Mobile/ProductPlanning/Notes-2014-11-11
Contents
Roadmap & Funnel update
Jenn
Hot items
Everyone
Goals check in
Mark & Karen
- [ON TRACK] FxMobile: Ship new Search Activity for Android in Fx35.
- [ON TRACK] FxMobile: Establish a GTM plan for project 105 v1 release, including deployment, marketing and required Cloud Services resources.
- [ON TRACK] FxMobile: Agree on joint e.me Android launcher & lock screen plan for a Beta Launch in Q1, including fulfillment of all assets and UX flows as required
- [ON TRACK] FxMobile: Add required content server metrics for tracking Suggested Sites in Fx35
- [ON TRACK] FxMobile: Land a set of client-side password improvements (for FxAccounts) in Fx36
Insights
Something to Think About
Primecast, an app whose sole purpose was to stream Amazon video content to a Chromecast device, was shut down within two days of launch this week. The application was rendered useless by Amazon shortly after release through a server-side change to the API (likely authentication) and, given the quick shutdown of the app, was probably accompanied by a legal request to knock it off. The example highlights the proprietary nature of high-value content that uses the web as a transport mechanism, and how protective companies can be of their services.
Why we should care: Integration with service providers who may not be willing or aware is hard. They control the keys to the service, and can have a strong sense of ownership. It's a story that continues to be repeated, with organizations closing doors after discovery (or as they start seeing more value in the features other orgs unlock, ohai Twitter) and no real commitment on maintaining access. Strong partner relationships are essential, even if it's simply a friendly hello to let people know what you're thinking about doing.
Worth a Read
- Yup, more Lollipops. Business Insider had a great interview with Android's VP eng, Hiroshi Lockheimer, covering what they're trying to accomplish. Lockheimer's answers to questions reinforce the idea of ubiquitous access to your stuff via whatever screen you happen to be in front of, better alignment internally with management changes, and establishing a tighter rein on Android in general.
- AVG released a report last week identifying apps and games that hog resources. It's gives info on service resource hogs, execution resource hogs, storage higs, bad battery performers, and popular apps in the study as a whole and in the US, UK, and AU separately. Firefox for Android is mentioned in the top ten for storage use, and the report gives some insight into top apps, bad actors, and mitigation strategies. It also shows how much data companies are pulling from a user's phone.
Notes
- Google continues to give full attention to India, adding free Hangouts calls (showing more voice integration in the process) and pushing its low-cost international calling a la Voice in Hangouts.
- Good Technology's quarterly mobile report shows strong adoption of iPhone 6 in the enterprise, accounting for 2/3 of new activations on its service.
- Chromebooks continue to make strong gains in the US Education system, and Google continues to push expansion into other countries. Google's mutliple offerings of hardware, software, and services make it hard to resist, and builds strong affinity to the brand at an early age.
- Apple finally makes it less painful to de-register mobile numbers from iMessage when switching to a non-iOS platform
- Disney breaks some Apple chains, releasing its content library on multiple platforms. We're seeing more and more companies who were Apple exclusive (like Nike moving to multi-platform offerings as Android and non-iOS device use grows.
- Xiaomi sold 720,000 devices in the first 12 hours of Singles Day, China's Black Friday equivalent.
- HK and US operators looking at adding p2p wifi mesh networks to boost connectivity/coverage.
- Walmart releases their own streaming stick because Walmart
- Super interesting - media companies are seeing more revenue from licensing than advertising, and traditional broadcast networks like CBS are planning to offer their content independently from satellite and cable. Some potentially big impacts to broadband and content access fees, especially with specialty network programming created by the distributors.
- Google adds a howto for publishing a discoverable app
Feedback
Rob
- Nothing very big; I've highlighted some minor but interesting/recurring pieces of feedback.
- Single user reporting the touch offset bug in 34.
- Nothing else very big; I've highlighted some minor but interesting/recurring pieces of feedback.
Marketing
Arcadio
Partner review
No notes - in-meeting updates from Mark & Karen
