Via NFC: Japanese Social Network Mixi First To Let Users “Share” Real-World Items

Japan has always been the land of mobile. As such, it’s no big surprise that the country’s biggest social network, Mixi (JP, 23 million members), sees 25 of its 29 billion monthly page views coming from cell phones. And according to Mixi, it’s now the first social network that lets users share information with friends through NFC technology on Android handsets.

Last year already, Mixi added two functions to its mobile site, which NFC is supposed to boost:

• Mixi Check In (which works much like Facebook Places)
• Mixi Check (essentially the same as Facebook’s Share function)

The NFC-powered versions are named “Mixi Real Check In” and “Mixi Real Check”. NFC (Near Field Communication) technology makes it possible to exchange data between devices in close proximity to each other.

link to article:  http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/11/via-nfc-japanese-social-network-mixi-first-to-let-users-like-real-world-items/

 

Deloitte: Text Messaging Still Far More Popular Than Mobile Twitter, Other Social Networks

Deloitte found that 90pc of smartphone owners send at least one text message a day, compared to four in 10 who access social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, on their phones. Half of British adults access emails on their phones.

More than three out of 10 of those aged between 18 and 24 send at least one text message every hour. It is thought that children and teenagers, who were not included in the study, send an even greater number of texts.

link to article:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/telecoms/8323931/Forget-tweets-all-we-want-to-do-is-text-says-study.html

 

Mobile UI design: obey the 90/10 rule

User experience is a major contributing factor to the success (or failure) of a mobile device in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

Typical mobile device user spends 90 percent of his/her time using just 10 percent of the device functions, thus 90/10 rule. These handful of activities are conducted repeatedly during standard usage of a device, and how well it performs them is vital to make a user feel good about the gadget. These activities vary based on the type of device; a smartphone needs to do calls, email, text messaging and web browsing for example.

link to article:  http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/mobile-ui-design-obey-the-9010-rule/1019

Amazon Appstore for Android will let you buy apps without a device

No Android device? No problem! Turns out Amazon’s upcoming Appstore for Android — which has been in the works for some time — will allow you to purchase apps even before you receive the device you intend to install them on, presumably so that you’re stocked up and ready to go by the time the phone (or tablet, or whatever miscellaneous gizmo) arrives on your doorstep. As AllThingsDpoints out, the concept appears to go partway toward mimicking Amazon’s Kindle business model, which does a decent job of decoupling content (which is associated with your Amazon account) from the actual hardware you’ve got it installed on.

link to article: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/20/amazon-appstore-for-android-will-let-you-buy-apps-without-a-devi/

HTC Incredible S with auto-rotating buttons

We were quite bedazzled by the HTC Incredible S after our hands-on at MWC, but it’s the auto-rotating icons for the capacitive buttons that left us most intrigued. So we went back to the HTC booth to try to make sense of it all. From what we were able to observe, there’s some optical trickery happening here: the icons appear to be glittering and shimmering depending on viewing angle as if lit through a prism, half-mirror or grate of some kind. We think that a pair of LEDs are used to project the intended icon onto the glass surface via either a combination of prisms and half-mirrors, or via horizontally and vertically polarized grates. Watch our video after the break, and let us know in the comments how you think this actually works.

link to article:  http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/18/htc-incredible-s-auto-rotating-buttons-explained-video/

Adéu, Barcelona: Mobile World Congress 2011 is over

link to all MWC 2011 announcements and major events :  http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/18/adeu-barcelona-mobile-world-congress-2011-is-over/

Comcast launches its own 24/7 Xfinity 3D channel

After DirecTV, Comcast has been among the most aggressive in pushing 3D programming, so it’s no surprise to receive word it’s begun scheduling round-the-clock 3D content on the Xfinity 3D channel just days after DirecTV launched 3net alongside ESPN 3D and its own n3D network.

link to article:  http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/17/comcast-launches-its-own-24-7-xfinity-3d-channel-crosses-1-mill/

Imagination Technologies unveils Series 6 PowerVR GPUs

Imagination Technologies may not be a household name, but they created the PowerVR GPUs that are the gold standard in mobile graphics, and are a part of the ARM SoCs you find in mobile devices like theiPhone 4, Galaxy S, and the Droid 2. Company unveiled its new Series 6 PowerVR chips — affectionately known as “Rogue” — that are 20 to 100 times more powerful than its previous handheld offerings.

link to article:  http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/18/imagination-technologies-unveils-series-6-powervr-gpus-promis/

Apple maintains lead in mobile app store revenues, but its share is shrinking fast

Kudos must, therefore, be handed out to all the top four app stores globally, as each one expended its total revenues by over 130 percent between 2009 and 2010. Interestingly, Apple’s growth looks to be slowing down as the App Store begins to reach a saturation point on smartphones, while Nokia’s Ovi Store and Google’s Android Market blossomed during 2010 by multiples of 7.2 and 8.6 times their 2009 size. Apple’s share at the top has shrunken as a consequence, a trend that looks likely to continue when Windows Phone 7’s Marketplace and the Ovi Store are melded into one through this year and beyond.

link to article:  http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/18/apple-maintains-lead-in-mobile-app-store-revenues-but-its-share/

NEC launches Android Netbook, the LifeTouch Note

NEC has debuted its first Android netbook, the humbly-named LifeTouch Note, in Japan. Spec-wise, the Note runs Android 2.2, has an NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU, up to 8GB of memory, a 7-inch backlit (800 x 480 resolution) resistive touchscreen LCD, GPS, WiFi, SD and SDHC slots, and a 2 megapixel webcam. There will also be a 3G variety for a little extra cash, of course.

link to article: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/17/nec-busts-out-an-android-netbook-the-lifetouch-note/