Four Holmwood Technical High School students killed in Crash in Chudleigh - Opportunity to Implement Islandwide JUTC Bus System, JRC Passenger Trains along with Automated Traffic Ticketing System

Wednesday September 25^th 2013 will be a day many students at Holmwood Technical High School in Manchester will never forget.

This was the day when a Minibus carrying thirty (30) of their fellow classmates from Mandeville to Christiana collided with a Trailer in the Chudleigh Area at 8 am killing four (4) Holmwood Technical High Students as reported in “DAY OF HORROR - Four students perish in crash”, Published Thursday September 26, 2013 by Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

According to the article “Holmwood weeps - Four students dead, several injured in accident”, published Thursday, September 26, 2013 BY ALICIA SUTHERLAND Observer staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer, the four (4) that died were:

1. Kimona Levy
2. Shaneka Muschette
3. Okeen Gordon
4. Tameka Peart

The first three (3) died at the Percy Junior Hospital in Spalding even as Tamara Peart who was being airlifted to the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew, died in transit.

The students of Holmwood Technical High School were so distraught that they couldn’t have classes that day, despite the Minister of Education Ronal Thwaites being on hand to comfort them as noted in “Education Minister Leads Team to Comfort Grieving Students at Holmwood”, published Thursday, 26 September 2013 18:05 by Douglas McIntosh, Jamaica Information Service.

JUTC Buses for Holmwood technical – Islandwide Bus service Next

Clearly speeches about what is to be done cannot do anymore as there can be no backpedaling as this has to be done with great urgency: implementation of an islandwide JUTC (Jamaican Urban Transport Company) as well as a complementary JRC (Jamaica Railway Corporation) Passenger Train Service to carry School children in the Country areas safely to School at a lower cost.

To this end, the Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites has requested JUTC (Jamaican Urban Transport Company) Buses to transport the students of Holmwood Technical High to and from school as state in “Education Minister asks JUTC to transport Manchester students”, published Wednesday, September 25, 2013 2:41 PM, The Jamaica Observer and “Education Ministry requests JUTC buses for Manchester students”, published Wednesday September 25, 2013 | 5:18 pm, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This has caught my eye as it re-emphasizes the need for JUTC Buses in the Rural Area to transport Children to School islandwide as a means of increasing Revenues as had been argued in a previous blog article entitled “JUTC SmarterCard Cashless System to be implemented in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 - Upgrade buses to use LPG Fuel to reduce Maintenance costs”.

This JUTC Rural Bus Service along with the Revival of JRC (Jamaica Railway Corporation) Trains had been promised back in December 2012 by the Minister of Transport an Works, Omar Davies as opined in blog article entitled “GOJ to revive the JRC Passenger Train Service - Minister Omar Davies' Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away advises Railways and Islandwide JUTC Bus Service Not Fade Away”.

Increased vigilance by the Traffic Police on Minibus Operators in Manchester and Clarendon and the implementation of an Automated Traffic Ticketing System islandwide as was the plan earlier in April 2013 as described in my blog article entitled “GOJ to upgrade NWA's CCTV Traffic Monitoring Network to give Police more eyes in Private Places - The Da Vinci Code for Automated Traffic Ticketing System and 1984” are needed for the long term.

JRC Passenger Trains are the solution – Slow, Safe Boat to China

Trains can carry freight during the daytime and night time when no Passenger are around to be carried, an idea originally floated by then Minister of Transport Mike Henry as mentioned in my blog article entitled “JRC, Scotts Pass and Senator Mike Henry – Molly Wood Keeping up with the Kardashians”.

No disruption of the JATOO Minibus, Taxis services or Highway 2000, as the option to travel on a Train doesn’t affect commuters using  these services or motorists who want to get where they wanna go quickly. Trains are really a slow and safe boat to China, once the required safety protocols are in place to prevent a Kendal Crash.

Much as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science Technology, Energy and Mining have partnered to get Tablet into schools as stated in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell gives Parliamentarians and 20,000 Students in 30 Schools Tablets- Future in Science and Technology now rescued Indiana Jones and the Palace of Doom”, the Minister of Education can also partner with the Ministry of Transport to set a RFP (Request For Proposals) for a suitable contractor to revive the JRC Passenger Train Service to complement the JUTC Buses!

For now this wound in Holmwood Technical High School student body will take time to heal! You can help in the Healing process by contacting Holmwood Technical High via their website and making a donation.

Holmwood Technical High

Samsung promises Golden Samsung Galaxy S4 for Gulf and Saudi smartphone customers - Samsung the copycat may have begun an Arab Spring for Golden smartphones

Samsung has apparently caught 64-Bit Gold smartphone fever! After seeing the record breaking Weekend Sales of the Apple iPhone as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone 5S and Apple iPhone 5C sold 9 million units over the Weekend - Apple beats Wall Street's Great Expectations for Christmas 2013”, they are Green – or Gold- with envy. 

The Apple iPhone Launch on Tuesday September 10^th 2013 revealed that the Apple iPhone 5S was not only just gilded but was packing a 64-bir A7 Processor. Samsung thus promptly declared that they too had plans for a 64-bit Processor in their next Galaxy line of smartphones as stated in “SAMSUNG WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT IT’S GONNA HAVE 64-BIT ANDROID PHONES, TOO”, published September 12, 2013 by Andy Boxall, DigitalTrends.

Now Samsung, ever the copycat, has decided to copy the colour scheme, at least in it Arabian Market!

Samsung has allegedly outed posts on its Saudi Arabia Twitter feed and Samsung Gulf Facebook page that suggest they’ve added the Midas Touch to their Samsung Galaxy S4 Smartphone as stated in “Samsung Follows Apple With Gold Galaxy S4”, published September 25, 2013 12:18pm EST By Chloe Albanesius, PCWorld.

Samsung clearly isn’t taking chances against the Apple iPhone 5S, now shimmering in a coat of the most coveted colour, encroaching on its markets. So their striking first, shoring up their weaker developing markets that are known to have an actual taste for Gold, that being the Saudi Arabian Market. 

After all, who else but the Arabs would make an ATM Machine that give you Gold as stated in the article “Gold-dispensing ATMs: Coming to a city near you”, published May 28, 2010: 9:07 AM ET By Blake Ellis, staff reporter, CNN Money and “The ATM that dispenses gold bars”, published 13 May 2010 6:42PM BST by Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, UK Telegraph.

Aside from the Chinese, the Arabs are known for the love of the gilded colour, which has a history in the region going back decades. Were the Apple iPhone to land in Arab States, it would decimate Samsung. Samsung may already be seeing the effect of the Gilded Apple iPhone on the Asian market!

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Apple has recently gotten the endorsement of China Mobile, China’s largest Telecom Provider, who are now carrying the Apple iPhone as stared in my blog article entitled “NTT DoCoMo to carry the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C in 2013 - Japan and China will both get their bite of the Apple on Friday September 20th 2013”.

In a matter of months, the effects of the Apple iPhone 5S will be seen in the Japanese Market and especially on NTT DoCoMo, traditional purchasers of phones from Samsung. Samsung, it seems, isn’t taking chances and thus is testing out this love for Gold in a part of the world where love for the metal and the colour is 14 Karats strong!

Hopefully Samsung isn’t mean and will eventually make this gilded option available to the rest of the Developing and Developed World. Samsung the copycat may have begun an Arab Spring for Golden smartphones!

Gold, Silver and Space Grey Apple iPad and Apple iPad Mini to launch in October 2013 - Sonny Dickson and NowhereElse sneak peek on Apple's Colour Revolution

The Apple iPad is coming. And if the latest rumours are true, both the 9.7” Apple iPad 5 and the 7.9” Apple iPad Mini it seems, are slated to get a new colour makeover akin to its smartphone parent, the Apple iPhone.

This according to the blog of noted Australian Blogger Sonny Dickson blog in the article “Alleged images show iPad 5 in Silver, space gray” published September 25, 2013 5:18 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News and “iPad Mini 2 to come in gold and space gray, claim latest leaks”, published September 27, 2013 5:03 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News!

According to his website this time “Hands-On With the iPad 5 in Space Gray And Silver!” published September 25, 2013 By Sonny Dickson, Sonny Dickson, the Apple iPad 5 looks to be getting the same treatment, with the pictures showing casting that are Silver and Space Grey in colour.

But who is, Sonny Dickson?

Apparently he’s an Australian teenager living with his mom and dad in suburban Melbourne and has a healthy love affair with expensive gadgets and a curious desire to work at Apple someday in the future. He came to fame when he posted early images of the Apple iPhone 5S and the Apple iPhone 5C that suggested that they was going to be a Gold Version and a Multi-coloured version.

Here are a few screenshots from his website (sorry can’t copy his pics)! He’s the secret to my predicting capabilities over the years, going back as far as 2007!

His story is backed up by French site NowhereElse which also claims that the Apple iPad 5 may appears in October 2011 in Space Grey as stated in “Leaked photos show 'space gray' iPad Mini model”, published September 18, 2013 9:22 AM PDT by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News. Apparently both of them know something hat the rest of us mere mortals in the West don’t know: Chinese Factory Workers.

His secret sauce?

He’s an expert at sniffing out the truth from pictures sent to him. He’s been having been getting pictures of this nature for quite some time from Chinese Sources who purchase the parts directly from factory-line workers and resell them for profit for between $250 to $500. He then contacts them via the Internet and negotiates a price for pictures of the parts when he then posts and makes revenue via advertising on his hugely poplar website named after himself, Sonny Dickson and Sonny Dickson YouTube channel.

He’s been doing this for years according to from Reuters as stated in “Australian teen tests Apple tolerance with new iPhone leak”, published Thursday, Sep 5 2013 By Michael Sin, Reuters. According to Sonny Dickson, quote: “I've been doing this for many years, so I know what looks fake and what's not. I trust what they say to me -- but I also back up the story with other people to make sure what I'm posting is legit”.

Indeed as that's what I’m doing on my personal blog, My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica, albeit I don’t have nearly as much traffic due to my lack of exclusive content and friendlier interface – and the fact my topics on Telecoms are pretty boring. He on the other hand, has a handle for what’s hot, sticking to posting merely leaked pictures and spends approximately 12 daily doing maintenance on his website, which he claims achieved approximately 1 million hits each month making him a cool US$1,850 (A$2000) in August 2013.

Curiously the Cupertino Kids from Apple are fans of his, as Apple seems to know and hasn't yet spoken to him or raised any objections, despite the possibility of him breaking the Law. Based on his web analytics which he claims has tracked IP addresses from Washington D.C. and Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. quote: “Most of the traffic is from the U.S. - I've had 590 hits from Apple and about 53 from U.S. Homeland Security in August”

If these pictures are anything to go by, there may eventually be a Gold Version as well, rounding out the colours for the 9.7” Apple iPad 5 to Space Grey, Silver and Gold like the Apple iPhone 5S as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple has launched the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C on Tuesday September 10th 2013 - Apple iPhone Strategy is to Go Global to beat Samsung”

Additionally, there may also be a multi-coloured Apple iPad Mini coming, all decked out in Blue, Green, Yellow, Red and White as predicted in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone 5S and Apple iPhone 5C sold 9 million units over the Weekend - Apple beats Wall Street's Great Expectations for Christmas 2013”.

Thus Apple may also be in for Record Weekend Launch Sales for the Apple iPad 5 and the Apple iPad Mini also a follow-on of it’s smartphone parents as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone 5S and Apple iPhone 5C sold 9 million units over the Weekend - Apple beats Wall Street's Great Expectations for Christmas 2013”.

The Apple iPad 5 and the Apple iPad Mini are slated for a launch sometime in October 2013, most likely Friday October 11^th 2013. Stay tuned to this blog for more exciting news on the Apple iPad 5 as it turns over a new Gold coloured and multi-coloured leaf!

In the meantime, to track the latest coming from Apple and other manufacturers, become a fan of Sonny Dickson by checking out his websites and Youtube channels included below:

Sonny Dickson

Sonny Dickson YouTube channel

Blue Mountain Renewables ready to invest US$96 million in their 42MW Wind Farm

With the saga relating to the choice of Azurest Cambridge Power as the selected Bidder to build the 360MW LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) power plan now building up pressure as stated in my blog article entitled “Azurest Cambridge Power wins the Bid for 360MW Power Plant - Minister Paulwell caught in OCG Corruption Probe”, we now turn our attention to the upcoming Bids for the 115MW of Renewable Energy Power.

This 115MW Power Plant may be centralized or distributed and is supposed to provide some 400GWh of Electricity and cut Jamaica Oil Bill by an additional US$55 million. Some twenty eight (28) Proposals from twenty (20) entities are Bidding to supply Jamaica with Renewable Energy, most of them Solar. A few of the notable Bidders are as follows:

1.      Armorview Holdings Ltd

2.      BNRG Renewables Jamaica Limited

3.      Deneb Limited

4.      Optimal Energy one of the previous Bidders for the 360MW LNG Power Plant as stated in in my blog article entitled “OUR opens 360MW LNG Power Plant Bids as JPS Co forms Energize Jamaica with 3 of the Bidders - Friday August 9th 2013 is Jamaica's Power Emancipation Day”.

5.      Roraima Consulting Incorporated

6.      Wirsol AG and Roc Energy Ltd

7.      WRB Enterprises

Curiously, only two (2) of them are Wind Energy based:  WWFL (Wigton Wind Farms Limited) and BMR (Blue Mountain Renewables). With Optima Energy in the race, expect to hear and see more in the Newspapers about the other Bidders for the 115MW Renewable Energy Contract that were a part of the original 360MW LNG Project who’d lost to Azurest Cambridge Power! 

WWFL - Three Sites is the Charm

The first is well known, that being PCJ (Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica) WWFL (Wigton Wind Farms Limited) who’ve recently submitted a detailed Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)  and PCJ funded study of twenty four (24) sites across Jamaica from data collected between November 2011 and January 2012 as stated in “Jamaica can triple wind Energy output”, published Friday, August 23, 2013, The Jamaica Observer.

The PCJ’s study has identified three (3) new sites for Wind Energy:

1.      Kemps Hill in Clarendon

2.      Top Lincoln in Manchester,

3.      Winchester in the shadow of the John Crow Mountains, St Thomas

PCJ’s study states that these three (3) sites can add the following to the Energy Grid:

1.      5.3 GWh per annum per site

2.      15.9 GWh per annum for all three (3) sites

The Wigton III Project, set to begin construction in Fourth Quarter of 2013 as predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Wigton Wind Farm: Origins and Future Development of Wind Energy in Jamaica”, will add the following capacity to WWFL by 2015:

1.      Twelve (12) 2000 KW Vestas V80 Wind Turbines

2.      24 MW Total combined output

3.      63 GWh Average Power Output per annum

Once Wigton III Project is online it’ll bring WWFL up to the following installed base

1.      44 Wind Turbines in total

2.      62.7 MW of installed capacity

3.      150 GWh Average Power Output per annum

212 GWh is what WWFL is betting they can squeeze out of the three (3) additional sites, by cramming more Wind Turbines on each site. Adding together the Output of Wigton I Project, Wigton II Project, Wigton III Project, the three (3) sites and JPS Co's (Jamaica Public Service Company) Munro Wind Farm's, the total tally becomes more impressive:

1.      320 GWh per annum of Electricity (362 GWh by my math!)

2.      124,000 barrels per annum less Oil added to the National Oil Bill

3.      $1.2 billion per annum reduction in the National Oil Bill

BMR - Gone with the Wind among Sunflowers

BMR (Blue Mountain Renewables), a thirty five (35) year old Renewable Energy company that specializes in Wind Turbine installation I’ve never heard of as stated in “Gone with the wind: Blue Mountain Renewables looks to blow down Energy costs”, published Tuesday September 24, 2013,by Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner

They too also has similar plans to Bid for the 115MW Renewable Energy Contract. In the same vein as WWFL, BMR is also looking at the 75 acres of land near to the JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service Company) Wind Farm in St. Elizabeth with an eye to lease a section of the area and expands by adding their own Wind Turbines.

BMR’s principal Investors, Bruce Levy and his US partner Paul Hanrahan, CEO of American Capital Energy and Infrastructure, have already begun talks with JPS Co and have also submitted their Bid among the many other Bidders with the following configurations in mind:

1.      34MW Wind Energy Plant built with an initial investment of US$77 million

2.      42MW Wind Energy Plant built with an initial investment of US$86 million 

The projected effect on the Jamaican Economy is as follows:

1.      120 Jamaicans Jobs during the installation of the Wind Turbines and the Power Substation to step down the power and connect to JPS Co's Grid

2.      10 Jamaicans Jobs (full-time) to run the Plant in terms of Maintenance

3.      Electricity rates of between US$12.6KWh to US$12.9KWh sold to JPS co under an IPP (Independent Power Provider) arrangement

Clearly they have this well thought out. Unlike Azurest Cambridge Power, which is now raising the capital via a US$ Denominated International Bond issue via Sterling Asset Management, they have the capital earmarked for the project, to quote CEO of American Capital Energy and Infrastructure Paul Hanrahan, quote: “From our standpoint, the day we get the word we've won the Bid and sign the contract, we'll take our capital and set it aside, and its earmarked for this project”.

Renewables is Expensive - Reducing Oil Imports is the Name of the Game

Truth be told at those rates Renewable Energy is pretty expensive despite the words of Bruce Levy, quote: What's really interesting is that the Government sees huge value in this because it's reducing the cost of Energy. You drop the price of electricity, and all of a sudden, you have cheaper products, every business in Jamaica [will] become more competitive, and that is why all the Government is looking to putting in this is the real big winner”.

But after such as small initial investment and a ramp up with an additional 73MW of capacity, if BMR can save on the importation of US$55 million dollars of Oil Importation, then it’s more than worth the effort. Ditto too WWFL, who are way ahead of the game, can more than supply the 115MW and in the process, cut the purse strings of the GOJ and the PetroCaribe Fund from which they’re currently funded by inviting International Investors and VC (Venture Capitalists) to invest!

Stay tuned to this blog as I cover this upcoming 115MW Renewable Energy Auction to see which of the twenty (20) Bidders will win this coveted Contract!

Apple iPhone 5S and Apple iPhone 5C sold 9 million units over the Weekend - Apple beats Wall Street's Great Expectations for Christmas 2013

“The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we've sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5S, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone”

Apple CEO Tim Cook statement on Monday September 24 2013 on Apple's Record Breaking Sales Figures for the Apple iPhone 5S and Apple iPhone 5C over the weekend

Apple has surprised everyone, even the doubters, with the sales numbers of the Apple iPhone 5S and the 5C over the weekend dates of Saturday September 21st 2013 to Sunday September 22^nd 2013 in excess of nine (9) million Units sold as stated in the article “Yowza! Apple sells 9M iPhone 5S, 5C units in first weekend”, published September 23, 2013 5:35 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News. 

This after the customary long lines formed in front of all the stores all across the US of A as well as at stores in the various Developed World Countries inclusive of China on a Weekend that was set for Blackberry to launch their Free Google Android and Apple iPhone versions of BBM (Blackberry Messenger) as chronicled in my blog article entitled “Blackberry launched free BBM App for Apple iPhone and Android smartphones - First true Mobile Social Network is Bob Marley Could You Be loved against WhatsApp”!

Go Apple!! #Woot

The sales figures not only broke previous records for Weekend sales set by previous Apple iPhone launches, but they’ve now run out of the Apple iPhone 5S supplies across the US of A, Analyst Localytics suggests that the Apple iPhone 5C was outsold by the Apple iPhone 5S 3 to 1 on Monday September 23^rd 2013 and thus may have may not have done so well as stated in “iPhone 5S activations more than triple those of 5C, says report”, published September 23, 2013 5:09 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News.

Either that or Gold must really be a hot colour, being as it appears that early reports suggested that Apple iPhone 5S shortages was really related to the Gold Coloured Apple iPhone!

Go Apple!! #Woot

Apple also set a another record: 200 million devices have upgraded to  iOS 7, making it the fastest smartphone OS upgrade in History as was suspected by analyst Chikita, a advertising and Web Firm in the article “Despite hiccups, early iOS 7 adoption appears brisk”, Published September 19, 2013 9:52 AM PDT by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News.

The new Apple iPhone 5S came in Silver, Space Grey and the very much coveted Gold and the Apple iPhone 5C came in Blue, Green, Yellow, Red and White as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple has launched the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C on Tuesday September 10th 2013 - Apple iPhone Strategy is to Go Global to beat Samsung”!

Many naysayers predicted doom and gloom for this strategy, likening it to those used by other smartphone makers who’ve long gone colour for their smartphones yet couldn’t achieve any increase in sales numbers. Many, too, lamented Apple use of plastic, which Apple refers to as poly-carbonate on the Apple iPhone 5S, thinking it ill-advised and un-Apple like!

They’ve all been put to rest with these sales figures which not only beat Wall Street Expectations but even Apple’s own sales expectations forcing them to significantly increase their estimates as stated in the article “iPhone sales record bolsters Apple's quarterly estimates”, published September 23, 2013 9:12 AM PDT by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News.

According to Apple, quote: “Apple expects total company revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter to be near the high end of the previously provided range of $34 billion to $37 billion, and expects gross margin to be near the high end of the previously provided range of 36 percent to 37 percent”.

That’s a lot of Gold iPhones being sold that they should run out of Stock altogether. Apple iPhone 5C sales will eventually pick up, as more people purchase the poly-carbonate Apple iPhone 5C in its Joseph’s coat of 5 Baker’s colours as explained in  “Breaking the Bread Code: How to Get the Freshest Loaf”, published 21 February 2011 by Paul Michael, WiseBread and realize its build quality is as good as that of its metallic counterpart, the Apple iPhone 5S!

It’ll be some time before more phone specific stats are forthcoming relating to the sales numbers of the Apple iPhone 5S and the Apple iPhone 5C broken down by colour and region of the world as well as which Telecom Provider got activations for which iPhone. Demographic information on the customers buying each type of Apple iPhone would also be of interest, as I’d love to know who like the changes most, men or women!

Initial stats coming from analysts Localytics indicates that they were thrice as many Apple Phone 5S activations as there were Apple iPhone 5C activations and Telecom Provider AT &T seemed to be the popular choice among iPhone buyers as stated in “iPhone 5S activations more than triple those of 5C, says report”, September 23, 2013 5:09 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News. For now, the analysts have to be satisfied with what has been Apple greatest Record Breaking Sales Weekend Ever.

Can’t wait for the launch date for their other major product, the Apple iPad, to be announced!

Early indications are that the Apple iPad is also set to get a similar colour scheme for the 9.7” version (Silver, Space Grey and Gold) and the 7.9” versions (Blue, Green, Yellow, Red and White) Tablet as stated by Australian Blogger Sonny Dickson in the article “Alleged images show iPad 5 in silver, space gray” published September 25, 2013 5:18 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News!

Apple Fanboys, stay tuned to this blog for more news as it breaks as we get yet another bit of the Apple!

Apple is Top Gun in smartphones Sales but Samsung generates the most Web Traffic - ComScore Stats for First Quarter of 2013 and StatCounter Stats for June 2012 to June 2013

The Stats from Analyst ComScore are in and the verdict is unanimous: Apple is still on top in the US of A in terms of smartphone Sales but behind in terms of Mobile Operating System as stated in “Smartphone market share consolidates at top, study shows”, published June 28, 2013 12:45 PM PDT by Joan E. Solsman, CNET News.

But when you factor in the statistics of StatCounter, Apple rules in terms of Web Traffic in the US of A. Samsung smartphones and Google Android smartphones, on the other hand, generate the most Web Traffic. The Devil is in the details and that’s what I wish to expose!

ComScore says Apple iPhone still hot in the US of A – Samsung gaining on Apple

Take a gander at the statistics as presented by ComScore for the Three (3) months up to May 2013, effectively the Second Quarter of 2013:

1.      39.2% of U.S. smartphone subscribers for Apple

2.      23% of U.S. smartphone subscribers for Samsung

3.      8.7% of U.S. smartphone subscribers for HTC

4.      7.8% of U.S. smartphone subscribers for Motorola

5.      6.7% of U.S. smartphone subscribers for LG

In terms of Mobile Operating systems, though, the numbers tell a tale that’s true globally as well, as Google Android is the leading Mobile Operating system due mainly to its sheer weight of numbers:

1.      39.2% of U.S. smartphone subscribers go to Google Android OS

2.      39.2% of U.S. smartphone subscribers go to Apple iOS

3.      4.8% of U.S. smartphone subscribers go to Blackberry OS

4.      3.0% of U.S. smartphone subscribers go to Microsoft Windows Phone 7

5.      0.4% of U.S. smartphone subscribers go to Symbian OS

These figures may not reflect the Global outlook, but in terms of the US of A, Apple is clearly leading the smartphone market in terms of Brand as stated in “Apple extends lead over Samsung in U.S. smartphones”, published May 3, 2013 1:12 PM PDT by Roger Cheng, CNET News..

Both Samsung and Apple have gained, however, making the battle for smartphone supremacy being clearly between the two of them. Things are not looking so good for the other Smartphones, all of which have shown decline as can be seen on the charts above in terms of Brand and Operating Systems.

StatCounter says more Web Traffic from Samsung Smartphones – Apple Pie Revenge

Samsung, however, rules in one respect. They are the smartphone that’s most often used to surf the Internet on a Mobile Device in June 2013 according to analyst StatCounter as stated in the article “Samsung surpasses Apple in smartphone Web usage”, published July 10, 2013 4:52 AM PDT by Stephen Shankland, CNET News.

This conclusion was arrived at by analyzing traffic at some nearly 3 million websites frequently used by Web surfers based on popularity and Ranking on Google and Alexa Search Databases. The figures stac k up nicely in Samsung’s favour in June 2013 and can be  seen as a continuing trend:

1.      25.5% of Web Traffic for Samsung smartphones

2.      25.1% of Web Traffic for the Apple iPhones

3.      22% of Web Traffic for Nokia smartphones

4.      3.6% of Web Traffic for BlackBerry devices

The Graph below shows the development over time of a slim lead for Samsung smartphones that they may soon relinquish to Apple. It however, does go to show that having a larger screen does make it a little more convenient to surf the web as StatCounter statistics only rate smartphones  as Mobile devices, not Tablets.

StatCounter sees them as merely another category of personal computer, albeit Mobile in nature, akin more to a laptop, quote: “We define a Mobile device as a pocket-sized computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard. Tablets, while portable, are not considered Mobile devices according to this definition”. Coupled with their increasing popularity in the US of A and globally, this was inevitable. The Graph below shows the development of this trend over time.

Broken down to the US market only, however, Apple iPhone continues to be the number one smartphone that most subscribers use to surf the Internet. For Mobile Browsing during the period July 2012 to June 2013, the stats are pretty much in line with Apple's dominance of smartphones in the US of A:

1.      50.4% percent of usage in July 2012 to 54.8% in June 2013 for Apple iPhones

2.      12.7% percent of usage in July 2012 to 18.3% in June 2013 for Samsung

However, when the usage stats are looked at in terms of Mobile Browser in terms of their Operating System, the figures for June 2013 are quite different and are more in line with the Global trends as it relates to the dominance of Google Android Operating Systems on Smartphones:

1.      29.1% for unBranded Android Browser

2.      25.0% for Apple's Safari Browser

3.      16% for Opera Browser

The Stats are again better displayed on a trend Graph over the long term, which shows that the unBranded Android Browser has been in the lead for quite some time with both Apple Safari Browser usage and unBranded Android Browser usage rising in recent months leading up to June 2013.

In concluding both ComScore and StatCounter are saying the same thing but using different Statistical methodologies, each independently verifying the other. Apple, despite the proliferation of Google Android smartphones from Samsung, is still No. 1 in the US of A, but the top Mobile Operating System, hands down, is Google Android, when you choose to asses this in terms of Brands, Mobile Operating Systems and Web Traffic Broken down by Brands!