Adoption of Android tablets and smartphones in large businesses has been “severely limited” because of the complexities of managing the wide variety of Android-based devices and versions of the operating system, research firm Gartner said in an evaluation of 20 mobile device management (MDM) software vendors released Friday.

In a survey conducted in April, Gartner found that 58% of enterprises have made or plan to make Apple’s iOS their primary mobile platform in the next year. In comparison, 20% of enterprises will standardize on RIM’s BlackBerry platform and 9% will choose Google’s Android.

Google offers “weaker management support” for Android than Apple does for iOS or Research In Motion does for BlackBerry, Gartner added in its new 34-page study.

The broad-ranging study said the explosion in consumer smartphones and tablets used in workplaces is making MDM the “fastest-growing enterprise mobile software ever in terms of number of suppliers, revenue growth and interest from Gartner clients.”

MDM license revenues were about $200 million in 2010 and $350 million in 2011, and are expected to reach $500 million in 2012, Gartner said. Research firm IDC recently pegged 2010 MDM revenues at a higher level, $300 million, and it expects the market will reach $1.2 billion in 2015.

A big part of the reason why it’s difficult to manage Android systems, Gartner said, is that Google hasn’t opened many application programming interfaces (API) to the dozens of MDM vendors, which means they can’t connect their management tools to Android. In Android 4.0, Google only provided 16 APIs, compared to more than 500 APIs for the latest version of BlackBerry.

Some MDM vendors have built their own APIs for Android devices, but that process “is time-consuming and expensive to do for each device and version of Android,” Gartner said. “This [problem] has severely limited Android adoption in the enterprise, and even today, very few enterprises provide [Android] support.”

Google didn’t respond to a request for comment about Gartner’s report. However, Android vendors such as Motorola Mobility — which Google is acquiring — have defended the security and management features in Android for enterprise use. Those capabilities are mainly available through software from 3LM, a software vendor that Motorola acquired in 2011.

In January, Christy Wyatt, general manager of Motorola Mobility’s enterprise business unit, said: “We have to get Android as a whole at a stable and secure place, and once Android is behind the firewall [with 3LM], that helps. There’s a lot of mythology around Android and whether it’s secure or not.”

Other Android device makers, such as HTC and Sony, have struck agreements to license 3LM software, she said at the time.

Gartner’s report noted that Google hasn’t disclosed what it plans to do with 3LM as part of Motorola, adding that enterprises Gartner works with are hoping Google will use 3LM as part of an enterprise version of Android for device makers.

Earlier in May, 3LM announced Version 3.0 of its Mobile Device and Application Management platform for handling smartphones and tablets that run Android 4.0, as well as managing iPhones and iPads. Other new features include an easier interface for IT managers and tools to prevent users from copying data from corporate systems to noncorporate systems.

Gartner didn’t rank 3LM in its latest review of 20 MDM vendors because it doesn’t consider 3LM a true MDM vendor. Gartner analyst Phillip Redman, one of three authors of the report, said in an email interview that 3LM builds APIs and doesn’t provide actual MDM capabilities, and he added that those APIs serve as a “layer between MDM and a mobile device.”

Claims that Android is broadly secure are “not true,” Redman added. “All Android is not created equally.” He didn’t elaborate.

Enterprise use of BlackBerry smartphones, which have been widely regarded as secure and manageable through RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server, is on the decline. In April, RIM released an MDM platform called Mobile Fusion that provides management for iOS and Android as well as BlackBerry. Gartner didn’t evaluate Mobile Fusion for its report because it’s too new. But the research firm did say that the software “could be a force if [RIM] decides to invest more in this area.”

Of the 20 MDM vendors that Gartner studied, it ranked these five as leaders: MobileIron, AirWatch, Fiberlink, Zenprise and Good Technologies. SAP and Symantec were listed as “challengers,” while BoxTone and IBM were described as “visionaries.”

Gartner described the other 11 MDM vendors it studied as “niche players.” They are McAfee, Sophos, Soti, Trend Micro, Tangoe, OpenPeak, Silverback MDM, Amtel, Landesk, Smith Micro Software and MyMobile Security.

In all, there are probably more than 100 vendors globally that offer some form of MDM capability, Gartner said. To qualify for the group of 20, the MDM vendors had to have a well-rounded set of mobile management tools. For security management, each of the 20 had to have IT tools that were capable of the following: enforcing passwords; wiping data off of a device; remotely locking a device; creating an audit trail for logging in of a device and verifying a device’s configuration from a central console; and detecting jailbreaks and rooting. They also had to support at least three mobile operating systems. Other required security components included support for antivirus software, encryption, firewalls and mobile VPNs.

Other requirements included tools to block use of flash cards or other external storage media, and tools to audit changes made on the hardware. For software, the 20 MDM vendors had to support the ability to push or pull apps on a device and to verify the origin of mobile apps. The software also had to support app updates, patches and an enterprise and third-party app store.

All 20 MDM vendors in the Gartner group had to have MDM-specific revenue of at least $1.5 million. The average price for MDM software is about $60 per user per year, Gartner said, and that price should drop to $40 per user per year by 2015 as more cloud-based MDM systems emerge.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt’s RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

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Article source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227282/Weak_management_support_limits_Android_adoption

SAGUENAY, CANADA — Internet giant Google has added Pyramid Rising to its Play Store games market. Google recognized the superior quality of Pyramid Rising and selected it as a Staff Pick in the games category. It has been downloaded more than 200,000 times since it was added to the first page on Google Play’s global Android Apps section on May 11, 2012. Pyramid Rising has an average 4.5-star rating (out of 5) and has received enthusiastic reviews from users.

“The success of Pyramid Rising demonstrates our developers’ talent and skill,” said Eric Trudel, President of BlooBuzz. “We are proud to be entertaining gamers the world over.”

Timebuilders franchise a hit

The first two games in the Timebuilders series, Caveman’s Prophecy and Pyramid Rising, have been a resounding success. Since they were released, they have been sold in 120 countries, translated into 8 languages, and downloaded more than 1.8 million times. In view of the positive reviews from gamers on the Apple, Android and Big Fish Games sites, the high rankings the games have received and the large number of downloads, BlooBuzz will continue the series by releasing Timebuilders: Pyramid Rising 2 in the third quarter of 2012.

Come play with us!

Pyramid Rising is available around the world on all platforms. Information on the other successful games developed by BlooBuzz is available on its website (www.bloobuzz.com).

About BlooBuzz

BlooBuzz Studios LP, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., develops mass-market multiplatform casual games of all types for Windows, Android and all Apple products.

© Marketwire 2012

Article source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47465155

Android keeps boosting its global market share, according to a new study from Kantar WorldPanel, reported by Reuters.

The firm’s latest research showed that
Android picked up strong market share gains in most of the seven major nations around the world, including the United States, Australia, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The gains were measured over a 12-week period up until mid April.

Android more than doubled its share in Spain to 72 percent, Reuters noted, and almost doubled it in Germany to 62 percent. Kantar attributed the increase to new smartphones from Samsung and HTC, which continued to grab market share at the expense of RIM and Nokia.

Apple bumped up its market share in the U.S. and the U.K. thanks to the
iPhone 4S, though demand was sluggish in Europe.

Microsoft is seeing some signs of life thanks in huge part to Nokia’s Windows Phone-based Lumia handsets. The market share of Windows Phone more than doubled to 6 percent in Germany the past year, Reuters said. And it inched up to 3 to 4 percent in the U.S., the U.K., France, and Italy.

Other reports have pointed to a surge in Android during the first quarter.

Android’s U.S. market share jumped to 61 percent last quarter, up from 49 percent during the holiday quarter, according to NPD. At the same time, Apple’s iOS lost ground, dropping to 29 percent from 41 percent during 2011′s fourth quarter.

Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57434608-94/android-continues-to-conquer-the-world/

Android’s openness and large market share make it a target for attackers, but with a little tweaking, you can speed up, optimize, and secure the mobile OS

iPhone users love to brag about their smartphones. They line up around the block and stand in line for hours when a new one is released. Yet, for many users, Android is clearly the superior platform. Yes, its Achilles heel is a big one: security. Android’s openness and large market share mean that it’s a juicy target for attackers.

Yet, Android’s openness also provides serious benefits. It allows for more customization; its apps are usually cheaper and various handset manufacturers are able to offer significantly different form factors, such as the smartphone-tablet hybrid, the Samsung Galaxy Note.

[ Discover what's new in business applications with InfoWorld's Technology: Applications newsletter. | Get the latest insight on the tech news that matters from InfoWorld's Tech Watch blog. ]
iOS vs. Android in the enterprise

With a little tweaking, you can speed up and optimize Android in ways that will make iPhone users’ heads spin. Here are 10 ways to make Android faster, more productive and more secure than iPhone:

Make your Android smartphone faster
1. Get a better browser. One of the major benefits of using the popular browser Opera Mini is that its cloud engine compresses data by as much as 90 percent. It features tabbed browsing, support for widgets, and the ability to set advanced privacy features, such as the ability to automatically clear passwords, cookies, and browsing history.

The advantage for Android users: the ability to use Opera Mobile instead of Opera Mini. Opera Mobile supports Flash and 3D graphics, has an HTML5 engine, and has a device-side Web-rendering engine for higher-fidelity browsing. You can set up the rendering engine to work locally when on a Wi-Fi network and default to the cloud-based rendering engine when on a 3G or 4G network to minimize expensive data usage (if you’re not on an all-you-can-eat data plan). It also allows you to access your camera from your browser. Expect cool new widgets to start using this feature soon.

2. Install an Android optimizer. Apps like Android Booster and Android Assistant give you the power to automatically kill apps that run in the background, gobbling up battery life and draining the CPU. (On an iPhone, you have to manually kill apps you think may be sapping battery and CPU power.) You can set a monthly data limit and monitor exactly how much data you’ve downloaded over 3G and 4G networks, and you can purge your cache, history, etc.

3. Conserve your battery. Nothing slows you down more than a dead battery. One advantage some Android smartphones have over iPhones is that you can swap out your battery. But proper power management can save you from that trouble. Apps like JuiceDefender and Battery Stretch help you regulate your power use.

With more than 7 million downloads, JuiceDefender is the most popular of these apps. It offers three profiles: Balanced, Aggressive, and Extreme.

The Balanced setting is the default and requires no configuration on your part. If you bump it up to Aggressive, the app will automatically disable data connections when the battery is low. If you’re really worried about a dead battery, the Extreme setting disables data connections by default. You can turn them back on manually, and you can whitelist apps that you want to have connectivity.

Make your Android smartphone more productive
4. Dig deeper into which apps hog data. If you constantly go over your data limits, an app like Android Assistant may not be enough. Sure, you will be alerted when you are nearing your limit, but what exactly is causing the problem?

Is it Facebook, podcasting software, the MLB Gameday app? Who knows?

Article source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/10-ways-make-android-faster-more-productive-and-more-secure-iphone-193065

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I must really be asleep at the wheel. How could I have possibly missed this nearly week-old sales data: iPhone’s fourth-quarter sales surge against Android was a blip on the screen. Chock it up to iPhone 4S launch combined with the saddest of sales motivators: Rock star’s death halo, where album sales soar following an artist’s death, or in this case iPhone following Apple cofounder Steve Jobs’ tragic passing. Perhaps you have another reason. Regardless, sales don’t lie.

Android smartphone OS market share, as measured in actual sales to people (and not shipments to stores), reached 61 percent during Q1 compared to a measly 29 percent for iOS/iPhone. That’s a dramatic turnabout from fourth quarter when Android led by a narrower margin — 48 percent to 43 percent. Still, like fourth quarter, the top-three selling smartphones were iPhone, iPhone and iPhone, as in 4S, 4 and 3GS in that order.

“After some release of pent-up demand from customers adopting the iPhone 4S, coupled with the company’s strength in the holiday season, Apple’s share fell in the first quarter, as we’ve often see it do in the quarter following its introduction of a new handset”, Ross Rubin, NPD executive director, says.

Ah, yeah, but declines were never this steep nor iPhone coming so close to finally catching Android. In fact, historical data contradicts earlier projections that both iPhone 4 launches would bring huge share gains. For example, according to comScore, from August to November 2010, iPhone US subscriber share rose less than one point — to 25 percent. This was during the post-iPhone 4 launch period. Over the next year, iPhone nudged up to about 27 percent average share, while Android soared, whether measured by install base or new purchasers.

Different now: Distribution, particularly availability of lower-cost older models, to a new market of buyers, combined with broadened carrier availability. “Now that the iPhone is available on Sprint, though, the increased carrier coverage has created a higher baseline for Apple’s share than we have seen in the past”. Baseline is higher, but so is size of the US smartphone market and strength of Android’s resurgence. iPhone sales drop was greater compared to Androids’ but didn’t fall as far.

Nielsen presents smartphone data differently — market share based on ownership. By that measure, Android is 48.5 percent to iOS/iPhone’s 32 percent. That data point validates Rubin’s contention about baseline.

Historical perspective: Android share was 39 percent in June 2011 compared to 28 percent for iPhone, says Nielsen. Android share reached 40 percent in July, compared to 28 percent for iPhone. At end of third quarter, 43 percent for Android and 28 percent for iPhone. At the end of December: Android 44.5 percent to iPhone’s 25.1 percent share.

Android sales may have crushed iOS smartphones during first quarter, but as measure of install base iPhone is stronger than it has ever been. Meanwhile, Android no longer gains share like Pac-Man. But neither is iPhone nearly as strong as the Apple Fan Club boasts.

For more perspective there is Samsung’s continued gains against Apple. During first quarter Apple was top-selling smartphone maker, according to NPD, with 29 percent sales share. But Samsung closes in, at 25 percent share.

“Samsung is the only market leader from the feature phone era to transition to market leadership in the smartphone era in the US”, Rubins observes. “Its broad carrier support and advertising, particularly in the ascendant pre-paid segment, have helped it achieve the highest market share among Android handset providers”.

Samsung has a three-operating system strategy, which includes home-grown Bada and Windows Phone, but Android is flagship. Samsung’s rise counterweights iPhone’s increased baseline. Samsung also benefits from far greater distribution and choice of handsets. Then there is Galaxy S III, which launches internationally on May 29 with features eclipsing iPhone 4S.

No matter who rises above whom, competition is good for consumer choice.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

Article source: http://betanews.com/2012/05/08/android-rises-over-fallen-iphone/

Android has staged a healthy lead over Apple’s iOS as the smartphone wars continue.

Looking at the first quarter of the year, NPD Group pegged
Android‘s U.S. market share at 61 percent, a jump over the 49 percent recorded in last year’s fourth quarter.

On the flip side, iOS lost ground with a 29 percent market share, down from 41 percent during 2011′s final quarter.

Apple’s holiday surge in customers came courtesy of heavy demand for the
iPhone 4S, which debuted last October. After the new year kicked in, Android won back the lost ground to recapture the same market share it held during the third quarter.

But no tears need be shed for Apple. Though the company lost share last quarter, the baseline is now higher as a result of added
iPhone distribution through Sprint, NPD said.

Collectively, Apple and Android now hold 90 percent of all smartphone sales in the U.S.

Smartphones overall failed to gain further traction as a percentage of all mobile phone sales. But they still grabbed 66 percent of all handset sales (post-paid and pre-paid) last quarter, according to NPD. All ten of the top-selling models in the first quarter were smartphones, half of them from Apple, three of them from Samsung, and one each from Motorola and HTC.

The smartphone market also has plenty of room left to expand. Almost half of all smartphone buyers last quarter moved up from a feature phone.

Who’s buying all those smartphones?

More than two out of three people ages 25 to 34 own a smartphone, according to the latest research from Nielsen.

Men and women are split almost evenly, with 50.9 percent of female mobile users carrying a smartphone and 50.1 percent of men.

Asian Americans led the way in smartphone ownership with 67.3 percent using one as their main mobile handset. Almost three in five Hispanic mobile users now have smartphones, while a majority of African-Americans own one, Nielsen added.

Android also remains the top dog in the U.S., according to Nielsen, though the research firm gave it a 48 percent market share for last quarter, followed by Apple’s iOS with 32 percent. But Apple continues to reign as the top smartphone maker.

Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57429192-94/android-reclaims-61-percent-of-all-u.s-smartphone-sales/