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Facebook Might Be Developing Its Own Version Of the App Store

The idea of having a Facebook App Store does sound fairly interesting.

According to several sources, including some former Facebook employees that were involved in the planning phase of this software, Facebook might be developing its own version of the App Store. This idea comes as a type of contingency plan in case Google Play forcefully removes Facebook from its list of available apps.

The reason why Google would actually kick out Facebook is based on several factors. Most Facebook-related applications and games run on Android even though users get them from somewhere else besides the Google Play store. This might be seen as egregious by the latter party, with high chances that it will drop support for Facebook entirely.

This has happened in the past to several applications which were promptly kicked off the Google Play app store, according to NeuroGadget. For instance, in China, Google Play is unavailable for almost all users, but Facebook can run without any problem, along with its apps.

Another reason why Facebook would develop this store, besides creating a safety net in case the aforementioned event occurs, is based on the fact that Facebook is the only tech titan company which does not have their own retail platform. Google, Apple, and Microsoft, all have their own versions of an app store, leaving Facebook fairly behind from this point of view.

The recent experiment conducted by Facebook, where the company pulled off their Facebook app support from Google Play showed how users would react if this would eventually occur. Most people simply used a web browser in order to access Facebook while the normal Google Play version was down, making the company thoroughly consider the option of creating their own version of an app store.

Besides the safety provided by a contingency plan, a Facebook Store would provide a friendly environment for app developers towards creating applications designed for Facebook use only as well. But this will all be entirely dependent on how the user demographic will approach the idea of a possible new app store, as well as adoption rates.

Although the idea that Facebook might be developing its own version of the App Store can be considered as a mere allegation, one cannot deny that the next logical step in the company’s evolution would be just that. Even if it may not even be developed as a way to overthrow its competitors, a Facebook Store application would effectively install a safety net for the company towards an eventual app support dismissal from either Apple, Google or Microsoft.

Image source:www.pixabay.com

Google China App Store To Be Launched Soon?

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After it left the country in 2010, Google intends to return to China with a brand new Google China App Store. The news come from The Information, which apparently spoke to people very close to the matter. The sources kept their anonymity, of course, but journalists all over the tech world consider that Google’s intentions have a strong foundation in reality.

Google and China are not the best of friends since four years ago and the tension between the search engine giant and the Chinese authorities deepened in the past years. Google left China claiming the company was a constant target for hackers and that it was facing heavy potential loss of intellectual property and continuous censorship. Currently, many Google services are blocked in China, including Google Play.

However, against all odds, Google plans to return to a country it left, by launching a Google China App Store. Tech analysts see the reason behind this move with objectivity. According to recent reports,

“In recent months, the company has indicated its intention to reverse a longstanding Google policy and distribute its app store with phone makers and other potential partners in China. Google intends to launch a version of its Google Play app store in China, hoping to exercise greater influence over a market that accounts for roughly half the people who use its Android mobile operating system.”

Regarding local partnerships, the reports suggest that Google is now looking for a reliable phone maker collaborator to coordinate the launch with. Sources claim that Google is in talks with Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. We don’t know if the Mountain View company also managed to reach some conclusions together with one of these potential partners, but we do know from the cited sources that Google approached them both.

Google isn’t sure that its plan is even going to work, as “it will be unclear until the last minute” if the Chinese government will actually allow the Google China App Store to be launched.

Google plays all its cards at the same time, as its interest in the Chinese market probably never faded away. On Wednesday, Google announced that Google’s store would start supporting app developers from mainland China and their efforts to sell paid apps via Google’s platform. Google also stated it would make sure the revenues generated by the apps would be directly transferred to the Chinese developers’ bank accounts.

Winning Chinese developers by its side, together with handset makers, seems to be a small part of a larger Google plan to return to China on a red carpet. Since there are some sources out there able to shed light upon Google’s plans and the possible Google China App Store, stay tuned for more reports on the subject!

Invitation Email Requirement Could Cause Inbox to Be a Bust

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Earlier this week, Google launched its new smartphone alternative to emailing: Inbox. Currently, the app is available by invitation only and its goal is pretty straightforward. Google wanted users to be able to organize, sync, group and bring together all the important content that the user requires in any given day. And such an idea is uniquely appealing to many people, especially since the email is considered to be the old horse that just keeps on galloping. Anyone from small business owners to self-employed, multi-taskers or just casual email users can benefit from Google’s apparent spectacular new app.

There is a twist, however, to this seemingly perfect Google story. Many of those quite enthusiastic to try out Google inbox have already begun to question the legitimacy of the tech giant’s initiative because of the mandatory invitation. Inbox requires an invitation to join, regardless of the fact that it is already available in App Store and in the Play Store.

As such, some wonder whether Google has lost touch with what is important to its users. And while they may not know precisely what you particularly want, they have a general concept about what the average email user desires. Google believes that the goal is organizing rather than prioritizing (despite the fact that marketing of the app has been unclear in that regard, letting many believe that Google and the Inbox app will eventually believe to make choices for the user).

But the fact is that all Google attempted to do was to employ its Google Now technologies into a user-friendly email application that would modernize the email experience and synergize various types of features.

The goal of the app wasn’t to replace Gmail, but to rather put a modern spin on the modern man’s necessity, the email, and transform it into an app that could also meet his changing needs.

Jack Gold, an independent analyst, studied Google’s app and believes that this may actually be a slippery slope for the tech giant, if Inbox fails to keep up with its end of the bargain and efficiently organize.

“The issue is, how does an overseer sort through all the communications and accurately predict what’s important to the user? It’s not an easy task.”

Gold said on Thursday.

There have been some to argue that Inbox will learn the behavior of the user, but that speaks to what Google Now is already about.

“It will learn which contacts are important to you and which topics you tend to actually read and respond to rather than delete.”

Rob Enderle, an analyst for the Enderle Group said.

Regardless, only time will tell if users will appreciate the process of requesting to be brought into the app via App Store or Play Store and then having to request to join via email.

Amazon Fire Phone Fails, Causes Staggering Q3 Losses

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Amazon just announced its third quarter earnings today and the retailer giant is surely navigating in shallow waters. In its earnings conference call, Amazon reported a third quarter loss of $544 million, compared to the $25 million losses announced in the third quarter of 2013. Who’s the culprit you would ask? None other than the Fire Phone, some company reps report. According to reports, the eccentric smartphone wasn’t as hot as expected, causing the company a $170 million write-down in addition to supplier commitment costs.

It’s true that very few had expected the Amazon Fire Phone to be as great a trailblazer as the iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy. What is surprising, though, is that it performed as terribly as it did in the market. In fact, the retailer giant is not a newborn where mobile devices are concerned and although smartphones are slightly different from ereaders or tablets, it still doesn’t explain why the Fire Phone did so badly. The device itself is no underdog, porting the basic hardware that normally comprises any high-end smartphone.

What many would blame is the Fire Phone’s exclusivity to one (and just one) carrier. While such a stunt could have been pulled off by a highly popular and more established smartphone producer, Amazon shouldn’t have attempted to shut out others out from the device. And it’s true that when you’re just starting out, you might experience some issues when deciding to get in bed with only one carrier, be it AT&T. The Fire Phone simply couldn’t solve the adoption problems even when the price was brought down to just one U.S. dollar.

However, there are some who believe that the Fire Phone had an even bigger problem. While other Amazon devices focus on one particular use case (and that is precisely where they perform excellently), the Fire Phone isn’t much of anything. It does good, but so do countless other models and as a reading device, it’s not as good to begin with. The Fire Phone was designed to be intimately connected to Amazon’s selling business, and although people love shopping, buying a smartphone dedicated just for online shopping simply doesn’t seem reasonable.

There are some notable features that the Fire Phone also has, for instance, the Dynamic Perspective, however, these fancy gimmicks only sugar coat the device’s clear lack of vision.

And when you’re planning to buy a smartphone, the Fire Phone strikes one as being too expensive, looked down and as having poor specs. Not to mention no Google Play.

LG Nexus 5 to launch on October 31

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After a slew of reports stating Google would launch the LG Nexus 5 at their Google Play event on October 24, the rumor mill has now shifted their date to next week on October 31, when Google will apparently launch the Nexus 5.

It is odd Google would launch the Nexus 5 on Halloween, but there may be some advertising they are capable of doing to boost sales on that date. Everyone is clamouring for this smartphone in the Android scene and we are sure they can put down their candy to check it out.

The Nexus 5 will launch on the Google Play store and will maintain exclusivity for a while, according to recent reports. It would not be out of the blue for Google to make sure people are buying the first batches of Nexus 5 stock from the Google Play store, it means the company does not have to go through carriers.

Carriers will get the smartphone sometime in the weeks after the Google Play launch. Considering the price tag for the Nexus 5 will be around $349 for the 16GB version and $449 for the 32GB version, we cannot see carriers being too excited, when they have to make the $0 down contract to get buyers interested.

The Nexus 5 specs are already out the bag, with released reports showing the Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 2400mAh battery, 8MP OIS CMOS camera and Android KitKat 4.4 shipping on the device, complete with LG’s build looking almost the same as the LG G2.

This will not be the only thing launching on October 31 – Google will also be looking to launch Android KitKat 4.4 and the Nexus 10. We may also see the new TV/gaming project Google has been working on, a possible successor to the failure Nexus Q.

Google cuts Nexus 4 price by $100, now available for $199

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Google already wowed customers when they started selling the 8GB Nexus 4 at $299 and the 16GB model for $50 extra. Not noticing they had hit gold with the cheap smartphone, the Nexus 4 was out of stock for the first few months since launch.

The Nexus 4 came with an almost complete set of top end specs, with a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM, 720p display and adequate battery life, the only real mistake was not adding an LTE-chip for US buyers.

No figures have been released, estimates say the Nexus 4 has sold millions of units. We doubt this has hit double digit millions, considering the only carrier in the US carrying the Nexus 4 is T-Mobile and the only real way to get it off contract is through the Google Play store.

Google has dropped the price by $100 in the US and various amounts in Europe and the UK – now the phone only costs $199 off contract. This is an incredible deal for a smartphone with Android 4.3 and marginally lower specs than the top end phones today.

No word has been given by Google as to why the price drop has occurred, but as usual practice, it seems the company is lowering the price of the smartphone to get remaining stock sold, before the launch on the new Nexus device.

Leakers are still unsure about the next Nexus smartphone, for a while it was almost settled that LG would make the next generation Nexus 5, working with the same blueprint as the LG G2 with a few adjustments here and there to give it the Nexus feel.

However, new leaks say that Motorola will work with Google on the new ‘Moto Nexus’, this will be similar to the Moto X and Google may incorporate the Moto Maker for the new Nexus smartphone, allowing tons of customisations off contract.

The one problem with this leak is the international availability, Motorola is currently shipping the customised Moto X to the US only, with Canada and Latin America getting the stock black and white versions for the time being.

If Google were to go international with the Moto Nexus, they would either need to crop down the amount of customisations, the return guarantee or the US assembling, each one is collateral to getting the Nexus device on the international grid.