Japan: Many Infants Use Smartphones, Tablets
Posted: August 6, 2015 Filed under: Asia, Japan | Tags: Apple Inc, Mobile device, Samsung, Smartphone, Tablet computer, Wi-Fi Leave a comment
Jun Hongo reports:
…Japan’s internal affairs ministry on Tuesday released the results of its first survey regarding use of information tools by preschoolers, which showed that about one in 10 children had come in contact with devices such as smartphones before celebrating their first birthday.
“The percentage of 1-year-olds who had used an Internet device was 17%, and the number nearly doubled for 2-year-olds, at 31%. “
The study surveyed 1,350 guardians who have preschool children and 400 with children in elementary schools. It asked them whether their child has used communication devices such as smartphones, computers and tablet PCs.
“Of those aged between zero to three using devices, about two-thirds were using a smartphone and more than one-third used a tablet computer.”
The percentage of 1-year-olds who had used an Internet device was 17%, and the number nearly doubled for 2-year-olds, at 31%. The numbers included both cases in which the adult offered the device to the child and when the child chose on its own to use one. Read the rest of this entry »
Apple’s Share of Smartphone Industry’s Profits Soars to 92%
Posted: July 12, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Entertainment, Global, Mediasphere | Tags: 1Malaysia Development Berhad, Amazon.com, Apple Inc, Asia, Australia, Berlin, Cupertino, iPhone, MacBook, New York Stock Exchange, Samsung, Smartphone, The Wall Street Journal, WSJ Leave a comment
Apple’s share of profits is remarkable given that it sells fewer than 20% of smartphones
“Roughly 1,000 companies make smartphones. Just one reaps nearly all the profits.”
TV News Anchors Flock to Periscope In Desperate Attempt to Stay Relevant
Posted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Alibaba Group, Broadcasting, Internet, Kylie Minogue, media, Monahan, news, Periscope, Short Message Service, Smartphone, streaming, Streaming media, TV News, Twitter, YouTube Leave a comment
It’d be sad to watch, if anyone were watching
Jack Smith IV writes: Ever since the Internet put local TV news anchors on the endangered species list, we’ve seen them try various tech-inspired schemes in order to adjust to the times.
[Read the full text here, at the Observer]
Now, mobile live-stream apps like Periscope have caught the attention of the local news anchors everywhere, who were clearly led to believe by the tech hype machine that live-streaming is going to be the death of the news business, even if that claim is ridiculous.
Most of these feeds are “behind the scenes” footage of nothing happening from the perspective of the worst camera in the room.
Occasionally, it’s the same scrappy view from some coifed old white guy reading from a teleprompter that you’d normally see on the local news. Most of the time, it’s the silent, uneventful commercial breaks, or the backroom chatter of floor managers and news directors. Turns out, TV studios aren’t like episodes of The Newsroom, and local news anchors often don’t have very much to say when you get the opportunity to meet them as human beings.
“Look, we get it. One of the most tired speculations about mobile live-streaming apps like Meerkat and Periscope is these will help “citizen journalists” kill the television news business.”
It’s enough to make you wish there was a high-definition camera in the room with sophisticated microphones, broadcast engineers and meticulously-crafted lighting setup and some prepared statements.
Local TV Periscope feeds are all basically the same, and get boring faster than actual local TV news. (Screengrabs: Jack Smith IV)
“Local television news is under a brash assault from a number of forces: online news outlets that break news faster and are more sharable, a democratization of video tools, and a credibility problem that is evolving into an ad sales problem.“
Moreover, nobody’s watching—in terms of audience, only a few dozen people show up at a time for even the country’s largest local TV studios, largely because discovering new Periscope feeds is difficult and so many of these Periscope feeds wind up in everyone’s front pages randomly.
“Local TV’s problem is the Internet and technology, and whatever the hype, simply turning on a hot live-streaming app isn’t the answer. “
But the worst part is that TV news anchors are just just terrible at live-streaming. The best live-streamers engage heavily with the audience, take requests and interact with comments—the reason people tune in is because they want to be live on set, reaching through the camera and interacting with the stars. Instead, most of the chatter is inaudible and there’s no interaction with the steaming audience. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Here’s What Happens When You Pour Molten Aluminum Over an iPhone 6
Posted: February 10, 2015 Filed under: Humor, Mediasphere, Science & Technology | Tags: Aluminum, Apple, iPhone, media, Mobile phone, Molten Aluminum, Smartphone, Time Magazine, video Leave a comment
In this video, Ukrainian YouTube celebrity TechRax pours molten aluminum over an iPhone 6 — what he says are a few drops of hot liquid made from melting soda cans. Not surprisingly, dark circles form around the blobs, and the screen quickly changes colors before going blank. In fact, it kind of looks like they form a creepy face on the phone, like something out of a horror film.
The Internet star’s previous stunts include boiling one of the devices in Coca-Cola and baking it inside a turkey.
[time-gallery id=”3403734″]
[PHOTO] I Have to Admit, the New iPhone is…
Posted: September 9, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, History, Mediasphere, Science & Technology | Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone 6, Saladin Ahmed, Smartphone, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Twitter Leave a commentI have to admit, the new iPhone is beautiful. pic.twitter.com/AZq3U74Zec
— Saladin Ahmed (@saladinahmed) September 9, 2014
Apple strikes multi-year deal with China Mobile
Posted: December 22, 2013 Filed under: Asia, China, Global, Science & Technology | Tags: Apple, China, China Mobile, iPad, iPhone, Samsung, Smartphone, Tim Cook 2 Comments
The long-awaited deal will see Apple sell its iPhones in the world’s largest smartphone market via China Mobile’s retail stores on January 17 for the first time
Rebecca Clancy writes: Apple has announced a long-awaited distribution deal with China Mobile, the world’s biggest phone carrier, which could generate billions in revenue for the world’s most valuable tech company.
Demand for iPhones, once hugely popular in China, have slumped there as lower-priced rival smartphones from Samsung and Chinese companies entered the market.
The financial terms of the deal were not announced, nor were the details of pricing and availability for its latest iPhone, the 5S and 5C lines, which Apple said would be available at a later date.
The phones will go on sale in China Mobile’s retail stores on January 17 for the first time, but customers will be able to pre-order from December 25.
icePhone: Because everyone wants to look like they’re talking on a popsicle
Posted: November 5, 2013 Filed under: Food & Drink, Japan, Mediasphere, Science & Technology | Tags: accessories, Asia, gadgets, Humor, Ice cream, IOS, iPhone, Japan, media, Mobile device, novelty, Smartphone, technology Leave a comment
When you’re a little kid, any slightly long object turns into your own personal phone. The remote control, a banana, maybe even a sausage have all served as substitute talking devices for children not quite old enough to have their own fully-functional mobile device.
VIDEO: Louis C.K. on smartphones: Kids shouldn’t have them and life is sad
Posted: September 24, 2013 Filed under: Entertainment, Science & Technology | Tags: Bruce Springsteen, Conan, Conan O'Brien, Gawker, Gwyneth Paltrow, Louis CK, NBC, Smartphone 1 CommentLast night Louis C.K. spent an hour talking to his old boss, Conan O’Brien. They relived the old days a bit—including the time C.K. attempted, disastrously, at an after party, to flirt with Gwyneth Paltrow. And C.K. also explained the reason he doesn’t want his daughters to have smartphones. His reasoning is impressively existential, even for him—and harkens back a bit to the “everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy” routine that helped break his career wide open. As Neetzan Zimmerman at Gawker notes, that nearly five-year-old riff was also shared on a Conan O’Brien show, albeit one on NBC.
His case against smartphones also includes dueling Springsteen impressions by him and Conan. The whole thing is worth watching. (VIDEO)
Walt Mossberg Reviews the iPhone 5S and iOS 7
Posted: September 18, 2013 Filed under: Economics, Mediasphere, Science & Technology | Tags: Apple, IOS, iPhone, iPhone 5, New York Times, Smartphone, Walt Mossberg Leave a commentThe iPhone 5S and iOS 7 are available on Friday, and Walt Mossberg has his review of them. He says all the new features help the iPhone continue to be the top smart phone on the market, despite one downside. Find out what it is. [VIDEO]
Privacy Scandal: NSA Can Spy on Smart Phone Data
Posted: September 8, 2013 Filed under: Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, National Security Agency, NSA, Smartphone, SPIEGEL, United States Leave a comment
SPIEGEL has learned from internal NSA documents that the US intelligence agency has the capability of tapping user data from the iPhone, devices using Android as well as BlackBerry, a system previously believed to be highly secure.
The United States’ National Security Agency intelligence-gathering operation is capable of accessing user data from smart phones from all leading manufacturers. Top secret NSA documents that SPIEGEL has seen explicitly note that the NSA can tap into such information on Apple iPhones, BlackBerry devices and Google’s Android mobile operating system. Read the rest of this entry »
Kim Jong Un Praises North Korean Smart Phone
Posted: August 15, 2013 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: Android, Arirang Festival, Asia, Kim Jong, Kim Jong-un, Korean Central News Agency, North Korea, Smartphone Leave a commentNorth Korea claims to have domestically manufactured a smart phone, a device called the Arirang, which appears to use a version of Android as its operating system.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency released photos of Kim Jong Un touring a facility where the phones are supposedly made. (Notice that nothing resembling manufacturing is going on in the photos.)
According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un praised the “high pixels” of the phone’s camera function and predicted that the “hand phone” would “instill national pride and self-respect” in the North Korean people. Though the manufacture of the phones began “a few days ago,” according to the report, Kim Jong Un believes they are in “high demand.”
Martyn Williams, the editor of a website on North Korean technology, says the phones were likely produced in China and shipped to the factory.
Cell phones were introduced into North Korea in 2008 thanks to a partnership with the Egyptian telecom firm Orascom, but subscribers are limited to making domestic calls. Presumably anyone purchasing an “Arirang” would be prohibited from using it to surf the worldwide web.
Do you like Android? Do you like iPhone? SHUT UP!
Posted: March 24, 2013 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: Android, Apple, BlackBerry, IOS, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Smartphone Leave a commentREQUEST: PLEASE STOP FIGHTING ABOUT YOUR SMARTPHONE:
Do you like Android? You should, it’s amazing. iOS? Wow, what a great platform, no wonder it started a revolution. Windows Phone? Seriously, it’s got a remarkable and beautiful interface. BlackBerry? There are plenty of great reasons people love it. And no matter which platform you adore, it’s shockingly possible to both have a preference and respect that other people may prefer an entirely different device. I know. Totally weird. But true.
Or, you can just call anyone who expresses a contrary opinion a jerk, or a fanboi, or butthurt, some other un-clever and deeply unoriginal pejorative that ends with the suffix “tard” and ultimately makes you look dumber than the person you’re trying, vainly, to insult.
The phone wars, the platform wars, should be left to people who work for Apple and Samsung and Google and Microsoft and Nokia and BlackBerry. Do you work for Apple? Do you work for Samsung? No? Then shut up.
Nobody cares what kind of smartphone you believe in. It’s not a religion.
It’s more like a sports team, for some.
via Instapundit
Stubby fingers may be the reason many consumers end up checking out ads on smartphones and tablets.
Posted: October 4, 2012 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: Advertising Age, Mobile device, Pew Research Center, Project for Excellence in Journalism, Smartphone Leave a commentAre big thumbs upping ad clicks?
Facebook NASDAQ:FB , Google NASDAQ:GOOG and other tech companies have puzzled over how to make advertising work on mobile devices. But it turns out that tablet and smartphone users, when reading news sites, are more likely to click on ads than those using computers, a new survey suggests.
Consumers don’t appear to be turned off by mobile ads, according to a survey of nearly 10,000 people by Pew Research Center and The Economist Group. Half of tablet and smartphone users notice ads when they’re getting news on their mobile device. Of that amount, roughly 15% click on ads. “People notice ads on mobile devices and may be even more likely to click on them than they are to click on other digital ads,” the report states.
A recent Ad Age study, in stark contrast, found that less than 1% of people click on digital ads regardless of the viewing platform…
via MarketWatch
