Android Tablets Overtake The iPad In Shipments Last Quarter
Android Sees More Tablet Shipments In First Quarter Than Apple (Business Insider)
IDC's latest data on tablet shipments confirms the trend we've been following: the steady gains of Android tablets around the world. Taken together, Android tablet manufacturers shipped more tablets than Apple in the first quarter of 2013. Apple was still the largest single manufacturer, with Samsung in second place. Microsoft shipped a respectable 900,000 tablets. A contrarian take: Greg Sterling of Opus Research points out that iPads still account for over 80% of actual usage — globally and in the U.S. — as measured by Web traffic. Read >
IDC
Facebook's Mobile Usage Continues To Grow, But Overall Results Were Ho-Hum (Business Insider)
The world's largest social network is now relying more heavily on mobile ad revenue to scale the company's ad operations. Read >
Starbucks Enjoys Remarkable Success With Mobile Payments In The U.S. (Mobile Commerce Daily)
Starbucks has 10 million active customers using its mobile app, and are approaching 4 million U.S. mobile payment transactions weekly, the company announced late last month. That means mobile payments accounts for roughly 10% of total U.S. customer spending at Starbucks. The scale of Starbucks mobile payments operation flies in the face of skeptics who say mobile payments won't catch on with consumers. Read >
Security Experts: Mobile Malware Could Help Launch Cyber Attacks On Large Companies (American Banker)
Malicious mobile software isn't just a threat to your phone. It's a threat to large companies and financial institutions. Sean Sposito at American Banker interviews a cyber security expert who explains that a botnet hidden in a harmless consumer-facing Android app could be used to launch attacks on company websites. It would take some 60,000 tablets or smartphones running the app to bring down a bank's servers. Read >
Web Apps vs. Native Apps Redux (Daring Fireball)
In case you missed it, John Gruber offers this bottom line statement on the never-ending debate: "The dynamic remains unchanged. Web apps are the best way to reach the most possible people with the least effort; native apps are the best way to create the best possible experience." Read >
Is Augmented Reality The Planet's Seventh Mass Media? (TomiAhonen Consulting)
What comes after mobile? Tomi Ahonen believes augmented reality will build on mobile platforms like Android smartphones and new devices like Google Glass to become the world's seventh mass medium: The others were print, recordings, cinema, radio, television, the Internet and mobile. Augmented reality mediums overlay a layer of new information on the physical world. Read >
Rumor: Apple's Engineers Cramming On New Mobile Operating System (All Things D)
No one really knows what changes iOS 7 will bring to iPhones and iPads. But the tech blogosphere is abuzz with news that Apple is throwing as many engineers it can muster into the project. The scramble is believed to be about getting a preview ready for the Worldwide Developers Conference that begins June 10 in San Francisco. If the rumor mill is to be believed then iOS 7 will favor usability and simplicity over glitz and flashy designs. Read >
Google Now Is A Great Supplement, But Not A Replacement For Siri (AP)
The rollout of Google's voice assistant for iOS devices prompted a flurry of reviews on Now vs. Siri. The consensus seems to be that Google Now is a good complement to Apple's Siri, but isn't a Siri-killer. Read >
Yahoo Buys Productivity App Astrid And Will Shut It Down (Business Insider)
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is on a mobile buying spree and this is her latest acquisition. Read >
Facebook Says It Is Not Losing Mobile-First Teens (The Verge)
On the earnings call yesterday, Facebook executives were asked whether the social platform was losing the war for the attention of teens and users in their early twenties. Many of these younger users are adopting other platforms like Snapchat and Tumblr. Facebook's David Ebersman responded that the social network's Instagram app is doing well in these demographics. He also claimed that the battle for teen time-spend is not a zero-sum game. But in the end, of course it's a zero-sum game. There are only so many hours in a day, and social media platforms will battle one another for every second of user attention. Read >