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Tech Savvy.....

Tech Savvy.....: March 2013

Tech Savvy.....

All about latest trendz in Technology

Mar 27, 2013

New smartphone platforms eye inroads in hot market



A handful of new smartphone platforms are expected to become available this year, challenging the stranglehold of the two market leaders, Google's Android and Apple's iOS.


Android and Apple account for more than 90 percent of the surging smartphone market, and third place is being contested by BlackBerry and Microsoft's Windows Phone.
But phones using operating systems based on the open-source platforms Linux and Mozilla's Firefox will be hitting the market this year, most likely in emerging markets.
Among smartphone makers, "there is a consensus that there is room for a couple more operating systems," said Ramon Llamas, analyst with the research firm IDC.
"Maybe not globally, but in some markets which could be used as proving grounds."
An IDC survey showed Apple and Android accounted for 91.1 percent of all smartphones sold in 2012, but that new platforms are worth watching in a market with 46 percent growth last year.
The Mozilla Foundation, developer of the Firefox browser and a new mobile operating system, claims to have 17 operators on board and plans Firefox OS phones in Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela.
The key player being watched, however, is Samsung, which is the biggest smartphone maker with some 40 percent of all Android phones but is planning new devices using Tizen, an operating system based on Linux.
The Tizen Association, which also includes France's Orange, Japan's NTT DoCoMo, China's Huawei and US-based Intel, say the firms "view openness as a key to raising the bar for user experience."
Some analysts were surprised by Samsung's move, saying it's not clear if the South Korean giant is trying to distance itself from Google and Android, which is a free operating system but offers advertising possibilities to the Silicon Valley firm.
"I wonder about Samsung's motivation," said Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies.
"To get out from Google's control might be part of it, but I'm not sure how rational that is. The partnership has been very fruitful for both companies, and it's hard to see where the negatives are."
But Aapo Markkanen, an analyst with ABI Research, said Samsung is trying to break free from Google and that Tizen could be the key for that.
"All signs are pointing to Samsung trying to pull off a Great OS Escape within the next year or two," Markkanen said in a blog post, adding that the platform "will be given a kick start with the software and service portfolio that Samsung has accumulated" along with "Samsung's gargantuan marketing budget."
Other Linux phone systems are also readying their entry.
Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating system promoted by British software firm Canonical, expects to have phones ready later this year. And Sailfish, another Linux variant from Finnish-based Jolla Mobile, has released its program for developers.
Analysts say smartphone makers are seeking to mimic the success of Apple by controlling both the hardware and software "ecosystem."
"We are seeing more desire to control the whole user experience," said Gerry Purdy, analyst and consultant with the firm Mobile Trax.
A major challenge for any new platform, however, will be developing the applications that make up the ecosystem. These are key attractions for users of the iPhone and Android devices.
Although some apps can be developed across platforms using HTML5, a programming language that can be adapted for different devices, analysts say these are inferior to "native" apps developed for a specific platform,
"You can provide a reasonable experience with HTML5 and the browser, but the native app is smoother, cleaner and more natural," Purdy said. "It's pretty obvious when you watch them side by side."
Even a powerful firm like Samsung will have a hard time putting together an app ecosystem that can compete with Apple's App Store and Google Play.
"There is some open space, but putting together an entire ecosystem and doing that where there are established incumbents is a pretty iffy proposition," Kay said.
Because of these obstacles, Llamas said progress for any new system will be "long and slow."
"None of these things will happen overnight. There has to be time for gestation, reception and evangelization. And picking the markets will be important," he added.

Source : HindustanTimes.com

Mar 22, 2013

Finally!!!!


Hello guys ,


Finally Zune has allowed me to update to WP7.8(Windows Phone 7.8) on my Lumia 800 today ..... :)

Was waiting for this since ages ;)

Four Cumulative updates were installed :


First Update:
7.10.8779.8

Second Update:
7.10.8783.12

Third Update:
7.10.8858.136

Fourth Update:
Nokia update for Windows Phone (Specific update for Nokia Phones)

Fifth Update:
7.10.8862.144

Try your luck today ..... WP 7.8 - looks awesome......

BlackBerry CEO says Apple's iPhone outdated

According to Thorsten Heins,the chief executive of BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd, Apple's iPhone is outdated.

Heins made the comment Thursday on the eve of the much-delayed launch of the new touchscreen BlackBerry in the United States. AT&T begins sellingthe Z10 touchscreen BlackBerry on Friday, more than six weeks after RIM launched the devices elsewhere.

Heins also told The Associated Press that a new keyboard version of the BlackBerry won't be released in the US until two or three months from now.
He previously said it would be eight to 10 weeks, but now he's saying it could be delayed an additional two weeks.
Both the touchscreen and keyboard models are part of RIM's attempt at a comeback after the pioneering brand lost its cachet not long after Apple's 2007 release of the iPhone.
Heins said a lack of innovation at Apple has left iPhone's user interface outdated.
He noted iPhone users have to go in and out of applications and the device doesn't allow for multitasking like the new BlackBerry Z10 does.
"It's still the same," Heins said of the iPhone.
"It is a sequential way to work and that's not what people want today anymore. They want multitasking."
RIM's new software allows users to have multiple applications open like on a desktop, he said, noting that with BlackBerry you don't have to close an application to check an email.
"We're changing it for the better because we're allowing people to peak in the hub," Heins said.
Heins said the iPhone was revolutionary five years ago, but he said it's now "just kind of sitting there."
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined comment.
But the delay in selling the new keypad BlackBerry, called the Q10, complicates RIM's efforts to hang on to customers tempted by the iPhone and a range of devices running Google Inc's Android operating system.
Even as the BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, many BlackBerry users have stayed loyal
because they prefer a physical keyboard over the touch screen found on the iPhone and most Android devices.
But the temptations to switch grow with each additional delay, despite favorable reviews for new system.
Heins said the Q10 keyboard version BlackBerry is just not ready yet and said part of the reason is out of his control.
"It's our job to deliver the right software package and the right software quality to the carriers," he said.
"Then it is on the carriers to decide how intense they want their testing cycle to be and that really can range from a few weeks to three months."
US carriers reportedly haven't made testing a priority because RIM, which is based in Based in Waterloo, Ontario, has dramatically lost market share.
The US has been one market in which RIM has been particularly hurting, even as the company is doing well overseas.
According to research firm IDC, shipments of BlackBerry phones plummeted from 46% of the US market in 2008 to 2% in 2012. The iPhone and Android now dominate.
Heins said the company has to regain market share in the US for BlackBerry to be successful.
"You got to win here to win everywhere else," he said.
"That's just the way it is. We've lost market share quite a bit, to put it mildly, and we absolutely need BlackBerry 10 to turn us around."
Heins said initial sales in other countries are encouraging, but he could not release numbers ahead of RIM's earnings report next Thursday.
"I get more and more excited every day," he said.
"I really have to make sure I stay grounded and I don't lose my sense for reality. But for the whole company this is so important to finally be here, and to see people buying it, after we were told 30 months ago when we started that two quarters down the road we would be bankrupt, we would be out of business."

Source : www.hindustantimes.com