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Posts Tagged ‘Respondents’

Weekly Poll: What Companies Will Be at the Top of the Cloud in the Next 5 Years

We take a look at the future of cloud computing services this week. We want to know: What companies do you think will be at the top of the cloud world in five years?

This past week, we had 93 people respond to the question:
‘Is There A Place For Open-Source in the Data Center?” The respondents were pretty much in full support of the open approach. Of the 93 people who responded, 83 said, yes, there is a place for open-source. But we wonder what it will take to get such a movement to a pace of note. We do have faith in the open-source way but how will this effort transfer to the data center?

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The organizers have the right idea.

Michael Manos of Loose Bolts writes:

“If you think of the Linux movement, and all of those who actively participate in submitting enhancements, features, even pulling together specific build packages for distribution, one could even see such things emerging in the data center engineering realm. In fact with the myriad of emerging technologies assisting in more energy efficiency, greater densities, differences in approach to economization (air or water), use of containers or non use of containers, its easy to see the potential for this component based design.”

Let’s move on to this week’s question. It’s certainly true that cloud computing is one of the most category filled markets you can find. Platform-as-a-Service, Software-as-a-Service – the list goes on.

What companies do you think will be at the top of the cloud world in five years?opinion

We do see the same big name companies making their stake in the market, no matter what their category. It’s evident that there will likely be a handful standing over the next several years. Who will they be?

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80% say ‘Net access fundamental right, split on regulation

Access to the Internet is a fundamental right to nearly four out of five adults across the globe, and those in South Korea, Mexico, and China seem to have the strongest feelings on the topic. This is according to a report (PDF) by the BBC World Service, which polled 27,973 adults on their feelings about, usage of, and concerns about the Internet. Although users are somewhat divided on whether the Internet should be regulated, they are in agreement on its usefulness for learning and information discovery.

Across all 26 countries, 79 percent of Internet and non-Internet users said that they felt that Internet access should be “the fundamental right of all people.” When isolated for people who already use the Internet, that number went up to 87 percent. Almost universally (90 percent), respondents said that the Internet was a good place to learn and almost 80 percent said the Internet brought them greater freedom.

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Watch Out, iPhone Devs: One-Man Android App Nets $13K Monthly

To all those companies and developers focused exclusively on iPhone apps: Watch your back. The Android platform is catching up, and none too slowly.

As Android’s growth continues to explode since the release of the Droid, only the most foolish of app shops are not planning to expand beyond Apple’s walled garden. One developer, in fact, wrote that his app, which was showing modest, double-digit daily sales late last year, now reports that his app is making $13,000 a month.

When that kind of opportunity exists for a single app, why would developers put all their eggs in one basket, a.k.a. the “Jesus phone”?

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A few weeks ago, we told you, “As of December 2009[...] 4 percent of all smartphone owners now use a phone running some version of the Android OS. That’s an increase of 200 percent since the previous survey released in September.

“Respondents were also asked about their plans to purchase a smartphone in the future. Among those who planned to purchase within the next 90 days, 21 percent said they would now choose Android.”

It’s this growth that helped fuel the success of Eddie Kim’s app, Car Locator.

In a blog post today, the developer revealed that his Android app “started as a little side-project while I was vacationing with my family, turned into a few extra bucks for lunch money every day[...] has continued its upward trend and is now beyond my wildest fantasy of what could have been possible. “

Car Locator is a pretty simple application: Users save their location when they park their cars, and the app navigates them back to their cars later. The app was available in free and paid versions with varying feature sets. The paid version originally sold for $1.99, and the price was later increased to $3.99. Kim has done no marketing for the app, but it did win third place in Google’s Android Developer Challenge 2.

When Motorola’s Droid was released, Kim saw his first major spike in sales:

“In the first 2 months, the app saw sales of about $5-6/day. Nothing too fancy,” he wrote. “But starting November 7, there’s been a significant uptick in sales, peaking on November 9, where the app saw $44 in sales. Sales have since settled to about $20/day, but it’s probably too early to tell if this will hold.”

Little did Kim realize that his sales had just begun. To date, the free app has been downloaded 70,000 times, with paid app sales at about 10 percent of that figure.

“The application was netting an average of about $80-$100/day, until it became a featured app on the Marketplace. Since then, sales have been phenomenal, netting an average of $435/day, with a one day record of $772 on Valentine’s Day. Too bad I didn’t have a Valentine’s date this year – we would’ve gone somewhere real special!” (Catch that, ladies?)

Kim also stands by the Android platform, saying, “Some may be quick to point out that a featured Android application is only able to net $400/day, while top iPhone apps make thousands[...] However, I still think that Android is only a fraction of what it will eventually become. Each release of a new Android handset gets me excited, as it means a wider reach for the Marketplace.”

Folks, if you’ve been longing for a much-hyped app to make its way to the Android Market, forward this article to the developers and marketers in charge. There’s money to be made there, and the userbase is only getting bigger.

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Open Thread: Can MySpace Really Make a Comeback?

For months, we’ve been fielding rumors (and filtering out the facts) about MySpace’s proposed redesign and rebranding.

Tonight’s report on TechCrunch outlines a few minor details of the overall plan to stop the site’s hemorrhaging users and stem its financial decline. As we’ve known (and as we predicted last year), the site will shift its emphasis from pure social networking to content discovery and recommendation. The site’s tagline is expected to change to “Discover and Be Discovered.”

But is that really enough to bring users back? What would it take for you to start regularly using MySpace again?

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Disclosure: The writer of this post has been privy to a great deal of internal information about the redesign due to personal connections in the L.A. and S.F. offices. Because of confidentiality issues and NDAs, much of that information cannot currently be published here. We will do our best to let you know official MySpace news as it breaks.

With the abrupt firing of CEO Owen Van Natta two weeks ago, we are reminded of his initial duties when he was hired less than a year ago. In addition to dealing with internal politics and negotiating the end of MySpace’s ad deal with Google, Van Natta was expected to give MySpace much-needed boost in the areas of technology, branding and features.

While it’s unknown exactly how much of the forthcoming “new” MySpace will represent Van Natta’s vision, we do wonder if anything is enough to save that sinking ship. Of course, the site still has a large userbase, particularly in the international market. But what do techies want to see before they start using the site again?

The outlook isn’t good, to say the least. We conducted an informal poll on Twitter, asking what folks would need to call themselves MySpace users. While a slew of respondents said bribes – from money to puppies to MacBooks – would do the trick, the noble @EricBurgess replied “They couldn’t even pay me.” @_Tycho_ wrote that the site would have to “be easier to use than Facebook, and then convince my friends to all go back on.” A tall order, indeed, and one echoed by several others.

But usability and attrition/retention aside, many users gave a common ultimatum: MySpace would have to do anything they try – from social networking to content and beyond – better than Pandora, Facebook or Twitter do the same things.

Granted, in terms of content discovery, Facebook’s not particularly kind on musicians or filmmakers; as evidence, you can check out some of the remaining MySpace users. If you’ve visited the site lately, your list of active friends might look like a wasteland of struggling bands. But is a new content recommendation engine packed with multimedia goodies and intuitive discovery tools enough to regain the public’s love and trust?

What do you think – is a site redesign enough to make you want to use MySpace again? Can the site succeed as a content platform rather than a social network? Or is MySpace doomed to sink like the Titanic, regardless of the products or features they roll out?

Let us know your opinions in the comments.

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Analyst: There’s a market of four to five million iPhones a year in China

Filed under: Apple Financial, Apple, iPhone

I thought Apple sounded a tad bit defensive about China on the conference call Monday, but Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty says there’s nothing to worry about: she expects Apple to sell up to four or five million iPhones in China per year. Apple told us on Monday that they’ve activated about 200,000 iPhones in China so far, but Huberty claims that there’s a market for maybe 50 million iPhones over there, and echoes Tim Cook’s assertion that price is the main issue. “Hardware pricing, service plan pricing and the large up-front payment,” she says in her report, “were cited by 85%, 66% and 56% of respondents respectively, as reasons they were not likely to purchase an iPhone.”

Keep in mind that the four to five million figure is a top end — in the first year, Apple has said that they’re aiming for more like one or two million. But there is definitely a solid market to be found in China, and significant sales there could help buoy Apple earnings reports over here for sure.

TUAWAnalyst: There’s a market of four to five million iPhones a year in China originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Generation M2: Understanding the Multimedia Teen

If you’ve spent any time trying to talk to a teenager lately, then the latest numbers on how much time they spend with their nose buried in a glowing screen of some sort will come as no surprise. Whether its text messaging, Tweeting, watching YouTube videos on their iPhone, lurking on a social networking site like Myspace or Facebook or doing something as old-fashioned now as watching TV, teens are spending more time than ever before consuming some sort of media.

According to a study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation, those between the ages of eight and 18 devote just under eight hours a day to media consumption and, depending on how you look at it, that may be the least surprising of the numbers.

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The study consists of a survey of 2,002 3rd to 12th graders, ages eight to 18, with 700 of those respondents filling out a “media-use diary” for seven days. From these diaries, it found that, while respondents used media for an average of seven hours and 38 minutes, due to multi-tasking, they actually crammed in a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes into that time.

What’s even more notable about these numbers is that the average teen has increased their media consumption by nearly two and a quarter hours since the last survey, which was conducted in 2004.

Increased mobile media use and lax rules are two driving factors behind this growth in media consumption, the report says.

In a dramatic increase from 2004, cell phone ownership among the respondents jumped from 39% to 66%, while iPods and MP3 players jumped from 18% to 76%. Only about three in 10 had any rules regarding their use of these devices. And with cell phones becoming increasingly Internet-connected, their owners reported using them for media purposes more than their original purpose – actually talking to other people.

With teens spending more time in a week than the average person does at a full-time job, we can only wonder what this next generation will look like as they enter the work force. Oh wait, are they called “bloggers”?

And to think, time spent texting was actually not included in the times for media consumption.

Photo of children on computer by Flickr user Erik Hersman.

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Android Usage Increased 200% Over Past Three Months

According to new data from ChangeWave Research, both usage and consumer sentiment towards Google’s mobile operating system Android has increased over the past several months. As of December 2009, the research firm’s survey shows that 4% of all smartphone owners now use a phone running some version of the Android OS. That’s an increase of 200% since the previous survey released in September.

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Respondents were also asked about their plans to purchase a smartphone in the future. Among those who planned to purchase within the next 90 days, 21% said they would now choose Android. In September, that figure was only 6%. At that time, Android was tied with Palm as the least-preferred mobile operating system but by December’s survey, it became the second-most preferred. (Palm, sadly, has dropped to least-preferred).

Apparently, some of Android’s growth has come at the expense of the iPhone. While still the most popular mobile OS to date, those saying they would prefer to own the Apple device over any other smartphone dropped from 32% to 28% over the past three months (September – November 2009). However, Apple’s overall share of the market has increased one percentage point to 31%, notes the survey. Research in Motion (makers of Blackberry phones) retains a 39% share and Palm has slipped to a 6% share.

While this seems like promising news for Android, let’s not forget the recent figures regarding sales of the Nexus One, Google’s self-sold Android smartphone. Once positioned as a potential “iPhone killer,” the N1’s first week sales fell short of expectations with just 20,000 sold since its January 5th launch date. So while consumer sentiment may be on the rise regarding the Android OS, the mobile OS still has quite a ways to go before it catches up with the iPhone 3GS (which, incidentally, sold 1.6 million devices in its first week).

However, positioning the N1 against the iPhone isn’t really a valid comparison -the N1 is only one of many Android handsets on the market today. Other Android-enabled phones like the myTouch 3G and the Droid also have significant and growing install bases. Combined, the overall marketshare for Android is on the rise. This growth is benefitting both Motorola and HTC, each who offer a version of the Droid smartphone. (HTC is also the maker of the N1). Since September, Motorola has increased 12 percentage points in terms of future buying, the first increase ChangeWave Research has seen for the company in three years. HTC has also increased from 5% to 9% in the same time frame, a change prompted both by the N1 release and the November release of the Droid Eris model.

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User Data Easier Than Ever to Phish on Facebook, New Study Shows

Would you give a complete stranger your email address and date of birth? How about personal information about your friends?

If results of a new study on Facebook user behavior is any indication, around half of us would answer “yes” to those questions, depending on how old we are. The study also shows that Facebook users are becoming more lax with protecting their personal data than they were three years ago. What do these results signify in light of recent concerns about user privacy on the world’s largest social network? And now that some user data will be indexed by Google, will users have to adjust what information they share?

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In the summer of 2007, Internet security company Sophos conducted a study showing how much (or little) users understood and protected the data the made available on Facebook.

In this study, 200 friend requests were sent from a bogus account featuring a green plastic frog named Freddi Staur. The results were distressing. More than 40 percent of the Facebook users contacted responded to the fake account, and almost all of these users gave “Freddi” access to personal information.

• 72% of respondents divulged at least one email address
• 84% of respondents listed their full date of birth
• 87% of respondents provided details about their education or workplace
• 78% of respondents listed their current address or location
• 23% of respondents listed their current phone number
• 26% of respondents provided their IM screen name

Moreover, the folks at Sophos were able to get access to users’ photos of family and friends, information about likes/dislikes, hobbies, employer details and other personal facts. A company rep write at the time of the survey, “In addition, many users also disclosed the names of their spouses or partners, several included their complete résumés, while one user even divulged his mother’s maiden name – information often requested by websites in order to retrieve account details.”

So, are users at the end of 2009 any less gullible than their 2007 counterparts? Have we learned to be less vulnerable to phishing schemes?

This year, Sophos created two fake accounts – one for a cat and one for a plastic duck – and went after another 200 Facebook users, this time distinguishing between 20-somethings and middle-ages users. Here’s a snapshot of the information each group revealed:

Eight users friended the cat-themed fake account of their own accord, without having been contacted as part of the study; in so many words, these users pretty much volunteered to have their data phished.

As Sophos noted, “Ten years ago, getting access to this sort of detail would probably have taken a con-artist or an identify thief several weeks, and have required the on-the-spot services of a private investigator.” Apparently, in the 2.0 era, all you have to do is click to send a friend request, and the desire for online popularity and more “friends” makes a phisher’s job easier than giving free candy to kids.

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