Samsung's hit Galaxy S3 smartphone will soon get the multi-view feature of its larger cousin, the Note II, according to reports of a leaked firmware update. Having already been upgraded to Android 'Jelly Bean' 4.1, it appears the S3 is about to get a bump up to version 4.1.2. This update brings minor improvements such as 'smart' homescreen rotation, but firmware leaked to SamMobile on Thursday indicates Samsung's packaging of the update also includes several features found in the Note II. A major one of these features is 'multi-view', which allows multi-window multitasking. Others include gallery timeline views and the 'paper' artist app. It also looks like the update will give S3 owners the Swype-like continuous typing feature that Google has put into Android 4.2 (also called Jelly Bean) as 'Gesture Typing'. Samsung said earlier this week that it is likely to bring Android 4.2 in its entirety to the S3.
Southeast largest telco SingTel has joined part of a group to invest US$13 million in mobile video services startup Vuclip.
The telco, a new investor in the company, led the Series D funding with existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Jafco Ventures.
Vuclips's platform allows users a "consistent mobile video experience regardless of the model of device they own", according to a press release Thursday. It claims to also compress files by up to 80 percent, reducing the consumption of mobile data necessary.
"Vuclip has built an impressive user base, monetization strategy, and management team and is truly emerging as a leading mobile media company," said Jeff Karras, managing director of SingTel Innov8.
Another investor, Nick Sturiale, general partner at Jafco Ventures, pointed out most of the world’s first Internet experience was over a mobile phone.
“Vuclip is the fastest growing video service since YouTube, but has much better engagement," Sturiale added.
Vuclip helps people search, discover and share online videos, and play them on any Internet-enabled device. (source: vuclip.com)According to the statement, the funds raised will be used to meet "tremendous global demand" particularly in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, as well as to further innovate Vuclip’s media and advertising platform.
"We believe that growth in mobile video is being driven by three major factors: the spread of low cost smart phones, rapid growth of mobile-only Internet users and demand for compelling content," said Nickhil Jakatdar, CEO of Vuclip.
Jakatdar added this was happening in emerging markets differently from developed markets.
Vuclip said it has 45 million monthly active users worldwide and is currently partnering telcos such as Vodafone and Bharti Airtel
The investment by SingTel is its latest push into the mobile services space, following its acquisition of Silicon Valley startup AdJitsu in May and Amobee in March this year--both mobile advertising plays.
As part of a mobile social games push, the telco announced Thursday it had partnered Japan's social gaming content and platform provider Gree for an exclusive direct carrier billing deal in Singapore. This followed its investment of US$1.5 million in TheMobileGamer in September.
Samsung Electronics will likely ship over 60 milllion smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2012 given the popularity of its Galaxy Note 2 and S3 devices. The Yonhap News Agency, citing research findings from investment bank UBS, reported Wednesday that the South Korean electronics giant will sell 61.5 million units of smartphones in the October-December period. This is an increase of 5 percent from an estimated 58 million units in the previous quarter, it noted. The shipment volume could go up to as high as 63 million depending on sell-through, or the amount of devices actually sold to consumers, it added. Samsung's Galaxy Note 2, the smartphone-tablet hybrid released in September, will be a key contributor to the company's growth. Nicolas Gaudois, an analyst at UBS, said in the report: "The Galaxy Note 2 has shipped 3 million units in its first five weeks of sales, with sell-through strong in Asia and Europe, and the U.S. gathering pace post-launch. We hence forecast 7 million Galaxy Note 2, compared to our initial expectation of 5 million for the fourth quarter." The Galaxy S3 smartphone, which was launched in May, also continues to perform strongly with more than 5.5 million units sold in October alone. Gaudois said the bank is comfortable with its 15 million estimate for the quarter. With its product successes, Samsung is expected to widen its lead over Apple in the smartphone arena in 2013. An earlier report by Korea Investment & Securities stated Samsung will expand its market share to 37 percent from 33.1 percent in 2012, while Apple will grow slightly to 20.4 percent from 19.9 percent in 2012.
Chinese PC maker Lenovo which is currently in second place in the Chinese smartphone market has several advantages over global and local brands and will rise to become the top smartphone player in its home market by 2013, predicts Gartner. In a statement Tuesday predicting key IT trends for China, the research firm said Lenovo was the only local smartphone player able to compete with top global brands in China due to its household brand recognition, nationwide distribution, strong portfolio and reasonable pricing. The company's smartphone is targeted at the mid-to-lower end market where global brands are less competitive, it added. Similarly, Lenovo is able to beat local competitors in the open market where its brand and distribution are better.
Gartner said Lenovo's smartphones have "gained real momentum in China". The company's market share in in smartphone increased from 1.7 percent in the third quarter of 2011 to 14.8 percent in the same quarter in 2012. During the quarter, it became the second largest smartphone player in China, ahead of Apple which had 6.9 percent market share and behind Samsung which had 16.7 percent market share. Following its mobile phone success in China, Lenovo expanded its smartphone market overseas to India in November. Mobile Internet connected devices, including smartphones and tablets, are part of Lenovo's "PC plus" strategy. The company sees PCs becoming the heart of users' digital life, supported by secondary devices such as smartphones and tablets as well as smart TVs. During the third quarter of 2012, Lenovo bumped long-time top PC vendor, Hewlett-Packard, off its number one position with 15.7 percent market share, according to Gartner. The U.S. PC market followed closely behind with 15.5 percent share.
There's been a lot of talk about 4G and the coming of 5G, and what these networks will let us do in streaming HD video on the go, downloading apps, and so on. But there are far more inventive uses of super-fast connectivity that could see the way we use phones, or even phones themselves, transformed. Could faster networking and the cloud put paid to smartphones as we know them today? Image: Ben WoodsImagine a world where, from the minute you switch on your phone, it's constantly connected to a network delivering 50-100Mbps minimum downstream. Yes, data transfers are faster; more than that though, there's the means for a whole shift in the market waiting to happen, if vendors want it. What if this ultra-fast networking did away with mobile hardware as we know it? What if, every time you switched on your phone, it downloaded the OS image instantly from the cloud, effectively turning your handset into a thin client?
What if, every time you switched on your phone, it downloaded the OS image instantly from the cloud, effectively turning your handset into a thin client?
From a security and updates perspective, moving to a wholly cloud-hosted model would make things a whole lot simpler, cheaper and more straightforward to manage. For you, it would mean that you would never lose your phone again — even when you lose your phone. In fact, imagine never thinking of a handset as 'your' phone again at all. In the world of the cloud, all thin-client mobiles could be created equal. Forgot or lost your phone? No problem, just pick up any other handset lying around, and you can have it all there again in a second. Go one step further, and you wouldn't need a handset at all. Any internet-connected screen would do — PC, smart TV, whatever — and you'd have all of your content, all of your apps, all of your contacts: your phone. Not only would it mitigate almost all the problems associated with losing your phone, it could also drive down the price of handsets by allowing manufacturers to cut back on the hardware, but still deliver the same services and features. Let's backpedal a little. You could take one of two approaches on the thin-client front: all server-side processing and very low hardware requirements; or a slightly less 'thin' approach, which downloads the OS at boot but allows for more offline caching. The second is the more achievable of the two with how networking stands right now, but the first isn't necessarily implausible in the far future. True, the second scenario does negate some of the benefits associated with being able to cut back on hardware requirements and therefore the up-front cost of the devices. Even so, it still provides the inherent security and management benefits for both user and manufacturer.
Services as a selling point
If you think about it, the most notable point of differentiation for phones — and therefore mobile manufacturers — is the services on the handsets. For example, Nokia uses the same mobile OS (Windows Phone) on its Lumia 920 as HTC does on its Windows Phone X, but using the Lumia is a different experience to using the HTC handset, due to the mapping and music services that each has.
If services prevail, then that could drive a move toward 'thin' phones, especially if hardware features become even further homogenised
This use of services as a selling point for phones, rather than the hardware or OS, could turn out to be a mobile industry trend. If services prevail, then that could drive a move toward 'thin' phones, especially if hardware features become even further homogenised. Take this trend to the next step, which would be the arrival of thin mobile clients. It's easy to see how manufacturers could continue to build out their businesses, and developers could continue to make apps that make the most of backend or on-device computing power. Obviously there are drawbacks to thin clients: for one, the 4G or 5G connectivity needs to be extremely reliable. If you're using a cloud-based ultra-thin client, then an outage would turn the handset into a paperweight, as nothing would work at all. If you're using a less stripped-back 'download on boot' phone, you'd be less hampered by networking outages, as it would have offline caching capability. Even so, making calls or checking messages would quickly become a pain if outages were a frequent occurrence.
The key drawback from a manufacturer's point of view is the loss of a compelling reason to push customers to upgrade their handsets. But if more revenue can be generated from services, this becomes less of an issue; and with wearable tech just around the corner, we're already moving toward a future without phones anyway. For the customer, the downside could be the loss of cachet from owning a highly sought-after device. But there's nothing to stop, say, Apple from designing an ultra-sleek 'thin' phone either. While this is all possible, I don't see any of it happening soon. Mobile manufacturers are unlikely to move quickly to thin clients, and I suspect Apple won't want to let users boot up an Android OS on an iPhone. What is likely, though, is a shift to more stress on services and an end to today's hit-and-miss approach to software updates that will appeal to vendors and buyers alike.
While the iPhone 5 is undoubtedly proved to be a success with consumers, Apple has had a hard time keeping up with demand. Problem with scratches, and Foxconn workers going on strike put quite a crimp in the supply chain. Fortunately, it now seems that Cupertino has solved these problems, just in time for Christmas. In a note, Piper Jaffray's analyst Gene Munster reports that nightly checks on 100 Apple Stores have shown dramatic improvements in stock levels over the past 10 days.
Last night, our checks indicated that Sprint phones were in stock at 92% of Apple Stores, AT&T was available at 82% of stores and Verizon at 72% of stores. Additionally, we note that wait times for online phone orders dropped to two weeks as of today.
And it seems that things are going to get better. "We believe," says Munster, "that within the next two weeks that customers will be able to purchase iPhone 5s at Apple Stores same day". Bottom line, if there's an iPhone 5-shaped gap in a loved-ones stocking on Christmas morning, you can't blame the supply chain.
One of the strengths of Apple's iOS devices is AirPlay, a technology that enables the wireless streaming of audio, video, and photos between devices. Now Google has its eyes on this market, and is working on an open alternative to Apple's proprietary protocol. Speaking to GigaOM, Google product manager Timbo Drayson admitted that Google has its sights set on the space and plans to pursue it aggressively. "We really want to move the whole industry forward," said Drayson, before g oing on to say that Google is "actively working with other companies" to make this into an open standard that could be used on a number of platforms.
Google's primary motivation for developing this protocol is likely to be to enable content sharing between Android smartphones, tablets and Google TV devices. But Google's plans go beyond simply streaming content. According to Drayson, the protocol that Google is working on allows for data to flow in both directions, which would "enable developers to build second-screen experiences that correspond to what’s happening on live TV" and for the "beaming content from your laptop to your TV screen". While Apple's AirPlay is the best-known wireless streaming technology, it wasn't the first. The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a collaborative established by Sony in 2003 that enable the sharing of media such as music, photos and videos between devices such as computers, TVs, printers, cameras, and cell phones.
