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To: puborectalis who wrote (30097)	11/1/2014 9:05:26 AM
From: sylvester80	Respond to of 32692

If thin (rather than bendable iCrap) is your thing..Samsung's all-metal Galaxy A5 and A3 are its slimmest smartphones ever [at 6.7mm thin, the A5 is thinner, and NOT bendable, than the iJunk iBend 6@6.9mm and 6+ at 7.1mm] by Mat Smith \| @thatmatsmith \| October 30th 2014 at 10:37 pm engadget.com A unibody metal body, 5-inch AMOLED display, 13-megapixel camera, a claim as Samsung's "thinnest smartphone to date" and yet, this isn't a flagship smartphone. Especially for Halloween - or not related at all - the Galaxy A5 and A3 yet more smartphones from Samsung, measuring at 6.7mm and 6.9mm thickness. (So, er, just as thin as the Galaxy Alpha?) They may not be close to the thinnest smartphone but with a metallic body, it's still quite an interesting proposition. They're both apparently geared at the youth, with Samsung's own press release praising its social network skills (extending to a GIF maker and 4G connectivity...) and the five-megapixel front-facing camera, because selfies, but given the notion of a metal-framed Galaxy phone, other crankier demographics might also be tempted. The Galaxy A5 is the five-inch model, with a 720p Super AMOLED display and a 1.2GHz processor -- it's a relatively middleweight specification but it's probably what ensures Samsung were able to squeeze down the dimensions. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A3 has a 4.5-inch qHD Super AMOLED screen, and the same processor. The camera here dips down to a 8-megapixel model, but you'll still get the full 5MP whack of the front-facing camera. Both devices are set to launch in China next month, with other select markets to follow, although like many a Galaxy phone before them, we might not see a mainstream launch in the west. [iframe class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m1uzXBo_VPQ?wmode=transparent" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" wmode="transparent" style="background-color: rgb(240, 240, 215);"][/iframe] SOURCE: Samsung

To: puborectalis who wrote (30097)	11/1/2014 9:11:22 AM
From: sylvester80	Respond to of 32692

BREAKING..Android stays 'unbeatable' in smartphone market UP to 83.6% in Q3 2014 from 81.4% in Q3 2013, while Apple loses more market share down to 12.3% in Q4 2014 DOWN from 13.4% in Q3 2013 Google's mobile OS reigned supreme in the third quarter with 84 percent of global shipments, says research firm Strategy Analytics. by Lance Whitney October 31, 2014 8:30 AM PDT cnet.com Android continued to dominate the smartphone market last quarter, far outpacing Apple's iOS, according to research released Friday by Strategy Analytics. For the third quarter, global shipments of Android-based smartphones reached 268 million, up from 206 million for the same quarter a year ago. Those numbers helped the OS win a market share of 84 percent, up from 81.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. Strategy Analytics cited the power of Android overall but did point to challenges for individual Android device makers. "Android's leadership of the global smartphone market looks unbeatable at the moment," Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement. "Its low-cost services and user-friendly software remain attractive to hardware makers, operators and consumers worldwide. However, challenges are emerging for Google. The Android platform is getting overcrowded with hundreds of hardware brands, Android smartphone prices are falling worldwide, and few Android device vendors make profits." Still, other mobile operating systems trailed Android's grip of the market. Apple 's iOS finished the third quarter with smartphone shipments of 39.3 million, compared with 33.8 million in the same quarter of 2013. But over the same time Apple's smartphone market share dropped to 12.3 percent from 13.4 percent. Strategy Analytics director Woody Oh blamed the dip on the limited presence of iOS devices at the lower end of the smartphone market. During the third quarter, Apple introduced the new iPhone 6and iPhone 6 Plus. The new models launched in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico and Singapore on September 19. The phones traveled to more than 20 additional regions on September 26. By year's end, Apple plans to sell the iPhone 6 in more than 115 countries. But the new iPhones are high-end devices, an area that continues to be Apple's sole playing field. This year, the company did not introduce an equivalent of last year's lower-cost iPhone 5C. Android, in contrast, offers a wider playing field with high-end, midrange, and low-end phones and so is able to grab more sales worldwide, especially in developing markets. Strategy AnalyticsBeyond the top two smartphone players, Microsoft's Windows Phone took third place with global shipments of 10.5 million, up slightly from 10.3 milllion in the year-ago quarter. But its market share dippped to 3.3 percent from 4.1 percent. Strategy Analytics noted that Windows Phone "continued to struggle in China and Japan." China is the the world's largest smartphone market, and so represents a substantial source of sales for mobile phone makers. In fourth place, BlackBerry saw its shipments dip to 2.3 million from 2.5 million, while its market share inched down to 0.7 percent from 1 percent. BlackBerry is trying to stay alive in the smartphone marketby introducing such phones as the BlackBerry Passport and the upcoming BlackBerry Classic. But the company faces an uphill battle just to hold what little market share it has left. Overall, global smartphone shipments rose by 27 percent last quarter, thanks in large part to developing markets. Third-quarter shipments hit 320 million units, compared with 253 million in the prior year's quarter.

To: puborectalis who wrote (30097)	11/1/2014 9:28:43 AM
From: sylvester80	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32692

Apple Pay fails to unify fragmented market By Rob Lever, with Sophie Estienne in New York \| AFP – 10 hours ago uk.finance.yahoo.com Apple Pay, meant to inject momentum into a fragmented market for the emerging mobile payments sector, has instead highlighted the squabbles between retailers and the banking and payments industry. Since Apple Pay made its debut October 20 for US customers with the iPhone 6, several major retailers have said they would not use it. That includes number one retail group Wal-Mart and the large pharmacy-retail group CVS, which has disabled payment terminals that could accept Apple Pay. "You're never going to come up with anything as smooth (and) as easy as Apple Pay. But if you can't use it, you're going to use something else," said Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner (NYSE: IT - news) who follows mobile payments. Litan said a few retailers, such as McDonald's and Disney, like the system because it speeds transactions and "every fraction of a second goes to the bottom line." But she noted that for most retailers, credit card fees simply are too high. Apple Pay has aligned itself with major banks and payment processors Visa (Xetra: A0NC7B - news) and MasterCard, which take a cut of every transaction, typically two to three percent. Retailers, which often operate on razor-thin profit margins, would like to cut or eliminate those fees, and Apple Pay does nothing to change that system. "Most of the merchants have been hungry for competition," Litan said. - Stuck in neutral - Gartner projects mobile payments will hit $721 billion around the world by 2017. But some estimates have been lowered recently amid squabbles over the type of technology used and payment structure. Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) uses a "near field communication" or NFC chip, similar to that used by Google Wallet and Softcard, which has been slow to gain traction. Although Apple has signed on most major US banks, Visa and MasterCard, and retailers like Macy's and Staples (NasdaqGS: SPLS - news) , many others are balking. A coalition of merchants led by Wal-Mart, Target (NYSE: TGT - news) and Sears called MCX is promoting its own system called CurrentC, using a different technology, and importantly, allowing retailers to bypass credit cards and use direct bank debits with lower transaction costs. Apple Pay "really falls short when it comes to merchant value proposition," said Litan. Nitesh Patel, analyst with Strategy Analytics, said retailers are not necessarily targeting Apple but want "to avoid what they believe are excessive swipe fees and the cost of upgrading hardware and software to accept contactless payments." But he added that if Apple Pay catches on, the retailers will be forced to go along. Patel said, however, that if the retailer sector does not unify around the contactless system used by Apple Pay, users may revert to their old habits, "since they will need to carry their payment cards and wallet with them anyway." "This is a challenge that all proponents of contactless payments, Google Wallet, Softcard and Apple Pay face together," Patel told AFP. The merchant system got a black eye when it revealed a data breach exposing customer emails, even though the app itself was not affected. Forrester Research (NasdaqGS: FORR - news) analyst Denee Carrington said security is an advantage for Apple. "Apple Pay is highly secure, and the data privacy will mean that merchants are less likely to be hacked since they won't have card payment data that hackers are interested in," she said. "Apple Pay is also very fast and consumers seem to like it as well." - Battle for customer data - Bob O'Donnell at Technalysis Research said Apple's privacy protections make the system less attractive to retailers, because they cannot as easily track customer habits to deliver coupons or marketing messages. "They want that data," O'Donnell said. "That's why the grocery stores give you the loyalty cards." O'Donnell said Apple has created excitement about mobile payments but has failed to bridge the differences among the market players. "It gives momentum to the sector but it remains fragmented," he said. "Apple Pay provides an example of the promise and the challenges of mobile payments in a very clear way." Litan said meanwhile that the squabbles could intensify. And she noted that retailers which are disabling the ability to use contactless NFC technology could also be blocking rival systems. The merchant-sponsored system uses a more cumbersome technology that requires customers to scan a QR (quick response) code and display that. But by bypassing the credit card system, it can reduce costs for merchants, who may pass on these savings to customers. "The merchant systems are never going to be as convenient as Apple's," Litan said. "They can't compete with Apple on convenience but they can on price. It's going to boil down to price versus convenience, and price usually wins."