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Will Google Glass Disrupt The Smartphone Wars? (Forbes)
Is the future of mobile becoming a little clearer? Is it in fact settling down into a pattern that will persist over the next few years, one in which Apple and Samsung share the spoils while the rest try, vainly, to wrest from them that elusive commodity called profit? The writing is on the wall in smartphones and with an increasingly stable outlook, Google Glass looks like the only disruption in town. What we are really looking towards is a new way of presenting and absorbing information. Google Glass looks like the nearest we have to a new paradigm, but in fact my guess is it is too static. Information needs to be as pervasive as our lifestyle needs. It won’t be stuck to our heads. But it might be in our ears, on our wrists, on the objects we observe or all three together, and more. Read >>
Global Mobile Data Traffic Grew 70 Percent Last Year (Cisco via Radio Mag)
In case you missed Cisco's Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Forecast update for 2012 to 2017, here are the salient points.
- Global mobile data traffic grew 70 percent in 2012
- 2012 mobile data traffic was nearly 12 times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000
- Mobile video traffic exceeded 50 percent for the first time in 2012
- Mobile network connection speeds more than doubled in 2012
- In 2012, a fourth-generation (4G) connection generated 19 times more traffic on average than a non-4G connection
- The top 1 percent of mobile data subscribers generate 16 percent of mobile data traffic, down from 52 percent at the beginning of 2010
- Average smartphone usage grew 81 percent in 2012
- Smartphones represented only 18 percent of total global handsets in use in 2012, but represented 92 percent of total global handset traffic
- Globally, 33 percent of total mobile data traffic was offloaded onto the fixed network through Wi-Fi or femtocell in 2012
- Android data use is now higher than iPhone data use
- In 2012, the number of mobile-connected tablets increased 2.5-fold to 36 million, and each tablet generated 2.4 times more traffic than the average smartphone
Read >>
Mobile Advertising Grew 11 Percent In The Fourth Quarter (comScore via Mobile Marketer)
Mobile advertising saw the highest advertising increase from the third quarter to the fourth quarter 2010 at 11 percent, according to new data from comScore. In addition to the mobile growth, video ads were particularly strong, posting a year-over-year increase of 50 percent. comScore also reports that 1.9 percent of time viewing videos online is spent watching ads compared to 25 percent on TV, suggesting there is an opportunity for publishers to better monetize online video with advertising. Mobile shopping adoption helped drive the 14 percent increase in e-commerce with e-commerce sales up 132 percent on Thanksgiving Day and up 96 percent on Black Friday. Read >>
A Brief History Of Tizen (XDA Developers)
Among all contemporary mobile operating systems, Tizen OS has had perhaps the most tumultuous and complex history. First there was Nokia’s Maemo and Intel’s Moblin, before the two companies decided to combine them together into MeeGo. Then Nokia decided putting all its eggs in Windows Phone’s basket, and abandoned the platform. While all this was occurring, Samsung had also decided to build an open OS of its own in order to decrease its dependence on Android, and the result was Bada. After Intel’s abandonment, the future looked bleak for MeeGo, and it indeed proved to be so. The OS was shortly abandoned completely by all other supporters as well, and Tizen was born under the patronage of The Linux Foundation. Later, Samsung decided to join the picture as well, with an aim to merge Bada with Tizen. Read >>
Nokia's Comeback Suffers A Blow (TNW)
Nokia’s slow and steady comeback has suffered a blow with news that the Finnish mobile-maker will be dropped from the Euro Stoxx 50 Index this month, in a move that could affect its share price. Currently ranked 34th in the 15-year-old list (compiled to include 50 of the top stocks from across the Eurozone) the company will be replaced by French aerospace firm EADS later this month as part of a regular index review. That’s a setback for the firm, which posted an improved quarter. If nothing else, it is symbolic. Nokia was once the world’s largest and influential mobile phone company; now it isn’t included among Europe’s top 50 listed businesses. Read >>
When Will Mobile Revenue Follow Baidu's Sky-High Mobile Traffic? (The Motley Fool)
Baidu's mobile traffic has exploded over the past few years. But like most tech companies, the Chinese search leader is fighting to find ways to benefit from its mobile presence. Baidu has seen mobile Web traffic increase by over 1,000 percent in the past three years. Baidu is investing heavily in its mobile products, like its new mobile maps app and updated mobile browser that supports voice-enabled search. In the last quarter of 2012, the company invested 25 percent of its research and development budget in its mobile products. The investment of time and money into mobile has paid off in traffic for Baidu, 80 million active users are on its mobile products every day, but mobile revenue is elusive. The company's mobile innovations could have big payoffs, but investors need to be patient. Read >>
Location-Based Advertising Set To Explode (BizCommunity)
Marketers around the world are expected to start tapping into the power of location-based services (LBS) over the course of the next year as a means of delivering more targeted and engaging advertising to consumers. We are seeing a massive shift in consumer behavior that is making it easier than ever to segment and target mobile customers. Consumers are spending more and more time with mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets and count on them to navigate the world. The result is that we can reach them with relevant and actionable information on devices that they carry with them wherever they go. Read >>
Mobile Users Are Increasingly Comfortable With Mobile Ads (InMobi via Mobile Marketing Watch)
According to the latest research from InMobi, approximately six in 10 consumers are now as “comfortable” with mobile advertising as they are with advertising in other mediums. Read >>
