Tag: mobile

Monetizing Mobile is Facebook’s Greatest Challenge

Jenna Wortham for the New York Times:

Amid the jaw-dropping financial figures the company revealed last week when it filed for a public offering was an interesting admission. Although more than half of its 845 million members log into Facebook on a mobile device, the company has not yet found a way to make real money from that use.

“We do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven,” the company said in its review of the risks it faces.

Monetizing Mobile is Facebook’s Greatest Challenge

Thinking about ebooks the way we think about console games and mobile apps

Maybe I haven’t thought this through but amidst all this kerfuffle about proprietary eBook formats, has anyone thought about ebook platforms? Apple has its own format for iBooks, Amazon’s Kindle reads its own format as well, so does Kobo, etc. Yes, there’s the standard ePub format that everyone is supposed to agree on but we know that it may not necessarily serve the commercial interests of each eBook platform provider.

Authors and publishers are pretty much beholden to the whims of platform providers like Apple and Amazon because they rely on these big consumer electronics guys to deliver their work to their readers as far as the digital format is concerned.

Why not think of these as platforms? You know, just like how console game developers have to recreate their games for every console they want to distribute their games on. Just like how mobile application developers have to recode their apps to deliver the best experience on each mobile platform. Just like how software developers have to redo their work for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

The path that delivered us these platforms may have differed from how the ebook formats have come to be but what we have now is pretty much the same situation. Consider the standard ePub format as the web app of ebooks, able to be read anywhere on any platform but has yet to deliver the richer experience that “native” formats are able to.

Just a thought.

Comparing phone sizes

Haven’t linked to this, so I figured I should before I forget. Unfortunately it’s down now.

Comparing phone sizes

Thoughts on Siri

Tim Bajarin for Time:

Indeed, it’s pretty clear to me that Apple has just scratched the surface of the role Siri will play for them in driving future revenue. At the moment, we are enamored with its ability to enhance the man-machine interface. But that’s just the start. Siri is actually on track to become the first point of entrance to “search” engines of all types tied to major databases throughout the world. It will become the gatekeeper to all types of searches, and in the end control which search engine it goes to for its answers.

Apple may not have to compete directly with Google and Microsoft on the search engine front to be a force in search. With Siri, Apple gets to be the gatekeeper to the hundreds of specialist search engines if it manages to pull off deals with databases such as Craigslist, OpenTable, Apartment Finder, AirBnB, Edmunds, IMDB, and the like.

The key to this is being able to pull off the deals. Right now, Siri works with Yelp and Wolfram Alpha. Many (but not all) of those database or search sites make money off display advertising, which will be completely bypassed by Siri users. To have Siri scour their databases and deliver the results directly to users would undermine the very lifeline of their existence.

Not all of those sites will agree to what Apple may propose but Apple could do two things; buy out enough range of specialist search sites to further legitimize Siri, or convince them that Siri will eventually be the preferred way for millions and millions of people around the world to look for information that they will bypass websites and search apps anyway, thereby depriving the sites of visitors. Apple could say that turning down Siri would mean turning away customers.

If Apple were any other company, it might tack on iAds on Siri but at the moment, it doesn’t seem likely. Perhaps one could think of Siri as iTunes, a unified place to seek out relevant bits of information from many different sources. Of course, the business model would be different. People wouldn’t pay for premium search options, or would they?

Ever thought of Siri operating in a similar way to a cable TV service offering a multitude of subscription packages of search databases with a free basic set? Might have crossed the minds of people in Cupertino but given how iTunes is there to disrupt that very business model, it might seem unlikely for Apple to adopt it, not to mention putting people off.

Siri might not be fully working around the world at the moment and whether Apple will earn revenue out of it remains to be seen, after all, Siri is still in public beta and it might take Apple a while before it’s ready for a proper roll out.

It’s a bit difficult to imagine Apple allowing the next iPhone to be released while still carrying a beta version of Siri. 

[update] Or Apple could add ability to purchase things online from Siri.

Thoughts on Siri

iPhone 4S coming to Indonesia’s Telkomsel January 27

Today Telkomsel revealed on its website that it will be bringing iPhone 4S to Indonesia on January 27. While the release seems rather late, it’s worth noting that the 4S did not make its world debut in the US until mid October, much later than in previous years in which Apple launched its new iPhone models in the middle of the northern summer.

Indonesia’s release dates of the iPhones had been erratic with the 3G model being released in March 2008, the 3GS in February 2009, and the iPhone 4 in December 2010. There were rumors that Indonesia was supposed to have been part of the mid-December roll out along with Malaysia, Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, the 4S is ready to roll now for an end of January launch.

Apple supposedly scheduled for a complete iPhone 4S roll out by the end of 2011 but apparently negotiations with some carriers in parts of the world took longer than expected and we ended up with January releases for a number of countries.

At this moment, there is no word on pricing and there is no indication of pre-orders. In the past, pre-order numbers for Telkomsel had been very misleading as it involved no commitment from the consumers and the actual sales number of the launch weekend never reached pre-order levels.

The other Indonesian carrier for iPhone, XL Axiata, has yet to reveal its plans.

The timing will be very close to the Indonesian launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus on January 21, which is two days from now, and ahead of the still rumored launch date of the Lumia series from Nokia, set for mid February.

PS: What about Siri? Well, it won’t be fully operational. Any location-based queries simply won’t work in Indonesia, or across Asia for that matter. Most of it would be there, but if you ask Siri anything to do with location, such as asking for the nearest sushi bar, you won’t get anything.

Boom. Samsung to merge Tizen with bada

Elizabeth Woyke for Forbes:

Bada/Tizen could eventually power a lot of Samsung products, but the transition will take time. Kang said Tizen will probably find its way to “at least one to two” Samsung devices this year. ”Tizen will not become Samsung’s main operating platform anytime soon,” he added.

“anytime soon” in the mobile world means within a year. In two years, who knows. Five years is an eternity, just ask Nokia and RIM.

Boom. Samsung to merge Tizen with bada

Nokia’s Lumia 800 vs N9

Posting it here since I seem to be referring to this chart quite often. Will update it with the Lumia 900 as soon as more details are available.

Nokia’s Lumia 800 vs N9

Android fans wouldn’t understand this reasoning

M.G. Siegler

I hate Android for the same reason that Severus Snape hates Harry Potter — the very sight reminds me of something so beautiful, that was taken from me. Except it’s worse. It’s as if Harry Potter has grown up to become Voldemort.

Android fans wouldn’t understand this reasoning

Samsung could show off Tizen-based phone at MWC in February

I can’t believe I forgot about Tizen, the MeeGo offshoot that Intel and Samsung had been working on since September after Nokia practically abandoned MeeGo to join the Windows phone camp. This is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about in my earlier blog post.

Looks like Tizen is far enough in its development that Samsung is said to be ready to show it at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona.

Given that Samsung has been delivering phones that have become hits among consumers, it’s only a matter of convincing them that these Tizen phones are as good if not better than its Android offerings.

Though Tizen right now looks like a poor copy of Android, things could change between now and launch time.

An important factor in delivering a mobile platform is the support of third party developers working on the most important apps for consumers. Right now, apps and web services are still the primary draw cards for smartphone platforms and if Samsung can convince developers to create the right apps for Tizen, consumers could be ready to pick up.

It’s never the number of apps available on a platform but which apps, games, and services are available. At the moment, social network services as well as photography apps are the major draw cards to smartphones in addition to productivity and games.

Put the right apps and payment system in a platform’s application store, and consumers will be tempted. Of course, this is if the phones and the operating system themselves are solid enough. Nokia’s N9 with MeeGo and Microsoft’s Windows Phone have the hardware and operating systems all set but neither have managed to convince developers of the most persuasive apps and web services to adopt their respective platforms.

Not having killer apps would kill a platform. All platform vendors know this and it’s something they have to deliver to ensure consumer adoption.

Samsung could show off Tizen-based phone at MWC in February

Samsung could be a threat to Google

Today’s Monday Note by Jean Louis Gassée sparked an interesting thought and possibility that Samsung is gaining a serious upper hand in the Android world and could use it as leverage against Google. Now why would Samsung do that?

At this point, Samsung probably wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the relationship with Google, after all, it’s selling tons of Android phones across the world and has become the number one smartphone maker on the planet because of it. Samsung owes a lot of that to Google.

On the other hand, it’s exactly this position that may allow Samsung to put pressure on Google. Samsung is large enough to dwarf its closest competitors and enough of an influence to pull off two of the three Nexus phones, the pinnacle and showcase of Android.

HTC and Motorola are the next largest Android manufacturers yet their sales are nowhere near Samsung’s and in fact have been cannibalized by its Korean competitor. The two companies are suffering.

Erik Sherman at CBS MoneyWatch puts Samsung’s share of Android phones at 55%. Given that it’s an estimation, it’s likely to be off by a bit but still an impressive ballpark figure. Since Samsung no longer officially announces its sales figures for mobile devices, it’s difficult to ascertain just how much of a lead precisely it has over its competitors both inside and outside of the Android ecosystem.

Android is still Samsung’s bread and butter as far as smartphones go, but it also has bada, its own mobile operating system and also Windows Phone to fall back on in case things go sour and you may never know what could happen in this industry. Look at Palm, Apple, RIM, Nokia. In the last five years, the mobile industry has changed so much.

Seeing what Amazon managed to do with Android along with a number of Chinese manufacturers, it’s not out of the question that Samsung could consider forking and maintaining its own version of Android away from Google, thereby creating its own ecosystem.

Why would it want to do that? Control. Google is beginning to assert a level of control that it previously did not require. Ice Cream Sandwich, the fourth iteration of Android, will require partners to include the default Holo theme as an option or risk losing Android Market access.

This may not sound like a big deal at first but it could ruffle some feathers at Samsung, HTC, and other Android companies. The very reason they came up with their own display themes is to differentiate themselves from the competitors and now Google wants conformity (albeit as an option) across the board and it is willing to punish partners for not abiding. After this, what else would Google do to assert control? That’s the question likely going around at the headquarters of those companies.

Google may not want to follow up further than this though, seeing that Microsoft hasn’t been successful going with this very strategy of requiring near-uniform features on its Windows Phone handhelds but it also has market challenges elsewhere. In fact, Microsoft is looking like it will rely mostly on Nokia to push its mobile platform ahead of its other partners.

However, if Samsung were to go by this route, it could face consumer backlash if it fails to execute it properly. An Android variant by Samsung would initially have to be compatible with Android Market apps, just like the Amazon’s Kindle Fire but it may decide to move its entire platform towards its own marketplace. It already has Samsung Apps as a repository for Samsung-exclusive apps and ChatOn could be step one towards establishing its own ecosystem.

At the moment, the smartphone market is run by four major operating systems; Symbian, Android, iOS, and BlackBerry. Windows Phone is still in its infancy and unlikely to make a significant enough move by itself in the next 12 months to break into the top 3. In three years though, who knows.

There’s no way Samsung would pull this off in the next 12 months but I’d be surprised if they’re not working on something that could significantly reduce their reliance on external parties.

Google looks like it needs to pull off its acquisition with Motorola Mobility more than most people think and somehow get people to buy Android phones from Motorola instead of others.

Google may be buying Motorola Mobility for its patent portfolio and is vowing to operate the company independently but down the road, it may be the most important play it makes for its Android platform if it can execute it well.