Featured: Why Google Needs their Own Platform for Delivering Subscription Periodicals

Most people are aware of the subscription periodical options that are available on the iOS platform. If you aren’t familiar with it, users of iOS devices can subscribe to newspapers and magazines for delivery right on their device. Users get the content that they want and Apple gets their typical 30% cut of revenue.  Publishers have a lot of issues with the Apple way. No publisher can offer a subscription on an iPad unless they also offer an in-app subscription option. In-app purchasing is simple, secure and Apple makes giving your personal information to the publisher an option, so a great many users go that route. Every time an iOS device user buys a subscription this way Apple gets a 30% cut. They don’t create the content, they don’t deliver the content. They simply handle the subscription and are paid handsomely to do it.
On the Android platform there is no integrated method for handling these subscriptions, so a group of five publishers have teamed up to offer their own solution, called Next Issue Media. Calling it the “Hulu for magazines”, Time, Inc., Hearst, Conde Nast, Meredith, and News Corp have combined their efforts and created their own content delivery option for Android and soon for webOS as well.
Following the iOS model, Next Issue Media will keep a 30% cut of revenue, but that revenue will be split with the device maker (read as Next Issue Media will be crapware that you cannot remove from your phone) and the collective, so the publishers share will be higher than what is available on the iOS subscription platform.
That’s all good and fine for the publisher, but not for the subscribers because there is a huge built-in privacy concern with Next Issue Media; if you subscribe to a magazine through Next Issue Media the publisher gets your name, address, email address, phone number and credit card number as part of the deal. Make no mistake, that’s what the publishers are really after in this deal.

Magazines aren’t published to deliver great content

Magazines aren’t published to deliver great content. Just like newspapers, radio and TV, the space between ads is filled with great content to compel people to subscribe. The higher the subscriber numbers the more the publisher can charge for their main content and sole reason for publishing; advertising. The more that the publishers know about you, the higher the price for ads in their publications because those ads can be more targeted. Just ask Google about the value of highly targeted ads.
The problem for the subscriber comes to light when too many people get too much of your information. Using the Google method, Google does know a lot about you, but they keep it to themselves. An AdWords or DoubleClick ad publisher doesn’t get access to my name, address, email address, browsing history or anything else. I might hate ads, but at least Google isn’t handing out my credit card number.
A Google solution would be the ultimate answer to privacy concerns from users like me. Sell me my subscription through Android Market. Make sharing my name, address and email address optional, even if the option is yes by default, but for the love of all that is good and holy in the universe, don’t hand out my credit card number.
I’ve subscribed to the publication and the only place that needs to have my credit card number is the place that is charging me. The publisher of the magazine has no use for, nor right to having access to my credit card information. If subscriptions were offered through Android Market and if in-app subscriptions were required as they are on iOS most users would go that route, just like they do on iOS. In the end it is a more safe and secure option.
Step up here Google. If nothing is done to integrate magazine and newspaper subscriptions into Android Market then periodicals will become as fragmented as the OS is.

Featured: Forget dropping a pin in Google Maps, what about these little Annoyances?

There was this article at CNN.com a few weeks ago, and in reading it you can see that the author is really upset that Google Maps on her Android phone doesn’t allow you to set a location pin while Maps on iPhone does. She wrote 300 or so words bemoaning starring and My Maps on Android, ending with the typical “dead easy” comment that most iPhone owners (or former owners) like to use in one form or another when discussing a particular Android issue that they have.  My first reaction was that starring works for me, then I tried to move on. I tried, but I couldn’t.
I started to think about my three biggest issues with Android, issues that I’ve had from day one with my original Droid. Issues that, like dropping a pin on a map just aren’t all that big, but they really annoy me.

Issue #1 – Google Voice dialing
With the deep integration between Google Voice and Android why can’t I set a dialing option within the settings for each contact? You have some options that you can set for using Google Voice for outbound dialing:

• Use Google Voice to make all calls
• Do not use Google Voice to make any calls
• Only use Google Voice for international call
• Ask every time I make a call

Seems like they have every base covered right? Well, not to me. How about adding these options to the list:

• Use contact rules, dial with Google Voice for unknown numbers
• Use contact rules, do not dial with Google Voice for unknown numbers.
• Use contact rules, ask for unknown contacts

I use Google Voice the way that Grand Central intended it to be used when they created the service. For those of you that don’t know, Grand Central was the company that Google bought and morphed into the fabulous Google Voice. Anyway, GC always intended for you to have a GC number AND your mobile number. Those close to you have your actual cell number while everyone else got your GC number. For the last four years or so, that’s how I’ve done things.  I’d much rather spend the hour or so that it would take to go through all of my contacts and set a dialing preference once rather than my current setting; ask for each call. I’m well used to this now after nearly two years as an Android user, but Google Voice and my Thunderbolt would both be much more useful to me if I didn’t have to make this selection for each call that I place.

Issue #2 – No subscribed calendars in Android Calendar
I subscribe to several sports calendars for all of my favorite pro and college teams using the calendar feeds that Google provides. I really like these feeds for a few reasons. My Reds have had a few start times changed this year to accommodate national games. Google Calendar almost always reflects this start time change for you. It’s mattered to me because one game that I had tickets for earlier in the year had it’s start time moved up by three hours. I was in my seat on time thanks to Google Calendar.  I also like the fact that you get an accurate box score for each event, and finally extra inning or overtime games are scored properly. You also can check the channels that the game will be broadcast on as they are listed if known. That’s all very useful.
As great as these subscribed calendars can be, you can’t add them to Android calendar. You can’t see the scheduled event, you can’t get start time changes, see where the game will be broadcast and you don’t get the mostly accurate box score either.
When I got my OG Droid adding these subscribed calendars was a feature that was “coming soon”. Now, over a year and a half later; nothing. Not even a mention other than ‘sorry, can’t do that”.

Issue #3 – No proper Picasa app
Some of you might be really huge fans of the Android Gallery app, I am not.  I take a lot of pictures with my Thunderbolt. In just over two months with the phone I’ve taken nearly 3,000 pictures with it’s mostly acceptable 8MP camera. I had over 15,000 images taken with my OG Droid in just a little over a year of use. I take pictures of everything that I see that I think I may be interested in remembering down the road, and as a freelance photographer and Picasa storage subscriber I can say with some educated authority that the Gallery app sucks.
This whole faux 3D, rotating and spinning, angle morphing mess is totally unacceptable. Anyone that uses any type of software for a living will tell you that their ideal app is full of useful features, lacks distracting eye candy and focuses on getting it’s job done. Gallery is none of that.
I’d like a simple image browser that allows me to quickly view images, delete the junk and email in a clean interface. I’d also like separation between my phone images and Picasa galleries, not one gigantic list of folders.
I use JustPictures as a replacement for Gallery. It’s a clean application that focuses on core image browser features and not on stupid rotating and morphing background effects. It splits my gallery views into local and Picasa lists, it offers useful features for viewing and sharing images easily and it’s fast. Very fast.
JustPictures is also free of that annoying as hell Thunderbolt bug where some images taken with the camera aren’t displayed in either the totally lacking Sense Gallery app or in the Android Gallery app that you can download from Android Market. JustPictures shows everything.
The only thing that JustPictures doesn’t do for me is upload multiple images to Picasa Web Albums. I have to keep QuickPic around for that. I’m not sure why JustPictures doesn’t allow multi image uploads because the Picasa Uploader is a part of Android. They just don’t.
Conclusion
As great as Android is, it could always be much better. I’ve touched on my three daily gripes with my Thunderbolt, but there is even more. A longer list would have included things like:

• No full screen contact images on incoming calls
• No multiple account support in Google Voice app
• No browser sync to have desktop bookmarks on my device
• God awful Music app
• No dedicated video browser. Videos lumped with images. (I use Mobo Player to get around this oversight).

Every Android user can name at least a few things that they wish were different about, or available on their phone. It’s natural. While I have some issues with Android, many things can be rectified by buying an app or downloading a free one.
On the huge Android plus side, none of these things are “dead easy” on an iPhone. The iPhone music app is much better and it has full screen contact images for incoming calls, but all of my Android issues have to be added on to the endless list of iPhone head scratchers.
If you’ve got an Android gripe I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Android vs. iPhone and iPad: By the Numbers

It looks increasingly like Android will be the major challenger to both Apple's iPhone and iPad.
In the tablet market, Apple's iOS has a commanding lead, while Android is the only other OS that registers a market share in double digits. In the smartphone arena, there are other significant competitors, such as BlackBerry and Windows. However, BlackBerry market share is dropping, according to comScore's latest survey -- in fact, Apple surpassed RIM in comScore's April report -- while Microsoft has yet to make much of a dent.
How do Apple's iOS and Google's Android stack up head to head? We look at the numbers.

Tablet market share

Source: GartnerThe iPad held a commanding 83.9% of the worldwide tablet market last year, with Android tablets far behind at 14.2%, according to Gartner. Other stats show a similar healthy lead. For example, a recent Modelmetrics Web survey found 83% of respondents planning to roll out iPads in the enterprise and 34% with plans for Android tablets.
However, Gartner expects the market-share difference to narrow considerably over the next few years, with iOS holding 47.1% by 2015 and Android growing to 38.6%.
Bottom line: iOS should remain the market leader for the next few years, but Android is expected to grow considerably -- largely at Apple's expense.

Smartphone market share

Source: comScore MobiLens three-month average of US smartphone subscribers.Despite its reputation as a groundbreaking smartphone when first introduced in 2007, the iPhone doesn't have the market clout of the iPad. Apple has slightly more than a quarter of the U.S. smartphone market, according to a comScore MobiLens report, but IDC estimates just 15.7% of the global pie .
And some analysts expect the iPhone to slip worldwide in the coming years as both Android and Windows Phone gain traction. IDC predicts that Windows Phone will be the No. 2 OS behind Android worldwide by 2015, with iOS in third place.
Source: Calculations from data posted at Androphones.comLatest stats from comScore show that Android became the U.S. smartphone market leader early this year, overtaking Research In Motion's BlackBerry. The iPhone was third. Google said in April that there are now more than 350,000 Android smartphones activated every day.
Bottom line: Google's Android has done an impressive job of surpassing Apple in the smartphone market, despite the iPhone's early lead.

Available apps

Source: Lookout Mobile SecurityIt's arguable whether any user needs access to 350,000 apps (iOS) -- or even 88,000 (Android). What's key is whether the most important, compelling apps are available on a platform.
That's tough to measure, but the overall number of apps on a platform is a useful sign of how attractive it is for developers and how likely it is that new apps will be written for the platform.
Bottom line: Here, too, Apple has a major lead, but the Android market has become a significant player.

Conclusion overall

Apple has staked out a considerable lead in tablets -- a market with huge growth potential. Gartner forecasts media-tablet shipments will soar 17-fold: from 17 million units last year to 70 million this year and 294 million by 2015.
Even with Apple's share expected drop from 84% last year to 47% in 2015, that's an enormous new business for the company, with an estimated 138 million devices to ship in 2015. But Android may not be far behind at 39% and 113 million. Both iOS and Android are likely to be key players in "post-PC" mobile computing.
Worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to more than triple from 2010 to 2015, also according to Gartner. Android growth is forecast to jump from 67 million units shipped to 539 million as its market share more than doubles. Apple's global share will also rise but more modestly, from 47 million to 190 million units shipped and from 15.7% to 17.2%.
Here, Android looks like the clear winner -- although Apple may be helped by all those new iPad owners, some of whom may decide they want a phone with the same OS and apps as their tablet.