The global market for mobile apps continues to grow, but raises business challenges for those creating new apps. Developers targeting China, the world’s largest smartphone market, face a complex and oft-times confusing process. These app makers are forced to navigate through dozens of app stores with looser rules than in the U.S., fending off cloned apps and steering around regulations and local competition. Continue reading Mobile App Market Grows in China, but Harder to Penetrate

A Chinese government research institute has accused Google of using its Android mobile OS dominance to discriminate against local companies. The report suggests that China is too reliant on the platform and Google has delayed sharing code in recent versions of Android. This serves as a reminder of the ongoing tensions between China and Google, after the tech giant said it would not comply with Chinese Internet restrictions three years ago. Continue reading Commercial Discrimination: China Critical of Android OS

On Tuesday, we reported that News Corp. has plans to launch FOX Sports 1, a new national cable sports network, in the U.S. by August. ETCentric has since learned that FOX Sports Media Group also has plans to launch FOX Sports GO, a mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The “TV Everywhere” service, similar to WatchESPN, will also offer programming on the Web. Continue reading FOX Sports GO: New App to Launch with All-Sports Network

Based on numbers from mobile ad network Jumptap, which covers 134 million mobile users in the U.S. and 206 million mobile users worldwide, tablets accounted for 18 percent of all traffic on its network — compared to 78 percent for smartphones and 4 percent for feature phones. With the data from Jumptap’s most recent monthly report and its latest projections, tablets are set to continue this upward trend at a rapid pace. Continue reading Consumers Increasingly Turn to Tablets for Mobile Content

As Internet users become more aware of online privacy issues, Internet companies are working to prove that consumer data is safe and under control. Some companies are even trying to gain advantage in the market by promoting themselves as more privacy-friendly than their rivals. Mozilla recently took this approach when it announced it would allow users to disable third-party tracking software. Others have taken similar tacts. Continue reading Industry Responds to Upswing in Online Privacy Concerns

Samsung Electronics has another target in its ever-growing sights: the BlackBerry. Until recently, Samsung has marketed its smartphones very successfully to consumers worldwide, but never to businesses. That’s been changing over the past year, as the South Korean manufacturer has been beefing up the Google Android software that runs its phones, in an effort to give businesses a phone with increased security. Continue reading Samsung Preps Android to Take On BlackBerry in Enterprise

At the Mobile World Congress this week, Spotify and Ford announced that the music streaming service will soon be available via the Sync AppLink platform and integrated with the Sync’s voice command system in Ford vehicles in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Additionally, iPhone and Android apps will soon pair up with the dashboard AppLink system to stream music through car speakers. Continue reading Spotify and Ford Team to Offer Streaming Music in Your Car

Samsung and Google continue to compete with Apple’s dominance in the smartphone market. Samsung’s influence is growing — the South Korean company now sells a total of 40 percent of all gadgets using Google’s Android software — and Google is worried that Samsung might flex its muscle to renegotiate its arrangement and adversely affect Google’s successful mobile-ad business. Continue reading Will Samsung Hurt Google Mobile Ad Biz with Android Lead?

Sony unveiled its new Android device, the Xperia Tablet Z, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday. The company claims it is the world’s thinnest 10.1-inch tablet at just 6.9 millimeters and that it is waterproof in up to three feet of water for 30 minutes. On the inside, it has a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 1920 x 1200 display running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Continue reading Mobile World Congress: Sony Intros Thinnest 10.1-Inch Tablet

Google is reportedly in talks with major music labels about the possibility of starting a music streaming service. It is expected that such a service would offer a subscription-based model along with free unlimited access to songs supported by ads, much the same as models already provided by streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer. Google started a music download store in 2011. Continue reading Will Google Soon Expand to Offer Streaming Music Service?

With new technologies, a growing number of connected devices and the evolution of media distribution, it’s more common than ever for people to consume media across different screens, whether at home, at work or out and about. Nielsen conducted a Global Survey of Multi-Screen Media Usage to find out how consumers are dealing with the fragmented media environment — and learned that 80 percent watch online video at home. Continue reading Nielsen Global Media Report: Mobile Tablet Use on the Rise

In its latest version of the Android mobile operating system, Google installed a voice recognition system based on a neural network, or a computerized learning system that behaves like the human brain. The voice error rate on Android’s latest Jelly Bean is about 25 percent lower than previous versions of the software, making it far more comfortable for people to use voice commands on their devices. Continue reading Google Improves Voice Recognition with Neural Algorithms

Technology predictions for 2013 are in and it’s all about mobile this year. According to comScore, the movement toward mobile is taking place everywhere from shopping to media to search — all of which combined could lead to a difficult economic transition for some companies as they struggle to stay ahead of rapidly changing consumer behavior. Continue reading Digital Future Report: Mobile Will Lead the Charge in 2013

To better compete in the mobile space, HP plans to adopt Google’s Android operating system for a number of upcoming mobile devices. According to two sources familiar with the matter, the company’s first scheduled Android device will be a high-end tablet featuring NVIDIA’s new mobile Tegra 4 chip, announced at CES in January. The move marks a significant win for Google, adding a major partner to the Android ecosystem. Continue reading Good News for Google: HP Turns to Android for Mobile Devices

Zynga social game “FarmVille” is getting its own half-hour animated TV series. The news follows Rovio’s announcement that it plans to release short, animated episodes this spring based on its popular “Angry Birds” game characters. “Together, the shows will test whether addictive video games with thin plots can translate into enjoyable programming for children,” suggests Quartz. Continue reading Two Popular Video Games Announce Plans for Animated Shows