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Android Expected To Dominate Global Market Till 2016, Despite Saturation

June 20, 2012 by Omkar Jadhav 3 Comments

According to the recent figures, Android is dominating the smartphone OS market worldwide, holding a market share of 59% of the 152.3 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012 (1Q12). This is expected to peak at 61% this year and steadily decline to 53% by 2016. It is still expected be the market leader considering its massive market presence. This staggering hold is a reflection of the major players sailing on Google’s mega-ship (OHA).

android domination — Image credit: TalkAndroid.com

Mass Market Approach

Device manufacturers viz. Motorola, HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony have enabled Google to convert Android OS into a mass-market offering. The search engine giant teamed up with these manufacturers, has successfully covered a wide array of mobile market segments by offering handsets varying in price, specification & design. This strategy is one of the vital reasons for such astounding success though Google’s Open Source Approach (AOSP) cannot be discredited.

Challenges faced by Developers

So we have the software & hardware side of the table satiated, but the main spinner falls on the ultimate growth & sustainability determining side of the smartphone industry platter – developers side. Though open source gives developers more freedom and flexibility to experiment with their creations, it has its disadvantages.

The open nature coupled with the wide range of devices (from Rs. 3,300 – Rs. 39,000) each having its own hardware capabilities transforms the fun-loving app development task into a rather tedious one. This variability has fragmented the market to an extent that writing and testing apps for Android has become cumbersome. Each app must be tested on devices differing in aspects from screen resolution to processing power and the list of those devices can’t be counted on fingers.

Consequences of the open-source approach

The outcome of this is reflected on the statistics, stating that developers build two iOS apps for every Android app. Also the revenue developers generate from an iPhone app is four times more than they generate from an Android – the counter-effect of the open source approach.

Apple’s Move

Furthermore Apple’s move to replace Google Maps with its own mapping application will cost Google about half of its map traffic that comes from iPhones and iPads. The loss here is in terms of valuable location data generated from mapping apps that helps improve the service and provide utility based features (traffic updates, nearby locations etc.) which creates brand recall and builds strong brand association, serving best as a future investment.

Current Situation

On the basis of the current situation only 7% of the total Android devices in the world are running ICS which include just the high-end devices like the Galaxy Nexus, Note, HTC One X, Galaxy SII & SIII. So a large number of device users who form a major chunk of market are left with outdated OS versions, which is one of the reasons why the growth is peaking. Sadly, most devices aren’t configured to run the likes of ICS but a lighter versions of upgrades can possibly help satisfy the majority and also help sustain the growth.

NFC Technology – Everything You Need To Know

March 1, 2012 by Raj Agrawal 1 Comment

UPCOMING TECHNOLOGY – NFC Technology (Near Field Communication Technology) will bring in the ‘next level’ convenience and sensibility to the way we exchange information. This technology can easily be scaled up to many areas of applicability, which is what makes it another add-on into the list of ‘Next-Big-Things’. Now, lets look at some of the key aspects of NFC Technology including what it is, how it works, NFC in the market place and it’s future.

nfc-technology-bluebite — *Image credit – BlueBite*

What is NFC?

NFC stands for Near Field Communication and as the name suggests, the key for this technology lies in devices being in close proximity or contact with each other. Once devices have established the proximity, which is enabled very quickly (0.1 sec), the communication is enabled. The distances in terms for NFC must be very small, usually less than an inch and as such it is different from comparable communications like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for which there are natural comparisons.

**How NFC Technology works**

Near field Communication operates through short wave radio transmission. Devices that operate NFC technology like smartphones or PDAs, are equipped with an NFC chip. The process of communication between the chip in one device and the chip in another device is an electronic process called inductive coupling. This coupling is a development of an earlier technology, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). With RFID, the technology had a ‘send and receive’ process and was used in a one directional format. NFC takes this process to the next level and allows two way communication between NFC Technology enabled devices.

NFC in the Marketplace

The current scope of NFC services is in its infancy in terms of market launch and proliferation. The global range of the product is sporadic and there are a variety of test locations which have embraced this technology, the key markets of USA and Japan are showing a steadily growing rise in the number of transactions as the technology takes hold. In recent surveys, a growing number of people have stated that they would much rather pay using their phone than carry cash. The scope is of demand is being trialled in some key market areas in Europe and Asia with a growing body of evidence revealing general product in performance in France, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom and Tanzania.

France offers the earliest evidence of information with NFC technology in operation, during the early May 2010. There, NFC has been used for purchases of civil services like transportation information and ticketing, similar services have been used for the system in South Korea from later in that same year. More recent progress of the technology can be seen in Turkey where, from early 2011 in Turkey up to 55,000 separate retail processes could be operated using the system. A more limited facility (15,000 outlets) mainly through banks and mobile phone companies has been in evidence in the UK through 2011 and Tanzania.

The statistical data on the number of Near Field Communication transactions globally illustrates a growing trend for usage, but one which is only at the tip of the iceberg if general predictions are to be believed. According to statistics released by Juniper Research Visa has issued 20,000,000 NFC enabled cards and Google Wallet can currently operate at 311,000 locations globally. Predictions for the number of transactions to be made using NFC devices over the coming couple of years show a sharp increase to a plausible 50,000,000 global transactions by 2014. The bulk of these will occur in Europe, US and Asia.

Brands already incorporating NFC

It is also estimated the more than 1/10th of the smart phones sold globally were NFC ready devices with many of the major brands including Blackberry, Nokia, Google and Samsung employing the technology in a range of their handsets. In addition to the handsets. the technology is a part of MasterCard and it can even be found in the Wii controller. Although this claim is yet to be verified, it is rumoured that Apple has come on board and has planned to have NFC as part of iPhone 5 and iPad 3.

Emerging markets

The growth of NFC technology is not limited to developed markets either with the rise in usage occurring in a number of emerging markets. A recent report for Financial Firm Citigroup stated that there were,

40 million mobile money users exist in Africa – the lion’s share of this is attributable to the over 20 million users of Safaricom’s M-Pesa offering in Kenya.
A further report by Communications Commission of Kenya highlighted this growing trend,
The continued growth is an indication of subscribers’ preference to mobile money transfer, which could be attributed to accessibility and affordability even to low-income earners who form the bulk of the unbanked population.

The Future of NFC

Near Field Communication is here and set to be the next big thing. Watch out for stores in your locality promoting the use of paying by handset. With key players like Google and Apple preparing themselves for this market, it is inevitable that the NFC Technology (with the era beginning with NFC Phones) will become a part of our society.

These Technologies That Will Change Lives For Better, Or For Worse

August 15, 2011 by Raj Agrawal 2 Comments

They are all coming to exemplify the future that we all fantasise about. From uber-powerful computing, greener and non-exhaustive resources sources of energy, fabric bound electronics to digitally enhanced clothing. The following upcoming technologies will only amplify the goodness technology has to offer to mankind, or may be not.

Digitally Enriched Apparel

Beginning with a technology that will soon enable you to wear cloths, that flashes digital texts and animations. Like any brilliant idea, it has its own quirks. Digitally enhanced T-Shirts can effectively be used to socialize and communicate non-verbally by flashing smart animations. On the evil side, it could effectively be used to advertise. Just think about the ‘get paid to wear’ campaigns!

Read: Flashing Electronic Ink Displays On “Cloths” Coming Soon

Charging Electronic Devices With Apparel

This one of the most talked about ideas of this technological era and is undoubtedly a genius. The idea is to compute body movements with smart apparel to capture the generated energy. Nothing like ‘not’ running out of battery for all the devices we carry on the go. And yes, it’s green too!

Read: Nano Powered Apparels To Charge Our Portable Electronics

Succeeding Transistor Technology In Computers, Possibly With Spintronics

moore's law joke — Moore’s law comic strip

Spintronics is a spin-based electronic technology, contrary to the conventional transistors which uses electrical charges. Spintronics has the potential to help us continue building faster computers.

Read: Spintronics Research Finds A Potential Successor To Transistor Technology

Brilliant Screen Technologies For An Ultra Productive Environment!

tat future touch screen — Image Credit: TAT

Well, the title says it all. You’ve seen it well in sci-fi movies and possibly in real life too. Such technology is rapidly evolving and such full fledged tech will soon hit the markets. How soon? It’s hard to say. Keep tracking the news feeds!Read: 2014, A Year of Futuristic Touch Screen Technology?

Automatic/ Robot Driven Cars

google auto car — Google Car from a live demo

It’s not just Google. There are quite a number of companies constantly testing out and teaching the new breed of smarter cars to drive all by themselves. This technology is a challenge. Training machines to aptly follow the drivings rules, and be in sync with complex human emotions to ensure road safety is not easy. When this is achieved, we’ll definitely mark a milestone to our technological evolution. Things could turn up for the worse if this process goes unnoticeably wrong.

Read: The Test Driven Google Car – It’s a Robot, An Auto Driver