep and the time I wake up, people will have collected 64.8 billion coins in Tiny Zoo Friends.
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| Siri, Why Are You So Underwhelming? Posted: 02 Nov 2011 12:36 PM PDT  When Apple first unveiled the iPhone 4S, there was one feature that left every jaw in the room on the floor. Her name is Siri. Scott Forstall demoed the personal assistant at Apple’s media event, and the entire presentation went off without a hitch. Then, as expected, Apple released their commercials, which were equally impressive. In short, everyone and their brother was amped for Siri. Then the iPhone 4S was released. Save for some battery life issues and my own mini-rant on Siri’s gender and humility, there really weren’t many complaints. Now, however, I find myself more bothered by my own expectations than anything else. Why? Because Siri isn’t perfect, and perfect is what I expected. Let me pause right here to say a few things: First, I realize that my complaining about Siri’s limitations is a strictly “first world” problem. Secondly, this post shouldn’t be taken as a poor review of Siri. Sure, she has shortcomings, and like just about any app or software feature, she makes mistakes. But I love her, and I can safely say that won’t change. In fact, I use Siri as much as possible, which is kind of the problem. The disappointment can all be traced back to the hype, which began with Apple’s demo. I don’t blame Apple for this — I guess it’s just a product of success — but with each new capability introduced, hope grew. If she can create reminders, she can edit them, right? Wrong. If she has access to the weather app, calendar app, clock, text, music, and the list goes on, she should have no trouble adding a contact to my phone, right? Wrong. If she can tell me the weather, she should be able to add a new location to my weather app, right? Wrong. What about playing TV shows? She’s already hooked up to iTunes, so she’ll surely play an episode of Friends for me, right? Nope, still wrong. OK fine, but Yelp… Yelp is baked right into Siri, so she has to at least be able to launch the app on my phone… right? Wrong, wrong, wrong. But Apple never said she’d be able to do that. And Siri is still in beta, technically, so there’s a good chance that she’ll be able to do much more in the coming months. But that doesn’t change my disappointment. Siri gave me hope — a feeling that we were truly jumping into the future, where a voice on a mobile computer could help me in almost any way. Not that it’s Siri’s fault, but this just isn’t the case. Then, the commercials aired. Seeing that guy send and receive texts while he jogs and plays his music hands-free… Sold. I mean if he’s outside (near the waterfront, no less), on a jog, on his headphones, and Siri can understand everything he’s saying, then the voice recognition must be top-notch, right? Well, not wrong, but not right either. Siri misunderstands me all the time. Maybe I mumble, or maybe it’s because I’m talking to her like I would talk to any human personal assistant. (That is, if I were ever powerful enough to have one.) But that’s what Apple promised right? Forstall said in the demo that it’s not about the words, it’s about the meaning. I should be able to ask about the weather in whatever way I’d like, but the more creative I get, the less intuitive Siri becomes. When asked, “Should an umbrella be a part of my outfit today?” Siri responded by saying, “Call Amanda Algiere paramountcy today.” In a way, this is still an intuitive response. She couldn’t understand me, so she took to problem solving. I have a Brittany Algiere and an Amanda Boyd in my phone, so Siri pulled from that in her answer. Then again, she thought she heard me say “paramountcy,” too. In any case, I didn’t get the answer I was looking for. Whatever happened to “it just works?” Then, there’s the issue of efficiency. One of the big capabilities of Siri is her ability to read and transcribe texts and emails. It sounds basic, but messaging is one of the primary uses of any phone, so getting these things done hands-free is a huge deal. But I noticed two things about her text transcription. The first is that I can type faster than Siri transcribes in almost any case. I can also read faster than I can be read to — by Siri or a human makes no difference. Maybe I’m just totally awesome and text-obsessed, but I’m thinking this holds true for most people. The second thing I noticed loops back to miscommunication and misunderstanding. The whole point of using Siri to send a text is because either my hands are full, or I’m in a rush and need to get that text on its way now. If Siri misunderstands me the first time around — even if she gets it right on the second try — it’s slower than if I had typed the message myself. More than once, I’ve stood outside a train station while I was late waiting for Siri to get it right. It’s a total bummer to say the least. Past that, we then have to account for Siri’s use of the network. Siri doesn’t work without a connection, plain and simple. But when do I need her most? When I’m out and about, on the move, and need my hands for what I’m doing. It’s on the move that your network connection, in general, is roughest. In other words, Siri fails most when you need her the most. Which sucks. These are Siri’s shortcomings, but I can accept them. In fact, I welcome them, as long as Siri keeps setting reminders for me. As I’ve tried to state numerous times throughout the post, I love Siri, and she’s only going to get better and better. If you really think about it, the possibilities with Siri are endless. GigaOm’s John Wilson wrote a great piece on just that, outlining the advancements that could be made to the 911 system and health care in general courtesy of Siri. No doubt Apple will push Siri as far as she can possibly go, tapping into a ton of popular apps, and eventually being able to do just about anything. But our current Siri is just a piece of that — incomplete. That’s the thing about the disappointment Siri brings with her — in the end it’s my fault. She’s a direct step into the future, and any one step into the future leads to a thousand more. Just look at Joseph Marie Jacquard’s punched-card power loom. In 1801, way before any form of a computer existed, his system of reading punched cards to perform certain actions laid part of the ground work for binary code, the foundation of computing as we know it today. But no one expected the loom to transcribe texts for them. Siri is a massive step into the future, and so our hopes and dreams for her are equally larger than life. That said, disappointment is sure to follow. She’s like a birthday party — not quite what you’d hoped for. Feel free to cry if you want to. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with...
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| Flurry: China’s App Usage Has Gone Through The Roof Posted: 02 Nov 2011 12:07 PM PDT  China has the most cell phone users in the world, and according to mobile app analytics firm Flurry, they’re using apps more than they ever have before. For their latest report, Flurry tracked mobile app sessions (essentially, instances of use) across 120,000 apps from January to October 2011. Among other things, they were able to single out the ten countries where apps sessions have increased the most. While most of the counties on the list hovered between a 300% and 500% jump in app usage, China pulled ahead with a staggering 870% jump in usage sessions. That leap makes China second only to the United States in terms of app sessions initiated. Of course, Flurry’s analytics can only illustrate part of the picture, but the question still stands — what could have caused such a dramatic jump in app usage? Among other things, Flurry thinks it has to with dropping hardware prices. Older model iOS devices have become more accessible thanks to their depreciating value, and Android continues to appear on a wide array of device with a wide array of price tags. Android’s growth in the low-end market is a sentiment that was shared by some of the guests at our Disrupt Beijing conference. Wang Hua of Innovation Works said in an interview that “Nokia is dying much faster” then expected. Feature phones as a whole are becoming less prominent in China, and inexpensive Android devices are beginning to fill in that niche. China’s voraciousness for apps can’t just be explained by hardware availability — it’s a software issue too. The country’s huge increase in app-etite (sorry) was almost certainly helped by the existence of multiple independent app stores. Among the myriad options available to users, big names like Motorola, Baidu, and Tencent all operate their own Android-friendly markets. Getting into China can be a bit of a rocky road for developers looking to tap a lucrative market, but it certainly seems to be well worth the effort.
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| Maybe BBM Music Isn’t So Silly After All Posted: 02 Nov 2011 09:35 AM PDT  With BBM Music, RIM has thrown their hat into the already crowded mobile music ring. The new service’s focus on leveraging your social connections to score some new tunes is a novel twist, but it begs a significant question. Why would RIM release an ostensibly limited music service when you can shell out a few extra dollars a month for unlimited access? At first glance, BBM Music seems like a huge hassle. Unless you only ever listen to a few songs, reaching out to your BBM buddies isn’t so much a suggestion as it is a requirement. Even though RIM claims to have a catalog of several million tracks, you can only ever have 50 of them linked with your BBM Music profile. By connecting with your BBM-using friends, you slowly bolster your music collection by gaining access to their 50 songs, and so on. In short, it requires people to actually work for their music in addition to paying $4.99/month for it. Competitor RDIO takes a similar approach to its social elements — you can follow fellow users and see what they’ve been playing — but none of that is mandatory to enjoy the nearly 9 million tracks in Rdio’s catalog. You’re definitely paying more for the privilege though: RDIO will run users $9.99/month for unlimited mobile access. Still, the higher monthly price also grants users full access to the catalog on their computers, as well as on iOS and Android devices. It’s certainly the easier option between the two, but to unequivocally call it the better service is missing the point. People have been drawing comparisons between these two opposing music models, but it’s very difficult to be fair since they’re geared for completely different audiences. It seems to me that BBM Music isn’t so much a music playing app as it is a music discovery app — it allows people to leverage their social connections to grow their collection, and it does it for less money than a typical Starbucks order. By tying the music concept into BBM, RIM is capitalizing on one of the stickiest parts of the BlackBerry experience. There’s a strong chance that these users have already built up their BBM contact list, and with BBM Music, those users can finally get more out of their friends than just stimulating conversation. Instead of trying to release a BlackBerry-specific unlimited streaming service that would drown in a sea of similar competitors, RIM wisely targeted existing BBM users to whom the service would add the most value because of their existing contact lists. Whether or not BBM Music will survive for long is another story entirely, but RIM took their music efforts in the best direction they could given the circumstances. Research In Motion (RIM) is a Canadian designer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless devices and solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. The company is best known as the developer of the BlackBerry smart phone. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM was founded in 1984. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
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| Take A Peek At China’s Version Of The Motorola Droid RAZR Posted: 02 Nov 2011 09:17 AM PDT  The Droid RAZR has certainly been the talk of the the town lately, with its 7.1mm waist line, 1.2GHz dual-core processor and uniquely beautiful design. According to the leaks, the RAZR should be gracing shelves by November 10 both here in the States and in the UK. But what about China? Well, unlike the identical Droid RAZR for Verizon and the UK version (just RAZR), the Chinese model of the phone differentiates itself in terms of design, reports Unwired View. The corners are rounded off a bit more, and a TD-SCDMA radio’s been thrown into the mix, meaning the phone is headed for China Mobile. It also seems like the bezel material is more of a silver than the gunmetal color we’re seeing here in the States, but that could merely be the flash lightening things up. On Verizon’s model, the ear piece is also silver, whereas this Chinese model seems to lack that finishing touch. Specs wise, things haven’t really changed. You’ll still find the same 960×540 qHD display, 8-megapixel camera, Kevlar fiber casing, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. In terms of availability, this version of the RAZR has just made its way through China’s version of the FCC, so it could potentially hit shelves pretty soon. Company: Motorola Mobility Website: motorolamobility.com Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to mobile and wireline digital communication devices that provide compelling experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $22 billion in 2009
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| BBM Music App Goes Live In BlackBerry App World Posted: 02 Nov 2011 07:26 AM PDT  Alright BlackBerry fans, the time has come for you to experience BBM Music. If you haven’t heard of it yet, it’s a somewhat inexplicable music subscription service that integrates BBM. As of yet, the app has only been available to beta zone members, but today the app went live in the BlackBerry App World for all to enjoy. And by all, I mean users in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Here’s how it works: For $4.99 a month, you’ll have the ability to store 50 songs on your “BBM Music Profile.” Powered by Omnifone, the BBM Music app lets you add friends through BBM integration, at which point you can then get access to the 50 songs on their profiles. So theoretically, you could end up with access to way more than 50 songs, but past your own music, the tracks you’ll be rocking out to won’t necessarily be your style. Oh, and you can only swap out 25 songs a month from your BBM Music Profile. Then, of course, there’s a free subscription model. But the catch with this free lunch is big: instead of access to 50 full songs, you’ll only be allowed to listen to 30-second clips. I can’t imagine that the free model will do well — I mean, who enjoys a preview of a song? In any case, you can’t blame RIM for trying, especially in such a viral way. The more friends you invite and add to the app, the more bang you get for your buck. Not a bad idea, but only time can tell if this app will fly or die.
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| Nokia Strikes Supplier Deal With ST-Ericsson For Windows-Powered Handsets Posted: 02 Nov 2011 06:29 AM PDT  It’s a big day over at ST-Ericsson. The chip maker, which has yet to turn a quarterly profit, just scored a major deal with Nokia to power its Windows Phone handsets. This deal effectively ends the monopoly Qualcomm has had over Windows-powered devices, and should also allow Nokia to sell lower-priced smartphones in new territories, reports Reuters. We’d been hearing rumors of this deal for a while now, but as ST-Ericsson’s press release crossed the wires this morning the new partnership was officially confirmed. It’s still unclear which processors Nokia will employ, but Ubergizmo speculates that we’ll likely see the U8500 dual-core SoC’s sometime soon. Nokia recently unveiled its first Windows-powered handsets: the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710. While both show promise, especially with Mango at the helm, the verdict is still out until we get a chance to do a proper review. Nokia is a Finnish multinational communications corporation. It is primarily engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries. They make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Nokia is the owner of Symbian operation system and partially owns MeeGo operating system.
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