Zeebox launches Android app

zeebox today announces the availability of its award-winning social TV app for Android smartphones and the launch of a new home page to its web service, providing users with a new personalised way to discover programmes to watch on TV.

zeebox’s Android app – available in the UK Google Play store – provides consumers with a rich social TV guide, interactive information about TV programmes, links to relevant apps and downloads, and contextual ‘zeetags’ that magically surface web content related to what’s happening on TV.

The Android app synchs seamlessly with connected TVs, acting as a remote control for Sony, Panasonic and Samsung TVs, as well as Virgin’s Tivo boxes.  Now Android smartphone users will have access to the all the features that madezeebox a hit with hundreds of thousands of iPad and iPhone users in the UK.

Consumers will be able to discover TV content by seeing at a glance what their friends and favourite celebrities are watching, to see what the Twitter buzz is around their most loved TV shows, and to get access to a wealth of web content that magically appears in the context of the show they’re watching.

Ernesto Schmitt, CEO of zeebox said:

“We’re delighted to bring our hugely popular app to the Android market in record time, extending the reach of the leading social TV platform to many more devices. For broadcasters and production companies, the extension of our platform creates additional touch points with fans of their shows.”

In a further step toward providing consumers with a personalised way to discover TV programmes, zeebox’s web service also relaunches today with a new MY TV home page.  MY TV shows you the programmes your friends are watching, right now. You can also see the programmes that are most popular with everyone, right now, completewith the zeebox audience ranking and Twitter buzz measures for that show.

Anthony Rose, CTO of zeebox said:

“The new MY TV page is our first step in using our analysis of TV viewing behaviour through zeebox to create personalized, social recommendations.  It’s fascinating to see how some programmes have high viewing but low social buzz, and vice versa.  This will soon provide the industry with significant new insights into TV viewing behaviour.”

Since launching in October 2011, zeebox has led innovation in the market of social TV apps, uniquely enabling consumers to discover TV content through their extended social graph, to follow their favourite celebrities’ TV viewing, and to automatically get more information about the programmes they’re watching. zeebox knows what consumers are watching, and engages them with relevant content and ecommerce opportunities in synch with live TV.

Zeebox is available from today for most Android smartphones in the Google Play store here, with tablet versions to follow.  The new MY TV page goes live on http://zeebox.com, with iPad, iPhone and Android apps being updated in due course to include this new functionality.

Original Source
Android App Development

Why Google Android Can't Compete With Apple's iPhone

There's an inherent flaw in Google Inc.'s (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android operating system.

The flaw isn't a technical glitch.

In fact, most agree that Google's Android is a first-rate mobile operating system that has gotten better with each update. Some even prefer it to Apple's iOS.

It's not adoption either.

According to recent data from Nielsen, Android's U.S. market share among smartphones has reached 48%, compared to 32.1% for Apple's iPhone. And Google says it has activated more than 300 million Android devices.

The problem is partly the result of Google Android's overall success.

The biggest flaw is fragmentation and it will be what prevents Google from defeating Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone in the mobile computing wars.

There are simply too many versions of Android running on too many (over 1,400) different pieces of hardware. And the issue gets worse with each new version of Android, as older devices are rarely updated.

That's a huge problem for Android application developers, who need to write apps that will work on a bewildering array of possible configurations. And it's starting to have an impact.

According to Appcelerator's most recent quarterly survey of developers, interest in writing apps for Android phones fell 4.7 percentage points to 78.6%, and interest in writing apps for Android tablets fell 2.2 percentage points to 65.9%.

By comparison, 89% of developers were interested in writing apps for Apple's iOS, a number that has remained steady.

"Massive platform fragmentation is a big reason that we're seeing this decline in interest," Mike King, Appcelerator's principal mobile strategist, told Network World. "If you look at all the other numbers such as Android smartphone market share it's on the upswing, but for app developers it's a real challenge."

It's a headache iOS developers don't share. Most Apple customers stay current with the latest version of iOS.

And because Apple makes all the hardware, limited to just a handful of models, it's much easier to write an app that runs on nearly all of the millions of iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads in use.

Google Android Users Not Big Spenders

Making matters worse for developers is that Android users tend to spend less money on apps than owners of Apple devices.

According to a report last year by Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, the Google Android Market (recently renamed Google Play) generated just 7% of the revenue of Apple's iTunes App Store.

Munster estimated that in terms of dollars spent on mobile computing apps, Apple has an 85%-90% share. He expects Apple's dominance of app revenue to remain over 70% for the next three to four years.Some defenders of the Android market claim Munster's methodology is flawed. They point out that Android apps, unlike iOS apps, are sold in multiple online stores.

But that, too, creates issues for developers, who need to make sure they cover all their distribution bases with each release.

Put it all together and it means Android developers need to put in more effort while making less money than iOS developers. And it's driven at least one developer to throw in the towel.

"Our Android apps aren't making money," wrote Mika Mobile, creator of such games as Zombieville USA and Battleheart, in a March 9 blog post. "Android sales amounted to around 5% of our revenue for the year, and continues to shrink. Needless to say, this ratio is unsustainable."

Much of the money Mika Mobile's Android sales did generate got swallowed up by extra development costs - time spent tweaking apps to work properly on the proliferating combinations of new hardware and versions of Android.

One more thing: The lower Android app sales have pushed prices in the Android Market higher. A recent survey by Canalys showed the average cost per app for the top 100 offerings in the Android Market was $3.74, but just $1.47 for the top 100 in the iTunes App Store.

The higher prices tend to further discourage buying, which in turn helps keep the prices high.

Hitting Google Android in the Apps

Despite is successes, Google needs to do something about Android's fragmentation to keep its developers from jumping ship. Google needs to make sure the developers can make money.

Disenchantment on the part of many Android developers could result in a falling number of quality apps and increasing compatibility issues as older apps are no longer updated.

"Developers go where the money is. End users go where the apps are. Developers create apps where users are," writes veteran tech pundit Joe Wilcox in an article called "iPhone is Unstoppable."

Wilcox theorizes that Apple's ecosystem will be difficult to disrupt. Google will need to fix its fragmentation issues quickly to avoid the fate that Apple's Mac platform suffered in an earlier OS War.

"In the 1990s, Microsoft sought to achieve a "standard' platform for developers and succeeded with Windows. Apple is quickly doing the same around iOS, iPhone and iPad," Wilcox said.

The Windows Wild Card

Speaking of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), its plans for Windows 8 gives Google something else to worry about in the mobile computing space.

Microsoft, until now left on the mobile computing sidelines, will aggressively market Windows 8. And it will likely do a better job of preventing the sort of fragmentation that's stinging Android.

A wave of Windows 8 tablets and smartphones arriving in the fall no doubt will end up competing for the same cost-conscious customers that have been buying Android-powered devices.

With only about 70,000 apps, the Windows Phone Marketplace is far behind the leaders, (which have over 500,000 apps each) but Microsoft plans to woo developers in an effort to catch up.

Microsoft and hardware partner Nokia Corporation (NYSE ADR: NOK) announced just last week they'd jointly invest in a $23.9 million mobile app development program over the next three years.

Should Windows 8 get traction in the mobile computing market - and history shows that Microsoft is nothing if not persistent - it could further undermine Android.

Still, Android isn't going anywhere. It's certainly not in danger of disappearing. But neither is it going to race to dominance, as some predicted last year.

Ultimately, Android's status in the mobile computing market largely depends on how seriously Google and its hardware partners take the fragmentation problem.

"Android is not facing an imminent crisis amongst developers," writes Jeff Duncan for Digital Trends.com. "But, looking out over the next two years, Android (and Google) are clearly going to have to move application development and revenue generation to the same priority level as [hardware] adoption and device activations, or face a stagnating software and content ecosystem."

Original Source
Android App Development

Instagram app debuts on Android, finally

The popular iPhone photo clicking and sharing app, Instagram, is now available on Android. The app, which has been available on iOS device for some time, now has been downloaded more that 30 million times.

Instagram lets users add effects to pictures they click from their smartphone and upload it to popular social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Posterous, Foursquare or even e-mail the clicks. The app is free on the Google Play Store and can be downloaded here.

The official Instagram blog says, “We’ve been working tirelessly to make this new Android app a first-class mobile photo-sharing experience. We’ve been meticulous about translating the Instagram experience to the Android platform. The Android app offers an extremely familiar Instagram experience when compared to the iOS app. You’ll find all the same exact filters and community as our iOS version.”

The app requires that the smartphone be Android v2.2 or higher ensuring that a wide variety of Android users are able to use the app with ease.

The app also lets users build followers with Instagram’s social network. A star icon on the app shows the most popular photos where as a heart bubble icon brings up the latest creations from your friends. Even though the app is said to be identical to its iOS counterpart, it does miss out on a few features such as Tilt/Shift and Flickr integration. But users don’t need to worry as these features can be easily added with subsequent updates.

Original Source
Android App Development

Motorola releases MOTOACTV fitness app for Android phones

Motorola has extended the support of the fitness tracking app - MOTOACTV to all major Android smartphones. However, one still needs to buy the MOTOACTV accessory to use the app.

Motorola has made its MOTOACTV fitness app available to all Android devices. MOTOACTV is a pair of apps that includes Motorola's fitness tracker and a smart music player gadget. With this app, users can track their personal fitness and even plan work outs.

Currently, the MOTOACTV pairing app is limited only to select number of Android devices. This app receives notifications about incoming calls and even attends the calls during the work out.

The MOTOACTV pairing app has been updated with new set of features and now made available for all Android devices running Android 2.1 or higher.

MOTOACTV app for Android now lets users to plan the workout routine on the device. Users can set goals and check progress anytime to see if they are on track to achieve the set goals. The app also offers daily activity monitoring with step and calorie count.

To use MOTOACTV app, one needs to create MotoCast ID. You will have to download the MotoCast software from here, install it and create an account.

However, the bottom line lies that one needs to have MOTOACTV accessory to create a MOTOCAST account and use the app with any other Android smartphone.

At the end of the day, you can always push your data to the MOTOACTV.com website. Certain features are network dependent and also exclusive to the MOTOACTV accessory. Sadly, Motorola has not released MOTOACTV accessory in India as yet.

Original Source

Android App Development

Android 4.0 powered HTC One S to launch in India in May

Fresh reports indicate a May release for HTC One S in India is on the cards

The HTC One S will hit the Indian market sometime next month.

Sources claim that a company senior executive reportedly revealed the information during the launch of HTC One X in Singapore last week.

In a conversation with the Mobile Indian, the president of HTC South Asia Pacific, Lennard Hoornik mentioned, ‘HTC One S will be launched in the Indian market in May’.

While we still wait for an official word on the expected price tag for the handset, interestingly, the pricedekho website has listed the handset to around Rs 28,000.

It does seem like a reasonably good deal if you weigh it against the gadget’s enviable features.
To begin with, the handset boasts of the much-desired Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Then, its functioning is well supported by a 16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. 

Powered by a powerful 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Krait MSM8260A dual-core chipset, it carries the added advantage of being backed by an Adreno 225 GPU.

In addition, the 4.3-inch multi-touch capacitive display is also a facet to brag about as it employs the Super AMOLED technology, offering a pixel resolution of 540x960 pixels and a pixel density of 256 pixels-per-inch (ppi). The device renders some rather crisp and stupendous quality images.

Although we eagerly await the launch of the HTC One S to take place in May, the Indian Market has already started experiencing the first wave of the HTC One Series release. Just a couple of days back, the 2nd of April marked the onset of the One Series launch in India with HTC launching its flagship model One X along with its mid-range handset, the One V.

Original Source

Android App Development

 

HCL Launches Android ICS Tablet “My Edu” Starting At Rs 7,990

HCL Technologies, has launched three new tablets in India, focusing on the education segment, with a starting price of Rs 7,999, reports The Mobile Indian. My Edu Tab U1, the first tablet from HCL, is targeted towards mass market and is the cheapest tablet from HCL starting at Rs 7,999. The other two tablets; My Edu Tab K12 and My Edu Tab HE are tablets specially designed for students.

The ‘My Edu Tab K12′ comes with pre-installed educational apps and NCERT books for free with a memory card for students up to 12th Std and retails for Rs  11,499. The ‘My Edu Tab HE’ comes with pre-installed apps and multimedia content for  professional and technical skills for college students and retails at Rs 9,999. Both the tablets also come with support for cloud storage.

Specifications

All the tablets: My Edu Tab U1, My Edu Tab K12, and My Edu Tab HE comes with similar hardware specifications. HCL’s tablets sports a 7-inch Capacitive screen with 800*480 pixel resolution, 1GHz Arm Cortex A8 processor processor and runs on the latest version of Google’s Android operating system Ice Cream Sandwich.  It also comes with 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal memory, 0.3 Megapixel front facing camera, USB support, a mini USB port and a micro SD card slot. It with 3600mAh battery to support the powerful 1GHz processor and Android OS which with normal usage might last up to 4-5 hours.

3G connectivity

Although the tablets do not come with support for 3G out of the box customers can enjoy 3G connectivity via USB modem. There are a tons of exciting packages from Vodafone, Reliance, Airtel, BSNL and MTNL.

Apps

None of the HCL’s latest tablet support Google Play (Previously Android Market) but comes with support for  HCL Me App Store from where users can download applications. HCL claims that HCL Me App Store features more than 10,000 apps. All three tablets come with pre-installed apps like BookMyShow, Clear Trip, Hungama, Money Control and more.

HCL entered the tablets market late last year with HCL Me X1 Tab which again didn’t come with support for Android Market. Although Android Market could be separately installed if customers could get hold of the installer file for the same which becomes too technical for an average Joe. The same is bound to happen with HCL’s newer tablets.

Competition

Currently, there are plenty of tablets in the market targeted towards Indian mass market from Reliance’s CDMA Tab (Our take), Beetel Magiq, Wishtel, iBerry, and governments own Aakash tablet. While other tablets in the market may not come with pre-installed educational packages the only way for HCL’s new offerings to succeed is if they directly market them to schools and colleges.

The only competition to HCL’s educational tablets comes from AcrossWorld’s educational tablet ATab which retails at just about Rs 5,000 and has tie ups with educational institutions  and universities like Carmel Public School, Gaujrala; Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Institute of Technology, Rourkela; Shikhar Shishu Sadan Convent School, Dhampur; and, Gandhinagar Public School, Moradabad with a dozen schools and colleges from cities like Delhi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Rourkela and Gaujarala indicating interest in the ATab.

Original Source 

Android App Development