• All Eyes On China As Smartphone Battleground
    Apple surprised Wall Street last week with a blowout quarter, mainly as a result of higher-than-expected iPhone sales in the first three months of 2014. The record 43.7 million Apple handsets sold reflects the boost the tech giant got through the partnership forged with China Mobile, one of the world's largest mobile network operators.The results underscore the growing importance of China for Apple and other manufacturers as smartphone growth slows in the U.S. and other mature markets.
  • Two-Thirds Of Content Sharing Still On Desktop
    The mobile shift reflected in Facebook's results is also having an impact on content sharing, according to the latest report from AddThis, which collects data from social sharing buttons across 14 million Web sites. Its analysis found that interaction with content continued to decline, while that for mobile has increased to more than a third. Despite the increase in mobile adoption, the majority of content sharing and engagement still takes place on PCs.
  • What The--? Top-Grossing iOS App Ends In-App Sales Days After Amazon Acquisition
    In a bizarre and unpopular move, digital comics app ComiXology ends in-app purchases via its iOS app despite its three-year run as one of the top-grossing non-gaming apps in the App Store. The Amazon empire strikes back.
  • Facebook Makes Moves In Mobile Location
    As it becomes more mobile-centric, it's hardly surprising that Facebook wants to play a bigger role in the location space. But it will have to tread carefully, given its history of privacy issues and its 2011 consent decree with the FTC. Its recent moves have raised privacy concerns about how Facebook will end up using location data collected. Few are likely to relish the idea of Facebook tracking their every move in everyday life in addition to following their travels across the Web.
  • Mobile Addiction: When Content Is An Itch
    The share of mobile app users we might define as "addicted" to content is growing faster than any other category of user. At some point we may ask whether mobile content is informing, reassuring or staving off the data deprivation shakes.
  • Android Closing The Revenue Gap With iOS
    Google's Android for the first time has eclipsed iOS in mobile ad traffic globally, according to a quarterly report from mobile ad network Opera Mediaworks. Android accounted for 42.8% of ad impressions in Q1 versus 38.2% for iOS -- suggesting that Android devices, including the Samsung's Galaxy phones and other newer models, are attracting a user base comparable to that for the iPhone, Opera Mediaworks CEO Mahi de Silva told "Forbes."
  • Square Looking To Plug Into Google?
    The report that mobile payments firm Square has been in secret acquisition talks with big tech players like Google, Apple and eBay, if accurate, would not be entirely surprising. Square has notched deals with Starbucks and Whole Foods as well as attracting small business owners, and since 2009 has raised a whopping $340 million in funding. With that kind of backing, investors are banking on one of two exits -- a multibillion acquisition or an initial public offering,
  • This Megabyte Is Brought to You By: Consumers Ready For Sponsored Data?
    One survey suggests that consumer sensitivity over mobile data overages is high and that sponsorship may be one answer. Well, we have already seen even the most basic of models raise regulatory red flags.
  • The Most Interesting Man In The World Meets Foursquare
    He may not always check in, but when he does, it's usually on Foursquare. Yes, the Most Interesting Man in the World has made the leap to the social location service, leaving tips from exotic locales ranging from Mount Everest to... the Austin Convention Center.
  • Wearables, Like Education, Health And Sex, Are Wasted On The Young
    According to Nielsen, the majority of fitness bands are on the wrists of people who don't need them as much as me and my demo do. Damn meddling kids. This is a category my set should own, by gum!
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