The Mobile Spoon Summarizes 2011. Is It Possible That Nothing Has Changed?

2011 is officially over, and boy, was that a crazy year or what?
Well, actually, despite of all the action, if you think about it – nothing has really changed this year. The winners are still winning, the losers are still losing.

The winners:

• Samsung Galaxy – HTC? Motorola? LG? Nokia? Give Samsung a break. 2012 was the year of the Galaxy. A number of amazing models that placed Samsung at the top of the phones manufacturers pyramid.
• Google Android - climbing to new heights in terms of sales and activations per day, but despite of all the success, Google is still looking for a bit of personality to its' successful robot, re-inventing the user interface every few months.
• Apple iOS – iPhone 4S is disappointing? iOS 5 failed to innovate? Who cares. Users are happier than ever, Siri rocks, and iPad continues to be the undisputed king. On the other hand, the momentum is constantly slowing down; Apple lost Steve Jobs, the stock is not as happy as usual, and iOS is officially the oldest mobile OS in today's market.
• Amazon Kindle Fire – sales are rocketing, the Fire seems to be the first true competitor to the iPad. 2012 could become the year of Amazon in mobility. On the other hand, I heard about more people who returned the Kindle Fire saying it's a crappy device than people that are actually happy with it…

The Losers:

• RIM BlackBerry – it's hard to believe how RIM, once one of the most successful companies in the world is impotently surrendering without a fight. Try one of RIM's latest BlackBerry devices and you will understand why analysts are not giving RIM a lot of hope.
• Microsoft Windows Phone 7 – year after year I'm writing about Microsoft's failing mobile products. I actually bought a Windows Phone 7 devices, I even like it a lot. I'm all in favor of Metro UI, yet it took me 6-7 months and then I went back using an iPhone. The apps, the user experience, the possibilities… Microsoft still has a long way to go.

The Tragic Hero:

• Palm's webOS – I'm thinking of all the ups and downs webOS had this year,and I cannot help myself from thinking about the engineers who built webOS and how they must feel about it. A brilliant piece of work that never had a chance to make it in this cruel world.

So you see? 2011 had so much activity, and yet nothing has really changed.

Here's 2011 as it was presented here at the mobile spoon:

December, 2011

iPhone 5 rumors emerge once again. Feels like we've been there already: new design, bigger screen, new materials, different back-cover… talk about a Déjà Vu! HP announces that WebOS would be available as an open-source project. Yet another zigzag by HP. Android activations reach 700,000 per day. It doesn't change the fact consumers and developers prefer iOS over Android. Microsoft continues to fail in smartphones sales.

November, 2011
RIM continues to decline and seems to be loosing the enterprise world too. Android is still doing great, but is being considered to be "too risky" for the enterprise webOS continues to look for a new home Motorola Razr is making an official comeback  with a legendary model. Flash is officially dead for mobile. HTML5 is the new way to go.

	October, 2011
	iPhone 5 turns out to be iPhone 4S. What about all the rumors? Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is officially released. Targeted to challenge iPad's dominance in the tablets world. BlackBerry devices stop synchronizing for 3 days. iPad surpasses netbooks sales Steve Jobs dies

September, 2011
Amazon reveals its' new Kindle Fire. The first HTML5-based App store is released Microsoft reveals Windows 8. It's going to kick ass, but will it be sufficient to compete with iPad? We think of 3 possible scenarios. Regardless to the growing competition, 90% of tablets users are interested in iPads. Mobile Spoon finally reveals what is the most popular smartphone in the world

	August, 2011
	HP TouchPad is sold out. Did HP find a winning formula? Nope, they actually decide to dump all webOS products and sell its' Personal Systems Group. Mobile patents war crosses a few red lines We explain why Android smartphones are just like Tamagotchi

July, 2011
First WP7 Mango devices show up. Will Mango be a game changer for Microsoft? Users are happier with iPhone and Windows Phone, than with Android. It doesn't help Microsoft, that is still making more money out of Android than it does out of WP7…

	June, 2011
	iOS 5 is announced – is it a lame catch-up or a final blow to competition? Android continues to rage, 500,000 activations per day. Windows Phone barely exists… Android vs. iOS, the apps comparison shows Android Market full of crappy apps.

May, 2011
BlackBerry. Chronicle of a death foretold? WP7 sales look very bad. It doesn't change Microsoft's decision to bring Metro UI to windows 8. HP's webOS sales look very bad too. Modu is making a comeback in the shape of a WebTop.

	April, 2011
	The world is in shock – Apple and Google are collecting our information! iPhone products generate more revenue than entire Google. Studying UI - How can user interface change the way you hold your smartphone? Mobile Spoon Predicts: By 2013, Html5 Will Rule Enterprise Mobility

March, 2011
Google is tired of low quality devices manufacturer, ruining the Android code – does not release Android 3 as an open source NFC is here The Mobile Spoon App is available in Windows Phone 7 MarketPlace

	February, 2011
	Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) is released, targeted to challenge iPad's domination in the tablets world. (Didn't I just said that?) Android activations per day reach 400,000!
	Palm/HP is back! TouchPad, Pre3, and Veer are announced. Is there still hope for webOS? Windows Mobile future is a bit blurred…

January, 2011
RIM's decline seems inevitable: even Windows Phone 7 is considered to be more attractive than BlackBerry. iPhone 5 rumors begin; new design, bigger screen, new materials, different back-cover… talk about a Déjà Vu!

What a year! So much action, yet so little have changed.

Here are some of the most popular articles of 2011:

• Can Microsoft generate more revenue out of Android than Google?
• What should Microsoft do in order to save Windows Phone 7?
• Mobile Spoon predicts: By mid 2012, Android will lead tablets market
• Mobile Spoon Predicts: By 2013, Html5 Will Rule Enterprise Mobility
• Why technical specifications should not be your primary way to select a new smartphone
• What is the most popular smartphone in the world? The moron test

2011 is officially over now. Thank you all for reading the mobile spoon. See you all next year!

Happy new year,

Gil Bouhnick, The Mobile Spoon.

9 comments | Read more...

2011 is officially over, and boy, was that a crazy year or what?
Well, actually, despite of all the action, if you think about it – nothing has really changed this year. The winners are still winning, the losers are still losing.

The winners:

• Samsung Galaxy – HTC? Motorola? LG? Nokia? Give Samsung a break. 2012 was the year of the Galaxy. A number of amazing models that placed Samsung at the top of the phones manufacturers pyramid.
• Google Android - climbing to new heights in terms of sales and activations per day, but despite of all the success, Google is still looking for a bit of personality to its' successful robot, re-inventing the user interface every few months.
• Apple iOS – iPhone 4S is disappointing? iOS 5 failed to innovate? Who cares. Users are happier than ever, Siri rocks, and iPad continues to be the undisputed king. On the other hand, the momentum is constantly slowing down; Apple lost Steve Jobs, the stock is not as happy as usual, and iOS is officially the oldest mobile OS in today's market.
• Amazon Kindle Fire – sales are rocketing, the Fire seems to be the first true competitor to the iPad. 2012 could become the year of Amazon in mobility. On the other hand, I heard about more people who returned the Kindle Fire saying it's a crappy device than people that are actually happy with it…

The Losers:

• RIM BlackBerry – it's hard to believe how RIM, once one of the most successful companies in the world is impotently surrendering without a fight. Try one of RIM's latest BlackBerry devices and you will understand why analysts are not giving RIM a lot of hope.
• Microsoft Windows Phone 7 – year after year I'm writing about Microsoft's failing mobile products. I actually bought a Windows Phone 7 devices, I even like it a lot. I'm all in favor of Metro UI, yet it took me 6-7 months and then I went back using an iPhone. The apps, the user experience, the possibilities… Microsoft still has a long way to go.

The Tragic Hero:

• Palm's webOS – I'm thinking of all the ups and downs webOS had this year,and I cannot help myself from thinking about the engineers who built webOS and how they must feel about it. A brilliant piece of work that never had a chance to make it in this cruel world.

So you see? 2011 had so much activity, and yet nothing has really changed.

Here's 2011 as it was presented here at the mobile spoon:

December, 2011

iPhone 5 rumors emerge once again. Feels like we've been there already: new design, bigger screen, new materials, different back-cover… talk about a Déjà Vu! HP announces that WebOS would be available as an open-source project. Yet another zigzag by HP. Android activations reach 700,000 per day. It doesn't change the fact consumers and developers prefer iOS over Android. Microsoft continues to fail in smartphones sales.

November, 2011
RIM continues to decline and seems to be loosing the enterprise world too. Android is still doing great, but is being considered to be "too risky" for the enterprise webOS continues to look for a new home Motorola Razr is making an official comeback  with a legendary model. Flash is officially dead for mobile. HTML5 is the new way to go.

	October, 2011
	iPhone 5 turns out to be iPhone 4S. What about all the rumors? Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is officially released. Targeted to challenge iPad's dominance in the tablets world. BlackBerry devices stop synchronizing for 3 days. iPad surpasses netbooks sales Steve Jobs dies

September, 2011
Amazon reveals its' new Kindle Fire. The first HTML5-based App store is released Microsoft reveals Windows 8. It's going to kick ass, but will it be sufficient to compete with iPad? We think of 3 possible scenarios. Regardless to the growing competition, 90% of tablets users are interested in iPads. Mobile Spoon finally reveals what is the most popular smartphone in the world

	August, 2011
	HP TouchPad is sold out. Did HP find a winning formula? Nope, they actually decide to dump all webOS products and sell its' Personal Systems Group. Mobile patents war crosses a few red lines We explain why Android smartphones are just like Tamagotchi

July, 2011
First WP7 Mango devices show up. Will Mango be a game changer for Microsoft? Users are happier with iPhone and Windows Phone, than with Android. It doesn't help Microsoft, that is still making more money out of Android than it does out of WP7…

	June, 2011
	iOS 5 is announced – is it a lame catch-up or a final blow to competition? Android continues to rage, 500,000 activations per day. Windows Phone barely exists… Android vs. iOS, the apps comparison shows Android Market full of crappy apps.

May, 2011
BlackBerry. Chronicle of a death foretold? WP7 sales look very bad. It doesn't change Microsoft's decision to bring Metro UI to windows 8. HP's webOS sales look very bad too. Modu is making a comeback in the shape of a WebTop.

	April, 2011
	The world is in shock – Apple and Google are collecting our information! iPhone products generate more revenue than entire Google. Studying UI - How can user interface change the way you hold your smartphone? Mobile Spoon Predicts: By 2013, Html5 Will Rule Enterprise Mobility

March, 2011
Google is tired of low quality devices manufacturer, ruining the Android code – does not release Android 3 as an open source NFC is here The Mobile Spoon App is available in Windows Phone 7 MarketPlace

	February, 2011
	Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) is released, targeted to challenge iPad's domination in the tablets world. (Didn't I just said that?) Android activations per day reach 400,000!
	Palm/HP is back! TouchPad, Pre3, and Veer are announced. Is there still hope for webOS? Windows Mobile future is a bit blurred…

January, 2011
RIM's decline seems inevitable: even Windows Phone 7 is considered to be more attractive than BlackBerry. iPhone 5 rumors begin; new design, bigger screen, new materials, different back-cover… talk about a Déjà Vu!

What a year! So much action, yet so little have changed.

Here are some of the most popular articles of 2011:

• Can Microsoft generate more revenue out of Android than Google?
• What should Microsoft do in order to save Windows Phone 7?
• Mobile Spoon predicts: By mid 2012, Android will lead tablets market
• Mobile Spoon Predicts: By 2013, Html5 Will Rule Enterprise Mobility
• Why technical specifications should not be your primary way to select a new smartphone
• What is the most popular smartphone in the world? The moron test

2011 is officially over now. Thank you all for reading the mobile spoon. See you all next year!

Happy new year,

Gil Bouhnick, The Mobile Spoon.

How to push your RSS Feeds to your Notification Center using Push? [iPhone]

As part of my attempts to turn my iPhone Notification Center into a all-in-one productivity tool, I spent some time looking for a News Reader with Push Notifications.

My requirements were fairly straightforward:

An iPhone RSS Reader App, with Google Reader support, and Push Notifications.

Let's write it one more time (mainly for SEO's purposes and my personal fun):

RSS Feeds with Push Notifications, and Google Reader support for iPhone!

I tried many great RSS Readers, but most of them do not support Push Notifications. The reason is that in order to have Push Notifications the application needs to have a dedicated server, and that design typically conflicts with the simple RSS engine approach.

Focusing on the push capabilities, I managed to find a few nice RSS Reader apps with push capabilities. I actually purchased them for the sake of the research, (and got very disappointed from some of them) – but eventually I found the winning one!

RSS2Push – Disqualified.

A free app that allows you to manually subscribe to RSS feeds. I've tested it for a while, and the push does work for the RSS Feed, however, the app is limited to only one site subscription! (What's that?) It says something about a full version available in the AppStore, but no details are given as to how to get it… brrr… that was enough for me to disqualify this option. Next please…

FeedRunner – The Crashing One

Did you ever purchase an app just to find out it doesn't work? I just did. And – I paid good money for it too ($2.99?? that's much more than $1.99!). FeedRunner looks great in pictures, I was positive that would be my winning app. The only problem is – it crashes all the time (5 seconds after loading to be more accurate). How bad is it? It cannot be used. The crashes are consistent, the app is currently not working (for me at least, I'm sure the developers will fix it soon).
For now, FeedRunner wins the doubtful category of "the crashing one".

BlogKeen – Almost?

BlogKeen is another app for reading news and RSS feeds. It has a great user interface and it works well. It lets you configure "push notifications" for certain feeds, however – you cannot view them in your Notification Center (only lock screen is supported).
Besides that limitation, I think BlogKeen (free app) is a solid RSS Reader with some cool additions too, but there are better news readers out there with more sophisticated features. As I was looking to the complete push experience and this app doesn't show the pushed messages in the Notification Center – it is still lacking.

Feed Push – Good Enough (and free!)

Feed Push is a free app that lets you import specific sites from your Google Reader and set them to a "push" mode. It's working for the most parts, unfortunately the push itself is a bit clunky. The UI is not the strongest side of this app, but at least you can manage your subscriptions in a nice manner.

 
I am still testing this app, I like it, but something is not perfect with it. For now, Feed Push is almost the best one in my list, with a good potential to become the champion in one of the next releases. It's free, so you should give it a shot.

BoxCar – The Interesting One

BoxCar is a well known iPhone app. It lets you subscribe to a huge list of services and get notified via push notifications whenever something changes in one of those services. It's an all-included Push machine, and it looks like a killer app.

  
Unfortunately for my humble needs (following some RSS Feeds using push) it never worked. I subscribed to a variety of blogs and got no push notification…
Still, I recommend checking out BoxCar (it's a free app) – you may find one of the included services to be useful.

You can read more about BoxCar for iPhone in here: Boxcar 2.0 Is A Must-Have For the iPhone. It's The Best Push Notification App Yet.

Push Reader – The champ

Push Reader for iPhone is the best RSS Reader with Google Reader integration and fully configurable Push Notifications.

Yes, I know, the UI is not perfect, and you cannot see thumbnails of the images in those RSS lists. You can definitely find better RSS Readers. However, as I was looking for a way to get those RSS notifications to my lock screen and notification center, almost in real-time – this app gives the best value for money (and it does cost $1.99).

  

You can define when will the push mechanism work (and define a "night mode" when you are sleeping) and you can import all of your Google Reader subscriptions and select only few ones to be pushed to you.

The app still has some areas to improve, but for this list of RSS Readers with Push Notifications capabilities – Push Reader is the champion.

Terms you may have been looking for:

How to push RSS Feeds to your iPhone, RSS feeds in notification Center, How to push RSS feeds? Push Notifications with Google Reader, Google Reader RSS in Notification Center

Technorati Tags: iPhone App,Push Notifications,iOS 5,Notification Center

6 comments | Read more...

As part of my attempts to turn my iPhone Notification Center into a all-in-one productivity tool, I spent some time looking for a News Reader with Push Notifications.

My requirements were fairly straightforward:

An iPhone RSS Reader App, with Google Reader support, and Push Notifications.

Let's write it one more time (mainly for SEO's purposes and my personal fun):

RSS Feeds with Push Notifications, and Google Reader support for iPhone!

I tried many great RSS Readers, but most of them do not support Push Notifications. The reason is that in order to have Push Notifications the application needs to have a dedicated server, and that design typically conflicts with the simple RSS engine approach.

Focusing on the push capabilities, I managed to find a few nice RSS Reader apps with push capabilities. I actually purchased them for the sake of the research, (and got very disappointed from some of them) – but eventually I found the winning one!

RSS2Push – Disqualified.

A free app that allows you to manually subscribe to RSS feeds. I've tested it for a while, and the push does work for the RSS Feed, however, the app is limited to only one site subscription! (What's that?) It says something about a full version available in the AppStore, but no details are given as to how to get it… brrr… that was enough for me to disqualify this option. Next please…

FeedRunner – The Crashing One

Did you ever purchase an app just to find out it doesn't work? I just did. And – I paid good money for it too ($2.99?? that's much more than $1.99!). FeedRunner looks great in pictures, I was positive that would be my winning app. The only problem is – it crashes all the time (5 seconds after loading to be more accurate). How bad is it? It cannot be used. The crashes are consistent, the app is currently not working (for me at least, I'm sure the developers will fix it soon).
For now, FeedRunner wins the doubtful category of "the crashing one".

BlogKeen – Almost?

BlogKeen is another app for reading news and RSS feeds. It has a great user interface and it works well. It lets you configure "push notifications" for certain feeds, however – you cannot view them in your Notification Center (only lock screen is supported).
Besides that limitation, I think BlogKeen (free app) is a solid RSS Reader with some cool additions too, but there are better news readers out there with more sophisticated features. As I was looking to the complete push experience and this app doesn't show the pushed messages in the Notification Center – it is still lacking.

Feed Push – Good Enough (and free!)

Feed Push is a free app that lets you import specific sites from your Google Reader and set them to a "push" mode. It's working for the most parts, unfortunately the push itself is a bit clunky. The UI is not the strongest side of this app, but at least you can manage your subscriptions in a nice manner.

 
I am still testing this app, I like it, but something is not perfect with it. For now, Feed Push is almost the best one in my list, with a good potential to become the champion in one of the next releases. It's free, so you should give it a shot.

BoxCar – The Interesting One

BoxCar is a well known iPhone app. It lets you subscribe to a huge list of services and get notified via push notifications whenever something changes in one of those services. It's an all-included Push machine, and it looks like a killer app.

  
Unfortunately for my humble needs (following some RSS Feeds using push) it never worked. I subscribed to a variety of blogs and got no push notification…
Still, I recommend checking out BoxCar (it's a free app) – you may find one of the included services to be useful.

You can read more about BoxCar for iPhone in here: Boxcar 2.0 Is A Must-Have For the iPhone. It's The Best Push Notification App Yet.

Push Reader – The champ

Push Reader for iPhone is the best RSS Reader with Google Reader integration and fully configurable Push Notifications.

Yes, I know, the UI is not perfect, and you cannot see thumbnails of the images in those RSS lists. You can definitely find better RSS Readers. However, as I was looking for a way to get those RSS notifications to my lock screen and notification center, almost in real-time – this app gives the best value for money (and it does cost $1.99).

  

You can define when will the push mechanism work (and define a "night mode" when you are sleeping) and you can import all of your Google Reader subscriptions and select only few ones to be pushed to you.

The app still has some areas to improve, but for this list of RSS Readers with Push Notifications capabilities – Push Reader is the champion.

Terms you may have been looking for:

How to push RSS Feeds to your iPhone, RSS feeds in notification Center, How to push RSS feeds? Push Notifications with Google Reader, Google Reader RSS in Notification Center

Technorati Tags: iPhone App,Push Notifications,iOS 5,Notification Center

Who's Afraid of Siri?

Happy holidays season! Here's a great video to celebrate those great holidays, by RoosterTeeth.

Enjoy!

3 comments | Read more...

Happy holidays season! Here's a great video to celebrate those great holidays, by RoosterTeeth.

Enjoy!

Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Smartphones war by the numbers

700,000 Android devices are activated every day. Got that? 700,000 more people every day are using Android!

As a comparison;

• iOS has 275,000 activations per day,
• Windows Phone 7 has something like 29 activations per day (oh wait, actually it's 29 activations every week, not day… sorry…)

What an amazing momentum: half a year ago the numbers stood on 400,000. In June it went up to 500,000 and in July it was 550,000.

However, when taking into considerations some other statistics from the mobile world…

Here are the real numbers:

• Every day, 350,000 people around the globe are making a small decision that will make them unhappy.
• 210,000 confused consumers go back to their mobile store every day asking for a real iPhone.
• Summarizing Android, iOS, BlackBerry - there are 1 million smartphones operating systems activated daily (that's 1,000,029 if you include Windows Phone 7 as well).

---

Having fun? Here are some more:

• AT&T is selling 100,000 new smartphones every day
• Samsung broke its' own record selling 300 million mobile phones (not just smartphones) during 2011. Average of over 800,000 units per day. (source)

If you like this post, subscribe to our RSS Feed.

6 comments | Read more...

700,000 Android devices are activated every day. Got that? 700,000 more people every day are using Android!

As a comparison;

• iOS has 275,000 activations per day,
• Windows Phone 7 has something like 29 activations per day (oh wait, actually it's 29 activations every week, not day… sorry…)

What an amazing momentum: half a year ago the numbers stood on 400,000. In June it went up to 500,000 and in July it was 550,000.

However, when taking into considerations some other statistics from the mobile world…

Here are the real numbers:

• Every day, 350,000 people around the globe are making a small decision that will make them unhappy.
• 210,000 confused consumers go back to their mobile store every day asking for a real iPhone.
• Summarizing Android, iOS, BlackBerry - there are 1 million smartphones operating systems activated daily (that's 1,000,029 if you include Windows Phone 7 as well).

---

Having fun? Here are some more:

• AT&T is selling 100,000 new smartphones every day
• Samsung broke its' own record selling 300 million mobile phones (not just smartphones) during 2011. Average of over 800,000 units per day. (source)

If you like this post, subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Want to see Siri plays the piano? You don't? Oh, stop it! You know you do!

 

Cool? Weird? Stupid? People are so obsessed with that Siri stuff, and it just doesn't stop.

Here's Siri playing the piano… Yep, I kind of feel silly to even write it.., but that's what it does… here's the video if you do not believe me.

Click here if you are interested to understand how this is working…

3 comments | Read more...

 

Cool? Weird? Stupid? People are so obsessed with that Siri stuff, and it just doesn't stop.

Here's Siri playing the piano… Yep, I kind of feel silly to even write it.., but that's what it does… here's the video if you do not believe me.

Click here if you are interested to understand how this is working…

Is there a real future for Windows Phone 7?

Few years ago, Microsoft was still under the impression that Windows Mobile can be sufficient for consumers' need to have a powerful smartphone in their pockets. It was a tragic mistake.

Then iPhone was released (followed by Android) and Microsoft realized that Windows Mobile will never be a match. In a very late step, Microsoft re-developed a completely new operating system. One that is all about smartphones: small screen, small devices, minimalistic design (Metro UI) – exactly what a smartphone needs. Nothing more, nothing less.

The rest of the world belongs to Windows.

But guess what? While Microsoft was celebrating its' return to the mobile world, came Apple and once again shook things up, and proved that Microsoft is still 3 years behind…

iPad was released, expanding the term "mobile" beyond smartphones, inventing the next generation of tablets, and guess what: it had nothing to do with Windows, laptops, netbooks and the likes.

Once again, Microsoft found itself far behind: there are over 100 models of Android tablets out there today. iPad is a selling beast, Kindle Fire joins the party, and where is Microsoft?
Still trying to figure out the smartphones market with Windows Phone 7.

Windows 8 should be the answer to the tablets world, and a damn good answer if you ask me.

The problem is timing, which doesn't look good (end of 2012?). Another problem is consistency; If you own an iPhone, you are half way to get an iPad: you already find your way around, you know the apps, you know the platform, you are probably happy with it. And then the opportunity comes and you get yourself an iPad. It's as simple as that.
Microsoft wishes to create that consistency using the Metro UI, but at the moment it seems too little and a bit too risky (not everyone likes Metro, and it's definitely doesn't seem like the reason for people to switch to Windows 8 tablets or Windows Phone 7).

OK, so now what?

What can Microsoft do in order to change the balance of power?

Based on a mixture of official roadmap presentations, some rumors, and internal changes done inside Microsoft, it seems like there is going to be some changes involving Windows 8:

Microsoft understands the right strategy should be to combine platforms, join forces.
They call it Unified Ecosystem.
Recent changes inside the Windows Phone division in the company seems to confirm that this is indeed a possible direction. Here's a terrifying scenario (for WP7 owner, that is):

"One possibility is that the “new” Windows 8-based phone operating system cuts loose the current platform and is a second reboot of Microsoft’s smartphone strategy. Such a move would burn some consumers and, more significantly, the many developers who have taken the plunge with Microsoft’s smartphone platform.

Redmond has already made one major smartphone transition—Windows Phone is wholly incompatible with Windows Mobile, leaving developers for that platform with no migration route—and making a second such move would squander the good will that the company has built up. It would be extraordinarily dangerous, especially if the current platform does start to pick up steam as the Nokia partnership starts to yield fruit." (Read the rest of this article)

According to Mary-Jo Foley:

"Microsoft is believed to be swapping out the Windows Embedded Compact core in Windows Phone for a Windows-based (MinWin) one in order to more closely align the two platforms, and to give developers a single, unified platform to which they can code. That change could happen as early as mid- to fall-2012 when Microsoft is expected to launch Windows Phone 8, which will run an operating system codenamed “Apollo.”

Windows 8 based smartphones? Tablets based on Windows Phone 7? I guess the first option more likely to happen, eventually.

That is, unless something extremely unexpected happens with the Microsoft / Nokia partnership. Something that will boost things up for Windows Phone and convince Microsoft to continue investing in it.

So far it doesn't look that promising for Nokia and Microsoft, and although there are some funny reports by some Windows Phone 7 fan-blogs talking about so called impressive quarterly sales, looking closely at those numbers shows that the quarterly numbers can almost match with Android's sales per… day…

Talk about perspective…

• Impressive numbers of selling 500,000 WP7 units in Europe in Q4 2011,
• IDC thinks Nokia may sell 380,000 Lumia handsets, says carriers are “pleased by the numbers”
• Nokia says “the Lumia 800 is getting good traction in all six European markets” but GfK disagrees

On a personal note – I'm a huge fan of Windows Phone. I loved it from the first day I laid my hands on it, (well, actually maybe from the second week… took me a while to get used to it).

Still, talking about my "loyalty" to WP7, I do find it a bit disturbing that I say so many good things about Windows Phone while still using an iPhone…

Related: What should Microsoft do in order to save Windows Phone 7?

2 comments | Read more...

Few years ago, Microsoft was still under the impression that Windows Mobile can be sufficient for consumers' need to have a powerful smartphone in their pockets. It was a tragic mistake.

Then iPhone was released (followed by Android) and Microsoft realized that Windows Mobile will never be a match. In a very late step, Microsoft re-developed a completely new operating system. One that is all about smartphones: small screen, small devices, minimalistic design (Metro UI) – exactly what a smartphone needs. Nothing more, nothing less.

The rest of the world belongs to Windows.

But guess what? While Microsoft was celebrating its' return to the mobile world, came Apple and once again shook things up, and proved that Microsoft is still 3 years behind…

iPad was released, expanding the term "mobile" beyond smartphones, inventing the next generation of tablets, and guess what: it had nothing to do with Windows, laptops, netbooks and the likes.

Once again, Microsoft found itself far behind: there are over 100 models of Android tablets out there today. iPad is a selling beast, Kindle Fire joins the party, and where is Microsoft?
Still trying to figure out the smartphones market with Windows Phone 7.

Windows 8 should be the answer to the tablets world, and a damn good answer if you ask me.

The problem is timing, which doesn't look good (end of 2012?). Another problem is consistency; If you own an iPhone, you are half way to get an iPad: you already find your way around, you know the apps, you know the platform, you are probably happy with it. And then the opportunity comes and you get yourself an iPad. It's as simple as that.
Microsoft wishes to create that consistency using the Metro UI, but at the moment it seems too little and a bit too risky (not everyone likes Metro, and it's definitely doesn't seem like the reason for people to switch to Windows 8 tablets or Windows Phone 7).

OK, so now what?

What can Microsoft do in order to change the balance of power?

Based on a mixture of official roadmap presentations, some rumors, and internal changes done inside Microsoft, it seems like there is going to be some changes involving Windows 8:

Microsoft understands the right strategy should be to combine platforms, join forces.
They call it Unified Ecosystem.
Recent changes inside the Windows Phone division in the company seems to confirm that this is indeed a possible direction. Here's a terrifying scenario (for WP7 owner, that is):

"One possibility is that the “new” Windows 8-based phone operating system cuts loose the current platform and is a second reboot of Microsoft’s smartphone strategy. Such a move would burn some consumers and, more significantly, the many developers who have taken the plunge with Microsoft’s smartphone platform.

Redmond has already made one major smartphone transition—Windows Phone is wholly incompatible with Windows Mobile, leaving developers for that platform with no migration route—and making a second such move would squander the good will that the company has built up. It would be extraordinarily dangerous, especially if the current platform does start to pick up steam as the Nokia partnership starts to yield fruit." (Read the rest of this article)

According to Mary-Jo Foley:

"Microsoft is believed to be swapping out the Windows Embedded Compact core in Windows Phone for a Windows-based (MinWin) one in order to more closely align the two platforms, and to give developers a single, unified platform to which they can code. That change could happen as early as mid- to fall-2012 when Microsoft is expected to launch Windows Phone 8, which will run an operating system codenamed “Apollo.”

Windows 8 based smartphones? Tablets based on Windows Phone 7? I guess the first option more likely to happen, eventually.

That is, unless something extremely unexpected happens with the Microsoft / Nokia partnership. Something that will boost things up for Windows Phone and convince Microsoft to continue investing in it.

So far it doesn't look that promising for Nokia and Microsoft, and although there are some funny reports by some Windows Phone 7 fan-blogs talking about so called impressive quarterly sales, looking closely at those numbers shows that the quarterly numbers can almost match with Android's sales per… day…

Talk about perspective…

• Impressive numbers of selling 500,000 WP7 units in Europe in Q4 2011,
• IDC thinks Nokia may sell 380,000 Lumia handsets, says carriers are “pleased by the numbers”
• Nokia says “the Lumia 800 is getting good traction in all six European markets” but GfK disagrees

On a personal note – I'm a huge fan of Windows Phone. I loved it from the first day I laid my hands on it, (well, actually maybe from the second week… took me a while to get used to it).

Still, talking about my "loyalty" to WP7, I do find it a bit disturbing that I say so many good things about Windows Phone while still using an iPhone…

Related: What should Microsoft do in order to save Windows Phone 7?

How to make your iPhone logo glow like a MacBook

It seems like a natural addition to every iPhone, isn't it? Making the Apple logo glow just like any MacBook cover. Still, this cool addition did not come form Apple (Although we have seen Apple protects it against companies that tried to sell such covers – so maybe it is coming in the future?). Anyways, here is a short video explaining how to build your own glowing Apple logo in your iPhone. No guarantee your phone will still be functional afterwards, of course…

1 comments | Read more...

It seems like a natural addition to every iPhone, isn't it? Making the Apple logo glow just like any MacBook cover. Still, this cool addition did not come form Apple (Although we have seen Apple protects it against companies that tried to sell such covers – so maybe it is coming in the future?). Anyways, here is a short video explaining how to build your own glowing Apple logo in your iPhone. No guarantee your phone will still be functional afterwards, of course…

Off-topic: Tribute to Wonder Woman

My kid is going through a "superheroes phase" claiming he is the real Spiderman, I'm Batman, his 1 year old brother is the Incredible Hulk, and his mom is… Wonder Woman…

Remember Wonder Woman? I'm sure you somehow relate this character with some stage of your youth. I used to watch the TV series as a kid.
She was impressive, beautiful, strong, quick, sharp, unstoppable – right?

Well, wait until you see this video (below)…
Things were probably a bit different back then; the human eye must have been moving slower, it didn't notice unreliable acting or bad quality actors. For some reason we believed those bad guys were actually trying to run away by…walking away?

Well, one thing haven't changed – and that is the fact that Lynda Carter was HOT.
(but slow! she moves soooo slooooooow!).

BTW, there is supposed to be a new version of Wonder Woman in a film which according to IMDB will be released around 2015.

4 comments | Read more...

My kid is going through a "superheroes phase" claiming he is the real Spiderman, I'm Batman, his 1 year old brother is the Incredible Hulk, and his mom is… Wonder Woman…

Remember Wonder Woman? I'm sure you somehow relate this character with some stage of your youth. I used to watch the TV series as a kid.
She was impressive, beautiful, strong, quick, sharp, unstoppable – right?

Well, wait until you see this video (below)…
Things were probably a bit different back then; the human eye must have been moving slower, it didn't notice unreliable acting or bad quality actors. For some reason we believed those bad guys were actually trying to run away by…walking away?

Well, one thing haven't changed – and that is the fact that Lynda Carter was HOT.
(but slow! she moves soooo slooooooow!).

BTW, there is supposed to be a new version of Wonder Woman in a film which according to IMDB will be released around 2015.

Kindle Fire Actual Sales Numbers Shows an iPad Problem

Analysts predict that the Kindle will grab half of Android tablet market in 2012. This is huge in terms of market share and will make Amazon the leader of the the Android tablets arena.

(and if my prediction will indeed happen, a leader in the entire tablets industry).

Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps expects to see 5 million Kindle Fire tablets sold this year.

But what about actual numbers?
(I would assume that if you follow me on twitter you would see them!)

Amazon do not typically exposes sales numbers but recently the company released the following press release indicating more than 3 million Kindle devices (notice they do not say what devices so it's probably all of the Kindle models including the Black & White ones) were sold in the last 3 weeks in a rate of 1 million Kindles per week! Numbers that if will remain, will help Kindle bypass all other tablets including… (horror sound effects)… the iPad…

Convinced that the Kindle Fire is your next tablet of choice?

I must admit I still have my doubts…

Read more in here:

Will Kindle Fire turn Android into the leading tablet OS?

Kindle Fire Will Grab Half of the Android Tablet Market, Analyst Predicts

Kindle Fire sales forecasts: 5M by end of year

Kindle Fire Singes iPad Sales; iPhone More Than Offsets

Mobile Spoon predicts: By mid 2012, Android will lead tablets market

4 comments | Read more...

Analysts predict that the Kindle will grab half of Android tablet market in 2012. This is huge in terms of market share and will make Amazon the leader of the the Android tablets arena.

(and if my prediction will indeed happen, a leader in the entire tablets industry).

Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps expects to see 5 million Kindle Fire tablets sold this year.

But what about actual numbers?
(I would assume that if you follow me on twitter you would see them!)

Amazon do not typically exposes sales numbers but recently the company released the following press release indicating more than 3 million Kindle devices (notice they do not say what devices so it's probably all of the Kindle models including the Black & White ones) were sold in the last 3 weeks in a rate of 1 million Kindles per week! Numbers that if will remain, will help Kindle bypass all other tablets including… (horror sound effects)… the iPad…

Convinced that the Kindle Fire is your next tablet of choice?

I must admit I still have my doubts…

Read more in here:

Will Kindle Fire turn Android into the leading tablet OS?

Kindle Fire Will Grab Half of the Android Tablet Market, Analyst Predicts

Kindle Fire sales forecasts: 5M by end of year

Kindle Fire Singes iPad Sales; iPhone More Than Offsets

Mobile Spoon predicts: By mid 2012, Android will lead tablets market

Consumers prefer iOS over Android, developers too…

Consumers prefer iOS over Android (yes, I know Android sells more, but believe me, it's all a matter of price, contracts, nothing more), and now we learn that developers prefer iOS as well.

According to Flurry Analytics, (never heard of them, did you?), 75% of all mobile software startups choose iOS (up from 63% in Q1, 2011).

The main reason is fragmentation. Understandable.

As the company I work for develops HTML5-based mobile applications, we have seen this fragmentation problem even in a browser-based application, where you would assume that the environment (Android Browser) should be fairly stable. But no, every different Android device has differences in the core operating system and also in the browser behavior. Examples vary between buggy keyboard behavior in Samsung devices to slightly different touch quality between devices which are felt well when implementing drawing tools, and other unexpected issues.

Android is a great platform, everyone agrees, but the number different versions of it is so bad for the ecosystem and developers are the first ones to know it.

1 comments | Read more...

Consumers prefer iOS over Android (yes, I know Android sells more, but believe me, it's all a matter of price, contracts, nothing more), and now we learn that developers prefer iOS as well.

According to Flurry Analytics, (never heard of them, did you?), 75% of all mobile software startups choose iOS (up from 63% in Q1, 2011).

The main reason is fragmentation. Understandable.

As the company I work for develops HTML5-based mobile applications, we have seen this fragmentation problem even in a browser-based application, where you would assume that the environment (Android Browser) should be fairly stable. But no, every different Android device has differences in the core operating system and also in the browser behavior. Examples vary between buggy keyboard behavior in Samsung devices to slightly different touch quality between devices which are felt well when implementing drawing tools, and other unexpected issues.

Android is a great platform, everyone agrees, but the number different versions of it is so bad for the ecosystem and developers are the first ones to know it.

Free App Alert: Photos Wall For iPhone

Photos Wall is a sweet little app that lets you place up to 10 pictures in one canvas and design their layouts based on predefined templates or a free style layout which can be edited manually.

It's cool. It is well made.
Perfect for pathetic parents like me who keep taking boring pictures of their kids and show them to poor people they run across.

Here are some screen samples:

1 comments | Read more... Photos Wall is a sweet little app that lets you place up to 10 pictures in one canvas and design their layouts based on predefined templates or a free style layout which can be edited manually.

It's cool. It is well made.
Perfect for pathetic parents like me who keep taking boring pictures of their kids and show them to poor people they run across.

Here are some screen samples:

10 Weirdest iPhone Cases You Should Definitely Try (Or Not…)

So here's the deal: for many of us, true gadgets fans, the fact that you need to wrap your sexy looking iPhone with a dumb goofy case is a fashion disaster; We better see our phone slip away to its' miserable death than hanging out with this piece of dirt magnet, crappy condom, wrapping our beloved one.

So just for you, the ones that just can't stand the iPhone "bumpers" – here are some unusual iPhone cases you should try (or not…).

They are all, by the way, based on real (weird) products.

Enjoy!

 

10 Weirdest iPhone Cases You Should Definitely Try:

 

"Need a hand?" case

OK, this one isn't that weird actually, who wouldn't want to have a hand tied up to the back of his iPhone?

---

 

Brown wooden box

Great model, one known issue (which is documented in the product documentation) – no slide to unlock support…

---

 

Old-style iPhone case

Not sure that one will fit your pocket, but I'm pretty sure it will get people to stare at you.

---

 

Robotector – the only Android that will protect your iPhone…

---

 

Ear-case

Why ear you ask?

Why not? (Not sure I follow the question…)

---

 

Chocolate bar

OK, just because you didn't like the ear thing, here's something more conservative: Chocolate bar styled iPhone case. Looks yummy.

---

Gun-style Case

---

 

iPhone Case with Cute-little… Balls

What? Why do you laugh?

Haven't you ever seen balls before? Common, we all have them. Stop being childish…

It's a metaphor; like Apple is grabbing us all in the balls… You know?

Metaphor…

---

 

Oh god, what is that?

It's a dead snake swallowing an iPhone after he gave him a proper sting!

---

Cassette-style iPhone Box

How cool is this one? I just loved using cassettes when I was a kid. It was way before the CD came and ruined the challenge of skipping a song and trying go straight to the next song without too many trials…

---

 

The Winning Case

OK, that was fun, but there could only be one winner, and I think it would be fair to say the iPhone balls case is pretty much weird enough and certainly funny, so let's enjoy another moment of pure quality content, here, at the mobile spoon:

If you have other weird cases you would like to share with us – feel free to comment and add links.

If you are searching for the best iPhone deals, Broadband Genie compares the cheapest online.

Technorati Tags: iPhone,iPhone Cases,iPad Cases

4 comments | Read more...

So here's the deal: for many of us, true gadgets fans, the fact that you need to wrap your sexy looking iPhone with a dumb goofy case is a fashion disaster; We better see our phone slip away to its' miserable death than hanging out with this piece of dirt magnet, crappy condom, wrapping our beloved one.

So just for you, the ones that just can't stand the iPhone "bumpers" – here are some unusual iPhone cases you should try (or not…).

They are all, by the way, based on real (weird) products.

Enjoy!

 

10 Weirdest iPhone Cases You Should Definitely Try:

 

"Need a hand?" case

OK, this one isn't that weird actually, who wouldn't want to have a hand tied up to the back of his iPhone?

---

 

Brown wooden box

Great model, one known issue (which is documented in the product documentation) – no slide to unlock support…

---

 

Old-style iPhone case

Not sure that one will fit your pocket, but I'm pretty sure it will get people to stare at you.

---

 

Robotector – the only Android that will protect your iPhone…

---

 

Ear-case

Why ear you ask?

Why not? (Not sure I follow the question…)

---

 

Chocolate bar

OK, just because you didn't like the ear thing, here's something more conservative: Chocolate bar styled iPhone case. Looks yummy.

---

Gun-style Case

---

 

iPhone Case with Cute-little… Balls

What? Why do you laugh?

Haven't you ever seen balls before? Common, we all have them. Stop being childish…

It's a metaphor; like Apple is grabbing us all in the balls… You know?

Metaphor…

---

 

Oh god, what is that?

It's a dead snake swallowing an iPhone after he gave him a proper sting!

---

Cassette-style iPhone Box

How cool is this one? I just loved using cassettes when I was a kid. It was way before the CD came and ruined the challenge of skipping a song and trying go straight to the next song without too many trials…

---

 

The Winning Case

OK, that was fun, but there could only be one winner, and I think it would be fair to say the iPhone balls case is pretty much weird enough and certainly funny, so let's enjoy another moment of pure quality content, here, at the mobile spoon:

If you have other weird cases you would like to share with us – feel free to comment and add links.

If you are searching for the best iPhone deals, Broadband Genie compares the cheapest online.

Technorati Tags: iPhone,iPhone Cases,iPad Cases

Free App Alert: Minigore for iPhone

I rarely play shooting games but I saw somewhere some recommendations for a game called Minigore and decided to give it a try.

Minigore is mostly about walking around and kill bad guys that are becoming bigger and harder to kill as you progress. It is well developed with sounds, scenes, and graphics.

The nice thing about this game is that it is extremely easy to navigate using the virtual joystick, something I cannot really say about too many games.

In addition, the weapon sounds, the automatic shooting are just too cool to ignore.

So as this game has recently gone free for a limiter time, I recommend you give it a try. It's fun, and hey, this is why I'm writing about it straight from my iPhone, to be able to continue playing.

Enjoy!

2 comments | Read more... I rarely play shooting games but I saw somewhere some recommendations for a game called Minigore and decided to give it a try.

Minigore is mostly about walking around and kill bad guys that are becoming bigger and harder to kill as you progress. It is well developed with sounds, scenes, and graphics.

The nice thing about this game is that it is extremely easy to navigate using the virtual joystick, something I cannot really say about too many games.

In addition, the weapon sounds, the automatic shooting are just too cool to ignore.

So as this game has recently gone free for a limiter time, I recommend you give it a try. It's fun, and hey, this is why I'm writing about it straight from my iPhone, to be able to continue playing.

Enjoy!