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GDC: Industry talent favors PS4 development, self-publishing
The Game Developers Conference has released the results of its second annual State of the Industry survey, highlighting trends toward self-publishing and PlayStation 4 platform development. More than 2,600 developers responded to the survey following last year's GDC event, with twenty percent noting an intent to ship their next project for the PlayStation 4. Seventeen percent of surveyed developers foresee an Xbox One release for their next game, while four percent target the Wii U. Smartphones and PC platforms continue to dominate developer focus, however. According to the GDC's survey, 51 percent of respondents want to make their next game for tablets and smartphones, while 52 percent will tackle PC and Mac platforms. This year's survey also revealed a rise in self-publishing and self-funding among developers. 64 percent of surveyed developers reported that they are not partnering with a publisher on their current project, while 52 percent revealed that existing company funds provided financial backing. More developers have turned to Kickstarter since last year's survey, as 11 percent of respondents are crowdfunding their current projects, compared to last year's 4 percent. [Image: Sony]
In a blind camera taste test pictures from the iPhone 5s beat out ones from its five main competitors
Seemingly every month new phones are released, each boasting new features that set it apart from the competition. And yet even the most cutting-edge iPhone, the 5s, still comes with a measly 8MP camera. To put things in perspective its rival from Sony, the Xperia Z1 Compact, has a 20.7MP camera. All this variation got the fine folks at PhoneArena.com wondering; in a blind test judged by readers which phone would produce the best photos. The following phones were used in their test: iPhone 5s, LG G2, HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z1 and the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. PhoneArena took three sets of six photos using each of the six cameras. Readers were shown all three sets and asked which phone took the best photo, without knowing which camera was responsible. Out of the six camera's tested the iPhone 5s came out on top with 34.77 percent of voters choosing it as the superior device. Interestingly the second place and last place went to the Sony Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z1 Compact, respectively. Despite the gulf between their scores the two phones have the same 20.7MP camera. You can see one of the sets of photos above. Head over to PhoneArena to view all the pictures and see their complete test results.
EA wants your opinion on Battlefield 4
Whether you love Battlefield 4 or despise its constant crashes and tendency to lose save files, EA wants to hear from you. The publisher has issued a survey to members of the Battlefield 4 community which first asks players to rate the likelihood that they would recommend Battlefield 4 to a friend, then asks for a short, personalized review of the open-world, first-person shooter. There's no tangible reward for participation, though given the number of vocal Battlefield 4 detractors we've seen since the game's October debut, the chance to release all of that anger directly at the people responsible for the game should prove tempting by itself. Despite this attempt by EA to take the pulse of its community, Battlefield 4 remains less than functional. The game's ongoing stability issues have improved since launch, but crashes and failures to connect to servers remain common. As a result of these problems, EA now finds itself the target of two class-action lawsuits alleging the publisher convinced players to purchase the unfinished game by filling its marketing materials with false and misleading information.
Report: Ubisoft surveys players about non-Assassin's Creed pirate game
Ubisoft recently sent out a survey to fans about the future of the Assassin's Creed series, IGN reports. The publisher seemingly asked players for thoughts on a hypothetical pirate-themed game similar to Assassin's Creed 4 that would take place outside the series. The survey reportedly asked whether customizable ships, characters and hideouts or a "deeper economy" and "additional activities at sea or on land" were more important to players, and also gauged fan interest in co-op and multiplayer naval battles. Ubisoft conducted similar questionnaires in the past. Coincidentally, the publisher also specifically asked players about cooperative multiplayer in December 2010 following the release of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and again in November 2012 after launching Assassin's Creed 3. Both of those polls were conducted by GMI Surveys, though the origins of the latest one is a little less clear.
Majority of mobile users now use smartphones, blame those pesky teens
Nielsen's mobile report for Q3 2013 shows that more and more teens have convinced their parents to get them smartphones, especially during back-to-school season. Usage of non-dumb devices among those in the 13 to 17 year-old range has reached 70 percent, a nice 12 point growth over September last year. A prodigious 79 percent of all users aged 18 to 24 are also toting smartphones, contributing to the 64.7 percent total of all US mobile owners who have now traded their feature phones for something more advanced. Android continues to lead the battle of the operating systems with 52 percent, though it's held that share since mid-2012. While Apple's iOS trails close behind with 41 percent, it actually tops the list of smartphone makers in terms of OS share. Despite Cupertino's continued reign in the hardware department, Samsung's market slice by OS has increased by 2 percent, while Nokia and HTC saw a slight bump, thanks to their new Windows Phone models. Meanwhile, BlackBerry held steady at 3 percent despite its billion dollar loss in the second quarter. If you digest numbers better with a side of images, check Nielsen's charts after the break. [Image credit: AFS-USA Intercultural Program, Flickr]
Diablo III polls players about expansion prices
Was there ever an innocent survey that didn't harbor dark agendas and terrible secrets? We're inclined to think "no," so a recent email survey of Diablo III players by Blizzard has raised a few eyebrows around these here parts. The studio is polling players to see what they think of potential pricing for different editions of Reaper of Souls as well as how they rank the different features that the expansion will bring. The two price tags mentioned as possibilities for Reaper of Souls are $29.99 for the standard edition and $49.99 for the collector's edition. The expansion is slated for a 2014 release.
Apple named most innovative company in the world for 9th consecutive year
A recent survey of 1,500 senior executives conducted by The Boston Consulting Group has named Apple the most innovative company in the world nine years running. The findings capture executives' views of their own innovation plans, as well as their opinions of other companies' innovation track records. As in past surveys, the 2013 results reveal the 50 companies that executives rank as the most innovative, weighted to incorporate relative three-year shareholder returns, revenue growth and margin growth. It has been suggested that Apple has lost its innovative edge. Some would dismiss the iPhone 5s as it so closely resembles the iPhone 5. In truth, Apple always challenges itself to push the envelope. Apple CEO Tim Cook understands that to survive in tech means the constant pursuit of innovation. In a recent Businessweek profile on Apple's executive team, Cook pointed to Nokia as a reminder "to everyone in business that you have to keep innovating and that to not innovate is to die." The pundits may not appreciate Apple's innovations, but senior executives from hundreds of companies across the globe sure seem to.
Pew survey: 21 percent of US cellphone owners get online mostly through their phones
There have been signs that Americans are leaning more and more on the smartphone as a primary internet device, and nowhere is that clearer than the latest edition of Pew's Cell Internet Use survey. The research group found that 21 percent of American cellphone owners now get online chiefly through their handset, up from 17 percent last year. Offline users, meanwhile, have been reduced to a minority -- 63 percent of US cell owners have hopped on the internet from their phones at some point. The PC isn't going away anytime soon, but it's clear that the traditional computer is just one internet client among many.
iTunes Store tops ForeSee survey for video streaming satisfaction
Analytics firm ForeSee's recent Mobile Satisfaction Index: Media and Entertainment Edition has a nice plum for Apple: the firm's survey of customers found that iTunes scored the highest in terms of satisfaction, beating out HBO GO, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus. As ForeSee points out, iTunes uses a "slightly different model than its streaming counterparts," actually requiring iTunes customers to download the content prior to viewing. The survey notes that this eliminates the performance issues seen with competing services, which are often plagued with error messages or playback problems, particularly when streaming on public WiFi systems. iTunes managed a satisfaction score of 80, with HBO GO and Netflix close behind at 79. The average of all of the services surveyed was 78, meaning that for the most part consumers are fairly happy with streaming media.
Over half of surveyed developers will require iOS 7 for their apps
Twitterrific developer Craig Hockenberry has posted the results of an interesting survey he performed over on his blog. Hockenberry was deep into the development cycle of getting his apps ready for iOS 7 when he wondered if many other developers out there are doing what he's doing -- that is, dropping support for any version of iOS below iOS 7. So Hockenberry ran an informal survey and discovered some interesting things. Out of 575 responses: 95 percent of developers said they are working on updating their apps for iOS 7. 52 percent of developers said they will drop support for any iOS below iOS 7 in the next major version of their app. The first finding isn't surprising, as developers are keen to be on Apple's latest iOS. However, the second finding is a bit shocking, but that's a reflection of the work developers need to undertake to make sure their apps run fluidly and look good on iOS 7. What this means for users is that most apps are going to have an iOS 7 look and feel so they will get a continued uniformity on their iOS devices. However, those users with older devices that don't support iOS 7 may find that it's time to upgrade or else some of their favorite apps may leave them behind.
J.D. Power: AT&T unseats Verizon as customer care leader
AT&T is the absolute bee's knees in customer care among the big four carriers. That's if you're listening to J.D. Power, anyway, which finds that longtime champion Verizon is no longer the best at solving its customers' problems. As a precaution, this study is rather narrow in scope and considers just three components of customer care: telephone assistance, online support and in-store personnel. Naturally, this is just one component of customer satisfaction, and factors such as coverage, data speed and call quality aren't considered -- look to Consumer Reports for insight on those. Still, customer care is important and J.D. Power suggests that it's now at its highest levels since 2009. Sadly, not everyone's a winner, as the study also finds that Sprint and T-Mobile both fall below the industry average. On the prepaid side, MetroPCS is keeping its position as the front-runner, but even more curious, it's said that a whopping 69 percent of non-contract customers use carrier apps to manage their accounts. What's more, customer satisfaction is reportedly considerably higher among prepaid carriers that provide these management apps to their subscribers. In this context, it seems that well-targeted bundled apps aren't necessarily bloatware, but we still think its carriers should let you remove that stuff.
Daily Update for July 5, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Poll: Wearable tech not wildly popular with Americans
Google's testing the Glass; Apple's rumored to be developing an iWatch. Even Dell, which seems to be falling off of the consumer electronics map, is reportedly looking at wearable tech. And Sony just released the SmartWatch 2, the watch-like device with a color TFT display seen at right. However, these wearable computers might meet a tepid response in the market according to a recent telephone poll of Americans 18 or older conducted by IT staffing company Modis. The survey found that only 34 percent of those making US$100,000 or more annually were interested in purchasing or wearing a smart watch or smart glasses. Oddly, for those who make much less -- $35,000 a year -- the percentage jumped to 47 percent. Furthermore, 45 percent of those with less education -- a high school diploma or less -- were excited by wearable tech, while only 37 percent of college grads expressed the same desire. Apple watchers might find it interesting that more respondents -- 42 percent of all those polled -- expressed interest in a smart watch, while a slightly smaller group (39 percent) thought smart glasses were the way to go. Modis Senior Vice President Matthew Ripaldi noted that most Americans have not had an opportunity to try either smart glasses or watches, and that such technology needs to be tested and seen by people so that they can create an informed impression of these devices.
Macworld discovers the most loved (and hated) features of OS X
With WWDC and revamps of iOS and OS X on the horizon, Macworld conducted an interesting survey, asking its readers what they liked and disliked most about Apple's desktop operating system. As Macworld admits, the survey isn't scientific and only polled 5,000 responses, which is a drop in the bucket for OS X's user base. Still, the results are interesting. OS X's Facebook and Twitter integration and Dictation were identified as the least-used features; 65 percent of respondents said they "never" use them. Apple has highlighted Facebook and Twitter integration at past keynotes, but I'd agree it's not nearly as big a deal on OS X as it is on iOS. Game Center is the biggest loser here, though, with 84 percent of respondents saying they never use it on the desktop. As for the most popular features, Messages is used "all the time" by 44 percent of respondents. And Notification Center, too, has found a fairly big audience in the short time it's been available. So Apple has both some successes and some fizzles in bringing iOS features over to OS X. We'll have to wait and see what's new at WWDC this year to find out if research like this has changed Apple's approach to improving both operating systems.
Study: Mobile gamers download five titles a month, mostly through word of mouth
A new study released by Applifier says that word of mouth is still the number one way mobile game players find the games they like. That doesn't necessarily mean in-person discussion about mobile games, however, though 36 percent of users did report that hearing from a friend or family member was a major source of games, and 25 percent of users said actually seeing a friend or family member play a game was one way they found out about their favorites. However, 43 percent of users say reading user reviews was the main way they found what they liked to play. Video is another big game pusher -- 70 percent of users polled by Applifier say that they watched online video about mobile games in the last week, and 45 percent of users said that watching the video had them downloading that same game right away. Most mobile game players, according to Applifier, download up to five mobile games a month, which is just a little more than one per week. Those games are played for about three hours per week, though obviously that's spread out across the entire week, so most likely little bits here and there rather than three hours at a time. And 20 percent of users, said Applifier, can be classified as "sharers," which means they are more likely to download more games, play more often and for longer and convert to paying users. All interesting stuff. For all of the infrastructure for app discovery built by Apple and others, odds are that you're still hearing about your favorite iOS downloads from the people that you know best anyway.
Survey says Verizon is best at customer satisfaction... among the big four, anyway
The results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index are in, and parroting a recent study by Consumer Reports, Verizon Wireless is named the front-runner with the most happy subscribers among the big four carriers. The survey takes a number of factors into account, such as call clarity, dropped calls, network coverage, data speeds, helpfulness of in-store staff, diversity of plans and the quality of the carrier's websites. As the dust settled, Verizon notched a three-point gain to chart a score of 73 (out of 100), whereas ACSI's previous front-runner, Sprint, held steady with a score of 71. AT&T is portrayed as "in a statistical dead heat with Sprint," which climbed one point to chart an ACSI score of 70. Meanwhile, satisfaction among T-Mobile customers fell a point, which caused the carrier to pull up the rear with a score of 68. On the whole, ACSI suggests that subscribers are generally more satisfied with regional providers and MVNOs, as the little dogs hold an aggregate score of 78. Speaking in broader terms, the ACSI reports that the wireless industry has reversed its two-year trend of sliding customer satisfaction to hit a benchmark score of 72, which matches the industry's 10-year high. Naturally, improvements still need to be made across the board, but at least things seem to be moving in the right direction.
Survey: Half of Chinese users want to own a Galaxy S4 instead of an iPhone
As we've reported quite a bit, Apple has been working hard to try and grow its influence in China. That nation has become the world's largest smartphone market, and so Apple has plenty of reason to be promoting itself and selling as many phones as possible. A new survey shows that as much work as Apple has been doing in the region, it may be behind already. According to research from Trendforce, almost 60 percent of 5,000 Chinese smartphone users polled say they would rather buy the newest Samsung Galaxy S4 than Apple's latest iPhone. This doesn't mean there isn't a market for Apple product in China. In fact, the same survey found that 52 percent of users did want to own an iPhone, which is very good news for Apple (the company currently holds an almost 10 percent market share there, so it seems destined for more). Still, Apple has far from an iron grip on the region. If Apple does release a cheaper iPhone this year, most analysts say that would help them make a bigger dent in the Chinese market. Given how deep Samsung's roots and influence go in China, it's still going to be a tough battle for Apple to get the market share it wants.
The War Z devs to players: 'What should we do with cheaters?'
The War Z devs are considering an interesting take on punishing exploiters. They've been tossing around the idea of allowing people who've been banned for in-game cheating to play on special "jail servers." These servers would be isolated from the game's general servers and would be populated entirely by cheaters. On these servers, cheats would not be interfered with -- that is, exploiters could keep on using their cheats. This has the potential to help the dev team; being able to observe the cheats folks use and run "anticheat experiments" without worrying about banning innocent players would probably give the team a lot of valuable information. On the other hand, though, those cheaters are totally jerks and why should they keep getting to play, right? So the dev team is putting the issue in the hands of the players by posting a survey to see whether the idea is even worth pursuing. You can read the full rationale on the official forums. [Thanks to Paul for the tip!]
2020 US Census expected to move online, catch up with 2010
The US Census is an expensive beast to run when paper is involved: multiply the $96 per household of the 2010 Census by millions of households and you'll feel the government's pain. When the mandate is to keep those expenses in check for the 2020 study, it's almost no surprise that the Census Bureau is now telling the Washington Post that it expects to rely on the internet for its next decennial survey in the wake of smaller-scale trials. The anticipated move is about more than just cutting the costs of lengthy forms and postage stamps, though. While frugality is the primary goal, joining the modern era should also reduce the need for follow-ups -- the Bureau would know as soon as we were done, after all. There's no question that an online Census is overdue when swaths of the US government (and society) can already skip traditional paperwork, but we still appreciate having a tentative schedule for one of the last great digital transitions. [Image credit: USDA, Flickr]
iPhone tops J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey again
Make a little more room in the trophy case: the iPhone has topped J.D. Power and Associates' consumer satisfaction survey yet again in the category of wireless smartphones. For the ninth study in a row, Apple has earned the top numbers, scoring 855 on a survey that tracks issues like performance, ease of operation, physical design and various features. Overall smartphone numbers are up as well to around a score of 796, an increase of 22 points over last year. It's pretty easy to ascribe most of that satisfaction to Apple: the company's meteoric growth has definitely encouraged the smartphone market, and even its competitors are pushed to make better products thanks to the iPhone. Elsewhere in J.D. Power's survey, the company found that despite this higher satisfaction, about two in ten customers are still experiencing software or hardware issues with their phones. Not surprisingly, smartphone users who use their phones a lot are more likely to recommend them to others: customers who spent more than 100 minutes a week on their phones are 14 percent more likely to recommend their specific model than those that spend less time. When you combine that with the fact that iPhone users tend to use their phones a lot more than other brands, it makes sense that so many iPhones come so highly recommended.
