Late last week, Google made version 3.1 of the Android operating system available and updating tablets using version 3.0.1 (codenamed Honeycomb). Since CES, Android has been viewed by many as an unpolished OS. What is clear is that the Android universe is going through some growing pains and that the OS is one of a number of challenges that the ecosystem is slowly overcoming as it tries to compete more effectively with Apple and the iOS.
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Category Archives: Small and Medium Displays
NVIDIA Acquires Icera: Another Baseband Bites the Dust
Shifting the competitive landscape of the mobile processor market, NVIDIA announced on May 9 that it has agreed to acquire Icera, one of the few remaining independent baseband processor providers for both 3G and 4G cellular phones, data modems, and tablets. Continue Reading
Location-Based Advertising: Isn’t it Better to Call it Contextual-Based Advertising?
While preparing to moderate the “Location Based Advertising: Hitting the Target” panel at the upcoming CTIA Wireless show, I’ve been marinating in the topic, and creating compelling questions/issues to explore with my panelists. Maybe it’s just semantics, but even the panel’s positioning as location-based advertising (LBA) made me take pause. The use of LBA seems too narrow and limiting. Knowing where consumers are when they’re mobile is a critical piece in the targeting puzzle. It certainly represents potential gold for advertisers (i.e., driving foot traffic into local brick-and-mortars) and hopefully makes ads more relevant for consumers. However, location is far more powerful when combined with other elements:
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Reading More Gs On The Kindle
The arrival of the Kindle at AT&T stores represents more progress in the creeping distribution of Amazon’s popular e-reader. Originally, the Kindle was a 3G-only device powered by Sprint. However, the arrival of Wi-Fi-only competition from Barnes & Noble caused Amazon to respond with its own Wi-Fi-bound Kindle. Since then, far fewer consumers have opted to pay the 3G premium for either device, and Barnes & Noble decided to completely forego a cellular version of its Nook Color “reader’s tablet.” In contrast, category pioneer Sony has fallen behind as its entry-level e-reader, the Pocket Edition, lacks Wi-Fi and relies on PC sideloading.
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The Future of TV Lies in the Palm of Your Hand?
One realization coming out of CES 2011 is that the next transition in video has clearly started.
Around 2002, it became clear that audio had moved permanently from the shelf to the pocket and would follow its owner. As a result, while CDs and home audio systems were not going away, the center of gravity going forward was to be the iPod and all other products would crowd around it.
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