Analysis Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Spotify lifts track limits on free accounts, struggles to stand out in streaming market

by Mike Schramm (Mar 29th, 2012)

Good news for European fans of the streaming music service Spotify: The company has lifted the five-track replay limit per day for users of the free service in Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain. Additionally, US users will get their current six-month free trial extended, but ...

iOS still holds edge in worldwide tablet shipments, despite Kindle Fire launch

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 14th, 2012)

The tablet market heated up in the last quarter of 2011 when Amazon went head-to-head against Apple with its Kindle Fire. Many expected the Fire to make a dent in the sales of the Apple iPad and the latest IDC numbers suggest their expectations were correct. Though overall iPad shipments ...

How to avoid sounding dumb when you write about Apple

by Chris Rawson (Feb 11th, 2012)

So, you want to write about Apple? Lots of people do these days. The company is a household name, its financial performance is virtually unparalleled, and it makes products that millions upon millions of users enjoy every single day. I can tell you from personal experience that getting paid to ...

Study: iOS apps crash more than Android apps do

by Mike Schramm (Feb 5th, 2012)

Mobile OS crash analysis firm Crittercism (Really? Who's naming this stuff?) has posted the chart above, which shows that as a percentage of crashes overall, the latest version of iOS claims the highest total. In fact, many versions of iOS show a large percentage of crashes, and clearly iOS ...

Lesser-known facts from Apple's earnings statement

by Chris Rawson (Jan 25th, 2012)

The attention-grabbing numbers from Apple's most recent earnings statement have already made the rounds -- US$46 billion in revenue, net profit of $13 billion, 37 million iPhones sold -- and all of that within three months. Apple didn't just turn in record-breaking performance for a tech company; ...

When it comes to launching your app, Sunday is tops

by Michael Grothaus (Dec 20th, 2011)

If you're a developer, your app is more likely to be successful if you launch it on a Sunday. That's according to a 17-week analysis by mobile analytics firm Mobilewalla. The company looked at the apps released on a daily basis in Apple's App Store and Android's Market from May 16 to September ...

NPD: Outside of the iPad, TouchPad's fire sales make it number one

by Mike Schramm (Nov 22nd, 2011)

Analysis firm NPD has released one last report on tablet computers before the holiday season officially kicks off, and something crazy is happening to that market. Outside of the iPad (which of course is currently dominating the space), the next big contender goes to ... the HP TouchPad, a ...

Analysis determines why Angry Birds is so popular

by Mike Schramm (Nov 9th, 2011)

Here, finally, must certainly be the last word on Angry Birds. Certified Human Factors Engineering Professional Charles L. Mauro has done an exhaustive report called "A Cognitive Teardown of Angry Birds," in which he breaks down, piece by ever-lovin' piece, the throw-birds-at-pigs game and just ...

Asymco graphs Apple's performance under Steve Jobs

by Chris Rawson (Sep 28th, 2011)

Asymco always has great graphical analysis of Apple's performance, and the site's latest is no exception. Dirk Schmidt has analyzed Apple's market cap during the Steve Jobs era, and the graphs show just how dramatic Apple's turnaround was during Jobs's time as CEO. At the beginning of Jobs's ...

What would a 4S mean to you?

by Erica Sadun (Sep 23rd, 2011)

I love my 3GS. I still use it on a daily basis as one of my primary dev units. It has a lovely PayGo SIM in it, with inexpensive data. It's an absolutely brilliant device and my love for my iPhone 4 does not diminish the 3GS's utility. I never bothered to purchase an iPhone 3G. Although I ...

Finch usage tracker for OS X disappoints

by Erica Sadun (Aug 26th, 2011)

For $8.99, Touch Studio's Finch app for OS X promises to to quietly track your computer usage as you work. With it, you should be able to monitor which apps and sites you spend the most time in, and adjust your workday accordingly. Finch runs in your menu bar, keeping track of your usage by ...

Daily iPad App: Extra Innings Mobile Instructor

by Kelly Hodgkins (Aug 12th, 2011)

Extra Innings Mobile Instructor is a training app to help you analyze a baseball swing or pitch. It records or imports video and provides you with a set of tools to mock-up the video as you critique the player's movement. You can also use the app to submit the video clip to an expert who'll ...

Forrester: iPad may be (slightly) more vulnerable in Europe

by Mike Schramm (Aug 9th, 2011)

Sometimes the market-research business can be tough. On the same day that a German court blocked sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in almost every EU country, a new report from Forrester Research arrives on the scene -- and it says that if Apple competitors want to take on the iPad, Europe ...

Study: Average customer spends $14 in freemium games on iOS and Android

by Mike Schramm (Jul 25th, 2011)

This is pretty crazy news from mobile analytics firm Flurry: The average customer in a freemium game on iOS and Android spends $14 in any given transaction, according to their latest data. The same study already revealed that in-app purchases have overtaken standard purchases when it comes to ...

Study reveals Apple surpasses RIM in US smartphone share

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jul 6th, 2011)

Apple is now the #2 mobile platform in the US with 26.6% market share. Apple rose 1.4 percentage points and inched past RIM which now holds 24.7% of the US market. Similar to Apple, Android also gained market share grabbing another 5.1 percentage points to climb to 38.1% market share. Rim took ...