Google Play is greater in downloads but the App Store is where the revenue is at
Given the fact that Android hold a whole lot of market share and the massive amount of Android phones there are, it shouldn’t shock anyone that Google Play sees a whole hell of a lot more download activity than that of the App Store. You would think that because of this massive amounts of downloads the revenue would be greater, that’s were we would be wrong. It appears that revenue generated from the App Store far exceeds that of Google Play by more than 60 percent.
According to analysis by App Annie, both experienced considerable growth last year with the App Store revenues growing by more than $10 billion overall. The analysis also suggested that most of these revenues came from the US, Japan and South Korea. It also found that men were more likely to download gaming apps while women downloaded more social networking and photo apps.
To come up with these numbers App Annie analyzed data from over 90 of the top 100 app publishers with that information coming from more than 700,000 apps.
source: TUAW
via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: Google Play is greater in downloads but the App Store is where the revenue is at
iTunes Connect Issue Causing Developers to be Logged Into Wrong Accounts
A number of iTunes Connect developers have turned to Twitter and tipped us off about an ongoing issue where users are being shown someone else’s session after attempting to login into their own account. MacRumors has been able to duplicate this issue, which appears to be widespread and has been going on since at least 8 AM Pacific.
While other developer’s apps are displayed in the iTunes Connect dashboard, attempting to take further action results in an “unable to process request” error and a redirect to the proper account. Sales and payment information are also not accessible for the mismatched account. For some other users, iTunes Connect also appears to be experiencing issues with logging in. Apple has yet to comment on the matter. This post will be updated as further details become known.
HTC One M8 Android 5.0 Lollipop rolling out to European devices
European HTC One M8’s can rejoice in the fact that they should be receiving Android 5.0 Lollipop imminently.
HTC senior communications manager Jeff Gordon took to Twitter earlier today:
HTC One (M8) owners in Europe, have a sweet tooth this morning? Check your software updates!
— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) January 28, 2015
Hit that update button now to check to see if the Lollipop update is available for you.
The post HTC One M8 Android 5.0 Lollipop rolling out to European devices appeared first on AndroidGuys.
LG talks numbers too, posts strong mobile profits for 2014
LG may have only just missed out on the fifth place for shipments last quarter, but the company has still had a very profitable 2014, led by strong mobile growth. Operating profits for 2014 leapt to KRW 1.83 trillion (USD 1.73 billion) from KRW 1.25 trillion (USD 1.14 billion), an increase of 46 percent.
Fourth quarter revenue reached KRW 15.27 trillion (USD 14.06 billion) resulting in an operating profit of KRW 275.1 billion (USD 253.31 million), which works out to an increase of 28 percent YoY. For the full year, LG brought in revenue worth KRW 59.04 trillion (USD 55.91 billion), mainly thanks to strong growth in mobile shipments, which rose by 24 percent.
Looking a little closer at smartphones, LG shipped 59.1 million devices throughout 2014, which is pretty much what the company and analysts had expected. From this, mobile generated revenues for the year increased by 16 percent to KRW 15.06 trillion (USD 14.26 billion) and the company saw particularly strong growth in North America. Smartphone shipments increased 78 percent in Q4 2014, when compared with Q3 2014, which is one of the highest growth rates in the industry. Coupled with profits from LG Display, the company is holding strong in the increasingly competitive smartphone industry.
LG’s Home Entertainment Company also saw operating profits grow 31 percent year on year to KRW 509 billion (USD 482.01 million). The company’s Energy Solutions and Home Appliance companies also saw profits of KRW 255.1 billion (USD 241.57 million) and KRW 2.88 trillion (USD 2.65 billion) respectively, showing profits all around for the electronics company.
With the LG G Flex 2 and G4 heading our way in the first half of 2015 and a range of products to suit regional demands already on the market, LG looks to be in a strong position going forward into 2015.
Smartphone Futurology: The science behind your next phone’s processor and memory
The electronic brains behind the supercomputer in your pocket
Welcome to Smartphone Futurology. In this new series of science-filled articles, Mobile Nations guest contributor Shen Ye walks through current technologies in use within our phones, as well as the cutting-edge stuff still being developed in the lab. There’s quite a bit of science ahead, as a lot of the future discussions are based on scientific papers with a vast amount of technical jargon, but we’ve tried to keep things as plain and simple as possible. So if you want to dive deeper into just how the guts of your phone function, this is the series for you.
A new year brings the certainty of new devices to play with, and so it’s time to look ahead at what we might see in the smartphones of the future. The first instalment in the series covered what’s new in battery tech, while the second article looked at what’s next in the world of mobile displays. The series’ third part focuses on the electronic brains of our mobile devices — the SoC (system on a chip) and flash storage. The rise of smartphones, and fierce competition among rival manufacturers, has accelerated the pace of technological progress in both these areas. And we’re not done yet — there are ever wilder technologies on the horizon that may some day find their way into future devices. Read on to find out more.
Samsung Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S Edge will work with the Gear VR
The Gear VR might be a cool device, but it’s only compatible with the Galaxy Note 4. The S series is the most popular phone for Samsung so it’s no surprise that both the Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S Edge will be compatible. The question is how?
The Gear VR is configured to fit the Note 4, which has a 5.7-inch display. With the S6 rumored to sport a 5.1-inch display, Samsung might need to make another VR headset or the S6 will actually have a larger display than we thought. There is also the possibility that they would offer some sort of an adapter to fit it.
Let’s just hope they don’t plan on offering another VR headset specifically for the S6. That would be a disaster.
source: SamMobile
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S Edge will work with the Gear VR
Apple Launches Annual ‘Back to School’ Promotion in Australia and New Zealand [Mac Blog]
Apple’s annual “Back to School” promotion has returned to Australia and New Zealand, as spotted by 9to5Mac. The sale offers an Apple gift card worth between $25 to $100 to university students, students accepted to a university, parents buying for a university student and faculty that purchase a qualifying Mac, iPad or iPhone.
The list of qualifying products includes the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Eligible customers can combine the Back to School promotion with Apple Education Pricing for additional savings. The sale runs January 30 through March 19.
Apple holds a similar Back to School promotion in the United States during the summer months, offering Apple Store gift cards of equivalent amounts for new Mac, iPad and iPhone purchases. That sale typically runs from July through September and is also offered in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Accessory of the Day: 8GB MicroSD card, $4.99
Need just a little bit of memory? This 8GB MicroSD card from Kingston should fit the bill and at only $4.99 (Prime), it even comes with an SD adapter. Whether it’s for yourself, grandma, or the kids, this makes a perfect buy for low-volume users that need just a tad more storage.
Join Prime and get this deal with FREE two-day shipping!
Also worth checking out:
The post Accessory of the Day: 8GB MicroSD card, $4.99 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google Wallet Gmail integration arrives in the UK
Google Wallet users in the US may have been able to send money through Gmail for a while now, but the feature has only just made its way to the shores of the UK.
From today, UK Google Wallet users can begin sending money to email recipients, simply by clicking the little “£” symbol at the bottom of your composition. All that’s left to do is type in the amount, select the source for your funds and send. The system works even if the recipient doesn’t have a Gmail address.
When receiving money for the first time, users will need to set up a Google Wallet Balance and link up a debit card or bank account. After that, recipients can choose the method of redemption upon receipt, either adding the funds to their own Google Wallet account or depositing the amount straight into their bank account. There’s even an option to return the money if there has been a mistake.
This video from Google walks you through the process:
Unfortunately, Google’s mobile Wallet app still is not available in the UK. However, if this Gmail feature begins to see wider adoption, Google may choose to roll out its extended Wallet service in the country at a later date. Or at least we can hope.
Google will be rolling out the feature to all UK Gmail users, or at least those over the age of 18 years old, in the coming weeks, so don’t worry if the “£” icon doesn’t appear right away.
Increased Switcher Rate From Android to iPhone Appears Focused Outside the U.S. [iOS Blog]
Following Apple’s earnings call on Tuesday in which Tim Cook stated the company “saw more new customers to iPhone than we’ve ever seen before,” research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) today released (via Fortune) a report delving into the specifics of the Android-to-Apple switching statistics revealed by Apple.
Expectedly, the report – which surveyed 500 Apple device customers inside the U.S. only – notes most Apple iPhone users returned to the company with the newest iteration of the iPhone last year. But the rate of Android switchers migrating platforms to the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus wasn’t much changed.
CIRP notes that the rate of Android switchers has “varied seasonally, yet remained relatively consistent,” and this quarter’s U.S. numbers have the firm speculating the biggest rate of Android-to-Apple switching occurred outside of the U.S.
“Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus ‘experienced the highest Android switcher rate in any of the last three launches.’ The US switch rate for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch did increase relative to the iPhone 5S/5C launch a year ago, and was about the same as the iPhone 5 launch in 2012. This week, Apple emphasized the international strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch, so it appears that Apple enjoyed a much higher rate of Android switching outside the US than in the more mature US market,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP.”
Given Apple’s strong position in the smartphone market in the U.S., where there is a strong base of iPhone-to-iPhone upgrades and fewer from Android-to-iPhone, CIRP’s report probably isn’t too far off from fact. Apple’s smaller presence in emerging markets like China, where it has been seeing very strong growth thanks to a few notable partnerships and store openings in the country has likely fueled some overseas brand switching among previously loyal Android users.
AIVAnet 