Ah Skype, the world wide web’s voice-over-internet protocol of choice and probably the most well known brand name to offer VoIP services. When Niklas Zennström originally created the Skype service, I often wondered if he had any idea that it would become such a popular platform around the world and that the might of Microsoft would ultimately come in and acquire the company like it did last year. For those that may have been living under a rather large rock for the last few years, Skype allows registered users to make worldwide voice calls via the internet as well as offering instant messaging-type services and is available on multiple platforms.
It has been just over twelve months since Finnish communications company, Nokia, joined forces with the might of Microsoft in an attempt to boost their falling worldwide mobile phone sales by manufacturing devices featuring the Windows Phone 7 operating system. The move represented a somewhat bumpy journey into the unknown for Nokia but was seen as an attempt to try and break the stranglehold that Android and iOS powered devices have over the industry.
Whenever I get a new or upgraded smartphone, the first application that I always head for is my preferred Twitter app but I concede that is possibly due to the fact that I am not really a Facebook user. With over 800 million active account holders, it is no surprise that the Facebook mobile application is one of the most downloaded pieces of software across all mobile platforms.
With Microsoft desperately trying to make Windows Phone into a real competitor for Apple's iOS and Google's Android, the platform finds itself suffering the same issues that Android was lamented for during its infancy - a severe lack of quality apps.
Regardless of whether you are a fan of the Apple iPhone or not, it is very difficult to argue with the freight train momentum and success that the mobile smartphone has achieved in the last five years. Judging by the statistics that surround the sales of the phone, and the record breaking financial results posted by Apple for the end of 2011, it seems that the popularity of the iPhone is set to rise and rise with every release.
For any consumer who may be taking the time to consider purchasing a new mobile phone, or a tablet computer, they will more than likely begin by considering either an Apple iPhone or iPad as their purchase of choice. With over a quarter of a billion iOS devices sold around the world, the iPhone and iPad are insanely popular, and considered by many to be the leading products in the mobile computing sector.
Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 have a big year ahead of themselves. Google and Apple currently have the mobile space all-but sewn up, and even old stalwarts like BlackBerry are struggling to compete with the new hotness that is iOS and Android.
So here we are, day three of my look into what the biggest players in the smartphone world will, or possibly should do in 2012.
The video sharing website, Vimeo, recently turned seven years old, and although in some peoples eyes it may sit in the shadow of Google’s YouTube, its rise to importance on the world wide web has been dramatic. The website was founded in late 2004 by two partners and was intended to be a place solely for the uploading of user made videos. The name 'Vimeo' is said to reflect this with it being a combination of the words 'video' and 'me'.
Unlocking Windows-based smartphones has never been that much of a palava when compared to the increasingly limited methods available for those using Apple's iPhone, for example.
