The future of mobile technology will be driven by software rather than hardware, the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) said at a media briefing yesterday, as evidenced by the focus on open ecosystems at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona last month.
Google Inc, Apple Inc and Nokia Oyj have all jumped on the open source bandwagon but to different degrees, said Joyce Chen (陳釧瑤), a mobile communications analyst at MIC.
For instance, Google’s Android operating system (OS) has an open platform and open source code, while Nokia’s Symbian OS has an open platform, with plans to follow Google’s footsteps and open up its source code next year.
“Contrary to popular belief, the Apple iPhone’s OS and BlackBerry’s OS both have closed platforms and closed source codes, which means developers need approval from the companies to obtain SDK codes to write software,” Chen said.
“Mobile platforms are like brick-and-mortar stores, and Apple and BlackBerry shops are simply not there for anyone to come and mess around,” Chen said.
Microsoft Corp remains the oddest of the open-concept participants, Chen said, as it opens up its platform by taking licensing fees but it isn’t really open to engineers writing softwares on its system.
As readers wonder what the benefit there is for geeks to write application softwares, Chen said the typical profit breakdown for each application or service download is typically 70 percent for the developer and 30 percent for the platform provider.
But Google has again broken the rules. Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰), general manager of Google Taiwan, told Taipei Times last Friday that all profits go to the developers, while Android only takes a minor listing fee.
The latest MIC figures showed that the Apple store had more than 15,000 software applications. However, recent reports also showed that Apple’s iTunes Store was being increasingly challenged by unauthorized alternative online markets for iPhone applications.
Chen added that the Android market currently has more than 1,000 applications.
“But then again, Google’s revolutionary approach of truly embracing an open source network and making it free will rapidly develop a wide ecosystem and allow fast adoption on smartphones and netbooks worldwide,” he said.
At the MWC, international brands such as Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co, LG Electronics Inc, Motorola Inc all announced their intention to launch Android smartphones in the second half of this year.
MIC said some computer vendors had confirmed plans to produce Android-based netbooks.
As the global economic recession deepens, “the open ecosystem will certainly open up rich opportunities in mobile innovation infrastructure, application stores and services, as well as devices,” Chen said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS