Boot up: app growth, Samsung's use, China Mobile's iPhone order, and more

A model holds an HTC One X smartphone. No more updates past 4.2.2. Photograph: Chiang Ying-Ying/AP

A burst of 8 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team

Following on from Tuesday's Why the world needs OpenStreetMap, here's one of the apps built on OSM data: circular walks from any rail station for a length of time you choose.

In November 2013, Benedict Evans, a well-respected and widely followed analyst, shared an updated version of his famous slide deck called "Mobile is Eating the World". This deck quickly made the rounds on social media and was highly referenced by industry and financial analysts who cover mobile. We can't help but agree with Benedict's conclusion. For the past five years, we have watched mobile disrupt every industry, in every country, and continue to break its own records year after year. 2013 did not disappoint.

According to Flurry Analytics, overall app use in 2013 posted 115% year-over-year growth. (In this context, we define app use as a consumer launching an app and recording what Flurry defines as a session.)

Meanwhile, web traffic from all Galaxy Note users (versions 1, 2, and 3) constitutes just over 13% of all North American Samsung smartphone usage. While the device has been well received globally, buyers of the so-called phablet don't collectively command a large share of US and Canadian smartphone web traffic.

However, looking at the whole graph, it's clear that Samsung has achieved a great deal of success with newer, larger phone models within North America. 71% of Samsung smartphone usage within the continent is generated by devices with 4.8in displays or larger – equating to about 16% of total continental smartphone web traffic.

It's always a sad day when we have to report that a device will no longer be receiving software updates. HTC has confirmed that its 2012 flagship, the One X+ — and by extension the One X — will not be making the jump beyond Android 4.2.2 and Sense 5. The writing was really on the wall when the devices only received the 4.2 update late in 2013, but it still hurts to know for sure that further updates aren't on the way.

Now that's not to say that the One X and X+ aren't fine phones on their current versions of software, but it can be a bit of a tough pill to swallow when HTC has made great strides in updating its newer One variants.

It was HTC which produced an infographic bemoaning how difficult software updates are.

In classic Microsoft fashion, we had three competing operating systems: DOS (yes, it was still used by a majority in embedded applications, Windows CE and Windows Embedded. Making a single bet and moving it forward would have helped Microsoft fulfill its dream of Windows Everywhere.

The accidental strategy that Google's partners are on (not Google) is Android everywhere. Take the core, change it for the embedded need and still allow for a robust application ecosystem. Google, however, seems to actually be on an anti-Android strategy. From the outside, it looks like Google loves Chrome and ChromeOS and that is its true strategy.

When it comes to the client [device], the Android Everywhere strategy is working.

May 2011:

"Think of your phone as the nucleus that this all started with," said Google engineering director Joe Britt in an interview. "We're opening the platform up to everyone to do whatever they can imagine."

Little detail was given, but Google explains it has essentially created a framework to control wireless communication between objects in your house. During a keynote presentation, Britt demonstrated this wireless communication using a Motorola Xoom tablet to control stage lights created by Google's first officially announced partner, Lighting Science.

For Google, the Android@Home project is a first step into "the internet of things," a term used to describe the growing trend of manufacturers producing intelligent, connected objects.

Is Android@Home about to be turbocharged by the Nest acquisition? It certainly seems that it died.

Lorraine Luk:

Apple's major iPhone assembler Foxconn has shipped about 1.4m iPhone 5Ss to China Mobile last week, according to a person familiar with the matter, ahead of the mobile giant's launch this Friday.

While the initial shipment volume doesn't represent the total sales at China Mobile for January, the figure helps to gauge early demand for iPhones from China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier by subscribers with more than 760 million customers.  China Mobile has been taking preorders for iPhones since 25 December.

"Shipping one million or more iPhones to a single carrier per month is substantial. But we have limited visibility beyond this month as Apple hasn't informed Foxconn of the volume for the next shipment to China Mobile," said the person…

"Shipping one million or more iPhones to China Mobile every month would be significant to Apple as its average monthly iPhone sales in China is only about two million," said Gartner analyst Sandy Shen.

The slump in Samsung Electronics that wiped out $28bn of market value in six weeks will deepen as Apple and Chinese rivals take market share in handsets, according to the stock's most-accurate forecaster.

Shares of Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung fell 13% since Nov. 29, losing more market capitalization than any other company worldwide. The stock will sink another 11%, said Adnaan Ahmad, an analyst at Berenberg in London whose recommendations during the past 12 months produced the best return among forecasters tracked by Bloomberg.

He's forecasting that its smartphone margins will decline from 18% to 13%. Make a note in a diary and come back in a year. And note:

Most analysts still don't recommend selling. Ahmad has one of only two such ratings on the stock, among 48 buy calls and 3 holds.

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