The Vaughan Practice » android

Links 1.27.10

Vince — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:01:10 +0000

McGraw-Hill CEO Confirms Apple Tablet With iPhone-Style OS

The Mobile Technology Weblog: Dell’s First Cell Phone to Run Android

Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ Near Global Movie Sales Record (Update1) – BusinessWeek

Flurry Holiday 2009 Report: App Store, iPod Touch Shatter Records

Apple Tablet: The Second Stage Media Booster Rocket

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iPhone Dominance = iTunes Dominance

Vince — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:25:54 +0000

Last week, I built a case for how the failings of AT&T are leading consumers to consider other “smartphones” instead of the iPhone. As I mentioned:

Since April, Web requests coming from an Android phone have increased almost six fold. 20% of all smartphone traffic comes from an Android device. 2 Android phones, the G1 and the HTC dream, are in the top 10 of devices purchased.

This is a boon for Android and if trends continue, Android will be the dominant player in the market for mobile devices.

Apple is not without options. Soon it can open up the monopoly AT&T has enjoyed and distribute its handset across multiple carriers. The iPhone, historically, has held the mindshare of the market.

Keep in mind too that Apple is more than just an iPhone company. With its rumored, “iPad,” coming next year, Apple will add yet another item to its stack of products . . . all designed to work together. And what ties them all together . . . iTunes.

iTunes is, historically, the most successful distribution model for downloading music. Consumers learned to use the “App Store,” by being conditioned to use iTunes for the iPod. As such, every mobile device is also judged by the power of its app store. In 2010, Apple is estimated have more than 300,000 “apps” available for download compared to around 100,000 available to Android. And every app is also another capability available for that platform.

And Apple has another product using the App Store than just the iPhone. According to Flurry’s Industry pulse, “it’s important to remember that the iPhone’s flank is protected by an often overlooked, powerful fighting brand: iPod Touch.” According to the study “24 million” of the 58 million Apple devices sold are the iPod Touch.

iTunes is a mammoth differentiator for Apple. It allows for the users to sync their devices and share information in a single household that includes music, photos, videos and data. And it is the single best reason why, if Apple can open up the device to more than one carrier, it will continue down its dominant path.

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Bad News for AT&T, Good News For Android

Vince — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:52:55 +0000

Yesterday I talked about how the demand for Mobile Technology is growing at a pace that is exceeding supply. The iPhone is a huge seller but the more popular it becomes, the more strain it puts on the infrastructure. AT&T ranked dead last in customer satisfaction. And their customers are complaining about dropped calls and interrupted service.

In 2008, Google announced they were building a mobile operating system, Android. With Android, a user can enjoy many of the same features that exist on the iPhone. It is backed by the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of over 50 companies focusing on open standards in the Mobile space. With October marking the one year anniversary of the Android G1, there has been a steady increase in handset deployment and Android usage.

According to the latest AdMob reports:

Since April, Web requests coming from an Android phone have increased almost six fold. 20% of all smartphone traffic comes from an Android device. 2 Android phones, the G1 and the HTC dream, are in the top 10 of devices purchased.

These numbers are about to increase.

Most recently, the Motorola Droid, another Android phone launched and after only two weeks, it comprised 24% of all Android requests.
According to the New York Times, we should see even more phones launched with Android technology before 2010 becomes a reality.

As the dysfunctional marriage between Apple and AT&T twists and tweaks many of its users into a frustrated frenzy, Google and its Open Handset Alliance, if left unchecked, will soon become the dominant player in the Industry. It’s distributed manufacturer strategy automatically creates a distributed network strategy. The capabilities appear similar to many casual users. And the price of an Android phone, aka Google Phone, is less expensive by comparison.

What can Apple do? You’ll have my recommendations next week.

**Update: Chris Brogan’s lastest post is a real world example of my claim that AT&T’s failings become a boon for Android.

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A World We Are Not Ready For

Vince — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:43:28 +0000

Good Morning! It’s a whole new world out there today. I just thought I would let you know. When there is a paradigm shift, we don’t always see it coming. For instance, when the world shifted from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance period, the people of the world didn’t notice until some 400 years after it happened. Change is imperceptible. It remains that way until the environment we are immersed in begins to think and act with the change. To be more specific, we continue to apply old rules to problems until we are sure that the old rules no longer apply. How do we know they no longer apply?

We begin to suffer.

We live in an increasingly mobile world. According to recent studies, one in four households are cellphone only. Of those that have cell phones, 40 percent of those are what we refer to as “SmartPhones.” What is driving the use of Smartphones? First I claim biology. Our bodies are limited by what we can do without technology. Second, I claim sociology. We see others (friends, family, colleagues) using technology, now readily available and we marvel about how much more convenient and practical they are able to move in the world with one of these devices.

Assuming this all sounds reasonable, how are we suffering? Consumers are noticing and demanding this technology, businesses aren’t readily listening fast enough.

Case in point: The iPhone and AT&T.

According to the latest AdMob report, the iPhone accounts for 50% of all Web traffic coming from a “SmartPhone.”

Ad Mob Metrics - SmartPhone Requests

If we do a search of #attfail from twitter, we see pages of results taken from the last day of people who are experiencing dropped calls or interrupted service. And if Consumer Reports is any indication, AT&T can’t keep up with the complaints fast enough.

Also, the iPhone has capabilities embedded in the device that AT&T can’t allow because of the breakdowns they are experiencing with their network. Only in September did AT&T make available, a seemingly basic ability, picture messaging. Tethering with the iPhone (the ability to use the iPhone as a modem for a laptop) while existing on the iPhone as evidenced through hacks, won’t be available officially until sometime in 2010.

We are living a lifestyle the world isn’t quite ready for. Consumer demand is a pandora’s box that can’t be reversed. What does this mean for our future? Come back tomorrow and I’ll help you notice what I speculate this will mean for our future.

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