Here’s how mobile has changed the way we live [infographic]

As I’m writing this, some 20% of U.S. smartphone users are “smartphonatics” who have changed the way they shop, bank, and pay for products and services. While there are some clear benefits to using a smartphone for many tasks, there are also down sides. For instance, 24% of smartphone users check their phone while driving, potentially making roads more dangerous. Moreover, with everyone accessing email on their phone, managing work-life balance is getting harder for some people.

Relationships are also impacted with smartphones, most notably the use of Facebook while on the go. In fact, 61% of users say that their phone keeps them connected with friends, and 60% with a spouse or significant other.

Smartphones also made an impact on kids, interfering with eyesight, body and brain development…

These and other details are neatly presented in an infographic prepared byWhoCalledMyPhone.net. Check it out and let us know what do you think of it.

British Airways to allow passengers to use their phones moments after the plane has landed

We’ve already told you that FAA is looking into proposals to allow passengers to use their tablets and e-readers at all times during the flight. While we’re still not sure when such practice will become common among airlines, we are glad to learn that British Airways has started doing something to make life easier for mobile phone users.

Starting July 1st, BA passengers will be allowed to check emails, make phone calls, send and receive texts, or switch on other gadgets, immediately after the aircraft has left the runway. However, on departing flights, customers will still be required to turn off devices when the aircraft leaves the gate.

The move comes after the airline demonstrated to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that this practice can’t harm the aircraft instruments in any way.

Here’s what Ian Pringle, British Airways’ flight training manager, had to say on this: “Customers will no longer have the frustration of having to wait until their plane has arrived at the terminal building before being able to use their mobile phones and other handheld electronic devices. Now they’ll have that extra time to phone ahead for that important business meeting, check their emails, or make sure someone is there to meet them at the airport.”

We applaud BA for taking this route and are hoping that other airlines will follow shortly with similar initiatives. 

WhatsApp now has more than 250 million monthly users

There's been little doubt that WhatsApp is one of the most-used cross-platform messenger apps out there, but the company has been rather coy about revealing specific user numbers. Back in April, the WhatsApp CEO did claim his service had a bigger userbase than Twitter's 200 million users and processed 18 billion messages per day (more than Facebook), but now the company's giving more concrete details. According toThe Wall Street Journal, WhatsApp has a userbase of over 250 million active users every month, exceeding the 200 million users that Twitter cited on its seventh birthday. While there's no doubt that WhatsApp is one of the most dominant players in the smartphone messaging space, it's an increasingly crowded one — but there's no doubt that it's keeping up with major players like Facebook and Skype, which is a pretty notable achievement for an app that's only four years old
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Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus: the new ultrabook champion has arrived

Samsung's dual-OS Ativ Q will no doubt dominate the headlines emanating from the company's Premiere 2013 event that just wrapped up, but for some of us the star of the show was another Windows device, the Ativ Book 9 Plus. This horribly disjointed name has been attached to a laptop the likes of which we've literally never seen before.

The 13.3-inch screen squeezes in an unprecedented 3200 x 1800 resolution, and what's dramatically more, Samsung promises it'll go for a full 12 hours of use. Compare that to Apple's newly refreshed MacBook Air, which can go for 13 hours but has to power a much tamer 1440 x 900 display. The Ativ Book 9 Plus also has a touchscreen, which the Apple machine lacks.

Most impressive about Samsung's new flagship laptop, however, is its build quality. Not since the current Air design was introduced by Apple in late 2010 have I felt this enamored and pleased with the construction of a new portable computer. The aluminum unibody exterior is perfectly rigid and robust, and the hinge opens up to a full 180 degrees. The display is well supported whatever angle you choose to position it at, and the single piece of glass covering it lends this machine a subtle elegance.

Whatever Intel and Microsoft may believe about hybrid tablet-laptop devices, there's just no getting away from the fact that the best Windows 8 machines are likely to be purely one or the other. The Ativ Book 9 Plus proves this point by being a perfectly streamlined expression of the ultrabook ideal. Without the physical compromises inherent in creating a convertible device, Samsung has perfected a hardware design that is every bit as delightful and robust as the MacBook Air. And let's not forget about Asus' Zenbook line or Acer's extremely competent Aspire S7. The world of laptops looks to be growing ever richer in desirable machines, with Samsung's star shining brightest tonight.

Microsoft has 'no plans' to revisit Xbox One's $499 price

Microsoft's Marc Whitten at the Xbox One reveal event in Redmond, Wash., last month.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Microsoft may have just backtracked on its derided policy that had restricted game sharing in its Xbox One console that goes on sale later this year -- but don't count on the company to revisit other unpopular features of the upcoming console.

In an interview with CNET, Marc Whitten, the chief product officer for Xbox, said the company has "no plans" to lower the $499 price tag for the console, even though Sony's rival PlayStation 4 will debut at $399. He echoed previous statements from the company that the Xbox One will offer features not found elsewhere, such as its Kinect motion-sensing, voice-detecting controller.

"We are really, really excited about the value we're going to deliver on day one," Whitten said.

Microsoft says it thinks the Kinect is too central to the Xbox One experience, and the way that developers are creating games, to change the way it works.What's more, Microsoft has no plans to change its decision for the Kinect to be on by default, something some users worry might be creepy. Microsoft tried to diffuse some of those privacy concerns earlier this month, telling gamers that the system is "only listening for the single voice command -- 'Xbox On.'" But gamers can turn that feature off if they choose.

"It's part of the Xbox One architecture," Whitten said.

The new policy announced earlier today does away with the much-loathed plans that would have required Xbox One gamers to connect their consoles to the Internet once a day to prevent game piracy. Gamers no longer will be required to do so.

But that policy also means gamers who purchase physical discs won't get some of the benefits of that Web strategy. Gamers were going to be able to access games from any console once they loaded the disc onto their Xbox One.

"You won't see that content now," Whitten said, though gamers will be able to see all the content they purchase digitally.

What's more, Microsoft is doing away with the policy of allowing up to 10 family members to share disc-based games even if they didn't have the disc in their console.

"We won't be delivering that," Whitten said.

Microsoft decided to alter the policy after the company recognized that it would be a "blocker" for some customers to buy the console, Whitten said. Gamers had voiced antipathy toward the idea of requiring a Web connection when rumors flew earlier this year, even before Microsoft announced the plan. But Whitten said the rancor didn't become clear to the company until after it discussed the policy at the E3 video game conference earlier this month.

"E3 was the first time our complete program was out there to get complete feedback," Whitten said. "We heard that people valued the flexibility of physical discs."

Heyzap Says Its Mobile Ad Network Has Grown To 800 Games (And Makes Up The Majority Of Its Revenue)

Back in March, I wrote about how Heyzap was introducing advertising to its mobile gaming platform. Now co-founder Jude Gomila says the company has become a significant player in mobile advertising.

Specifically, Gomila sent along the chart showing the growth in publishers running Heyzap ads and the corresponding growth in ad impressions over the past six months. You can’t tell exactly where things stand now, because there’s no Y-axis to the chart. However, Gomila did note that Heyzap ads are now running in 800 games (it was 350 in March), and that number is also growing quickly. He also said that the publishers advertising with Heyzap include big names like Zynga and DeNA.

In the six months since the program launched, ad revenue has grown to the point that it already makes up the majority of its revenue. As a result, Heyzap is looking to expand its team beyond the current 25-person workforce.

“This does change our priorities,” Gomila said. “We want to offer full monetization tools for game developers. There’s also opportunity for a lot more automation.”

Gomila refers to Heyzap’s ad program as its “game discovery network” — basically, when publishers pay to promote their games, Heyzap will start recommending that game through interstitial units that pop up in the games. Those recommendations are also based on the gaming data that users share on Heyzap’s social platform, so Gomila said the discovery network and the social tools “go hand-in-hand.”

He argued that this is a much better approach for the mobile gaming ecosystem, because Heyzap can recommend games that users are actually likely to enjoy.