Ed Sutherland

Half of top US iPad apps not available or ready for Android tablets

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

What with Android having a numerical edge on Apple's iOS, chances are good that popular iPad apps will find their way to Google's Play store, right? To the contrary, just half of the hundred most popular iPad apps in the US are available for Android tablets, according to a research firm Wednesday.

Of the top hundred iPad apps in the US App Store, thirty don't even appear on Google Play and eighteen more are not optimized for Android tablets, just smartphone versions cartoonishly displayed on a larger screen....

Brazil sues Samsung over alleged factory labor problems

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 14, 2013

Samsung is reportedly facing a $108 million lawsuit from Brazil, which is claiming "serious" labor violations at the smartphone maker's Manaus factory. At least 2,000 workers suffered injuries after being forced to work 15-hour days and not getting enough break time, a Brazilian labor organization claims Wednesday.

The website of the group Reporter Brasil cites Brazil prosecutors and the government's labor ministry. In 2011, the South Korean smartphone maker paid $200,000 to settled similar charges over working conditions made by the government...

Gartner makes it official: smartphones are outselling dumb phones

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Smartphones - once the preserve for geeky first adopters - are now the norm. You notice the change on the street, on television and now with such traditional research firms as Gartner. Sales of smartphones in the second quarter reached 51.8 percent, compared to an astounding 21 percent decline in feature phones, or dumb phones as they're also called, according to the researcher. At the same time, the Asia/Pacific region marked the highest smartphone growth, reaching to 74 percent...

Smartphone theft fight gains UK support

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 13, 2013

The issue over smartphone thefts has taken on a British flavor. London's mayor now says he supports calls by American law enforcement officials asking Apple and others to beef up ways to prevent stolen phones.

In a statement, London Mayor Boris Johnson said smartphone makers should "take this issue seriously." Already, a half-dozen American officials have joined the 'Secure Our Smartphones' campaign, stretching from Hawaii to Delaware...

Google Play revenue up 67 percent in last 6 months, but App Store still leads

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

Android's growing popularity in Asia, particularly in Japan and South Korea, has helped Google's Play store for Android record a revenue jump of 67 percent over the past six months. By comparison, Apple's App store revenue has climbed just fifteen percent during the same timeframe, according to analytics firm Distimo.

The impressive numbers for Android apps belie the fact that Apple's App Store continues to be the largest with more than two times the revenue as Google Play. In April, we commented on a report from competing analytics company App Annie showing relative parity with downloads but Apple having 2.6 times the revenue...

Analyst: iPhone 5C may exclude Siri, but will boost margins and attract new sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

For some time, Wall Street investors and Apple watchers have stressed the iPhone maker must adjust to more modest profit margins, as well as a worldwide reality where cheap Android smartphones enable competitors to attract price-conscious consumers. Now comes a voice saying Apple could have it all: a cheap handset, fatter margins and a larger international audience.

By attracting the prepaid market, Apple's much-expected iPhone 5C will do all that by going after a huge pool of prepaid wireless customers that's four times larger than the current U.S. subscribers. Meanwhile, another analysts believes he knows the cheaper iPhone will exclude some features, such as Siri...

Judge says Apple could renegotiate iBook contracts with publishers

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

The judge in the government's antitrust lawsuit has weighed in on settlement negotiations between the Department of Justice and Apple.

The iPhone maker could reopen staggered renegotiations with e-book publishers, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote reportedly said Monday.

Government lawyers had recommend that Apple agree to drop its current e-book contracts and abstain from a new agreements for five years. Judge Cote, who ruled Apple conspired with publishers to raise prices of e-books ahead of the iPad's launch, also wants to hold another hearing, possibly to review guidelines she is suggesting...

BlackBerry considers selling itself to stay alive

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 12, 2013

It seems we may be nearing the end of a long and tortuous death march by Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry. After attempting to beat Apple and its own game, then talking about doing a Dell and going private, BlackBerry is now putting out the "For Sale" sign.

Underlining its latest move, BlackBerry's biggest investor resigned from the company's board. However, with a market share hovering near 0 percent, will the smartphone maker attract a buyer?...

Without iPhone exclusive, China Unicom now turns to low-cost handsets

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 9, 2013

There is a surge of demand for low-cost smartphones in China. Latest to ride the wave: local carrier China Unicom, which lost its exclusive deal to sell iPhones in 2012.

Apparently, the shift toward inexpensive phones is paying off, the company reporting a 55 percent jump in profits for the first half of 2013.

While there is still room for high-end smartphones, vast growth is seen selling inexpensive handsets to emerging markets, such as China and India. Apple could unveil a plastic iPhone aimed at first-time smartphone owners and still make "decent profitability" one analyst said Thursday...

Apple researching audio hyperlinks technology to control devices from podcasts

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 8, 2013

Remember the hokey demonstrations of hypnotism, where people are given commands to honk like a duck when a bell rings? Substitute podcasts for the hypnotists and a hyperlink for a duck quack and you've got Apple's latest patent application.

The application, published Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, outlines a way to encode device commands in audio signals. While Apple uses the example of enhanced podcasts which embed commands to visit a webpage or view an image stored on your device, the technology is also seen as a way to include ads in the upcoming iTunes Radio service...

Apple’s PC share drops as iPads cannibalize Macs

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 8, 2013

The PC market - once comprised of hulking desktop machines and slim laptops - increasingly relies on tablets for a fresh infusion of sales. The latest instance of this new world order comes from market researcher Canalys, out with its PC forecast which includes tablet shipments.

Viewing tablets as PCs results in Apple losing more than eleven percent in PC sales. Why? Because iPad sales are cooling amid lack of a refresh. Although just twenty percent of Apple sales are traditional PCs, the firm continues to lead the PC market. However, in a post-PC era, delays of introducing a new iPad means Apple's lead was trimmed during the second quarter of 2013, the research firm announced Wednesday...

Your iPhone 4 is actually gaining value, study finds

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Unlike the auto which loses much of its value the moment you drive off the dealer's lot, iPhones tend to remain valuable to owners. According to new research, Apple's handset does better at retaining its value, compared to Android phones. In a related study, trade-in programs are increasingly important to smartphone owners deciding on carriers.

Although the value of Android phones fell by as much as a third in three months, iPhone prices actually go up. The price of an iPhone 4 asked on eBay was 10.3 percent higher than at the start of the three-month period, one Wall Street analyst found...