An Ignoble Experiment

FierceMobileContent takes a look at the key issues that are hounding the development of the market and the dynamics that could affect both existing players and new entrants in this new special report. --Sandhya

Earlier this year, research group NPD found that over half of smartphone owners use that device to listen to music. And given the number of people I see on any given day plugged into their phones or tablets on the bus or subway each day, that finding is no surprise.

What is a bit surprising is how complicated the mobile music scene has become recently. There are the a la carte sellers like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which sell songs and provide devices for listening; streaming services like Pandora and Spotify; operator-run initiatives like Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) subsidiary Cricket's Muve Music; and device-specific initiatives such as Samsung Hub and Nokia Music.

Even within those categories, the water gets a little murkier. Take streaming music, which encompasses both Pandora (streaming radio) with over 67 million reported listeners in the U.S., and Spotify (on-demand streaming) with over 24 million listeners worldwide. Add into the mix the variety of rumored streaming services from Apple, Amazon and Google (NASDAQ:G OOG), and it really gets complicated.

Read more about: Mobile Music
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Today's Top News

1. Report: iOS 7 behind schedule, Apple scrambling to catch up

By Jason Ankeny

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eBook: TV Everywhere Gets Personal

Insiders say Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is scrambling to finalize the next version of its iOS mobile operating system in time for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, scheduled for mid-June.

"What I've heard: iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from [Mac] OS X 10.9 to work on it," states longtime Silicon Valley insider John Gruber on his Daring Fireball blog. Gruber notes Apple has previously shifted engineering resources in order to meet deadlines: In 2007, the company delayed the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard by four months in order to ship the first iPhone on time.

Gruber also reiterated rumors that iOS 7 will bring substantial user interface changes, likely causing the project to fall behind schedule. Gruber notes that iOS engineers with device-carry privileges "all have some sort of polarizing filter on their iPhone displays, such that it greatly decreases viewing angles, thus making it difficult for observers to see the apparently rather significant system-wide UI overhaul."

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jony Ive is lobbying to make iO7 simpler and more minimalist than previous iterations. Ive--famed for his sleek, contemporary hardware design sensibilities--assumed control of Apple's Human Interface efforts last fall in addition to his Industrial Design duties, a change prompted by the exit of Scott Forstall, the firm's longtime senior vice president of iOS software. Developers who've spoken to Apple maintain that Ive is pushing for a "flat design" that shifts iOS away from its longtime reliance on skeuomorphism, a digital design aesthetic that leverages real-world images and metaphors like linen-textured gray backgrounds, wooden bookshelves and spiral-bound notebooks.

There is already evidence that Apple is evolving past skeuomorphic principles: The company recently released an updated version of its Podcasts application for iOS, abandoning the tape deck-inspired UI elements of the previous version in favor of a "now playing" screen recalling Apple's stock Music app.

While Apple has declined to comment on any iOS changes, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the company will soon begin production of an overhauled iPhone similar in size and shape to its current model, setting up a possible summertime launch. Sources add that Apple also continues to work on a less-expensive four-inch iPhone that incorporates a different casing from its high-end predecessor.

For more:
- read this Daring Fireball post
- read this Verge article
- read this Wall Street Journal article

Read more about: iPhone, Apple
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FierceCable discusses the latest technologies TV networks and content owners use to drive increased ratings and revenue from various video devices. Download for free today.

2. Google revamps Android adoption measurement, reports Jelly Bean spike

By Jason Ankeny

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3. Zynga's Porter jumps ship a year after OMGPOP deal

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is revising its approach to measuring Android operating system version adoption, promising developers a more accurate portrait of the Android ecosystem as a whole.

Google currently supports nine different active versions of Android, dating back to Android 1.6, nicknamed Donut, through to the latest iteration, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. In the past, Google compiled data on the percentage of devices running a given version of Android by collecting check-ins on its servers; moving forward, the company will instead collect data from each Android device that visits its Google Play digital storefront.

"We believe the new data more accurately reflects those users who are most engaged in the Android and Google Play ecosystem," Google said. "This information may help [developers] prioritize efforts for supporting different devices."

The new method signals a sharp increase in devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean: Last month, Google's Android Developers dashboard reported Jelly Bean 4.1 powered 14.9 percent of all devices worldwide, but with the data collection change, that number has jumped to 23 percent. Android 2.3 Gingerbread remains the dominant OS version at 39.8 percent, followed by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at 29.3 percent.

Android led all U.S. smartphone sales during the three-month period ending in February 2013, research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reported earlier this week. Android powers 51.2 percent of all smartphones sold in the U.S. during the three months in question, up from 45.4 percent during the same timeframe a year earlier. Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS follows at 43.5 percent, down from 47 percent a year ago. Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone grew from 2.7 percent market share to 4.1 percent, and BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) plummeted from 3.6 percent to just 0.7 percent in the weeks prior to the launch of its overhauled BlackBerry 10 OS.

For more:
- visit Google's Android Developers Dashboard
- read this Verge article

Read more about: Google, Metrics
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By Sandhya Raman

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4. Flurry: Android, iOS device owners spend 2 hours inside apps each day

A year after Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) acquired online and mobile gaming firm OMGPOP, its former CEO Dan Porter has decided to leave the company. Porter, who became Zynga's New York GM as part of Zynga's $180 million acquisition of OMGPOP, will be replaced by VP of mobile games Sean Kelly.

OMGPOP is perhaps best known for its breakout title, Draw Something. The game's sequel, Draw Something 2, began rolling out last month to select countries, but is not yet available in the United States.

"Our follow up to the original hit is even more social and engaging, and we're excited to get it into the hands of our players globally. We thank Dan Porter for his efforts in making the Draw Something franchise a success and wish him well in his future endeavors," wrote Zynga COO David Ko in a prepared statement. "We're proud to see talent like Sean Kelly take a bigger leadership role as the Head of our New York studio and lead the team to the global launch of Draw Something 2," added Ko. In his new role, Kelly will report to to Travis Boatman, Zynga's SVP of Mobile.

Kelly joined Zynga in 2009 as the GM of FishVille. He later co-created CityVille, which boasted 20 million daily players on Facebook at its peak. Since 2011, Kelly has worked on the mobile versions of Zynga's multiplatform games like Zynga Poker and Dream Zoo.

Porter is one of a large number of executives who have left Zynga during the past year: Zynga Treasurer Mike Gupta left the gaming company for Twitter; Chief Financial Officer David Wehner left Zynga to accept a senior finance post at Facebook; Zynga COO John Schappert resigned after he was stripped of his responsibilities as head of social gaming development; Chief Creative Officer Mike Verdu left to launch his own startup; CTO of infrastructure Bill Leinwand left to work for enterprise IT firm ServiceNow; and Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer Jeff Karp departed in September.

For more:
- see this Business Insider story
- see this VentureBeat story
- see this Bloomberg story

Read more about: Chutes & Ladders, Zynga
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By Jason Ankeny

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5. Rovio doubles revenues in 2012, total game downloads eclipse 1.7B

The average U.S. consumer now spends an average of 2 hours and 38 minutes per day on smartphones and tablets, dedicating 80 percent of that time--about 2 hours and 7 minutes--to mobile applications and the remaining 31 minutes to surfing the mobile Web, mobile app analytics firm Flurry reports.

Gaming remains the most popular category among all applications written for Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS, Flurry reports: Consumers dedicate 32 percent of all mobile app time playing games, followed by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) at 18 percent and Apple's Safari browser at 12 percent.

"Worth noting is that a lot of people consume Web content from inside the Facebook app," said Flurry CEO Simon Khalaf. "For example, when a Facebook user clicks on a friend's link or article, and Facebook, inside its Web view, displays the article without launching a native Web browser (e.g., Safari, Android or Chrome). So if [we] consider the proportion of Facebook app usage that is within their Web view (a.k.a. browser), then we can assert that Facebook has become the most adopted browser in terms of consumer time spent."

As of the fourth quarter of 2012, Android and iOS device owners now open an average of 7.9 apps per day, up from 7.5 apps the previous year and 7.2 in late 2010. "The steady growth rate indicates that the app economy is not yet experiencing saturation, as consumers steadily use more apps over time," Khalaf notes. "And while there are more apps in the store, large numbers of them have short lifespans, such as books, shows and games. Assertions that people are using fewer apps in 2012 than they did in 2010 appear to be incorrect."

The number of new apps used on devices grew from 17% to 37% of total apps from 2010 to 2012.

Flurry measures app usage across more than 1 billion active connected devices each month: Roughly 100,000 clients use its analytics services across more than 300,000 apps. Flurry is now expanding its platform to the mobile Web and will release a JavaScript SDK enabling site owners to integrate its usage measurement tools in a matter of minutes.

For more:
- read this Flurry Blog post
- read this release

Read more about: Apple, Flurry
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By Jason Ankeny

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