Virtualization, Cloud Computing and Mobile: 10/19/10

2010년 10월 19일 화요일

Google Dominates Mobile Searches on the iPhone

Google holds both the number 1 and number 2 slots in a ranking of search engines on the iPhone, accounting for an estimated 97 percent of all searches, according to figures from ad network Chitika. The firm looked at search volume on the iPhone and found that Google has search pretty much locked up, with 49.08 percent of searches coming through the Safari tool bar, 42.24 percent coming from its home page and other minor sources and 8.68 percent from its dedicated Google app. If you count the app and the regular search as two sources, Google has both of the top two search engines on the iPhone.

The numbers aren’t completely accurate with respect to Bing, which is hard to track because it doesn’t offer referral URLs. Chitika estimates that Bing searches through its app, its home page and through its access to the Safari tool bar represent anywhere from 1-4 percent of searches on the iPhone.

This suggests that Yahoo and Microsoft are having a tough time dislodging Google from its top spot or even duplicating their current success in desktop searches on mobile. With mobile searches only expected to grow, it supports Google’s move to launch Google Instant on phones soon, giving the company yet another edge in facilitating mobile searches. It also points out how valuable the toolbar search engine is. Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land said less than 20 percent of searches happen through a PC tool bar.

Apple Developing iAds for Video

Apple will be adding a video angle to its advertising offerings in the coming months, with a new product that will deliver in-stream ads to videos shown on the iPhone, iPad and (potentially) the Apple TV, according to multiple sources. The new product would not just expand Apple’s advertising capabilities and boost revenue, but could help convince more content owners to make their videos available on its iOS devices.

Many publishers have been slow to bring their videos to the iPhone and iPad, due in part to the lack of mature tools available for monetizing content on those devices. Because iOS devices don’t support Adobe Flash, publishers need to do additional work to make their current ad-serving systems work with the HTML5 video delivery required for the iPhone and iPad. That’s caused many publishers to think twice before delivering video to those devices. (For Adobe’s view on the HTML5-Flash battle, come see Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch at NewTeeVee Live on November 10, 2010 in San Francisco.)

잡스 애플 CEO, "갤럭시탭 美도착 즉시 사망"

애플 최고경영자(CEO) 스티브 잡스가 18일(현지시간) 가진 실적 발표 행사에서 "삼성 7인치 갤럭시탭이 미국 출시와 함께 사망할 것"이라고 독설을 내쏟았다.

스티브 잡스 CEO는 미국 소비자들이 7인치의 작은 화면에 크게 실망을 하게 될 것이라며 갤럭시탭의 화면 크기를 문제삼았다. 그는 이런 문제 때문에 아이패드 화면을 9.7인치로 결정한 것이라고 덧붙였다.

7인치 태블릿PC는 스마트폰 시장과 결국 충돌할 수 밖에 없고, 화면이 작아 PC용으로 적합하지 않다는 것. 그는 차기 PC 시장으로 넘보고 있는 법인용 시장을 공략하기 위해서도 7인치는 적합하지 않다고 판단을 내린 것이다. 적어도 10인치 정도는 돼야 기업용 태블릿 PC로 공급할 수 있다는 설명이다.

일부 언론은 애플이 내년에 출시할 차세대 아이패드 제품을 7인치와 기존 9.7인치 모델을 함께 개발했으나 기업시장 공략과 고객 혼란(아이폰 시장과 충돌) 방지를 위해 7인치 아이패드 출시를 포기했다고 전했다.

애플은 이번 4분기에 419만대의 아이패드를 판매했다. 하지만 이는 당초 월가의 전망치인 450만대에 크게 못미치는 수치다. 부품 조달 문제로 제품 물량이 제때 공급되지 못했다고 하지만 예상을 밑도는 수치로 인해 이날 애플 주가는 6%나 하락했다.

BlackBerry Style 9670 - Coming soon

Technology: CDMA
Announced Carrier: Sprint
Announced Release Date: The Steel Grey model will be available 10/31/10 while the Royal Purple will be out sometime in November.

The BlackBerry Style clamshell with full QWERTY device offers a 5MP camera with video capture, built-in GPS and WiFi, 512 MB Flash, BlackBerry 6, and BlackBerry App World pre-loaded. We will update complete specs when they become available.

iPad won't be coming in a 7-inch model

Steve Jobs iPad

Ever since Apple released their 9.7-inch iPad, rumors have been flying about a possible 7-inch model to accompany its bigger brother and compete against the wave of 7-inch Android tablets. However, today Apple CEO Steve Jobs shot down any possibility of an iPad Nano ever hitting the market. Speaking during the company's earnings call, Jobs said that the 7-inch size "is useless unless you include sandpaper so users can sand their fingers down to a quarter of their size." His reasoning behind that statement? The software just isn't a good fit for the smaller screen, and people don't want a small tablet when they've already got a smartphone that can fit in their pocket.

It's interesting that Apple doesn't plan to release a 7-inch device to help compete against the impending wave of Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab. At the same time, though, it's not totally surprising. Apple has always released the iPhone and iPod Touch with the exact same screen size, so why would that change with the iPad?

Apple Conference Call: Steve Jobs Goes Wild

He may or may not have taken off his mock turtleneck, but Steve Jobs did make a special appearance at the fourth quarter 2010 conference call, taking questions but no prisoners, and probably saying a few things that made his subordinates wince. It was indeed wild.

Jobs began the Apple earnings conference call today by going on a tear against two of his biggest competitors, Google and RIM. Apple “handily beat RIM,” with 14.1 million iPhones sold last quarter, versus 12.1 million BlackBerry devices, and Jobs doesn’t “see them catching up.” According to Jobs, RIM must move from its “comfort zone” of the enterprise, and woo both the average consumer and developers, and it will be a “challenge.”

Regarding Google, Jobs once again challenged the search giant on Android sales data. Not only did he question the reliability of Google’s claim of activating 200,000 Android devices a day, but he also countered that in the last 30 days Apple was selling an average of 275,000 iOS devices, with a peak of 300,000.

Google Now Gives You More Control Over Your Location Settings

Google's algorithms take your current location into account when choosing which results to display for searches where your location is relevant. Until now, though, it was rather hard to know where exactly Google thought you were and sometimes Google just doesn't get it right. Starting today, Google will make it easier to see where it thinks you are and to change your location settings manually.

A new setting will now appear in the sidebar when you perform local searches that shows where Google thinks you are and allows you to manually enter a new location. Google is currently rolling this feature out across 40 languages and should be available to all users soon. While this feature is useful when Google can't automatically place you in the right location, it should also be helpful if you are regularly searching for hotels, restaurants and sights while you are preparing for a trip, for example.

Until now, this setting was hidden behind a number of rather cryptic steps ("View customizations," "Change location"). Now, as Google's Mack Lu notes, Google has become so much better at displaying locally relevant information that "it felt like the right time to make this setting easier to find."

Apple Reports Q4 Earnings, and Guess What, It is Doing Really, Really Well

Apple announced its earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year today, and in news that won't surprise those who either monitor the stock market or who own an iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Macbook (um, that would be me) revealed that the company's financial standing is strong - record-breaking strong, that is.

Apple posted a record-setting revenue of $20.34 billion and quarterly profit of $4.31 billion in the fourth quarter. In comparison, Apple posted revenue of $12.21 for the third quarter of 2010.

As we recently reported, the iPad is now the consumer electronic device with the fastest adoption rate ever, but iPad sales were only one part of the sales figures Apple touted today. Most notably the iPhone sales this quarter were up 91% year-over-year. Here's the breakdown for the sales of the major Apple devices this quarter: 3.89 million Macs, 14.1 million iPhones, 9.05 million iPods, and 4.19 million iPads.