Quotes

66% of iOS devices are running iOS 10

iOS 10 is now installed on more than two thirds of the active iOS device install base, recording 66.7% twenty-seven days after iOS 10 was released according to Fiksu. Mixpanel is also recording iOS 10 adoption topping 66% since Sunday.

As shown by the graph, iOS 10 has the fastest adoption rate than any previous update, a month after release.

If there is one thing Apple does well, it’s increasing adoption of their software. From Public Beta Testing, to automatic updates, to intelligent “install later” deferrals, iOS kills it when it comes to updates.

I’ve been running iOS 10 since the first developer beta, and it’s one of the most stable releases I’ve run. Same for MacOS Sierra.

When you look at the economics behind it, this is why Apple beats Google in mobile. They have a unified platform, with strictly controlled hardware, limited device types/sizes, and a base that is more willing to spend money. This is key for building an ecosystem like the app store. When you build an iOS app you have strong confidence that you don’t have to support 500 different devices, and most users will be running the latest software, that is a huge incentive as a software developer.

Even if you wanted, you can’t buy a Galaxy Note 7

We remain committed to working diligently with appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation. Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available.

This is what Samsung should have done in the first place. When your product is catching fire, you stop selling it and issue a recall. Somehow Samsung managed to botch the recall and has held out far too long on actually halting sales. I wonder if Samsung is hiring QAs…

What’s glaringly missing from this press release is ANY information for Galaxy Note 7 customers on what options they have available to them.

The case of a billion dollar discount

Verizon is pushing for a $1 billion discount off its pending $4.8 billion agreement to buy Yahoo, several sources told The Post exclusively.

Yahoo revealed two weeks ago that it had been hacked in 2014 and that usernames and passwords for 500 million accounts were swiped.

Then, earlier this week, it was learned that Yahoo had been ordered by a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to scan emails for terrorist signatures.

Yahoo just can’t catch a break. It makes you wonder how a company that once was on top of the world came crashing down.

A fun theory I heard over dinner this week was a friend mentioning Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer’s stint at Google. Did big G dodge a bullet when Mayer left for Yahoo, or will Mayer be returning to the Goog after burying the hatchet?

What does it cost to lose 500 million users’ account information and to invade their privacy by scanning their emails for the US government? Verizon thinks it’s worth $1B.

Yahoo is saying, ‘no takebacks’.

Mayer on the other hand, is laughing her way to the bank.

Samsung has never been hotter

Southwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated this morning while still at the gate because of a smoking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

More worrisome is the fact that the phone in question was a replacement Galaxy Note 7, one that was deemed to be safe by Samsung.

You wouldn’t think things could get much worse for Samsungs botched recall of Galaxy Note 7’s. Well, it did. Replacement devices are even overheating. Looks like the FAA should have completely banned the phones from flights.

And let’s not forget Samsung washing machines are exploding too.

It’s unclear what’s happening over at Samsung, but one thing is certain: I’ll be steering clear of all Samsung devices for the foreseeable future.

AMP’ed for Success

  • Washington Post — 23% increase in mobile search users who return within 7 days
  • Slate — 44% increase in monthly unique visitors and a 73% increase in visits per monthly unique visitor
  • Gizmodo — 80% of Gizmodo’s traffic from AMP pages is new traffic, 50% increase in impressions
  • Wired —  25% increase in click through rates from search results, with CTR on ads in AMP stories up by 63%.
  • Relay Media — in the last 30 days alone has converted over 2.5 million AMP pages for publishers like The Daily Dot, Hearst Television and The Miami Herald which says mobile users who start with an AMP article spend 10% more time than those who land on regular mobile pages.

These numbers are fantastic. In a recent post I questioned how AMP and Instant Articles might change publisher’s strategies, but Google has kindly shed some light over the success some publishers are seeing with AMP.

The data speaks for itself.

It’s not hard to see why AMP adoption is off to the races:

On the Verge of AMP

  • Our search traffic largely comes from Google, which already serves our AMP pages in Google News. Google is also switching mobile search results to AMP links, and that means almost all of our search visitors will see AMP pages instead of the mobile web.
  • Our social traffic mix is dominated by Facebook, where we already serve every article in Facebook Instant Articles — and features and reviews are coming soon. That means a huge percentage of our social traffic is already seeing Instant Articles instead of the mobile web, and that number will just go up as we deliver more story types in IA.

I’m always for a better user experience. That’s what makes Google’s push to AMP so captivating. Google even shows AMP articles as “lightning fast” on Google SERPs.

But one thing to remember: AMP only runs selects ad networks and analytics tools that Google controls. The same is true for Facebook’s Instant Articles. End users get amazingly fast load times and simplified experience. The publisher loses control over their montization, experience, and tracking strategies. Some are arguing this is the end of the open web. When a giant like Facebook or Google controls both the discovery and curation platforms, publishers are at their mercy.

Both AMP and FB Instant Articles continue to evolve and gain new functionality, it will certainly be interesting to see how this changes publisher’s strategies.