Worldwide smartphone shipment rise

Worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to surpass the 1 billion unit mark in 2013, representing a 39.3 per cent growth over 2012. In addition, by 2017, total smartphone shipments are expected to approach 1.7 billion units, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4 per cent from 2013 to 2017, according to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Not surprisingly, the Asia Pacific region alone has a 52.3 per cent market share (and accounts for over half of the total smartphone shipments), followed by Europe and North America that account for only 18 and 15 per cent respectively. From a volume perspective, emerging markets including Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa (MEA) will all post market-beating growth rates from 2013 to 2017.

According to the IDC’s forecasts, by 2017, Asia Pacific’s market share will further increase to 58.3 per cent, while Europe and North America’s share will decrease to 15.5 and 11.2 per cent, respectively (see table below). Although developed markets will see market share erosion, they will nonetheless see volume increases during the same time period.


Demand for cheaper smartphones

Despite a number of mature markets nearing smartphone saturation, the demand for low-cost computing in emerging markets continues to drive the smartphone market forward. And while a number of trends co-exist in the global smartphone market, none has more of an affect on driving market growth than the steady decline in average selling prices (ASPs).

“The game has changed quite drastically due to the decline in smartphone ASPs. Just a few years back the industry was talking about the next billion people to connect, and it was assumed the majority of these people would do so by way of the feature phone. Given the trajectory of ASPs, smartphones are now a very realistic option to connect those billion users,” said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC’s worldwide quarterly mobile phone tracker.

In 2013, IDC expects smartphone ASPs to be $337 (Rs 21,049), down 12.8 per cent from $387 (Rs 24,172) in 2012. This trend will continue in the years to come and IDC expects smartphone ASPs to gradually drop to $265 (Rs 16,552) by 2017. ASPs in the emerging markets will post single-digit CAGR declines from 2013 to 2017, led by Asia/Pacific (see table below). This will enable more users to afford smartphones for the first time, and in many cases, allow users to bypass purchasing feature phones altogether and go straight to smartphones.


“The key driver behind smartphone volumes in the years ahead is the expected decrease in prices. Particularly within emerging markets, where price sensitivity and elasticity are so important, prices will come down for smartphones to move beyond the urban elite and into the hands of mass market users. Every vendor is closely eyeing how far down they can price their devices while still realising a profit,” said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC’s mobile phone team.

Smaller vendors lead the way

The Android operating system has enabled a number of new manufacturers to enter the smartphone market and many of these handset vendors have focused on low-cost devices as a way to build brand awareness.

In India, while big guys like Samsung and Nokia still dominated the market, their share has been steadily dropping, mainly driven by intense competition from local vendors. Among the local vendors, most of the larger ones (like Micromax, Karbonn, Intex and Lava, etc.) have successfully transitioned their lead in feature phones to smartphones. In fact, they accounted for over half of the total smartphone market in the second quarter of 2013.

In addition, according to a report released by CyberMedia Research (CMR), India’s overall handset shipments in the third quarter of 2013 (July-Sept 2013) crossed the 69.2 million unit mark, recording a year-on-year growth of 10.9 per cent. While the smartphones segment recorded a 152 per cent Y-o-Y growth, the feature phone segment witnessed its first ever negative Y-o-Y growth of 0.8 per cent in the Indian mobile handset market.

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Sydney smartphone brand launches six tough devices

Australian smartphone and tablet vendor Aspera has launched a range of inexpensive water-and-shock resilient devices.

The company, whose flagship R5 smartphone will retail for $399, is looking to build reseller relationships in Australia.

Six high-visibility coloured devices were launched in all, each rated IP67 for protection against non-corrosive liquids and dust.

Four of the devices are dual-sim mobiles: two Android 4.1 smartphones and a pair of feature phones.

Rounding off Aspera's range is a 3G Android tablet and a battery power pack.

The top of the range Aspera R5 smartphone features a quad-core 1.2Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory and accommodates expandable microSD memory. Its screen spans 4-inches, has a resolution of 854-by-480 and the smartphone has a rear 8MP camera, along with a 1.3MP front facing camera.

Common design features include body joins re-enforced with screws, protective seals over the charging port, toughened scratch resistant glass and rugged outer body for shock absorption.

Aspera has an exclusive distribution agreement with Scholastic Australia. 

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Smartphone Fireball App

Researchers have designed a smartphone app that sends back information to users about their meteor sightings.

Called Fireballs in the Sky, it was developed by a team at Curtin University in Australia.

The app can return details on what created the fireball and where it came from in the Solar System.

Prof Phil Bland, who helped develop the app, said it could be used from anywhere in the world.

"If we get enough observations we can determine a trajectory and send that information back to you - for instance, you might get a message that the rock that made your fireball came from the outer asteroid belt, or that it was a chunk of a comet," he commented.

Users are asked to point at the sky where they think the fireball started and click on their phones. Then they are asked to do the same for where they think it ended.

Prof Bland told BBC News that the app used a phone's accelerometer, GPS, and compass to provide data of sufficient quality that it could be used to create a crowdsourced smartphone fireball network.

"Essentially, members of the public can help us track anything that's coming through the atmosphere," he said.

With enough observations the team can work out where the fireball came from and send that information back to users.

"Its wonderful to see one of these things; its even more amazing to know where the object that made your fireball came from in the Solar System," Prof Bland said.

The app was the brainchild of the Desert Fireball Network, a Curtin University project designed to track down meteorites as they fall to Earth, by capturing meteors and fireballs on camera.

The researchers have placed cameras in various remote locations throughout Australia. And capturing fireballs in images as they streak through the sky allows the team to calculate the orbit and origin of meteorites - and to determine where they have landed.

Researchers did similar analysis to track the origins of the Chelyabinsk asteroid that broke up over Central Russia earlier this year.

"Australia is a really great country for meteorite searching because it is flat and there's not much vegetation or grass around, making it easy to see a small black rock on the ground," Prof Bland, who leads the Desert Fireball Network, explained.

The free app was produced in collaboration with the software company ThoughtWorks and Curtin Geoscience Outreach.

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Cheap Smartphones In The USA

NEW YORK (AP) — Motorola will start selling a cheap smartphone in the U.S. more than a month ahead of schedule.

The company says it was able to produce the Moto G phones faster than expected. The U.S. launch was initially planned for January. But it is going on sale Tuesday.

The phone starts at $179 without a contract requirement. That compares with $600 or more that people must typically pay for high-end phones without traditional two-year service agreements.

With the Moto G, Motorola is trying to offer a device that is closer to what's currently available on leading high-end phones, although it won't work on the faster 4G LTE networks.

The version out Tuesday will work only with GSM networks, the type used by AT&T, T-Mobile and most carriers around the world. It won't work with Verizon and Sprint, which have CDMA networks. Verizon says it will offer the CDMA version early next year. There's no immediate word on Sprint's plans.

The phone's 4.5-inch screen, measured diagonally, is capable of high-definition video, but only at 720p, not at the better, 1020p standard found in leading phones. The resolution is 329 pixels per inch, which is comparable to the 326 pixels in the latest, 4-inch iPhones but short of the 441 pixels in Samsung's 5-inch Galaxy S4.

The $179 price is for a phone with 8 gigabytes of storage, not the 16 gigabytes typical with high-end phones. A 16-gigabyte version is available for $199. The rear camera can take images at 5 megapixels, which is less than leading phones.

In the U.S., Motorola is targeting so-called prepaid accounts. Under those plans, customers pay for devices up front, but are not tied to two-year service agreements. Credit-challenged customers who don't qualify for traditional plans often sign up for prepaid accounts.

Motorola is owned by Google Inc. Moto G, however, won't get Google's latest Android operating system, Kit Kat, until early next year.

The phone launched two weeks ago. It's currently available in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Britain, Germany, France and Canada.

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New Smartphone Porsche Design BlackBerry launched

Porsche Design and BlackBerry today announced the launch of new, all-touch Porsche Design P’9982 Smartphone from BlackBerry.

Uniquely designed and expertly crafted, the P’9982 is exquisitely fashioned from high-quality materials and features a customised version of the BlackBerry 10.2 Operating System to give customers the ultimate personal experience.

The new smartphone will be unveiled at an exclusive event in Dubai tonight (November 24).
The P’9982, which extends the Porsche Design luxury brand’s range of modern luxury smartphones, features a satin finished frame forged from the finest quality stainless steel, complemented by a hand-wrapped genuine Italian leather back door. Distinguishable by its special series of PIN numbers, owners of the P’9982 will be instantly recognizable in the exclusive world of Porsche Design smartphone owners. The smartphone carries Porsche Design’s luxurious, iconic styling uniquely through the BlackBerry 10 experience to give customers an exquisite handset purposely built to excel at mobile communications, messaging and productivity, said a statement.

“Engineered Luxury meets Powered Performance – what has been true for the first Porsche Design smartphone is even truer for the all-touch P’9882,” said Juergen Gessler, CEO of the Porsche Design Group. “Once again the collaboration with BlackBerry has led to a device that implements our Iconic Style credo without compromises. With the P’9982 we extend our range of modern luxury smartphones and establish ourselves as a market leader in this segment.”

“The new all-touch P’9982 smartphone combines a unique design from an iconic brand with the power of BlackBerry 10,” said Nick Horton, managing director of Middle East and North Africa at BlackBerry. “Every aspect of this smartphone has been purposely designed and built for a powerful premium experience.”

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Kitkat Android Update For Your Smartphone

There is some good news in store for Motorola users. The Google owned company has announced several of its older smartphones which are in line to join the Android 4.4 Kitkat brigade. By next year users will see up to 10 smartphones getting Kitkat 4.4 update as mentioned on Motorola’s support website.

Moto X update came just three weeks after the launch of the new OS. Update for regular and developer edition and has already begun on Verizon. That makes Verizon’s Moto X the first Moto X model to be updated to KitKat. This surely is an indication that other U.S. and international Moto X versions will receive the eagerly awaited update soon.

Verizon users on contracts can rejoice. Motorola’s website states that Verison’s Droid RAZR HD (both regular and developer edition) Droid RAZR MAXX HD, Droid RAZR M (regular and developer edition), DROID Ultra, DROID Maxx, DROID Mini,  will all be getting an Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade very soon.

It doesn’t stop here. Surprisingly, Motorola’s Electrify M for US Cellular and Atrix HD for AT&T will also get Android 4.4 Kitkat. The developer edition of Atrix HD will have to be content with Jelly Bean as of now. Since the developer version of Atrix HD isn’t getting a 4.4 update we can’t rule out that this is a mistake.

Although there hasn’t been any official communication on the actual release of the software upgrades, we believe the detailed timelines will soon be made official by the company.

It doesn’t come as a surprise to see Google pushing the new OS to older devices of Motorola as Kitkat has been especially optimized to work on older models to reduce fragmentation.

Motorola has also announced a Trade Up program for users who own old Motorola devices. All you have to do is return your old Motorola device and get a rebate of $100 on a Moto handset (Jelly Bean) which would be updated to Kitkat soon.

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Shares In Sharp Soare

TOKYO: Shares in Japanese electronics maker Sharp soared more than eight percent Friday on reports it was boosting production of smartphone screens bound for China, after ending part of a troubled alliance with Taiwan's Hon Hai.

Investors cheered news that the display maker was going to ramp up output of its energy-efficient IGZO panels to go in smartphones produced by Chinese telecom giant ZTE.

 The volatile stock soared 8.08 percent to 321 yen in the morning session at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, far outpacing the Nikkei index, which added a healthy 1.23 percent.

China's smartphone market is the world's largest after it overtook the United States last year. 

It is crowded with major foreign brands such as Samsung Electronics and Apple as well as powerful homegrown players such as Lenovo.

Sharp's rise Friday came after the leading Nikkei business daily said it would use a Japanese plant that has been pumping out screens for Apple to also supply ZTE.

Separate reports Thursday said Sharp and Apple-supplier Hon Hai Precision agreed to end a plan to make and sell smartphones under the Sharp brand in China, which had been part of a wider tie-up announced last year.

The decision was based on concerns about the pair's prospects in the busy Chinese market.

Japanese brands also took a hit after a Tokyo-Beijing territorial dispute sparked riots in China last year and a boycott of Japanese goods.

In March last year, Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou agreed to invest in Sharp's most advanced Japanese LCD panel factory, which mainly makes large television panels. 

At the time, Hon Hai had also planned to buy a 10 percent stake in Sharp, but that deal stalled after the Japanese firm's shares plunged and Hon Hai decided not to buy the stake.

Sharp has been undergoing a huge restructuring to pare losses largely tied to its ailing electronics business. (AFP)

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New Samsung High Resolution Smartphones Next Year

While the Galaxy S4's display was impressive, it looks as thoughSamsung isn't content just yet and could release smartphones with higher resolutions next year. It is being reported by O l E D who cited Samsung Display CEO Kinam Kim, that the smartphone manufacturer is set to make displays with 560ppi for 5-inch screens.

This would mean that Samsung's future smartphones would pack a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440, which is pretty spectacular. To put it in perspective, the Galaxy S4 has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 441ppi, while the iPhone 5s has a resolution of 1,136 x 640 and 326ppi. 

No specific handset has been linked to these high-quality displays, but one would expect the Galaxy S5 to be towards the top of the list of handsets to feature them. Of course, we are at a stage where additional pixels per inch don't actually mean anything to the human eye. But it certainly looks good when releasing press releases and advertising campaigns.

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Problems With Vodafone UK Systems

It seems apparent that Vodafone for some time now have been having huge problems with there computer systems that run the Vodafone network.

I am on Vodafone the first problem i encountered was when i ordered an internet pack, i waited and waited for my internet to arrive and run my Smartphone applications but hours later still no internet.

I then rung up Vodafone to ask why they had not put my internet on, this is what i was told, "we are having problems with our systems we have a system wide fault"

The next problem was one of my trusted friends who tried there I.O.U because he was miles away in the middle of no where, but when he tried to make a call the Vodafone system said he had no call credit.

I will give Vodafone there dues they did give him some free call credit, till they fixed the problem, same with me i got £20 pounds free for the inconvenience.

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New Samsung High Resolution Smartphones Next Year

While the Galaxy S4's display was impressive, it looks as thoughSamsung isn't content just yet and could release smartphones with higher resolutions next year. It is being reported by O l E D who cited Samsung Display CEO Kinam Kim, that the smartphone manufacturer is set to make displays with 560ppi for 5-inch screens.

This would mean that Samsung's future smartphones would pack a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440, which is pretty spectacular. To put it in perspective, the Galaxy S4 has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 441ppi, while the iPhone 5s has a resolution of 1,136 x 640 and 326ppi. 

No specific handset has been linked to these high-quality displays, but one would expect the Galaxy S5 to be towards the top of the list of handsets to feature them. Of course, we are at a stage where additional pixels per inch don't actually mean anything to the human eye. But it certainly looks good when releasing press releases and advertising campaigns.

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Carriers reject kill switch for stolen smartphones

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Samsung Electronics, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has proposed installing a built-in anti-theft measure known as a "kill switch" that would render stolen or lost phones inoperable, but the nation's biggest carriers have rejected the idea, according to San Francisco's top prosecutor.

District Attorney George Gascon said Monday that AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, United States Cellular Corp., Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. rebuffed Samsung's proposal to preload its phones with Absolute LoJack anti-theft software as a standard feature.

The wireless industry says a kill switch isn't the answer because it could allow a hacker to disable someone's phone.

Gascon, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and other law enforcement officials have been demanding that manufacturers create kill switches to combat surging smartphone theft across the country.

Almost 1 in 3 U.S. robberies involve phone theft, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Lost and stolen mobile devices - mostly smartphones - cost consumers more than $30 billion last year, according to a study cited by Schneiderman in June.

Samsung officials told the San Francisco district attorney's office in July that carriers were resisting kill switches, and prosecutors have recently reviewed emails between a senior vice president at Samsung and a software developer about the issue. One email in August said Samsung had pre-installed kill switch software in some smartphones ready for shipment, but carriers ordered their removal as a standard feature.

"These emails suggest that the carriers are rejecting a technological solution so they can continue to shake down their customers for billions of dollars in (theft) insurance premiums," Gascon said. "I'm incensed. ... This is a solution that has the potential to end the victimization of their customers."

Samsung said it is cooperating with Gascon, Schneiderman and the carriers on an anti-theft solution but declined to comment specifically about the emails.

"We are working with the leaders of the Secure Our Smartphones (SOS) Initiative to incorporate the perspective of law enforcement agencies," said Samsung spokeswoman Jessica Redman. "We will continue to work with them and our wireless carrier partners toward our common goal of stopping smartphone theft."

Although the popular Samsung Galaxy smartphones are shipped across the country without LoJack as a standard feature, users can pay a subscription fee for the service.

CTIA-The Wireless Association, a trade group for wireless providers, said it has been working with the FCC, law enforcement agencies and elected officials on a national stolen phone database scheduled to launch Nov. 30.

The CTIA says a permanent kill switch has serious risks, including potential vulnerability to hackers who could disable mobile devices and lock out not only individuals' phones but also phones used by entities such as the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies.

"The problem is how do you trigger a kill switch in a secure manner and not be compromised by a third party and be subjected to hacking," said James Moran, a security adviser with the GSMA, a United Kingdom wireless trade group that has overseen a global stolen mobile phone database and is helping to create the U.S. version.

Last year, about 121 million smartphones were sold in the U.S., according to International Data Corp., a Massachusetts-based researcher. About 725 million smartphones were sold worldwide, accounting for $281 billion in sales, IDC said.

Samsung Electronics Co., with its popular Galaxy S4 smartphone, shipped 81 million phones - more than the next four manufacturers combined - during the most recent sales quarter for a market share of 31 percent, IDC reported in October. Apple Inc. shipped 34 million iPhones for a market share of 13 percent.

In June, Gascon and Schneiderman held a "Smartphone Summit" in New York City to call on representatives from smartphone makers Apple, Samsung, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to adopt kill switches that would be free to consumers.

That week, Apple said such a feature, an "activation lock," would be part of its iOS 7 software that was eventually released this fall. The new activation lock feature is designed to prevent thieves from turning off the Find My iPhone application, which allows owners to track their phone on a map, remotely lock the device and delete its data.

The activation lock requires someone to know the user's Apple ID and password to reactivate a phone, even after all the data on the device is erased.

In July, prosecutors brought federal and state security experts to San Francisco to test Apple's iPhone 5 with its activation lock and Samsung's Galaxy S4 with LoJack.

Treating the phones as if they were stolen, experts tried to circumvent their anti-theft features to evaluate their effectiveness, and that work is continuing.

One Silicon Valley technology security expert said he thinks Apple's activation lock is the first kill switch that meets law enforcement's desire to protect iPhone users and other smartphone manufacturers should follow suit.

"Thieves cannot do anything with the device unless they have the user's ID, which they don't," said Ojas Rege, vice president of strategy at Mobile Iron, a technology software security company in Mountain View, Calif.

"The activation lock addresses this issue without the carriers having to do anything," Rege said, adding that he does not believe resistance to implementing kill switch technology is fueled by profits.

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Unlawful Advertising By Carphonewarehouse November 20, 2013 00:40 Retailer warned on 'free phone' ad

Carphone Warehouse advertised the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini phone as free on Vodafone and T-Mobile 24-month tariffs, listing the T-Mobile cost as £27 per month and the Vodafone cost as £25 per month.

But a reader who believed that the cost of the handset was included in the monthly contract price, and that equivalent sim-only plans were cheaper, complained that the "free" claim was misleading.

Carphone Warehouse said it was "mindful of their duty not to mislead consumers by labelling a handset as free when it was in fact taken into account in the pricing of the tariff" - or inclusive.

It said the two tariffs that the complainant had referred to, and believed to be equivalent, had different inclusions to the offer that included the handset and could not be compared.

It said the tariff in question could be bought either without a phone or with various different "free" phones, all with the tariff at the same price.

But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it had not seen evidence that the 24-month sim-only tariff was actually purchased by consumers.

It said: "We considered that the cheaper, similar sim-only tariffs, and the fact the direct equivalent sim-only tariff was not available on the same sim-type as the 'free' phone, demonstrated that the £25 per month cost in the ad included the cost of the phone.

"Therefore, £25 was not a genuine stand-alone price for the tariff. We also noted we had not seen evidence that the 24-month sim-only tariff was actually purchased by consumers.

"We concluded that the claims the phone was 'free' were misleading."

It ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form, and added: "We told the Carphone Warehouse to ensure that where the cost of a phone was included in the package price it was described as 'inclusive' rather than 'free'."

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Wareable Smartphone's Not So Smart

Wearable phones and computers are on wish lists as the holiday season approaches in Washington, but scientists are warning that research indicates they present likely health risks - especially from cell-phone radiation.

Dr. Hugh Taylor, chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University School of Medicine, exposed pregnant mice to close-up cell-phone signals and says he observed the offspring behaving like children with attention deficit disorder.

"I think all these radiation-emitting technologies deserve a proper evaluation that includes not only exposure to adults but what happens to the fetus, the most vulnerable stage of life," Taylor said.

Dr. David Gultekin, a research physicist at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, showed that cell-phone radiation creates hot spots in human brains - a troublesome finding. He said wearable gadgets often are brought to the marketplace with little concern for safety.

"When they're designing and developing a new product and introducing it, very rarely the health aspect of it is mentioned, or not mentioned at all," he said.

Many scientists question the accuracy of industry-funded research. They say money for government and foundation-funded research is scarce, and that when they report on the evidence of risk, the mainstream media - like those lab mice - have a short attention span.

Dr. Martin Blank, retired associate professor of physiology and cellular biophysics at Columbia University and a DNA expert, said the growing amount of research is more than enough to prompt action.

"When you get a situation where a problem arises, you invoke what's known as the precautionary principle," he said. "You take a certain amount of precaution as a result of a risk that has been identified."

For now, advocates recommend keeping cell phones and other devices away from sensitive body parts and especially caution pregnant women against holding cell phones near their abdomens or in handbags carried near their bodies.

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Debt Warning Over Smartphones

A debt advice charity has raised fears of surging numbers of people struggling to pay for "expensive" smartphone deals after seeing the number of cries for help with phones generally more than treble over a five-year period.

The Money Advice Trust (MAT) dealt with 17,766 calls to its National Debtline from people about telephone debt last year, compared with 5,830 in 2007, the year the iPhone was launched.

The trust is on course to deal with record calls for help with telephone debt this year, with 13,389 calls on the subject between January and August, a 15% increase on the same period a year ago.

It said that in 2007, one in 25 calls (4%) were about phone debt, but this proportion has soared to one in nine (11%). The charity suggested that the rising use of smartphones is a factor behind the increased number of calls.

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How smartphones can help to shape the cities of the future

DATA from smartphones, loyalty cards and GPS maps could be used to transform the way architects and urban planners design future buildings and cities, according to a new report.

Using detailed information on how people live their lives would result in cheaper testing of designs before construction begins and greater consultation with potential users – speeding up the process, saving time and money and resulting in better and more affordable design, it said.

The report, Designing with data: Shaping our future cities, by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and engineering firm Arup, calls on the Government to make it a requirement for the data that is already collected during the planning and design process to be easily accessible for designers, planners and architects.

Stephen Hodder, RIBA president, said: “Lots of the data is available and already being collected, so why aren’t more architects taking advantage?

“We need the Government to ensure this data is harnessed by local authorities and made available for architects, developers, residents’ groups, charities, and business so they can make the best use of it.”

The report recommends that government “should model and explore the potential benefits of a digital planning process”.

“Government should scope how it can standardise the digitisation of all information submitted for planning, and of standardising design data collection across local authorities.

“This public data should be open to unleash economic growth; and local authorities should be encouraged to use open data to inform local planning strategies,” it said.

The report also recommends that a joint government, industry and academic working group should be established to “oversee the digitisation of planning”.

It added that there should also be better co-ordination between government departments to prevent data duplication and “help identify gaps in data provision to enable the government to develop a more holistic framework for data capture and analysis”.

Mr Hodder said: “This report must signal an end to clunky planning application websites with their overly-long reference numbers and multitude of pointless scanned documents, data collection needs to be standardised across the country, easily accessible and open to everyone.

“The RIBA is looking to a future where data will enable architects to unleash their creativity in ways that are currently too expensive or time-consuming to create the best buildings possible.”

The report said that data from mobile phones, which track our movements through the city, parking sensors, congestion charge zones and Oyster cards, which show how and when people are moving around the city, and social media, which records our thoughts and feelings about place and experiences, created the opportunity for designers and planners to make places that are better attuned to the people who use them by understanding their needs.

Arup’s Léan Doody, the author of the report, said: “We have all been in situations when we are frustrated by our environment; when we are unable to park, roads are over-crowded or pavements too narrow. Analysis of open data provides the possibility of avoiding this, and we are already seeing some exciting government initiatives in the UK around this, including the launch of the Smart Cities Forum, the Open Data Institute and the Future Cities Catapult.

“This report illustrates the positive practical and economic benefits of using open data, and in doing so demonstrates the necessity for its wider use.”

However, Richard Frudd, associate director at Leeds-based Indigo Planning, said: “Standardising data collection and presentation is sensible, and would almost certainly assist with making some areas of the planning process more effective. The big question would be where does the money come from to implement such a system?”

Using public data also raises a number of privacy and security issues.

UK telecoms operators, for example, are legally required to store data for one year, but it is then illegal for them to keep it for more than two years.

The report said: “We need to identify ethical standards for how public data is used.

“The public need to be comfortable with how their data is used and should have the right to opt out if they wish.”

Smart, forward thinking

The Government is pushing forward a number of initiatives connected to big data and smart cities.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is setting up a Smart Cities Forum for policymakers, cities, businesses and researchers to develop and coordinate policy more effectively.

BIS has also commissioned the British Standards Institute to identify where standards could help address barriers to implementing smart city concepts including data sharing between agencies.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office is looking at ways to encourage private data.

The Technology Strategy Board has sponsored the establishment of the Open Data Institute and the Future Cities Catapult.

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www.anymobilesmartphone.com

Our new .com has now been upadated to www.anymobilesmartphone.com

please feel free to visit us, to buy all your new smartphones for Christams

Fold up Smartphone

The foldable smartphone shown in the picture above consists of 3 thin panels, the tablet and e-reader (Below) being 6 and 9 panels respectively, with each of the devices folding into a third of their original size. With this, gone will be the days when people would think that 5.2 inch Samsung Galaxy Note is a device you can not carry in your pocket. The Samsung Foldiplay concept is 210 x 210mm in size and has a width of 2mm, the great thing about it is that you can fold it to a minimum of 70 × 70 mm. 

Another interesting concept is the Book Write, which is a triangular-shaped device, roughly the size of a pencil-case, which contains a stylus and a roll-up screen that acts as a writing surface. The device can be easily rolled up completely and the main applications of it is an e-notepad, because it is transparent you can put it on a book or tasks and casually surf the web or investigate or solve problems or write while using it.


With the launch of Samsung Galaxy Round and LG G Flex, two smartphones from two companies featuring flexible OLED display - one horizontal, another vertical - we got a glimpse into the future of displays. But, what Samsung has now shared with the folks over at OLED.at are the pictures of some concept smartphones with flexible displays that could be how our mobile devices will be in the years to come. The idea behind these flexible display concept could very well be aimed at making the large-screened displays on our smartphones and tablets more manageable. You would be able to easily fold up the gadget and thus make your mobile devices more pocket-friendly and portable. 
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The future looks bleak for Blackberry

The future looks bleak for anyone hanging on for a new BlackBerry smartphone, as telecoms experts forecast that the troubled Canadian company will focus on software, rather than hardware in the future in order to stay afloat.

Telecoms analysts Ovum suggested that a new rescue bid for the company seems to suggest that its future focus will be on enterprise software and device management, rather than handsets like the recently launched Z30.

The comments come after BlackBerry announced that it would receive a $1 billion investment from Fairfax Financial and other third parties, representing the end of its search for strategic alternatives to take the company forward.

Fairfax had wanted to acquire BlackBerry outright, but with the deadline looming yesterday it looks like it fell short of raising the necessary funds. This now represents "plan B", according to Ovum’s chief telecoms analyst, Jan Dawson.

“The appointment of enterprise software veteran John Chen, former CEO of Sybase, as chairman and interim CEO of BlackBerry suggests that Fairfax and others see the company’s future in software rather than devices. This makes sense in light of BlackBerry’s sputtering device shipments over the past few months, but it’s still not clear where that growth will come from," Dawson said.

He added that BlackBerry’s new investors seem to see its future in software, which means using BlackBerry servers as the core of a broader enterprise device.

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Kazam New Smartphone Brand

Kazam, the startup smartphone manufacturer started up by two former HTC executives, has launched its first range of smartphones that it hopes will disrupt the sector and make consumers feel they “don’t have to default to Apple or Samsung”.

The five Kazam Trooper mid-range and two Thunder high-end handsets will launch across Europe over the coming weeks. All Kazam smartphones are run Android and feature dual SIM, one year’s cracked screen replacement and a “Kazam Rescue” support service.

Kazam is a brand to “disrupt the status quo” in the crowded mobile market. It was founded by James Atkins, former HTC UK head of marketing and former HTC UK head of sales Michael Coombes.

Atkins, now Kazam CMO, told Marketing Week the company “does not want to be defined as the customer service brand”, but as the brand that looks at things “in a slightly different way”.

“At the moment there’s a real opportunity to innovate and do something different in the support area. Next year and the year after that it could be innovations in logistics or design, it’s about being the brand that people say ‘says something about us’ and is doing something different,” Atkins said.

Marketing for the new range of smartphones will be “phased” to coincide with the phased rollout of availability of the devices across Europe. It will centre around digital media and PR.

Atkins said: “We have been quite bolshy in our communications that we are not going to be a vanity marketer, spending millions on a glossy TV ad. I call it set piece marketing, which is usually supported by billboards and print. Looking at it from experience, being told you are not doing marketing unless you’re doing TV or a billboard - I think there’s a time and a place. Digital gives us a great mechanic to talk to people and specific sets of people. We want to make sure we’re engaging around word of mouth and our earned status. It’s more than just b2c, it has to be a c2c strategy.”

Atkins said launching a range of phones at “disruptive price points” demonstrates how Kazam is not looking to target a specific segment, but rather a specific mindset.

He added: “Kazam is for people who are tired of spending money for a logo that they do not stand by, or do not even know what it stands for. People are waking up to whether the brands they buy are responsible, whether they are just lining someone’s pockets…we want to be there for that loud and proud consumer.

“All the [mobile phone brands beyond Apple and Samsung] are running after the big boys and if they do succeed, the best they can become is a second rate version of those big boys. I don’t want Kazam to be that.”

Kazam now has circa 40 to 50 staff across Europe and is prepared to scale up its support services, sales and marketing once demand reaches scale, which is hoped within a year.

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No One Will Buy Blackberry

Thorsten Heins, the chief executive of BlackBerry, will leave after the collapse of a tentative takeover offer from BlackBerry’s largest shareholder, the company said on Monday.

Instead of purchasing BlackBerry and taking it private, the largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings, and an unnamed group of institutional investors will invest $1 billion through debentures that can be converted into common shares at a price of $10 a share.

In trading early Monday morning, shares of BlackBerry were down nearly 12 percent, at $6.85.

There has long been skepticism about the ability of Fairfax to turn its tentative offer, which values BlackBerry at $4.7 billion, into a firm bid. Since it first made the offer in September, shares in the ailing smartphone maker never rose to Fairfax’s $9 a share price.



John S. Chen, the former chief executive of Sybase, will become BlackBerry’s executive chairman and acting chief executive.

Along with the cash infusion into BlackBerry, V. Prem Watsa, the chairman and chief executive of Fairfax, will return to the phone maker’s board. Mr. Watsa had resigned after the company announced that it was reviewing strategic options, including a sale, in the summer.

Mr. Heins, a former Siemens executive in Germany, became chief executive in January 2012 after James L. Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, the longtime co-chairmen and co-chief executives, resigned in the face of a rapid decline in BlackBerry’s business and the failure of its PlayBook tablet computer.

Formerly the head of the company’s handset business, Mr. Heins heavily promoted the new line of BlackBerry 10 handsets as the company’s salvation. They proved, however, to be a commercial failure.

Mr. Chen led Sybase from 1998 until the company was acquired by SAP of Germany in 2010. He is widely credited with saving Sybase from bankruptcy. When he arrived, Sybase had lost much of its corporate database business to Oracle, IBM and Microsoft. Unprofitable, it had also developed a reputation for producing unreliable software.

After resolving the problems in Sybase’s traditional business, Mr. Chen expanded it into producing software for creating applications, mainly for businesses, for use on wireless mobile devices and to manage wireless networks.

More recently, Mr. Chen has been a senior adviser to the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, which, with Michael S. Dell, recently took Dell private.

It is unclear if the investment by Fairfax will affect an attempt to make a bid for the company by a group that includes Mr. Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, the other co-founder of BlackBerry, as well as Qualcomm and the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. (Qualcomm makes the chips inside BlackBerry phones.)

Other companies have also looked into BlackBerry as a potential acquisition, although it is not clear if they have any interest in a bid.

JPMorgan Chase, Perella Weinberg Partners and RBC Capital Markets are advising BlackBerry. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Blake, Cassels & Graydon; and Torys are serving as legal advisers.

BDT & Company, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets are advising Fairfax, and the law firms Shearman & Sterling and McCarthy Tétrault are providing legal advice. BMO Capital Markets is also acting as the sole book-runner for the private placement.

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They Might Be A New Galaxy S 5

Samsung has entered the discussion with their Galaxy S5. Here is the latest news and rumors on the smartphone.

The Galaxy S5 is still a few months away from being released, but some new features will be coming.

The smartphone will contain a new processor. The big rumor going around is that this processor will be part of the new Exynos 6 chipset (64-bit).

Using 64-bit support, this would give the smartphone an enormous capacity of memory. The potential of having a processor this advanced, would be especially important for users that love to surf the web and play games on their phone. The processor would also help maintain battery life.

Android 4.4 (KitKat), the latest Android update will likely be used. Scrolling through menus and launching apps will go super fast. Users will be able to take numerous photos in a speedy interval.

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