Author Archive | Ed Oswald

Apple Only Making $20-45m from App Store

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 14, 2009 at 10:52 am

Lightspeed Venture Partners‘ managing director Jeremy Liew threw some cold water on Apple Thursday, saying that while the company has indeed sold some one billion apps, it likely has made no more than $45 million in revenue overall from the App Store.

Liew did some research to find that only one paid app is sold for every 15 to 40 free apps. This would infer that between 25 and 60 million of those one billion apps were paid for.

Going forward, he used the mean price for sold iPhone apps of $2.65, as released by O’Reilly. Together that would add up to revenues of $70-160 million, of which Apple only sees 30 percent of. Thus, $20-45 million in profits.

The kneejerk reaction here is to gasp and say, “wow, Apple’s App Store has been a failure from a revenue standpoint.” Not so fast, though. The company has repeatedly said it did not expect much revenue from its service, so this should come as no big surprise.

Add to this the fact that the App Store has a bigger purpose for the company over and above making money. It’s meant to draw people to the platform. While there’s no “killer app” for the iPhone just yet, the broad-based support it gets from services across the industry is a definite draw.

Notice how Microsoft and RIM have been scrambling to develop App Stores of their own? There’s a reason for that.

5 comments

Gmail Making it Simple to Switch

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 14, 2009 at 9:12 am

gmail1Google rolled out new functionality within Gmail Wednesday that would help ease the pain of switching e-mail providers. The backend of the service is provided by TrueSwitch, and works with a host of providers including AOL, Comcast, Hotmail, Verizon, and Yahoo (a full list is provided here).

The service will automatically import your mail from your previous account along with your contacts. In addition, it will allow you to import mail from your old account for a period of 30 days, and would add a label to these messages if the user so desires.

All newly-created Gmail accounts now have the functionality. Google said it is also busy rolling it out to existing accountholders, who might also be interested in using the import service.

While I’ve been using Gmail for quite awhile and have no need for functionality like this, I can see how this would be helpful to those wanting to take the plunge. The first few days with a new email account can be painful as one switches everything over.

This makes that process a whole lot simpler. Can’t argue with that, or the fact that its free.

4 comments

Kanye Divas Out Over Fake Twitter Account

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 13, 2009 at 9:40 am

Kanye West is too busy to Twitter, but apparently not busy enough to take to his blog to write a post taking the service to the mat over a fake Kanye account. In a 160+ word profanity-laden (and caps lock stuck) rant on his blog, the rapper said in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t twitter, and never plans to.

I DON’T HAVE A [expletive removed] TWITTER… WHY WOULD I USE TWITTER??? I ONLY BLOG 5 PERCENT OF WHAT I’M UP TO IN THE FIRST PLACE. I’M ACTUALLY SLOW DELIVERING CONTENT BECAUSE I’M TOO BUSY ACTUALLY BUSY BEING CREATIVE MOST OF THE TIME AND IF I’M NOT AND I’M JUST LAYING ON A BEACH I WOULDN’T TELL THE WORLD.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but didn’t it just take you, what, 10 minutes to write this post, when 140 characters would have taken you 10 seconds?

IT’S A [expletive removed] FARCE AND IT MAKES ME QUESTION WHAT OTHER SO CALLED CELEBRITY TWITTERS ARE ACTUALLY REAL OR FAKE. HEY TWITTER, TAKE THE SO CALLED KANYE WEST TWITTER DOWN NOW …. WHY? … BECAUSE MY CAPS LOCK KEY IS LOUD!!!!!!!!!

Better run quick, Twitter! Kanye will sick his caps lock on you! Wow. Obviously, Twitter didn’t know this was fake. I highly doubt the company would have left the account up for so long. In other cases, they’ve been extrordinarily fast in removing accounts.

30 people work for Twitter. Just remember that — they don’t have time right now to cater to everyone’s needs, or even be proactive. They need our help.

Calm down, dude. Diva-ing out on a blog post doesn’t look to professional. Oh wait, you’re Kanye West — this kind of behavior is kind of expected. By the way, you might be interested in knowing that most of your fans are twittering these days, but I do digress…

2 comments

Jobs Still Absent for WWDC

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 13, 2009 at 8:48 am

Even though Apple says that Steve Jobs will return to Apple in June, the company said on Wednesday that a “team of executives” led by marketing head Phil Schiller would give the keynote on June 8th at its Worldwide Developers Conference. While it does not directly say Jobs won’t be there, it seems to suggest that its unlikely he will play a major role.

Jobs or not, WWDC looks to be exciting. Officially, the company will be delivering a final developer release of Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard,” as well as focusing heavily on iPhone OS 3.0, set to release during the summer.

Several Mac rumor sites have also pointed to the conference keynote as an opportunity to debut a refresh to the company’s desktop and laptop lines, but of course Apple is providing no details there.

3 comments

Apple Had a Busy Tuesday

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 12, 2009 at 10:58 pm

Tuesday was a busy one in Cupertino. The day saw three software updates release, including Mac OS X 10.5.7, Safari 3.2.3, and an update to the 4.0 beta. There’s nothing really ground shattering, but there are some highlights to each of the releases. As is typical

Safari 3.2.3 isn’t really much of anything other than a security update, according to the Apple website.

The Mac OS X 10.5.7 update includes your typical security fixes, plus:

  • expanded RAW support
  • video playback/cursor issues in recent Macs with nVidia chips
  • MobileMe syncing improvements with iCal
  • improved consistency with Parental Controls and application restrictions
  • improved printing reliability and stability

See this post from Apple for more information.

Finally, the company updating the release of the Safari 4 beta to ensure compatibility with 10.5.7 as well as to fix several security related problems.

No comments

Congratulations Michelle, It’s A Mac.

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 11, 2009 at 1:10 pm

macmondayI got a phone call from my good friend Michelle the other day. She was genuinely excited. Normally these “I’m excited” calls have something to do with what she heard or saw that would remind us of our long-since-passed youth, but this call was different.

“What are you so excited about?” I asked.

She went into a long spiel about how she didn’t have the money right this second, but that she was getting the funds together for a big purchase. “I was in the Apple Store yesterday, and I started playing around with the laptops. They’re so cool! I’m getting a Mac!”

I laughed, but at the same time was genuinely pleased that Cupertino had won yet another convert. “Why’s this?”

Her reasons were much like the argument that us Mac enthusiasts put forth when comparing the platform to the PC. Its ease of use, the feature set, the asthetics. She also figured out on her own that her brand new iPod Touch 32GB would work a whole lot easier when paired with a shiny new MacBook.

(Maybe it was also the 4th Gen iPod that I gave her that opened her eyes to Apple, but I do digress.)

Michelle’s story is special for one reason. She does not fit the Mac user stereotype at all. She lives in a rural area, and is certainly as middle class as most of us. Her computer knowledge (and this is no knock against her) is certainly not technical — she’s no geek. Yet the Mac has appealed to her.

This got me to wonder — has the Mac community overreacted to the Laptop Hunters ads? Have we let Microsoft get under our skin with a PR campaign that in the end is really preaching to the choir?

I think so. Michelle’s a bargain hunter (I’ve been with her on shopping trips). Yes she could have just as easily gone for the cheap plastic Windows-based laptop, but she has decided not to.

Microsoft has overplayed its hand on price. If stories like Michelle’s are more common, could it just be even in a recessionary environment that consumers aren’t going to go cheap?

I’d argue yes. Through none of the Laptop Hunters ads did we hear anything about the value as it had to do with the system itself: instead we’re beaten over the head with the stigma that price is everything when it comes to computer shopping.

A simplistic view of the average computer consumer? Yes. Computers have become such a commodity these days where the public is actually more informed. Years ago, price played a big part in decisions. Consumers did not care what they got as long as it was a good deal.

In a more technical society, we now know what to look for. Many of these cheap PCs Microsoft has decided to hawk are exactly that — low-cost because the manufacturer decided to skimp in an effort to lower the price.

Plus, consumers know what they need. Apple has always decided to put its features first: this is their philosophy in their ads too. Take notice that price is never mentioned. Instead, the ad always seems to revolve around a feature set, which in the end drives home a argument of functionality as value vis a vis price as value.

No doubt Michelle has seen these ads. I haven’t asked her specifically, but I wonder if Apple’s campaigns are more successful because they sell the functionality first? Apparently even the average PC user is getting the message.

Maybe us Mac users need to step back, let Microsoft make a fool of itself in its ads and never mention the platform itself, and watch as PC users still decide that the package overall is more important than the price. Apple tax be damned.

Congratulations Michelle, it’s a Mac.

22 comments

App Store Approval Now Contingent on OS 3.0 Compatibility

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 8, 2009 at 12:14 pm

Want your app in the Apple’s App Store? Better quickly make sure that it’s compatible with the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0 or it won’t get approved. Apple shocked the developer community Thursday with the announcement that it was mandating that all apps henceforth be compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, or they would be rejected.

Here’s what Apple said:

Beginning today, all submissions to the App Store will be reviewed on the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0. If your app submission is not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved.

Existing apps in the App Store should already run on iPhone OS 3.0 without modification, but you should test your existing apps with iPhone OS 3.0 to ensure there are no compatibility issues. After iPhone OS 3.0 becomes available to customers, any app that is incompatible with iPhone OS 3.0 may be removed from the App Store.

There are potential issues here. OS 3.0 is still in beta. There’s no saying that Apple may have screwed something up on its own, which breaks an application in the current beta, but may not necessarily in the final release.

It could mean additional work for some developers, which could be a headache. While Apple is certainly right to want developers to start thinking in terms of OS 3.0, testing apps on a beta release just doesn’t seem too foolproof, don’t you think?

One comment

Sirius XM Bleeds Customers, Blame the Programming.

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 7, 2009 at 11:03 am

sirius-xm-mergerDespite the company’s best efforts to sugar coat it, Sirius XM is in trouble. The company shed just over 404,000 subscribers in the first quarter, as far as we can tell the first ever where the company combined or separate has done so.

Losses also widened to $236.6 million, more than double the $104.1 million loss a year earlier. Pro forma revenues clocked in at $587 million. The company did report a $108 million profit from operations, its second quarter of doing so.

The loss came as a surprise to Wall Street, which expected the company to continue adding subscribers on a much smaller loss. Miller Tabak & Co analyst David Joyce told CNBC that he believes subscriber loss will offset any gains from cost-cutting measures, a problem for the company.

We’ll give some credit to the company for reducing its costs, such as the subscriber acquisition costs, down to $61 from $82 a year earlier. However, the signficant loss of subscribers is very troubling.

Sirius XM is quick to blame the automobile industry’s woes for its problems in attracting customers. While yes, the auto industry slowdown is exacerbating the problem, it is not the cause. It’s the company itself.

For all intents and purposes this company is being horribly managed, especially in the programming department. We’ve already covered the hot mess that is the DSquared show, but there’s more. It’s as if the service has hired complete novices to program its channels.

I’ve watched the fan boards for awhile, and over and over again its the same story. Music on a channel that is either completely off format or just plain bad, or DJs who make the stations sound like FM.

That is the central problem for Sirius XM, not the automobile industry. Start running your programming department correctly, and you won’t have such a problem keeping people.

15 comments

Sirius XM Stoops to a New Low: Reinforcing Stereotypes

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 5, 2009 at 11:05 pm

n60295042574_2509149_5300459It’s no secret that a lot of satellite radio users are quite unhappy with the merger of Sirius and XM. Sirius XM has taken a beating for its questionable programming decisions, as well as its sometimes apparent obliviousness to channel formats.

The latest example involves Sirus XM’s BPM channel, the service’s supposed dance station, which has been anything but lately. Fans have voiced their outrage across the Internet, from Sirius XM fan boards to the channel’s Facebook page. That anger reached a fever pitch Tuesday night with the debut of the Dsquared show.

Dsquared is Dan and Dean Caten, a fashion duo from Europe. What is their connection to dance music? Who knows. But their new show debuted Tuesday night, called Dean and Dan on Air: Style in Stereo. What followed was the most stereotypical portrayal of the gay community I have heard in a long time.

While the music they played was one thing–completely off format–the way Mr. and Mr. Caten portrayed themselves was Godawful.

When you could understand them (they mumbled for 50% of the show), their topics of discussion had nothing to do with dance music. They also reinforced the stereotype of the effeminate, fashion-loving, and pretentious gay man–to the point it was grating.

I don’t know where Sirius XM and BPM are trying to go with this, so I won’t even guess. In any case, the show not go over well at all with listeners. On BPM’s Facebook page, not a single review was positive. Here are a few examples:

I am a young gay man. And those two things that were on the DSQUARED show. So distasteful. That show needs to be pulled off ASAP!

These guys give gay people a bad name, seriously. Way to set gay rights back 100 years. Awesome job! NEWS FLASH, there are more than just gay people listening to dance music.

this show is horrible, and sxm should be ashamed of themselves for putting on such a stereotyping show…

This dsquared show is beyond terrible….GET RID OF IT!!!!!!! Dance music does not equal fashion in America…not everyone who likes dance music is gay (no offense to gay people)

I can’t say it much better than these folks. If you’ve got satellite radio, I suggest you also take a listen for yourself–here’s the schedule. Please take this mess off the air, Sirius XM. And start listening to your subscribers. After all, they’re paying your paychecks.

17 comments

Busy Summer Ahead for T-Mobile

Posted by Ed Oswald on May 5, 2009 at 9:38 pm

The folks over at Tmonews have got their hands on a screenshot of a rollout list for June and July for T-Mobile, and by the looks of it it will be a busy month. While most of the news revolves around new phone models, one listing is for a feature that iPhone users have grown to love: visual voicemail.

However it will be done, or what devices it would be available on, is not yet known. But official support for the feature is set for July 16th, and training for employees would begin next month.

It’s likely that we’ll see this functionality on T-Mobile’s smart devices first and foremost, such as the G1, which can already do visual voicemail through a third-party application. I’m sure to compete with the iPhone, T-Mobile will definitely add it to at least the G1 — let’s face it, that’s the intention of the G1 for the carrier.

The phone lineup looks interesting too. The Sony Ericsson CS8 will be the first, an 8.1 megapixel (wow) camera phone launching on June 24, and would be followed by a 3G version of the T-Mobile Dash due on July 1st.

Two new Samsungs would be launched for the “back to school” shopping season, the t469 and t549, both apparently slide out keyboard texting phones (get why they’re the back to school phones? Those crazy texting kids.) due the 15th.

Finally on August 12, the high-end Windows Mobile-powered Rhodium will hit the shelves. Gee, this looks an awful lot like the iPhone with a slide out keyboard, don’t ya think?

It’s worth noting by the way that all these phones are 3G capable. T-Mobile is beginning the push to get its customers into the 21st century. About time, eh?

No comments