We have all seen some really cool OSs and UIs come and go. These guys though have a living working UI that runs on top of Android. These are the guys who worked on the BlackBerry PlayBook UI, Ottawa based tech firm Teknision. Their vision is truly unique and I wanted to show their Kickstarter page and video :

Once in a while there are some cool projects that I really think are worth giving a shout out to.

Hope you make it guys.

Alternate app store Appia has added advertiser support for downloads on Google Play and a new pay per install advertising service, which it said is “delivered across the company’s massive global app distribution network.”

The company said that through its Appia Ad Network, which enables developers to target more than 500 million mobile consumers worldwide, Android publishers can now drive user activations through pay per download, pay per install, and organic operator app store downloads.

According to Appia, since the launch of its pay per download service last April, it has increased the reach of its network by more than 250 percent. It said that it has “forged relationships with major distribution partners across leading carriers, mobile publishers, ad networks, and app monetisation platforms, delivering more than 15 million sponsored app installs over the last 12 months, and more than 400 million downloads since its inception.”

The company said that all of its install traffic is non-incentivised, delivering higher-quality, more engaged users.

Japanese telco NTT Docomo today announced a move to grow its content business outside of Japan: it issued a tender offer to acquire Buongiorno, a mobile content company based in Italy, paying up to ¥24 billion ($300 million) for the assets.

The deal would see Buongiorno become a subsidiary of NTT Docomo.

DoCoMo has already made moves in the past to venture out of Japan when about a decade ago it launched the imode model in Europe and Asia. Having worked on this myself in France, Italy, Holland, the UK and Ireland it was really an interesting model. Not that far away from what the market looks like today actually. But iPhone and Android eventually killed imode off with their superior technology.

Buongiorno is one of the oldest mobile content companies around, first being established back in 1999 and currently employing 848 people. And it is profitable: in 2011 it reported revenues of €228.6 million (¥24.52 billion; $295 million) and operating profit of €7 million (¥7.5 billion; $9 million).

Its services — which include a sprawling list of direct-to-consumer offerings and those it creates in partnership with carriers and others — cover gaming, music, casual content like wallpapers and ringtones, and mobile payments. Its services are used by some 2 billion customers in 57 countries across four continents, the company says, and you can see how this distribution channel could get used by DoCoMo for the services that it has created itself, in addition to those from Buongiorno.

I feel that this is though still probably a cash cow is on the down turn like all the SMS and VAS providers. But that is just my take on the subject.

SellARing’s ad network basically allows apps using their SDk to replace the familiar “ring ring” sound you hear after dialing a number with a selection of 10-second audio ads.

We all have smaller computers in our pockets in the form of smartphones and yet still need to print from giant printers on A4 paper. And now that is about to change with this awesome little printer.

Thanks to the great folks at BERG.

A Leap Wireless executive said the carrier is currently evaluating various mobile wallet products, including Isis and Google Wallet, and will likely jump into the space rapidly.

“It does seem like a reasonable area for us to be in,” said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president of Leap’s devices business, at the CTIA Wireless show. Stoiber said the Cricket provider has formed a team to evaluate Google Wallet, Isis and other mobile payment efforts, and that the carrier will make a decision on the topic at some point.

The news is notable considering the growing interest in the space, which promises to allow users to replace wallets and pocketbooks with smartphones. Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA are putting their weight behind the Isis joint venture, which was first announced in late 2010 and will begin consumer tests in the Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas markets later this year. Meanwhile, Sprint has sided with Google for the search giant’s rival Google Wallet service, and is installing the product on its Android smartphones. Most mobile wallet services, including Isis and Google Wallet, rely on a Near Field Communications connection between a payment terminal and a phone containing credit card information.

Indeed, some believe the mobile payments space will boom in the coming years. When questioned during the CTIA show what the next big thing will be in the wireless industry, AT&T Mobility Chief Ralph de la Vega pointed to mobile payments. He said the segment will “flourish” by the end of next year.

I came across this article here.

I am not particularly against Windows Phone.. but well just saying :

WP7.5 (Mango) is already in its second generation but it still has many restrictions, limitations and serious usability issues. This is a list of its shortcomings as compared with other smartphone OS in the market. We are not comparing special features or abilities but those which have become the norm for all smartphones and even dumb phones. An Android, Symbian or MeeGo phone would have almost none of these shortcomings. An iphone share some restrictions with WP7.5 but is still miles ahead. Even the Nokia N9 running the first generation MeeGo OS is far better with none of the disastrous issues which impact on the sheer usability of the phone.

Note: Some manufacturers may add their own provisions to overcome some of the shortcomings but they are not part of the OS and are applicable only to their specific models. The Nokia Lumia has no special add-ons so this list is generally applicable to the Lumia.

OS LIMITATIONS
1. No true multitasking – apps are frozen in the background.
2. No Divx/Xvid video codec support. Zune will convert with loss of quality.
3. No mass storage mode.
4. No micro-SD card support.
5. Only support up to 16GB storage .
6. No filemanager. Directory system is totally opaque.
7. Need Zune to transfer files. Zune will only transfer photos, videos & music. All other files need to email/upload to yourself.
8. Your contact details are automatically uploaded to cloud service whether you like it or not.
9. Limited to 800×480 resolution.
10. No wi-fi hotspot.
11. Cannot use any MP3 file as ringtone except those with strict constraints.
12. Cannot set static IP address so no connection to ad-hoc networks.
13. No VPN support for this “corporate enterprise” phone.
14. Cannot sync with Outlook.
15. Totally closed OS, cannot sideload apps outside MS Marketplace.
16. System font size cannot be changed.
17. Images and photos cannot be renamed in the phone.
18. Windows Live ID account cannot change country once set.
19. No centralized notification page.
20. Alarm clock cannot work when phone is turned off. All Nokia Symbian and Meego phones can do this.
21. The idle screen is completely blank and cannot display time or notifications.
22. Only photos allowed as email attachments, documents not allowed.
23. Bluetooth cannot stream to car audio devices (no rSAP).
24. Cannot stream audio from video to Bluetooth devices (No A2DP).
25. No support for full on-device encryption required for secure applications like mobile banking and online payment.
26. Cannot use Bluetooth keyboard.
27. Cannot silence ringtone or alarm by flipping the phone.
28. Very limited customization option.
29. Ugly 2D flat interface. Oversized fonts for headings treat you like an idiot.

USABILITY ISSUES
30. No always visible status bar for battery life, signal strength, carrier, 2G/3G wi-fi, Bluetooth on.
31. Taskmanager has no option to shut down apps you don’t want running in the background.
32. Search and Back button cannot be de-activated in apps or games and easily touched by accident which interrupt your user experience.
33. Lockscreen need to be activated to show missed call/sms notification.
34. No way to close an app except pressing back button all the way to the first screen.
35. Tiny fonts in messages is very hard to read for those over 45.
36. Cannot edit playlist or create new playlists from phone.
37. Cannot delete a song from phone.
38. Cannot search your music collection on the phone.
39. Cannot close music player, can only pause. Music player on lockscreen will stay until you reboot.
40. No progress bar for current track playing and no indication which track in an album is playing
41. Cannot lock screen orientation.
42. Online and phone contacts are mixed together with no ability to filter.
43. Cumbersome dialing with no smartdial. No way to create a ‘Favourites’ list of phone contacts
44. Cannot save draft sms messages.
45. Call history only show phone number type. If a contact has multiple phone nos. for a type the number used is unknown.
46. Cannot recognize phone numbers in sms or email to save or use as calling number.
47. Text messages can only be deleted one by one.
48. Cannot select multiple pictures for deleting, sending or uploading. They must be done one at a time.
49. Notification for recurring events is only given once and none thereafter.
50. Apps are listed alphabetically with no way to group by category. Can be hard to find if you don’t remember the name.
51. Calendar scheduler has no weekly view and monthly view is non-zoomable.
52. No peak/off-peak scheduling for email downloads.
53. If both wi-fi and data connection are available which one it chooses to use is unpredictable. User experiences don’t agree with Microsoft that it “typically” choose wi-fi over 3G.

FEATURE LIMITATIONS
54. No video call.
55. No haptic feedback for keyboard.
56. No Swype.
57. No flashplayer support.
58. No support for Java apps.
59. No call recording or app to do it.
60. No call blocking or app to do it.
61. No screenshots or app to do it.
62. No auto wallpaper changer and no app to do it.
63. Totally locked down os means apps which interact directly with hardware not allowed.
64. No equalizer for Zune music player.
65. FM radio doesn’t work on speaker.
66. IE browser has no text reflow, no download capability and no offline reading.
67. No 3rd party browsers allowed except those based on IE.
68. No built-in pdf file reader, need to buy app.
69. Cannot open zip or rar files received as email attachment.
70. Cannot send or receive video by MMS.
71. Office Mobile has much less features than 3rd party Office editors like SmartOffice, QuickOffice and Polaris. Shame on you, Microsoft!
72. No native Google maps and Bing maps is useless for most countries outside U.S.
73. Email time stamp does not show the year.
74. Wide difference in apps availability in different markets and users locked to one market.
75. Not all Bing features available outside U.S.

DUMB AND DUMBER
76. One volume control for all functions including media playback, ringtones, alarms, notifications.
77. Wi-fi disconnects when screen sleeps. Too bad if you are in the middle of a download.
78. If you receive a text message when talking on the phone an audio alert will blast your ear at the full volume set. All other phones will give a soft beep.
79. Can only enter one mobile phone no. for each contact. Mobile nos. entered in other fields will not accept sms.
80. Cannot send/receive MMS without enabling 3G data connection. MMS does not use 3G data.
81. Phone cannot be charged when off.
82. Need to be plugged in to wall charger to sync wirelessly (a funny definition of wireless).
83. Volume up/down buttons cannot operate when screen is off.
84. Phone will wake up and display sms content on lockscreen when locked – a privacy violation.
85. Phone can be rebooted without unlocking to bypass security lock.

FEATURES EVEN DUMB PHONES HAVE BUT WP7.5 DOESN’T
86. No bluetooth file transfer.
87. Cannot handle USSD codes necessary for prepaid users to obtain services.
88. Cannot save new contacts from call history.
89. Cannot sms contacts from call history.
90. Cannot show call duration in call history.
91. No way to edit MMS profile for Operators in the OS. Need an app which is not available in all markets.
92. Call history does not group calls by contact.
93. Call history does not show the time of call for calls older than current day.
94. Cannot set custom sounds for different types of notifications.
95. No ringer profiles.
96. No silent option (no vibrate and no ring).
97. Cannot send/receive contact as a csv file.
98. Cannot backup sms to PC.
99. Cannot save contact to SIM card.
100. Cannot change alarm ring tone or use a MP3 file.
101. Cannot set alarm snooze interval.

Edit: No. 91 has been amended as it is now possible to delete individual calls in call history with an update so this has been dropped.

América Móvil’s U.S. MVNO, TracFone, announced it purchased T-Mobile USA MVNO Simple Mobile. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TracFone is the nation’s largest MVNO with around 20.1 million subscribers. TracFone said Simple Mobile counts 1 million subscribers.

During a meeting yesterday at the CTIA Wireless trade show here (before the TracFone deal was announced), Simple Mobile’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Tim Garrett said the MVNO has recorded 2.5 million device activations.

Simple Mobile operates a “SIM-only” business; the MVNO doesn’t sell phones, but offers SIM cards with service to those who bring their own phones to the carrier. Garrett said around 60 percent of the MVNO’s subscribers bring their own phone to the service; the rest purchase phones through the distributors that Simple Mobile is allied with. Garrett said the T-Mobile myTouch phone is one of Simple Mobile’s most popular devices.

Interestingly, TracFone recently launched its own SIM-only service.

Simple Mobile offers unlimited data services, along with unlimited talk and text, for $60 per month. Garrett explained that the carrier’s service isn’t completely unlimited–he said the MVNO monitors customers’ data usage and will take action against those it considers excessive data users, but does so on a case-by-case basis.

Garrett said Simple Mobile was in the process of expanding its marketing efforts from large markets like Miami and Los Angeles to smaller markets like Detroit, Washington D.C. and elsewhere. It’s unclear how TracFone will integrate the company; TracFone executives typically don’t respond to questions from the media. The company was not immediately available to comment on the news.

“The acquisition will add important new distribution channels for América Móvil and is likely the first step in a broadening strategy,” wrote BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk, who estimated that T-Mobile owned 30 percent of Simple Mobile but will not move to  block the transaction.

Piecyk wrote that part of the reason that TracFone was attracted to Simple Mobile was due to support for the iPhone. Before the acquisition was announced, Simple Mobile’s Garrett said that the company was preparing for a change in T-Mobile’s network later this year that would allow Simple Mobile to deliver HSPA services to unlocked iPhones. T-Mobile plans to provide HSPA services over its 1900 MHz spectrum later this year, a move that will allow users with unlocked iPhones to move to T-Mobile’s network and make use of its HSPA speeds. Currently, iPhone users can only make use of T-Mobile’s EDGE speeds.

TracFone operates a number of MVNO brands across the networks of top U.S. wireless carriers like Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S). The company’s prepaid MVNO brands include Straight Talk, Net10 and others. During its first quarter, América Móvil said TracFone reported total revenue of $1.1 billion for the quarter, up 24.4 percent from the year-ago period. The company said service revenues climbed by a similar margin to $970 million. The unit’s EBITDA more than doubled from the year-ago period to $140 million. TracFone’s average revenue per user in the first quarter climbed to $16, from $14 in the first quarter of 2011.

We have been expecting something for a few weeks now.. and here it is Samsung acquires cloud services firm mSpot.

The mSpot platform makes available to its users branded streaming music and movie services optimized for a range of mobile devices and operating systems including Apple’s  iOS and Google’s Android. The free mSpot app for Android enables users to upload their digital music library to a personal cloud locker to stream songs on the go or cache favorites for offline listening; the app also features lyrics, live album art wallpaper and an equalizer. mSpot offers the first 5GB (about 4000 songs) for free, with larger storage plans available for purchase. The company also generates revenues from premium rental fees tied to its mSpot Movies app.

This move is obviously to increase the breadth of music, video and radio content available across Samsung’s devices. They did not disclose financial details of the deal, but estimates go for  a price tage of around $8.8 million.

Samsung said it will integrate mSpot services directly into future smartphones and tablets. mSpot also offers white-labeled cloud entertainment services across operators including Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel ; The San Jose Mercury News reports mSpot will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary, with the white-label partnerships remaining intact.

The mSpot acquisition follows a week after Samsung expanded its Music Hub streaming service to include a scan-and-match feature enabling consumers to access their digital music library across multiple platforms and devices.

Available for download from the Samsung Apps storefront, the subscription-based Music Hub app offers unlimited streaming access, allowing users to browse and search for content by applying filters like new releases, genres, artists and chart rankings. Music Hub streams tracks via Wi-Fi or 3G connection; in addition to Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets, the service is compatible with the manufacturer’s Smart TVs and Home Theatre systems, as well as the desktop.

Music Hub costs $9.99 per month for streaming to one device or $12.99 per month to as many as four devices. The scan-and-match tool is offered free with a paid subscription; by comparison, Apple offers iTunes Match at $24.99 per year

Everyone is focused on smartphones and how they will change the future of mobile apps, but the guys at research2guidance have come up with the proposition that the future of mobile apps will actually be lead by tablets and not smartphones.
research2guidance says in its press release “ the global installed base of app consumers increased by 104% between 2010 and 2011.” Even though the installed base of smartphones increased by nearly 274 million, tablets were the fastest growing segment. The number of new tablet app consumers increased by 58 million. As a result, tablet owners now constitute 8.6% of the installed app consumer base.

According to several sources Q2 projections for tablet shipments in 2012, estimates that the installed base of tablet users is set to increase more than 150% by 2013.  In other words since more and more customers own tablets and therefore become a larger part of the app downloading segment, then their wants and needs will have an increasing influence on the app market. According to the guys at research2guidance  ”tablet users exhibit different behaviour towards app downloading/usage and mobile browsing than smartphone users”, therefore tablet user growth is likely to have a marked effect on consumption in these areas.