Microsoft raking in 100k users a day from Hotmail changes in iOS 5
The addition of easier Hotmail setup in the Mail app of Apple's iOS 5 has led to a surge in activations for Microsoft, with almost 100,000 new iOS 5 devices logging in to the email service every day.
Microsoft's Chris Jones revealed in an official blog post on Wednesday that over 2 million iOS 5 users have linked their Hotmail accounts to iPhones or iPads. That number continues to increase rapidly, at the rate of nearly 100,000 iOS 5 devices a day.
The majority of those devices are iPhones. 40 percent are using the iPhone 4 to log in, while 24 percent already have the iPhone 4S. Another 12 percent of Hotmail connections to iOS 5 come from the iPhone 3GS.
Pre-iOS 5 devices can still set up Hotmail, but they have to go through a slightly more complicated Microsoft Exchange setup process.
News of the Redmond, Wash., software company's success comes as rival Google has faced a backlash over its official Gmail app. After reports surfaced on Tuesday pointing to an imminent launch of a long-awaited native app for Gmail, Google released the application on Wednesday, but quickly pulled it when a bug in the software's push notification feature was discovered.
Distribution of iOS 5 devices for Hotmail.
Users who had obtained the app before it was taken down were quick to pan it as half-baked. TechCrunch's Sarah Perez called it "unusable" and a big disappointment." Others pointed out that, since the program was just a wrapper around the UIWebView, it offered little more than buggy push notifications.
According to research group ComScore, Hotmail is the world's largest web-based email service, with Yahoo Mail in second and Gmail in third. Apple is also pushing its own email service as part of iCloud. Users who sign up for iCloud receive a free me.com email account that will automatically sync messages across all their devices.
However, some users report having trouble creating new me.com accounts or merging old MobileMe accounts with their AppleIDs.
Also, Microsoft's not the only company to see a jump in users due to iOS 5. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said last month that iOS signups jumped by more than three times previous rates following the release of iOS 5. Apple worked closely with Twitter to integrate the social network at a system-wide level for iOS 5.
Microsoft's Chris Jones revealed in an official blog post on Wednesday that over 2 million iOS 5 users have linked their Hotmail accounts to iPhones or iPads. That number continues to increase rapidly, at the rate of nearly 100,000 iOS 5 devices a day.
The majority of those devices are iPhones. 40 percent are using the iPhone 4 to log in, while 24 percent already have the iPhone 4S. Another 12 percent of Hotmail connections to iOS 5 come from the iPhone 3GS.
Pre-iOS 5 devices can still set up Hotmail, but they have to go through a slightly more complicated Microsoft Exchange setup process.
News of the Redmond, Wash., software company's success comes as rival Google has faced a backlash over its official Gmail app. After reports surfaced on Tuesday pointing to an imminent launch of a long-awaited native app for Gmail, Google released the application on Wednesday, but quickly pulled it when a bug in the software's push notification feature was discovered.
Distribution of iOS 5 devices for Hotmail.
Users who had obtained the app before it was taken down were quick to pan it as half-baked. TechCrunch's Sarah Perez called it "unusable" and a big disappointment." Others pointed out that, since the program was just a wrapper around the UIWebView, it offered little more than buggy push notifications.
According to research group ComScore, Hotmail is the world's largest web-based email service, with Yahoo Mail in second and Gmail in third. Apple is also pushing its own email service as part of iCloud. Users who sign up for iCloud receive a free me.com email account that will automatically sync messages across all their devices.
However, some users report having trouble creating new me.com accounts or merging old MobileMe accounts with their AppleIDs.
Also, Microsoft's not the only company to see a jump in users due to iOS 5. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said last month that iOS signups jumped by more than three times previous rates following the release of iOS 5. Apple worked closely with Twitter to integrate the social network at a system-wide level for iOS 5.
Comments
Pretty neat. Didn't realise Hotmail could be set up on the email app on iOS 5!
Isn't that kind of like setting Alta Vista as your search engine?
When people talk of email issues, it's amazing how often it turns out they use Hotmail.
Why the hell anyone would choose hotmail in this day and age is beyond me.
In other news: Apple introduce the iGun to shoot yourself in the head.
When people talk of email issues, it's amazing how often it turns out they use Hotmail.
Why the hell anyone would choose hotmail in this day and age is beyond me.
Changing your email ranks up there with changing your cell number. Especially as people will have lots of old personal mail in their inbox - most I know have been using it since the days of MSN Messenger.
I have 101 people in my contact list. Not a single one has a hotmail address.
Maybe it has improved since the days I tried it in the 1990s .. and had to abandon the address to the spammers five weeks later. I have six hotmails out of 180 on my contacts list.
Oh.. and I had some probs initially with the me.com to iCloud thing but the glitches went away after a week without any action on my part.
I have 101 people in my contact list. Not a single one has a hotmail address.
I don't have a single Hotmail either.
The web UI of it is hideous as well IMO
Sidenote: I'm disappointed in the Gmail app Google presented to iOS users. What a pathetic move. The Google+ app looks and works proper so it's obvious they are capable.
I do, however, remember it being more cumbersome in iOS3 (or was it the first release of iOS4?). Anyhow, it became easier at some point but I am not convinced it was the upgrade to iOS5 that was the magical transition.
IMHO, Microsoft, Facebook and Google should hire Apple to create iPhone applications for them.
Well, Apple did review the Google gmail app and they too missed the bug. So I'd say Apple and Google both goofed on that one.
I have 101 people in my contact list. Not a single one has a hotmail address.
I think you have a point. I have 850 contacts and only 15 are hotmail.
Well, Apple did review the Google gmail app and they too missed the bug. So I'd say Apple and Google both goofed on that one.
It's not just the bug, it's the fact that it's a web wrapper. Super pathetic.
For many years now I've Junked anything from HotMail automatically!
Lol. Everything I've gotten from Hotmail has been spam from people who happen to have had me as a contact.
"I made $900 an hour and you can to. Check here for details: www.spam.com/spam"
The addition of easier Hotmail setup in the Mail app of Apple's iOS 5 has led to a surge in activations for Microsoft, with almost 100,000 new iOS 5 devices logging in to the email service every day.
This is news? Majorcrap thinks they had a hand in facilitating this? Oh yeah, it's the PR and perception that they're cutting edge and user friendly, when actually it's Apple Mail that enabled this process.
Changing your email ranks up there with changing your cell number. Especially as people will have lots of old personal mail in their inbox - most I know have been using it since the days of MSN Messenger.
Have had my Yahoo.co.uk address for the last 13 years, despite the mountains of spam I doub't I'll change any time soon.