Monthly Archives: December 2011

Android Remains Top Mobile Platform in the U.S.

Web metrics firm comScore reports that 234 million Americans above the age of 13 were using mobile devices during the three months prior to Thanksgiving. The Web metrics firm’s new survey of more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers also demonstrates that Google’s Android remained ahead in the mobile OS platform race with a 46.9 percent market share.

In the U.S. mobile handset market overall, Samsung was the top device maker with a 25.6 percent share. Second-place LG achieved a 20.5 percent share, and Motorola Mobility came in third with a 13.7 percent share.

Apple’s share of the market overall rose from 9.8 percent in August to 11.2 percent in November, driven by pent-up demand for the iconic device maker’s new iPhone 4S. By contrast, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry sales slipped from 7.1 percent in August to 6.5 percent in November.

During the three months through Nov. 24, 72.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile devices — a rise of 2.1 percentage points from last August, comScore reports. And 44.9 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers downloaded applications during the latest survey period — up 3.3 percentage points.

Source: http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Android-Remains-Tops-in-U-S–Market/story.xhtml?story_id=13200CZCJIAC

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Twitter revamps mobile, web apps

Twitter on Thursday announced a complete redesign of its twitter.com homepage and its iOS and Android applications. “It’s now easier and faster to see the information that matters most to you,” Twitter explained. “Immediately access your favorite features from the left-hand side. Photos, videos and conversations are embedded directly in Tweets so you can see the whole story at a glance. And now everything in Home will appear consistently across computers, iPhones, and Android mobile phones.” We found that Twitter’s homepage has been tweaked ever so slightly: information about your profile, trending topics and “who to follow” has been moved to the left side of the page and the timeline is now on the right. It’s clean, though, and easy to use as always. The iOS application seems more limited than before, and it takes more digging to get to what we want. We’re sticking with Tweetbot on iOS for now since it offers a much more robust feature set.

source: http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/08/twitter-revamps-mobile-web-apps/

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iPad & iPhone Still Leaders of Mobile Purchases

QQ截图20111228095119 It’s really no surprise that Apple’s iPad and iPhone are still leaders when it comes to mobile purchases, but this situation is poised to have turn for the worse. The truth is that Apple should enjoy its leader position for as long as it lasts, because Google, Samsung, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and HTC are fighting hard for the same ranking.

It’s only a matter of time, until some of Apple’s acerb competitors will come up with a gadget that will sweep users off their feet. All these competitors need is a man with a similar taste for new, innovative and high tech as Steve Jobs had. Do not assume it will take ages before such a man will set the hype in IT once again. Remember that the model is already there, and people with an eye for detail and understanding of consumer behavior are poised for success in this field.

But let’s leave projections for analysts and mediums. Today we’re talking real time figures that show Apple is still successful in keeping its competitors away from its crown.

According to data from IDC, Apple’s iPad has dominated the tablet market in the second quarter. Total shipments for this sector rose 23.9 percent to 18.1 million. Apple’s iPad took 61 percent of the overall third quarter market, with 11.1 million units shipped. Meanwhile, Android is still getting to know the market, with 6 million units delivered.

Source: http://www.dailygossip.org/ipad-iphone-leaders-of-mobile-purchases-so-far-2070

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Applications Licensing using the .NET Framework

Control Licensing

Nearly everything you’ll read about .NET licensing binds the licensing concept to controls, with the idea being control developers could ship controls that are licensed at design time and/or run time. As it happens, you can apply Framework licensing to any class derived from System.Windows.Forms.Control, which would include entire Windows Forms applications, but I’ll begin with controls themselves. The basic control licensing UML static class diagram is shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. .NET Control Licensing Static Class Diagram.

The general execution sequence is shown (as a UML sequence diagram) in Figure 2. The licensed control, in its constructor, requests a license from the LicenseManager:

license = LicenseManager.Validate(typeof(MyLicensedControl), this);

In this case, the constructor is for the licensed control as implemented in the class MyLicensedControl. Interestingly, there may be nothing more you need to do with the license object itself (it depends upon the implementation of the license), except to properly dispose of it as there may be resources attached. Out of the box, the important action we took was to call the license manager and ask for a license. If a license is not to be granted for some reason, the Validate() call will fail with an exception if exceptions are desired or return a null license if exceptions are to be suppressed. (The call to LicenseProvider.GetLicense() controls this, and the default Framework implementation is to allow exceptions.)

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Source: http://www.developer.com/article.php/3074001

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Facebook rejiggers platform to increase game usage

Facebook announced Thursday evening that it has made updates to its platform to improve game usage and discovery of new apps.

The social network said it made changes to the platform based on tests that showed it could drive re-engagement and discovery higher. The changes are part of constant tinkering that the company does to prompt users to return to their games or click on new titles. If they work, they could generate more usage and profits for game companies.

Facebook has now increased the number of bookmarks at the top of every canvas page (a page where you’re playing a game) from four icons to six. Those icons show you the notifications (pictured left) for each game you’re playing. Early results have shown that this has increased referrals from canvas bookmarks to games by 20 percent.

Facebook also updated bookmark counters on the home page to clear automatically once clicked, similar to how notifications behave. Facebook has also combined the Games and Apps dashboards into a single dashboard, called Apps and Games. That dashboard will let users see all their requests and invites on a single page, making it easier to find new games and the games friends are using most and have recommended.

Facebook has also begun testing aggregated game stories for mobile platform apps to drive traffic from mobile devices to games. Gamers and non-gamers will both see stories for the games their friends are playing the most. And Facebook published a Games Tutorial to help developers get started building social games. Earlier this month, Facebook hosted a Social Games Hack at its headquarters, and it has now provided tips for best practices in making games.

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/22/facebook-rejiggers-platform-to-increase-game-usage/

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Offshore Development Center Helps you With Experienced Professionals

Many traditional businesses which are not transformed till now are in a great hurry to find some good offshore development center as they came to know that great opportunities are here on the E commerce platform waiting them to grow with them. Today you can find that the great demand for the hiring of offshore website developers/programmers is in the huge demand and businesses are looking for the easy yet efficient source from where they can get professional yet experienced team of the website developers.

From the current market scenarion it is very clear that people are now adopting digital platform for purchasing and businesses are transforming from traditional to very new yet advanced online business. Online business offers the facility to cater all the wide group of customers and prospects worldwide and you can target them very strategically through a single online store. Here are some of the advantages that one can be able to get through offshour outsourcing development companies. You will be getting numerous development facility and surely love to get develop in a flexible style. Offshoure website development has become ultimate choice as you will be getting professionally trained website development and web application developers/programmers team. THis team of developers/programmers you can hire on the basis of monthly, weekly or even daily bassis as per your requirement.

Source: http://www.workoninternet.com/business/reviews/computers-internet/software-services/182282-e-commerce.html

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Hire Offshore ASP.NET Development Company for Web Solutions

Microsoft ASP.NET is a web application framework that allows developers to create web applications, dynamic websites as well as other web solutions. In the initial stages, classic ASP (Active Server Pages) was developed on .NET framework, which was followed by ASP.NET framework with enhancements. With its improved features and services, ASP.NET software development has become popular among various Microsoft NET developers to develop dynamic websites and web applications.
While businesses are looking for cost-effective development services, they are giving more preference for offshore ASP.NET development companies. It is because of their skillful and experienced .NET developers who can give a new dimension to your development solution.
Before you hire .NET developer for your business development project, you must give attention to take offshore ASP.NET development services from a reliable and experienced offshore company.

If you take custom web development from offshore ASP.NET development company, you will get the following:

1.  The developers are trained, qualified and experienced in developing quality solutions by using ASP.NET framework to accomplish a solution in less time and within budget.
2.  The requirement to hire dedicated resources for your web development project is possible from an offshore development company at affordable price.
3.  No extra cost is incurred on the dedicated .NET developers working for your project at a distant location.
4.  Cost-effectiveness is maintained throughout the project without compromising with the quality.
5.  Creates a direct communication channel with developers or development team via e-mails, chat, video conference etc., for keeping a track of the development at anytime and every time.
6. When experienced .NET developers are working on the project, there is no chance of delaying the final project deployment.
7.  Provides regular working status to the clients for reducing the chances of reworks

Source: http://technology.ezinemark.com/hire-offshore-aspnet-development-company-for-web-solutions-7d32b3369f93.html

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Infosys BPO to acquire Australian firm Portland for AUD 37 million ‎

Infosys BPO, the back office subsidiary of Infosys, has acquired Australia-based sourcing and category management services firm Portland Group. The A$37-million all-cash deal is expected to be completed by early January 2012.

According to Infosys, which has often been criticised by analysts and industry watchers for not being aggressive on acquisitions despite sitting on almost $4 billion of cash, the deal will help it establish presence in the Australian market with more offerings in the value-added segment.

"The deal will essentially enable us to have a reach into the Australian market. It will enhance our sourcing and procurement capabilities. Infosys’ focus has always been on value-added services and this will add to it," Swamithan D, CEO and MD of Infosys BPO, told ET.

Portland Group has over 100 employees with a reported revenue of approximately A$31.3 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011. "Portland Group has over 100 procurement specialists with domain expertise and some 40-odd clients. None of them is our clients as of now. The deal will certainly help us intensify our service offerings and take sourcing and procurement functions to a higher level," he added.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/infosys-bpo-buys-australia-based-portland-group-for-aud-37-mn/articleshow/11187711.cms

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Apple Will Launch Redesigned iPhone 5 in 2012

Apple Insider reports that in a note to investors Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said that Apple will launch make significant changes to its products in 2012 as it did not launch any redesigned products in 2011.

He expects Apple to launch a redesigned iPhone 5 in mid 2012, which according to him help Apple outperform in 2013. He has offered two scenarios for Apple products in 2012:  a "base case" and a "bull case."

In the base case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 142 million iPhones, which would result in 18% increase in revenues, while in the bull case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 162 million iPhones in 2013, which would result in 35% increase in revenues.

Munster expects Apple to launch one third generation iPad model to replace iPad 2. However, he believes that Apple could beat his estimates if it expands the iPad product line with both lower and higher price points.

Apple Insider speculates:

Rumors and speculation of an expanded iPad lineup are not new, though Apple has yet to adjust its strategy. Last month, another analyst predicted that Apple will sell a third-generation iPad with a high-resolution Retina Display alongside a faster "iPad 2S" with the same screen resolution as the current iPad 2, but with a faster processor and Siri integration. He also predicted that Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 at a lower price, much like the company already does with the iPhone 3GS.

In the base case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 66 million iPads, which would result in 20% increase in revenues, while in the bull case scenario, he expects Apple to sell 77.5 million iPads in 2013, which would result in 30% increase in revenues.

Source: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2011/12/analyst-apple-will-launch-redesigned-iphone-5-in-2012.html

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Android’s app revenue gap and how developers cope

Android, as we wrote recently, still trails iOS as a money-maker for app developers, with Flurry saying developers make 24 cents on an Android app compared to $1 for the same software on iOS. Now, app analytics firm Distimo is saying the revenue advantage for iOS is even bigger, with the iPhone App Store generating about four times as much revenue for the top 200 apps compared to the top 200 apps in Android Market.

Even with the rise of freemium business models — which rely on getting people to download a free app and monetizing through in-app purchase and upgrades — Apple still holds a big advantage. Distimo said in its year-end report that 65 percent of the top 200 apps in Android Market are freemium, while the same applies to only half of the top apps in the iPhone App Store. The revenue gap is less pronounced in tablet apps, with the iPad App Store generating twice as much as the Android Market.

The persistence of this app revenue gap is an issue for developers, and one that prevents many from making Android their primary development platform. At this rate, it’s hard to see how Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s prediction of Android becoming the primary platform for developers in six months coming true.

Source: http://gigaom.com/2011/12/20/androids-app-revenue-gap-and-how-developers-cope/?utm_source=theappleblog&utm_medium=specialtopics

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