In 3 years, Android turned the smartphone market around

Wireless 47 Comments
I wrote this almost exactly three years ago, to much debate:

Sure, Apple will most likely still make far more money per sold iPhone device than competitors will per Android phone, but the trend is clear: as much as I love my iPhone, it will be relegated to a ~10% market share figure within a few quarters.

It took a little longer than "a few quarters", but here we are. Android has revolutionised the smartphone market. I'm not particularly happy about that (both Android and Samsung are far too dominant, which is bad for the market and thus for consumers), but there it is.

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JBQ leaves AOSP, Qualcomm to blame

Google 50 Comments
Jean-Baptiste Queru, or JBQ for short, maintainer of the Android Open Source Project at Google, has announced that he's quitting his job.

Well, I see that people have figured out why I'm quitting AOSP.

There's no point being the maintainer of an Operating System that can't boot to the home screen on its flagship device for lack of GPU support, especially when I'm getting the blame for something that I don't have authority to fix myself and that I had anticipated and escalated more than 6 months ahead.

By the way, in this context, 'to escalate' means handing something over to your superiors so they can handle it. I believe this definition of the word is uncommon outside of the US.

The issue here is exactly what it sounds like: there are currently no factory images/binaries available for the latest Nexus device, the new Nexus 7. The problem is that the GPU in the new Nexus 7 is made by Qualcomm, a company which is incredibly hostile towards the open source community. This isn't the first time Qualcomm has sabotaged an AOSP launch - all Nexus devices with Qualcomm chips, the Nexus 1, 4, and the new 7, faced these problems.

Because he is apparently very good at pattern recognition, JBQ states that he already anticipated this issue six months ago, but that it hasn't been solved. A recent tweet from him is quite telling:

That feeling when lawyers sabotage the launch you spent 6 months working on? I haz it. Sad sad sad sad sad sad.

This is bad news for Google, and bad news for Android. JBQ has done an amazing job on AOSP, and I'm very sad to see him leaving his post. As of this moment, it's not yet known whether he will leave Google entirely or not.

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IDC: Windows Phone shows little market share growth

Windows 42 Comments
IDC released its smartphone shipment numbers for the second quarter of 2013, and other than the usual stuff (Android at 80%, iOS down to 13.3% due to lack of a new model), the Windows Phone figures are interesting.

Windows Phone posted the largest year-over-year increase among the top five smartphone platforms, and in the process reinforced its position as the number 3 smartphone operating system. Driving this result was Nokia, which released two new smartphones and grew its presence at multiple mobile operators. But beyond Nokia, Windows Phone remained a secondary option for other vendors, many of which have concentrated on Android. By comparison, Nokia accounted for 81.6% of all Windows Phone smartphone shipments during 2Q13.

Over the past 12 months, Windows Phone went from 3.1% market share to 3.7%. This means that while shipments of Windows Phone devices are growing, they're barely growing any faster than the industry as a whole. Still, it's crazy to see there's less than a 10 percentages points difference between Windows Phone and iOS.

Another potential problem is that Microsoft is effectively entirely dependent on Nokia. If Nokia falters, Windows Phone falters. Other vendors have essentially lost all interest in the platform, and as such, Microsoft has a a very strong impetus in keeping Nokia going. Still, I'm pretty sure that the Surface phone is ready to go at a moment's notice.

They're going to need it.

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LG’s G2 takes on the Galaxy S4

Wireless 13 Comments

After Samsung announced the Galaxy S4, its futuristic slab of a smartphone, it was only a matter of time until LG countered. Today, at a jazz hall in New York City, LG dealt its hand in the form of the new G2, and not surprisingly it's a lot like the other phone shipping from Korea this year.

It has its power and volume buttons on the back. I'm pretty sure that's a comfortable location - but boy it looks terrible. Like Samsung, LG also slaps an absolutely horrible skin on top of Android, further adding to the dreadfulness of the G2. Yet another reason this is essentially an S4 with the buttons on its back.

I guess I'm not the target customer for this stuff. I wonder if any of us here are.

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The Newton’s prophetic failure and lasting impact

  Submitted by MOS6510 Wireless 63 Comments

In product lore, high profile gadgets that get killed are often more interesting than the ones that succeed. The Kin, the HP TouchPad, and the Edsel are all case studies in failure - albeit for different reasons. Yet in the history of those killings, nothing compared to the Apple Newton MessagePad. The Newton wasn't just killed, it was violently murdered, dragged into a closet by its hair and kicked to death in its youth by one of technology’s great men. And yet it was a remarkable device, one whose influence is still with us today. The Ur tablet. The first computer designed to free us utterly from the desktop.

'First' is debatable, but this was definitely an interesting product. It was far too complex though, and the simpler, more focussed Palm Pilot then showed the market how mobile computing ought to work - something Apple took to heart a decade later with the iPhone.

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VP8 does not infringe on Nokia patent

Legal 18 Comments
Good news:

Today a court in Mannheim, Germany, ruled that VP8 does not infringe a patent owned and asserted by Nokia. This decision is an important and positive step towards the WebM Project's ultimate goal: ensuring the web community has an open, high-quality, freely licensed video codec. Google's intervention in the underlying lawsuit (Nokia v. HTC) was a strong show of support for open standards like VP8.

I guess they'll have to dig out another patent somewhere to try and undermine Android, since Nokia isn't having much luck competing with Android by, you know, actually selling stuff. How the mighty have fallen, huh?

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Moto X reviews

Google 10 Comments
Joshua Topolsky for The Verge:

But once I used the phone heavily, I started to come around to the Moto X in a way I hadn't expected. The additions to the software that Motorola has made are legitimately useful and really quite impressive. They add to the experience of Android without removing what is most vital in Google's software, unlike the competition, which seems intent on obscuring what's already a sophisticated and beautiful operating system. If Motorola ends up producing a Google Play Edition of this phone that retains the customizable hardware and software additions like Assist and Active Notifications - this could be as good an option as the S4 or One.

And the phone is nice. I mean, really nice to use. It's a reminder that the way something is built can be as important as what it's made of.

And Joseph Volpe at Engadget:

If I'm right in reading between the lines of Google's marketing speak, the Moto X was made in the image of the everyman. The 4.7-inch screen size, the curvature of its back, the composite materials, its weight and front-face look were focus-tested for maximum inoffensiveness. The Moto X exudes no tech halo like the Galaxy S 4 or the HTC One because it is the sum of averages. Here's how I see it: You know those people who own iPhones, but don't know which model number they own and also refer to all Android phones as Droids? This phone is for them.

It seems like there's a consensus regarding the Moto X: it's average in almost every way, but for some reason, it still feels like a fantastic phone. It's not the best at any metric, but at the same time, nothing really sucks about it either. It's an interesting approach in the smartphone world, but since older and/or cheaper models (e.g. iPhone 4/4S, Galaxy SIII) are still selling really, really well, to the point where they harm margins, the Moto X might be on to something.

However, this makes the price tag that much weirder. It's $199 on contract, just like most other flagship phones. So, who is this for?

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Obama slaps ITC in the face, vetos exclusion order

Legal 123 Comments
The Obama administration:

After extensive consultations with the agencies of the Trade Policy Staff Committee and the Trade Policy Review Group, as well as other interested agencies and persons, I have decided to disapprove the USITC's determination to issue an exclusion order and cease and desist order in this investigation.

Lots of talk about SEPs and FRAND in Obama's decree, which means that the Obama administration contradicts everything the ITC has said. To freshen your memory, the ITC ruled that not only was the patent in question not a standard essential patent, but Samsung's offer was actually proper FRAND:

Additionally, the Commission found that there were still disputed issues concerning the patent at issue was even actually essential to the standard (and therefore whether a FRAND or disclosure obligation applied at all).

The Commission analyzed the history of negotiations between Apple and Samsung (this portion is heavily redacted) to see if Apple showed that Samsung failed to negotiate “in good faith,” and found that Apple failed to do so. Notably, the Commission dismissed Apple’s arguments that (1) Samsung’s initial offer was so high as to show bad faith, and (2) Samsung’s attempts to get a cross-license to Apple’s non-SEPs violated its FRAND commitments.

In other words, the Obama administration threw out virtually everything the ITC has said in order to protect Apple. This effectively means that American companies can infringe on non-American companies' (standard essential) patents all they want, because the president will simply step in if they try to fight back.

So, I was wrong. I expected the Obama administration to be impartial and not give such a huge slap in the face of the ITC - as cynical as I usually am, I can still be naive. Protectionism is more important to the POTUS.

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Find your lost phone with Android Device Manager

Google 11 Comments
Android gets a 'find my phone' service from Google, for 2.2 and above.

Have you ever lost your phone in between the couch cushions or forgot it in a restaurant? Or maybe searching for your phone before you rush out the door is part of your morning routine? Later this month, the new Android Device Manager can help you out. It's one of a few simple features you can use to keep your device - and the data you store inside - safe and secure.

About time.

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OS X applications on Linux courtesy of Darling project

  Submitted by dylansmrjones Linux 28 Comments
From ZDnet:

Fancy running iWork on Linux? It may one day be possible courtesy of a project to get Apple OS X programs running on Linux-based operating systems.

Similar to how Wine allows Windows applications to run in Linux OS, the Darling project is trying to build a software compatibility layer to run OS X apps.

I obviously doubt the attainability of the project's goals, but this will be a fantastic coding experience for the programmers involved.

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A beginner’s guide to NoSQL

Databases 19 Comments
Let’s say you’ve decided to set up a website or an application. You'll obviously need something to manage the data. Yes, that's right, a database. So, what is it going to be? MySQL, MS-SQL, Oracle or PostgreSQL? After all, nothing can be as amazing as a good old RDBMS that employs SQL to manage the data.

Well, allow me to introduce to you an entirely unique and unconventional Database model - NoSQL.

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US, states propose remedy for Apple e-book price-fixing

Apple 12 Comments
Apple Inc deserves a five-year ban from entering anti-competitive e-book distribution contracts and should end its business arrangements with five major publishers with which it conspired to raise e-book prices, federal and state regulators said on Friday.

The U.S. Department of Justice and 33 U.S. states and territories proposed those changes after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan last month found in a civil antitrust case that Apple played a "central role" in a conspiracy with the publishers to raise e-book prices.

The DoJ also requires that competitors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble be allowed to include links to their own stores in their iOS applications, which Apple had prohibited.

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This is the Moto X. Can it save Motorola?

Google 40 Comments
So Motorola built a phone that's marginally smarter, slightly more comfortable, and a little bit more usable than most others. And while that may never displace Samsung or Apple, it's an important first step. This new Motorola is listening. Listening to customers who want their phones to feel more personal. Listening to critics who endlessly complain about battery life. Listening to an industry that knows the spec race is out of hand. And, perhaps most importantly, the new Motorola is listening to Google when it says solving people's actual problems, simply and beautifully, is the path to success.

The Moto X looks interesting, but I doubt it can handle the competition. Specifications do seem to matter in the shops, and the Moto X doesn't measure up. On top of that, how are they going to do the custom design thing in other parts of the world?

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‘Samsung agency is buying off StackOverflow users’

Wireless 23 Comments
Apparently, an advertising agency hired by Samsung is trying to buy people to post questions about the company on StackOverflow. This is what Delyan Kratunov was asked to do (he declined):

All we need you to do is talk about the SSAC (Samsung Smart App Challenge) and get the word out. How? We were thinking about 4 questions on Stackoverflow over the span of a month..... as well as replies to posts made by other members. Don't worry about finding the questions to reply to because we will send you links.

Stay classy, Samsung.

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Regarding the ITC’s exclusion order against Apple

Legal 49 Comments
Recently, the ITC ruled in favour of Samsung, issuing an exclusion order against certain Apple products, barring them from being sold in the US. Several people have called upon president Obama to step in and overrule the decision (e.g. this guy) - however, not only would this set a very bad precedent for non-US companies, it would also simply be incredibly unfair if you actually look at the ITC ruling itself. Because of this, it is quite unlikely that Obama will step in.
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Improved smartphone sales pushes Sony to profitable quarter

Wireless 29 Comments
Like LG, Sony's smartphone division is now also doing quite well:

In the three months between April and June of this year, Sony saw both a "significant increase in unit sales" of its Android smartphones and an improved average selling price per handset. That's at the heart of the company's improved profitability.

The common parlance that only Samsung is profiting off Android is, as I've said before, simply no longer true. All it took for companies like LG and Sony to become profitable with Android is to, you know, stop making crap phones, and start producing good ones.

Shocker.

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NSA program collects ‘nearly everything a user does on the net’

Internet 72 Comments
From The Guardian:

A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The NSA boasts in training materials that the program, called XKeyscore, is its "widest reaching" system for developing intelligence from the internet.

This is not PRISM - but a different system. The slides are damning, as always.

It validates claims made by Edward Snowden, and makes it clear that US government officials have been lying all along. There's no court order required for any of this - in a supposedly modern democracy. Crazy.

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