STATS: Android neck-and-neck with iPh...

STATS: Android neck-and-neck with iPhone in new buyer survey

from EuroDroid by Gary C

1 person liked this

A survey by renowned survey supplier ChangeWave shows how Android is rapidly catching iPhone in terms of smartphone mindshare, with future-phone-buyers now as likely to buy Android as one of Apple’s fashionable handsets.

The below chart shows a massive swing from iPhone to Android over the last three months, as Google’s OS closes the next-phone gap from 20% to just 1%.

Read more, and see more up-pointing graphs of GLORY over on ChangeWave’s blog. Poor old Windows Mobile. Poor old Palm.

Couldn’t resist putting this one up as well, which breaks down the rise in popularity of Android over the phone’s lifetime.

Free TOPO Maps/Data

US Topo

Topographic Maps for the Nation

Mark Newell

US Topo is the next generation of topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Arranged in the familiar 7.5-minute quadrangle format, digital US Topo maps are designed to look and feel (and perform) like the traditional paper topographic maps for which the USGS is so well known. In contrast to paper-based maps, US Topo maps provide modern technical advantages that support faster, wider public distribution and enable basic, on-screen geographic analysis for all users. US Topo maps are available free on the Web. Each map quadrangle is constructed in oPDF® format from key layers of geographic data (orthoimagery, roads, geographic names, topographic contours, and hydrographic features) found in The National Map. US Topo quadrangles can be printed from personal computers or plotters as complete, full-sized, maps or in customized sections, in a user-desired specific format. Paper copies of the maps can also be purchased from the USGS Store. Download links and a users guide are featured on the US Topo Web site. US Topo users can turn geographic data layers on and off as needed; they can zoom in and out to highlight specific features or see a broader area. File size for each digital 7.5-minute quadrangle, about 15-20 megabytes, is suitable for most users. Associated electronic tools for geographic analysis are available free for download

ComScore: Google's Android surpasses ...

ComScore: Google's Android surpasses Microsoft in US smartphone market share

from Engadget by Darren Murph

34 people liked this

Considering that Steve Ballmer himself said that Microsoft "missed a cycle" in the smartphone sales universe, we guess it's not too shocking to see Android leap past Windows Mobile and Friends in ComScore's latest US smartphone report. If you'll recall, we saw back in July that Google was tailing Microsoft by the slimmest of margins, and now that the latest data is live, it's clearer than ever that Android is rising while the competition is slipping. The research firm's MobiLens report found that Google's market share in the US smartphone sector surged five percent in the three month average ending April 2010, while RIM sank 1.8 percent, Apple 1.3 percent, Microsoft 2.2 percent and Palm... well, Palm remained flat with just 4.9 percent of the pie. Of course, one has to assume that Microsoft loyalists are holding off on upgrades until Windows Phone 7 hits the market, but there's little doubt that the flurry of higher-end Android phones has done nothing but help Google's cause. And if Gingerbreadactually brings support for serious 3D gaming? Look out, world.

My Tracks

My Tracks
My Tracks allows you to record GPS tracks and view live statistics,such as time, speed, distance, and elevation, whilst hiking, biking or running. The application includes the option to export your tracks to Google Spreadsheets and visualise them on Google My Maps.

My Tracks also allows you to view the elevation profile of a track by time or distance, create waypoints on your track and spilt tracks into subtracks.

http://market.android.com/search?q=com.google.android.maps.mytracks
(use your Android phone to open these links – the links won’t work from a desktop)

If a Google employee rampages through...

Seems like an interesting topic to me... generally if my credit or value of privacy has altered as a result of the sort of nonsense noted below, I would would swear out a crimal complaint on Google. 

If a Google employee rampages through my email, Google Voice or other data for no justifiable reason I expect a lot more from the company than simply terminating them. There needs to be criminal charges brought as well.

We’ve asked Google if they’ve pressed charges against either of the two engineers they’ve fired for inappropriately accessing user data, and they won’t comment.

So much of our life is lived online, and so much of our highly sensitive personal data is stored on Google’s servers, that it is absurd that there aren’t more dire consequences facing those that choose to molest that data. If a Google employee broke into my home and stole files from my office they’d go to jail. And frankly I’d be far less concerned with that situation than if they were perusing my email for entertainment during their lunch break.

A few days ago, for no particular reason, I asked people on Twitter if they’d trust Google with their money and data if Google launched a bank. The overwhelming response was “no.” Surprised, I wrote “wow, most of you say no way you’d trust Google Bank with your money. I certainly would. My bank sucks.”

I think I’d like to amend my answer. My bank certainly does suck. But I’m pretty sure they’d have an employee arrested if they, say, accessed my data and tried to exhort me with it.

I’m not so sure Google would do the same.

Localytics: More Than 20 Percent Of i...

Localytics: More Than 20 Percent Of iPhone 3GS Owners Still Have To Upgrade To iOS 4

from TechCrunch by Erick Schonfeld

In the smartphone world, it is generally a good thing to keep everyone on the latest operating systems by pushing out upgrades. To the extent that iPhone or Android can get their installed base of users on the latest and greatest OS, the more those users can enjoy new apps built to take advantage of the new features of the OS. But when it comes to pushing software upgrades, Android has the upper hand because it can push them over the air, whereas the iPhone still requires users to download the upgrade to their computer first and then transfer it over to their iPhones with a cable.

Some people just never upgrade. Apple released its latest iPhone operating system, iOS 4, back in June. It came installed on new the iPhone 4, but was also pushed through iTunes to existing iPhone 3GS owners. Yet two months after the release, more than 20 percent of iPhone 3GS users still had not upgraded, according to anestimate by mobile analytics firm Localytics.

Meanwhile, less than 5 percent of Droid users had not upgraded only two weeks after the availability of the Froyo version of Android 2.2. (At the same point in time, 44 percent of 3GS iPhones had not yet upgraded). The reason for Android’s more successful upgrade rate is over-the-air upgrades were rolled out over a short period of time, requiring less work from users.

The chart above shows the OS upgrade rates for the 3GS and the Droid during the first two weeks after the software became available. While 30 percent of iPhone 3GS user upgraded right away in the first two days, getting the rest of the users onboard was an uphill battle. Eliminating the two-step process would help get everyone on the same OS faster. On the other hand, I wonder if that actually helped sell more iPhone 4s.

gvSIG Mini for Android 1.0.0 released

gvSIG Mini for Android 1.0.0 released

from Slashgeo

1 person liked this

gvSIG Mini development team is proud to announce the release of the stable version gvSIG Mini for Android 1.0.
gvSIG Mini is an open source project (GNU/GPL) aimed at Java and Android mobile phones. Released version is 1.0.0 for Android. This version offers, among other features, the ability of a direct download of maps from the phone to the storage card, for a further map displaying in offline mode, with no data connection.
gvSIG Mini is a free viewer of free aceess maps based on tiles (OpenStreetMap, YahooMaps, Microsoft Bing, ...), with an off-line mode, a WMS & WMS-C client, address and POI search, routes and many more things.
Main latest features of 1.0.0 version are the following ones:

• Map download directly from the mobile phone, for off-line usage.
• Off-line mode for viewing maps with no data connection.
• Multitouch support.
• New map rendering system, much more agile.
• Standard Android search button support.
• New layers available by default.
• UK Ordnance Survey official maps (rendered by OS).
• Settings menu with many options.
• New cache options.
• Android 2.2 support (now from 1.5 to 2.2).

More than 20 bugs have also been fixed.
gvSIG Mini has been developed by Prodevelop. Also available at Android Market.
More information at:

A Massive War Is Approaching As The T...

A Massive War Is Approaching As The Tablet Market Cannot Sustain Six Separate Platforms

from TechCrunch by Matt Burns

1 person liked this

Can you hear that? It’s the sound of war. Better choose your side soon, too. The tablet wars are going to get nasty.

Apple’s army is prepped, already backed by over 3 million zealous iPad owners. But the Google Android horde is quickly banding together and will soon offer countless weapons from several major CE houses and dozens of smaller camps. Google is also quietly forming the stealthy Chrome OS platoon that will likely enter the battle a bit late, but shouldn’t be forgotten, ether.

Then there’s the suit & tie brigade with their trusty BlackBerry holstered on their hips, ready to be tethered to the coming BlackPad. Don’t forget about the wildcard: The HP-produced, webOS-powered PalmPad no doubt has a couple of tricks, enough to put up a decent fight. Then there’s the battle-tested Windows that might still be able to fire a few direct shots.

The tablet wars are coming and not everyone is going to survive. There simply isn’t enough market share to support the five or more upcoming tablet platforms.

Google: Android 2.2 'not designed' fo...

Google: Android 2.2 'not designed' for the tablet form factor

from Engadget by Darren Murph

31 people liked this

Hello, obvious! Anyone who has actually used an Android-based tablet for any length of time would probably tell you that the experience is far from optimal. It works, sure, but it doesn't take a CSC major to understand that Google's existing builds of Android were crafted for smartphones and nothing more. Thankfully for those who are tired of arguing the point, Hugo Barra, director of products for mobile at Google, is stepping up to the plate and giving you some backing. Quoted over at Tech Radar, Hugo noted that "Android is an open platform, and we saw at IFA 2010 all sorts of devices running Android, so it's already running on tablets; but the way Android Market works is it's not going to be available on devices that don't allow applications to run correctly." He followed up by proclaiming that "Froyo is not optimized for use on tablets," and while he wouldn't go so far as to affirm that Gingerbread would be built for use on the aforementioned form factor, he did say that the company's working "to ensure our users have [the] right experience." How's that strike you, Galaxy Tab?

Android, iOS to surpass BlackBerry in...

Android, iOS to surpass BlackBerry in OS share by 2011

Both Android and iOS will have overtaken the BlackBerry for market share within the next year, Gartner predicted on Friday. It saw Google overtaking RIM's BlackBerry this year for the second-place spot, but by 2011 expected both Android and the iPhone to have outrun the BlackBerry in 2011. Android will have extended its lead over iOS by shipping almost 92 million phones next year, or 22.2 percent share, where Apple will have moved under 71 million (17.1 percent); RIM would ship just 62 million (down to 15 percent).

They also expected a slight bounce back for Windows Phone 7 to over 21 million phones or 5.2 percent share, but that this wouldn't translate to Nokia's preferred Symbian platform. It would keep losing influence and fall to 34.2 percent of smartphones. Gartner didn't expect Windows Phone 7's momentum to last, as it would fall to a new low of 3.9 percent by 2014.
Most of Google's success would come from a push into the low end; Samsung, but also LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, will have pushed deeper into budget Android phones even this year. The researchers didn't expect closed platforms like the iPhone and BlackBerry to get significant traction in the long term as the advantage of having multiple phone makers would push open platforms like Android and keep Symbian alive. Apple typically doesn't participate in the low end; RIM does with phones like the Curve 3G, but it has been slipping at the high end.

Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/09/10/gartner.sees.android.no.2.for.all.2010/#ixzz0z9D83Qu0

The USGS New EarthExplorer

The USGS New EarthExplorer

from geo2web.com by geo2web

New EarthExplorer

The United States Geological Survey are using Google Maps to display a large number of data sets that can be downloaded from USGS. The data available to download fits in to three main broad categories; Aerial Photography, Map Products and Satellite Products.

The map lets you explore the available data for a specific location. Once you have selected a location you can search against one or more data sets at the same time. You can obtain information about each of the data sets by clicking on the information icon next to each data set.

The Results tab lists the results of your search. 10 records for each data set are displayed at a time. If you then select the ‘download’ button you can export the metadata in multiple formats including KML, shapefile, and delimited text file.

Hat-tip: Mapperz

Android marching to Victory?

Piper Jaffray: Android Army's Victory Over iPhone Inevitable [Digital Daily]

from All Things Digital by John Paczkowski

The battle for dominance in the smartphone market will shake out in the next five years and when it’s finished, Google (GOOG), not Apple (AAPL), will emerge the victor. That’s the outlook from Piper Jaffray which sees Google’s Android OS aggressively capturing market share in the years ahead.

“We estimate Google will control 14.9 percent of the smartphone market through Android in 2010, growing to 23.2 percent in 2012,” the research house says in a new report. “For Apple, we expect the iPhone 15.9 percent of the smartphone market in 2010, growing to 17.6 percent in 2012.”

And five years from now Android will likely control over half of the smartphone market. Meanwhile, Apple will hold between 20-30 percent.

And what of the other major players in the market — Nokia (NOK) and Research and Motion (RIMM)? Where do they figure in this future smartphone world order?

In the Android camp, according Piper Jaffray. How else could the OS claim a 50 percent market share so quickly?

“We believe long term both RIM and Nokia will be share losers in the smartphone space because they do not have a core software competency,” the firm explains. “Over time, we do not see the benefit of RIM and Nokia continuing to push proprietary software that can’t compete with the market and eventually expect one or both to capitulate and move to utilizing third party software. … Ultimately, we believe Android is likely to control over half of the smartphone market in the next five years. Apple’s essentially two phone focus (low price 3GS and higher price 4) will likely limit how much of the market Apple can control and we believe ultimately Apple’s smartphone market share tops out between 20-30%, which still offers significant room to grow.”

Android marching to Victory?

Piper Jaffray: Android Army's Victory Over iPhone Inevitable [Digital Daily]

from All Things Digital by John Paczkowski

The battle for dominance in the smartphone market will shake out in the next five years and when it’s finished, Google (GOOG), not Apple (AAPL), will emerge the victor. That’s the outlook from Piper Jaffray which sees Google’s Android OS aggressively capturing market share in the years ahead.

“We estimate Google will control 14.9 percent of the smartphone market through Android in 2010, growing to 23.2 percent in 2012,” the research house says in a new report. “For Apple, we expect the iPhone 15.9 percent of the smartphone market in 2010, growing to 17.6 percent in 2012.”

And five years from now Android will likely control over half of the smartphone market. Meanwhile, Apple will hold between 20-30 percent.

And what of the other major players in the market — Nokia (NOK) and Research and Motion (RIMM)? Where do they figure in this future smartphone world order?

In the Android camp, according Piper Jaffray. How else could the OS claim a 50 percent market share so quickly?

“We believe long term both RIM and Nokia will be share losers in the smartphone space because they do not have a core software competency,” the firm explains. “Over time, we do not see the benefit of RIM and Nokia continuing to push proprietary software that can’t compete with the market and eventually expect one or both to capitulate and move to utilizing third party software. … Ultimately, we believe Android is likely to control over half of the smartphone market in the next five years. Apple’s essentially two phone focus (low price 3GS and higher price 4) will likely limit how much of the market Apple can control and we believe ultimately Apple’s smartphone market share tops out between 20-30%, which still offers significant room to grow.”

Android’s Mobile Web Consumption Shar...

Android’s Mobile Web Consumption Share In The US Is Surging, iOS Share Dropping

from TechCrunch by Robin Wauters

5 people liked this

Media measurement and Web analytics company Quantcast has some interesting numbers on mobile browsing in the United States, and it’s preparing to release some of those statistics, across vendors. Earlier today, the company put up a teaser blog post, showing two graphs, one of them representing the share of mobile Web consumption in the US per mobile OS.

SD Association vows breakthrough 300M...

SD Association vows breakthrough 300MBps SD card speeds

from Electronista | The Macintosh News Network

Following an announcement from Toshiba at IFA yesterday that it has developed SDHC memory cards based on the new UHS-1 standard, the SD Association today outlined its plans for its forthcoming SD 4.0 standard. The breakthrough means that SD 4.0 can support real-time HD video playback, whether from a media player or a camcorder. The new SD 4.0 standard is based on a dual-row pin memory design that achieves bus interface speeds of up to 300MBps, or nearly three times faster than UHS-1's 105MBps..

Toshiba outs record-setting SDHC memo...

Toshiba outs record-setting SDHC memory cards

from Electronista | The Macintosh News Network

Toshiba has revealed new SDHC memory cards with the Ultra High Speed I (UHS-I) standard that enables them to reach maximum data read rates of 95MBps and write speeds of 80MBps. This makes them the fastest SDHC UHS-I memory cards in the world. The cards can thus far only use these speeds in USB 3.0 readers, as no camera can fully use

Tagging Technologies: Free Book

Tagging Technologies: Free Book

from geo2web.com by geo2web

Back in May 2010, The Edinburgh College of Art ran a workshop to explore the publics apprehension fortagging technologies. It was very successful and provided insights in to the fears and concerns around RFID and the tagging of objects and people.

The day was organised in such a way as to allow participants to take part in semi-structured discussions that were interspersed by presentations and demonstrations to further inform debate. Debate was complex and opinions upon the benefits and threats for tagging became more subtle throughout the workshop, with individuals views swinging dramatically from blind enthusiasm to extreme paranoia.

Since then the workshop was documented and written up to create a 66 page book on the outcomes of the workshop.

You can download a PDF copy here first, whilst ECA head off to blurb.com and start printing.

The book is well worth a download, it covers topics ranging from the Internet of Old Things through to RFID and Privacy. For more on tagging and related technologies take a look at http://www.youtotem.org/.