Virgin Atlantic launches in-flight cell use

Airline flights — especially long ones — are a pain. So what could possibly make it worse? In-flight calls.

Virgin Atlantic COO:

“The service is intended for use in exceptional situations, when passengers need to send an SMS, make a quick call, or access an e-mail on a BlackBerry,” the company said.

Limiting the service to 6 people at a time doesn’t necessarily mean the planes will remain quiet — as it really only takes one loud passenger to ruin a plane ride. Let’s just hope it doesn’t catch on with other airlines, or we might as well wave that nice three-hour nap goodbye.

Apple and Google mobile grew in 2011, all others shrank

Android and iOS combine to secure a whopping 82 percent of the smartphone market. Apple has 29 percent of the market, while Android has the lion’s share with 53 percent. These two platforms were the only ones to record growth in 2011. RIM’s BlackBerry OS, which has struggled this year, declined to a meager 8 percent of the market share. Newcomer Windows Phone 7 didn’t plummet like RIM, but it didn’t climb either. Throughout 2011, the platform never went above 2 percent.

The NPD has released smartphone market share numbers for the year. They aren’t surprising. Apple and Google continue to lead the way, as Android and iOS were the only platforms that grew.

Windows Phone 7 didn’t move, which is a minor surprise considering that Microsoft seemed to advertise their devices on television fairly extensively. 

OnLive's Mind Blowing New App Lets You Play Xbox And Playstation Games On Your iPad

If you have an alarmingly fast internet connection, own a tablet and have the slightest interest in gaming, you must give this a try. It really is the future of gaming — and it is here now.

I find it hard to grasp that we are moving away from game consoles completely, but this is an encouraging first step. And the detail that OnLive has taken with regard to the user experience — down to the low latency with AT&T — is impressive.

No one is going to run out and sell their Xbox 360 or PS3 tomorrow, but there are so many positives to a service with a relatively low start up cost and barrier to entry.

I’m not a huge fan of the controller, though. It looks like a modified, bigger Dual Shock. For such a disruptive service, people probably expect the controller to be aligned with the technological advancement.

Siri’s first real competition hits Android phones today

Here comes Cluzee, a third-party app considered by some to be Siri’s first real competition. BGR had a nice writeup, coining the app as “a Siri-like service that includes capabilities even more impressive than Siri in some cases.”

ExtremeTech, however, highlighted that the app could only recognize one out of five popular Siri commands successfully — which does not bode well for an app that is trying to position itself as a more-capable Siri alternative.

IntoMobile probably had the most telling stat of them all:

Be warned, there are currently 133 1-star ratings out of a total of 241, so Cluzee may have some improvements to make.

We all realize it’s a rush to get the best Siri alternative to market, but so far, many have tried and many have massively failed. If the ratings are any indication, Cluzee looks to have the features but simply lack the functionality.

App developers also have to be wondering if Siri is too established to be overtaken. What if the key to beating Siri is not to build a better Siri, but build a better voice-activated app that serves a different purpose?

Then again, Android users probably want to see a Siri clone on their OS sooner than later. It seems that Cluzee has a lot of work to do before they are even mentioned in the same breath as Siri. Perhaps the winner here is a company that won’t rush their app to market for the sake of getting it out.


Mobile Ringtones/Ringbacks Still A $2.1 Billion Business

While I certainly haven’t paid for a ringtone since 2002 (or earlier), apparently many people actually have.

The (sad?) reality is that mobile ringtones and ringbacks still bring in a combined $2.1 billion…IN 2011. Perhaps the most disturbing part: Gartner believes this business will still generate over a billion dollars four years down the road.

The Gartner study lends a lot of insight into a key business that many thought peaked only a few years back. I mean, people actually still pay for ringtones? Perhaps it’s about time I bring back that explicit Jay-Z ringtone that I so graciously loved — in middle school.

Why Apple's iOS Still Beats Android

“Interestingly, our April checks indicated continued strong demand for the iPhone 3GS at AT&T and iPad 1 at Verizon, as these older generation products with reduced prices often outsold new Android products,” Walkley wrote in a note to investors on Monday. “We believe this highlights Apple’s significant competitive advantage, and these older products help Apple offer a tiered pricing strategy at key channels.”

- Canaccord Genuity technology analyst Michael Walkley, on Apple’s older devices vs. newer Android devices

iPhone vs. Android: SAI Attempts To Settle The Score

Business Insider recently published results from their massive smartphone survey, which polled over 2,000 people.

Some of the most interesting findings:

  • Most participants say “features” and “platform” are the most important factors when choosing a smartphone. App selection is also important, but not as important as most people think.
  • Most Android users say they won’t consider buying an iPhone because they “hate” Apple.
  • Almost no participants are planning to buy a BlackBerry, a Windows Phone 7 phone, or Palm.