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Category Archives: Apple
Why Apple, Not Dropbox, Amazon or Google Drive, is Dominating Cloud Storage
Apple is dominating the cloud storage wars, followed by Dropbox, Amazon and Google according to Strategy Analytics ‘Cloud Media Services’ survey. Cloud storage is overwhelmingly dominated by music; around 90% of Apple, Amazon and Google’s cloud users store music. Even Dropbox – which has no associated content ecosystem – sees around 45% of its users storing music files. Dropbox’s recent acquisition of Audiogalaxy will add a much needed native music player to the platform in the coming months.
In a recent study of almost 2,300 connected Americans, Strategy Analytics found that 27% have used Apple’s iCloud followed by 17% for Dropbox, 15% for Amazon Cloud Drive and 10% for Google Play (see chart).
Usage of cloud storage is heavily skewed towards younger people, in particular 20-24 year olds, whilst Apple’s service is the only one with more female than male users. Amongst the big four, Google’s is the one most heavily skewed towards males.
“Music is currently the key battleground in the war for cloud domination. Google is tempting users by giving away free storage for 20,000 songs which can be streamed to any Android device, a feature both Amazon and Apple charge annual subscriptions for,” observes Ed Barton, Strategy Analytics’ Director of Digital Media. “However, the growth of video streaming and the desire to access content via a growing range of devices will see services such as the Hollywood-backed digital movie initiative Ultraviolet – currently used by 4% of Americans – increase market share.”
Barton continues, “The cloud’s role in the race to win over consumers’ digital media libraries has evolved from a value added service for digital content purchases to a feature-rich and increasingly device agnostic digital locker for music and movies. Dropbox being used by 1 in 6 Americans shows that an integrated content storefront isn’t essential to build a large user base, however we expect competition to intensify sharply over the coming years.”
Strategy Analytics found that, the big four cloud storage services aside, recognition of other brands was uniformly low. Furthermore 55% of connected Americans have never used a cloud storage service – although, amongst consumers who have used one, one third (33%) had done so in the last week.
“There needs to be considerable investment in evangelizing these services to a potentially willing yet largely oblivious audience,” suggests Barton. “Given the size of bet Hollywood is making with Ultraviolet, this will be essential to their success given a crowded market and widespread apathy. However, more fundamental questions remain – is the use of more than one cloud service going to be too much for consumers to handle and will consolidation in such a fragmented market become inevitable?”
Barton concludes, “Although cloud storage is fast becoming a key pillar of digital platform strategies for the world’s leading device manufacturers and digital content distributors, there’s still a lot of work to do in educating consumers – particularly those over 45. With over half of consumers yet to use any consumer cloud based service, 2013 predictions for the ‘year of the cloud’ seem unrealistic. However given the market influence of the leading players pushing the concept, in particular Apple, Amazon, Google and Ultraviolet, I won’t be surprised to see mainstream adoption and usage spike within the next two to three years in the key US market.”
Infographic: Tech Giants By the Numbers
From Staff.com, an infographic comparing revenue, profit, and market cap for Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Facebook:
CaptureToCloud Extends Social Workspace to iOS Devices
CaptureToCloud’s Social Workspace has been extended to all iOS devices. This is the first mobile app that can capture a full copy of Internet content while it’s being viewed on an iPhone or iPad, and immediately make it available for social media sharing and collaboration. This app is used by professionals and businesses to capture mobile content into their CaptureToCloud workspace where it can be organized, shared and discussed alongside other important content. The new iOS app is included in both the free and premium services – available in the Apple App Store and at www.capturetocloud.com.
According to a recent study by the Pew Research and American Life Project, “some 88% of U.S. adults own a cell phone of some kind as of April 2012, and more than half of these cell owners (55%) use their phone to go online.” Viewing Internet content on an iPhone or iPad is one of the most common uses. With CaptureToCloud, users can be viewing that content and immediately save a copy, share it with colleagues, discuss it and read it offline.
“In today’s world, people expect a seamless transition from their desktops to their mobile devices and to be constantly connected to their apps and important content,” said Ramon Nunez, CEO, CaptureToCloud. “Mobile access is a key component of our anywhere, anytime workspace and capturing mobile content is a natural extension of what we provide on the desktop.”
CaptureToCloud aims to make it easy for professionals and businesses to incorporate Internet content into their daily work. The iOS app not only gives users access to all content in their CaptureToCloud library while they’re away from their desktop, but also allows them to capture and share new content they find with an iOS device, keeping them just as productive and engaged with projects and discussions.
Old Model: Patents Protect Products. New Model: Patents Themselves Are Products
Unwired Planet, Inc. has filed patent infringement complaints against Apple Inc. and Google Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Unwired Planet claims to be “the inventor of the mobile Internet.” It is now an “intellectual property
company that makes and sells no products – except patent licenses. Or as they say on their website:
Old Model: Patents Protect Products. New Model: Patents Themselves Are Products
In two separate complaints filed in Reno, Nevada, Unwired Planet charges Apple with infringing 10 of its patents, and charges Google with infringing 10 different patents. Together, the two cases charge infringement of a total of 20 patents related to smart mobile devices, cloud computing, digital content stores, push notification technologies and location-based services such as mapping and advertising.
“Today’s actions follow a careful review that we launched in late 2011 as we began to transform Unwired Planet into an Intellectual Property company,” said Mike Mulica, CEO of Unwired Planet.
In the case against Apple, the complaint specifically alleges that infringing Apple products and services include, among others:
- Mobile Devices (including mobile phones, tablets, and music players
with the iOS operating system including iPhones, iPads, and iPods), - Mobile Digital Content Systems and/or Services (including Apple App
Store, Apple Apps, iTunes), - Cloud Messaging Systems and/or Services (including Apple Push
Notification Service (APNS), Siri), and - Map and Location Systems and/or Services (including Apple Maps, Local
Search, iAds, Safari web browser, Find My iPhone, Find My iPad, and
Find My Friends).
The patents asserted against Apple are:
1. United States Patent No. 6,317,594, entitled “System and method for providing data to a wireless device upon detection of activity of the device on a wireless network,” asserted against devices such as iPhones and iPads which are able to get information, for example update notifications, when the device is switched on or moves between cells of the cellular network.
2. United States Patent No. 6,317,831, entitled “Method and apparatus for establishing a secure connection over a one-way data path,” asserted against services which use a push mechanism to get notifications to devices such as update badges sent to iPhone and iPad applications.
3. United States Patent No. 6,321,092, entitled “Multiple input data management for wireless location-based applications,” asserted against devices such as iPhones and iPads which use more than one source of location information, for example GPS, Wi-Fi and cell tower location.
4. United States Patent No. 6,532,446, entitled “Server based speech recognition user interface for wireless devices,” asserted against wireless server-assisted speech recognition for personal assistant services and dictation, such as Siri on iPhones and iPads.
5. United States Patent No. 6,647,260, entitled “Method and System Facilitating Web Based Provisioning of Two-Way Mobile Communications Devices,” asserted against Appstores for selecting and downloading applications on devices such as iPhones and iPads.
6. United States Patent No. 6,813,491, entitled “Method and apparatus for adapting settings of wireless communication devices in accordance with user proximity,” asserted against ways of using motion and proximity sensors to control devices like iPhones and iPads.
7. United States Patent No. 7,020,685, entitled “Method and apparatus for providing internet content to SMS-based wireless devices,” asserted against automated searching and information delivery based on keywords in a message from a mobile device, for example as used in Siri for iPhones and iPads.
8. United States Patent No. 7,233,790, entitled “Device capability based discovery, packaging and provisioning of content for wireless mobile devices,” asserted against digital stores with content and Apps for devices with different capabilities, for example the App Store for iPhones and iPads.
9. United States Patent No. 7,299,033, entitled “Domain-based management of distribution of digital content from multiple wireless services subscribers,” asserted against services such as iTunes or the App Store that distribute digital content to multiple domains, internationally.
10. United States Patent No. 7,522,927, entitled “Interface for wireless location information,” asserted against ways of obtaining device location information such as Find my iPhone, Find my iPad and Find my Friends.
The complaint against Google specifically alleges that infringing Google products and services include, among others:
- Search and Advertising Systems and/or Services (including Google
Search, Google AdWords, Google+Local, Google Places, Google Mobile
Ads), - Mobile Digital Content Systems and/or Services (including Google Play,
Google Apps, Bouncer, C2DM, and GCM), - Cloud Messaging Systems and/or Services (including C2DM and GCM),
- Maps and Location Systems and/or Services (including Android Location,
Google Maps, Google Street View, Google Latitude, Google My Location,
Google+, Google+Local, Google Places), - Short-Range Radio Communications Systems and/or Services (including
Google Wallet, Google Offers, and Google Mobile Ads), and - Mobile Devices (including mobile phones and tablets with the Android
operating system, including Motorola Mobility and Nexus mobile phones
and tablets).
The patents asserted against Google are:
1. United States Patent No. 6,292,657, entitled “Method and Architecture for Managing a Fleet of Mobile Stations Over Wireless Data Networks,” asserted against mass updates to applications installed on devices such as Android phones and tablets.
2. United States Patent No. 6,654,786, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Informing Wireless Clients about Updated Information,” asserted against push mechanisms to get updated information to devices such as Android phones and tablets.
3. United States Patent No. 6,662,016, entitled “Providing Graphical Location Information for Mobile Resources Using a Data-Enabled Network,” asserted against placing a location marker for the current location of a mobile device on a corresponding map, such as My Location in Google Maps.
4. United States Patent No. 6,684,087, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Displaying Images on Mobile Devices,” asserted against zooming into a map on devices such as Android phones and tablets, and providing zoomed-in images to users of Google Maps.
5. United States Patent No. 6,895,240, entitled “Method and Architecture for Managing a Fleet of Mobile Stations over Wireless Data Networks,” asserted against group and mass notifications/updates to mobile devices such as Android phones and tablets.
6. United States Patent No. 6,944,760, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Protecting Identities of Mobile Devices on a Wireless Network,” asserted against authenticated push of information from application developers to devices such as Android phones and tablets.
7. United States Patent No. 7,024,205, entitled “Subscriber Delivered Location-Based Services,” asserted against search and advertising using location, such as sponsored links in Google searches which are paid for using Google Adwords.
8. United States Patent No. 7,035,647, entitled “Efficient Location Determination for Mobile Units,” asserted against identifying the location of a device, such as an Android phone or tablet, with increased accuracy using multiple sources, such as GPS, Wi-Fi and cell tower location.
9. United States Patent No. 7,203,752, entitled “Method and System for Managing Location Information for Wireless Communications Devices,” asserted against privacy control for applications requesting access to the location to a device, such as an Android phone or tablet.
10. United States Patent No. 7,463,151, entitled “Systems and Methods for Providing Mobile Services Using Short-Range Radio Communication Devices,” asserted against devices with advanced Near Field Communications (NFC) services, such as NFC-based commerce, advertising and coupons, and access to content using NFC.
Woz on Cloud Dangers Started a Useful Conversation
Yesterday we had a guest post on the topic.
Today you might read the I, Cringley take, which as can be expected is full of his usual cobbled-together, but pretty effective, roll-your-own solutions.
GraphOn Adds iPhone to iPad Windows Application Access App
GraphOn Corporation today announced its new GO-Global iOS Client. Available immediately as a free downloadable app from Apple’s App Store, the new GO-Global iOS Client is used in conjunction with GraphOn’s GO-Global Windows Host solution to seamlessly deliver Windows applications to Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users.
The new GO-Global iOS Client replaces GraphOn’s popular GO-Global iPad Client. New and improved features include support for iPhone and iPad Touch platforms in addition to existing iPad support, enhanced navigation, voice-to-text input, auto-resizing on device rotation, increased performance, plus iPhone and iPad 3 Retina Display screen optimization.
“iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users can now interact with their favorite Windows programs using just their fingers,” said Christoph Berlin, GraphOn’s vice president of product management and marketing. “Our GO-Global iOS Client uses intuitive, multi-touch gestures to achieve popular mouse and keyboard operations. Windows applications appear on the iOS device just as though they were running locally, retaining all features, functions, and branding.”
GO-Global Windows Host securely delivers server-resident Windows applications to virtually any location, platform, and operating system. Current GO-Global Windows Host customers can gain immediate access to their remoted Windows programs from their iOS device by simply downloading the free GO-Global iOS Client from the App Store at http://itunes.apple.com/app/go-global/id441263366?mt=8. iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users who are not currently using GO-Global Windows Host, but who wish to evaluate its remote access capabilities, can download the free GO-Global iOS Client and then immediately connect to GraphOn’s online demonstration server running several popular Windows programs. No sign-up or registration is required.
GraphOn’s GO-Global iOS Client requires Apple iOS 5.0 or later.
