Posts Tagged ‘senior vice president’

Google Lashes Out at Apple and Microsoft

We are all too familiar with stories about wars being fought for democracy or oil, but who knew the next big war would be over mobile device patents? Recent multi-billion dollar sales of numerous patents previously held by technology giants Nortel and Novell motivated David Drummond, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for Google, to cast the first stone with a blog post on the official Google Blog that can only be described as a rather obvious attempt to incite a riot among Android supporters.

While many of his complaints may be rooted in truth and reason, if you read between the lines it sounds like the tantrum of a toddler. Didn’t you know that everybody is being mean to Google?!

So what is all the fuss about? Let’s review:

Drummond claims patents are being sold for far more than they are worth.
From my vantage point, it seems that the patents were purchased ‘fair and square’. When there is a bidding war, it’s common for prices to rise well above what was expected, so what? Sounds like Google is most upset that their own bid for these patents wasn’t high enough to win them. I guess when determining their worth it is only equivalent to what Google was prepared to pay.

Drummond accuses Microsoft and Apple (chiefly, though other companies were involved in the purchases) of employing an anti-competitive strategies by licensing and charging for the patents that they rightly own.
Acknowledging that I am not a lawyer, it would seem that by making the patents available for licensing, nobody is being anti-competitive. Quite the contrary. Google is welcome to use them, they just need to compensate the parties who own them.

Drummond’s post contains one other thing that truly deserves an eyeroll. If I may be allowed to paraphrase, he says that Android is really popular and they give it away for free therefore it’s just not fair that they have to pay for the research and technology that makes it possible.

Let’s pretend for a moment that Google would have given everything away to their competitors for free had they been successful in their own bid to purchase many of these patents, and consider the point that John Gruber hit home by saying the thing we’re all sitting here thinking: “It’s OK for Google to undermine Microsoft’s for-pay OS licensing business by giving Android away for free, but it’s not OK for Microsoft to undermine Google’s attempts to give away for free an OS that violates patents belonging to Microsoft?”

The response? Microsoft didn’t skip a beat. Following Google’s accusations and insinuations, they responded quickly and succinctly with two tweets that have most of us wanting to give them a high-five.

Brad Smith, General Counsel for Microsoft says:
Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no.

Frank X. Shaw, Lead Corporate Communications for Microsoft says:
“Free advice for David Drummond – next time check with Kent Walker before you blog. “
(The tweet also contains a link to a graphic of an e-mail between Microsoft and Google supporting what Brad Smith claimed in his tweet.)

So far Apple has been fairly quiet on the matter. But after those tweets, what more is there to say?

» Related posts:

• Google Out-Maneuvered in a Bid for Nortel’s Wireless Patents
• Can Apple and Google Challenge Lodsys’ Patents?
• International Trade Commission Rules in Favor of Apple in HTC Patent Case

App Store Milestone: 15 Billion Apps Downloaded and Counting

The number of apps on the App Store continues to grow at a massive pace. But, how about the number of downloads? Have users like you and me downloaded enough apps onto our iOS devices lately?

The number of app downloads has always been somewhat of a mystery. There is the usual debate on whether or not the App Store discovery mechanism is good enough for all of us to find good apps, which would result in a large number of applications being downloaded to our devices. Today, Apple issued a press release that reveals the number of apps that have been downloaded from the App Store.

Earlier this year (January to be exact), more than 10 billion apps had been downloaded from the App Store worldwide. That milestone marked an impressive number and one that certainly speaks to Apple’s success.

Today, Apple hit another milestone as the App Store passed 15 billion downloads. This is just over 5 months after reaching the previous 10 billion download mark. In case you’re wondering, the App Store currently has a total of 425,000 iOS apps, including 100,000 native iPad apps.

As reported by Peter Kakfa from All Things D, Apple announced during its June developers conference a total of 14 billion downloads. This means that all of us managed to download 1 billion apps over the last month alone. That is a lot of apps across iOS devices.

Business Insider have also pointed out some statistics that show an average of 75 apps downloaded per iOS device owner. This is an impressive number. Clearly, you and I are spending too much time on our iPads, iPhones or iPod Touch.

Needless to say, Apple is quite happy about these numbers.

“In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Thank you to all of our amazing developers who have filled it with over 425,000 of the coolest apps and to our over 200 million iOS users for surpassing 15 billion downloads.”

If you want to read Apple’s official press release click here.

Editor’s Note: If you’re interested in following the ever increasing number of apps in the App Store, it’s easy. Simply launch iTunes on the iPad and go to the App Store. At the top of the window, you’ll see the newly added “Release Date” button next to “New” and “What’s Hot.” Click on ”Release Date”. Then, you will get to see the growing number of apps available in the App Store. Interestingly enough, it also includes another bit of information – the total number of iPad apps.

[via Apple's Press Release]

» Related posts:

• App Store: 10 Billion Apps Downloaded in Less Than Three Years
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Apple iOS Outreaches Android by 59%

We’ve all read news reports on Android’s quickly increasing grasp of the smartphone market but new data released from comScore has highlighted the fact that the iOS platform, overall, on iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches is used by 37.9 million users in the United States, while the Android platform (including Android phones and connected media devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab) has a user base of only 23.8 million. Apple has access to 16.2% of the 234 million mobile platform users, giving them a much greater reach than Android’s 10.2% share.

Interestingly, comScore has determined that the Apple user base is made up of more than just Apple fanatics. Only 10.5% of iOS users access the system from more than one device, such as an iPhone and an iPad. According to Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president, “These data clearly illustrate the Apple ecosystem extends far beyond the iPhone. Though it’s frequently assumed that the Apple user base is composed of dedicated Apple ‘fanboys’, there’s not a tremendous amount of overlapping mobile device access among these users. This of course has significant implications for the developer community as they consider the market potential in developing applications for different mobile platforms.”

While Apple iPhone users do account for the largest share of iPad owners at 27.3%, 17.5% of iPad users have a BlackBerry, and 14.2% use an Android phone. According to this data, the majority of iPad owners are not Apple addicts. Most iPad owners are using phones made by competing companies, and all of these companies – Samsung, Motorola, LG, RIM – have tablets of their own.

Apple may be slightly behind in the mobile phone market (though the Verizon iPhone is helping to fill that gap), but the iPad is clearly dominating tablet devices, and will continue to do so as long as there continues to be no Android tablet that can compete with it. Android phones may outsell iPhones, but Apple still has the competitive edge with a much greater share of the entire mobile market.

comScore reports that it will release European data from iPads and other connected media devices soon.

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Cablevision iPad App – 50,000 Downloads in Five Days

Just 4 days ago, Cablevision surprised many in the industry with their Optimum iPad app, especially after the company’s new innovation let its subscribers watch up to 300 live TV channels and access over 2,200 video on-demand titles.

After 50,000 downloads since its release, the application has become the most popular iPad app in the Entertainment category in the App Store.

Cablevision’s new concept has also catapulted the application into the 10th most popular free iPad application.

Needless to say, the cable company is quite excited about the consumers response. “We are very pleased by the strong and positive consumer reaction to the Optimum App for iPad, reflected by download activity, ratings and reviews,” Cablevision senior vice president of video product management Gary Schanman said in a statement.

However, this success story has a few detractors. We already told you about Time Warner’s situation with Fox and Viacom, in which the content owners requested Time Warner to remove their channels from the TWCable TV app.

Consistent with Time Warner’s story, the YES Network, which carries New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets sport games, has informed Cablevision it does not have the rights to distribute its content via the iPad. Will Cablevision follow the same path as Time Warner, and remove the YES Network from its iPad streaming app? Maybe not so fast.

When Cablevision released its iPad application, the cable company issued a statement clarifying their rights to distribute content. “Cablevision has the right to distribute programming over its cable system to iPads configured in this way under its existing distribution agreements with programming providers,” said Cablevision after announcing their iPad app.

The company has been down this road before. In 2006, they were sued by content owners over copyright infringement with some remote digital video recorders. However, the cable company prevailed in 2009.

Cablevision and Time Warner will probably argue that their iPad applications are covered by its distribution agreements with content owners. First, the companies will claim they’re limiting subscribers to only watch the content inside their home. Second, the cable companies will claim they are delivering the content signals over their DOCSIS architecture, instead over the Internet.

It will be interesting to see if any other content owners decide to force cable companies to remove their channels from innovative concepts like the iPad streaming apps. One thing is for sure. Expect Cablevision, Time Warner and other network operators to gear up, and start providing access to more channels and video on-demand titles for your viewing pleasure.

» Related posts:

• Cablevision Releases Optimum iPad App – Enjoy 300 TV channels
• Fox Requests Time Warner to Remove Channels from iPad TV App
• Time Warner Cable about to Launch Live TV Streaming via iPad

Apple’s 2011 WorldWide Developers Conference to Kick Off June 6

Earlier today, Apple announced that it will hold its annual WorldWide Developers Conference (WWDC) from June 6 to June 10, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The event will be focused on “the future of iOS and OS X,” and will feature more than than 100 sessions, to help iOS and Mac developers enhance their coding techniques, and exchange coding tips.

Several sessions will be focused on the new features offered by OS X Lion, as well as iOS. While the press release published by Apple earlier today does not mention it explicitly, the event could also be used by Apple to offer a glimpse of what iOS 5 will offer, once released during fall 2o11.

About a thousand of Apple engineers will be invited to the event, so if you happen to be an iOS or OS X developer – and are willing to pay the $1,599 entry fee – the show will be a great way to meet the folks who build the operating system you use everyday.

As usual, Apple will give its yearly Design Awards for apps developers, for apps “that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.” Last year, only iPhone and iPad apps were included in the Design Awards content, but this time around, Apple will also include Mac apps – an smart move, given that Apple launched the Mac App Store earlier this year.

Full press release below:

CUPERTINO, California—March 28, 2011—Apple® today announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 6 through June 10 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At this year’s five-day conference Apple will unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS®, including exciting demonstrations of the new kinds of apps that developers can build using Apple’s advanced frameworks and more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers.

“At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.”

Mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS and learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance and design of their apps. Mac® developers will see and learn how to develop world-class Mac OS X Lion applications using its latest technologies and capabilities. Developers can even bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers, applying development techniques and best-practices to enhance their apps.

 

Activities at Apple’s WWDC 2011 include:

• more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and Mac OS technologies;
• over 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques, and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and Mac OS technologies in their apps;
• the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPad®, iPhone® and Mac developers from around the world; and

Apple Design Awards which recognize iPad, iPhone and Mac apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.

Go to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 website (developer.apple.com/wwdc) to purchase tickets, as well as for updates and more information.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

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CNN App for iPad Now Available

Earlier today, Atlanta-based CNN released its new iPad app. The app is not just a port of the iPhone version, or a carbon-copy of the CNN.com website, as it offers a stunning – yet convenient – layout specifically engineered for the tablet.

Unlike many other iPad news apps, CNN for iPad is designed to offer an “immersive” experience, by combining strong visual elements with text stories, photo galleries, videos, and blog posts.

News are presented via enlarged thumbnails, and include stories coming from all CNN properties. The app also allows the user to choose between international news, or U.S. news only, the latter offering additional hourly updates from CNN Radio.

According to KC Estenson, senior vice president and general manager of CNN.com “High quality, world-class journalism is what CNN does best, whether live breaking news, hard-hitting interviews or in-depth investigations, and our iPad app presents that content to the world in a wholly new way. [...] This app harnesses the best of what the iPad offers by leveraging striking photos and videos; elegant, multi-touch navigation; and the ability to share content with your friends via social media.”

Travelers will be happy to know that articles can be saved for offline browsing. The app is also already integrated with most social networks, to let you share your favorite stories via Twitter or Facebook.

CNN for iPad is a free app, and is available in the App Store.

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Financial Service Firms Lead iPad Enterprise Adoption

The Apple iPad has proven a success with consumers, with over four million iPads were sold last quarter, and we are beginning to see enterprise adoption of the device pick-up significantly. Based on a recent research, Good Technology sees the financial services, technology and healthcare industries as early leaders in the adoption of the iPad as an enterprise tool.

Good Technology, maker of iPad enterprise messaging and collaboration app – Good for Enterprise, analyzed its user base to see which enterprise segments led in enterprise iPad adoption. The company found that during the past eight months over 4,000 enterprises adopted the iPad and their deployments ranged from one iPad to over 1,000 devices in a single enterprise.

Good Technology’s senior vice president of corporate strategy, John Herrema said, “We found that the financial services sector dominated, accounting for 36 percent of Good’s iPad activations to date. The technology sector came in second at 11 percent, followed closely by healthcare at 10 percent. We believe these industries are embracing the iPad because its unique design makes it easier to perform time-sensitive, mission-critical tasks. Good assures IT departments that those tasks are accomplished via secure access to corporate data and applications giving them full IT management and control.”

During Apple’s most recent quarterly earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook said the company had never seen an adoption rate in enterprise like what they are experiencing with the iPhone and iPad. Cook said that over 66% of the Fortune 100 companies are already using or piloting the iPad in the workplace and that nearly 85% of the Fortune 100 are using or testing the iPhone.

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iPads in Medicine

We’ve featured several stories on the different uses for the iPad over the past 7 months and I’ve often thought how useful the iPad would be in the medical industry. With so many medical apps available, I think it would be amazing for doctors to have access to so much information from one small portable device. True, many of them already use iPhones and other smartphone brands but you can’t beat the larger screen on the iPad when reviewing digital imaging test results.

According to a report on TNW Australia, the Victorian State government also sees potential for the iPad in medical offices. Apparently Premier John Brumby announced plans for the Labor Government’s $1.5 billion new health policy yesterday and they included money for iPads.

“As technology evolves, so do the tools that our doctors need. We will provide $12 million to buy iPads for every doctor working in Victoria’s public hospital system, so they have easy access to time-critical clinical information at a patient’s bedside,” Brumby said. It appears Premier Brumby is an iPad proponent as his Labor government has also reported the distribution of 500 iPads in state hospitals as well.

Back in the US, iPads are being used at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Instead of medical personnel reviewing charts, chemotherapy patients are using them to pass the time during infusions. The iPad program began in September as a computer pilot project and has been so successful that Dana-Farber is ordering more.

“The iPads work well because they are comparatively easy to use, have long battery life, and are quick and intuitive. They are also easier to keep disinfected than a laptop,” said Steven R. Singer, senior vice president for Communications. Patients need only show a patient ID and driver’s license to sign out an iPad for a three-hour period at no charge. They will then receive the loaner iPad pre-loaded with games, movies, music, news and entertainment apps, as well as videos and information about cancer care at the Institute.

“We surveyed patients and families, and 98 percent said they really enjoyed having an iPad available and that they would check it out again in the future,” says Janet Porter, PhD, Dana Farber’s chief operating officer. So far the only complaints have come when it’s time for the patients to return them.

iPads are definitely a lot of things to a lot of people, some of us use them for fun while others use them for business. One thing is certain, iPads have made a huge impact in the market place since their release earlier this year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

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Toys”R”Us Great Big Christmas Book Coming Soon to the iPad

Nothing says Christmas is just around the corner like the release of the Toys”R”Us Great Big Christmas Book and what better way to showcase these gifts than on the iPad? Children will enjoy 80 pages of fun and thousands of toys in the first ever iPad version of their Christmas catalog.

Due to be released the beginning of November, the Christmas Book iPad app will have two different viewing options – one for kids and another for parents. Kids will be able to peruse scores of gifts (without pricing information) in search of items to add to their Christmas list and then simply drag and drop their favorites into a “gift-box.” The must-have items included in the box can then be viewed with pricing and manipulated by parents to create a master shopping list. Keep grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members in the loop by sharing kids’ lists through email, Facebook, SMS and the Toys”R”Us Wish List.

According to Greg Ahearn, Senior Vice President, Marketing and E-Commerce, Toys”R”Us, Inc, “While children love seeing the fabulous playthings, parents will appreciate the incredible savings offered, including more than 50 free gift-with-purchase offers and hundreds of deals.” Digital versions of the catalog will also offer product information not included in the traditional print version with links to online reviews and video demonstrations of select items.

Toys”R”Us shoppers will have access to digital versions other than the iPad app. Checkout The Great Big Christmas Book on Facebook now and the web and good old fashioned print version starting October 31st. Of course, we’ll be using the iPad version of The Great Big Christmas Book here at PadGadget central to create our shopping lists this holiday season.

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Apple’s AirPrint Coming to iPads this November

Apple announced today that the iPad’s new wireless printing feature, found in iOS 4.2, has been renamed “AirPlay” and will be available this November on HP’s ePrint ready printers.

Steve Jobs demoed wireless printing on the iPad during Apple’s special media event last month and said it was one of the top new features iPad users could expect with the rollout of iOS 4.2 for the iPad. The feature allows users to find and select a printer on a wireless network and then seamlessly print photos, e-mails, documents or webpages to a printer without the need to install any drivers or special software. “AirPrint is Apple’s powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS—no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

HP is embracing Apple’s new AirPrint technology and is providing full support for the feature in their current and future ePrint inkjet and laser printers. HP is the first company to support the new iOS feature and they plan to have the feature ready in time for the holiday shopping season.

AirPrint will be available for iPads, iPhones and iPods running iOS 4.2 beginning this November.

Full Apple Press Release:

Apple’s AirPrint Wireless Printing for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch Coming to Users in November

Available First on HP ePrint Printers

CUPERTINO, California—September 15, 2010—Apple® today announced that it is releasing a beta version of its AirPrint wireless printing for iPad™, iPhone® and iPod touch® to members of Apple’s iOS developer program today, and that AirPrint will be included in the free iOS 4.2 software update in November. AirPrint automatically finds printers on local networks and can print text, photos and graphics to them wirelessly over Wi-Fi without the need to install drivers or download software. HP’s existing and upcoming ePrint enabled printers will be the first to support printing direct from iOS devices.

“AirPrint is Apple’s powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS—no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to an HP ePrint printer or to a printer shared on a Mac or PC.”

“We’re pleased to work with Apple to bring Apple’s AirPrint to our fall lineup of ePrint printers in time for the holiday shopping season,” said Vyomesh Joshi, HP executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group. “Making it easy for our customers to print anytime, anywhere, is a key priority for HP. iPad, iPhone and iPod touch customers are going to love how easy it is to print using our new range of ePrint printers, creating high-quality printed pages in an instant.”

AirPrint is designed to support a wide range of printers from entry level inkjet printers to office laser printers. Additionally, iOS 4.2 devices can print to printers shared through a Mac® or a PC. iOS 4.2 compatible HP printers this fall include the HP Photosmart, Officejet, Officejet Pro and LaserJet Pro series ePrint enabled printers.

*AirPrint will work with iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (second generation and later).