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Akamai: peak internet speeds jumped 25 percent year-to-year in Q1, Germany tops the mobile world
If you thought world internet access speeds were facing a large-scale slowdown, you can stop fretting for now. Data from Akamai suggests that average speeds were just 2.6Mbps, but that was a healthy 14 percent improvement over the fall and a noticeable 25 percent better than early 2011. Average peak internet connection speeds surged just as much in the first quarter of this year: at 13.5Mbps, the average maximum was a 10 percent season-to-season boost and that same 25 percent versus a year before. The leaders remain Asian territories with that ideal mix of dense populations and high technology, culminating in Hong Kong's blazing 49.3Mbps typical downlink. Akamai attributes much of the growth in peak speeds to an explosion in "high broadband" connections, where 10Mbps is the minimum -- countries like Denmark, Finland, South Korea, Switzerland and the US roughly doubled their adoption of extra-fast access in the past year. Before cheering too loudly, we'd point out that mobile speeds are still trudging along despite HSPA+ and LTE making their presences felt. The most consistent speed came from an unnamed German carrier, which neared 6Mbps; the best regular American rate was 2.5Mbps, which underscores how far even some of the most developed countries have to go. There's also a clear gap in regular landline broadband quality if we go by the US' own National Broadband Plan standards. Just 60 percent of US broadband is over the 4Mbps mark, putting the US at 14th in the global ranks. We're hoping that projects like Google Fiber can raise expectations for everyone, but you can hit the source shortly to get Akamai's full study.
Nokia's Q2 2012 financials: 4 million Lumias sold, $1.01 billion dollar loss
The past three months haven't been the best for Finland's former world number one. It hasn't been helped by the three biggest credit agencies lowering the company's bond rating to "junk," and the Lumia 900's violently slashed price. Unfortunately the latest results reveal continuing gloom: the manufacturer made an operating loss of $1.01 billion dollars for the quarter. The company managed to make €7.5 billion in sales ($9.2 billion, down .5 billion since the last quarter), shifting four million Lumia handsets in the process. In fact, the only cause for optimism is that sales of the Lumia range have roughly doubled each quarter. The number of handsets pushed out the door increased (thanks to the Asha range of budget phones) with the company selling 73 million phones. That said, the company has clearly failed to crack America, selling a paltry 600,000 handsets in the States. The cash pile has also continued to dwindle, with the piggybank currently standing at €4.1 billion ($5.1 billion), down from $6.3 billion in Q1, despite getting a further $250 million in kickbacks from Microsoft. Unsurprisingly, the prediction for the third quarter of the year was similarly dour, summed up rather euphemistically as "difficult."
Google Maps live traffic updates served up to seven new regions, 19 more get 'expanded coverge'
Ready for yet another dose of news related to Google Maps? The service's live traffic update functionality has been expanded yet again, and now seven more cities including the likes of Mexico City and Greater Johannesburg, South Africa can join in on the action. Better yet, 19 other major areas that already get traffic information are receiving "expanded coverage" for their roads. Naturally, all of the new goods are accessible through Google's various Maps apps by simply enabling the traffic layer. If you're eager to start scouting the traffic flow, you can hit up source link below to find out whether your locale is on the list.
FlyNano proto takes to the air, final model will soar mainly with electrons (video)
Last time we saw the FlyNano amphibious ultralight plane, we weren't sure if it would be gas or electric, and we wondered who'd be brave enough to fly the tiny thing -- if it flew at all. That's all been answered, because the sub-154 pound carbon fibre vehicle completed its first flight, taking a brief skip above a Finnish lake with pilot Pekka Kauppinen at the helm. The short trip showed promise, and the company affirmed it would continue development and airborne tests with the aim of delivering to customers in late 2013. According to the maker, recent technology gains mean that electric motors will now be the main power option. No change to the $27k base price tag was announced, so if you've got the nerve to strap one on -- and a lake to launch from -- click the source or watch the video after the break.
Microsoft and Nokia bring enhanced traffic data to Windows Phone, announce international plans
Cross-pollination is a beautiful thing. In the natural world, it brings bountiful harvests and pretty flowers. In the mobile world, we benefit from the sharing of ideas and technologies. Case in point is Windows Phone, as Microsoft has just announced that it's adopted traffic information from Nokia into the Maps app of its mobile OS. In addition to providing Windows Phone users in the US with more detailed overviews of traffic flows and congestion, the functionality will soon become available for many cities across the globe. Perhaps the move shouldn't come as a total surprise, as just last month, Microsoft revealed the inclusion of Nokia's "Where" platform within Bing Maps. As for future availability, citizens of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom will benefit from the sharing of technologies within the next few weeks. For the moment, however, just hop the break, where you can see the before / after traffic data that's now available to Los Angeles residents.
Voddler's Lumia-exclusive video streaming app debuts for European Windows Phone users
Need an extra reason to give a Nokia Lumia some serious consideration? Today, Voddler has announced the official debut of its Windows Phone app for citizens of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Spain. Designed in conjunction with Nokia, the app is exclusive to Lumia owners and provides access to thousands of movies on demand. While many selections are available only as rentals, penny-pinchers will also find a wealth of free, ad-supported videos. Unique to this version, users may partake in a social feature known as Movie Night, which allows like-minded friends to schedule and coordinate movie viewing, chat and then review the flicks. Lumia users will also be treated to four months of Voddler Plus, a subscription service that eschews the ads of free titles and allows individuals to download movies for offline playback. Voddler Plus typically costs 79 SEK (€7.90) per month, so it's not a bad way to dip your toes into the water. Properly situated Lumia owners may download the app today in the Marketplace. For everyone else, feel free to dream of a life more Scandinavian in the PR after the break.
CloudOn launching its iOS, Android tablet apps in 16 more countries, Office hounds rejoice
Surprise, surprise, CloudOn has just opened a fresh can of tablet-friendly Office and is getting ready to deliver it outside of the US, UK and Canada for the first time in its relatively short history. The cloud-based service announced it's now launching its iOS and Android applications in 16 more countries, making it a total of 19 with the addition of the aforementioned trio. Some of the lucky nations include: Spain, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Israel as well as the Netherlands -- and, in case you had any concerns, the app is keeping its free-of-charge status, so no need to worry. In addition to the beefy global expansion, CloudOn also released a few productivity-focused tidbits, giving users the ability to open links straight from the browser, copy and paste between the different built-in apps, plus a drag-and-drop feature to move around files and folders within the application -- unfortunately, this last one's only available to those with a Cupertino device (at least for the time being). All that's left to do now is grab yourself a copy from one of the links below, and be sure to check the presser after the break to see if your country made the cut.
Nokia loses UK appeal against IPCom's pointless patent posturing
Nokia has had its appeal dismissed in the UK High Court in its Europe-wide patent battle against IPCom. The court found that the handset maker had infringed the German firm's 3G patent, but only on the Nokia N96 -- a phone the company no longer sells. IPCom can now request a ban on all British sales of the 2008 handset, a move that will probably affect tens of people. We've got an official response from Nokia's Mark Durrant after the break. [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
Rovio makes a Mighty Eagle's $68 million in profit in financial squawk
Rovio has announced that in 2011, it made a huge $106.3 million turnover and a whopping $67.6 million in profit (before tax), showing that flinging feathery fowl is a very serious business. Fueled by the success of Angry Birds, Seasons and Rio, the company grew by a factor of eight in the last year, from 28 employees all the way to 224. The company adds that the three games were downloaded 648 million times and are now used by 200 million daily users, while sales of merchandise contributed to around 30 percent of the total revenue. The report adds that the only barrier to future profits is if people stop buying new smartphones, but we're not sure that's likely to be the case for a while.
Rovio employing a growing percentage of Finland
Out of the variety of numbers included in this morning's Rovio 2011 financial report, one line stuck out to us as particularly insane: the employee count. Rovio wasn't a very large company before Angry Birds exploded in late 2009, having only produced a couple dozen under-the-radar mobile titles. But by 2011, the need for expansion was clearly there.Resultantly, employee numbers similarly exploded – from just 28 employees in early 2011 to a whopping 224 at year's end. In case that isn't a dramatic enough statement unto itself, Valve Software employs 293 people, and Valve has quite a few more things to manage. Our biggest fear – a fear that many Rovio employees likely echo – is that the massive upscaling of jobs will result in a massive downscaling should the Angry Birds franchise lose its foothold as king of mobile distractions. Not exactly a new business model in the game industry, unfortunately.For now at least, Rovio's employing a ton of Finnish devs to craft its bird flingers and related products. Someone's gotta think of these clever marketing vices, you know!
The Angry Birds earned Rovio quite a bit of chicken scratch in 2011
The Angry Birds are quite a catch, it seems. Franchise creator Rovio announced this morning that earnings in 2011 topped $100 million, which it owes solely to sales of the Angry Birds franchise. "The heavy investments made in 2011 to all business areas will be seen in future products," Rovio CEO Mikael Hed noted in the press release. "To ensure continuous success we need to be creative and stay focused on entertaining our millions of fans by continuously developing new and innovative products and services." The company earned approximately $67.6 million in pre-tax profit in 2011, or about 64 percent of total revenue.Hed doesn't necessarily mean branching out from his company's most popular franchise, of course. Especially not after such a big year for merchandising surrounding the Angry Birds – Rovio's "consumer products" unit took in "about 30 percent" of 2011's total earnings (approximately $31.9 million). That's a lot of Angry Birds gummy snacks!Rovio's $106.3 million in revenue (not profit, mind you, but revenue) is owed primarily to growth in the Finnish company's Angry Birds games catalog, which expanded by just one game in 2011: a movie tie-in named "Angry Birds Rio." The games have been downloaded approximately 648 million times across all platforms as of Dec. 31, 2011, and have a monthly user base of approximately 200 million.[Image credit: Flickr user 'Nearsoft']
Mobile Miscellany: week of April 23rd, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, we learned that ZTE intends to release a phablet of its own, and Samsung unseated Nokia as the world's largest supplier of mobile phones. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of April 23rd, 2012.
Two Angry Birds devs start new studio to make 'the next Angry Birds'
Antti Stén and Tuomas Erikoinen have broken free of Angry Birds developer Rovio to start their own studio, Boomlagoon. Stén, Rovio's former lead server architect, and Erikoinen, former lead artist, want to make "convivial and intriguing games," according to Boomlagoon's motto. We bet they were tempted to throw "non-fowl-related" in there, too, but figured it was unnecessary.Stén is chief executive officer while Erikoinen is chief creative officer; they refer to themselves as "Mr. Plan" and "Mr. Action," respectively. They plan to make games for web and mobile platforms, starting with HTML 5 titles."If we play our cards right, we just might end up with the next Angry Birds," Stén told Venture Beat.
Nokia Lumia 900 blushes, new magenta version revealed at Finnish e-tailer
Aside from a very desirable white edition, Nokia's Lumia 900 hasn't quite caught up with the color explosion that characterized the Lumia 800's launch. It looks like it's getting there, with a magenta variant spotted at Finnish retailer, Gigantti. At the moment, availability is posited for the vague area of May -- matching those mid-month dates we've been hearing -- but the site is still taking pre-orders ahead of any concrete launch day. You can volunteer your details at the source below.
Mobile Miscellany: week of April 2nd, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, CyanogenMod gained a new logo, Google acquired a mobile payments company and we learned that the HTC EVO 4G LTE for Sprint will include an embedded SIM card. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of April 2nd, 2012.
Rovio buys fellow Finns Futuremark Games Studio
Rovio, the team responsible for Angry Birds and Angry Birds Space (and parts of this), has acquired Futuremark Games Studio, creator of Unstoppable Gorg and Shattered Horizon, among other titles. Futuremark Games was founded in 2008 and is based in Finland alongside Rovio, which may explain why Rovio chose to acquire this particular smaller studio over your own basement operation in Florida. Maybe."They are an incredibly talented and experienced team, and we are thrilled to have them on board," Rovio Entertainment CEO Mikael Hed said. "Rovio's success is founded on the excellence of our team, and Futuremark Games Studio is going to be a superb addition."That might also be why Rovio chose Futuremark Games, but if it helps just keep telling yourself that this is a classic case of nationalism.
Nokia and Microsoft create AppCampus to teach devs how to make more Metro apps
Windows Phone may be picking up the pace in the hardware department thanks to some Nokia know-how, but the platform still lags behind its competition in the apps department. Team Redmond and team Espoo are taking steps to remedy that dearth of software, however, with their new AppCampus development program. The program will call Finland's Aalto University home, and is being created to provide design and technological support in addition to business coaching to help app developers build quality apps that make money. (Sound familiar?) In keeping with the motive to help developers grow their businesses, the program lets devs who utilize its services keep all the IP rights in their apps as well. AppCampus isn't only preaching the Windows Phone gospel either, folks wanting to code for Symbian and Series 40 are invited, too. Of course, supporting such a program isn't cheap, which is why both Microsoft and Nokia are kicking in 9 million euros ($12 million) each to make it happen. It's a good start, guys, but you've got a long way to go.
Mobile Miscellany: week of March 19th, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, we've spotted the Lumia 610 in two new colors, and the open source community received new goodies from the likes of HTC, Qualcomm and Samsung. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of March 19th, 2012.
PSA: Get your new iPad today in Austria, Ireland, Mexico and many other places
If your homeland wasn't part of the initial iPad roll out we've got good news -- today is the day for iOS tabletry. Maybe. The latest slab of Retina display-equipped machinery out of Cupertino is landing in 25 additional countries today, including Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. So, if you haven't been waiting on line since the 16th in anticipation of this day, then go to your local Apple store to score one. Or don't. For the full list of countries check the PR after the break.
Nokia drops another 1,000 employees, Finnish plant focusing on software
To say it's been a rough year for Nokia would be a huge understatement. And things are only going to get worse before they get better. Case in point: the company just finalized an agreement to cut up to another 1,000 jobs (which we knew was coming), all at its plant in Salo, Finland. The cuts will not happen all at once, instead positions will be phased out over the course of the year, with most layoffs coming before the end of June. For those in Western Europe it's another batch of manufacturing jobs heading to Asia, for Nokia it's simply part of a restructuring plan designed to help it stop the bleeding. The staff that remains will focus on installing software that caters to European customers. After several quarters of bad news and then a complete shift in smartphone platforms it only makes sense that Nokia would find itself in dire straights. Still, in a country where unemployment hovers at around eight percent, we're sure no amount of national pride will make people feel better about losing more jobs.Update: In case it wasn't clear, we just wanted to clarify that these are cuts that Nokia had already announced. The company has simply struck a deal with its employees making the move official.
