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Buffy, the Facebook Phone

Sébastien Page ∙ November 21, 2011

This is not the first time we've heard rumors of Facebook working on a Facebook phone, but it seems that things are now starting to take shape.

After years of considering how to best get into the phone business, Facebook has tapped Taiwanese cellphone maker HTC to build a smartphone that has the social network integrated at the core of its being.

Code-named “Buffy,” after the television vampire slayer, the phone is planned to run on a modified version of Android that Facebook has tweaked heavily to deeply integrate its services, as well as to support HTML5 as a platform for applications, according to sources familiar with the project.

Read the full article at AllThingsD.

iPad Generates 87.6% of Worldwide Tablet Traffic

Sébastien Page ∙ November 17, 2011

Website monitoring Pingdom calculated the share of worldwide tablet web traffic. The iPad comes out first, representing 87.6% of all tablet web browsing in the world.

In this analysis iPad accounts for almost 88% of tablet web traffic, Android for about 11% and the others trail far behind. Out of these operating systems, the only one that exists purely on tablets is iOS, but we strongly suspect that this is a good reflection of reality.

Last month, comScore had found that 95.5% of all tablet web traffic in the US comes from the iPad. No doubt that there is probably a margin of error, but still, these numbers are impressive.

Samsung Won’t Try to Block iPhone 4S Sales in Korea

Sébastien Page ∙ November 14, 2011

Looks like Samsung changed their mind about trying to block sales of the iPhone 4S in Korea.

Samsung Electronics has decided not to seek an injunction against the sale of Apple's iPhone 4S in the domestic market. The new iPhone went on sale here last Friday. Samsung had debated until the last moment whether to file the motion after making similar applications in France, Italy, Australia, and Japan.

The decision was apparently driven by public-relations concerns. A senior Samsung executive said, "We concluded that we should engage in legal battles with Apple only in the global market, but not in order to gain more market share in Korea."

I guess Samsung would rather engage legal battles in larger markets, like France, Germany, etc... This is obviously a work in progress.

39% of All Pictures Posted to Twitter Come from an iOS Device

Sébastien Page ∙ November 10, 2011

The Next Web shared the results of a study that shows iOS 5 now is the 7th biggest Twitter photo client, and 39% of all photos posted to Twitter come from an iOS device.

Combined, the iPhone accounts for at least 39% of all photos posted to Twitter, largely due to Instagram and Twitter for iPhone. There are a few percent in the smaller categories like Echofon, Others and Tweetdeck that aren’t able to be attributed solely to iOS, as they are multiplatform. With the integration of Twitter into iOS 5, not only did Twitter score themselves a deep toehold on one of the best mobile operating systems around, but it also nearly guaranteed itself longevity.

Not that we need more proof that iOS is the top operating system for mobile devices, but it's still nice to be reminded every once in a while.

New Study Reveals iOS 5 Adoption Rate

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 6, 2016

Advertising network Chitika recently carried out a study to find out the iOS 5 adoption rate among iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users.

According to our data set, 38% of iPhone users had already updated their mobile devices to the latest version of iOS. The iPad came in second in our study with 30% of all users updating to or already using iOS 5. This is an interesting statistic as it illustrates the similarity of the iOS version distribution of both the iPad and iPhone. The iPod registered the smallest count of devices updated to iOS 5, with only 12% of users choosing to upgrade. This demographic is made further evident by the portion of devices running on older versions of iOS, with almost 80% of consumers using iOS 4.

Are you still on iOS 4? If so, why?

China Unicom Getting Ready for the iPhone 4S

Sébastien Page ∙ November 8, 2011

An article on 9to5Mac this morning reports that China Unicom is dropping the 16/32GB iPhone 4 in preparation for the 8GB iPhone 4, prior to offering the iPhone 4S to its customers.

State-owned China Unicom, the world’s third-largest carrier and Apple’s sole iPhone partner in the country, has dropped both the 16GB and 32GB iPhone 4 model and will be introducing the 8GB iPhone 4 later this month. The move comes in anticipation of the iPhone 4S launch on the China Unicom network, due by the year’s end. iPhone 4S is currently pending regulatory approval in the country. The move would indicate that China Unicom will focus on the new iPhone 4S and carry the 8GB iPhone 4 as an inexpensive entry-level handset.

China is a huge market for Apple and there is no doubt this deal will increase the company's bottomline. China Unicom is the country's number 2 carrier. China Mobile, the country's leader, has yet to reach an agreement with Apple.

Mark Zuckerberg Says He Received Advice from Steve Jobs

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

In an interview with Charlie Rose that's airing tonight, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says that Steve Jobs advised him on company focus and other matters.

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs advised him on how to sharpen his company’s focus and build the right management team for the world’s largest social network.

“I had a lot of questions for him,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with Charlie Rose that’s due to air today. The topics included, “how to build a team around you that’s focused on building as high quality and good things as you are.”

Jobs and Zuckerberg also talked about “the aesthetics and kind of mission orientation of companies,” Zuckerberg said in the interview with Charlie Rose.

Steve Jobs said in his biography that he admired Zuckerberg for not "selling out," and even though both men didn't always see eye to eye, it is evident that they had great respect for each other.

The Breakup: How Apple Could Use Siri, Maps, and Bing Against Google

Sébastien Page ∙ November 6, 2011

The Next Web's Matthew Panzarino wrote a great article this morning, titled "How Apple will use Siri, Maps and Microsoft to divorce itself from Google," where he explains how Apple could dump its partnership with Google in favor of its own products, but also by partnering with Microsoft.

Apple and Google have had a tumultuous relationship in the mobile landscape. When the iPhone was launched, Google was a partner from day one. Their map data, YouTube archive and default search option were integral parts of the iPhone experience. [...] By using Google’s services, Apple is effectively supporting their competitor’s products to the tune of 250M installed devices. This is something that has to change and Apple knows it. This is why it is currently working, as it has been doing since 2009, to divest itself of as much of Google’s products as it can.

I invite you to read Panzarino's article as it is full of insights that paint an interesting picture of how Apple might breakup with Google in the near future.

Facebook and Apple: Two Frenemies Against Google

Sébastien Page ∙ November 4, 2011

Fortune has a good article about the battle between Facebook and Google for control of the web. Deep inside the article, there is an interesting snippet that suggests Facebook and Apple are still talking to join forces against their common enemy:

That last point is not lost on Zuckerberg. It has prompted him to seek closer ties with Google's biggest rival in mobile: Apple. The two companies have held multiple rounds of discussions, according to people with knowledge of the talks. But they have yet to find a compelling way to collaborate, perhaps because their courtship got off to a rocky start. [...] That Apple chose to bake Twitter, not Facebook, into the most recent version of its mobile operating system has not helped. Still, the two companies continue to talk, knowing full well that an alliance could help them fend off a common enemy.

Of course both companies have been talking for a while, and they'll eventually reach to an agreement where Facebook will most likely be integrated in iOS, just like Twitter.

I invite you to read the full the article as it's a very interesting piece that sheds more light on the war between Facebook and Google.