Jake isn’t going to believe these numbers despite the fact that they were calculated PRIOR to the launch of the uber-popular EVO. Turns out Android is stealing share from EVERYONE. This chart from Quantcast paints the picture:
The iPhone OS which includes non-phones like the touch and iPad is down 8.1% with RIM and Windows Mobile (et al) down an additional 4.1%. Remember those predictions that Android would own a majority of the smartphone market by 2012? I thought they might be overstating Android’s share, but maybe they were discounting it. This is getting fun…
*wipe sweat from brow* Lots of our partners have wondered whether or not Apple would allow our AdOn network inside of iPhone apps. AdOns are HTML5 ‘ads’ related to a) the product scanned and b) the location of the product scan. The good news is that Apple’s latest developer license agreement SPECIFICALLY allows Big in Japan to operate our AdOns network. Leena Rao has an interesting take on the updated rules by Apple.
More on AdOns™:
Mobile ads delivered by companies like AdMob don’t work very well right now. First they distract and annoy the user OR they are completely ignored by the user. Second, they don’t generate much in the way of revenue since they are rarely acted upon. We decided NOT to put ads in ShopSavvy and I think the app has been better because we made that decision. But we did find a way to leverage the data we had (i.e. the UPC of the product scanned and the location of the user) to deliver information about the item the user was holding in his hand.
ShopSavvy is a simple app that tells the user where he can find the item he is scanning and how much the item sells for, but we kept having all of these ideas to make our app better. Things like coupons, allergy alerts, recall notices, wine info and so on. We couldn’t figure out how to include these ideas without cluttering up the app – i.e. feature creep. Then we had an idea to create a plugin framework, what we call AdOns.
AdOns appear ONLY when there is relevant information about the product scanned. Immediately following the scan screen your app delivers the result (in ShopSavvy we show the item’s picture, title, web and local offers). The AdOn scrolls up from the bottom of the screen without interfering with the function of your result page (you can still interact with your app). AdOns take up only as much space as needed to provide the necessary information – almost never past the middle of the screen. To dismiss the user simply swipes the AdOn down. Finally, new apps won’t see AdOns for the first 90 to 120 days until we get your onboarded into our system – you get a free ride for a while.
What sort of AdOns exist? movie and video game trailers, sample music tracks, allergy information, food safety information, coupons, rebates, product demos, wine info/helper, sports/concert titckets, computer configurators, memory card matcher, battery matcher, what’s not in the box, alternative/related products, product reviews (text and video), warranties and so on. Got an idea for an AdOn – let me know and we will create it. AdOns are usually sponsored – e.g. Video Game Trailers sponsored by GameFly or sample tracks sponsored by Pandora. In all cases AdOns MUST look cool and provide real value to the user without screwing up your app.
Finally, we allow complete filtering for ANY reason. Don’t want to see your competitors in AdOns? No problem. Don’t want to see certain items for health reason? No problem – you have the right to reject ANY AdOn for any reason.
Jake and Rylan thought it might be smart to run one of those ‘tweet to win’ contests here at Big in Japan. I aim to please so Aaron quickly (in a day) put together this simple promo. Just visit this link – ShopSavvy Promo – and 1) follow @shopsavvy and 2) tweet the included message for a chance to win either (your choice) an iPhone 4 or HTC EVO. Pretty simple. Hopefully the folks who tweet about ShopSavvy will actually download the app (i.e. users are more valuable than followers). What do you say?
ShopSavvy Tweet to win promo - win an iPhone 4 or HTC EVO
Motorola is releasing a 2Ghz Android phone later this year. According to Ryan Hamrick,
Well, it appears Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha hasn’t overlooked this little window of opportunity. Just yesterday, at the Executives Club of Chicago, Jha reportedly decided to chat about the relatively near future of the mobile landscape as he sees it — which, in part, includes the ultimate demise of mobile computers in favor of highly-capable smartphones. This being his vision, Jha discussed Motorola’s plans for a smartphone with an astounding 2GHz processor — by the end of this year.
I am hoping to get one before Christmas – ShopSavvy + 2GHz makes Santa’s job that much easier!
LG has made a startling announcement today that they will be releasing 20 new Android devices before the end of the year. This is VERY welcome news here at Big in Japan.
More than two years ago we decided to start hosting a regular startup-focused happy hour for the North Texas area. More 2,500 local entrepreneurs have joined us for some beer and fellowship. The newspaper wrote about the event and lots of new companies have been formed from the relationships created at the event – for example Rylan and I met at the event and started Big in Japan. It has been a very fun couple of years, but I think it is time for a change – time to mix things up – time for Startup Happy Hour 2.0.
First, we decided change the venue. The High Tech Bar has been a good home for the event, but the parking situation really annoying. The new location will be at Architel’s new facility in the North Tower of Campbell Centre (the gold building on the corner of I75 and Northwest Highway where JR Ewing used to work).
Next, we decided to change the date. The first Monday made a lot of sense when we first began (the first happy hour just happened to be on a Monday), but we eventually remembered that it fell on the same night as Monday Night Football (this is Texas BTW). The new date will be the fifth Wednesday of the month. The inaugural event will be held October 27th, 2010 (subsequent events on Nov 24, Dec 22, Jan 26, Feb 23).
Third, we decided to change the format. Cocktails and more cocktails seemed like a great idea two years ago – easy to organize and easy to host – but I think we can do better. Starting in October we will begin the event at 5PM with cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres, then at 6PM we will have a speaker/program for 30-45 minutes and then have more cocktails and networking until around 8PM. Each quarter we hope to attract a ‘significant’ speaker, but don’t worry each month we will have really interesting speakers.
Finally, we decided to change from Upcoming.org to Meetup.com to manage RSVPs, pictures and discussion about the group. Just visit: http://www.meetup.com/Dallas-Startup-Happy-Hour/ and join the group and the conversation (i.e. you need to start the conversation).
We will be announcing the first speaker in the coming weeks. But you are going to want to save the date anyway.
Back in June of 2009 we reported a bug in the Android Market in a post titled Problems with Android Market? The problem? For some users ShopSavvy was missing from the market. The users who were specifically looking for ShopSavvy would email us and let us know about the problem. The users who were simply looking for an app like ShopSavvy wouldn’t know they could email us because they never knew our app existed. Our contacts at Google let us know that this bug would be fixed when they released Android 2.1. We can attest (according to our users) that the bug has NOT been fixed. Other apps like Qik have seen the same problem. Sarah Perez noted this bug in a post today titled, “Updated Applications Disappearing from Android Market“.
I noted we were seeing crazy download volume as a result of the Sprint EVO 4G launch. Looks like Qik (a popular Android app) couldn’t handle the volume and pulled the app to allow their team to add more capacity. We are feeling the same load. While our blade servers are supporting the load right now, some of our retailer’s feeds are not fairing as well under the load. Scan traffic is up more than 50% since the EVO launch! We will be adding more server capacity all week. Keep up the scanning – we will keep up with the demand.
We are seeing record download numbers of ShopSavvy on Sprint’s new HTC Evo 4G. Android has always been good to ShopSavvy, but the EVO is doing really well for us. The download number on EVO are even higher than on ALL iPhones today. Thanks to Sprint and HTC for pushing our app on the EVO.
According to Seth Weintraub the EVO has eclipsed the sales of the Palm Pre and Samsung Instinct so we aren’t surprised. The sales of EVO are estimated between 300,000 and 600,000 units (again according to Seth). Most consumers have noted that the device is sold out at Sprint stores, RadioShack, Best Buy and Walmart stores (Sprint has upped their order from HTC).
Once again it is time for the startup happy hour. Blake from CoHabitat has agreed to host the happy hour at their facility this month. Starting in October we will be hosting the event at our new facility in Campbell Centre.
The Dallas Startup Happy Hour is the talk of the startup community in Dallas. Check out the coverage in the Dallas Morning News here: http://bit.ly/aKTJDq As a result of the events, several startups have found a) employees, b) co-founders, c) angel investors and d) had a few free drinks.
Who: This event is open to all DFW area startup founders, startup employees, investors, people thinking about doing a startup, etc. As a courtesy to everyone in attendance, we ask service providers to not just show up to pitch their services.
A quick note about parking… street parking is usually readily available after 5:30pm on Thomas Ave or Routh St.
*wipe sweat from brow* 
Lots of our partners have wondered whether or not Apple would allow our AdOn network inside of iPhone apps. AdOns are HTML5 ‘ads’ related to a) the product scanned and b) the location of the product scan. The good news is that Apple’s latest developer license agreement SPECIFICALLY allows Big in Japan to operate our AdOns network. 
Motorola is releasing a 2Ghz Android phone later this year. According to 
First, we decided 
Back in June of 2009 we reported a bug in the Android Market in a post titled 
Once again it is time for the startup happy hour. Blake from CoHabitat has agreed to host the happy hour at their facility this month. Starting in October we will be hosting the event at our new facility in Campbell Centre.