brian s hall asks (again) “what are Android users doing with their Android phones?”

Despite the massive market share numbers, there is more (total) browsing on iPhones. More app usage on iPhones. More Google searches! iPhone users are consuming more WiFi, playing more games, uploading more photos, etc.

In other words, iPhone users are getting *value* for their device whereas Android users, in total, seem to be, well, throwing their money away.

Maybe, if all of the Android users purchased a data plan to go along with a phone which still required an out-of-pocket expense. What I think may be happening is many of the Android phones being sold are either bundled for free with contract, or are entry-level (subpar) phones coupled with pay-as-you-go plans.

I am open to the idea that a large portion of Android phones sold are underutilized because the user has no intentions of using them as smartphones. For these users, all they really needed was a cheap phone to make calls and maybe text, and an Android phone was offered to them for free.

While some people online stop at overall market share when comparing products, I am more concerned with their usage in the real world. I decided to look at sales numbers for Android and iOS devices in correlation with both their online market share and Black Friday sales numbers to see how they stacked up. What I found was rather interesting.

Haiku has been selected to participate in Google Code-In 2012. From Haiku:

GCI is a contest for pre-university students (from 13 to 17 years old) with the goal to encourage young students to participate into open-source development. To achieve that goal, open-source organizations sets up various tasks and students are invited to claim them. Various prizes are awarded and, this year, each organizations are going to award two (2) grand prize winners amongst participating students.

Head over to Haiku for more information, and to register, if eligible.

In my post Another Angle to Google’s Motorola Acquisition last year, I detailed why I believed Google was acquiring Motorola Mobility; patents:

With Motorola Mobility’s existing patent portfolio, it only seems logical that Google’s reason for the acquisition was to help protect Android licensees from further patent lawsuits.

While Google has helped out HTC in its legal battles with Apple—even if via proxy—they are being more direct in helping Samsung . From The Korean Times:

A U.S. court recently ruled to block the sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphones, which were designed in collaboration with Google. Since the decision, the two firms have been working closely to create a united front against Apple’s legal offensive, said Samsung.

I don’t believe this “united front” is solely because of the Galaxy Nexus ban. One thing both Google and Samsung are being investigated for are abusing FRAND patents, with Apple labeled a victim:

Samsung is demanding Apple to pay 2.4 percent of the retail price of iPhones and iPads, while Apple claims the rate is excessive considering the companies’ commitment to fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing (FRAND).

The European Union is investigating whether Samsung abused FRAND-related patents, while Google is being investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as to whether it is illegally using FRAND patents acquired in a takeover of Motorola Mobility to block smartphone rivals.

My thanks to AppleInsider for The Korean Times link.

First some specs:

• Connects to:
  • HDMI
  • A/V Receiver
  • Speakers (contains built-in 25-watt amp)
  • Optical audio port
  • Wi-Fi
  • Bluetooth
  • NFC support
• Allows multiple users to create integrated music queues
• Support content from Google Play [Movies/Music/TV] and YouTube

Judging by the specs above, this appears to be a $300 Apple TV competitor, with deep integration with Google services rather than Apple iTunes. With the exception that it is made in the USA, I am still trying to wrap my head around why this is worth $200 more than Apple TV.