Posts tagged Android
Is Microsoft cool enough to have its own mobile phone?
Feb 15th
It’s Mobile World Congress this week and the perfect time for new players to enter the market. But can tech giant Microsoft pull it off?
Do you remember the days when software and technology companies would only really offer one product, but that product would actually be really good? Everyone would have it and it just became the norm. Microsoft loved those days, the days before it had so many competitors, days when it didn’t have to ‘cool’, it was just geeky.
Now, brand is more important than ever, and even more important for companies is that they now need to be seen with their fingers in many pies – that they’re down with the kids.
Microsoft will this week unveil the Microsoft Windows 7 for Mobile operating system, but what’s even more interesting is it will also be unveiling Windows 7 Mobile handsets.
Microsoft has been pretty busy these past couple of years – busy competing that is.
You have to remember that Microsoft could once do no wrong. It’s products weren’t very sexy but they certainly made our lives easier. But the company perhaps become a little complacent, it took its eyes off the ball and started building Xbox.
Then it had to play catch-up, that’s what Zune was all about. Bing is more about looking for other revenue streams while it watches Apple steal away customers (although Microsoft still has a ninety-something share of the OS market, people are switching because Apple is cooler).
So now it is building a mobile phone. This is perhaps Microsoft’s last chance to really hit the market place big time and offer something unique that will finally set it aside from it’s competitors such as Google and Apple.
The phone, which looks similar to a Blackberry, will have to be a ‘must have’ item. But will it be hot and sexy enough to attract consumers to camp out at mobile phone retailers to be first to have one?
Microsoft’s decision to enter the mobile phone market reflects a broader push inside the company to bring a bigger element of ‘cool’ to its brand – which is usually known as ‘functional’ (I am here reminded of those Window 7 ads…there was no one cool in those, just people functioning, often stupidly).
But it’ll have to go some way to convince consumers.
Microsoft’s early lead in smartphone software was built on its strong practical appeal to corporate IT departments, which wanted to move applications they had developed for other Windows operating systems on to mobile handsets.
It’s popular with the geeks – but even they are losing interest. The company’s share of the smartphone business has withered as consumers have turned to cooler handsets and often kept these for work as well.
According to comScore, Microsoft’s share of smartphone software had slipped to 18% in the US in the final quarter of last year, while Apple’s iPhone claimed 25% of the market.
There certainly is a lot of ground to catch up on for Microsoft. The handset won’t just have to ‘wow’ consumers, it’ll have to shock them. And the ad campaign will have to be a hell of a lot better than those Windows 7 ads.
Android vs the iPhone – who wins?
Jan 25th
Google’s Android is proving more popular than Apple’s iPhone. Here’s why.
Android is winning in the popularity stakes over its rival iPhone, according to a new report from mobile entertainment site Myxer.
According to the report, Android has pulled far ahead of the iPhone in terms of traffic. Visits from users on the Android operating system grew almost 350% from December 2008 to December 2009, compared to iPhone visits which grew 170%.
But which phone will win customers over in the end?
Both the iPhone and the Android platform are designed for easy internet browsing but the Android wins out here. According to new data from Nielsen and compiled by eMarketer, owners of Android phones are the most likely to use their device’s internet functionality. Ninety-two percent of Android users say they take utilize their phone’s web connection, compared to 88% of iPhone owners.
If Android owners are slightly more web-enabled, iPhone fans are slightly more social. As recent comScore data demonstrates, iPhone users come out on top when it comes to most advanced social-oriented phone activities – everything from sharing photos to spending time on social networks and blogs.
And to the most important point for marketers, apps. You’d expect to see iPhone owners using and downloading apps more often than Android users given the 100,000 options at their fingertips. But Android owners come out just ahead in the relative realm of application usage: 76% of them say they utilize apps, according to Nielsen, while 74% of iPhone owners say they make use of their mobile programs.
The two smartphone platforms are neck-in-neck when it comes to using most of the so-called “advanced functions” – and practically every other mobile phone system is struggling to keep up.
Mobile apps could threaten Google, Yahoo and Bing’s search future
Jan 7th
As the internet goes mobile, apps could be replacing the need for search
Applications that take users directly to e-commerce sites and other web service destinations threaten search providers such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing, according to BroadPoint AmTech.
Some retailers including Amazon and eBay are making it even easier for consumers to visit their site and make purchases by offering mobile apps that enable full browsing and purchasing functionality.
Consumers who download these mobile apps directly to their iPhones and other smartphones and can then go straight to the source website and buy what they need. So will the search box be a redundant feature of the internet in the future?
There are several opportunities to make money from pairing ads with search engines on smartphones and other mobile computing gadgets, but applications that take users directly to e-commerce sites and other web service destinations threaten search providers, says BroadPoint AmTech.
Mobile web search and queries are on the rise and will continue to soar once consumers begin to leverage more location-based mobile services. It’s no wonder Google swore its allegiance for the space by bidding $750 million for mobile ad maker AdMob.
BroadPoint AmTech said 10 to 30% of the mobile searches consumers trigger for Amazon.com, eBay and the like go through the Google, Yahoo or Bing search box on their iPhones, Google Android devices and other smartphones. Ads served with these navigational queries cultivate decent click-through rates.
But many vendors are making it even easier for consumers to visit their sites and make purchases and it isn’t just the big companies that are creating mobile apps to drive e-commerce to their websites.
This presents Google, Yahoo, Bing and other mobile search engine providers with an interesting quandary, or intriguing options, depending on how they choose to approach this new turf war.
These providers can secure search toolbar distribution deals with phone makers such as Apple and wireless carriers, grabbing the scraps from the tables of mobile app providers.
Or these internet companies can build their own mobile apps for prominent placement on smartphone decks. For example, Google has recently released two powerful apps, the Google Maps Navigation turn-by-turn GPS program and the Google Goggles visual search app.
Both are currently available only on Android. Google hasn’t discussed how it might make money from these free apps, but serving local ads with its GPS app and its visual search app seems to be such an intuitive task that it would be surprising if Google did not undertake it.
In any case, Google is headed in the right direction with the impending Nexus One smartphone, a fast-performing HTC device. The search giant seems to be focused on making sure it can guide the development of the mobile web while protecting and expanding its own business model.
Could other search companies follow suit to protect their online futures?
Android crashes the smartphone party – will it push Apple out?
Dec 17th
Android is quickly gaining in the popularity stakes, but can it even come close to the success of Apple’s iPhone?
Consumer awareness of Google’s Android is growing rapidly, due in large part to the Verizon Droid ad campaign in the US.
Further, of those American consumers in the market for a smartphone, 17% are considering the purchase of an android-supported device in next three months, compared to 20% indicating they plan to purchase an iPhone.
Last week on UTalkMarketing, we revealed that the new Android handset is expected to become more popular than Apple’s iPhone, according to exclusive research from OneNewsPage.com.
Asked, ‘Will the new version of Android beat the iPhone?’, 77% of readers said yes, while just 23% disagreed.
The statistics show that despite Apple’s growing popularity, it might finally be losing its luster as new competition enters the market.
Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile, said, “With handsets on multiple carriers, from multiple manufacturers, and numerous Android device models expected to be in the U.S. market by January, the Android platform is rapidly shaking up the smartphone market.
“While the iPhone continues to set the bar with its App Store and passionate user base, and RIM remains the leader among the business set, Android is clearly gaining momentum among developers and consumers.”
Although Android’s share of the smartphone market is relatively small, it has quickly doubled in the past year to 3.5% in October 2009.
Understanding the mobile media behaviour of Android users highlights why operators and media companies might embrace the platform and fuel its growth.
An analysis of mobile media consumption on smartphones revealed that users of both Apple and Android-supported devices were more likely to engage with mobile media than an average smartphone user.
Users of the Apple iPhone were most likely to consume mobile media, with 94% of users doing so in September 2009, while 92% of Android device users, predominantly T-Mobile G1 users, engaged in mobile media activities – 12% higher than an average smartphone user.
Apple and Android users are equally likely to engage with news via their browser and nearly identical in their mobile application engagement, according to comScore.
Email was the only major activity in which iPhone users (87% were far more likely to participate than Android users (63%).
Overall, Android users will behave more like iPhone users than other smartphone users giving some hope to Google and its endeavor into the mobile market next year. However, it is more bad news for BalckBerry and Nokia, which have already suffered declines this year following the launch of Apple’s 3G iPhone.
The question now is, is there room in the market for all four devices, or will older player be squeezed out?
Google’s Android platform has continued to gain awareness and has sparked interest this week by announcing a Google handset in the testing phases, but to be rolled out next year.
In August 2009, just 22% of mobile users had heard of the Android, while in November 2009 this figure had reached 37%, largely prompted by an advertising push launched in September. The comScore study found that not only is general awareness increasing about Android, but intent to purchase an Android-supported device is also increasing among mobile phone users.
When mobile users were asked in November which phone they planned to buy in the next three months, 17% said they planned to purchase an Android-supported device compared to 20% of respondents who said they planned to purchase an iPhone.
Has the iPhone lost its lustre?
Technology is a fickle market these days. Consumers have little loyalty and a very ‘gadget’ driven, keen to try out new devices and technologies – out with the old and in with the new is the attitude. We want the latest, up-to-date, ‘wow’ technology and we’re even more willing to ‘give it a go’. And with a brand name such as Google behind it, it’s no surprise the Android is participating success.
However, 21% of consumers are still planning to purchase an iPhone in the next three months. Remember, Apple is untouchable. For now.
Google Voice Search journey goes public…in Times Square
Nov 27th
Here’s a clear picture on how billboard advertising is moving on from being just a poster advert on the side of a highway to the one of the most exciting ways to involve consumers in your ads:
Google, Verizon, Reuters, and R/GA have teamed up to take over the largest displays on Times Square that will allow for a giant Google Search by voice experiment/Droid advertisement.
On Black Friday, anyone who calls 888-376-4336 and does a Google Search by voice, will see their results displayed on either the Reuters sign or the NASDAQ sign in Times Square, as reported by TechCrunch.
If ask about a new CD, for example, the display will come up with a giant Google Map of where you can find it.
The activity is part of a big promotion for Droid, the new Android phone built by Verizon and being heavily pushed by Google.
This year has been a great one for billboard advertising. Remember when MasterCard took over the Old Street roundabout billboard in February with a special Valentine’s message?
But what makes Google’s idea so cool is that it is actually getting people to interact, and that is what is key in the new world of advertising.
Orange looks to cash in on mobile internet with iPhone
Nov 3rd
The mobile internet has certainly been given a boost this year with the increasing popularity of Apple’s iPhone and the Android, now, French telecoms provider Orange is looking to further cash in on what has proved to be a natural progression for telcos – the mobile internet.
From next Tuesday (November 10), Orange will begin selling the iPhone, a long two years since its launch in the UK when the telco missed out on the lucrative contract when it went exclusively to O2.
The introduction of Apple’s handset is set to boost revenues at the UK third largest telco, which already boasts 4.7 million mobile internet subscribers.
Research from Juniper has revealed that the mobile internet ad spending could be well quadrupling from the current day £250 million to well over £1 billion by 2014.
An increase in mobile internet ad spend won’t not directly impact the revenues of the mobile network operators, but it is an indication of how lucrative the medium is going to be in the near future.
Last week, Orange reported a significant rise in its mobile internet customer base in its otherwise disappointing 2009 financial results.
It increased the number of mobile internet customers by almost two-thirds (64%) in the first nine months of 2009, compared to the same period last year – proving it can handle the ever increasing and demanding iPhone audience.
The network offers a range of mobile internet packages offering speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps which start from £4.89 a month.
In the build to its iPhone November 10 debut, Orange has launched a £4m outdoor and press advertising campaign to promote its 3G network, which it claims covers more than 93% of the population.
Orange has a strategy of looking to woo customers with its claim to have the best network based on third generation mobile technology, which enables reasonable web surfing on handsets.
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