Company / division: Apple
Facebook Builds Google AMP and Apple News Tools into Instant Articles SDK (May 25, 2017)
I’m generally a skeptic of proprietary or customized forms of web publishing because I believe they create extra work for publishers, which in turn takes us back to earlier eras when smaller publishers weren’t able to compete with larger publishers on a level playing field (this is something I’ve written about in detail here). But they also have other objectionable aspects, including making some very powerful companies more powerful. Facebook’s Instant Articles is a great example of all that, and it’s struggled to gain momentum in part because it’s not clear to most publishers that it actually helps them make more money than simply linking out to their sites, and in part because it doesn’t support any kind of payment method today. Facebook’s Journalism Project, on the other hand, is supposed to address some of publishers’ frustrations, and as part of Facebook’s response to those frustrations, it’s tweaking its SDK for Instant Articles to add support for the Google-led AMP format and eventually also for Apple News. That could help assuage concerns about having to publish in four different formats separately (FB IA, AMP, Apple News, and the web), but it’s obviously only helpful to those publishers big enough or tech-savvy enough to work with an SDK and a custom CMS to feed it. And it does nothing to address the very real monetization issues or the sense of loss of control that has caused some publishers to pull back from Instant Articles lately. This feels like an inadequate bandaid rather than a real solution. Above all, Facebook needs to bring on the monetization tools pronto.
via Facebook Media
iPhones and Samsung Galaxy Models Lead US Smartphone Satisfaction Rankings (May 24, 2017)
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Apple Launches Curriculum for Teaching Swift at Community Colleges (May 24, 2017)
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Apple Seeks Permission to Test 5G Network Technology (May 23, 2017)
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Apple Shifts HR Head to Diversity Role, Reporting to Tim Cook (May 23, 2017)
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Apple and Nokia Settle Patent Litigation (May 23, 2017)
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Apple Launches Website for Android Switchers (May 22, 2017)
A little under two years ago, Apple launched its first Android app, “Move to iOS”, which was designed to help Android users make the switch to an iPhone. Now, Apple has a new section of its website up which is designed explicitly to help (and help convince) Android users switch to the iPhone. Given that almost every buyer of an iPhone in mature markets is going to be an existing smartphone owner, the two key drivers of iPhone sales in those markets are switching from Android and upgrading from earlier iPhones, and both have been a consistent theme on recent Apple earnings calls. So targeting that audience of Android switchers specifically makes perfect sense. The site focuses on a few aspects of buying and owning an iPhone: ease of use, ease of switching, camera quality, speed, privacy and security, iMessage extensions, support from Apple people, and environmental responsibility. Out of all the possible things Apple could emphasize, that’s an interesting list – design, for example, isn’t one of them, though the word appears in other contexts three times on the site, and all the things highlighted here are functional rather than aesthetic. In fact, other than one oblique shot of an iPhone at the top, there isn’t a single full shot of an iPhone or any shot with the screen on until you get to the “buy” section at the bottom. Given how central the design message and product shots have traditionally been to Apple promotional material, that’s an interesting departure and likely reflects research on why people switch from Android. It’s also worth checking out a set of five short videos Apple has made to go along with the site.
via Apple
Weekly Narrative Video – Streaming is Saving Music (May 19, 2017)
This week’s Narrative Video is on the Streaming is Saving Music narrative. This narrative was in the news several times this week, with Spotify’s 2016 financials leaking, news that SiriusXM is debating a bid for Pandora, and Rhapsody’s announcement that it’s making layoffs and replacing its CEO. The reality is that streaming music is doing wonders for the music labels, but the streaming services themselves continue to struggle. And it’s worth noting that it’s paid subscription streaming specifically that’s really giving the industry a boost. The video talks through these topics and other trends in the industry, reality-checking the prevailing narrative. Subscribers can see the video on the Streaming is Saving Music page. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial here, and you’ll get access to this video, past videos, all the latest commentary on the site, and lots more besides.
92% of US iPhone Users Plan to Buy Another (May 19, 2017)
We’ve seen some of these stats before, and they bounce around a little from survey to survey, but it’s always good as a reminder of just what makes the iPhone installed base so valuable: the combination of very high loyalty to the platform and the ability to sell a variety of other devices and services to iPhone users. This Morgan Stanley survey released this week says that 92% of current iPhone owners plan to stick with the iPhone when they buy their next smartphone, among the highest levels MS has seen, while Samsung comes second at 77% and other Android vendors score considerably lower. That means that even if smartphone upgrade cycles are lengthening, nearly all of the 100 million or so US iPhone users will eventually buy another, many of them likely this fall with what’s expected to be a big upgrade. With iPhones roughly two thirds of Apple revenue, that’s already tremendously important to its future prospects, but the other key part of this is that those iPhone buyers are likely to buy apps and content from the App and iTunes stores, subscribe to Apple Music, iCloud storage, and so on, and also buy other Apple devices like Watches, iPads and Macs. One of the challenges Apple faces, conversely, is that this loyalty rate isn’t as high in every country, with China one notable exception. Though I’ve only seen one survey referenced on this topic, and I’n not convinced the absolute numbers are right, it certainly seems to be the case that iPhone loyalty has been lower in China recently, with at least some iPhone owners shifting down to a cheaper Android phone from rising stars Oppo and Vivo. If Apple can turn that trend around with this fall’s phones, of course, that could lead to a massive rebound in growth in China.
via CNET
Apple and Tencent in Battle over In-App Purchase Requirement for Tipping (May 18, 2017)
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Apple Debuts Series of Videos Showcasing Accessibility Features (May 17, 2017)
A few weeks back, I did an episode of the Beyond Devices Podcast on accessibility, in which I interviewed a former colleague of mine, Chris Lewis, who is registered blind. In the episode, Chris talks about how he uses an iPhone and Windows computers along with their various accessibility features and additional software to get his work as an analyst done. This week, Apple has a new set of videos out in which it showcases its accessibility features across various products, which continue to be among the best in the business. But as Chris and I discussed on the podcast, it appears Android and Samsung in particular are getting better at supporting accessibility features too, and Microsoft has also been making more fuss about this lately, although a lot of its PR around accessibility has been around custom projects created by employees and developers rather than standard features. It’s great to see all these companies taking accessibility seriously and using their technology to make a huge difference in the lives of people with vision, hearing, or other impairments. The Apple videos do a great job of conveying just how central these technologies are to the lives their subjects live. The timing is intended to coincide with Global Accessibility Awareness Day tomorrow.
via Mashable
Qualcomm Sues Apple Manufacturers Withholding Royalty Payments (May 17, 2017)
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★ Apple Makes First iPhones in India (May 17, 2017)
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Apple Reportedly Updating MacBook Line at WWDC (May 16, 2017)
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Apple Reported to Be Prepping Glucose Monitoring, Smart Bands for Watch (May 15, 2017)
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★ Apple Acquires Dark Data Analysis Company Lattice Data, Reportedly for $200m (May 15, 2017)
It emerged over the weekend that Apple has acquired Lattice Data, a company which specializes in analyzing unstructured data like text and images to create structured data (i.e. SQL database tables) which can then be analyzed by other computer programs or human beings. TechCrunch has a single source which puts the price paid at $200 million, and Apple has issued its usual generic statement confirming the acquisition but offering no further details. It’s worth briefly comparing the acquisition to Google’s of DeepMind in 2014: that buy was said to cost $500 million and was for 75 employees including several high profile AI experts, though it was unclear to outside observers exactly what it was working on, while this one reportedly brought 20 engineers to Apple and has several existing public applications and projects to point to. Lattice is the commercialized version of Stanford’s DeepDive project, which has already been used for a number of applications involving large existing but unstructured data sets. Lattice has a technique called Distant Supervision which it claims obviates the need for human training and instead relies on existing databases to establish links between items that can be used as a model for determining additional links in new data sets. It’s not clear to me whether the leader of the DeepDive team at Stanford, Christopher Ré, is joining Apple, but he was a MacArthur Genius Grant winner in 2015 and this video from MacArthur is a great summary of the work DeepDive does (there’s also a 30-minute talk by Ré on the DeepDive tech). Seeing Apple make an acquisition of this scale in AI is an indication that, despite not making lots of noise about its AI ambitions publicly, it really is serious about the field and wants to do better at parsing the data at its disposal to create new features and capabilities in its products. It’s entirely possible that we’ll never know exactly how this technology gets used at Apple, but it’s also possible that a year from now at WWDC we hear about some of the techniques Lattice has brought to Apple and applied to some of its products. Interestingly, the code for DeepDive and related projects is open source and available on GitHub, so I’m guessing Apple is acquiring the ability to make further advances in this area as much as the technology in its current form.
via TechCrunch
Weekly Narrative Video – AR vs VR (May 12, 2017)
This week’s Narrative Video covers the “AR vs VR” narrative, and is available now to subscribers on the AR vs VR narrative page. In this video, I discuss the debate about terminology between AR, VR, and Microsoft’s preferred “Mixed Reality”. But I also talk about the current state of both VR and AR and how I see both playing out over the rest of the year. The narrative has been in the news this week, with Microsoft making announcements about mixed reality at Build, and Magic Leap both reaching out to developers and creatives and allegedly readying another round of funding. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial to see this and other Weekly Narrative Videos, all this week’s posts and the narrative essays, which are exclusive to subscribers.
Apple Allocates First Money from US Manufacturing Fund to Corning (May 12, 2017)
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Apple Acquires Sleep-Tracking Device and App Company Beddit (May 9, 2017)
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Strategy Analytics Says Apple Top Wearables Vendor in Q1 (May 8, 2017)
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