Apple claims smartphone crown from Nokia, Samsung
iPhone's remarkable fourth-quarter surge -- 37 million units -- lifted the handset ahead of the two previous smartphone leaders, according to Canalys. For full year 2011, Apple shipped 93.1 million smartphones, compared to Samsung's 91.9 million and Nokia's 77.3 million. Nokia, the company that invented the smartphone, has bled share since iPhone launched nearly 5 years ago, but artery versus vein since announcing the switch to Windows Phone from Symbian in February 2011.
Apple's climb to the top followed October's iPhone 4S launch and availability of older 3GS and 4 models for free and $99, respectively. Samsung shipped 35.3 million smartphones in Q4, behind Apple, while Nokia shipped 19.6 million -- a stunning 31 percent decline. By comparison, iPhone shipments surged 128.1 percent for the quarter and 96 percent for the year.
So much for iPhone catching Android
Just weeks ago the Apple Fanclub of bloggers and journalists giddily posted about how iPhone had reversed Androids' gains. But new data from comScore shows that, in the United States at least, Android is doing just fine, despite iPhone's remarkable fourth-quarter sales surge (more than 37 million units).
As measured by smartphone OS among cellular subscribers 13 and older, Android share grew to 47.3 percent at the end of December from 44.8 percent three months earlier. During the same time period, iPhone/iOS rose 2.2 points to 29.6 percent share. More broadly, for all handsets, Apple was the only manufacturer to gain share during fourth quarter -- up 2.2 points to 12.4 percent, or twice free-falling Research in Motion. Samsung firmly held its lead, 25.3 percent, which is the same as end of September.
Avid Studio for iPad debuts, but, hurry, the low price won't last
Move over, iMovie, some serious competition moved on to iPad, today. Avid Studio for iPad is now available -- $4.99 for a limited time. Avid was the big name in filmmaking, long before Apple stormed the market with its pro and amateur products. Apple reigns king on iPad and the Mac. Can Avid provide some needed tablet competition?
By the specs and feature list, Avid Studio for iPad appeals. The app can directly capture video, use multiple content sources on the tablet (e.g., audio, photos and video), generate motion titles and graphics, precisely trim content, create picture-in-picture effects and much more. That's all while taking advantage of iPad's touchscreen. For people using Avid's PC software, there's an app exporter available, too.
Here's how Apple fixes its China problem [video]
"Conan" offers yet another timely spoof, here about Apple's problem with working conditions at factories in China. People have called for boycotts, others claim Apple is no worse than other high-tech companies using the same facilities. Seems like everyone has an opinion about what's really an old story.
Satire is a dish best served cold, and Team Coco packs on the ice.
Apple jumps from fifth to third place in global phone shipments
Manufacturers shipped 1.546 billion cell phones last year, up 11.1 percent from 2010. Apple posted the strongest gains for the quarter and year -- 128.4 percent and 96.2 percent, respectively. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company ended both time periods in third place. No other vendor came even close. Samsung was up nearly 21 percent for the quarter and ZTE 30.9 percent for the year. IDC compiled the data, which represents shipments into the channel, rather than sales to end users.
Apple's strong showing comes from a huge fourth-quarter finish -- 37 million handsets, all smartphones. By comparison, Nokia and Samsung sold many more feature phones, which still overwhelmingly account for the number of handsets shipped globally. "Feature phones accounted for a majority of shipments from four of the five market leaders during the quarter", Ramon Llamas, IDC senior research analyst, says. "Even though their proportion is eroding, feature phones maintain their appeal on the basis of price and ease of use".
Expect Windows 8 in October, or not at all this year
This should be obvious, but something needs to be stated by somebody: Based on previous development cycles, Microsoft's plans for public beta and the PC market's desperate need for a new OS this year, Windows 8 is tracking for October launch. Actually, the public beta coming this month is the last milestone for hitting October, otherwise Microsoft might be forced to repeat history and, like Windows Vista, miss the holidays. That's unthinkable.
By measure of Windows 7, its successor is actually trailing behind development track for October. Microsoft released Windows 7 Beta 1 in early January 2009. Windows 8 public beta is expected six weeks or more later. Typically, Microsoft would have offered a second Windows 7 beta but went right to release candidate. Windows 8 would need similar accelerated track to be ready for the holidays. Just one snag: The new OS is much more ambitious. There's new Metro UI, ARM processor support and architectural changes that hugely impact developers. Oh, yeah. Microsoft is launching a software store, too. End-of-February to October launch is a stretch.
How fast has Facebook grown?
That's a question many people will ask today following Facebook's IPO filing. In March 2007, less than a year after opening to the public, the social network had 30 million users. The number is more than 800 million today. But neither number truly reveals Facebook's global impact.
Last summer, Pew Internet found that 92 percent of social network users are on Facebook -- just 17 percent on Twitter. Today, comScore released data on Facebook penetration across the globe, as measured as percentage of total Internet audience.
Google+ tops 100 million users
That will be the number by end of today, according to FamilyLink founder and unofficial Google+ statistician Paul Allen. The number has grown from 90 million since Google CEO Larry Page's official statement just two weeks ago.
Allen's announcement comes as rival Facebook announces its public offering, and quite possibly the largest one ever. Not since Netscape's IPO at the dawn of the World Wide Web era has a tech company generated so much interest going public. But Facebook has a new rival that's growing fast and leveraging hard existing Google assets. By year's end, Google+ could have half as many users as Facebook does today.
Google kills Chrome usage growth
Chrome's browser usage share fell in January, according to Net Applications, after 14 months of consecutive, solid growth. Competition didn't kill Chrome growth, Google did, with its decision to reduce the browser's search page rank. Which browser benefitted most? Internet Explorer, of course.
It's a stunning turnabout for Chrome, which likely will see continued trend during February. On January 3, Google announced a temporary downgrading of Chrome's page rank -- how high it appears in searches -- following a minor scandal with a third-party ad agency. The marketer paid bloggers to write about Chrome, which violates Google policies on sponsored links. The search and information giant treated itself like other advertisers, perhaps more harshly, and lowered Chrome's search ranking for 60 days.
Got Android? Get Firefox 10
Hey, Firefox fans, don't settle for just the desktop browser that popped up on Mozilla servers overnight. Firefox 10 mobile is also available at the Android Market. While the big browser offers significantly improved plug-in support, it's still DOA on the small one. That means no Adobe Flash for you, Bud.
New features include anti-aliasing for WebGL and accelerated layer-support via OpenGL ES. Firefox 10 mobile improves sync and HTML5 capabilities, as well. Among the fixes: "Extremely rare case where the browser may become unable to load web pages or close tabs".
Hey, broadcasters, filmmakers, is Final Cut Pro X finally good enough?
That's the question, following big updates available today. How big? So big Apple even issued a press release. I ask the question because of professionals' negative reactions to the software soon after its late-June 2011 release. The uproar was loud enough that "Conan" did a skit about it. In September, responding to customer requests, Apple brought back older version Final Cut Studio 3 on a limited basis. That was then, this is now. Is Final Cut Pro X finally good enough for you?
Many pros complained that Final Cut Pro X was too iMovie-like, while stripping away features they depend on for editing broadcast or film videos. Others complained Apple abandoned core customers to make Final Cut easier for non-pros to use. The software offered more to amateurs and less -- actually took features away -- for professionals. Today's update (v 10.0.3) adds some surprising pro features, and they're not the first. This is the third update since the software's launch.
Microsoft reinvents Office for the post-PC era
Not since Office 2003 has Microsoft taken such an "ambitious undertaking" to reinvent the productivity suite. Today, PJ Hough, CVP of development for Microsoft's Office division, announced the "technical preview" for the suite's next version and then rudely announced it's "already full". Oh yeah? Why the frak tell us about it then?
It's that ambitious undertaking thing: "First time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project and Visio", Hough claims. There's more to that boast than marketing. Microsoft is prepping Office for the cloud-connected, post-PC era. Suddenly Office 15 is going to be a big release.
Suddenly 37M iPhones isn't so many
My reaction mirrored many others this week. Apple's big iPhone holiday quarter seemed simply unbelievable -- 37 million, up 128 percent year over year. But Samsung was close. Real close: 36.5 million smartphones, according to Strategy Analytics. Together, the two companies accounted for 47 percent of fourth-quarter smartphone shipments.
The horse race between the companies sours Apple apologist arguments about iPhone vs Android. Staunch iPhone defenders blow off Android competition as one against many. But on the one-to-one comparison, Apple isn't so high and mighty. Samsung is keeping pace just fine. Apple was market leader for the quarter -- 23.9 percent share to the South Korean company's 23.5 percent. But Samsung took the year -- 19.9 percent share to its American rival's 19 percent. Both companies had exceptionally good fourth quarters.
Sync multiple Google calendars to Windows Phone 7.5
I don't really use Google Calendar and don't have Windows Phone (sigh, on the latter). If you do, here's a tip. Google has enabled multiple-calendar sync with Windows Phone 7.5. It's now possible to select among the calendars and sync up to 25 of them. Gasp, who has two dozen plus one?
"Just navigate to m.google.com/sync on your phone’s browser and configure the calendars you would like to see", Li Yin, with the Google Sync Team, posts to Google+. "From that page, you can also configure which addresses you send mail as if you have custom addresses in Gmail. We’ve also improved search to look beyond the conversations that are stored locally on your device so that you are able to find more of your conversations, faster".
iPad share plunges as Android tablets make dramatic gains
Do I have your attention yet? Apple fans needn't worry, iPad has considerable lead over Android tablets. iPad global market share, as measured by mobile operating system, fell to 57.6 percent in fourth quarter from 68.2 percent a year earlier, according to Strategy Analytics. Meanwhile, Android tablets rose to 39.1 percent from 29 percent. Something else: Windows climbed from zero to 1.5 percent, and that's without tablet-optimized Windows 8.
Despite popular convention that people only want iPad, clearly somebody is buying Android. Strategy Analytics doesn't break down the numbers by vendor, but there's reason to ask about one. Amazon. For months there has been oft-asked question: Would $199 Kindle Fire cut into iPad sales? Last month, Amazon said that it sold over 4 million Kindles in December, but wouldn't specify how many were tablets. "Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter", Peter King, Strategy Analytics director, says. Perhaps that's answer enough.