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Submission + - VoLTE - Once again Apple copies Android (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Apple and carriers are getting a lot attention with iPhone 6 bringing HD quality voice calls.

In reality, it’s the first Apple device consumers can use to both make phone calls and use the internet at fast 4G LTE speeds.

Most Samsung smartphones were VoLTE-enabled since the Samsung Galaxy S III, announced almost two and a half years ago. AT&T introduced VoLTE with the Samsung S4 Mini last May.

Android users have long enjoyed simultaneous voice calls and the 4G internet because most Android smartphones have two chips and two antennas, one for the 4G mobile data network and the other for the old GSM/UMTS and CDMA2000 mobile voice networks

Submission + - Will Apple's iWatch be smart or dumb? (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Looking back at the smartwatches and activity trackers built by others begs the question — will the iWatch be a smart microprocessor-based device to which Apple’s developers can add value, like Android Wear watches from Samsung, LG, and Motorola? Or will it be a dumb-but-power-efficient microcontroller device like the Fitbit or Jawbone?

Submission + - Vine competitor - Facebook Hyperlapse: sidesteps newsfeed video fatigue (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Hyperlapse merges image stabilization and fast forward to automatically compress mobile videos into short stories, sidestepping Facebook video fatigue.

Face it — most mobile videos shot by your friends are hard to watch. The popularity of Vine’s seven-second videos has made this abundantly clear. Unless it’s a video of a cat attacking a dog to protect a toddler, longer videos are just not that engaging and won’t be shared that much.

Submission + - Peace in the Middle East at Last (facebook.com)

smaxp writes: Disney CEO IIger, obviously elated opened saying "Walt Disney wanted to scoop up this property [Israel and Palestine] back in 1947 and was close to a deal with the Brits but then history got in the way."We've always wanted to buildout a real historic destination into a theme park instead of building places in the middle of nowhere like Epcot Center that only Americans who never go anywhere would want to go.”

Submission + - The post-iPhone era began today at noon in India, GMT +5:30 hours (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Steven Max Patterson writes that The post-iPhone era began today at noon in India, GMT +5:30 hours. Earlier today Xiaomi’s Mi3 stock was sold out in 38 minutes and 50 seconds on Flipkart, India's largest ecommerce website.This marks the beginning of the post-iPhone era.

This is because the 80% of the smartphones sold in India cost less than $250. Apple's expectations are so low in India that the company has not even opened one of its revenue generating Apple retail stores anywhere in India.

In markets with lower per capita incomes (GDP) Android market share eclipses iOS challenging Apple to compete with its premium priced iPhone 5s that costs $901 in India where mobile carriers don't subsidize smartphones.

The problem for Apple is all the smartphone growth in the future will come from developing markets where Android dominates with low cost and rich features.

Submission + - Revenue from the Google Play store will overtake Apple's app store in 2018 (qz.com)

smaxp writes: If Clay Christensen is right, the lower income, underserved market that can’t afford Apple products is open for Google to disrupt. IDC has forecasted an average smartphone selling price of $335 this year, which is nearly half the price of an iPhone 5s. As the iPhone price premium grows relative to Android, the differences between what Apple and Google offers to consumers and developers has narrowed significantly.

If Android retains its dominant market share and the emerging app marketing and mobile advertising industry increase the amount of money spent by each Android consumer, Google’s app revenue will likely eclipse Apple’s. It’ll be hard for Apple to stop Google’s momentum short of introducing a cheaper iPhone.

Submission + - Why Google bought Songza: The music industry's third revolution (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Thomas Edison revolutionized music when he invented recording. Steve Jobs re-revolutionized music with the iPod and iTunes. Pandora and Spotify launched a third revolution when they convinced consumers that they did not need to own their music to enjoy it.

As music streaming services explode, it’s now a land grab to replace consumers’ MP3 music collections, much of which was purchased from iTunes with streamed music subscriptions. It’s also a land grab for the time that consumers spend listening to radio, and the radio advertising dollars spent to reach them.

Submission + - A Supreme Court win for Aereo would take the fight out of broadcasters (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Broadcasters can't stop Aereo without hurting themselves, Broadcasters have threatened to stop over-the-air OTA broadcasting. if Aereo prevails before the Supreme Court. Its all bark and no bite because the broadcasters will lose advertising dollars by cutting off OTA viewers.

Aereo and Netflix provides "good enough television" that will convince aspiring cord-cutters to finally cut the cord. Why pay $70 per month for cable when $18 provides Netflix, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS — news, prime-time TV, some sports and reality TV.

Broadcasters will lose retransmission fees, but for the bulk of their advertising revenues will follow the the cord cutters from cable and satellite to Aereo. Aereo may be able to deliver better analytics than the cable and satellite providers and Nielsen, and that will help broadcasters in their negotiations with sponsors to increase adverting revenues.

Submission + - NBC Sports disputes World Cup streaming record (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: The World Cup match between Cameroon and Mexico was viewed 2.8 million times, setting a world record for the most views of a sporting match streamed over the internet. However, NBC Sports still claims it holds the record for the most internet views of a sporting match, Variety reported yesterday, even though the record-setting 2014 Olympic Semi Final hockey game between the U.S. and Canada generated only 2.1 million views.

Submission + - How the 'Internet of Thing' will become the Internet of Things (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Qualcomm’s Liat Ben Zur spoke of the “Internet of Thing,” in the singular case rather than the plural, at the recent MIT Technology Review Digital Summit. She made the point using Google’s Nest thermostat that is connected to the cloud, and the cloud to an app to control it. Add another IoT device, add another cloud, and another app and so on. She brought into question IoT device interoperability and the rationale for sending all IoT data through the cloud when the purpose of much of the data is communicating between local devices on a proximal network. Proximal means local, like a LAN. If IoT devices from different brands are to work together in the proximal network independent of the cloud, the industry will need to agree to standards.

Submission + - Elon Musk wants the future of solar power to be built in the USA (theverge.com)

smaxp writes: Elan Musk is now going to build solar panels in the US. Musk is the real deal. Building car batteries, cars, spaceships, high speed trains and contributing a bunch of patents into the public domain to transform industry. American business with a few exceptions such as Google don't have the stomach for long term capital intensive bets.

All hail Elan Musk! A 21st century Andrew Carnegie

Submission + - Android's new permissions: Unappreciated by many, disparaged by few (networkworld.com)

smaxp writes: Android 4.4.3 permissions update is unappreciated by those it helps and upsets a few Android enthusiasts. An app developer could make everyone happy.

Android users worried about the new Android permissions aren't the users this update was intended to help. The minority, Android enthusiasts know enough to protect themselves against the perceived flaws. The controversy that surrounds this update is clearly an example of what Voltaire referred to when he said “perfect is the enemy of good” two and a half centuries ago.

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