Android-based TV sticks activate as tablets, prove popular for bootleg videos in Asia

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  • Reply 21 of 78

    Yeah, not sure about USB devices so you may well be right.

     

    Although Maestro64 stated that phones could be counted in activations multiple times which is not correct.

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  • Reply 22 of 78
    macair wrote: »
    Where do you live?

    In my opinion 80% Market share for Android is conservative. iPhones are rare in most countries.

    Rare not because it is undesirable, but because its unaffordable.
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  • Reply 23 of 78

    I said it before ... I say it again ...

     

    android is a crappiest product ever copied from iOS by some jackass named andy rubin.

     

    and now that it's in the hand of google, the dumbest company ever born which does nothing but selling Ads to survive, it must be banned.

     

    Look at it very carefully and you'll notice that it won't require Einstein's brain to realize that android is here to be used to steal people's private info and much much MORE.

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  • Reply 24 of 78
    jessijessi Posts: 302member

    AppleInsider - since you know this, why do you still report "activations" as "sales" and talk about android market share?

     

    It's nothing less than dishonest.

     

    A sale is a sale, an activation is not.

     

    If you want to compare activations, Apple has activated 5Billion devices to androids 1Billion -- if you use the same method of calculating them (e.g.: total number of devices sold times total number of OS releases.) 

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  • Reply 25 of 78
    I find this surprising and [B][I]personally[/I][/B] embarrassing...


    1) I have seen the Android [I]"numbers"[/I] advantages (market share growth) and [B][I]assumed[/I][/B] that they were wrong.

    2) I have seen the summary Analyst reports of these [I]"numbers"[/I] and [B][I]assumed[/I][/B] that the Analysts were [incorrectly counting or classifying and] skewing the results -- and doing a disservice to their customers by "telling 'em what they wanted to hear".

    3) I have read and [B][I]believed[/I][/B] articles challenging the [I]"numbers"[/I] and Analyst reports -- implying that those who provided the [I]"numbers"[/I] were obfuscating, incompetent or lying.


    The above all matched my personal knowledge, beliefs and biases.

    Never once, did I ask myself: [B][I]"What if the [I]"numbers"[/I] are right?"[/I][/B]


    Why did it take a journalist, Phillip-Elmer DeWitt to ask the question -- then take the next step to investigate?

    Apparently, some [I]"answers"[/I] were readily attainable via a little skepticism and some web searches...


    It well may be that the [I]"numbers"[/I] are correct!

    Thanks to Phillip-Elmer DeWitt, we have a better understanding of what comprises the [I]"numbers".[/I]


    [B][I]I suspect that, in the future, the Analysts and Reporters/Article Authors will exercise due diligence when gathering, analyzing, reporting and examining these [I]"numbers".[/I]..
    [/I][/B]

    [B][I]I know I will!
    [/I][/B]
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  • Reply 26 of 78
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post





    Rare not because it is undesirable, but because its unaffordable.

    Of course. But it is close to nonexistent, nevertheless.

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  • Reply 27 of 78
    akqies wrote: »
    vaporland wrote: »
    if you cant beat em, join em. apple should release a $99 iStick and flood the market

    make it an iPad dongle that plugs into a PC, Mac or TV and runs iOS apps.

    That wouldn't do it. Apple would have to release some iOS-based code that they count in their numbers, like the Apple TV OS which already sells for $99, but make it free to download and be able to load on an SD card, USB flash drive, CD, DVD, another HDD/SSD, VM, etc.

    It's been a while, but the last time I JailBroke an AppleTV it was running iOS. AIR, the current AppleTV runs an A5 APU.

    So, If Apple (or the "numbers" gathers) wanted to, they could count AppleTVs as part of the iOS platform. AIR, 14 million AppleTVs have been announced as sold.

    Also, it may be that other Apple devices like Time Capsule or Airports may run iOS...  Then there's the iPod Touch...
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  • Reply 28 of 78
    normmnormm Posts: 653member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mausz View Post



    I have two of these sticks, and they are full blown android devices so the quote 'though they can only be used as media players, and not for surfing the Web' is absolutely wrong.



    Only problem with them is they have no touchscreen, and you have to use a mouse (which works fine in most cases).

    Makes sense.  But Apple is competing against touchscreen tablets, which is not this market.  It's also interesting that, if these things are surfing the web, then they don't help explain why there are so many non-Apple tablets but Apple has 84% of the web usage from tablets.

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  • Reply 29 of 78
    disturbia wrote: »
    I said it before ... I say it again ...

    android is a crappiest product ever copied from iOS by some jackass named andy rubin.

    and now that it's in the hand of google, the dumbest company ever born which does nothing but selling Ads to survive, it must be banned.

    Look at it very carefully and you'll notice that it won't require Einstein's brain to realize that android is here to be used to steal people's private info and much much MORE.

    [VIDEO]
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  • Reply 30 of 78
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,927member
    macair wrote: »
    Where do you live?

    In my opinion 80% Market share for Android is conservative. iPhones are rare in most countries.

    So you live in "most countries" now?
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  • Reply 31 of 78
    I wonder if this is why 10 million tablets were added to the competitions sales tallies.
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  • Reply 32 of 78
    It's been a while, but the last time I JailBroke an AppleTV it was running iOS. AIR, the current AppleTV runs an A5 APU.

    So, If Apple (or the "numbers" gathers) wanted to, they could count AppleTVs as part of the iOS platform. AIR, 14 million AppleTVs have been announced as sold.

    Also, it may be that other Apple devices like Time Capsule or Airports may run iOS...  Then there's the iPod Touch...

    With the number of "activations" Android gets the Apple TV wouldn't make a dent. Aren't alll of them since the 2nd gen Apple TV less than the iPhone 5S for this holiday quarter?
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  • Reply 33 of 78
    akqies wrote: »
    That wouldn't do it. Apple would have to release some iOS-based code that they count in their numbers, like the Apple TV OS which already sells for $99, but make it free to download and be able to load on an SD card, USB flash drive, CD, DVD, another HDD/SSD, VM, etc.

    nope, put some memory and an A7 chip on it and use the host machine's KB, screen, touchpad, etc for the interface

    you're joking, right? GIVE away iOS?
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  • Reply 34 of 78
    Just because they're not real tablets doesn't mean it's not a product that could eventually dent Apple. Let's not forget that one of the biggest reasons for a tablet is media consumption. If these things are popular enough then apps will be made for them (mouse interface and all). These things are pieces of cr** but that doesn't mean they can't tilt the balance of influence toward android.

    Look at the sh**ty PCs from the 80s compared to the Macs of the time.
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  • Reply 35 of 78

    $100 gets you 20 movies. Additional movies are $2 each. I conclude that China needs NetFlix (or something like it) soon. This is what everyone but the content owners have known forever. If you sell access to content at a reasonable price and make it easy to use, people will buy it. As it stands they make almost nothing in China, India and other highly populated places in the world yet those same people are willing to pay if the price is reasonable and the access is easy.

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  • Reply 36 of 78
    Even though the idea of TV dongles being popular in Asia and registering as tablets doesn't sound far-fetched, I think it's absurd that a news article was written based on the claims of an anonymous forum poster in Singapore.

    What's even more absurd, though not as surprising to me is the selective filter so many here use when they read new information. When an analyst or research firm puts out numbers that portray Apple even slightly unfavorably, zealots come out in force to attack the research. However when an anonymous guy on the internet says something slightly favorable for Apple, nobody questions it. Wow.
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  • Reply 37 of 78
    serendip wrote: »
    Hey philboogie,

    They're definitely a market for buying facebook "likes". Just type "buy facebook likes" into Google. You'll get a ton of results.

    That's the problem with Google, right there. Query something and you'll get a ton of results. Aaaahhh!
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  • Reply 38 of 78
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post



    The irony here is these same research firms were probably the same ones refusing to accept an iPad was a computer so as to keep Window's PC numbers way ahead of Apple's sales numbers. Remember here on the AI blog, how the argument raged?



    I have to ask though ... if these research companies are as eager to please those that pay them as DED clearly pointed out in his article over the weekend, why doesn't Apple play the same game and pay these jokers for research to show the truth?

    Perhaps because it's just not worth bothering. The sales numbers are just noise. Stocks can go up and down based on people playing the market. If Apple has most of the profits -- what do they care if they don't have delusions of grandeur to go along with it. The more Android numbers are inflated, the longer they can avoid dealing with complaints of monopoly.

     

    And various companies have deluded themselves into oblivion in the past. So why should Apple STOP THEM from getting enough rope to hang themselves if it does nothing to increase real profits?

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  • Reply 39 of 78
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,269member

    The whole Google gang must be very proud!

     

    They've made it bigger in China than they ever imagined.

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  • Reply 40 of 78
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    Bottom line is this can be proven.

     

    You can easily install Android on a USB stick and activate it.  I just did it.  I then reformatted the USB and did it again.  Google thanks me for its 2 new tablet activations.  If I can do this in a few minutes you bet your ass millions of USB's are being activated with Android as an easy and free video player.


    I wonder if the MAC address on these devices is the same each time. If it is, or if they make no attempts to distinguish a re-activated device over a unique/new device, it seems to me to be that they are accidentally on purpose engaging in a bit of marketing number fraud.

     

    Google likely knows that these are nothing but appliances and when the same MAC address asks to be activated.

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