f people are buying through online retail sites on mobile, they’re most likely doing so on Apple devices, according to a new report. iPads and iPhones accounted for over 92 percent of online retail not originating from a desktop device in December, according to the study. Read more »
Apple’s plans for a 7-inch iPad are a very hot topic heading into the new year, but they may not bear any tangible fruit for consumers in 2012. A Wedge Partners analyst doesn’t think it’s in the cards. Instead, Apple might offer a cheaper iPad 2. Read more »
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone, aimed at mobile gamers, has a new twist that could add more appeal: OnLive’s cloud gaming service now supports the slide-out gaming controls on the Android smartphone. Touchscreens certainly work for games, but button-mashing is best done on…. buttons. Read more »
Apple has finally made it very clear exactly which media content can be made available in the cloud in which countries for Automatic Downloads and Apple TV streaming, as well as listing the 17 countries where iTunes Match is available. Read more »
Which stories dominated the green GigaOM clicks in 2011? This year was filled with smart thermostats, a dream of Apple getting into solar, the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the efficiency of cloud computing, Google’s green data centers and Tesla’s Model S. Read more »
“Cloud first” markets — those where companies’ first serious engagements with information technology are in the form of cloud computing — are beginning to emerge. For the BRIC economies in particular, this might mean a chance to adopt low-cost solutions that will give companies a clear ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As the market for Bluetooth 4.0 health monitoring gadgets is about to kick off next year, some companies are wasting no time, announcing products now. Wahoo’s new BlueHR heart monitor will debut for $79.99 and uses the low-powered wireless protocol with several existing iPhone 4S apps. Read more »
Samsung introduced its first dual-SIM smartphones on Thursday, the Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos. The Android 2.3 smartphones are aimed at emerging markets, but if they’re successful, Samsung could migrate the solution up the Galaxy line for the bring your own device crowd. Read more »
Apple’s iPhone 4S has propelled Cupertino’s smartphone share back to growth in many markets, including Britain, according to new data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech released Thursday. But Apple’s latest smartphone isn’t leading to runaway success everywhere, owing in part to economic concerns. Read more »
According to a preliminary assessment from the Dusseldorf regional court in Germany on Thursday, Apple isn’t very likely to succeed in its attempts to get the redesigned Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet barred from sale in that country via injunction. Read more »
LinkedIn has announced that the technology behind IndexTank, the search engine startup it acquired back in October, has been released as open source software. It was pretty clear that IndexTank was bought largely for its talent, so it’s good news that its technology will live on. Read more »
The decision to end Microsoft CES keynotes after next month was painted by both parties as an amicable split. Inside sources say it was anything but and that the Consumer Electronics Association booted the software giant in a bid to shake up the show. Read more »
One of the biggest draws of the Galaxy Nexus is the 4.65-inch high-definition screen; literally a pocketable 720p HDTV display. But some video services still stream standard definition video. Here’s how to get HD video from Netflix on the Nexus and what it looks like. Read more »
Earlier this week, I grilled Amazon for attempting to control web browsing activities on its Kindle Fire as the device was blocked from browsing Google’s Android Market website. With the new Kindle Fire software update, Amazon no longer blocks access, which is the right move. Read more »
Amazon’s promised software update for its Kindle Fire is now live and rolling out to devices over the air. If you can’t wait and you’re not near a computer to download the software, no worries: You can do it all directly on the Kindle Fire. Read more »
Oracle is finally learning that the hardware business is not the software business. Revenue for the company’s Sun Microsystems-rooted servers fell 14 percent in the second quarter compared to the year-ago period. And gross margin on those hardware sales is returning to earth. Read more »
Social media sites like Facebook have been criticized as catering to users’ own deluded senses of self-importance, but a current lawsuit against Facebook might prove social media users are important. Within circles of friends, in fact, users might be considered celebrities–which has big legal implications. Read more »
Researchers from UC Santa Barbara, Intel and IBM have shown they can send data between servers without those pesky Ethernet cables, using 60 GHz wireless and bouncing radio signals off the ceiling. It’s crazy, but wireless could offer fat pipes economically over short distances. Read more »
Archos announced on Tuesday an updated 7-inch slate, called the Archos 70b, calling it the first Google Android Honeycomb for under $200. That may not be enough to sway consumers from the $199 Kindle Fire with its custom user interface and broad media ecosystem. Read more »
TV viewership is still on the rise, with the typical American watching five hours a day now, according to research by Nielsen. That hasn’t slowed the growth of online video: In fact, the amount of content streamed is accelerating, too. While it hasn’t yet made a ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Amazon’s successful 7-inch tablet, the Kindle Fire, is locked down more than people might think: browser requests to Google’s Android Market are redirected to the Amazon AppStore. Imagine buying a new car and then being told you that it can only be driven on certain roadways. Read more »
Travelers are getting a welcome gift from Skype in the form of free Wi-Fi access at more than 50 U.S. airports to place voice or video calls over Skype’s service on PCs, Macs, or iOS devices. The year-end promotion runs from Dec. 21 through Dec. 27. Read more »
Early adopters with a Galaxy Nexus can add Google Wallet software without rooting their handset. Wallet is gaining the spotlight for two reasons: both the convenience factor and the debate over whether Verizon is violating open-access requirements by not including the software on its Nexus. Read more »
This infographic, courtesy of Savings.com, brings together historical datapoints showing the decreasing cost and size of mobile devices, in conjunction with more capable hardware and services. Can you imagine (or remember) buying a phone for $4,000 in 1982 just for a few voice calls? Read more »
If big data does indeed write the screenplay for the movie about the next generation of business, the climax will be that mathematicians take the prom queen home. If students want high-paying jobs with the coolest companies around, they’d better heed that prediction. Read more »
This week, Facebook held its 28th official “Hackathon,” an all-night event where the only rule is that employees can’t work on their daytime projects. This was the company’s final Hackathon at its Palo Alto campus, and GigaOM has exclusive photos and video from inside the event. Read more »
Adding a good API to your web service can result in a 70-percent increase in traffic, according to a survey out this week from a tech research firm. The survey laid out the business and technical reasons companies use APIs and how well they work. Read more »
Congressman Darrell Issa, an opponent of the Stop Online Piracy Act, said 157,767 people from more than 150 counties watched some portion of the House’s markup hearing held on Thursday to debate the bill. The hearing has adjourned, but could resume as soon as next week. Read more »
News of a rumored smaller iPad made the rounds on Friday as Asian supply channels indicate a 7.85-inch model will arrive in late 2012. With iPhone sales rising, there’s less of a need for the iPod touch line, paving the way for less expensive Apple tablets. Read more »
Though most U.S. operators use Carrier IQ’s handset monitoring software in some form, they’re not all using it to the same degrees. Sprint turns out to be Carrier IQ’s biggest fan, installing its software on half of all devices while AT&T uses it much more sparingly. Read more »
Research in Motion announced its fiscal third quarter results on Thursday (PDF), showing quarterly growth in revenues and handset sales, but continued dismal tablet numbers. Even worse: the company is predicting lower handset sales next quarter, which make up nearly 80 percent of all revenues. Read more »
A recent survey suggests that “mobile computing appears to be a driving force behind cloud adoption in enterprises.” While the cloud clearly plays a role in making mobile devices as valuable to the enterprise as they are, it may be too much to suggest that mobiles ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
One of my favorite features in Google Android 4.0 on my Galaxy Nexus is the real-time and historical data use. I can monitor my mobile broadband usage against my monthly plan and even drill down to see which apps are using more data than others. Plus […] Read more »
There has been a remarkable flowering of companies over the past year or two, all riding a wave of developer and investor enthusiasm for the loosely defined concept of “big data.” But given that the big data startup market is probably overvalued and headed for a ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Advocates of the public cloud tend to dismiss private cloud deployments within individual companies, arguing that they are too small to deliver the cost or flexibility advantages of the public cloud. But recent developments in the UK refute that argument. The University Modernization Fund’s Cloud Pilot, ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
