Android | Internet Marketing Blog

Kindle Fire now represents over half of Android tablets: report

Thanks to testimony in the Oracle-Google lawsuit over the use of Java in Android, we now know just how high Google's hopes for Android were in 2011.

According to Google VP Andy Rubin, the search giant was looking for Android tablets to account for 33% of the tablet market last year. The good news for Google was that the launch of Amazon's Kindle Fire may have brought Google within striking distance of that figure.

by Patricio Robles 27 April 2012 17:45pm 0 comments

Has social gaming on Facebook peaked?

One of the biggest drivers of Facebook's success has arguably been the rise of social gaming.

From Mafia Wars to Farmville, Facebook's platform has become a virtual gaming console of sorts for millions upon millions of consumers, creating a multi-billion dollar virtual currency opportunity for Facebook that it's exploiting with Facebook Credits.

by Patricio Robles 26 April 2012 15:47pm 1 comment

Apps and free trials: Has The Telegraph got it wrong?

The Daily Telegraph released its iPhone and Android smartphone apps earlier this month, offering users a free one-month trial of its new service.

Users who sign up can access news content, live financial data and video and picture galleries.

The Telegraph has achieved successful engagement levels on its iPad app so it makes sense to add smartphone apps to its portfolio.

The apps cost £1.99 per month following the free trial, which is similar to pricing models offered by other publishers.

by David Moth 24 April 2012 14:38pm 0 comments

Verizon courts Microsoft, but will it snub Android?

While it may take a quarter or two to figure out just how well Nokia and AT&T's launch of the Lumia 900 did or didn't go, the device which both companies have bet big on has brought the kind of attention to Windows Phone that Microsoft was certainly hoping for.

That apparently has AT&T's biggest rival, Verizon, taking note.

by Patricio Robles 20 April 2012 15:52pm 0 comments

Mobile magic moments: transform the trivial

When mobile or tablet design is executed well, the device feels like the extension of our bodies. Because interfaces respond even before we consciously give them a command.

Often, the interface “dissolves in behavior” and we feel empowered, as though the device we hold in our hand is the equivalent of Iron Man’s suit of cybernetic armor, or Batman’s utility belt.

I call this empowering experience a “Magic Moment”.

Most importantly, these “Magic Moments” make people fall in love with your app, show it to their friends, telling, nay, insisting they download the app and experience the magic for themselves. These are the moments we designers live for.

And mobile and tablet devices are more suited to creating and fostering “magic moments” than any other device.

by Greg Nudelman 19 April 2012 18:55pm 3 comments

Amazon ups in-app purchase limit

Amazon recently rolled out in-app purchases for apps in the Amazon Appstore, which, thanks to the rise of the Kindle Fire, is reportedly more lucrative for some developers than the Google Android app store that's part of Google Play.

Now there's good news for developers and heavy-spending app users alike: Amazon is upping the maximum price that can be charged for an in-app purchase.

by Patricio Robles 17 April 2012 16:27pm 0 comments

Google releases better Android emulator

Ask mobile developers who work with both iOS and Android, and you'll probably hear from more than a few of them that the Android emulator is lacking. From poor performance to inconsistencies, there have been no shortage of complaints about the tool developers are provided with to test their Android apps prior to testing them on a real device.

So Google is doing what you'd expect it to do and trying to improve its emulator.

by Patricio Robles 10 April 2012 15:28pm 3 comments

In-app purchases, subscriptions coming to Amazon's Appstore

Google may have plenty of reasons to be proud of its Android operating system, but when it comes to the Android ecosystem, another company may actually be having more success selling Android apps than Google is.

That company is Amazon, which last year launched its own Android app store, dubbed Amazon Appstore.

by Patricio Robles 03 April 2012 22:10pm 0 comments

Gingerbread still tastier to Android users than Ice Cream Sandwich

Regardless of how much money Android has generated (or, more accurately, hasn't generated) for Google, there can be little doubt that Google is pleased with the fact that it owns the second most popular mobile OS in the world.

But the popularity of Android isn't without its problems. Fragmentation, for instance, has always been an area of concern for developers and handset manufacturers, if not for Google.

by Patricio Robles 03 April 2012 21:38pm 15 comments

Bigger displays are better when it comes to smartphones: report

If you've noticed that smartphone displays seem to be getting larger, there's apparently a good reason for that: size matters to consumers, and bigger is apparently better.

That's according to a study conducted by research firm Strategy Analytics, which surveyed smartphone owners in the U.S. and U.K. about their size preferences.

by Patricio Robles 15 March 2012 14:53pm 1 comment