'Net Features : kindle fire

iPad Traffic Falls After Holidays

Allison Howen — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:35:00 GMT

There has been a bit of a shake-up in the tablet world, thanks to the Kindle Fire’s popularity over the holiday season.

In fact, insights from online advertising network Chitika reveal that the iPad’s tablet Web shares fell by 7.1 percent following the Christmas holiday, while the Kindle Fire’s Web tablet Web shares rose by 3.03 percent. That being said, the iPad still maintains the overall largest share of tablet traffic at 78.86 percent. It is also important to note that Chitika expects the iPad’s share of tablet traffic to return to the 80 percent range as consumers return back to work and decrease their browsing habits on their new devices.

Chitika’s insights analyzed hundreds of millions of smartphone and tablet impressions from the Chitika ad network in the U.S. and Canada from December 1st through December 27th. The results also found that the iPhone 5 gained 1.1 percent of the smartphone usage share after the holidays, while the Galaxy S III gained 1 percent. Moreover, just as Apple’s iPad rules the tablet market, the iPhone also currently maintains the largest share of smartphone traffic at 8.27 percent.

Best of 2011 - Mobile Web Devices

Michael Garrity — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT

The year 2011 was a pivotal one the Web, particularly as it relates the way people go about connecting to their favorite sites.

The advent of fast-emerging and rapidly growing technologies in the mobile sector has led to many users regularly accessing the Web from mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and even feature phones.

But not all of these mobile devices are created equally, so WM takes a look at some of the past year’s best and most popular gadgets for surfing the ‘Net.

iPhone 4S
When news of the iPhone 4S first dropped, some were disappointed -- to say the least. Users wanted an iPhone 5, and instead they got a revamped version of the iPhone 4. (Oh, and Siri.) Still, in the end, it was the best-selling iPhone ever despite the initially lukewarm response.

The smartphone runs on the brand new iOS 5 and offers much of the same functionality with which Apple fans and diehard iPhone users are familiar, including the old standby Safari mobile browser. With the introduction of the voice-controlled Siri, Apple also gives users a whole new way to interact with the Web on their mobile phones, as information can be accessed almost immediately. It’s likely that 2012 will finally see the release of the iPhone 5, which will possibly be a drastic reinterpretation of the device with even more sophisticated Internet capabilities.

iPad 2
Apple’s other major contribution of industry-changing technology is the iPad 2, the successor to the device that standardized tablet usage. It’s probably not a stretch to say that when people talk about tablets and tablet browsing, they’re likely thinking of using an iPad, and that kind of presence is what makes it such an important (and revolutionary) gadget.

Much faster than its predecessor, the second generation iPad is actually quite similar to its big brother when it comes to navigating on the Web, but it also presents itself as more of a content creation tool for publishing on the Web, making it a device much better suited for two-way Web needs. Like the iPhone, it comes equipped with a built-in, tablet-optimized Safari browser, and there are some impressive third-party browser options available for interested users. The second version is also powered by iOS 5.

Galaxy SII
Although it’s not nearly as revered or idolized as Apple, Samsung has proven itself to be a beyond-competent mobile developer, and the Galaxy SII is a great example of its acumen. Some have claimed that it is actually the “world’s most powerful phone to date,” backed by a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and running on the Android Gingerbread operating system (with an Ice Cream Sandwich update on the way).

And while being a powerful tool is critical to the demands of Web users today, the Galaxy SII goes the extra mile by providing users with a great interface for browsing that consists of a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display. One review called it “the yardstick by which every other phone competing [this year] in terms of hardware specs was measured.”

Galaxy Nexus
Running on the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, this is widely considered to be the best Android phone ever created. By building on the successes of the Galaxy SII, Samsung was able to craft a superb device that is “everything Android ever aspired to be.”

Featuring a 4.65 inch HG Super AMOLED Contour Display and a powerful processor specifically built for faster Web browsing and multitasking, this phone is ideal for browsing the Web. So far, no better iPhone alternative has presented itself or, perhaps more importantly, had the opportunity to challenge Apple’s dominance in terms of the general public’s perception of what a smartphone can be.

Kindle Fire
No product was more hotly anticipated this year than Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet. At $199, a considerably lower price point than the iPad 2, the 7-inch tablet is a great alternative to Apple’s industry-dominating device, especially as it allows for easy access into any of Amazon’s other online properties, most notably the Kindle Store, Amazon Prime and Amazon Cloud Storage.

The Kindle Fire runs on a customized version of the Android Gingerbread OS and features a brand new Web browser, Amazon Silk, which has received mixed reviews so far. Though the Kindle Fire may not be the optimal mobile device for using the Web, there is no denying the impact it has had on the tablet market. By dropping the price point significantly, Amazon has opened up tablet adoption to a whole new range of consumers, and the screen size was successful enough that there isn’t any shortage of rumors that Apple will release a 7 inch “mini” version of the iPad 3 in 2012. In short, thanks to Amazon and the Kindle Fire, tablet consumption is becoming even more mainstream.

Optimize the Kindle Fire Experience with Monetate

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Personalization and targeting provider Monetate has announced support for the Kindle Fire in its cloud-based website optimization platform.

Monetate, which primarily serves the ecommerce market, enables users to segment visitors from tablet devices and deliver platform-specific options to enhance the browsing and buying experience. For example, merchants have the ability to run multiple concurrent A/B and multivariate tests, leverage geographic and weather-based targeting, and deliver custom experiences based on individual user behavior.

Some of the modifications that merchants can make include making navigation menus larger for greater ease-of-use, enable/disable functions including swipe, pinch-to-zoom and multi-touch gestures, and several others including delivering custom messages such as special offers based on the type of device.

"It is becoming clear that tablet users represent a unique segment of consumers with specific needs, habits and purchasing behaviors," says Monetate CEO David Brussin. "In order to close more sales, retailers must proactively tailor the shopping experience to tablet users in a way that takes advantage of the devices' unique characteristics."

Better Looking Digital Pubs with Amazon KF8 Format

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:55:00 GMT

The digital world of ebooks is about to get a lot more attractive. Amazon just announced that several new features, including HTML5 support, will be arriving in Kindle Format 8 (KF8) – the upcoming file format that will replace Mobi 7. Folks, gone are the days of the black and white ebook.

KF8, which will roll out to Amazon’s latest generation e-readers and reading apps in the next few months, provides publishers the ability to develop digital publications that require rich formatting and design functionality. The file format will be an ideal fit for children’s books, comics and graphic novels, cookbooks and even technical and engineering books.

The KF8 format adds around 150 new formatting capabilities including fixed layouts, nested tables, callouts, sidebars, Scalable Vector Graphics (SCG) and much more. A list of the most important enhancements in KF8 can be found here.

Amazon’s Kindle Publisher Tools (including KindleGen 2 and Kindle previewer 2) do not currently support KF8, but Amazon expects availability soon. Amazon noted that all currently supported content will continue to work – e.g. .mobi files. Information on how to update existing titles to take advantage of KF8 capabilities will be available in the upcoming update of the Kindle Publishing Guidelines.