15 Hidden Samsung Galaxy S3 Features

Samsung Galaxy S3 is packed full of hidden features that provide premium.

Some of the best features of Galaxy S3 hidden in menus and settings, and this guide will show you how to get more from the Galaxy S3 without having to spend money on applications or accessories.

For users who need to do more, we have a long list of accessories Galaxy S3, which extends the usefulness of the popular smartphone.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S3 Review

Here are 15 of the lesser known features Samsung Galaxy S3 we found while using the popular iPhone 5 competitor in the last few months.

Startup mode

Samsung Galaxy has a convenient mode starter, which allows owners of smartphones first time to use a simpler interface, without giving up the benefits of smartphone applications and access to information. With starter mode is enabled, users can access smartphone settings and frequently used functions directly from the home screen.


To turn on Starter mode on the Galaxy S3, Go to Settings -> Home screen mode -> Choose Starter mode -> Tap Apply.

Keep the Galaxy S3 Display On
The Samsung Galaxy S3 can sense when you are looking at it and keep the display active even if you aren’t touching it. This is great when looking at long items, sharing photos or just keeping the screen active when you don’t need to touch it.

To turn on Smart Stay go to Settings -> Display – Smart stay. The Galaxy S3 will show a small icon on the screen when it detects your eyes and will keep the display active.

Fast Camera Access
If you need to get the camera up and ready to take a photo as fast as possible you can turn on a setting that lets you open the camera by holding the screen with a finger and rotating the Galaxy S3.

To do this, Go to Settings -> Lock screen -> lock screen options -> Camera quick access. Now, when the lock screen is on, tap and hold ont eh screen and rotate from portrait to landscape mode to launch the camera.

Double Tap to the Top
If you are sick of scrolling to the top of the built in mail and messages apps or other lists on the Galaxy S3, turn on double tap to top. This handy feature senses two taps on the top of the Galaxy S3 and it will jump to the top. This is similar to how iPhone users can tap on the clock to jump to the top of a list.

Samsung Galaxy Note Jelly Bean Update Rolls Out to More User

Samsung Galaxy Note Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, which began in February, has rolled out to a larger number of users today, especially for owners of Galaxy Note, model number SHV-E160S, in Korea.

Read: Galaxy Note Jelly Bean Update Roll Out launch.

In mid-February, Samsung, finally launched the long-awaited Samsung Galaxy Note Jelly Bean roll out, roll that was promised owners are still in August last year, when Samsung took the stage to announce the Samsung Galaxy Note a second On stage, the company said that the Galaxy Note will receive Android 4.1 in the near future. However, it soon turned into a few months of waiting, which ended last month.

Last month, Samsung rolled out the Galaxy Note Android 4.1 update for the first time, hitting owners of the international version of the device. Now, finally, the roll out has touched even more users.

It appears that, according to SamMobile, that owners of the Korean version of the Samsung Galaxy Note, model number SHV-E160S, have begun receiving their upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The update is in line with the international version of the Galaxy Note Jelly Bean upgrade and brings owners up to speed with many of the features found on the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3.

In addition to the features that come with Android 4.1 such as a smoother UI, Google Now and improved notifications and widgets, owners of the original Galaxy Note are getting Multi-View which allows owners to split the display up to run two separate apps, a better Samsung keyboard, Pop Up Play and a whole lot more.

Those who wish to update their SHV-E160S Galaxy Note can do so Over-the-Air or through Samsung’s update software, Samsung Kies. We recommend the OTA if it’s available given issues that can arise with Kies.

As for the rest of the world, specifically the United States, the update remains out of reach. It’s unclear just when AT&T might be upgrading its Galaxy Note but as we saw with the Android 4.0 update, it took several months after the initial roll out for the software to arrive.

Sony Xperia Ion Jelly Bean Update Leak

Sony Xperia Ion Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, which is currently scheduled to deploy sometime before the end of May, has leaked ahead of its eventual release to provide those who are interested in getting the software to do so early.

In late April, Sony, finally confirmed the good news for a variety of smartphone Xperia, including the owners of the Xperia Ion and Xperia S. The news, of course, treated them no Android 4.1 Jelly Bean updates that were promised many months ago, but have yet to roll out the owner or device.

Reading: Sony Xperia S Jelly Bean Roll Out inches closer.

The company informed the owners of these two devices, as well as several others that their devices will receive their Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update sometime before the month of May ends. No specific release dates were not mentioned, although so far we have seen that the Xperia S Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update leaked ahead of its release.

Now comes Sony Xperia Ion. According XperiaBlog, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update leaked courtesy of XDA-Developers forums, offering owners of Xperia Ion chance to install the software ahead of schedule. The update is available for CE devices due to the Lord of destiny firmware ported to consumer devices.

Firmware build 6.2.B.0.203, and it is only for those with an unlocked bootloader, at least for the moment. It is also possible that it will not be the final version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Software headed for the Xperia Ion. In other words, this update probably will not appeal to users, except for those that are comfortable tinkering with all aspects of their devices.

The arrival of this leak also means that the updates are one step closer to arriving, although the release date is still unknown. We're still waiting for Sony to hit it my time to update the Jelly Bean with Xperia Ion, S, SL and S Arco as the company has not given any indication that any of the updates are delayed for that month.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will take these devices to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the old version of Jelly Bean. It is currently unknown whether any of these devices can be taken to Android 4.2, the latest version of the software Android.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini vs. Samsung Galaxy S3: What to Expect

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini will be coming out later this year, joining the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 on shelves. And while consumers may be weighing it against the Samsung Galaxy S4, that may not really be the battle that’s worth weighing. Instead, consumers should be looking at how the Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung’s former flagship, will compete against the Galaxy S4 Mini.

Last year, Samsung introduced the Samsung Galaxy S3, a device that valiantly took on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, HTC One X, and more when it took to shelves. The device went on to sell over 40 million units worldwide, putting it in the same category as the iPhone. In fact, despite the arrival of the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy S3 remains a solid option with its solid specifications, its newish software and its plummeting price tag.

Indeed, the Galaxy S3 is not a smartphone from 2013, but it’s still a device that should warrant a look from anyone that is looking to buy a new smartphone in the months ahead.

Of course, it’s not without its opposition. The Galaxy S4 is a tempting competitor. As are the HTC One X, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and so on. Soon, there will be even more competition and one of those devices is going to be the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, a smaller version of Samsung’s larger Galaxy S4 and one that should be touching down on shelves in just a few weeks time.

The Galaxy S4 Mini may not have the hardware of the Galaxy S4, but it will have some similarities and without the price, making it a tempting purchase for those in the market for something that is cost efficient and capable.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini still isn’t official, but we have enough on it to make some comparisons to likely competitors like the Galaxy S4. With that, it’s  time to look at what to expect from the impending match up between the Galaxy S3 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.

Galaxy S3 Display Victory

Maybe the biggest thing to expect out of the Samsung Galaxy S3 versus Galaxy S4 Mini battle is that the Galaxy S3 display will likely blow the Galaxy S4 Mini’s out of the water.

Rumors suggest that the Galaxy S4 Mini display will measure in at 4.3-inches, smaller than the Galaxy S3′s 4.8-inch display, and boast qHD resolution with 256 pixels-per-inch. If true, and there is no reason to doubt that it isn’t, it means that the Galaxy S4 Mini display will not only feature less pixels-per-inch than the 306 ppi touting Galaxy S3 but also feature lesser resolution.

qHD means that it will have 960 x 540 resolution which means it will be on par with devices from 2011. The Galaxy S3 on the other hand features 720p HD resolution which may not be as good as the 1080p resolution on the Galaxy S4 but will be suitable for average users. What this means is that users should expect a stark contrast between the quality of content on both smartphones.

With a higher resolution and ppi count, expect the Galaxy S3 screen to prevail, even though its a year old.

Galaxy S4 Software
One of the most alluring qualities of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini will likely be its software as we, and consumers, should expect it to arrive with many of the software features found on the Samsung Galaxy S4. Last year’s Galaxy S3 Mini arrived with plenty of Galaxy S3 software features so this isn’t too far-fetched.

Rumors have not pinpointed exactly which features will be on board, but safe bet would be the Galaxy S4′s plentiful camera features and quite possibly features like its unique Easy Mode for beginners. It could also come with features like Smart Scroll and Smart Pause though neither of those has been thrown out there as possibilities.

On the Proposed Branding Remedy in Google

Remember: as part of a proposed settlement with the Commission, Google has offered to brand search results.

Under this remedy, users can spot if Google preferentially displays links towards its own related services.

But if my understanding is correct, the nub of the issue is not one of consumer information, but rather one of users’ reaction to Google’s preferential search tactics.

Put differently, what matters is how users behave when Google’s own related services appear prominently in search results lists.

I have qualms with the idea that a remedy of this kind can change anything. It may even backfire. Faced with branded search results, users may increasingly click on Google’s related services, at the expense of competing services. This is because a large number of users find value to using services that belong to one single IT ecosystem (a sort of service-based network externality, driven by economies in transaction costs – no need to login twice, for instance – technological stability and service integration). Not to talk of the fact that Google has strong image in the public that users may associate with higher quality.

This thought came whilst reading Josh Wright’s excellent paper on Evidence-Based Antitrust. In essence, Wright makes the point that antitrust enforcement should be based on existing empirical data and on robust economic analysis. In contrast, antitrust enforcement should stray from predictive analysis, and avoid using untested economic models, brought by parties and elaborated by economic consultants in the context of particular cases.

This paper is refreshing. It illustrates the profound intellectual schism that separates antitrust enforcement in the US and the EU. For a number of years, I had been leaning with the view that both sides of the Atlantic had achieved convergence . But Wright’s arguments that antitrust enforcers should display”humility” and avoid a too predictive approach to antitrust enforcement shines a bright light on the arrogant resilience, in the EU, of the object-based enforcement model. A must read.

Infosys loses number of sales people in US

Bangalore Infosys BSE 1,09%, it seems, there is an outflow feet-on-the-street sales. More than 50 people came out of the company in the United States in the last few quarters, with many joining its cross-town rival Wipro. Most of the outlets are believed to be in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector.

Sources say that the company's sales department Infosys is under great pressure from all quarters. Performance pressure is significantly increased. There is also a moral question among sales professionals, due to the delay of salary increments and negative information about the accident, the company's performance over the past many quarters.

Exits that occurred across many enterprises with access to join the company Infosys Indian competitors in new verticals. With many in leadership positions to quit Infosys, they take many juniors with them.

Sources in WiproBSE 0,53% confirmed that many of the ex-Infosys sales and marketing, in fact, joined the company. Infosys spokesperson, however, refused to comment on the story saying. "We will not offer comments on the matter"

Wipro is trying hard to make a big impact in the U.S.. The company is investing significantly to build a strong forward sales in the U.S. and Europe. "To be effective, we have to hunt in a pack in the client organization. We have created a specialized group hunting. We have a separate hunting and farming focus," CEO TK Kurien said earlier.

Apple, Google should explore new technologies to prevent cellphone thefts

If a teenager snatched from the hands of iPhone Rosa Cha at a bus stop in the Bronx in March, she reported the theft of her career, and the police - just as she had done two more times when she was a victim of phone theft. Again, the police said they could not help her.

Phone Cha was introduced to a new national database of stolen mobile phones, which tracks the unique identification number of the phone to prevent it from activating, theoretically preventing theft. But police officials say that the database has not helped staunch the growing number of phone theft, partly because many of the stolen phones end up overseas, beyond the reach of the database, and partly because the IDs easily changed.

Some law enforcement agencies, however, say there is a big problem - that carriers and handset manufacturers have no incentive to solve the problem.

George Gascon, San Francisco's district attorney, says handset makers like Apple should be exploring new technologies that could help prevent theft. In March, he said, he met with an Apple executive, Michael Foulkes, who handles its government relations, to discuss how the company could improve its anti-theft technology. But he left the meeting, he said, with no promise that Apple was working to do so.

He added, "Unlike other types of crimes, this is a crime that could be easily fixed with a technological solution."

Apple declined to comment.

The cellphone market is hugely lucrative, with the sale of handsets bringing in $69 billion in the United States last year, according to IDC, the research firm. Yet, thefts of smartphones keep increasing, and victims keep replacing them.

In San Francisco last year, nearly half of all robberies involved a cellphone, up from 36 percent the year before; in the Washington, cellphones were taken in 42 percent of robberies, a record. In New York, theft of iPhones and iPads last year accounted for 14 percent of all crimes.

Some compare the epidemic of phone theft to car theft, which was a rampant problem more than a decade ago until auto manufacturers improved anti-theft technology.

"If you look at auto theft, it has really plummeted in this country because technology has advanced so much and the manufacturers recognize the importance of it," said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit group focused on improving police techniques. "The cellphone industry has for the most part been in denial. For whatever reasons, it has been slow to move."

Carriers say they have faith in the database, which they created with police departments across the country. They also say they are taking independent steps as well to address the problem. Verizon, for instance, says it has its own stolen phone database, making it impossible for devices reported as stolen to be reactivated on its network.

Apple gains ground in US smartphone market

SAN FRANCISCO: Industry trackercomScore on Friday reported that Applegained ground in the US smartphone market, nibbling into the lead held by handsets powered by Google's Android software.

Apple's share of the US smartphone market climbed nearly three percent to 39 percent in the first three months of this year, making the California company the most popular handset maker in the country, according to comScore.

The Android platform that Samsung, HTC,LG and other manufacturers use to power devices still reigned supreme, but its overall share of the US market slipped 1.4 percent to 54 percent, comScore reported.

Smartphones powered by Microsoft Windows software rose a smidgen to three percent of the market, while the portion held by BlackBerry devices slipped more than a percent to 5.2 percent, according to comScore.

South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung remained the second most popular smartphone maker with 21.7 percent of the US market, followed by HTC, Motorola and LG with 9 percent, 8.5 percent, and 6.8 percent respectively.

The number of US smartphone owners climbed nine percent to 136.7 during the quarter, comScore reported.

BlackBerry Q10 sells strongly in Canada and Britain: analyst

Toronto: Q10 new smartphone BlackBerry, which comes with a physical keyboard that many BlackBerry fans of the prize, well sold in Canada and the United Kingdom, an analyst said on Friday.

The company this week unveiled Q10, second smartphone to run the new BlackBerry 10 operating system in Canada and the United Kingdom.

"Our checks indicate the broad sell-usually with limited headroom otherwise," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said in a note to clients on Friday. "Based on our checks shops, BlackBerry Q10 has been selling very well, and has been sold or seeing limited in Toronto across the UK "

Jeffries, who has a "buy" rating on shares of BlackBerry, said its findings were based on a test with top mobile operators and retailers in both countries, including, Bell, Rogers and Telus in Canada, and Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone, UK and orange.

BlackBerry hopes that its new line of smartphones with touch led Z10 device, which he introduced at the beginning of this year, will help to claw back market share lost to the likes of iPhone Apple Inc and wildly popular line of Samsung Electronics Co devices in the Galaxy, powered by Google Inc,

The operating system Android. BlackBerry shares were up 1.5 percent at $ 15.94 in morning trading before ringing in the U.S. on Friday.

App lets amputees program their own bionic hands

Philadelphia: Double-amputee Jason Koger used to fly to visit a doctor if he would like to adjust the handle on his bionic hand. Now he has the app instead.

Koger This week I showed limb ultra revolution prosthetic developed by the British company Touch Bionics. Using the stylus, and the iPhone, Koger can select any of the 24 models clutch that best meet their needs.

This is the latest evolution in equipment to Koger, who lost his hands in all-terrain vehicle accident in 2008.

`` Five years ago I could not pull my pants myself,'' said Koger, 34. `` Today, I go hunting and do some of the things that I probably never thought I could do five years ago.''

The technology indicates how rapidly the field of prosthetics is changing, benefiting patients from injured military members to victims of last month's Boston Marathon bombing. Practitioners say increased government research in the wake of the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan is driving some of the advances. 

Koger received an electric shock after running into a downed power line. He went into a coma and had no idea until he woke up three days later that doctors had amputated both his limbs at mid-forearm. 

Since then, he's used a variety of prostheses, which he considers like tools _ different extensions for different tasks. Electric hooks have allowed him to pursue his passion for hunting. Myoelectric hands, which react to electrical impulses generated by his remaining arm muscles, offer more precise movements. 

The previous version of Koger's myoelectric device required programming by a prosthetist, meaning Koger had to fly to Advanced Arm Dynamics in Dallas. The prosthetist would work with Koger to pick a few grip patterns _ such as pinching, pointing or shaking hands _ to program into the i-limb. 

Yet sometimes Koger would get home and realize they weren't the ones he needed. Now, the latest i-limb comes with an iPhone or iPad app that allows Koger to reprogram his hand with the touch of a stylus. On Thursday, he demonstrated by gripping an orange, a baseball and a can of soda. 

The i-limb allows fingers and thumbs move independently to conform around certain objects, said Ryan Spill, a prosthetist for Advanced Arm Dynamics who is working with Koger. The thumb is also motorized, not passive, as in previous prostheses. 

The Boston Marathon bombings, which wounded more than 260 people, including many with serious leg injuries, have shined a light on the advances in prostheses. But experts note that technology for upper extremity bionics, which involve fine motor skills, is much different from what's needed for lower extremities, which focus on weight distribution and gait. 

There have also been huge advances in computerized knees and feet, said Joe Reda, assistant director of orthotic and prosthetic services at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitationin New Jersey. 

``The changes are happening rather rapidly now, and I think it's because of our wars overseas,'' said Reda. ``The government is trying to put more money into research and development.'' 

The i-limb ultra revolution costs about $100,000, though some insurance might cover it. Koger received his free in exchange for testing them and providing feedback. He met Friday with other amputees interested in the new technology. 

Mark Dowling, 50, lost his arm to cancer several months ago. He said he cried while watching Koger demonstrate how the hand worked. 

Tablet Sales May Be Soaring But Let's Not Give Up On PCs

The highly publicized report last month showed a drop of indicators for the PC industry with 13.9 per cent drop in deliveries for the first quarter of this year, according to IDC. The research firm said the decline noted Even Apple "the worst quarter since IDC began tracking the PC market on a quarterly basis in 1994." - Who MacBook Pro and MacBook Air to get rave reviews, hit 7.5 percent decline in deliveries, partly due to cannibalization of their own IPad.

Tablet sales, at the same time continue to grow. IDC's latest figures show an increase of 142.2% in the first quarter compared to last year. Apple, enjoys a 65.3% year-on-year growth while Samsung took off with an increase of 282% compared with the previous year after year. When it comes to operating system vendors, Google also increases when considering that almost all the 18% market share of Samsung comes with devices running Android, as does most of the 5.5% share of the ASUS (many of Google branded Nexus 7) and 3.7% of Amazon, which comes from him Kinde Fire, which uses a much-modified version of Android, which - however - says in favor of Google. Tablets running Windows move the needle slightly by 1.8%.

But despite the growth in tablets and a drop in sales of traditional PCs, I'm not ready to give up the PC.

First of all, tablets — and to a certain extent smartphones — actually are PCs. To say a tablet isn’t a PC would be like saying a laptop isn’t a PC just because it looks and works a bit differently than a desktop. And the definition of PC certainly doesn’t require that it run a certain operating system. Whether it uses Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android or some variant of Microsoft Windows, a tablet is a PC. And one reason for their popularity is that they can do pretty much the same tasks as a PC, plus they’re also great for consuming content.

In defense of traditional desktop and laptop PCs

Having said that, I still think there is a future for notebooks and even desktop PCs. I have plenty of uses for tablets, but even though I own an iPad mini and an Android tablet, I started this column from my desktop PC at home and finished it using my MacBook Air as I fly across the country. I also have a tablet with me but I have no intention of using it for work. I might watch a movie or read a book on it later in the flight, especially if my notebook battery starts to die but when it comes to getting work done, I appreciate a good keyboard and the tried-and-true software that runs on Windows and OS X.

It’s not just my main programs like Microsoft Office that I like, but also lots of little utilities, such as the ones that let me redefine certain keys, or allow me to capture and easily edit portions of the screen. I know there are tablet apps that do some of these same things, and eventually I may shift more of my work to tablets, but I find these apps convenient and even comforting.

There is also the issue of storage. I know that the cloud is an “infinite disk drive,” but there are still advantages to having immediate access to more than a terabyte of data, as I do on my desktop PC. And speaking of my desktop PC, it also has two large screens that make it easy for me to work on several projects at once and keep several Web pages close at hand. Try doing that on an iPad. Although I know some people who are pretty good at “typing on glass,” I’m still a lot faster and make far fewer mistakes when using a traditional keyboard.

It’s my hope that the PC industry continues to evolve and innovate while also continuing to support desktop and notebook form factors and operating systems like Windows and Mac OS that are open (unlike iOS, you don’t need Apple’s permission to distribute Mac software) and that support all sorts of hardware and software add-ons to allow users to enhance and customize their systems.

Windows 8 sales disappoint

In its research report, IDC said that Windows 8 sales haven’t turned the industry around, but I like using Windows 8 on a touch-screen notebook PC even though I think it makes very little sense on most desktop machines, especially if they don’t have a touch screen. I hope Apple adds touch to future MacBooks, but I don’t want them to abandon OS X in favor of iOS. And I think it was a mistake for Microsoft to change the default interface on Windows 8, though users can change it back via third-party apps. It was dumb for Microsoft to remove the Start menu, but that, too, can be resurrected with through free apps. Rumor has it that Microsoft might bring back the Start menu and boot to desktop. It would be a smart move.

In 2010, shortly after the introduction of the first iPad, Steve Jobs told The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher on stage at the All Things Digital tech conference that “PCs are going to be like trucks.” He added that they are still going to be around, but only a small percentage of people will need them. He might have been right, but what he didn’t point out is that trucks are incredibly popular. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that “light-duty trucks” account for about half of the new passenger car sales,” and that doesn’t include all those heavy-duty trucks on the road.

Does the web still matter?

This week, World Wide Web is 20 years old. And the organization is responsible for its future seems to have forgotten about the anniversary, which may leave many to wonder: we still care about the Internet?

Back in the world in 1993, Tim Berners-Lee and CERN introduced a number of inventions and ideas that they did not patent. , Abandoning any intellectual property rights in the invention HTML, HTTP, and the basic architecture of the Internet, its creators have unleashed a global revolution that turned to businesses and governments, reviewed our society, and created trillions of dollars in New economic activities.

But at 20, the future of the web is unclear. The rise of apps have given consumers a new mean of consuming content created on the internet. Meanwhile, the W3C, the organization tasked with keeping the web open, is considering ways in which to add Digital Rights Management to HTML, turning the most open standard in world history into another system that will require some level of permission to be used.

Add all these up and you see a web that is increasingly under fire from interests who do not look too keenly on its openness. Add them all up and you also see a technology that is slowly falling out of favor with the consumer.

When the iPhone was initially unleashed, long before there was an app store, Steve Jobs looked to the open web for app development:

The full Safari engine is inside of iPhone. You can write amazing Web 2.0 and Ajax apps that look exactly and behave exactly like apps on the iPhone. And these apps can integrate perfectly with iPhone services: They can make a call, they can send an email, they can look up a location on Google Maps.

And guess what? There’s no SDK that you need! You’ve got everything you need if you know how to write apps using the most modern web standards to write amazing apps for the iPhone today. So developers, we think we’ve got a very sweet story for you. You can begin building your iPhone apps today.

But today, the web and web apps are increasingly threatened by the rise of apps as the alternative mechanism of distributing content and experience on mobile devices. John Gruber, a longtime Apple supporter, writes on his site, Daring Fireball:

Today, in 2013, even the best-crafted mobile web apps come nowhere near the quality of experience of the best native apps. In fact, with but a few exceptions, the best mobile web apps today still don’t approach the quality of the first batch of native iPhone apps from 2007.

… Websites are just services, and what you see in a browser tab is merely one possible interface to that service. The best possible interface to that service is often, if not usually, going to be a native app, not a web app.

… But most of the [web apps] I use, I do so because they have no native app counterpart, and I wish they did, so that I could use the native app instead.

This presentation of native apps as a better experience of what the internet has to offer is where consumers start leaving off the web. Sure, every smartphone has a web browser but most consumers do not really use it much, preferring the experience of apps over that of the web.

The quality gap is one that the web has not been able to meet for a number of reasons. One can complain about whether Apple and Google are exerting control over their users by requiring that every app be run through their respective app store (and the same is true of the smaller players in the mobile market like Microsoft and Blackberry) but few people look at the issue around web browsing. And when it comes to providing alternatives, those are not allowed.

For example, while there are several browsers available in Apple’s app store, each of them works in the same fashion under the hood because Apple has mandated that the browsing engine for any app running on Apple device use the software libraries created by Apple. Not only that but using a browsing engine within an app has a slightly deteriorated experience compared to the native Safari engine loaded on the device, leading users to think that web apps and web browsers on the iPhones are just not as good as apps.

As a counter to this, the World Wide Web consortium has fallen on to the belief that the solution to this problem is not with the less open systems but with the fact that the web is too open. In a recent proposal called Encrypted Media Extensions, the consortium proposes a mechanism where content would be locked up under lock and key and require approval from the appropriate software and content vendors to be unlocked.

Such an offering would essentially bring video on the web in line with the mechanisms you see on iTunes or the Amazon video store, asking you to give your credit card number every time you want to watch a video. If passed, this proposal would move the likes of YouTube to pay models, asking you to fork over a few cents every time you want to watch an online video.

And while last year’s actions against SOPA drew widespread media coverage,this week’s equivalent protest against DRM in HTML did not get many mentions outside of a few tech blogs, which may point to activists being on the losing side of that fight. Even the inventor of the web, Tim Berners-Lee fails to see the contradiction between his own support of DRM in HTML and his explanation that he did not have to ask for permission from anyone when he created the web.

This may mean that a more closed down path for the web is on its way. In a recent pivot, the Mozilla foundation has moved away from its original mission of creating an alternative web browser to focus on providing a mobile operating system that will serve as a different distribution platform for apps. At 15, the browser that popularized the web is slowly fading into the distance, displaced by priorities more focused on delivering the internet experience through apps, a tacit acknowledgment that consumers are moving away from consuming the web through a web browser, one that still allows every user to look under the hood and see how the web is built.

So, on its 20th anniversary, the web is at a crossroad: one path leads to a more restrictive system, one that is in line with what mobile device vendors now offer with their app stores, with greater control and more insurance of quality from a few gatekeepers; the other continues on the existing path of openness that was open 20 years ago but one that may be less crowded than it was at its peak in the late 2000s.

The result will be easier continued access to an open internet and its related opportunities, along with challenges in terms of threat management or a more restricted but safer world. Think of it as the difference between visiting a large city in a foreign country or going to the Disney version of that city at EPCOT Center and you will get a sense of which side you may want to sit on.