Horizons

The Facebook logo as it is displayed on an iPad. (Matt Rourke/AP)

Facebook zooms past Google Maps to become the most used phone app in the US

By Aimee Ortiz / 01.23.13

ComScore released its latest Mobile Metrix report on Jan. 23, which ranked the top mobile application in the US by audience. Results from Android and iPhone show that Facebook has taken the No.1 spot as the most used mobile app of 2012. Google Maps has slid into second place. The rankings use data from as far back as March 2012 when considering the apps.

Facebook shot ahead of Google in October and kept climbing, reaching more than 85 million users by December.

“Of course Apple’s decision to replace Google Maps with Apple Maps on iOS 6 also caused a decline in Google Maps usage in October, which is largely responsible for the position swap. Meanwhile, Google Maps has been clawing its way back the past few months after getting reinstated on iOS 6, so look for the competition for the #1 spot to heat up as we head into 2013,” wrote ComScore VP of Industry Analysis, Andrew Lipsman, in a blog post.

Though Google Maps sat in second place, Google managed to take five out of the six top mobile apps spots in the US for 2012. Google Play, Google Search, Gmail, and YouTube were the other apps, in respective order. Combined, all five apps give Google the largest amount of visitors total.

According to a report on CNET.com, Facebook had 85,574 unique visitors using the app in December alone. Facebook also dominates in the amount of time visitors spend on the app.

The ComScore report illustrates that 23 percent of time spent on apps is spent on Facebook. This is not including the three percent that is spent on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. Facebook acquired the photo-sharing app in April of last year.

All of Google’s apps combined only make up 10 percent. ComScore states that this means that one out of every three minutes spent on a mobile app, is spent on Facebook or Google.

The other apps mentioned in the report include, Pandora Radio, Apple iTunes, Cooliris, and Yahoo! Messenger. Although they hold their own, gaining spots seven through ten, these apps do not hold a candle to the two giants. However, the mobile app world constantly changes, a fact that Mr. Lipsman pointed out toward the end of the post. Amazon, Twitter, and eBay are all commonly used apps that might find themselves in the spotlight next year. Or, as Lipsman suggests, it will be a new app that no one will expect -- a rise similar to that of Instagram.

“If there is one thing we can all bet on, it’s that the market will look very different a year from now," he writes. "And may the best apps win.”

For more tech news follow Aimee on Twitter, @aimee_ortiz

Nintendo Co's President Satoru Iwata speaks next to the company's Wii U game controller during an interview with Reuters at the company headquarters in Kyoto, western Japan. (Yuriko Nakao/REUTERS)

To boost Wii U, Nintendo calls in the usual suspects: Mario, Yoshi, Link

By Aimee Ortiz / 01.23.13

Mario, Link, Yoshi, and other heroes are getting a Wii U makeover, according to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. The Nintendo Direct webcast, released on Jan. 23, revealed the company's next round of big releases for the Wii U.

The long-awaited Virtual Console will be available on the Wii U this coming spring, announced Mr. Iwata. The service will resurrect classic games from Nintendo's past. Virtual Console will start with a limited selection of NES and SNES games before broadening to include Game Boy Advance games and other retro revivals. VC also includes what Iwata called, “special pricing,” for those who already own Wii versions of each Virtual Console game. The cost: $1 for NES and $1.50 for SNES games. Wii U gamers must first transfer the Wii VC games to the Wii U, in order to receive the discount.

Nintendo also kicked off a special discount program at the end of the webcast. In honor of the 30^th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Wii U owners will be able to rent certain downloadable titles for $0.30 for 30 days. Buyer beware, warns Engadget: the games will only be available at that price for a limited time. After that, the download will, in a way, self destruct. The first game with the $0.30 price tag is Balloon Fight, the 1984 classic. According to Kotaku.com, upcoming titles for the discounted program include Kirby’s Big Adventure, Super Metroid, and Donkey Kong.

Iwata also publicized new (and old) games for the Wii U. The Nintendo President promised that a new 3-D Mario and Mario Kart will be revealed during the E3 convention this coming June. The news comes as no surprise to Nintendo fans that recognize the games as Nintendo staples.

A blast from the past (from 2003 to be exact) will be making a comeback. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker will be undergoing a face lift to prepare it for its Wii U premiere in the fall. Kotaku reported that the Wind Waker remake will come complete with HD graphics and Off-TV Play, meaning you can play it on your GamePad controller even while the television is off. The Zelda news didn’t stop there. Iwata revealed that Nintendo is working on a new Zelda game for the Wii U.

Wii U owners should be aware that before these changes become available to them; Nintendo will be releasing two software updates to improve the console’s performance.

A USA Today reports that the Wii U, which launched in November 2012, has sold 890,000 units, a less than sterling debut. The Wii U was heavily criticized when it first appeared. Nintendo hopes the upcoming virtual console, NES anniversary pricing, Game Boy Advance titles, reboots, and new games will boost sales and please the critics.

For more tech news follow Aimee on Twitter, @aimee_ortiz

The Microsoft Surface Pro tablet will be available starting February 9th. The Surface Pro has an Intel Core i5 processor, a 10.6-inch screen, and can be used with a keyboard cover or a stylus. (Microsoft)

Surface Pro tablet arrives in early February

By Jeff Ward-Bailey, Contributor / 01.23.13

When the Microsoft Surface came out last year, there was a fair bit of confusion about what, exactly, it could and couldn’t do. Microsoft hyped the tablet as one of the first devices running the Windows 8 operating system -- but the Surface runs Windows RT, a slimmed-down version of Windows 8. Even though the Surface can run full-fledged versions of Microsoft Office and a few other apps, it isn’t compatible with older Windows programs.

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. Lots of people felt that the distinction between Windows RT and Windows 8 didn’t make sense, especially since Windows 8 was specifically designed to work equally well on both tablets and computers. Microsoft promised that a full Windows 8 version of the Surface would be coming soon -- and after more than half a year of silence, we finally have a release date: the Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro, as it’s formally known, will hit stores in the US and Canada on February 9th.

The Surface Pro is faster as well as a little bigger than the regular Surface tablet. It sports a 10.6-inch display and an Intel Core i5 processor, and comes in two models: a 64GB version for $899, or a 128GB version for $999. That’s a $200 price increase over the Surface RT, but the Pro is a faster machine -- and the big upshot is that it can run any program that works on a desktop, as well as apps from the Microsoft Store.

The Surface Pro also works with the “Touch Cover” and “Type Cover,” clever cases that double as full keyboards. The Touch Cover is thinner and spill-resistant, but uses pressure sensors in place of traditional keyboard keys. The Type Cover (shown in the photo above) incorporates mechanical keys and behaves more like a laptop keyboard. (It’s worth adding that the Surface Pro doesn’t come with either keyboard, and getting one will set you back about $120 for the Touch Cover and $130 for the Type Cover.) If you need even more input options, the Surface Pro comes with a pen for drawing or writing notes by hand.

The Surface Pro might be coming just in time: in spite of a big marketing push from Microsoft, and strong early indicators, the Surface hasn’t been selling too well -- just one million tablets over the holidays, by one estimate, compared with three million iPads and iPad Minis during the same period. It’s too soon to predict how well the Surface Pro will sell, but the fact that it runs all Windows applications (even older ones) might help ease customers’ concerns.

What do you think about the Surface Pro? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

For more tech news, follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffwardbailey.

Read entire post | Comments

Rose Barcklow works on her bike in the velo room at her apartment complex in downtown Denver. (Ed Andrieski/AP Photo)

Pedaling to the top: How bicycles stormed the Detroit auto show

By Aimee Ortiz / 01.16.13

The North American International Auto Show in Detroit opened its doors to reporters on Monday. Members of the media were allowed early access to the upcoming vehicle debuts and latest automotive news. One of the biggest shockers so far has been the prominent placement of bicycles.

“Consumers that may be not that active or may not even have bicycles themselves are going to associate that with an active lifestyle, an outdoor lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle," Jeremy Anwyl, vice chairman of the Edmunds.com auto website, told the Associated Press.

While bikes were not the primary focus of the Press Preview, they have been used to market vehicles in the past.

The Prius X Parlee, seen with other Toyota vehicles, was developed to be lightweight bicycle and include electronic shifters as well as a smartphone dock.

Coincidentally, the North American International Anti-Auto Show opens on Friday at the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit. The show is an art exhibition featuring alternative modes of transportation.

The NYTimes reported that the timing is not meant to pit bicyclist against driver but rather to highlight “the environmental consequences of the automobile and the things that come from a heavy car culture.”

According the Times, Aaron Timlin, chief executive and president of the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, finds the event humorous, “because it is ironic.”

Irony and marketing aside, bike commuting has been on the rise in recent years. The AP reported that in places like Portland, Ore., which has already been dubbed one of the most cyclist-friendly cities in the US, bicycles and biking culture have been increasing. Some apartment complexes have started to offer secure bike storage and others have installed repair shops.

The green-minded apartment complex EcoFlats even has a bike bar on the ground floor. According to the AP, the Hopworks BikeBar features water-bottle filling stations and comes decorated with locally handcrafted bike frames.

“Three thousand people ride their bike by here each day,” Jean Pierre Veillet, the developer of the building, told the AP.

The bike movement is spreading quickly. Denver already has complexes similar to Portland's EcoFlats and other cities have begun to build them.

In Seattle, where thousands of cyclists already share the road with drivers, the Pine Street Group is building a 654-unit apartment complex that will accommodate the biking tenants and bike commuters. Commuters can join a club to have access to the repair shop and lockers.

Matt Griffin, a managing partner for the group, says that he's been car-free for nine years. He wants the complex to become a hub for commuters. Griffin told the AP that, "bikes are a good way to get around Seattle." The rising numbers suggest that people agree.

For more tech news follow Aimee on Twitter, @aimee_ortiz

Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, back row left, and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, back row right, look at North Korean soldiers working on computers at the Grand Peoples Study House in Pyongyang, North Korea. (David Guttenfelder/AP)

Google's Schmidt takes a techie tour of North Korea

By Aimee Ortiz / 01.09.13

Google chairman Eric Schmidt has spent the last three days with a private delegation on a humanitarian trip to North Korea. The delegation, which includes former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, arrived in North Korea on Monday to stress more open Internet access and cellphones for the tightly restricted country.

“The citizens of the DPRK [North Korea] will be better off with more cellphones and an active Internet,” Mr. Richardson said to the Associated Press. "Those are the ... messages we've given to a variety of foreign policy officials, scientists and government officials."

According to the AP, experts see North Korea as one of the least connected countries. North Korea has rigid control on the flow of information and the interactions of citizens with the outside world. Many argue that the strict rules and censorship have caused the small Asian country to suffer in its isolation.

Kim Jong Un, the young leader of the Communist nation, vowed to improve the economy in his New Year speech on January 1. Un has urged citizens to expand their knowledge of science and technology as means for economic improvement. The AP reported that new propaganda signs have been spotted across Pyongyang telling citizens to “push back the frontiers” and “break through the cutting edge.”

Most North Koreans currently have a domestic intranet system as opposed to the World Wide Web.

Mr. Schmidt, who oversaw Google’s growth into an Internet giant, visited Kim Il Sung University on Tuesday. He spoke with students that have global Internet access (with permission) for research purposes.

On Wednesday he visited the Grand People’s Study House, Pyongyang’s main library, before going to see the Korea Computer Center. Several years ago, Mr. Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il, is quoted as saying: “Now is the era for science and technology. It is the era of computers."

The delegation entered an atrium exhibition hall at the computer center, according to the AP. There, the Google group got a chance to toy with North Korean computer products like the new Samjiyon tablet computer featuring foreign hardware and North Korean software. The group also got the opportunity to learn about North Korea’s data encryption software, face recognition devices, video chat and instant messaging software.

The Korea Computer Center partnered with Russia, China, India, and other nations to develop its products. Officials told Schmidt and Richardson that North Korea is hoping to reach out and establish partnerships with other countries.

Google currently has offices in over 40 countries; among those is China – another country that is criticized for its censorship. Schmidt, a staunch supporter of Internet connectivity and openness, is expected to make a donation during his visit.

However, the trip for the Google chairman and former governor has not been without criticism.

US officials initially criticized the four-day trip after North Korea launched a satellite into space using a long-range rocket on Dec. 12.

Washington considered the launch to be a ballistic missile technology test – a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. These resolutions prohibit Pyongyang from developing its nuclear and missile programs.

The Atlantic Wire released an article on Wednesday titled, “Just How Badly Is Eric Schmidt’s Trip to North Korea Going?” and speculated that the image released on Tuesday of North Korean students Googling for Schmidt may have just been a photo-op.

John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN, calls Schmidt and Richardson “gullible” in his New York Daily News piece. He opined that Schmidt and Richardson, “have joined the long list of Americans and others used by the Kim family dictatorship for political advantage."

Toyota and Audi are planning to show off driverless cars at CES 2013. Toyota leaked a short video showing a Lexus LS sedan with radar and camera equipment mounted on the vehicle. (Lexus)

CES 2013: Toyota and Audi roll out new self-driving cars

By Jeff Ward-Bailey, Contributor / 01.04.13

You’ve probably heard that Google has been working for years to develop self-driving cars – but the search-engine giant isn’t the only game in town when it comes to autonomous driving. Toyota and Audi are preparing to show off their own semi-driverless cars at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, which opens next week in Las Vegas.

Toyota will be bringing a version of its luxury Lexus LS, which sports a spinning radar on top of the car and camera equipment on the front. The car also features technology called Intelligent Transport Systems, which allows the car to communicate with other vehicles on the road as well as with the highway “grid” (think of a decentralized computer network that could, eventually, plan traffic and coordinate each different vehicle’s path).

Toyota leaked a video ahead of its Jan. 7 announcement that shows a Lexus LS decked out with driverless technology speeding down a highway.

Audi’s a little tighter-lipped with the details, but The Wall Street Journal reports that it will be bringing a car that can find a parking space on its own, and park itself without help from a driver. Audi’s been working on autonomous vehicle technology for quite a while, as have Ford and Mercedes-Benz.

A lot of the driverless cars currently available from big automakers might be better described at this point as “semi-autonomous.” They add features that reduce the need for driver input, rather than doing away with human operators altogether.

Toyota, for example, notes in a press release that its “high-level driver assistance systems” are designed to make things safer for the driver of the vehicle and for other vehicles on the road. Lots of cars today have “adaptive cruise control,” which matches a vehicle’s speed to that of surrounding traffic. And some cars can automatically steer themselves back into a lane if the driver veers out of it by accident.

There’s no mistaking where Toyota and Audi are headed, though: With its spinning radar and communications array, the Lexus LS is aiming to be a fully autonomous vehicle that can operate safely without driver interaction. (By the way, even though Google tends to use Toyota cars in its self-driving fleet, the two companies say their driverless technologies were developed separately.)

A driverless future might be coming sooner than you think -- but we’ll have to wait for CES 2013 to roll around to find out more.

For more tech news, follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffwardbailey.

Read entire post | Comments

Google is concerned with how Samsung's growing power might affect their partnership. Here, a man walks by a Samsung advertisement in Seoul, South Korea. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters/File)

CES 2013 rumors: Smart fridges, translucent TVs, and more

By Jeff Ward-Bailey, Contributor / 01.04.13

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a week away -- which means that rumors about what will be on display in Las Vegas have started to fly in, right on schedule.

Before we dive in to gadgets, it’s worth noting that the show itself may be changing a bit this year. For years, CES has been absolutely huge, devouring a good chunk of Las Vegas as big companies show off their latest and greatest. But last year, Microsoft announced it wouldn’t be attending CES 2013, and other major players like Intel, HP, and Sony will be absent as well. As Matt Burns at TechCrunch points out, that means Lenovo and Samsung will be the biggest companies in attendance -- which leaves plenty of room for smaller startups to demonstrate their products.

But in spite of the absence of some of the bigger companies, there are good reasons to expect that CES 2013 will be bigger than ever. So what can we expect to see demoed in Vegas next week?

For starters, Samsung is teasing a new portrait TV that will be unveiled at CES. In a December 30th blog post, the company posted a picture showing a screen in an upright 4:3 orientation (think of a giant iPad), describing the product as “an unprecedented new TV shape and timeless design,” according to a translation by The Verge. Last year the company unveiled high-end OLED TVs at CES, and the most optimistic speculation this year includes translucent TV screens like those used in Samsung’s refrigerators.

Speaking of fridges, Stacy Higginbotham at GigaOM speculates that CES 2013 will showcase an “Internet of things,” with connected appliances and home automation products stealing the show. It’s certainly no stretch to predict that we’ll see not only smart fridges that can tell you what’s inside and communicate with your phone (especially since we saw similar devices at last year’s CES), but also services that can tie data from different appliances together in useful ways. Think, for example, of a fridge that can not only keep track of inventory, but also order groceries, create recipes based on what’s at hand, and even suggest meals based on things like the age and activity level of each family member.

We’ll also likely see lots of Windows 8 devices -- desktops, laptops, tablets, and smart phones alike -- on the CES floor this year. The OS wasn’t made available until relatively late last year, and manufacturers are still coming up with spiffy new hardware that runs Windows 8. And given that the OS is designed to take advantage of touch input, we can expect to see lots of touch-enabled devices at the conference, including some new laptop/tablet hybrids.

CES will begin in just a week, so we’ll know then which of these rumors are true. In the meantime, let us know in the comments section below what you’re hoping to see at CES 2013!

For more tech news, follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffwardbailey.

Read entire post | Comments

Smart phones and tablets were activated in record numbers during the holiday week, and the iOS App Store and Google Play had more downloads than ever before. Here, customers examine the Apple iPad tablet at an Apple Store in Paris. (Charles Platiau/Reuters/File)

A very techy Christmas: 50 million new phones and tablets activated

By Jeff Ward-Bailey, Contributor / 01.02.13

For devicemakers and app developers alike, it was a good holiday season -- to say nothing of the record numbers of happy people who found a new smart phone or tablet under the tree.

Seventeen million new iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas Day alone in 2012, “more than any other day in history,” according to mobile analytics firm Flurry. Over the following week, the number of new devices activated rose to 50 million.

And what would new hardware be without some apps to go with it? The same week saw record-breaking app downloads: 1.76 billion from the iOS App Store and Google Play, up 65 percent from the weekly average from earlier in December. The US accounted for 604 million of these downloads, and China took second place with 183 million -- tempered by the fact that most of China’s population doesn’t celebrate Christmas.

Flurry’s numbers don’t include devices running other platforms such as Windows Phone, nor are they a complete record of all phones and tablets. But the firm says it can detect more than 90 percent of the devices activated each day, and its figures are considered pretty accurate. And its conclusion is clear: the last week of the year was the biggest in history for iOS and Android devices and apps.

Flurry also says these kinds of numbers have staying power. The firm estimates that we’ll see more than a billion apps downloaded each week during 2013, and that that number will rise to 2 billion by the summer or early fall. Given what we already know about the growth of smart phones and tablets, these numbers aren’t totally surprising -- but they do emphasize just how briskly app markets are growing. During the 2011 holiday week, Flurry reported only 1.2 billion apps downloaded, and a comparatively paltry 6.8 million devices activated on Christmas Day.

Interestingly, Flurry also noted that slightly more tablets were activated than smart phones on Christmas Day (51 percent to 49 percent). There are usually about four smart phones activated for every tablet, but December 25th was a big day for bigger screens -- probably because people wanted to save those comparatively higher-end devices for the holiday. The iPad and iPad Mini had an especially strong showing, as did the Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablet.

Did you get a new smart phone or tablet this holiday season? Do you think the trend of app downloads and device activations will continue? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more tech news, follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffwardbailey.

Read entire post | Comments

The FCC announced new rules on Friday that will make it easier for companies to provide in-flight broadband Internet. Here, a Lufthansa airplane comes in for an early-morning landing at Munich Airport. (Matthias Schrader/AP/File)

FCC paves the way for better in-flight broadband

By Jeff Ward-Bailey, Contributor / 12.28.12

Lots of airlines offer Wi-Fi on their flights, but if you've ever tried to use it, you know the service can be ... less than ideal. Scarce bandwidth, frequent outages, and high-connection charges on lots of planes can make the prospect of connecting to in-flight networks a dicey proposition.

For some people, that's a plus: after all, a flight is one of the rare times when you can enjoy a novel or take a nap, untethered from the demands that come from being online. But if distracting yourself from a long flight with Facebook and YouTube sounds like more your cup of tea, you can thank the FCC: the Commission established rules on Friday that will make it easier for companies to offer Internet service on airplanes.

The new rules will streamline the process by which companies apply for permission to offer in-flight Internet, says FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. The approval process will be standardized, allowing the FCC to process license applications about 50 percent faster, and administrative burdens on companies seeking license will be reduced.

"This will enable providers to bring broadband to planes more efficiently, helping passengers connect with friends, family, or the office," Genachowski says in a statment.

The FCC has already authorized a number of companies to provide in-flight Internet service, but the process has been "ad hoc" up until now. In-flight broadband relies on a technology called Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft (ESAA), which carries two-way broadband signals between geo-stationary satellites and an antenna mounted on the aircraft. The new rules establish a framework for any company to use ESAA, provided that their systems don't interfere with aircraft communications and that they meet with approval from the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration, which operates the country's air traffic control system.

Interestingly, the FCC's new rules don't mean that passengers will be able to use electronics throughout flights. The longstanding ban on using cell phones in-flight still stands, as does a ban on using laptops and other electronics during takeoff and landing. The government says those rules are in place because of concerns about interference with ground communications. But Genachowski also asked the FAA earlier this month to relax the rules on aircraft -- so perhaps you'll soon be able to stay connected from takeoff 'til landing.

The FCC notes that the new rules are being put in place with an eye toward "enhancing competition in an important sector of the mobile telecommunications market", as well as "promoting the widespread availability of Internet access to aircraft passengers." That means you'll likely have to rely on willpower soon, if you're interested in maintaining your flights as an oasis of "unplugged" time.

Are you excited about the idea of more connected flights? Or are you happy to pass the time in the air with a book? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more tech news, follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffwardbailey.

Read entire post | Comments