Category Archives: Apple
Marketers generate engagement on mobile platforms with digital Rewards Promotions powered by the Ifeelgoods technology
Retailers and marketers running mobile digital rewards promotional campaigns on iAds are generating clickthrough rates as much as 12x greater than standard discount offers
Press release
March 6th 2013. Ifeelgoods, the leading digital rewards promotion platform, is seeing strong results for mobile digital rewards promotions driving mobile purchase and customer acquisition campaigns. Mobile commerce took off in the Q4 [2012] festive shopping season, with IBM reporting that 24 per cent of traffic to retail sites on Black Friday came from smartphones or tablets, up from 14.3 per cent last year. The growth of mobile commerce will make mobile an increasingly important channel for digital marketing promotions as well. Continue reading
Samsung shares edge higher after Apple award nearly halved
Jury failed to assess damages correctly
Samsung shares bounced back early today [Monday, 4th March 2013] following the decision by a US judge to almost halve the $1.05 billion award that Apple had won in its mobile patents battle with the South Korean giant. A new trial to reassess damages will now be set following Judge Lucy Koh’s decision to wipe out $450 million from the original verdict after ruling that jurors in the three-week trial had not properly adhered to her directions on how much Apple should be compensated Continue reading
Apple AGM could see company opt for stock split
Needs to bring more liquidity to its share price
Investors will be looking ahead to the AGM of Californian giant Apple later today [27th February 2013] to see if there is any announcement on a stock split, as wildly rumoured on social networking sites. Though Apple’s share price is well below its record high of more than $700 achieved in September, its current price of around $449 is still a tad too high for many investors who are loathe to tie up so much cash in a single stock. Continue reading
Big surge in UK sales of Windows phones
Consolidating position as No.3 platform
Sales of Windows smartphones have grown by a staggering 240 per cent in a year and now account for 6.2 per cent of the UK market, latest figures from research firm Kantar reveal. In the past year some 700,000 new Windows users were added, while in the three months up to end of January 2013 the Microsoft-based devices – spearheaded by Nokia’s Lumia 800 and HTC’s 8X – surpassed those of BlackBerry in Britain. Continue reading
New Firefox OS for smartphones to challenge Apple and Google
Mozilla, the not-for-profit outfit behind the Firefox web browser, has unveiled its own smartphone operating system aimed at challenging Google’s Android platform while also throwing down the gauntlet to others ahead of the Mobile world Congress event in Barcelona.
According to Mozilla 18 carriers including Deutsche Telekom and Spain’s Telefonica, which owns O2, have already signed up with the new operating system intended for smartphones that sell for £100 or less. Continue reading
Google to take fight to High Street in USA
Rating: Anything you can do, we can do …
Reports have merged that Google is in the process of going into the retail business in North America. So the company chiefly responsible for the decline amongst retail suppliers is in fact making the move into bricks & mortar. Reliable sources say that it has decided to go up directly against its opponents in the mobile OS wars – Apple, and to a lesser extent, Microsoft by establishing itself with a High Street presence. GoMobile News wonders whether the search engine giant is aware that with so many prominent High Street names in administration in the UK, the company realises it is the ideal time to make such a move in Britain. It could get some pretty prestigious site in London, for example.
Continue reading
BlackBerry’s former joint boss ditches entire shareholding
News unsettles confidence in firm as it struggles to regain position
BlackBerry‘s former co chief executive Jim Balsillie has quietly disposed of his entire stake in the Canadian manufacturer, it has emerged, putting a dent in the company’s share price as nervous investors followed suit. The company, until recently known as RIM, is struggling to regain ground lost to Apple and Samsung, having launched its make-or-break BB10 platform and new smartphones only a few weeks ago. Continue reading
Apple lures app developers with bigger cash pot
Apple is continuing to increase how much it pays to developers as it battles for supremacy in the app market with Google’s Android.
At a conference in Sans Francisco, CEO Tim Cook revealed that a colossal $8 billion had been paid to developers in the last quarter, up $500 million on the $6.5 billion handed out this time in 2011. Continue reading
iPhone app users – do you feel anxious about your investments’ safety – Apple doesn’t
Apple’s iTunesConnect system; the restrictive API; and the company’s definition of ‘spam’ prevent users from a better experience
Press release
February 11th 2013. Purchased software in the App Store often has to be updated with every new OS release – something which is normally done automatically by the developer for users. However, according to App Store policy, apps that are no longer being actively sold have to be removed entirely from the App Store, potentially leaving thousands of users without the proper ongoing support. At the same time, Apple’s iTunesConnect system does not permit developers to update software which is no longer available for sale and, as a result of this policy, these users can be left with incompatible software, out of step with the OS currently running on their phones, and frustrated. Continue reading
Paragon takes a massive pop @ Apple over iTunes Connect
Rating: All is not well in the iOS app ecosystem
Not actually being iOS app developers ourselves, we were more than slightly puzzled by a Press release that Paragon Software has just put out. Reading between the lines, this particular app developer appears to have got itself into a classic ‘Catch 22′ situation where – whatever it does, it cannot win. The crux of the problem seems to be Apple’s iTunesConnect system which does not permit developers to update software which is no longer available for sale. As a result of this policy, existing users can be left with incompatible software. Continue reading
iPhone no longer the UI leader says On Device
Rating: Actually Motorola RAZR users are happier
Another clear sign that Apple is losing its way and that Android based handsets are winning out has been provided by On Device Research. It has mined data gathered from 320,000 mobile and tablet users across six countries to produce a user satisfaction table taken from 92, 825 mobile users in the USA. The report shows the iPhone coming in fifth place behind four Android based handset. Coming as no surprise to GoMobile News, the Motorola Droid RAZR M took second place behind the Motorola Atrix HD. Continue reading
Guest Post: Top smartphone processors
by Sherrie McCallum, a technology specialist blogger
The smartphone processor race is set to experience another series of landmarks in 2013, with NVIDIA, Qualcomm and ARM all targeting increased speeds and better memory for chips. High end handsets like the iPhone 5 to the Motorola RAZR i, the Samsung Galaxy III, and the soon to be released Galaxy IV, feature some of the best smartphone processors on the market. The recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA also highlighted some key future trends in terms of new processors, with the processor market as a whole increasing profits in 2012 by 30 per cent, or $13.5 billion to $16.5 billion. What, then, are the best smartphone processors currently available, or soon to be launched? Continue reading
Wolfson sales up by half, but news fails to impress market
Revenues up thanks mainly to supplying components for Apple and Samsung
Tiny Edinburgh microchip maker Wolfson Microelectronics has reported a 52 per cent leap in revenues thanks to rising sales of smartphones such as Samsung’s Galaxy SIII, though the rise failed to impress investors with the company’s share price dropping more than 6 per cent in London yesterday [7th February 2013]. The company, which makes audio chips for processing voice input and audio output on phones and other electronic devices, said revenues rose to £35.8 million in Q4, while for 2012 as a whole revenue growth was 15 per cent, with a 60 per cent rise in sales related to smartphones and tablets. Continue reading
ARM shares head towards record £10 mark after 16% profit rise
Shares in UK chip designer ARM hit a record high in early trading today [5th February 2013], reaching 946p after the company reported a a 16 per cent pre tax rise in profits for Q4.
The stock was up more than 6 per cent within an hour of trading, as the company reported profits of £80 million for the period compared to £69 million for Q4 2011. Continue reading
HTC eyes China as profits set to be wiped out
Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has revealed how its Q1 revenues for 2013 could be down 17 per cent and that profits could be wiped out, thanks to overwhelming competition from rivals Samsung and Apple.
The company’s gloomy outlook comes amid plans by HTC to introduce a five-inch flagship in the West, though otherwise it says it intends to focus on emerging markets such as China in the future to reverse the decline. Continue reading
