Tablet market in India recorded a 9% Y-O-Y growth resulting in 1,204,410 units of tablet shipments during Q3, 2013. Nearly 20% of the shipments were triggered by the demand in enterprise tablet market. As per the recent trend, Korean electronics giant Samsung lead the growth by capturing 15% of total tablet shipments, closely followed by Lenovo with a 13.3% market share.
Being a price sensitive market, the Smartphone and tablet market in India is essentially influenced by Android powered devices. A majority of device makers, including Samsung, Lenovo and the homegrown Micromax are betting big time on the enormous exposure and adoption of Android OS. Tablet market is no exception and shipments in Q3 depict the same as the top 5 vendors, who controlled 58.7% of total tablet shipments in India in Q3, 2013, offered nothing but Android powered tablet devices to drive their sales.
It’s the first time that Lenovo has made the list of top 3 tablet vendors in India and is the only vendor offering Windows 8 powered tablets also, among the top five vendors. However, Android devices are driving a majority of Lenovo’s tablet sales and Windows 8 is yet to claim any sizable share.
“It is becoming interesting to watch this space as the market grows and matures. Like the consumer segment, Android OS-based Tablets dominate the India Enterprise Tablet PC space as well. But with more vendors committing to Windows OS-based Tablets, the interest levels amongst customers are showing increasing trend. In a couple of quarters we expect Windows OS-based Tablets gaining significant traction within the India Enterprise segment”, said Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice.
During Q3 2013, the demand for tablets in India, under the enterprise segment had a high penetration rate due to multiple industry verticals. However, retail, BFSI and pharmaceuticals are expected to drive the growth from the front.
The demand for tablets is poised to grow and we could see a different distribution of market share altogether after Q4, 2013. Recently introduced to the Indian market, Apple iPad Air and Windows 8.1 OS powered tablets are expected to eat up Android’s share. Earlier we projected how Android powered 87% of all tablets sold in India during 2013, followed by iOS (iPad) with 10% of tablet market share in India while Windows powered tablets secured a mere 3% of the Indian tablet market. Small screen tablets (7-inch to 8-inch) are estimated to hold the biggest pie of tablet market and mid range income users seem more interested in tablets.
There won’t be much of a shuffle in the vendors’ position though, but buy-back offers and holiday season in India could portray a new picture for the tablet market in India. The distinctive lead will help Android remain at the top but with lost market share to iOS and Windows OS 8.1.
San Francisco based Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) which was born as a messaging service and later evolved into a world-class micro-blogging platform, has seen an incredible growth and now provides companies and brands, a platform for addressing the masses with a mere 140 char tweet, gather wider brand recognition and publicity through its exciting features. Marketers of various firms are increasingly adopting the Twitter platform due to its viral nature and wider outreach due to features like re-tweets, mentions and hashtags. Brand accounts must be monitored wisely and continuously to notify all the pertaining activities, talks and discussions about the brand amongst its followers.
Although, social media usage can also harm a brand’s image if not used prudently, but it is an unavoidable part as a majority of customers prefer engaging with brands on social media, they often share and discuss about brands with their friends, followers, family and relatives on social media platforms. Hence brand presence is important on all major social media platforms.
According to an Infographic by Twilert, which analyzed Twitter for brand engagement by users, summarized data points and stats emphasizing on the vitality of Twitter in brand marketing. A few more interesting findings are listed below.
Close to 57% of companies use Twitter for businesses and generate 2X more leads per month than those who avoid using the platform.
Twitter users are 3X more likely to follow brands than Facebook brands, as Twitter folks are more hungry for exciting news and information in the form of short tweets, whereas on Facebook, a significant share of users are involved in various tasks apart from news consumption
Nearly 33% of active Twitter users share opinions about brands, companies and products and close to 32% of active users recommend brands, companies and products to others
About 33% of active Twitter users ask for recommendations about products and companies and 19% expect customer support from companies via the Twitter platform. Nearly 53% of customers expect a response within an hour on twitter.
Close to 67% of customers are more likely to buy products from brands they follow, 79% of Twitter users are bound to recommend the brands they follow to their tweeps.
Although, social media is an unavoidable part for companies and brands, nearly 81% of them fear using any of the networking sites as they can harm the company’s reputation if not used properly.
Only 23% of companies are using social media monitoring tools. It is vital for all brands and companies to adopt the latest social media technologies as it is the place where customers are. Fearing brand damage due to improper usage of social media tools and avoiding its usage can prove costly for brand marketers.
Twitter usage is inevitable, as it is required to keep a note of certain things like –
who is talking about your brands, who talks and who influences the talkers? What are Twitter users saying about you? Do They share opinions and experiences?
When do these conversations happen? Are they Event Driven?
Why are conversations happening? Are they positive or negative, questions or complaints?
The social media titan, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) has paced itself very well in 2013, especially when it came to fast changing demands of its users, advertisers, increasing challenges in mobile space and tough competition from rival networking sites. It has evolved a number of features in the last 12 months to tackle the problems ahead and provide an experience they can cherish, for its users & brands. More than 1.189 billion users have actively shared their memories, life time events and celebrated the historic events together with their friends, close peers and family members on the world’s largest social networking site.
Facebook In A Nutshell In 2013
Most Talked About Topics Across The Globe: Top trends or personalities spoken about on Facebook in 2013 in order of their magnitude were – Pope Francis, Election, Royal Baby, Typhoon, Margaret Thatcher, Harlem Shake, Miley Cyrus, Boston Marathon, Tour de France and Nelson Mandela.
Most Talked About Topics In India In 2013: Number one spot in most talked about topics on Facebook in India went to BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections – Narendra Modi, next in line was Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, the iPhone 5s, newly elected RBI chief Raghuram Rajan and India’s historic Mars orbiter space mission Mangalyaan also made it to the list.
Most Talked About Topics On Facebook In The U.S In 2013: List was topped by Super Bowl, followed by Government Shutdown, Boston Marathon, Syria Crisis and Harlem Shake. Pope Francis, George Zimmerman, Royal Baby, Nelson Mandela, and Presidential Inauguration were other topics which dominated Facebook gossip in 2013.
Most Talked About Topics In The U.K In 2013: Tennis star Andy Murray gained top spot followed by Margaret Thatcher, UEFA champions league final, Prince George, Sir Alex Ferguson, Call of Duty Ghosts and England retain Ashes in Cricket. X-Factor, The Bedroom Tax and Grand Theft Auto 5 were the other most talked about topics on Facebook in the U.K.
Top 10 Life Events: Amongst the most shared milestones on Facebook, few notable ones, in order of their magnitude of sharing were – added a relationship, got engaged or got married attained top spot, Traveled was 2nd most shared event, followed by Ended a relationship, First met a friend, added a family member or expected/had a baby, Got a pet, Lost a loved one.
Top 10 Check-Ins Across The Globe: Disney Land of Anaheim gained number one spot amongst top check-in spots across the globe, followed by The O2 of London, Parque Ibirapuera of Sao Paulo, Golden Temple of Amritsar, Tokyo Disney land and Melbourne Cricket Ground of Australia.
Facebook Revenue Traced A Glorious Path Breaking All Past Records:
The social media titan released its Q1 report on March 31, 2013 recording revenue figures of $1.46 billion, up by 38% from Q1, 2012. This figure just went higher in Q2 attaining 1.8 billion mark and crossed historic 2 billion in Q3, 2013 which marked an increment by a whopping 60% compared to $1.26 billion in Q3, 2012.
Facebook’s revenue share from its newly undiscovered infant mobile product (Facebook Mobile) surged from 23% to 30% in Q1 of 2013. The Facebook mobile powering technology further advanced to promote kick-ass branding for advertisers on miniature devices resulting in mobile revenue share further soaring up to 41% of total revenue in Q2 and 49% in Q3, 2013.
Facebook Monthly Active Users Growth Increased At A Decent Pace: Facebook rolled out numerous features throughout the year to improve browsing experience for users. It’s MAUs in Q1, 2013 was around 1.11 billion, up by 23% Y-O-Y basis. In quarter 2 of 2013, MAUs increased to 1.15 billion, and in Q3 figure rested at 1.189 billion, an increment by 17.2% compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Facebook Mobile User Base Grew Beyond Expectations: Extensive usage of Smartphone and tablets led to an increase in the user-base of Facebook via mobile. In Q1, 2013 nearly 751 million Facebook users were active on a monthly basis on mobile, followed by 819 million in Q2, 2013 and 874 million in Q3, 2013. This figure is expected to soar higher with Smartphone and tablet market growing further.
Browsing Features Innovated For Users In 2013:
Facebook unveiled a significant amount of changes to make the browsing experience for users more better and attractive. Facebook recently revamped its Like and Share button to make them more attractive, hoping to increase engagement by users who view them more than 22 billion times a day across 7.5 million websites
Facebook revamped its news feed algorithm to provide more relevant news to users based on their browsing activities. Updates from media publishers’ websites are promoted higher due to an increasing demand for news pertaining to latest trends.
Facebook revised its news feed design to provide better browsing experience to users and help them in personalizing their content streams.
To compete with messenger apps and help users overcome traditional methods of paying per SMS to message friends and close peers, it revised its messenger app by which users can message faster and at an economical price.
Thumbnail images were made wider and bigger thereby saving users’ efforts of clicking the image and traversing to different browsing page for a magnified view.
Edit feature was introduced by which users can change the text, image, link or any content of the post anytime after the post is up. This helped users in correcting their statements if written wrongly earlier, also, in case of controversial updates, changes can be made to avoid other users protesting against it and reporting the posted status.
Link Share Preview were made available in full size using which users can know exactly what they have shared. Sometimes users get confused with different links and might end up posting the wrong one, in such cases, the preview feature helps the users by posting the link details below the post before updating it on Facebook.
Revolution In Advertising Arena By Facebook – Inside Story!
Facebook innovated vividly to provide brand advertisers with unique and more specific advertising opportunities to drive better sales and ROI. The most notable one being the Custom audience feature by which brands can target their existing customer base for new consumers, provided they have their email ids or phone numbers or Facebook ids. This is vital for marketers who are looking to re-target their consumers or have a consumer base within a limited coverage area.
Facebook improved page insights to provide detailed and apt descriptions for success report of advertisement campaigns. Indigestible metrics like People Talking About was replaced by Page Likes, People engaged (likes, shares or comments), page tags and page check-ins.
Cookie based ad-targeting was introduced on its ad buying platform called FBX, to help advertisers re-target the users who might have once visited brand websites and remind them to engage or make a purchase from a brand site by placing ads on the side bar of their home page.
Facebook launched Review option for its pages related to places and outlets, this feature is likely to rolled out for all brands in the near future. It will help brand marketers when users placed reviews in the form of star ratings and comments. It will help them in improving the page outlook, updates and other details by analyzing users’ feedback.
To assist NGOs, it recently launched Donate now button for posts and pages of NGOs, this feature enables donations via a pop-up window. Earlier, users were forced to navigate to a different page for making online payments. This feature is likely to ease payment procedure and encourage people to donate more.
Facebook was playing around with the launch of auto-play video ads in a flip-flop manner. Initially sources had reported about the launch of auto-play video ads in mobile apps, they later backed out claiming concerns over users’ browsing experience, and have again recently confirmed the re-launch of the auto-play video ads.
Location and gender based ad-targeting was introduced to assist brands whose products are specific for consumers of a particular gender or a certain geographic location. This helps them by reaching the potential audience and increase conversion rates
Embedded posts, a social plugin that lets you easily add public posts from Facebook to the personal blog or website, was introduced. This has made the platform even more engaging as brand websites can let let users like, share, and comment to join the contest straight from their websites.
The micro-blogging specialist, Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) had a terrific IPO debut, due to extensive buzz surrounding its potential growth in future. Twitter, due its outstanding adaptability to the mobile space and its unique features in terms of tweet, re-tweet can prove to be a potential marketing weapon for brand marketers. Its viral nature can help brands in publicizing their brands to the masses easily. Marketers must focus on studying all possible tricks and tactics of effectively using the micro-blogging site and drive more user engagement to increase sales.
An Infographic by Quicksprout.com has unveiled vital statistics and data points pertaining to the micro-blogging site’s potential in driving user engagement with Twitter brands. Few important points are listed below.
The micro-blogging site with over 135,000 sign-ups per day has been embraced as a marketing platform by over 75% of businesses.
Twitter with over 190,000,000 website visitors per month, has more than 33% of its users following at least one brand.
Active tweeting users post more than 58 million tweets per day and about 79% of the active user-base recommends brands they follow.
The San Francisco based Twitter, hosts more than 36 million unique visitors per month and records close to 5700 tweets per second.
Close to 50% of shoppers made a purchase based on recommendations found through social network, 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from the brands they follow.
Saturday and Sunday are the best possible occasions to post tweets as the Re-tweet rate is 0.168 on weekends, highest compared to the rest of the days.
Twitter recently rolled out visual tweets. Images and video links will now be visible within the tweet itself. This has increased the engagement rate by over 200% for tweets with image links.
Brand marketers must focus on Tweeting questions as 21% people are more likely to respond to a tweeted question.
The Re-tweet rate can be as high as 86% for tweets containing links, hence it is vital for marketers to include a link which elaborates the tweeted message in a detailed manner for those who wish to seek more information about the topic.
The Re-tweet rate is 4X higher for Tweets which requests followers to RT or re-tweet than the ones which do not ask for a RT.
Offering a brand follower with special promotional deal increases likelihood of driving a sale or purchase by 349%.
61% of Twitter brand followers are eager to provide feedback and offer ideas. Hence, it is vital to engage actively with all the tweeps at the earliest. About 74% of followers look for updates related to future products.
Driving robust traffic to a brand’s website is one of the prime objectives of any ad campaigns or promotional event run by marketers on various networks, if consumers or fan followers visit brand websites after viewing the ads and engage in some form, half the success is achieved. Website traffic can come via social media referrals, organic search, direct traffic or paid search and a whole lot more. According to a study by Shareaholic, which analyzed data collected over the last 13 months across 200,000+ sites that reach more than 250 million unique monthly users across top 5 search engines, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Ask, AOL and Bing and major social media networking sites like Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), Pinterest, Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR), StumbleUpon and Reddit, reported a whopping 110% increase in social referral traffic rate in the last 13 months.
Web Users Providing References To Search Engines Dip Their Organic Search Rate By 5.87%!
A couple of years ago, when social media was at infancy stage, marketers preferred investing on SEO marketing to get higher ranks on search engines. But the trend is reversing as social media industry is booming and is expected to soar higher in years to come driving extensive referral traffic to brand websites.
If we analyze the table above, the share of organic search traffic is fluctuating between 39% – 43% in the last 13 months. Overall average share of organic search traffic is around 41.45% which marks a dip by 5.87% in last one year. Shareaholic further predicted that a handful of search engines are likely to see sudden growth in their personal market shares compared to the growth in the overall market share. The main reason attributed to the above statement is – web users usually reference search engines when they need any information.
People are increasingly consuming news related to latest trends, politics, brands, job hiring and a lot more on various social media networks and by mutual discussions with their friends and relatives. Hence, they are well acquainted with various brand names and whenever they are looking to buy some product or search for some information, they directly type out the website URL (direct traffic) or provide reference to the Google search engine with the brand name or any close-by keyword. If a person is looking for a particular book and needs it pretty urgently at an optimized cost, he would type out Flipkart, Amazon or Snapdeal and browse for the desired product in the online store website rather than searching for the top e-commerce site in India, fastest delivering online store or online store selling books at best prices.
Brand marketers should increasingly adopt multiple channels/platforms and embrace the latest marketing technology by practicing them periodically to maintain brand recognition and establish a steady foothold in the market. Followers are bound to arrive at the website from various undiscovered or lesser known networking channels or platforms, hence it is important to maintain presence in every single channel possible. SEO is an important factor as well, as a significant amount of web users still prefer knowing about any particular brand through organic search.
Social Media Referral Traffic Rate, Up By 110% In The Last One Year!
The social media industry is booming in terms of driving referral traffic to brand websites, the social media titan Facebook accounts for more than 10% of referral traffic rate to websites and is spiking up by 170% year over year. B2c firms acquire more than 77% of their customers through Facebook. The world’s largest professional networking website, LinkedIn drives close to 64% of referral traffic to corporate websites and B2B firms. Pinterest has taken the e-commerce section by surprise accounting for over 10% of visits.
In the graph below, we can observe that social referral traffic rate spiked up by 110.95% in the last 13 months and is expected to soar higher in years to come. Pinterest recently introduced the holiday gift guide and holiday gifts feed to help shoppers with suggestions for gifts amidst the hottest shopping holiday season. Related pins also guided Pinterest users to follow more topics which are close enough match to their interest topics. Facebook revamped its like and share button to provide better browsing experience, custom audience feature was initiated for better targeting of ads to a relevant audience, news feed revamp has materialized as people were browsing for the latest news on social media sites (Website traffic through Facebook for media publishing sites increased by 170% in the last 1 year). The above described measures have lead to an explosive referral traffic to websites through social media websites.
The Perceivable Conclusion For Marketers!
Social media is the daily go to marketing option and brand presence on all the major networking sites is inevitable for the marketing team of brand firms. Brand marketers must actively involve and update their brand accounts on various social media sites. A major portion of investment must be focused towards social media marketing as it has 58% more outreach than any other network. Social media networks drive potential customers to brand websites, hence marketers must scale up their social media activity and must actively post questions, informative blogs, news and engage with their followers.
Smartphones are changing the way we talk, the way we decide our food, the way we enjoy ourselves and above all, the way we spend our money. Smartphones are not only changing the way we live our lives but also the way the world does its business.
Apps Rule The World
Smartphone apps are used today for day to day activities. In modern context, Smartphone apps are used by people to decided how to commute, what and where to eat, what to watch and what to shop. Apart from these leisurely activities modern Smartphone users use apps for their banking and utility needs. App are also being used by the users to vent their dissatisfaction with both private and public sectors.
A study was conducted by Ericsson in Sao Paulo, Beijing, New York, London and Tokyo to evaluate possible future services concepts in city life. Users predicted around 25% increase in availability of services within a year and a further 25% increase in 3 years. This increase is predicted across all levels of services in city life like shopping, restaurants, leisure facilities, children/elderly care, communication with authorities and traffic.
Body Is The New Password
When in September Apple introduced the fingerprint scanning technology on its iPhone 5S , it was met with a lot of skepticism. But now consumers have started embracing it for its convenience. In a recent survey conducted by Ericsson around 61% of consumers told that they were ready to use fingerprints to unlock their Smartphones. While around 52% were ready to use fingerprints to replace all internet passwords and 50% were even ready to use fingerprints for online credit card purchases. About 48% consumers were ready to use retina recognition to unlock their Smartphones.
The survey showed that the modern consumer is comfortable with using their bio-metrics to get rid of long complex passwords for their different subscriptions. Use of bio-metrics also helps them to get rid of the problem of remembering different passwords and also provides them relief from passwords getting hacked. The bio-metrics capability of Smartphones could be harvested by banks to provide its consumers with more secure service. Use of bio-metrics could harness the next big revolution in the telecommunication industry.
Smarthealth
Smartphones have unleashed an era where people can keep track of their health and wealth. Smartphones have proved to be a boon for health fanatics who want to stay abreast about information pertaining to their health. These tracking apps provide people with multiple benefits, they can keep all their health related data at one place and analyse them if they want to compare them with their friends over social networking sites.
In a recent survey carried out by Ericsson, around 40% of the consumers it contacted wanted their Smartphones to log their daily physical activities, while 56% wanted a ring to monitor their blood pressure and pulse, another 59% wanted a wristband to monitor their sleep and walking habits.
The Fifth Element
Internet has become the fifth element for many of us. Lack of proper bandwidth over telecommunication signals has been the most cited complaint of mobile users. Wi-Fi connections in public places have started making appearances, but finding them is not very easy. Most of the Smartphone users use their phones for high bandwidth usage like watching videos and playing games while commuting and a lack of quality internet signal is the cause of frustration for most of them.
The latest study shows that only 39% of consumers in emerging nations are content with the internet speed while commuting, while only 29% nations among industrialized nations are satisfied with the internet speed.
Social Watch
Social Media plays a big part in what we watch over on internet, be it YouTube videos, movies or TV series. People are generally influenced by what their friends watch and share on social media like Facebook and Twitter. Most of the recent hits on YouTube became hits only after they started trending on Facebook and Twitter. Social media websites have now started dictating what to read, listen and what to watch.
Play-Pause-Play
Devices in our homes and offices have started talking to each other. It has become a daily routine for people to start watching something on their TV, pause it and then again start watching the same series right from where they had paused on their Smartphones, while commuting. Devices have integrated seamlessly with each other and with our lives. TV today talks to the tablet, tablet to Smartphones and Smartphones to the laptop.
This Pause and play facility offered by major streaming services have changed watching TV or movies from being time consuming entertainment activities to 10 minutes refreshing activities.
Yesterday, we talked about the most searched people, actors, places, celebrities and more on Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in 2013 and today we are back with a similar list but one which is specific to internet users in India. So, which were the places, politicians, Indian celebrities and actors, Indian internet users searched for the most, making best use of Google Search in 2013?
It’s a mixed list of top grossing Google search queries during 2013. According to the latest Year-End Zeitgeist list specific to India, Chennai Express, IPL 2013, and Ashiqui 2 movie remained the top trending search topics of the year 2013. However, in terms of search queries volume IRCTC, Cricinfo, Flipkart, PNR Status and HDFC Netbanking were the top search queries that were looked for maximum number of times during the year.
Sachin Tendulkar and Milkha Singh remained the maximum searched sport-stars in 2013, while Narendra Modi emerged as the top politician as he was searched for, more number of times on Google than Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Among the gadgets, Samsung Galaxy S4 emerged as the top searched consumer devices in India, beating iPhone 5S that topped the list at the global level. But what is more surprising that iPhone 5S couldn’t even make to the list in India and Nokia Lumia 520 and homegron Micromax Canvas 2 were the other searched devices in India.
Sunny Leone is the only person people searched for maximum number of times two years in a row under People category. However, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone emerged as the most famous Bollywood Actor (Female) people looked for on Google.
Under Bollywood Actor (Male) Its Salaman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan that stole the show on Google, beating young heart-throb Ranbir Kapoor and Hrthik Roshan.
Though Chennai Express remained the top trending Topic in India, it was Aashiqui 2 that stole the show and remained the top movie people search for on Google under Bollywood Movie category. Chennai Express, Krrish 3 and the upcoming Dhoom 3 were the other movies that grabbed the attention of Indian movie lovers on Google.
So, if you are wondering about who grabbed the maximum attention on the global level, don’t forget to check this list.
Who got the maximum eyeballs from internet users in 2013? Which product remained the most favorite among internet users in 2013? And which places attracted the majority of internet users in 2013? Who else but Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) could answer all these questions, so here is the world’s largest search engine with all answers after mining billions of search queries, collected during an entire year.
Google has released its Year-End Zeitgeist for 2013, highlighting people, places, activities, celebrities and hashtags that enjoyed maximum attention from internet users across the world throughout the year.
The global list that ranked the top 10 global trending searches of 2013 is dominated by the late Nelson Mandela – former President of South Africa but largely known as a person fought against Apartheid in South Africa. On Google, Hollywood celebrity Paul Walker, whose sudden death in a crash accident shocked the world followed Mr. Mandela. Apple iPhone 5S, introduced in September, emerged as the most popular consumer electronics item and secured third position on the list of top 10 global searches of 2013.
Few other top trending searches of 2013 are Cory Monteith, Harlem Shake, Boston Marathon, Royal Baby, Samsung Galaxy S4, Play Station 4 and North Korea in that order.
Segregating the top searches based upon categories, Pakistan’s teenage activist Malala, who survived a near death attack by the Taliban was the third maximum searched term under the People category after Nelson Mandela and Paul Walker.
Man of Steel, Iron Man 3 and World War Z remained the top searches for the Movies category. However, Under The Dome, Defiance and Big Brother 15 secured the maximum attention by internet users on Google under TV Shows.
Among athletes – Oscar Pistorius, Aaron Hernadez and Adrian Peterson were searched maximum on Google during the year.
Boston Marathon, which took place earlier this year was rocked by two pressure cooker bombs. This, apparently made the event the most searched term under the Event category, followed by Typhoon Haiyan and the Government Shutdown that lasted for a few weeks in the U.S. in late 2013.
Google has released a video that narrates the complete story of top Google Searches for 2013 in a quick rundown.
As 2014 is approaching closer, many analysts are drawing speculations about possible trends in the social media arena in the next one year. Marketers are referring various reports and study analysis to prioritize their business objectives based on trends in the social media arena. According to a specialist content marketing and social media agency, Kamber, Content promotion is going to be the key factor. The importance of content in the constantly evolving era of social media will remain a vital factor in the upcoming year. High-quality content, frequency of publishing content and promotion methodology are key factors to decide the rating of online and social media activities.
Niche Interest Networks And Long-Time Content Creators To Reap Benefits In The Upcoming Year!
Although, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) dominates with a major chunk of communication happening on the social media platform with over 1.189 billion users, other micro-networks are likely to increase in prominence in 2014. Facebook has been revolutionary in terms of providing users with all possible requirements like social networking, news consumption, brand interaction, professional communication, job search, blogging and a lot more, but the trend is now shifting towards networking sites like LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE:LNKD), Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR), Pinterest and Tumblr, as these websites are more focused on specific purposes and more evolved in those areas. Web Users’ online preferences are rapidly changing and interest-based networks are gaining more traffic and engagement.
Active brand followers love Pinterest and are addicted to the site and spend more time during the holiday shopping season. Pinterest users are 10% more likely to make a purchase than other major social networks. Professionals and teens often break into the realm of news and information on the micro-blogging site Twitter as 140 char long cheeky tweets hardly require time to read and fun to engage. Job seekers are likely to flood to the LinkedIn website as it has more than 2.6 million companies on the website and around 259 million users actively involved in business related discussions. Teens having issues with Facebook privacy are migrating to Tumblr. Above discussed niche interest network websites are bound to gain importance, hence marketers must use these sites effectively and post relevant content which is informative and useful for users.
All the brand websites which have had very poor results for generic terms as key words, are likely to see a boost in current humming-bird update by search giant Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Long-time content creators finally reap the rewards which they deserved. Roll out of ‘author rank’ which verifies the profiles of content creators and can make their content more visible within search results, is a vital move by Google in promoting personal blogs of web users across the globe. Bloggers are finally reaping rewards for their long-awaited stance of getting top ranks through SEO. Marketers are bound to revamp their website content to a more information seekers’ style of Googling, in order to appear at the top of search engine rankings.
SoundCloud, Infographic And SlideShare Usage On The Rise!
SoundCloud, with over 250 million users, 4th highest user base owned social network, headlines the audio sharing renaissance. SoundCloud adoption is expected to increase in usage and popularity as audio content becomes even easier to produce, consume and share. Infographics due to their soothing pictorial representation of the entire story has upsurged by over 7% in usage by brand marketers. People love engaging with Infographics due to the convincing story depiction within a flurry of pictures and taglines which make it easy to understand and consume lesser time to go through. SlideShare adoption increased by 17%, marketers widely use SlideShare to provide short presentations of entire brand related details or product promotion, as viewing slides gives a better picture about the story-line.
Content marketing is not new, but the techniques have totally evolved due to fast growing digital technology, social media and the Go-Mobile era. Marketers are increasingly adopting social media networking sites to market their content and incorporating rich media, SlideShare and Infographics to drive better engagement. Mobile optimization of brand websites and launch of mobile based Ad-campaigns for content marketing is a crucial move toward success of a firm. Content is going to be more spoken about and would differentiate a highly successful business with an average one. User-generated content contests are expected to rise with more brands and businesses adopting the method to feature user-created content on social media channels and gain wider attraction. Users can participate easily through various apps and platforms like Instagram, Vine and Twitter based on the type of contest.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is venturing into every single arena possible and pushing its main essence of person-to-person social interaction into rather unknown territories. Recently, it revamped its news feed due to an extensive demand for latest trends and news, effective brand engagement through specific ad-campaigns and initiatives for NGOs. Facebook recently unveiled the Donate button for Facebook pages of NGOs. The Donate feature will appear beside posts in NewsFeed shared by participating nonprofits and at the top of their Facebook Pages by which Facebook users can easily support the cause by paying online through Facebook. As of now, only 19 non-profit launch partners will start displaying the Donate Now button at the tops of their Facebook Pages and at the bottom of their NewsFeed posts. After some more testing, Facebook will open this feature for interested NGOs who can easily register here to avail the benefits.
Donate Now Likely To Aid Support For Natural Disasters!
Well-known top NGOs have on an average 160,000 fans on their Facebook pages. In case of emergencies like natural disasters, Facebook is undoubtedly the best platform to address the masses with regards to proceeds and can be used to approach the public for immediate help. More than 30% of the U.S adults consume news on Facebook, hence it is easy to appeal to the massive number of news hungry people who can help or aid, in any way possible.
When users click the donate now button, they can choose the amount, enter payment details and finish the entire transaction in a single pop-up window without moving off the Facebook platform, away from interacting with friends. This new feature which uses a pop-up window is likely to boost conversion-rates and get more funds to needy projects. Users also have an option to share the non-profits’ posts with their friends and help in amplifying the message to people, to take part in the noble cause. Users can choose how much they want to give and either enter payment details or use the one already stored with Facebook.
In November 2013, in the wake of the Typhoon Haiyan, Facebook had partnered with the International Federation of Red Cross to let people donate directly to the Red Cross’s relief efforts in the Philippines. The campaign was a huge success and inspired everyone to donate for the organizations they cared about.
Facebook in the Newsroom blog commented that – ‘’Donate also gives nonprofits an easier way to reach out and ask for help, both to support their everyday mission and in the wake of major disasters. And, with a community of over one billion people on Facebook, every local cause can become a global one — and every global cause can become a personal movement.’’
Charitable Checkout, recently introduced a marketing solution for Facebook brands by offering consumers of the social network, rewards for donating to noble causes. In the picture below – visitors to Omaha Steaks Facebook page which donated $5 to the American Red-Cross will receive $10 coupons from Omaha Steaks and the brand will publicly thank donors via Facebook. Brands can also create contests and prompt individuals to donate more. Customizable campaigns with advanced features like GivingSquads social media and fundraising contests, e-commerce, integration with mobile and text messages, campaign visualization, celebrity partnerships and support for application-programming interfaces can also be created on the Facebook platform.
Is Facebook Really Looking To Aid The Social Cause Or Have Intentions Of Monetization Behind The Move?
The social media titan Facebook in the recent past is moving wayward from its main purpose of person-to-person social networking, probably the fast development of messenger apps has forced the social media biggie to opt for alternate service options to keep its users engaged on the platform. Recently, the increasing demand for news consumption reflected on the algorithm of the users’ feed. Not just that, a lot of specific ad campaigns like Custom Audience, location and gender based ad-targeting has promoted the platform to more of a brand engagement platform while support for NGOs seems to be inline with the same.
Although, Facebook hasn’t announced anything about monetizing the Donate feature, as they are claiming to be more socially concerned trying to aid NGOs and not looking for any monetary benefits. But from the past records, the social networking giant has introduced only those features which are monetizable. The donate option has indeed relieved users from investing extra efforts in following lengthy online payment procedures which disrupt usual browsing experience, but the move has not helped the NGOs much with regards to spreading messages to the news feeds of every user.
If Facebook had real concern towards a social cause, they could have added extra benefits along with donate now feature by revising their news feed algorithm to promote posts from NGOs to higher ranks in the users’ feed, free of cost or for a reduced price. The donate feature is not very beneficial in terms of gaining a wider reach via news feed ranking. Except those which are universally famous like Teach India, UNICEF and AID will gain benefits as they have a wider fan base. Comparatively, lesser known NGOs which are in need of funds will hardly be benefited by the donate feature. Facebook is probably hoping that after the donate feature is rolled out universally, a few smaller NGOs might opt for paid promotion of their posts on Facebook.
As the year is approaching to an end, the lists of Top and Best of 2013 are flooding the internet. Following the trend, leading research firm Nielsen is out with the list of Top Smartphone Apps Of 2013. No prizes for guessing, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) secured the top position in the list with a distinctive margin beating its arch-rival Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) . According to the report, 103,420,000 Smartphone users (iOS and Android) used the Facebook app on an average each month, between January and October 2013, while Google Search remains the next most used app, used by 75,984,000 unique users during the same period.
The list portrays another surprising scenario, the world’s most valuable brand of 2013 and maker of the much-desired iPhone and iPad, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is yet to claim a sizable pie of the app market. While Google apps secured 5 places in the list and Facebook 2, only a single iPhone app made it to the list. This becomes even more surprising with the fact that iPhone enjoys nearly 20% of global Smartphone market as on 31, October 2013.
The list also highlights the growth in usage of each app in the list. Facebook tops the list though Instagram and Apple Map have emerged as the fastest growing Smartphone app (in usage) with a 66% and 64% Y-O-Y change. However, the total number of usage for these two apps is still far below the top 5 apps in the list.
On a scale of global Smartphone adoption, each individual app is still far from a sizable app usage market claim. By October 2013, 22% of global population owns a Smartphone, a majority of these people bought Smartphones in 2013.
The number of unique app users of top apps in comparison to total Smartphone users clearly depicts that the entry-level Smartphone users who are yet to get hands on 3G networks, are still driving the Smartphone market. Therefore, for the most part, the usage of Smartphone is still limited to calls and SMS. Third-generation mobile internet (3G) is adopted by a small set of Smartphone users, which is resulting in low penetration and use of Smartphone apps.
Usually, consumers trust social recommendations from their friends and known folks. Digital technology and social media has revolutionized the way people make their buying decisions by referring various sources. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) are amongst the top social media networks which people rely on for reviews about a product before buying them.
Consumer recommendations will continue to be a decisive factor for brand marketers, care should be taken to make the communication means easier for customers who are likely to share positive reviews. People are largely influenced by recommendations from their close peers on social networking sites and other platforms. Brands must focus on generating more quality reviews for customers who are likely to have a strong affinity towards the brand.
Social Media Link conducted a survey of more than 10,000 social media-connected consumers of Smiley360 community to learn more about the world of consumer recommendations. Few interesting facts and figures are compiled in the form of an Infographic below.
Nearly 92% of respondents trust social recommendations from their friends and relatives group who they know pretty well
About 50% trust social recommendations from e-mail, 47% from TV ads, outdoor ads and print media and about 42% on Radio.
The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family and co-workers. About 15.1 million people refer to social media before making purchase decisions.
Close to 68% of respondents consider Facebook as the most trusted online platform for product/service recommendations, 41% rely on the Twitter and Google Plus platform, about 56% depend on Pinterest and nearly 51% on YouTube.
About 77% of people need to see fewer than 10 reviews to compel them to purchase.
About 86% of respondents said that their purchase are influenced by family and close friends, 58% by professionals, 54% by website reviews and 39% are inspired by personal blogs.
In a product review, personal story/ experience with a brand is most valued by 40% of respondents and 35% considered the list of pros and cons in product review details.
Nearly 86% and 68% of respondents trust family and friends respectively among those who receive free products and are paid for reviewing respectively.
Social Recommendations Implications! Tips For Brand Advertisers.
Facebook with massive monthly active user base of 1.189 billion is leading the list of most trusted site for social recommendations. Facebook friends are an important part on product discovery, research and conversion.
Brand advertisers must allow consumers to easily share with their Facebook community, as the effect goes viral if the experience was positive.
While encouraging consumers to share, care should be taken to look out for those who have had a great experience and are likely to post positive reviews in favor of the brand.
Instead of trying to push brand messaging through consumers, focus must be laid on encouraging them to share their personal stories as people trust personal stories more.
Advertisers should focus on quality (effectiveness) of recommendations rather than generating large number of social recommendations of which very few are impactful.
Consumer influencers are vital for a brand and a majority of them are close friend or family member. Advertisers should mobilize advocates to share within their close social circles.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has recently launched the new iPhone 5S, which has managed to rake in big bucks for the company. Given the fact that iPhones offer security that is suited to the enterprise, along with multiple features that are productivity-centred, the device has been an instant hit with the masses, just like the previous iPhones that have been launched by Apple.
However, in an attempt to steal the thunder from the iPhone 5S, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has decided to launch its latest Smartphone Google Nexus 5 at about half the price of the iPhone 5S. Just like most of the other top-notch Smartphones from numerous vendors, the Nexus 5 tries to minimize its price in an attempt to win over more customers than Apple.
Today, we bring you a details comparison of Apple iPhone 5S vs Google Nexus 5 on the grounds of price,performance and video review of the two most awaited smartphones of 2013.
Apple iPhone 5S vs Google Nexus 5: Price Comparison
Though many will rule out comparison results of Apple iPhone 5S vs Google Nexus 5, justifying different these smartphones for different classes, many users put price sentiments at the top while buying a smartphone. The Google Nexus 5 has been price tagged with $425 for the 16 GB variant while the same storage in iPhone 5S comes at the cost of $649. The Google Nexus 5 price in India for 16 Gb variant is Rs. 28,999 while the starting price of the iPhone 5S is INR 53,500. The 64 GB model of the device is priced at Rs. 71,500. This shows that the Nexus 5 has a huge advantage in terms of the price, as it can be purchased even by those who don’t have the means to buy the extravagantly priced iPhone 5S.
If you’re still wondering as to which of these two devices is the best choice for you, here’s an in-depth comparitive analysis of Apple iPhone 5S vs Google Nexus 5 that’ll help you zero in on the perfect option.
Build And Design
The iPhone 5S has the same dimensions as that of its predecessor, the iPhone 5S. It measures 124x59x7.6 mm and weighs 112 grams, which is also the same as the weight of the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5S has a stylish and sturdy metallic frame, along with a Gorilla Glass front, which make the device feel and look like a top-notch Smartphone.
The dimensions of the Nexus 5 are 138x69x8.6 mm, which makes it larger than the iPhone 5S. The device is also slightly heavier than its rival, weighing 130 grams. However, the Nexus 5 fails to give its customers a classy finish, like that of the iPhone 5S. It has a rubber frame instead of a metal one.
Even in terms of sturdiness, the Nexus 5 pales in comparison to the iPhone 5S. The screen of the Nexus 5 shatters rather easily, even if it falls from a height of two feet. This is a major drawback of the otherwise impressive device.
Display
The iPhone 5S has a 4-inch screen with a 1136×640 resolution, and a 326 ppi Retina display. This Retina display technology is the same as used by the company in an earlier iPhone model, namely the iPhone 5.
However, the Nexus 5 features a 4.95-inch Full HD in-plane switching (IPS) 1920×1080, 445 ppi screen, which is much easier to work on than the iPhone 5S. The Nexus 5 scores in terms of its screen size and screen resolution, because it provides crisper and brighter colors than that of its rival.
All in all, the Nexus 5 has a better screen than the iPhone 5S, because of the fact that it is bigger, which makes it easier to use. However, given the fact that its screen shatters rather easily, it needs to be handled with utmost caution.
Software
In terms of software, both these devices are neck-to-neck in competition, as they come bundled with the latest versions of software that their parent companies have to offer. The iPhone 5S comes with the latest version of Apple’s operating system, namely the iOS 7, while the Nexus 5 has the latest version of Android, which is version 4.4 KitKat. Both these operating systems are well formed system softwares in their own right.
However, you can choose your device based on the features that you intend using on it. For instance, the Nexus 5 has pre-installed services such as the Google Drive, Now, Calendar, and Gmail. This makes the Nexus 5 a handy device for those who make use of Google’s cloud services, wherein you can even edit your documents on the go, via your Smartphone. Keeping in mind, the price of the Google Nexus 5 in India, the company has made sure that they load the phone with many helpful features.
The iPhone 5S, on the other hand, comes with several iOS productivity apps, which are of great benefit to their users. Pages for documents, Keynote for presentations, and Numbers for spreadsheets can be used on this device. Even though these apps must be manually downloaded and installed on your device, the fact that they are free is a huge advantage.
Camera
Both the iPhone 5S and the Nexus 5 boast of 8-megapixel rear cameras. Even though they might seem exactly the same, the camera of the iPhone 5S with its f2.2 aperture, is far superior to that of the Nexus 5. The iPhone 5S camera comes with a dual-LED flash, which is extremely beneficial when you need to take pictures under unfavourable lighting.
In comparison, the Nexus 5 captures average photos and has uninteresting shot modes. The tap-to-focus feature, which is a highlight of the Nexus 5, fails to impress, because of the fact that it does not work every single time that it is used.
Battery And Storage
The Nexus 5 is powered by a 2300 mAh battery, while the battery of the iPhone 5S hasn’t been specified. However, both the devices last for a day and a half on a single charge.
In terms of storage, the iPhone 5S offers its users far more options than the Nexus 5. The iPhone 5S comes in 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB versions, while the Nexus 5 only comes in 16 GB and 32 GB variants.
Which One Should You Choose?
Although your choice essentially depends on the requirements that you have in mind, as well as the features that you intend to use regularly on your device, the iPhone 5S is definitely a far better option than the Nexus 5.
In terms of camera specs, screen-glass quality, design, and storage, the iPhone 5S wins hands down. The top-notch features that Apple offers its customers in this new device are very Apple-like – breathtaking, making it a superior device. Even though the Google Nexus 5’s price in India is far lower than that of the iPhone 5S, the latter is a good buy for those who can afford it. Having said all that, the selection is highly influenced by buyer’s deep pocket and his personal brand value.
[poll id=”28″]
For consumers addicted to video content, here is a video of a comparative hands-on review of both the Smartphones side by side.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad is all set to eat up other tablets’ sales in the U.S. during the holiday season. According to the latest reports, based upon a survey done in the U.S., nearly 72% of prospective tablet buyers are planning to buy one of the iPad models in the next three months.
The findings are based upon the study conducted by consumer research agency Changewave earlier in November this year. The whole objective of the study was to track down the changed mindset of the prospective tablet buyers in the US before and after the launch of the iPad Air especially during the holiday season when most of the products are tagged with lucrative discounted price.
In August, only 55% prospective buyers were willing to opt for the iPad, while by November the figure shot up to 72%. Before Apple introduced the iPad Air in October this year, 13% and 12% of prospective tablet buyers in the U.S. were willing to buy Samsung Galaxy Tab and Google Nexus, respectively. Interestingly, post iPad Air launch, this figures shrunk to single digits.
The iPad Air leads with a distinctive margin than other models of the iPad projected market. Nearly 55% are willing to opt for the iPad Air compared to 16% of those who will fall for the iPad Mini with Retina display. The demand for older versions of the iPad stays thin but 17% of prospective iPad buyers also claim they are still not sure about which model to opt for.
The Apple iPad Air is the fastest growing tablet among all the other models of the iPad. Within the first 45 days of launch, the iPad Air had already gained 3.5% of the total iPad market – fastest growth ever for any iPad model in Apple history. A majority of iPad Air sales would be driven from upgrades or new sales, as expected. The iPad 2 users are most likely to upgrade to the iPad Air and new small screen tablet users in the U.S. are likely to buy the iPad Mini with retina display.
The rosy picture might not last long as Apple iPad is constantly losing grounds against Android tablets. It’s been estimated that by 2017, three out of every fours tablet sold would be powered by an Android while Windows OS and iOS would fight to power the left over tablet devices.
Y2K13 or the year two thousand and thirteen or 2013 (call it what you want to) has truly been an action packed year in almost all aspects. For some, it’s been memorable, and for others forgetful, but through it all the events of 2013 have undoubtedly left an indelible impact on us.
The world of Smartphones also witnessed some unprecedented developments that have changed the way we use our phones. While some of the most anticipated and sought after examples ended up performing rather poorly and failed to register decent sales figures. Well, there’s just a little over a fortnight before we’re through with this year and compiling a list of the top 10 Smartphones in this year would be very apt at this moment. Here are ten of the biggest Smartphone stories of the year 2013.
These little Lumias from Nokia’s stable promise and offer you a lot in return for not much. Yes, they offer a lot of bang for your buck. The Windows Phone OS offers an uncluttered UI and these phones are bundled with all the essentials that a consumer wishes for. They are quite similar to each other in terms of screen size, OS version, storage capacity, primary camera resolution and a number of other things.
The only noteworthy points of difference between these two siblings are as following:
The 620 gets a flash for its primary camera and a 0.3 megapixel front facing secondary camera while the 520 doesn’t.
The 520 gets a 1430 mAh battery but the 620 comes with a 1300 mAh battery.
As of August 2013, the 520 was the best selling Lumia of all time. What these phones do is that they offer that Windows phone experience without costing a bomb. They both score high on the build quality, design and everyday functionality and usability. Of course, a few trade-offs have to be made in order to keep costs down but what’s good is that Nokia has managed to keep costs under check and not sacrifice on the fundamentals. These phones are also available in a number of colors. Both the 520 and 620 are highly recommended for people buying their first Smartphones.
We’re all aware of the fact that BlackBerry has been having a really forgetful year and they’d like to put the past behind them and focus entirely on 2014 now. In spite of that, some of the products from BlackBerry’s stable really stand out. The Z30 is definitely one of them. This smartphone was announced in September and it improves on the Z10 with a larger display, stronger battery and dual speakers. It gets a Dual Core 1.7 GHz Krait processor along with 2GB of RAM and an Aderno 320 GPU to handle the graphics department. It comes with the standard 8 megapixel primary camera. Something that I personally liked about the Z30 is that the BB 10.2 OS has the ability to run Jelly-Bean apps seamlessly. The BlackBerry 10.2 OS is said to be quite user friendly.
However, the Z30 fails to impress with its lacklustre display quality, a rather ordinary camera performance and somewhat inaccurate navigation app and that’s the reason why it finds a place at the bottom end of this list. Let’s hope that Blackberry gets its act together in 2014 so that it can pose a serious threat to the big-guns in this segment.
Positioned as a ‘Premium Smartphone’ and ‘Sony’s Best Smartphone’ by Sony, the Xperia Z1 is indeed a very promising phone that brings a lot to the table. It takes the game forward from the Xperia Z. Coming with a Snapdragon 800 chipset from Qualcomm and a quad-core krait 400 CPU, this phone is comparable to the other biggies in its segment. It also has a really impressive camera that boasts of a staggering 20.7 megapixel resolution. It is also water-proofed better than the Xperia Z. While the Z1 ticks all the right boxes in the specs-sheet, it always leaves the user wanting for more and with examples like the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy Note III and iPhone5S, more often than not, buyers tend to look away from the Z1. Nonetheless, it is a very good phone.
Announced in the month of November, the Moto G is a lot of Smartphone for its price. The Moto G is all about delivering a high performance product to the price conscious buyer. And it achieves its objective quite well. This phone is meant to keep the competition at bay. It is meant to be a quick seller. It is expected to roll off the shelves quickly and I feel it’ll meet these expectations. It has a Snapdragon 400 chipset from Qualcomm and a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU. An Aderno 305 GPU handles graphics. It sports a 5 megapixel primary camera with flash. The G ships with Android 4.3 but there’ll be an update to Android 4.4 as early as January 2014. The Moto G is one of the best VFM (value for money) phones around and I guess this really tips the scales in favour of the Moto G.
The G2 replaces the Optimus G Pro as the company’s new flagship offering in the market. It does everything that the Optimus G Pro did and much more. This is a phone that is loaded to the gills with features of every kind. It is a highly innovative product. Right from the volume rockers that are located at the back of the phone, instead of being on the side to the outstanding 5.2 inch display (almost bezel-less display) and everything else in between, this phone is simply spectacular. It has a lightning fast processor form Qualcomm.
The phone also packs in a lot of new features that are quite useful. What sets the G2 apart from its competitors is that it doesn’t just come with features and specs to rule the roosts, instead it boasts of features that are designed keeping the customer’s perspective in mind. LG has considered what is missing from other Smartphones and has tried to incorporate those features into the G2. In spite of all this, it is rather surprising to note that the G2 doesn’t manage to register very high sales figures, especially in comparison to its immediate competitors.
The Google Nexus 5 is perhaps the closest you could ever get to experiencing that complete Android feel. Available through Google Play, this phone can easily boast of the latest tech specs that include a Snapdragon 800 processor and 2 GB of RAM and a vivid 5 inch display. More importantly, the Nexus 5 debuts with Android 4.4 KitKat. Being a ‘Nexus’ this device will also enjoy the special status of being first in line to receive all the Android updates. The Nexus 5 is available with 16 GB and 32 GB storage capacity options. When you combine all of this with an irresistible price, it seems as if this phone has all the makings of a winner. Yes, it sure does, but unfortunately, it is let down by its camera and battery back-up. Google is addressing this issue and has already released an update in order to improve the camera’s performance and I hope that should help swing things back in favour of the Nexus 5. Until then, the Nexus can let other Smartphones trump it because of its Achilles heel (camera and battery).
Samsung’s flagship for almost 10 months has enjoyed its dream run at the markets. The S4 is a formidable competitor and can easily gobble down almost anything you throw at it. Samsung employed its tried and tested formula and the S4 resulted in being a huge hit at the markets. Even though it’s a tad old by market standards, one can’t write it off even in the current market context. It’s got a brilliant octa-core processor, a 13 megapixel camera and a whole lot more like offering an added flexibility with expandable memory but it is let down by its ordinary build quality that fails to make it feel special in your hands. The S4 was the third best selling Smartphone in the month of October. You might also be able to strike in good deals for the S4 as it is nearing its flagship lifecycle now.
The third instalment in the hugely popular Note series builds up on the success story of the Note 2 and also intends to take over the reins as the brand’s flagship Smartphone from its stable-mate the Samsung Galaxy S4. The new features and innovations with the S-Pen only take the game forward. Samsung has thrown in almost every possible feature it could ever think off into the Note III. It’s got a mammoth 5.7 inch display that has terrific quality. Users will hardly find anything lacking with this phone. The new faux leather finish at the back looks and feels good too. I have a feeling that some might find this phone to be too big and cumbersome for everyday use. As of October, the Note III was the 5th best selling Smartphone in the world.
Samsung is also promoting the Galaxy Gear smartwatch along with this phone which to many could be a useful addition. The only deterrent for the Note III is that it is priced quite high in terms of the competition.
As the name suggests, the HTC One is definitely the best all-round phone of this year. It is an epitome of design and functionality and the way it combines both is just impeccable. Bearing a display of 4.7 inches, the One is neither too big to hold nor too small. It just fits perfectly into your hand. It is extremely well built and has a long lasting feel, something that Samsung owners sorely miss. It may not top the specs sheets but that doesn’t mean it lags behind its competitors in any way. In fact the One performs all the routine tasks expected from a Smartphone very well. It excels in the department of display quality, user interface (thanks to HTC Sense 5) and sound quality for both audio and calls (thanks to the BoomSound and Beats Audio). The camera though, at 4 megapixels is not the best at times but it does get the job done, as and when required as HTC has equipped it with an image sensor marketed as the ‘Ultra Pixel. It is composed of pixels that are 2.0µm in size. Most of its competitors use anything between 8 to 13 megapixel cameras with pixel sizes ranging from 1.0 to 1.4 µm. The HTC One has been called the ‘most well rounded Smartphone of 2013’ by many experts.
The newest iteration of the world’s most popular phone, which often boasts of a cult fan following, was launched in the second half of this year. Thought it didn’t manage to create a rage among the consumers like its predecessors, the 5S is the best iPhone money can buy today. Apple stuck to its strengths and delivered. The 5S may not be a quantum leap ahead of its predecessors in terms of physical design but it has undergone a sea of changes under the skin. The 64 bit processor assisted by a new co-processor to handle motion sensors, improved battery back-up, a refreshed OS and fingerprint scanner are just a few of the things that could be called talking points. The ever reliable iPhone camera was also improved thanks to a better flash unit. To top it all, the iPhone 5S is one of the most well built phones around and this is why it is still one of the most sought after Smartphones in the world and also our winner for this year.
The iPhone 5S proved its dominance by occupying the top spot among the best selling Smartphones in October.
The most anticipated phone of the year, from the folks based out of Cupertino, thanks to its supposedly affordable price, didn’t live up to its pre-launch hype because the specs were anything but out of this world. But its an iPhone which is also affordable, and that should be reason enough for you to own one of these.
It’s not the most well equipped phones around but it does offer you something else. Previously unseen levels of customization. If customization and personalisation are of paramount importance to you, then you can say, ‘Hello Moto!’ otherwise say, ”Hell No Moto!”
[poll id=”27″]
Note – Information regarding sales figures of respective devices was obtained here.
