Social Radar App

Walk into a room of people, and your smartphone can tell if you have a connection to any of them, if it can find the right data.

A social networking app called SocialRadar, released on Thursday, analyses smartphone users' social networks including Facebook and Twitter, and correlates that with location data, to let people know in real time about their connections to those around them.

The app aggregates and merges data from top social networks including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare and Google+ with live location information from smartphones.

This enables users to find colleagues, friends, and friends of friends if they are connected on one of the networks.

This means you can see in real time the people around you with whom you share a connection across several services.

"There are over a billion people with smartphones, and more than two billion social media profiles in the cloud, but no intersection of that information," says SocialRadar founder and chief executive Michael Chasen.

Chasen, 41, who founded the education software tool Blackboard in 1997 and sold it in 2011 for $US1.70 billion, says SocialRadar can be useful for business networking as well as for socialising.

"I can walk into a restaurant and find three people I'm connected to," Chasen told AFP in an interview in SocialRadar's office in downtown Washington.

"All this is in the cloud if you can connect this information."

Chasen said he believes SocialRadar may be used for dating, "but I think it will be used for business too. It is the ultimate networking tool".

SocialRadar has been released in North America for the iOS platform for iPhones, and a version is in the works for Android and for Google Glass - which would enable users to get information delivered for easy viewing.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

This Is Who? Is Spying On You And Your Smartphone

YouTube video views, Facebook "likes" and Blogger visits are among activities GCHQ has monitored in real-time, according to the latest Snowden leaks.

Details of an alleged GCHQ programme codenamed Squeaky Dolphin have been published.

It reports that the UK cyber-spy agency showed off its abilities to the US National Security Agency in 2012.

Facebook has since started encrypting its data, but Google's YouTube and Blogger services remain unencrypted.

Both firms have said that they did not give GCHQ permission to access the data.

The alleged operation's leaked logo - showing a dolphin holding a canister branded GTE - appears to refer to Global Telecoms Exploitation, a GCHQ division believed to be capable of collecting data from fibre-optic cables.

According to an earlier leak, GCHQ has been tapping fibre-optic cables to create a "buffer" of information it could search through since at least 2011, as part of a scheme called Tempora.

The paper said that by 2012 the agency had tapped more than 200 cables - including transatlantic communication links - and was able to process phone and internet data taken from up to 46 of them at a time.

GCHQ declined to comment on the specifics of the latest report.

However, the prime minister has previously said that: "I'm satisfied that the work these agencies do is not only vital but is properly overseen."

Real-time activity

A New Kind of Sigdev [signals development]. It was part of the trove of documents former NSA contractor Edward Snowden passed to journalist Glenn Greenwald, who contributed to NBC's report.

The papers refer to the use of Splunk Dashboard to provide real-time analysis of how people use YouTube, Facebook and Blogger.

Splunk is commercially available software designed to let organisations "listen" to their own data.

Examples that GCHQ is said to have shown off include:

• a table showing how many people based in the city of Lagos looked at a specific job vacancies blog over a 24-hour period

• a graph showing how many London-based internet users "liked" links about former Defence Secretary Liam Fox on Facebook over a week-long period

• a pie chart highlighting 20 trending YouTube video tags a day before planned anti-government protests in Bahrain

Although the examples provided do not identify specific users, NBC suggests this would have been possible to do if GCHQ had access to such data.

"People have long been concerned about the possibility of this kind of snooping, which is why we have continued to extend encryption across more and more Google services and links,".

"We do not provide any government, including the UK government, with access to our systems. These allegations underscore the urgent need for reform of government surveillance practices."

A spokesman for Facebook added: "Network security is an important part of the way we protect user information, which is why we finished moving our site traffic to HTTPS [encryption] by default last year, implemented Perfect Forward Secrecy, and continue to strengthen all aspects of our network."

Twitter also targeted

US and UK officials have stressed that while they may scoop up a lot of data, their actual use of it is targeted.

"All of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of state, the Interception and Intelligence Services Commissioners and the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee," a spokeswoman from GCHQ said.

"All our operational processes rigorously support this position."

Other details included in the latest leaks include:

• GCHQ agents referred to a study that indicated Firefox users were those most prone to neuroticism, while Internet Explorer users were those most likely to be conscientious but least open to new experiences

• An earlier GCHQ operation dubbed Blackhole involved exploiting what used to be unencrypted data from Twitter in order to identify users and target them with propagand

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

Shares In Apple Fall Sharply

Shares in tech giant Apple fell close to 9% in after-hours trading after the firm reported flat profits of $13.1bn (£7.9bn) during the October to January quarter.

While the earnings beat expectations, the firm lowered it sales outlook for 2014, worrying investors.

Apple said it sold a record 51 million iPhones and 26 million iPads.

"We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales," said Apple boss Tim Cook in a statement.

Apple said it expected revenue of between $42bn and $44bn for 2014, slightly less than had been forecast.

China scrutiny

Crucially for analysts, the firm said revenue rose by 29% in the greater China region, which includes China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, compared to the same period last year.

On a conference call to discuss the earnings, Mr Cook said: "We really turned in a stellar quarter in greater China."

Apple announced a deal with the world's biggest mobile phone network, China Mobile, in December, and many investors had been closely watching the earnings for hints on the company's performance in the region.

Apple's phones have been available on China Mobile since 17 January.

"Last week was the best week for activations we've ever had in China," said Mr Cook, while noting that iPhones are only available on China Mobile in 16 cities at the moment.

By the end of the year, Apple hopes to expand its offerings to more than 300 cities.

Global woes

However, Apple said sales in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region fell 9%, and that profits were hurt by currency fluctuations, particularly with the Japanese yen.

Apple also reported a sales dip in the Americas as well.

This was partially due to stronger than expected sales of the more expensive iPhone 5S.

Apple executives said on the call that it took the firm some time to change its supply chain to provide the US market with more of those phones compared with the cheaper iPhone 5C, primarily aimed at Chinese consumers.

Apple also noted that some US carriers changed their upgrade policies, which hurt sales in the region, as consumers became more reluctant to upgrade aging iPhones.

Sales of iPods - Apple's once iconic music player - fell 55%.

"I think all of us have known for some time that iPod is a declining business," said Mr Cook.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

O2 In England Locks Customers In To Higher Priced Contracts

O2 locks customers into higher prices after changing contract terms

Hours after regulator's new rules on switching came into force, O2 announced a 2.7% price hike and a clause in its contracts under which customers will forfeit the right to walk away

Millions of mobile phone subscribers will be handed contracts locking them into annual price rises after O2, the second largest British operator, changed its terms and conditions despite new rules designed to protect consumers.

We do not know why? They have done this, but what we do know is that this is going  to be very damaging to there customer database when contracts come to an end. We expect over half the customers will swap to another network.

If any customers who do want to change why not look at the site below for some great contract deals from other service providers like Orange Pay Monthly. Or from the Anymobilesmartphone website you can find phones that are free provided you top up £10. 

Or if you are from the United States you can use the US Customers page and go to the CellPhoneShop.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

New Apple iPhone Six

There is a rumour going about that is already churning out reports about Apple’s next Smartphone, which is likely to be called theiPhone 6, or the new iPhone 6 superior iPhone.

What we do know?

Early in June 2014, we don’t know much about what Apple has up its sleeves for the next iPhone. That said, some trends are already popping up in the rumours. Analysts and sources claim that Apple will give us two phones this year, just like it did in September 2013 with the 5S and 5C.

There will be a large iPhone model, likely with a 5-inch or larger screen, and also a smaller, possibly lower-end, device closer in size to the iPhone 5S.

Apple hasn’t even confirmed it’s even working on a new iPhone, but what we all know is that they will release a new model very soon but we do not know what it will be called, but following the pattern the company has used to name its previous phones, we are guessing it will be dubbed the iPhone 6.

Apple may release a bigger screen size something like 5.7 or 6 inch, and we do know that it will have a bigger stronger processor than it has at the present.

Apple have also been listening to its customers, whether they are new customers who express a wish to buy a new Smartphone which is better than the one that they have at present, and have also been listening to old customers, who have already bought a new Apple iPhone.

We are the future of all smartphones vist Anymobilesmartphone or search for us on Google.

New features

Now here what is new on the new mobile phone processor market? I would hope that this newApple iPhone would have something this a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 and 800.

Qualcomm still dominates mobile processors (they’re the Intel of phones), and these two Snapdragon processors will likely be in many of the Smartphone’s released during 2013. The quad-core Snapdragon 600 resides in both mid and high-end Smartphone’s and tablets, can run at speeds of up to 1.9GHz and is equipped with an Adreno 320 graphics chip. Think of it like a turbo-boosted Snapdragon S4, which was found in the Galaxy S3 and most other phones that came out in late 2012, and you’ve got the idea.

The quad-core Snapdragon 800 never made its debut until the latter half of this year, but it was worth the wait. Its abilities include Ultra HD (4K) resolution video recording and streaming to Ultra HD external displays, cameras with up to 55 megapixels and a clock speed of 2.3GHz. It also has global 3G and 4G support, plus the latest Adreno 330 graphics chip. Qualcomm says it’s 75 percent faster than the fastest Snapdragon S4. Or the new Apple iphone could have a new faster A8 processor

OS 8

Another feature that gets an annual upgrade is iPhones software. If rumours proved to be true that Apple will launch the next iPhone at the WWDC 2014 event in June, it is most probably that it will come with a new operating system named iOS 8. Also, iOS gets new features and capabilities each year.

Fingerprint Sensor

The TouchID Fingerprint Sensor made its debut in the iPhone 5S. It is most likely that this added security feature will be retained but padded with new features and capabilities. There were also rumours claiming that Apple will pack a futuristic eye scanner. Same goes for Apple’s voice assistant Siri. And also we do expect a new iris eye ball scanner to make to ne Apple iphone even more secure. To even further this it is envisaged that this new Apple Smartphone will have a more secure encryption than it has at present.

NFC

Apple has been questioned for quite a long time why it kept on skipping near field communication seen in its rivals. However this new Apple iPhone 6 will have near field communication, and possible an online banking wallet.

http://www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk take a look at this great new site

We now have a new .comhttp://www.anymobilesmartphone.com

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Working On Smartphone's Late At Night Is Bad For Your Health

Working on a smartphone late at night can ruin a good night’s sleep and drain productivity the following day, according to new research from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. 

Smartphones are enormously valuable for helping people fit work activity into times and places outside of the office, the researchers said. However, our new research indicates the greater connectivity comes at a cost: using a smartphone to cram more work into a given evening results in less work done the next day, the researchers wrote in a Harvard Business Review blog post summarizing the study’s findings. 

Smartphones are bad for sleep, and sleep is very important to effectiveness as an employee.” Lead researcher Christopher Barnes, assistant professor of management at the UW’s Foster School of Business, said smartphones are almost perfectly designed to disrupt sleep. They keep us mentally engaged with work late into the evening, making it harder to detach, relax, and get the deep sleep needed to recharge our mental batteries. 

They also encourage poor sleep hygiene, a set of behaviors that make it harder to both fall asleep and stay asleep. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of smartphones when it comes to sleep is that they expose us to light, including blue light, which in even small amounts inhibits the sleep-promoting chemical melatonin. Barnes and colleagues conducted two studies to evaluate the effect of late night smartphone work on sleep and productivity. In the first study, 82 mid- to high-level managers completed multiple daily surveys over the course of two weeks. The results confirmed that late night smartphone use cut into sleep and made the managers tired and less engaged in work the following day. In the second study, 161 employees from a variety of occupations (both managers and non-managers) completed the same set of surveys, with the addition of measures of late night usage of television, laptop computers and tablets. 

The results showed that the harmful effects of smartphones on sleep and work engagement held true even after accounting for these other electronic devices. Indeed, out of all those devices, smartphones were associated with the most powerful effects. The researchers advise managers to find new ways to balance the positive and negative aspects of smartphone use, such as adopting a predictable time off each day and a set time to power down and psychologically disengage from work. 

They also recommend establishing new norms for times employees are expected to respond to e-mails and other messages. “As smartphones become more embedded in our daily lives, we should continue to seek solutions that will enable us to stay in touch with smartphones and still get the sleep we need to be effective the next day,” they wrote. “In contrast to a short-term perspective that puts the current work item as the top priority, a perspective that focuses on longer-term performance will leave more room for managing smartphones in a manner that preserves sleep.” “The more important the job, the more important it is to work with a fresh brain. 

We would do well to remember that, and not let our phones call the shots.

 Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

Here Is A Hint At What The Next Generation Of Smartphone's Will Have

Chip makers like Qualcomm, Nvidia and Samsung Electronics are working on components that will increase processing power, add more memory and increase screen resolution of next-generation smartphones.

The year has only started and 2014's most exciting smartphones -- including successors to Apple's iPhone 5s, the HTC One and the Galaxy S4 -- still haven't been announced, but upcoming processors, memory modules and screens hint at what can be expected.

Here are some components that will help improve smartphone 

The Snapdragon 800 processor dominated the high-end smartphone market last year, and powered products like the Nexus 5 from Google and LG Electronics, LG's own G2, the Galaxy Note 3 from Samsung and Sony's Xperia Z1. There is very little to suggest that the successor, the Snapdragon 805 won't be a popular option this year.

The Snapdragon 805 is based on the Krait 450 quad-core CPU, which runs at speeds of up to 2.5GHz per core, according to Qualcomm. It also features the new Adreno 420 GPU, which has up to 40 percent more graphics processing power than its predecessor. The extra horsepower will allow smartphones and tablets to display 4K video content, either on the device or a TV.

The first devices using the Snapdragon 805 are expected to arrive during the first half of the year. It's already rumored to power the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony's Xperia Z2 and the Lumia 1820 from Nokia.

Nvidia's Tegra K1

Qualcomm may dominate, but Nvidia seems hell-bent on giving the company a run for its money with its Tegra K1 processor. Nvidia is hard at work on 32-bit and 64-bit versions that look very competitive.

The first version uses a quad-core processor based on the latest version of ARM's Cortex A15 CPU. It has four main processors running at up to 2.3GHz and a fifth power-optimized core to handle low performance tasks and help extend battery life, according to Nvidia. The second version uses a custom, Nvidia-designed 64-bit dual "Super Core" CPU running at up to 2.5GHz. It is based on the ARMv8 architecture, which introduces 64-bit support to the ARM world.

With the K1, Nvidia is putting an emphasis on improved gaming. The processors combined with a GPU based on Nvidia's Kepler architecture can outperform both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, according to Nvidia. The company has also implemented CUDA, a parallel computing platform and programming model that enables increased performance by taking better advantage of the GPU.

The 32-bit version is expected in devices in the first half of the year and the 64-bit version during the second half, according to Nvidia.

Samsung's 8GB LPDDR4 Mobile DRAM

While most expensive smartphones today have 2GB of RAM, Samsung's semiconductor unit has announced a new chip that will make it possible for the company and others to build mobile devices with up to 4GB of RAM.

The memory increase and performance improvement offered by the 8-gigabit LPDDR4 (low power double data rate) mobile DRAM will result in faster, more responsive applications and will open the door for more advanced features as well as displays with higher resolutions, according to Samsung. The product also consumes less power than current memory chipsets, it said.

The chip will start shipping this year for use in large-screen smartphones, tablets and ultra-slim notebooks, according to Samsung. While 4GB will be possible, it's more likely that new high-end smartphones will instead get a more modest upgrade to 3GB.

Samsung also offers eMMC (embedded MultiMediaCard) memory to increase integrated storage to 128GB. That has been possible for some time, but vendors don't seem very interested.

LG Display's 2560 by 1440 pixel screen

Larger screens with higher resolutions have been one of the biggest smartphone trends in the last couple of years, and that shows few signs of abating. For example, LG Electronics' Display unit has developed a 5.5-inch screen for next generation smartphones with a 2560 by 1440 pixel resolution.

That combination equals a density of 538 ppi (pixels-per-inch). Current smartphones like the HTC One has 468 ppi on a 4.7-inch screen and the Samsung's Galaxy S4 has 441 ppi on a 5-inch screen.

The higher resolution allows users to see a full view of a PC-version Web page without any image distortion, according to LG. As is often the case, LG doesn't seem to be alone among the major smartphone makers working on screens with this resolution -- Samsung and Sony are rumored to be doing the same.

STMicroelectronics' 9-Axis movement and position sensor

Today's smartphones aren't just about raw performance. They also have a multitude of different sensors to help with navigation, for example.

STMicroelectronics has announced a new 9-axis movement and position sensor, which combines a 3-axis accelerometer, a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis magnetometer. Its improved performance can be used to enhance features such as gesture controls, indoor navigation, and augmented reality, the company said.

The sensor measures 3.5 by 3 millimeters, which is almost 35 percent smaller than previous generations. It also uses less power than previous models. In addition to smartphones, it can be used in remote controls, game controllers, and sports or medical wearables, STM said.

The company is shipping small volumes of the sensor, but isn't saying when it will show up in smartphones.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

How To Keep Your Smartphone secure

How To Keep Your Smartphone Secure

Here are five easy ways to keep your mobile data safe and secure.

1. Set a password
Take out your phone. Swipe to unlock it. If that's all it takes to get in, you're at risk. Sure, it's quicker to skip the passcode, but setting a lock on your phone is an easy way to protect your device—and your data—from prying eyes.

It's also an easy compromise: entering a passcode takes precisely two seconds, and those extra seconds will protect you in case of a barstool incident.
The next step, of course, is to ratchet up password security throughout your phone. If an application that accesses sensitive data requires a password, entering it manually gives you one more firewall between your mobile identity and everyone else.

2. Make it strong
We've covered a number of ways you can get the most out of your desktop passwords; the same basic rules apply on your phone. Avoid words you can find in the dictionary and try not to use numbers or letters in the order they appear on your keyboard (e.g. "12345" or "qwerty").
If it's personal, it's not powerful: Don't use friend, relative, or pet names, dates of import (birthday or anniversary), or cities or sports teams. If you have a riff on any of the following terms, change it now: "god," "money," "love," "monkey," "letmein," or "password."

Lingering doubts? Check the strength of your password with Microsoft's handy tool.
When it comes to the four-digit passcode in particular, here's a counterintuitive tip: repeat one of the numbers.

Because there will only be tap prints on three buttons, your security is (much) improved because a hacker would have to either guess the non-existent fourth number or locate the three independent numbers and pursue them in all their possible permutations. For the game theory behind the tip, check out this blog post on Mind Your Decisions.

3. Change it regularly
As with fashion, there's a password for every season. A good rule of thumb is to change your passwords every time you buy a new pair of socks. Be sure to diversify your passwords, also: You have different accounts, so why not different passwords? This way if one account gets hacked, the rest stay secure.

4. Require a voicemail PIN
If there's one thing that's clear from the News of the World hack, it's that potential intruders still care about voicemail. While mobile operators may not authenticate caller ID, changing your phone settings to require a PIN when checking your voicemail will put a barrier between you and a Caller ID Spoofer.

5. Stay current
In the case of both the iPhone tracking and DroidDream nightmares, mobile OS vulnerabilities were discovered and exploited, and countless vulnerabilities have been targeted since. In the aftermath, however, both Apple and Google released patches through OS updates that plugged the holes. Protecting yourself is as easy as staying current.

Sometimes this is easier said than done: Because manufacturers skin Android devices, not all updates roll out concurrently; however, once you do receive an upgrade notification, install it immediately — in addition to new features, you'll also ensure security.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

China's ZTE aims to ship 60 million smartphones this year, up 20 million

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE Corp aims to ship more than 60 million smartphones globally this year, as it tries to grab more share of a highly competitive market dominated by Samsung Electronics and Apple.

The Shenzhen-listed company shipped around 40 million smartphones last year, Senior Vice President Zhang Renjun told reporters at a company event on Thursday.

ZTE, which competes with cross-town rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in the telecom equipment and mobile device businesses, fell out of the top five global smartphone vendors list last year, according to third-quarter data from researchers IDC and Gartner.

At home in China, the world's largest mobile phone market with more than one billion subscribers, ZTE competes with both Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc, as well as domestic makers Lenovo Group Ltd, Huawei and privately held Xiaomi.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

Apple Is To Refund The Poor Kids That have Been Ripped Off By Games Apps

Apple Inc will refund consumers at least $32.5 million to settle a longstanding complaint that the technology company billed U.S. consumers for charges incurred by children through mobile apps without their parents' consent.

Under the terms of the settlement, announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Apple also will be required to change its billing practices to ensure it obtains consent from parents before charging for such in-app spending.

"Whether you're doing business in the mobile arena or the mall down the street, fundamental consumer protections apply," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. "You cannot charge consumers for purchases they did not authorize."

She estimated that children spent millions of dollars without their parents' knowledge, with one mother telling the agency that her daughter spent $2,600 while playing the game "Tap Pet Hotel."

Ramirez said the commission had received "tens of thousands of complaints" from consumers over the unauthorized purchases through apps such as Dragon Story and Tiny Zoo Friends.

In a memo to employees, Apple CEO Tim Cook referred to a class action settlement reached in June which required the company to pay around $100 million to parents whose children made unauthorized purchases.

"It doesn't feel right for the FTC to sue over a case that had already been settled. To us, it smacked of double jeopardy," Cook wrote. "However, the consent decree the FTC proposed does not require us to do anything we weren't already going to do, so we decided to accept it rather than take on a long and distracting legal fight."

The FTC complaint alleges that Apple does not inform account holders that entering their password in the company's App Store opens a 15-minute window in which children can incur unlimited charges with no further action from the account holder

While the refunds will be available for purchases through apps aimed at children, all Apple apps will get new disclosures, the wording of which has not yet been finalized.

"To be clear, the issue is not that Apple opens a 15-minute window for in-app purchases," Ramirez said. "What we challenge is the fact that Apple does not inform users of the existence of the window. When parents enter a password, they do not know the full scope of charges they could incur."

Apple shares showed little response to the news and in midafternoon trading were up 2.1 percent at $558.03, holding onto gains posted earlier.

"Protecting children has been a top priority for the App Store from the very beginning, and Apple is proud to have set the gold standard for online stores by making the App Store a safe place for customers of all ages," said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling.

The commission vote to accept the consent agreement package was 3-1, with Commissioner Joshua Wright, a Republican, voting no. In a statement, Wright argued that the FTC failed to show that the "extremely small" group of consumers who were injured justified a finding that Apple was unfair.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

Little Windmills Will Soon Power Your Smartphone

A tiny windmill invented at the University of Texas at Arlington could end up charging future smartphones, according to researchers.

Engineering majors had been trying to figure out potential uses for a new metal alloy when graduate research associate Smitha Rao recalled her 3- year-old playing with a toy windmill.

The group suggest that thousands of windmills — 1.8 mm in diameter — could be put together in a sleeve that would cover a smartphone. That sleeve, once waved through the air, could recharge a phone’s battery, according to the UTA research.

Each windmill is so small that a single grain of rice could hold 10 of them.

Electrical engineering  professor J.C. Chiao said he was shocked at how well the windmills worked.

"Research is often about making mistakes,” he said. "This is really good. Smitha (the designer) had really good intuition. I'm really proud."

Chiao said he hopes the idea will be purchased by a developer, potentially raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the university’s engineering department.  UTA has applied for a patent on the windmill and is seeking a commercial partner, he said.

Posted by www.anymobilesmarphone.co.uk

SMS's In Decline Around The World

For many of us it will feel the end of an era: last year for the first time ever the number of text messages sent in the UK fell, with internet messaging services such as WhatsApp and iMessage continuing to overtake the traditional format.

The number of texts sent using the Short Message Service (SMS) dropped from 152 billion in 2012 to 145bn in 2013, according to estimates from Deloitte, whilst the number of messages sent using internet-connected services was thought to have risen from 57bn in 2012 to 160bn in 2013.

The use of instant messaging services in the UK began with the release of BlackBerry’s BBM feature in 2006, but since then the spread of smartphones and falling data prices have encouraged a range of competitors.

Other manufacturer-specific offerings such as Apple’s iMessage service have since arrived whilst independent apps (including WhatsApp, Japanese service Line and Chinese program WeChat) have also populated the market, offering additional functionality such as desktop compatability, easy photo sharing and games.

Digital stickers have proved a particularly succesful innovation. These next-generation emoticons, where smilies are replaced by cartoon characters and pop culture figures, have proved incredibly popular in Japan, where messaging app Line makes more than $10m from stickers monthly.

However, although these apps are growing in popularity, Deloitte notes that traditional SMS messages will continue to outperform them in terms of revenue, generating more than £50 billion ($100bn) in 2014 - more than fifty times the revenue of instant messengers.

This is thanks to several factors, the most importance of which is perhaps the ubiquity of the humble text. The format is the only messaging standard common to almost every mobile phone – including older feature phones – whilst instant messengers depend on each user having installed the right app.

Facebook is one company attempting to overcome this problem by leveraging its ready-made contact list of millions, but the social network continues to suffer from a migration of younger users with apps such as Snapchat eating into its mobile footprint.

Unless a single instant messaging app establishes dominance the marketplace for these apps is likely to continue and swing back and forth with younger users' favour.

However, luckily for network operators, they can rely instead on a less fickle demographic: the over 55s. Smartphone adoption is rising amongst senior citizens (it's expected to reach 68 per cent this year) but these gradual-adopters prefer to rely on SMS and calls rather than download a range of confusing apps.

It seems likely then that texting - once synonymous with a tech-savvy youth - will eventually become the domain of older users.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

LG and Google Partnership

LG and Google have partnered up to create the Nexus 5 Android 4.4 KitKat flagship, a smartphone with outstanding pixel density, a large Full HD display, a slim and lightweight design and possibly the fastest central processor on any mobile handset. The phone arrived on Halloween of last year, and is all treats and no tricks. Versatile as well as powerful, let’s check out a few of the more popular features and drool-worthy specs the Google Nexus 5 4G Android 4.4 smartphone delivers.
Obviously, with Android 4.4 out-of-the-box, it immediately starts off with an advantage over other handsets. Also, one of the nicest features of the phone is its design. LG crafted the Nexus 5 with a slender 8.59 mm (0.34 inch) profile, and the handset is even lighter than the average smartphone, while still delivering a feature-packed hardware package and huge 5.0 inch screen. Weighing in at just 130 g (4.59 ounces) makes the Nexus 5 lighter than other phones with smaller screens and less productive hardware.
The display mentioned above is a 5.0 inch IPS LCD capacitive, multitouch screen with 445 pixels located over each inch of display space. This gives that display a resolution of 1,080 x 1,920 pixels, earning the handset a Full HD designation. Over 16 million colors can be found on that screen, which is protected against the hazards of everyday life by a layer of scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The phone is powered by a 2,300 mA battery providing 17.0 hours of all-around use after a full battery charge, and about two weeks standby power.
As far as connectivity options go, the phone not only allows for Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz and ac connections, but also supports wireless Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and DLNA access. 4G LTE is supported, as is access on most worldwide radio bands. One of the nicest features is, since this is a Google collaboration, the phone is designed to be free of the bloatware that many wireless carriers force upon their customers. Android 4.4 delivers a quick and responsive experience, backed up by the 2.3 GHz quad core Snapdragon 800 CPU which powers the Nexus 5
On the back of the handset is an 8.0 megapixel snapper with dual recording capability working in conjunction with the front facing chat cam. That main camera records video in 1,080P HD resolution and 30 frames per second, and delivers a multishot burst mode, digital zoom, self timer and other handy features. The Adreno 330 graphics processor is powerful and versatile, 2.0 GB of RAM system memory is on board, as is 16 GB of built-in data storage space.
Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

New Apple Smartphones Of 2014: iPhone 6, iPhone Air

We can confidently predict the arrival iPhone 6, although there is some debate as to when it will likely arrive. November is the safe bet, in keeping with other iPhone launches, but there is strong support for the suggestion of a May iPhone launch.

This may be because Apple is also rumoured to be getting in to the phablet game, with a 6in 'iPhone Air' rumoured to be arriving early in the year.

Most predict that the iPhone 6 will have a bigger display and be constructed from even thinner and lighter material. Indeed it is expected to be the thinnest ever smartphone, with an unscratchable Sapphire glass display. And even if Apple does launch an iPhone Air phablet, expect the iPhone 6 itself to be bigger - possibly with a 5in display.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk

Who Is Spying On You

News item: Apple denies that it co-operated with the U.S. National Security Agency to help spooks track and monitor calls, text messages and emails on the company's iPhones.

Apple's denial echoes an earlier one from Google, which dominates Internet search software, and another from Cisco Systems, whose devices route digital traffic.

Meanwhile, security experts in the U.S. complain about backdoors pervasively embedded in hardware, creating what has been called "the problem from hell." MIT Technology Review reports devices can be controlled remotely, even when turned off.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel says hard-drives from Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor and Samsung, network gear from Cisco and Huawei, and Dell servers have all been compromised.

Oh, and Windows users - automated crash reports from your computer to Microsoft are reportedly being intercepted and used to find vulnerabilities in your system.

Happy New Year! Who knew that the Year of the Horse meant the Year of the Trojan? According to news reports, the backdoor exploit possibly installed on your iPhone could empower spooks to turn on its camera and microphone. Your phone could then be deployed to remotely monitor whatever or whoever happens to be in the device's viewing and hearing range.

The ability to remotely clone your phone's SIM card - enabling calls and text messages by other people impersonating the original phone - already exists.

Yes, yes, I know, you're Canadian and the story was about American phones. But considering that Canadian agencies spy on behalf of the Americans or invite them to snoop here, there and everywhere, you might as well be American.

Globally, about 1.5 billion people own smartphones - more than half of all Canadians have one. Almost 90 per cent of adult British Columbians under the age of 35 have a smartphone. Nearly 60 per cent of us under 55 own one. Not only that, we use them like maniacs - and I choose the colloquialism carefully.

Almost half of us keep our phones with us day and night. The average smartphone user keeps it within reach 17 hours a day. On average, we check them every 9.6 minutes.

Half of us check our phones compulsively while doing something else - obsessively watching back seasons of Fringe (that's the weird science show about techno crime and parallel universes) while attending movies, driving, or having romantic dinners (next time you're dining, observe how fast and furtively the smartphones come out as soon as the significant other departs for the washroom - if you can find a moment between checking your Twitter feed or a quick round of Candy Crush, of course).

All of which creates vast potential for strangers looking and listening in a lot of places. Including places you might find uncomfortable, especially if, like this iPhone owner, you are still a bit prudish about a few things.

I don't propose to go any further here, this being a family newspaper. I'm sure your imagination can unravel the risks of keeping your spook-empowered smartphone within reach at all times.

If celebrities thought they had problems with stalkers stealing selfies and files intended only for, like, you know, "private" sexting sessions with heiresses or New York politicians, this promises a whole new context for complaints about "butt dialing" and autocorrect.

From now on, unless you are an exhibitionist - hey, I don't judge - you might want to stick that smartphone in a soundproof box and put it in a drawer when you retire for the night.

What was Lord Chesterfield's 18th-century reflection regarding personal intimacy? The pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense can be damnable.

It is the ridiculous part that should concern iPhone users, especially the prospect of the ridiculous bits becoming the subject of amused conversation among a bunch of sociallyinept techno-spooks chowing down on late-night pizza in some security bunker in Moscow, Beijing or Washington. Yeah, like, that never happens, right?

Sorry, gotta go. My iPhone is vibrating. And it's looking at me kind of funny. Don't call me. And I won't call you. But if I do, assume it's my clone.

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk