By: Aldo Panessidi

Google Drive is now live! Google Drive is a cloud-based storage service reported to be compatible with Android, iOS, Mac, and PC platforms. This kind of scope will take Google Drive beyond the capabilities of its main competition –Dropbox.com and Box.com- for everything but PC.

Many consumers will now have the ability to connect with Google Drive with through their smartphones and tablets. Leaving your valuable mobile devices unprotected is risky! Discover the latest innovative protection solutions... stylish top brand bags, sleeves and cases specifically designed to protect your devices from scratches and blemishes. Tough on the outside, sweet on the inside these brand name protection accessories combine complete device coverage with sleek artistic expression.

View this informative video on Google Drive

Enhance your mobility and turn your device into a power tool! Discover select accessories such as; stylus & pens, micro SD memory cards, batteries, docking stations, Bluetooth headsets, data cables and XMI speakers all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

What can you do with Google Drive... only amazing stuff like:

• Create and Collaborate:
  It allows you to work in tandem with colleagues and other third parties to create new documents, spreadsheets and presentation and see the changes 'in real time'
• Enhance Gmail and Google+ Applications
  Send a link from Google Drive in Gmail and everyone has the same file, same version – automatically. In addition, your videos and pictures in Google Drive are instantly available in Google+, so you’re never more than one click away from sharing with your circles.
• More Powerful Search:
  Google Drive helps you get to your files faster. Search for content by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more.
• View Anything at Anytime
  Open over 30 file types in your browser—including HD video, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop—even if you don’t have the program installed on your computer.
• Google Drive Your Apps
  Create, open and share files from a variety of apps directly in Google Drive.
• Enhanced Sharing Capability
  Share files or folders with anyone, and choose whether they can view, edit or comment on your stuff.
• Start a Conversation and Collaborate more Effectively
  Create and reply to comments to get feedback and make files more collaborative.

By Aldo Panessidi

Is Samsung to have its tiara and sash taken away? Will Google choose another manufacturer to make the next Nexus handset and dethrone the reigning queen? And, *gasp* could it be an underdog victory for LG, the manufacturer that has had its fits and starts with Android smartphones?

If chosen, the lagging manufacturer would get early access to the next gen version of Android which means great buzz, great press and great sales. Samsung has been a perfect example of this success model by being the vendor bringing us the two latest Nexus devices: the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus. With experience working with Google and new, major Android OS version upgrades, there are a fair number positives in the incumbent’s favor. So if they have ushered in a Nexus for Gingerbread and now Ice Cream Sandwich, will they also be cobranded with Jellybean?

And how will LG Mobile win the bid when Samsung sold an impressive 300 million cell phones last year and is continually vying for top-smartphone brand ranking in the US? Honestly, the more likely competition will come from Google internally and its latest acquisition-in-the-works: Motorola Mobility. The tech conglomerate has made reassurances that it would not play favorites with Motorola, but… really? How would that make business sense?

If Google does opt to dole out Nexus rights to an external manufacturer, the status will not be quite so dramatic as Motorola would still get the perk of early iteration to next gen Android OS. And, by all accounts the company’s engineering and software teams will likely work closely post-acquisition which put Motorola in a position to help shape the Android platform. There is the question of how will peripheral devices, accessory appeal and that brand association affect these contenders and what will they bring to the table in terms of docking stations and power options to garner more attention and press?

What LG does have in its favor (despite notorious custom Android skins that have not won over customers) is their marked improvements from past years to this year’s MWC showing which introduced the optimistically improved LG Optimus 4X.  This shows ambition and a willingness to put in the work. A little bit of gumption, elbow grease, and a good ole fashioned Hail Mary Pass maybe do the trick for LG.

By Aldo Panessidi

Brand reputation can be hard to quantify.   The way consumers feel and the degree of trust they assign a company and its brand are tied up into a lot of intangibles.  However, Harris Interactive, a marketing research firm has developed a Reputation Quotient to measure brand reputation.   Comprised of six dimensions of reputation, this year’s new front runner, Apple was top-ranked in four: products and services, financial performance, workplace environment, and vision and leadership. The California based company was outscored by Whole Foods in the social responsibility category and by Amazon in the emotional appeal dimension of reputation.

This year marks the firm’s 13^th annual Reputation Quotient survey and Apple snagged a score of 85.62, the highest score recorded since the survey began.   Furthermore, in other  Google vs Apple  episodes,  Apple has edged out Google from its top spot in 2011’s poll. Another cloud-service provider, Amazon joined the ranks of the top 5 companies and the list was rounded out by Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods.

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According to Robert Fronk, the executive vice president of Harris Interactive, the rise of these kinds of companies to the top ranks is not unexpected. “We are seeing the emergence of a group of companies that garner reputation equity by being positively associated with multiple industries […] companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon.com combine innovation and leadership across multiple business areas, giving them true competitive advantage.”

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Between the iconic mobile tech devices (the iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTouch etc), the must-have accessories for those devices (docking stations, headphones and the like), and cloud services that Apple is going to bring to our homes with an iTV Apple fits Fronk’s model very well. Google will deliver comparable innovation and products, but may be hurting its brand reputation by not having the total control over device creation by its myriad of manufacturers as Apple does. Their core approaches to business, development and brand management vary – but then again, so does the name of which company reigns supreme.

By Aldo Paneesidi

Managing Customer churn as well acquiring new customers is an ongoing problem for all carriers... as such, they make it difficult for customers to switch providers.  To this end, practically all carriers worldwide engage in 'false highly-persuasive' advertising.  They will typically lure consumers with the offer of FREE smartphone and then hook, reel and lock them in with long term service plans that are designed to not only subsidize the cost of the cell phone but provide wireless voice & data services at premium prices.  To further enforce customer loyalty, carriers lock their giveaway phones to only work within their network frequencies - thus making it difficult for consumers to leave them for another carrier.

In some cases, the programming may be easy to reverse, with the user simply reformatting the cell phone or removing the phone's memory card.   In other instances, the phone may be designed in such a way that it is impossible to use it with another network, with most cell phone brands, like Apple, Blackberry, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, HTC, LG Mobile and Sony to name a few,  manufacturing specific phones for particular networks.

In contrast, an unlocked phone are simply handsets that aren't handcuffed to a specific carrier's service package can be used on any network.

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Unlocking a phone - How it works

A cellphone handset is like a body without a brain. It can't make calls unless it has a thumbnail-sized chip called a SIM card installed. The SIM card identifies an individual phone on a cellular network so that calls can be routed to it as the handset is carried from place to place, so the owner's account can be billed for air time and long-distance fees, and so on.

When a phone is bought on a service plan, the SIM card in that phone is linked to the subscriber's ID information for billing. Most carriers lock the phone by programming its software so that it will only work with the SIM card they provide — try to swap it with a card from another carrier because it has a cheaper service plan, for example, and the phone won't recognize it.

An unlocked cellphone is one that will recognize any SIM card. So if you're travelling in Europe and don't want to incur roaming charges or have every local call billed as long distance by your regular North American cellphone carrier, you can buy a local European carrier's card during your stay and pop it into your regular phone.

The caveat is that there are two main cellphone networks, and they aren't compatible with one another. One is based on the CDMA standard, which is popular in North America and parts of Asia, and used by Bell and Telus in Canada. The other is GSM, which is used by Rogers in Canada and is the most common cellphone standard outside North America, used by more than 2 billion subscribers in most countries around the world.

An unlocked phone will work on a compatible network — CDMA phones on CDMA networks and GSM handsets on GSM networks. But many CDMA phones have the SIM card built in, and have to be reprogrammed directly to make the phone work on another carrier's network. Most GSM handsets, on the other hand, have a slot that allows a SIM card to be swapped easily by the user.  As a result, unlocked cellphones available in Canada are predominantly GSM models.

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By Aldo Panessidi

The recent “cloud” technology is a buzz word that readers have grown to both love and hate.   What does it mean? How does it work? Well with data centers and internet: iCloud and Google are the poster children for bringing the wonders of the ‘cloud’ to millions of people with their smartphones, tablets, iPods and all the technology that brings it together.  Google’s project to connect these all to the web is called Chromium OS which targets the desktop.   Mozilla is taking another approach with Boot to Gecko (B2G) that will go after mobile devices with a standalone OS on the open web on mobile devices (a major announcement regarding this is expected to be made at MWC).

So, Google’s move to take its Chrome browser to the Android mobile platform doesn’t come as much of a surprise. While this reassures us that Android is not going anywhere as a mobile OS platform, we could soon see the end of native operating systems and the beginning of web operating systems. For, as Google’s Engineering Manager, Arnaud Weber says, “You should have your Chrome experience wherever you are.”

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What’s the benefit in this change though? The idea is that the open web can replace proprietary, single-vendor stacks like iOS, Android, Windows and all the familiar names when it comes to app development. At the moment, there are hurdles for web developers to build apps for the open web that are equal to native apps, but that too will change and will likely extend to our mobile accessories and peripheral devices.

The good news is that Chrome for Android is not a watered down version of Chrome. Instead, it is a full blown multi-process desktop browser (approaching our tablets and smartphones as additional endpoints). While it will include HTML5 features and Google’s V8 JavaScript for Android, it doesn’t look like AdobeFlash will be part of the roadmap. So, for streaming media that requires Flash, a media player may be a good device to keep as part of your arsenal.

Enhance your mobility and turn your device into a power tool!  Discover select accessories such as; stylus & pens, micro SD memory cards, batteries, docking stations, Bluetooth headsets, data cables and glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

The immediate future hints to Chrome replacing the Android Browser in the coming months and potentially there will be devices that boot to the web at the MWC. But, with the tight control of wireless carriers that fear change and services they cannot charge for (battle royale of roaming and unlocked phones anyone?), the transition of this technology to mobile devices may take a bit longer to reach consumers.

By Aldo Panessidi

Android. Apple. Apple. Android. The mobile OS brands and their respective handset manufacturers are in the grip of a fierce, cyclical competition to be the best and win global mindshare. Which is why we follow the momentum and progress of their sales and innovation so closely. So how did the vendors stack up against one another?   The usual culprits are present: Apple’s iPhone 4S and Samsung’s Galaxy S 2.

OEM Market Share

For the three-month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG Mobile with 20 percent share and Motorola with 13.3 percent share. Apple continued to gain ground in the OEM market with 12.4 percent share of total mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.7 percent share.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

97.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, representing 40 percent of all mobile subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 47.3 percent market share, up 2.5 percentage points from September. Apple maintained its #2 position, growing 2.2 percentage points to 29.6 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 16 percent share, followed by Microsoft (4.7 percent) and Symbian (1.4 percent).

According to the another market research firm, The NPD Group, the top three best-selling smartphones in the United States of last quarter all came from Apple: the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4, and the iPhone 3GS (which consumers can receive at no cost when signing a contract at AT&T). Two of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S II made the top 5 list as well. The availability of some of these handsets as unlocked devices likely contributed to their success as well.

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When diving into the details of this buying behavior, NPD analyst, Ross Rubin, noted that customers are motivated by “a fast processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making is the top-selling handset in Q4.” In fact, the latest iPhone 4S outsold its predecessor by a whopping 75% and lapped the iPhone 3GS by a ratio of five to one. Throw in an OS that ties in the number one selling tablets in the world and customer get hooked.

When looking at the mobile OS platform of choice amongst first-time smartphone buyers, Android won out with 57% - Apple only saw 34% of those first time buyers choose their solution.

Much as there are solid tech reasons for Apple’s great performance with the iPhone 4S, NPD’s Rubin also outlines the rationale of Android’s growth and popularity amongst first-time buyers. “Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” Rubin noted. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”

By Aldo Panessidi

Google Android’s numerous handset manufacturers have made the mobile OS platform incredibly accessible to consumers across the world. The one downside is that each of these vendors goes through its own process to adopt the latest version upgrades. Some handsets are not capable of those major upgrades, like Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Luckily for Sprint Nexus S 4G owners, the wait should not be much longer. An internal testing ROM was seen on Google’s servers that will update the Nexus S 4G to Android v4.0.4 build IMM26. Of course that file was pulled once it was seen, but the more curious of you can get a mirrored copy at xda-developers. But, with the removal from Google servers, it is likely better to wait for the official release.

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The popularity of this device has customers of Verizon wishing it was available as an unlocked handset that could be used with their existing contracts. As LTE 4G becomes more mainstream across North America, the availability of smartphones capable of taking advantage of these speeds will increase. Carriers have been rushing to pair up with manufacturers to augment their product lines. The question of whether customers will be willing to pay the premium cost of these data plans.

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The good news is that there is no requirement to utilize the 4G LTE capabilities until the costs are more accessible. In the interim, these customers have the good fortune of not having to purchase a new handset to get the Ice Cream Sandwich update which leaves more funds to invest in the must-have and secretly-covet accessories to make the most of your pocket PC.

As this report indicates, the version had release keys which denote a fast-approaching launch date. So far, the next gen Android platform has had great reviews, so be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for your Nexus S 4G update!

By  Aldo Panessidi

A new report from industry luminary ABI Research indicates that more than 50% of all unlocked cell phones will be capable of running on 4G or 3G data networks.  Jake Saunders, VP of Forecasting for ABI Research suggests that . “As the festive cheer of the holiday season dies away, the mood among handset vendors remains quietly confident regarding 2012.   The outlook will yield growth in the order of 8%, netting 1.67 billion handsets shipped worldwide by the end of 2012. Particularly notable is for the first time, 3G and 4G handset shipments will capture more than 50% of total handsets shipped."  The consumer's appetite for  high end mobile devices will also drive the after sales cell phone and tablet accessories market.

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In an earlier report ABI Research identified the worldwide after-market wireless devices accessories sales increasing to more than $50 Billion by 2015.  Key accessory market indicators were identified as:

Protective Solutions - Bags, Sleeves, Cases and Screen Protectors - $1.2 billion

Hands Free Solution - BlueTooth Headsets and BlueTotth Car Kits - $920 million

Power Solutions - Desktop Chargers, Car Chargers, Wall Chargers, Batteries - $766 million

Memory Solutions - Micro SD Cards and Data Cables - $529 million

Personalization Solutions - Cases & Skins - $520 million

Audio Solutions - Speakers, Earpieces & Headsets - $308 million

In the second half of 2011, top tier mobile device vendors unleashed marketing promotions targeting the upward mobile market audience in emerging smartphone and table markets.   Samsung, used clever ads downgrading Apple users while extolling the benefits of the Galaxy S II X phones and Galaxy Tablet lines of business to make substantial inroads  into these market spaces. Apple is expanding sales channels in emerging markets, with greater success in China than it’s having in India, but is also targeting South American markets such as Brazil. HTC is gaining traction in China, but developed markets such as North America and Europe continue to be the mainstay of its “ship into” markets. RIM, despite its weakness in apps-capable smartphone markets, continues to do well in messaging-centric emerging markets such as Indonesia. Nokia hopes to benefit from Windows Phone 7 Lumia series launches in India (Dec-2011) and China (in 1Q-2012).

By Megan Fleet

The changing of the guard from one year to the next brings inevitable changes. This is especially true with mobile technology which is arguably one of the most competitive and innovative segments of the tech industry as traditional feature phones and carriers are challenged with smartphone technologies and apps and unlocked phones.

So even if you keep half an ear to the latest happenings in this niche of the world market, there is a plethora of information, rumors, and announcements to keep track of. To help make the focus more manageable, here are a few noteworthy notices to kick off your 2012 mobile tech watch.

First, the continuing saga of the king of feature phones as it endeavors to make its mark in a smartphone world: Nokia. The mobile OS this manufacturer chose for its foray into smartphones is Symbian. Clearly this pairing didn’t fare well in the global marketplace. As a farewell gesture that is bound to drive the final nail in the coffin of Symbian, Nokia has opted to rebrand its latest smartphone as Nokia Belle. No Symbian to be mentioned in association again it seems. Perhaps the best rebranding for Nokia would be launching a new tablet featuring its next mobile OS choice.

Not to be left out, Google Android is bound to make this list. And, it is no surprise that it is causing waves with its much-buzzed-about OS upgrade: Ice Cream Sandwich. Global rollouts of this Android 4.0 update were supposed to have begun for Nexus S customers a few days ago, but according to the Google Community Manager, Paul Wilcox, announced that they are pausing updates to better monitor feedback for a while (this sounds oddly familiar to CarrierIQ scandal which highlighted the benefits of customers choosing unlocked devices).

On a more positive note for Google, they are now globally activating approximately 700,000 Android devices daily. The company’s willingness to work with many manufacturers (creating more opportunities for customers to choose carrier neutral unlocked phones), is significantly contributing to their continued growth around the world.

To follow on the heels of Google’s customer driven philosophy, carriers are having to fight the loss of their exclusivity on smartphones, tablets and accessories by dropping their prices. Recent reports show that 4G LTE pricing may drop by as 60% by 2016 as the additional speeds aren’t worth the cost for heavy users and the carrier specific devices that enable 4G are markedly more expensive than their 3G counterparts as well.

By Megan Fleet

Every brand and company has its shtick, its M.O., its press friendly sound bytes. Google is no different when espousing the virtues of its Google Android operating system at each event they are able to use a soapbox and spread their smartphone evangelism. The main gospel is the Android culture of openness and the lack of limitations is to the benefit of the consumer.

This is great PR spin. And this writer truly loves a good euphemism laced with truth. So, while Android is more open that its competitors, it is comparative. When held up to open-source software like Linux, it is actually quite closed. Hence, a Hollywoodesque Benniffer moniker is bound to catch: Clopen.

At the moment, Google makes the Android OS source code available to companies and individuals to customize to their liking. Very open and transparent, non? Flip side of this coin is the Google mobile suite: Gmail, Android Market, Google Maps, and the long list of “Google” stamped functions. These are closed sourced. The double talk is confusing for customers. Especially when end users purchase a no-Market Android device. Not good PR.

Throw in the custom skins and fragmentations used by the varied carriers and manufacturers and there is a varying standard of quality for the smartphones bearing the Android and Google names. This is damaging to a brand. In fact, Marketing Land’s Danny Sullivan wrote that these quality control discrepancies are resulting in customers with outdated devices in their hands. This particular quirk can be addressed with accessories (protective cases, upgraded screen skins etc), but what is under the hood is harder to resolve.

Case in point: the latest Android OS release, Ice Cream Sandwich. Various manufacturers have hedged and speculated about when the update would be available and on what phones and what carriers (at least with an unlocked phone, the customer will have more say in to get the latest Android OS). As of right now, only one physical device has the update on it. The flagship Android phone, Galaxy Nexus. Newer devices like the DROID RAZR, DROID Bionic, and the Rezound should see the update later in 2012, but there are many others like the LG Revolution (launched only 7 months ago) that will never get the ICS upgrade treatment because of the carrier (please see above note about unlocked phones!).

Luckily for customers, the Open Handset Alliance which encompasses major US players (LG, HTC, Motorola, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T to name a few) which has pledged with Google to bring an end to fragmentation and bring the latest Android OS to devices if the smartphone release is 18 months old or younger.