Jordan Kahn

Up until now, only Android users on Sprint had the luxury of integrating Google Voice into their main cell service. Due to a partnership with Google last year, users can enable Google Voice on their existing Sprint number providing them with access to better rates on international calling, visual online voicemail, personalized greetings, and the ability to use one number across all devices. According to a report from Cnet, Google’s Group Product Manager for Google Voice Vincent Paquet confirmed the company is in talks with other carriers about integrating the service:

“We are having discussions with other carriers about this.. Sprint integration has worked really well.. We have, since Day One, had a steady stream of people signing up for it.“

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According to analytics service StatCounter, which measures billions of hits monthly across 3 million websites, Android now accounts for over 24 percent of mobile device usage in China—more than double the amount of iOS devices. The report of the top eight mobile operating systems in China shows Android usage spiked in February 2012 and took Android from 23.08-percent in January to 25.89-percent in February. Over the same period, iOS grew just one percent to 12.79-percent. While the month-to-month increase alone is not shocking, noteworthy is the fact Android came in at just 6.87-percent in October 2011. Meanwhile, iOS hovered around 12 percent since March 2011.

Apple is making a big push for its mobile devices in China this year, and the growth for both iOS and Android is obvious with China now the No. 1 country for activations on both platforms. In January 2011, China accounted for just 8 percent of total activations for iOS and Android. According to Flurry, China now accounts for 24 percent of activations as of March 2012 with the United States coming in at No. 2 with 21 percent.

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Last month, we heard from Google’s Senior Vice President of Chrome Sundar Pichai who told Cnet that new, faster Chromebooks are on the way. Today, we might be getting our first look at a new Sony VAIO Chromebook thanks to a Federal Communications Commission filing for the “Sony VAIO VCC111 Series” that references the ability to “start Chrome OS” (via Laptop Reviews). Adding more proof that this is a Chromebook —and not a Windows machine— is the lack of a Windows key and chrome accents on the back cover. However, the VAIO Chromebook does feature an 11.6-inch Samsung display, HDMI port, microphone and headphone jacks, SD card slot, and two USB 2.0 ports. The filing also mentioned a “T25” CPU. Laptop Reviews speculated the CPU could be NVidia’s Tegra 250 T25 ARM-based processor, which would mean it is the first non-Intel processor in a Chromebook.

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Google’s mobile payment system, known as Google Wallet,” has not received the kind of warm welcome that the company might have hoped. First, there were issues with Verizon blocking the service on the new Galaxy Nexus as the carrier prepped its own rival service, known as “ISIS.” Wallet then had a few roadblocks with security concerns related to prepaid cards, which the company apologized for with complimentary $5 deposits to Google wallet users. Today, a report from Bloomberg citing “people with knowledge of the project” claimed, despite being “enthusiastic” about progress, Google is considering sharing revenue with carriers to get them to support the technology:

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Google has not slowed in trying to push Chrome as the new go-to browser in the face of Internet Explorer’s declining marketshare. Last month, it even launched Chrome for Android beta for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich devices. New statistics from analytics firm StatCounter (via TechCrunch) show Chrome actually surpassed Microsoft’s IE as the world’s most popular browser. Google was only able to grab lead marketshare from Microsoft for a day, however.

On March 18, thanks to increasing popularity abroad in many countries, such as India, Brazil, and Russia, Chrome was able to take the top spot from IE despite typically being third to IE and Firefox in the United States, China, and most other major markets. Unfortunately, the market lead was short-lived with IE quickly regaining its lead days after. StatCounter’s numbers take into account over 3 million websites and over 15 billion page views over a 30-day period. Also notable is the fact that Chrome’s increase in market share comes at the expense of IE. TechCrunch noted Chrome usage spikes on the weekends, which points to IE continuing to dominate in the workplace.

Go past the break for StatCounter’s data for the 30-day period ending March 20.

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We have been hearing endless rumors about the upcoming Galaxy S III from Samsung. There were leaked images floating around Reddit the other day that appeared to be a press shots, but they could have very well been simply a mock-up. Today, we get a little more proof that the original images might have been the real deal with similar images being leaked by GSM Helpdesk (via The Verge). The only issue with the images, as pointed out by Verge, is there are inconsistencies between the original leaked images and the new ones in terms of the TouchWiz UI overlay. GSM Helpdesk seemed to point to a May 22 launch date that would also back up earlier rumors.

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Appcelerator and IDC just released its Q1 2012 Mobile Developer report that focused on the “emerging social battle between Facebook and Google” and the increasing importance of HTML5 for app developers. The study surveyed a group of 2000+ developers earlier this year and asked them how they planned to implement HTML5, as well as “social capabilities” during 2012.

Of the developers surveyed, almost 80 percent planned to incorporate HTML5 elements in their apps. The report claimed mobile HTML5 apps would become increasingly popular in the app landscape currently dominated with native apps, but that “HTML5 will also exist in ‘hybrid apps,’ which will integrate both HTML5 and varying amounts of native code.”

Even with increased adoption of HTML5 among mobile developers, only 6 percent of respondents planned to develop their apps entirely in HTML5. Meanwhile, approximately 72 percent planned to develop hybrid apps.

In the second half of the report, the study focused on the “network effect” of Google’s services and its potential to be more important for developer’s implementing social capabilities in their apps during 2012…

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When Google registered GoogleShowy.com last month, we could only speculate what the company was planning for the domain name. The good news is that a new trademark filing (via Fusible) gives us more details about the yet-to-be announced “Showy.” According to the trademark application submitted earlier this month, Showy will consist of the following:

“Downloadable software which allows users to use their computer, tablet device, or mobile phone as a remote control to operate video display devices and televisions; and downloadable software which allows users to remotely control the content on internet-connected digital signage.”

Fusible mentioned that PatentlyApple covered a Google-filed patent application in February that detailed a voice-powered Google TV remote. Unfortunately, the filing did not offer any other details. Filings with the Federal Trade Commission last month proved Google is also working on a “home-entertainment system” for wirelessly streaming music. It is possible that this could be a new remote control solution for GoogleTV, or something more. We will keep you posted when we hear more about Showy.

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According to a report from PocketNow, HTC’s 3.7-inch One V that unveiled at MWC in Barcelona last month will launch on Virgin Mobile for $200 in “late Spring.” We already knew the device would more than likely come in under the $200 price tag, because it is the more budget friendly option in the line of three new devices displayed by HTC at MWC. The One V packs a 1GHz processor, Android 4.0 (with Sense 4.0), a 3.7-inch WVGA display, 512GMB of RAM, and 4 GB of onboard storage. It will also come with Beats Audio and a 5-megapixel camera when it launches later this year.

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Pictionary-like drawing game “Draw Something,” developed by OMGPOP, has quickly become one of the hottest mobile apps for both of the industry’s leading platforms. A few days ago, the developer told TechCrunch it reached 25 million registered users, 10 million active daily users, and close to 1 billion paid ad impressions every day. That is just over 5 weeks after launching. With even more press following reports that Zynga is in talks to acquire developer OMGPOP, the app is continuing to climb app charts in both the App Store and on Google Play.

Currently the app sits at No. 1 in both stores as the No. 1 Top Paid and Top Free iPhone app in the App Store, and the No. 1 Top Free app on Google Play. The app is also currently the No. 1 Top Free iPad app in the game category and in the Top 5 of many other charts in over 80 countries. It looks like the company might get picked up by Zynga, which is not surprising, because a gain of 3.5 million daily users over the last week saw Draw Something take over Zynga’s “Words With Friends” as the most popular Facebook Connect game, according to AppData.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TQlu39SIH6M]

When Apple launched the new iPad on Friday, it did so with a new dual-core A5x processor and quad-core graphics inside. During the product’s unveiling, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller talked about the new chip noting that it provides four times the performance of Tegra 3. Nvidia was quick to question the slide displayed by Apple onstage (pictured right), which did not provide any specific benchmark data. We now finally have some solid benchmark tests courtesy of Laptop Mag that provide us new insight.

For the benchmark tests, Laptop Mag used an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which is powered by Tegra 3, and put it up against the new iPad in GLBenchmark 2.1, Geekbench, and browsers’ benchmarks with Sunspider and Peacekeeper. In its last test (video above), the publication did a side-by-side subjective gaming performance test to try to spot any noticeable differences between the same title running on both devices. Here is what the publication found:

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A new report from Android and Me claimed a “senior employee at a supply chain company” in the United States confirmed Google has an ASUS-built Nexus tablet currently in the works, which we have previously heard rumors on. The 7-inch tablet was rumored to launch by May, and today’s report claimed it could launch for as low as $149 without the expected quad-core Tegra 3. Unfortunately, we do not get much more information from the report, but the source apparently said the tablet in question is a “done deal”:

The ASUS MeMo 370T that was revealed at CES has been scrapped after Google contracted with ASUS to produce their “Nexus tablet.” Earlier reports said the device would retail for $249-199, but we are now told the target price is $149-199. The quad-core Tegra 3 version that was previously leaked is no more. Other than the 7-inch display, no additional information has been provided on the specs.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_xpeAXCfLc]

The last we heard, Apple was working with developers of Siri alternatives such as True Knowledge, the developers behind “Evi,” to iron out similarities between the app and the iPhone 4S‘s flagship feature. Apple is quick to warn developers who are submitting Siri-like apps not to mimic native features of the OS. Apple wants an app’s features to remain “distinctly different from the iOS behaviors and interfaces to avoid causing user confusion.” Developer Sparkling Apps reached out to let us know Apple rejected its latest app submission called “Voice Answer,” with Apple telling the developer the Wolfram Alpha-powered alternative is “too similar to Siri.” The good news for Android users is the developers have decided to release an Android-only version on available Google Play now.

Apple is not flat-out rejecting all Siri alternatives/competitors. Sparkling Apps already has an app called “Voice Ask” on the App Store that sits in the top charts of the Reference category. Evi remains on the App Store as well. However, the Voice Ask app employs the same True Knowledge database as Evi. While Apple did not offer a specific reason for why the app was rejected, it is possible that Apple is more inclined to reject Siri-like apps using Siri’s Wolfram Alpha knowledge base. Unsurprisingly, the developers instead decided to release Voice Answer as an Android-only app on Google Play.

The app provides spoken answers, optional keyboard input, and configurable items stored in the app’s memory. According to the developer, Voice Answer’s “speech recognition works better than that of Siri, especially with foreign accents,” and the app includes a chatbot called “Eve” that you can teach answers. While most of these features are also baked into Evi, it is unclear exactly why Apple is working with some developers to coexist peacefully with Siri, and then flat-out rejecting others without discussion. Fortunately, the app did not have any issues making its way onto Google Play, and it is even marketed as the “Voice Answer- just like Siri.” We told you in January about the number of Siri clones hitting the market with the release of Evi for Android. The Voice Answer Android app is now available on Google Play for $3.99, and the developers promised that support for messaging and email is on the way.

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A story from Wired today interviewed Chris Sharp, the GM of content and cloud at data center Equinix where Google happens to lease space alongside some of its biggest competitors. Sharp told an interesting story about Google removing all the light bulbs above its server cages a couple years back. The company then required those working on the servers to wear helmets with lights:

About two years ago, Chris Sharp says, Google unscrewed all the light bulbs inside the hardware cages it occupied at that Equinix data center. “They had us turn off all overhead lights too, and their guys put on those helmets with lights you see miners wear,” he tells Wired. “Presumably, they were bringing up custom-built gear they didn’t want anyone else to see.”

The reason Google did this, according to Sharp, is “there’s a lot of valuable intellectual property.” He added that many companies try to conceal equipment, but he was “always amazed by Google and the helmets.” As Wired pointed out, Google builds its own servers and associated gear and most likely does not want competitors leasing space at Equinix to get a look.

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Earlier this week, we got the official “NCAA March Madness” Android app, and now Google just posted a “College Hoops 2012” website acting as a resource for all things college basketball during the tournament. At the top of the page (pictured above), Google allows you to filter the bracket based on “Search Picks” or “Actual Results.” Clicking “Search Picks” will get you Google’s picks based on the teams with the most search queries. Actual results will get you the real/updated results from the tournament, and clicking any of the teams will send you to Google search with the latest news and scores.

On the page, Google also outlined a few ways to stay in the loop during the tournament. On Google+ you can join the conversation with hashtag #GoogleHoops, and there are even a few upcoming Hangouts with ESPN analysts and others in the weeks to come. As for scores, Google reminds us that typing the name of your team followed by [score] will get you results without leaving the search results page. We also get virtual tour of the stadiums during the tournament through Google Maps.

Swing by Google’s “College Hoops 2012” website for more information.

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The Amazon Appstore for Android is officially celebrating its first birthday, and to celebrate it is offering 50 percent off or more on some favorite apps and giving away eight Kindle Fires. As for the apps, new apps will be revealed each day (two on Day Two, three on Day Three, etc.) during the week-long celebration starting with today’s app: Plants vs. Zombies for Kindle Fire on sale for 99 cents. Amazon also decided to share some stats for the relatively new store, which now includes over 31,000 apps up from just 4,000 at launch. The press release noted the “Free App of the Day” promotion has offered nearly a $1,000 worth of apps to users since launch. Amazon also highlighted a few more stats from the store (below).

If you are interested in entering the sweepstakes to win one of the eight Kindle Fires, you can get all the official details here. Go past the break for Amazon’s Top Paid and Top Free app charts for the last 12 months.

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Earlier today, we told you Google Docs is now integrated into Google+ for all users, and now the social network is getting another update from the Google+ Photos team. A new album organizer is rolling out today that allows you to sort, reorder, move, copy, and batch-delete photos from within your Google+ account. You can access the new features by clicking “Organize album” from the Options menu of an album.

Go past the fold for the full breakdown from Google.

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Google announced that Docs is now officially integrated into the core Google+ Hangouts experience by allowing users to collaborate on documents from within a hangout. The feature essentially adds video chat capabilities to the web-based Google Docs experience. Up until now, the feature was only accessible through “Hangouts with extras,” an opt-in preview of scrennsharing, Sketchpad, and Google Docs integration. To use the new feature, simply click the “Docs” button during your hangout. The other features included in the preview have not yet been switched on for all users.

To try it out, just click on the new “Docs” button inside your hangout:

– you can add an existing document, or upload a new one

– added documents are available as a list on the left-hand side

– you can switch between and collaboratively edit multiple documents at once

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According to a report from Bloomberg (via AllThingsD), the U.S. Federal Trade Commission subpoenaed Apple as part of its antitrust investigation of Google. There are not many details currently, but the report claimed the FTC is interested in Apple’s agreement with the company to use Google as its primary default search engine on iOS devices.

The agency’s request for documents includes the agreements that made Google the preferred search engine on Apple’s mobile devices, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly and declined to be identified. Google rivals such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) have criticized these agreements as anticompetitive.

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IDC just released its Q4 2011 report on tablet shipments and Apple continues to lead the market with 54.7-percent of global market share despite being down from 61.5-percent in the quarter before. Apple did increase shipments to 15.4 million units in Q4 (up from 11.1 million in Q3), but experienced an overall decrease in market share thanks to strong gains from Amazon’s Kindle Fire and other Android devices from competitors such as Samsung.

Kindle Fire is now the iPad’s biggest competitor with 16.8-percent of the tablet market due to 4.7 million units shipped during Q4, which is followed by Samsung with 5.8-percent of the market (up from 5.5-percent in Q3). IDC noted Apple’s results for the quarter represent “an increase of 110.5-percent from 4Q10.” The Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble came in fourth, but it fell slightly to 3.5-percent of the market (from 4.5-percent the quarter before). Pandigital took the No. 5 spot, but it is down from 2.9-percent to 2.5-percent market share.

As for iOS vs. Android, IDC is expecting Android to overtake iOS for global market share by 2015 and noted that Android now has 44.6-percent of the market as of Q4 2011. That resulted in a decrease for iOS, which fell from 61.6-percent to 54.7-during the quarter. As we noted before, IDC’s report accounts for tablet shipments and not actual sales. We know Apple typically sells as many new devices as it can make, and the same cannot be said for devices shipped by all Android vendors. Research Director at IDC’s Mobile Connected Devices Tom Mainelli talked about the report:

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YouTube often provides live streaming of special events from concerts and its own product unveilings to media events and the recent Google+ hangout with President Obama. Today, over on the Official YouTube blog, we learned live streaming is now opened to everyone in the YouTube Nonprofit Program. In the blog post, YouTube noted it live streamed a play from the American Foundation on Equal Rights last Saturday, as well as various events on World AIDS Day. Now all members of the YouTube Nonprofit Program open to those in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada can enable live streaming by following these instructions. You can learn more about applying for the program here.

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