iPad surpasses netbooks sales – I totally understand why…

I purchased my first (and only) netbook a couple of weeks before the first iPad was announced by Apple. I figured a netbook would be a cool companion when blogging and performing the researches I constantly do. I was wrong.

Netbooks have the same kind of non-portable form factor like laptops: you need to place them on a table to really make them useful. In addition, typing is not as convenient as with laptops because of the size of the keyboard.

I found out the hard way that I really don't get along with a netbook and that in 90% of the cases I will prefer to simply use my laptop instead.

Then came the iPad, and proved that there is a way to get rid of a laptop – and that's a tablet.

Since I got my iPad, I am using it to perform most of my reading tasks, research and some email activities as well. Not to mention other stuff like managing my websites, playing stupid games and more. I can use it everywhere, while watching TV, eating, while lying in bed, in the shower, toilets (yeah, well, everyone does that, don't get all excited about it), in the middle of a bungee jump, everywhere! 

True, it didn't replace my laptop for other working activities or the actual blogging, but I'm sure that will come as soon as good apps will be introduced in this area as well.

To me, the trio: laptop, iPad, and smartphone, is the perfect combination. Netbook is not included.

According to ABI Research firm, global tablet sales into channels exploded in the second quarter of 2011 to surpass netbooks for the first time in the emerging category’s young history. Shipments of media tablets ballooned 112.5% in the second quarter to reach 13.6 million units, up from 6.4 million tablets in the first quarter this year. Netbook shipments declined from 8.4 million units to 7.3 million over the same period, just over half the number of media tablets shipped in the quarter. ”This is a trend that we do not expect will reverse,” said ABI’s group director, mobile devices Jeff Orr in a statement. “As they are different segments, this is not a direct replacement behavior, but a changing of leadership for the most interesting device type.” ABI says Apple’s iPad line was responsible for 68% of tablets shipped globally in the second quarter, and the firm expects 60 million media tablets to ship globally in 2011.

Wow, not only tablets sales are now bigger than netbooks, iPad alone (9.2 million in second quarter) got higher numbers than the entire netbooks sales in that quarter (7.3 million).

And all of that in just 2 years… isn't that amazing?

If you are stuck with a netbook, just like me, here's an alternative for you, something to do with your old netbook. I'm sure you will find it beneficial.

6 comments | Read more...

I purchased my first (and only) netbook a couple of weeks before the first iPad was announced by Apple. I figured a netbook would be a cool companion when blogging and performing the researches I constantly do. I was wrong.

Netbooks have the same kind of non-portable form factor like laptops: you need to place them on a table to really make them useful. In addition, typing is not as convenient as with laptops because of the size of the keyboard.

I found out the hard way that I really don't get along with a netbook and that in 90% of the cases I will prefer to simply use my laptop instead.

Then came the iPad, and proved that there is a way to get rid of a laptop – and that's a tablet.

Since I got my iPad, I am using it to perform most of my reading tasks, research and some email activities as well. Not to mention other stuff like managing my websites, playing stupid games and more. I can use it everywhere, while watching TV, eating, while lying in bed, in the shower, toilets (yeah, well, everyone does that, don't get all excited about it), in the middle of a bungee jump, everywhere! 

True, it didn't replace my laptop for other working activities or the actual blogging, but I'm sure that will come as soon as good apps will be introduced in this area as well.

To me, the trio: laptop, iPad, and smartphone, is the perfect combination. Netbook is not included.

According to ABI Research firm, global tablet sales into channels exploded in the second quarter of 2011 to surpass netbooks for the first time in the emerging category’s young history. Shipments of media tablets ballooned 112.5% in the second quarter to reach 13.6 million units, up from 6.4 million tablets in the first quarter this year. Netbook shipments declined from 8.4 million units to 7.3 million over the same period, just over half the number of media tablets shipped in the quarter. ”This is a trend that we do not expect will reverse,” said ABI’s group director, mobile devices Jeff Orr in a statement. “As they are different segments, this is not a direct replacement behavior, but a changing of leadership for the most interesting device type.” ABI says Apple’s iPad line was responsible for 68% of tablets shipped globally in the second quarter, and the firm expects 60 million media tablets to ship globally in 2011.

Wow, not only tablets sales are now bigger than netbooks, iPad alone (9.2 million in second quarter) got higher numbers than the entire netbooks sales in that quarter (7.3 million).

And all of that in just 2 years… isn't that amazing?

If you are stuck with a netbook, just like me, here's an alternative for you, something to do with your old netbook. I'm sure you will find it beneficial.

A look at the user interface of the future (video)

Here's a nice futuristic video where the entire world is based on touch user interface which is also presented on glass.

I like the UI of course, although too much glass seems to be a bit too risky to me, especially when talking about cars, and metros.

One thing that it very noticeable is that future people are all good looking!

3 comments | Read more...

Here's a nice futuristic video where the entire world is based on touch user interface which is also presented on glass.

I like the UI of course, although too much glass seems to be a bit too risky to me, especially when talking about cars, and metros.

One thing that it very noticeable is that future people are all good looking!

More thoughts about Android fragmentation. Is it really so bad?

Assaf has recently sent me a link to a visual chart describing Android fragmentation problem.

While there are tons of articles about this topic, and Google is constantly trying to improve the situation, it's clear that the problem is not heading towards a resolution. Since even superphones such as Nexus One are not getting the latest Ice Cream Sandwich update, it now seems like even developers using the official Google Phone are not fragmentation-proof any longer.

The editor of this graphical chart is Michael DeGusta and the original article can be found in here: Android Fragmentation Chart. The models are not the newest ones since he wanted to have enough time to examine them.

Here come some more painful observations:

• 11 of 18 Android smartphones stopped getting any support updates less than a year after release.
• 7 of the 18 Android phones never ran a current version of the OS.
• 10 of 18 Android phones were at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period.
• 13 of 18 stopped getting any support updates before they even stopped selling the device or very shortly thereafter.

Visit the original article for more details.

If you are following this site, you probably know I do not consider myself to be an Android fan. The opposite is probably closer to the truth. Still, I wonder if common people really matter about having the latest OS updates. Did BlackBerry owners rush over to upgrade the OS every time something new came up? I don't think so. In addition, if I'm getting a laptop with Windows 7, will it give me Windows 8 for free? Will Windows 8 run on it without any issues? I'm not sure.

The thing with Android is that people expect it to be perfect, expect it to have as many apps as the iPhone, expect it to have better usability than all other smartphones, expect everything to come over the air and expect it to be free as well. With so many vendors, so many changes, and so little standardization – it's simply impossible.

My bottom line? Android has a lot of advantages, but some issues as well: too many customizations end up causing problems – this is the case for every technology – software, hardware, consumers, business. Everywhere. So it's much better to go with the big players, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, each has enough experience with Android by now, and it will probably mean better backward compatibility and devices support in the future.

3 comments | Read more...

Assaf has recently sent me a link to a visual chart describing Android fragmentation problem.

While there are tons of articles about this topic, and Google is constantly trying to improve the situation, it's clear that the problem is not heading towards a resolution. Since even superphones such as Nexus One are not getting the latest Ice Cream Sandwich update, it now seems like even developers using the official Google Phone are not fragmentation-proof any longer.

The editor of this graphical chart is Michael DeGusta and the original article can be found in here: Android Fragmentation Chart. The models are not the newest ones since he wanted to have enough time to examine them.

Here come some more painful observations:

• 11 of 18 Android smartphones stopped getting any support updates less than a year after release.
• 7 of the 18 Android phones never ran a current version of the OS.
• 10 of 18 Android phones were at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period.
• 13 of 18 stopped getting any support updates before they even stopped selling the device or very shortly thereafter.

Visit the original article for more details.

If you are following this site, you probably know I do not consider myself to be an Android fan. The opposite is probably closer to the truth. Still, I wonder if common people really matter about having the latest OS updates. Did BlackBerry owners rush over to upgrade the OS every time something new came up? I don't think so. In addition, if I'm getting a laptop with Windows 7, will it give me Windows 8 for free? Will Windows 8 run on it without any issues? I'm not sure.

The thing with Android is that people expect it to be perfect, expect it to have as many apps as the iPhone, expect it to have better usability than all other smartphones, expect everything to come over the air and expect it to be free as well. With so many vendors, so many changes, and so little standardization – it's simply impossible.

My bottom line? Android has a lot of advantages, but some issues as well: too many customizations end up causing problems – this is the case for every technology – software, hardware, consumers, business. Everywhere. So it's much better to go with the big players, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, each has enough experience with Android by now, and it will probably mean better backward compatibility and devices support in the future.

Will you upgrade your iPhone for Siri? You may after you see this one…

Many people are asking me whether they should upgrade to iPhone 4S or wait to the possibly coming iPhone 5.

Well, to begin with, I would be surprised if iPhone 5 is indeed around the corner. Following Apple's release policy it makes more sense that iPhone 5 will only be introduced towards fall 2012. It will not make any sense for Apple to release another model before that.

So what should you do?

If you are currently using an old Android / BlackBerry smartphone or iPhone 3/3G – then I would say that upgrading to the latest iPhone 4S makes sense. That is, if you are into iOS.

If you have one of the newer Android devices or iPhone 4 – then the only benefits you theoretically gain from upgrading to the latest iPhone are: 1) Speed, 2) Camera, 3) Siri.

Speed is not that important anymore, as iPhone 4 and latest Android models are all beasts anyhow. I currently don't know a new model that makes you actually "wait" for something to happen. The camera is important but not for everyone, plus, I'm not sure the new camera will be magically better than previous models. That leaves us with Siri.

Siri is supposed to be amazing (see Siri in action), but I never saw the thing for real, so it's hard for me to say. From my past experience, those technologies typically do not work well when you are outside in a noisy environment or if you're accent is not perfect – it would be interesting to see how it will react to my own funny accent…

The thing to notice about Siri, is that it is completely different than any other voice command applications we have used in the past: is kinds of a robot, with a personality even.

It actually talks to you, in an almost human kind of way. Apple invested in giving Siri a special attitude.

Here is a collection of funny answers coming from Siri:

If you are not convinced that Siri is different than anything else we knew so far, check those images out…

More Siri answers in here

More examples in here

7 comments | Read more...

Many people are asking me whether they should upgrade to iPhone 4S or wait to the possibly coming iPhone 5.

Well, to begin with, I would be surprised if iPhone 5 is indeed around the corner. Following Apple's release policy it makes more sense that iPhone 5 will only be introduced towards fall 2012. It will not make any sense for Apple to release another model before that.

So what should you do?

If you are currently using an old Android / BlackBerry smartphone or iPhone 3/3G – then I would say that upgrading to the latest iPhone 4S makes sense. That is, if you are into iOS.

If you have one of the newer Android devices or iPhone 4 – then the only benefits you theoretically gain from upgrading to the latest iPhone are: 1) Speed, 2) Camera, 3) Siri.

Speed is not that important anymore, as iPhone 4 and latest Android models are all beasts anyhow. I currently don't know a new model that makes you actually "wait" for something to happen. The camera is important but not for everyone, plus, I'm not sure the new camera will be magically better than previous models. That leaves us with Siri.

Siri is supposed to be amazing (see Siri in action), but I never saw the thing for real, so it's hard for me to say. From my past experience, those technologies typically do not work well when you are outside in a noisy environment or if you're accent is not perfect – it would be interesting to see how it will react to my own funny accent…

The thing to notice about Siri, is that it is completely different than any other voice command applications we have used in the past: is kinds of a robot, with a personality even.

It actually talks to you, in an almost human kind of way. Apple invested in giving Siri a special attitude.

Here is a collection of funny answers coming from Siri:

If you are not convinced that Siri is different than anything else we knew so far, check those images out…

More Siri answers in here

More examples in here

I've Been Nominated For The 2011 Mobile Visionary Star Award

I've been mostly traveling and working during the past couple of weeks and actually missed some interesting mobility events like the official launch of Android Ice-Cream Sandwich (kind of a long name, isn't it?). It's also the reason why this blog has been so quiet lately.

I'm hoping to get back to regular activities here at the mobile spoon by next week, but In the meantime, how about some support from you, my loyal readers?

I've been nominated for the 2011 Mobile Star Award and I would really appreciate your help in voting for me (here's why: Gil Bouhnick, Director of Mobility).

So if you are following the mobile spoon and have found this site to be interesting, and informative – I would be honored if you could spare 2 minutes and vote for me. Voting is fairly simple, and doesn't require filling in all the questions, it's perfectly fine to fill in just a couple of questions as well (the section I'm participating in is almost the last one in the list).

How to vote?

1. Sign up at http://www.mobilevillage.com/subscribe-gomobile.htm, using one of your emails (there are 5-6 fields to fill, that’s it…)
2. Then you can vote using the following link: http://www.mobilevillage.com/awards.htm
3. No need to fill in all the questions (you shouldn't vote for all of them): just skip to the bottom of the list and you will see the "Visionary" category. My name (Gil Bouhnick, yep, shocking, but that's my real one…) is there as one of the nominees.
4. Enter the same email you used (when you registered) in the bottom of the page, and submit
5. Do not unsubscribe to the GoMobile newsletter. It's actually a useful and interesting. Unsubscribing during the next 2-3 months will cancel the vote…

That's it.

Clear and simple (hopefully). Thank you for following the mobile spoon, and thank you even more if you took the time to vote for me. I really appreciate it.

See you all in my next post real soon,

Gil Bouhnick.

5 comments | Read more...

I've been mostly traveling and working during the past couple of weeks and actually missed some interesting mobility events like the official launch of Android Ice-Cream Sandwich (kind of a long name, isn't it?). It's also the reason why this blog has been so quiet lately.

I'm hoping to get back to regular activities here at the mobile spoon by next week, but In the meantime, how about some support from you, my loyal readers?

I've been nominated for the 2011 Mobile Star Award and I would really appreciate your help in voting for me (here's why: Gil Bouhnick, Director of Mobility).

So if you are following the mobile spoon and have found this site to be interesting, and informative – I would be honored if you could spare 2 minutes and vote for me. Voting is fairly simple, and doesn't require filling in all the questions, it's perfectly fine to fill in just a couple of questions as well (the section I'm participating in is almost the last one in the list).

How to vote?

1. Sign up at http://www.mobilevillage.com/subscribe-gomobile.htm, using one of your emails (there are 5-6 fields to fill, that’s it…)
2. Then you can vote using the following link: http://www.mobilevillage.com/awards.htm
3. No need to fill in all the questions (you shouldn't vote for all of them): just skip to the bottom of the list and you will see the "Visionary" category. My name (Gil Bouhnick, yep, shocking, but that's my real one…) is there as one of the nominees.
4. Enter the same email you used (when you registered) in the bottom of the page, and submit
5. Do not unsubscribe to the GoMobile newsletter. It's actually a useful and interesting. Unsubscribing during the next 2-3 months will cancel the vote…

That's it.

Clear and simple (hopefully). Thank you for following the mobile spoon, and thank you even more if you took the time to vote for me. I really appreciate it.

See you all in my next post real soon,

Gil Bouhnick.

How to create custom ringtones for your Windows Phone 7 Mango?

There is one thing about Apple which I never understood, and that's iTunes.

It's probably one of the worst applications I've ever used. The UI has nothing to do with Apple's amazing user interface design, and it's damn slow.

However, don't be upset my fellow Apple fanboys, because I just found an application which is even worse: Microsoft Zune.

It's significantly slower than iTunes, the UI is pretty hard to understand, everything is customized so scroll bars are not acting as they usually do, etc.

I never really cared about Zune, as I only did some basic synchronizatrion with my Windows Phone 7 device, however, today I tried to build those customized ringtones that Mango finally supports. It took me an hour to do it. It's way too long, and it's far from selecting a song, and setting it to be a ringtone: you will need to work real hard, in order to get those custom ringtones loaded to your device.

Option 1: Do it yourself

Basically this technique requires that you trim your song to be shorter than 40 seconds (39 will do) and that the size of the file (MP3 or WMA) will be smaller than 1 mega.

Once you've done that (here's one app that will help you trim your songs), you need to modify your song (through Zune) to be defined as a ringtone, and only then you can add it to your phone and the phone will automatically load it to the custom ringtones list.

Sounds complicated? You bet.

Here is the full description – how to add custom ringtones to your Windows Phone 7

Option 2: Download an app that will do it for you

I tried a few, and no one is perfect, but I think that Myxer might be a good app to start with: it has a large collection of ringtones and it is completely free.

Once you found a ringtone you like, you can download it directly to your mobile as a ringtone. This way is much faster than the Zune way. I guess that in some areas a smartphone is just more efficient than a whole computer..

8 comments | Read more...

There is one thing about Apple which I never understood, and that's iTunes.

It's probably one of the worst applications I've ever used. The UI has nothing to do with Apple's amazing user interface design, and it's damn slow.

However, don't be upset my fellow Apple fanboys, because I just found an application which is even worse: Microsoft Zune.

It's significantly slower than iTunes, the UI is pretty hard to understand, everything is customized so scroll bars are not acting as they usually do, etc.

I never really cared about Zune, as I only did some basic synchronizatrion with my Windows Phone 7 device, however, today I tried to build those customized ringtones that Mango finally supports. It took me an hour to do it. It's way too long, and it's far from selecting a song, and setting it to be a ringtone: you will need to work real hard, in order to get those custom ringtones loaded to your device.

Option 1: Do it yourself

Basically this technique requires that you trim your song to be shorter than 40 seconds (39 will do) and that the size of the file (MP3 or WMA) will be smaller than 1 mega.

Once you've done that (here's one app that will help you trim your songs), you need to modify your song (through Zune) to be defined as a ringtone, and only then you can add it to your phone and the phone will automatically load it to the custom ringtones list.

Sounds complicated? You bet.

Here is the full description – how to add custom ringtones to your Windows Phone 7

Option 2: Download an app that will do it for you

I tried a few, and no one is perfect, but I think that Myxer might be a good app to start with: it has a large collection of ringtones and it is completely free.

Once you found a ringtone you like, you can download it directly to your mobile as a ringtone. This way is much faster than the Zune way. I guess that in some areas a smartphone is just more efficient than a whole computer..

Magazines are iPads that do not work…

When my elder boy was 2 years old, he picked one of my friend's non-touchscreen cellphones and tried to control the screen using finger gestures. It was kind of cool to see today's kids assuming that every mobile device must come with a touch screen.

Here's a funny video I received today, with a similar situation. For our kids, a magazine is an iPad that doesn't work…

8 comments | Read more...

When my elder boy was 2 years old, he picked one of my friend's non-touchscreen cellphones and tried to control the screen using finger gestures. It was kind of cool to see today's kids assuming that every mobile device must come with a touch screen.

Here's a funny video I received today, with a similar situation. For our kids, a magazine is an iPad that doesn't work…

iOS5 and WP7 Mango just came in… What should I start with?

This Saturday, October 16, was an "upgrade" kind of day.

It started with me upgrading my iOS devices to version 5, they were all upgraded smoothly expect for my wife's iPhone. The restore backup failed – and that's after I promised her Apple products do not have bugs. After hours of investigation, we learned that her computer had some problem with available memory, that ruined the backup and left her with a new iPhone, but without her important stuff…

While we were WASTING our time trying to figure out what's wrong, I got a notification from my Samsung Omnia 7 saying that my Mango update is ready(!!!). Finally, but isn't it a weird coincident to have both updates available at the same day?

I mean, what do I do now, play with iMessages or look for my social features WP7? Get excited about having exchange tasks loaded to my iPhone or… having my exchange tasks loaded to my WP7 phone?

Well, that's it actually. No time to write… I have 2 new AMAZING phones I need to take care of… I still need to decide which one will be carrying my MASTER SIM tomorrow…
Tough Choice…

Now I understand why Monogamy is actually a good thing…

1 comments | Read more...

This Saturday, October 16, was an "upgrade" kind of day.

It started with me upgrading my iOS devices to version 5, they were all upgraded smoothly expect for my wife's iPhone. The restore backup failed – and that's after I promised her Apple products do not have bugs. After hours of investigation, we learned that her computer had some problem with available memory, that ruined the backup and left her with a new iPhone, but without her important stuff…

While we were WASTING our time trying to figure out what's wrong, I got a notification from my Samsung Omnia 7 saying that my Mango update is ready(!!!). Finally, but isn't it a weird coincident to have both updates available at the same day?

I mean, what do I do now, play with iMessages or look for my social features WP7? Get excited about having exchange tasks loaded to my iPhone or… having my exchange tasks loaded to my WP7 phone?

Well, that's it actually. No time to write… I have 2 new AMAZING phones I need to take care of… I still need to decide which one will be carrying my MASTER SIM tomorrow…
Tough Choice…

Now I understand why Monogamy is actually a good thing…

Windows 8 vs. iOS: Which tablet would you choose?

Originally written for MobileFever:

A bunch of new surveys and reports show that the interest in Windows based tablets is already high. According to BGR: "U.S. consumers want a tablet powered by Microsoft’s Windows Operating system, not iOS". This is based on a new research published by Boston Consulting Group showing that 42% of U.S. consumers would prefer a Windows-powered tablets, while just 27% would prefer iOS on a tablets (iPads). Android is still behind with 20%.

It seems like those numbers are aligned with some similar researches by Forrester that found that 46% of the consumers would prefer a Windows tablet, vs. 16% in favor of iOS and 9% for Android.

Wow, can it be that the 'post PC' era has nothing to do with Windows?

Of course it's hard to conclude, as those surveys often show different results (just recently I came across a survey that showed that Over 90% of tablets users are interested in Apple iPad), but as more and more people are exposed to the tablets world, there is also an increasing need to do all the daily work using those devices, and this is still limited when using iPads or Android tablets.

Which brings me back to what I wrote after watching Microsoft's Windows Build demonstration: Windows 8 and Enterprise Mobility – Are we all saved?

Now the question is: will companies, with aggressive "tablets initiative", continue their plans to go with iPads or Android tablets? Or will the expected Windows 8 change their plans and make them delay their initiatives until more information about the expected tablets is revealed…

1 comments | Read more...

Originally written for MobileFever:

A bunch of new surveys and reports show that the interest in Windows based tablets is already high. According to BGR: "U.S. consumers want a tablet powered by Microsoft’s Windows Operating system, not iOS". This is based on a new research published by Boston Consulting Group showing that 42% of U.S. consumers would prefer a Windows-powered tablets, while just 27% would prefer iOS on a tablets (iPads). Android is still behind with 20%.

It seems like those numbers are aligned with some similar researches by Forrester that found that 46% of the consumers would prefer a Windows tablet, vs. 16% in favor of iOS and 9% for Android.

Wow, can it be that the 'post PC' era has nothing to do with Windows?

Of course it's hard to conclude, as those surveys often show different results (just recently I came across a survey that showed that Over 90% of tablets users are interested in Apple iPad), but as more and more people are exposed to the tablets world, there is also an increasing need to do all the daily work using those devices, and this is still limited when using iPads or Android tablets.

Which brings me back to what I wrote after watching Microsoft's Windows Build demonstration: Windows 8 and Enterprise Mobility – Are we all saved?

Now the question is: will companies, with aggressive "tablets initiative", continue their plans to go with iPads or Android tablets? Or will the expected Windows 8 change their plans and make them delay their initiatives until more information about the expected tablets is revealed…

How Do Push Notifications Work? The Non-Technical Guide

Before reading this article, it is recommended to start by understanding the Direct Push technology:

How does 'Direct Push' work?

Today I would like to write about Push Notifications. You all heard the term, but how exactly does it work? How do those notifications are managed by iOS or Windows Phone 7?

A workaround to a real multi-tasking

Usually, a push is done by having an application running in the background, pulling information, or listening to specific events that are pushed from a server.

This is not the case with iOS and Windows Phone 7 which are both lacking a true multi-tasking mechanism – by design, in order to save battery life and improve performance.

Since no application can run in the background and raise its' own alerts, iOS and WP7 include a different approach for providing the functionality of waking up the device, and present a notification/popup message/badge/information label, etc.

How exactly does it work

No server in the world can send notifications to an iOS or a WP7 device. The only servers that can do that are the Apple Push Notification Server (known as APN) for iOS devices and and the Microsoft Push Notifications Server (MPN) for WP7 devices.

In other words, if your app needs to get a notification when a certain even happened, it needs to "ask" to receive this notification from Apple or Microsoft.

 

Typically, you will have to set up a server side application that will register to the push notifications service, (of course it requires SSL certification, registration, etc. in order to keep this entire mechanism safe). Once a notification needs to be sent – your application server will have to notify the push notification service (this one is Apple's and Microsoft's global services), by sending the message type, body, and other pre-defined parameters. Only those services will be responsible of sending the notification to the proper device.

The device, on the other hand, which is running Apple's iOS or Windows Phone 7 OS, provides some API's for the different apps to "do something" whenever a notification is sent to them. This "handlers" can be activated even if the application is not running (usually it's part of the app configuration settings, and can be turned off if you wish to cancel it). When a push notification message is sent to application 'A', then the operating system receives that message, calls a particular function inside application 'A' in which application 'A' can do whatever it wants: show a message, mark a number inside the badge, etc. Usually, since the push notification message is small, the app (in our example: application 'A') will create a secondary call, this time to its' own application server, to retrieve more information.

From the developer's point of view, if he wants to have push notifications capability in his app, he must have a server with some logic and capability to send a message to the push notification services. He also need to implement a few additional functions in his client side app, that will "do something" whenever a notification is received.

Apple and Microsoft, on the other hand, will take care of the actual "push" of those notifications, and will remember to "wake up" his little app, once those notifications were received in the device. This design is considered to be safer and save battery life, by reducing all the multi-tasks usually required to implement push.

Both push notifications services (Apple's and Microsoft's)  are using a persistent IP connection for implementing their push notifications functionality. It is a similar approach to the Direct Push algorithm, only in this case, the push notification server gets the information (and the trigger) when and what to push from many different sources – the server side applications…

Technorati Tags: Push Notifications,iOS,iPhone,iPad,Windows Phone 7,Mobile Technologies

Read more about how push notifications work in here:

• Push Notifications Overview for Windows Phone

• Push notifications for Windows Phone 7

• Apple push notification service

• Why doesn't the iOS notification system work the same way notifications work on Android or WebOS?

• About Local Notifications and Push Notifications

• Local and Push Notifications in Depth

• Apple Push Notification Service Programming Guide

2 comments | Read more...

Before reading this article, it is recommended to start by understanding the Direct Push technology:

How does 'Direct Push' work?

Today I would like to write about Push Notifications. You all heard the term, but how exactly does it work? How do those notifications are managed by iOS or Windows Phone 7?

A workaround to a real multi-tasking

Usually, a push is done by having an application running in the background, pulling information, or listening to specific events that are pushed from a server.

This is not the case with iOS and Windows Phone 7 which are both lacking a true multi-tasking mechanism – by design, in order to save battery life and improve performance.

Since no application can run in the background and raise its' own alerts, iOS and WP7 include a different approach for providing the functionality of waking up the device, and present a notification/popup message/badge/information label, etc.

How exactly does it work

No server in the world can send notifications to an iOS or a WP7 device. The only servers that can do that are the Apple Push Notification Server (known as APN) for iOS devices and and the Microsoft Push Notifications Server (MPN) for WP7 devices.

In other words, if your app needs to get a notification when a certain even happened, it needs to "ask" to receive this notification from Apple or Microsoft.

 

Typically, you will have to set up a server side application that will register to the push notifications service, (of course it requires SSL certification, registration, etc. in order to keep this entire mechanism safe). Once a notification needs to be sent – your application server will have to notify the push notification service (this one is Apple's and Microsoft's global services), by sending the message type, body, and other pre-defined parameters. Only those services will be responsible of sending the notification to the proper device.

The device, on the other hand, which is running Apple's iOS or Windows Phone 7 OS, provides some API's for the different apps to "do something" whenever a notification is sent to them. This "handlers" can be activated even if the application is not running (usually it's part of the app configuration settings, and can be turned off if you wish to cancel it). When a push notification message is sent to application 'A', then the operating system receives that message, calls a particular function inside application 'A' in which application 'A' can do whatever it wants: show a message, mark a number inside the badge, etc. Usually, since the push notification message is small, the app (in our example: application 'A') will create a secondary call, this time to its' own application server, to retrieve more information.

From the developer's point of view, if he wants to have push notifications capability in his app, he must have a server with some logic and capability to send a message to the push notification services. He also need to implement a few additional functions in his client side app, that will "do something" whenever a notification is received.

Apple and Microsoft, on the other hand, will take care of the actual "push" of those notifications, and will remember to "wake up" his little app, once those notifications were received in the device. This design is considered to be safer and save battery life, by reducing all the multi-tasks usually required to implement push.

Both push notifications services (Apple's and Microsoft's)  are using a persistent IP connection for implementing their push notifications functionality. It is a similar approach to the Direct Push algorithm, only in this case, the push notification server gets the information (and the trigger) when and what to push from many different sources – the server side applications…

Technorati Tags: Push Notifications,iOS,iPhone,iPad,Windows Phone 7,Mobile Technologies

Read more about how push notifications work in here:

• Push Notifications Overview for Windows Phone

• Push notifications for Windows Phone 7

• Apple push notification service

• Why doesn't the iOS notification system work the same way notifications work on Android or WebOS?

• About Local Notifications and Push Notifications

• Local and Push Notifications in Depth

• Apple Push Notification Service Programming Guide

Kind of a sad day, don't you think?

I was never an Apple fanboy, or a Mac guy. Yet the news about the death of Steve Jobs have made me sad.

Sad for the lost a fascinating person who shaped technology, and sad in a very egoistic way for not having the option to enjoy more of his brilliant shows and the amazing products Apple has made recently. Yes. Very egoistic, I know, but think about what else we could have seen in, say, 3, 4, 6, 8 years, coming from Apple and Steve…

I assume many of you believed he may come back, healthy, back in business, in yet another heroic comeback. I did… Too bad it didn't happen.

Yesterday after the disappointing iPhone 4S announcement, many people used the term: "and end of an era" for Apple. Today it really happened…

5 comments | Read more...

I was never an Apple fanboy, or a Mac guy. Yet the news about the death of Steve Jobs have made me sad.

Sad for the lost a fascinating person who shaped technology, and sad in a very egoistic way for not having the option to enjoy more of his brilliant shows and the amazing products Apple has made recently. Yes. Very egoistic, I know, but think about what else we could have seen in, say, 3, 4, 6, 8 years, coming from Apple and Steve…

I assume many of you believed he may come back, healthy, back in business, in yet another heroic comeback. I did… Too bad it didn't happen.

Yesterday after the disappointing iPhone 4S announcement, many people used the term: "and end of an era" for Apple. Today it really happened…

iPhone 5: We've been ripped off by Apple

What do you mean there's no iPhone 5? We all saw the new cases… we all saw the mockups, the gestures-friendly home button… the 4 inch screen… haven't we?

What a disappointment. It's the first time I'm actually excited, waiting to see Apple's new wonder, a combination of the anticipated iOS5 with a completely new hardware design, we've waited longer than usual, and for what? For another one of those ugly plate style mini-smartphones? For a dual core? Dual core is almost a standard by now… it feels like it belongs to the 80's! There's nothing interesting there.

Nope. I don't care about Siri. Siri is just another app. It was there before Apple purchased it. It As good as it may turn out to be – it will not change the fact that today's event is a rip-off.

Boo.

I'm even embarrassed to think about all of that time I wasted searching for iPhone 5 mockups, reading rumors about the new screen size, new home button, etc.

Boo x 2…

And while I'm booing: what about that "free" iPhone 3GS? That's a sad joke! iPhone 3GS is a 3 years old phone, people throw 3 years old smartphones to the garbage. Even if they have an Apple logo…

Can you guys feel the smell? It's not a nice one… it smells like the beginning of the end; iPhone 4S might be the best smartphone today, but it doesn't have any real competitive edge any longer. In fact, it has one big problem which is the screen size. Oh, actually it has a bigger problem: Android. Samsung. HTC. Microsoft.

There won't be a new iPhone for me. It's sad, but I can't stand that iPhone 4 design. I can't stand being ripped off. I'm now waiting for the real iPhone 5 to come out. Something tells me Apple will have to release it sooner than later. They may even have it already in advanced development status already…

Until then… I guess I'm… free?
Hey Google! HTC! Samsung!? Nokia!? (Ok maybe not Nokia), Microsoft! There's a smartphone'less guy over here who is really desperate for a new phone!
Anything interesting to offer?

 

Technorati Tags: iPhone 5,iOS5,iOS 5,iPhone 4,iPhone 4S,Apple,Opinion

7 comments | Read more...

What do you mean there's no iPhone 5? We all saw the new cases… we all saw the mockups, the gestures-friendly home button… the 4 inch screen… haven't we?

What a disappointment. It's the first time I'm actually excited, waiting to see Apple's new wonder, a combination of the anticipated iOS5 with a completely new hardware design, we've waited longer than usual, and for what? For another one of those ugly plate style mini-smartphones? For a dual core? Dual core is almost a standard by now… it feels like it belongs to the 80's! There's nothing interesting there.

Nope. I don't care about Siri. Siri is just another app. It was there before Apple purchased it. It As good as it may turn out to be – it will not change the fact that today's event is a rip-off.

Boo.

I'm even embarrassed to think about all of that time I wasted searching for iPhone 5 mockups, reading rumors about the new screen size, new home button, etc.

Boo x 2…

And while I'm booing: what about that "free" iPhone 3GS? That's a sad joke! iPhone 3GS is a 3 years old phone, people throw 3 years old smartphones to the garbage. Even if they have an Apple logo…

Can you guys feel the smell? It's not a nice one… it smells like the beginning of the end; iPhone 4S might be the best smartphone today, but it doesn't have any real competitive edge any longer. In fact, it has one big problem which is the screen size. Oh, actually it has a bigger problem: Android. Samsung. HTC. Microsoft.

There won't be a new iPhone for me. It's sad, but I can't stand that iPhone 4 design. I can't stand being ripped off. I'm now waiting for the real iPhone 5 to come out. Something tells me Apple will have to release it sooner than later. They may even have it already in advanced development status already…

Until then… I guess I'm… free?
Hey Google! HTC! Samsung!? Nokia!? (Ok maybe not Nokia), Microsoft! There's a smartphone'less guy over here who is really desperate for a new phone!
Anything interesting to offer?

 

Technorati Tags: iPhone 5,iOS5,iOS 5,iPhone 4,iPhone 4S,Apple,Opinion

How iPhone and facebook can deal with scumbags

Here's an amazing story I read yesterday in the newspaper:

An iPhone was stolen by a thief, who tried to unlock the password for a couple of times.

What the poor thief didn't know was that the owner of this iPhone was quite a techie; the iPhone was jailbroken and included a nice little app called: iGotYa.

iGotYa runs in the background and takes a picture (front camera) every time an unsuccessful attempt is made to unlock the password protected lock-screen and sends it to a pre-configured email.

The owner of the iPhone did not settle with the emails alone, he used another powerful technology tool: social networks. He kept publishing the pictures of the thief in facebook asking his friends to share them with their own friends.

After a couple of hours it paid off: someone recognized the thief standing next to a bus station and reported about it to the police – the thief was captured.

2 comments | Read more...

Here's an amazing story I read yesterday in the newspaper:

An iPhone was stolen by a thief, who tried to unlock the password for a couple of times.

What the poor thief didn't know was that the owner of this iPhone was quite a techie; the iPhone was jailbroken and included a nice little app called: iGotYa.

iGotYa runs in the background and takes a picture (front camera) every time an unsuccessful attempt is made to unlock the password protected lock-screen and sends it to a pre-configured email.

The owner of the iPhone did not settle with the emails alone, he used another powerful technology tool: social networks. He kept publishing the pictures of the thief in facebook asking his friends to share them with their own friends.

After a couple of hours it paid off: someone recognized the thief standing next to a bus station and reported about it to the police – the thief was captured.

10 signs your smartphone is just too big

Your smartphone is mistaken for an e-reader? Your biceps are growing bigger? You find weird holes in your pockets? You find yourself using your landline phone more often our of laziness to pick up your smartphone? People are staring at you while you are walking outside while talking? Your smartphone might be just too big…

I got this nice tip from Melissa, and I thought it may be nice to share it here: 10 signs your new cellphone is just too big. Enjoy.

For a long time I thought that the bigger the smartphone is – the better. Lately I discovered that no matter how big is the smartphone, it will never match the browsing or reading experience of a tablet. And once I got my iPad – it took over all my reading tasks.

5 minutes before Apple shows the world how iPhone 5 and then the entire smartphones are going to look like – it's nice to remember that big smartphones do have a comfort price:

So how big exactly is your smartphone?

2 comments | Read more...

Your smartphone is mistaken for an e-reader? Your biceps are growing bigger? You find weird holes in your pockets? You find yourself using your landline phone more often our of laziness to pick up your smartphone? People are staring at you while you are walking outside while talking? Your smartphone might be just too big…

I got this nice tip from Melissa, and I thought it may be nice to share it here: 10 signs your new cellphone is just too big. Enjoy.

For a long time I thought that the bigger the smartphone is – the better. Lately I discovered that no matter how big is the smartphone, it will never match the browsing or reading experience of a tablet. And once I got my iPad – it took over all my reading tasks.

5 minutes before Apple shows the world how iPhone 5 and then the entire smartphones are going to look like – it's nice to remember that big smartphones do have a comfort price:

So how big exactly is your smartphone?

Two fun cartoons to start the week with a smile

Two funny ones to start the week with a smile:

 

(source)

2 comments | Read more...

Two funny ones to start the week with a smile:

 

(source)

The Best Stories of Summer 2011

The summer is officially over, and I still didn't get my Mango update (still waiting though). Few minutes before iPhone 5 is officially revealed and changes everything once again (yes, I'm telling you, I can feel it's going to be huge), let's take a look at the best stories of summer 2011, here at the mobile spoon:

So the summer started with Apple's announcement of iOS 5. It looks like this version is focused on closing functional gaps with all the other mobile platforms rather than inventing new stuff. I actually think it's brilliant, as it will place iOS as a supreme platform once again.
Read more about iOS 5 in here: iOS5 – A Lame Catch-Up Or A Final Blow To Competition?

Exactly at the same time, we learned that ShockWave is about to finally take part in a Transformers movie (Shockwave arrives to Transformers 3), unfortunately, the evil Decepticon act was disappointing, unsurprisingly I might add…

I ended June with a business travel in which I learned that the iPad is my greatest travel companion. iPad is unstoppable at the moment and there is no other tablet that can match with it, but it didn't stop me from predicting that by mid 2012, Android will lead tablets market. Think about what happened with the smartphones sales during 2010 and you will see that my prediction is not so far fetched.

What else happened in July? This blog finally got a mobile version (it's about time, isn't it…) which will not allow you to read it directly from your smartphone in a mobile friendly layout.

August started with the 30th anniversary of the cellphone. No doubt, the cellphone is one of its' kind – it keeps getting younger and better instead of getting old!

Google plus was released and we gave you 12 interesting facts about it. By the time we got used to it, Google made another bold move and purchased Motorola, we think Moogle is a much better name than Googerola… don't you?

Meanwhile, mobile world is turning into a war zone, with law suits and events that are enough to write a novel series. It doesn't stop (or maybe it actually pushes) the only cross platform technology these days – HTML5 from becoming the biggest growing developers ecosystem in 2011. I've started writing a lot about HTML5 here and also at the mobilefever in a guide called: The Truth About HTML5:

The Truth About HTML5 - Part #1
The Truth About HTML5 - Part #2
The Truth About HTML5 - Part #3

You can find a more articles about HTML5 in here.

 

What else happened during August? Oh yeah, HP killed Palm. Well, actually it killed it a year ago, but now it killed webOS as well… or maybe someone like Samsung, HTC, or even Intel will be bold enough to purchase this poor sweet mobile OS?
The rise and fall of HP and Palm: Back to the past (year 2002)

 

As I found myself spending 3 weeks in a hospital, I learned that Metro UI is indeed everywhere, I really enjoy my WP7 phone, but I think that even with the expected Metro update (bring it on already!) it may not be enough… Here are 5 things Microsoft should do in order to really make WP7 successful.

September's biggest event was the Microsoft Windows Build event – is that the beginning of Microsoft's comeback? I believe so, I like the direction of having a "mobile oriented" tablet device combined with a full Windows capability. Is it a bold move or will it fail? Here are 3 possible scenarios.

Yep.

It was one hell of a summer, let's wrap-up this summary with a smile:

What is the most popular smartphone in the world? The moron test

More iPhone jokes

Hope you enjoyed reading the mobile spoon this summer, even if you haven't always agreed with my opinions.

Yours, as always,
Gil Bouhnick.

1 comments | Read more...

The summer is officially over, and I still didn't get my Mango update (still waiting though). Few minutes before iPhone 5 is officially revealed and changes everything once again (yes, I'm telling you, I can feel it's going to be huge), let's take a look at the best stories of summer 2011, here at the mobile spoon:

So the summer started with Apple's announcement of iOS 5. It looks like this version is focused on closing functional gaps with all the other mobile platforms rather than inventing new stuff. I actually think it's brilliant, as it will place iOS as a supreme platform once again.
Read more about iOS 5 in here: iOS5 – A Lame Catch-Up Or A Final Blow To Competition?

Exactly at the same time, we learned that ShockWave is about to finally take part in a Transformers movie (Shockwave arrives to Transformers 3), unfortunately, the evil Decepticon act was disappointing, unsurprisingly I might add…

I ended June with a business travel in which I learned that the iPad is my greatest travel companion. iPad is unstoppable at the moment and there is no other tablet that can match with it, but it didn't stop me from predicting that by mid 2012, Android will lead tablets market. Think about what happened with the smartphones sales during 2010 and you will see that my prediction is not so far fetched.

What else happened in July? This blog finally got a mobile version (it's about time, isn't it…) which will not allow you to read it directly from your smartphone in a mobile friendly layout.

August started with the 30th anniversary of the cellphone. No doubt, the cellphone is one of its' kind – it keeps getting younger and better instead of getting old!

Google plus was released and we gave you 12 interesting facts about it. By the time we got used to it, Google made another bold move and purchased Motorola, we think Moogle is a much better name than Googerola… don't you?

Meanwhile, mobile world is turning into a war zone, with law suits and events that are enough to write a novel series. It doesn't stop (or maybe it actually pushes) the only cross platform technology these days – HTML5 from becoming the biggest growing developers ecosystem in 2011. I've started writing a lot about HTML5 here and also at the mobilefever in a guide called: The Truth About HTML5:

The Truth About HTML5 - Part #1
The Truth About HTML5 - Part #2
The Truth About HTML5 - Part #3

You can find a more articles about HTML5 in here.

 

What else happened during August? Oh yeah, HP killed Palm. Well, actually it killed it a year ago, but now it killed webOS as well… or maybe someone like Samsung, HTC, or even Intel will be bold enough to purchase this poor sweet mobile OS?
The rise and fall of HP and Palm: Back to the past (year 2002)

 

As I found myself spending 3 weeks in a hospital, I learned that Metro UI is indeed everywhere, I really enjoy my WP7 phone, but I think that even with the expected Metro update (bring it on already!) it may not be enough… Here are 5 things Microsoft should do in order to really make WP7 successful.

September's biggest event was the Microsoft Windows Build event – is that the beginning of Microsoft's comeback? I believe so, I like the direction of having a "mobile oriented" tablet device combined with a full Windows capability. Is it a bold move or will it fail? Here are 3 possible scenarios.

Yep.

It was one hell of a summer, let's wrap-up this summary with a smile:

What is the most popular smartphone in the world? The moron test

More iPhone jokes

Hope you enjoyed reading the mobile spoon this summer, even if you haven't always agreed with my opinions.

Yours, as always,
Gil Bouhnick.