Indian telco Reliance plan mobile app stores
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Online mobile applications stores has been planned by one of the India’s top mobile firm, Reliance Communications, thus opening up a new revenue stream from add-on services such as music and social networking.
The first version of Reliance Communications application store would go live for GSM customers by the end of February and expended version would be available to its CDMA customers by the end of March.
Seventh-ranked Aircel was the first Indian operator to announce a mobile applications store in January when it signed a deal with number two software services firm Infosys Technologies.
Apple launches browser-based App Store access
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Apple’s browser-based feature enabling consumers to view music available in the iTunes digital store front is now available in the App Store and its catalog of iPhone and iPod touch applications.
The service has been extended three months after quietly introducing iTunes Preview. Through the “Copy Link” option within the iTunes application, Web links to iTunes Preview pages are made available.
From there, the users are taken to Apple-hosted site that lists the description, price, screenshots and customer reviews of the iPhone app in question, as well as direct links to the developer’s own website and support pages.
USB sharing of Stanza ebook app halted by Apple
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: USB book sharing has been stripped of from version 2.1 of Lexcycle’s Stanza app for the iPhone at the request of computing giant Apple.
Ereader applications developer Lexcycle’s previous versions of Stanza, offering complete novels available either under public domain or via Creative Commons licenses as well as content from popular magazines, enabled users to transfer content from their Apple device to their computer.
According to Stanza’s App Store page, the new edition removed the ability to share books via USB as required by Apple and blocked from discussing its conversations with Apple. Apple’s decision to block Stanza’s USB sharing has been speculated a shot at online retail giant Amazon.com, which acquired Lexcycle in the spring of 2009.
Apple iPhone’s VOIP to use 3G connections
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Apple iPhone users can now use internet calling services over cellular networks. Earlier, VoIP calling has been available on the iPhone, but only over WiFi connections, which don’t have the range of 3G cellular networks. Apple has also vowed to get VoIP applications into its App Store.
Apple’s earlier decision to block a Google had triggered an enquiry into the competition in the wireless industry by the Federal Communications Commission.
It was revealed by AT&T that Apple wasn’t allowed to enable any Internet calling applications that use AT&T’s 3G network without AT&T’s permission.
China, Germany, Brazil get Samsung app store
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Omnia II (I8000) and OmniaLite (B7300, I329) users in Singapore, Germany, Brazil and China can now have an access to the application store of the company, Samsung Apps from late January.
Samsung’s application store is already launched in the UK, France and Italy. Singapore, Germany, Brazil and China users can download the Samsung Apps client from Samsungmobile.com through Wap.
Products in Singapore and Germany will be shipped with the application store pre-installed from mid-February. These customers will also be able to take advantage of Kies a new software suite that allows users to search and download applications directly from PCs.
Google Focuses On Mobile Internet (USA)
Having conquered desktop search, Google increasingly appears to be extending its dominion to the mobile Internet.
With a 62% share of mobile Web searches, Google’s market share on cell phones is roughly on par with its commanding lead in PC-based queries. Helping foster that connection, Google recently redesigned its mobile site to more closely resemble the desktop version.
Further, Google is also leading in SMS-text searches, with a 40% share compared to Yahoo’s 27%, according to Nielsen Mobile.
That’s noteworthy because more U.S. mobile data users currently perform searches via SMS than the mobile Internet, 13.1 million to 11.4 million. “While Yahoo got into mobile quickly and broadly and continues to lead as a brand in the mobile Internet, Google is positioning itself well as the leader in mobile search, through all forms including SMS, 411 and WAP (wireless application protocol),” said Nic Covey, director of insights for Nielsen Mobile.
So, is the mobile search war already over? Not necessarily, says Greg Sterling, who leads the local mobile practice for Opus Research, in a new report. While mobile search may not be a wide-open field, Google’s success depends in part on whether search will be as important on mobile devices as on the desktop.
He points out that search is fundamentally more cumbersome in mobile because it’s not as easy to navigate back and forth between search results and WAP sites as on the wired Internet.
Meanwhile, the growing number of mobile applications and widgets make it easier than ever for cell phone users to find information through browser-like interfaces than search boxes. Apple’s App Store opening Thursday with 500 applications for the iPhone is sure to fuel that trend.
“There’s no search required to get the most-desired content,” wrote Sterling. “Search potentially becomes a secondary tool for finding information not provided by the chosen widgets.” Of course, Google has its own set of mobile applications it plans to help spread through phones due out this year using its Android mobile operating system.
Sterling also suggests bookmarks, or short lists of favorite sites, could assume renewed importance on the mobile Web, reducing the need for search.
While concluding search will still have a significant role to play on the handset, his report argues that the wide range of devices and user experiences “creates potential openings for companies other than Google to rise in mobile and potentially gain mindshare and market share.”
One mobile search category where Google hasn’t made inroads is in 411 services. Its Google-411 offering has only 4% of the market, well behind standard 411 (66%) and 1-800-Free-411 (23%).
“411 is an established market and also a market that skews to older users, making it harder for Google to make inroads there, even with a compelling free service,” said Nielsen Mobile’s Covey. But he added that it may just be a matter of time before Google’s free 411 service, launched in April 2007, gains ground.
