The Next Web

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• 7 key trends from China’s tech scene in 2013
• 14 of the best Android apps released in December
• Leak suggests LG’s Lifeband Touch, a Fitbit-style wearable device, is coming soon
• China’s Xiaomi expects to ship 40 million smartphones in 2014, more than double that of 2013
• Rethink
• The NSA can reportedly gain backdoor access to the iPhone, among many other tech products
• Nokia’s low-cost Lumia 520 now makes up one-third of Windows Phones worldwide: Report
• Distimo: Christmas 2013 saw 50% spike in iOS app downloads and revenue, but effects are slowing
• This website lets you know which countries you’ll need a visa to visit
• Fitbit’s latest iOS app update will monitor your fitness activity using your iPhone 5s

7 key trends from China’s tech scene in 2013 Posted: 31 Dec 2013 04:47 AM PST 2013 was a year that saw exciting things happen in China's tech scene — and there have been certain key trends that stood out in particular. As the world's largest smartphone market continues to grow, mobile devices probably took pole position among the top trends of this year — and as Chinese firms reach saturation point in their home market, they are starting to take over smaller firms, enter alliances, and even move overseas. Here's a look at the seven key trends (or events) that took place in China this year. 1. The Xiaomi craze Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has been on a tear this year, becoming one of the hottest phone-makers in the country. The young company was founded three years ago and released its first device in 2011, but 2013 was when it shot to recognition across the world, firstly by nabbing Hugo Barra, previously Google VP for Android. Barra was only one facet of Xiaomi's steamroller year though. One of the greatest milestones for the company was when it notched up an impressive valuation of $10 billion in its latest funding round. Its revenue for the first half of 2013 reached $2.15 billion after it sold 7.03 million devices — just shy of the 7.19 million units it sold during the whole of 2012 — and it has likely already hit its target of shifting 15 million devices for the whole of this year. Xiaomi released four smartphones in total this year. In April, it launched the variants of its then-flagship smartphone, the Mi-2S and Mi-2A. Subsequently, it unveiled its lowest-priced phone yet in July — the $130 Hongmi. Following that, it launched its latest flagship device Mi-3 in September, along with a smart TV, in the process displaying its immense popularity in the world's largest smartphone market. Further proof of its popularity in China came when it overtook Apple on market share in the second quarter this year, according to figures from Canalys, an independent analyst firm. In 2013, Xiaomi also took its first foray into the international realm, launching its mobile phones in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The new year will only herald in even more milestones for Xiaomi. After hiring Barra, it is a natural step for the company to head overseas — and it seems like Singapore may be its next stop. After all, Xiaomi recently revealed that users of its Android-based MIUI firmware span 58 countries, with the second-largest group of users after China coming from the US. 2. The iPhone comes to China Mobile It's been a long time coming — years, in fact. In 2013, Apple's iPhones finally made it to the world's largest carrier with over 740 million subscribers: China Mobile. This came as China also claimed another milestone in 2013, after Chinese authorities issued 4G licenses to the three major telecommunication operators, heralding in the super-fast network. Earlier this year, Apple gained regulatory approval for its iPhones to run on the TD-LTE standard used by China Mobile for its 4G networks. There has been a lot of hype over the China Mobile-iPhone deal. It seems like for Apple, being present on the carrier would significantly widen its reach and sales efforts in China's mobile market — but whether or not that turns out to be true remains to be seen. In the meantime, Apple has had a pretty impressive run in the world's largest smartphone market in 2013 — after it turned things around in China in Q4 FY2013. CEO Tim Cook said that the company was able to grow its relationships with the government and carriers in China, resulting in the greater China region generating $27 billion in revenue for Apple in the full fiscal year of 2013, a 14 percent increase. 3. Chinese firms eye the US As Chinese firms settle comfortably into their domestic market, the next step for them as they seek to spread their influence globally and capture more opportunities is the US — and at no point has this been clearer than in 2013. Chinese Internet giant Tencent is a prime example of a local firm taking big strides this year, as it seeks to conquer overseas markets. It was rumored to be leading a financing round into Snapchat, after it led a $150 million investment in design-focused e-commerce service Fab in June. E-commerce giant Alibaba has also made a play for the US. In August this year, Alibaba was said to have paid $75 million for a minority stake in two-day shipping service ShopRunner, and subsequently it also led a $206 million round in the same service. ShopRunner represents a strategic investment for Alibaba, as it offers a viable competitor to Amazon Prime and can help familiarize Alibaba with the US market. In June, Alibaba made another investment, also in the US market, by backing sports apparel vendor Fanatics. Alibaba has also been making its way overseas to other English-speaking markets. It made a subtle-but-significant play for Western companies in October by launching an English-language microsite for Tmall, its B2C shopping site for brands — and earlier in September launched its Taobao marketplace in Singapore incorporating a dual-language registration page, seeking to make its mark in Southeast Asia. 4. A string of investments, mergers and acquisitions China's tech industry witnessed a string of mergers and acquisitions in 2013, as Internet giants prepared for battle. The biggest one in particular was a huge buy by Chinese search giant Baidu in July — the acquisition of third-party app distribution platform 91 Wireless for a whopping $1.9 billion. Earlier this year, Baidu also announced it would buy PPS Video for $370 million, becoming China's biggest video provider as it already owns iQiyi after buying a majority stake last November. In August, Baidu also purchased a majority stake in e-commerce website operator Nuomi for about $160 million and, to round off the year, it acquired e-bookstore Zongheng for about $31 million. Other than Baidu, Alibaba has also been on a buying spree throughout 2013, as it pursued more alliances to beef up its presence. The most notable one for Alibaba was in May when it purchased an 18 percent stake in Sina Weibo, arguably the nation's most important social networking platform. This marked Alibaba's strategy of collaborating with established players in the social space to enrich its shopping experience — leading to the launch of a "Weibo-Taobao" platform to make it easier for customers on the Twitter-like microblogging platform to shop on e-commerce site Taobao. At the start of this year, Alibaba confirmed that it was acquiring Xiami, a popular social music-streaming service — and in April its Taobao Marketplace rolled out functionality for Xiami, apparently to help transform the retail site from merely a shopping platform to a lifestyle and media platform. In May, Alibaba also confirmed that it made a $294 million investment for a 28 percent stake in China's top mapping platform Autonavi, while in July it confirmed that it inked a strategic investment in outbound travel site Qyer.com for an undisclosed amount, to boost its travel offerings on marketplace site Taobao. In November, Chinese analytics provider Umeng confirmed that it was acquired by Alibaba too, and in December Alibaba invested $364 million in electronics manufacturer Haier Group as it looks to expand its logistics and delivery capacity. Tencent has not been resting on its laurels in 2013 either. Other than making investments in the US, in September Tencent announced that it invested $448 million in Sogou for a 36.5 percent stake, and merged its Soso search-related business with Sogou, stepping up its presence in the search market as it sought to become a credible rival to Baidu. 5. The Bitcoin rollercoaster in China Crypto-currency Bitcoin made waves in China in 2013 — consisting of highs and lows, essentially going through a rollercoaster in the later part of the year. In November, it was revealed that BTC China had overtaken Japan-based Mt. Gox as the trading system processing the largest volume of Bitcoins, while it announced a $5 million Series A round. Back then, it was noted that BTC China handles 80,000 transactions per day — over $50 million worth of the currency. The demand in China and among investors has been high throughout 2013 despite one Chinese platform disappearing with $4.1 million in customer money. However, in early December, China's central bank finally spoke up in response to the hype around Bitcoin, saying that banks and other financial institutions are not allowed to handle transactions made with the digital currency. It says it doesn't recognize Bitcoin as a legal currency, but gave the green light for individuals to use Bitcoin online — at their own risk. Subsequently, a series of incidents in the country culminated in BTC China stopping deposits in Renminbi, China's currency – following reports that the Bank of China (BoC) had outlawed transactions between Bitcoin exchanges and third-party payment systems. This sent Bitcoin's price crashing. It remains to be seen how Bitcoin will adapt to the changes in the Chinese system during the new year, but the unfriendly environment is making it difficult to operate in — and challenges are aplenty. 6. WeChat becomes a platform 2013 was the year when wildly popular Chinese messaging service WeChat (users in China get a version known as Weixin) expanded its services and progressed toward becoming a platform. In August, Chinese Internet giant Tencent rolled out an update to its mobile messaging app Weixin, incorporating payment services, a game center and a sticker store, in a bid to monetize the free app. The availability of mobile payments on Weixin lets users simply link an online bank account to pay for items, while Tencent's payments solution Tenpay does the necessary backend work. In the meantime, the five mobile games it released have passed 570 million cumulative downloads, as revealed in November. As Tencent deepened Weixin's online-offline commerce link this year, in September it announced that users in China can pay via the chat app when they get a drink from its dedicated vending machines located across Beijing. The Internet giant has also reportedly been finalizing its online-to-offline collaboration with merchants through the year, which would see large chain restaurants get on board to let Weixin users pay with the app. 7. Smart TVs become mainstream Chinese Internet companies flocked into the smart TV space throughout 2013 as they strived to conquer the living room. Many new smart TVs arrived in China in recent months, as companies hoped to draw in consumers with impressive large screens to form the centerpiece of households, and includes a range of Internet entertainment services. In early September, popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi announced its move beyond handsets as it launched a 47-inch 3D smart TV which is retailing for CNY2,999 ($490). In July, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced that it had developed a smart TV operating system and was working with a number of partners, including Cisco and Chinese manufacturers, to develop smart TVs, set-top boxes and services to run inside them. The culmination of those efforts resulted in a total of three smart TVs unveiled in September, manufactured in collaboration with Skyworth. A little over a month after Alibaba announced its smart TV OS, fierce rival Baidu also jumped into the space as it partnered with electronics maker TCL Multimedia to sell smart TVs, which include content and branding from its video platform iQiyi. To round off the year, Tencent launched an Internet TV in December, which features integration with the Chinese version of WeChat — in terms of program controls and even payment solutions. What to expect for 2014 In 2014, China's mobile presence is likely to grow even stronger — as this year's trends already indicate. Mobile devices are being used increasingly for leisure and entertainment, which will lead to mobile video and games becoming increasingly appealing, and companies will strive to get that right. Mobile is also extending its influence into payments, which will be played out in e-commerce. Most importantly of all, social communication is what ties mobile interaction together — and Chinese firms are likely to take steps to cement their presence in that area. Perhaps, with wearable devices being produced by so many companies all over the world as well, it may be that China could see its domestic firms breaking into the market as well. Headline image via Shutterstock, images via Xiaomi's blog, Getty Images, Getty Images, Getty Images, Getty Images, Bryanlyt and Xiaomi This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

14 of the best Android apps released in December Posted: 31 Dec 2013 03:58 AM PST With December 2013 now consigned to the history books, we thought we'd take a retrospective look at some of the more notable apps to hit our radar over the past month. So without further ado, here's a quick snapshot of some of the best Android apps to hit Google Play in recent weeks. VSCO VSCO Cam is a sweet photo-editing app with subtle filters that give your shots the color cast usually reserved for RAW files spat out by a full-frame DSLR. You can alter the intensity of the filters, contrast, temperature and crop options, and share across the social sphere. Though it has a shooting mode too, it's really the editing features that make this worth your time. ➤ VSCO Cam Cal To-do list startup Any.DO finally took its smart calendar app Cal to Android this month. Cal syncs with all the major calendars, including Google and Exchange, but it's when you start adding items to your calendar where things get interesting. It asks to use your current location, so it can deliver additional details for each entry. For example, if you enter a location name such as 'Concert at Wembley', Cal detects it. It will even plot it out on a map for you and offer to help you navigate your way to any event. ➤ Cal Dolphin Zero Why waste time deleting all your browsing history when you can just load up Dolphin's new privacy-focused 'ephemeral' browser? Creators MoboTap touts Dolphin Zero as the 'Snapchat for browsing', as it automatically deletes all your data including browsing history, cache, passwords and cookies. When you first launch the app, you're left with no doubt as to Dolphin's core raison d'être – its strapline 'Leave No Trace' headlines a list of things that it automatically deletes when you tell it to. ➤ Dolphin Zero Stevie Stevie, the oddly-named TV-focused startup that emerged from Microsoft's Azure Accelerator in Israel in early 2012, finally arrived for Android last month. Stevie provides a social TV layer that combines content from your Facebook and Twitter feeds, along with popular videos from YouTube. To keep the experience as 'lean-back' as possible, it's displayed directly over the content you are watching. ➤ Stevie Quip Former Facebook CTO (and FriendFeed co-founder) Bret Taylor and ex-Googler Kevin Gibbs teamed up to launch Quip back in July, with a view towards reinventing how word processing is done. And the Android incarnation landed earlier this month too.     In a nutshell, the app lets users create documents on any compatible device, and communicate/collaborate across projects. It can be used for shared to-do lists, family shopping lists or, well, anything really. ➤ Quip Manga Box Japanese mobile games giant DeNA moved into manga this month, as it seeks to make its mark in another entertainment vertical. Manga Box is a free mobile app that lets users read artists' manga series from Japanese publishers. It includes original manga series, spin-offs of existing popular series and some classics. All titles will be updated weekly, with three to five new episodes added each day. ➤ Manga Box Keepy Keepy, the intergenerational platform that helps families preserve memories through 'playlists' filled with photos, artwork, schoolwork and more, rolled out for Android last month. Keepy launched for iOS back in September and now claims 150,000 users in 90 countries. But with its arrival on Google Play, several new features have been thrown into the mix across all platforms, including integration with Zazzle to offer printing services directly within the app. ➤ Keepy Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas There was good news for Grand Theft Auto fans in December – Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas went mobile, hitting Android earlier this month. Originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004, the game was reworked for touchscreen devices, with a more forgiving checkpoint system and two different control schemes for driving and moving around on foot. ➤ Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Angry Birds Go Rovio launched its Mario Kart-style Angry Birds racing game in December, hitting Android, Windows Phone, iOS, AND BlackBerry in one fell swoop. The Angry Birds franchise is really growing arms and legs now, and based on our tinkerings with this game, it has another hit on its hands. ➤ Angry Birds Go Android Device Manager Google launched a standalone app for its Android Device Manager service earlier this month, one that works just like the Web-based version of the service. It shows you any device associated with your Google Account, lets you ring to locate these devices, and protects the information stored inside by remotely adding a screen lock or performing a factory reset to erase the content. ➤ Android Device Manager MusicUp MusicUp pits you against others to discover who can identify the most songs in 90 seconds. You can challenge friends or strangers to listen to clips from a pre-set playlist of songs to see how many track titles can be identified within the time limit. ➤ MusicUp Soundrop December proved to be a busy month for Soundrop. Fresh from expanding its social listening service to cover Deezer, it also released an Android app to accompany the existing iOS incarnation. Soundrop offers 'listening rooms' where Spotify and Deezer users can discuss and share artists, new music and anything else. ➤ Soundrop TalkSide TalkSide is a call-screen replacer that brings context and background information to your calls. So before you make or receive a call, you can see relevant information such as text messages, Facebook statuses, birthdays and more. While you are encouraged to sync up with Facebook during the initial set-up, you can actually skip this step – though you will miss out on some of the experience. ➤ TalkSide CircleMe We first took a peek at CircleMe back in October 2011 when it launched in private beta – while it was originally only available for Web and iOS, it arrived for Android this month too.     In a nutshell, CircleMe makes it easy to create an online profile to showcase all your favorite things – this could be websites, films, magazines, books, music, hobbies and more. At its core, CircleMe is about connecting with people with similar interests. ➤ CircleMe Meanwhile, check out our roundup of some of the best Android apps from the whole of 2013. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Leak suggests LG’s Lifeband Touch, a Fitbit-style wearable device, is coming soon Posted: 31 Dec 2013 03:22 AM PST LG has admitted it is preparing to release its first wearable device for consumers, and we just got a look at what it might be, a Fitbit-style gadget called the LG Lifeband Touch. That's according to regular tipster Evleaks, who posted a render of the device to Twitter. We understand that the Lifeband Touch will support both iOS and Android, and sync with LG's existing fitness app, but it's not clear when it will be officially unveiled — CES seems like a good bet. The device appears different to the Smart Activity Tracker that LG showed off at CES 2013 — we've contacted the company to see if it has any details to share at this point. We hear also that the gadget will comprise of a touch-based OLED display, accelerometer, altitude meter, and music player that controls tracks from a paired device. Thumbnail image via Scobleizer / Flickr This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

China’s Xiaomi expects to ship 40 million smartphones in 2014, more than double that of 2013 Posted: 31 Dec 2013 02:14 AM PST Popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has had a great run in 2013 — but it looks set to scale even greater heights in 2014. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has just announced that the company will ship 40 million smartphones in 2014 — more than double the figure it is expected to round out 2013 with. CEO Lei Jun states that the shipment of Xiaomi smartphones will be 40 million in 2014. pic.twitter.com/DkvPXtlqMS — XiaoMi (@XiaomiChina) December 31, 2013 Xiaomi's revenue for the first half of 2013 reached $2.15 billion after it sold 7.03 million devices — just shy of the 7.19 million units it sold during the whole of 2012 — and it has likely already hit its target of selling 15 million devices for the whole of this year. Thumbnail image via Hugo Barra / Google+ This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Rethink Posted: 31 Dec 2013 02:05 AM PST I'm spending two days in the Sahara, back to basics. Just 14 of my best buddies, a few camels (thanks for carrying our bags) and nature in its purest form – ice cold during the night, super hot during the day. An amazing experience, I can recommend it to everybody. While wandering around from one sand hill to another you have a lot of time to think and chat about life, work, friends, and yes even the brilliant model of Tinder comes up in conversations. We've known each other from university, and every five years we go on a(n unforgettable) trip. Spending a couple of days in the desert with friends who aren't 'in tech' is refreshing. For instance, it can't hurt to see that there are normal (very successful) people out there that don't give a shit about Twitter, that have never heard of Snapchat, don't have a clue how online companies make money and still think that Google is just a search engine. It makes you think and rethink the things you have been doing. It got me thinking on how we at TNW can do things differently, how we can improve our services, events, coverage, our relationships and friendships. In this post I'll stick to just events. We have been organizing TNW conferences for eight consecutive years with great success. Each year we've managed to improve our conferences, to test new things, new tools. Over the past few years we have been nominated for awards in the events industry and the King of the Netherlands hung out for three hours at this year's conference, which is all kind of crazy for people who had never even attended a business event before starting their own one, and who had no clue what it would take to organize an event. Basically it came down to us doing whatever we thought we should do to make it cool, fun and worthwhile attending. That worked like a charm. I dare to say that the TNW conference is amongst the world's leading tech events (check also the infographic at the end of the post). It has great content, always looks stunning and has its own charm, its own feel and vibe, something which has proved to be very difficult to copy. How do we improve on something like this that has been so successful for many years? The answer; Rethink everything and build on the success, voice and vibe that already has been established. The default is: change For TNW Conference Europe this means that we're introducing new speaker formats, new ways for early stage startups to connect with customers, press and investors, new competitions for the hottest European tech companies, better ways to connect to make sure you spend your time as effective as possible (while having a great time) and all packed in fresh and gorgeous design. Basically we're changing almost everything, all tools are reconsidered, new tools introduced, and we've never been more confident that it will be the best edition so far. It's not size that matters We've asked a lot of people on the scene if the size (of an event) matters. We've asked if bigger is always better. It appeared not to be the case. TNW Europe has been sold out for the last four consecutive years (last year the max capacity was 2000) and has always had an intimate feeling. Not too small – after all, you are attending to meet interesting people and do business – and not too big – you still want to be able to find and talk to the people who are of interest to you and your business. We have decided not to go as big as possible, but to keep it manageable for everyone involved. For 2014 we have room for 2,500 great minds from the industry (young, old -but still young at heart-, entrepreneurs, developers, investors, social media teams, marketing wonders, investors and leaders). Driving down the price In 2006 a ticket to the conference was €550 (excluding sales tax) for a one day (and compared to the 2013 event, it was a pretty crappy) event. Now, eight years later, the price for a TNW Conference Europe ticket is €530 and this is a two-day event. If you take the inflation into account, we have lowered the price by 21% while doubling the length of the event, have ten times as many speakers and a production level that is an order of magnitude better. That's not even mentioning the networking tools, special apps, parties, drinks… well you get the point here. Better events at a lower price, that's how we roll. Hopefully we inspire other events as well, so the overall quality of tech events goes up while the price comes down. 2014 will be a great year, we will continue to improve and are looking forward to meet you in April in Amsterdam (or August in São Paulo, or October in New York). I can recommend everybody to take a couple of days off and leave your connected devices at home. Just bring some of your best friends along and talk about life, love and your business. It's refreshing. Happy New Year ➤ TNW infographic This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

The NSA can reportedly gain backdoor access to the iPhone, among many other tech products Posted: 30 Dec 2013 11:01 PM PST The National Security Agency knows no boundaries — and has tools for spying that span computers, keyboards, firewalls and servers, or nearly all the security architecture created by major tech companies. That's according to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which got its hands on an internal NSA document that apparently resembles a product catalog. The NSA division in charge of these tools, called ANT, steps in to penetrate networking equipment, monitor mobile phones and computers, as well as divert or even modify data, Der Spiegel reports. In particular, Apple's iPhone has been dragged into the latest revelations — a worrying fact for people all over the world who carry iPhones. One of the tools available is a spyware implant named DROPOUTJEEP, said to have been in development for the first generation of iPhones at the start of 2008 — though its status right now is unclear. DROPOUTJEEP is said to allow for remote access and control through SMS or data service. This means that it can read messages, listen to voicemails, download and upload data, as well as pin down the phone's location — all without being noticed by the user. Other tools that the NSA apparently employ include an implant designed for Proliant servers manufactured by HP that can communicate with NSA infrastructure, an implant for CISCO firewalls, a software implant for Huawei routers, as well as a mobile system for wireless injection of exploits for Windows systems. The NSA has sparked a chain of angry reactions from tech companies in the industry after months of revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden, who recently said his mission has been accomplished — and these latest documents give more evidence of how the government seems to have overstepped its boundaries. Recently Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, AOL, LinkedIn, Twitter and Yahoo formed an alliance to push their shared belief that "it is time for the world's governments to address the practices and laws regulating government surveillance of individuals and access to their information." ➤ Shopping for Spy Gear: Catalog Advertises NSA Toolbox [Der Spiegel] Headline image via Tim Brakemier/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Nokia’s low-cost Lumia 520 now makes up one-third of Windows Phones worldwide: Report Posted: 30 Dec 2013 09:45 PM PST Nokia's Lumia smartphone range has made progress this year — particularly in Europe, where it has even overtaken iOS marketshare in some countries — and lower-priced devices continue to be the sweetest spot for the Finnish company, as new figures from AdDuplex show. AdDuplex, a popular ad network for Windows Phone which tallies data from 2,499 Windows Phone apps, claims that the $180 Lumia 520 now accounts for over 30 percent of all Windows Phone devices worldwide, though that figure rises to 34 percent if you include the Lumia 521, its close sibling. Those figures are up from 26.5 percent and 29.4 percent last month, respectively, and 13 percent back in July. Nokia announced the Lumia 525, an upgraded version of the Lumia 520, in November, and it will be interesting to see how the device — and the older two — perform in 2014, particularly after Microsoft completes its acquisition of Nokia's device business. More holistic data of the Windows Phone ecosystem shows that Nokia's share of total devices has risen to 92.1 percent from 90 percent in November (second-placed HTC owns just 5.2 percent of the market). The rate of Windows Phone 8 installations crept up from 75.3 percent to 78.3 percent, a trend that will help lessen usage of the older Windows Phone 7 platform. ➤ AdDuplex Windows Phone Statistics Report for December 2013 [AdDuplex Blog] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Distimo: Christmas 2013 saw 50% spike in iOS app downloads and revenue, but effects are slowing Posted: 30 Dec 2013 09:05 PM PST Christmas is now officially a time for app downloads and purchases. Latest research from app analytics company Distimo shows that the number of iOS app downloads rose by 53 percent and the amount of revenue increased by 56 percent during Christmas Day this year, compared to an average day in December. However, these figures are lower compared to previous years. Distimo notes that in 2011, there was a threefold growth in app downloads compared to an average day in December, and in 2012 the number of downloads almost doubled while revenue rose by 70 percent. Compared to last year, the rate of revenue increase this year during Christmas was larger than the growth rate for downloads. According to Distimo, Christmas made the most impact in the UK this year — with download volume up by 161 percent on Christmas Day. In the US, revenue almost doubled, tacking on 97 percent in the Apple App Store. However, large Asian app markets such as Japan and South Korea barely saw any rise in app downloads and revenue. Mobile firm Flurry also released its festive figures recently — which showed another "record-breaking level" of app downloads this Christmas, up by 91 percent compared to an average day in the first three weeks of December. However, similar to Distimo, Flurry also notes that "the size of the Christmas download spike is diminishing over time as the app market matures and globalizes." Flurry says that the slowing growth rates and smaller Christmas Day app download spike come as many Western consumers — in markets where Christmas is a big holiday — already have a mobile device, which means fewer people are coming online via mobile for the very first time. Instead, Flurry notes that as growth in mobile increasingly comes from China, where Christmas is barely celebrated, new device activations and app downloads are being spread out to different times of the year. Headline image via Shutterstock This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

This website lets you know which countries you’ll need a visa to visit Posted: 30 Dec 2013 07:35 PM PST If you travel overseas, the chances are that you already do enough research to know whether you need a visa at your destination — but Visamapper.com makes that research visual. The map-based interface lets you check up on visa requirements of any country from the point of view of a traveler of any nationality. It's always best to double check through official websites and organizations, but the map is certainly a great resource — especially this nifty overview. ➤ VisaMapper Is A Magical Map Where You Can See Which Countries Require Visas To Visit [Huffington Post] Image via LuapVision / Shutterstock This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Fitbit’s latest iOS app update will monitor your fitness activity using your iPhone 5s Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:37 PM PST Fitbit has released an iOS app update that will enable users to monitor their activity right from their iOS device, no longer necessarily requiring the purchase of its hardware. Called Mobile Tracker,  the feature is likely a competitor to what Nike's Move iOS app offers. It's also only available to those with iPhone 5S devices, since it'll be using the built-in M7 chip installed on it. Extending itself away from the hardware space, Fitbit is giving users greater flexibility without having to spend nearly $100 on its wearable wristband. Often, people will be faced with the conundrum about which is better: Jawbone UP, Nike+ Fuelband, or the Fitbit. While the design may be part of the appeal, the real selling point is the data that is captured. Of course, now that Fitbit is no longer device-dependent, it can focus on gathering more data and developing new features based on its curation. ➤ Fitbit for iOS Photo credit: Ilia Yefimovic/Getty Images This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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