Mobile Market Wrap-up for February 5, 2010

Posted by Devesh Khare on February 8th, 2010

Welcome to the latest installment of my weekly mobile summary.  To our loyal readers, I’m trying a little experiment and will be releasing the weekly wrap-ups on Mondays instead of Fridays as usual.  I personally like getting summaries on Monday mornings to set the tone for my week, so if you agree or if you don’t like the change, please leave a comment below.

The big story last week was the latest smartphone handset numbers released by Strategy Analaytics.  According to the report, 53 million smartphones were sold globally in Q4 2009 which represents a 30% increase from the year before.  Overall, 173.8 million smartphones were sold during 2009.  No surprise that Nokia topped the charts with 39% of the marketshare with RIM and Apple gaining marketshare to 19.8% (up 4.3%) and 14.1% (up 5.3%) respectively.

The other entertaining story was more Google vs. Apple cat fighting (you should expect it by now).  These two companies have turned the mobile market into a soap opera that includes name calling, product bashing and sometimes personal attacks.  Last week Google released their Google Voice webapp which circumvents iPhone’s “ban” on the Google Voice downloadable app.  And now this week, Google added Multitouch support to the Nexus One.  I’m not aware of any changes in Apple’s multitouch patent, so my best guess is that Google just decided to release the new feature to tell Apple “no more Mr. nice guy, we’re ready to rumble”.   Both companies seem to be mirroring each other with features (e.g. multitouch), acquisitions (e.g. mobile advertising – Google/AdMod and Apple/Quattro), and messaging (e.g. mobile is our future).  This should be an exciting week/month/year as these two companies battle without any playground rules.

As always, here is the mobile handset news I found from last week:

To finish this week’s summary, here is a quick list of articles I found interesting during last week and want to share with you:

See or hear anything else interesting in mobile.  Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Christmas in February for the Nexus One

Posted by Gregg Borodaty on February 3rd, 2010

In case you haven’t heard, the Nexus One is getting an over the air update this week that adds the following:

  • Goggles becomes part of the Google app package. Goggles is a visual search, augmented reality app.
  • Google Maps is getting suggestions and a dedicated night mode, which is useful for navigation.
  • 3G issues that some owners have experienced will be addressed

And, most importantly:

I’m thoroughly excited that Google has finally decided to put muti-touch into Android for US users. I don’t care what the reasons were that it wasn’t in there before, I’m just thrilled to know that it’s coming.

I haven’t received my update yet, but it is supposed to be hear before the end of the week. It feels like Christmas all over again, except I know what we’ll be in the package when I open it, and frankly, I can’t wait!

Check out the video over at Engadget Mobile to see multi-touch in action.

Mobile Market Wrap-up for January 29, 2010

Posted by Devesh Khare on January 29th, 2010

This was a very busy and exciting week in mobile – lots of news, rumors and earnings.  I’m sure all of you heard the Apple letdown announcement, all the follow-on analysis, etc etc… so I’m not going to discuss it here.  The biggest news from all the Apple hoopla was Steve Jobs claiming Apple is the “largest mobile devices company”.  Hmm, that’s an interesting claim but I wonder what metric he’s using. That statement definitely got the attention of Nokia, the world’s number one handset company (for a several years).  The two companies are in the midst of a nasty lawsuit battle, so there was no love lost.  As I’ve mentioned in past posts, Nokia’s been on the skids lately but are starting to show positive signs again – this week they announced a 65% gain in Q4 profit and increased smartphone sales.  Apple’s ego will get them into trouble.  Didn’t anyone teach them not poke a sleeping bear… it’ll wake up angry and hungry.

The other big story this week was the latest handset numbers.  Strategy Analytics and IDC shared that global mobile phone sales rose 10% in 2009 and 11% in Q409 alone.  The top spots went to Nokia, Samsung, and LG (umm… Mr. Job’s where’s Apple?).  IDC’s report went on to predict big growth for Google Android which they expect to move into the #2 OS spot by 2013 behind Symbian (Nokia’s preferred OS).

With handset shipments increasing last year, it’s no wonder 2010 seems to be starting with a lot of handset news.  Here’s this week’s summary of articles:

As always, below are additional posts I found interesting and want to share with you (as I mentioned earlier, there is a lot this week):

See or hear anything else interesting in mobile.  Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Nexus One: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Posted by Gregg Borodaty on January 29th, 2010

Now that I’ve had a week with the Nexus One, I figured I should update my first impressions. What better way to do this than to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good
Web Browsing: Awesome, especially on sites that are optimized for mobile. I won’t ever go back to a non-web enabled phone. It’s just too convenient when you are out and about to be able to access information in real-time. If you’re thinking about upgrading to a web-enabled phone, stop reading this and go get one, now!

Display: Incredible. The colors and sharpness are outstanding. I’ve been letting the phone automatically adjust the brightness based on lighting conditions, and I have had no issues under various lighting conditions.

Navigation rocks: For my use, the navigation works great. I’ve read the reviews of people who say it’s not perfect, but they forget that it’s free. For a free navigation app, it does everything I would expect and more. I particularly like the fact that when you get close to your destination, it brings up the street view – a nice touch.

Voice input: From my limited use thus far, I really like it. I’ve used it for inputing points of interest into the nav, and it hasn’t missed once. My next experiment is to try sending text messages and e-mails.

Camera: Very good. I might as well put my point-and-shoot on Craigslist. It’s also very easy to share pictures via e-mail once you take them.

Google apps: The integration with native Google apps – gmail, maps, voice, etc. is done really well. As I mentioned in my first impressions, if you use the Google tools, you need to get an Android phone.

Trackball: I like it. It’s probably because I’m used to the trackball on the BlackBerry, but it comes in handy, especially if you need to touch an area of the screen that is really small in a website or app.

The Bad
Keyboard: I miss a real keyboard. I’m getting used to the on screen board – turning on the “vibrate on keypress” under the Android keyboard settings helped alot.

Battery Life: It’s much better than I first thought. It only becomes a real problem if you’re using Bluetooth, doing a lot of navigation, or heavy web browsing, but even my BlackBerry Pearl’s battery drained rapidly under those conditions. Under normal use, you can go 2 days between charges. The reason I put this under bad is that the battery indicator is horrible. When the meter is at 75%, the battery is actually at 50%. And when the meter is at 50%, the battery is at about 20%. I’ve run out of battery a couple of times thinking I had more battery left than I did.

Don’t trust the battery indicator!

The Ugly
The Screen: It’s good, but it smudges easy. And as the smudges collect, the screen doesn’t respond as well. Based on my limited experience with the iPhone, the Nexus One screen is not as good. Don’t get me wrong, it’s serviceable, but it could be better.

Lack of multi-touch: Multi-touch pinch-and-zoom it’s so intuitive that I don’t understand why they insist on leaving it off of the Android browser. It’s a real hassle to have to double tap to zoom, and it just isn’t intuitive. If you hack the phone, or to use the proper term – “root” it, you can add multi-touch, but I’m not confident enough to take a chance on bricking the phone.

Careful! The screen smudges.

The verdict
After one week, it’s the best device I’ve ever used. It clearly holds its own with the iPhone and is a bit better in my opinion. The only things the iPhone has on the Nexus One is the touchscreen and number of apps available, but I think the apps are highly overrated as all the productivity apps I want are available on Android.

The Nexus One has the BlackBerry Pearl on the ropes

So, after round one, the Nexus One has delivered the goods and has my old BlackBerry Pearl on the ropes. I still need a bit more time before I officially declare a winner, but it has a huge lead that I don’t think my BlackBerry can overcome.

Stay tuned for a wrap-up review later next month.

Afterthoughts on the iPad

Posted by Gregg Borodaty on January 28th, 2010

Wow! What a 24-hour period. The iPad has been all over the news, and not just the tech outlets – the mainstream press has been all over it, too. In fact I’m wondering who got more attention yesterday – Steve Jobs or President Obama. Even I almost forgot about the State of the Union address after all the iPad hype.

Now that I’ve had some time to digest the news and commentary around it, I figured I should follow up on my tablet post from my last week. What’s one more iPad analysis article….

The event: First class as usual. Apple should hire themselves out for product launches, because I don’t know of any company who does it better, especially the hype leading up to the event.

The name: I understand that they went for a name close to the iPod, but I’m not crazy about it. Apple is about elegance, and pads don’t represent that. iSlate has a richer feel to it and would have been better. Then again, I’m not in charge of $50B in revenue, so what do I know.

Overall design and UI: As I figured last week, Apple nailed it. Sure there are some items people are whining about (like the size of the bezel), but c’mon. Most people will want it based on look alone, and compared to carrying around a Kindle, well, there is no comparison.

Multi-tasking: Apple blew it here. If this is meant to kill netbooks, it absolutely, and I mean absolutely, needs multi-tasking. I understand Apple wants to protect us from ourselves and from draining the battery, but at some point we need to be treated like adults.

Flash support: Another huge miss. How can you tell me the device provides the best internet experience when I can’t view the content on every major multimedia site on the web today? If Apple has any magic left in the hat, they need to pull it out and fix this glaring omission.

Battery life: 10 hours is awesome, but they glossed over the caveats. Your own experience from using the iPhone with Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth turned on should tell you that 10 hours is stretching it. Maybe it’s not a deal breaker, but with a battery that cannot be replaced,you’ll be one unhappy camper when the battery dies one hour into your cross country flight.

3G locked to AT&T: No need to comment here, although I wish the rumors of a Verizon version were true. There’s 60 days to availability - one can still hope, can’t we?

Endless possibilities: While yesterday’s demonstrations were impressive, they were expected. I am more excited about the possibilities that exist with this form factor. I can immediately think of some killer applications in education and retail for this device that would make it an absolute must-have as opposed to a nice-to-have, which I think it is now.

It’s not about computing: Anyone who is expected to do work on this thing will be disappointed. The iPad is about content consumption and gaming – nothing more, nothing less.

Beware the first generation: Remember the iPhone? I suspect the second and third generation will be huge improvements over what was demonstrated yesterday. My advice – hide your credit card until 2011.

Battle lines are drawn: The tablet space is about content. Apple will bring it, Amazon has it. These two companies will stage the first tablet war. I’m not sure Amazon has the design chutzpah to compete with Apple, but I wouldn’t count Amazon and Jeff Bezos out too quickly.

Will I buy it? No, and for one simple reason: the tablet form factor doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t need another thing to manage and carry around. I need things to replace gadgets I have or reduce my monthly spend. The iPad does neither. It gives me another device to manage, and I need a buy a 3G data plan to make it portable and truly useful. Finally, as Stan Shroeder at Mashable points out, who has the time to use it? 

For me, the iPad is a work in progress. Apple, and more spcifically, Steve Jobs, is committed to the form factor. Get used to seeing and hearing about it, because it won’t be disappearing anytime soon.

Mobile Web Usage on the Rise

Posted by Gregg Borodaty on January 27th, 2010

The numbers from Apple’s earnings release this past week were staggering. In addition to racking up over $15 billion in revenue, the company reported that it sold 8.7 million iPhones, nearly double the quantity from the same quarter a year earlier.

The iPhone has created a lot of buzz around mobile. Since our business revolves around the mobile internet, I get a lot of requests for more specific growth rates and usage numbers. In other words, “show me data, not hype!”

Below is a list of reports that quantify just how rapidly the mobile internet is growing. I’ve included a little background about and a couple of highlights from each report.

  • Quantcast Mobile Web Trends Report - Quantcast is an analytics firm that tracks traffic through websites. From its statistics, mobile web viewing now accounts for 1.26% of pageviews in North America. While not a large number, it represents an increase of 110% through 2009. It’s also interesting to note that iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices account for 85% of mobile web traffic in North America. The full report is worth downloading and reading, as well as this summary by Techcrunch.
  • Net Applications - Net Applications is another web analytic firm similar to Quantcast. Their statistics indicate that mobile web viewing accounted for 1.35% of internet pageviews in December 2009, double the number from February 2009, and a 30% increase from November 2009. Interesting that two independent data sources have arrived at nearly the same set of numbers.
  • Neilsen 2010 Fact Sheet - Neilsen provides market research to media companies. Their research shows that 60.7M people used the mobile internet in the US (33% increase over 2008), 25% of devices sold during Q3 2009 were smartphones, and 40-50% of the devices sold in 2010 will be smartphones.
  • Opera mini Monthly Report - Every month Opera issues a report showing the amount of pageviews and data they have processed through their dedicated mobile web browser, Opera mini. For December 2009, the statistics show a 228% year-over-year growth in mobile page views and a 128% growth in unique users. These numbers are impressive, since they reflect people using the Opera mini browser, which leaves out nearly all iPhone and Android users.
  • Morgan Stanley Mobile Internet Report - Morgan Stanley issued an absolute behemoth of a report last October that could arguably be called the definitive state of the mobile internet. Be warned – it’s a huge report. In it, Morgan Stanley asserts that mobile will be 10x bigger than the desktop and will be adopted much faster. They show comparison adoption graphs illustrating how mobile is being adopted 8x faster than equivalent desktop technologies. If you’re looking for a quick overview, Techcrunch did a great summary of the report.

Now that you know the numbers, have you checked a mobile device to see what your mobile presence looks like? If not, you need to, and fast. A market survey performed by Gomez, Inc. last October found that poor mobile web experiences impact consumers’ brand perceptions and traffic. Yes, I know it’s yet another report to read, but it’s worth checking out.

Now’s the time to get ahead of the curve and start optimizing your website and online content for the mobile environment. Otherwise, you risk losing customers and possible business to those that have.

Feel free to contact us for assistance planning and implementing your mobile strategy.

Mobile Market Wrap-up for January 22, 2010

Posted by Devesh Khare on January 22nd, 2010

“We think there is the potential to actually make this mobile Web better than the PC Web,” said this week by Jonathan Rosenberg, Google’s Senior Vice President of Product Management, in a call with analysts.  Google’s leaving no doubt that they think their future is in mobile and continued outwardly expressing their belief in the mobile web.  Also this week, Opera (a big player in the mobile browser business) proclaimed their love of the mobile web by acquiring AdMarvel in hopes of capitalizing on the increased usage (and exponential growth) of mobile hunting/browsing.  For our regular readers, customer and partners, Aumnia obviously agrees with this belief but it’s nice to hear industry giants reiterate it to the rest of the world.

2009 was an introspective year for Nokia.  They lost all their momentum and hurt their image with North American consumers, especially when it came to smartphones, user interfaces and overall handset “sexiness”.  A few months back, Nokia vowed to refocus and streamline product development to make a comeback.  Will 2010 be Nokia’s year-of-resurgence?  With their first major moves of 2010 this week, Nokia seems to be getting media attention.  Starting on Thursday, Nokia released a new navigation service FREE to all GPS-enabled Nokia devices.  This new service offers turn-by-turn directions and premium content from big name partners like Lonely Planet.  I like their first step… well done!  The second major buzz is more of a rumor that Nokia will launch a new handset on January 26th.  Details are still being held tight, so we’ll find out more next week.  I’m excited to see what they have in store for us.

With Apple’s scheduled press event next week, I always expect to hear a full range of rumors coming from all media sources.  No doubt Apple knows how to generate buzz and I have to admit that I love hearing all the far fetched rumors people discuss around the water coolers.  I’m not going to share everything that I’ve heard this week (since some are just obviously not true), but here is a quick list of articles that summarize the more credible rumors:

As promised last week, I’m reverting back to my pre-holiday format, so here are the latest announcements, rumors and reviews of mobile handsets:

And finally, here are some other mobile-oriented articles I found interesting this week that I want to share with you:

See or hear anything else interesting in mobile.  Let us know by leaving a comment below.

How Apple will win the tablet game

Posted by Gregg Borodaty on January 21st, 2010

There is less than a week until one of the most hyped product announcements since the iPhone. Next Wednesday, rumor has it that Apple will launch its tablet device. Speculation has the device named iSlate or iTablet, but no one knows the name for sure. Apple has done a great job keeping the name, as well as the specs, a secret.

There is no doubt about it, the tablet is currently the hottest, or at least most hyped, technology sector. The recent Consumer Electronics Show had no shortage of tablets and e-readers. Everyone and their brother had some sort of device on display.

What many manufacturers have failed to realize is that the tablet is about more than the device. In order to succeed, a tablet needs to have the complete package. The complete package includes the following 3 items:
1. Design: the device needs to look good and have an intuitive user interface.
2. Content: the user needs to be able to easily access content on the device.
3. Integrated billing: the user needs to be able to easily purchase content and apps for the device

Too many vendors are treating this market like the MP3 market. They are focusing too much on the design, and neglecting the content and billing systems behind the device. Apple will not do that.

Apple will bring not only its top notch industrial design to the party but also content and its iTunes store. Just as it did with the iPod, Apple will quickly establish dominance in the market.

The only company who has a chance to challenge Apple is Amazon. They have an established lead in this category with their Kindle device. It brings the content and billing system, but as a dedicated reader, it is not the complete design package. Amazon needs to expand the design scope of the Kindle to make it a worthy challenger to Apple. For all other tablet vendors, the game is over. Yes, a few may survive over the long-term, but their market share will be minimal compared to that of Apple and Amazon.

Personally, I don’t think a tablet form factor will succeed. It feels like a great technology solving a problem that doesn’t exist. Why should I use a tablet when I already have a more portable device that is a phone, internet browser, media player and more? If and when I need more functionality, I just use a laptop or netbook that offers the same portability as a tsblet. On the other hand, there’s a lot of hype out there, and I’m just one opinion.

Am I off target here? Is there a market for a tablet, or am I just being too pragmatic about things? Feel free to let me know in the comments.

Nexus One: First Impressions

Posted by Gregg Borodaty on January 20th, 2010

I’ve been reading a lot about the Android mobile operating system over the last year and couldn’t wait to give it a try. Well, with the arrival of the Nexus One, I decided it’s time to see if I can set aside, and possibly move away, from my BlackBerry Pearl.

On Monday night, I came home to find that my new toy arrived. I’ve used it for a day, and here are my first impressions:

Packaging and accessories
No surprises. The packaging is professional, and all the necessary accessories are neatly packed away. I’m not one for doing video unboxings, so here are pictures of what to expect when you order and open up the Nexus One.

If you really want to see a video unboxing then watch this video. It’s the best unboxing that I have seen of a gadget – EVER.

Build quality
The phone is well built. The look-and-feel mimics the iPhone, and people who saw the device remarked the same to me. The construction is solid, and the device has good weight to it – but not too much to make it feel awkward. The screen resolution is remarkable, the colors vivid, and images very sharp. It’s the best phone screen I’ve seen to date, which includes the Droid.

Setup
In order to take advantage of Android, you need a Google account. In fact, I would not recommend buying the device if you don’t have a Google account. After charging the phone, I powered it on, entered my Google credentials, and the phone instantly synchronized my contacts, gmail and Google Voice accounts. After that, the phone was ready to use.

Phone call quality
Having used a BlackBerry for 3 years now, I’ve come to realize I’ve been spoiled. Phone call quality (i.e. sound of call) is good, but it does not match the BlackBerry Pearl.

Touchscreen
The touchscreen is better than most, but not as good as the iPhone. I’m used to a physical keyboard, so I’m having to adjust to the touchscreen keyboard. It works as well as the iPhone’s on screen keyboard, but other aspects of the touchscreen can be frustrating – particularly areas around the edges of the screen. An alternative to the touchscreen is the trackball, which some reviewers blasted but I like.

Navigation
I briefly tried the navigation while driving around Santa Monica, and it works great. There’s no reason to ever buy a stand alone navigation device.

Web browsing
Since I’m coming from a BlackBerry, the web experience on the Nexus One is off the charts in comparison. After one day of using the web, I can see how browsing the web on mobile devices will rival, if not supplant, desktop browsing. It is especially enjoyable when viewing sites optimized for the mobile form factor (screen size and bandwidth).

Battery life
Poor. I’m used to going at least 3 days between phone charges. After only one day, I have a feeling that the Nexus One will need charged daily. I could also see how heavy use of the Navigation features or other applications could require spot charges throughout the day as well.

So what is my overall first impression after day one? I like it.

The real question: Can the Nexus One replace my trusty BlackBerry Pearl?

Changing to a completely new OS and form factor is going to take some getting used to. There are habits I’ve developed with my BlackBerry that will be hard to break. On the other hand, I can see advantages to switching. For one, the Google tool integration is awesome. If you rely on the Google toolset, the Nexus One, or any Android device for that matter, is a must have.

My plans for the next week are to get more comfortable with the device and to start to exploring the Android apps. Stay tuned for an update toward the end of the month.

A New Era in Mobile

Posted by Gregg Borodaty on January 18th, 2010

There’s been some interesting articles from the major tech outlets regarding sales of the Nexus One. In one article last week, mobile analytic provider Flurry released a report that estimates the first week Nexus One sales at 20,000. That number pales in comparison to the first week iPhone sales (1.6M) and Droid sales (250K).

In the grand scheme of mobile, the Nexus One sales numbers don’t matter.

The Nexus One is not about the phone and its sales, it’s about ushering in a new era in mobile. An era where the carriers like Verizon and AT&T do not have control over the handsets and the services that run on them. An era where handset manufacturers are free to innovate without carrier restrictions and can sell directly to consumers. An era where consumers can buy unlocked equipment from manufacturers and chose their carrier based upon quality of service and network without the confines of a long-term contract.

T-mobile started the process by launching its Even More Plus plans last October – a wide range of plans with no service contract. As a European-based company, they are familiar with and used to this model. I am sure Google worked with them and previewed their Nexus One plans, and T-mobile was more than happy to oblige as a way to differentiate itself and move out of fourth place amongst carriers in the US.

Now, with the Nexus One introduction, Google has introduced a new sales model for mobile phones. Sure there are bugs to work out, but the important piece is that Google is willing to experiment with a new sales model. A sales model where you can buy a phone, unlocked, and then decide which carrier has the best service. And the best part – no long-term contract.

On the heels of the Nexus One, a price war has erupted. Verizon and AT&T have both announced price decreases for their unlimited voice plans. Is this a coincidence? I think not!

A recent analysis by Billshrink showed that the Nexus One is a cheaper alternative without a contract, even at the $529 unlocked price, than competing handsets on Verizon and AT&T. In fact, it’s over $1,000 cheaper than an iPhone and the Droid over the length of the contract.

The final step in the transition to a new era is the introduction of the next generation of mobile technology – LTE. LTE will unify mobile technology across all the carriers – no need to worry about whether a carrier has a CDMA (Verizon and Sprint) or GSM network (AT&T and T-mobile). Once that transition happens over the next one to two years, consumers will buy unlocked phones and then pick a carrier based on their service and rate plan. True competition for consmers will finally exist.

Of course, for those outside the US, this era has always existed, and it shows. When you travel overseas, the handsets and services are way beyond what is available in the US. Why? Consumers have more choice. Carriers and handset manufacturers compete for consumers and have to constantly innovate – there aren’t any contracts locking consumers into poor choices. It’s about time this model exists in the US.

In the end, the Nexus One’s success will not be measured on its sales numbers, but its ability to bring a new era in mobile to the US.