How To Buy A Smartphone: What Apps Do You Need?

The basic question for smartphone buyers is: What can the device do? Everything else is window dressing. Apps tell the story. (Part 6 of a 6-part series.)

Knowing which smartphone is right for you is largely a matter of knowing what you want to do with it. If you are oriented toward productivity, an iPhone or BlackBerry may be best. Android is especially good at accessing information and keeping in touch. Windows Phone is good at organizing your life and personal contacts. What makes one platform stronger or weaker for certain kinds of tasks? The answer is apps.

Apps: Ecosystems & Native Features

The selection of apps is perhaps the primary reason why Apple has done so well with the iPhone. It fostered an app ecosystem full of productivity tools, personal data loggers, games, cameras, navigators, social networks, music and video services, and so on. Developers often create apps for the iPhone first because they know they can make money from iPhone users. It is rare to see an app available on Android but not on the iPhone (unless it is specific to something Android does). Apple’s App Store offers 700,000 apps. Not all of them are high-quality, but all the top apps are present and work well.

Android is not far behind, with 600,000 apps in its Google Play store. Like the App Store, Google Play also has books, movies and music for purchase. As Android grows in relation to iOS, the difference in functionality available through apps is becoming negligible. Almost all top apps are bound to be available on both platforms.

The line between the dominant Android and Apple platforms and the rest of the market is distinct. Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace has about 100,000 apps and many of them are of dubious quality. (To be fair, apps that are copycats or completely useless to most people can be found in all four major app stores.) Windows Phone is the third and sometimes fourth option for developers (behind the browser-based mobile Web, including HTML5). Windows Phone Marketplace is missing many apps that people would consider must-haves. Instagram, Pandora, Flipboard, Path and RunKeeper - apps that people use on a daily basis that define their smartphone experience - are not yet available on Windows Phone. The Marketplace may offer interesting alternatives to those apps, but most smartphone users will look for the familiar titles and be disappointed when they do not find them.

BlackBerry is even worse. Most major developers do not even look at BlackBerry anymore because not many people are buying BlackBerry devices. Many apps designed for BlackBerry are relics of that platform's enterprise business relationship (such as productivity and communication apps, as well as an inordinate number of apps related to golf). If you are looking for the most popular apps, BlackBerry is not the place to look.

A flipside to the app economies built on these platforms are the native apps that come baked in. Each operating system comes with apps to handle functions like email, talk and text, maps and navigation, as well as unique features. Apple’s Siri is a good example. The voice-activated personal assistant cannot be found in any other platform (although the others, especially Android, have their own voice-controlled services). Siri is one way Apple differentiates itself. Apple’s iCloud, its new maps applications, and PassBook are natives apps unique to Apple.

Google has a suite of specific apps for Android as well, ones that many people use on the Web and are happy to have on their mobile devices. Gmail, Talk (“GChat”), YouTube, Google Maps, Calendar and Docs are all easily accessible through Android devices.

Microsoft pushes users to its own personal cloud storage, SkyDrive, along with mobile versions of its Outlook email system and other Windows productivity apps. BlackBerry’s strongest features are its BlackBerry Messenger system as well as its fast, reliable and secure email service.

Knowing what apps are available for each operating system is an important step toward deciding which smartphone is the best choice for you. Take a look at the default selection, ask users about their favorites, and search the online app stores for functions that are important to you. That will help you differentiate one platform from another.

Part 1: The Myth Of The Perfect Device

Part 2: How Much Should You Pay?

Part 3: Which Carrier Should You Choose?

Part 4: What Do Hardware Specs Mean?

Part 5: Which Is Better, Android Or iPhone?

Part 6: What Apps Do You Need?

Driven by breakthrough thinking and a wide-open sense of what's possible, Alcatel-Lucent delivers the world's most advanced technologies to companies all across the globe. Our driving motivation is to realize the potential of the connected world - by providing the technologies needed to turn networks into engines of sustainable economic growth, social development and opportunity. We provide a comprehensive suite of software solutions and services offerings designed specifically to meet the needs and demands of communication network operators and strategic industries. These solutions allow our customers to optimize network costs and quickly deploy innovative, value added products and services for their subscribers that increase loyalty and create new revenue streams. To learn more about how we're turning the network into a platform, visit http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/hln/network_evolution.php

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Samsung Sells 20M+ Galaxy S IIIs In 100 Days

Nokia and Motorola had their day in the device spotlight yesterday, and today it is Amazon’s turn, with Apple’s next week. So in the middle of all of this, just to make sure we don’t forget about it, Samsung has released some numbers on sales of its newest smartphone, the Galaxy S III.

Samsung says it has sold over 20 million units of Galaxy S III in the first 100 days of launch: 6 million in Europe, 4.5 million in Asia (ex. Korea), 4 million in North America and 2.5  million in Korea. Samsung is the world’s biggest mobile phone company at the moment, so should sales of its flagship device be viewed as a benchmark for competitors?

While we don’t have like-for-like numbers, we do have some historical figures that give us some points to ponder; and in my opinion, the only company that Samsung’s figures should matter for is Nokia.

Apple’s last launch, the iPhone 4S, sold 4 million devices its first weekend out of the gate.

And Nokia yesterday told analysts that it had sold 7 million Lumia devices since launch in October last year to end of June (that’s the whole range of Lumia models).

Samsung’s Galaxy S III sales therefore put it somewhere between those two, closer to the Apple end of the spectrum. Samsung’s prominence in mobile phones, remember, comes from its scale and range of devices, not the success of a single model.

So how does that translate into what happens going forward with new device launches?

Samsung notes that the S III has picked up momentum versus previous versions of the device: in the same space of 100 days from launch, Samsung sold three times as many units as the S II, and six times as many as the Galaxy S.

But I suspect a lot of that momentum is a function of how smartphones are simply growing in popularity. Apple’s iPhone 4S, dubbed a disappointment by many observers when it was revealed,actually sold twice as many units as its predecessor, the iPhone 4, did in its opening weekend.

Partly because it looks like this next iPhone will represent a real evolution over the 4S, and partly because there is simply pent-up demand for a new iPhone, the momentum trend should also give a big boost to Apple this time around. One analyst, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, has already predicted that the iPhone “5″ will sell as many as 10 million units in its opening weekend.

At that rate it could take 14 days or less for Apple to kick Samsung’s 20 million figure into irrelevance. Samsung’s numbers therefore might look good, but are in fact a Red Herring.

On the other side of the spectrum is Nokia. Operating on a business model not unlike Samsung’s based on a wide range of handset models in both smart and feature levels, Nokia was once the world’s biggest handset maker before it ceded that title to Samsung this year.

While the two are actually still competitive against each other in feature phones, it’s in smartphones that Nokia has choked.

And its (now, not-so-new) focus on the Lumia and the Windows Phone platform point to a long and slow turnaround of that situation, if there is a turnaround to be had. Nokia has so far not proven to be up to the task as far as sales are concerned — last quarter’s shipments (including both 4 million Lumias and 6 million legacy Symbians) amounted to only 7% of all smartphone sales worldwide.

Considering the marketing muscle of Nokia and the fact that the phones are actually not bad at all, this is a bit surprising and just underscores how tough the competition is for consumer attention between the rock and hard place that are Apple and Android. The next wave of devices, with wireless charging, great cameras and other features, feel like they are Nokia’s biggest crack yet at trying to turn things around. Still, the key fact is that we’re talking about a turnaround in smartphones. That’s where those Galaxy S III numbers are truly a benchmark for Nokia. And one where Nokia might fall down. The banks, notes Finnish paper Kauppalehti, estimate Lumia sales of 25 million for all of next year.

Amazon, meanwhile, is in a pretty position, if it chooses this quarter finally to quell rumors and enter the smartphone market, as some believe it might do. If it takes the Kindle Fire route to market — competing on low price, and pared-down features, leveraging its strong presence online as well as its extensive collection of apps and other content, that could give it a quick advantage over the rest as the maker of the “anti-feature” smartphone.

Flying directly in the face of companies like Nokia, which is at pains to add in as much cool stuff as it can, and always refusing to reveal hard sales figures, Amazon could prove to be the fly in the ointment for all of the rest.

Company:Samsung Electronics

Website:samsung.com

Launch Date:1969

Samsung is one of the largest super-multinational companies in the world. It’s possibly best known for it’s subsidiary, Samsung Electronics, the largest electronics company in the world.

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What the Apple vs. Samsung Lawsuit Means for the Future of Smartphone Design

Cult of Mac

The jury in the much-hyped Apple vs. Samsungpatent infringement lawsuit recently handed down a verdict which basically gave Apple everything it wanted: A billion-dollar payment from Samsung, plus the possibility of an injunction against sales of infringing Samsung smartphones and tablets.

Will this mega-lawsuit dramatically alter the way our devices are manufactured and, in turn, affect our decision-making process when buying a smartphone for personal or business use? Probably not.

The New York Times predicted that this decision would wreak design havoc in the mobile device landscape: "Consumers could end up with some welcome diversity in phone and tablet design -- or they may be stuck with devices that manufacturers have clumsily revamped to avoid crossing Apple.”

The real outcome of the Apple vs. Samsung lawsuit is likely to be more lawsuits. And perhaps higher prices for non-Apple smartphones. But in the long run, I suspect the effects of this case will be negligible to consumers and business users of mobile devices.

Patent expert Thomas Frey of the Louisville, Colo.-based think tank the DaVinci Instituteexplains, "This is gamesmanship, it's all moving queens and rooks around the chessboard. In the end the legalities won't matter. All the solutions will be off the chessboard. The players will say to each other: 'If you pay me $X, I'll say you win.'"

The recent decision will likely be appealed, and it's possible that it may be struck down. But even if the decision stands, it's more likely that Samsung and all Android device makers will keep doing business mainly as usual.

Electronics manufacturers, especially mobile device makers, license patented technologies from each other all the time, for a fee. For instance, after a patent "misunderstanding” last year, Applestarted paying Nokia an estimated $11.50 for every iPhone sold. Similarly, in a settlement agreement last year, Samsung agreed to pay Microsoft $10 to $15 for each smartphone or tablet it sells.

In the U.S. market, the vast majority of smartphones are at a price heavily subsidized by wireless carriers, along with a two-year service contract -- which further obscures the effect of licensing fees on phone prices.

So, for smartphone users, the changes likely won't be too noticeable and infringement lawsuits probably won't factor into their buying decisions.

Will this lawsuit effect which smartphone you buy for business? Let us know in the comments below.

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An App that Could Stop Traffic

On the road: The Greenway app is designed to prevent traffic by using software to “reserve” spots for drivers along their routes. 

Greenway

Traffic usually produces aggravation. But for Christian Brüggemann, it led to app inspiration.

While sitting in a London café with a buddy, observing cars packed onto one street while another was empty, he thought, what if vehicles could be directed in such a way that optimized all the possible routes?

Brüggemann, 25, and two of his friends, all of them students at universities in Germany, used this idea to create a Windows Phone app called Greenway that aims to thwart traffic jams and get you from one point to another in the shortest amount of time.

While existing mapping apps such as Wazeand Google Maps show their users traffic jams and hazards and offer alternate routes, Greenway hopes to prevent backups from occurring in the first place by using software to predict where drivers are heading. The approach is part of a broader trend that has, for example, seen some insurers offer rates tailored to a person's driving habits—after tracking their movements via a GPS unit attached to the car.

The Greenway app, which is being tested by dozens of smartphone users around Munich, Germany, has already gained some recognition by clinching an environmental sustainability award (and a $10,000 prize) at Microsoft's annual Imagine Cup student technology competition in July. The Greenway group is now trying to secure funding to bring its app to iPhone and Android smartphone users.

The app offers users two routes to their destination: a standard shortest one and a traffic-optimized Greenway one, along with the approximate amount of time and fuel it would take to get there using each. If you choose the Greenway path, the app will ping Greenway's server every 30 seconds with your GPS location to determine if the current route is still the best—a decision made based on knowledge about your location and speed and information about other Greenway users on the road.

Greenway assumes each street has a certain capacity based on its length, number of lanes, and speed limit, Brüggemann says, and reserves slots for participating drivers, directing cars so a road never reaches maximum capacity.

If a jam does occur—which Greenway would detect by looking at your average speed—the app will react by rerouting drivers.

Brüggemann says the group's software can currently simulate up to 50,000 cars, and says results show that, on average, cars taking Greenway routes make it to their destination twice as fast and use up to 20 percent less fuel.

Of course, the Greenway app will be most useful if more people use it: Brüggemann estimates that about 10 percent of drivers in a city would need to have it running for it to work optimally. The team is hoping to make this happen by partnering with taxi companies.

The app is free. The group plans to make money by charging a small amount for the optimized navigation. Brüggemann says the fee—no more than 30 cents per route—will be calculated as 5 percent of the amount of fuel the app estimates you're saving multiplied by the average per-liter fuel price at the time. This way, he believes, users will still save fuel and Greenway will also get paid. And if you don't get to your destination in the promised amount of time, you won't be charged, he says.

But just because Greenway can get you somewhere faster doesn't always mean you'll save fuel. Benjamin Seibold, an assistant professor at Temple University who studies traffic flow behavior, says traffic research indicates that even if you take a shorter route, your car may consume more gas if you're driving in traffic that is less steady.

Still, Seibold thinks there's potential for software like Greenway to reduce traffic jams and travel times. Other navigation systems that he's aware of just show drivers current traffic information, he says, so a jam you see on a touch screen in your car might be gone by the time you arrive at that spot on the road.

"Using a predictor like in the Greenway system, even if it's not perfect, will still give a significant leap forward compared with using nothing," he says.

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