Posts tagged as: Apple
A Mobile Future: Platform War Rages On
With mobile devices overtaking PCs, we are closely monitoring the Platform War. When these devices become our primary “computers”, what platform will they be using?
At the moment, it appears to be a two-horse race between Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS with Microsoft and the rest lagging behind.
Android currently leads the market with a large number of device models and multiple carriers for those devices. However, it appears iOS is now the preferred platform for developers. And why not? Revenue from iOS apps are six times that of Android apps.
Microsoft appears to be the greatest threat to Android and iOS. Windows 8 tablet is emerging as a viable competitor to Apple’s iPad. Windows 8 is also a desktop operating system, making it an OS that works on all consumer devices: PC, tablets and smartphones. Microsoft’s approach with Windows 8 is to introduce the new OS via new PC sales, thus ensuring millions of users will not have a learning curve when using the OS on their tablets and phones. If Microsoft can continue to beat iPad in price-point and leverage Windows 8′s equity in the PC market, it could become a successful mobile OS.
The race isn’t completely over. The past few years have featured the demise of three mobile platforms: Symbian, WebOS and BlackBerry. As users migrate away from these platforms, what platform will they choose? Also keep in mind, there are a large number of global consumers yet to migrate to smartphones or tablets. The choices of these two groups will have a huge impact on the outcome of the platform war.
A few possible outcomes:
- Microsoft has success with their Windows Phone and Windows 8 focusing on touch.
- Android maintains its lead, perhaps with a unique device like Project Glass.
- Developers revolt and focus on HTML5 or other independent development technology.
- Apple wins and we all use iDevices for everything.
The Platform War rages on into the Mobile Future.
Additional Sources:
Listen up, Google: Here’s what Windows 8 can teach you about tablets
Mobile Platform War: Why Microsoft Is Likely A Winner, Again
A Mobile Future: The PC Is Dead
Are you bold enough to believe or even say “The PC Is Dead”? You might want to get used to it. All evidence is pointing to that statement as a truth for consumers, and sooner than you’d think.
To understand how this is even plausible, we first have to look at the decline of dumbphones. You know, those mobile phones that don’t run advanced apps or have a touchscreen. In the U.S. we’re already halfway through the dumbphone conversion cycle – the transition of consumers from dumbphones to smartphones.
Why the rise in smartphones? There are the obvious additional features: touchscreens, multi-touch, millions of apps, internet connectivity, etc. But we all know consumers care the most about price. The average smartphone handset price has now dipped to $135 and often that cost is subsidized by a mobile service provider. As a result, the demographics of smartphone users are expanding beyond young adults and the wealthy.
What does this mean to PCs? It means they face legitimate competition from mobile devices. For the first time in history, smartphones outsold PCs in the 4th Quarter of 2010.
This market trend is expected to continue with the addition of tablets to the mix. The number of mobile-connected tablets tripled last year to 34 million. Led by Apple’s iPad, researchers expect nearly 120 million tablets will be sold in 2012.
In fact, tablets may be an even greater and more immediate threat to PCs. They already outsell netbooks 2-to-1 and some forecasts have the tablet market alone exceeding that of PCs as early as the fall of 2013.
The PC is dead in the Mobile Future.
Additional References:
The Future of Mobile
iTunes DRM-free Songs. At What Cost?
Apple recently announced they will offer DRM-free versions of all songs in their library by the end of the quarter. For now, about 80% of the library will be available without DRM. Apple struck a deal with the four major labels and multiple independent labels – with a catch.
The catch is they must allow for $.69 and $1.29 song pricing in addition to the previously standard $.99 price. Not that big a deal until you look more closely.
- Most new music will now be priced at $1.29 versus $.99.
- To get the DRM-free version of a $.69 song, you have to pay a 30 cent premium ($.99)
- The DRM-free versions are still AAC format, meaning they are still are tied to Apple software and devices.
This deal is great for the music labels, as they get a revised pricing stucture. Apple wins by publicly fighting and “defeating” DRM.
But, consumers are a big fat loser with this change. They will pay more for new and DRM-free music, and those files will still be in Apple’s format. Until Apple starts offering only DRM-free (or same priced) music in the standard MP3 format, iTunes will continue to be a sub-standard provider of digital music.
Remove the iTunes 8 Store Arrows
Just when you thought it was safe to upgrade, Apple’s new version of iTunes turns on one of it’s most annoying features – and removes the option of disabling it. Yep, I’m talking about those nasty gray icons in your song list linked to the iTunes Store.
You used to be able to uncheck “Show Links to Music Store” under Preferences -> General. I guess Apple really really wants you to buy buy buy!
After a few Google searches I discovered threads about removing this “feature.”
MAC: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080909130752871
Windows: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8049293#8049293
It’s a shame that must revert to these kind of fixes to customize the user experience…
iPhone Calendar is Worthless
As an early adopter of the iPhone I have suffered through the perpetual annoyances of missing features in the iPhone software. Some of them have been added, mostly via the recent 2.0 software update.
But there is one application that continues to be, well, worthless. The Calendar application that comes with the iPhone simply is not functional. I’m not referring to the interface on the phone. My primary issue is how the calendar gets events.
Sure, you can now use a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync or the buggy new Mobile Me for push. But what about the rest (most) of us?
Let me setup my situation. I was forced to use Outlook as it is the only program the iPhone can sync with for contacts and calendars on a PC. But I don’t actually use the Outlook calendar. I add webcals from various sources (Basecamp, Google Calendar, etc.).
When I try to sync via iTunes, NONE of my web calendars are available. This happened before the 2.0 update and I thought for sure this would be resolved, but it continues to be a problem. This should be an available option. In fact, this is not a problem in Apple’s iCal…
An alternate solution would be if Apple remove the handcuffs from the Calendar App and allowed adding of webcals via the App itself. But until then, the iPhone Calendar is worthless to me.
Outlook Calendars
iTunes Calendar Sync Options
