OnePlus One owners can now take 50MP photos with new app

(GNN) - Turn your OnePlus One into a far more powerful camera

OnePlus achieved something special with the OnePlus One by releasing a top of the range handset at a low price.

Everything came together with the handset equaling a 4.5 star review, and the camera proved to be one of the most impressive elements of the phone.

Now that camera can be improved even more through a new mod developed by the people on the XDA Forums.

It uses image interpolation tech to allow the camera sensor to take 50MP photos, vastly improving the 13MP camera currently featured on the handset.

Image interpolation tech
The image interpolation tech debuted on the Oppo Find 7 and Find 7a and is found inside the Color OS ROM but the app has now been ported over to CyanogenMod 11S that the OnePlus One runs on.

The mod also brings with features such as HDR video recording, burst shot, slow-mo video and more.

For more details on how to get the update on your OnePlus One head to the XDA Forums.

Could Nvidia Win Big With A GRID Game Streaming Box?

(GNN) - Nvidia has a streaming game service called GRID, which it debuted last year via its Shield dedicated Android gaming devices. The maker of PC and mobile gaming graphics hardware is dabbling in becoming more of a service provider with GRID, especially since it actually has the potential to cannibalize the sale of powerful graphics cards for local gaming rigs. Nvidia is set to make a big announcement that has been “five years” in the making during GDC this year, and we recently theorized on the weekly Droidcast that it could be a dedicated GRID streaming device, like a lightweight, inexpensive set-top box designed specifically to bring game streaming affordably to the living room. Here’s why, despite cannibalization, that might be long-term sense for Nvidia.

Don’t React, Anticipate

The computing world in general is moving towards a streaming future, with remote servers powering a lot of the intensive work required for things like advanced predictive analysis for things like our smartphones. It’s very likely that we’ll actually move into a computing paradigm where most of the actual computing is done on super-powerful servers, with our own personal devices acting much more as individual terminals whereby we merely access the results of the processing done elsewhere. This has long been predicted, but technology is getting to the point now in terms of wireless connectivity access and speeds that it’s actually practical as a foreseeable outcome.

Nvidia’s past business may have relied heavily on both its own graphics card sales, as well as licensing of said tech, but more and more, it will see bigger benefits from providing the power behind the remote servers that will undergird a distributed computing future. With gaming, the potential for streamed services is perhaps even more immediately apparent than for other uses of said tech, so it’s only natural that Nvidia would try to lead in this area. Whereas just a few years ago it was still impractical to make this real (OnLive’s inability to build a truly successful business on a streaming games service is evidence of this), Nvidia has waited, developed its own service and paid attention to when conditions were right.

This meant making sure that general network reliability and speeds were sufficient, but also helping usher in a future where the processors and graphics capabilities available to receptor devices (smartphones, or, set-top boxes) could handle the remaining work of rendering received feeds on high-resolution displays without any issues. A lengthy testing period, with a cadre of devices optimized for use of the service (Shield tablet and portable) has also helped more perfectly set the stage for what comes next.

GRID Box Benefits

A GRID box gives Nvidia a way to deliver a streaming games service with parameters it controls, at least at first, meaning it can continue to do as much as possible to maximize the conditions for successful streamed gaming. It also offers a way for Nvidia to embrace a cartridge razor model of revenue, with low initial buy-in but sustained higher revenue from subscription service.

It would also allow Nvidia to continue to demonstrate the value of its mobile chipsets to potential OEM partners. Shield hardware serves this purpose to some degree, and a GRID box would be of value in convincing set-top box and TV makers to take a look at the K1, X1 and whatever future mobile chips Nvidia decides to bring to market. Using Android means these chips can also support media apps, providing a double-advantage that competitors can’t necessarily offer thanks to AAA gaming.

Evolve Or Die

Whatever Nvidia is preparing to unveil at GDC, you can be pretty sure it’ll go beyond a simple upgrade to the GTX line of graphics cards (though if it is just this, I’ll feel pretty stupid). I’m anticipating a GRID device aimed at the living room in this article, but a general launch of GRID services with support beyond the Shield line of hardware, to PCs and perhaps even other mobile devices would make as much sense.

The point is that Nvidia is keenly aware of the general trend the industry is facing, and appears to be making the right move for long-term success in a shifting market. In part, a GRID box is an intermediary step, prefacing a time when consoles disappear and the screens and projectors we use to display our media also provide all the interactive gaming, and advanced computing, we could ever hope to need as consumers.

The companies that do the best in terms of pacing out their product cycle to get us there along a timeframe that keeps up with advances in enabling technology are those that will succeed and thrive.

One Year In, Nadella Is Planning Microsoft’s Long And Short Game

(GNN) - Golfers like to talk about their long game and their short game. Maybe it’s useful to look at Microsoft’s strategy that way too. Since Satya Nadella took over just over a year ago as CEO at Microsoft, he has started to redirect the company, looking at the short term, while perhaps beginning to formulate a plan for the next wave of computing.

Microsoft is the quintessential personal computer company. It came of age with the rise of the PC and thrived in the 1990s and early 2000s by giving us the tools to operate and be efficient on those machines. Surely, we complained about it — and made many a joke about blue screens of death — but in the end Microsoft provided the fuel for the PC revolution, making its founders rich beyond measure as a result.


Over time, as we’ve witnessed the shift to mobile, Microsoft has let the mobile revolution pass it by. It wasn’t completely oblivious to it, but its attempts can be characterized as feeble swings and misses, Today, it finds itself buried in marketshare terms behind iOS and Android, which between them controlled more than 95 percent of the world market last year.

Microsoft understands that to win the short game, it needs to gain mobile (and cloud) marketshare and Nadella has taken steps to do that. Under his leadership, they have begun to make some strides by turning outward. Traditionally, Microsoft has tried to keep everyone firmly inside the Microsoft ecosystem, but lately that’s changing as the company recently passed 100 iOS and Android apps (and if you haven’t tried the new version Outlook for iOS, you should).

It’s also made some progress with its tablet push, making steady sales gains over the last couple of quarters. Perhaps, most important of all, it has Windows 10 teed up to push the mobile side as much as it can in the coming year with a new one-screen-to rule-them-all strategy, but Microsoft hasn’t stopped with the short-term view, something it could very much have been accused of doing under former CEO, Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft has also cast an eye to the future as Hololens, XBox and the Minecraft purchase all suggest, and perhaps Microsoft is trying to gain a foothold with a younger generation of users who don’t give a hoot about Windows and Office, but do care very much about gaming and virtual reality.

The Mobile Present

Even as it tries to build a new mobile vision, is only reasonable to point out Microsoft’s minute mobile market share. Such are the numbers. And it is fair to note that some of the company’s attempts to grow its slice of that market have been futile at best. The Kin project is a notable, failed attempt to boost Microsoft’s numbers, while the Zune project manages to maintain the irony of eventually shipping both strong hardware, and software, but dying regardless.

In the face of past failure, and set right next to Windows Phone’s just-sufficient-to-not-die numbers over the last five years, Microsoft is making another attempt. Put simply: Windows 10 is likely Microsoft’s last chance to get into mobile. The firm is betting the farm that a unified platform across phones, tablets, smartphones, laptops, desktop computers, and even 84 inch touch-based behemoths, will not only bring the glow of user-love to Windows, but also bolster its mobile efforts as developers flock to the platform.


Such is the goal. TechCrunch has written repeatedly that Windows 10 is certainly among the company’s most audacious software projects. Which is perfectly fitting, as Microsoft needs something massive to shake up its mobile malaise. Windows Phone has long been a capable platform that has been plagued by a lack of attention.

If Windows 10 can drive developer interest, and thus app support not only on PCs, but also on their diminutive cousins, then Microsoft can enjoy draft winds across its platform.

The Next Computing Wave Future

Yet even while Microsoft focuses its energy on the short-term of mobile, it seems to be casting an eye outward as well. We’ve seen some signs of this over the last year, particularly with the announcement of HoloLens at the Windows 10 announcement last month. This futuristic 3D holographic “Nerd Helmet” gives Microsoft a big head start in the race for the face computer with Facebook and Google. And positions it well ahead of Apple, which doesn’t offer anything like it (yet).

Chris Haroun, a partner at venture capital firm Artis Ventures, believes HoloLens, along with the XBox and the Minecraft purchase are all part of a broader strategy to capture the younger generation, who may not have any sense of 1990s computing, but surely understand gaming.

He points to his own young sons who are all under nine and already engaged with Minecraft performing rudimentary programming in the form of if/then statements. These kids see the Microsoft brand associated with this game and the XBox in general in a positive light, and that’s putting the Microsoft name in front of kids who don’t care about Windows phones or desktop PCs.

Haroun says it’s entirely possible that Microsoft is looking ahead to a new generation of virtual-reality-based computing and its placing its bets early. While he’s not writing off Microsoft’s short game by any means, — he thinks giving away Windows 10 is a brilliant move and he likes what he sees with Windows tablets — he is impressed by what he sees in the long game and that Microsoft is attempting to get ahead of it.

Putting It All Together

There was a time when Microsoft was the platform, running the PC market, then came its failed attempts to win mobile. Perhaps we’ve come full circle with its current attempts to once again take on that market, along with some long shots at the future. Where does that put the company now? In a tough transitional spot.

Microsoft took it on the chin during its last earnings report proving that transformation is tough business — as IBM is learning –noting that it expects to grow a very modest 5 percent in its current fiscal year.

Rebuilding your company structure, business model and leadership team on the fly is no small game. Still, Microsoft is making immediate bets for that could bear out over the long term.

The good news is that strategy is no longer a big question mark hanging over Microsoft. Instead, it’s a matter of execution. If the company can pull off its vision, it has a shot at more than just mobile, even including virtual reality computing platforms that remain more smoke than fire.

Will Windows 10 rejuvenate the PC market? Will it finally make Windows Phone, or whatever it is eventually called, relevant? Can Microsoft in fact chase market share in a mobile market that is dominated by two of its biggest rivals? And finally, is mobile as a market where Microsoft should train its aim, given that the next platform revolution is likely no more than 5 years away?


Microsoft is betting that it can fight both wars at once. We’ll know much more when Windows 10 touches down this summer. We’ll know whether it can become cool in the eyes of a new generation of users over the longer term. Regardless, this should be a fun game to watch, as Microsoft navigates the course between the present and the future.

Blinq Enhances Your Favorite Messaging Applications With Extra Information

(AsiaTimes.ga/Tech) A new mobile application called Blinq is launching today into public beta to add a layer of contextual information to your favorite mobile messaging applications. Founder Yossi Ghinsberg, who’s better known for his adventures in the Amazon (not Amazon.com, but the actual unchartered wilderness), described Blinq as “more of a hack than an app,” saying that people are tired of trying yet another mobile application. Blinq offers something different, he says.

Instead of delivering a full mobile app experience you launch by tapping an icon, Blinq is designed to augment the apps you already use. Your normal behavior doesn’t have to change.

Once installed, Blinq appears as a small white dot that pops up inside mobile messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Hangouts, Skype, and SMS, for example, alerting you to new information about the person you’re communicating with. This additional information is pulled from a variety of other networks, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and more.

Blinq shows you status updates, photos and other recent activities, but its algorithms focus on highlighting the more important content. That is, if your friend recently posted two updates, one about what they had for lunch that day and another, more heavily liked update about a major life event, Blinq would only alert you to the latter.

The idea for the app, explains Ghinsberg, stems from his longtime interest in the concept of digital identities. He found that information about people was scattered around the web, and it was hard to access it when you needed it.

“We’re looking at the integrated, whole person instead of the fragmentation that’s caused because of the different platforms, the different channels and the different networks,” he says.

After teaming up with a technical co-founder Gal Bracha in 2013, the two first experimented with a larger solution, but realized soon that what they had built was too complicated and required that people change their habits. That didn’t work.

Right as they were accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator program, the team pivoted to build Blinq instead.

“We took the big idea, and reduced it,” says Ghinsberg. “Blinq is just a small white dot.”

While the app itself is consumer-facing, the concept could also work in business use cases where it could serve as something like a lightweight CRM tool. In that case, it wouldn’t be all that different from something like Rapportive or FullContact’s solution for Gmail. Those add-ons also aggregate content from a variety of networks in order to include personal and business information alongside social updates in Gmail’s sidebar.

Blinq just does this for mobile messaging apps.

The app that’s live today on Google Play is more of an MVP, meant more to test the how the market responds to the idea, the founder notes. That means the app may be buggy, and Blinq’s servers might be slow at times. But if successful, Ghinsberg says that the concept could be ported to other services beyond messaging.

Since its debut a couple of days ago, the company’s servers have imported over 250,000 contacts, and overnight, added half a million more followed by another million just last night. The team hasn’t publicized the app yet, but it has a few thousand downloads already.

The plan is to port the Blinq experience to iOS in the future, but there, the app will likely have to make some changes. Today on Android, the app works at the notification level, and is more deeply integrated. iOS, by its nature, will require more of a standalone experience, though Ghinsberg says he has some ideas about how to work around that.

Blinq has raised just under half a million in an advisory round from angel investors and 500 Startups, but will be looking to raise a million more starting next month.

Fiksu Finds More Evidence Of iOS 9 Testing Underway

(AsiaTimes.ga) This afternoon, mobile app marketing platform Fiksu unveiled new data indicating that iOS 9, the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system, is now being publicly tested. According to the company’s research, Fiksu says it has now seen 145 distinct IDFAs (Identifier for Advertisers) in 2015 which hail from iOS 9 devices.

The IDFA, a marker used by mobile advertisers, is a way to uniquely identify a device until the point that the user chooses to reset the identifier – something then serves as the mobile equivalent to clearing a web browser’s cookies. Because it’s possible to reset the IDFA, Fiksu can’t be sure that it spotted 145 distinct devices. However, it’s likely, because resetting the IDFA is not really a common activity.

92% of these iOS 9 devices (or 134 devices) have been spotted in the U.S. Meanwhile, 2 others were seen in China, 2 more in the Czech Republic, and 1 each in several more countries. The tiny numbers of devices in other places could indicate that Apple has only begun to look at how the new OS behaves in different international settings.

63% of the devices are iPhone 6 or 6 Plus’s, 12% are iPad Air 2’s, 12% are iPhone 5s devices, and 13% are “everything else,” including the iPhone 4s, 5 and 5c and the iPad 4, Air, mini 2 and mini 3.

It’s worth noting that Fiksu’s findings back up that of another recent report of iOS 9 devices appearing in several websites’ analytics software.

Just a few days ago, a tech writer named Roman Zavrel contacted the blog Macworld after seeing that versions of the iOS 9 operating system were showing up in his web analytics. He had seen three visits from iOS 9 devices during the month of January, he told them. Macworld then looked into its own analytics and found something similar – it had recorded 10 pageviews from devices running iOS 9.x over the past few months, they said.

Shortly after, however, AppleInsider also confirmed seeing iOS 9 traffic growing on its site for over a month.

However, Macworld pointed out that it may be possible to spoof the OS version on jailbroken devices, or suggested that its data could be due to an error with Google Analytics.

Additionally, it’s pretty trivial to change the “user-agent” string on a desktop browser to report something different. On mobile, it’s not as easy, which means Fiksu’s data is more believable.

Fiksu’s data offers a little bit more insight into what these reported testers are doing on their devices, noting that 71% of app events recorded came from Social Networking applications, while 16% were games, 5% were Lifestyle apps, 3% were Fitness apps and the remaining 5% were “other” applications that didn’t fall into any of the preceding categories.

Also of interest, the first iOS 9 event Fiksu found in its database came in on September 20th – only three days after iOS 8 was released, the company said. That lines up with Macworld’s analytics data – it, too, was recording iOS 9 visits fairly early on. The blog site said its first iOS 9 visit came back in October 2014, in fact.

Apple typically announces new versions of its iOS software at its WWDC conference in June, so if it sticks to this schedule, we could be hearing more about the new OS later this summer.

Yahoo Acquires Mobile Messaging App MessageMe

#GNN #Yahoo has acquired #mobile #messaging application MessageMe, a Whatsapp-like service with $11.9 million in reported outside funding. The deal, we’re hearing from multiple sources, is a talent acquisition falling into the “single-digit” millions. [Update: We're hearing now that the deal may actually better than this.

Word is the deal is actually in the double-digit millions, and has been structured to be favorable to investors and employees alike.]  Yahoo is announcing the acquisition internally today, and the MessageMe team begins work Monday.

MessageMe raised $10 million in Series A funding early in 2013, in a round led by ex-Mozilla CEO John Lilly of Greylock Partners. Other investors in the startup include a number of high-profile VCs, including True Ventures, First Round Capital, Google Ventures, SVAngel, Resolut.vc, Andreessen Horowitz, and Social+Capital Partnership, and other angels – many of whom also financed a prior $1.9 million seed round in March 2013.

The company was largely able to raise such funds on the strength of its team and what appeared to be ever-quickening growth. Co-founders Arjun Sethi and Justin Rosenthal had extensive experience in social gaming prior to founding MessageMe. Sethi used to run an early social gaming company called LOLApps, before it merged with a publisher 6Waves.

The belief was that their backgrounds would help them to better understand how to grow a product quickly and virally.

MessageMe reached its first 1 million users and closed on seed funding – a sort of no-brainer for investors looking for the next breakout hit in mobile messaging. By May 2013, it hit 5 million users only 2.5 months after it debuted. But that growth was not sustainable, as it turned out.

The deal will see MessageMe’s small team of 8-10 joining Yahoo.

While we don’t know what terms made the deal favorable to employees, specifically, we’re hearing that it’s not a “fire sale,” so to speak. MessageMe still had money in the bank at the time of the deal.

Despite big gains from its Alibaba stake, Yahoo’s acquisition pipeline has slowed down, we’ve also heard, so this buy doesn’t necessary signal that Yahoo is about to start picking up a large number of startups yet again.

It’s possible that MessageMe’s team will be assigned to work on a mobile messaging app that Yahoo is building internally, which we’ve heard is being referred to as “Yahoo Instant.” The project has been in the works for years now, but has suffered from delays.

It’s unclear if Yahoo will ever launch this app, which features Yahoo’s modern design language (similar to what’s found in Yahoo Weather), or if now MessageMe will somehow continued to be developed under Yahoo’s own brand.

Yahoo, of course, currently has its own mobile messaging client on the market with Yahoo Messenger. But this product is a holdover from an earlier era of messaging – basically a port of its desktop IM client to mobile. The app is popular overseas in markets like Asia and India, where cell phone plans don’t include the same sorts of unlimited messaging plans that are found here in the U.S.

Yahoo Messenger isn’t popular at all in the U.S., where it’s currently ranked #566 Overall on iTunes, according to App Annie. That leaves Yahoo with a need to get its foot back in the mobile messaging market – something the MessageMe deal could aid.

We’ve reached out to Yahoo for comment on this story, and will update when/if we hear back.

OnePlus Uses A Sexist Contest To Sell Its New Phone

#GNN - In this week’s episode of totally batshit crazy things some brands do to get attention, OnePlus (the maker of a new smartphone called The One) is kindly offering a bump on the waiting list for women who are willing to enter the equivalent of an online beauty contest.

Because I literally can’t bring myself to describe a contest that is so demeaning towards women and generally ignorant, and because you can’t write this shit, I’m including the entire text of the contest (emphasis mine):

As we close in on the 200K mark for the number of registered forum users, OnePlus wants to give a shout out to the few but beautiful female fans in our community with our Ladies First contest.

In true gentlemen fashion and because chivalry is not dead, we are giving the lovely ladies of OnePlus a chance to skip the invite line and introduce themselves to us.

Ladies (and only ladies, sorry guys, ladies first), the rules are simple:
Draw the OnePlus logo on a piece of paper or on your hand/face/wherever (so we know it’s really you)
Take a photo of yourself with the OnePlus logo clearly visible
Post the photo in this thread
The 50 most well-liked ladies will receive an invite and a Never Settle t-shirt. Additionally, we will be giving out another 100 invites at random to any lady who participates in the contest. The contest begins today and ends on Friday. We will announce the winners on Monday.

Ladies, no nudity please.

Yes, please ladies, no nudity. If you can restrain yourselves from submitting pornography to the internet for the sake of winning an early invite to purchase this phone, the folks over at OnePlus would be mighty appreciative. After all, they’re a chivalrous bunch.

Young companies make dumb mistakes, but how this went from a drunken idea at a backyard barbecue to the home page of the company’s official website is truly beyond me. It’s far worse than hiring booth babes at CES or that one time HTC tried to build a purse-friendly lady phone called the Rhyme.

It’s so condescending and offensive to women, in fact, that I hope against hope that it’s sheer stupidity that brought this contest into existence.

The OnePlus contest actually has a few real submissions, but those are wildly outmeasured by dudes waiting to look at girls and folks who are mediocre at Photoshop. There are also a few ladies who are protesting the contest within the thread itself, like the young woman above.

To quote myself: No, OnePlus… Just, no.

Update: Contest cancelled.

[via The Verge]

Your Lost #Android Phone Can Now Call You

#GNN - Did you know that Android has a built-in mechanism for locating or locking your lost phone? Google hasn’t done the best job marketing it, but it’s actually been baked right in since the release of Android 4.4*.

(It works with older Android phones, too — you just have to install the free app yourself)

Today that feature gets even better, thanks to the addition of a trick that seems so obviously great in hindsight: your lost phone can be set to call you — and only you — as soon as someone finds it.

If you lose your phone, just head over to Google’s browser-based Android Device Manager. Tap the lock button, toss in a “Recovery Message” (read: a plea to whoever finds the phone to not be a jerk) and an unlock password, and add a phone number where you can be reached.

Bam! Whoever finds the phone now has a way to instantly reach you with the press of a button — but since the rest of the phone is locked down behind a password of your choosing, that’s the only thing they can use your phone for.

One catch: even if you’ve got an Android phone that comes with the locator functionality out-of-the-box, you’ll need to update to the latest build for the phone-the-owner functionality to work. You can find the update in the Play Store here.

[via Phandroid]

#Facebook For #Windows #Phone Now Supports #Video #Uploads, Integrates With #Messenger

#GNN - Today #Microsoft announced it published a new version of Facebook for Windows Phone that adds video uploads and integration with Facebook Messenger, as well as new languages.

Facebook will now link directly into the People Hub on Windows Phone for users running Windows Phone 8.1. That will bring Facebook deeper into the Windows Phone experience.

According to Microsoft, on devices running Windows Phone 8.1, “Facebook contacts, events, and photo albums are now powered by the Facebook for Windows Phone app.” That places the app more at the core of a user’s social experience on Windows Phone.

Windows Phone 8.1’s first update started to roll out today, in keeping with prior timing promises from Microsoft. Currently, Windows Phone 8.1’s market share remains constrained as carriers roll it out to their customers. New devices that are sold run the code, so it should quickly grow. Update 1 is on a similar, if later, timeframe.

IMAGE BY FLICKR USER TODDABISHOP UNDER CC BY 2.0 LICENSE (IMAGE HAS BEEN MODIFIED)

The Majority Of Today’s #App #Businesses Are Not Sustainable

#GNN - Though the app stores continue to fill up with ever more mobile applications, the reality is that most of these are not sustainable businesses. According to a new report out this morning, half (50%) of iOS developers and even more (64%) Android developers are operating below the “app poverty line” of $500 per app per month.

This detail was one of many released in VisionMobile’s latest Developer Economics report (for Q3 2014), which was based on a large-scale online developer survey and one-to-one interviews with mobile app developers. This report included the responses from over 10,000 developers from 137 countries worldwide, taking place over 5 weeks in April and May.

That mobile app developers are challenged in getting their apps discovered, downloaded and then actually used, is a well-known fact. But seeing the figures associated with exactly how tough it is out there is rather revealing. It seems the “1%” is not only a term applicable to the economy as a whole – it’s also taking place within the app store economy, too.

The report’s authors detail the specifics around the trend where a tiny fraction of developers – actually, it’s 1.6% to be exact – generate most of the app store revenue. Slyly referencing the “disappearing middle class of app developers,” the report’s analysis groups the estimated 2.9 million mobile app developers worldwide into a handful of different categories for easy reference: the “have-nothings,” the “poverty-stricken,” the “strugglers,” and the “haves.” And, as you can tell, most of these categories don’t sound too great. 

Have Nothings
Accounting for 47% of app developers, the “have nothings” include the 24% of app developers – who are interested in making money, it should be noted - who make nothing at all.

Meanwhile, 23% make something, but it’s under $100 per month. These developers are sometimes unable to cover the basic costs of development PCs, test devices, and an account to publish apps, the report states. However, in case you’re wondering why so many developers still go iOS first, it’s because those who prioritize iOS app development are less likely to find themselves in this group, with 35% earning $0-$100 per month, versus the 49% of Android developers.

There’s also a portion of the app developer population (35%), some of whom aren’t interested in making money. The report refers to these part-timers as “hobbyists” or “explorers,” who may be just testing the waters, or working on apps that have yet to launch. Still, more than half of this crowd is interested in making some money from their applications, while less than half make $0 per month.

Poverty Stricken & Strugglers
Meanwhile, 22% are “poverty stricken” developers whose apps make $100 to $1,000 per app per month. At this rate, the companies behind the apps couldn’t afford standard app developer salaries. 15% of developers make between $100-$500 per app per month and 7% make between $500-$1,000 per app per month.

When combined with the above “have nots,” that means 62% of developers are below the “app poverty line” of $500 per app per month, and some 69% can’t sustain full-time development.

 The “strugglers” are a bit more fortunate. 19% of developers earn $1,000 to $10,000 per app per month, which could either be a supplement to full-time work or even a something of a good living, if in the high-end of that band. But these apps also tend to be more complex, requiring more development effort, and possibly ongoing server costs which can cut into the developer’s bottom line.

Winner Takes All: The “Haves”
Finally, there are the “haves.” The top 12% make more than $10,000 per app per month. 17% of iOS-first developers are in this group versus 9% of Android-first developers. To give you a sense of this group’s members: a rank-100 grossing game on iOS in the U.S. would expect to make $10,000 per day.

However, states the report, only the top 1.6% of developers make more than $500,000 per app per month, but of those who do, some are earning tens of millions per month. The next 2% – those who make between $100,000 and $500,000 per month – are making more than 96.4% of the rest of the app developers out there.

“More than 50% of app businesses are not sustainable at current revenue levels, even if we exclude the part-time developers that don’t need to make any money to continue,” states the report. “A massive 60-70% may not be sustainable long-term, since developers with in-demand skills will move on to more promising opportunities.”

As Apps Disappear, Will They Be Seen As Disposable?
The interesting thing about these numbers, besides just indicating how hard it is to have an app really hit big, is that the market economics are actually encouraging developers and users alike to see most apps as disposable things, not businesses you remain committed to long-term.

These days, many mobile app startups look more like resumés for developers who will soon abandon their work following acqui-hire M&A deals. And the continuous exits and new launches – where some startups are even being scooped up pre-launch – are creating an app consumer user base which thinks of apps as things that will quickly disappear (if you’re not Facebook, I suppose).

That makes it harder for many users today to buy into claims that an app wants to be your go-to home for important, lasting communications – like messaging clients aimed at businesses or the apps that want to store all your precious photo memories. And of course, most games have limited life-spans, too.

But on the flip side, today’s younger consumers are wired differently from their Gen X or Y (and older) counterparts. They’re fine with impermanent messages, deleting their social media accounts at will, data loss be damned. This group of consumers is an ideal audience for the increasingly disposable nature of mobile apps – at least while the current consumer app gold rush continues.

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mNectar Raises $7M For New Kinds Of Mobile Ads That Let People Test-Drive Apps

First, there were teeny mobile banner ads pioneered by companies like AdMob, which Google bought for $750 million. Then there were full-screen interstitial ads. Those gave way to mobile video ads and then Facebook’s behemoth of a targeted mobile ad network.

So what’s next in mobile advertising?

A company called mNectar is betting that consumers will want to test drive mobile apps from right within ads. They’ve raised $7 million from NEA to do it. Rick Yang, a principal from the firm, is joining the board.

“When you buy music, I like to listen to a song for 30 to 60 seconds before buying an album. I thought this was fundamentally broken for apps,” said CEO Wally Nguyen. “Mobile advertising is broken. With static interstitials, there’s not enough information for a user to make a decision.”

mNectar units are full-screen, interactive ads that let you trial a game or app for a short amount of time.

They’ve racked up a client list, including Big Fish Games, Buffalo Studios, GREE, King, Wooga, Zeptolab and Zynga. Each mNectar unit is like a full-screen interstitial without any wrapper around the ad unit. You can test drive a few kinds of their ads here.

The costs are roughly $3 to $7 per install.

“It’s a high range, but we don’t force or preset pricing, and advertisers keep coming back to buy again,” said Nguyen, who was previously at another gaming monetization startup called Pocket Change.

Marketing and user acquisition for apps has always been a persistent issue within the Android and iOS app stores. There have been many solutions over the years, from earlier scammier attempts to game the rankings to App Store search optimization. As both stores have become increasingly crowded with north of 2 million apps, developers have had to become savvier and more data-driven about how their markets work.

That has meant that hyper-specific targeting has become increasingly important, along with new kinds of interactive mobile ad formats. That’s where mNectar would come in.
What is mNectar? from mNectar on Vimeo.

David Tisch’s Stealthy Mobile Commerce Product, Spring, Closes $7.5M Series A

(GNN) - David Tisch has been quietly working on a project called Jello Labs for over a year. He hasn’t said much about what the product will be, other than that it involves mobile commerce. However, today we can shed a bit more light on the super stealth project. For one, the product is actually called Spring, with Jello Labs being more of a company name or a placeholder name.

Secondly, the company has secured a $7.5 million Series A round led by Thrive Capital, Groupe Arnault, and Box Group, wiht participation form 41 other VCs and angel investors. Previous to the Series A round, Tisch was providing runway for the startup out of his own pocket.

Spring was co-founded by David Tisch (who is chairman of the board) and his brother Alan Tisch, who has taken the position of CEO. Other founding members of the team include Octavian Costache (an ex-Googler who will be taking over the CTO position) and Ara Katz (who will be leading marketing efforts as CMO).

David Tisch has his own venture fund called Box Group, which was started shortly after he left TechStars NY as Managing Director.

But what about the product itself? Tisch has confirmed that Spring will launch in the fall, likely around August, but he wouldn’t tell us much more than that.

However, we have learned that part of the slow roll-out has to do with exclusive partnerships that are currently being forged with big fashion and retail brands.

This seems to be somewhat confirmed by the fact that a good number of Spring’s investor don’t necessarily come from the tech world. Some of the investors include Desiree Gruber (the producer of Project Runway), Rachel Zoe Ventures, Uri Minkoff (CEO of Rebecca Minkoff), Steven Alan, and Shirley Cook (CEO of Proenza Schouler), among others.

Of course, there are plenty of tech-related investors participating in the round as well, including Aaron Levie, Gary Vaynerchuk, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Google Ventures, and SV Angel.

Currently, Spring has 26 full-time employees, including 14 full-time engineers.

Snapchat Snags Facebook’s Mike Randall As Monetization VP

Facebook may be stealing Snapchat’s features, but Snapchat is stealing Facebook’s employees, including a new one who could help it begin to make money. TechCrunch has learned that Snapchat has just signed the Global Director of Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developer program Mike Randall as its new VP Of Business And Marketing Partnerships.

Following this weekend’s highly succesful launch of Snapchat’s new collaborative event livestream feature Our Story at the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival, Randall may have plenty of opportunities for Snapchat to finally start monetizing by working with other big events and brands.

Randall started at Snapchat this month after four years at Facebook. As global director of the PMD program, he worked with Facebook’s biggest developer partners to help brands run ads, publish content through Pages, build apps, and analyze the results. Before that he spent three years as the Western region’s VP of Marketing Solutions.

This experience will give him plenty of insight into how to help brands creatively embrace social media while raking in cash for his parent company.

Mike Randall (left) with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and VP of Advertising David Fischer. Photo Credit: Chris Barbour

Snapchat has plenty of directions it could go, like sponsored snaps sent directly to users or promoted accounts whose Stories they could follow. But a year ago, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel told TechCrunch’s Jordan Crook that “in-app transactions will come first. We think we can build really cool stuff people want to pay for. The app is now a part of everyone’s day-to-day lives. That means that they will — I at least would — pay for a more unique experience.”

 The EDC Live Our Story hinted at one thing Snapchat could sell. The feature let those attending the music festival in Las Vegas to submit snaps to a curated public reel of photos and videos from around Electric Daisy Carnival that anyone around the world could watch. After hitting up EDC in-person and watching it on Snapchat, I called Our Story a genius, collaborative reinvention of the live stream that was a vivid, accurate portrayal of what it felt like to be there.

When Snapchatters went to submit their photos and videos from EDC, they may have stumbled upon something special. Along with options to overlay the time, temperature, or Instagram-esque tints, they could stick colorful EDC filters over their Snaps that featured the EDC logo and images like “Party Up,” seen here.

Snapchat might one day sell these kinds of filters to let people “pay for a more unique experience” as Spiegel said. Behind the scenes, big music festivals and sporting events might pay Snapchat to make them an Our Story and promote it to users. And since an Our Story can be hundreds of clips long, it might be possible to slip in some branded snaps.

Figuring out which of these and other opportunities will resonate with brands without alienating users will be Randall’s responsibility. Luckily he’ll have help from another former Facebooker, Snapchat COO Emily White, who was formerly Instagram’s director of business operations. Together, they’ll tackle the tough job of keeping Snapchat cool while turning it into a lean, mean, yellow money-making machine. (by: Josh Constine / TechCrunch)

Twitter’s ‘Zero’ Service Lets Emerging Markets Tweet For Free

Mobile carriers around the world are touting their involvement in a program called “Twitter Zero,” but that’s not its real name.

In 2010, Facebook revealed an initiative designed to give it a foothold in emerging markets called Facebook Zero. The idea is that consumers in select markets could browse a stripped down version of Facebook on mobile phones via the URL 0.facebook.com without incurring data charges (also known as “zero-rated” data, hence the name.) As it turns out, Twitter has been following in Facebook’s footsteps here, with its own “Twitter Zero”-like service called “Twitter Access.” That program has picked up over the past year, and has now grown to include “under 100″ total deals with mobile operators, we understand.

A number of mobile carriers have been touting their involvement with this program in recent months, like Uzbek mobile operator Ucell’s announcement of Twitter Zero, Pakistan’s Mobilink’s support for Twitter Zero, a similar program from Reliance Communications in India, and most recently, Nepal’s Ncell’s launch of Twitter Zero, to name just a few. Twitter’s website also touts other partners, including Vodafone, Smart (Philippines), XL Axiata (Indonesia), and Turkcell.

 Twitter Access is not exactly new, but it has received little attention by Western media, which is why we were sort of scratching our heads around here when we saw an announcement of yet another “Twitter Zero” launch this week.

Twitter Zero? Is that a thing?

What’s funny  about “Twitter Zero,” is that Twitter itself isn’t officially calling the program that – it’s called “Twitter Access” internally and on its public-facing website. But the mobile operators have unilaterally decided they prefer the name “Twitter Zero” instead, it seems. Meanwhile, the URL 0.twitter.com today redirects to mobile.twitter.com, but unlike with the Facebook Zero initiative, mobile consumers don’t have to use that URL in order to access the free, customized version of Twitter.

Twitter Access (or Zero, if you prefer, I suppose) was first kicked off in 2012. It was also referenced – though not by name – as being a part of Twitter’s international strategy in a December article on AllThingsD. That post didn’t just focus on this customized, zero-rated Twitter, however, but pointed to a number of things Twitter has in the works to grow its overseas user base, including also carrier preloads and even deals with carriers that would help deliver Twitter messages to low-end phones without data connections.

How It Zero-Rated Works

This zero-rated Twitter program varies a bit, on an operator by operator basis, but the general gist of it is that it’s designed for feature phones, and involves the operator removing the mobile data charges for a limited time. This exact time frame may vary, but seems to be a few months (i.e. 90 days), from what we’ve seen. That’s a bit different from Facebook Zero, which only charges Facebook Zero users when they click to view photos or browse to another mobile site off of 0.facebook.com.

During the campaign period, Twitter Access works this way, too. Users are able to browse the Twitter mobile website at mobile.twitter.com without incurring data charges. If they decide to download media or click a link, an interstitial appears, reminding users that standard data charges will apply. But in general, users can read tweets, respond, favorite, and scroll through the mobile Twitter website.

As for why Twitter is only free for a limited period of time in these emerging markets where the Twitter Access program goes live, that may be because Twitter itself, in some cases at least, is helping to cover those data charges. (Twitter declined to comment on this when asked.)

Emerging Market Growth

We had actually heard that Twitter has some 300 Twitter Zero deals underway, but that number seems to be referencing all of Twitter’s operator partnerships, we now understand, including the preloads and deals that allow for Twitter to work over SMS on phones without data plans.

It’s notable that this Twitter Access/Zero program has today climbed into the double-digits in terms of partnership deals, given that a large part of Twitter’s future user growth is expected to come from the Asia-Pacific region.

According to a report from a couple of days ago by eMarketer, that region will account for 40% of Twitter’s user base by 2018, with India and Indonesia each growing the most in the near term – both are expected to see over 50% increases in user numbers this year. And while large growth numbers usually imply a small installed base, that’s not the case with these two countries, which will become Twitter’s third and fourth-largest regional Twitter user bases, respectively, this year.

Twitter Access/Zero could tap into this trend, offering mobile consumers a way to get a taste of what the Twitter service has to offer without the guilt of data charges, in the hopes that they’ll return to the site (or Android app in some cases, when it extends into low-end smartphone territory) when they actually have to pay.

Windows Phone 8.1 Brings Popular Android And iOS Features To The Emerging Third Mobile Platform

For all its polish, Windows Phone still lags the competition in certain features that seem obvious to include. Windows Phone 8.1, set for a public reveal at Microsoft’s Build conference in April, brings two iOS and Android standards to the Windows Phone quiver, including a Notification Center and a smart personal assistant.

Sources familiar with the unreleased update for Microsoft’s mobile operating system told The Verge that we’ll see a Siri-style personal assistant introduced, codenamed “Cortana,” (nice Halo ref, Redmond) and also a notification center that collects all your notices in one place. There’s also potentially going to be a move away from hardware keys and to on-screen soft keys, similar to the move made by Android in recent versions.

Cortana was a known quantity previously, or at least a frequently leaked one, though the latest report confirms when it’ll make its first official appearance. Other things are also being added including VPN support, separate volume control for different types of things like calls and music, and more depending on different devices from different companies. But there’s a fairly common thread here: most of these are what I’d consider table stakes for a mobile OS at this point.

It’s true that Windows Phone offers some things that the other players in the space don’t (I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but they’re there), but a lot of the work left to do is just making sure that anyone coming from another platform will be comfortable with what they find when and if they switch from either Android or iOS. There are expectations out there now about what you get with a smartphone, and those expectations are growing as Apple and Google raise to impress and win more of that top half of the market.

Of course, it’s possible to trail in feature-richness but then lead in execution once you do get the stuff out there, and Microsoft could implement a notification repository and digital assistant that blow away their equivalents on iOS and Android. But it’s hard to see that happening given the current state of mobile affairs. Still, Microsoft might just need to call in order to earn that third spot at the table permanently, especially if its plan of attack on the low end of the market works out.

That Was Fast: Facebook’s Web/Mobile Chat Feature Is Now Getting Rolled Out Globally

Yesterday, we wrote about a new Facebook feature that was getting spotted by a few users showing them when their online friends were on web or mobile versions of Facebook. We were told by Facebook that it was a test. Now, Facebook says it is getting rolled out globally.

Screen Shot 2013-11-19 at 18.03.06As we mentioned yesterday, we think that Facebook is working on enhancing its messaging services as a way to keep the service evolving, and catching the attention of those who may not be using it as much as they could be to communicate.

Knowing whether users are on mobile or desktop versions is also useful: it can help shape what kind of message you send, and what kind of message you expect to get in reply. It’s not Snapchat, and it’s actually a bit retro when you think about how this is the kind of info that seems a throwback to the days before smartphone supremacy, but as we said yesterday, it’s a sign of how Facebook is looking to continue evolving and “keep shipping”. (Maybe especially important if you believe that it is losing some of its cachet as the leader in social communications.)

And, as some readers pointed out yesterday, it also brings Facebook more in line with another competitor, Hangouts from Google.

This is also about Facebook shifting around where it gives you information: it already provides some of this detail but in a different way: today if a user is sending a message from a mobile device, the recipient can see that detail on the message itself. Add “mobile” or “desktop” into the status window preempts that.

Facebook Messenger Fights Chat Competitors By Bringing ‘Contact Via Phone Number’ To All

Facebook is continuing its assault on SMS and competitors like WeChat and Line today by expanding its “contact via phone number” feature to Messenger for iOS. The option launched on Android to a select set of testers at the end of October, and is being pushed to all Androiders as well as all iOS users. The update is rolling out now and also brings a cleaner layout, and faster start-up and navigation.

The intent is clear. As I detailed last month, Facebook doesn’t want you to have to switch to SMS to contact someone who you have the phone number of but aren’t friends with. It’s watched as startup messaging apps like WeChat and KakaoTalk that rely on phone numbers have risen to huge user counts. Today’s move could box them out, if it’s not too late.

WeChat is thought to have over 200M users, while its Chinese parent company Tencent’s desktop messaging service QQ is said to over 800 million active users. WhatsApp is thought to have somewhere between 250 million and 350 million users, while KakaoTalk is said to have over 90 million.

Then there’s sticker-messaging app Line, and Snapchat, which sees about as many daily photo uploads and which the Wall Street Journal today said refused a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook.

In case you thought Facebook wasn’t concerned with these competitors, just look at the iOS screenshots in the App Store. Each tackles a specific foe. “Text the people you care about, for free” SMS. “Send photos privately” Snapchat. “Say it better with stickers” Line. “Reach them instantly” WeChat and WhatsApp. “Not just for Facebook friends” SMS, again.

One reason the Asian messaging startups may be gaining ground is they’re getting users addicted to games. Several have their own internal gaming platforms that third-parties build titles for.

Meanwhile, Facebook is pursuing a “social layer” strategy in mobile gaming, hoping to provide login and sharing options to native games rather than running the platform itself. That might not be forceful enough to keep users’ eyes glued while they wait for replies from friends.

Overall, this degree of fragmentation in the messaging market is dangerous for Facebook because it thrives on having all your friends in one place. Messaging generates a ton of user engagment and return visits, plus also helps companies build an accurate social graph of who you talk to most. That’s important data Facebook needs to refine its News Feed relevancy algorithm and ad targeting.

The option to contact someone via phone number within Messenger might dissuade people from using these other apps. It could be especially helpful to budget-minded folks who don’t want to rack up SMS costs. International travelers could meanwhile benefit from avoiding SMS roaming charges.

At this point, it doesn’t look like Facebook will be able to beat all these messaging competitors. At best it can hope to stunt their growth and hold onto its existing users.

Android Will Show You Google+ Photos For Incoming Calls Beginning In 2014

Google is making Android’s dialer smarter, and it already talked about KitKat features that add automatic caller ID for businesses that Google has in its places database.

Early next year, the basic phone dialing app will also pull in your Google+ profile pic to show a call recipient via caller ID, according to Android Central. It’s an option that’s on by default, too, so long as you’ve verified your phone number through your Google account.

Users who want to hide their image can pre-emptively disable access by going to their Google+ profile, clicking the image of your profile picture in the top right corner, hitting the “Account” link, and then navigating to the “Phone numbers” subsection. Click “View” and then Google provides an option to check a box for each phone number you have registered with its services, in order to allow/disallow the use of that information for finding your via Hangouts or other Google Services. It also makes it so that “people may be able to see your name and profile photo when you call them or they call you,” according to Google.

This is nowhere near as troubling as Google using your profile photo in its own ads, and in fact, I consider it a remarkably useful feature addition as someone who gets a lot of inbound calls from sources I’m not necessarily familiar with.

The fact that it’s opt-out versus opt-in probably isn’t ideal, and could surprise a lot of users who aren’t entirely up-to-date on what exactly Google is doing with the information they provide. If it is an issue, follow the steps above to either disable the option to find you via phone number, or remove them entirely.

Other Caller ID features already implemented in Android 4.4 include matching business and service numbers, as mentioned, and also looking up information from your Google Apps domain, should you organization use that, to let you know when someone from work is calling. KitKat is already available to Nexus 5 users right now, and will be rolling out to Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Google Play edition devices in the “coming weeks.”

Facebook’s Mobile Tipping Point: 48% Of Daily Users Are Now Mobile-Only (But No Mention Of BlackBerry)

The word “BlackBerry” did not come up during Facebooks Q3 earnings conference call yesterday, but you can see why such a crazy idea like the social network buying the beleaguered handset maker might have a sliver of plausibility to it.

The company is moving closer to a tipping point where mobile usage and revenues will soon be outweighing that of desktop, and although Zuckerberg has ruled out the so-called “Facebook phone,” you never know how the company may want to capitalize on its mobile muscle in the future.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg today noted during the company’s earnings call that 48 percent of users on a given day are only accessing it from mobile.

That comes as nearly half 49 percent of the company’s advertising revenues, its key revenue driver, now come from mobile ads.

That means nearly $890 million in Q3 was made from Facebook’s different mobile advertising units such as app install ads and engagement ads. “It’s a pretty incredible sign of how Facebook has evolved in the past year,” he said.

This shows that Facebook is on track to match the prediction it made in Q2 that mobile revenues would pass desktop by the end of this year. And from the looks of it, the change of balance could come soon on mobile, too.

Mobile continues to grow much faster for Facebook. Mobile MAUs grew by 45 percent over the last year (to 874 million in Q3 2013 from 604 million in Q2 2012) these include both those who are using mobile exclusively for Facebook, and those who are using mobile at some point in the month in addition to desktop.

That 45 percent works out to 2.5 times as much growth as MAUs overall, which were up 18 percent ($1,189 million in Q3 2013 and $1,007 million in Q3 2012).

Facebook points out its figures do not include Instagram-only usage, but during the call COO Sheryl Sandberg provided some striking figures that point to just how much time consumers are spending on Facebook’s mobile properties when you do add it in.

Combined with Instagram, the very popular mobile-first, photo-based social network, Facebook now has 150 million monthly active users. It accounts for one of every five minutes spent on mobile in the U.S., Sandberg noted. And that is even having an impact on desktop: Facebook (again, with Instagram) account for one in 8 minutes on desktop, she said.

What does Facebook’s mobile traffic work out to compared to other popular properties? Sandberg noted that Facebook accounts for more mobile minutes in the U.S. than “YouTube, Pandora, Yahoo, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, AOL, Snapchat and LinkedIn combined.” (It seems that this stat was taken from comScore research, which actually combined Instagram and Facebook.)

Mobile only users on a monthly basis now stand at 254 million, Facebook noted in one of the slides that accompanied its presentation.

The full deck of those slides, which also spell out other metrics like MAUs and DAUs across mobile and desktop, is here. With 1.19 billion MAUs overall, it means that 21.3 percent of MAUs are now mobile-only. That is up 2.3 percentage points from 19 percent in Q2.

The same may not be said for desktop. CFO David Ebersman noted that daily actives on web “declined modestly” in contrast to what is happening on mobile.

Facebook’s daily active users on mobile worldwide now stand at 507 million, up by 38 million over Q2; while monthly active users are up to 874 million, up 55 million from Q2.

Update: Stats on Instagram and Facebook usage modified slightly after double checking quote after publication.