Will Apple’s Revenues Exceed $20 Billion In Q4? [Video]
Jul 21st
After logging a record $15.7 billion in third quarter revenues, Apple says it is now on track to hit $18 billion in the next quarter. As any analyst on Wall Street will tell you, Apple is notorious for under-promising and over-delivering when it comes to guidance. The only question is, by how much will Apple beat in Q4?
On today’s episode of TechCrunch NOW
, MG Siegler and I took one more look at Apple’s earnings. Siegler predicts that fourth quarter revenues will clock-in at above the $20 billion mark, or roughly double revenues for the year ago period (Apple recorded $9.87 billion in Q4 ’09). While his detractors might dismiss this forecast as just another rant from a self-described Apple fanboy, $20 billion sounds just about right, if not conservative. (See video ahead.)
Easy YouTube Video Downloader 2.0
Jul 10th
Easy YouTube Video Downloader is the easiest Youtube video downloader ever, the free Firefox addon allows users to download YouTube videos in FLV, 3GP, MP3, MP4 and HD qualities.
Simply visit any Youtube video page and use the simple to use direct download buttons as shown below to start downloading videos in format of your choice i.e. – FLV, 3GP, MP3, MP4, HD and 1080p Full-HD (if available).
Frash : Flash Finally Arrives On Apple iPad
Jul 10th
No support for Adobe Flash Player on Apple iOS is one of the most missed feature on the platform, but iOS hacker Comex has finally succeeded in porting Android Flash to Apple iPad as evident in the video demo posted below.
Dubbed Frash the Flash port for iOS is currently only tested on Apple iPad and can run most Flash programs in MobileSafari browser natively.
End-user usable version of Frash won’t be available until it’s properly tested and gets stable, developers
can grab a copy and help make it to final release from here – http://github.com/comex/frash
Impressive Future Concept For Windows 8
Jul 10th
Microsoft Windows 7 is doing good business and we are yet to see the final version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 but rumors are that Microsoft has already started working on Windows 8 and fans have started creating cool futuristic GUI concepts mock-ups of the next Microsoft operating-system. Here is a video demo of an fan created concept which I would definitely like Microsoft to have a look at (video after the jump).
Google may lose China license
Jun 29th
Google has created a new China-based landing page for its Google.cn site in a last-ditch attempt at a compromise with Chinese authorities.
When Google uncovered Chinese attempts to hack its GMail servers in an attempt to reveal the identities of dissidents, the company swiftly announced that it would review and possibly shutter its Chinese operations on the basis that it was no longer prepared to censor search results (a legal requirement in China).
Instead of pulling out of China as initially threatened, Google decided to redirect google.cn visitors to the uncensored google.hk site, believing this would allow them to operate legally, whilst circumventing the censorship requirement. This proved to be unacceptable to the Chinese authorities, who informed the company that they would not be renewing its ICP (Internet Content Provider) license if the situation was not remedied. Without the license, Google cannot legally operate in China.
Google is now trying another tactic; a new, China-based landing page (pictured). The new page will offer unfiltered services such as Translate and Music through the .cn site whilst routing all search queries to google.com/hk. The company has re-submitted its license renewal application and hopes to be allowed to continue operating in China.
Explaining the move on the company’s official Blog, David Drummond, Google’s SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, said:
“As a company we aspire to make information available to users everywhere, including China. It’s why we have worked so hard to keep Google.cn alive, as well as to continue our research and development work in China. This new approach is consistent with our commitment not to self censor and, we believe, with local law. We are therefore hopeful that our license will be renewed on this basis so we can continue to offer our Chinese users services via Google.cn.”
Google’s current ICP license expires on June 30th, so time is running out. If an acceptable compromise is not reached, July could be China’s first Google-free month.
Viewers Seem To Like HTML5 Video Better Than Flash
Jun 26th
Adobe (ADBE) Flash has long been the dominant vehicle for delivering Web video to PCs, but with the addition of Apple’s (AAPL) iPad to the list of mobile devices that don’t support the plug-in, viewing of HTML5 video is on the rise. Now publishers have even more reason to support the video standard, as new data from MeFeedia show that viewer engagement levels are higher with HTML5 video than that delivered in Adobe Flash.
MeFeedia is the same outfit that reported in the first few days and weeks after the launch of the iPad that users of the Apple tablet watched significantly more video than comparable online viewers on PCs. With more iPads now in the hands of users, MeFeedia has turned its gaze to engagement rates not just for the iPad, but for HTML5 video in general.
And the numbers are pretty astonishing. Viewers that MeFeedia tracked watched about 25 percent more HTML5 video than Flash-based video. Perhaps more importantly, they were 70 percent less likely to abandon an HTML5 video than one delivered in Adobe Flash.
Leaving PCs in the Dust
Those findings may be attributable largely to the device itself. We’ve long argued that despite the lack of Flash video, the iPad is an ideal device for viewing video, and data from MeFeedia tend to support that theory. According to the company, the average viewing duration was 2.75 times higher on an iPad than on a PC.
But MeFeedia suggests that other factors may be coming into play. For instance, the user experience of having a native video player available in the browser, without having to load a plug-in, reduces the load time necessary to watch a video. MeFeedia also suggests that native HTML5 video players frequently have better performance than Flash on a number of platforms, including mobile devices and Mac- and Linux-based PCs.
Meanwhile, the average viewing time on Android (GOOG) mobile devices is 2.25 times higher than on a PC. As MeFeedia points out, mobile video is good for physically sharing with others and typically requires more commitment by the user, so they’re more likely to stick around for the video. The iPad’s lack of multitasking capabilities helps prevent users of that device from abandoning video as well.
Ads That Make You Give Up
One explanation that seems to be missing from all this is the current lack of ads running against HTML5 video. Just the presence of a preroll ad is enough to make viewers click away, with research from audience measurement and video distribution company TubeMogul showing that one in six viewers abandons a video before it begins when an ad plays.
Because HTML5 is a nascent Web standard, the tools available for tracking and monetizing video have yet to be fully fleshed out. As a result, many of the videos delivered via HTML5 today lack the same kind of 15- and 30-second interruptions that come before watching most premium Flash videos—which could explain the much lower bounce rate. That will change soon, however, as tools for monetizing HTML5 video start to appear.
Regardless, MeFeedia sees the rate of HTML5 adoption growing due to the vast success of the iPad—with more than 3 million units sold in less than 80 days—as well as the release of the new iPhone 4 and the latest iOS mobile operating system, not to mention more robust support on Android devices for HTML5 video.
Adobe Battles the Flash-Bashing
Jun 26th
In the fast-moving world of mobile devices there are many battles brewing. The one to watch may be the standoff between Adobe (ADBE) Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen and Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs over Flash, the Adobe software that brings interactivity to millions of websites.
“Flash looks like a technology that has had its day,” Jobs said at a tech conference earlier this month. In his view, Flash is a bug-ridden battery hog. He favors HTML5, a still-evolving Web technology that does many of the same things as Flash.
In an interview at Adobe’s headquarters in San Jose, Calif., Narayen comes across as soft-spoken and measured—not the kind of guy to do battle over competing Web standards. Ask him if the dispute over Flash amounts to a “war,” as Jobs has called it, and he smiles. “The words to describe it are irrelevant,” Narayen says. “To us, this is about where computing is headed.”
The Flash Player software, which is free, powers most of the Web’s intro screens, video shorts, inserted commercials, dancing typography, and interactive graphics and is installed on 98 percent of personal computers worldwide. It’s used by about 85 percent of the top 100 websites, delivering 70 percent of Web games and 75 percent of Web video, Adobe says. By the company’s count, 19 of the top 20 mobile handset makers are committed to building smartphones that support Flash. The lone holdout is Apple and its iPhone and iPad.
Narayen, an Apple employee from 1989 to 1995, says Jobs’ gripes about Flash have less to do with the technology itself than the Apple chairman’s desire to dominate the future of mobile. “Whenever there’s disruption that happens in computing, there are wars that happen that enable people to get disproportionate market share,” says Narayen. “You saw that in the PC era when whoever controlled the applications was able to get dominant market share. Apple is looking at Flash and saying that it keeps them from being able to have the kind of closed system that they would like.” Apple did not return calls for comment. Unlike Flash, HTML5 is a nonproprietary technology. No single company owns it.
Adobe is banking on a new version of its player, called Flash 10.1, to prove to the market that it continues to be relevant in the world of smartphones and tablet computers. Although the new software was in the works before Jobs went public with his criticisms, it does address a number of his complaints. Flash 10.1 is designed to make video run more smoothly on mobile devices, while also supporting iPhone-like touchscreen gestures such as pinching fingers to shrink a photo, or widening them to zoom in. Adobe says the new application is also better at conserving battery power.
The Flash Player itself contributes little to Adobe’s bottom line; the company makes money selling tools to software programmers who build on the technology. The real revenue generator for the company is the Adobe Creative Suite, a collection of graphic design, video editing, and Web development applications that use Flash technology. On June 22, Adobe posted record revenue of $943 million for the second quarter, representing 34 percent year-over-year growth, which the company attributed to strong demand for the latest version of Creative Suite.
Adobe’s goal in coming months is to get Flash up and running on as many new mobile devices as possible. Nokia (NOK), Research In Motion (RIMM), and Palm (recently bought by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)) will be using Flash on soon-to-arrive mobile phones. The Dell (DELL) Streak, a 5-inch tablet that uses Flash and Google’s Android operating system, was introduced in the U.K. earlier this month and will hit shelves in the U.S. later this summer. Motorola’s (MOT) new Droid 2 phone, set for launch on June 23, the day before the official release of the iPhone 4, also is expected to use Adobe’s technology.
Adobe isn’t betting that HTML5 goes away. Rather, the company believes it will develop over the years as a technology complementary to Flash, and is creating tools that will work with both. “Ideally, I’d love to see a ubiquitous platform across all devices,” says Steve Jackson, president and CEO of Smashing Ideas, a Seattle-based digital media studio that produces content for the Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and other companies. “But we’ve been hoping for that for a decade. We’re going to continue to create content across multiple platforms, and that certainly includes both Flash and the iPhone.”
Google (GOOG), which has been waging its own battles with Apple, is emerging as an important ally to Adobe. Flash will be part of the recently announced Google TV, which aims to put Web content on Sony (SNE)-manufactured TV sets powered by Google’s Android. Sometime in the coming months, Google is expected to release its own tablet computer that will also support Flash.
“We expect Flash to be part of all of the devices that count,” says Narayen. “I think it’s going to be an incredible holiday season.”
The bottom line: Adobe is getting its Flash software on many smartphones, even though Steve Jobs is knocking it.
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