Most people may not yet be using smartphones to pay for goods when they are out shopping, but that doesn’t mean that they are not glued to their handsets anyway. Some research out today from Google indicates that among smartphone owners, some 79% can be classified as “mobile shoppers,” using their devices for some aspect of the shopping experience, from finding store locations through to finding goods. On top of that, among those who use smartphones for any kind of shopping or browsing, some 84% do so in physical stores. And when it comes to investing in experiences that consumers like, retailers should stick to mobile web sites: 65% of consumers prefer these to apps.
Tag Archives: popular
Shopping Around For Cheap Prices [Not Mobile Payments] Is The Most Popular In-Store Activity Among Mobile Users, Says Google
Posted by Gsurface
on May 9, 2013
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Popular Android Anti-Virus Software Fooled By Trivial Techniques
Posted by Gsurface
on May 7, 2013
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wiredmikey writes “A group of researchers from Northwestern University and North Carolina State University tested ten of the most popular AV products on Android, and discovered that they were easily fooled by common obfuscation techniques. In a paper (PDF), the researchers said they tested AV software from several well-know security vendors. In order to evaluate the mobile security software, the researchers developed a tool called DroidChameleon, which applies transformation techniques to Android applications. Known malware samples were transformed to generate new variants that contain the exact malicious functions as before. These new variants were then passed to the AV products, and much to the surprise of the paper’s authors, they were rarely flagged — if at all. According to the research, 43% of the signatures used by the AV products are based on file names, checksums or information obtained by the PackageManager API. This means that, as mentioned, common transformations will render their protection useless for the most part. For example, the researchers transformed the Android rootkit Droid Dream for their test. DroidDream is a widely-known and highly dangerous application. Yet, when it was transformed, every AV program failed to catch at least two variants.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Facebook Will Make the Most Popular App for Google Glass
Posted by Gsurface
on May 4, 2013
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Facebook’s CEO has signalled interest in Google’s wearable computer, and the social network’s app would likely be as popular as it is on other devices.
There are lots of unknowns about Google Glass, the company’s wearable display-camera-computer gadget just trickling out to early testers. But one thing is fairly certain: Facebook will be the most popular app for Glass.
Nexus Tablet Sales Estimate Shows The Nexus 10 Is Probably Not A Popular Option
Posted by Gsurface
on April 17, 2013
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Nexus tablet device sales remain a bit nebulous, since Google doesn’t give out specific numbers around them. But industry watchers, and Benedict Evans in particular, often try to pierce the veil to find out where the Nexus brand stands compared to the rest of the industry when it comes to sales. The Nexus 10, it seems, probably pales in comparison to most.
TechCrunch
7-inch tablets are the most popular Android tablets
Posted by Gsurface
on April 14, 2013
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In an unsurprising report, it looks like 7-inch tablets are the most popular Android tablets. While some people prefer the bigger screen real estate of a 10-inch tablet, or the perfect screen balance of a 8.9-inch tablet, neither sized tablets have the affordability of a 7-inch tablet. According to Animoca, an app publisher for entertainment
Popular WordPress Plug-in Caught Spamming Is Put On Probation
Posted by Gsurface
on April 13, 2013
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chicksdaddy writes “Social Media Widget, a free plug-in for the WordPress blogging platform with more than a million downloads, was restored to WordPress’s official plugin directory on Thursday, days after it was found injecting WordPress websites with spam links to web sites offering Pay Day Loans. In a post on a support forum for Social Media Widget (SMW), Samuel Wood, a WordPress administrator, said that WordPress was willing to give SMW and its owner a second chance after he claimed to have been the victim of a contract developer gone rogue. ‘Naturally we do take a very hard line on spam, and obviously an author putting malicious code into a plugin is enough grounds for us to bring down the ban hammer,’ Wood wrote on Friday. ‘But there are natural circumstances where an author may not be at fault.’ SMW appears to be such a case. It is one of the 20 most popular WordPress add-ons and allows WordPress web site operators to include links to their other social media accounts. Brendan Sheehan, the owner of SMW, said, ‘We trusted the wrong people with our plugin code and take full responsibility. We are a marketing company at heart and are not actually developers, so in order to provide major updates and improvements, we had to seek outside help. Some of these people deceived us and abused our trust and naivety…We will not make this mistake again.’ Wood said the folks at WordPress decided to accept that story — but that they’re watching SMW closely. ‘Basically, the current maintainer is not a professional programmer, and put his trust in the wrong freelancers to do the coding work for him…We’ll be watching the plugin for changes,’ he said. ‘The plugin is back up for now, and as long as it stays clean, it’s fine.’”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
To Improve Conversations, Facebook Will Launch A Reply Feature And Most Active Threads On Pages And Popular Profiles
Posted by Gsurface
on March 21, 2013
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Facebook is preparing to roll out a new feature on Pages and popular Profiles that will help increase interactions with fans and readers: Replies. Up to now, visitors could comment on a post but others, including the Page owners themselves, would not be able to respond directly to them in cases of multiple people commenting on a post. Facebook has been running tests of the new feature since November last year; now a source tells us it will be rolling out the feature more formally as an opt-in on Monday, March 25, before turning it on for everyone in July.
A&E offers iPhone users some of its most popular shows for free
Posted by Gsurface
on February 13, 2013
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Popular websites more likely to harbor malware
Posted by Gsurface
on February 6, 2013
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Despite the common belief that "sketchy" Internet sites are more likely to host malware than their mainstream counterparts, the reverse may be true.
FOX News
Windows 8 Even Less Popular Than Vista
Posted by Gsurface
on January 1, 2013
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New submitter NettiWelho writes with even more bad news for Microsoft. From the article: “Windows 8 usage uptake has slipped behind Vista’s in the same point in its release. Windows 8 online usage share is around 1.6% of all Windows PC’s which is a href=”http://www.kitguru.net/software/operating-systems/benjamin/windows-8-proving-less-popular-than-vista/”>less than the 2.2% share that Windows Vista commanded at the same two month mark after release. Net Applications monitor operating system usage by recording OS version for around 40,000 sites it monitors for clients. The slowdown for Windows 8 adoption is a bad sign for Microsoft who experienced great success with the release of Windows 7. Data was measured up to the 22nd of December, so there is still time by the end of the month for Windows 8 to claim a higher percentage of the user base.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Aviary’s Developer Of Peacock Takes Popular Photo Manipulation Tool Independent, Calls It Nodewerk
Posted by Gsurface
on December 26, 2012
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Aviary isn’t done with the news this year. In a nod to power users, it’s sending its advanced flash suite off as an independent product. The suite’s original developer, Mario Klingemann, is leading the effort and today has relaunched a core part of it, node-based photo manipulator Peacock, as a new AIR download called Nodewerk.
You can get it here and take a look at some of the visual creations from Peacock/Nodewerk by scrolling down here.
TechCrunch
“Jedi” Religion Most Popular Alternative Faith In England
Posted by Gsurface
on December 13, 2012
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Census numbers show that 176,632 people in England and Wales ask themselves, “What would Yoda do?” Although the number of people who list their religion as “Jedi” has dropped by more than 50% in the past 10 years, It remains the most popular “alternative” faith in England. From the article: “The new figures reveal that the lightsabre-wielding disciples are only behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in the popularity stakes, excluding non-religious people and people who did not answer.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Election, iPhone 5 top Yahoo’s list of 2012′s popular searches
Posted by Gsurface
on December 3, 2012
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As for top-searched gadgets, three of the top five on the list are made by Apple — iPhone 5, iPad 3, and iPad Mini. [Read more]
CNET News
Netflix announces new deal with Warner, will deliver popular content to Canadian streamers
Posted by Gsurface
on November 26, 2012
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History would kindly tell us that this isn’t the very first deal Netflix and Warner Bros. have struck in past months — and, well, chances are it won’t be the last one either. Earlier today, the streaming giant announced it had reached a new agreement with the California-based studio which will bring a hefty amount of new content to subscribers in Canada. Starting January of next year, Netflix streamers in the Great White North can start watching TV shows such as The Vampire Diaries, Fringe and Pretty Little Liars, as well as films like The Hangover Part II, Horrible Bosses and even the critically-acclaimed blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises — although these movies will come “for a limited period following their pay television window.” There’s still some time before the deal bears fruit, so perhaps the next few weeks could be used to start clearing that overloaded Instant Queue of yours.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Netflix
Smartphone Mugging More Popular Than Ever
Posted by Gsurface
on October 21, 2012
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SternisheFan writes with this snippet from gizmodo: “The Associated Press reports that smartphone robberies now account for nearly half of all robberies in San Francisco, as well as an impressive 40 percent here in New York City. And the numbers aren’t just high, they’re getting higher fast. In Los Angeles, smartphone robberies are up 27 percent from last year, with no signs of slowing down. The thefts come in all varieties as well. Victims have reported having their phones—iPhones in particular (surprise!)—yanked out of their hands while talking, snatched just as public transit reaches a stop, or even taken at gunpoint.” When I was relieved at gunpoint of my (very, very dumb) phone a few years ago in Philadelphia (very, very dumb), it made for a lousy evening. Have you been robbed (or accosted) like this? If so, where?
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Paul Ryan So Much More Popular Than Biden, Ryan’s The Top Reason Users Even Search For The Veep
Posted by Gsurface
on October 12, 2012
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In American politics, incumbents generally have an unfair popularity advantage, by virtue of holding power and the soapbox that comes with it. Not so much is the case with Vice-President Joe Biden. His opponent, Republican candidate Paul Ryan, has 10 times as many Facebook fans (4 million vs. 400k). Interestingly, Paul Ryan is so much more popular than Biden online, that when comparing the top Google keywords associated with each Vice-Presidential contender, Google Politics found that “Ryan” was the top reason why people were searching for Biden in the first place.
TechCrunch
Microsoft Helps To Bring The Popular Mobile Game Contre Jour To The Web
Posted by Gsurface
on October 9, 2012
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Contre Jour, the imaginative mobile physics-based puzzle game launched in 2011, is now available on the web. Just like with Cut the Rope for HTML5, the Pulse web app and the recently launched Atari Arcade, Microsoft and the folks at Clarity Consulting helped the Contre Jour team to bring the mobile gaming experience to the (touch-enabled) web.
TechCrunch
Apps popular among smart TV owners, unknown by everyone else
Posted by Gsurface
on July 20, 2012
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Among people who own an Internet-connected TV, the overwhelmingly favorite apps are ones like Netflix and YouTube. But surprisingly, Facebook is also near the top of the list. 35% of those with a smart TV say that the social networking platform is a “must-have” app for the device. Internet radio Pandora is also popular, with
Twilio Evangelist Builds Popular Phone-Powered Rolling Robot, Hints Flying Bot Is Next
Posted by Gsurface
on July 15, 2012
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So here’s something you may have seen floating around on Hacker News or elsewhere, but we thought it was cool enough to share in case you’re looking for something to do with your weekend. After all, there are few of us who don’t love stories that end with robots. Especially robots controlled by phones.
Robots have indeed fascinated many of us since childhood, and thanks to modern technology, those imaginations and tinkerings of yore are now increasingly becoming reality. Thankfully, in the hands of those smarter (and less inclined to hatch plots to take over the world) than I.
TechCrunch
The Subtle Genius Of Google+ For iPad: Popular Posts Appear Bigger
Posted by Gsurface
on July 11, 2012
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You shouldn’t have to squint at Like and retweet counts to discover the best content your social network has to offer. So with one simple design choice, Google+ for iPad (and Nexus 7 ) has created a better tablet feed reading experience than Facebook or Twitter. As Google announced at I/O, on tablet, Google+ posts with more engagement are shown larger.
The Google+ iPad app launched today feel more like Flipboard, where surging seas of information turn into smooth sailing thanks to visual cues to what’s crucial. Browsing update after update doesn’t feel monotonous. In fact, it’s quite refreshing and addictive, enough so it might help Google+ finally shake that ghost town label.
TechCrunch
Popular education app transmits kids’ personal info to third party without parental consent, lawsuit claims
Posted by Gsurface
on June 7, 2012
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HBO Go comes to most popular Android tablet
Posted by Gsurface
on June 7, 2012
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There’s another place you can watch your favorite HBO original programming and hundreds upon hundreds of movies – the Kindle Fire tablet. HBO Go allows users to watch their favorite HBO shows on demand on devices ranging from tablets to TVs. The service also includes movies that have been licensed to HBO. In total, that’s
Gartner: Over $172B In Mobile Payments In 2012; SMS, Web Most Popular Routes
Posted by Gsurface
on May 29, 2012
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No, NFC still hasn’t come to the iPhone — or many other devices, for that matter. But this does not appear to be stopping the momentum in the world of mobile payments. Research out today from Gartner says that this year will see more than $ 171.5 billion in mobile payment transactions — a rise of over 60 percent on 2011′s $ 105.9 billion — with 212.2 million people (up 32 percent from 160.5m in 2011) using some form of mobile payment service. And what’s fuelling the rise? Despite the rise of smartphones, it’s legacy-based services like SMS and web-based transactions.
Longer term, Gartner believes that transactions will reach a volume of $ 617 billion by 2016 — with average growth slightly slowing down to around 42 percent — with 448 million users using such services.
New Challenger Pinterest Becomes Third Most Popular Social Network
Posted by Gsurface
on April 7, 2012
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Pinterest, the social network where users “pin” photos to virtual pin boards, has become the third most popular with Web users behind Facebook and Twitter, a report from marketing company Experian says. Like all social networks, Pinterest is dogged by questions of how to make money, but Experian’s data suggests that it may not be difficult. Ads for consumer goods and retail are the most successful kinds on Facebook, Experian says. Those categories are a natural fit with the photos of home décor and fashion items most pinned by Pinterest users.
Windows 8 and Screen Resolution: WXGA Still Most Popular
Posted by Gsurface
on March 24, 2012
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jones_supa writes “The Building Windows 8 blog comes up with a detailed post explaining the improved support of Windows 8 regarding different screen sizes, resolutions and pixel densities. Early on, the Windows team explored an inch-based scaling system, but found out that bitmaps would look blurry when scaled to unpredictable sizes. They ended up choosing three predefined scale percentages: 100%/140%/180%. The article goes on pondering the best solutions to make each app look good on different screens. Also shown: the distribution of resolutions being used today with Windows 7, 1366×768 having a huge lead at 42%.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Chrome Briefly Becomes World’s Most Popular Browser, Thanks To Emerging Market Usage
Posted by Gsurface
on March 21, 2012
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Google has made some significant strides getting Chrome, in relatively short time, to become one of the most popular web browsers around. Now, some numbers from StatCounter indicate that it has, for the first time — and for one day only! — become the world’s most popular browser, overtaking Internet Explorer.
On March 18, Chrome just edged past Internet Explorer before Microsoft’s browser quickly regained its lead. What’s interesting is that Chrome’s ascendance was down to its popularity in India, Russia and Brazil, where it topped the polls, according to the analysts.
TechCrunch
Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” now available, is most popular open source OS
Posted by Gsurface
on November 30, 2011
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In just the last twelve months, Linux Mint has surpassed Ubuntu as the most popular open source operating system on open source ranking website DistroWatch. Why, you ask? Perhaps because the latter has been looking with a new perspective on the user interface, and begun aiming at mobile platforms instead. However, note that Linux Mint [...]
SlashGear
Why Instagram Is So Popular: Quality, Audience, & Constraints
Posted by Gsurface
on November 27, 2011
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I get asked a lot why Instagram is so popular. It might be because we just threw the first iPhone photography conference, 1197, or because I allegedly run a company that studies and designs interfaces. It could also be the world of photography is changing so fast that lots of us nerds are talking about how a tool like Instagram can pass 10 million users in 355 days. The interface implications are fascinating, the company and technology dynamics of serving content to 10 million users with less than ten employees are fascinating, the artistic content is fascinating, and the reasons why people like me are so addicted to the damn thing are fascinating. Here’s a crack at why, since I think some other attempts haven’t quite captured it.
TechCrunch
Now a Soap Opera, Heavily-Backed SOPA Copyright Bill Gets New Bipartisan and Popular Opposition
Posted by Gsurface
on November 17, 2011
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The “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) had looked set for a quick and quiet passing through the House after it was introduced late last month. A string of Democrats and Republicans, and various big-media affiliated interest groups had lined up behind it, while the internet had mostly stayed on the sidelines. But a major outcry this week — and especially today — could change that.
The bill, which has been presented by its supporters as a bipartisan effort to punish “rogue” infringing sites, is now being questioned by members of both parties for the potential damage it could also do to innovation. That’s on top of a concerted effort by major web companies and advocacy groups to communicate their opposition, via their own sites and an open letter to Congress yesterday (that’s being run as a full-page ad in The New York Times).
TechCrunch
Hotmail Reborn? Microsoft Overhauls World’s Most Popular Email Service
Posted by Gsurface
on October 5, 2011
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Microsoft on Monday pushed the reboot button on the world’s biggest email service, unveiling a series of new features intended to help the service’s approximately 350 million users better sort through the clutter in their in-boxes.
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