GigaOM » operating systems

Where new opportunity lies in the mobile operating system space

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:55:09 +0000

Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google. This report will examine the most noteworthy of these new operating systems, Blackberry 10, Firefox, Tizen, and others. It will also document their competitive advantages and disadvantages and gauge what their chances of success — or even true disruption — might be.

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Mobile first-quarter 2013: analysis and outlook

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 06:55:19 +0000

The mobile platform wars escalated once again in the first quarter of 2012 as BlackBerry finally took the wraps off its much-anticipated new operating system. Meanwhile Android continued to build on its dominance both worldwide and in the U.S., cementing a two-horse race with Apple.

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Free 90-day trial of Windows 8 arrives; I’m updating a Windows 7 tablet

Kevin C. Tofel — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:58:32 +0000

Although Windows 8 and new devices that run it won’t hit stores until Oct. 26, Microsoft is ready to show off the new software. Earlier this month, the company released the final version of its operating system to computer makers, and on Wednesday it followed up with a download for evaluation. Anyone can grab the software and use it for 90 days at no charge.

The final builds are available for download here, but my life was made a little easier: Today I received a USB stick from Microsoft with an installation that won’t expire, along with a license to review the software. A few weeks ago, the company also sent me a loaner kit comprised of a Samsung Windows 7 slate, dock, keyboard and mouse, all of which turns the tablet into a full desktop solution. I’ll be upgrading Windows on that device for my tests and putting aside my daily device; current a Google Chromebook.

Granted, I’m very interested in trying out the new Microsoft Surface tablet, as well as new Windows RT slates from Asus, Samsung, Lenovo and Dell, so my testing will really be on the software, not the hardware. From my usage so far on a netbook, the new Windows 8 interface will likely appeal more to those with a touchscreen device, but it is usable with mouse and keyboard.

For those who take advantage of the free Windows 8 evaluation, Microsoft recommends running it in a virtual machine or on its own partition on your PC because this edition can’t be upgraded to the full version. This is simply a first-look for a short amount of time and it’s a smart move by Microsoft: The company can build buzz early for its new operating system in advance of the actual launch.

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Consumer privacy in the mobile advertising era

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:18:28 +0000

Smartphones can enable an amazing level of connectivity, but they can also allow that activity to be monitored and used in controversial ways. But for mobile marketing to realize its full potential, consumers may need to sacrifice their privacy to one degree or another. This report is intended for every link in the mobile-marketing chain, from app and web developers to advertisers to providers of mobile operating systems. It examines the innate trade-offs between consumer privacy and successful business models that leverage potentially sensitive user information, and it details existing and pending regulations that will shape the growth of mobile advertising and marketing. Finally, the report offers suggestions and best practices that will help every player in the value chain tap the market.

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Takeaways from mobile’s second quarter

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 06:55:19 +0000

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The evolution of consumer-media cloud storage

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 06:55:30 +0000

Currently the biggest investments in the business of consumer media cloud storage have come from major consumer-facing platform providers. These players see cloud-based media services both as a way to increase attachment to their platforms and a means to extend and amplify their broader strategic goals. For this report we profile Apple, Google and Amazon, specifically. Each is pursuing a distinct approach to storing media in the cloud, and this report examines those strategies as well as the future prospects for each company.

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Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:55:44 +0000

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Tablet market to hit over 377 million units by 2016

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:34:21 +0000

Tablets represent the next evolution in the advancement of mobile computing. This report summarizes the current state of that market and provides a detailed five-year forecast of estimated sales by vendor, operating system platform, region, form factor, embedded wireless and consumer vs. enterprise. The tablet market is forecast to be slightly over 377 million units by 2016. Android is expected to have the overall leading market share, but Apple is expected to continue to lead the share by vendor.

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For Apple, the Lion roars: Some stats you might like

Om Malik — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:32:09 +0000

Apple on Thursday released a developer edition of Mountain Lion, the next upgrade of it’s operating system that will go on sale sometime in summer this year. As part of the news, the company shared some metrics about OS X Lion (version 10.7). For instance, the operating system that was released in July 2011 has so far shipped 19 million copies.

According to Apple, about 20 30 percent of Mac users are currently using Lion, while 50 percent of Mac owners are using Snow Leopard. The brisk sales of Mac machines over past two quarters — 10.1 million in the past two quarters — has helped the penetration of OSX Lion.

The company also touted its Mac App Store as a success and added that more than a 100 million apps have been downloaded from the store. OS X Lion was the biggest test for digital downloads and the company had pushed hard to make Lion downloadable from its app store. It sold a million copies of the software within a week of the release of the OS.

Apple has seen a nice bump in sales for its own software — iLife, iWork, FinalCut Pro and others — as a result of the growing popularity of the app store. Nearly 25 percent of the apps in the Mac App Store are games, indicating that Mac is becoming a major force in desktop gaming as well. With the upcoming version — Mountain Lion — which supports cross-platform gaming via GameCenter, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mac and its hardware brethren start to get more attention from the game development community.

For more information on Mountain Lion, read Erica Ogg’s news report on OS X Mountain Lion.

Updated: I had incorrectly mentioned that Lion OS-X share was 20 percent when in reality it is 30 percent as per Apple. The error is deeply regretted.

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Nokia Design Chief: We’re Developing A Windows Phone With NFC Technology

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:27:01 +0000

Nokia is working on a Windows Phone model that incorporates NFC (Near Field Communications) technology to connect to external accessories – and is even considering versions with wireless charging, its design chief has indicated in an exclusive interview.

The company is also working closely with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), which is providing the software for its new top-end smartphones, to co-ordinate software details such as tile colours to match its hardware accessories, Marko Ahtisaari, Nokia’s head of design, told the Guardian.

New versions of the Lumia design, introduced to showcase Windows Phone in November, will also remove the flip-up plastic tab that presently covers the micro-USB charger for the phone – one of just two moving parts on the Lumia 800 phone.

“If you can take away a moving part and make it [the phone] more beautiful in the placement of the components, we’ll do it, so that’s something where we can certainly keep improving,” Ahtisaari told the Guardian. “Take it to the extreme, and why are there any connectors?”

Ahtisaari is extremely influential within Nokia (NYSE: NOK), having been appointed last week to its leadership team, reporting directly to chief executive Stephen Elop.The removal of the USB connector would imply the use of wireless charging – a system that has already been demonstrated by products such as HP’s TouchPad, which had a wireless charging system. A Nokia spokesman said the company declined to comment on future product features.

Speaking in Nokia’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland, earlier this month, Ahtisaari said that new elements will “ship with the product that we will ship in the future”. Nokia already has “open NFC” incorporated into a number of its smartphones to enable rapid, password-free setup of Bluetooth pairing between phones and accessories such as speakers and headsets.

Although current versions of Windows Phone do not include NFC elements, Microsoft has indicated that it could be included in versions shipping by October 2012. And Elop also said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that although the current Windows Phone Lumia models – the 800 and 900 – do not have NFC, “it is growing in importance, and I personally believe in it”.

NFC “open” allows Bluetooth pairing without the use of password by tapping the devices to be paired together: an exchange of electronic tokens takes place, so that Bluetooth connection – for a hi-fi, speakers or headset – can occur within seconds with virtually no other interaction. Current secure Bluetooth pairing otherwise requires the user to enter a password of up to eight digits.

Nokia has shipped more than a million Lumia phones since introducing them in November. The company decided to abandon its Symbian platform for high-end smartphones in January 2011 after Elop decided it could not compete against Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating systems.

He also suggested that touchscreen interaction is in its very early days, comparing it to the early days of the automobile: “In the 1880s in the car industry cars had tillers – it took 15 years to agree on the steering wheel controlling the front wheels. We’re in the middle of that part of the evolution of interaction.”

Charles Arthur’s trip to Finland was paid for by Finnfacts, an independent media service organisation that provides contacts between international media and Finnish business.

This article originally appeared in MediaGuardian.

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