Mobile App Testing

As avid mobile users you probably have many opinions on the speed (or lack thereof) of your local 3G or 4G network. Well, now if you live in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans,  New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle or Washington, D.C. you can see if your opinions are warranted.

PCWorld did a study of network speeds in those cities. But before we get to the official results I want to know who YOU think will come out on top. Vote BEFORE you look at the study results (no cheating!).

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To see a city-by-city breakdown, check out the PCWorld report. As far as which of the 13 cities has the fastest average network speed, you won’t find that answer in the report because I tallied it myself. I’ll post the answer on Friday!

The Miami Herald reports:

South Floridians will have the fastest downloads if they go with Verizon, but will have the most reliable data transfers with AT&T, according to wireless carrier rankings by RootMetrics.

Washington-based RootMetrics, which measures mobile carrier performance, released it’s first test results for the greater Miami area this week. It gave Verizon the best ranking for Miami, primarily for its 4G LTE network connection speeds, which were found to be four times as fast as T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G, and almost seven times faster than Sprint’s WiMAX 4G.

For call performance, Sprint customers were three times more likely to drop a call than with the other three major carriers.

Every carrier but AT&T scored poorly in a performance test for sending and receiving data. The report said T-Mobile had a data failure of 18 percent, followed by Sprint failing at 17 percent and Verizon at 9 percent. AT&T had a two percent failure rate.

The fastest text messages were sent on the AT&T and T-Mobile networks, both taking less than 30 seconds to deliver. Sprint and Verizon both took more than 30 seconds.

The test results were based on information gathered from thousands of calls, texts and data transfers over seven days in April. RootMetrics also collects data from anyone who wants to assist in tests using the RootMetrics Cell Phone Coverage Map app, available through the Apple and Android app stores.

A wise man once said that “if it’s on the internet, it must be true.” News that Verizon will finally carry the iPhone is all over the net, ipso facto….

But while the pundits discuss how this new alliance with affect user stats, downloads and stock prices – and while AT&T and Verizon exchange jabs – I wanted to take a minute and discuss the implications it has for mobile app testing. The practice, and yes, our website as well.

Until now, Apple had made things relatively easy for mobile app developers. I know that may sound absurd to developers who have lost hair and sleep over problems with UDIDs and App Store acceptance, but it’s true. You see, unlike Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and the others, Apple simplified the testing process by having only one device manufacturer and carrier. Sure, you still needed to make sure your iPhone app worked across iOS 3G, 3GS and 4, but the overall testing matrix was much less complicated. Ask any Android developer.

That’s about to change in a big way.

But don’t take my word for it. We recently asked Matt Evans, the former QA Director of the Palm Pre smartphone, for his thoughts on mobile testing challenges in the coming years ahead. Granted this was before the Verizon news came out, but see if you can put 2 and 2 together based on his insight:

Read more…

After months of waiting for the iPad (and then months of writing about the iPad) we can sympathize with those suffering from tablet fatigue, but we’re going to revisit the subject anyway. Sorry.

This is because Samsung recently made its own tablet – the Galaxy – available in US markets. If you thought this was going to be a reverse-engineered iPad, you would be wrong.

To prove it, allow me to direct your short attention span to Melissa J. Perenson’s latest review on PC World, who takes an in-depth look at the Galaxy. Here’s what you tablet testers need to know.

Carriers: The Galaxy will be available on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. By the way, pricing will vary based each carrier (that should be interesting!)

Customizations: AT&T said that its Connection Manager will automatically connect in AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots. Ditto for Sprint. Verizon is taking the lead in this category, as it says it will enable the tablet to include V Vast Music with Rhapdody, V Cast Video on demand, VZ Navigator and other features.

Read more…

From The San Francisco Chronicle:

Mobile video chatting, that fixture of forward-looking movies and pop culture entertainment, appears ready to finally become a reality. While the service has been available in Europe and Asia on phones for years, it’s been a no-show in the United States due to carrier restrictions and other hurdles. But the pieces are falling into place to bring video conferencing to mobile phones.

HTC and Sprint recently announced the upcoming EVO 4G, a new phone riding on Sprint’s 4G network that will feature a forward-facing camera, a necessary component for video calling.

Another Android phone, Motorola’s Backflip, which launched in March, also has a camera that faces the user. And if you believe the Gizmodo report about the upcoming iPhone, that too will have a forward-facing camera.