This Week in Mobile July 10th to July 16th – Our weekly post on mobile news. You can expect a new post every Monday morning giving a brief summary of what happened the previous week in the mobile space along with links for more information. Here is what happened this week…
- Rumors of Amazon working on their own phone from last week gained traction this week when the former Business Director at Microsoft’s Windows Phone division moved to Amazon and the WSJ reported more inside knowledge [Subscription Required] of a 4-5 inch device.
- A new survey showing developer enthusiasm for various mobile platforms shows that sentiment towards the upcoming Blackberry 10 OS is at an all time low (possibly due to continued delays), while iOS continues to remain on top.
- Rovio released it first game following the Angry Birds franchise this week. Amazing Alex is out for Android and iOS and it is already the top paid iPhone app.
- BBC released an Olympic streaming app at the same time NBC released an app to stream its own coverage of the 2012 Olympics.
- Nielson released new smartphone adoption numbers this week. Android continues to lead the smartphone market, running 51% of US smartphones and 54% of phones bought this quarter.
Google:
- Verizon released a new subscription gaming platform for Android, which will allow users access to multiple games for one flat fee.
- The Google+ App for iOS now supports Hangouts.
- Google added 20 US museums to its indoor mapping app for Android.
- Despite Amazon having it’s own brand of consumer tablets (and there are rumors of a Kindle Fire 2) TechRadar reports that Amazon Execs are in discussion with Google over stocking the Nexus 7.
- With the Apple’s iPad having a smart cover, and Microsoft proudly displaying their new smart surface covers, consumers have been wondering if the Nexus 7 will have any sort of smart cover. However a new video on YouTube this week suggests that the Tablet does have the capabilities for smart covers, but Google has remained silent.
Apple:
- A simple hack for iOS allows users to download in app purchases for free, without jailbreaking their phone. Update: Apple Responds “The security of the App Store is incredibly important to us and the developer community. We take reports of fraudulent activity very seriously and we are investigating.”
- Supposed pictures of the next iPhone showing a larger screen and taller body surfaced this week and were quickly pulled. Some blogs are already questioning their validity though.
Microsoft:
- Nokia closed 2 of their China plants this week in an effort to cut operating costs. The company announced it would cut 10,000 jobs on June 14th.
- Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 900 got a price cut down to $49.99 this week as Nokia tried to entice buyers into phones that won’t get upgraded to Windows Phone 8.
RIM:
- Video chat is confirmed in the new OS 10 BBM
- RIM is being ordered to pay 147 million to Mformation over a recent patent dispute started in 2008. RIM announced they would appeal the validity of the patents.