Why Android could kill Google's struggling standalone Chrome apps

Any Android developer can now put their Android apps in the Chrome Web Store with the App Runtime for Chrome.

But that positive news carries a darker undertone. Google’s “Chrome app” platform was already underperforming, and now developers have even less incentive to write Chrome apps when they can reuse their existing Android apps.
“Chrome apps” are the renamed version of “packaged apps,” applications that piggyback off Chrome and run entirely offline in their own windows. They’re the successor to the original Chrome apps, which were mostly just links to websites, a handful of which used HTML5 features to work offline. Now Google seems focused on Android app compatibility, which is certainly an interesting idea—but whatever happened to all those Chrome apps?

Chrome apps aren’t very popular

So, how many Chrome apps are there? Google doesn’t make it easy to find out. But let’s just compare the Chrome Web Store to the Google Play Store. View the list of Chrome apps and the top app appears to be Videostream for Chromecast, a video-playing application that owes its success more to the popular Chromecast hardware than Google Chrome’s app platform. It has about a million users.
The very impressive Polarr photo editor, which is excellent for editing photos on Chrome OS, is being promoted on the top of the Chrome Web Store but has less than 200,000 users. Click around and you’ll see most of the most popular apps have a few hundred thousand users at most.

The Vine Android app running on Chrome OS.

Now visit the Google Play Store and look at the top Android apps. The Facebook app alone has between one and five billion installs. It’s clear that Chrome apps aren’t anywhere near as popular among Chrome users as Android apps are among Android users.
Yes, more people use Android than the Chrome browser. But Google said in 2013 that Chrome had more than 750 million monthly active users. The vast majority of Chrome users are ignoring these “Chrome apps.”

The selection is still thin

But of course Chrome apps aren’t popular. There aren’t many of them!
Now, don’t get me wrong—there are some great Chrome apps in the Chrome Web Store. Developers can use this technology to make great applications that work especially well on Chrome OS, where the apps can run in their own little windows and work entirely offline.

The Google Keep and Play Music Chrome apps.

But very few developers are actually doing so. Sure, Google made apps for a few of their services like Google Keep and Google Music—but where are the Chrome apps for the most popular services like Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar? They don’t exist (though all three can be used offline in your main browser on Chromebooks). Most websites and services—including Google’s own—simply don’t offer Chrome apps.
Now that Android apps can be ported to Chrome in a few clicks, we’ll probably see more developers use this trick instead of making Chrome apps. For example, if you want Evernote offline on your Chromebook, you can now just install the Evernote Android app from the Chrome Web Store. Why would Evernote bother creating a Chrome app when they can just repurpose the Android app?

Users want the web, not browser-specific apps

So the Chrome app platform isn’t looking too healthy. Yes, it’s powerful and works well for the apps that use it—but few services are actually using it, and Google’s now made it easier for developers to take the Android apps they’re making anyway and place them in the Chrome Web Store.
But maybe that’s not a bad thing! After all, the point of Chrome was to be a platform that enabled access to the web—the open web, not just an app store. Chrome itself and Chrome OS aren’t powerful because of Chrome apps, they’re powerful because they’re simple, secure, and offer full access to full desktop websites that also work in other modern browsers like Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Internet Explorer.
The Chrome app platform is a bit weird here, as it’s the only browser-specific application platform out there. Is it any wonder that developers have largely eschewed Chrome apps in favor or making their actual websites work better for all web users, including Chrome users that just use it as a web browser instead of an app platform?
Chrome is full of experiments like that one that work well, but nonetheless don’t seem to be going anywhere. Google's Native Client (NaCl) technology was designed to bring desktop-class software to Chrome with a minimal performance penalty, and it can do that—install Bastion from the Chrome Web Store and you’ll see how well it can work.
But that’s the problem! It’s more than three years after NaCl came out and writers like me are still using the original proof-of-concept (Bastion) as an example of the technology. Developers haven’t picked up Native Client and run with it—just as they haven’t picked up Chrome apps. Perhaps it’s best to refocus Chrome on cross-browser web technologies and full websites. If users want “apps,” they can always install Android apps on Chrome now.

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Vitamin Pills?

Khloe Kardashian posted this photo of her supplement regimen that she’s taken to go with her on a trip to Armenia. “Vitamin party!”, she says. “I don’t have a pillbox because for all the pills I take, the pull box is large and bulky.” But is it too much?  (Photo: Instagram) 

It’s a mantra many of us heard on repeat as kids: “Take your vitamins!” Despite recent research that has questioned the effectiveness of vitamin supplements — and even their safety — Nielsen data has shown that the vitamin supplement industry is still growing.

“Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star Khloe Kardashian seems to be doing her part to keep supplement sales up, posting a new photo on Instagram of all of the vitamins she took on on her current trip to Armenia. It’s hard to tell exactly how many vitamins she’s taking, but it appears to be about 23 a day. That’s right—a day.

Is that even healthy? While 23 vitamins a day is admittedly a little extreme, New York City registered dietitian Jessica Cording tells Yahoo Health that the right supplement intake really depends on a patient’s needs.

“Vitamin supplements are really to address gaps in your diet,” she says. “If you’re eating a balanced diet, you’re probably meeting your basic needs unless you have an underlying deficiency.”

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Apple Watch release date, price and features

By Matt Swider 2 days agoWearables 

Apple Watch release date is April 24, preorder April 10

Apple Watch goes on sale this week and becomes available Friday, April 24 - you can set your friend's inferior Android Wear smartwatch to that release date.
Hours are all that separate you and Friday's Apple Watch pre-order, and the good news is that if you're still deciding, we finally know every detail about what's been hiding up Tim Cook's sleeve.

• Want to see it in action? Check out our hands on: Apple Watch review

It's an iPhone-compatible smartwatch officially dubbed Apple Watch, shedding the fabled iWatch moniker, as the company focuses on its first chic wearable over geeky tech.

To that lavish point, the Apple Watch price ranges from $349 (£299, AU$499) for the entry-level Sport model to $17,000 (£13,500, AU$24,000) for the top-tier 18-karat gold editions.

When was the last time that an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) product was released that wasn't met with initial frenzy and shortages? I expect the Apple Watch to be greeted with the same level of demand on an initial basis.

I agree with Gene Munster at Piper Jaffrey that Apple Watch sales could top 1 million units in the first weekend. What concerns me, however, is the trajectory of sales AFTER Apple fans and early adopters snatch up this new device.

We are talking about a sea change in terms of how consumers interact with their cell devices and, so far, the demand for other smart-watch offerings has been less than spectacular. Because Apple is a marketing powerhouse and knows how to develop products that are easy to use, they will easily jump to the lead in the smart-watch race. However, being first doesn't mean that the world is ready to make this a must-have purchase.

Read More Three reasons the Apple Watch might still flop
The watch will certainly provide significant revenues to the company. How much incremental revenue versus frenzied expectations is really the debate. At present, I think investors are overly enthusiastic about the Apple Watch.

For early adopters, fitness fanatics, and Apple fans, the necessary behavioral change will be an acceptable sacrifice. But I don't see a consumer environment ready for widespread Apple Watch adoption (or any smart watch). Convenience and ease of use is a selling point of the Apple watch to consumers. Nonetheless, requiring a phone to be tethered to the device for full operability combined with the need to charge the watch on a daily basis strikes me as more inconvenient than many consumers are willing to tolerate.
As it stands right now in the wearable-device category, watches are ecosystem dependent. Samsung's watches work with Samsung devices. Apple's watch works with the iOS ecosystem. What happens when a device manufacturer comes up with a thinner product with a longer battery life that is easily connected to any ecosystem at a lower price point? The premium that Apple will charge for their watch will be less acceptable.
Read More Apple Watch will be big by the end of 2016: Analyst
Android watchmakers so far have delivered less than overwhelmingly exciting devices but that won't last forever. At some point, someone in the Android space is going to get it right and will likely price the product at 40 percent less than Apple. Pebble seems to be doing just fine selling a product less rich with features at a discounted price.
Sure, Apple products are often blockbusters (i.e., the iPhone) but occasionally they do have a product that isn't a home run. Apple has sold plenty of mini iPads but it hasn't been Earth-shattering. Apple TV continues to be a work in progress. My concern is that investors are buying into the belief that sales of the Apple Watch will be sustained after the initial launch - and that these expectations are priced into the stock.

As a firm that invests in Apple, our expectations are muted. If this new device is half as popular as the iPad, it will be a huge success. The problem Is that the expectations are so high that anything less than blockbuster will likely be seen as a stumble and investors need to recognize that this sentiment shift is clearly possible.

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Noting the figures published today by the ONS showing the continuing serious decline in profitability of the UK oil and gas industry, Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive, Malcolm Webb, commented: “These shocking figures underline the very serious challenges the sector faces. After more than a decade of spiralling costs, over-taxation and weak regulation, the UK offshore oil and gas industry is now bottom of the league in terms of the cost of producing a barrel of oil and gas.  The UK’s difficulties have been greatly exacerbated by the sudden drop in oil price but it would be a grave...

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Teresa Apiyo carries a portrait of her cousin Selpha Wanda, a student killed during an attack by gunmen at Garissa University College last week. Kenyans have been speaking out after police commandos were delayed in arriving on the scene of the attack. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters )

Kenyans confronted by armed Islamic extremists should fight back and avoid being killed "like cockroaches," a senior police official said Thursday at a Nairobi morgue holding the bodies of some of the 148 people who died in last week's attack on a college.
Some Kenyans, however, said it was difficult to expect civilians to resist militants and that it was the government's responsibility to protect them. The Kenyan government has faced criticism for an allegedly slow response by security forces to the April 2 attack on Garissa University College in eastern Kenya.
Many of those who died likely had no chance or any means to fight back effectively. The assailants were heavily armed and, according to survivors, were swift and ruthless while gunning down unarmed, terrified students.
"If something happens like that, fight back," Pius Masai Mwachi, a Kenyan police superintendent, said to journalists.
Kim Kemboi, a former student leader in Nairobi, said the term "cockroaches" is insensitive because it is a reminder of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, when killers used the word as a slur to describe the Tutsis they slaughtered.
But Kemboi described fighting back as an option, saying he recently viewed a video produced by the city of Houston, Texas that recommends people under assault try to run, or hide if fleeing is not possible. As a last resort, it says people should fight an attacker by whatever means they can.
The four gunmen died when an elite team of police commandoes entered the campus.

People look at photos of some of the students killed in the Garissa attack. A senior police officer on Thursday said of the attack: 'if something happens like that, fight back.' (Noor Khamis/Reuters )

Any Kenyans who fall into the hands of militants should not allow themselves to be divided along ethnic and religious lines, "like what happened in the Garissa attack," Mwachi also said.
Survivors say gunmen from the al-Shabaab extremist group targeted Christian students for killing after separating them from Muslims, though there were also many accounts of indiscriminate shooting.
"If you are in the hands of terrorists, free yourselves as soon as possible," said Mwachi, suggesting that people shout and be disruptive until help arrives. "Don't just be killed like cockroaches."
Boniface Mwangi, a human rights activist, said "those young kids died a very brave death" at Garissa.
"It's not the work of the citizens to protect themselves," Mwangi said, citing a "social contract" that requires the government to safeguard its people.
On Thursday, students in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu demonstrated for better security on campuses. One protest sign referred to the strife in Somalia, where al-Shabaab is based, with the slogan: "Somalia is safer than Kenya."

A pathologist walks near coffins as relatives of slain Garissa students prepare to collect the bodies for burial. (Noor Khamis/Reuters )

Mwachi, the police official, told The Associated Press that some people might die while trying to fight any attackers, but more could survive if they thwart people who won't negotiate and plan to die themselves.
"There are some situations whereby you must do something more than the norm," said Mwachi, a leader of Kenya's national disaster agency. "You don't have to wait for somebody to kill you."
At the morgue, relatives of those killed waited in nearby tents to collect bodies for transport in coffins to hometowns and villages for burial. Framed photographs of some of the young victims were displayed outside a morgue door.
Phanice Lijodi's cousin, 23-year-old Jacob Bushuru, died at the Garissa college, where he was studying business management.
Lijodi said it would be hard to fight killers armed with "special guns" and possibly explosives.
"It's a good idea but not applicable here in Kenya," she said.

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apple-sign-tim-cook-stage

Working at Apple is a dream job for some but a nightmare for others, particularly those who value having free time. Via Business Insider, an ex-Apple employee named Ben Farrell recently quit his job at the company and penned a not-too-happy blog post about what it’s really like to work for the company. It goes without saying that Farrell, who “spent two years in the Apple camp managing customer service improvement for their technical support contact centers,” seems very happy to no longer be working at the company.

RELATED: Anonymous insiders reveal what it’s like to work for Apple

First, Farrell found the culture at Apple to not only be demanding but also rather petty and centered around trying to get others around you to fail so you could succeed.

“Sixteen hour days are filled with meetings after meetings followed by more meetings,” he writes. “Whilst this is somewhat standard in most organisations, meetings at Apple wreaked of toxic agendas designed to deliberately trip people up, make fools of the less respected and call people out. Team spirit is non existent as ‘internal customers’ attack individuals and push agendas that satisfy their morning egos. Hours upon hours were wasted in meetings to prepare for meetings in preparation for other meetings to the point where little work actually got done.”

That doesn’t sound healthy.

So what else did Farrell dislike about working at Apple? Here are some more relevant excerpts:

• “Drinks with colleagues revolved around the same stories told again and again as drunken management spoke of times when Apple executives made ‘strategic’ decisions to cut jobs and shut down Apple sites so swiftly and carelessly. Like boy-scouts around a campfire, employees eyes would glow and twinkle at this notion of power and embrace these stories with awe but with utter disrespect for the actions Apple has on the broader community of contractors, vendors, partners, resellers and business partners they have bent over a barrel of non-profitability.”
• “Sickness, family emergencies, and even weddings are given no respect at Apple. When I started my role I missed one business trip as my wife was pregnant, fell down the stairs and had to be hospitalised – this was listed as a ‘performance issue’ on my record and brought up during a one on one with management as a major ‘miss’ on my behalf.”
• “Management were inconsistent, moody and erratic. I’d often receive aggressive chats at all hours, and harassing texts every fifteen minutes asking “are you online? Your status shows you as away – are you there?”. I received rude voicemails on my phone when I was one minute late to a meeting and was harassed about my ‘Australian work ethic’ with management out of Singapore even commenting that Australians are ‘unfriendly’ and that we ‘only like to work with other Australians’.”

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In this image released by HBO, Brienne of Tarth, portrayed by Gwendoline Christie, left, battles with Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, portrayed by Rory McCann, in a scene from season four of "Game of Thrones." The season five premiere airs on Sunday. (AP Photo/HBO, Helen Sloan)

Battling warriors and wrangling dragons on "Game of Thrones" is easy. Weathering the bitter cold north of The Wall is a snap.

What's difficult is keeping track of all the storylines and remembering how things were left hanging when last season ended all those months ago.

With the return of "Thrones" for its fifth season on Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO, here's a reminder of what some of the characters were up to, way back then. And if you're not caught up, spoiler alert:

— Jon Snow was attempting to broker peace with the wildling army of Mance Rayder, self-styled King-Beyond-the-Wall, when Mance's camp was attacked by troops led by One-True-King Stannis Baratheon.

— Mance Rayder was taken prisoner by Stannis, who ordered him to kneel in surrender, something Mance, a stubborn sort, refused to do.

— Stannis Baratheon left the strong impression, yet again, that he's not the forgiving type.

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