The below snapshot could sum-up what was qualified as the official Windows Phone 8 announcement. Headed by Microsoft Corporate VP Joe Delfiore, the CEO Steve Balmer AND Mademoiselle Jessica Alba, a few mobile (male) geeks would say it was a success. You still can't see why?
Well,... apart from the Alba effect, this week in mobile has been indeed dominated by Microsoft and its new product (Windows Phone 8 obviously...).
But don't tell me you just pre-ordered your Surface tablet and forgot that Apple announced the iPad Mini a few weeks ago? Even if Microsoft was very active recently, other mobile players have not been lazy! A war against the new Apple tablet, the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7 is about to begin and the mobile market itself is, as usual, still growing with global smartphone shipments rising 45% Year-on-Year in Q3 2012 as well as tablets shipments by 45%.
Moreover, EE's superfast service (4G) just launched in the UK and it is covering 11 major UK cities and they expect to have at least 98% of the country covered by the end of 2014
Finally, the inner Santa in us will be making us splurge more this Christmas, and as trends suggest, this will be happening increasingly via smartphones and tablets!
Mobile paid search gives higher CTR than desktop: report
Date 31st October, 2012
Paid search CPCs in the US were around 50% cheaper on smartphone than on desktop in Q3, according to data from The Search Agency. CPCs on smartphones stood at 31 cents compared to 49 cents on tablet and 59 cents on desktop, meaning the level of discount offered on smartphone is roughly the same as Q3 2011. This is despite the fact that smartphone ads apparently have a much higher CTR than both computers and tablets.
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Smartphone and tablet ownership rockets
Date 26th October, 2012
A survey by the Mobile Operators Association and YouGov shows smartphone ownership has doubled in less than a year. Over half (58 percent) of mobile phones in the UK are smartphones, and 20 percent of adults own a tablet, a survey has found. The findings from the Mobile Operators Association (MOA) and YouGov also show that emailing and accessing social networks are the most popular activities for mobile phone users, with 43 percent and 40 percent using their device for each respectively.
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UK's First 4G Network Goes Live
Date 30th October, 2012
EE's superfast 4G service, said to be five times the speed of 3G, launches at 11am today in 11 major cities: Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton. Expanding by 2000 sq miles, and 2m people per month, five more cities will be online before Christmas, with rural locations expected by 2013. 98 per cent of the population should be covered by the end of 2014, according to the company.
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We put Apple's new iPad mini to the test - and no wonder it costs more than other small-screened tablets
Date 31st October, 2012
The iPad mini, Apple’s first tablet to feature a smaller display, is very light. So light that when I picked up the box it crossed my mind there was no iPad mini inside, just a charger plug, cable and, you know, gubbins. But there it was nestled into the lid. Lightness, of course, is one of the elements Apple designed it for because some people had found the full-size iPad too heavy for extended use.
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Google Goes Large with the Nexus 10
Date 29th October, 2012
Google has unveiled three devices in its Nexus range – the Nexus 4 smartphone, an updated Nexus 7 tablet, and the Nexus 10. Developed together with LG, the Nexus 4 handset has a 4.7” display, and is powered by a quad-core processor. Consumers can buy the handsets unlocked, directly from Google, with the basic 8GB model costing $299 in the US, or £239 in the UK.
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Microsoft launches Windows 8 Phone software - and hopes apps and Jessica Alba will help it take on Apple and Google
Date 30th October, 2012
Microsoft has revealed a new version of its mobile phone software in a bid to take on Apple and Android. The firm hopes that by making its software more similar to the new Windows 8 software it launched last week, it can attract more users. At an event in San Francisco last night, Jessica Alba joined Microsoft bosses on stage for the unveiling, where the firm pledged to bring more apps to the platform. he company also promised to address one of the chief shortcomings with Windows Phone: the dearth of third-party applications relative to offerings for Apple's iPhone and devices running Google's Android system.
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Windows 8 arrives as the Windows family gobbles up close to 90% of desktop web browsing
Date 26th October, 2012
Today, millions of users around the world are installing Windows 8, the latest version of the Microsoft operating system. We will install one or more copies of Windows 8 in the Pingdom office over the course of the day. But as exciting as some of what’s new in Windows 8 might be, it does have rather big shoes to fill. Its predecessor, Windows 7, is the fastest selling OS ever, and all Windows versions combined account for almost 90% of all desktop web browsing.
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Amex and Wal-Mart Launch Bluebird
Date 26th October, 2012
Retailer Wal-Mart has partnered with American Express to launch Bluebird, a payment alternative to debit and checking accounts that includes smartphone deposit and mobile bill pay capabilities. Bluebird mobile features include remote check capture using the Bluebird mobile app, digital wallet, P2P payments, and account management. The solution utilizes American Express’ Serve platform.
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iPhone Sales to Reach Nearly 200 Million in Fiscal 2013
Date 31st October, 2012
Apple (AAPL) missed Wall Street’s estimates last week when it posted results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, but it still managed a record profit of $8.2 billion thanks largely to the popularity of its iPhone lineup. The new iPhone 5 became the fastest-selling smartphone of all time when Apple sold more than 5 million of them during the device’s debut weekend, and iPhone sales for the quarter came in at 26.9 million units. As impressive as that figure is, it’s nothing compared to what we can seemingly expect from Apple in fiscal 2013.
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Don't buy a Lumia 920 just because of Jess and have a great week.
The Mobile Team
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