Peter Petrovski

A survey by Ovum market research firm looked at how the changing mobile device market has altered South East Asian developers’ preferences for selecting which platforms to develop for. 

Delimiter has an interesting spin which claims that Android is now the preferred mobile development platform:

Google’s Android operating system has replaced Apple’s iOS in terms of importance to developers in the Asia-Pacific region in the last 12 months, according to a new survey by independent technology analysts Ovum. However, both still form the core of developer support and almost all developers support both platforms.

Questioning the results of the survey, here is another interesting out-take from Delimiter:

The survey also reveals that there is increasing interest from developers in Blackberry OS and Microsoft’s Windows phone.

Really, South East Asian developers have increasing interest in the Blackberry OS? I wonder where those developers have been in the last 18 months.

Not to mention Windows Phone, while a promising platform, has failed to gain any ground on Android or iOS. 

Adam Leach of Ovum has a strange perception of the Windows Phone platform: 

The growing momentum behind Windows Phone indicates that Microsoft has managed to convince developers that its platform is worthy of investment. However, its main challenge now is to persuade consumers.

While Adam says Windows Phone has ‘growing momentum’, the challenge now is to ‘persuade consumers’. Surely, to grow momentum is to gain paying customers?

That’s like Cadbury saying “we have managed to gain momentum, the supermarkets of the world are stocking our chocolate, even though we haven’t sold any - that’s our next challenge”. 

The accurate conclusion from this report is the story of tides rising lifts all boats. The mobile market is booming while desktop continues to fall. While there is increasing interest in Android development, so too for all mobile platforms. iOS has had the most interest to date, so it’s no surprise the fast-growing Android platform has started to turn the heads of developers.

Developers have neglected Android, because not every developer needs the most ‘eyeballs’. Some developers want to make money, and iOS is still the best platform to do that.

As a developer, if your business model uses advertising and requires your app to have high reach and traction, then you’d be a fool to skip Android. However if you want to make money from paid apps, then sticking to iOS may not be a bad idea to focus your time and money.

One of the questions since the tablet (iPad) boom started, is how are consumers using these devices? When are they using their iPad?

This graph from Paid Content shows that tablet usage peaks in prime time, from 6pm to midnight. While mobile usage peaks around consumer commutes and computer usage is high during work hours, the lean back experience of tablet peaks during TV-watching hours.

There is a big opportunity here for advertisers to disrupt or complement their prime-time TV experience.

Apple’s January 19 education event focused on:

• The release of iBooks 2, updating it’s e-book platform to support interactive textbooks.
• The launch of iTunes U iOS app, which is a distribution platform for university lectures and course material.
• The launch of iBooks Author, a free Mac app that allows anyone to easily create and publish an e-book for distribution in iBooks 2.

This announcement has Steve Jobs fingerprints all over it. One of the most interesting things, and very unique in regards to Apple events, is that the announcement was foretold in Walter Isaacsson’s Steve Jobs biography. Jobs was discussing with Isaacsson his thoughts on how the textbook market was ready to have the rug pulled under it’s feet by digital disruptors: 

In fact Jobs had his sights set on textbooks as the next business he wanted to transform. He believed it was an $8 billion a year industry ripe for digital destruction. He was also struck by the fact that many schools, for security reasons, don’t have lockers, so kids have to lug a heavy backpack around. “The iPad would solve that,” he said. His idea was to hire great textbook writers to create digital versions, and make them a feature of the iPad. In addition, he held meetings with the major publishers, such as Pearson Education, about partnering with Apple. “The process by which states certify textbooks is corrupt,” he said. “But if we can make the textbooks free, and they come with the iPad, then they don’t have to be certified. The crappy economy at the state level will last for a decade, and we can give them an opportunity to circumvent that whole process and save money.”

Unfortunately for Australians, textbooks are not available in the Australian iBooks Store. This is just another example of new technology and content deals being launched by large American companies not being available in Australia, or other markets.

We have no date when textbooks will be available in Australia, however Australians can use the iBooks Author e-book creation app, which promises to be for book publishing like Garageband is for music creation.

As usual, however, Apple are not able to avoid controversy. When a user creates an e-book in iBooks Author, the only means for distribution is through Apple’s own iBooks store - where they will take a 30% cut if you decide to charge a price for the book. This is in line with their App Store model. 

Ofcourse, if you decide to distribute it for free, then Apple will not charge you. 

This seems entirely fair to me. Apple have built the tool that allows you to create the e-book. They’ve built and maintain the platform for distribution. If you decide to earn revenue from making and distributing the book through Apple’s platforms, then it’s only fair that Apple get’s a cut.

While everyone can see the benefits of multimedia-rich, interactive and beautiful textbooks easily distributed through a centralised digital store, some are questioning whether textbooks should live inside Apple’s walled garden - do we want to give Apple control over the curriculum?

A more damning controversy is erupting around a hidden statement in the iBooks Author EULA. The statement claims that Apple not only own’s the right to distribute the book exclusively through iBooks, but they also own the rights to the content of the book.

This, as stated by the usually Apple-favouring John Gruber, is unprecedented:

This is Apple at its worst. Let’s hope this is just the work of an overzealous lawyer, and not their actual intention. 

Apple have uploaded the video feed from their education announcement, which you can watch over at Apple.com

Below is the great video Apple made showcasing the iPad’s role in education.

The hot new thing, US-based music streaming service Rdio, has finally launched in Australia. This follows the recent Australian entry of Zune Pass and JB H-FI’s Now service. 

Rdio has been one of the most popular streaming services in the US. It’s available cross platform through a web app, iPhone, Android and Blackberry. The service allows you to stream unlimited music over the internet, and you can follow influencers such as magazines like SPIN and The Fader to get music recommendations. You can also connect your Twitter, Facebook and Last.FM profiles to connect with friends from those networks.

The interface on both the mobile app and the web is very slick, and music recommendations are fantastic. I’m glad they’ve entered the Australian market ahead of Spotify and Pandora as I think Rdio is a better all-around service.

You can try Rdio through a 7-day free trial, and it costs $12.90 per month, which is a bit pricier than JB H-FI Now.

Check it out.

I was asked this question by an anonymous follower. My answer follows.

I simply applied for a product management role and I was successful in my application. 

If you want more of a background of how I got to that point, I first need to tell you about what drives me.

I have always had a passion in conceptualising engaging consumer experiences through technology.

The rise of social media and the shift of computing to mobile has created a seismic shift in most forms of communication, from publishing to advertising and marketing.

However, most media still operates in a traditional model that has not changed for decades.

I am energised by the way technology has democratised media. We are more connected than ever. I believe there is a place for both publishers and advertisers to connect emotionally with people in this new media age, in ways that have not yet been explored.

I studied visual communication at university, followed by a degree in Marketing. I have an aptitude in understanding and combining the technical and creative challenges with a commercial sensibility.

My career started in media sales for Australia’s dominant pay TV operator, Foxtel. I managed advertising campaigns for clients across TV, online and mobile. I then went to Telstra where I managed advertising campaigns for large clients across major Australian websites, including the homepages of the NRL and AFL. 

To follow my passion in delivering engaging consumer experiences in the new media space, I joined a startup that Telstra acquired called Quotify. I was given the opportunity to join the team as Product Manager. Here we are building a new way to connect service providers with consumers through a new performance advertising model. 

If you want to become a successful product manager, here are five things you should think about:

• Are you technical? If not, get technical. In order to understand and work with programmers and engineers, you need to have an understanding of what is and isn’t feasible, how something can be achieved and what’s coming around the corner.

• Technical and commercial. You can enter product management either through a technical path or a marketing path. Most product managers either come from an engineering background or a sales/marketing background, so pick one of these industries and make your mark. Ofcourse, the more experience you have across both technical and commercial sides of business the better you will be as a product manager.

• Are you a follower or a leader? This is important. A product manager has to be a leader. You are the person to determine the feature set of your product, how you should price it and how it needs to be marketed. You will have to lead teams, both technical and marketing, to achieve objectives. If you are happier in passive roles where others lead, product management may not be right for you. 

• Know the job to be done. Whether you want to be a product manager for a large media publisher or a confectionery item, you need to know what the job is that your product does for the consumer. Snickers is a chocolate bar, but the job to be done is to satisfy the consumer’s hunger, it “really satisfies”. It’s not just a break time snack like other chocolate bars. What is your product’s job to be done?

• Know your industry. Whether it’s pharmaceutical, online advertising or journalism, know what the market trends are. Know what your competitors are doing. Know what people are saying about the market.  

If you want to know more, or have something else you want to share, please leave a comment, connect with me on Twitter or just ask me here.

Have just. Read The Rational Optimist. Great book.

— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch)

December 31, 2011

Good work Rupe, that’s almost a sentence.

Google’s acquisition of Motorola is not an attempt for Google to become a handset manufacturer, but rather a bombastic way to bolster their intellectual property portfolio. This move is going to shake the mobile industry and all the players in it right from the hardware manufacturers to the carriers.

For $12.5 billion, Google have not just bought the hardware company that invented the mobile phone, but more importantly they now own a prized patent portfolio. This is going to help change the game in their fight against the Microsoft and Apple consortium that has recently acquired the vast Novell and Nortel patent library.

This move means that Microsoft will be pressured to now purchase Nokia, and other handset manufacturers may have a $12.5B gleam in their eye to attract another cashed up acquirer. 

For some time there has been a raft of industry chatter that there are too many platforms in the mobile space, and which ones will stay and which will go. We may be seeing the start of the consolidation of the mobile industry.

If Microsoft does acquire Nokia, that leaves just Samsung, HTC and LG as the remaining large handset manufacturers left without a suitor. This means they will be the only companies making both Android and Windows Phone 7 devices.

Although this is acquisition will help shield those other manufacturers from patent lawsuits by Microsoft and Apple, there has to be a question about what strategy they will pursue now their competitor Motorola is in bed with the software supplier they so rely on. 

We could now see a bloodbath situation with Microsoft and Google fighting it out to acquire one of these companies in order to bolster their market position. Not to mention boost their patent libraries.

However, it also opens up the opportunity for Microsoft to closely align with Samsung or HTC in producing Windows phones. It will be a hard pill for those partners to swallow, however, as HTC are selling 12 times as many Android phones as they are Windows phones. 

What we will see unfold over the coming weeks is that Google have just stepped it up to face Microsoft and Apple square in the eye. They are not backing down, and they clearly have a few tricks up their sleeve to ensure they will even up if not turn the tables on the Nuclear warfare-style patent face off.

As well as arming itself with a new patent portfolio, Google is clearly eyeing the advantage Apple has in controlling both the hardware and software of it’s platform. While RIM and HP have tried to do the same, those platforms continue to descend into irrelevancy through lack of innovation from RIM and HP’s meagre market penetration.

As more hardware partners get gobbled up and the patent war is evened out, we may see the consolidation of the mobile space down to the three old enemies - Microsoft, Google and Apple.