android
Google unhappy with slow Android app sales
According to reports online, the platform manager of Android, Eric Chu has stated that Google are unhappy with how slow the Android Market app sales are moving. Apps haven’t exactly been flying off the market, and with iOS recently hitting their 10 billionth app download, Google definitely feels the pinch. However, Google isn’t going to give up the fight just yet, apparently they have some plans to make things better. But all their plans to improve the Market issue won’t help if other issues remain pertinent.
One of the main problems developers have been facing developing apps for Android is the whole fragmentation issue. There are so many different Android phones, running on different versions of Android, at different screen resolutions, it’s practically impossible to test an app on every single Android phone available. This is where the iOS outshines Android – developers only need to test their apps with a small range of devices to know if everything works. This is a problem that needs to be resolved soon. Perhaps a version of Android that will bring all the devices together in the future?
The Android Market is full of rubbish apps and ‘apps’ that aren’t even real ‘apps’ at all (ringtones and wallpapers). And there have even been cases of malware being distributed on the Android Market, all thanks to Google’s “open store” concept. Sure it was a great idea- any developer could get an app to the masses out there but any developer means that even those with malicious intent could do the same. Apple has its fair share of “crap apps” as well, but at least the apps don’t ruin your device after you install them. Android needs some sort of way to filter apps, but it goes against their own “open” mantra, so it’s undecided how they’ll handle this. Maybe a new, separate Android Market that is monitored and requires apps to be approved before they can go on sale might do the trick.
Once the quality of apps go up, and they work on all Android phones, Google can then start worrying about upgrading the Android Market experience. Because no matter how good an app store is, it won’t be able to save itself if the apps up for sale/download are of little to no quality. What do you think Google could do to make the Android Market and the Android apps better?
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.
OnePlus did make an announcement in the previous month that the Ceramic variant of the OnePlus X will be released on November 24. True to their word, they did exactly that – although only a pitiful number of units were made available, and not only that, this was through a charity auction. Thankfully for the rest of the masses who are on the lookout for this device, it has gone on sale officially already.
Needless to say, this particular variant is available only by an invitation, although do bear in mind that standard OnePlus X invites are not good here – you will still need to snag yourself a specific Ceramic variant invite before you make a purchase. OnePlus is also on the lookout to offer additional methods of picking up this smartphone, although no further details were revealed.
The OnePlus X Ceramic will be available only in select markets, where among them include Europe, India, and Hong Kong. To date, we do know that OnePlus had made only 10,000 units of the handset available. A case of the early bird getting the proverbial worm here?