ABI Research reports the Cellular Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication market has been a challenging place for cellular embedded module vendors over the past 18 months. 2007 was this market�s last �good year�: 2008 saw both shipment volumes and revenue decrease. In 2009, the cellular M2M module market grew somewhat in terms of unit shipment volume, although rapidly declining module prices meant that 2009 revenue was still below that of 2007.
Despite its difficulties, however, this market is on an upward path. Unit shipment volume growth and the growing importance of 3G are already resulting in stronger performance and a new ABI Research study estimates that the market will be worth $3.8 billion in 2015.
You may already be familiar with Gesture Search, our Android app from Google Labs that lets you search by writing out characters on the touchscreen of your device. Today we’re happy to announce a new version, Gesture Search 1.2, which includes a new motion gesture. By doing a “double flip”, or flipping your phone away and then back, you can start Gesture Search at any time. This eliminates the need to activate Gesture Search from a home screen shortcut. You can turn the feature on or adjust its sensitivity in Settings. We’ve also fixed some bugs and improved usability by adding accessibility support. Gesture Search is still in its early stages (as with all things in Google Labs) but we’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below. It is available for Android-powered devices running Android 1.6 and above, and can be downloaded in Android Market.
Update 8/11/10: If you're on an Android-powered device, click here to download Gesture Search. If you're on a computer, go here.
Update 8/19/10: An updated version of Gesture Search has been posted to Android Market, which contains some bug fixes. You can learn more about the double flip update here.
Posted by Yang Li, Research Scientist, Gesture Search team
