Does Android have the advantage in the smartwatch war?

Earlier today, ReadWrite ran an article about two new Android Wear-based smartwatches: LG's G Watch R and Asus's ZenWatch. According to ReadWrite, both watches are significant improvements over previous Android-based smartwatches. The G Watch R has a round face, like the Motorola 360, but unlike the Motorola watch, it uses the entire watch face as the display. In addition, it looks more like a conventional watch, uses conventional watchbands, and has better battery life. The ZenWatch is rectangular like the Apple Watch and has an attractive design, but it uses conventional watchbands, has an AMOLED display and runs Asus's ZenUI user interface on top of Android Wear.

Neither of the new watches has all the features of the Apple Watch, but it's becoming increasingly clear that feature parity really isn't an issue. The watch you buy depends primarily on the smartphone you use--the Apple Watch only works with iPhones, while Android Wear watches only work with Android smartphones. Android smartphones had 84.7% of the worldwide market share (in units shipped) in Q2 2014 according to IDC vs. 11.7% for iOS. That means that about 88% of potential buyers are not in the market for an Apple Watch unless they also want to throw away their current smartphone and switch to an iPhone.

Android smartwatches have another, less-obvious advantage: There are several companies making them, and new smartwatches are being released all the time. Samsung, LG, Motorola/Lenovo and Asus are all making Android Wear-based smartwatches, and each company is on a more aggressive release cycle than Apple. Consider that Apple generally only releases a new version of a product once a year. That makes Apple's upgrades predictable, but it also means that it takes a year for new features to reach the market. In the Android world, on the other hand, smartphone makers are releasing new models all the time, often with features that are intentionally experimental, in order to gauge consumer interest. That enabled Android smartphone makers to get big screens and NFC for financial transactions out before Apple.

The Android smartwatch makers could have the same advantage over Apple. Their watches are evolving continuously, as new features and form factors are introduced, while Apple is a monoculture that will probably only release new watches once a year. That means that if a smartwatch vendor stumbles on a very popular combination of designs and features, Android smartwatch makers can clone the designs and features and get them to market faster than Apple can.

In my opinion, the jury is still out as to whether there really is a mass market for smartwatches. However, the Android ecosystem is in a far better position to take advantage of the market opportunity if and when someone comes up with the "killer app" of smartwatches.

Apple gets its mojo back...for now

Earlier today, Apple held a multi-product announcement at the Flint Center in Cupertino. I'm going to skip the product specifications and discuss what it all means, at least to me:

iPhone 6

The long-rumored iPhone 6 was announced, in two flavors: The iPhone 6 with a 4.7" display, and the iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5" display. Other than display size, the two phones are functionally identical to each other. The big news, obviously, is the bigger screens. Prior to today, if you wanted an iPhone, you could choose between a 4" display and...another 4" display. Android smartphone vendors have successfully competed against the iPhone with bigger phones--in fact, some analysts attribute a fair portion of the decline in iPad sales to substitution of bigger smartphones for tablets.

With the deliveries of the iPhone 6 models in September, Apple will have its own "phablet" to compete with big Android and Windows Phone models. The iPhone 6 Plus, in particular, is likely to cannibalize sales of iPads and iPad minis, but Apple would rather steal sales from itself and keep customers inside Apple's ecosystem than lose sales to competitors and risk having customers switch to Android or Windows Phone.

Apple has also adopted Near Field Communications (NFC) for use in financial transactions. The company's new Apple Pay service enables customers of five of the largest U.S. banks to make credit and debit card payments without taking out their cards. Apple says that over 220,000 stores are already equipped for Apple Pay transactions. Again, this is an area where Apple is catching up with competitors; the first NFC-equipped Android and Blackberry phones were released in 2011. NFC hasn't taken off in the U.S., largely because a relatively small number of customers had compatible smartphones, and partly because not enough banks and merchants were supporting it. Apple Pay goes a long way to cutting the Gordian Knot by bringing Apple, payment networks (American Express, MasterCard and Visa,) banks and merchants together. However, Apple Pay only works with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, so for quite some time, the vast majority of iPhones in customer hands will be incompatible.

From all appearances, the new iPhones are well-built, well-designed smartphones that compare well with the best phones from competitors. However, the key features that differentiate the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus from earlier iPhones, particularly the iPhone 5s, are features that competitors have had for some time. With today's announcement, the top iOS, Android and Windows Phone smartphones are largely at parity.

Apple Watch

Today's Apple Watch announcement (really a preannouncement--I'll explain in a moment) finally brought to an end most of the speculation about the "iWatch"--speculation that began in late 2012. Many, if not most of the current assortment of smartwatches from Pebble, Samsung, Motorola, LG, Sony and others, owe their genesis to a desire to get into the market ahead of Apple. Apple isn't in the market quite yet--they announced the Apple Watch with two different display sizes and three models, but didn't discuss the actual screen size, resolution, storage space, RAM size or battery life. We also don't know when the Apple Watch will ship, other than some time in early 2015. The prices was specified at "starting at $349" in the U.S., which suggests that the three models will be differentiated by screen size, bands, and possibly memory. (We've since learned that the models are also likely to be differentiated by case materials.) So, we know a lot about the Apple Watch, but if we don't know when we can buy it, how much it'll cost or how it's equipped, it's a preannouncement.

People have criticized Samsung for their tendency to throw everything but the kitchen sink into their smartphones, whether or not the features are actually going to be used or work very well. I felt the same way about the Apple Watch feature set. Some of the features, such as using a GPS-based time server to maintain the correct local time, and the ability to use the Watch as the "front end" for texts, phone calls and email, make a lot of sense. The exercise features make the Watch an effective substitute for a fitness tracker. However, some features, like the ability to draw on the crystal with your finger and to send your heartbeat to another Watch user, go into the "What were they thinking?" category.

It feels to me like no one--not Apple, Samsung, Motorola or the rest--knows what the real use cases for a smartwatch are. Of course it has to tell time; otherwise, it's not a watch. But anyone can buy a perfectly adequate watch for telling time for $25. How do you justify spending $250 or more for a smartwatch? One way is to let it act as a "front end" for the smartphone for the most common uses--phone calls, texts and emails. Using the watch for maps and navigation is also nice, and fairly common. And, of course, if the smartwatch can do everything that a fitness tracker can, you don't need the fitness tracker. But here's the problem: Other than telling time, the smartwatch doesn't do anything as well as a smartphone. The screen is too small, especially when people want smartphones with bigger and bigger screens. Fitness trackers aren't selling well, and many people who bought them have stopped using them. Will they use the fitness features longer or more regularly if they're part of a smartwatch? Perhaps. Will they want to feel someone else's heartbeat? Maybe once.

I don't think that anyone, Apple included, has as of yet either 1) Justified the prices of their smartwatches, or 2) Figured out the right feature set to make them a mass market item. At $349, I expect a watch that's a smartphone, not a watch that has to be connected to a smartphone in order to do anything more than tell time. Maybe at $199, smartwatches with comparable functionality to the Apple Watch will sell in big numbers, but at $349, or even the $249 that most Android Wear watches are priced at, they're going to be niche items.

Set-top boxes and game consoles: The $99 option

Last week, I wrote about installing my OUYA game console, which lists for $99 (U.S.) OUYA's isn't the only Android game console--there are several available or in development, all of which sell in the $99-$129 price range and all of which run "casual" games. $99 is also the consensus price point for over-the-top (OTT) set-top boxes from Roku, Vizio, Apple and other vendors.

It's very unlikely that hardcore gamers will prefer Android consoles to the Xbox One or Sony's Playstation 4. Even with a Tegra 4 chip set, which some of the newer Android consoles will have this fall, they won't have the performance to be able to compete with Microsoft's or Sony's consoles. On the other hand, while the Xbox One will have features that the $99 set-top boxes don't, such as voice recognition and gesture control, it's equally unlikely that set-top buyers will be willing to spend $400 more to get them. In short, serious gamers want high-end game consoles and are willing to pay for them, while Internet set-top box buyers who aren't gamers are unlikely to pay a high premium in order to get gaming features.

For the OUYA and similar devices to succeed, they have to prove that people want to play the same games that they already play on their smartphones and tablets on their big-screen televisions as well. Despite OUYA's successful Kickstarter campaign, that's still an unproven hypothesis. In addition, the Internet set-top box market is still far from proven--Logitech dropped its Google TV-based STB, Boxee is said to be looking for an acquirer or additional capital, Roku is increasingly emphasizing software licensing to HDTV manufacturers, and Apple TV has graduated from being a "hobby" but still contributes minuscule revenues to the company.

It's still too early to tell if there's a market for either low-cost game consoles or third-party Internet set-top boxes at any price. We may get more clarity by the end of this year's Holiday season.

OUYA: Lots of potential, but not quite ready for prime time

Last week, I got my OUYA game console, in what was one of the last batch of devices to go out to Kickstarter supporters. I've got it connected and working (sometimes,) but the device's potential is considerably greater than what the current console can deliver.

At the outset, let me make clear that I'm not dumping on either OUYA's device or the company itself. I want to see OUYA succeed, but to say that the current device is "rough around the edges" is an understatement:

• The instruction manual that comes with the console explains how to connect and power up the device, but it says nothing about how to add batteries to the controllers. It's easy enough to find information on the Internet on how to take off the side panels in order to add batteries, but users shouldn't have to do that.
• When I first turned the console on, all I got was the "circle U" logo on screen, which stayed there quite a while. I assumed that the console was locked up, so I held down the power button until the console powered down. Then, I powered it back up, and had the same problem, so I pulled the power plug, waited a while, and turned it back on. Same problem. It took several tries before the console successfully booted up and came to the home screen.
• Once in the user interface, OUYA bounces between customized screens and conventional Android menus and dialog boxes. That's not all that confusing for people who are familiar with stock Android, but it's likely to be a problem for novice users. For example, when downloading and installing a game, it looked as though I'd installed the game based on OUYA's prompts, but then I got an Android dialog box which asked if I wanted to install the game. So, I installed it (or installed it again.)
• My console has locked up a variety of times, usually when restarting the console or when searching for a game to install. Lockups require that the power cord be removed for several minutes.
• If you want to purchase a game, you have to first save your credit card information in an OUYA account. There's no way to enter a credit card from within games. At this point, I don't feel comfortable keeping my credit card permanently on file with OUYA, and I don't want to go through the process of first entering and then deleting it every time I want to buy a game or make an in-app purchase.
• There's also no way to manage your account from the OUYA website. It would be much easier to enter credit card information from a web browser, but other than creating an account, everything has to be done from the console.
• I love the fact that OUYA is open to any game developer, but that sometimes results in inconsistent or missing controls. For example, I've been unable to figure out how to completely exit from several games. In one case, the game has a menu with an "Exit" option that's available by pressing the power button on the controller, but all it does it take you back to the game's home page. There's no way to completely exit the game (at least that I've found.)

All of these problems are fixable, but taken together, it's clear that the OUYA console is, or should still be, in beta testing. However, the console is scheduled to go on sale to the general public on June 25th, through Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and Target. As of today, I can't recommend that you buy an OUYA. If you wait a few months, the most serious bugs should be worked out, and there should be a much better selection of games available. OUYA would probably have been better off by holding off on general retail availability until the fall.

As I said, I'm a big fan of the ideas underlying OUYA, and I think that it will eventually be a great casual gaming console with lots of potential for set-top box applications as well. It's just not there yet.

If you buy a Microsoft Surface, it probably won't be because of the price

Earlier today, Microsoft announced the prices for its Surface for Windows RT tablets. The entry-level Surface for Windows RT tablet comes with 32GB of storage and sells for $499 (U.S.); the same model with a black Touch Cover keyboard sells for $599. The 64GB model bundled with a black Touch Cover sells for $699. If your tastes run to a more colorful Touch Cover, those are available separately for $119; if you prefer a more conventional keyboard design, the Type Cover is also available in black only, for $129.

Several months ago, there were some rumors that Microsoft would try to underprice Apple with an entry-level Surface tablet priced as low as $199; those rumors were disproved today. Microsoft has taken pains to point out that it's pricing its 32GB model where Apple prices the 16GB third-generation iPad, and the 64GB bundle is priced the same as Apple's 32GB model without a keyboard. Microsoft's prices are very competitive, but Windows RT will only have a tiny fraction of the apps available for iOS or Android when it and the Surface tablets are released next week.

Microsoft seems to be at a loss to describe exactly what the Surface is--according to Windows business unit president Steve Sinofsky, it's neither a tablet nor a notebook computer. Microsoft's new television ads don't help--they show people dancing around with Surface tablets as they connect and disconnect keyboards, but they don't actually show anyone doing anything useful with the devices. That's the trap that tablets like the Motorola Xoom and BlackBerry Playbook fell into--Motorola and RIM showed their tablets playing videos and games, but not doing anything useful.

There's not going to be a lot that consumers will be able to do with Surface tablets when they first ship, at least in comparison to iPads and Android tablets. It will take time for developers to build up a competitive catalog of apps, and developers won't bother until they see Windows RT gaining market momentum. By themselves, Microsoft's prices will do little to stimulate sales.

In addition, I believe that we're going into the Christmas of 7" tablets: Apple said that it plans to make an announcement, most likely of a 7" iPad (among other products,) on October 23rd. The focus this holiday season will be on tablets selling for $199 to $299, not $500 or up. Consumers will be comparing the small iPad to the big iPad, or the small iPad to Amazon's Kindle Fire HD, Barnes & Noble's Nook HD and Google's Nexus 7. They're unlikely to be comparing anything to the Surface for Windows RT.

Microsoft may believe that Android, on tablets at least, is highly vulnerable to being displaced. Under this scenario, Microsoft's goal would be to make Windows RT the credible alternative to iOS, and then wait for Apple to make a serious mistake, just as the Xbox 360 capitalized on Sony's mistakes with the PlayStation 3 to become the video game console market leader. (It's the "I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you" idea.) If that's Microsoft's approach, all they have to do is beat Android, not take away a significant number of iPad sales. If Microsoft fails, however, people will be comparing the Surface not to the Xbox, but rather, to the Zune.

The Apple-Samsung Verdict: Ultimately, it's better for everyone (except, perhaps, developers)

Yesterday's overwhelming court victory by Apple over Samsung in U.S. Federal Court is only one of many such cases being tried around the world, but it may be the most important. The jury's decisions may eventually be revised or overturned on appeal, but the results give a blueprint for how other such trials between Apple and Android licensees are likely to play out.

[Update, August 26, 2012: Groklaw reports that the speed of the jury's decision, given the 109 pages of jury instructions and 700 questions that the jury had to answer, and the speed with which the jury reconciled two obvious inconsistencies in its verdict, suggest that the jury raced through the judgment process without the necessary consideration. That conclusion is supported by a quote (albeit hearsay) in the blog The Verge: "The foreman told a court representative that the jurors had reached a decision without needing the (Judge's) instructions." CNET carried another quote, from a jury member, suggesting that the foreman led the jury to make a speedy but insufficiently considered set of judgments against Samsung. For these and other reasons, Groklaw believes that the jury's ruling won't stand.]

If you think back before Apple released the original iPhone, there was enormous diversity in mobile phone design. Motorola shook things up with its Razr; LG had its Chocolate phones, and Danger designed innovative early smartphones. And, of course, there was RIM with its keyboard-based BlackBerry models. Now, at least when they're turned off, there's very little difference between the smartphones from Apple, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Nokia and many other vendors. They're rectangular, fairly thin phones with touchscreens. Even RIM's new BlackBerry 10-based smartphones are going to be keyboard-free.

The Apple-Samsung ruling means that Android licensees are going to have to carefully scrub their smartphones of user interface features similar to those of Apple. Google is going to have to deliver a base version of Android that does the same thing. In addition, the physical designs of smartphones are going to have to become much more diverse. I see that as an opportunity, not a liability. Cars all have the same basic functional elements, but a Fiat 500 looks dramatically different inside and out than a Mercedes E-Class sedan.

There's a lot of room for creativity in smartphone design, and it's time for Apple's competitors to exercise that creativity. Phones could have displays that are designed to be used in landscape, rather than portrait, mode. They could fold up and have a top and bottom display. They could have displays on the front and back. There's a lot of creativity in Japanese phone designs, and that could become a model for the rest of the world.

The biggest problem facing smartphone designers is maintaining a consistent environment for app developers. Android developers are already confronted with a bewildering combination of screen sizes and versions of the operating system. There are over 1,000 different devices that developers could write for, but the reality is that they target a few popular devices and hope for the best. The problem will only get worse with more screen sizes and Android user interface customizations, and Google and its licensees are going to have to make it easier for developers to accommodate those variations.

It's time for someone to think outside the box and design a smartphone that makes the iPhone look outdated.

Will Nikon's Coolpix S800 be the first Android-based camera?

Nikon Rumors reports that Nikon submitted its Coolpix S800 to the Indonesian Communication Agency for approval. According to the blog, the Coolpix S800 is expected to run Android Gingerbread (2.3.X) and will run all Google Play apps that are backward-compatible with Gingerbread. Nikon Rumors writes that the Coolpix S800 could be announced on August 22nd.

The S800 makes no pretense of being a professional camera--it's a point & shoot. Here are a few of the expected specifications:

• 25-250 zoom lens
• 3.5" OLED display
• Built-in GPS and Wi-Fi

What makes the S800 interesting is that it's based on Android. What could app developers do with a real camera, instead of having to make do with the limited functionality of the cameras in today's smartphones? Even more interesting is the possibility of a DSLR or mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that runs Android, and whose functionality can be modified with third-party apps.

comScore surveys tablet buyer demographics and reasons for buying

comScore has released its first comScore TabLens report, a monthly survey covering U.S. tablet ownership and usage. The survey consists of a three-month rolling sample of 6,000 U.S. tablet owners. The first report covers tablet buyer demographics and reasons for purchasing. Here's a summary of the findings:

• Overall, tablet ownership is split exactly 50% men/50% women, with heaviest ownership in the 25-34 year old age group and with respondents whose household income is $100K/year or more.
• iPad owners are more heavily male (52.9% male/$47.1% female).
• Kindle Fire owners are more heavily female (56.6% female/43.4% male).
• Owners of other Android tablets are slightly more male than female (50.9% male/49.1% female).
• Owners of all three kinds of tablets have a similar distribution of age groups and household income, except that the iPad has more owners with $100K or greater household income than the other two tablets (46.3% for the iPad, vs. 33.3% for the Kindle Fire and 32.5% for other Android tablets.)
• The most important factors for buyers of the iPad are 1) Selection of apps, 2) Brand name of the tablet, and 3) The tablet's operating system.
• For Kindle Fire buyers, the three most popular factors are 1) The price of the tablet, 2) Selection of apps, and 3) Brand name of the tablet, and music and video capabilities (tie).
• For other Android tablet buyers, the three most popular factors are 1) The price of the tablet, 2) The tablet's operating system, and 3) Selection of apps.
• The iPad had the highest overall device satisfaction (8.8 out of 10), followed by the Kindle Fire (8.7) and other Android tablets (8.2).

iPad's market share increased in Q2, Android's share flat on higher shipments

TechCrunch reports on Strategy Analytics' Q2 tablet shipment report. iPad shipments increased to 17 million units in Q2 2012 from 9.3 million units in Q2 2011, while Android tablet shipments were 7.3 million units in Q2 2012 vs. 4.4 million in Q2 2011. Microsoft-based tablet shipments fell from 600,000 units in Q2 2011 to 300,000 in Q2 2012, as did "Others" (primarily the RIM PlayBook,) which fell from 700,000 in Q2 2011 to 300,000 in Q2 2012.

In terms of market share, Apple's share increased from 62% to 68.3%, while Android's share stayed flat at 29.3% despite the increase in units shipped. Microsoft's share dropped from 4% to 1.2%, and "Others" dropped from 4.7% to 1.2% Total tablet shipments grew 68.8% year-over-year.

Scholastic to release 50th Anniversary "Clifford the Big Red Dog" titles as eBooks and apps

In time for the 50th anniversary of the "Clifford the Big Red Dog" series, Scholastic will publish Normal Bridwell's Clifford Collection this September, a set of six Clifford titles published between 1963 and 1977. In Spring 2013, the company will publish Clifford's Birthday Party and a new book, Clifford's Bedtime Story. Both the Clifford Collection and Clifford's Birthday Party will be published simultaneously in print, eBook and Spanish versions. In addition, more than 20 Clifford books will be made available as eBooks for Scholastic's Storia eReader.

Scholastic will also publish Clifford's Big Birthday App for iOS and Android in September. Both versions of the app will be priced at $0.99.

Android, iOS and Windows Phone all increased their U.S. smartphone market share

ComScore has released its MobiLens report on U.S. smartphone market share, for the three months ending May 2012. Here's a summary:

• Android increased its market share to 50.9%, from 50.1% in the three months ending in February 2012. 
• iOS increased its market share to 31.9% from 30.2% in the previous three months. 
• Windows Phone 7's market share increased to 4% from 3.9% in the previous three months. (It remains to be seen whether Microsoft's market share will continue to grow, now that consumers have learned that no existing Windows Phone devices will be able to run the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 operating system.) 
• BlackBerry's market share declined to 11.4% from 13.4%. 
• Symbian's market share declined to 1.1% from 1.5%. 

In terms of hardware vendors, Samsung and Apple increased their market share, by 0.1% and 1.5% respectively, while LG (-0.3%), Motorola (-0.8%) and HTC (-0.2%) all lost market share. (Neither RIM nor Nokia are in the U.S. top five, so they've not been reported on by comScore.)

Kobo licenses Access EPUB 3 eReader software for Japanese market

Kobo announced that it's licensed EPUB 3 viewer software from the Japanese vendor Access. The press release says that Kobo will be using Access' NetFront BookReader software in Japan for the Kobo Touch, Android and Windows. It appears that Kobo will be using NetFront only in Japan, and will continue in-house development of its own EPUB 3 eReaders for other markets.

New Kobo Vox Coming This Fall?

On The Digital Reader blog, Nate Hoffelder writes about a MobileRead post from a current Kobo Vox user who was told by an Indigo Books salesperson that a new Vox model is coming in the fall. Given Google's new Nexus 7 and the multiple rumors about new Kindle tablets coming as early as the end of July, it makes sense for Kobo to be working on a new version of the Vox.

What the heck is Google thinking?

Now that we've had a chance to see Google's latest product announcements at its I/O Conference, it's clear that the company understands software just fine but doesn't have a clue about hardware. Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, looks like a strong, if incremental, update to Android, as do the enhancements to Google+. However, the new hardware has me scratching my head:

• There's nothing exciting about the new Nexus 7 tablet. Essentially, Google looked at what Amazon's Kindle Fire lacks--a front-facing camera and faster processor--added them, and gave the Nexus 7 the same price. In doing so, Google assumed that Amazon would stand still, when multiple rumors indicate that two new 7" tablets are due from Amazon as soon as this quarter. The price of the existing Kindle Fire is rumored to drop to $149, and a next-generation model with features very similar to the Nexus 7 is almost certainly not going to be priced more than $199. With Amazon's superior distribution, it's going to be very hard for Google to compete.
• The Nexus Q media player makes absolutely no sense to me. It's an Internet set-top box with a 25-watt stereo amplifier and a single HDMI output, priced at $299. It competes with low-end A/V receivers, Internet set-top boxes from companies such as Apple, Roku and Vizio, and portable Internet receivers from companies like Sonos. Most of the devices that it competes with are less expensive ($99 or less in the case of the Internet set-top boxes.) Its round shape makes it a poor fit with audio component systems, and in use, it'll have a myriad of cords attached on both the front and back of the device. It requires another Android device as a remote control. Google says that the Nexus Q is a "social jukebox," but is there really a market for a digital audio player that lets you screw around with other people's playlists?
• Google Glasses are vaporware; Google isn't committing to deliver anything for a year, yet wants developers to pay for them now. They're almost the perfect example of a product designed by engineers who have no idea what real consumers want. Google doesn't even know what the use cases will be; it wants developers to pay $1,500 to help it find out. The market is...skydivers who want low-resolution video cameras in their sunglasses? Engineers who want to look like dorks? People who can't be bothered to look down at their smartphone to see their messages?

When you put these projects together with Google's Chrome OS initiative, which is coming apart at the seams, and pipe-dream projects like self-driving cars, it's clear that all that Larry Page has done is kill off one set of unproductive projects in favor of a different set of equally unproductive projects. All the while, Google is continuing to bleed employees, and the company is being forced to add talent through ever-more-expensive acquisitions. It would be great if Google was doing fundamental research that's inventing entirely new technologies, as Bell Labs did for decades, but most of what's coming out of Google's efforts is...junk. Google's advertising revenues are subsidizing one of the most wasteful and undisciplined product development programs in the history of high tech. 

Google announces new version of Android, new Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus Q media player at I/O Conference

Engadget reports that Google made several announcements at its Google I/O Conference today:

1) Android 4.1, also called Jelly Bean, will be released in mid-July for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S smartphones, and Motorola Xoom tablets. Other devices may be updated in the future, depending on whether the hardware can support the new operating system, and whether hardware vendors and mobile service providers decide to support it. A number of enhancements have been made to improve performance; the company now claims that the CPU and GPU run in parallel, enabling the user interface to run at 60fps (if the hardware supports it.) The on-screen keyboard has been improved, as has voice input, which now works in both online and offline modes.The design of the home screen has been updated, and it's now easier to add, move and delete apps and widgets. Improvements have also been made to the camera app.

2) Google is now supporting "Smart App Updates" that allow incremental updates instead of requiring entire apps to be replaced. It's also improving encryption in order to make it harder to pirate paid apps.

3) Google announced its new tablet--the Nexus 7--that also runs Android 4.1. There were no surprises--all of the specs and prices had been previously leaked. It's got a 7" 1280 x 800 display, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 1.2 megapixel front camera, for $199 for the 8GB model and $249 for 16GB. For a limited time, it also comes with a $25 credit for the Google Play content and app store. Its user interface is based on the design of the Google Play store. The Nexus 7 will ship in mid-July.

4) The new Nexus Q is a ball-shaped media streaming device for the living room. It can connect any Android device to a television set or audio/video receiver and stream music and video from the Google Play store, as well as YouTube videos from the cloud. However, it doesn't appear to support services such as Hulu, Netflix or other third-party content providers. It also has its own built-in 25-watt amplifier, so it can be used as a standalone device by connecting speakers to it. According to The New York Times, the Nexus Q is almost entirely manufactured in the U.S. The Nexus Q will be priced at $299 when it ships in mid-July; the price is three times as much as comparable products from Apple, Roku and Vizio, so it's not clear who's Google's target market or why it feels that it can justify such a high price.

Mixed news on the tablet eMagazine front

There's been some mixed news concerning tablet eMagazines today:

• Zinio, an ePublishing pioneer whose electronic newsstand competes with both Apple and Amazon, is looking for a buyer, according to Fortune Magazine. The company has hired Montgomery & Co. to manage the process, and is trying to sell itself for $50 to $100 million. There's no word on whether there's any interest from potential buyers. 
• Flipboard, the tablet eMagazine/aggregator that just added an Android version alongside its popular iPad/iPhone app, won one and lost two today: According to paidContent, The New York Times will make the full contents of its newspaper available through Flipboard. Paid subscribers will have access to all the articles, while non-subscribers will have access to a limited number of free articles and additional ones through a paywall. 
• On the other hand, Ad Age reports that two Conde Nast magazines, Wired and The New Yorker, will stop selling advertising through Flipboard, and will instead only make headlines and a few sentences of each article available through the app. Clicking on the article will either load the Wired or New Yorker app if it's installed, or tell the user to subscribe in order to get the full article. It's not clear whether Conde Nast changed its approach because advertising sales through Flipboard weren't working, or because the publisher wants to focus solely on its own apps. 

Gizmodo Australia claims to have read a training manual for Google's rumored tablet

Gizmodo Australia claims to have read a training manual for Google's rumored tablet to be launched this week at the Google I/O Conference. According to the document, the tablet will be called the Nexus 7, will be built by Asus, and will use a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 12-core GeForce GPU and 1GB of RAM. The 7" display will have 1280 x 800 resolution, and the tablet will have a front-facing 1.2 megapixel camera and a battery that will give 9 hours of runtime. It will support Near Field Communication (NFC) for wireless transactions, and Google Wallet. The document says that the tablet will run Jelly Bean, the next version of Android, but it doesn't mention a version number. The Nexus 7 will be sold in two configurations, 8GB for $199 (U.S.) and 16GB for $249.

Google's intention with the Nexus 7 is to compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire and keep customers out of Amazon's ecosystem. However, if Gizmodo's story is correct and rumors about Amazon's new tablets are also correct, Google may still find itself flat-footed. The Kindle Fire's price is said to be dropping to $149 very soon, to make way for a replacement model with better specifications in Q3, which will also be priced at $149. A second 7" model, with specifications similar to the Nexus 7, is supposed to also be released in Q3 of this year, probably at the same price(s) as the Nexus 7. Given Amazon's superior distribution and support capabilities, it's unlikely that the Nexus 7 will gain much traction, at least in North America.

Online Publishers Association releases survey of U.S. tablet users

The Online Publishers Association released a study conducted for it by Frank. N. Magid Associates: "A Portrait of Today's Tablet User, Wave II." Here's a summary of selected findings:

• Regular tablet users increased from 12% of the population (28.3 million people) in 2011 to 31% of the population   (74.1 million people) in 2012. 
• The OPA projects that in 2013, tablet users will increase to 47% of the population   (117.4 million people.) 
• The percentage of respondents using Android tablets increased dramatically: In 2011, the split was 72% iOS/23% Android/12% Other; in 2012, the split was 52% iOS/47% Android/14% Other, primarily due to the popularity of the Kindle Fire (percentages add up to more than 100% because some respondents own/use more than one type of tablet, but only one tablet per operating system was counted.) 
• The user base is getting older and richer: Tablet users ages 8-24 decreased 8% year-over-year, while tablet users ages 35-54 increased 8%. As for income, households earning $50K or more comprised 41% of the population sampled by the OPA, but 59% of tablet users. In fact, tablet users were overrepresented in every income bracket from $50K to $150K+. 
• 60% of tablet owners use their tablet several times a day; and addition 14% use it once a day. 
• The average amount of time that respondents spend using their tablet is 13.9 hours per week, with the most popular times for usage being between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. 
• 67% of tablet usage is at home, 15% in school or at work, 14% when commuting or in a car, and 4% while shopping. 
• 94% of respondents in the 2012 survey use their tablet to access content/information, compared to 87% in 2011. 
• 69.7 million people use their tablets to access content/information in 2012, compared with 24.4 million in 2011. 
• 42% use their tablets to read eBooks in the 2012 survey, the same percentage as in 2011. 
• 31.1 million people use their tablets to read eBooks in 2012, compared with 11.8 million in 2011. 
• 35% of respondents have purchased at least one eBook for their tablets. 
• Videos are the most popular type of content accessed by tablet users, and the most popular type of videos are news and sports clips, weather forecasts, excerpts of TV shows, and other short-form news & entertainment. (Note that this doesn't include user-generated content on sites such as YouTube--that's the second most popular type of video.) 
• Tablet users prefer reading on tablets over reading on mobile phones, PCs, print newspapers and magazines, and dedicated eReaders such as the Kindle and Nook. However, the preferences for tablets vs. eReaders are the closest of all the options: 48% for tablets, 33% for dedicated eReaders, 19% "don't know." (By comparison, 71% of tablet users prefer reading on tablets rather than mobile phones, 23% prefer mobile phones, and 5% "don't know.") 
• Tablet users have downloaded an average of 22 apps over the last 12 months, of which 77% were free and 23% were paid. 

LG to Sideline Tablet Development to Focus on Smartphones

Bloomberg reports that South Korea's LG Electronics has decided to "to put all new tablet development on the back burner for the time being in order to focus on smartphones,” according to company spokesperson Ken Hong. LG denied that Microsoft's announcement of its new Surface tablets was a factor in the company's decision. LG sells Android tablets, but their sales have been poor, so it's not a surprise that the company is pulling back until it becomes clear if, and how, other companies can successfully (and profitably) compete with the iPad.

Google and Asus expected to unveil 7" Nexus tablet next week at Google I/O

DigiTimes reports that Google's and Asus' new 7" Nexus Android tablet, to be built for the companies by Quanta Computer (the same company that manufactures the Kindle Fire,) will be launched at next week's Google I/O Conference in San Francisco. The price will reportedly be $199, and the tablet is said to include a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and a front-facing webcam. DigiTimes also says that the tablet will be preloaded with Google's Chrome browser for Android; it's not clear if Chrome will replace or be installed in addition to the legacy Android browser.