Apple's iOS lineup accounts for 84% of in-flight Wi-Fi traffic from mobile devices

In-flight Wi-Fi provider Gogo on Thursday reported that iOS users account for the lion's share of mobile devices accessing the company's ground-to-air Wi-Fi network, with iPhone owners comprising some 73 percent of all traffic originating from smartphones.


According to Gogo, an in-flight Wi-Fi provider operating on 1,800 aircraft across ten carriers, including United, Delta and American Airlines, some 84 percent of all mobile devices connecting to its service have been identified as running Apple's iOS. Products using rival operating system Android account for the remaining 16 percent.

While iOS still rules the skies, the OS saw a decline from a 96.8 percent share in 2011, while Android use grew 400 percent over the same period.

Breaking down the statistics by device, smartphones and tablets combine to make up 67 percent of portables being used to access the internet in-flight. Tablets enjoy the most use with a 35 percent share, while laptops and smartphones comes in at 33 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

Apple's presence is dominating, with the iPhone accounting for 73 percent of smartphones recorded, compared to Android's 26 percent. Handsets running on BlackBerry and Windows didn't break the 1 percent mark.

Gogo said that passengers spend most of their time surfing the Web, with Apple's Safari being the most used browser, followed by Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Google's Chrome. Other Internet activities ranking high on the list of things to do while traveling include writing emails, accessing social media sites, checking sports scores and shopping.


Source-Gogo

Xbox 720

It appears that some of the technical aspects of the Xbox 720's CPU have recently been leaked to the general public. VG Leaks has gotten ahold of a very detailed description of the Durango CPU, which will power the next Xbox.
The CPU turns out to have total of eight total core processors, much like previous rumors had indicated, with each running a single thread at 1.6 GHz. In comparison, the PlayStation 4 will have eight x86-64 bit "Jaguar" core processors, built by AMD. The Durango is designed to help developers get the most of the powerful CPU, as explained in the leaked information:
"With Durango, a familiar instruction set architecture and high performance silicon mean developers can focus effort on content and features, not micro-optimization. The trend towards more parallel power continues in this hardware; so, an effective strategy for multi-core computing is more important than ever," VGLeaks writes.
It is worth noting that none of this information is verified by Microsoft, so it could very well be that the Durango will be completely different. But in light of others claiming to have leaks about the new system, this looks like it could be the hardware for the Xbox 720. Microsoft is said to be planning on officially revealing the new system in April, so curious gamers will have to wait until then to get the official specs of the new system, if Microsoft reveals them at the announcement at all.


Which one one of the upcoming next-gen consoles are you looking forward to more? The PlayStation 4 or the next-gen Xbox?

The wait is over PS4: Sony unveils new:PlayStation 4 console

Sony Corp unveiled its first video game console in seven years on Wednesday that will let users stream and play video games hosted on servers, hoping the move will help stem user losses, pre-empt the next version of Microsoft's Xbox and propel it back to the top of the videogame hardware industry.
The company revealed its PlayStation 4 console, which will succeed the PlayStation 3, at a flashy event in New York with game developers like Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard in attendance.

Sony said the console would be available for the holiday 2013 season. It did not immediately disclose pricing.

The console will be up against the next version of the industry-leading Xbox console, which is expected later this summer.

The controller on the new console dubbed "DualShock 4" will have a touch pad, Mark Cerny, lead system architect on PlayStation 4, said.

Sony purchased U.S. cloud-based gaming company Gaikai for $380 million in July. Using that technology, the new console will offer a cloud-gaming service, the company said.

The 8GB PlayStation 4, which has been in development for the last five years, can also instantly stream game content from the console to Sony's handheld PlayStation Vita through a feature called "Remote Play," the company said.

Sony has also revamped the user interface on the new console that keeps tabs on user preferences and added social networking features.

Sony's announcement comes amid industry speculation that Microsoft is set to unveil the successor to its Xbox 360 later this summer. The market-leading Xbox 360 beats the seven-year-old PlayStation 3's online network with features such as voice commands on interactive gaming and superior connectivity to smartphones and tablets.

Gaining a lead over Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo Co Ltd's new Wii U could help Sony revive an electronics business hurt by a dearth of hit gadgets, a collapse in TV sales and the convergence of consumer interest around tablets and smartphones built by rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Tablets and smartphones already account for around 10 percent of the $80 billion gaming market. Those mobile devices, analysts predict, will within a few years be as powerful as the current slew of game-only consoles.

After six years, Sony PlayStation sales are just shy of Xbox's 67 million installed base and well behind the 100 million units of Wii sold by Nintendo, according to analysts.
Here is also a look of the kills zone shadowlands for ps4

Microsoft suffering loses due to its absence from iOS

Microsoft's absence from Apple's hot-selling tablet iPad may be costing the world's biggest software maker a fortune. In a research note, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Holt said that Microsoft is losing as much as $2.5 billion per year by not providing its Office Suite on Apple's iOS.


Holt estimated that if Microsoft begins offering Office Suite - which includes programmes like Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc - at a price of $60, 30% of iPad users are likely to purchase the app. In his note, he said that approximately 200 million people will be using iPads in 2014, thus allowing Microsoft to rake in $2.5 billion for the year, even after paying Apple the 30% commission it charges.

As of now, the Office Suite is only available on Windows platform and more importantly on Surface tablets, the rivals of iPads. In his note, Holt said, "While Microsoft has resisted offering a full version of Office for the iOS, the company may ultimately decide there is more upside with Office on iPads, particularly if Windows tablets fall short of expectations."

On Windows 8, Holt also said that Microsoft's new operating system provides the company with a new avenue to generate revenue. However, the growth potential of this touch-friendly platform has been hampered by the limited availability of Windows-powered touchscreen devices. Another factor for this is that enterprises have slowed down in upgrading the software they use in office computers.

HTC READY TO COMPETE WITH ITS RIVALS

HTC, a smartphone maker based in Taiwan, announced its new flagship device on Tuesday. The phone, which has been christened HTC One, will compete with Apple's iPhone, flagship Android devices and other smartphones. It is powered by Google's Android Jelly Bean aka Android 4.1 and the new version of Sense, a proprietary user interface created by HTC.

The phone is likely to be available in March in various countries. Currently, there is no specific date for the India launch.

HTC, which has seen its market share dwindle in the last one year, is hoping to get back in the game with the new phone. This is one of the reasons why the company has pulled out all stops for HTC One and has equipped it with the best hardware available at the moment. The phone, which has a metal unibody design, is powered by a Qualcomm quad-core processor running at 1.7GHz. It sports a 4.7 inch screen with 1080P resolution and features 2GB RAM.

The phone will be available with 32GB or 64GB internal storage. There is no support for microSD card. It has a 2.1 mega pixel front camera and a battery with a capacity of 2300 mAh.

HTC claims the highlight of the phone is its primary camera, which comes with a new technology that is reportedly better than the camera technology used in the existing phones. HTC One camera will shoot pictures in just four mega pixels. But the company says that more important is what the phone is going to do with these pixels.

At the launch event in the US, an HTC official said, "For years, people have been misled about what is important in a camera - what matters is not pixel count, but pixel size. Bigger pixels let in more light, it's simple physics... We're trying to balance out what a lens can support and what a sensor can support. We're talking about real image quality, not just megapixels for the sake of megapixels. The era of the megapixel is over."

HTC claimed that the camera in its new phone can capture 300% more light than the cameras in existing phones. It can also produce better HDR pictures and videos. Just like the camera in Lumia 920, the camera in HTC One features optical image stabilization.

Taking a leaf from the Nokia's phones, specifically PureView 808, the Taiwanese company has also equipped HTC One with better speakers. It is calling the feature BoomSound.

HTC has announced its latest phone just a week ahead of Mobile World Congress where other phone companies are expected to unveil their top devices. Samsung, which competes with HTC, is expected to announce its flagship phone - likely to be called Galaxy S IV -- on March 14.

While HTC had some good smartphones in 2012, it lost to companies like Samsung and Apple that aggressively ramped up their sales and marketing operations. The latest IDC report on global phone market showed that HTC shipped 25% less phones in 2012 compared to 2011. At the same time, its market share halved from over 8% in 2011 to 4% in 2012.

Recently, HTC CEO Peter Chou told Wall Street Journal that his company has suffered because competitors "were too strong and very resourceful, pouring lots of money into marketing."

"The worst for HTC has probably passed. 2013 will not be too bad," Chou told the newspaper.

Apple iTV Event Set for March

Rumors surfaced that Apple may be interested in acquiring German TV maker Loewe, and now a fresh report has surfaced suggesting that the Cupertino-based company is planning an event in March that will be focused around the TV. What remains unclear, however, is if it’s just an update to the Apple TV (we wonder if that’s enough for an event, despite incredible sales), or if it’s a discussion around the highly rumored iTV.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek is the source of the rumor, and he thinks that an iTV software development kit (SDK) is one possible announcement. He even suggests that Apple is aiming to launch an iTV in September or October.

It’s all very interesting, but we’ll need to wait until invites are official before we get too excited. After all, rumors of an iTV have been floating around for quite some time now.

Wanna make Siri better?here are 9 ways

Siri can already write and send texts and e-mails, set reminders and timers, play music, launch applications, or answer any number of context-sensitive questions about sports and movies, as well as restaurants and businesses nearby. But as the software becomes a greater centerpiece across all Apple products -- it started on the iPhone, but has since spread to the iPad, and might hit the Mac later this year -- the problems with Siri are also much more glaring than ever before.

Many Siri rivals have debuted since Apple released the iPhone 4S in October 2011, including Nuance’s “Nina” and Google’s enhanced Voice Search app. Both of these particular competitors outperform Siri in a few key ways: Nina can authenticate users based on their voices, and Google Voice can dictate words as they’re said, processing the search as it’s being asked to prevent long wait times for answers.


With iOS 7 expected to arrive later this year -- an early build has already been discovered in the wild by developers -- Apple needs to polish up the Siri experience, but also add more features to make the service more reliable and user-friendly.

1. More Attentive Siri: Siri isn't a great listener all the time. Yes, Apple says she can hear "natural language," but she often struggles with acronyms, common foreign language words and names, excessive background noise and certain commands -- for example, if you ask Siri to call you an ambulance, Siri will reply, "OK. From now on, I will call you 'An Ambulance.' Is this correct?" In the time it takes you to cancel and start over, you might've already bled out and died. Therefore, better listening, and perhaps instant feedback like Google Voice Search, should rank toward the very top of the priorities list for Siri in iOS 7.

2. Web-Integrated Siri: When Siri doesn't know the answer to a question, she will quickly refer you to the Internet; unfortunately, Siri often doesn’t know the answer to the question. Siri is still doing your dirty work, dictating your words and searching them in Safari, but still, searching the Web forces users to leave Siri to find the information they’re looking for. In iOS 7, we’d love to see Siri include some search results directly in its beautiful grey-and-white interface, rather than opening up Safari or another browser to essentially do what you would’ve done if you weren’t so lazy.

3. Siri And Wikipedia: Siri is a good way to search your phone, but Wikipedia retains its crown as the king of all encyclopedic knowledge on the Internet. Google Voice Search is smart: When you ask a question, it quickly searches Wikipedia for a quick answer, and reads a portion of the answer to you out loud, as well as providing you with a link to the Wikipedia page. Siri could save users a lot of time and effort in iOS 7 if it simply started using Wikipedia as a resource in this way.

4. Siri In The AM: We all have our morning routines. For some, it's checking email, Facebook, or Twitter. Others read news stories; others still prefer to check the weather forecast each morning. How nice would it be if every morning, you could turn on your iPhone and see exactly what you wanted to see? Since Siri is so smart and “personal,” this “Morning Paper” feature would be a nice addition in iOS 7, by giving users what they want to see without having to do any extra work, which is particularly appreciated in the morning. With Siri in iOS 7, mornings could be much easier to bear.

5. Journalist Siri: News breaks all the time, and Siri can’t be expected to know what news you want to read. However, in iOS 7, it would be nice if you could ask Siri about a certain news story, and Siri could return five to 10 relevant articles about a specific topic, using Google News or Yahoo News as its prime source.

6. DJ Siri: Many people listen to music on the iPhone, and Siri was partially designed so users could control their music without ever having to remove the device from their pocket. However, there are currently a few inadequacies: Siri can play a certain genre, playlist or artist, but if you plan to use Siri while the music is already playing, Siri will turn the music off so you can offer another command, even if it’s just to change the song. The interruption is jarring; it would be nice in iOS 7 if Siri could distinguish the user from the music currently playing, which would allow users to simultaneously play music while experimenting with Siri. Also, when you currently want to switch a song, you must say “skip.” Skipping a song somehow requires Siri to connect to the Internet – which makes no sense – and furthermore, if you’re in a music playlist and you want to skip the song, there’s no way to be able to listen to more songs by the artist you’re listening to. Siri in iOS 7 ought to be able to fully accommodate the user’s listening experience, which is a key factor in the overall enjoyment of iOS.

7. Conversational Siri: Siri will help you immediately and remind you when needed, but unlike a human assistant, Siri doesn’t remember your previous conversations in the future. If you ask Siri to find a particular restaurant or business, but you then get sidetracked, Siri won’t remember what you two were previously talking about. In iOS 7, it would be nice if Siri could keep a log of the important things you tell her, which certainly is a helpful tool in keeping track of where you’ve been or what you’ve searched for.

8. Nurse Siri: In iOS 7, Siri could take a page from Watson and turn into a personal, digital nurse. If Apple could integrate WebMD's symptom checker into Siri, assuming she could hold a conversation and remember prior details, users could tell Siri all of their symptoms, and Siri could return lists of possible conditions. Furthermore, Siri could search deeper through WebMD to recommend certain drugs or home treatments, or even locate and contact a nearby pharmacy to go pick up medicine.

Beyond iOS 7, this symptom checker could have unlimited potential in the medical industry. If Siri were able to respond to each answer uniquely, and even further the conversation with the user by asking for clarification, doctors and nurses could save thousands of hours of asking patients the same list of prying medical history questions. There are not enough doctors to do the work that needs to be done, but Siri could potentially change that, hopefully in iOS 7.

9. Shopaholic Siri: Users can use Siri to search the Web for all their shopping needs, but it would be nice if Siri could keep track of the things you want to buy in the future – similar to the way iOS users use the Reminders app. automatically find the lowest available price for whatever you're looking for. In iOS 7, Siri could track your current location and give you a notification if certain stores with the items you want are nearby. If you’re in a shopping mall and several stores have the item you want, Siri in iOS 7 could automatically find the lowest available price for whatever you’re looking for and direct you there.