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Get It and Forget It: Smartphone Users’ Fickle Taste for Their Apps

buxplode — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:00:06 +0000

People with iPhones or Android phones may download a lot of apps, but they tend to use very few of them after a while.

The lede of USA Today‘s business section one morning recently was startling: “Apps Rapidly Lose Their Appeal” was the headline over a story by Roger Yu. In the newspaper’s characteristically brisk style, the story summarized an abundance of information:

Faster data networks and fancier phones have steered more Americans to embrace the apps software craze born of our fondness for the computer-in-my-pocket. but like other shopping experiences done impulsively, the appeal of instantly downloading the latest apps — prompted by recommendations from neighbors, cousins, blogs and news stories — loses its luster quickly, industry data show.

For American adults, mobile phones are nearly a universal part of daily life. A report last summer from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project found that 83 percent of adults have some kind of cell phone, and over a third of Americans now have smart phones. An overview of the study showed how important mobile technology has become — 40 percent of those surveyed found cell phones were an important tool in an “emergency” situation (a car breakdown, for example). “Mobile phones have become a near-ubiquitous tool,” Pew concluded.

Among smartphone owners, nine out of 10 say they use them for text messaging or picture taking. A chart in the New York Times recently reported that, overall, the top app category in 2011 was weather (it was an especially turbulent year) followed by navigation tools, finance, sports, games, Facebook, and Twitter. the pervasiveness of the phones and the significant increase in smartphone use leads logically to the belief that apps must be increasingly important also.

While true, that turns out to be more complicated than you might expect. Anindya Datta, founder of Mobilewalla, an app analytic firm, told USA Today that there are about one million apps available for the four most popular mobile operating systems — Android, Apple, BlackBerry, and Microsoft — but only 10 percent of them have been “discovered.” another Pew report showed that half of cell phone users have apps, but only 16 percent of U.S. adults have ever paid for an app, and among those that own apps, only half report using them on a weekly basis. Kristen Purcell, the Pew researcher responsible for the most recent comprehensive report on apps, found that the overwhelming majority of smartphone users open five or fewer apps once a week, and that the novelty of apps tends to wear off relatively quickly.

nonetheless, the statistics on the spread of apps is impressive, and is now nearly double what it was in 2009. Pew’s report showed that the most commonly used apps are for the features that attracted us to the World Wide Web, e-mail, and mobile phones in the first place — getting news and other information and staying in touch. Purcell told philly.com that apps “are a significant departure from search engines and Web browsers, but the basic needs apps meet are not revolutionary. … While mobile apps are a fairly new approach to accessing online content,” she said, “the main functions they fill for users are the same we’ve seen with previous technologies–namely, information-gathering and communication. … the takeaway is that there are a lot of apps out there; only a handful have sticking power.”

Datta of Mobilewalla went further in his assessment of the tenuous nature of most apps: “We are constantly deleting them,” he told USA Today, “that’s why the number of downloads is a very poor measure of how popular an app is,” saying that 80 to 90 percent of apps are eventually deleted. the point is that, while the apps culture is expanding, it remains a distinct category of smartphone usage and not yet the overwhelming factor in communications it is assumed to be. In the closing months of 2011, Apple sold 37 million iPhones and about 15 million Android devices were purchased, according to a post written by Lindsey Tugman. but having a phone with app capacity and using it for that purpose “are two very different things,” Tugman wrote. “Less than half of that group [smartphone owners] say they use at least one app on a weekly basis. And that figure has declined over the past year despite the introduction of thousands upon thousands of new apps. It may be that smartphone users are more educated about what’s available and know what they want help with.”

the attraction and limitations of apps was underscored at the recent Digital Book World Conference in New York. A presenter from Forrester Research said that apps for book use are expensive to produce and have yet to demonstrate that they are a significant source of revenue. “The recipe for success is complex and elusive,” was the consensus judgment. but that does not foreclose the possibilities of creating apps that break through to a widespread and lucrative place in the digital ecosystem. Monica Bannan of Nielsen, the media research firm, told USA Today that Android and iPhone users spend about 90 minutes a day on their phones, largely on apps. And the fact that consumers tend to be fickle is a factor in the lively development of new options. Of the top 50 apps, one out of five is new each month. the highest grossing individual apps in 2011 were Angry Birds and Smurfs Village, according to Apple. A random sample of friends, family, and colleagues turned up an eclectic app assortment, including Instapaper, for storing longer articles; Epicurious, for recipes; and Words with Friends, a Scrabble-like word game. Will these hold their place in 2012? Possibly, but the odds in the developing app culture favor new hits, so be on the lookout for them.

Image: Reuters.

Android might win the race as it is attracting more first-time buyers than iOS, according to NPD research.

Apple was named the best-selling U.S. handset brand during the fourth quarter, according to a new report from the NPD Group.

However, the findings suggest that while iOS has won this battle, Android is really winning the war.

take a look at the graph below:

Not only do 48 percent of all smartphone buyers own Android smartphones (versus a close 43 percent on iOS), there is a much bigger disparity for first-time smartphone buyers. Android is attracting more than half of them at 57 percent, while Apple is considerably behind at 34 percent.

There are several possible contributing factors here. Ross Rubin, executive director, Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group, explained in the report that Android’s “large app selection” is appealing, and he also pointed towards “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”

another possible reason for Android’s success is that there are simply more buying options (i.e. pricing, features, carriers, etc.) provided by Google’s OEM partners than the three models offered by Apple (theiPhone 3G, 4, and 4S).

However, that strategy is a double-edged sword. The problem for Android here is its fragmentation situation, and that there is not a single mobile OEM brand (like Apple) that is securing such a majority of the market share.

for the most part, LG and Samsung are the leaders here–Samsung doing particularly well as it secured the top spot in the global smartphone market share in 2011 and continued its lead in the U.S. (according to ComScore) through December.

Nevertheless, while both Apple and Google have smartphone market successes to celebrate here, it really depends on how you want to look at the situation. Apple’s sales are impressive considering how few smartphones they offer and only release a new model each year, while Android controls the majority of the spectrum with many different OEM players rather than just one.

This story was originally published as “NPD: Android attracting more than half of new smartphone shoppers” on ZDNet’s Between the Lines.

AAPL, Fortune 500) to an all-time closing high of $509.46, shares have pulled back and are down more than 1% since Feb. 14.

Yes, the majority of Wall Street is bullish on the future of the iPhone and iPad maker’s stock, with a median price target of $592 — up almost 20% from its current price.

But at least one is betting against the company. Edward Zabitsky of ACI Research in Toronto has a "sell short" recommendation on Apple’s stock, targeting it at $270, down almost 50% from its current level.

The Apple bear argues that the strength of the iPhone can’t last forever. He thinks Google’s (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android 4.0, which debuted in November and is so far only available on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, will become a formidable rival.

"When [Android 4.0] is broadly available, it will change the playing field entirely," Zabitsky wrote in a research note Jan. 25, the day after Apple posted record iPhone sales for the fourth quarter.

He also noted that Samsung’s device will be more profitable since Samsung designs and manufactures between $60 and $80 worth of components in every Galaxy phone, while Apple only makes $25 worth for its iPhone 4S.

An even bigger reason Apple’s impressive run may not last is thanks to the development of HTML5 and 4G, said Zabitsky, which he says will improve the access and functionality of web apps. that will "mean the end of the closed app ecosystem" that Apple operates, which forces users to buy and download from Apple’s App store, he added.

"the Internet is a great equalizer," said Zabitsky. "it will level the playing field for other vendors with the rise of the true mobile broadband Internet."

While Apple is a highly popular stock among hedge funds, a few managers trimmed their stakes during the fourth quarter, when Apple shares climbed 6%.

According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital cut its Apple stake by more than a third, ending the year with only 350,000 shares of the company.

Tiger Global and Coatue Management each trimmed their investments in Apple by a little over 4% during the fourth quarter, but both hedge funds still own well over a million shares.

Kingdon Capital declined to comment on its holdings, while calls to Tiger Global and Coatue Management were not returned.

Meanwhile, mutual fund manager Kenneth Heebner of Capital Growth Management dumped all 406,000 shares of Apple it had purchased during the third quarter of 2011.

Capital Growth Management also declined to comment.

First Published: February 17, 2012: 7:35 AM ET

Facebook App For Android Gets Update !

How to Run Android Apps on Your PC

buxplode — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:00:10 +0000

As the popularity of smartphones and tablets increases, so will our dependence on the myriad apps available for them. Whether the end result is a hot game, a handy price checker, or a useful contact manager, the constraints of smartphone and tablet designs and interfaces have forced app developers to find creative ways to present and access data.

Unfortunately, most apps created for smartphones or tablets aren’t available for use on a PC. Some apps let you sync favorites or other personal data with a companion program or a somewhat equivalent application on a PC, but mobile apps and their PC counterparts are rarely the same.

Thankfully, Silicon Valley-based startup BlueStacks recently released an alpha version of what the company calls an app player–a PC program that enables users to download Android apps directly or transfer them from an Android-based smartphone or tablet to their PC. The BlueStacks app player essentially runs an instance of Android in a virtualized environment on the PC, so the apps act as though they’re running on a mobile device. If that’s something you’d like to try, here’s how to set it up.

Using the BlueStacks app player is relatively straightforward, but there are some quirks involved with getting apps from a mobile device to a PC which we’ll go into a little later. To use the BlueStacks app player, you must first download it from the BlueStacks website or from PCWorld’s Downloads Library. Then run the BlueStacks app player installation file, and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation. Keep in mind that the BlueStacks app player is still in the early phases of development, so you can expect some minor performance issues and perhaps a bug or two.

The alpha version of the BlueStacks app player will run full-screen on a Windows PC. Future versions of the player will run in a window and will even permit shortcuts directly to Android apps.

When the installation is complete, you’ll see a short video describing how the BlueStacks app player works and how you can access a few key features. Though the video doesn’t offer a ton of information, it’s worth watching to ease your learning curve. The BlueStacks app player isn’t terribly intrusive: It requires minimal space and consumes few system resources; but it does launch automatically with your PC, and it displays a status icon in the system tray. The app also connects automatically to BlueStacks servers. If you prefer not to have the player launch every time your PC boots up, you can disable the BlueStacks launcher via the Startup tab in the MSCONFIG tool (to access the tool, select run from the start menu, type msconfig, and press Enter).

Once you’ve installed the BlueStacks app player and configured it to your liking, you can start using the app player with the handful of apps preinstalled in it or with the few apps available for download within the BlueStacks ‘Add more apps’ channel. To access the downloadable apps however, you’ll have to register for a free BlueStacks account with either a working email address or a Facebook account. The main allure of the BlueStacks app player is its ability to send apps from your Android device to your PC via the company’s Cloud Connect mobile app and servers.

To use the Cloud Connect mobile app to transfer Android apps from your mobile device to your PC, you have to know your BlueStacks PIN. when you register an e-mail address or Facebook account with the BlueStacks app player, the service will link a personal identification number (PIN) to your account. This PIN appears as soon as you register, as well as when you click the ‘Cloud Connect’ link within the ‘Get More Apps’ tool in the BlueStacks app player. To transfer apps from your Android device, launch the Android Market on your Android tablet or smartphone, and search for BlueStacks Cloud Connect. Download and install the Cloud Connect app on your phone or tablet; don’t worry–it’s only 402KB. with that app in place, you can send any other app that’s installed on your mobile device to the BlueStacks app player on your PC. Essentially, the Cloud Connect app uploads selected apps from your phone to BlueStacks’ servers, where your PC can then access and download them to your PC.

Transferring apps from a mobile device to the BlueStacks app player involves entering a personal code assigned to your account during registration, to link the PC and mobile device through BlueStacks’ servers.

To use BlueStacks Cloud Connect, simply launch the app and select all of the Android apps on your device that you’d like to upload for transfer to your PC. Then click the Sync button at the top of the interface, and wait for the apps to upload (all of the apps installed on the mobile device will be listed). The uploaded apps should be visible in the BlueStacks app player on your PC when you launch the ‘Get More Apps’ tool.

Note that sometimes the BlueStacks app player doesn’t sync properly if it’s already open on your PC when the Cloud Connect app on your mobile device uploads data. we found during testing that, when this issue arose, restarting the BlueStacks app player always resolved it.

Once your apps are uploaded and the app player has notified you that they’re available, select get More Apps from your BlueStacks app player’s PC client and click the Cloud Connect link. From there, a screen should pop up that lists all of the apps you uploaded from your mobile device. Click the Subscribe button underneath each app, and you should be able to run your favorite Android apps from the app player on your PC.

To send your favorite mobile apps to the BlueStacks app player, select them in the BlueStacks Cloud Connect app on your phone or tablet, press the Sync button, and subscribe to them via the Cloud Connect menu link in the BlueStacks channel that opens when you click the ‘Get More Apps’ shortcut in the player.

App Store (for both iPhone and the iPad) and Android Market. In-house developed by ITWeb’s team of developers, led by technology director Sinisa Jovanovic, the apps provide access to all the latest IT and business news from ITWeb Online, while on the go.

“as a new media publisher, we must keep up with the changing needs and habits of our readers. we are fortunate to have an in-house team of top developers who have made our content available on all mobile platforms,” says Jovan Regasek, ITWeb founder and CEO. “we could have launched our apps much sooner, by outsourcing the development or buying off-the-shelf products. we prefer, however, to do all our application development in-house. It gives us freedom to innovate and full control over our applications.”

Launched in October last year, the apps are constantly being updated. according to Sinisa Jovanovic, technology director and head of software development at ITWeb, new features to look forward to are the addition of notifications and subscriptions for news or jobs alerts, as well as sharing capabilities for social media platforms.

Sticking to the iconic ITWeb colours of red, white and black, the apps offer a condensed version of the ITWeb online experience. Users can browse through content categories, including top news, editor’s choice, readers’ choice, world news, company news, industry insights, columns and video.

Under each category, the articles are easily scrollable via their headlines and blurbs, and readers have the ability to comment on articles via Disqus, just as on ITWeb’s Web site.

“we took a no-frills approach to make accessing ITWeb’s rich and abundant content quick and easy on any tablet or cellphone,” says Jovanovic.

Other apps currently available from ITWeb are the iPhone and iPad apps for subscribers of Brainstorm, the monthly magazine for industry decision-makers.

Coming soon, according to Sinisa Jovanovic, is the ITWeb Pro app that will offer a customisable mash of content from across ITWeb’s content offerings, including iWeek, Brainstorm, jobs from CareerWeb and blogs from my Digital Life.

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EON: Enhanced Online News)–GraphOn Corporation (OTCBB: GOJO), a leading worldwide developer of cloud application delivery and Web-enabling solutions, today announced its new GO-Global Android Client. Available for immediate delivery, the free Android Client app is used in conjunction with GraphOn’s GO-Global Windows Host solution to seamlessly deliver existing Windows applications to any tablet running Google’s Android operating system version 3.0 or later.

The GO-Global Windows Host solution provides instant and secure access to server-resident Windows applications from virtually any location, platform, and operating system. The solution delivers existing applications over LANs, WANs, VPNs, or the Internet for easy and secure remote access from cross-platform clients and mobile users anywhere – without the need to modify the applications.

“Android-powered tablet users can now view and interact with their favorite Windows programs using just their fingers,” said Eldad Eilam, president and chief operating officer. “Windows applications appear on the Android device just as though they were running locally, retaining all features and branding.”

Current GO-Global Windows Host customers can download the free Android Client app from Google’s Android Market at https://market.android.com/details?id=com.graphon.goglobal. Android users who are not currently using GO-Global, but wish to evaluate its capabilities, can download the GO-Global Android Client and then use the app to connect to GraphOn’s online demonstration server which is running several popular Windows applications.

“This is the second new product resulting from our recently unveiled mobile client initiative, which will allow for easy, cross-platform cloud delivery of Windows and Linux desktop applications to popular mobile platforms,” continued Eilam. “This past June we released our GO-Global iPad Client, which has been extremely popular with our customers. We anticipate a similar level of market excitement for our new Android Client.”

About GraphOn

Founded in 1996, GraphOn Corporation is a publicly traded company headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. The company is an innovator of cost-effective, advanced solutions that help customers access applications from anywhere. GraphOn’s high-performance software solutions provide fast application access, cross-platform connectivity, and a centralized architecture that delivers a dramatically lower cost of ownership. The company’s GO-Global solutions can be used with Microsoft (MSFT) Windows, IBM AIX, Oracle (ORCL) Solaris, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) HP-UX, Linux, Apple (AAPL) OS X and iOS, Google (GOOG) Android, and other operating systems. For more information, call 1-800-GRAPHON in the USA, +44-1344-206549 in Europe, or visit www.graphon.com or www.facebook.com/graphon.

This press release contains statements that are forward looking as that term is defined by the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. these statements are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results will differ due to factors such as shifts in customer demand, product shipment schedules, product mix, competitive products and pricing, technological shifts and other variables. Readers are referred to GraphOn’s most recent periodic and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

GraphOn and GO-Global are trademarks of GraphOn Corp. Other trademarks belong to their owners.

BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry’s largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, today announced its Android app was listed among the top eight apps for last week by app directory website Appolicious (www.appolicious.com).

“we are very proud of and thankful for the amount of positive feedback we have received from customers all over the world about our mobile applications”

in an article listing the Appolicious top apps of the week posted Feb. 3, social media freelance writer Kristen Nicole described Digi-Key’s Android app as a “niche search tool” and stated that “Digi-Key’s steady rise is a noteworthy example” of this type of app.

Nicole also listed the benefits of having Digi-Key’s Android app available whenever and wherever a person might need it:

“Geared towards engineers and gadget geeks, this Android app offers mobile access to Digi-Key’s entire inventory of in-stock electronic components. having a tinkerer for a boyfriend, I’ve been amazed at how often an app like this becomes a time-saving solution.”

“We are very proud of and thankful for the amount of positive feedback we have received from customers all over the world about our mobile applications,” said John Collins, Digi-Key’s vice president of IT and CIO. “We continually strive to keep the customer’s productivity and efficiency in mind as we develop new assets in new technologies. Feedback like this continues to fuel our drive to create even better innovations for our customers.”

Digi-Key’s mobile app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system launched in February 2010. Digi-Key’s Android app launched in September 2010. both versions provide instant access to the industry’s largest selection of electronic components in stock. this application is designed to help engineers, purchasers and technologists source the electronic components they need, the data for those parts, and other Digi-Key resources anytime, anywhere.

To download the Digi-Key iPhone app, visit the AppStore from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch mobile device.

To download the Digi-Key Android app, visit the Android Market from your Android mobile device and search for “Digi-Key.”

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As the leading integrated Internet-based distributor of electronic components, information about and inventory of millions of products is accessible to customers around the globe, with all products shipped from Digi-Key’s single, North American location. The company’s integrated business model provides product and support information online to help put engineers and procurement professionals in control as they solve tough product development challenges.

The company’s online offerings and resources include: an interactive online catalog; PTM® product training modules; TechZoneSM technology zones; Another Geek Moment videos; Digi-Key toolbar; PurchasingProSM for electronics buyers; TechXchangeSM; a Mobile and Social Center; the Scheme-it online schematic design tool; and a Reference Design Library.

About Digi-Key Corporation

As one of the world’s leading, totally integrated, Internet-based distributors of electronic components, Digi-Key Corporation has earned its reputation as an industry leader through its total commitment to service and performance. Digi-Key is a full-service provider of both prototype/design and production quantities of electronic components, offering more than two million products from over 500 quality name-brand manufacturers at www.digikey.com. a testament to Digi-Key’s unparalleled commitment to service, North American design engineers have ranked Digi-Key as the #1 Most Preferred Distributor (UBM/EE|Times Distributor Customer Preference Study/June 2011). with global sales for 2011 surpassing $1.5 billion, Digi-Key’s single location in North America is one of its greatest assets. Additional information and access to Digi-Key’s broad product offering is available at www.digikey.com.

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Android got a major update today, boosting its performance and adding a couple of significant features designed to improve your social networking experience.

Overall, the app runs a lot faster, and scrolling through the Stream is easier, as posts are truncated so you can see more content per scroll. Also, the app no longer jumps to the top of the feed when it refreshes, making it less, well, annoying.

As for features, the app now lets you see who +1′d a post or comment. Previously you could only see the number of +1′s, but now you can tap the number to bring up a window listing the users who +1′d.

(Credit:Screenshot by Jaymar Cabebe | CNET)

The other big addition is the What’s Hot section of the Stream, located just a swipe away from your All Circles feed. What’s Hot is similar to Twitter’s Trending Topics, in that it shows you which posts on Google+ are attracting the most activity.

(Credit:Screenshot by Jaymar Cabebe | CNET)

The newly updated Google+ (download) is available now in the Android Market.

PhatPad for Android, a note-taking and collaboration app featuring PhatWare’s proven handwriting recognition technology. PhatPad, which has already gained a significant following among iPad users, now will turn an Android Tablet or Smartphone into an advanced brainstorming tool by enabling users to draw, write, and type on the Android device, then instantly share ideas via email, WiFi, and Dropbox.

PhatPad’s key features include:

Smooth-flowing digital ink technology which lets Android tablet and smartphone users scribble notes as if they are writing on real paper
the ability to combine drawing, handwritten text, images, and digital text on the same document page as well as voice notes to create media-rich content
A powerful handwriting recognition engine, which automatically converts handwritten notes into text
Document sharing using Dropbox synchronization, PDF, WiFi, and email
Voice notes – record, play, and use in presentation mode
Scroll, zoom and variable page size

“The beauty of PhatPad as a note-taking, collaboration and brainstorming tool is that it allows users to draw pictures, jot notes, or put a mixture of pictures, drawings, handwritten and typed text on a virtual scratch pad,” said Stan Miasnikov, president of PhatWare Corp. “PhatPad’s handwriting recognition engine allows users to convert previously recorded handwritten notes into digital text, and edit text using either the handwriting input panel or the keyboard.”

With a version of PhatPad also available on iPad devices, PhatPad documents can be shared between iOS and Android platforms. PhatPad for Android is also compatible with older PhatPad for Windows file format (.pmi) allowing to open legacy documents.

PhatPad Availability and Pricing

PhatPad for Android is available in the Google Market Store and other PhatWare authorized resellers for the special introductory price of only $4.99 (regular price is $7.99). A free 24 hours trial version of PhatPad is also available and can be downloaded from PhatWare web site. for more information about PhatPad, visit PhatWare’s web site at www.phatware.com/phatpad.

Founded in October 1997, PhatWare Corporation is a leading provider of easy to use powerful software products and professional services for the mobile and desktop computing marketplace. PhatWare specializes in handwriting recognition, digital ink, note taking and database, and network management software development. PhatWare’s products include such popular titles as CalliGrapher®, PenOffice®, PhatNotes™, PhatPad™, WritePad™, and others. PhatWare Corporation is a Microsoft Certified Partner, and Intel Software Partner. To learn more about PhatWare, visit www.phatware.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/2/prweb9181896.htm