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Sunday, January 3, 2016
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Microsoft on Monday announced that its Windows 10 operating system is now active on more than 200 million devices.

Windows 10 adoption accelerated at the end of 2015, with more than 40 percent of new devices activated since Black Friday, said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of the online audience business group at Microsoft.

Windows 10 is on the fastest growth trajectory of any of version of the Windows OS, and the newest edition is outpacing Windows 7 by nearly 140 percent and Windows 8 by nearly 400 percent, he said.

However, it trails behind the more than decade-old Windows XP and even Windows 8.1 in terms of overall Web traffic, NetMarketShare reported.

Windows 10 had 9.96 percent of all Web traffic generated on desktop operating systems in December, compared to 10.9 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, for Windows XP and Windows 8.1, according to its latest report, released last week.

In With the New

"With 200 million installs already, Windows 10 is an undeniable success for Microsoft already," said Josh Crandall, principal analyst at Netpop Research.

It has built on the success that was Windows 7, said Scott Steinberg, principal analyst at TechSavvy Global.

"Microsoft was wise to listen to customer feedback and took the suggestions to heart," Steinberg told the E-Commerce Times. "It is also preinstalled on all new devices, so anyone who bought a new computer already adopted Windows 10."

Reaching Its Goals

Even with the surge, Microsoft has quite a way to go to reach its target of 1 billion installs within the first year of release, Crandall told the E-Commerce Times.

"Windows 10 will continue to build momentum in the market, but it's just going to take more time to educate the market than previous operating system releases," he noted.

"Microsoft is still suffering the Windows 8 debacle, and for consumers on Windows 7, they have heard the horror stories of Windows 8 and are reluctant to change anything in their computing environment," Crandall added.

Out With the Old?

"Getting users of older Wintel systems [to upgrade] is always problematic, especially those with awful memories of trying to upgrade to Vista," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

In this case, Microsoft is a victim of its own success, he told the E-Commerce Times.

"Windows 7 was a terrific OS, and its satisfied users are this decade's version of the XP users who forcefully resisted upgrading to more contemporary versions of Windows," King said.

"In addition, Microsoft did an excellent job of correcting problematic issues in Windows 8 with the 8.1 upgrade," he noted. "In both of these cases, users simply don't feel any compelling need to upgrade, and that's likely to remain the case until they purchase new systems."

Today's productivity applications don't require the hardware upgrades of decades past -- and that means older software typically will do the job.

"For consumers on Windows 8, most had purchased new computers, and their processing power is sufficient for their needs," said Netpop Research's Crandall.

"They don't need a new computer to surf the Web or run the latest Office software," he added. "So, the consumer adoption curve of Windows 10 is not nearly as steep as it had been for previous Windows operating systems."

Business as Usual

Businesses are slower to adopt a new OS for many of the same reasons. Current software and applications already run on Windows 7/8.1 machines, so there is little incentive to upgrade.

As a result, "corporations have yet to adopt Windows 10 in full force," said Crandall. "We'll start to see increased adoption in the corporate world in 2016."

The final consideration may be a changing business model.

"Windows 10 licensing is a paradigm shift from previous versions," noted Crandall.

"It's a subscription-based model rather than purchase, i.e., purchasing a license to use," he added.

"While free today, it's unclear how Microsoft will charge for the operating system in the future," said Crandall.

"Consumers understand what it means to purchase a license and own the media for their use, however they need," he said. "With a subscription-based model, there is less clarity around what they can do with the media, whether they can reinstall it if their computer crashes or upgrade their hardware."

Peter Suciu is a freelance writer who has covered consumer electronics, technology, electronic entertainment and fitness-related trends for more than a decade. His work has appeared in more than three dozen publications, and he is the co-author of Careers in the Computer Game Industry (Career in the New Economy series), a career guide aimed at high school students from Rosen Publishing. You can connect with Peter on Google+.

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Home Broadband Use Falls as Consumers Go Mobile

A recent Pew Research Center study found that adoption of traditional high-speed Internet in the U.S. has fallen to 67 percent, the lowest level since 2012.

More consumers were using mobile phones, the study found. Thirteen percent of respondents said they were smartphone-only customers, compared with 8 percent in 2013.

The reduction in home broadband use accelerated among certain communities, including the poor, African Americans and rural communities, Pew said.

Fifteen percent of respondents said they have cut the cord on paid cable and satellite TV, largely because of the increased amount of streaming content available through other channels.

Advanced Internet access has changed little since 2013, with about 80 percent of adults having either a smartphone or a home broadband connection in 2015, compared with 78 percent two years ago.

However, many more Americans considered having home broadband important, with 69 percent saying not having this service is a major disadvantage in finding a job or accessing health information, Pew said.

A third of those without broadband cited cost as the primary reason, while 10 percent said the cost of owning a computer was their main reason for not using the service.

Expanding Access to Poor, Rural Towns

"Broadband is more and more critical to people's lives," said Chris Lewis, vice president of government affairs at Public Knowledge. "More and more people see it as essential."

In 2010, when the federal government came out with a national broadband plan to make sure small communities and low-income areas would have high-speed Internet, many people who lacked the service didn't think it was relevant to their lives, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Now the biggest concern is cost, because people realize they can't complete important tasks without such access, Lewis said.

Customers in rural areas continue to have problems getting affordable broadband connections, as many areas lack competition, and industry lobbyists have blocked smaller communities from building out their own cost-effective systems, said Chris Mitchell, director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

"I think certainly all the big companies are limiting choice," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Smaller communities are finding some success in creating their own networks to counter this, Mitchell said.

Earlier this year, RS Fiber Cooperative broke ground on a high-speed connection in Sibley County, Minnesota. The company is working with Hiawatha Broadband Communications to build out a network that will offer service to about 1,600 homes and businesses.

"The people we talk to are blown away by how good it is to have this high-speed service," Mitchell said. "Nobody wants to move into a house where they can't stream high-quality video that's available to them."

Young Adults Move to Mobile

Many young people are deciding to drop home broadband and go with wireless because high-speed data is more affordable on wireless phones than it was in the past, and home broadband is becoming more expensive for those who exceed the monthly bandwidth cap, analyst Jeff Kagan said.

"Typically when you surf a Web page, you will see it loaded with ads," he told the E-Commerce Times. "Many of those ads use enormous amounts of data, like the video ads, which users didn't want in the first place."

Customers should not be penalized for advertising they never asked for, Kagan said. If the trend persists, young people will continue to move away from home broadband to only using smartphones for high-speed Internet.

Time Warner Cable continues to see strong growth in new subscribers.

"In terms of overall broadband trends within TWC, we've seen consistent and substantial growth in our Internet product -- in fact having some of the best growth quarters this year in recent company history," spokesperson Judy Barbao said.

During the third quarter, the company reported 232,000 net additions of residential high-speed data, the best third quarter since 2006, it said. It had a net increase of 172,000 during the second quarter, the best second quarter since 2008, and a net increase of 315,000 during the first quarter, the best since 2007.

TWC is aware of the increasing trend toward mobile, and it offers customers access to 400 hotspots around the country, Barbao told the E-Commerce Times. The company also offers a low-cost Internet product for US$14.99 a month that provides 2 Mbps upstream and 1 Mbps downstream and is available without income restrictions.

David Jones is a freelance writer based in Essex County, New Jersey. He has written for Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times.

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Saturday, January 2, 2016
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Facebook recently launched a service for members that provides recommendations and ratings on shops and service providers, a move that puts it in direct competition with Yelp.

The tool provides star ratings on local service providers, including doctors, veterinarians, event planners, health spas and auto repair shops.

Users can leave references on the site detailing their experiences with certain merchants or service providers. Maps also are available.

It's not immediately known whether Facebook will offer discounts coupons for local merchants.

Impact on Rivals

Yelp appears to be the main target of the new service.

The company, founded in 2004, provides reviews for Web surfers on their home computers or mobile devices, boasting a monthly average of 89 million unique mobile visitors during the third quarter.

Yelp also provides an app called Eat24, which lets users order food delivery from their favorite restaurants.

"Yelp is an obvious target for Facebook's strategy, along with smaller players like Angie's List," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. "But Facebook's deep roots among users in thousands of communities make this a natural area of interest for the company."

If Facebook is able to drive enough traffic to its listings, that would present a potential "gold mine of local advertising opportunities," he told the E-Commerce Times. Offering special discounts or funding would be an additional way to help generate traffic in this area.

Service Beyond Ratings

Angie's List, another key competitor, is a subscription-based site that provides recommendations heavily geared toward home improvement providers, including plumbers, home contractors and exterminators. It also provides ratings on doctors, dentists and other service providers.

More than 3 million households use the service, and users submit about 60,000 reviews per month on various service providers. The company provides discounts to users for various services as well.

There is room for new competitors, Angie's List said, pointing out that it provides more than just a good reference to small businesses.

"Consumers benefit most when there are multiple avenues for reliable information, and we welcome more of them to the market," Angie's List said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Cheryl Reed. "We've been in this business for more than 20 years, so we have more depth than most, but we're much more than a review site."

The company provides guarantees on quality service and fair prices on e-commerce products for eligible members, it said.

Taking Its Time

Recommendations are a natural extension of Facebook's service when you consider that the company is in the business of connecting people, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"Facebook is probably laying low on the addition as it is experimenting with the best way to engage its user base," he the E-Commerce Times. "In addition, as a homegrown and new recommendation service, it will take some time to build a useful list of recommendations."

The move represents a shift from broader enterprise-type focus to a more localized focus to generate additional revenue, Pund-IT's King said.

Google made a similar shift a few years back, he noted, when it folded local business recommendations and related advertising into its Maps application.

David Jones is a freelance writer based in Essex County, New Jersey. He has written for Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times.

4:58 AM

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Facebook recently launched a service for members that provides recommendations and ratings on shops and service providers, a move that puts it in direct competition with Yelp.

The tool provides star ratings on local service providers, including doctors, veterinarians, event planners, health spas and auto repair shops.

Users can leave references on the site detailing their experiences with certain merchants or service providers. Maps also are available.

It's not immediately known whether Facebook will offer discounts coupons for local merchants.

Impact on Rivals

Yelp appears to be the main target of the new service.

The company, founded in 2004, provides reviews for Web surfers on their home computers or mobile devices, boasting a monthly average of 89 million unique mobile visitors during the third quarter.

Yelp also provides an app called Eat24, which lets users order food delivery from their favorite restaurants.

"Yelp is an obvious target for Facebook's strategy, along with smaller players like Angie's List," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. "But Facebook's deep roots among users in thousands of communities make this a natural area of interest for the company."

If Facebook is able to drive enough traffic to its listings, that would present a potential "gold mine of local advertising opportunities," he told the E-Commerce Times. Offering special discounts or funding would be an additional way to help generate traffic in this area.

Service Beyond Ratings

Angie's List, another key competitor, is a subscription-based site that provides recommendations heavily geared toward home improvement providers, including plumbers, home contractors and exterminators. It also provides ratings on doctors, dentists and other service providers.

More than 3 million households use the service, and users submit about 60,000 reviews per month on various service providers. The company provides discounts to users for various services as well.

There is room for new competitors, Angie's List said, pointing out that it provides more than just a good reference to small businesses.

"Consumers benefit most when there are multiple avenues for reliable information, and we welcome more of them to the market," Angie's List said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Cheryl Reed. "We've been in this business for more than 20 years, so we have more depth than most, but we're much more than a review site."

The company provides guarantees on quality service and fair prices on e-commerce products for eligible members, it said.

Taking Its Time

Recommendations are a natural extension of Facebook's service when you consider that the company is in the business of connecting people, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"Facebook is probably laying low on the addition as it is experimenting with the best way to engage its user base," he the E-Commerce Times. "In addition, as a homegrown and new recommendation service, it will take some time to build a useful list of recommendations."

The move represents a shift from broader enterprise-type focus to a more localized focus to generate additional revenue, Pund-IT's King said.

Google made a similar shift a few years back, he noted, when it folded local business recommendations and related advertising into its Maps application.

David Jones is a freelance writer based in Essex County, New Jersey. He has written for Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times.

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Friday, January 1, 2016
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Facebook recently launched a service for members that provides recommendations and ratings on shops and service providers, a move that puts it in direct competition with Yelp.

The tool provides star ratings on local service providers, including doctors, veterinarians, event planners, health spas and auto repair shops.

Users can leave references on the site detailing their experiences with certain merchants or service providers. Maps also are available.

It's not immediately known whether Facebook will offer discounts coupons for local merchants.

Impact on Rivals

Yelp appears to be the main target of the new service.

The company, founded in 2004, provides reviews for Web surfers on their home computers or mobile devices, boasting a monthly average of 89 million unique mobile visitors during the third quarter.

Yelp also provides an app called Eat24, which lets users order food delivery from their favorite restaurants.

"Yelp is an obvious target for Facebook's strategy, along with smaller players like Angie's List," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. "But Facebook's deep roots among users in thousands of communities make this a natural area of interest for the company."

If Facebook is able to drive enough traffic to its listings, that would present a potential "gold mine of local advertising opportunities," he told the E-Commerce Times. Offering special discounts or funding would be an additional way to help generate traffic in this area.

Service Beyond Ratings

Angie's List, another key competitor, is a subscription-based site that provides recommendations heavily geared toward home improvement providers, including plumbers, home contractors and exterminators. It also provides ratings on doctors, dentists and other service providers.

More than 3 million households use the service, and users submit about 60,000 reviews per month on various service providers. The company provides discounts to users for various services as well.

There is room for new competitors, Angie's List said, pointing out that it provides more than just a good reference to small businesses.

"Consumers benefit most when there are multiple avenues for reliable information, and we welcome more of them to the market," Angie's List said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Cheryl Reed. "We've been in this business for more than 20 years, so we have more depth than most, but we're much more than a review site."

The company provides guarantees on quality service and fair prices on e-commerce products for eligible members, it said.

Taking Its Time

Recommendations are a natural extension of Facebook's service when you consider that the company is in the business of connecting people, said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"Facebook is probably laying low on the addition as it is experimenting with the best way to engage its user base," he the E-Commerce Times. "In addition, as a homegrown and new recommendation service, it will take some time to build a useful list of recommendations."

The move represents a shift from broader enterprise-type focus to a more localized focus to generate additional revenue, Pund-IT's King said.

Google made a similar shift a few years back, he noted, when it folded local business recommendations and related advertising into its Maps application.

David Jones is a freelance writer based in Essex County, New Jersey. He has written for Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times.

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Tuesday, December 29, 2015
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Fitbit shares earlier this week climbed several percentage points after the company's app topped the iOS charts over the Christmas holiday.

The Fitbit app was the top free app downloaded from Apple's App Store on Christmas Day. It was already the most downloaded app in the store's fitness and health category.

It wasn't just downloads that told the story of Fitbit's success this holiday season, however.

The Fitbit Charge was one of the three most popular products ordered via Amazon Prime's free same-day shipping service over the period, according to Amazon.

Fitbit's Charge

Fitbit, which went public earlier this year, sold more than 30 million connected health and fitness devices through its third quarter of 2015, the company said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Ryan J. Bowling.

"We're really proud of the company performance to get to this point," Fitbit stated. "We significantly beat expectations in our first two quarters as a public company, and that performance is a testament to our execution and ongoing innovation."

The introduction of new services and features, deeper penetration of the market for corporate wellness, wider global distribution, and the contribution from its legacy wearable Fitbit Flex contributed to its Q3 success, the company said.

Throwing Back the Surge

Ahead of its IPO, Fitbit acknowledged the threat posed by products such as the Apple Watch in a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For now, however, it has "superb brand recognition" and is in a unique position to continue its success, said Justin Hamel, CEO of MastaMinds.

Smartwatches still are working toward longer battery life, more fashion-forward forms and more smartphone independence.

Plus, smartbands are attractive to people who want a minimally invasive wearable while working out, Hamel told the E-Commerce Times.

However, "smartwatches are still something not yet mainstream," he added.

"I don't think it paints an accurate picture" of where the wearable device trend is headed, Hamel said. "I'm willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that in five years more users will have a smartwatch versus a Fitbit as we know it today."

Apple is the vendor best positioned to compel consumers to adopt smartwatches, noted Charles King, principal analyst for Pund-IT. It has the millions of loyal customers necessary to help any new product gain traction.

"So the fact that the Apple Watch has reportedly sold a small fraction of the units is both a disappointment and a harbinger of longer-term challenges," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Smartbands may be performing better because people want specialized devices rather "Swiss army knife" offerings, according to King.

"In any case," he said, "analysts who were predicting the death of the Fitbit just a few months ago are heading into the new year with egg on their faces."

Quinten Plummer is a longtime technology reporter and an avid PC gamer who explored local news for a few years, covering law enforcement and government beats, before returning to writing about things run by ones and zeros and the people who make them. If it pushes pixels or improves lives, he wants to learn all he can about it.

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Monday, December 28, 2015
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Several factors have contributed to the sudden expansion of connected car services available or coming to the market, most notably the expansion of mobile broadband networks, high penetration of smartphones in the consumer market, and auto manufacturers' re-evaluation of connected services as a competitive advantage and means to generate new revenues.

While the connected car and smart home ecosystems haven't yet entered the mainstream, neither is in its infancy. Crossover between the two markets is evident and offers a unique opportunity for the ecosystem players.

Automotive OEMs

Connected vehicle data presents an opportunity and a challenge to automotive original equipment manufacturers. They can sell access to vehicle performance and driver behavioral data, as well as leverage collected data to improve product designs. With better insight into driver behavioral data, manufacturers ultimately can create unique and personalized experiences and interfaces.

With the Internet of Things expanding, auto manufacturers must expand their connected car strategies to consider developments in adjacent ecosystems, such as the connected home space. Several considerations are paramount:

Differentiating the car connectivity platform with unique app experiences; Creating a superior in-vehicle experience for apps and services that are not native to the car ecosystem; Preventing distracted driving; and Addressing data security and privacy concerns.

Aftermarket Device Manufacturers

Some 225.6 million consumer vehicles in the U.S. don't have the ability to connect to the Internet. Owners of these vehicles don't need to wait until their next vehicle purchase to take advantage of new connected features. Several manufacturers offer connected aftermarket devices, typically in the form of head units or OBD-II dongles.

Aftermarket device makers are forming key partnerships with established smart home device manufacturers and startups, smart home hub suppliers, and insurers with interests in both the vehicle and home markets.

As the consumer vehicle fleet becomes more connected, the market for OBD-II telematics devices will shrink. Current market players will then switch to a software-first strategy, leveraging their development platforms as their key products.

Software and Platform Developers

Most services and initiatives that cross the car and home ecosystems are the result of direct partnerships between industry players.

Automakers' desire for a proprietary app development ecosystem inhibits innovation in the space, because developers can't write codes once and run them on all car models.

However, as the mobile app industry demonstrates, consumers will gravitate toward connected solutions that enhance their lifestyles wherever they are; solutions that are closed, device-specific, or otherwise do not play well with others will struggle to retain consumer loyalty in the long term.

Insurance Providers

Traditional auto insurance models determine premiums based on factors such as a driver's area of residence, the vehicle make and model, demographic profiles, and claims history.

Usage-based insurance, or UBI, leverages consumers' actual driving behavior to best match each driver's risk profile with an appropriate insurance premiums.

It allows insurance companies to create more accurate risk assessment profiles of drivers. Additionally, drivers are provided with real-time feedback regarding their driving patterns. A reduced insurance premium is a powerful motivator for safer driving, which ultimately results in reduced costs for insurers.

As UBI has gained popularity in the automotive sector, providers seek to apply a similar approach to the smart home.

Mobile and Broadband Service Providers

Mobile network operators, or MNOs, and broadband service providers have a natural interest in the crossover between the smart home and the connected car space. This is because they both deliver value-added services and premium content that act as additional revenue streams and ward off commoditization of their core businesses.

MNOs have assets in both the connected car and smart home ecosystems. As such, they are major players at the intersection of these markets and have an advantage over other service providers that operate in just one market.

Broadband service providers also have assets and incentives to seek opportunities at the intersection of the connected car and smart home markets.

Several Internet service providers already offer pay-TV services and aim to extend their value in the home further with smart home and security services. Providers in the video space face increasing pressure to diversify their home offerings as a growing segment of consumers shave or cut the cord. From this perspective, expanding services beyond the home to the connected car space further expands the functionality and value of their platforms.

Consumers' desire for their connected solutions to work together in a simple, easy-to-manage way will drive crossover opportunities in the connected car and smart home ecosystems. Companies with assets in both ecosystems, such as mobile network operators and insurance companies, stand to benefit from their convergence and will push the markets closer together.

Jennifer Kent is a research director at Parks Associates.

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