Mobile/Insights/2011 Week22
Opera announced a partnership which to ship an Opera browser in IP-based TV boxes.
Microsoft showed the touch interface of Windows 8, which brings tablet support to the OS.
Chipsets makers see in the Windows support for tablets an opportunity to gain share in the mobile market for the x86 architecture.
Nvidia demoed its upcoming quad-core Kai-El chipsets series targeted at mobile devices.
Nokia pledged support for Symbian at least until 2016 and promised to launch its first Windows Phone 7 device in Q4 2011
Google added a social layer to the Android Market by introducing the "+1" button for applications in Market, as well as a Tweet button.
Opera announced a partnership with Comtrend, a worldwide supplier of networking solutions, to ship an Opera browser in the company's next generation of IP-based TV set-top boxes. Read more
Microsoft showed the first touch interface for Windows, which will be included in the next version of the OS and will be used on tablets, opening this form factor to all Windows applications and bringing Windows to the ARM architecture. The interface reminds of the Windows Phone 7 design. With the new version of Windows, rumoured to be launched in 2H of 2012, Microsoft will also open an app store. In order to minimize fragmentation, Microsoft is rumoured to be setting tight guidelines on the hardware which will run the new OS in the tablet segment, a strategy which does not please all of the OEMs. The move of Windows to tablets proves to be an opportunity for chipsets producers which use the x86 architecture, among which is AMD, who announced the targeting of one of its next chipsets series to the tablet segment. The reduced mobility of tablets compared to smartphones makes them less susceptible to the more energy-consuming chipsets. Read more
Apple confirmed its plans to introduce the next generation of its mobile platform, iOS 5, as well as a new cloud service called iCloud at the Worldwide Developers Conference next week. Alongside, the company will also unveil OS X 10.7 Lion. Read more
NVIDIA has released a demo video that highlights the capabilities of its upcoming quad-core processor for tablets, code-named Kal-El. Compared to the currently available dual-core Tegra 2 processor, Kal-El utilizes four cores and a dozen graphics processing cores to deliver stunning, real-time graphics and effects. Read more
Nokia has declared that it expects to be maintaining Symbian at least until 2016. Currently, 25% of the global phone market is on Symbian. In related news, Nokia has declared that it is confident that its first Windows Phone 7 phone will arrive in Q4 2011. Nokia is experiencing pressure as it faces rapid declines in marketshare and profits. Read more
US consumers with Android and iOS phones exhibit data-intensive usage, according to a Nielsen survey:
- 74% of Android smartphone owners and 79% of iPhone owners report having downloaded apps in the past 3 days
- 43% of Android and 46% of iOS phone owners say they streamed online music or mobile radio in the past 30 days
- 35% of Android smartphone consumers and 37% of iPhone owners report having watched video or mobile TV in the past 30 days
