Posts tagged Apple
Is Apple better by reputation…or its operating system?
Jul 29th
In June, Android was the most-used mobile operating system, according to Nielsen. The Google-run OS accounted for 39% of the market’s share, while Apple trailed by double digits at 28%. So why is the perception that Apple is the better/more popular smartphone?
What is important to note and continue watching is the distribution of device makers.
Apple manufactures all of its phones; it is still the undisputed king in that department. Whereas Android phones are made by a handful of companies.
However, whether or not a single manufacturer like Apple, with sole control over their product and OS, or a diversified portfolio of manufacturers like HTC, Motorola and Samsung that contract for Google’s Android is more beneficial and competitive, is yet to be seen.
Android’s getting a lot of attention for being forecast as becoming the OS for over half of all smartphones by 2012, but the real story in the report is that Gartner thinks Windows’ Windows Phone 7 will overtake iOS by 2015 and claim the number two spot.
Despite the skeptical reception the Nokia-Microsoft merger received, its long-term payoff will help drive Windows Phone 7 to a 19.5% market share come 2015.
Speculation from the report also hints that Apple won’t be so concerned with holding market share, instead preferring to maintain its own profit margins.
Although, Apple is busy forging partnerships with Twitter to share its iOS5.
The IDC recently forecast that Windows Phone 7 would also become the second most popular mobile OS in the world by 2015 too.
Time will tell…perception stands for a lot though. Don’t you think?
How Apple is taking over social media
Jun 10th
Apple publicly aligned itself with Twitter this week, but the developer release of iOS 5 shows that other social web services will also be included proving Apple really will be everywhere soon.
The contact information page in the iOS 5 address book has a field not just for Twitter, but also offers space to add friends’ handles on Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and Myspace, as found by AllThingsD.
This will mean that a user can access anyone and everyone they have ever been in contact with on their computer with the click of a button!
Alongside a person’s email address and phone number, an iOS user can also add links to their accounts around the web.
Apple will then auto-populate the URL for each of the services.
A developer pointed out to AllThingsD that the social integrations are still full of bugs so this is something that is really only beginning to get off that ground.
The inclusion of the feature shows Apple’s acknowledgement of the importance of web presences and contact information – something that has got the giant into hot water when it has ventured out on its own.
It could be that Twitter is the guinea big in this scenario but either way, it’s a significant step towards Apple’s tech world domination.
Apple unveils user friendly iCloud – let the sharing begin
Jun 7th
There were no surprises this morning as Apple CEO Steve Jobs took to the stage at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference to introduce iCloud – a service that will allow Apple customers to share everything from contacts to work files to their songs via a central data center.
But despite all the excitement and usual press leaks leading up to today’s event, the unveiling left industry analysts at a loss – and consumers might feel the same.
Several Apple followers and fans have been quick to point out that the iOS services are strikingly similar to services already offered by number one rival Microsoft as well as Android.
Even so, Apple’s new online storage and syncing service for music, photos and documents, positions the tech giant for a new, “post-PC” era of computing.
Is the tech era over though? Far from it.
Jobs said, “We are going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud.”
The new era will be all about the smartphone and handheld devices – such as the tablet computer.
With the launch of several cloud services, consumers are becoming increasingly- and invisibly – connected to their digital treasures no matter where they are or what device they are using.
Apple will provide each user 5 gigabytes of free storage on iCloud for mail, documents and backup.
So while cloud services are not new, Apple’s iCloud technology is built into its pre-existing operating systems such as the iOS for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and the Mac OS for its laptop and desktop computers.
By doing this, Apple ensures the service is seamlessly tied into the Apple ecosystem which in turn encourages consumers to have all their technology streamed under one branded banner. It also encourages those fans to take a bigger bite of the Apple and buy more.
Is there really an alternative to the really cool iPad?
Jun 1st
More than one year since its release, the iPad is starting to come up against some hefty competition. Make can anyone really knock this crown off the Apple head?
Intel is in the middle of promoting a new, thinner and lighter mobile computer called an ultrabook in a bid to challenge the growing dominance of Apple’s iPad and the tablet computer market.
Intel’s vision is to enable a new user experience by accelerating a new class of mobile computers.
The world’s largest chipmaker said in a statement, “These computers will marry the performance and capabilities of today’s laptops with tablet-like features and deliver a highly responsive and secure experience, in a thin, light and elegant design.
“The Ultrabook will be shaped by Moore’s Law and silicon technology in the same way they have shaped the traditional PC for the past 40 years.”
Hardly a ‘sexy’ brand, despite its cool singing geeks ads, Intel has a lot of bricks to lay in order to build a path to first place in the light computer market – with in which the tablet sits.
Nic Newman, managing director and head of strategy at personal media company TigerSpike reckons that while the personal media landscape is rapidly evolving and for publishers across the UK, no device has sparked such a change in consumer behaviour as the iPad.
And Apple is a tough act to follow.
Newman said, “Through our own research, we have found that average engagement time on a publishers’ iPad app is 30 – 34 minutes. This is a significant time for a reader to dedicate to a specific application. When you compare this to time spent on a publisher’s website, it is far higher – we’re seeing page views five times higher on a publisher’s tablet app than on the website.”
Intel said that Ultrabooks based on its latest 2nd Generation Intel Core processors will be on shelves later this year. So there’s a long lead time if you want to back the underdog.
The company is aiming to convert 40% of consumer laptops to the new category by the end of 2012.
Desktop computers and laptops continue to outsell tablets. Last year, nearly 18 million tablets were shipped, with Apple’s iPad accounting for nearly 83% of the market. More than 346 million personal computers were shipped in 2010, with Hewlett Packard grabbing 18.5% of the market, and Dell having 12.3%.
However, while PC sales have slowed down in the past two years, iPad sales have skyrocketed.
Research firm International Data Corporation said last month it expects that there will be 50 million tablet shipments in 2011, with Apple maintaining 70% to 80% of the tablet market.
Jefferies & Co. projects that 70 million tablets will be sold this year, with the total expected to increase to 246 million in three years.
But Intel is adamant, “We want to find new ways to propel the PC forward. With what has happened in the tablet space, there is a ‘hurry-up’ to the PC industry.”
Apple is also expected to face more competition this year from Research in Motion’s PlayBook, Samsung Electronics’s Galaxy Tab and Motorola Mobility Holdings’s Xoom.
Question is, are we even ready for something new yet? I’m certainly not over my iPad yet.
App app and away – how apps are making 2011 the year of mobile
May 4th
Apple, Google and other makers of smartphone operating systems are expecting to rake in $3.8 billion this year in sales from downloadable games, organizational tools and other applications, according to research from IHS ISuppli.
Sales of apps from stores run by Apple, Google, Nokia Oyj and Research In Motion will rise 78% in 2011 from $2.1 billion last year. With those figures in mind, the app market is expected to be worth a total of $8.3 billion by 2014.
Content is king, and this is the age of apps. Which in turn, has finally led to our much anticipated year of mobile.
So what does this mean for marketers? Marketing in the digital age, and the year of mobile, is all about connectivity. In the short term, the changes affecting how people interact with digital content will ultimately inspire new devices.
And the best devices will be the ones that provide a great platform for all these apps that we are buying – the connected experience.
By the end of this year, total app downloads will reach 18.1 billion, according to ISuppli. That’s up from 9.5 billion last year and 3.1 billion in 2009.
And despite talk of many a device that will challenge Apple, the tech giant has long been dubbed as the pioneer of the app industry and it continues to increase its reign.
The Apple App Store now accounts for more than three-quarters of total app revenue and is expected to bring in $2.91 billion in revenue in 2011, up 63% from last year, spurred by the popularity of the new iPhone 4 and iPad 2.
In comparison, Google’s Android service will almost quadruple to $425.4 million, putting it on pace to be the second-biggest application store.
Furthermore, the surge in application sales is leading companies such as Time Warner, Walt Disney and News Corp to adapt their content for smartphones and tablet computers.
The app market also has spawned successful start-ups, including Rovio Mobile, made famous by its phenomenal smash hit “Angry Birds.”
App app and away indeed.
iPad 2 – time for marketers to get on board
Mar 3rd
Hoorah! Apple has officially released its iPad 2, and online searches reveal that the world is already captivated by the gadget reminding marketers to prepare content for a boom in the tablet market this year.
“Thinner. Lighter. Faster. FaceTime. Smart covers. 10 hour battery.” Goes the advertising slogan, which hit my inbox this morning.
The device itself doesn’t have anything we didn’t already expect, but perhaps the launch of version two of Apple’s game changing device will prompt others to follow more aggressively.
But first, Samsung, Motorola, HP and Research In Motion might have to solve a more difficult problem first: beating Apple on price.
Sixty-eight percent of tablet users say they are “very satisfied” with internet content accessed via their tablets, compared to 42% of smartphone users.
But tablet adoption is slow-growing, new products and low prices may help make tablets more mainstream and core to the future of the mobile internet, so marketers must get on board.
The device continues to offer new ways for marketers to reach consumers in what is becoming an increasingly lucrative advertising medium – interactivity.
As for apps, there are now over 65,000 available and there’s no denying that they have also played an increasingly important role in brand advertising.
So if iPad 2 has done anything so, it is remind marketers that tablets are certainly no fad.
Kids put Apple at the top of their Christmas list
Oct 27th
Apple products, such as the iPhone 4, iPad and iPod Touch, are on the Christmas wish list for at least 66% of 13 to 16-year-olds, according to a new poll from Duracell.
The firm’s Toy Report has revealed that 17% of five to eight-year-olds want an Apple gadget for Christmas and 50% of nine to 12-year-olds put one of the company’s products on top of their list this year.
Gadgets appear to be popular with both boys and girls as an equal number of both sexes listed these products as their three must-have items this Christmas.
They also tended to opt for gender-neutral devices such as the Kinect for Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the Flip Video Camera.
Duracell quizzed 2,138 parents and children and found that three out of five adults buy gifts that will keep their youngsters quiet throughout the Christmas holidays.
It also found that young people have on average 39 toys or gadgets to play with – at least twice the amount their parents did at the same time.
Apple goes back to the future – with Mac
Oct 21st
For most of the year, Apple has focused on the fastest-growing, most lucrative portion of its business — the iPad and iPhone, which run the iOS operating system. Now it’s going back to where it all started.
Last night, Apple showed off the little side business of making computers that run the Mac OS X operating system, the performance of which would have made a bigger splash in previous years.
At the “Back to the Mac” media event at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, the company previewed the next major version of Mac OS X (dubbed “Lion”), introduced iLife ’11 and a new FaceTime application for videoconferencing, and released a new version of the MacBook Air notebook.
Quite a showing when you consider the company has this year already launched the iPad and the iPhone 4.
We were beginning to think Apple didn’t have any fuel left.
But the focus wasn’t intended just to bolster the strength of the Mac market. CEO Steve Jobs said “back to the Mac” refers to a blending of technologies.
He said, “We’re inspired by some of those innovations in the iPad and iPhone, and we’d like to bring them back to the Mac.”
Apple has incorporated many features of the iPhone and iPad iOS operating system into Mac OS X Lion, due to ship next summer.
One such feature is the finger-based multitouch gestures that are the primary way of interacting with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
So what’s next?
Voice apps will be the ‘next big thing’
Oct 18th
Voice operated ‘apps’ for use in cars will be the next huge growth area for business software development, according to Mark Mason, CEO of app developer Mubaloo.
He reckons, “Smartphone ‘apps’ are making business more mobile and less office bound all the time.
Ford released its software development kit last week and Mubaloo ‘apps’ will be compatible with their SYNC voice command system. The other motor manufacturers are bound to be following suit soon.
An IBM survey of 2,000 software design professionals in 87 counties revealed earlier this month that they expected the design of business apps to outstrip all other forms of business software development in the next five years.
Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of global product development of Ford said more and more drivers will find a way to use their devices and their apps while in the car.
He explained, “They can do it unsafely, or they can do it through safer voice-activated solutions such as Ford SYNC – keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.
Automated voice command compatibility is an impressive feature for an ‘app’.
Ford say that they have received more than 1,000 submissions from developers to either modify their existing apps, or create all-new ones that interface with Ford SYNC’s voice commands through AppLink.
AppLink will be available in the 2011 Fiesta and will be compatible with Android and BlackBerry smartphones. iPhone compatibility is expected to be added to the system later in the year.
Mubaloo have produced a fuel-price finder for the AA, an AXAdent claims app for AXA insurance, a hotel finder for Britain ’s Finest, an augmented reality app for the Carphone Warehouse.
Microsoft goes in for battle with Apple – this time it may win
Oct 12th
Microsoft has finally entered a new era with the launch of its very own smartphone. The tech giant has already swayed Apple fan-boy Stephen Fry, but are its efforts enough to not only recruit ‘fans’ but keep its market share?
The software giant has launched its new Windows Phone 7 ahead of the busy Christmas period as its attempts to take on giants Apple, Google and RIM.
To help its plight, Microsoft’s launch was given the voice of reason by former Twinings brand ambassador and vocal Apple fan Stephen Fry (his powers on the Twitterverse are invaluable).
The nerdy brand has launched a total of nine new handsets that will be available in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Australia. With more than 60 mobile operators in over 30 countries worldwide committed to bringing Windows Phones to market, “the millions of people around the world looking for a phone that plays as hard as it works will have a variety of phones from leading device-makers to choose from,” said Microsoft.
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, added: “Microsoft and its partners are delivering a different kind of mobile phone and experience — one that makes everyday tasks faster by getting more done in fewer steps and providing timely information in a ‘glance and go’ format.”
While that may be true – Microsoft is still one of the best performing technology brand sin the world with over 90% of computer users utilising its software – there’s still that issue of ‘sexy’ sells. And let’s face it, Apple wins that competition hands down.
Microsoft has collaborated with Dell, HTC, LG and Samsung, and from mobile operators including América Móvil, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Movistar, O2, Orange, SFR, SingTel, Telstra, TELUS, Three, T-Mobile USA and UK and Vodafone.
It’s hard to see how they can fail with so much back-up. But only half the battle is over.
Microsoft has a way to go in topping Apple’s iPhone offering as well as beatng down snide remarks that its touch screen phones are simply ‘copycats’.
But in Microsoft’s words, it’s taking on Apple all guns blazing: “Windows Phone 7 breaks the current smartphone convention to help people quickly and easily find and consume data, information and services from the Web and applications. The new phones are distinguished by unique design and integrated experiences built from Microsoft’s deep portfolio such as Xbox LIVE, Microsoft Office Mobile, Zune, Windows Live, Bing and more.
“The customisable Start screen with Live Tiles is a personal experience, showing people their own content. The Live Tiles come to life with real-time updates from the Web such as news, appointments or the status of friends. New Live Tiles can be easily created from whatever content a consumer wants, such as applications, websites and music.”
Basically, its main selling point is that if you’ve ever used Windows Microsoft or Internet Explorer, the Windows Phone 7 will be pretty easy for you to get used and find your way around.
It should also entice Xbox fans with its games offering and those who use Windows Office will be pleased at the usability and sync capabilities.
So if you’re a PC users, you’ll love the Window Phone 7 – but if you’re a Mac user, you’ll love the iPhone. Two very split markets, one though, Microsoft actually has market share. Let the battle begin.
Recent Comments