30% of iPhone Buyers in Q4 2015 Switched From an Android Smartphone
During today’s fourth quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company saw its highest rate of Android “switchers” Apple had ever measured in 4Q 2015.
According to Cook, 30 percent of customers who purchased an iPhone were upgrading from an Android-based smartphone, the largest number of switchers it had seen in the three years since it started measuring switching rates. “It’s a huge number and we’re very proud of it,” said Cook.
Based on the growing number of Android users switching to an iPhone along with the number of people who have not yet upgraded, the company believes iPhone sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2016 will be strong.
Only one third of Apple customers have upgraded to an iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, or 6s Plus, leaving two thirds of the company’s customer base using older iPhones and ripe for a new iPhone.
For the past several quarters, Tim Cook has commented on the growing rate of Android switchers, noting earlier this year that the debut of the larger-screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which better competes with larger-screened Android phones, had spurred high numbers of Android switchers.
Over the course of the past year, Apple has pursued Android users aggressively. The company introduced a dedicated website for Android switchers in the fall of 2014, and with the launch of iOS 9 in September, it also introduced a new “Move to iOS” app to make it easier for Android customers to switch to an iPhone.
Apple has also introduced a trade-in program designed to lure Android users, allowing customers to exchange their Android devices for Apple gift cards that can be put towards the purchase of an iOS device.
Overall, Apple reported quarterly revenue of $51.5 billion and net profit of $11.1 billion, or $1.96 per diluted share. The company sold a total of 48.04 million iPhones, 9.88 million iPads, and 5.71 Macs.
Tim Cook: 40 Million People are Using Apple News
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed Apple News usage numbers for the first time during today’s fourth quarter earnings call, announcing the service has approximately 40 million users.
Cook did not specify whether that number represented people who use the Apple News app on a regular basis or if it simply measured the number of people who have accessed the app at one point or another, so it’s still difficult to gauge the popularity of Apple News.
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Introduced alongside iOS 9, Apple News was initially restricted to the United States, but with the launch of iOS 9.1, Apple News expanded to the UK and Australia for the first time.
Apple News is an all-new app for iOS 9 that’s designed to aggregate stories from a wide range of sources into a single mobile-friendly format for the iPhone and the iPad. It’s similar in design to magazine-style news apps like Flipboard and Zite and replaces the previous Apple Newsstand app.
Apple has partnered with dozens of publications for Apple News, like The New York Times, CNN, ESPN, The Atlantic, The Daily Mail, Slate, and more.
Google Play raises app price limits to $400, similar increases globally
For the most part, Google Play apps are all priced along the same range – free, free with in-apps, or somewhere in the $.99 to $5 range. There are some obvious exceptions, with Square and several others often charging $15 or more for games, there are also textbook apps and other more professional tools that can cost much more than this. With that in mind, Google has now increased the max price that can be set for in-app purchases or for premium apps to $400 in the United States, an increase from its original $200 mark.
While there are probably few legitimate apps that will take advantage of this raised pricing structure, there are certain companies that will likely be happy with the option, such as those that offer software aimed at professionals. Unfortunately, there will probably be a few less legitimate app makers looking to cash in from the increase as well.
The limits are also seeing a rise in many other countries, with an increase that doubles or even triples the previous range. In Canada, the range of $201 is going up to $500, with most of Europe going from limit €199 to €350. The UK changes from £150 to £300, and the list goes on. You can read the full list over at Google’s support pages.
While on the subject of pricing, we thought we’d ask: What’s the most you’ve ever paid for an app on Google Play? And what was the app? Additionally, what do you think of the new limit raise, and can you think of any (legit) situations where Google would be wise to consider an even higher limit – such as Apple with its $1000 max price.
US Senate passes controversial CISA bill
The US Senate convened for a vote on the controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) today as well as five amendments to it. All five amendments, which would have restrained law enforcement from abusing the bill’s powers as well as made corporations more accountable for their roles in protecting consumer information, have failed. A cloture motion, which prevents filibustering the initiative, passed at the start of the session today by a vote of 83 – 14. The bill itself passed the Senate with a 74 – 21 vote (it needed 60). It must now do the same in the House before being either signed into law or vetoed by the President.
Copyright exemption lets you modify old games to keep them running
You no longer have to dread the day that a game developer shuts off its servers and renders your favorite title unplayable. As part of a series of DMCA copyright exemptions, the US Library of Congress has granted long-sought permission to disable authentication server requirements in games where a server’s shutdown will completely break the experience. Historians can even hack the consoles themselves, if necessary. This doesn’t allow you to tweak games where you’d only lose multiplayer modes, but it does mean that at least some aspects of a classic game will live on.
Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Source: Copyright.gov (PDF)
Playdate’s Wii U Halloween Horror: ‘Fatal Frame’ and ‘Year Walk’
‘Spooky’ isn’t exactly the first word that comes to mind when one things of the family-friendly Wii U — but that didn’t stop the PlayDate crew from digging up a couple or horror titles to mark the coming of all hallows eve. Join us at 6PM Eastern / 3PM Pacific as we tour Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water’s haunted Hikami Mountain and learn the legend of its ghost-wrangling shrine maidens. Then, we’ll take a Year Walk and step into the darker side of old Swedish folklore. Join in the fun right here, at twitch.tv/joystiq and on the Engadget Gaming homepage.
Twitter raises its follow limit to 5,000 users
Twitter may be having trouble getting more people to use its service, but it’s at least offering more headroom for the folks who’ve already signed up. In a confirmation of what some people had seen earlier in the week, it just raised the follow limit for everyone from 2,000 to 5,000. Previously, you could only break that 2,000-user ceiling if you had a high-enough ratio of followers. The company didn’t explain why it’s suddenly being so liberal, but it’s likely confident that its anti-spam tools will prevent bots from abusing this newfound freedom.
Source: Twitter Support, Twitter Help Center
Apple Pay comes to Australia and Canada this year
At last, Apple Pay will be available outside of the US and the UK… if you have the right credit card. Tim Cook used his company’s fiscal results call to confirm that the tap-to-pay service will be available in Australia and Canada by the end of 2015, while Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain will get it in early 2016. However, it sounds as if you’ll be limited to using an American Express card at first. Despite leaks, you probably won’t be using any other account for iPhone-based purchases on launch. It’s likely that other providers will get with the program, though, so don’t despair if you prefer MasterCard or Visa.
Source: Apple
Apple starts offering carrier billing for iTunes in Germany
Up until now, Apple’s held out on offering carrier billing for services like iTunes and the App Store. But it looks like that’s coming to an end, at least in Germany. As reported by TechCrunch, Apple seems to have quietly flipped the switch on this feature, which lets digital goods be charged directly to a phone bill, for people using O2’s wireless network. A spokesperson for Telefonica, the owner of O2, confirmed to the publication it is in fact working with Apple on carrier billing. If you’re an O2 wireless customer in that country, it means you can start charging Apple Music, iTunes, App Store and iBooks purchases directly to your monthly bill. Access is limited at the moment, but Telefonica says everyone on O2 will get it by the beginning of November.
Source: TechCrunch
Google’s new ASUS OnHub router can be sped up with the wave of a hand
It was just two months ago that Google debuted the first OnHub Wi-Fi router made in partnership with TP-LINK, and now the Mountain View company is introducing yet another one. Boasting faster Wi-Fi speeds, an easy set-up process and simple management with the Google On application, this new ASUS-made router aims to bring some notable improvements to the table over the first device.
The ASUS OnHub does everything the TP-LINK router can do, only with a slightly altered design and one handy new feature called Wave Control. This will allow you to wave your hand over the router to boost the Wi-Fi speed for a particular device. Pretty cool, right?
Just because there’s a new addition to the OnHub family, that doesn’t mean Google is forgetting about the first device. In the coming week, Google is rolling out the TP-LINK OnHub’s first software update which will bring several performance improvements, including a new “smart antenna algorithm.” What does that mean? Basically, whether you’re on a smartphone in the kitchen or on your laptop in the living room, OnHub will be able to intelligently select the best combination of antennas to direct to your Wi-Fi devices, based on their location and orientation. If you already have the TP-LINK OnHub, it will receive the update automatically when your network is quiet so it won’t interrupt your connection.
For those who aren’t familiar, Google has released a new promotional video for the OnHub, which you can find attached below:
You’ll be able to pre-order the new ASUS OnHub starting this week from various retailers for $219.99 in a Slate Gray color option. As of now, pre-orders are live on Amazon and Newegg, with pre-orders going live later this week through the Google Store, Best Buy, Walmart and Micro Center in the United States. If you’re interested, be sure to head to the link below to order your new router!
AIVAnet 