Kik’s messenger platform is making a big transformation today with an embedded browser that will let users directly share web content within messages. The growing community of users will no longer have to paste links in the messenger field; instead, they can visit the site themselves within the app, meaning that sponsored content will take a more prominent role, and can be much more easily spread. Kik’s custom browser will work with HTML5 so developers can render sites effectively on the app. It means that instead of focusing exclusively on messaging Kik is trying to become a social content platform that can tap into sharable content in both its Cards feature as well as a readily-accessible browser.
Tag: android
Pebble Launches iOS App Store
Pebble, far and away the leading smart watch player at present, announced its highly anticipated iOS app store that features 1,000 apps and watch faces that can be found and downloaded with an iPhone. The Android version is still forthcoming, and Pebble says it will be available int he near future. The app store gives users a more intuitive software experience, much like Google Play or Apple’s App store. The addition of the Pebble Steel at CES this year demands such an interface, and with the app store users now have a software experience that matches the hardware. Pebble does seem to be making the most of its head start, and the more they do the more they become the wearable device to beat.
Android Smartphones Make Up 79% Of The Market
As smartphone shipments continue to trend upwards, Strategy Analytics released some new figures about their sales and adoption. Primarily speaking, global shipments of smartphones globally reached 290.2 million in 2013, up 34% year over year. Android phones reached a 78.4% global share in the fourth quarter, with a 78.9% share across the market for the year. Apple’s iOS dropped to 17.6%, and only had 15.5% of market share for the year. Windows Phone took third, with a 3.2% fourth quarter and a 3.6% share for the year. So although it sometimes might feel like iPhones dominate the market, it’s important to take the data at face value: Androids continue to control the market, and in terms of mobile are the operating system of choice.
Reports: Amazon To Launch Console
According to reports, a senior game publisher has seen prototypes of Amazon’s Android-based gaming console. According to VG24/7, the console will be priced at around $300, and it will be about the size of the PSone. The device is reported to be ready for launch this year. Whether the report is true, it’s no secret that Amazon is interested in a device – be it a set-top box or a game console – on which to feature streamed content for the living room, if only to differentiate itself from Netflix, who are clearly dominating the streamed content space. It also wants to boost its Prime Instant Video service, and this device would be a perfect conduit to do just that. It’s doubtful that we’ll see something of precisely this iteration, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon put out hardware designed to lure consumers into its ecosystem in this calendar year.
Video Recommendation Comes To Mobile
In September StumbleUpon purchased 5by, a video recommendation service that was in its early stages of forming. Now the app is out in the open for both Android and iOS devices. It’s designed to get users to watch videos quickly and easily by taking into account the time of day and what mood you’re in. It’s organized in sections like ‘Entertaining You,’ ‘Showing Your Friends,’ or ‘In Transit,’ so as to make the most of the mood you’re in, or the situation you’re in – compounded by the fact that you can filter by length as well. Over time, the app will learn your preferences and tailor video selections to you. StumbleUpon seemed like a novelty for a while, but as the Internet operates with a currency of videos, gifs, and memes, the pivot to video makes sense.
Blackphone Is The Android Phone Privacy Advocates Long For
It seems almost every day we learn more about how our privacy is being infringed upon, and now a smartphone company is trying to do something about it. The Blackphone, an international partnership with Silent Circle and Geeksphone, will run a “security-oriented” version of Android that has been termed PrivatOS, which will let users make and receive secure phone calls, texts, video chats, file transfers, and anonymous internet activities via VPNs. The companies who created the device have extensive development experience, having worked with Firefox OS dev devices and encryption standards in the past. More details will be announced at the Mobile World Congress, but for now, it appears that privacy advocates finally have a new tech device to cheer for – and maybe even trust.
Pandora Brings Personalized Stations To Mobile
Pandora is introducing a new, personalized station feature for iOS and Android in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. So for the 76.2 million people who listened to 1.58 billion hours of music last month, the news should come as surprising and exciting – the ability to have personalized stations recommended to you is something that Pandora has been missing for some time, and is a feature that is found on many other streaming apps across the board. Listeners can get up to six suggested artist stations to add to their library at any given time based on listening preferences. The update is available today, so users can start playing with it as soon as possible.
Shazam Automatically Adds Tagged Tracks To Rdio Playlists
In a new step in the partnership between Rdio and Shazam, users will now see their tagged Shazam songs in an Rdio playlist, on both Android and iOS. The playlist, called “My Shazam Tracks,” takes a lot of the pain out of having to do things manually. Naturally, the feature requires an Rdio subscription, which is $9.99/month. It’s doubtful that users will sign up exclusively for the feature, but this kind of cross-pollination is only natural between music-based products of this type.
Foursquare Smart Notifications Come To iOS
The smart notification system touted by Foursquare earlier this year are finally coming to iOS users today. The notifications are geared to show nearby places that are important to specific users – so if you haven’t checked in at a sports bar, it likely won’t be recommending the hockey-bar a few blocks away. The goal is to make every notification worthwhile, so that users will take care to actually go into the app as opposed to ignoring the notification. Now that it has actually rolled out, we’ll look to see if the update takes hold, and makes check-ins that much more valuable.
BSkyB Brings Sky Go To Android Tablets
Sky Go, BSkyB’s live and on-demand TV platform, is now available to Android tablet users. In a move that caters to mobile users across the board, the app unifies the mobile user base, as the app has already been available on smartphones and all iOS systems for some time. The app is available for free to those with an existing Sky subscription. It’s yet another indication, if you needed any, that networks are increasingly catering to the cord-cutting, lean-back users who want their content on whichever device pleases them, when they want it.
