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iPad demand, iPhone success
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Apple iPad demand exceeding pre-launch iPhone buzz? A survey has found that 13 per cent of respondents are likely to buy Apple's forthcoming iPad. The number which planned to purchase an iPhone prior to launch in 2007 was 9 per cent.
Details of the survey from RBC/ChangeWave were released Tuesday by RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky. He said the responses from 3200 participants show strong pent-up consumer demand for the iPad.
AppleInsider says the survey also found that lack of a camera, support for Adobe Flash, or multitasking have not had a significant impact on buyer interest. Most consumers plan on using the iPad for a variety of functions, suggesting it will serve as more of a netback than e-reader. Of those surveyed, 68 percent said they would surf the Internet with the iPad, 44 percent would check e-mail, and 37 percent are interested in reading e-books.
Twenty-five per cent of respondents said they would delay planned purchases of one or more Apple products due to the iPad. MacBook purchases will be delayed by 9 per cent of respondents, while 10 per cent were prospective iPhone buyers who will now postpone their purchase.
iPhone now third most popular smartphone in the world: After doubling its total sales from a year prior, the iPhone platform was catapulted into third place in global smartphone sales in 2009, with Apple shipping 24.9 million handsets.
Apple took an estimated 14.4 per cent of the total mobile operating system market, according to Gartner, which put it behind only Nokia's Symbian platform, which had 46.9 per cent on 80.9 million sales, and Research in Motion, which carried 19.9 per cent with 34.3 million units sold.
Another take on Flash and the iPhone controversy – protecting the iPhone SDK: Jobs said “Flash is full of security holes,” and that it’s an “old technology” during meetings with the Wall Street Journal, but Joshua Schnell at Macgasm has another take. He thinks that if Flash gets approved, game developers will be able to continue using the flash platform instead of using the iPhone SDK. "That’s the real issue here, not streaming video content. Flash games will challenge Apple’s AppStore model, and that’s something Apple doesn’t want to encourage."
Interesting ... (The Flash pic from Joshua's page linked above.)
That said, Joshua links a video showing Flash romping through battery life on a Nexus 1.
Portable art database: Art Authority is a new art gallery app featuring material from over 1000 major artists, has been released for the iPhone and Mac; ProCamera, a European iPhone app, has meanwhile been released in the US App Store.
Open Door Networks' app provides access to collections of artwork from over a thousand of the Western world's major artists. Art Authority includes high-resolution images of famous art, as well as information about periods and artists. Users can organise images into slideshows, which can include music. Most data is stored online, which slows access but reduces hard drive consumption. The app is available as both a Mac (US$10) and an iPhone title for $13.99; an iPad version is currently in development.
ProCamera, an iPhone camera app, now available: The app expands on the functions of the default Camera app, adding image stabilisation, digital zoom and a self-timer. Users with an iPhone 3GS have access to extra features, such as tap-to-focus and video recording. The developers promise that black-and-white, sepia and software exposure correction will be added in a forthcoming update. The app costs $4.99 in the Pro version and $2.59 in the Basic.
Dropbox updated for free: Dropbox has released an update to the iPhone application for its online file storage service. Dropbox 1.1 adds a several new features including support for locking the app with a passcode, copying file and image sharing links to the clipboard and adjusting photo and video upload quality settings.
The update adds full-screen document viewing, a scroll bar for navigating large documents and the ability to zoom in on photos. The search feature now allows users to search sub-folders and the application will default to displaying the last-used folder on startup. The Dropbox application requires an iPhone or iPod touch running OS 3.0 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download.
