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New Media News Every Morning

44 Percent of Phones in The US Are Now Smartphones

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Smartphones have exploded in such a huge way. It is now the hottest selling phone type in the world and is slowly but surely replacing feature phones are the preferred choice of phone users. Market research firm Nielsen has proven this trend with its recent report. Nielsen’s latest Mobile Media Report, which covers the third quarter of 2011, reveals that nearly 44 percent of all the phones being used in the United States now are smartphones.

The report also showed the level of market penetration of smartphones. It is highest among young adults, with about 64 percent of people aged between 25 and 34 using smartphones. About 53 percent of people aged between 18 and 24 also use smartphones. [Read more…]

Originally posted on December 16, 2011 @ 6:17 pm

Vending Machines Turned into WiFi Hotspots in Japan

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Oftentimes, someone comes up with a simple idea that is so brilliant, you can’t help but tell yourself, “why didn’t I think of that?”

One simply brilliant idea that has the potential to be copied all over the world is one that the people at Asahi thought of. The popular Japanese drinks company has implemented what could be described as a moment of extreme ingenuity. The company has turned their vending machines into WiFi hotspots. [Read more…]

Originally posted on December 29, 2011 @ 1:21 pm

InstaBG your Twitter feed

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Twitter is arguably one of the biggest and most successful social networking services on the planet. The ability to microblog, be heard by potentially millions of people and find out what other people are doing, thinking or sharing – whether they’re famous or not – is a winning combination.

If you’ve been a Twitter user chances are you don’t use any of the Twitter applications for the desktop PC, mobile devices or tablets. Majority of Twitter users still use the Twitter web site to access their accounts. Anyone who’s used Twitter online knows how drab the Twitter site is. It’s a very Spartan affair. It may reflect the Twitter philosophy of “less is more” but it would be cool to actually personalize your personal Twitter page. [Read more…]

Originally posted on December 14, 2011 @ 12:59 pm

Nook Color Gets Major Update

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Owners of Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color tablet will be pleased to know their device has not been forgotten even with the release of the $250 Nook Tablet. A new update has been released that will add a number of new features and apps to the popular device.

The new update, version 1.4.1, is reportedly Barnes & Noble’s attempt at trying to narrow the differences between the Nook Color and Amazon’s best-selling Kindle Fire. Nook Color buyers who have already registered their device will likely get notifications for the update within the week. But for those who are eager to check out what the new update will offer, they can do a manual install of the update by downloading the update file directly on to their PC. Connecting the Nook Color to their PC using the USB cable will allow them to do the update on their own. [Read more…]

Originally posted on December 13, 2011 @ 6:18 pm

HP’s WebOS Now Open Source

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Hewlett Packard’s exit from the tablet market was quite a jolt even though a lot of people already predicted that it was inevitable. One of the fallouts of HP’s move was that the operating system that they bought from Palm for $1.2 billion, WebOS, was suddenly placed in limbo. HP finally addressed the issue when it announced that it has decided to release WebOS as an open source software.

HP’s decision to turn WebOS to the public was a bit of a shock. Most people were speculating that the company will just sell it to recoup some of its investment. Others thought that HP will just totally mothball the OS. HP’s decision leaves many to conclude that it still believes in WebOS and that it will benefit from open source development. [Read more…]

Originally posted on December 12, 2011 @ 9:41 am