20Mbps 4G will soon be available in 10 cities across the UK, including Sheffield, doubling the current speed.

The current 4G, with speeds averaging around 8-12Mbps was unveiled last year by EE, owner of Orange and T-Mobile.  The network operator said it has seen a huge shift in the way people are using their phones since the 4G launch, including the use of video, maps and sat-nav applications.

The new speed will allow people to upload and download high resolution pictures and video whilst on the move without delay.  It will mean 4G will be up to seven times faster than the current 3G.

Whilst this is great news for users of app-filled smart phones, users should be cautious of the potential for large data-bills.

EE, the first UK operator to offer 4G has spent millions on the launch of the service, including adverts fronted by Kevin Bacon and the amazing light show at Battersea power station.  With many of the latest smartphones being 4G enabled, rival operators O2 and Vodafone have promised to launch in the next few months.

The 10 cities where 4G speeds will be doubled by EE include Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, Birmingham, London, Cardiff and Liverpool.

The existing 4G service is now available in 50 towns and cities across the UK, and was recently extended to the rural Northern Fells in Cumbria.

We at 3Squared believe this is great news for app lovers and businesses that rely on mobile communications and are looking forward to the other network operators releasing their own versions in the summer.

Mobile shopping is already riding the crest of a wave having risen 55% compared with a year ago but even this double digit growth is likely to look paltry next to future gains.

At present the sector is being held back by speed and connectivity problems with current generation handsets but with the arrival of 4G this barrier is being lifted, contributing to a possible 115% uplift in the coming 12 months.

Conlumino based their findings on the expectation that 98% of the UK population will be served by 4G over this period, adding £1.8bn to the UK economy of which £1bn is attributed to new users.

Neil Saunders, a director at Conlumino, said “Retailers today must take every chance to engage consumers, giving them every possible opportunity to buy and interact with their brands. An ‘omnichannel’ approach is key to making this happen and retailers can’t afford to stand still.”

3Squared are specialists in creating apps and mobile pages for businesses wanting to engage and trade with consumers via smartphones.  With the cost of smartphones reducing and 4G to soon be used across the country, more and more people are browsing and shopping on the move with their mobile phones.

Don’t get left behind, contact us today to find out how we can help your business become more mobile-friendly.

The Drum

The primary target user for the phone will be the young middle class in BRIC countries.

Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge, told the Telegraph: “One of our sources claims that Apple’s iPhone prices remain too high for most mainland Chinese customers — the iPhone 5 hardware alone starts at $849 there, versus the iPhone 4 at $500, in a country where the average annual salary is around $3,000 per person.”

“The source has said that mainland Chinese iPhone 5 sales are already tapering off as a result of the pricing, which is higher than in Hong Kong. A budget iPhone model would help sales in populous but underdeveloped countries to grow.”

The budget phone is rumoured to cost around £220.  Whilst the main markets will be the likes of India and China, it will also be interesting to see the effect it will have on sales in Europe and the US, where Apple already dominates the phone market.

Will users care about the material of the phone, as the majority of existing users put the phone in a protective case anyway?  For the sake of saving £300, probably not.  But it will surely make the iPhone accessible for a lot more people, which we at 3Squared believe can only be a good thing.

For the iPad mini, the panels have reportedly seen low yield rates, especially from one of Apple’s suppliers. As a result, Apple may only reach 6 million of an estimated 10 million target for iPad mini shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Meanwhile, the newly announced iMacs will also see constrained supplies due to issues with iMac panels from LGD.

Additionally, the sources said new iMac models use panels sourced only from LGD. The company has had to develop a new production process for mass producing the iMac panels and has limited capacity, which is delaying shipments.

Yields of both products aren’t expected to reach target goals until the first quarter of 2013.

Apple just announced that the new iMac would go on sale on Friday, November 30th, but the 27″ model wouldn’t start shipping until December.

Approximately half the children surveyed expressed interest in the full-sized iPad (up from 44% last year), and 36 percent in the new iPad Mini. The iPod Touch and iPhone are also coveted devices among these young consumers (36% and 33%, respectively). Kids are also likely to ask for dedicated gaming hardware this holiday, with 39 percent excited to own Nintendo’s just-released console offering, Wii U, and 29 percent indicating they want a device from that company’s portable DS family. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 also proved appealing, with approximately one-quarter of kids 6-12 saying they want these high definition consoles.

Nielsen also surveyed persons aged 13+ and found the iPad also topped that list. The remainder of the 13+ year old list was less dramatically in favor of Apple than the 6-12 year old group.

In a separate survey of (presumably) adults, Reuters found that one third of U.S. consumers were thinking of buying a tablet this holiday season. Amongst those who wanted a tablet, the iPad was again the most popular with 25% of respondents planning to purchase one. Second and third place went to the Kindle (15%) and Samsung (15%) tablets. Finally, Apple’s new iPad mini came in at 8% amongst respondents.

Belkin’s $80 case connects to the iPad via Bluetooth and features a removable keyboard with shortcut keys to play or pause music, as well as change tracks.

iPad Mini Mod’s $40 aluminum case also connects via Bluetooth and uses Smart Cover magnets to turn the iPad on when the case is opened. It comes in both black and silver to match the iPad mini.

Microsoft’s newly released OS, Windows 8, starts its bold new life at the crossroads of PCs and tablets, and consumers and businesses.

While analysts predict that the adoption of the new OS will take time, there is one critical area where it can’t afford to fall behind: Apps.

Microsoft has been wooing developers to get on the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 bandwagon. The PC landscape that Microsoft dominated for decades has morphed into a mobile battlefield besieged by iPads, iPhones, and Android tablets and smartphones.

There is an army of existing Windows developers, but the Windows Store contains only about 10,000 apps. The Apple App Store, by comparison, has 700,000.

At its annual Build developer conference last week Microsoft offered attendees a Surface tablet, 100GB of free cloud storage via SkyDrive, a free Nokia Lumia 920 Windows 8 phone and a discounted developer’s registration to the Windows Store.

But the biggest incentive is something Microsoft announced earlier this year: More money. Microsoft will give developers 70 percent of an app’s selling price, but then increase that amount to 80 percent once the app earns over $25,000.

Apple only recently raised the cut for iOS developers to 70 percent. Google pays Android developers a 70 percent share as well.

Two Windows 8 developers CIO.com spoke with are both prepared for Windows 8 to grow slowly, but are enthused by its versatility across different devices, the variety of developer tools at hand and the abundant support from Microsoft.

And, of course, there’s the potentially enormous audience that could rise up around Windows 8. After all, there are 670 million Windows 7 users potentially upgrading to Windows 8 at some point.

Windows 8: Just Like Starting Over (Kind of)

Even with its massive installed base of Windows users, Windows 8 is still like a new kid on the block because of the recent proliferation of tablets and app distribution stores.

“I think Microsoft realizes it is not the big monopolist now and they know they have to conquer the market again,” says Tom Verhoeff, an app developer and a partner at Holland-based app development company Methylium, which recently developed the Windows 8 app for Booking.com, a popular online hotel reservation site.

“From an OS perspective on the desktop Windows is still the best. But people will have to get used to the Windows 8 interface on the desktop,” Verhoeff says.”When they adapt they will want it on phones and they will be happy with how files sync between the two.”

The success of iOS and Android on tablets remains the biggest obstacle for Windows 8, admits Verhoeff, and with PC sales in decline Microsoft won’t be as big as it used to be, but will still carve out a space in the market, he says.

Independent developer Jonathan Isabelle recently developed an app for Windows 8 called Jack of Tools (a “Swiss Army Knife”-type app that contains a flashlight, compass, virtual leveler, geo-location, altitude, speed, sound meter and other features). He migrated his app using RadControls for Windows 8, a toolset for building Windows 8 apps from application and content management company Telerik (Methylium also used Telerik’s toolset).

Isabelle agrees that Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 have a smaller audience and less developer competition than iOS and Android, and that’s a good thing, for now.

“The potential audience could be huge,” Isabelle says. “That’s very appetizing to a developer. When I started developing on Windows Phone there were tens of thousands of apps, and now there are over 100,000.”

Industry research backs this notion. Forrester predicts that 2014 will be the year that Windows 8 gains firm market traction in conventional and touch devices, and by 2016 it will gain almost a 30 percent share of tablets.

Windows 8 Programming Goes Multi-Lingual

Microsoft decided to include more programming languages with Windows 8. Apps can be developed using conventional languages like C++, C#, Visual Basic as well as web development languages such as HTML, CSS or JavaScript.

These choices set Windows 8 apart from the more strict iOS, which only allows app development using Objective C. For Android, Java is the only language Google supports.

“Microsoft is trying to show the developer community that it is not the old proprietary Microsoft but the new Microsoft that wants everybody on board,” says Verhoeff.

However, while Microsoft is looking to attract more developers by supporting more programming languages than Apple or Google, Windows 8 does have very specific guidelines for the look and feel of apps, he adds, and the company is really pushing the “Metro” design style.

“Windows 8 apps behave in the same way,” says Verhoeff. “They all conform to Windows 8 interface features such as the Charms bar on the right side. You don’t have the design freedom you have with iOS, but you can still build a unique experience with the Windows 8 style.”

In addition to the clean and simple look of Windows 8, Microsoft is also looking to make development inexpensive. As opposed to the $99 per year to sign up with Apple as an iOS developer. Microsoft Visual Studio Express is free.

One OS, One Code, Many Windows 8 Devices

The ultimate promise of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 is seamless compatibility across multiple platforms. Apps will run on a PC, a tablet and a smartphone, allowing developers to reach an army of users. Such versatility will make Microsoft unique among its competitors.

Apple’s iOS platform works only on iPads and iPhones and even then the code between an iPhone app and an iPad app can be different, and developers must make adjustments.

Windows 8 device compatibility may never be perfect, says Verhoeff, as the UI of Windows Phone 8 apps will be adjusted for the smaller screen. But developers will still be using the same Windows 8 code.

“If you do it right, you can develop one Windows 8 app for four different screens with the same code, and that is exciting,” says Verhoeff.

Apple Inc.’s Asian component suppliers have started mass production of a new tablet computer smaller than the current iPad, people with knowledge of the situation said, as the Silicon Valley company tries to stay competitive against rivals such as Google Inc. GOOG -0.63% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.56% that are offering smaller, less-expensive alternatives to the iPad.

The Wall Street Journal cites two sources who also confirm that the iPad mini will use a 7.85″ screen with a lower screen resolution than the 3rd Generation iPad. The iPad Mini has been previously rumored to have a 1024×768 pixel display.

The report comes just after a similar claim from Japanese site Macotakara who specified that the iPad mini had begun production in Foxconn’s factories in Brazil. The Wall Street Journal’s report seems to provide additional confirmation. Recent reports have suggested that the iPad Mini media event will take place in October

- “What’s unique about the Mini? Without a doubt, it’s the design. It’s cute, it’s discreet, and it’s very, very light.”
- “If you’re an obsessive over crisp text, you’ll notice the fuzziness. If you’re comparing the Mini to a laptop, you won’t.”
- “A Retina Display and a lower price would have made the iPad Mini perfect.”
- “it’s really shockingly nice to hold.”
- Regrading smaller bezel: “All I know is that when reading books on the Kindle app or iBooks, holding on the side wasn’t a problem.”

The Verge

- “I actually had a little trouble holding onto the device when I wasn’t using the Smart Cover due to the back being as smooth as it is, and the frame being so thin.”
- “There’s something endearing about the mini that makes you want to keep it on-hand and use it often.”
- “I don’t think the lower resolution is a deal-breaker in this product, but it is a compromise you have to be aware of.”
- “Battery life was — not surprisingly — everything Apple claimed it would be.”
- “The iPad mini hasn’t wrapped up the “cheapest tablet” market by any stretch of the imagination. But the “best small tablet” market? Consider it captured.”

Engadget

- “Overall, the tablet is very comfortable to hold; its thinness and lightness are both attributes that must be perceived first-hand.”
- “Colors are very pleasing to the eye and viewing angles, as ever with an Apple display, do not disappoint.”
- “In our standard battery run-down test, which entails looping a video with WiFi enabled and a fixed display brightness, the iPad mini managed an astounding 12 hours and 43 minutes.”
- “This is, in many ways, Apple’s best tablet yet, an incredibly thin, remarkably light, obviously well-constructed device that offers phenomenal battery life. ”
- “To consider it just a cheap, tiny iPad is a disservice. This is, simply, a great tablet.”

The Guardian

- “Lining those pluses and minuses up against those for the Nexus 7 – which garnered four stars – there’s no doubt that this is indeed a five-star device. The 20% difference in comparative price is more than made up by the difference in build quality and software selection.”

Loop Insight

- “What I found was surprising to me. I actually used the iPad mini more than my iPad.”
- “If you want to save $50 and buy a cheap-ass tablet, go ahead. If you want quality the iPad mini will be waiting for you when you come to your senses.”
- “Everything just works on the mini — all of your old apps, iCloud, everything.”