The Next Web |
- Sony is temporarily disabling two of the PlayStation 4′s key social features for its European launch
- Moovit redesigns its public transit app on Android, adds service alerts and drop-a-pin destinations
- Firefox OS smartphones launch in Hungary, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, will debut in Asia next year
- Branches for Twitter Android app groups tweets by sender and shows them chronologically
- LeWeb Paris is almost here and we’ve got 2 tickets to give away
- HTC One dual SIM unveiled with 64GB microSD slot, available to pre-order now for £494.99 in the UK
- Report: Android is gaining around 3% market share in China each quarter, as low-cost devices rule
- End of the galapagos era? Japan’s tech and Internet habits have never been more Western
- Google launches elections portal in India to give citizens one-stop access to political news
- Vietnam introduces fines for citizens who criticize the government on social media
| Sony is temporarily disabling two of the PlayStation 4′s key social features for its European launch Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:48 AM PST When the PlayStation 4 launches in Europe tomorrow, it will be without two key features tied to the PlayStation Network. Sony said it will be disabling What's New, a social feed that allows gamers to see what their friends have been up to, and the Content Information Screen, which shows their activity related to a specific game that you have selected. Fred Dutton, a Blog Manager for SCEE said: "These features will then be switched back on a few days later, once the intensity of launch day calms down." The decision was made to ensure that Sony can keep up with the extra players that will be using the system on November 29. All of the other features that are confirmed for the PlayStation Network on day one in Europe are unaffected. This includes the ability to start multiplayer gameplay sessions online, chat with friends, share videos and accrue trophies. ➤ PSN on PlayStation 4 at launch Featured image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Moovit redesigns its public transit app on Android, adds service alerts and drop-a-pin destinations Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:35 AM PST  With more than 3 million users spanning 70 cities, Moovit has updated its public transport navigation app for Android with a sleek new design and intuitive 'drop-a-pin' feature for selecting new destinations on the map. Similar to Waze, the app helps you find the fastest route by tracking the movements of its users and then pairing it with official transit data. The combination results in accurate arrival times and timely updates about any delays or cancellations that could affect your journey.
The Android app now sports a stunning UI with a flat, terracotta color scheme and navigation menu that pops out from the left-hand side of the screen. Here, you'll find a new alerts tab for real-time updates from transit agencies, which you can also set up for push notifications. The pin feature, meanwhile, works as you would expect. Just swipe through the map and then long-press on the screen to drop a marker for your next destination. Tap the orange circle at the bottom of the screen to choose your route and see turn-by-turn directions. Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:30 AM PST Firefox OS devices are now available in Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary and Greece, bringing the tally for Mozilla's fledgling mobile operating system up to 13 countries worldwide. Starting today, the network operator Telenor is offering the Alcatel One Touch in Serbia, Hungary and Montenegro. It plans to bring Firefox OS devices to Asia in the new year, although the company refrained from naming any specific markets. Rival carrier Deutsche Telekom, meanwhile, began offering the Alcatel One Touch through its Telekom brand in Hungary and COSMOTE brand in Greece earlier this month. The first Firefox OS handsets launched in Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Brazil last month, as well as in the US and the UK through a dedicated eBay store in August. Firefox OS devices are now also available in Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Poland and Germany. Read next: Hands-on with Firefox OS: ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire ➤ Firefox OS Launches in More Countries Across Europe This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Branches for Twitter Android app groups tweets by sender and shows them chronologically Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:16 AM PST  Branches for Twitter is an app from the Indian company SysNucleus which groups together tweets by individual users and shows them chronologically. Released a few days ago, Branches for Twitter's main appeal is that it allows you to keep track of what's going on with the social network chronologically, but without your timeline becoming an unfollowable mess of tweets and responses. The idea is pretty simple, and a good one if you can't manage to constantly keep track of Twitter, but like to keep an eye on what your favorite people have been up to in an easy way. Branches? More like twigsIt's early days for the app — it has only been out for a short while — so if you're looking for an all-singing, all-dancing Twitter client that supports almost every feature found on the desktop, then you'll probably want to give Branches for Twitter a miss for now. We'd expect to see more advanced features be introduced as time progresses. At present, it's pretty much restricted to letting you tweet via the client and reading other Twitter users replies, even things like in-line images aren't supported – yet. On first launch, the app will scan your timeline for the past couple of days; for each subsequent refresh all tweets published since you last updated will be collected and grouped. The previous set of 'branches' (created during the previous refresh) will also be retained, so you shouldn't miss out on anything.
So, as you can see in the image above on the left, Tweets are displayed in the order they are tweeted just like a normal timeline but there's also a little indicator showing the number of other tweets that user has sent since you last refreshed. In this case, @asteris had been pretty busy and there were 14 more tweets to show (right image). Composing your own tweet and refreshing the timeline is achieved by hitting those little buttons at the top. Tapping the Branches logo returns you to the top of the stream, but doesn't actually refresh the list – that needs to be done manually. Clicking on any individual tweet loads it in the Web view of Twitter within the Branches app.
In the future, the company said it wants to add new features like support for multiple user accounts, intregrated image and Web views and even potentially a similar way of grouping hash tags/trends is under consideration. For now, however, it's focusing on its core mission of grouping tweets by user until it has more feedback about what its users want implemented next. As it stands right now, it's not going to replace your Twitter client. It's very early days and it lacks even some basic features, let alone the more advanced. Still, if you think there's some value to being able to view tweets grouped by sender then it could be a handy tool. Featured Image Credit - David McNew/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| LeWeb Paris is almost here and we’ve got 2 tickets to give away Posted: 28 Nov 2013 04:08 AM PST  LeWeb Paris 2013 is just two weeks away, and we've got two tickets to the event to give away. Read on for how to get your hands on them. The conference, now in its tenth year, will see the likes of Guy Kawasaki, Google's Bradley Horowitz, Uber's Travis Kalanick, Nest's Tony Fadell, PayPal's David Marcus and many more all take to the stage for sessions themed around 'the next ten years'. The startup competition is back too, and there's a whole track dedicated to discussing the intersection of brands and technology. LeWeb takes place on December 10-12 in Paris, France. If you're a startup, you can get in for the discounted price of €800 for the full three days. Discounts are also available for freelancers and students. How do you get your hands on one of the two LeWeb tickets that we have to give away? Just leave a comment on this post, letting us know why you'd like to attend LeWeb. The ticket will cover your entry to the event for the full three days, although you'll have to take care of your own travel and accommodation costs. We'll pick two lucky winners after midnight Central European Time on Saturday, November 30. Bonne chance! Image credit: ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| HTC One dual SIM unveiled with 64GB microSD slot, available to pre-order now for £494.99 in the UK Posted: 28 Nov 2013 03:16 AM PST  A dual-SIM version of the HTC One, the Taiwanese smartphone maker's flagship Android handset, was unveiled today and is now available to pre-order for £494.99 ($809 USD) in the UK. The updated HTC One also offers a microSD card slot for up to 64GB of additional space. Both of these options will be available via a removable back cover, giving users the ability to swap out their cards with minimal fuss. HTC says it's targeting the device at foreign nationals, students and business customers who regularly travel abroad. That certainly makes sense with the dual-SIM support, but we expect that the new microSD card slot will make the handset appeal to an even wider pool of Android power users.
Elsewhere, the dual-SIM version of the HTC One is almost identical to the original version that launched earlier this year. It sports the same attractive aluminium body, the terrific dual front-facing speakers and Sense 5 with HTC BlinkFeed, its customizable stream of news and social media updates. Unfortunately, the device doesn't support LTE and will be launching with Android Jelly Bean out of the box. Version 4.4 (KitKat) would have been ideal, but hopefully it'll arrive as an update in the coming months. The device is available to pre-order now in the UK. We've reached out to HTC to confirm whether there are plans to release the device in other markets. ➤ HTC One Dual-SIM (via PocketLint/Android Central) This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Report: Android is gaining around 3% market share in China each quarter, as low-cost devices rule Posted: 28 Nov 2013 02:26 AM PST  Google's Android operating system is growing steadily in China, gaining about a three percent share each quarter, as consumers seek lower-priced Android devices which are being produced by local brands, according to a new Kantar Worldpanel ComTech report. The Kantar report, which examines the Chinese mobile trend in Q3, pins Android's market share in the country at 59 percent during the quarter, up from 55.5 percent in the previous quarter. Consequently, Apple's iOS share has slid to 18 percent from 19.5 percent. Yesterday we reported that Baidu, China's dominant search company, found that the number of daily active Android users in China has surpassed 270 million — that's nearly 30 percent of global Android activations to date. The price of Android phones that Chinese consumers purchase has gone through a "major shift" over the past year, Kantar notes. Instead of purchasing devices that are in the price range of CNY1,000 ($164) – CNY2,000 ($328), more people are purchasing sub-CNY1,000 handsets. At the same time, there is an upward trend too — as more people are also purchasing CNY2,000 – CNY3,000 ($492) devices. The report finds that Samsung ranks number one in the total number of smartphones sold in China, followed by Apple, then Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. These three brands account for 60 percent of total smartphone sales in the country. Xiaomi has nearly doubled its share of smartphone sales in China over the last 12 months — from 6.6 percent in Q3 2012 to 12.7 percent in Q3 2013. Kantar says that "Xiaomi is challenging the No. 2 spot" — as Apple's share has slid from 24.7 percent in the third quarter last year to 13.8 percent this year. Kantar also notes that almost one out of four smartphone sales were made via online channels during the quarter, as physical stores continue to lose favor with consumers. This latest report is even more proof that the world's largest smartphone market is a thriving Android marketplace — and as more Chinese are increasingly accessing the Internet via their mobiles first, Android is the operating system that will likely continue dominating the country. Headline image via Shutterstock This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| End of the galapagos era? Japan’s tech and Internet habits have never been more Western Posted: 28 Nov 2013 01:47 AM PST  It wasn't long ago that Japan's technology space was considered to exist on an entirely different plane to the rest of the world. Mixi was a forerunner to Facebook, going on to list on the domestic stock exchange in 2006, and even today Japanese consumers are still kicking the habit of flip phones, buying devices from the likes of Panasonic, Fujitsu, NEC and other brands not usually associated with mobile. Those are just some examples of Japan's 'galapagos' syndrome — summarized nicely by the Wall Street Journal last year. Essentially it's an explanation of how the country's culture, ideals and consumer trends differ to the US, Europe and the rest of Asia — but here's something interesting: many of the features of galapagos are being eroded from Japan's tech space. Smartphones and tabletsApple is one of the most obvious examples of an overseas company making inroads in Japan. Back in September, the launch of the new iPhones helped it snag a record 34 percent share of mobile sales, and growth has continued: new figures from Kantar suggest the iPhone 5s and 5c accounted for 76 percent of new smartphone sales in Japan this October. Though research suggests Apple topped Japan's mobile market last year, Android is also making its mark in the country — thanks in no small way to Docomo. Japan's top operator has maintained a strong focus on Android. To that end, it recently unveiled 10 new devices running the Google operating system — although it now offers the iPhone too.
Amazon is another US giant that is performing well in Japan, despite top domestic e-commerce player Rakuten buying rival tablet and e-reader-maker Kobo. Rakuten-Kobo relaunched its products in Japan but Amazon — which just launched its Prime video-on-demand service in Japan — has taken the domestic e-reader market by storm, gaining a dominant 38.3 percent share of the e-reader space within just four months of launching its Kindle range. The battle is sure to continue, but the success that Amazon has seen to date would have been difficult to predict. Western Internet services growBeyond devices, Japanese Internet users are also using overseas-based services like never before. Twitter has long been popular in Japan — thanks to culture, its mobile focus and a healthy dose of good timing. Indeed, Twitter's record for tweets per second was set following the broadcast of a popular Japanese anime show, while Japan and Korea were among the most active on Twitter during New Years Eve 2012-2013 celebrating — clocking an impressive 33,388 tweets per second at peak.
Facebook has traditionally lagged in Japan, but things are changing. The US social network claimed to have overtaken Mixi a year ago, and this year the company seems to grown even more in Japan, becoming a more popular option for Internet users and offering a valuable platform for services and startups in Japan. Serkan Toto, a consultant who closely studies Japan's tech and mobile spaces, tells TNW that the 'Americanization' of Japan's Internet space is a genuine trend:
Japanese tech going globalIt isn't all one way, Japan is beginning to show that it is capable of producing companies and services that can grow outside of the country — something that goes against the galapagos syndrome. Line, a two-year old messaging app developed by Korean Internet company Naver but headquartered in Japan, just passed 300 million registered users worldwide. Having established impressive adoption in some parts of Asia — notably Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as Japan — it has set its sight on building out into the US, Latin America and Europe.
SoftBank is no spring chicken, but the operator is making big moves overseas. It owns US telecom company Sprint, and showed its interest in diversifying its assets when it snapped up a majority stake in red hot gaming firm Supercell in October for a cool $1.5 billion. There have been failures, of course. Nintendo hasn't aged well in the mobile era, but Toto pinpoints DeNA and GREE, two billion dollar mobile gaming firms that have thus far failed to replicate their domestic successes on the international stage:
Can changing habits in Japan influence other companies, startups and services that venture out of the domestic market? Certainly there is a case for greater optimism. Likewise, the apparent lessening of the effects of galapagos syndrome make Japan's lucrative market more open to overseas companies, although there are still plenty of issues to contend with. Images via YuryZap / Shutterstock, Japan Times, Dudley Carr / Flickr and Line This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Google launches elections portal in India to give citizens one-stop access to political news Posted: 28 Nov 2013 01:36 AM PST
Millions of Indian citizens are voting in five state assembly elections over this month to the next, a run-up to the country's national elections to be held by May 2014. The elections portal lets users watch content hosted by YouTube partners and features links to Google Hangouts which political representatives have held. It also provides information on how to register for voting, and has a section for frequently asked questions on voting and registration. Google says that it will be adding more functionality for users to interact with the candidates. Image via Shutterstock, thumbnail image via Shutterstock This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Vietnam introduces fines for citizens who criticize the government on social media Posted: 28 Nov 2013 01:07 AM PST  Vietnam's government is cracking down on Internet freedom (or whatever little there was of it in the first place) in the country — after it introduced a fine of 100 million dong ($4,740) for anyone who criticizes the government on social media. The new law was announced this week, Reuters reports. Some types of comments are classified as a criminal offense, which can see the person responsible slapped with a jail sentence. Even if people make comments that don't constitute criminal offenses, they may be fined if these comments are determined to be "propaganda against the state", or spreading "reactionary ideology," according to the law, which was reportedly signed off by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. This follows up from a decree that the government rolled out in September this year, which stipulates that blogs and social media profiles belonging to individuals and businesses should contain personal information only — effectively banning people from broadcasting opinions around current affairs on the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Other than the fine being introduced for such social media-related comments, Vietnam's government is also laying out new regulations for operating an e-commerce site in the country, Tech in Asia reports. If a company doesn't have a license to carry out e-commerce and fails to report service changes on its site, it could be fined anything from $200 to $1000. If the site operator posts incorrect and/or falsified information, a $1,000 to $1,400 fine looms. Vietnam is already not known for perpetuating much freedom of expression, but these moves to get a hold on Internet activities are a cause for concern — as they could lead to a much more difficult online environment, and could turn off foreign businesses wanting to expand into the country. Headline image via Shutterstock This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Next Web To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
