adoption
Latest
German animal shelter is posting profiles of adoptable pets on Tinder
An animal shelter in Germany is posting profiles of its adoptable animals on Tinder in hopes that lonely singles will 'swipe right' on a new pet.
Apple accused of intentionally breaking FaceTime on iOS 6
We don't normally cover individual lawsuits against corporations because, hey, they make a lot of money, and everyone wants a slice. But the circumstances around this one are sufficiently controversial that we've made an exception. A woman from California has filed a claim against Apple saying that the company intentionally broke FaceTime on iOS 6 to force users to upgrade to iOS 7.
Kickstarter shuts down sketchy Adoptly campaign
About a week ago, a brain-dead campaign hit Kickstarter. Adoptly promised that adoption was "just a swipe away" through its Tinder-style app that let you find adoptable children. It was a terrible way to frame such a service, and something about the whole situation just didn't make sense, despite assurances from the company that it was legit. Apparently, Kickstarter also feels that something is amiss here: the Adoptly campaign was just suspended.
Using Tinder's swipe UI isn't always a good idea
Thanks to Tinder, swiping left or right on the photo of a potential hookup quickly became a common user interface element. But a new startup is reminding us that swiping right isn't appropriate for every kind of app -- say, an adoption app. Adoptly wants to modernize adoption by letting prospective parents set up a profile, filter potential adoptable children by age, race, gender and a few other characteristics -- and then let parents swipe right or left to express interest (or a lack thereof). Indeed, the company's slogan is "parenthood is just a swipe away."
iPhone 6 beating out its bigger brother by a 6-to-1 margin
For the first time in the history of the iPhone, Apple launched two new sizes of its iconic handset this year, so which way the sales would swing was anyone's guess. The smaller -- and cheaper -- iPhone 6 was obviously going to beat out its bigger brother, the 6 Plus, but by how much? App analytics firm Localytics has some early usage data that shows sales of the iPhone 6 beating out the 6 Plus by a huge 6-to-1 margin. The data was pulled from a pool of 1.5 billion devices, so it's likely a good sample from which to draw conclusions. Of course, with early sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus experiencing huge bottlenecks, some hoping for an iPhone 6 Plus may have settled for the smaller model, and vice versa, so it could change a bit as supply meets demand. [via VentureBeat]
iOS 8 adoption rate starts off slow, but the reasons are clear
In contrast to past numerical releases of iOS, iOS 8 is getting off to a bit of a slow start. As data from both Mixpanel, Chitika and Tapjoy illustrate, iOS 8 is clawing for its share of the iOS pie but isn't quite pulling it off as well as its predecessors. There are likely multiple factors that play into this: iOS 8 isn't a massive visual upgrade like iOS 7 was. With record-breaking pre-orders for the iPhone 6/6 Plus, fewer people care about downloading an update when they'll be replacing the phone entirely in a matter of days. The iOS 8 update required more space to install than its predecessors, which could have stopped some users in their tracks. Installs that began may have been timing out (it took me two tries on both my iPhone and iPad). Seriously though, as far as iOS updates go, iOS 8 may pack a whole bunch of new features, but it simply wasn't as hotly anticipated as many of its predecessors for a variety of reasons. I don't think a more gradual adoption rate is a commentary on its quality, but rather a sign that iOS 7 reached a ridiculous level of hype last year, and this time around there's so much to say (and read) about the new iPhones and the Apple Watch that the new iOS update simply isn't at the front of the public's collective tech consciousness.
iOS 6 becomes 15 percent of Apple mobile device traffic within 24 hours
There's been some trepidation among Apple device users over the upgrade to iOS 6 given that it takes away some components while adding others. You wouldn't guess it from the initial upgrade rate, however. Both ChartBoost and Chitika have determined that about 15 percent of iOS data traffic was already coming from Apple's latest release within its first 24 hours of availability -- not bad, considering that it took Android 4.0 roughly eight months to reach a similar ratio and iOS 5 about five days to hit 20 percent. ChartBoost adds that iPhone owners were the quickest to upgrade, which is only logical when the iPhone 4S gets the most new features. The contrast between Android and iOS was entirely expected, knowing Apple's limited hardware pool and reduced carrier oversight. We're more interested in the differences between iOS versions: they suggest that whatever advantages people see in iOS 6, as well as a widespread over-the-air update system, have been enough to spur on many early adopters.
Ad network Chitika reports iOS 6 on 15% of compatible devices
While this is based upon info taken from people using Chitika's service, we've found overall trends are quite nicely tracked by this data. The latest report says that a full 15 percent of eligible iPhones, iPod touches and iPads are already running iOS 6. Considering it was released just yesterday? That's impressive. As TechCrunch points out, after two months of Jelly Bean (the latest Android OS) availability, Google has seen an adoption rate of only 1.5%. Apple customers are a little quicker to react and install whenever a new iOS appears, it seems. Of course, considering iOS 6 was Apple's first full version update over the air (5.0.1 saw the debut of OTA updates), adoption is likely that much faster as a result.
Ice Cream Sandwich takes a bite out of Gingerbread, represents 15.9 percent of Android devices
Two major updates later (three if you count the tablet-exclusive Honeycomb), and Gingerbread is finally starting to falter. According to Google's latest two week survey of devices accessing the Play store, Ice Cream Sandwich is on the rise, filling out 15.9-percent of the Android user base. That's a full five points ahead of Android 4.0's July score, and it's eating into the OS' other flavors: Gingerbread (Android 2.3) dropped by 3.4-percent, Froyo (Android 2.2) by 1.8 and Eclair (Android 2.1) by a meager half a percent. Google's latest confectionery update, Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), made an appearance as well, eking out a shy 0.8-percent of the market. Check out Google's collection of charts for yourself at the source link below or let us know where your devices falls in the comments.
Ice Cream Sandwich consumed by one in ten Android devices
The latest Dashboard numbers for Google's Android operating system have been released. The verdict? One in ten devices is leveraging Ice Cream Sandwich as their mobile OS of choice. The numbers, which are current as of July 2nd, put Gingerbread (Android 2.3) in first place with a 64-percent install base; followed by Froyo (Android 2.2) with 17.3-percent and ICS with 10.6-percent. Jelly Bean (Android 4.1), announced just last week at Google's IO Developer Conference, was not included in this instance of the report (as it is not officially available yet). Hit the source link to view all the stats, and feel free to let us know what Android codebase your handset is rocking via the comments.
Good Technology report shows Apple still dominates enterprise activations
Good Technology's quarterly report on device activation statistics among its Fortune 500 clients has been released. Just like previous quarters, the results show a marked dominance of iOS device activations in enterprise environments. In the consumer arena, Android has been running away with the marketshare lead for most of the past couple of years, but iOS continues to rule the enterprise roost. According to Good's analysis, the relative percentage of Android device activations decreased over the quarter. iOS devices made up 71 percent of net activations in Q4 2011, while Android dropped to 29 percent; these numbers compare to 68 percent for iOS vs. 32 percent for Android in Q3. The iPhone 4S was a major factor in Apple's smartphone gains for the quarter, accounting for 31 percent of all device activations -- the single most popular device for the quarter. During September and October, Android smartphone activations were steadily closing in on iPhone activations, but that trend sharply reversed in November. By December, iPhone activations were crushing Android phone activations; in fact, during December the number of iPad activations exceeded the number of Android smartphone activations, something not seen since July. The iPad accounted for 94.7 percent of total tablet activations for Q4, a negligible decline from its 96 percent statistic in Q3. Android tablets accounted for no more than 1 percent of overall device activations in the enterprise, with a 5.2 percent share of overall tablet activations. "For now, the iPad and iPad 2 remain the de facto enterprise tablet standard -- especially when it comes to the large company-driven deployments in verticals such as Financial Services, Business and Professional Services, Life Sciences, and Healthcare," GT reports. The Financial Services sector in particular had an iPad adoption rate four times higher than any other industry. Together, Apple's iPhone and iPad models accounted for the top five out of ten most popular devices activated in the enterprise, with the device breakdown as follows: iPhone 4S iPhone 4 iPad 2 iPad iPhone 3GS Android smartphones rounded out the top 10. The most popular Android-powered device, the Samsung Galaxy S II, accounted for 1.7 percent of overall device activations. GT's summary of 2011 as a whole shows a marked lead in iPhone activations over Android smartphone activations, especially in the last quarter. Meanwhile, the iPad is stomping Android's tablets in the enterprise; Android's tablets barely show up at all on Good's graph of 2011. It's worth noting, as Good itself does, that the numbers for Q4 do not reflect holiday sales. Good Technology expects yet more gains for iOS devices in the enterprise once workers bring their newly-acquired Christmas gifts back to work with them over the first quarter of 2012. Good does not report on BlackBerry or Windows Phone 7 device activations. However, given what we know about RIM's increasingly dismal performance and Windows Phone 7's lack of traction in the consumer market, it's unlikely that either platform is making a meaningful contribution to the overall trend in device activations.
Q3 enterprise adoption: iPhone slips, Android gains, iPad owns the tablet space
Along with Apple's quarterly results earlier this week, there's another report hitting today that covers a growing segment of the mobile device market: Good Technology's roundup of device activation statistics, compiled from the company's range of Fortune 500 clients that use Good's service to provide secure email and calendaring to handsets and tablets. (See previous results here.) The results this time around: interesting but not that surprising. You can see the full PDF report here. iPhone and iOS activations continue to lead the field, with iPhones representing 61% of all smartphone activations on Good's platform and iOS devices generally covering 70% of activations (a drop from the 78% share in the previous quarter). Android smartphones, however, picked up some ground on the iPhone over the quarter, showing improvement month over month. Android phones finished the quarter with about 39% of smartphone activations, passing iPad activations again (28.3% vs. 26.3% of the total) after the iPad overtook Android last quarter. Good's assessment of the iPhone/Android shift is largely in line with Apple's spin: customers put off iPhone 4 purchases in anticipation of a new iPhone release in the fall, which is exactly what we got. Good SVP John Herrema did get a look at preliminary data for the iPhone 4S launch weekend, and given the observed 25% bump in activations over the quarterly average for the iPhone 4, he's confident about an iPhone surge: "Looking forward to Q4, 2011, we expect... the iPhone 4S to be the catalyst for an Apple rally." When it comes to the iPad versus the larger universe of tablet devices, the story remains that there is no "tablet market" -- the iPad is the only game in town as far as big companies are concerned. The report summary puts it thusly: "To say iOS tablets dominated adoption in the enterprise is to understate the case.... Android tablet activations within Good's customer base remain in the realm of a rounding error compared to what we're seeing with iPad and iPad 2." iOS tablets made up more than 96% of all tablet activations in the quarter. As always, it's important to note that Good's data does not cover RIM's Blackberry devices, as they are supported by RIM's proprietary server infrastructure; Windows 7 phones and tablets are also not tracked by the company.
Siri is the iPhone 4S' most enticing feature
I could have probably told you this without doing all of the research, but Loopt asked around anyway, and found out that Siri was the iPhone 4S' most exciting new feature for consumers. Sure, that camera is really impressive, and that processor will come in handy when running new games and apps. But 45% of those polled say Siri is the killer app for the new iPhone. And that makes sense -- not only is Siri flashy and new (and available only on the iPhone 4S, for now), but it's pretty much the marquee feature for the device according to Apple's marketing. And since that feature was only available on the iPhone 4S, then who, do you think, were the most frequent buyers of that new device? Turns out, according to Loopt's fairly informal data, that it was actually iPhone 4 owners. Personally, I usually go for a "leapfrog" system of hardware upgrades (and since I already have an iPhone 4, that leaves me out of this round), but that's probably not the case with most iPhone 4S buyers -- some people just need to have the latest and greatest, so according to this data, most day-one iPhone 4S buyers were standing in line with their iPhone 4s already. Interesting. This information is all based on "Loopt Qs," which are apparently social questionnaires put on by the mobile social network, so it seems like these answers are self-selected and probably not really representative of anyone but the folks who use Loopt. But nevertheless, the insight that Siri is driving iPhone 4S adoption seems legit enough.
BlackBerry finally sees competition within US government
Despite our commander-in-chief's seemingly undying allegiance to BlackBerry, it looks like the federal government could be ready to make a break from RIM. According to a Washington Post article published yesterday, a number of agencies within the federal government are questioning their attachment to the standard-issue BlackBerry devices, and allowing government employees to bring in their own preferred methods of communication -- among other things, Congress now allows the use of iPads and iPhones on the House floor and use of BlackBerrys at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has dropped from 1,000 to 700 in the past year. What's more, the General Services Administration is currently shifting 17,000 employees to Gmail, a move it says could reduce expenses by 50 percent in the next five years. Likewise, the USDA will also move its email services to the cloud with Microsoft's services, claiming $6 million in annual savings. Now, we doubt Obama's going to turn a blind eye to RIM entirely, but he has been getting awfully cozy with that iPad.
Adobe says Flash 10.2 coming to handsets soon, offers roundabout confirmation of Honeycomb for smartphones
Google's been notoriously tight-lipped about when Honeycomb will come to cellular handsets, but we may have gotten our answer at a recent Adobe event, as the company's Anup Murarka tells us Flash 10.2 will be coming to both tablets and smartphones "in the next few weeks." Come again? You see, Adobe Flash 10.2 uses fewer CPU cycles to play back web video, likely providing better battery life in Android devices (and BlackBerry tablets), but Adobe told us it can't support the function in earlier versions of the Android OS -- Google had to specifically add new capabilities in Honeycomb to let Flash 10.2 take full advantage of hardware. In short, if Flash 10.2 requires Android 3.0 and Flash 10.2 is headed to phones soon, the transitive property of equality suggests that Android 3.0 will soon appear on smartphones as well. Our algebra teacher would be so proud. In related news, both Flash and Adobe AIR seem to be doing quite well in the mobile arena thus far, as Adobe reports that that AIR is presently in over 84 million smartphones and tablets -- with over 200 million such devices ready for the cross-platform apps by the end of the year -- and Flash has shipped on 20 million devices across 35 different models (twelve percent of all smartphones, says Adobe) with 50 new Flash-ready tablets scheduled to appear in 2011. PR after the break.
Visualized: the state of the smartphone wars
As AT&T's iPhone exclusivity reluctantly teeters on the brink of oblivion, it seems a good time to take one last look at the smartphone playground, the way it is before V-Day. The New York Times has handily done that job for us with the above chart, which simultaneously gives us a sense of scale when comparing US carriers and lays out the concentration of Android devices across those networks. It also shows a big fat bump of iOS on AT&T, making it the biggest carrier in terms of combined iPhone and Android users -- nothing shocking there, but the real fun will be in taking a look at this same data a few months from now. Will the iPhone fragment itself all over the four major networks? Will AT&T's Android stable ever be respectable? Tune in to your next installment of "fun, but mostly irrelevant statistics" to find out.
Japan loves its 3D: more than half of all Blu-ray recorders sold last month had 3D, 3DTVs popular too
Finally, we find a market that is truly enthusiastic about 3D. Tokyo-based researchers BCN, cited by CrunchGear, report that a cool 57 percent of all Blu-ray recorders sold in Japan last month had 3D playback functionality built in, while 23 percent of all 40-inch-plus TVs sold had the ability to relay stereoscopic imagery. Both those numbers are major leaps in popularity within the nation itself and also easily dwarf penetration rates for 3D hardware in other parts of the world. 3D has apparently grown a lot more affordable in Japan, but lest you think these data are just a symptom of people upgrading their equipment without regard to its third-dimension skills, word is that there's still a chunky 30 percent premium associated with adding 3D to your BR recorder purchase. So, it would seem the trendsetting Japanese are leading from the front on this one -- awkward, unstylish glasses be damned!
iPad adoption rate faster than DVD, says analyst
I first heard about DVDs in late March 1997, sitting in the back seat of a friend's car as her now-husband explained this new video format that had just gone on sale weeks earlier. Having just gotten my VCR, it was pretty hard to fathom picking up another piece of hardware anytime soon. Within the next year, I saw DVDs appear at the local Suncoast and people gradually began taking to them. The clincher? Eventually, the price of DVDs dropped to where you were paying a cheaper price and getting better quality. Consumers gravitated to the new format, and the rest is history -- the DVD took off and never looked back. The iPad? It took off a lot faster. CNBC has the story from Colin McGranahan, a retail analyst at Bernstein Research, who dug into the adoption rates. McGranahan points out that Apple sold 3 million iPads within the first 80 days of launch. By contrast, there were a million iPhones sold in the first quarter of release... and only 350,000 DVD players sold in all of 1997. Keep in mind, when it comes to non-phone electronics products, McGranahan says that DVD players had the fastest adoption rate ever before the iPad (presumably meaning new categories of gadgets). The sales rate of the iPad after one quarter matches up with the DVD sales rate after five years. The iPod's first year? A similarly modest 375,000 devices sold. Of course, the DVD player was fighting an established product in VHS, and the iPad had the iPhone and iPod touch (not to mention the App Store) to soften the ground for it -- but still, that's not bad for a product that some vocal critics gave lousy first reviews. The original predictions of a million units sold in the first year seem remarkably conservative in the face of a likely run rate of 18 million iPads. Granted, Apple does have a history of defying the odds. [Via MacDailyNews]
Poll: Has Blu-ray secured its place as heir to the DVD throne?
It's been a while since we asked how you feel about the progress Blu-ray is making, so let's hear it. Whether you're an owner with a massive library, occasional Netflix renter, stubborn holdout or somewhere in between we've spent years debating whether or not Blu-ray's 50GB movie platters would find a place in the market, and they have, but is it enough? %Poll-50082%
One quarter of "broadband households" have digital photo frames, we find one for the rest of you
Yeah, we know; next to pico projectors it's hard to find any bit of technology more boring than digital photo frames. These days they don't catch our eye unless they can print pictures of your pre-school beauty queen or integrate some unexpected combination of networking hardware. Still, they're selling like hotcakes, set to be in 25 percent of "broadband households" by the end of the year. Adoption in dial-up households has not been revealed but we're guessing it's... slower. For those folks we recommend the first ever analog digital frame that may not print anything or hit Flickr or even automatically cycle through those pictures in that hidden directory you forgot about, but it is at least made entirely of wood, which makes it better for the environment than CFL LCDs. And, at just $25 from ThinkGeek, it's a perfect holiday gift -- for yourself.
