WebProNews

Tag: iOS

  • Apple vs. Google: Who Wins This One?

    The bickering between Apple and Google continues. It’s gotten to the point where at just about every event where one of these companies has an announcement (at least within the mobile space), they take not so subtle jabs at one another. 

    Which mobile operating system will win out in the end? Apple’s iOs? Google’s Android? Share your thoughts here. 

    Nicholas Carlson at Silicon Alley Insider pulled out a few quotes from Steve Jobs’ speech from the company’s earnings call (in which it posted record revenue and iPhone/iPad sales):

    "Many Android OEMs install proprietary user-interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The user is left to figure it all out. Compare this with iPhone where every handset works the same."

    "We think the open vs. closed is just a smokescreen to try and hide the real issue, which is: What’s best for the customer? Fragmented vs. integrated. We think Android is very very fragmented and becoming more fragmented by the day."

    MG Siegler at TechCrunch points to a tweeted response from Android lead Andy Rubin:

    the definition of open: "mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ; make"Tue Oct 19 06:21:18 via webAndy Rubin
    Arubin

    Siegler also refers to the "activation pissing match" between Apple and Google. Jobs said that Apple’s activating 275,000 iOS devices a day, and 300,000 on good days. In a recent Newsweek interview, Rubin said Android gets 250,000 activations on some days. 

    A new report out today from ad network Millennial Media has Android revenue surpassing iOS for the first time across its network. 

    Apple has reaped the benefits of a new iPhone model and of course the iPad this year. We’re going to start seeing a lot of Android tablets very soon (much as we have phones in the past). It’s going to be very interesting to see how it all plays out. 

    Of course mobile isn’t the only area of competition between Apple and Google. It’s now TV time, and it won’t end there. Wait until Google releases its music service (expected later this year). 

    Peter Kafka at All Things D says Apple has a $51 billion shopping list, and asks if another major Google competitor (Facebook) is on it. It’s an interesting discussion, and it would certainly make the media narrative of Google vs. Apple more interesting and convenient, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, although Jobs and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been talking, according to reports, that is probably more in relation to Apple’s Ping service or maybe other partnership opportunities. Facebook is not likekly to sell to anyone. Zuckerberg wouldn’t even sell a small program to Microsoft for a million dollars when he was in high school. I seriously doubt he’s going to sell one of the most important companies on the web that he’s created from the ground up. 

    That doesn’t mean that it’s entirely out of the realm of possibility for Facebook to have a role in Apple’s competition with Google, however. Faceboook has already given Bing an edge in search, when it comes to harvesting Facebook data, something that Google says it will get one way or another. 

    Still, I don’t think Facebook is going to be incredibly significant in Apple’s battle with Android in particular. Facebook is going to do what’s good for Facebook, and Zuckerberg recently discussed the company’s mobile strategy extensively in an interview with TechCrunch. Essentially, the plan is to be on every device. It’s not as if Facebook is going to start cutting off Android and go iOS-exclusive. 

    It’s fun to look at the competition between Google and Apple, but really, they are both winners. They’re both gaining customers left and right. Consumers win too, as technology gets better and we have more devices to choose from. 

    In which areas do you give the edge to Google? Apple? Tell us what you think.

  • More Devs Bet On Android’s Long-Term Success

    Judging by the latest developer survey results from Appcelerator, Android’s future has become brighter than ever.  Exactly 59 percent of the developers involved wagered that it had the best long-term outlook, which isn’t bad by itself and represents a significant rise since June.

    A little background data: in June, 54 percent of participating developers bet on Android, and 40 percent bet on iOS, so as the graphic below shows, the gap is definitely widening.

    What’s more, 56 percent of developers said they consider Android to have the most capabilities as an operating system, and a whopping 85 percent of them indicated it’s the most open platform.

    Of course, in fairness to Apple, we should note that most of Android’s would-be wins haven’t actually occurred yet.  Appcelerator explained in a statement, "Apple iOS continues to dominate in all categories relating to market/revenue opportunity and current devices.  iPhone continues to lead overall developer sentiment with 91% saying they are ‘very interested’ in developing for the device compared to 82% for Android phones."

    So the war between the two companies and mobile operating systems is sure to continue for quite a while.

    RIM might not be out of the rivalry, either, with new info from StatCounter and Royal Pingdom indicating that its user are spending more time on the Web every month.

  • Google Analytics SDK Now Supports Apple’s iOS 4

    Google announced the release of the latest version of its mobile SDK for Google Analytics. This version supports the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 4. 

    The new version of the SDK (version 0.8), which is in beta, also includes fixes for Android. 

    "If you are a current website administrator or Google Analytics developer and are beginning to branch out into Android or iOS development, the Google Analytics mobile SDKs can provide a familiar interface as you transition from tracking website visitors to mobile users," says the Google Analytics Team. 

    "These SDKs for iOS and Android enable you to track user activity directly in your native mobile apps — for example, you can see what ‘pages’ or panels of your application are the most popular or even how many clicks a particular button or control generates," the team adds. "As with Google Analytics for the web, this usage data can help provide insight on additions or enhancements necessary to boost user engagement or optimize your mobile ad spending. Even better, all ‘page view’ and event tracking data is viewable in the same interface that you’re already accustomed to for tracking website statistics, and integrating it into your app is as simple as adding a few lines to your iOS or Android source code."

    Google Analytics for Mobile

    The SDK could prove quite useful for developers looking to monetize their apps, as Google Mobile Ads Product Manager Chrix Finne points out. 

    "For example, you may find that users are browsing a significant number of pages that aren’t currently being monetized or that a particular ad unit converts better on certain pages than others," says Finne. "This type of rich usage data is crucial to optimizing the user experience as well as your revenue."

    This post from Google has some sample code. Developer documentation for the SDK is here.

  • Steve Jobs Takes Dig At Android, Eric Schmidt

    In between the announcements about iPods, Apple TV, and a music-oriented social network, Apple and Google’s mobile rivalry heated up a little more today.  Steve Jobs, while discussing the success of iOS, also tossed out what was likely a veiled insult at Eric Schmidt and Android.

    Remember how Schmidt said in early August that 200,000 Android devices were being activated every day?  It’s that figure – and Google’s method of counting – that Apple’s CEO seemed to bring into question.

    "People throw out a lot of numbers about how many devices they’re activating per day," said Jobs according to Ryan Block.  Then Apple’s CEO continued, "We are doing 230,000 activations a day.  We think our friends may be counting upgrades – if we were counting upgrades, that would be way higher."

    That’s an interesting statement.  It’s of course hard to imagine that Jobs has the iOS numbers wrong; no one’s in a better position to collect more accurate data, and the SEC encourages CEOs to avoid misleading anyone.  But the same observations apply to Schmidt and Android stats.

    Google may well weigh in to clarify the matter (or "coincidentally" share some Android growth numbers) later this week.  Or Eric Schmidt might at least save up a witty comment or two for the next time he’s on camera.

    Anyway, neither company’s suffering due to today’s events at the moment.  Google’s stock rose 2.29 percent today, and Apple’s gained an even more impressive 2.97 percent.

  • Apple Announces New iOS, iPods, iTunes, Ping Social Network, Apple TV

    Apple held its big event today, and showed off several things.  At the event, Steve Jobs said that Apple now has 300 retail stores, and will soon open one in Spain making it 11 countries. He said that Apple has shipped 120 million iOS devices, and that there are 230,000 new iOS activations per day. He also said they’ve had 6.5 billion app downloads and get 200 app downloads every second.

    The New iOS

    Jobs introduced iOS 4.1, which features bug fixes, High Dynamic Range photos, HD video upload over WiFi, TV show rentals, and Game Center.

    With HDR photos, it takes 3 photos in rapid succession, and combines them to make a better picture.

    Game Center includes features for  multi-player games, challenging friends, auto matching, comparing scores and discovering new games. There is an API, which is its own app on the phone.

    iOS 4.1 will be available next week in iTunes for the iPhone and iPod Touch. 4.2 will come in November for the iPad. This will include multitasking, Game Center, HDR photos, and wireless printing, and something called AirPlay.

    AirPlay is the new name of AirTunes, and extends the service from music-only to all kinds of media. You can stream audio, video, and photos over Wi-Fi.

    The New iPods

    Jobs said the company has sold 275 million iPods. He then announced what he says is the biggest change to the iPod lineup "ever". The new version of the Shuffle comes with buttons, VoiceOver, playlists, and "Genius mixes." It holds 15 hours of music, comes in five colors, and costs $49.

    The new version of the Nano eliminates the click wheel and adds multi-touch. It also now has a clip. It’s 46% smaller and 42% lighter than the last version. It has hard volume buttons, VoiceOver, FM Radio, Nike+, pedometer, and comes in 29 languages. The screen can be rotated. It costs $149 for the 8GB version  and $179 for the 16GB version.

    Jobs says they’ve had 1.5 billion game and entertainment downloads. He says the iPod Touch is the most popular portable game player in the world with over 50% market share worldwide.

    The new version is thinner, and comes with retina display, the A4 chip, 3-axis Gyro, iOS 4.1 with Game Center, FaceTime with a front camera, and a rear camera with HD video recording. It costs $229 for the 8GB version, $299 for the 32GB  version, and $399 for the 64GB version.

    The iPods are all available starting next week, and are available for pre-order.

    The New iPod Touch

    The New iTunes and Social Network

    Jobs says iTunes has 11.7 billion songs, 450 million TV episodes, 100 million movies, 35 million books, and 160 million accounts with credit cards and 1-click shopping in 23 countries.

    He then announced the launch of iTunes 10, with a new logo (without a CD, noting that iTunes is about to bypass CDs in sales). The new version has a hybrid view with five or more songs from the same list view and album artwork. There is also a new "ping" feature, which is a social network based on music. Jobs says its like Twitter and Facebook meets iTunes. This is for users and artists.

    Ping comes with privacy settings, social music discovery, follow features, a circle of friends feature, the ability to post thoughts/opinions, custom song/album charts, concert listings, and 160 million iTunes users.  Ping will be an app store app.

    iTunes 10

    The New Apple TV

    Jobs says in four years they’ve sold a lot of Apple TVs but the product hasn’t been "a huge hit". He introduced the second generation, and it comes in the form of a device that fits in the palm of your hand. It has a built-n power supply, one HDMI connector, built-in ethernet, and built-in WiFi.

    It features HD content, with no purchases. There is no storage because everything is by rental. You can also stream from your computer. You can view movies, TV shows, and music. TV shows are 99 cents (in HD). You can rent first-run HD movies for $4.99 the day the come out on DVD. They have deals with ABC and FOX, abut think the other studios ill get onboard. It comes with Netflix access (for subscribers) as expected, and supports YouTube, Flickr, and MobileMe. You can stream content from an iOS device to an Apple TV. It costs $99 as expected. It will be available in four weeks with pre-orders today.

    The New Apple TV

    Update: We received the following statement from Disney/ABC: “When we put our shows on iTunes five years ago, it was revolutionary,” said Anne Sweeney, co-chair Disney Media Networks and president, Disney-ABC Television Group.  “Since then, we’ve continued to provide viewers with innovative new ways to access our programming, and today we’re proud to team with Apple on a rental option for fans of our shows.”

    (Hat tip to GdGt for its live coverage)

  • Kevin Rose Says Apple Will Take Down the Cable/Satellite Industry

    Digg founder Kevin Rose is at it again. Earlier this year he was dropping rumors about Google working on a new social network project (which has since become known as "Google Me", though this is an unconfirmed name). Now he is saying Apple TV, a new set-top box from Apple running iOS will not only be out in September, but will "change everything."

    Though he says Apple TV will be renamed, he says to expect an App Store for interactive TV apps that will eventually "destroy the television side of the cable and satellite industry". He says your only requirement will be to access "on-demand stations" with an Internet connection. "Say goodbye to your monthly cable bill," he proclaims.

    Apple’s product is rumored to cost around $99, which would be substantially less than Dish Network’s Google TV offering if a recent survey from the company is any indication. "At $99 your parents, grandparents, and friends will have an iTV," says Rose.  "Sharing pictures/videos from your iPhone will happen with the push of a button.  Imagine getting a notification of new family videos the next time you turn on your TV. My mom will love this feature." 

    Of couse Google TV will come in many different forms – not just the Dish Network offering. Rose also says the iPad will become one big remote. Clearly the competition between Apple and Google will continue in this space, and why I hesitate to dismiss all of Rose’s predictions completely, some of them may be a long way off if they are true at all.

    For instance, I don’t see this taking the place of cable/satellite without all of the networks jumping on board, and that will probably not be so simple. I’d have to give the edge to Google in this area, as it is launching Google TV with Dish Network as a partner – people won’t have to give up the channels they like to use Google TV. They will get the best of both worlds – TV and Internet/Apps.

    Google TV will be integrated with Android, making a wide range of Android devices remote controls in a sense. This was discussed by the company at Google I/O. Given that Android runs on so many devices, whereas iOS only runs on select Apple devices, the window for integration would appear to be much greater for Google.

    Rose is surely right about one thing – this will indeed be a hot space to watch over the next year or so.

  • Another Report Has Android Moving Up Quickly

    Mobile ad network Millennial Media released its latest Mobile Mix report this morning. Android is now officially the number 2 OS on Millennial’s network. The Android OS grew another 47% month-over-month. Since January, Android has grown 690%. Android surpassed RIM as the number 2 OS on the network.

    Apple ad requests increased 24% month-over-month, but are actually down 15% since January. iPad ad requests grew 327% month-over-month, however.

    Here are the top manufacturers and devices:

    Top 15 Manufacturers

    Top Mobile Phones

    There was a significant increase in app developers programming for RIM’s platform. RIM apps represented 11% of the US Developer Platform Usage Mix. This was a increase of 9%, and represents the increased importance app developers are placing on the RIM platform, the firm says.

    Top Mobile Phones

    Shopping and retail apps entered into the top 10 Mobile App Channels, perhaps reflecting a potential back-to-school trend, Millennial notes.

    Smartphones and connected devices increased their impression share 7%, and now represent 68% of the total impression share. Millennial says this is an example of the continued demand consumers have for a rich media experience they cannot get on a feature phone.

  • Gartner Finds Android Outsells iOS Worldwide

    There’s more good news for Google and the specific teams that support Android this morning.  Gartner’s released some stats concerning the sales of smartphones in the second quarter of this year, and it looks like Android has become the number three mobile operating system in that respect.

    Gartner explained in an official statement, "In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Android expanded rapidly in the second quarter of 2010, overtaking Apple’s iPhone OS to become the third-most-popular OS in the world."

    As the table below shows, Android will secure second place if current trends sustain themselves for any length of time, too.

    What’s more, setting aside all the global data, Gartner indicated, "In the U.S, [Android] also overtook RIM’s OS to become the No. 1 smartphone OS in this region."

    It’s hard to imagine how things could go any better for Google.  The only thing the search giant has to worry about is the fact that the iPhone 4’s launch isn’t covered by this data (it occurred after the end of the second quarter), and that represents a significant opportunity for the iOS to regain some ground.

    The third quarter should be a very important period for Google (and Apple), then, perhaps determining the shape of the smartphone market for at least a year or two.

  • iPhone Users Flock to JailbreakMe

    iPhone Users Flock to JailbreakMe

    Comex has launched a site called Jailbreakme.com, that when visited from an iOS device, allows you to jailbreak it. This is the first jailbreak for iOS 4, and can be accessed via the mobile version of Safari. The point is to make jailbreaking easier for the average joe, I presume.

    "A jailbreak is simply the ability to run apps and use themes and tweaks not approved by Apple," explains the site. "Jailbreaking doesn’t slow down your device or use any extra battery, and is fully reversible (just restore in iTunes). A jailbreak lets your device be how you want it."

    Engadget has posted this video trying to jailbreak the phone, but some issues were encountered:

    Apple recently gave the following statment to Cult of Mac:

    "Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience. As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably."

    Some have had problems with FaceTime and MMS after jailbreaking, but Redmond Pie offers a solution.

  • Flickr Updates iPhone App to Utilize iOS 4 Capabilities, Adds Twitter Sharing

    Flickr has released an updated version of its iPhone app, specifically targeting new features of the iPhone 4 like multi-tasking and support for HD-video uploads.

    "The version 1.2 adds multi-tasking and allows users to upload their photos and videos in the background," a representative for Flickr tells WebProNews. "After tapping the ‘Upload’ button, you can simply do something else; no longer do you have to watch the progress bar until it’s finished. When multi-tasking, we’ll always bring you back to the same place where you left the application."

    Flickr has also introduced a new Twitter sharing feature in the app (which doesn’t only apply to iPhone 4 users). Users can upload a photo or video to Flickr and post its short flic.kr address to Twitter followers at the same time. Users must link their Flickr accounts to their Twitter accounts obviously.

    "In addition to the cool features, we enhanced the overall user interface, provide the option to clear your recent searches and developed an even better full screen browsing experience – once you swipe to the next photo the navigation controls disappear and you can enjoy the photo," the representative says. "Not sure how to enter the full screen mode? Just tap the photo on a photo detail page in the app."

    The app can be downloaded in the App Store for no cost.

  • Millennial Media Finds iOS Outpaced Android In June

    For quite some time, Android has been gaining on Apple’s mobile operating system, looking more and more like it would become a favorite among advertisers.  Millennial Media has determined that Android’s growth slowed a bit in June, however, while Apple saw some impressive increases.

    According to Millennial Media’s latest Mobile Mix report, "Apple ad requests increased 36% month-over-month; iPad ad requests grew 206% month-over-month."  Which is quite impressive, particularly considering the problems that surrounded the iPhone 4’s launch.

    Android ad requests, meanwhile, grew just 23 percent in the same period, which is fine, but appears a little weak in comparison.  And that number could signal something of a falloff considering that ad requests have grown 439 percent since January.

    As for how the situation looks if you take a step back from the stats concerning ad requests, Millennial Media stated, "Apple OS remained the leading Smartphone OS on our network in June with a 56% share of impressions and an 8% growth month-over-month."

    Apple would perhaps do well to press its advantage and take the necessary steps to resolve all the iPhone 4 complaints, then.  Android devices come out on a regular basis; it’ll be quite some time before another iPhone surfaces to give Apple’s operating system an additional boost.

    Stay tuned – we’ll be sure to report whatever Apple announces at its iPhone 4-centric press conference tomorrow.

  • Akamai Launches Open Video Player for HTML5 Toolkit

    Akamai Launches Open Video Player for HTML5 Toolkit

    Akamai has released a new Open Video Player for HTML5 <video> developer toolkit, aimed at simplifying the task of creating flexible HTML5-based video player applications for delivery of HTTP content. 

    "The goal of the Open Video Player for HTML5  <video> is to provide a foundation to allow customers to quickly implement world-class solutions for cross platform/device/format video applications, providing their users with a consistent, high-quality experience through Akamai’s rich media management, delivery and measurement solutions," a spokesperson for Akamai tells WebProNews.

    OVP for HTML5 <video>Akamai explains why this is important to the industry: "The iPhone is unique because it has rapidly become ubiquitous and the iPad is quickly following, with more than 2 million devices already sold. Akamai is working with many of our content owner and broadcasting customers on mobile delivery models. They are finding that when offering live or on-demand content they can quickly expand their available viewership by tens of thousands of global viewers by efficiently and seamlessly developing video experiences designed for these devices."

    "With adaptive bitrate video technology that automatically adjust video quality levels based on a user’s connection speed (wifi, 3G, Edge) consistent security and analytics – all part of Akamai’s HD Network – content owners can deliver the highest possible quality video experiences – even 24×7 TV channels – on the portable devices," Akamai continues. "This toolkit will make it easier for them to create these experiences for the iPad and iPhone and better service their audiences through a portable, ‘best possible screen’ viewing approach."

    The player provides a code library supporting industry best practices and standards such as CSS, JavaScript, HTML/HTML5 and Yahoo! Media RSS 2.0. Akamai says that this means customers can dramatically reduce the time it takes to create an HTML5 <video> based experience to support Apple’s iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), as well as other browsers/devices supporting HTML5 <video>.

    The toolkit can be found here.