Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – April 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for April 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.81 – 55.83 = 0.02 percent
2. Firefox:  20.30 – 20.21 = 0.09 percent
3. Chrome:  16.35 – 16.45 = 0.10 percent
4. Safari:  5.38 – 5.31 = 0.07 percent
5. Opera:  1.73 – 1.74 = 0.01 percent
6. Others:  0.42 – 0.48 = 0.06 percent

COMMENTS:

Last month things were pretty quiet in the browsers’ arena.  Just about every one of the players held their ground with the exception of Chrome who lost 0.10 points and Safari who won 0.07.  Firefox is keeping a steady trend upwards which is good news for me; being a devoted Firefox user.

Opera is frozen in deep ice.  Nothing they do seems to work to get their engine in motion.  For a moment I thought Google was going to gobble it up, but at the end of day nothing happened.  One thing I can say about Opera—they are persistent people.  No matter what, they keep struggling forward.  I like that.  As the saying goes, “persistence makes perfection”.  I hope it works for them in the long haul.

See you next month, and in the meantime, have fun and live your life the best you can.  Good Day.

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Microsoft is Joining the 7″ Tablet Bandwagon

Credit: Microsoft Inc.

In response to the success of the Google’s 7 inch Nexus, Amazon’s 7 inch Kindle Fire and Apple’s 7.9 inch iPad mini, Microsoft is joining the 7 inch fray. The Wall Street Journal reports that Redmond is developing a smaller version of its Surface tablet, and that it will launch later this year.

If tablets are booming, those in the 7-8 inch category are doubly booming, with IDC reporting that more than half of all tablets that shipped in the fourth quarter of 2012 were this size.

The lower price of the smaller devices makes them much more palatable to cost-conscious buyers. Microsoft is aware of the need for lower-priced devices, and has recently altered the Windows 8 hardware requirements to permit smaller, cheaper screens. Many buyers also find the smaller form factor more convenient due to its reduced size and weight.

The WSJ also notes that Microsoft is working on a smartphone of its own, but that component suppliers were unclear if there were any plans to actually bring this to market.

The paper quotes a person familiar with the situation saying that while 7-inch tablets were not part of Microsoft’s product plans last year  company executives have realized they need to respond to the growth and popularity of small slates. Which boils down to Redmond is having to play catch up yet again.

Microsoft finds itself increasingly threatened in its PC business. The future of PCs is being questioned as users move to alternative computing devices such as tablets and smartphones. Experts agree that first quarter PC shipments totaled 76.3 million units, down 13.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

The decline was worse than the 7.7 percent previously forecast by the analyst firm, and the market could be headed into further contraction. Microsoft’s Windows 8 did not help PC shipments grow, as fewer consumers are upgrading PCs to Windows 8, and businesses are largely sticking with Windows 7, IDC analysts said.

As the tablets market gets more and more crowded, soon we will see the separation of the men from the boys.  Darwin’s theory regarding the survival of the fittest will once again be tested.  May be best one win.  Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – March 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for March 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.83 – 55.82 = 0.01 percent
2. Firefox:  20.21 – 20.12 = 0.09 percent
3. Chrome:  16.45 – 16.27 = 0.18 percent
4. Safari:  5.31 – 5.42 = 0.11 percent
5. Opera:  1.74 – 1.82 = 0.08 percent
6. Others:  0.46 – 0.54 = 0.08 percent

COMMENTS:

On the desktop, Internet Explorer saw no meaningful change, at 55.83 percent for the month compared to 55.82 last month. Firefox and Chrome both edged up a little, gaining 0.09 and 0.18 points for shares of 20.21 and 16.45 percent respectively. Safari and Opera both nudged downward, losing 0.11 and 0.08 points to drop to 5.31 and 1.74 percent respectively.

Interesting to see how Apple Safari is loosing ground while Google Chrome has made a considerable turnaround.  Never a dull moment in the technological world. Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – February 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for February 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.82 – 55.14 = 0.68 percent
2. Firefox:  20.12 – 19.94 = 0.18 percent
3. Chrome:  16.27 – 17.48 = 1.21 percent
4. Safari:  5.42 – 5.24 = 0.18 percent
5. Opera:  1.82 – 1.75 = 0.07 percent
6. Others:  0.54 – 0.45 = 0.09 percent

COMMENTS:

There was a great surprise from Net Applications’ numbers.  All the players received a green score except, Chrome which slid backwards a walloping 1.21 percent.  Even though Google has broken the $800.00 per share landmark, and making all the right decisions, users are not taking the bait.  Microsoft Internet Explorer did very well advancing forward 0.68 percent.

Mozilla’s Firefox  continues to hold its ground.  It edged forward 0.18 increasing its distance from a sliding Chrome.  So far it has shown its resiliency holding a solid second place despite the ferocious attacks from Google’s camp.

Google Chrome was the only loser last month.  It’s the only player who won a red medal which is a bad sign.  Losing 1.21 percentage points in 30 days is a bad omen.  I’m sure they are seriously discussing what can be done to allure more users into its camp.  It was doing well, until the word spread out that Google was taking a look at the private surfing information of Chrome users.  An invasion of privacy is something people will not accept.

Apple Safari gained 0.18 percentage points in February.  The unexpected acceptance of the mini iPad tablet worldwide is indisputable and this success will positively affect the spread of Safari.  This means more users of Safari and a better a market share place in the future.

Norwegian Opera is struggling to keep its hard-earned global market share.  It moved forward 0.07 which is admirable, considering that they are fighting against formidable adversaries..  It’s not a big secret that the real action is in the mobile and tablets industry where it’s a serious contender.  Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – January 2013

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for January 2013.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 55.14 – 54.77 = 0.37 percent
2. Firefox:  19.94 – 19.82 = 0.12 percent
3. Chrome:  17.48 – 18.04 = 0.56 percent
4. Safari:  5.24 – 5.24 = 0.00 percent
5. Opera:  1.75 – 1.71 = 0.04 percent
6. Others:  0.45 – 0.42 = 0.03 percent

COMMENTS:

Every month I’m curious to see how the Masters of the Universe performed the previous months.  Some months are unexpected surprises, others are more of the same.  Microsoft Internet Explorer’s boat is still sailing full speed ahead.  Its compass has been fixed and the direction is North, propelled by a fierce commercial blitzkrieg promoting Windows 8, Microsoft Surface and Microsoft Office 2013.   Last month Internet Explorer plunged forward 0.37 percentage points—from 54.77 to 55.14—compared with 53.83 points ten months ago.  Over the years, Microsoft have proved to its competitors that they know how to hold their ground.  The numbers are speaking loud and clear.  Microsoft wants to stay in the game…and if possible—win!

Mozilla’s Firefox is fighting tooth and nail to keep its fragile second place.  In January 2013, Firefox staved off the rivals with a walloping 0.12 percentage point gain. After dropping market share for several months, they have been able to put their house in order and are clawing back to a strong second place closely followed by strong competitor Google Chrome.  The red-hot competition between these two behemoths is fascinating to watch.

Google Chrome dipped dramatically last month from 18.04 to 17.48 percent.  That’s a scary drop of 0.56 percent which is huge if you ask me. Google has made three big bets on the future of computing; Chrome (browser), Google Apps (cloud), and Android (mobile). The trends are pretty clear. All the exciting new applications are running in the browser, with application code in the cloud, and the cell phone as the platform….2010 was the year that enterprises of all sizes started their transition to Gmail and Google Apps, and took their first steps towards the vision of the future.  That future might be blurred if Chrome continues to fall behind.  February will be interesting to watch.  I’ll keep you posted.

Apple Safari froze last month.  It didn’t move an inch.  Wall Street is not very happy either.  For some reason, Apple’s shares are dropping in value.  I understand an Apple share is selling for $453.62 which is difficult to understand when they could be had for $702.10 on September 19, 2012.  I wonder what ever happened to Apple’s mojo and the magic of its extraordinary products.

Norwegian Opera remained relatively stagnant in January.  It moved forward a meager 0.04.  The real action is in the mobile and gadgets industry where it’s a serious contender.  I’m sure they are looking closely at the computing tablets market as well.    Good Day.

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Mozilla is Dead Serious About Crushing Malware

Credit: Mozilla Corporation

In an effort to prevent “drive-by exploitations,” upcoming versions of Firefox will have Java, Adobe Reader and Silverlight disabled by default, according to a recent Mozilla Security blog. All other third-party plugins except Flash will also be disabled, requiring users to enable them using the so-called click to play feature introduced last year. All that is to prevent “poorly designed” Firefox plugins from crashing or recent headline-grabbing exploits involving the likes of Java, with Adobe’s Flash player being the one exception that works out of the box—though versions longer of tooth than 10.3 won’t see daylight without your say-so.

This is music to my ears, because Mozilla Firefox is my default browser.  As a precautionary move I have installed Google Chrome and Norwegian Opera as a backup, but am not crazy about their performance.  Any step to crush slack codes is good news for me.  Good Day.

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Google is Flexing Its Muscle With a Brand New Mobile Phone and Tablet

Credit: Google Inc.

As you are probably aware, Google gobbled up Motorola when it was on a free fall.  For a while, nothing happened with this acquisition.  Now it seems that nuts and bolts are beginning to move with technology acquired from Motorola.  According to the rumor mill, Google is preparing a launch of an unbreakable mobile phone and a new tablet.

The rumored “X Phone” and “X Tablet” will mark the first time Google controls everything from the device’s hardware to its software, following Apple’s operating strategy. Rumored specs are said to include a top-notch camera and photo software, a bendable display and a high-end ceramic case. Now, Google CEO Larry Page has incited a new round of speculation last Tuesday with comments he made during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call.

“In today’s multi-screen world, the opportunities are endless… battery life is a huge issue… when you drop your phone it shouldn’t go splat,”  he said. ”There’s a real potential to invent new and better experiences.”

Google’s CEO also added that simple tasks such as recharging a phone’s battery can even be a pain for some people. It is believed that Page was hinting at the possible “X Phone,” and that it could include extra long battery life, wireless charging capabilities and an unbreakable case.

Google could announce its Motorola-built flagship smartphone and tablet at its annual Google I/O developer conference on May 15th.  Let’s wait and see what the fuzz is all about.  I’m sure Apple and Samsung are sleeping with one eye open waiting for the formal launch in May.  Yep, consumer electronics is a cut-throat industry.

Oh, before I forget, there’s another persistent rumor out there that Dell could go private again and that Microsoft could cough out several billion dollars to buy part of the pie.  There’s never a dull moment in Silicon Valley.  Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – December 2012

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for December 2012.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.  Figures are expressed in terms of percentages.

1. Internet Explorer: 54.77 – 54.76 = 0.01
2. Firefox:  19.82 – 20.44 = 0.62
   
3. Chrome:  18.04 – 17.24 = 0.80
   
4. Safari:  5.24 – 5.33 = 0.09
   
5. Opera:  1.71 – 1.67 = 0.04 
6. Others:  0.42 – 0.56 = 0.14 percent.

COMMENTS:

Lot of surprises during the last month of 2012.  Microsoft Internet Explorer is stubbornly holding its ground.  Was able to move a bit 0.01 percent global market share.  It ain’t much, but it’s a move forward, and that is darned good.  It shows that Steve Ballmer has a thick skin and can still pull a rabbit from his hat.  Wonder how he will thrust Windows 8 forward; so far it has received a lukewarm reception from computer users.  It’s honest to say that when all versions are taken into account, IE still leads the overall market with 54.77 percent of usage in December.

Mozilla’s Firefox is fighting tooth and nail to retain its fragile second place.  It has been moving in a zig zag pattern.  Up, then down, then up, then down and so forth.  In December it went down in a big way. The Fox lost a walloping 0.62 percent last month.  Ouch!  that hurts. The Christmas lights didn’t do the trick. My gut feeling is that soon they will have to move to a third place ceding its position to robust Google Chrome.

Google Chrome clawed its way back in a big way; let me correct that, in a spectacular way.  They escalated 0.80 percentage points in December which is huge, if you ask me.  The growing trend is back again.  They are heading north full speed ahead and will soon bump Firefox to third place.  Google is also very active in the mobile phone arena where Android is rapidly becoming a favorite operating system for cellphones.  The race in this category is red-hot with Google, Apple and Opera trying to take the lead.  The sweet spot is in computing tablets where Apple is a front-runner candidate to nail down the gold, although Samsung is doing their job.

Apple Safari surprisingly lost 0.08 points.  This was a complete and unexpected surprise for me.  Maybe they lost their compass with the Maps app fiasco.  Not even the recently launched Apple Mini could help Tim Cook mend the fence. However, truth be said, the acceptance of the iPad tablet worldwide is indisputable and this success should logically propel Safari forward.  This means more Safari users and a better a market share position in the future.

Norwegian Opera moved a bit forward.  These Vikings are a touch cookie and have managed to hang in there, no matter what.  The real action is in the mobile and gadgets industry where it’s a serious contender.  I’m sure they are looking closely at the computing tablets market as well.  In the desktop arena though, they have been stuck in quick sand for quite some time.  Well the point is, even though Opera is the fastest browser on earth for the time being, it’s just not doing it right. Being a web browser is much more than just being fast. It also means that the web browser has to be easy to use, intuitive, support the web standards, simple, and yet get the job done beautifully. For me Opera, you might be the fastest browser, but definitely not the right one for my taste.  Good Day folks, see you next month for more number crunching.  I love it!

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Strong Rumors Apple Will Refresh iPads March 2013

Credit: Apple Inc.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, recently told the media, “We are not taking our foot off the gas.”  He meant exactly what he said to the very last iota.  Apple is not sleeping on its laurels.  They are augmenting the frequency of their new product launches to keep their products fresh and exciting and distancing themselves from their closest competitors.

Apple is prepping a thinner, lighter fifth-generation iPad that shares some of its design cues with the recently released iPad Mini, according to Japanese blog Macotakara. The report was picked up and translated by 9to5Mac.

The report also calls for the next iPad Mini to be released with a Retina Display, following other similar reports. The addition wouldn’t be surprising, as it was a key missing feature with the original iPad Mini. If the Apple Mini was an instant success with a normal resolution, it will certainly be a killing with the gorgeous Retina Display.  The difference in color resolution is impressive.  At the end of the day, Apple will transfer this technology to all their product lines leaving their competition biting the dust.

Yesterday I was streaming a video on photography from Netflix dubbed, “TED Talks – Video & Photo Mojo” with my Apple iPad (Third Generation) with Retina Display, and the colors were absolutely gorgeous.  I had never seen anything like this.  A picture of an Afghan Girl seemed to jump out from the gadget’s screen.  It was that good.

The release of a next-generation iPad would drastically shorten an already shortened product life cycle for Apple’s main tablet. The fourth-generation iPad was released last month, just eight months after the third-generation iPad, and the proposed next version would come just five months later. The March timing has been the company’s usual launch period for the iPad.

The fresh iPad rumor is that the gadgets will be more thinner and lighter.  According to Macotakara’s report, the new iPads will have have dimensions of 4 mm in height, 17 mm in width, and 2 mm in depth smaller.  The current iPad is 241.2 mm in height, 185.7 mm in width, and 9.4 mm in depth. Smaller and thinner is beautiful.

Presumably, the next iPad would pick up the white and silver and black and slate elements from the iPad Mini, which in turn picked them up from the iPhone 5.  If Macotakara’s rumor is accurate, Apple is indeed pushing the envelope in consumer electronic’s technology and raising the bar.  Samsung, Google, and Microsoft; are you listening?  Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Worldwide Usage – November 2012

Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for November 2012.  Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.

These are the latest figures on the performance of the behemoths of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.

1. Internet Explorer: 54.76 – 54.13 = 0.63 percent
2. Firefox:  20.44 – 19.99 = 0.45 percent
3. Chrome:  17.24 – 18.55 = 1.31 percent
4. Safari:  5.33 – 5.21 = 0.12 percent.
5. Opera:  1.67 – 1.63 = 0.04 percent
6. Others:  0.56 – 0.50 = 0.06 percent

COMMENTS:

There was only one big loser last month—Google Chrome.  It’s the only player with a red uniform.  All the rest are wearing green.  That was the most relevant fact unveiled by Net Applications in November.  Microsoft Internet Explorer’s boat has kept its hull heading North and is now flying high.  In November it clawed back 0.63 percent which is great. The leakage of red ink seems to be a thing of the past.

Mozilla’s Firefox is again on the right track.  It has put its house in order and is gaining solid ground.  It gained 0.45 points last month which is most satisfying, being myself a zealot of this fine software.  In fact, Firefox is my default Web browser.

Google Chrome has lost its mojo and seems to be on a free fall after being a formidable contender.  November was a horrible month for this feared competitor.  Losing 1.31 market share percentage in one month is a disappointing performance.  Many of its former users have been complaining about Google’s intrusion into their private lives and are departing the camp in droves.

Apple Safari continues its upward trend.  It gained 0.12 percentage points in November.  The acceptance of the iPad tablet worldwide is indisputable and this success will positively affect the spread of Safari.  The recent unveiling of the iPad Mini will further augment its growth.  This means more users for Safari and a better a market share position in the future.

Norwegian Opera remained relatively stagnant in November.  It was an expected performance.  The real action is in the mobile and gadgets industry where it’s a serious player.  I’m sure they are looking closely at the computing tablets market as well.    Good Day.

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