Apple's shine starts to fade

iPad boom slows as tablets lose out to smarter phones 

Between the iPad and its rivals, the tablet computer has become one of the most successful consumer electronic products ever. Apple (AAPL) has sold more than 210 million iPads since the device’s 2010 debut, about double the rate of iPhone sales in its first four years. The boom has helped the electronics industry make up for the drop in sales of desktop and laptop PCs. Suddenly, though, the market is slowing down.

Apple reported that iPad sales dropped by one-sixth last quarter from the same period a year earlier, and Microsoft (MSFT) said revenue from its Surface tablet, not robust to begin with, dropped about 40 percent after the holiday season. Amazon.com (AMZN) doesn’t break out sales, but according to researcher Gartner, it hasn’t moved up the market-share charts. Global tablet sales rose 19 percent in the first quarter, propelled by purchases of cheap models in emerging markets, but that’s paltry compared with growth of 83 percent during the same period last year and more than 100 percent during that period in 2012 and 2011, according to researcher Strategy Analytics.

The tablet’s early success has resulted in unrealistic expectations for the long term, says Horace Dediu, the founder of research and consulting firm Asymco. He’s surprised growth is slowing, because only about 40 percent of the U.S. market currently owns a tablet. For hot consumer electronics of previous generations, like color TVs and microwaves, this kind of decline in sales growth doesn’t usually happen until at least half the market has the product, he says. Tablets, Dediu adds, may ultimately prove to be more like game consoles: a large, valuable market that nonetheless cannot match the ubiquity of mobile phones. “It’s a very compelling product,” he says, “but isn’t of the same utility as a phone.”

Story: Apple Sells More iPhones Than Expected, Fewer iPads

As smartphones get bigger and do more, there are fewer good reasons for people to pony up several hundred dollars for a tablet, says Benedict Evans, an analyst and investor with the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Consumers are perfectly fine using their iPhone or Samsung Galaxy smartphone to browse the Web, play games, or scan e-mail while watching TV or lying in bed, Evans says, and that trend will likely continue as phone screens keep growing.

Demand is still growing for inexpensive tablets, notably some models from Samsung, Lenovo, and Asus, used mostly for watching video. Android tablet purchases grew 48 percent for the quarter, and grocery stores and retail chains, including Tesco (TSCO:LN) in the U.K. and Carrefour (CA:FP) in France, are selling their own branded tablets for less than $200. The gadgets, some as cheap as $50 in Asia, don’t have access to the range of apps or business software that an iPad does, but that’s not why people buy them. In Asia, Dediu says, the typical tablet user loads the device with TV shows, movies, and music: “The tablet is the TV of choice for Asia today.”

Tablets can’t easily replace PCs when it comes to crunching a lot of numbers, writing long reports, or making presentations. Jean-Louis Gassée, an Apple executive during the 1980s, says he’s frustrated by the limitations of the iPad, which doesn’t have a visible filing system that can organize and save documents. The simplicity that makes it easy for a wide audience to use, he says, limits its value for corporate customers or others who want such features. Along with many industry analysts, Gassée, now a general partner at venture capital firm Allegis Capital, says he expects Apple eventually to release an iPad that feels more like a PC.

Story: Microsoft CEO Nadella Pulls the Trigger on Long-Gestating Office Apps for iPad

Like Amazon and Microsoft, Apple, which generated $7.6 billion in iPad sales last quarter, declined to comment for this story. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, during an April 23 conference call with analysts, reiterated his belief that tablets will surpass PC sales in the next few years. He added: “Apple will be a major beneficiary of this trend.”

-  Contributed By Adam Satariano Bloomberg

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Microsoft buys Nokia’s phone for $7.2 Billion

Ballmer: Nokia Deal Accelerates Share Position
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-03/microsoft-to-buy-nokia-s-devices-business-for-5-44-billion-euros.html

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is spending 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion) to buy Nokia Oyj (NOK1V)’s handset unit so it can gain ground on Apple Inc. and Google (GOOG) Inc. in a smartphone market it let get away -- gaining a possible new chief executive officer in the process.

Nokia’s devices and services unit, which accounted for half of the company’s 2012 revenue, along with 32,000 employees, will transfer to Microsoft, the companies said. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, 49, will return to Microsoft after a three-year stint running the Finnish manufacturer. The move stoked speculation he may be a successor to CEO Steve Ballmer, who said last month he’d retire within 12 months.

Microsoft is deepening a push into hardware as dwindling computer sales sap demand for the programs that made it the world’s largest software maker. Nokia shares jumped as much as 48 percent in Helsinki as the sale removes a money-losing handset business and lets it focus on higher-margin networking gear. Even combined, the companies have less than 4 percent of the smartphone market, leaving them far behind Apple and Google.

“The question is whether combining two weak companies will get you a strong new competitor -- it’s doubtful,” said Paul Budde, a telecommunications consultant in Sydney. “Both Nokia and Microsoft really missed the boat in terms of smartphones, and it is extremely difficult to claw your way back from that.”

Market-Share Decline

Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, racked up losses of more than 5 billion euros over nine quarters as Elop’s comeback efforts failed to eat into the dominance of Apple (AAPL) and Google’s Android platform in the smartphone market. The stock has lost more than 80 percent in the five years through yesterday.

The shares rose 34 percent to 3.97 euros in Helsinki, valuing Nokia at 14.9 billion euros. The shares of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft fell 4.6 percent to $31.88 at the close in New York, wiping out more than $12.6 billion in market value. The company’s market capitalization is now about $265.6 billion.

As part of the agreement, Microsoft will pay 3.79 billion euros for Nokia’s devices division and 1.65 billion euros for patents, according to a statement from the companies. The all-cash transaction, subject to Nokia investors’ approval, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014. JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised Nokia on the transaction, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. worked with Microsoft.

‘Big Transformation’

Nokia said it will book a gain of 3.2 billion euros, with the sale “significantly” accretive to earnings. It also said it aims to return its debt, which is ranked junk by all three major rating companies, to an investment grade. Chairman Risto Siilasmaa, who will become Nokia’s interim CEO, said the company may return excess capital to shareholders.

“It’s a big transformation, but that’s what you’ve got to do in the tech business to move forward,” Ballmer told Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television’s “The Pulse.”

Microsoft said it is confident of getting the deal approved by early next year. The transaction will shave 12 cents a share off earnings in the current fiscal year, or 8 cents excluding some items, the company said. In 2015, the cost will be 6 cents based on generally accepted accounting principles. Excluding some costs, the deal will add to profit that year.

Microsoft also expects to get more profit for every device sold -- more than $40 a unit for smartphones, compared with the less than $10 in gross profit it currently gets for Windows Phone sold by Nokia. That doesn’t include the costs of marketing and development, though.

Cost Savings

Based on generally accepted accounting principles, the transaction will add to earnings in fiscal 2016, Microsoft said. The company expects to have annual cost savings of $600 million 18 months after the deal closes.

The Microsoft purchase was the second major deal to be announced during the U.S. Labor Day holiday yesterday. Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to pay $130 billion for Vodafone Group Plc’s stake in their U.S. wireless venture in the biggest transaction in more than a decade.

The Microsoft-Nokia deal is the largest for a wireless device maker after Google’s purchase of Motorola’s handset unit in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For Microsoft, the deal including the payment to license Nokia’s patents is its second-biggest behind the $8.5 billion purchase of Internet telephone company Skype in 2011.

Motorola Comparison

Microsoft agreed to pay about 0.35 times annual revenue, compared with the median of about 1.4 times for 60 wireless equipment-maker deals tracked by Bloomberg. That also compares with the 0.77 times revenue Google paid for Motorola Mobility, the data show.

Google paid about 1.3 times annual operating income for the handset maker, while Nokia’s device and services business reported an operating loss last year, according to the data.

With the latest sale, the original pioneers in the mobile-phone industry -- Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson AB -- have all ceased to be independent handset manufacturers or given up on the business. BlackBerry Ltd. said last month it’s considering putting itself up for sale. Its shares advanced less than 1 percent to $10.21 in today’s trading.

Microsoft, meanwhile, becomes the last major developer of smartphone operating systems to get into manufacturing. Apple makes its own handsets, which use its iOS operating system. Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility gave it its own lineup of phones.

Surface Tablet

Microsoft’s other recent significant move into hardware -- the Surface tablet -- has trailed expectations and the company wrote down inventory last quarter.

To break even on an operating basis, Microsoft will need Nokia to sell about 50 million smartphones a year, it said in a presentation. Nokia has a run-rate of about 30 million units. In the second quarter, Nokia sold 7.4 million smartphones under the Lumia line.

Microsoft acquired the Lumia brand to use with smartphones, while it will license the Nokia brand to use with low-end phones for 10 years, Elop said at a press briefing today. Microsoft will later decide what to call its future smartphones.

Microsoft will face a balancing act owning Nokia and keeping its other hardware partners, including HTC Corp. (2498) and Samsung Electronics Co., committed to its Windows Phone. Aiming to reassure other phone makers that Microsoft will still support them, Ballmer said that the company was “100 percent” committed to helping its manufacturing partners.

Ballmer declined to say whether Elop would become CEO, or had been a candidate to succeed him.

Microsoft Tie-Up

Ballmer called Nokia’s Siilasmaa shortly after the new year to initiate discussions on an acquisition and the two met in February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, according to Microsoft. Talks heated up in recent months and a deal was lined up before Ballmer announced his retirement last month, the company said.

Microsoft and Nokia have had a close relationship through Elop, who had run Microsoft’s Office unit. He left the software maker in September 2010 to take the top job at Nokia.

At the time, Elop likened Nokia’s position to a man standing on a burning oil platform on the verge of being engulfed in flames, facing the option of staying aboard or jumping to the ocean to have a chance to survive.

In February 2011, Elop struck a deal with Ballmer to switch Nokia’s smartphones from its own Symbian operating system to Windows Phone. In exchange, Microsoft ponied up more than $1 billion to pay for Nokia marketing and developing products on Windows.

Losing Share

Nokia had the largest share of the mobile phone handset market until it was overtaken by Samsung (005930) in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Still, Nokia remains a top seller of traditional mobile phones -- models that are more popular in developing markets. In total shipments, the company ranks second to Samsung among device manufacturers. Samsung accounted for 26 percent of shipments last quarter, while Nokia had 14 percent. Apple came in third with 7.2 percent.

After the sale to Microsoft, Nokia’s biggest business will be network equipment, which it recently fully took over from Siemens AG (SIE) and renamed Nokia Solutions and Networks. The unit competes with Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent as well as China’s Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. (763)
 
Ericsson jumped 5 percent to 82.50 kronor in Stockholm. Alcatel-Lucent, which under new CEO Michel Combes is streamlining its business, added 9.2 percent to 2.20 euros in Paris trading.

Mapping Unit

Nokia said it will also keep its mapping and location services unit, called Here, and its technology development and licensing division.

“Nokia has a highly evolved device design and manufacturing process which will benefit Microsoft greatly,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst at research firm IDC. “This is simply the fastest path in front of Microsoft to achieve something like Apple’s vision on devices.”

Contributed by Bloomberg

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Samsung S4 new heir to Galaxy smartphone throne

 The S4 lives up to all the buzz to take over the torch for Samsung's outstanding range
 
WITH over 10 million units sold worldwide since its launch last month, an introduction to the Samsung Galaxy S4 seems somewhat redundant.

So we are going to head straight into discussing whether the latest addition to Samsung’s arsenal of Galaxy devices lives up to all the buzz.

There are two variants of Samsung Galaxy S4, one powered by the 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, and the other by Samsung’s Exynos 5 1.6 GHz Octa-core processor (which we find on our shelves here).

Octa-core, on paper, sounds astounding but, in reality, it is somewhat disappointing.

Make no mistake, it is fast: Multi Window and multi-tasking run much better here. But for that much processing power, it is fair to expect the device to run as smooth as butter all the time.

When you fire up the five-inch full HD display, the awe factor goes up.

The Super AMOLED display is stunning and you will soon forget about the cheap-looking and prone-to-grime polycarbonate back plate that covers the removable 2,600mAh battery, microSD slot and micro SIM slot.

We found the new features the Galaxy S4 came with to be rather useful, especially Air Gesture which lets you scroll up and down a web page, change music track, or even answer a call by waving your hand.

You can even wake the device up enough to show you the time and notifications that way.

With Samsung Smart Scroll, we can easily scroll up and down web pages by tilting the device. The only catch is that you can only use both Air Gesture and Samsung Smart Scroll on web pages opened with Internet Browser.

Other features include the S Translator which provides instant translation and Optical Reader which automatically recognises text, a business card or QR code information.

There is also the WatchON which transforms the device into an infra-red remote control for your home entertainment system including your television, set-top box, DVD player and air-conditioner.

Dubbed as the Life Companion, the Galaxy S4 also has an excellent snapper.

One of the best things about the Galaxy S4’s camera is its user-friendliness.

Owing to the camera software borrowed from the Galaxy Camera, swapping in-between the 12 modes onboard is a breeze.

The camera does extraordinarily well in an environment with good lighting, producing pictures with vibrant colours and details.

Otherwise, you’ll get some noisy pictures. However, the HDR mode manages to work very well in managing the tricky lighting scenarios.

Other Ingenious modes like Animated Photo which lets you create animated GIFs without leaving the camera app, and the Dual Camera function which allows simultaneous use of both front and rear cameras, also help make immortalising memories more delightful.

The battery in the Galaxy S4 holds up pretty well especially with the brightness turned down.

A full charge lasts a full day of heavy text messaging, web-browsing, taking pictures and multi-tasking between apps. It can easily last longer with Power Saving Mode turned on.

All in, the Galaxy S4 is an outstanding device despite its shortcomings and occasional stutters. It is undeniably deserving of taking over the S III in carrying the torch for the Galaxy line-up.

By Yeevon Ong lifestyle@thesundaily.com

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Tap your phone's potential with NFC technology

Make your Android device smarter using a little-known technology called NFC.

 
HANDY: If you have an NFC tag in your car, you can quickly turn on or off functions (like Bluetooth) on your smartphone.

 

NFC stands for near-field communication, a short-range wireless communication technology that enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 10cm distance.

In certain countries, NFC has already been used to turn smartphones with embedded NFC chips, into mobile wallets.

Instead of using cash or credit/debit cards, the part of the smartphone where the NFC chip is located (usually on the back cover or in the battery) is tapped on the scanner for the transaction to be charged to the user's account.

Some countries have trialled the usage of NFC as a means of payment for public transportation too. Think of NFC as using your smartphone as a Touch 'n Go card and you'll get the picture.

Tag it

There are more and more NFC-enabled Android smartphones landing on our shores. While the use of it here hasn't reached the same level as some other countries, it is not without its usefulness.

The most publicised use of NFC is the ability to transfer files at breakneck speed by just bumping two smartphones against each other.

While it's impressive, the true potential of this technology lies in an external accessory known as an NFC tag.

NFC tags are basically stickers that are able to store information inside them. With the aid of any NFC app, which can be found in abundance in the Google Play Store, users can design a set of actions for their device to execute and then save the commands on the tags.

Whenever an NFC-enabled device is tapped on the tag, it will execute the commands.

The good news is that the tags don't cost a bomb. Even better news is that as long as you don't select to permanently lock the tag, you can always rewrite the tags, so they're pretty good value for money.

A popular app for customising tags is NFC Task Launcher by Tagstand (bit.ly/GMNn32). Available for free in the Play Store, the app allows users to include two different sets of actions in one tag. For example, tapping it the first time will enable a feature, and tapping it again will disable it.

There are many practical uses for NFC tags. We most commonly use it in our cars. Previously, we used to have to go through the hassle of manually switching on our smartphone's Bluetooth each time we entered our car. Now, it can be done easily just by tapping our gadget on an NFC sticker that we have pasted on the dashboard.

Besides Bluetooth, we have also set it to switch off WiFi, make the ringtone louder, and screen brighter. Tapping it again once we have reached the destination will reverse all the actions that were enabled earlier.

Sleep on it

While it is not advisable to have a mobile phone by your bedside due to the radiation it is said to emit, most people will still stubbornly insist on having it around as it doubles as an alarm clock.

We are guilty of this unhealthy practice, but have an NFC tag pasted beside our beds to hopefully mitigate the adverse effects. The tag is set to switch the phone to flight mode, as well as to dim the screen to the lowest brightness level. When it's time to rise and shine, the tag will re-enable cellular data and increase the screen brightness.

 
REMINDERS: You can set timers for tasks you do often like 
washing your clothes.

 

An interesting way to utilise the tag is by placing one on home appliances which require a specified amount of time to complete, such as a washing machine. If you're as absent-minded as us, once you start the machine, you can tap your Android on the tag to automatically start the timer so that you won't forget about collecting your laundry.

Sharing WiFi

Another use for NFC, which will be more practical once more smartphones have it, is the marketing possibilities it opens up. Instead of using QR codes, businesses can require their customers to just tap on an NFC tag to get more information about a promotion or their business.

Notice how most eateries offer free WiFi, but require a password to be entered? NFC tags have the capability to store wireless network settings, so all the consumers need to do is tap their devices on the tag and it will automatically connect to a wireless network, despite requiring a password.

This benefits the shop owners because customers will have to be physically present to connect to the WiFi, thus preventing non-customers from "stealing" their wireless connection.

This can also be used at home or the office when you want to allow guests to use the WiFi but don't want them to know the password. The tags can do more than just changing settings.

Users can prepare a text message and write it on the tag. Whenever your phone taps the tag, it will automatically send the text message direct to your desired recipient.

Very useful for those of you who usually report to your other half, or parents whenever leaving from work or school.

For those who aren't willing to spend or have no means of acquiring NFC tags, head to the Play Store and download AnyTAG NFC launcher by XtraSEC (bit.ly/ZEsf8l). Developed by Malaysians, this app enables NFC smartphones to detect any cards or devices that have NFC chips in them and associates an action with that device.

This means that us users won't have to specifically use NFC tags. We can make use of everyday cards around us, such as our MyKad and Touch 'n Go.

The good thing is that it only remembers the chip's ID and associates the desired actions with it, so it doesn't overwrite anything on the chip.

So don't worry about the card's chip getting messed up.

For those who are keen to make use of the NFC technology for the first time, do take note that it does not work when your Android's screen is locked.

That means that you will have to first unlock your device's screen before attempting to connect with another NFC device or tag.


By DONOVAN QUEK bytz@thestar.com.my



 Hidden in plain sight

 

INSTANT GRATIFICATION: You can mirror content from your 
smartphone to your HDTV.

 

NFC technology is most prevalent in smartphones but it is also being implemented in an increasing number of products, from toys to HDTVs.

Here's a list of products with built-in NFC which you may already have in your home.

HDTVs and cameras

Most new HDTVs come with the chip but it's not always in the TV itself. Sony is one of the companies that has integrated it into the remote control of selected Bravia HDTVs.

Just tapping the remote with your smartphone will allow you to mirror the smartphone's display on the big screen. This will allow you to browse the Web, share pictures and watch videos together with those around you.

If your Bravia doesn't come with one, you can still purchase the remote separately.

 

USEFUL: Sony Bravia 2013 LED TV has an NFC chip in the 
remote control.

 

Sony also makes speakers with NFC. One such model is the SRS-BTV5 wireless speaker. The compact model can double up as a speakerphone and has a rated battery life of up to five hours. Meanwhile, on the camera front, Samsung's NX300 allows photographers to easily transfer images to a smartphone or tablet via NFC.

Panasonic's DMC-GF6 camera also uses NFC for sharing images with a smartphone or tablet by touching them together. As soon as a photo is shot, the camera will send the image to the paired device. NFC also allows the camera to be remotely controlled.

Consoles and toys

One of the most popular toys on the market today is Activision's Skylanders. They are essentially figurines that are released in conjunction with the Skylanders games available for most consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

 

NFC TOYS: Skylanders fingurine with the Portal of Power.

 

The game comes with an NFC device called the Portal of Power which is plugged into the game console. When a figurine, which also comes with built-in NFC, is placed on the Portal, a virtual version of the character appears in the game.

The interesting thing about the NFC in Skylanders is that it actually can store a limited amount of information, specifically the character's bio. When the figurine is taken to a friend's house to play, it will have all the levelled-up powers and customisation.

Of the popular videogame consoles, only one features NFC.

The chip is currently integrated into the Wii U's GamePad controller, and while it holds a lot of promise for future games, none actually make use of it.

 

PROMISING: The NFC chip is integrated into the Wii U's 
GamePad controller and holds a lot of potential for future games.

 

However, this is likely to change as game developers will inevitably find a use for it.

Notebooks

Lenovo has launched its ThinkPad Helix, a 11.6in Ultrabook powered by Windows 8.
It allows users to transfer data from compatible devices by just placing them close to it.

 

Lenovo ThinkPad Helix

 

The company plans to add more features such as allowing customers to make online purchases by tapping a credit card on its notebooks.

Sony, on the other hand, has announced that its latest Vaio Fit Ultrabook will also use this technology for sharing website URLs and other information with NFC-enabled devices

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Enter Android in the smartphone operating system titans

In the clash of the smartphone operating system titans, we take a look at what Google has brought to the table.

BRINGING IT: A Google Android figurine sits on a welcome desk at the new Google office in Toronto. - Reuters

 

FANCY having a Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, or Jellybean?

While the list above seems like a mouth-watering spread of sinful desserts, it can refer to something else in the technological world today.

For the uninitiated, those are also the names of the different update versions of the Android smartphone operating system (OS).

Before we touch on the topic of Android, let's first start with smartphones and how they have become an integral part of our lives in this day and age.

It wasn't too long ago when the sheer mention of the word 'smartphone' brought to mind an image of a busy businessman holding a personal digital assistant (PDA) phone to check and send work e-mail messages on the fly.

Aside from businessmen and those with deep pockets, it was uncommon to see an average consumer owning a smartphone. Among my peers during my time as a student, anyone who owned a smartphone was deemed to be a rich spoilt brat.

Fast forward to today, the advancements of technology has made it so much easier to own a smartphone.

What is a smartphone? By Oxford dictionary's definition, a smartphone is a mobile phone that is able to perform many of the functions of a computer, typically having a relatively large screen and an operating system capable of running general-purpose applications.

The early smartphones came into existence in the 1990s, although the early incarnations of smartphones were basically mobile phones incorporating PDA (personal digital assistant) features, and not necessarily with large screens.

Throughout the years, there have been various operating systems supporting the vast multitude of smartphones that have reached the hands of consumers. Among the operating systems that we have come to know and love are Symbian, Palm OS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Android and iOS.

As the title suggests, this column will be all about Google's Android operating system.

Meteoric rise

The first ever smartphone sold running on the Android operating system was the HTC Dream, which was released in 2008.

Since then, Android has come a long way, climbing up the ranks and capturing the biggest share of the pie in the smartphone operating system market. Aside from smartphones, the operating system is also widely used on tablet computers.

With a whole plethora of Android devices being unleashed into the market, the operating system from Google overtook long-time leaders Symbian at the end of 2010 to be the world's most widely used smartphone operating system, according to online sources.

It is growing at an estimated 1.5 million activations per day. This means that everyday, 1.5 million Android devices are powered on by consumers for the first time. Android leads the smartphone OS world, with a market share of 75% during the third quarter of 2012.

Being a product of Google, Android smartphones come readily available with a staple of Google applications (apps), such as Gmail, Google Maps, Google Calendar, Google+ and Google Chrome browser.

Interestingly, every update version of the operating system is named after a form of dessert, and in alphabetical order. The first system version was named Donut (1.6), followed by Eclair (2.0 - 2.1), Froyo (2.2), Gingerbread (2.3), Honeycomb (3.1 - 3.2), Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0), and Jellybean (4.1 - 4.2).

Unlike the other main operating systems in the smartphone market, Google has made its Linux-based OS open source. This means that the software can be freely distributed and modified by device manufacturers, wireless carriers and developers.

This move has successfully attracted a large community of app developers, as can be proven by the whopping 800,000 apps available for download on the Google Play store as of January.

In October 2012, the Google Play store celebrated a milestone of 25 billion app downloads.

Tailor made

Android has become a favourite choice for manufacturers as it is easy to adopt and implement, rather than having to develop a whole new operating system from scratch. We can find this operating system from Google being adopted by a diverse range of manufacturers, ranging from big brand names such as Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG to smaller, upstart Chinese companies.

However, not every Android smartphone provides the same experience. Different hardware manufacturers have different "skins" or add-ons, above the base Android software, to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. Samsung's Touchwiz user interface and HTC's Sense user interface are examples of the types of "flavoured" Android offerings by other manufacturers.

Google also collaborates with different hardware manufacturers to release their flagship Android smartphones under the Google Nexus line. The Nexus phones provide the original "vanilla" Android experience for users and are the first to receive the latest Android version updates.

Because of this diversity, we can find Android smartphones for every segment of the market. Aside from the pricier high-end smartphones, there is also a wide selection of mid- to low-end Android smartphones which are more affordable, hence making it easier for more consumers to own a smartphone.

Android has been so popular that we are seeing it in more and more electronic products and not just smartphones or tablets. There are even manufacturers who are starting to incorporate Android into their microwave ovens!

Among the advantages of the Android operating system are its ability to multitask, the huge amount of options for devices, the notification bar, homescreen widgets, and the connectivity to the Google brand. The advantages and disadvantages of the operating system will be delved into in future editions of this weekly column which will appear on TechCentral.my.

This weekly column will be a medium to share about everything Android. Expect to read about news on the operating system updates, app reviews or the new devices running on Google's operating system. Stay tuned!

(Donovan is a full-time auditor and big-time gadget lover who discovered the wonders of the Android world after a chance encounter with Samsung's Galaxy S back in October 2010.)
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