That was fast: Samsung is top Android phone maker in U.S.
Market research firm Gartner has named Samsung Mobile both the top mobile phone manufacturer in the United states, and the top seller of Android Smartphones as well. In less than one year, Samsung has gone from having practically no Android phones in the U.S. market to outselling the market's early entrants HTC and Motorola.
Samsung's very first Android smartphone was announced in late April 2009, but the company was concentrating its initial efforts on the European market. Coming into 2010, Samsung's only Android smartphones in the U.S. market were the Moment on Sprint and the Behold 2 on T-Mobile.
In latest treatise, Level 3 says feud with Comcast like great telecom unbundling
Continuing its public feud with Comcast, Level 3 Communications Friday released its own FAQ to explain to both the public and public policy makers, why their fight is important.
The disagreement between cable operator Comcast and content delivery network (CDN) Level 3 turned into a minor public relations war earlier this week when Level 3 announced that Comcast was demanding higher fees because of Level 3's bandwidth-consuming streaming video traffic.
Microsoft announces Silverlight 5 beta will launch first half 2011
In a keynote presentation at the Silverlight Firestarter event this morning, Corporate Vice President in Microsoft's developer division, Scott Guthrie officially announced Silverlight 5, and outlined its new features and 1H 2011 beta availability.
Silverlight 5 adds more than 40 new features to the Web application framework that focus on improving its streaming media functionality for users and on improving application development for engineers.
Google still can't effectively harness user sentiment to shape search results
In the last week of November, the New York Times ran an article that showed how one retailer could use customer complaints and negative reviews to boost its search ranking in Google. Within a couple of days of the article's publication, Google was receiving complaints of its own, but this time it was from the media, who questioned the search engine's ethical responsibility in the matter.
Not even a week later, Google has replied by applying a new search algorithm that detects and downranks online retailers that "provide extremely poor user experience."
Latest Chromium build to include the first Flash Player sandbox
Back in March, Google announced it would be bundling the Adobe Flash plug-in with future versions of the Chrome browser. Naturally, this caused a few questions to arise about how Google planned to tackle the security and stability risks inherent in Flash, and whether the plug-in would work with Chrome's secure Sandbox environment.
Yesterday, Google and Adobe announced that the next developer build of the Chromium Project, coming as an update soon, will include the first sandboxable version of Chrome's integrated Flash Player (gcswf32.dll) for users running Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
Verizon's 4G LTE network launches Dec 5 with plans cheaper than 3G
Three years after committing to LTE as its fourth-generation network standard, Verizon Wireless announced on Wednesday that it will be launching the new network on December 5th in select U.S. cities.
A total of 38 cities in the United States will make up the first crop of LTE-enabled networks, as well as 60 airports across the country.
I sold my soul to Google, can I get it back?
For about six months, I've pondered writing this post asking the dreaded Google question. Following yesterday's announcement that the European Union has opened a Google antitrust investigation, I can wait no longer. My life, and perhaps yours, is enmeshed in Google products and services. If there is a devil, a Great Satan of modern technology companies, Google is it. I sold my soul to Google for free services, which are disrupting -- some would say destroying -- businesses that produce valuable content and other intellectual property. In the 1970s, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates warned of the very problem Google is creating today: Making things that are inherently valuable nearly worthless.
The problem is simple: Google's business model is fundamentally about free. Someone else pays to produce content or other valuable intellectual property, around which Google wraps search keywords, adverts and services. The information giant doesn't produce content, but its entire business model is about cannibalizing others' valuable intellectual property. Google's search dominance -- anywhere from 65 percent to 90 percent share, depending on the geography and analyst crunching the numbers -- means that content creators must pay homage to free. The content's base value to the producer is at least the cost of production, but content creators are compelled to give away their stuff for less and often for free. If not, the content becomes invisible to the Internet -- or at least to the majority of people who use Google search and other services.
FCC abandons 'third way' in net neutrality order up for vote this month
The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday outlined its next steps for the "Open Internet Order," the set of rules for Net Neutrality proposed last year that were based upon the "Four Freedoms" for the open internet introduced by former Commissioner Michael Powell in 2005.
The Open Internet Order, which comes up for vote at the next open FCC meeting on December 21, is a set of guidelines that seek to limit the power of Internet service providers while maintaining an environment that fosters innovation and equal access.
Survey shows misunderstanding of iPad's place in e-reader market
Market research company ChangeWave released the results of a survey on Tuesday that attempts to illustrate some of the recent consumer trends in the e-reader business.
ChangeWave said Amazon's Kindle holds a "rapidly diminishing lead" over the Apple iPad in the e-reader market, and that the iPad's overall presence in the space has doubled since August.
FCC getting involved in Level 3, Comcast Internet traffic spat
Comcast is being criticized after it has decided to charge Level 3 Communications a surcharge for 'excessive' bandwidth usage. According to the cable provider, Level 3 is sending about five times as much data to Comcast as is going the other way, it said in a statement.
Under protest that it violates open Internet principles Level 3 is paying the surcharge. It claims Comcast essentially gave the company an ultimatum to accept its terms, which Level 3 had no choice but agree to or face possible disruptions. Comcast's move has also spurred the FCC to ask for more information on the deal.
EU opens Google antitrust probe after price-comparison sites cry foul
The European Commission Tuesday announced it has launched an investigation into Google's practices, to determine whether the Mountain View, California company is abusing its power as Europe's number one search engine.
The case will examine whether Google violates European Union treaty Article 102, which states:
Microsoft says Kinect sales steady: more than 100,000 units per day
Microsoft on Monday announced that Kinect, the sensor attachment for the Xbox 360 that supports motion-based controls, has been sold to more than 2.5 million customers worldwide in just 25 days.
"We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand," said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft.
Google Earth 6.0 beta has 30% more of Earth's surface in 3D (i.e. trees)
Google on Monday released an update to its 3D globe and map software, Google Earth. This milestone beta version, classified Google Earth 6.0, doesn't add any huge new features, but increases usability and realism by tying the 3D Earth images to those captured in Street View, and by adding 3D rendered trees.
Google first brought Street View to Google Earth in 2008 when Google began giving all its mapping and navigation products a similar interface. The first-person perspective view of the world was added as a layer to Google Earth which users would have to switch to if they wanted to use it. Now, there is no switching, as it's simply been included in Google Earth's zoom. Users can go as far out as they like and still be able to zoom all the way down to street level without swtiching views.
Verizon Wireless capitalizes on 700+ Web retailers' use of 'Cyber Monday'
Though "Cyber Monday" was already a painfully outdated-sounding term when the National Retail Federation's Shop.org began using it as a marketing buzzword five years ago, the phrase appears to be sticking around, and Verizon Wireless grabbed a firm hold of it today.
Verizon Wireless bought the hashtag #CyberMonday on Twitter, which turns the term into a "Promoted Trend" that all users of the microblogging service see in their list of trends.
The App Store model faces disruption from HTML5
Today's Wall Street Journal features an article by Christopher Lawton that talks about the difficulty independent app stores face when competing with Apple and Google for developer and consumer attention. Paul Reddick, chief executive of third-party app store HandMark told WSJ that he couldn't simply bet the whole company's fate on independently distributing apps with a presence like Google to compete against.
It may not even be a prudent bet to be in the app store business at all.
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