UK

53 'UK' stories June 2011 - September 2011

Android Voice Actions go overseas

9to5 Staff Sep 16 2011 - 7:10 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsI76lrvJt4]

In addition to mapping and navigation, the ability to control your handset with voice commands is another treat that sets Android apart from the crowd, even if other phones had voice commands before Google’s software. Pity than that Android Voice Actions were introduced last year to the U.S. audience only.

Well, Android fans overseas can breathe a collective sigh of relieve because Google announced that Voice Actions are now available to users in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Even better, non-English speakers are able to issue Voice Actions in British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. There are three ways to invoking Voice Commands on your Android 2.2+ smartphone or tablet:

tap the microphone button on the Google search box on your home screen,
open the Voice Search app,
or press down for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the “Speak Now” screen

Some of the supported Voice Actions: send text to [contact] [message]; call [business]; call [contact]; go to [website]; navigate to [location/business name]; directions to [location/business name]; map of [location].

You can get a better idea about the usefulness of Voice Actions by spending less than two minutes of your time sitting through Google’s video tour embedded right above.

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Judge: Apple should reveal iPad 2 sales data to support Galaxy tablet sales ban in Australia

9to5 Staff Sep 6 2011 - 7:00 am PT

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The latest in the ongoing legal dispute between Apple and its key components supplier, Samsung, comes via Bloomberg which reported this morning that Apple may be pushed into revealing iPad 2 sales numbers in England and America if the company is to increase chances of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 blockage in Australia:

Apple Inc. may have to reveal iPad and iPad 2 sales figures in the U.K. and U.S. to improve its chances of barring Samsung Electronics Co. from selling the Galaxy 10.1 tablet computer in Australia, a judge said. Apple’s claim that the Samsung tablet’s release in Australia will hurt iPad sales may carry little weight if it doesn’t provide the numbers, Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett said in Sydney Federal Court today. ‘Unless Apple puts on evidence showing the impact in the U.S. or U.K., I can’t draw any positive assumptions,’ Bennett said.

Apple sought an injunction on Samsung’s tablet in Australia until the patent spat is resolved. Apple is claiming that the obvious similarities between Samsung’s family of Galaxy smartphones and tablets are hurting their sales. Apple in prior court documents referred to Samsung as the “copyist”. Recently, Samsung in America asserted Apple ripped off the iPad design from the Stanley Kubrick 1969 film “2001: A Space Odyssey” to argue Apple’s patents should be invalidated under prior art. Judge Bennett would leave it up to Apple to determine whether or not it would be willing to provide court with sales figures. Whichever way you look at it, that’s an interesting twist in this litigation…

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Chrome overtakes Firefox as #2 browser in UK

Jake Smith Aug 1 2011 - 8:14 am PT

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The Guardian is reporting Chrome has overtaken Firefox as the #2 browser in the UK. Chrome now has 22% of the market and Internet Explorer, which is currently first, holds 45%. In fourth, Safari has 9% of the market. (via web metrics firm Statcounter) Chrome’s success is due in part to TV advertising. Chrome is Google’s first product advertised in the UK.

Also today, Net Applications is saying Safari now has 8% market share worldwide. (via MacDailyNews) Check out the graph below:

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Survey: Android now beating iOS in eight key markets as more folks dump feature phones for their first smartphone

9to5 Staff Jul 11 2011 - 8:16 am PT

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Nearly three-quarters of Android sales in Britain during a twelve-week period ended June 12 came from people upgrading from so-called feature phones to their first smartphone. In addition, only 1.8 percent of new Android sales came from iOS users jumping ship, a Kantar Woldpanel ComTech survey reveals. The research didn’t take into account corporate sales or contracts and was based on extensive interviews with up to one million consumers in Europe alone.

Android has grown its share of total US handset market to 9.2 percent in June of this year, up over just one percent a year ago. The platform had a 45.20 percent share of the entire smartphone market in the country, while iOS fell from 30.6 percent share in June 2010 to 18.3 percent share in June 2011. A big part of this was price: Apple’s is among the priciest consumer smartphones and only 45 percent contracts offer the device for free versus 90 percent for Android phones.

The fall of iOS came as a result of the overall UK market growing at a faster pace than iPhone sales, which have been overshadowed for the past two months as Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone emerged as the best-selling smartphone. In the US, Android and iOS had 57 percent and 28.7 percent market share last month, respectively. Android is clearly victorious in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia and Japan, where the platform enjoys a whopping 64.7 percent share of the smartphone market versus 27.7 percent for iOS.

Kantar analysts predict that by this time next year smartphones would account for nearly 50 percent of the overall handset market, thanks to more and more feature phone owners dumping their devices for smartphones. This is not unexpected because trends hint that eventually all phones will become smartphones. Other phone vendors are experiencing sharp declines around the world, especially Symbian which has been bleeding share as Nokia fights for survival.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hits UK August 4, Galaxy Tab 8.9 to follow later this year

9to5 Staff Jun 24 2011 - 7:02 am PT

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Samsung today announced that its Galaxy Tab 10.1 will arrive in the UK on August 4. The device will be sold by “a range of UK retailers” and a portfolio of accessories will be available at launch. Both WiFi and 3G versions will be available, Samsung said. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 measures just 8.6 millimeters thin and weighs in at 565 grams. The device runs the latest Android Honeycomb 3.1 tablet software from Google and comes preloaded with Samsung’s apps.

These include Readers Hub and Music Hub that provide access to more than 2.2 million downloadable e-books, 2,000 newspapers, 2,300 magazines and 13 million songs. They also have Social Hub which integrates email, instant messaging, mobile contacts, calendar and social network connections into a single interface. The Britons will also be able to get their hands on the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab (pictured below) “later this year”. Full release below.

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