iPhone 5 release date is the “death day” of the Android?

A new opinion report is suggesting the death of Android courtesy of iPhone 5.

Game Over Android, according to PC World blogger Tony Bradley, even calling the popular Google mobile operating system a copycat of Apple’s iOS/iPhone platform.



Of course, it’s like an article written with fanboyism knowing that he called the Android a “copycat” while enumerating his reasons why the so-called death of Google’s mobile OS is coming, or happening when the iPhone 5 hits the United States market. If I’m not mistaken, he’s talking about the possible decline of Android in United States only, and obviously doesn’t include the rest of the world including the emerging China market.

Bradley thinks that Verizon’s inclusion as one of Apple’s iPhone 5 launch partners will destroy the momentum of the Android (including Verizon’s own Droid branding), explaining that a lot of Verizon customers are still not jumping the ship and buying the iPhone 4 because they’re aware that the iPhone 5 is coming. The author of PC World also added that the possible unlocked iPhone 5 will attract more customers because they can insert their own SIM card, and giving the user the opportunity to choose a carrier.

So here’s my question, if the iPhone 4 is really a “super popular” device compared to other Android handsets, then what’s the reason behind the 2.9% market share decline ONLY of the Google operating system after Verizon introduced the iPhone 4? And after introducing another iPhone 4 last April, the white iPhone 4?

Plus, another iPhone 4 was introduced recently, the unlocked iPhone 4, which is also considered by some as a T-Mobile iPhone, and yet, the momentum of the Android is still up and running. MacWorld even posted an article explaining how to use an unlocked iPhone and a T-Mobile SIM, and yet, customers are buying HTC Evo 3D, or HTC Sensation 4G or Samsung Galaxy S II via online retailers, etc?

The secret of Android is availability and variants, because not all customers want a full touchscreen smartphone, and not all customers are fans of iTunes, and there’s Amazon helping Android to grow with their very own Android application market place, plus, a lot of smartphone customers want to view flash content.

Another reason given by the anti-Android blog is the iOS 5. Apparently, the iPhone 5 will include this new iOS update that wil introduce new notification system (that exactly works like the Android’s), better syncing, cloud-based services including the “Picasa-like” photo sharing feature of the iCloud, and the iTunes Match.

Obviously, majority of Apple customers are “non-techy” users, or customers that are not into a device that is congested or tweakable, while Android attract more yuppies, tech enthusiasts and tech-loving community that love to hack, root and unlock their devices. iOS 5 is still “a closed” device, and will remain closed (you can’t still change the keyboard and use third-party keyboards). Period.

Knowing Apple, I’m expecting that the iPhone 5 is an upcoming piece of art, and a lot of customers will surely love the design, whatever it is, because it’s an Apple product with an iconic Apple logo. But not all customers love Apple, or love the Apple ecosystem, that’s why the Android grew, and will continue to grow because it’s more open that iOS. Of course it’s not a perfect operating system (Fragmentation, ehem), who’s perfect in this world? You?

Apple and Android can coexist, and Android will not die on the release date of iPhone 5, trust me. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop even admitted that Apple allowed Android to grow. He said: “Apple created Android, or at least it created the conditions necessary to create Android. People decided they could not play in the Apple way, and they had to do something else. Then Google stepped in there and created Android… and others jumped on the Android train.”

Android’s market share will surely get a decline post iPhone 5, but it will get a bounce back after a couple of months because there’s still a huge percentage of customers that still want an option, it’s called “freedom.”

T-Mobile G2X: Official Android 2.3 Gingerbread Release Date Update

If you are already in possession of a T-Mobile G2X, or currently have one on pre-order, we have some excellent news for you. T-Mobile has just confirmed that users will not have to wait long for the official upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

For those of you that are unaware, the 1Ghz dual-core processor ships with Android 2.2 Froyo, but T-Mobile always insisted that Gingerbread would come soon after release. It now looks like they are sticking to their word, with the following Twitter update, as reported from TmoNews:

”@thephilbert Gingerbread is coming to the G2x soon. You won’t have to wait long.”

The company also confirmed that they were already testing Gingerbread before the G2X launched, and that’s the main reason why users will not have to wait long for the update. Just how long though? We’re hoping that they are talking about a few weeks wait, rather than months.

With that good news aside, it’s nice to see T-Mobile directly responding to questions about future software updates, and it’s certainly a contrast to users of Samsung handsets who are often pulling their hair out in frustration over lack of communication about their respective updates – Gingerbread for the Samsung S for example.

Do you already have a G2X? If so, let us know your overall impressions of the device so far and your thoughts on T-Mobile’s quick response to the Gingerbread update.

IPhone, Android location-logging feature sparks privacy concerns

Revelations about how Apple iPhones and Google Android phones keep precise track of each user's whereabouts every day is sending shock waves through the tech and privacy communities.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.,sent separate letters late last week to Apple CEO Steve Jobs asking him to supply details about how and why iPhones and iPads compile and store detailed time-stamped logs of each user's location.

And Markey on Saturday called for a formal congressional investigation of both Apple and Google. "Unprotected personal location information could be a treasure trove for troublemakers," says Markey.

The letters to Jobs came after two British researchers, Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden, revealed their discovery of a location-logging mechanism quietly introduced by Apple for iPhones and iPads in early- to mid-2010.

On Friday, Google came under scrutiny. The Guardian disclosed the existence of a similar location-logging feature on Android phones, a discovery made by a Swiss researcher, Magnus Eriksson; and the Wall Street Journal verified evidence gathered by Los Angeles-based researcher Samy Kamkar, showing how most Android phones worldwide have been actively sending GPS location coordinates, as well as the coordinates of any nearby WiFi networks, back to Google for at least the past six months.

Apple did not respond to interview requests. Google's senior manager of public affais, Chris Gaither, said the company is not doing interviews. Instead, the search giant issued a brief statement confirming that location data is being transmitted back to Google servers but asserting that it refrains from tracing such data to specific individuals.

Meanwhile, the tech and privacy communities are abuzz with discussions. One big risk for Apple patrons is ifyour iPhone or iPad is lost or stolen, says IDC applications development analyst Al Hilwa. "It makes it super easy to come up with schemes to spy on users, such as people spying on spouses or bosses spying on employees," says Hilwa.

Apple and Google are in an intense competition to dominate one of tech's hottest new sectors: services pivoting around knowing the precise location of the consumer. Revenue derived from so-called location-based services are expected to swell to $8.3 billion by 2014, up from $2.6 billion in 2010, according to tech industry research firm, Gartner.

Allan, the British researcher, last week stumbled upon a file stored on the hard drive of his MacBook laptop containing 29,000 time-stamped locations—a log of everywhere he had traveled in the previous 300 days. The file originated on his iPhone and was automatically copied to his laptop when he synced the two devices.

Alan's research partner, Warden, created a software application that plots the time-stamped location data on an interactive map. The application is simple to download and free to use by any Mac owner. Warden is working on a version for people who sync iPhones to Windows PCs.

"We don't know exactly what triggers the logging," says Warden. "We see logging happening with intervals as frequent as every couple of minutes to much longer, and we don't know what the pattern is."

It is not clear whether Apple intends to somehow make this data available to location-based marketeers. Location data is being increasingly used to personalize online ads, to help parents keep track of their teens, and to help prevent mobile payment scams, says Chenxi Wang, cybersecurity analyst at Forrester Research.

"None of these scenarios justify storing a year's worth of location data," says Wang. "It continues to surprise me how companies always elect the privacy-invasive features as default."

Kankar, the Los Angeles researcher, says he has discovered that all recently purchased Android phones are set up to continually report specific GPS coordinates as well as the coordinates of WiFi networks in nearby homes and businesses back to Google.

He says Google can correlate timing and frequency of phone usage to pinpoint an Android owner's home address. "If your phone is at the same location during night hours, they know where you live," says Kankar. "If your phone location is on the move, they can guess that you're in a car and even calculate how fast your car is moving."

Kankar says Android handsets also continually track coordinates of any nearby WiFi systems, even those that are encrypted. "If you have an Android phone, Google knows where you are," says Kankar. "Even if you don't own an Android phone, but your neighbor does, Google can triangulate who you are by tracking your wireless network."

The only way to disable such tracking by your Android phone is to disable the GPS and Wireless functions, he says.

But most people, especially those under 30, aren't apt to disable cutting-edge features, says Fran Maier, president of TRUSTe, which certifies website privacy programs.

On Wednesday, TRUSTe plans to release survey results showing 44% of 18- to 20-year-olds say they feel secure and in control when using their mobile devices. "Privacy is a big deal now, even among younger people," says Maier. "But they believe they're smarter and more adept at managing their information than older people."

Even so, Sen. Franken notes in his letter to Jobs that "there are numerous ways" location data "can be abused by criminals and bad actors." And Rep. Markey asks Jobs if he is concerned about how the "wide array of precise location data logged by these devices can be used to track minors, exposing them to potential harm."

Tech analysts and privacy experts say Google is likely to face similar questions. "There appears to be this enormous industry operating behind closed doors with business models premised on the collection of massive amounts of detailed information," says Hilwa. "Only governmental regulatory bodies can inject sanity back into this state of affairs."

Nokia launches new Symbian smartphones and Nokia Ovi Store Hits 5 Million Downloads A Day

 Nokia Corp. on Tuesday launched its first smartphones to run on the updated Symbian software with new icons, enhancements and a faster browser.

Nokia said the two models -- the E6 and X7 -- have longer battery life, better text input and new Ovi Maps applications with improved search and public transport routes.

The Nokia E6, with a standard QWERTY keypad and high resolution touch display, is aimed at corporate customers, while the Nokia X7 is an entertainment-focused handset with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) display made for games.

The world's largest cellphone maker did not price the handsets.

Markets seemed unimpressed by the announcement, which comes as Nokia continues to struggle against stiff competition, especially from Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd.

Nokia stock fell more than 3 percent to 6.08 euros ($8.80) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.

More than 200 million phones, with 150 million more expected on the market, use Symbian technology, seen by some developers as clumsy and dated. At the end of last year, it was surpassed by Android as the world's No. 1 smart phone software.

Nokia said the new, faster Symbian software, known as Symbian Anna, will be available for previously released top models, including the N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 devices "in coming months."

In February, Nokia and Microsoft surprised the industry by announcing they were joining forces to challenge major rivals. Nokia said it will use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone software as the main platform for its smartphones but will continue to develop and use the new Symbian software.

But they have a tough battle ahead.

The iPhone has set the standard for today's smartphones and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys have become the favorite of the corporate set. More recently, Google Inc.'s Android software has emerged as the choice for phone makers that want to challenge the iPhone.

A key challenge will be to produce quality devices with a hip factor that helps position Windows Phone as an attractive alternative in a market where image plays a central role.

Windows Phone 7, launched last year, has a lot of catching up to do both in the number of users and "apps" available for the phones.

Nokia, which claims 1.3 billion daily users of its devices, said it hopes the partnership with Microsoft will lead to capturing the next billion users to join the Internet in developing growth markets.

Last year, the Finnish firm retained its No.1 spot as the world's top mobile phone maker -- a position it has held since 1998, selling 432 million devices -- more than its three closest rivals combined. But market share has continued on a downward spiral -- from a high of 41 percent in 2008 to 31 percent in the last quarter of 2010.

Also, its share in smartphones has plunged -- to 30 percent at the end of 2010 from 40 percent a year earlier. And, at the end of last year Nokia and the Symbian platform was surpassed by Android as the world's No. 1 smartphone software, according to Canalys research firm.

Nokia, an Espoo-based company, near Helsinki, employs 132,500 people.

After quite some brouhaha over the Nokia and Microsoft partnership it appears that Nokia at present is just making news with its Ovi Store. In a recent release Nokia shared pretty impressive stats on the number of downloads at the store; 5 million downloads a day. That’s more than just impressive, meaning that Nokia is still a force to be reckoned with.

Those numbers also bring a lot of encouragement for developers given the fact that 158 of them from 41 different countries have managed to hit the 1 million download mark. I am not going to go further back in history but the Store has grown to over 40,000 apps, almost 8 times in the last one year with almost a 1,000 apps being added daily. As a brand, Nokia is still the leader when it comes to smartphone users with the numbers reaching a staggering 200 million. But why the spike in the number of downloads?

There can be many reasons, free applications, are obviously the main. But I guess the option to have operator billing enabled for users to make purchases is another major reason. Especially for the fact that no one wants to go through the hassle of taking the longer route of buying these applications. This could be due to security concerns, despite stores promising to provide the most secure payment methods.

The benefits aren’t just for developers or the Nokia Ovi Store but also for the operators, since Nokia’s devices are integrated to over 112 operators spread over 36 markets. Add to this the coming of in app payments also being extended to the S40 devices, which will increase the number of downloads exponentially.

There is definitely a lot of growth out there for the entire Nokia community. Just last November we reported on the Nokia Ovi Store figures. Back then the daily download figure was at 2.8 million a day. This means that in five months that figure has almost doubled.

New Novatel Wireless MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot 4082

• Service Provider: Sprint
• CDMA 1X, EV-DO, WiMAX
• 850, 1900, 2600 Bands
• 802.11x
• Mac Compatible

Good battery life. Useful status indicators. MiFi OS is largely unrealized potential. The excellent Novatel Wireless MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot 4082 is a fast and easy way to get multiple devices online with Sprint's unlimited mobile broadband.

The Novatel Wireless MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot 4082 for Sprint ($99.99) is an easy way to get laptops and other Wi-Fi devices on Sprint's 3G or 4G networks. It's slim, classy-looking, and has good battery life and performance. That makes it our current Editors' Choice for wireless hotspots on Sprint.

Physical Features, Setup and Administration
The Novatel 4082 is an attractive little gadget. At 3.5 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and 3 ounces, it's about the size of a deck of cards, with a soft-touch black bottom that sits on little feet, and a brushed-metal top. The Power button is on the top; turn on the unit, and a small e-ink screen lights up showing signal strength, battery status, GPS status, along with how many devices are connected. On the front edge, there's a single LED that flashes blue for 4G and green for 3G, a MicroSD card slot, and a USB connection/charging port. Just turn the hotspot on, wait about 35 seconds for the connection light to turn green or blue.

If you go to the MiFi home page (192.168.1.1), though, you'll find a range of options. There's MAC filtering along with password, channel and 802.11b/g/n mode setting, port filtering, port forwarding, and DHCP settings. Power settings let you control when the MiFi goes to sleep and activate a Stealth Mode where the display and blinking LED are always off. It's all pretty easy to use.

The 4082 runs Novatel's MiFi OS, a stripped-down version of Linux which lets you run apps on the device. Right now, it's limited to showing map and weather widgets when you load up the MiFi's home page, but I'm hoping for more ambitious ideas like VPN access in the future.

The router can also share files stored on a MicroSD card you plug into the front of the device. My 32GB SanDisk card worked fine, and I connected five Macs and PCs to the shared drive.

Performance
In my tests, the 4082 booted in about 35 seconds, and connected to Sprint's 3G or 4G network (whichever was available). I found the 4082 had no problem dropping down to 3G or even 2G, and returning to 4G when coverage became available.

Speeds were on par with a Sierra Wireless 250U USB modem (Free, 4 stars) when used with a Samsung NF310 laptop; that was a pleasant surprise, as MiFi speeds are typically lower than those from USB modems. But all of my tests may have been affected by the low 4G speeds I was getting in general; in 10 tests in our New York City office, I never saw a download speed above 3Mbps on either device.

The 4082 offers at least a 100 foot range, but I got the best speeds when I was 50 feet or less away from the hotspot. After 50 feet, speeds dropped off noticeably by 20-50 percent at 75 and 100 feet. I was able to get 4 hours, 32 minutes of solid 4G streaming on one charge of the 1500 mAh battery. That's a pretty good result.

Network and Conclusions
We're working on our big Fastest Mobile Networks story soon, which will give you a picture of Sprint's 4G nationwide speeds relative to other carriers. But Sprint's $59.99-per-month 3G/4G service plan offers one big advantage over AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Cricket: truly unlimited data usage, at least on 4G, so you can use it as an alternative to a home connection if you like. 3G usage is restricted to 5GB per month, after which you pay 5 cents per megabyte.

The Novatel Wireless MiFi 4082 is the best Sprint hotspot so far, and right now Sprint is offering a $50 rebate, lowering the total price to $49.99. But I'm left wondering what will happen when I compare it with Sierra Wireless's new Overdrive Pro ($99.99, minus another $50 rebate), which has an informative LCD screen and an optional booster dock which pumps up its reception. The MiFi is smaller, and will probably likely get better battery life; right now, it looks like the best pick for road warriors. Either way, you won't regret buying it. But if that booster dock seems intriguing for home use, check out the Overdrive Pro.