ipad

Showing 23 posts tagged ipad

More mobile devices equals more news consumption

The Pew Survey looked at news consumption on smartphones and tablets, and has confirmed some things I had suspected - people who own tablets as well as smartphones are consuming more news, more often.

Almost one-third of people who acquire tablets find themselves reading more news from more sources than before.

The study paints a bright picture for news consumption on mobile devices. These emerging devices are allowing people to stay more up-to-date and consume more news than ever before. 

News is a large part of what people do with their mobile devices. Fully 64% of tablet owners get news on their devices at least weekly, including 37% who do so daily. The numbers are similar for smartphone owners – 62% consume news weekly or more and 36% do so daily. For both tablets and smartphones, news is among the top activities people engage in on the devices.

Users are expecting the news to be delivered no matter where they are or what device they are using.

It’s the emerging concept of the ‘multi-platform user’, someone that wakes up with their iPhone, catches the train to work with the iPad, browses the net on their work PC and comes home to their laptop. 

While the iPad has driven this, the introduction of cheaper Android tablets such as the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 is going diversify the market. 

iOS 6 thoughts

Apple today released iOS 6 through an over-the-air update and Australian users everywhere are getting ready to upgrade their devices. Apple has updated iOS like clockwork each year, adding marquee new features like iCloud and multitasking. This year, iOS 6 is a relatively modest update. Apple has instead focused on refining the experience, there are a multitude of nips and tucks and the operating system feels faster than ever.

However there are still some key new features, and interestingly a few big ones that have been removed from prior versions. iOS 6 adds Facebook integration, smarter Siri commands and Passbook, a digital wallet to store your tickets and coupons. Apple has removed Google Maps from the operating system and replaced it with their own Apple-built maps application. They’ve also left out the previously built-in Youtube app. Let’s take a closer look at how the new features stack up.

Goodbye Google, hello Apple maps.

The most visible change in iOS 6 is unquestionably the banishing of Google maps to make way for Apple’s own revamped mapping service. Apple has now taken control of the location and map experience on their devices, removing their biggest competitor from the platform. But what does that mean for users?

The new maps application adds some great features that were previously missing, the biggest being turn-by-turn navigation coming in an October update for Australian users. It works very similarly to devices from TomTom and Garmin, enter your destination and the app will present different routes for both driving and walking. Navigation mode displays in a rich 3D view giving a bird’s eye perspective of the road you’re driving on, in typical Apple style the experience is smooth. You can even enter destinations through Siri, try it by telling Siri “take me home”.

‘Flyover’ is another key feature of the new maps application. As the name suggests, it literally allows you to fly over cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. It’s an astonishing presentation of satellite imagery, a 3D view of the city allowing you to pan in and around the skyline. It’s currently limited to bigger Australian cities and other cities around the world, expect Apple to keep adding and enhancing this with more satellite data over time.

It’s not all good news for maps, however. Public transport information is one of the casualties, as Apple hasn’t added this data to their application. Instead you’ll need to download third party apps to get this functionality, at least until Apple is ready with their own transit data. Google’s extensive business listings and points-of-interest are also missing, and while Apple has used Yelp and Yellow Pages to add some of this data it’s not as comprehensive as it was in the prior maps application.

Passbook

Apple has added a new built-in app to digitally store all those tickets, coupons and gift cards you have in your wallet or purse. Instead of fumbling in your email trying to find that movie ticket or digging through app folders to find a coupon code, Passbook aims to simplify the process by storing all these items in one location.

It also utilises the device’s GPS abilities in a convenient way. If you have a coffee card stored in Passbook, when you walk into the associated coffee shop it will send a push notification and pull up the card right on your phone.

It’s a futuristic feature however at launch it seems anemic, with few supporting services. Virgin Australia and Event Cinemas have stated they will be supporting it, but we’ll have to patiently wait for more businesses to offer Passbook integration to make it useful.

Siri knows more

Apple hailed Siri as the stand-out feature in the iPhone 4S, today Siri has been added to the iPad and has also received some major improvements. The virtual assistant with attitude can now look up sports scores, local business listings, give directions, post to social networks and open apps.

Australia hasn’t received all of Siri’s new features though, missing is the ability to book restaurant reservations and pull up movie listings. Still, it’s a solid update and the inclusion of the once missing business and location listings in Australia is a welcome improvement.

It’s not quite the virtual assistant as demonstrated in Apple’s ads, but it’s slowly getting there with each iteration. Apple still lists Siri as being in beta, in an apparent attempt to lower expectations.

I ‘like’ this

Facebook is now baked-in like Twitter was in iOS 5. This means you can sign in to Facebook directly through the settings app, giving users the ability to share photos and other items directly from the device without using another application.

They have also added a convenient Facebook post button directly in the notification panel, allowing to you post and also tweet from any screen. Apple has added the ability to ‘like’ apps directly in the App Store.

When you like an app, it will be shared with your friends and you can also see when your friends have liked an app right in the store.

Other new features

There are numerous other features and enhancements that make using iOS 6 an improved experience. ‘Do Not Disturb’ is one such feature, it’s essentially a switch that allows you to stop all incoming notifications such as messages, phone calls or alerts. This is really useful before bed or in a cinema.

You can even set exemptions, so if you still want all calls from your partner or boss to come through you can set that in the settings. ‘Photo streams’ are now shareable, so you can take a few photos and directly share with them a friend or group of friends.

This will be useful at parties or for times you don’t necessarily want every photo up on Facebook. Apple have also added the ability to comment and like photos, a surprising move adding more social networking style features to the Photos app.

Bottom Line

Overall it’s a solid update to an already strong mobile operating system. Apple have decided to take a more cautious approach with this release, looking to add refinements and improve the overall experience without rocking the boat too much.

It’s significant that Apple have removed key Google features like maps and Youtube, which is a signal that Apple doesn’t want to rely on competitors to provide core features for their platform. It will be a challenge for Apple to provide a comprehensive mapping service like Google does.

If you already enjoy the iOS experience, then updating to iOS 6 is a no-brainer. If you prefer Android or Windows Phone, this update will not do much to change your view. As a whole, it’s an update that doesn’t rely on one big feature to sell it like in past updates, but iOS 6 still provides an overall more pleasant and useful experience.

This article was first published on Yahoo!7 Technology.

Schematics of the iPad mini →

It’s looking increasingly likely that a smaller iPad is coming. 9to5Mac has released detailed schematics of the purported iPad mini.

It’s sporting a design that sits in between an iPod touch and the current iPad. The smaller vertical bezel give the device a sleeker, narrower profile than the current iPad. It looks very similar to the Nexus 7, the Android device it will be competing directly against.

There’s a question mark around what the use case for this device is for an existing iPad owner. My take is that it’s not intended for existing tablet owners, it will be a low price option for people currently on the fence.

The 8-inch iPad and the Challenge of Naming Products

Speculation continues to mount that Apple will release a smaller 8-inch iPad. Many pundits have taken to calling the device the iPad mini, following the convention set with the iPod mini.

Let’s assume that this device exists and will be launched sometime in the near future. Let’s also assume that this device will be a smaller iPad and not a larger iPod touch. Naming this product will be key in Apple’s expansion of it’s post-PC product line-up, and it is not without a challenge.

There has been a lot of discussion that a smaller iPad doesn’t fit into Apple’s portable line-up. There is one screen-sized iPhone and one screen-sized iPad. Yet the Mac lines feature products at a range of different screen sizes. While there is clear demand for the smaller tablet form-factor, where does an 8” iPad fit into Apple’s product line, and who is it intended for?

In positioning devices for the post-PC era, Steve Jobs once said that PC’s are like trucks and tablets are like cars. Extending that metaphor, we can think of an 8-inch iPad as two-door hatch, capable of doing most things a regular sedan can but in a more nimble package.

Remembering the iPad is still in the early stages of the product lifecycle, the challenge for Apple is how to position this device in the line-up without creating customer confusion and diluting the nascent iPad brand.

There are two types of brand architecture1 Apple could utilise in naming a smaller iPad. Apple could follow the iPod model and create a hybrid brand, such as naming the device the iPad mini. Alternatively, Apple could retain the distinct brand of the iPad and simply name it iPad, in the same way the different screen-sized Macbook’s are not sub-branded.

A case against a hybrid brand strategy

Apple could create a hybrid or sub-brand by taking the existing iPad name and appending a new word, such as mini. This is Apple’s strategy for their iPod line, creating a new sub-brand while retaining the brand cachet of the more established product.

People feel they are more productive, more creative and more mobile when using an iPad. A hybrid brand would extend these desirable brand attributes and apply them to the new device, activating the same higher level needs of esteem and self-actualisation2.

In the competitive context, it may be beneficial to Apple to create a hybrid brand that can be positioned as a direct competitor to the wave of ‘media tablets’ that are focused on content consumption, like the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7.

When Apple introduced the iPod shuffle, just by looking at the device itself it’s not easily apparant that it’s in the same class of the iPod. However by creating a hybrid branding strategy utilising the iPod name, the product was able to ride on coat tails of the iPod’s success. If the product had it’s own distinct brand, it may never have reached the level of success it achieved.

It allowed Apple to open up to new markets while retaining the ‘cool’ factor of the iPod brand. If young John wanted an iPod for Christmas, Mum and Dad could pick up the iPod shuffle for their son at a cheaper price point.

By appending the new name of ‘shuffle’, it makes it clear that the device has a different functionality to the regular iPod.

However a smaller iPad will run the same software and have the same functionality but in a smaller package. It may be a detriment to delineate the product from the 10-inch iPad. It could create the impression that the smaller device is not a full featured tablet, eroding the iPad’s marketplace advantage.

Retaining the distinct brand

Instead of creating a sub-brand Apple could retain the distinct iPad brand and apply it to different sized products. This is the strategy with the Mac lines. The 11-inch and 13-inch Macbook Air devices are not distinguished by sub-brands. Similarly, Apple could release an 8-inch iPad to coexist with the 10-inch iPad.

The brand elasticity of the iPad should be able to stretch wide enough to cover at least one other screen size in the line-up. The product differentiation between sizes is more akin to the Mac lines than the iPod lines. It would be in Apple’s best interest to retain the same brand strategy, as marketing can take advantage of the overall brand for budgets and reputation.

By retaining the same brand strategy for the smaller device, Apple would be reinforcing the notion that the smaller iPad is a full-featured tablet at a more convenient size. Not a compromised tablet at a reduced cost. This would allow Apple to raise the reputation of the device above that of competing devices that are marketed as consumption devices.

There are compromises to be made with either strategy. However it would be in Apple’s best interest to keep the premium iPad brand across the entire price umbrella. If you could purchase a full-featured iPad at US$200 or a reading device such as the Kindle Fire at the same price, which would you choose? By adding a sub-brand, it will dilute the strength and positioning of the brand and place the device on a more even playing field with it’s competitors.

If it was a betting man, I would bet the smaller iPad is simply that - an iPad. Just at a smaller size and lower cost.

  1. Brand Architecture is the way in which the brands within a company’s portfolio are related to, and differentiated from, one another. The architecture should define the different leagues of branding within the organization; how the corporate brand and sub-brands relate to and support each other; and how the sub-brands reflect or reinforce the core purpose of the corporate brand to which they belong. ↩

  2. Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs ↩

Early iPad prototype photos surface →

Jonathan Ive discussing the early prototype photos during the Samsung deposition in December 2011:

My recollection of first seeing it is very hazy, but it was, I’m guessing, sometime between 2002 and 2004, some but it was I remember seeing this and perhaps models similar to this when we were first exploring tablet designs that ultimately became the iPad.

Aside from thickness, the 2002 iPad looks very similar to the device of today, sans home button.

Tablets (read- iPad) are Prime-Time devices

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.