Android will rule the smartphones, WP7 will be second, says Gartner

According to the analysts over at Gartner, Android will be the most popular mobile OS in the next four years reaching almost 50% market share. Meanwhile Windows Phone will catch up and overtake the second place from iOS by 2015 with 20% market share.

This is what the latest Gartner's report predicts. Quite expectedly the Symbian market share is shrinking rapidly, while those of Android's and Windows Phone will go up.

Apple's iOS will have the second place by the end of 2012, but Microsoft will overtake it by 2015. It seems both Android and iOS will lose some users in favor of Windows Phone. It's predicted that when this happens Apple will change its pricing policy in order to maintain its share.

RIM will also have a user withdrawal when its migration from BlackBerry OS to QNX, the OS behind the Playbook, starts in 2012 (we're not sure we've heard of those plans before) .

It seems there will be two major changes in the next four years - Android will be the king of the mobiles (eating the Symbian pie), while the Microsoft-Nokia cooperation will push the Windows Phone up to the second place. It seems logical, but we'll wait and see how things will turn up.

We already saw quite similar predictions in the IDC report a week ago. There are a few minor differences into the distribution of shares (a bit smaller Android share and a bigger Windows Phone one in 2015), but both reach to the same conclusion – Android will be the biggest player in 2015 and Windows Phone will beat iOS for the second place.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is we could expect doubled smartphones sales in 2012 (compared to 2010).

It seems Gartner also didn’t foresee any major players entering the smartphone market. Just like the IDC report, the Gartner’s one also doesn’t see Bada OS as a major player in the next four years. Another think that pops in mind is they think Apple will sit back and stay calm when it’s losing market share. What we are trying to say is there are just too many variables and not all of them were taken in consideration. So these predictions might apply in some version of our world, but can’t be a reliable source in our dynamic life.

Orange eBook app opens pages in the Android Market

Orange has announced that a dedicated app for its Orange Book Club has gone live in the Android Market, offering 23,000 eBooks and audio books.

The app, which will be compatible across multiple platform versions (such as Java, Symbian, BlackBerry and PC) includes titles from the Orange Prize for Fiction, which has entered its 16th year.

It also features a handy one-click purchase option whereby you won't need to enter any payment details, the cost will simply be added to your Orange phone bill.

The app will also offer sample chapters for free, personalisation and bookmarking features and titles will start from just 50p.

Stuart Jackson, brand communications director at Orange, said: "The new Orange Book Club app gives readers a truly 21st century book-buying experience. Think of a book you'd like to read and you can download it instantly on your connected device.

"Unlike many other eBook services on the market, ours allows you to purchase with a single click, making it easier than ever before to download your next must-read novel - wherever you are."

The app is live in the Android Market now, and it's free.

Android apps officially coming to BlackBerry PlayBook

The BlackBerry PlayBook will be able to run Android apps, RIM has confirmed.

“Developers wanting to bring their new and existing apps to the highly anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will soon have additional tools and options to enhance and expand their commercial opportunities,” the company has said in a statement.

According to the company, RIM will launch two optional “app players” that provide an application run-time environment for BlackBerry Java apps and most importantly Android v2.3 apps.

These new app players will allow users to download BlackBerry Java apps and Android apps from BlackBerry App World and run them on their BlackBerry PlayBook.

It means that users will be able to run their favourite Android apps on the PlayBook, giving them the connectivity capabilities with their BlackBerry and the enjoyment of Android apps as well.

“Developers currently building for the BlackBerry or Android platforms will be able to quickly and easily port their apps to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS thanks to a high degree of API compatibility,” says RIM. “The new optional app players will be available for download from BlackBerry App World and will be placed in a secure ‘sandbox’ on the BlackBerry PlayBook where the BlackBerry Java or Android apps can be run.”

The new app players for the BlackBerry PlayBook are expected to be available from BlackBerry App World this summer.

Rumours of Android coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook first surfaced in February.

Cisco Flips new software for social media video sharing

Cisco, makers of the popular range of Flip pocket camcorder range, has announced updated software, as well as new iOS and Android apps, which make it easier to share your videos with your pals.

The software comes with all the Flip devices, and the revamped version introduces a group option whereby you set up a collection of friends of which you want to share your footage with.

These selected buddies can access all your uploaded videos using the software, the apps, or online at FlipShare.com.

You'll also be able to comment on videos, import contacts from your address book, or share any mobile video or photo on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter.

Peter Groom, UK & Ireland region manager for Flip Video at Cisco, said: "Capturing precious moments is just the first step because as soon as you have the footage you want to share it with friends and family.

"We have always looked to provide the best user-experience to easily shoot, connect and share high quality video and the upgraded FlipShare software now makes it even easier for Flip owners.

"FlipShare Mobile apps extend the FlipShare experience to mobile devices and allow users to share videos and pictures with friends, family and colleagues whilst on the move."

The software is available to download now, and the apps can be found in their respective app stores.

Google Maps 5.3 for Android updated with home checks, location history and more

Google Maps 5.3 for Android has been released bringing with it new features to map out and explore (see what we did there?).

Now in Google Maps for Android you’ll be able to see your Location History, where you’ve been, distance you’ve travelled, time spent at work, home or out and about, and other gems to really make you paranoid that Google has been watching you this whole time all from your phone, although Google are keen to stress that you can turn it off if you want to - it’s actually opt-in rather than opt-out.

Also added is the ability to “check-in” at home, whereby the app, once you’ve set it, will automatically check you in when you get home. Handy, say Google, for letting your friends that track you know when you’ve got home safe, but cunning parents will also realise it’s going to be great for finding out when your teenagers really did get through the front door.

Finally you can now categorise your check-ins with your own defined categories like music for example.

To get started, update Google Maps from Android Market on devices with Android OS 1.6+ anywhere Google Maps and Latitude are already available.

Firefox 4 for Mobile (Android)

Minimalist is certainly one word for for this Android app. Download the free app, fire it up on your Android device and you’ve got a firefox page staring out at you. There’s an address bar, and that's it. No clutter, no fuss, just a refresh icon.

That's great when it comes to knowing what site you want to look at, but what about tabbed browsing, bookmarks, favourites and all the other things that you like to use when you’re browsing the interwebs.

For this Firefox 4 for Mobile mainly uses hidden menus and actions that are revealed either by typing or swiping.

Swipe left for example in portrait orientation and this reveals the tabbed pages that you’ve got loaded (if you have any of course) and the ability to click on those images to access that page. Each page shows a graphical representation of the page where you left if and it’s incredibly easy to spot which page you want to switch to, as long as all the pages you are viewing aren’t virtually identical in their design.

Swiping to the right reveals bookmarks and favourites for you to mark, all there when you need them but hidden out of sight when you don’t.

Likewise that address bar isn’t just an address bar, but the “Awesome bar” in disguise, we say disguise, but in reality it’s just there waiting to be used. Start typing and it will pick up your search history, offer the ability to search Google or Wikipedia and even pick up on your Awesome bar details from your desktop version of Firefox 4 if you’ve opted to sync your accounts – very clever.

Syncing the two browsers (desktop and mobile) is very easy and because the system syncs every five minutes (or manually if that’s not quick) enough it means that you can carry on looking at a web link you’ve found in the office after you’ve headed out the door.

Elsewhere within the app you get pinch to zoom functionality with the ability to move around the screen at the same time (very similar to the iPhone) and the ability to enhance the mobile browser even further with Firefox add-ons. These can be anything from Personas to merely adding Twitter as a search option.

You can also search within a page, save to PDF, share a page via apps like email and Google reader, as well as the ability to play with HTML 5 friendly websites.

Of course all of this is irrelevant if the browser is slow and unwieldy and luckily it’s not. It’s fast, zippy, easy to use and ultimately a great browser to add to your Android phone.

Drawbacks? Well you will need an Android handset with some umph to run it and that means that early Android smartphones just aren't up to scratch, so it's best to check with Mozilla if your phone makes the grade.

If it does, it's highly recommended.

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android-music-3-streaming-player

There are a number of Android pieces waiting to fall into place and this leaked, but working, Music app seems to fit perfectly into the middle of that puzzle.

The app has the look and feel of the Honeycomb music player, using the same icon and essentially offering the same New and Recent view that lets you flick through your album art, a little like Apple’s Cover Flow.

Let’s be honest, the stock Android music player is pretty bland, really only offering up listings and playback, and Music 3.0 doesn’t extend too much further than that. You can sort and search music by the normal categories and you get the Now Playing bar at the bottom of most list-based pages, or an icon in the top right-hand corner in the New and Recent view.

When a song is playing you get a little animated meter on the right-hand side, a drop-down menu offering options, like adding to a playlist.

But the interesting thing here is the Settings menu. This will let you add a streamed music account and offers a range of settings to control how streamed music is handled. At the moment you click on the option to add an account and head through to a blank screen and there doesn’t seem to be any way to populate this section of the app.

The other options offer up cache settings, Wi-Fi only settings and a download queue. The Help option at the bottom of the page doesn’t offer up and suggestions, just taking you to a webpage that currently doesn’t exist.

Assuming this is a legitimate leak - rather than just an enthusiastic fan’s recreation of the Honeycomb app on Gingerbread - it seems to fit into other nuggets of information we’ve heard about Google addressing Music in the future.

It's not certain whether the option to select an account means you'll be able to choose from different streaming music services, or if it just lets you select the Google account to access music you have stored with Google, rather like the Amazon Cloud service.

Moving the music player for phones closer to the tablet version also fits in with Google ascertaining that the two strands of Android would come together. This certainly looks to bring a uniformity to the mobile operating system, and we guess the option would roll out to Honeycomb in an update.

The app is unstable at the moment, so we don’t recommend you use it as your main player - we installed in on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc without any problems, but it is a little delicate and will crash if you try to access certain menus whilst playing music - an option to access “sound effects” crashed the player every time we tried to take a look.

Music v3 brings with it a basic playback widget, integration into your notification bar (but doesn’t offer any playback controls here) and doesn’t offer you any lock screen playback either.

The app come courtesy of Droid Life, where you can download it for yourself, after seeing the story first appear when a test version of Android Market landed in the laps of Tech From 10.

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Quickoffice Pro HD (Android Honeycomb)

Tablets are great for mucking about the Internet, playing the odd game and generally not doing much from the comfort of your sofa, but what if you’ve got to do some work? Maybe write a document, or check out a spreadsheet?

Quickoffice Pro HD has been specifically designed for Honeycomb to take advantage of the new operating system's features, such as the higher resolutions and bigger screen sizes - so is perfectly suited to the new breed of Android tablets, like the Motorola Xoom and Asus Transformer.

And as it's an all-in-one office suite, you shouldn't need anything else...

Cloud support

The new app will let you create, view and edit Microsoft Office files, including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, and access them through a number of cloud-based services, like Google Docs, Dropbox, Box, Huddle, SugarSync and MobileMe, or from an SD card that you’ve got in the device.

It ultimately means that you’ve got full office control over your documents regardless of whether you’’ve got them stored locally or not. It's incredibly clever and currently beats Google Docs in creating an Offline mode to work on, although you do need to be online to access the files

Documents

Yep, like any word processor you’re used to on a desktop, Quickoffice Pro HD will allow you to completely manage your word documents from a whole host of formats and treat them as if you were on a Windows PC.

Text can be highlighted in the device and then, using the Honeycomb features, searched for on the web straight away (providing you’re connected). Pictures can be added and manipulated, and the whole process is quick and simple.

Spreadsheets

Yep, we know they're boring (unless you're a Football Manager fan, in which case they're the entire basis of a game), but you’ve got to look at them from time to time. Here you get the ability to create, view and edit Excel spreadsheets (.xls & .xlsx).

While it doesn’t look like it has full Macro support, you can link cells, add formulas and do most tasks you’ll need for on-the-go editing.

PowerPoint

Like with documents and spreadsheets, you’re able to create and edit PowerPoint presentations via Quickoffice Pro HD. That includes dragging and dropping slides to set orders, WYSIWYG editing, and the ability to insert an image or take images from the gallery if the device has a camera.

More

There’s plenty more to Quickoffice Pro HD than we could do justice here on App of the Day. There’s PDF support, copy and paste between different files, and superb integration with Honeycomb, which all adds up to an app that has all the potential of replacing the need for a computer and Microsoft Office altogether.

And, the real kicker is that it’s just $14.99 compared with £320 - a steal! Get it while it’s hot.

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4 Android Apps to Play April Fool Pranks

You may have already planned something pranky to fool your friends on April Fool day. Here are some Android Apps to make your pranks more nasty, more annoying. Make them laugh, Make them feel ashamed with these April Fool Apps.

Better Cracked Screen

As the name says, when started, it can make your touchscreen look like cracked. Even the BACK button doesn’t work so your friend going to panic for sure and less chances of failing the prank. Scary and Funny!

Big Fart Button

This app is hilarious. Contains very unusual fart sounds which can be played just tapping the Big Fart Button. Not all Farts are realistic but funny though to create humorous environment and giggle.

Fingerprint Scanner

What it does is nothing and that’s the specialty. Makes your Friend feel that your device can really scan and verify fingerprints. You can Add names to the database for the full effect of having others believe that your phone really does this. It can Entertain others, have them believe your phone can scan fingerprints & conduct Agency(i.e. FBI) criminal checks.

Fake Call

Mainly used to escape from situation but by specifying the Name and Number, you can fool your friends that you got a call from specific person. This person can be someone you know or even a celebrity!

5 Must Have Applications for Rooted Android Smartphones

Rooting a Android phone makes you the superuser giving you complete control over your device. Here are 5 must have application for rooted devices which will make your work easier and dynamic and at the same time make you proud for having a rooted device.

Titanium Backup

Most of the backup apps available in the market cover only contact, messages, files and settings backup. Now with Titanium Backup free you can backup, restore, freeze your apps, data, settings and Market links in single click. The application allows batch processing thus saving user’s valuable time at time of backup and restore. Just set up the job in batch and click the go button.

Download Titanuim Backup

Copy Paste it

By default one can only cut or copy text from text box field in Android device. There is no option to copy text from emails, webpages or SMS. Now with copy Paste it one can copy text to clip board any where on an Android and later paste in when required.

The application is free to try but the pro version cost $6.99.

Download Copy Paste it

Root Explorer

Remember while fixing the ascending ringtone of Samsung Galaxy S we used Root Explorer and not the default file manager to replace one of the system files. It was because Root Explorer gives you complete freedom to view and edit Android’s system file and folders as a super user.

Download Root Explorer

ShootMe

With this application you will be able to capture screenshot of your Android device any time. All you need to do is shake your phone when you need to take a screenshot provided the application is running in background. The application is free to use.

Download ShootMe

SetCPU

As the name suggests one can control the CPU clock speed of its Android device with the above application. As battery usage is directly proportional to CPU speed I recommend users to set low CPU speed while the phone is in standby and increase it when you are working on heavy application or playing games.

The application is priced at $1.99, however CPU tuner is a free alternative to the above application with almost same features

Download SetCPU

Try Google Android on Computer

If you are curious about What’s happening in the world of mobiles and existence of Android. Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google. But you can try it on your Desktop.

Currently there are few phones that use it, but it is expected that future is very used. If you’re thinking of trying something new but don’t want to change platform which is not known then you can try it on computer using Live CD.

The LiveCD does not occupy much, just two hundred 200 megabytes, so it is ideal for quickly downloading and have a look to learn a little more of this before going Android.

Google Android on Desktop

Unfortunately it is not fully functional, but the basic things work well and allow us to get an idea of how it all works. Obviously, this system is useless- it is merely a curiosity for the curious and as I said, you can get an idea of the topic.

It is completely free and runs on x86 platforms. You can burn a CD and try it on your computer but I recommend to have a look for any virtualization software, as I have done, since it does not require a powerful machine.

Download Android Live CD

Three Must Have Free Security Apps for Android Smartphone

Security is an important aspect be it your personal computer or your smartphone. Today our Smartphone has grown so powerful that we can store all our valuable data on it to work on the go and any breach can lead to serious issues. Below mentioned are three must have security application for your Android device to make you feel more secure.

F-Secure Antitheft

I love my Android and it give me night mares even with a thought of some one steeling it. These devices are too expensive to loose and to make sure it I recommend F-Secure anti-theft as a must install on every phone. Apart from basic anti theft feature of SIM replacement warning SMS it also provide users to remote lock and wipe the data with a preset SMS. Remote wiping ensures safety of all your private data. It also support GPS tracking empowering the use find the exact location of its mobile on Google maps. well I forgot to mention the best part, this application is free to use with out ant limitation.

Protector

Protector is a free and simple application designed to password protect any installed application installed on your android device. You can use this app to protect your personal photographs and videos in your gallery, your SMS conversation and your emails. This application can not be force killed ensuring your privacy. One negative aspect of this application is that there is no pin recovery option so if by chance you forget your password there is no way to unlock your apps and at the same time uninstall the application, the only possible option left with you will be factory reset.

Lookout

The basic application of Lookout is to provide basic antivirus and firewall for your device. the application is memory friendly and will not make your phone slow in the real-time protection. This application also comes with anti-theft and data backup module.