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Best Windows 8 apps this week

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 8:36pm CEST par Martin Brinkmann

Twenty-sixth in a series. Windows Store app growth has slowed down a bit in the past two weeks. The overall increase dropped below 2,000 new apps in both periods. The overall app count increased by 1,877 this week to 44,355 apps in the US Windows Store. Free apps increased by 1,372 to a total of 34,802, and paid & trial apps by 505 to 9553 apps.

The Windows 8 news app received an update this week that added support for RSS feeds to it. To add an RSS feed click on the Add a source link after you have opened the news app and add the RSS URL at the top of the source field on the page that opens up. You should not expect "Google Reader"-like controls but if you follow a couple of sites, you can add them here to do so using the news app.

Audible is currently running a promotion for new users that register with the service through the Windows 8 app. A free book -- The Power Trip, American Sniper or The Great Gatsby -- can be added to the user's account free of charge and without having to enter a credit card or subscribing to the service.

App of the Week

The Long Climb

The Long Climb offers a mixture of articles and videos that offer troubleshooting advice, how-to guides and related information about Windows 8 and other Microsoft products. It is maintained by Mike Halsey, Microsoft MVP and book author, who is also running the Long Climb website. Mike is an expert for all things Windows and the app shines in that regard.

The Windows 8 How-To section explains core concepts of the new operating system, like adding network locations, using saved searches or using Bitlocker in the operating system. All guides are easy to understand and with media that help you follow what is being said easily throughout the guides.

Windows 8 is just one of the areas that Mike is proficient in. You find information about Windows 7 here as well as information and reviews of other Microsoft products.

Other Apps

Sushi Chop

You need to slice and chop fish in this game. You have three lives in the first game mode in which you need to slice fish that is thrown in the air in front of you so that you can put it on the rice that is in front of you on the tablet. Each chop is rated and perfect chops get you higher scores than sloppy ones. You also need to be careful as rotten fish is sometimes thrown into the mix. If you slice it, you will lose a life.

The second game mode is more stressful than the first. Here you are asked to chop specific fish only that is displayed to you before each wave. The game features a kids mode as well but you need to unlock it before it becomes available. A store is available that you can purchase upgrades in for coins that you earn while playing the game and that you can purchase with real money as well.

The Chive

This is not the official Chive app, just so you know. It brings funny photos and videos that are posted on The Chive to Windows 8. You can browse the latest photos using the application or one of the available categories. Not everything is safe for work, though, so better be careful when you open the application at work. If you like to browse funny photos and videos, then this app will keep you entertained for a long time.

Gwendolynn the Lionhearted

This jump-and-run game is all about collecting all the treasures -- games and gold -- that is scattered throughout the level. You control the warrior with the WASD keys exclusively. A and D move the character to the left and right, tap on W to jump and on S to slash out with the sword.

Timing is everything in the game to make it across chasms, spiked traps, and other obstacles that lie in your way. If you add monsters to the picture you have all hands full to make it to the end. It is a fun game, at least for a while. It comes without advertisement or in-game purchases.

Just Wink

Create personalized e-cards for specific events or just for fun. Events supported include Mother's Day, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries or simple thank you notes. To get started select one of the cards displayed on the frontpage of the app.

You can look at it in detail on the next page, and if you like what you see, click on personalize to add custom text and media to it. You can add a photo to cards and add one or multiple messages to them as well. Once you are finished click on the wink somebody link to email the card to someone or post it on Facebook.

Geico

The official Geico application is not the prettiest app on the block but that does not really matter that much as most of the functionality that you would expect from it is supported. You can take a look at your policy, bills and ID cards using the app, pay open bills or use the contacts page to contact the company via phone.

Information can be printed and emailed from within the app. The "switch to Geico" offer that you find in the app links to the Geico website. So, you can check your existing data using the application, something that you can also do on the web.

Remember Metro

A client app for the popular task management service Remember the Milk. You need to authorize Remember Metro on first start to use data from a Remember the Milk account. If you do not have one, you can create it right on the page.

Once you have authorized the account, you will see all your tasks in the apps' interface. From here it is possible to add new tasks, mark tasks as complete, or delete tasks. The data is automatically synced between the app and Remember the Milk.

Sofascore

If you like to follow live scores of sport events then SofaScore may be the app you have been looking for. Pick a sport from the available selection: Football, Basketball, Rugby, American Football or Baseball can all be selected here among other sports. The app loads a list of games that you can filter by country if you like.

Information about running and upcoming games are listed here. A click on a match opens the match details page that highlights the score, incidents, standings, as well as previous and upcoming matches of the clubs. What about you? Have you spotted a new application for Windows 8 this week that you really like? Let me know in the comments.
Android outdated? Blame Google, not cellular carriers

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 7:52pm CEST par J Marra

You can still buy phones running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), even though Google released the last distribution, version 2.3.7, in September, 2011. In the meantime, numerous security flaws have been discovered in Gingerbread and users are vulnerable to them.

For this, the ACLU blames AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. The logic in their plea to the FTC is so shoddy that I have to suspect an ulterior motive. In whose interests is the ACLU operating here?

I got in an argument with a bunch of lawyers about this on a mailing list, and you can see how so many want to believe the worst about the carriers. It's easy to bash the carriers and I don't like them either, but that doesn't make them at fault for this problem.

Once they start releasing a new major version of Android, Google stops updating the old ones. Note that the release date of 2.3.7 is September 11, 2011 and the release date for 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is October 19, 2011. Version 3.x (Honeycomb) was a dead-end of sorts that started as Google's attempt to support tablets on Android, but was largely abandoned for 4.0. The next version for phones after 2.3.7 was 4.0.

And yet the hardware requirements for 4.0 are substantially greater than those for Gingerbread. See chapter 7 in both the Android 2.3 Compatibility Definition and the Android 4.0 Compatibility Definition: Just one of the differences is that the minimum RAM requirement went from 128MB to 340MB.

I'm sure Gingerbread devices typically have no more than 256MB, and no phones are upgradable for memory. The result is that it's impossible for the carriers to update the phones.

Who is to blame? If there's any to asses, I'll give it to Google for providing security patches only in a new major version of the operating system with elevated hardware requirements. Contrast this with, for example, Microsoft's continuing provision of security updates for Windows XP, even for pirated copies, 12 years after initial release.

Someone suggested to me that maybe this is true for Gingerbread, but what about Ice Cream Sandwich phones that aren't upgraded to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1 and 4.2)? I think it's worth pointing out that there are also hardware and software requirements changes in 4.1 that would take time for carriers to implement, and it's possible that handset makers didn't deem such task as possible or worth the trouble to provide the update.

Notice I didn't say "carrier" in that last paragraph, because it's not their job to write updates. They provide updated software given to them by handset makers and Google. Many of the handset makers only do what the carriers tell them to do, but obviously they're involved. The real blame, once again, is on Google for not providing patches for ICS after Jelly Bean became available.

The carriers are old and easy villains for the ACLU. They're bad big business. Google, Apple and the handset makers, on the other hand, are good big business. (Microsoft more resembles Google and Apple in this regard, but definitely bad big business. Why is left as an exercise to the reader in the comment section below.)

Now I'd like to think I'm not stupid and I recognize that Google's patching practices are arguably in the interests of the phone makers and carriers (who sell almost all the handsets) in that they increase the need to upgrade phones rapidly. Perhaps the whole system is wrong and everyone's hands are dirty.

Photo Credit: M. Dykstra/Shutterstock

As iPhone market share peaks, there's one direction to go

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 6:24pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

You will reads lots of dribble today about Samsung first quarter phone gains compared to Apple. Most will ignore something fundamental to the numbers: What they represent. IDC and Strategy Analytics separately put out data, for shipments, which mean handsets going to carriers, dealers and other sellers. That's very different from sales to businesses and consumers, Gartner's measure and the more accurate one (that data isn't ready yet).

For few quarters is the difference between shipments and sales likely to be so pronounced, actually even more so in Q2. Apple comes off its second full quarter of iPhone 5 sales and global distribution, and so shipments into the channel, nearly complete. Meanwhile, Samsung ramps up for Galaxy S4's launch, while achieving full global availability for the S III. Second quarter is the more likely bloodbath for Apple, but actual sales will foreshadow much. Still, shipments hint something now, and iPhone faces serious challenges.

By Strategy Analytics reckoning, Samsung shipped 106.6 million handsets during Q1, obtaining 28.6 percent global share. Apple ranked third, with 10 percent share from 37.4 million units. IDC puts Samsung shipments higher (115 million) but share lower (27.5 percent). Apple's number is same as Strategy Analytics but market share less: 8.9 percent.

"Apple’s global mobile phone market share is approaching a peak", Woody Oh, Strategy Analytics senior analyst, warns. "Apple will need to launch new models, or partner with additional major carriers like China Mobile, if it wants to expand significantly beyond its current ceiling of 10 percent global volume share".

But no new models are coming. Apple chooses not to compete with Samsung, by holding back new phones until autumn. During this week's Apple earnings conference call, in response to a question about when to expect new products, CEO Tim Cook answers: "We’ve got some really great stuff coming in the fall and across all of 2014". Don't expect anything sooner. So Galaxy S4 and other Androids, like HTC One, face no new competition from Apple.

Smartphone Story

Global phone shipments actually mask Apple's broader market situation. The data pits a smartphone against competitors selling handsets of various types. Three things:

Smartphone shipments exceeded feature phones in Q1 for the first time, reaching 51.6 percent share, according to IDC.
Apple smartphone share declined nearly 7 points, even as unit shipments nudged up.
iPhone growth fell way behind the market, reversing trend of exceeding it.

On a smartphone-to-smartphone basis, in the category now globally more important, Apple struggles for the first time. Meanwhile competitors -- Samsung significantly -- bring exciting new models to market while the fruit-logo company rests on iPhone 5's laurels.

Smartphone shipments grew by 41.6 percent during first quarter, according to IDC. Among the top-five, only Apple grew below the market, and considerably less -- just 6.6 percent. By comparison: LG (110.2 percent); Huawei (94.1 percent); Samsung (60.7 percent); ZTE (49.2 percent).

Top Five Smartphone Vendors Q1 2013 (Units in Millions)

Vendor	1Q13 Unit Shipments	1Q13 Market Share	1Q12 Unit Shipments	1Q12 Market Share	Year-over-year Change
Samsung	70.7	32.7%	44.0	28.8%	60.7%
Apple	37.4	17.3%	35.1	23.0%	6.6%
LG	10.3	4.8%	4.9	3.2%	110.2%
Huawei	9.9	4.6%	5.1	3.3%	94.1%
ZTE	9.1	4.2%	6.1	4.0%	49.2%
Others	78.8	36.4%	57.5	37.7%	37.0%
Total	216.2	100.0%	152.7	100.0%	41.6%

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, April 25, 2013

Clueless Cook

During this week's Apple earnings conference call, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi put forth a 30 percent industry growth estimate (now known to be too low), observing iPhone to be much lower, and looking ahead: "Broadly incorporating your guidance for next quarter and thinking about fiscal Q1, it appears very unlikely that Apple will grow at that market rate of 30 percent or more".

Cook's deflection reveals much. He starts by discussing iPad shipments, rather than iPhone, presenting more positive perspective. Hey, that's what these execs are taught to do in media training. He continues: "On the phone side, the numbers that you talked about, the sell-in comparisons year over year, you really have to convert that to sell-through to look at the underlying demand". Cook is right about that, which is why I assert the Gartner numbers matter much more.

Then Cook concedes: "However, I take your point if the market did grow by 30 percent, we still, after that normalization, we grew less than that. And so I think the question or the -- this point is not lost and we do want to grow faster. We don’t view it, however, as the only measure of our health". He then goes on to customer satisfaction stats and how iPhone 4 and 4S pricing will woo first-time smartphone buyers.

The first-timers are more likely to purchase from Samsung or, across China and some other parts of Asia, from Huawei and ZTE. Chinese manufacturers "have made significant strides to capture new users with their respective Android smartphones", Ramon Llamas, IDC research manager, says.

Assessing Apple

So I see a few direct takeaways from the data currently available:

1. Apple's real world situation isn't likely as bad as some arm-chair pundits will suggest -- not this quarter, and certainly not based on unit shipments.

2. Gartner's numbers, for actual sales, are better measure of just how well iPhone is doing, and they're not available yet.

3. Second quarter is the one to watch for any Apple bloodbath, measured by either shipments or sales, but better the latter. Apple has nothing new to offer, while the hottest Androids of the year come to market.

4. China's rising stars, particularly Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE, will impede Apple's push into the world's largest smartphone market.

Apple is ripe for smartphone troubles. But it's too early to say how much, or how little.

Photo Credit: 1000 Words/Shutterstock

BlackBerry Q10 now available, gets Skype preview

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 3:06pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Even though BlackBerry unveiled the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone in late-January, prospective customers around the world are still waiting to get their hands on the device. But if you live in the UK the handset is available today from Selfridges. The BlackBerry Q10 will also arrive next week, starting May 1, in Canada.

At Selfridges, the BlackBerry Q10 is available to purchase outright for GBP579.99 which is quite expensive for any smartphone, let alone one with a QWERTY keyboard. For the money you get a 3.1-inch display with a resolution of 720 by 720 and a 330 ppi (pixels per inch) density, 8 MP back-facing camera with 1080p video recording, 16 GB of internal storage and 4G LTE cellular connectivity as the main features.

For the BlackBerry Q10 the Canadian manufacturer quotes 14.4 hours of standby time and up to 13.5 hours of talk time, both using 3G connectivity. The endurance is decent by today's standards but not impressive considering the small screen.

If you do decide to get a BlackBerry Q10 you should be pleased to know that Skype is also available, in preview trim, at launch. The app features the usual suspects like voice and video calling, instant and text messaging support as well as calls to mobile phones and landlines around the globe.

The app, according to the announcement, is designed with the BlackBerry Q10's display in mind. That means the interface is optimized for the square look of the panel. Also, Skype contacts are automatically imported to the smartphone's contact list, which should make it easier to call people, and notifications are displayed under the BlackBerry Hub.

BlackBerry also has a blog post on Skype's arrival which reveals an interesting tidbit related to BlackBerry 10.1. "Skype runs on the 10.1 Operating System on the BlackBerry Q10. As this new version of the BlackBerry 10 operating system launches on the BlackBerry Z10 in the coming weeks, BlackBerry Z10 owners will have the ability to download Skype for BlackBerry from BlackBerry World", says the manufacturer.

Skype for the Q10 is available to download from BlackBerry World now.
Microsoft, Windows Phone 8 hardware must keep up with the times

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 3:00pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

This is a question that I never thought I'd ask -- Is the hardware leaving Windows Phone 8 behind its fierce competition? In September last year, I asserted that "Windows Phone 8 is the best idea Microsoft has had in phone tech" after analyzing the new hardware requirements imposed by the software giant for its smartphone operating system. But as we all know eight months is a long time in the tech world.

This is a tough question to answer. After all, in January, BlackBerry unveiled the BlackBerry Z10 with pretty much the same hardware that was available for Windows Phone 8 at launch. Apple's iPhone 5 is also not far away in terms of specifications. So should Microsoft rest on its laurels and send the engineers on vacation? Well, no. As a smart man once said, "You can never have enough power". And even Windows Phone needs better hardware, although some die-hard fanboys would beg to differ.

The Hardware Is Good...

I'll concede that Windows Phone 8 performs very well on compatible hardware. The dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are decently powerful even by today's standards, but a good processor alone does not make for a great nor popular smartphone today, as we all know.

My Lumia 920, bar the occasional hiccups likely associated with the branded firmware that I used to have (I now run a developer firmware on it), performs very well when navigating the interface or the installed apps. I have no major complaints concerning lag when scrolling, zooming, installing software or other such activities, but it's not perfect either.

... But Good Is Not Good Enough

I'm quite sure I've read that Windows Phone 8 is very fluid with no lag or stutter in a bunch of reviews. That's not entirely true. I sometimes encounter a slight stutter when navigating the interface or lag when resuming an app, both of which should be entirely eliminated by using beefier hardware.

When Windows Phone 8 can't handle the number of suspended apps -- because there's no true multitasking like on Windows -- it starts closing the most problematic or first-used ones. Likely due to the same reasons even Internet Explorer comes with a tab number limitation -- one can only have a maximum of six opened at the same time.

If the lag or stutter can be attributed to the processing power, the multitasking issue can be pinned on the amount of RAM. How can Microsoft take care of these problems? It's simple, just add support for the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Manufacturers could then use a mindbogglingly fast Snapdragon 600 or Snapdragon 800 inside their next Windows Phone handsets.

Look at Me!

Yes, I've got a gripe with the display as well. Windows Phone 8 devices are limited to having a panel with a maximum resolution of 768 by 1280 -- as the Lumia 920 has. But why is that? Well, you can also blame Microsoft's design principle here. Because when Windows Phone 8 came to market the software giant didn't give quad-core processors the stamp of approval so it would have been a mistake to allow manufacturers to use 1080p displays, for instance.

With a higher pixel count the smartphone would need more processing power at its disposal in order to deliver a similar user experience as it does now, otherwise it just bogs down. Basically one limitation creates another. It's obvious, but that proves Microsoft doesn't want to look beyond the near future. Shouldn't now be the time to learn from past mistakes?

And there's the other side of the coin -- manufacturers can't innovate or even follow market leaders. The perfect example for this is the phablet market. There, today's smartphones need 1080p displays in order to deliver the highest visual quality on a large screen. The higher the ppi (pixels per inch) density on a 5.5-inch panel (for example) the better. Windows Phone 8 can't compete for the phablet crown without a loss in clarity and customer satisfaction.

Constantly Behind the Curve

Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 were all designed for the hardware available during the development process, which is a problem if Microsoft wants to release a major software iteration each year.

Windows Phone 7.5 devices ran on a single-core processor, 512 MB of RAM and a 480 by 800 display resolution at best. Not long afterwards beefier quad-core processors with 1 GB of RAM as well as 720p displays were available.

Guess what? Microsoft's operating system didn't support any of those specs. A similar story can be said about Windows Phone 8. It came with last year's hardware requirements when we now have quad-core processors with 2GB of RAM and 1080p displays. Of course, it doesn't support such hardware. So what should be done?

Microsoft should protect Microsoft from Microsoft. The company's thinking of limiting Windows Phone 8 to only support the hardware of its time is rendered obsolete by the fast-paced tech world. Develop today, but think of tomorrow as well.

The best scenario is to bear current hardware in mind but leave room for what's coming next. Or, if that leaves too much room for error, Microsoft could simply update its operating system more frequently to bump up the maximum supported hardware. It should have done so at launch, actually.

The Spec War

Microsoft shouldn't play the specifications war that is constantly underway in the Android world. But Microsoft can't ignore better hardware either. With better hardware the company can give Windows Phone manufacturers the opportunity to more clearly differentiate their products or give them a better fighting chance against the competition.

The company doesn't need to enforce a ton of stickers on the box touting the hardware that's inside, but when customers want to buy a smartphone they shouldn't be able to dismiss Windows Phone handsets based on inferior hardware specifications. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

By today's standards Windows Phone 8 devices are mid-range compared to their Android counterparts. People notice that. Why shoot yourself in the foot if you have the option not to do so? If Microsoft keeps up with similar limitations its smartphone operating system will always be one hardware generation behind. Has it helped so far? I'd say not.

The Options Matter

Truth be told, I find it silly that Microsoft can't provide users with the option to choose what they want. It is the same thinking that got the company into trouble with Windows 8, which even today gets a bad rep for not allowing users to use a simple Start menu on traditional computers. Why not show a sign of change, Microsoft?

As a Windows Phone 8 user I have to commit to using yesterday's hardware when I should be able get the best available today. Does it do the operating system any good? No. Does it do consumers any good? No. I just don't see the point, only excuses.

Photo Credit: AlexRoz/Shutterstock
Samsung unifies its PC line under the ATIV brand, rolls out two new Book models and SideSync software

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 11:41am CEST par Wayne Williams

Samsung has announced it will be expanding its ATIV brand name to cover all of its Windows PCs, not just its convertible PC devices. The aim is to create a single cohesive brand for all its Windows 8 products, in a similar way to how the Galaxy brand unifies all of its Android smartphones.

In addition to the rebranding, Samsung has rolled out two new ATIV Book models -- the ATIV Book 5 and ATIV Book 6.

Described as the "next generation of Samsung Ultrabook", the Book 5 comes with a 14-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1366 by 768, Intel Core i5-3337U processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage and 24GB of ExpressCache. It’s available for pre-order now, priced from $899.99. The Book 6 has a 15.6-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1920 by 1080, Intel Core i7-3635QM processor, AMD Radeon HD 8770M GPU, 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. It will set you back from $1199.99.

As if that wasn’t enough, Samsung is also adding a new feature to bring the ATIV and Galaxy lines closer together. Called SideSync, it is designed to make it easier for customers to switch from working on a PC to their smartphone by connecting the two devices via a USB cable. According to the South Korean firm, when connected, users can "respond to a text on a mobile phone from their PC keyboard; view maps, photos and multimedia from their phone on their PC screen; make edits to files on their phone via their ATIV PC; and even drag and drop files from one unit to another".

SideSync will come pre-loaded as a desktop app on Windows 8 ATIV PCs and be compatible with all of Samsung’s Android-based devices.

"Samsung has been the fastest growing PC brand for the past three years, in part because of our commitment to developing solutions that meet and exceed the ever-evolving needs of our customers," Mike Abary, senior vice president of consumer IT product marketing at Samsung Electronics America explains. "Our expanded ATIV brand and the introduction of solutions like SideSync create the necessary synergy between our mobile and PC lines to create real ease of use for consumers. These synergies enable us to maintain our momentum and continue to offer our customers innovations that enhance the way they live and work".
Road warriors, Dell XPS 10 is now available with 4G LTE connectivity

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 11:02am CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

For road warriors looking to catch up on the latest events, reply to important business emails, or perform some crucial tasks while traveling, a cellular data connection is a must-have feature for a tablet. The best case scenario -- if Wi-Fi is not available or a safe option -- is to rely on a smartphone in order to tether, which drains its battery in a couple of hours (at best). Definitely not an option for a lot of people.

Luckily, Dell finally gets it. The American company introduces a new cellular data option for the XPS 10 which gives the Windows RT-based tablet the ability to connect to 4G LTE networks. Considering that the device was launched around the same time as Windows 8 and Windows RT, it took Dell quite some time to make cellular data a priority, at least for the XPS 10.

The XPS 10 with 4G LTE starts at $599.99 for the 64 GB version and runs for $749.99 when buying the tablet with the Dell keyboard dock. You're looking at pretty much the same hardware specifications as with the base device.

That means prospective buyers can get a 10.1-inch multitouch display with a resolution of 1366 by 768; 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor; one-year warranty; Windows RT; 1.4 lbs and 2.89 lbs for the XPS 10 without the keyboard and with the keyboard attached, respectively.

Sadly, the device is available with 4G LTE only in the US and only with AT&T. Tough luck for everyone else. And that is a very long list which includes about seven billion people.
Smartphones take the world stage, as BlackBerry and Nokia shipments collapse

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 8:43am CEST par Joe Wilcox

In February, I predicted that smartphone sales would surpass feature phones within a couple quarters. Looks like I am likely wrong, as shipments already have, according to IDC. Last month the analyst firm predicted such circumstance this year, which by Q1 is sooner than anyone anticipated.

Meanwhile, something more shocking occurred turn first quarter -- my, God, when will the milestones stop? Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE pushed BlackBerry and Nokia out of the top five. Right Nokia -- the company that invented the smartphone and had, until last year, a 14 year-run as global handset leader. The worldwide phone market undergoes dramatic changes, and they're far from over.

"Phone users want computers in their pockets", Kevin Restivo, IDC senior research analyst, says. "The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away. As a result, the balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are most dependent on smartphones". Nokia is too attached to feature phones, by the way.

Manufacturers shipped 418.6 million handsets in Q1, up 4 percent year over year, from 402.4 million. Smartphones captured 51.6 percent share -- that's 216.2 million, up 41.6 percent annually from 152.7 million.

Samsung widened its lead over Apple -- 70.7 million smartphones to 34.7 million, respectively. A year earlier, the South Korean company's lead was more modest over its American rival -- 44 million to 35.1 million. Samsung shipments rose a stunning 60.7 percent, compared to just 6.6 percent for Apple. Their respective market shares: 32.7 percent and 17.3 percent. The fruit-logo company lost nearly 7 points of share.

LG posted strongest growth (110.2 percent), but Huawei's gains weren't far behind (94.1 percent). The two vied for third place share, 4.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. ZTE rounded out the top 5 with 4.2 percent share. Among handsets driving LG shipments: Google Nexus 4.

"A year ago, it was common to see previous market leaders Nokia, BlackBerry (then Research In Motion), and HTC among the top five", Ramon Llamas, IDC research manager, says. "While those companies have been in various stages of transformation since, Chinese vendors, including Huawei and ZTE as well as Coolpad and Lenovo, have made significant strides to capture new users with their respective Android smartphones".

Success of the homegrowns poses problems for Apple, which counts China as its second most important region, next to North America. China generated $8.2 billion revenue for Apple during calendar first quarter, largely from iPhone.

But Chinese manufacturers move West, and with success. Huawei shipments outside of Asia-Pacific nearly doubled, for example.

We'll know more when Gartner releases figures. The analyst firm measures actual sales rather than shipments.

Photo Credit: Massimo Cavallo/Shutterstock
If Congress passes Internet sales tax legislation, you lose

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 7:58am CEST par Derrick Wlodarz

It's almost as if some in Congress forget that we've been down this path before. Garbage legislation, now under the moniker of the Marketplace Fairness Act, has been discussed in various guises and masks over the last 20 years or so. Streamlined Sales Tax. Remote Sales Tax. Distant Sales Tax. They've been tried, debated and debunked each time before.

But it's funny how larger than ever state budget deficits perk up the ears of slimy congressmen on the umpteenth attempt at an Internet sales tax. While proponents like J Marra, writing for BetaNews this week, are in favor of this bill, I stand tall against it, without hesitation.

Speaking from Experience

As a small business owner myself, already reeling in yearly time wasted in wading red tape, I have full right to be fired up about this new effort. Even though my business only does taxable commerce in Illinois, I have numerous colleagues in the IT industry who would be affected by this legislation. Any time government tries to impose new taxes and says that it is merely filling in the gaps is cause for alarm.

Remember when big government lied to us and claimed that Obamacare would save money for everyone across the board? It's the same flawed thinking that leads some to estimate costs rising for individual plan claims up to 32 percent under the massive legislation. Rule of thumb: the more government gets involved, the worse off we generally are.

Just about 20 years ago, the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling in Quill v. North Dakota that set an important precedent in today's debates. In that case, the court said, rightfully so, that obligating businesses to collect taxes on behalf of jurisdictions which they have no presence was too burdensome to enforce and expect of them.

Yes, you can say that the case was pitted in the discussion surrounding mail order catalogs and their sales across state lines, but the basis for argument is the same. Should businesses large and small be held liable for collecting taxes on any number of items they may sell to any person online in the vast United States?

Small Business Nightmare

If this junk legislation passes, it means that businesses with online sales across state lines will be liable for tax collection across roughly 9,600 different jurisdictions in the country. As if small business owners didn't have enough paperwork and red tape to wade through already to keep their businesses legal.

Proponents of this smelly pile refute the tax liability mess by claiming simplified "tax calculation software" will be available to affected merchants in efforts to simplify tax liabilities. Reality to Congress: QuickBooks has been around for over 20 years now, and taxes have not gotten any easier for US small businesses. I'm not sure how another band aid to a broken, over-complicated tax system is going to make life any easier or the burden any less troublesome.

One of the bills sponsors, web giant Amazon, has come out in favor of the legislation. Not surprisingly, Amazon already has the vast, expensive technical infrastructure in place to handle such broad tax collections. So much so that it's even offering expertise in the form of tax compliance services to other businesses. The online retailer has got more to gain financially from this bill passing than just "leveling the playing field" as it claims publicly.

The 3,007 counties of the USA, as shown above, are just a sliver of the jurisdictions that small businesses would be liable in collecting taxes if this legislation passed. All because they survive by selling across state lines. Whatever politicians calls the legislation, it's the same tax increase that has failed time and time again in congress. (Image courtesy of: mapsfordesign.com)

It's also interesting to note that this bill has zero language addressing how States would force brick and mortars to collect taxes for purchases made in person by out-of-town residents. After all, the name of this bill is the Marketplace Fairness Act, and in the interest of fairness, shouldn't brick and mortars be held to the same legislation that is burdening their out-of-state competitors?

Five states do not collect any form of state sales tax, including Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. So if I were a Washington resident I could make the short trek into Oregon and get away without paying any sales taxes. Yet sitting back in my recliner, ordering from the same vendor in the comfort of my home, would yield a fully taxable purchase. That's fairness? Depends on who you ask, I guess.

Bill sponsors claim that the reason brick and mortars cannot be held to the same standard is because, presumably, it would be too difficult to impose questions upon each buyer about what state and county they come from. But hypocritically, they agree, that imposing the same burden on online retailers is justifiable because they can wrangle in some legal language providing cost-effective tax calculation software that will make the process seamless.

No Silver Bullet

If there's one thing I know as a small business owner, it's that nothing surrounding government legislation is as easy as it's portrayed. I don't care how much software you toss my way.

Here's a suggestion to a Congress hell-bent on raising taxes: how about focusing efforts on cleaning up our broken tax code instead? It's already been proven that Americans as a whole waste 6.1 billion hours annually merely complying with federal tax laws. That's the equivalent labor time of 2.1 million full time workers! Talk about waste to the nth degree.

While there has been no silver bullet plan as of yet, the attention Herman Cain received for his (flawed, but commendable) 9-9-9 flat tax plan was a step in the right direction, at least as food for thought. If Congress was discussing ways to reduce tax loopholes and administrative overhead/complexity, we wouldn't have talk about ways to raise taxes on Americans to fill budget deficits.

While the Senate tries its best to ram through the Marketplace Fairness Act as fast as possible, I urge all commonsense Americans to not only sign the public eBay petition against this grimy monstrosity, but also reach out to their representatives and tell them why you are opposed to any new tax increases of this nature.

Legislation supporters claim this is out of fairness to the mom and pops losing money due to online retailers, yet the very ones that will be hurt most are the small-timers selling on the web who will be burdened with more red tape, overhead, and administrative waste.

Fix the glaring mess we already have, Congress -- then perhaps we can discuss just cause for more taxation.

Photo Credit: Jane0606/Shutterstock
CCleaner 4.01 freshens up your browser

Publié: avril 26, 2013, 6:08am CEST par Nick Peers

Piriform has released CCleaner 4.01 and CCleaner Portable 4.01, a minor update to its popular Windows freeware system cleaning tool. Version 4.01 is the first release since version 4.0 split users into free and paid-for camps by restricting product features to Pro license holders only.

Most of version 4.01’s tweaks are available to both free and paid-for users, and revolve around improving existing tools and adding cleaning support to several new applications.

Improvements in CCleaner 4.01 revolve around better support for existing browsers: there’s improved cleaning for Google Chrome’s History along with better compatibility with Internet Explorer 10 and later builds of Firefox (version 19 and upward).

Windows 8 users should benefit from improved Registry cleaning thanks to an optimized cleaning algorithm, while both new tools introduced in version 4.0 – the Duplicate File Finder and Pro-only System and Browser Monitoring feature -- also gain unspecified enhancements and optimizations.

Application-specific cleaning has been further developed too: added in version 4.01 are support for Adobe Acrobat XI, VSO Blu-ray and DVD Converter Ultimate, Oxygen XML Editor 1.4 and Connectify Hotspot, while two tools already supported -- Mailwasher Pro and Google Earth -- both gain improved cleaning.

The update is rounded off with the usual minor tweaks and bug fixes. CCleaner 4.01.4093 and CCleaner Portable 4.01.4093 are both available as free-for-personal-use downloads for PCs running Windows XP or later. Pro licenses are currently available for $24.95, a saving of $8 on the MSRP.

Photo Credit: Liv friis-larsen/Shutterstock