Apple’s iPads, including the new iPad mini, have become the most successful tablets every built. Almost three years after Steve Jobs introduced the original iPad, the device continues to be the king of slates, with more than half of the tablet market share. That hasn’t changed much in 2012, but Android tablets have slowly been eating away at its market share, and it may not be long before they dominate.
When you combine all the titles in Apple’s App Store with those in Google Play, you have a catalog of more than 1.4 million apps from hundreds of thousands of developers. But incredibly, more than 50% of the revenue made by these stores in the United States goes to just 25 app developers.
Netflix’s streaming service isn’t exactly known for having quality content. Their catalog of movies is reminiscent of the bargain DVD bin at your local Walmart. Netflix has been struggling to land any quality licensing agreements and has actually been losing a few. With Redbox Instant on the horizon, Netflix desperately needs to give its members a reason to stick around.
Want to see an amazing chart? It’s right above this post, and it shows the rise and fall of computer platforms (including mobile) as a percentage of overall marketshare from 1975 to 2012.
What does it tell us about the state of the computer industry? Even with iOS’s success, Apple is proportionally selling about the same percentage of computers as it has since the early 1980s. Windows as a platform, though, has fallen from a ninety-six percent share of the overall computer market between 1998 and 2005 to a mere thirty-five percent in 2012.
Why? Apple and especially Android are killing WinTel.
The International Data Corporation has published its most recent mobile market forecast and unsurprisingly, they’re predicting Android to maintain its strong market share lead over the next four years. In fact, there’s really not much surprising about the report at all.
When you think of hugely successful mobile games, Cut the Rope from ZeptoLabs is right up there with Angry Birds; it’s been a big hit on Android and iOS. With that in mind, we’re super excited about ZeptoLabs’s next game, Pudding Monsters, which it’s now teasing with a brand new trailer.
One of the biggest reasons I switched from Windows to a Mac all those years ago was OS X’s supposed immunity to malware and viruses. I’ve quickly discovered throughout 2012, however, that my Mac isn’t as safe on the Internet as I’d been led to believe. A new report from antivirus experts Sophos today highlights that.
The company’s Security Threat Report 2013 declares 2012 to be the year of “new platforms and changing threats.” Hackers are switching their focus from Windows to other platforms, including Mac OS X. Today’s biggest target, however, is Google’s Android platform.
Gameloft has announced that Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, the latest addition to its series of first-person shooters, will make its debut on iOS this Thursday, December 6, before arriving on Android “shortly after.” We’ve been following the title’s development since Gameloft released its first teaser tailer back in September, and we couldn’t be more excited. If you’re a fan of FPS games, this is the title to look out for.
Rockstar Games is bringing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City — the best game in the GTA series, in my opinion — to Android and iOS on Thursday (like you didn’t already know that!) to celebrate its 10th anniversary. And to ensure we’re super excited for its release, the company has teased us with a few screenshots from the game.
They’ll look very familiar to you if you’ve already played Vice City before, because it’s almost exactly the same game. But look closely and you’ll notice the game looks a whole lot nicer this time around.
Android technically sells more smartphones than Apple, but iOS devices continue to dominate mobile web traffic. Chitika Insights has been tracking web traffic on the top mobile platforms, and iOS commands 67% of usage and Android only 33%.
Since May, iOS has seen 2% traffic growth while Android has seen a 2% decrease. Both parties have put out a volley of new devices in recent months, yet the percentages have largely stayed the same for both. More people may be buying Android devices, but iOS device owners appear to be more active online.
Samsung has once again taken the top spot for mobile market share in the United States after attracting more than a quarter of mobile subscribers. The Korean company claimed 26.3% of the market as of October 2012, but rival Apple is quickly catching up. The iPhone maker saw the highest level of growth among cellphone manufacturers, and managed to overtake LG to take second place.
Following its acquisition of Instagram earlier this year, Facebook is said to be eyeing up another popular service. Cross-platform messenger WhatsApp could be the next item on the social network’s shopping list as the company looks to extend its mobile presence, according to sources close to the matter.
As long as sports have existed, so have sports-related injuries. One injury in particular that has managed to capture the spotlight over recent years, is of course, the concussion. Head injuries, particularly concussions, have become a serious issue in both professional and youth sports.
We’re entering the time of year of giving, and a great way to give is to offer protection to your devices so that you can have peace of mind in the case that one of them goes missing. Well, there’s technology out there that won’t only help you track down your lost or stolen devices – but will give you the ability to provide the police with the exact location of your device (along with pictures of the thief in the case of theft). And we’re giving you a great deal on this technology here at Cult of Mac Deals!
Prey is open source software that gives you a 24/7 tracking and recovering capabilities so you can recover your lost or stolen devices. It keeps track of your laptop, phone, and tablet whenever stolen or missing — easily and all in one place. The best news about Prey? Cult of Mac Deals is offering it for just $49 for a very limited time!
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is making its way to Android and iOS on December 6, and I couldn’t be more excited; it’s my favorite title in the series, and I’m looking forward to playing through it again. To celebrate its release, Rockstar Games has just launched a new Vice City trailer. If you’re a fan of the game, you have to check it out.
Redbox Instant by Verizon, the Netflix competitor by, well, Verizon, just became a bit more real today, as details released onto the web.
According to GigaOm, the streaming video service will charge customers as little as $6 per month, have apps for Android, iOS, and Xbox 360, and will go live as early as December 17.
Apple’s App Store has been the undisputed revenue king since its inception, however, its once enormous lead is now quickly shrinking. That leading edge over Android is an argument that’s becoming moot as the Play’s revenue continues to grow at a ravenous rate. According to App Annie, an industry leader in app store analytics and marketing, Google Play’s revenues have skyrocketed 311% in the last year, compared to the App Store’s more conservative 12.9%.
Some of Apple’s lawsuits in Europe haven’t been going that well, but they’ve still been dominating Samsung in the Netherlands. A new ruling from the Dutch court has banned the sales of a few Samsung Galaxy devices after the court ruled that Samsung infringed on Apple’s patents.
Apple’s patent for scrolling through a photo gallery on a touchscreen was able to sink Samsung’s Galaxy devices, but then the court added more pain to the ruling by demanding Samsung pay Apple $129,000 per day.
Rovio is gearing up to release its first new episode for their most recent hit, Angry Birds Star Wars. This new episode includes our favorite snowy planet Hoth, chock full of pig driven AT-AT walkers. The update is set to go live sometime tomorrow and should keep you Rebel Alliance Angry Birds lovers busy for a bit.
With all the junk floating out there at the Apple App Store and Google Play (Android users, you get the nastier end of the shaft in this case), it’s no wonder good apps can often go undiscovered and neglected, withering pitifully under a heap of flashy debris.
One way to find diamond-in-the-rough apps — or apps that actually do what you want them to — is to regularly read blogs like either of the Cult twins. But there’s another way, and it involves using an app discovery tool like Hubbl.
Even though Android leads in terms of marketshare, iPhone and iPad owners use more data than Android users. It also appears that iOS users are also more comfortable with shopping online via their mobile device than Android users.
IBM released their Holiday Benchmark Report and found that among U.S. consumers shopping for Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals from their mobile device, a strong majority were using iPhones or iPads and about 77% of all mobile purchases originated from an iOS device.
After announcing back in October that it will bring Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to Android and iOS to celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary, Rockstar Games went quiet on the release, leaving us all to wonder when it would finally arrive. It even had me searching the App Store for ‘Vice City’ on a daily basis in the hope that it would suddenly appear.
The company has now confirmed, however, that Vice City will hit the App Store and Google Play on December 6, priced at $4.99.
If you’re looking to pick up a few of Gameloft’s hit titles at a fraction of the cost, you might want to check out the holiday sale they have going on right now. Starting today and running throughout the weekend, Gameloft is offering up a few hit titles for $0.99 each. Titles include The Amazing Spider-Man, BackStab, and more. Gameloft is certainly among the top publishers of console quality mobile games, so don’t miss out on this great deal.
If you’re a Comcast subscriber and have been using the XFINITY TV Player app on Android or iOS, there’s a sweet little update waiting for in your respective app market. Sometimes the only thing getting in the way of enjoying one of your favorite TV shows or movies on your mobile device is a bad connection or no WiFi. Thankfully, Comcast is taking care of this issue by allowing users to download some of their favorite content straight to their device to be viewed at a time when a connection may not be available.
AirPlay is one of Apple’s killer features in iOS or the Mac. As long as you have an AirPlay-compatible speaker or, better yet, an Apple TV in range, you can automatically stream video or audio to another device, all without pairing first.
Now according to a new report, Google wants to not only launch its own bonafide AirPlay competitor, but one-up AirPlay by offering true second screen capabilities to customers using Android devices with their Google TVs.