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Technology news statistics show iOS smartphone shares dropping

| January 30, 2014

At the same time, Android seems to be snatching up every bit of territory lost by Apple.

With an extremely broad range of different mobile devices now available around the world, technology news headlines have been placing a growing focus on the shares that are held by the various top operating systems, particularly iOS and Android.Technology News - iOS Shares Dropping

Every year, it appears that Android is taking a little bit more of the share, while iOS slowly slides.

As smartphones improve their penetration in countries all over the world, the broader availability of mobile devices based on Android, and their general better affordability has ensured that the latest technology news has been an ever growing overall market share for smartphones based on that operating system. It has also helped to ensure that Android is able to maintain its position in the dominant spot.

Recent technology news research has shown that in the United States, Android is headed upward.

Kanatar Worldpanel has just released the results of some of its latest research, which has shown that from December 2012 to December 2013, the Android market share in the United States increased to 50.6 percent, which represents a rise of 4.4 percent. Comparatively, iOS smartphones saw a drop in their total share, to bring it to 43.9 percent, which represents a loss of 5.8 percent during that same span of time.

The gap in the market share is even greater in the parts of the globe where Apple hasn’t yet truly established any significant foothold, and where Android is by far the leader. Many Asian and European countries are greatly dominated by Android and, despite attempts that Apple has made to crack into those regions, it has never managed to make its way in with most consumers, particularly among those whose financial resources are limited.

Two solid examples of the growth that Android has been making are in China and Spain. According to the Kantar technology news, there was a growth in China’s market share from 2012 to 2013 that brought it to 78.6 percent. In Spain, the figure was 86.2 percent. Previously, Apple has been focusing on the markets in North America over those in Asia and Europe, which is likely a major contributor in the market share difference.

Augmented reality to be incorporated into army training

| January 29, 2014

A number of different virtual tools will be used to help to enhance the ability to prepare troops.

With the goal of innovating the training process, the Army has decided to work more augmented reality tools and virtual environments into its training process, including the use of games.

The goal is to ensure that troops will be more ready for major field exercises.

At the same time, this is making it possible to provide the necessary instruction and experience within the limitations of a tight budget. A Sources Sought notice has now been issued by the Army Contracting Command, requesting that interested companies provide a demonstration of mature technologies designed for military training that can be used at home bases. Tech should include augmented reality tools that individual soldiers will be able to use, or units that are smaller than a company.

These augmented reality and virtual tools would be employed for home base training.Augmented Reality Training - U.S. Army

The training would occur ahead of the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 15.1, which will occur in Fort Bliss, Texas and in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, near the end of the year in October and November. During this time, it is the intention of the Army to conduct an evaluation of its tactical network baseline among a number of different forms of scenarios of operations. It is the hope of command that it will receive the responses that it has been seeking by January 31.

The military has been expanding the types of technologies and virtual environments that it has been using for its training purposes in order to be able to continue to function within budgetary limitations. The Army simply does not have the resources available at the various individual bases to be able to provide all of its individual soldiers with the type of training that is required for a realistic experience. Technology is the solution that it has chosen for providing joint, international, interagency, and multinational environments. Simulations have been key to this effort.

Augmented reality presents the Army with the opportunity to train using a broad range of virtual programs worked into a single environment.