Meizu announced that it will officially reveal its upcoming device, the Meizu MX4 on September,2nd. so the first couple of weeks of next month are due to be very, very crowded in terms of new device launches.
The MX4 will run Flyme OS 4.0, the latest incarnation of Meizu's interpretation of Android. The phone has been rumored to come in at least two different versions, a 'base model' and a higher-end version.
The latter should sport a 5.4" or 5.5" touchscreen with 2560x1536 resolution, and a 20.7 MP rear camera (supposedly the exact same unit that Sony uses on its Xperia Z2). 3GB of RAM will be in at least one MX4 model, as well as Samsung's octa-core Exynos 5433 SoC. The normal MX4 retail price will be about $400 - €300.
ALL HAIL THE KING, The latest IDC numbers for smartphone shipments are out, and once again it looks like Android just keeps on moving up. Year over year, Android has gained around 5% in overall market share by number of phones shipped... Android is Now accounts for 84.7% of all smartphone shipments for Q2,2014. Total Android phone shipments for Q2 rose 33.3% year over year, at 191.5 million units.
Meanwhile, Apple's iOS slipped further back while maintaining its second place spot at 11.7% of shipments (down from 13.2% last year), while Microsoft's Windows Phone fell to 2.5% compared to 3.7% a year ago. Windows Phone, somewhat surprisingly, even saw a decline in total units shipped, down to 7.4 million handsets compared to 8.7 million in the same quarter last year. That's definitely not a great sign.
Every Month, Google release the latest Android platform distribution numbers showing the current state of Android versions distribution among devices that have recently checked-in the Play Store. Here's the numbers for the last month July,2014.
As expected, KitKat has grown a bit more, up to 20.9% now (was 17.9% last month), while Jelly Bean dropping from 56.5 to 54.2%. Still hanging above the 50% mark and encompassing 3 API levels, Jelly Bean is still in the lead.
Froyo is hanging tight at 0.7%, while Gingerbread has grown 0.1% to 13.6%. Ice Cream Sandwich is continuing its own decline, dropping to 10.6% from 11.4% last month.
According to the latest month web traffic report by NetMarketShare, Android has unseated iOS sometime this July. Google's Android platform accounted for 44.62% of total Mobile Web traffic, whereas iOS trailed a little behind with 44.19%. Apparently, this is the first time Android has taken the lead in this department.
While some may argue that the lead is negligible, it appears that Android's dominant position on the market is finally beginning to pay off for Google. The latest official data from one of the most trustworthy sources, Strategy Analytics, revealed that Android accounted for 84.6% of the smartphone market in Q2 of the current year. Broken down to OS versions, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean contributed for 10.03% of all mobile traffic, Android 4.4 KitKat for 9.28%, and Android 4.2 for 8.77%. Meanwhile, more than half of iOS's result is formed by users, who accessed the world wide web from their iPad tablets.
Two of the other relatively major operating systems, Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS, grasped 2.49% and 1.21% of said market, respectively. Java ME and Symbian, however, stood between them and the leaders, Android and iOS.
Google announced Android One last month, it also announced that the program will provide ultra-affordable smartphones to customer emerging markets as an initiative to get more Android users. India is the first country where Android One handsets will be released. According to The Economic Times, Android One smartphones should be available starting October this year, when Android and Chrome chief Sundar Pichai will visit India.
Reportedly, Google is planning to spend at least Rs 100 crore which is About $16.6 million US dollars to help its partners advertise and sell Android One devices. This would be the first time when Google directly spends money to advertise Android phones - of course, we're not including the Nexus series here.
As Google already announced, one of the first Android One handsets will be made by Micromax. The smartphone's features include a 4.5-inch display, dual SIM capabilities, expandable memory, and a MediaTek processor, while its price could be lower than $100. Subsidized cell plans may also be included.
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