GetJar released data from a "global survey" about mobile apps and user behavior that offers positive news for the Android platform, which reportedly beats the iPhone in terms of "next phone" purchase demand by more than 2 to 1. The survey was sent to 25 million users in 190 countries. However there were only 2,500 completed responses across multiple continents. The big finding is that "a whopping 40% of consumers across our survey suggested their next handset would be an Android phone vs only 17.9% going for iPhone. Less then 9% responded they would stick to what they have and alarmingly, o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Mobile

Given the massive number of apps now on both the iPhone and Android some people (especially tech bloggers) complain regularly about the "problem of app discovery." In fact we don't know if regular users are similarly vexed. But let's assume they are. On Android in particular "app discovery" has been less than optimal. Now iPhone "app search engine" Chomp has introduced a version for Android that will help address the problem. Actually Chomp is more like "Yelp for the app store" and it's been quite successful for iPhone users. The Android version could easily match that success. Users can [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines

TechCrunch reports Google has intentionally dropped the phonebook data sync from Facebook. The reason Google cites is because Facebook contacts "cannot be exported from the device" and thus do not allow users to "control their data" as freely as Google would like. This topic has been going on for months, starting back in November when Facebook removed the ability to export email addresses to some third-party applications. Google responded by warning Google users to not export their contracts to Facebook. The Google & Facebook conflict is nothing new, especially with Bing & Facebook's spe [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook | Google: Android | Google: APIs | Google: Business Issues

Now in its fourth year, Google I/O is more popular than ever. The company's annual conference for the developer community opened for registration today and promptly sold out … in just 59 minutes. Vic Gundotra, Google's VP of Engineering, posted successive tweets earlier today about the speedy sellout, saying it took 90 days and 50 days in 2009 and 2010, respectively, for the event to sellout. No doubt that today's sellout is a reflection of the Google's growing popularity in the developer community (specifically re: Android), but surely it also doesn't hurt that Google gav [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Code Search | Google: Mobile

I'm here at the Googleplex in Moutain View, where any minute, Google plans to update the world on all things Android. We expect news about Android 3.0 -- "Honeycomb" -- and perhaps Android tablets. Stay tuned. Andy Rubin, leader of all things Android is up, saying we're going to hear about Honeycomb, the Motorola tablet will be shown and news on the Android market will come. Andy's excited how much Android has grown, all the devices he found at CES. "With open source, you don't really know what people are going to do with it, and all the innovation doesn't just happen on this campus." [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Mobile

Perhaps this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) should be renamed "AES" for Android Electronics Show -- given all the handsets and tablets featuring the Google mobile OS that are being shown and rolled out. And today Google provided a sneak preview of the tablet version of Android (3.0), dubbed "Honeycomb." The screens and the video released reflected an obviously different UI than we've come to know from previous versions of Android. It claims to be "built entirely for tablet," with the implication that 3.0 won't show up on Android handsets -- or in the same way at least. If we d [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile

Over the past few months, I've been testing various Android phones. Overall, the platform has continued to improve, to the degree that I can easily swap an Android phone for my iPhone 4 and not feel a loss. But unlike the one-size-fits-all iPhone, each Android phone has its own individual characteristics. Below, a look at how three different Android cousins performed for me and measured up against the iPhone. From Windows Mobile To Apple's iPhone... First, some background. I'm a long-time smartphone user. My first was back in 2004, a Windows Mobile flip phone. I went through various Wind [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Google: Android | Top News

Google's Android smartphone operating system is poised to overtake Apple's iPhone for market share, and its Chrome browser has reached a major milestone, capturing 10% of the market. The smartphone figures come from Nielsen in November, while the browser numbers were measured in December by Net Applications, an Aliso Viejo, Calif. company that tracks market share on various technologies. The figures show that Google, despite being a latecomer to both fields, is giving competitors a serious run for their money. In the smartphone arena, Android OS has achieved 25.8% market share, which i [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Chrome | Stats: General | Top News

The end of the year is the time when people feel more free to make wacky statements and dubious predictions. Whether it's the season, too many rich desserts or the additional alcohol people consume it's not clear. But one such prediction is that Google might seek to become a full-fledged phone company in 2011. Having just gotten off one of those dreary customer service calls with my mobile carrier (seeking to remove some bogus charges from my bill) I'd actually love to see Google really shake things up in carrierland. It would be a bit of the old Google. But it's unlikely to happen. The [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Business Issues | Google: Mobile | Google: Voice | Top News

The number of advertisers using click-to-call features on Google ads has grown an average of 28 percent month-over-month over the last few months, the company confirmed. The 28 percent stat represents all of Google’s advertisers, in both search and display, around the globe. As first reported by GigaOm and confirmed by Search Engine Land, Google says hundreds of thousands of its advertisers are currently using phone extensions, which has led to the initiation of millions of calls a month. The company shared that campaigns with the click-to-call feature are experiencing 6 to 8 percent [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Google: Android | Google: Mobile

The Google Nexus S is out today. It was previewed incognito by Google CEO Eric Schmidt at Web 2.0 a few weeks ago. A Samsung Galaxy S-based handset running Android 2.3, it's the new Android Flagship phone and reputedly best Android device out there -- according to early reviews. We'll get our proverbial mitts on one tomorrow at the Chrome event. I'm excited to see how it compares to my Android EVO, a veritable tank of a phone. The specs are very solid from what I can tell and, as mentioned, it's the first phone to offer the new version of Android. But the noteworthy thing is probably the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Mobile

Android "fragmentation" is back in the news this week, thanks to the Angry Birds game needing to release two different versions for Android. But I have a better one: Google itself needing to make two different versions of the Google Search app. Where's Google Search? For about three months, I've been using the Motorola Droid 2 phone on Verizon. It's an awesome phone, and I'll be sad to see it go, when I finally send the review unit back next week. And yes, I'll have a review of it to come. To quell my loss, a review unit of the Samsung Fascinate -- one of its Galaxy S class phones -- arri [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Marketing | Top News

Google's having an impromptu small press "gathering" today at its offices in San Francisco. Topic? "Cool new mobile features." Want to know more? Stay tuned, as I'll be live blogging the event that begins at 10am. This is all we know so far: We’ll be unveiling a couple of cool new mobile features at the event, and Google mobile product management director Hugo Barra will be on hand to help demonstrate the features and answer your questions. There's plenty of speculation you'll find over at Techmeme. Well know soon enough. Coverage begins below at 10am Pacific. And we're off. Mike Nel [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Features: General | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | Google: Voice Search | Top News

Gizmodo shows amazing pictures of Steve Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt having coffee in a public place in Palo Alto, CA. Here is one of the shots from the encounter, which reportedly ended or moved when a crowd started gathering: While Apple and Google were close partners and even collaborators for several years Google's Android OS and most recently the Nexus One have strained relations between the companies and their CEOs to point where Jobs reportedly said: We did not enter the search business . . . They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We w [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Business Issues | Google: Mobile