Mobile/ProductPlanning/Notes-2014-05-13

Hot items/Roadmap update

Erin/Jenn

Goals check in

Deb, Mark, Brad, Ian

• [ON TRACK] Firefox on Android: Firefox Hub - initial version shipped in GA with 2 add-ons (Fx30) and initial Tiles-like functionality with full telemetry probes (Fx31) [dria, ibarlow, mfinkle]
• [ON TRACK] Firefox on Android: User support - contextual tips (Fx32) [dria, ibarlow, mfinkle]
• [NEW] first-run tips (Fx33) [dria, ibarlow, mfinkle]
• [NEW] Firefox on Android: Startup performance - instrument and start measuring WebApp startup performance [dria, blassey]
• [ON TRACK] Firefox on Android: Tablets - Complete design spec for tabbed browsing refresh [dria, ibarlow]
• [ON TRACK] Firefox on Android: Search widget (Fx33) [dria, ibarlow, minkle]
• [DONE] Firefox on Android: Quick Share Provider functionality including support for defaults via distributions (Fx31) [dria, mfinkle]

Metrics

Hamilton

• Fennec dashboard update
• Any interesting metrics or metrics-related news we should be aware of for Fennec?

Insights

News

• US Federal Court overturns lower court ruling on whether APIs can be subject to copyright in long-running Oracle vs. Google suit. Short and the sweet, the US courts have said Oracle can copyright APIs, and not just the code underneath them. It's a significant, but not final, setback for Google and Android (note that Google has a replacement for Dalvik, but it's really not the point), as well as software that emulates APIs for x-platform compatibility or other reasons.
  Why we should care: potentially huge implications in creating products that interact with another organization's API where that org asserts copyright. It's by no means over, and a separate ruling on whether Google's use falls under Fair Use doctrine (and whether Google will appeal) is still to come, but it's an ugly precedent that surprised pretty much everyone.

• Ben Evan's "Unfair but Relevant" chart shows a lot about market opportunities. It's a comparison of Facebook logins in different countries, and what platform is used, and gives insight into iOS and Android target markets. Apple targets mature markets with disposable income to generate cash. Android OEMs target all markets, and sees huge market share in markets where people don't have $600-800 to drop on an iPhone (or its subsidized contract).
  Why we should care: Market focus and opportunity.

Notes

• As Google I/O approaches, expect to see more rumors on the 4.5 update. This week's rumor is around the overhaul of the Android launcher, and its deeper integration of Google services. Worth a read/look, but it IS a rumor.
• Microsoft releases its Lync messaging/conferencing app for Android, indicating Android is gaining traction in corporate environments.
• Tablets are not quite netbooks, but the market may be saturated/maturing faster than OEMs would like.
• Motorola releases a low-cost, decent feature Smartphone to compete with feature phones. This extends Motorola's push into lower-cost, contract-free phones and , interestingly, they're Google-branded.
• Canalys reports that over a quarter billion Android devices shipped in Q1, and 1/3 of them had a 5" screen or bigger. This reinforces IDC and Gartner forecast numbers, which project 1-1.1B Android device shipments in 2014.

Feedback

Rob

Patterns of Feedback are back to (about normal)

After correcting the "Send to Tabs" functionality, sync complaints have decreased considerably. Sync feedback is still trending up, but it's shrinking as a proportion of sync users.

Our top feedback categories for 29 have stabilized to the usual performance (~16%) and video (8%) issues, as well as the trending sync issues (8%).

Unfortunately I'm still not seeing much specific feedback about sync, but common types feedback include:

1. [Major] General "not working"
2. [Medium] Sync not being immediate
3. [Medium] Sync is hard to set up

Marketing

Arcadio

Partner review

No notes - in-meeting updates from Mark and Deb

Roundtable

Anything else...