SK Telecom’s app store logs 100 mln downloads (South Korea)

By Editor on December 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

SK Telecom has recorded 100 million downloads at its mobile application store. The company’s T Store has reportedly attracted 4.8 million registered users since its launch in September 2009.

About 90% of SK Telecom’s 3.9 million smartphone subscribers have registered with the store, which offers around 76,000 apps for Android, Windows Mobile, and some basic mobile phone models. The company is also planning to expand the service to China, Japan, and other Asian countries.

Filed under Mobile · Tagged with App Store, app stores, Apps, China, Japan, operator

Young Smartphone Users Prefer Apps over Web Browsers

By Editor on November 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Preferences for mobile apps over mobile web browsers are growing among younger demographics, impacting the market for mobile content and accelerating the flow of advertising dollars to app-based content services.

According to Harry Wang, Director of Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates, consumers under 35 years are starting to ditch browsers in favor of mobile apps, where they don’t have to type in a Web address or contend with slow browser speeds. They are also put off by Web pages that do not fit the small phone screen, whereas the mobile app is native to the platform.

As per Parks Associates’ new survey, the majority of consumers who prefer to use apps over mobile Web browsers are less than 35 years of age. Mobile apps are already the dominant medium for access to Internet radio (including Pandora), maps, social networks, navigation (including Google Maps), and games. Netflix has developed an app for the iPad and iPhone which could increase video use as well.

While mobile apps will not completely replace Web browsers, content owners and distributors that rely too much on mobile Web might lose audience and revenues.

Wang added that the mobile experience is all about convenience and instantaneous access. The advantages of mobile apps could lead to a new content distribution environment for paid and ad-supported media services.

Filed under Mobile · Tagged with Apps, Director of Mobile Product Research, Harry Wang, Internet radio, Maps, Mobile, navigation, Parks Associates, smartphone, social networks, Web Browsers

Samsung and Giorgio Armani to launch I9010 Galaxy S

By Editor on November 16, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Samsung has teamed up with Giorgio Armani to launch a designer handset – the Samsung Galaxy S. Samsung I9010 Galaxy S Giorgio Armani is pre-loaded with Armani logos, wallpapers and apps.

The Samsung Galaxy S is a successor to Samsung Captivate smart phone which is exclusively for AT&T, US. The new Giorgio Armani Galaxy S phone is alike the Captivate – a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 1GHz processor, 16GB internal storage, 5 megapixel camera with HD recording and lots of connectivity options.

The handset is bundled with a 5-megapixel camera, a multimedia player, push e-mail service, along with 16GB of memory. This Android phone will be retailed for US$965.

The fashion gadget will hit the Giorgio Armani boutiques and some major retailers in Italy, France, UK, Germany, Dubai, China, Hong Kong, Spain, Russia and the Netherlands from next month.

Filed under Mobile · Tagged with 5 megapixel camera, a multimedia player, Apps, AT&T, China, Dubai, France, Germany, Giorgio Armani, Hong Kong, I9010 Galaxy S, Italy, logos, Mobile, Netherlands, Push E-mail Service, Russia, Samsung, Samsung Captivate, smartphone, Spain, U.S, UK, wallpapers

SK Telecom launches app store

By Editor on September 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment

SK Telecom has opened Korea’s first operator-based mobile apps store. With the launch the company is also planning to take it global by 2011.

The T Store can be accessed by more than 100 different devices with Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability (WIPI) platform, a local middleware platform installed in all Korean phones.

According to the company’s spokesperson, the store offers more than 6,500 applications, games and other content. It is accessible to all SK Telecom customers and by year-end will be available to customers of rival carriers using smartphones.

The carrier will take a 30% commission on all content sales, the same as in the Apple store, and intends to reach $811 million in sales by 2013.

SKT stated that it would actively invest in venture companies and developers to secure high-quality game content. It is offering free registration to application developers between now and the end of the year.

According to Se-Hyun Oh, President of SKT’s C&I business company, SK Telecom’s T Store will prove to be a differentiated service as it leverages the company’s broad know-how acquired through multiple years of experience in the mobile Internet field.

Filed under Mobile · Tagged with app, App Store, app stores, Apps, operator

Samsung launches first Bada phone- WAVE

By Editor on May 25, 2010 · Leave a Comment

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: First Bada phone has been commercially launched by Samsung Electronics under the brand name, WAVE in European countries, including Germany, France and the UK, and will be expanded to Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

The handset is priced at S8500 and is the first smartphone based on Samsung’s new, open smartphone platform, Bada.

Samsung Apps will also be made available by the company available in eighty countries while it is already available in a number of countries for Windows Mobile or Symbian based phones.