Mobile Ad Market Share

There have been some interesting statistics floating around lately, such as how Apple makes such a large percentage of smartphone profits with a much smaller market percentage of sales (with the popular iPhone). Another one I came across recently is the market share of mobile ads.


Google and Apple are tied in first place with 21% each!!!

What surprised me was how Google and Apple each have more than Yahoo and Microsoft combined. Also, Nokia (with it's larege mobile phone sales volume, had a relatively small market share of mobile ads.

Regardless of how fancy a mobile device or smartphone can look, and how great the advertising for them is, nothing speaks a great truth than numbers.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear Google,
happy birthday to you!!!

...and many more!!!!!!!!!


Yes, Google just turned 12. Wow, almost a teenager. Like dealing with a child, Google will be going through puberty soon, and emotions might run high. Google will probably feel like they know more than the rest of us, and that none of us understand them and what they're going through. There might be some crying episodes for no apparent reason and possibly some quiet times too when Google just doesn't want to talk to anyone.

Google, as you deal with these growing times, we are here for you. Don't worry about your temporary awkwardness or zits, we know you will outgrow all of this. Just hang in there, stay close with your friends, and listen to your parent's advice.

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY Google!

An Apple a day keeps the profits - Hurray!

When it comes to sales of all smartphones, Apple doesn't actually make up a huge percentage of what people buy. In fact, Apple's iPhones only account for about 3% of all smartphones sold. True!



The pie-chart above shows the breakdown of smartphone sales for all the big players, and as you can see, Apple certainly isn't the biggest - not even in the top three! But wait, there's more... the story gets stranger.

Even though Apple's iPhone sales are a miniscule (tongue in cheek) 3% of all smartphone sales, Apple made a whopping 39% of all smartphone profits!

Nokia, Samsung and LG phones made up 2/3 of all sales, but only 1/3 of all profits!!!

It looks like Apple's business model of providing a pricier product works better than their competitor's plan of selling as many devices as possible. Of course, the iPhone has also been highly praised by most people that own one, even though it's one of the most expensive mobile devices out there!

Cold War - Apple vs Google

Remember some story from a long time ago about Eve presenting Adam an apple and saying "eat this dear!" Even today, an apple can be very dangerous, especially when we are talking about the company Apple! When it comes to the mobile device market, it looks like kill or be killed!

It appears that Apple is buying as many shares as possible of a Swedish company called Polar Rose. This company holds numerous patents, one of which enables extracting 3D features from a 2D image. This is how they operate their face-recognition platform that accesses a library of photos, such as your iPhone pictures, Facebook or Twitter.

Apple can obviously reap the benefits of adding this technology to some of their existing/developing facial recognition software. Another bonus for Apple is that if they own this company, Google doesn't! Specifically, it won't be on the Android.

I suspect in the next year we will see more of these companies playing the offensive against one another just to stop the other from having something that they don't. I refer to this as the Cold War, Apple versus Google!

ⓕⓛⓘⓟ ⓑⓤⓑⓑⓛⓔ

Flip Bubble is a very cool little iPhone app that takes whatever you type and either flips it upside down or puts a bubble around each character. You can then easily copy the text to paste into an SMS message, email, or post directly to Facebook or Twitter.


Make your friends hold their iPhones upside down to read your texts!



Cute little bubbles around each character!

This application is still free on the iTunes site, but the free trial ends very soon! Get this app today - it totally sʞɔıʞ ⓑⓤⓣⓣ !

"Will It Fly" takes flight!

About two weeks ago I blogged about an iPhone application that was soon to be released. In fact, I was even given a screenshot from the beta version of the game. Will It Fly was released on the iTunes store today! The idea of the iPhone game is to load the airplane up with as many people and boxes of cargo as you dare and see if it can still take-off and out-climb a mountain, bridge or volcano. The more you carry without crashing, the higher your score.

The game has two modes of play, basic and advanced. In the advanced version, you are given the wind (headwind or tailwind), temperature and runway elevation, and then you load up the aircraft and hope it survives the departure. You don't need to be an aerodynamicist to play the advanced version - the game even gives a basic description of how to play without being overly complicated. Headwind and cool temperature = good. Tailwind and hot temperature = bad! The lower the elevation, the better the aircraft will perform.


Try the basic first to get the hang of playing the game


The bridge is higher than it looks and watch the big drop-off at the beginning!


The volcano scenario is quite challenging in the advanced version. Watch the winds and hope the the temperature isn't too hot or you won't be able to carry much!

Originally developed by Big Fat Simulations for the computer, and adapted for the iPhone by Fluik Entertainment, this iPhone app has the ingredients and history to do very well. It certainly scores well on the Kick Butt - O - Meter!!!

Commodore 64

This iPhone application got my attention right away. Remember the Commodore 64 that came out in early 1982? I LOVED that system so much at the time. I was amazed and what it would do. Fast forward almost 30 years and here we are.

The Commodore 64, available on the iTunes store, let's you play some of those nostalgic games once again, but on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. I get a real kick out of playing some of the retro games from the past.


Check out the old style keyboard!




I still like the look of the old games, but on your new apple devices it will look much better than it use to.

iOS 4.2 beta

Just as we (most of us) are getting us to iOS 4.1 on our iPhones, Apple is letting loose the beta version of iOS 4.2 for development team members.

From some of the latest reading out there it sounds like many people are having trouble loading it though. I've heard about some people having new issues that they hadn't experienced before.

I guess that's why it's called a BETA version. Stand-by for more info.

Nike & GPS

OK this iPhone application is very cool! Nike & GPS lets you track the distance and speed of your running. Set the type of music you want and off you go.


After you finish the run, check the your Nike iPhone app and view the route, distance, and average speed. You can even find your best mile speed!

I love my iPhone and I love running. This lets me combine the two and use this great app to track what I do, while I listen to music from the iPod songs loaded on my iPhone.

This rocks!

iOS 4.1 - a BIG improvement!

For anyone who still have an iPhone 3G and upgraded to iOS 4.0, you surely noticed how sluggish your iPhone's performance became. You may have even experienced the type of erratic behavior you'd expect from a 4.0 year old. Well iOS 4.1 has come to the rescue.

I tend to wait a week or so before loading updates so I get a chance to read reviews. Everything I've read, heard and experienced myself has been positive about iOS 4.1

The best quote I've heard is that "4.1 is everything 4.0 should have been!" I guess Apple can't hit one out of the park every time.

Speed Test

Have you ever wondered how quickly your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch downloads and uploads information? There is an application called Speed Test that tests your iPhone or iPod and tells you this information. It has been on the iTunes store since February!

The app lets you select download and uploads speeds to be shown in kbps, Mbps or kB/s. You can sort history of tests newest to oldest, or oldest to newest. You can select from many different download sites for comparison.


This app give you a great idea of what locations are good or not-so-good for iPhone download speed. This iPhone app is FREE, and best of all there are no annoying ads displayed.

This fantastic app helps you Kick Butt better with your iPhone and iPod!

LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY!!!

Sometimes we get lucky and things just work out, but maybe in this case it was a combination of luck and persistance. I've blogged a few times about some fantastic online games and iPhone applications by Big Fat Simulations, and recently I mentioned that they might be working on an iPhone app for a game they made called Will It Fly?

I've been bugging them for a couple weeks to get some details about the project and I just scored. One of their programmers has kindly sent me a screenshot of the beta version of Will It Fly? I really really really wanted a screenshot of the iPhone game in play, but I didn't expect to actually get it, especially before being released on the iTunes store.


Here's a shot of a cargo plane loaded-up trying to outclimb a mountain!

From the shot above, it looks quite similar to the online game that keeps score and has challenges such as different wind directions and strengths, and the option to load as many passengers and as much baggage as you dare! Just watch out for mountains, volcanos, bridges and iPhone towers!

If they send this in to Apple soon we shouldn't have to wait too long for this iPhone game to be avaible. I plan to write an update when we find out more!

Screenshots # 4

Airport Madness Mobile is an iPhone version of the successful Airport Madness series initially created for the PC by Big Fat Simulations. Soon after the initial Airport Madness was released they made Airport Madness 2, then Airport Madness 3, each offering far more than the previous versions and exponential in popularity also.


Here is a screenshot of Airport Madness Mobile in action.

There is also an Airport Madness Mobile Lite that is FREE at the iTunes store. Downloads of this iPhone app have been explosive!

Developed by the teamwork of Big Fat Simulations and Fluik Entertainment, two companies with proven track records in their own fields of expertise, Airport Madness builds upon an already popular PC game and brings it to the iPhone. Will we see this on the iPad sometime soon??? I hope so!

Screenshots # 3

This was one of the first iPhone games I blogged about and after a year I'm still playing it. Moto X Mayhem is a fun iPhone app where you ride a dirtbike over different terrain, take jumps, go through tunnels and try to reach the end.


Here is an example of completing a jump!

As well as some great graphics, there are some funny sound effects when the biker does a wipe out! You can actually hear him/her grunt! Using Autorotation (rotation transformation) on your iPhone, you can control the pitch of the bike and even complete a loop if you go off a jump.

It's very entertaining!

Screenshots # 2

Part two of screenshots from from great applications takes us to Gunner.

Here are some shots from Funner Gunner:


The game starts at a nice pace and builds quickly


Here's where we get to shop for new items


The game gets quite intense after a few minutes

As you can see from the pictures above, the artwork is amazing - about as good as you could get on an iPhone. Rich is colors and smooth in play, this addictive game has great sounds to accompany some fast-paced action. Fluik Entertainment has again brought us one of the best made iPhone games available today!

Screenshots # 1

I've decided to add some screenshots of some great iPhone and iPad games I've blogged about. There are plenty to choose from at the iTunes store but these in particular are well made with great grahics, sounds, gameplay and run well on your mobile device!

Here are some shots from Pik's Revenge:


Pik starts off here and has plenty of places to go.


Pik collects treasures along the way. Note the fantastic graphics!!!


Here is where Pik improves health and gets tools!

As you can see from the screenshots above the graphics set a new standard for iPhone and iPad games and applications. These are top notch and Kick serious Butt!

Fotopedia Heritage

I'm amazed at how handy my iPhone has been to me on trips the last couple of years. Not only can I use my mobile device to check in electronically at the airport and navigate around a new town, but I can book my hotel and airline tickets with my iPhone too.

I've just found an iPhone application on the iTunes store that has made planning a trip even more exciting. Fotopedia provides you a visual journey across the 890 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. With maps and some incredible pictures, this is a great app to help you plan which places to visit, and provide a huge amount of information once you've arrived.


This great application is free for the iPhone and the iPad, making your travel plans affordable and exciting. So download it today and Kick Butt!

Will it fly?

Will it fly is the big question indeed! The game Will it fly, another bigfatsimulations project, has been around a while and was made for your home computer. I'm going to do a little more investigating but it looks like there might be some development happening in the Apple related department... ie, you might be able to play it sooner than later on your iPhone or iPad.



There isn't anything about it at the iTunes store yet, or on the bigfat blog, but they were advertising for coders... just saying !!!!

More news to come...