technology

technology

• The SmartWatch is Here!

  • 
    
    We said it was only a matter of time and we were right.  Not that our prediction was much of a stretch. 
    Sony has introduced a smart watch in the United States for $150 (the wrist bands other than black, which comes with the watch are an extra $20.)

    The watch pairs with Android phones over Bluetooth and uses a free app in Google Play (if you own a Sony handset it should already be installed.)  The phone allows you to check e-mail, text and do social updates.  There are 60 apps for it so far, including facebook.

    One of the primary benefits of the watch is the ability to access your phone without physically touching it.  Rather than replacing the phone the watch acts as an accessory for the phone that is designed to enhance the user’s phone experience.

    The watch is dust proof and splash proof and also has a clip on the back of the phone, so it can be attached to a belt or other piece of clothing.

• Microsoft, Nokia and AT&T Team for $100 Smartphone

  • AT&T will be selling Nokia’s Lumia 900 smartphone for $100 with a two-year contract.  The phone uses Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS.  The phones go on sale April 8th and will feature a 4.3 inch AMOLED display and an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics.

    Currently, Windows makes up just 2% of the cell phone marketplace.  iOS and Android are the leaders.  This minimal price will undoubtedly help with a certain group of consumers, but the ultimate challenge still remains.  Is the Windows 8 smartphone platform good enough to choose over iOS and Android?

    One of the ways Nokia is supporting the product is by giving AT&T employees the new phone in the hopes that they will use it, and will become trend-setters of a sort.  They hope the employees will share their positive phone experiences with non-Windows users and begin to change minds about the OS.

    But Nokia and Microsoft are not stopping there.  They are investing a combined $24 million to fund a program aimed at app development at Finland’s Aalto University.  They realize the key to smartphone usage for most is the availability of apps.  The project will be called App Campus and will be geared to students and developers around the globe.  Developers will retain full intellectual property rights to any apps they create.

    AT&T and Nokia promise to promote this product as neither has done before.  There will be a massive television campaign beginning about April 8th, when the phone launches.  Special training for retail store employees is being conducted as well as in store promotions being conducted.

    It will be interesting to follow to see if once and for all, Nokia and Microsoft can crack the American cell phone market.

• Tomorrow’s Technology Today

  • Moon travel, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, 1984, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  The list of events and mass media products that look to the future and spark our imaginations is impressive.  At the time of their release we almost scoffed at their views of the future.  We don’t do this quite so much anymore.  Here are 5 products that are here today direct from the future.

    1.     Gaze Interaction: The ability to control your computer with your eyes.  Tobii’s Gaze Interaction allows users to navigate, scroll, zoom and select with their eyes.  The not-so-hard to imagine applications are the ability to open a program by looking at its icon, maybe the ability to move files to folders and maybe conduct some right click functions.  Our question is what happens if you’re an eye-roller?

    2.    Gesture Control: Most of you are familiar with Microsoft’s Kinect which started on a games system and is moving to PC’s.  Startup XTR3D has developed a product that will travel across platforms.  It can work with any 2D camera, including a webcam and can operate from 17 feet away.

    3.    Advanced Touchscreen Control: The product is the “Ringbow.”  It’s a finger worn tool that adds additional functions to typical touchscreen computing.  It can be used to click or right-click, open non-visible elements and it can also be programmed to copy actions of traditional input keys.

    4.    The Mouse Glove: Our name, not anyone else’s.  It’s a glove that acts as the mouse.  Keyglove from Kickstarter will be out later in 2012.  It’s a wireless, open source input device with great flexibility for various programs.  In addition to its applications in traditional computing, the Keyglove could be of great service to those with physical impairments.

    5.    Speech Control: This technology is already in operation in the form of iPhone’s Siri and Microsoft’s Kinect.  Look for it to grow exponentially in the next few years as devices’ abilities to detect dialects and semantics improve.

    The future is at hand, and in the case of the Mouse Glove, literally.

• New iPad Introduced

  • The new iPad, simply called iPad, was introduced on Wednesday, March 7, 2012.  Here’s a rundown on the specifications. 
    •    Retina Display, 2048 x 1536
    •    Quad-core A5X processor for improved graphics. Claims to have 4x the graphics performance as NVIDIA's Tegra 3 processor that's found in many Android tablets
    •    iSight camera, same optics system found in the iPhone 4S. It's 5 MP
    •    Records full 1080p HD video
    •    Voice dictation: new key on the keyboard. Tap it, and it dictates everything you say
    •    4G LTE, HSPA+ for wireless carriers. Available on AT&T and Verizon
    •    Personal hotspot feature
    •    3G world ready for connecting to international wireless carriers
    •    10 hours of battery life, 9 hours on 4G
    •    Starts at $499 for Wi-Fi, 16 GB model.  Same pricing structure as the iPad 2.
    Among the features that have people the most excited are an improved camera with HD video, the appearance of iPhoto (finally) to the app line-up, voice dictation and the textured screen.
    We’ll keep you updated as more is learned about the latest Apple tablet.

• New Mac OS Released

  • The new Mac OS, Mountain Lion, debuted and here are some of the most important features:
    -    iCloud is here.  Make a change on your Mac to your contacts or calendar and your other Apple devices will automatically be updated too.  This goes for documents in Pages, Keynote or Numbers.
    -    iChat is gone and replaced by Messages.  Integration of all devices is key.
    -    A number of apps from the iOS5 are now on Mac.  This includes Notifications, Reminders and Notes.  
    -    Share Sheets.  These are buttons that easily allow you to share information over email, twitter, etc.  Hit the share button and you get a drop down menu with the sharing options.
    -    Twitter is Apple’s go-to social network.  Direct integration with twitter works the same as it does in iOS.
    -    Game Center allows you to track and compare stats for many of the iOS games you play.  Now it comes to Mac. 
    -    AirPlay allows Macs to synch to AppleTV over a wireless network.  Absolutely great for presentations.
    -    A new security device, Gatekeeper, has been added that allows you to limit the types of apps your Mac runs.

• You won’t believe what Marketing can do now

  • Combine technology and the never-ending search for better targeted marketing and you end up with hidden cameras in your apartment.  Not really, but close.

    1.     Facial Recognition: Smile, you’ll get free ice cream.  Unilever, the company who owns Lipton tea and Suave shampoo also owns an ice cream company.  They created a vending machine that gave free ice cream for smiling.  Then they designed a box so people could upload their smiling faces to facebook.  When the machine debuted in Lisbon in 2011, they vended 52,000 bars in two days with no advertising.  (I’m assuming this was more than one machine. :) ) 
    Facial recognition is also used on digital signage.  A lot of installations can detect gender and age bracket and revise their ads to reflect that.  According to The Los Angeles Times, The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas is using facial recognition to tailor restaurant and entertainment ads for passersby and big brands like Adidas are installing and testing digital walls with facial recognition in a handful of stores to display age-appropriate shoes to customers.

    2.     Hyper Targeting: The explosion of online shopping has created a footprint of consumer information that marketers are just learning how to tap into.  A company named CRUNCH uses predictive intelligence (Zappos also uses it to suggest shoes to customers) gathered from shoppers’ online habits.  When two “hyper-segments” have been identified, ads are targeted to them.  It is predictive based on actual shopping habits.

    3.    Eavesdropping:   Companies are developing apps that would tell what radio station you are listening to or TV show you are watching.  This is fascinating to me as a marketer.  What this ultimately means for marketers is the opportunity to purchase commercials live.  No one is offering this is a possibility except me, but it’s the logical next step.  Think about it.
    Who’s watching “Revenge” tonight?  Is it a good episode?  Is social media buzzing?  A couple clicks in the computer and I can have my commercial running in the next commercial break.  It not only could happen, I predict it will happen.  The ability to buy commercials in real time, live, might well be the savior of broadcast television.

    We love to keep you posted on intriguing technologies and will continue to do so.  What would be on your technology wish list?
    Thanks for the inspiration to Christina DesMarias and Inc. online magazine.

• Is Kinect on the way on Laptops?

  • Undeniably yes.  For those unaware, Kinect recognizes simple hand gestures and is currently being used on the Xbox gaming console.  There are an estimated 18 million consoles worldwide.  Microsoft has been developing them for use on future laptops and it’s estimated that they will hit the market in the second half of 2012.

    Since the technology is already available on Xbox, when the technology is available on a laptop, it seems that gaming will be a high priority for those laptops.  At the very least, it will be a highly marketed function of the laptops.  The technology will also allow for even more multi-tasking, will it not?

    Microsoft opened its Kinect SDK to developers in 2011, so expect capabilities to come fast and furious both as, and after, the laptops actually hit the marketplace.

    Others developing the gesture-recognition technology include SoftKinetic, whose system can sense motion as close as 6 inches away.  This is extremely important for laptop use.  If for example, the computer user has to be several feet away for the technology to work, that’s certainly not very user friendly is it?

    Other outlets for the technology include televisions which will be hitting the market shortly also.  They will recognize hand movements as Kinect does, which will allow the viewer to adjust the volume and channel, among other uses.

• FREE Microsoft Office Alternative

  • Rick Broida in an article for c/net reviewed a Microsoft alternative that he gave positive reviews to.
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-57364785-58/a-free-microsoft-office-alternative-thats-actually-good/?tag=mncol;cnetRiver
    To check it out yourself, here’s a link to Kingsoft. 
    http://www.kingsoftstore.com/kingsoft-office-freeware.html

    This writer doesn’t feel so bad for not hearing of Kingsoft, because neither did Broida.  He goes on to say that he tested the product on an old laptop and realty liked it. 
    Kingsoft Office looks a lot like Office 2010.  He describes the software like this, “the free version is extremely capable, offering robust counterparts to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint--and file compatibility with all three. It doesn't support Visual Basic or macros, however, so if you're a power user, you might want to consider the $69.95 Pro version, which adds those features (among others).

    A final caveat…c/net staffers give the product 4 ½ stars out of 5.

    So publishers, if you get sticker shock just thinking of either buying a new version, or upgrading to the latest version of Microsoft Office, you may want to check out Kingsoft Office.  After all, it’s free, so what have you got to lose.

• Gadgets from 2012 CES Show You May Use

  • There were gadgets at the CES that affiliate marketers could put to use.  What are they?  Lauren Drell wrote the following for American Express OPEN and Mashable.  Here are a few of the products.
    http://mashable.com/2012/01/18/ces-gadgets-for-small-business/
    1.    Swivl

    
    As a former TV Commerical Producer this gadget holds a lot of interest for me.  It’s just cool; but it’s also easy to see how affiliate marketers can make use of it, particularly as video grows in importance in SE rankings. 
    The Swivl allows your iPhone to follow you as you demo a product, give a lecture, do cartwheels if you wish.  All without an operator.  Set up the Swivl with your iPhone and get into position with the “marker” in your hand.  The Swivl will pivot the iPhone to follow the marker and thus your movements.  You can produce your own videos by yourself much easier now, and probably with greater results. 
    Maybe the coolest part of Swivl is that it has a built in microphone that maintains the same audio levels even as you move about the room.  The iPhone model will be available in the 1st quarter, and an Android version is on the way.  Retail price as of this moment is $160.

    2.    Powertech USB Charger
    Smartphone, tablet, laptop, iPod and more.  (Sounds like the beginning of a song almost.)  They all need juice to operate.  The Powertech USB wall charger allows you to plug in traditional cords yes, but also allows you to plug in two USB devices.  It’s also designed to be slim so it’s a great accessory for the business traveler.  No price was listed.

    3.    Karotz Smart Rabbit

    
    This product is just cool looking.  The Karotz Smart Rabbit is an internet-connected device that can be integrated into your social networks.  It updates pages, sends e-mails and read texts.  There is voice-recognition software that helps the rabbit carry out certain commands such as searching the web, playing music or even checking the weather. 
    It gets better.  There’s also a built-in microphone and webcam, so Karotz can snap a pic and upload it with the touch of a couple of buttons. 
    It’s a little like Siri jumped out of your iPhone and landed in a plastic rabbit. 
    Initial retail price is $129.

    4.    Victorinox SSD with 1TB Flash Drive

    How many times have you said, “if only I had a Swiss army knife with a built-in flash drive.”  Well maybe never, but we have a feeling that once you have one of these, you’re gonna wonder how you lived without it.  It really is a Swiss army knife as it has a blade and scissors, as well as a laser pointer.  But it has the previously mentioned USB flash drive, that holds 1 terabyte of data.  That is such a huge amount this writer has never heard of it.  But that’s not all — this knife also it connects to eSATA II/III and USB 2.0/3.0 with a single connector, there’s a graphic display showing what’s saved to the drive. Plus, it supports 256 AES encryption, so you don’t have to worry about file security.
    No price is given.

• It’s a Watch! No, it’s a Computer!

  • Just last week we told you that Google and Apple were moving forward on technology that marries jewelry and technology.

    https://www.t3leads.com/en/affiliate-articles/technology.html#devices-as-jewelry

    The smart watch is here, well it’s in Europe, and soon to be here.  (They recently opened offices in Silicon Valley) It’s called “I’m watch” and is from aptly named Italian designer, “i’m.”  It runs a customized Android interface and can connect to your current smartphone, including BlackBerry and iPhone, to handle phone calls and SMS, as well as music and a host of apps.

    There is also an emphasis on design.

    “Given also our brand’s Italian roots, we naturally do give an extreme emphasis on elegant design, since we profoundly believe that sight and touch deserve an equally important share, just like the more technical aspects,” says Eleonora Cazzaro, press manager at i’m.

    The watches are currently priced from $322 to $13,000 for the top of the line with optional diamonds.

    But it’s tech capabilities are pretty impressive.  You can access incoming calls, address books and apps including facebook and twitter.  The wearer can also swipe, tap, click and enlarge on the watches’ glass screen. 
    According to Cazzaro, “What we did — given the continuously evolving technologies and trends in a frantic and demanding lifestyle — is blend these classic features with the popular, sought-after functions most of us require, such as phone, email, social network and more, to create a dynamic, efficient and accurately designed device.  All of this is installed in the unique, simple concept of a [smart]watch.”

    Our initial reaction is, “why would you add diamonds to a device that will more than likely be antiquated in six months?”  Seriously though, this holds some serious possibilities for tech portability and will be fun to see how the device evolves and how fast.

• Two New Technology Advances

  • c/net is reporting on two new pieces of technology; one may impact affiliate marketing in the future, and the other is just fun.  The first is a new tablet that will be priced at $200.  Archos announced that they will have a 7-inch tablet on the market in January 2012.  This joins Amazon’s Kindle Fire in that price range.  This Andros product will have a webcam on the front, unlike Amazon’s model.

    This is important because as the price comes down and features increase, more people will buy one, thus changing the way consumers research and buy products and services.  It changes where they purchase products and it obviously changes the devices they purchase from.

    Our next product(s) are disposable iPhone cameras.  Say what?  These are in fact apps that enhance the picture taking experience.  First, Hipstamatic is a digital photography app that allows the user to take pictures and through the use of several filters makes the pictures look as if they were taken with an antique camera.  Their new version allows users to share their pics on facebook.  A nine-pack of 24 exposure cameras costs just 99 cents.  Some filters cost slightly more.

    The other app is called Dotti Disposable and comes from Sincerely.  In this case, you buy 12-shot rolls for $4.99 and that includes printing and mailing of the pics to the person you want.  Dotti allows you edit your bad pictures.

    There really is something new every day, isn’t there?  Or in these cases, something old is new again.

• Wearable Devices

  • The New York Times reported that Apple and Google are working on technology that you would wear.  Apple is working with a piece that would double as a watch.  Google’s plans were not that specific; just that they were developing technology that you would wear.

    Apple’s goal is to design a piece people would want to wear.  The device would take advantage of Siri, the virtual personal assistant, technology.  The piece would talk to user’s iPhone and vice versa. 
    Speaking to the New York Times, Michael Liebhold, a senior research executive, for the Institute for the Future, said that in as little as 10 years, we'll be wearing glasses with built-in screens and kids will be playing a "virtual" game in real life, "chasing virtual creatures for points."

    We for one don’t think “glasses as monitors” and “virtual real-life” games are as far away as ten years.  It’s quite easy to see them appearing well before that.  As for the wearable technology, it will happen fast.  It seems such a no-brainer, that it’s hard to believe it will not be regular part of our lives in five years.

• Innovation: Too Fast or Too slow?

  • A recent study, “Navigating the Product Mindset” from the Underwriter’s Laboratories, (the “UL” people,) suggests that a type of update wariness is in the wind.  (With all due respect, sales don’t reflect this yet, but the study suggests it might be on the way.)

    Their findings suggested that 48% of the respondents thought that products were released too quickly.  Even more enlightening, 66% of the respondents “feel manufacturers don’t conduct thorough testing” before the product releases.

    So, does that mean that consumers are beginning to feel that updates are coming too quickly or does it mean that the updates themselves are, in reality, not offering anything new?  Think about it, does the data, in fact, really mean that the innovations are actually coming too slow?

    Let the next dinner table debate begin.

• 100 Million Downloads for Apple’s Mac App Store

  • Apple launched the Mac App store in January of this year and has already reached 100 million downloads.  Its goal was to end buying software in a box (whether they said that publically, or not.)  After all, it isn’t necessary to do that anymore.

    The store is available as a free download for Snow Leopard and Lion users.  Users can choose from free and paid programs.  Apple shares 70% of the revenue with developers and keeps 30% for itself.

    Apple did not say how many apps were free and how many were paid.

    It also reported that mobile apps are moving like gangbusters as well.  To date, over 18 billion have been downloaded since its inception.

• Bendable Tablets Introduced

  • Under the heading of “of course they will,” Samsung unveiled a device that looks a whole lot like a tablet that bends.  Bendable smart phones are more than likely coming in 2012, so how far away can bendable tablets be?  
    In the video released by Samsung, the concept piece is used as an e-reader, camera, a video chat system and an interpreter.  Samsung also imagines the device capable of viewing 3-D images.   This product is still early in the research and development phase, but is 2013 or 2014 too soon to predict we’ll see the retailing of a bendable tablet?

• MicroBilt releases Instant Bank Verification (IBV)

  • MicroBilt, a business risk management systems company, has introduced Instant Bank Verification, (IBV)a proprietary technology system designed to help non-traditional lenders assess the risk and bank account status of applicants in real time.

    According to the MicroBilt website, “IBV automatically and instantly provides a lender with six distinct attributes making it easier than ever to gauge the repayment abilities of a loan applicant.”

    Included in the applicant data is the existence of a real account, the length of time the account has been active, and whether or not the applicant has direct deposit.  The system also determines the frequency of the deposits, as well as to how many NSF instances from the account.  IBV also tells you what the account balance is – all this is done in real-time.

    The goal of the new technology is to procure more accurate information faster than it was available previously, thus allowing alternative lenders the ability to make more informed decisions. 

    MicroBilt estimates that their clients serve over 100 million consumers in the U.S.

• Google Chairman says Android is beating iPhone

  • There, he said it.  At a techie show in Paris.  Schmidt elaborated on how he was measuring: "unit volume, Ice Cream Sandwich, the price is lower, there are more vendors."
    He is right sort of.  But, how much does that matter when every new app is designed for iPhone or iPad first?  Flipboard recently announced its expansion from the iPad to the iPhone and when asked about Android said, "We've been focused on iPhone," McCue of Flipboard said.   "We'll see."

    Schmidt responded by saying, "Ultimately, application vendors are driven by volume, and volume is favored by the open approach Google is taking. There are so many manufacturers working to deliver Android phones globally," Schmidt said. "Whether you like Android or not, you will support that platform, and maybe you'll even deliver it first."
    About 200 million Android phones have gone into use so far, with 550,000 new ones being activated daily, Schmidt said.

    Android is central to Google’s marketing plans.  It gives the OS away for free because it gets their other services into people’s hands.  Services such as Gmail, Google Apps, Google+ and Google Music.

    Schmidt made an interesting observation by putting mobile into context, especially for some of us older folks who fight it:   "All the interesting new applications are going to be some combination of social, mobile, and local," Schmidt said. And it's not a fad, he said: "Social, local, mobile has been true for humans for at least 10,000 years, so I don't think it's going to go away any time soon."

• Browser Shake-up is Here

  • Internet Explorer (IE) is still the browser of choice worldwide, although it dominance decreases with each passing month, but it’s the battle for Number 2 that may fast change hands.  Mozilla’s Firefox has been a solid number 2 for a while, but if current numbers keep pace, Google’s Chrome will pass it in the first half on 2012.

    IE has been famously ignored for years, although it should be noted an update is on the way in 2012, which has led to an active and growing battle for spots 2, 3 and 4.  Safari, by Apple, is solidly in 4th.  In November 2011, Firefox dropped .4% to 22.1%, while Chrome gained .7% to 18.2%.  these numbers are from “Net Applications” Browser usage measurement.

    According to Stat Counter the battle is already over.  It reports Chrome’s market share at 25.69% worldwide and Firefox at 25.23%.  In the U.S., Chrome is still number three at 17.3%.

    All of this is important because browser makers call the shots on what software powers their programs.

    Worldwide mobile browser usage is dominated by Apple’s safari.

• Firefox Begins “Reboot” for Android

  • On Tuesday, November 22nd, Mozilla releases the first version of the overhauled Firefox for Android.  It will work like this.  Mozilla tests new technology on its “nightly” channel, it then “graduates” to Aurora, beta and final-release channels, incubating for six weeks in each phase.

    There are numerous reasons this is important for Mozilla.  First and foremost, the computing industry is getting ever closer to a switch to mobile-first, be it though the phone or the tablet.  And, Firefox isn’t factory-installed anywhere.  Not on Apple products, nor Microsoft.  Android marks the only way for Mozilla to get its product out there.

    Firefox became popular on PC’s because of its customization.  But Mozilla’s technology did not work as well with mobile devices.  As a result, Mozilla has embraced Android’s built-in technology. 
    We’ll keep you posted on the progress.

• Apple and Patents

  • This week alone it is estimated that Apple will have three dozen patents on their way to the US Patent and Trademark office.  So what do these look like?  How about glass that doesn’t break?

    According to Christina Bonnington of Wired, Apple has designed technology that would prevent the glass on your portable Apple device from breaking in the event of a fall.   A “tunable shock mount” would lay between the glass and the device.  It would inflate when the device’s accelerometer senses that the device is falling.  The effect causes the device to suck in the glass, protecting it from damage during the fall.  The technology also makes for a water-tight seal.  Rather than normal glass, the patent uses “gorilla glass,” which is already used in the 4th generation iPhones.

    Another patent would allow for the re-charging of more than one device at a time by “daisy-chaining.”  This would happen either in the adaptor itself or in a separate cord or connector.

• The Facebook Phone – It’s on the way

  • Buffy is coming.  That’s the code name for the Facebook phone.  It will run a heavily modified version of Google’s Android.  They are working with HTC, a Taiwanese cell phone maker, who helped Amazon and Barnes & Noble to create tablets that run with customized versions of Android.

    The package would run HTML5 as a platform for applications.  This will allow users to play games such as Cityville or Poker directly from the Facebook app.  This is important because Facebook is currently cut off from the revenue stream of these games, as the games are currently a separate download from Facebook.   Buffy is being designed to rectify that situation.

    Facebook says it has 350 million mobile users and relationships with 475 mobile operators.  It is one of the most popular apps on nearly every phone, but more often than not, it is not front and center.  It is often an app where users can view their friends’ feeds and upload photos and status updates.  Facebook has had some success allowing users to upload photos from their picture-taking  app, or to integrate Facebook contacts with the phone’s address book.

    Suffice to say that the “big boys” are lining up to do battle.  Google and Apple run the two smartphone operating systems on the market today.  When Apple unveiled iOS5, the latest update to their software on iPhones and iPads, there was deeper integration with Twitter than with Facebook.  And with Google going all out with Google+ in direct competition with Facebook, it will be interesting to see exactly what the mobile landscape looks like 2 years from now.

    Buffy is estimated to be 15 to 18 months from hitting the shelves.

• Privacy isn’t Only Google’s Problem

  • Apple announced that iOS applications that collect user contact information are in violation of their privacy guidelines.  They further announced that a future software fix will target the problem.  They stated, “any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release."

    The practice by some 3rd party developers became public when Path, a program designed for iOS and Android was found to be collecting user information without permission.  In the last couple of days other apps have copped to extracting and sharing this information.

    All of this comes at a time when online privacy is a big political issue, with many different eyes on the topic.  Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook expressing concern about whether iOS app developer policies are falling short when it comes to protecting consumer information.

    Apple has faced privacy issues with its mobile operating system in the past and worked to eliminate the problems.  It is currently in Beta testing for iOS5.1 with developers.  It is unclear when their revisions to block app developer contact info grabs will be in place.

    *Minutes after writing the above post – twitter announced that they collect contact information and use it for marketing purposes as well.  You can believe that this will only ramp up the noise about online privacy.   Twitter has since apologized.

• Google drops 7 services

  • Google announced the end of seven services this week.  Here are the services and their end dates.  On their blog, they readily admit that the products did not have the impact they had hoped.

    Google Bookmarks Lists: “an experimental feature for sharing bookmarks and collaborating with friends.”  End date: December 19, 2011.

    Google Friend Connect:  Allows webmasters to add social features to their sites with a few “snippets of code.”  The service is being deleted for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012.

    Google Gears:  On December 1, 2011, Gears-based Gmail and Calendar offline will stop working across all browsers, and later in the month Gears will no longer be available for download.  Google says,” This is part of our effort to help incorporate offline capabilities into HTML5, and we’ve made a lot of progress. For example, you can access Gmail, Calendar and Docs offline in Chrome.

    Google Search Timeline is a graph of historical results for a particular query.  The information will still be available through google.com/trends or google.com/insights/search

    Google Wave: Development on Wave stopped over a year ago, but as of January 31, 2012, it will become read-only and on April 30, it will shut off completely.  They recommend Apache Wave and Walkaround to achieve the same results.

    Knol:  Knol was created to “enable experts to collaborate on in-depth articles.”  Sounds like Wikipedia a little bit.  They are now working with Solvitor and Crowd Favorite to create Annotum.   End date: April 30, 2012.

    Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal (RE

• US Mobile Penetration Rates

  • Check these numbers out:  eMarketer reports that in 2010 there were 13 million tablet users; 4.2% of the population.  In 2011 that jumped to 33.7 million; 10.8% of the population.  In 2014, the numbers are expected to be 89.5 million users, representing 27.7% of the population.  That’s a huge change indicating that Americans have clearly embraced the tablet technology.

    Liana Evans made the following observation for clickz:  It started with the necessity of a website, then social media came along, and now as consumers leave their PC’s and desktops behind, it is imperative to develop material that gives consumers the information they need when they need it...on their mobile devices. 
    She makes 4 recommendations: 
    1.     Make sure your contact information is accessible.  Make sure your phone numbers and email addresses are hot links for easy consumer use.
    2.    Get rid of flash.
    3.    Test your site in a mobile platform. 
    4.    Ask your customers how they got to you.  There are geo-location apps popping up everyday.  Stay on top of those people are using.  Also, make sure your information is correct on every site.
    
    

• Ding Dong the Flash is Dead…On Mobile Devices

  • Adobe confirmed that it’s ending the Flash Player plug-in for mobile devices.  Steve Jobs and Apple refused to allow apps compiled to run with Flash to run on iPhone, iPod or the iPad.  Adobe just couldn’t seem to get a version of Flash to work on a mobile device with any quality.

    Flash will still be produced for the still massive PC industry, but this had to sting for Adobe.  It’s not hard to imagine a non-PC world; one dominated by pad and mobile device computing.  So where will that leave Flash?

• Google Readies Chrome for Android

  • Google has created a version of its Chrome web browser for the Android system.  It has synchronization features for sharing tabs and bookmarks across devices.  It’s available for Android phones running Ice Cream sandwich, but the majority of current Android phones run older versions of the software.

    According to TechNewsWorld, making the browser a downloadable app means users don’t have to wait for the factory to install it on future phones.  But, they do have to wait for the ice cream sandwich updates.
    The ability to cross platforms is an important one.  You can have a tab open on your desktop for instance and access that on your phone.  Other features worthy of mention include a dedication to privacy with a private browsing mode called “Incognito” and the ability to fine-tune options.

    Everything was of course redesigned to fit on the smaller screen with tabs fitting on the small screen.  And in a major victory for shaky-hands persons, the problem of tapping links on a small screen has been improved with a feature that zooms on the links, thus making the choice of a link an easier task to complete.

    The address bar remains as a search bar as well, as in the desktop version.  Mobile chrome also delivers video in html5.

    ABI Research Analyst Michael Morgan makes a good observation, “They're using this browser to bridge the gaps between desktop, smartphone and tablet," he told LinuxInsider.

• Smartphones near Majority

  • In a report released by Nielsen Media, smartphones are near to overtaking feature phones (mobile phones that are not considered smart phones) in the cell phone race.  In 2011 according to Wikipedia, feature phones made up 60% of the market.

    Nielsen reports that 49.7% of all cell phone users own a smart phone.  One year ago that number was 36%.  It is clear that when people trade in their older phones they are opting for new smart phone models. 
    And the models they are overwhelmingly choosing are iOS and Android.

    Currently, Android based smart phones make up 48% of the market, with iPhone accounting for 32%.  One year ago Android’s share was 40% and iOS 28%.

    But when it comes to smart phones being purchased today, the race is much closer.  Android makes up 48% of smart phone sales, while Apple makes up 43%.  Blackberry is down to 5% and everyone else, including the Windows phone make up just 4% of the market.

    With the announcement this week from Microsoft and Nokia’s that the new Windows phone will sell for $100, one can infer that they want a bigger piece of the pie.  It won’t be impossible certainly, but it is certain to be a major challenge.

    The evidence continues to mount that mobile is not only the future, but very much the present.

• Cars That Read Your Text Messages for You? You Betcha

  • Ford announces that most 2012 models will have the technology in conjunction with Bluetooth™, wherein your car will read your text messages and allow you to send a return message.  The driver will choose one of several pre-written messages and this will all be done hands free. 
    Texting while driving has become a leading cause of accidents nationwide.  In fact, it is the leading cause of accidents for young drivers.  Many states are responding with bans.  
    Ten states, plus the District of Columbia, ban the use of hand held cell phones for all drivers.  Thirty states place restrictions of young drivers.  Thirty four states, plus the District, have banned outright, texting while driving. 
    As this problem persists look for more auto manufacturers to follow Ford and BMW (has already begun installing the technology) by integrating the new technology into their new cars.

• 4 Million Sold and Counting for iPhone4S

  • There are four big changes in the new iPhone4S.  You might call them the “big 4.”  First, an 8-megapixel camera that is unmatched on a phone, a vastly improved screen image and the 4S is markedly faster.  And, finally there’s Siri.  Siri is your new personal assistant. 
    For fans of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” you had to know it was coming.  The voice in the spacecraft in “2001…” was called Dave, and already, blogs, websites and postings have popped up comparing the two.  In fact, it turns out that Siri has a sense of humor.  It’s safe to say that Dave’s was a little darker.
    Ask Siri what she’s wearing and she’ll say, “Aluminosilicate glass and stainless steel. Nice, huh?"  Ask her the meaning of life and you’ll hear, “I can't answer that now, but give me some time to write a very long play in which nothing happens.”  That’s funny stuff. 
    But Siri is not just here for comedy.  This app is a personal assistant which responds to spoken commands and questions.  It can check appointments; create new contacts and much more.  You can say, “Remind me to call my Mom.”  Siri will respond, “What time would you like me to remind you?” 
    It is the type of technology that causes you to daydream.  Just think where this ability will be in five years.  Ten? 
    Now the question looms…when does Apple release the iPhone5?

• What is Cloud Computing?

  • Definitions certainly vary, but let’s start with this one.  “The cloud” refers to any computer service accessed outside the firewall.  It may be for data storage or it may be for software access.  Many organizations use the cloud for data storage.  Others use it to access a particular software program that may be too expensive in terms of storage and IT personnel to operate, but when shared on a “cloud” is manageable.

    
    Keep in mind that when researching cloud data storage makes sure the data is available ALL the time and from ALL the places you need to access it.  

    
    There are many other uses of the cloud.  Before dismissing something as too expensive or unavailable, research the many resources that companies that offer cloud computing can offer.
    
    

• Microsoft Getting into the Phone Game

  • If you are an Apple lover you may be surprised to learn that Initial reports are positive.  The voice recognition software allows you to phone or text someone, and also lets you ask for directions. 
    The design is clean, yet provides information on the main screen without having to open an app to access it. 
    The home screen features a set of tiles, each of which represents a different app that you have placed their for your convenience.  Within those tiles pertinent information is displayed, such as the number of messages you have or a music playlist.
    It is missing a few capabilities that the iPhone has, most notably there is no way to create folders to organize your apps, nor is there any way to send videos to other phones as MMS messages.
    But it does have an ability the iPhone does not.  You can point the camera at any printed text and it will paste it into a Word .doc or into an e-mail message.  And one more thing, it will translate into another language if you wish.
    The phone is called Gotcha! and is available from Samsung and HTC, ranging in price from $50 to $200 with two year contracts.
    

• Tablet Ownership Almost Doubles in 4 Weeks!

  • According to the Pew Research Center and American Life Project the number of US adults who own a tablet device rose from 10% on December 21, 2011 to a whopping 19% on January 15, 2012.  25 days!

    The study goes on to tell us who the tablet users are, and to a great extent they are the more affluent.  36% of households making $75,000 or more now own a tablet.  31% of college graduates also own a tablet. 
    More tablets in the hands of consumers is good news for marketers, according to a new study from Adobe. Tablet users spent 54 percent more per purchase in 2011 than visitors who use smartphones, the study said, with an average order total of $123 per purchase.

    Tablet shoppers spend more than their smartphone counterparts for two reasons, according to Adobe: One, they are more affluent than smartphone users, a finding consistent with the Pew study. Adobe also speculated that tablets are simply more conducive to shopping.

    Some other interesting takeaways: Pew found that the number of male and female adults in the U.S. who own a tablet computer leapt from 6% (males) and 4% (females) in November 2010 to 19% (for both genders) in mid-January 2012.

• ¼ of Paid-Search Clicks will come from Mobile by end of Year

  • In a report just released by Marin Software (“The State of Mobile Search Advertising”) they predict that 25% of Google’s paid-search clicks will come from mobile by December.  In December 2011, mobile made up 12.3% of paid clicks.

    The report also estimates that 23% of ad spending for search will be from mobile.

    More numbers to consider:  At the end of 2011 tablets accounted for 38% of all mobile paid clicks.  That number is expected to grow to 45% at the end of 2012.

    Mobile also leads in CTR and offers a lower cost per click, but conversions were lower.  At the end of 2011, the CTR for smartphones was 4.12%, 3.12% for tables and 2.39% for PC’s.  Cost per click was $0.83 for PC’s, while $0.63 for tables and $0.53 for smartphones.

    The average conversion rate by device:  5.2% for PC’s, 4.9% for tables and 2.0% for smartphones.

• Data Input You Can Wear?

  •  

    

    Yes.  Microsoft revealed technology that turns any surface into a touch screen.  Named “OmniTouch,” it allows for multi-touch input on everyday surfaces, such as your arm, a wall, your dog even.  Ok, maybe not your dog.
    
    “We wanted to capitalize on the tremendous surface area the real world provides,” commented Hrvoje Benko of the National Interactive Research Group at Microsoft. The technology combines a laser-based pico projector and depth-sensing camera, the latter not unlike Microsoft's Kinect camera for the Xbox 360.
    
    Portability and convenience are two huge benefits of the technology.

     

• Technology in the Works for 2012

  • Techies.  The new iPhone hasn’t even been out two weeks and we’re already wondering what’s coming next year?  Aren’t we ever satisfied?  The answer is no.  We’re the modern day dreamers after all. 
    There are numerous possibilities:  the extinction of the PC as tablet computing takes over; the demise of your wallet as mobile devices take over that job – don’t laugh, it’s already happening in parts of Asia; an article we posted last week noted the Microsoft demo of a multi surface data input system; and, thanks to Nokia and Samsung, something we really didn’t see coming:  a flexible screen.

    The first thing that comes to mind is WoW!  Then, what exactly what does this mean?  It will make scrolling easier.  That was demonstrated quite effectively.  On the fun side it was also shown how glove wearers could operate the screen.  Great news for those living in colder climates. 
    Samsung, now the world’s largest manufacturer of smart phones says it will begin shipping flexible screen phones in 2012.

    Ho hum, so, what’s in the works for 2013?

• Mozilla Announces 2012 Changes to Firefox

  • In the most recent changes to Firefox several old problems were worked out.  Old add-ons which were not working in new updates were made compatible and now all add-ons can be synched across several computers.

    A couple of updates look interesting such as “silent updates” and one we’ll call instant social.  First, “silent updates” which will be downloaded and silently installed without the user having to do anything.

    And later in 2012 the ability to share links and updates to a variety of social networks directly from the browser will be available.  There have been a couple of attempts to integrate social networking directly into various browsers, but none have caught on.

    When you think about it, it seems like the most logical thing in computing.  It’s truly a wonder that the practice is not an established part of computing.  We’ll see if Firefox will be the first.

    For a full list of 2012 updates go to:  https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Roadmap

• Zurich Ins. Sues Sony Over Playstation Hacking

  • Talk about an interesting lawsuit!
    
    Zurich American Insurance Co. has filed suit against a Sony Corp. division, claiming they do not have the duty to cover the cost of lawsuits and related expenses associated with the hacking of Sony's PlayStation Network.
    
    The lawsuit was filed July 20 in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. The suit states Zurich is not mandated to “defend and potentially indemnify” Sony from class action suits, other related claims and costs associated with legal investigations concerning the April hacking incidents.
    
    The court documents state Zurich officials believe the insurer is not required to defend or indemnify Sony. Zurich says Sony’s primary commercial general liability and excess policies do not qualify for such coverage against these types of losses.
    
    Zurich also claims Sony's other insurers should be liable for providing primary coverage for these losses. Those carriers include: Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. of America; National Union Fire Insurance Co.; and ACE American Insurance Co.
    
    Sony’s PlayStation Network was hacked in April, 2011, exposing over 100 million customer accounts and their private information. The incident, which was reportedly the second-largest Internet breach in U.S. history with losses up to $2 billion, has resulted in a flurry of claims against Sony.

• Top Brands not Optimizing Their Facebook Pages Properly

  • The top 200 brands in the world are not doing an effective job optimizing their Facebook or Twitter pages for search engine rankings.
    
    The SEO platform BrightEdge has analyzed the leading consumer brands. The firm has determined that these brands do have a social media presence, but they are not performing adequate SEO practices to optimize their social network pages on the major search engines.
    
    BrightEdge has reported that nearly all of the top consumer brands are ranked at or near the top of the organic searches. And, 68 percent of these companies' Facebook or Twitter pages are in the top 20 search results. But the objective for online marketers is to be within the top 10 results in order to generate the best website traffic results.
    
    BrightEdge found there is no direct connection between a company's social network friends list and its search engine ranking.
    
    According to the study, the industries that are the weakest in effectively optimizing social media are the finance and insurance industries. Of the top 43 financial and insurance companies, only three firms have Facebook fan pages rank near the top.

• Killer Apps for Entrepreneurs

  • Scott Gerber in an article for mashable, offered his mobile app recommendations for entrepreneurs.  Let’s check them out. 
    http://mashable.com/2012/01/24/entrepreneur-mobile-apps/
    With each passing day, you can conduct more and more of your business from your phone.  Although most of us may still use a PC or laptop, don’t discount what some of these programs can do for you.

    Thanks to Scott he did the research for us and here are the apps a group of successful young entrepreneurs say are their favorites.

    - Thumb:  You ask questions and share opinions.  Upload a picture and within seconds people will comment and rate it.  The most exciting thing about this is to this writer is its potential.  What will this look like in six months?

    - Instagram.  We’ve covered this before, but it’s very popular.  The app allows you to change photos with one of many filters.  Take a great picture and make it look better.  Make it great and see if it, and you, don’t go viral.

    - Instapaper:  Your personal online newspaper.  If you’re like me, I constantly come across articles and blogposts that I want to read, but don’t have the time to at that moment.  Wave the article to Instagram and read it later.   A much improved system over bookmarking everything and having that mess.

    - Dwolla.  The online version of cash.  People can exchange money online or through their phones with paying any fees.  Check their website for more information.

    - OmniFocus:  A organizing app for Mac, iPhone and iPad.  Reminds me of an old style actual organizer.  You know, the real kind with tabs, a binder and all that.  You can organize tasks by device.  Make general to-do lists, etc. 
    We hope you find some of these useful. 

• Google is Changing Search

  • Announced today, March 15, 2012, Google plans to change its search engine in a way that they hope will answer questions rather than providing links to a grouping of sites.  For example, if ask how many mountain ranges there are in Montana, Google will try to send you to a site that has the answer rather than to a site that with the keywords “mountain ranges in Montana” that may or may not have the answer to the question.

    The company, according to Google Fellow Amit Singhal, is working to give its search engine a better understanding of the words it's searching. Google wants to do away with simply searching for word strings and coming out with Web site links, according Singhal.

    In 2010, Google bought Metaweb, a company whose free and open database called Freebase, a large collection of information on people, places and things, Google is using in this search project. The more words and phrases that Google's search engine knows, the more easily it can find more precise query results, Singhal said.

    This sounds like a change that will be helpful.  It also sounds a lot like Ask.com.  We’ll learn more about this change next week and will keep you updated.

• Get Paid for Your Old Tech Gadgets

  • There are companies that will pay you to take old tech such as computers, blu-ray movies, mobile phones and other such items.  Here’s a list some:

    Gazelle:  A reCommerce service that will take iPads, external hard drives, GPS devices, satellite radios, Blu-ray movies and other gadgets. If your item isn’t listed, you can contact them for a personalized quote. Payment can be made via Amazon gift card, checks, PayPal, or you can opt to have the funds donated to one of the charities they work with.

    NextWorth:  Works with several retailers to make it easy for you to receive store credit or a gift card by trading in old electronics. You can also go to the website and receive a quote online, then get a check or gift card mailed to you. You can also receive payment via PayPal or e-gift card.

    eBay:  As part of the Rethink Initiative program, eBay offers various tools and solutions to consumers looking to sell one or many electronic devices. If you choose not to sell your device on eBay yourself, there are a couple other options the company can provide you with.

    BuyMyTronics.com buys your used cell phones, iPods, iPads and other Apple products, digital cameras, tablets, and other electronics. You'll receive a free quote, and if you agree with the offer, the company also offers free shipping. The gadget will then be processed and you'll get a check back, or payment via PayPal.

    iOffer is another eCommerce site that offers "a negotiable marketplace." You can sell, trade or purchase just about anything, but there is a whole section devoted specifically to video games.

    There are several big retailers that have programs for trade-ins of old tech and they include Best Buy, Walmart, Target and Radio Shack. 

• Mobile Trends

  • In a recent article for clickz, Jeremy Lockhorn offered some thought and opinions on the state of mobile programming marketing.  How many do you agree with and what trends do you see for mobile?

    • Mobile is the new first screen.  In the past TV and desktop web were the first two screens, but increasingly firms are recognizing that mobile is taking over.  For example, ESPN VP and General Manager of mobile says that the network’s first screen is now mobile; given his job, he better of course.  But don’t laugh him off – he said that the network’s mobile reach was 20 million last year.  No numbers to sneeze at, that’s for sure.  In it’s IPO offering, Facebook showed that they had 425 million mobile users.  As FB gives mobile more attention, particularly as an income generator, look for that number to do nothing but grow.
    • The Platform Race will generate tech advances. Apple began as the unquestioned leader, and to many still is, of the mobile phone platform, but Android is catching up.  At least it can be said that they are selling a lot of units.  Also hoping to jump into the mix is Microsoft.  Their Windows 8 phone is getting good if not excellent reviews, so expect the competition among the three to result in better products for users in the end.
    •  Mobile becomes more behavior based.  They’re already location and time aware.  The cameras allow for the recording and posting of images; not just pictures, but bar codes too.  We watch TV and other types of programming on the.  We even talk to them and they talk back.  As technology increases the abilities of the phones will only increase what we are able to do with them.  The prediction for all of this is that marketing messages will become more behavior based and relevant.
    •  Mobile Shopping.  Yes, people will buy more stuff online, we know that.  But it is the way they are doing it that keeps changing.  They are researching while shopping; not just pricing but product specs and comparisons.  They are going to stores, but buying online.  That model will have a limited lifespan as more and more storefronts go out of business.  The certainty in all of this is uncertainty. 

     

    The only real given is that mobile is changing everything. 

• It’s a Mobile World Out There

  • Forrester Research released its newest study and this one focuses on the power of mobile and in fact titles the report: ”Mobile is the New Face of Engagement.”

    Among the highlights are their prediction (and not many people are debating this point) that one billion people will own a smartphone or tablet.  As Forrester puts it, “mobile is not simply another device for IT to support with a shrunken website or a screen-scraped SAP application. Rather, mobile is the manifestation of a much broader shift to new systems of engagement.”

    This is an important distinction as mobile is more than just making your current website smaller.  It is understanding that mobile is a new mode of consumer behavior.  What are they doing, and in many cases, what else are they doing, when they engage with you and your product on a mobile device? Are they fact-gathering or driven by the immediate want or need for the product?  In the case of payday loans for instance, chances are that the inquiry is driven by need and you may might further infer that the applicant is either at the site of event that’s driving the need for cash or maybe even at the place where they will ultimately spend the money.

    The more affiliate marketers can learn about mobile and how consumers are using it, the better prepared they will be as it continues to grow.

    Other facts from the study include U.S. mobile growth where it is expected by 2016 that 257 million people will own smartphones and 126 million will own tablets. 
    Apple, Google and Microsoft are expected to make up 91% of the smartphone market and 98% of the tablet market.

    A couple of other stories from the study to consider:  Walgreens says that 25% of its transactions come from its mobile app and Insurer Aflac reports that the equivalent of 25 million customer calls have been handled through its mobile app.

    Granted none of us are not Walgreens or Aflac, but the message is clear.  You must be prepared for the switch to mobile.

    That’s just one of the many reasons why T3Leads is your choice for affiliate marketer - because all of our sites are mobile ready.

• Big Ruling in Cybersquatting Case

  • A federal appeals court has ruled against a former employee who the court determined held his former company's website domain name hostage. As a result of the ruling the ex-employee has been slapped with a significant damages verdict.
    
    Here are the details of the case:
    
    The former employee worked for a men's clothing company. He registered the company's domain name in his name. The website helped to generate a decent amount of business for the clothing company. But, when the employee left to work for a competitor he took the domain name with him.
    
    The ex-employee then proceeded to shut down the website and refused to hand over the domain name unless he was paid commissions he said were owed to him.
    
    To prove the man violated the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), the clothing company had to prove the ex-worker had an intent to profit from his actions.  In the case, the court ruled he was attempting to gain from taking the domain name, and that the argument over owed commissions was a moot point in the case.

• Ad Agencies Seeing More Mobile Interest

  • STRATA has released findings from its latest survey and they reveal great optimism.  Over 1,000 advertising agencies were surveyed and 81% percent expect their client’s “approach” to advertising and marketing to stay the same or increase in the coming year.  Additionally, 80% of the agencies will focus more on digital than they did a year ago.

    There was positive news on the job front too, as over 30% of the agencies surveyed said they plan to hire additional staff in 2012.

    More than 80% of the agencies said that their client’s interest on digital was more than in 2011.  And of course, slightly more than half said that their clients don’t understand digital.  As the former owner of an advertising agency, I can tell you more times than not, we think that clients don’t know much. 
    89% plan on using Facebook in upcoming campaigns, but there is a huge drop of to 39% for twitter, 36% for YouTube, 21% for LinkedIn and 18% for Google+.  For Google+, that mark reflects a 28 percent increase from the third quarter.

    The preferred way to advertise on mobile is display with 46% of the response, followed by SMS with 25%.

• Online Banking Safety

  • Many consumers conduct much of their banking business now online. Most major banking brands offer this convenient and efficient method for numerous bank-related transactions and information.
    
    But the biggest concern for some consumers is security. With hackers and other online threats floating around the Internet, consumers want to make sure their information is as private and secure as possible.
    
    Consumers should use common sense to help avoid Internet scams.
    
    To protect yourself, consumers should:
    
    * Make sure the bank is legitimate and that the deposits are federally insured.
    
    * Read about the bank's history. It will usually include the firm's headquarters and information about its relationship with the FDIC.
    
    * Scam artists may create fake websites that look like the real deal. They lure consumers into these sites to collect their account numbers and passwords. Most legit banks also have a site key system. If the website you are in does not show a site key in order to verify your account, you should be suspicious.
    
    * A legitimate website will have an official FDIC logo. In addition, the FDIC website provides a service where you can search for banks covered by the FDIC.
    
    * Whether you are on a bank website -- or any other site, for that matter -- be careful providing your social security number. Be 100 percent confident your data is secure and protected before offering that kind of personal information.
    
    * Make sure your passwords are unique. And, try to avoid using the same password for everything. Avoid easy passwords such as your birthday, anniversary, etc.

• Yahoo! Sales Down, But Results Beat Estimates

  • First-quarter 2011 net income for Yahoo! sunk to $223 million, or 17 cents a share, from $310.2 million, or 22 cents per share. However, the search engine's sales exceeded estimates.
    
    The Sunnyvale, CA-based company's revenue was $1.06 billion for the quarter, better than analysts' predictions of $1.05 billion.
    
    Yahoo! is seeing a surge in display ad (banners and videos) revenue. And, the company's U.S. user base increased by 15 percent to 179.5 million in March over the same period in 2010.
    
    The company projects sales will be between $1.08 billion and $1.13 billion in the second quarter of the year.
    
    The drop-off in net income was attributed to some corporate consolidations. Yahoo! has been selling off some of its businesses and farming out its search operations. Yahoo!'s display ads have been particularly strong, with sales growing by 10 percent in the last quarter, to $471 million.
    
    Yahoo! has been struggling to somewhat reinvent itself. The company has been trimming its workforce, and it has worked out an arrangement with Microsoft to use its search technology on Yahoo!’s sites.
    
    Yahoo! is also reportedly considering unloading its stake in Yahoo! Japan, which it co-owns with Softbank Corp.

• What do Visitors look for on your mobile site?

  • We’re sure you saw the reports last year that showed the hot spots of where people look on your website.  You remember the pictures, yellow, red and green splotches all over a web page.  Well, the group that conducted that study, Mediative, has followed it up with another study.

    For the new study Mediative monitored eye- and click-tracking  with 12 people aged 21 to 45.  They were asked to get a tattoo in each of several Canadian cities.  As described by Mediative:
    “Every participant in the study was given the same scenario as in the previous Google Places study – an imaginary road trip with stops in Hamilton, London, Winnipeg and Edmonton, with the task of choosing a place for a friend to get a tattoo in each of those cities based on the Google Places search results. From the participants in the eye tracking part of our study, we recorded each individual session, and then compiled the sessions to create heat maps that represent aggregate gaze data and supplement the qualitative findings.”
    Did you follow most of that?  Well here’s the part that can help you affiliate marketers (Remember, in this study the viewers were looking at a search page): 
    -    People start upper left and scan left to right, then down
    -    Visitor’s eyes, and thus their attention were held by photographs of the search subject.  In this case, tattoos.  They were also held by reviews.  Make sure that the photo works in a smaller, mobile format.
    -    Further, they looked for at least 3-star reviews.  They found that businesses that were not rated at the top of Google’s search could help themselves by having a three star review or better, since visitors were looking for that.
    -    Social signals are also important to getting a click.

    For more detailed information on the study go to:
    http://searchengineland.com/study-reviews-and-images-drive-clicks-in-mobile-109659

• FTC Issues First Mobile App Fines

  • Info  PR: ?  I: ?  L: ?  Cached: ?  I: ?  L: ?  LD: ?  I: ?  Rank: 11846  Age: ? IP: ?  whois source Robo: ? Sitemap: ?  Rank: ?  Price: ?  C: ? Links: 31|0 Density

    ?

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the mobile app developer W3 Innovations, LLC (dba "Broken Thumbs Apps"), has agreed to pay a fine of $50,000 to settle charges it collected and disclosed personal information from children under the age of 13 without first notifying parents. The data was obtained from mobile apps.

    The FTC has ruled the inappropriate capturing of data is a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the FTC’s COPPA Rule. This was the first FTC case involving mobile applications.   
    
    COPPA prohibits the unauthorized collection of personal information from children by operators of websites or online services. In particular, the rule mandates parental notice and consent prior to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information of children under the age of 13. COPPA requires website operators to post a clear, understandable and complete privacy notice. COPPA pertains to web services directed to children under 13 years old. The rule also bans the collection of personal information from children under 13.
    
    The complaint alleged several of the apps offered from Apple, Inc.’s App Store by Broken Thumbs, and its president and owner, Justin Maples, were directed at children under the age of 13. The complaint also alleged Broken Thumbs collected personal information from children through the online operation of these apps.
    
    As part of the settlement, Broken Thumbs has also agreed to not violate COPPA in the future and to delete all personal information obtained in violation of COPPA.

• CoTweet is Gone: Here are Some Alternatives

  • CoTweet, the popular FREE social media management tool is gone as of February 15.
    Sam Laird wrote about some free or low cost alternatives and here are the highlights.
    http://mashable.com/2012/01/21/free-cotweet-alternatives/
    1. HootSuite - We wrote about it here https://www.t3leads.com/en/affiliate-articles/internet-marketing.html#social-media-monitoring-tools. It allows teams to monitor conversations and track the success of campaigns.  It’s free version can be used for up to five profiles and the Pro version is just $6 a month. 
    2.  Tweet Deck- This free app was bought by Twitter last year and is another favorite of social media managers and enthusiasts. Its organized columns, scheduling features and filtering capabilities give users a wealth of options.
    3.  Seesmic – A free app that allows for management of social tools across the strata of social media.  They have apps on every platform.
    4.  Involver – Has a free version that helps you build your brand on facebook. 
    5.  Social Sprout – Their web application integrates with Twitter, Facebook Fan Pages, LinkedIn, Foursquare and other networks where consumers are engaging with businesses and brands. In addition to communication tools, Sprout Social offers contact management, competitive insight, lead generation, reporting, analytics and more – all in a package that's intuitive and easy to use.
    It doesn't have a free option, but does offer a Pro version that supports up to 10 profiles for $9 per month.
    6. Buffer – Buffer helps you share content easily and gives you analytics for every post you make.  It doesn’t do everything that CoTweet did, but you can schedule tweets and supports both facebook and twitter. 
    7. Group Tweet – Unlimited members can tweet from one account for free.  For $5 a month you get more features including custom filters.

• The Current State of Mobile Media

  • Nielsen Media has released its "State of the Media: The Mobile Media Report."  It provides some interesting insights into the market today and allows for interesting conjecture regarding the future. 
    The number of smartphone subscribers has grown 45% in the last year.

    In the 4th quarter of 2011, 26.3 million people watched a video on a mobile device.

    62% of smartphone owners have downloaded an app to their phone.  Of those 62%, the vast majority, 87% have used a “deal of the day” app, such as Groupon.
    Some other numbers of interest:  53% of adults aged 18-24 now own smartphones and 64% of 25-34 years olds do.  In the 3rd quarter of 2011, teens (13-17) received and sent the largest number of text messages.  A whopping 3,417 per month per person!

• iPhone Still Top Mobile Device

  • Millennial Media has released its June Mobile Mix Report. According to the research, from Q1-Q2 2011, impressions on Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7, RIM and Symbian all grew by more than 10 percent. In particular, Windows Phone 7 impressions grew 31 percent quarter-over-quarter, while RIM grew 29 percent.
    
    The connected device category (mobile devices such as the iPad, iPod Touch, Sony PSP, etc.) grew 13% in the last month, which made up 18% of all impressions on our network.
    
    Here are a few additional highlights in the June report:
    
    * The iPhone remained the top mobile phone on Millenial Media's network, with a 16 pecent impression share.
    * iOS impressions (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) grew 18 percent quarter-over-quarter. In the same time period, Android impressions grew 11 percent.
    * Android remained the leading OS on Millenial Media's network for the 7th consecutive month, with a 54 percent impression share; and 16 of the top 20 mobile phones were Android.
    * Smartphones made up 65 percent of all impressions on Millenial Media's network, and all 20 of the top 20 phones were smartphones.
    * Music and entertainment application impressions grew 13 percent quarter-over-quarter. Within the music/entertainment category, music and audio applications accounted for two-thirds of the impressions.

• More SEO and Ways to Improve

  • Google Panda is changing the game and if we admit it, it probably needed to be changed.  The end result is that the content on your site has to be engaging, original and geared to your audience.  No ifs, ands or buts about it, the link farms of the past are gone, or nearly so.  If you want to be a leader in your searches develop a plan to gather strong, relevant content.

    Design your site with natural backlinks.  Don’t bother with backlink shortcuts.  Google will figure it out and your site will be downgraded.  Take the time to develop the links naturally.  You do it by guest writing on other sites and having guest writers in yours, by asking readers to share your content and by writing strong releases.

    Searches that are personalized to the searcher will become a reality.  Several blogs have commented on the general unhappiness of many over this fact.  That’s because a system of personalized search can bump down sites that worked hard to build a solid site, in favor of one that matches a “personalized profile.”

    But the profiles aren’t going anywhere, and in fact will only become more important.  A further result of this is that you can expect advertisements, no matter where you are on the web, to become custom tailored to your search habits – all because of your personal profile.

    Take the time to have your site optimized for mobile and voice recognition, in addition to standard PC-style searches.

    Establish a presence on social media websites and maintain it.  Google has announced that this is a factor in their rankings, so if you don’t want other sites to leap over you, you need to place pages on facebook, goggle+, the new twitter brand pages and other sites as they pop up.

    Your ranking will grow as followers repost your material and comment upon it.

    Continue to look here for tips on SEO and ways to improve yours.

• The Texting Surge/Revenue Stream May Have Plateaued

  • According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Wireless carriers may be in some trouble if the current trend regarding text usage.
    
    The Journal notes that research conducted by the CTIA shows about 1 trillion U.S. text messages were fired off during the second half of 2010. That represents just an 8.7 percent increase over the first half of 2010, which is the slightest increase seen for SMS use.
    
    Verizon is seeing only minimal increases in text usage; and AT&T has seen a 21 percent drop in text usage among its customers.
    
    Why does the SMS text usage matter to the telecom carriers? The average mobilephone carrier makes an 80-cent profit for each dollar it generates from text-related revenue.
    
    And, the situation could get worse. Products such as Apple's iMessage feature in the upcoming iOS 5, will utilize wi-fi and 3G messages for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, which are not part of the telecom vendors' texting system.
    
    The Wall Street Journal also noted that Google will soon offer a messaging platform for Android-based devices. If this takes off it could take a massive bite out of the telecom carriers' texting revenue.
    
    The news is not all bad for the mobile carriers. The largest segment of the texting market -- teens -- continues to be very strong. Studies have shows 33 percent of American teenagers send over 100 texts daily. And, some 75 percent of teens have cell phones, with 72 percent of them using the cell devices to send text messages.

• Hewlett-Packard Developing Up Wireless Payment Device

  • Big news in the mobile technology world!
    
    Annonymous sources at Hewlett-Packard Co. have divulged that the company plans to produce mobile devices that would give consumers the ability to make wireless purchases.
    
    The HP phones and tablets would reportedly allow consumers to make purchases and obtain coupons directly at grocery store cash registers simply by touching their gadgets. The first NFC devices may be available by year-end, the person said.
    
    The objective would be to utilize the Palm brand, which HP bought in 2010 for over $1 billion. HP clearly wants to carve a niche for the Palm brand in the smartphone marketplace, as Palm's percentage of that market has taken a nose-dive (2.6 percent as of April 2011).
    
    It will be interesting to see how the project develops and to track consumer demand for it. 

• Twitter Offers Brand Pages

  • Just about a month after Google+ introduced brand pages, Twitter announces their effort.  Only 21 companies have access so far, but they include such big-name companies as American Express, Best Buy, bing, Coca-Cola, Disney, GE, Pepsi and more.

    According to an article in Ad Age Digital, these companies are crafting “content strategies to take advantage of the platform.”  It’s easy for media companies like Disney who are currently running a movie trailer, but other companies are looking for different ways to use Twitter to their advantage.  Hewlitt-Packard plans to use customer tweets on their page, while General Electric has a video of “140 Things We Made Yesterday at GE” airing. 
    Shiv Singh, global head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages had the following to say, "[Twitter] is starting to take tentative, but very interesting steps into being more of a destination instead of just a conversation platform," said Mr. Singh.

    Mr. Singh also noted that Twitter's advertising products can serve a function that's complementary to brand pages.  For instance, a promoted tweet teasing the news that a person of interest will be talking about Pepsi during a commercial break on "The X Factor" could link back to the brand page, which would provide the answer. The promoted tweet will appear auto-expanded to let visitors instantly see the photo or video.

    The new design also allows brands to separate “@ replies” and “mentions.”

• Gmail Hacked Again

  • Google has reported that a major phising scheme has resulted in a sizeable breach of Gmail accounts.
    
    The attack, which reportedly originated from China, has impacted hundreds of Gmail addresses, including accounts of some senior U.S. government officials.
    
    It is suspected that malware was loaded on the targted email passwords when the victims replied to an email message that appeared as if it was coming from a known source. This sort of hacking is called phishing. Google said its security systems  were not compromised by the Gmail attack.
    
    Additional Gmail targets included government representatives from South Korean and other Asian countries, as well as Chinese political activists, military officials and journalists.
    
    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented, "Google informed the State Department of this situation [on June 1] in advance of its public announcement." She added, "These allegations are very serious, we take them seriously, we're looking into them, and because this will be an ongoing investigation I would refer you to first Google for any details that they are able to share at this time, and to the FBI, which will be conducting the investigation."
    
    About a year ago another Gmail cyber attack came from China. That phishing scheme targted human rights activists. That attack did impact Google's security systems. That incident led to Google's decision to remove its servers from China, and to censor some search results for the Chinese government.
    
    The most recent Gmail cyber assault is reportedly larger than the one that took place last year. Thus far there appears to be no connection between the two incidents.

• Facebook to Launch “Subscribe” Button for Websites

  • Techcrunch and Mashable articles reported that Joanna Shields, VP and Managing Director for Facebook Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), announced that the company is planning to roll out a “Subscribe” plugin for all websites. 

    The plugin will allow a website’s visitors a one-click way to begin following all of the news from an individual reporter, public figure, politician, celebrity, or anyone else who wants to post public updates via their Facebook user profile.

    The feature will only work for users have enabled “Subscribe,” which began operating in September 2011.  It acts very much like the “Follow” button on Twitter.

    This is only news because this is Facebook and it shows that they notice Twitter and are designing a feature that was a Twitter feature alone.  May it be as easy to use.

• Court Rules Public Comments on TV News Not "Cyber Libel"

  • A Mississippi court has recently ruled that an article and consumer comments posted on a television news station's website about a former reporter of that station does not constitute "cyber libel."
    
    Here's the background information in Miles v. Raycom Media, Inc.:
    
    Toni Miles was a news anchor at a television station in Mississippi. On October 24, 2008, she was arrested during a drug raid at a home she was visiting. After the incident, the news director at the TV station informed Miles her contract would not be renewed.
       
    Miles brought an action against the TV station for a variety of claims, including sex discrimination, defamation and false light. In a separate claim, Miles also said the television station allowed cyber libel" against her by running a news article on its webpage and "subsequently allow[ing] unfiltered online comments which contained false information."  She did not allege that the defendants wrote or revised the false comments.  Ms. Miles acknowledged that the comments were not filtered by defendants.
       
    The defendants filed a motion to dismiss.
    
    The court granted the TV station's motion to dismiss the case, claiming Miles failed to state a claim for false light or defamation. The court noted Miles did not contend any statement in the article was false.
    
    The TV station argued they are immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act ("CDA"), Section 230(c)(1). This regulation states: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
    
    The court ruled the defendants are immune from liability under the CDA for the alleged defamatory third-party comments published on its website. The ruling pointed out that Miles had complained the "defendants merely allowed the comments, and there is no indication or allegation that the defendants encouraged defamatory comments on their website."
    
    The bottom line: the Communications Decency Act protected the television station for its online article and the ensuing public comments. The key factor to the court ruling was that the plaintiff, Toni Miles, never claimed the article encouraged the public to post any defamatory comments.

• Twitter’s New Design

  • Twitter has a new design that went live on December 8.  It has rebranded several of its major features including “hashtag”: which is now called the “discover” tool.  It wants to link its service to the notion of “home” and have that be essentially the same whether you are viewing on PC, tablet or mobile.  As well as the same on iPhone or Android.

    Home is your personal collection of Tweets, the place you view tweets from the people you follow and contains the latest information from those you choose to follow.

    The redesign will also allow users to easily view pics, video and re-tweets.  It highlights the information that you have deemed most important, by providing easy access on the left side.  Photos, videos and conversations are embedded directly in tweets, so you have all the information at a single glance.

    Twitter seems to have listened to users and undertaken this redesign with how they use, and want to use Twitter to heart.

• Mobilize Your Website

  • If you have not mobilized (the process of making your website mobile-device friendly; otherwise known as creating an app) your website it is time.  Estimates tell us that 70 to 80 million people in the US have smartphones.  And they use them constantly.  Just look around you.  If you’re not mobile ready, you are losing business.

    There are more numbers to consider.  42% of those smartphone users are between the ages of 18 and 34.  If you depend upon that age group for your business to succeed, get your mobile app in gear.  So, if you are one of our payday loan associates, pay particular attention, as this group is a significant target market for you.

    Here is a list of inexpensive sites where you can help mobilizing:  Preswsly, MoFuse, Winksite, Zinadoo, MobiSiteGaloore, WPtouch Pro and Mobify.

• Pay Your Bills; Buy a Slurpee

  • Now when you visit your local 7-Eleven you can buy a Slurpee -- and pay your bills.
    
    That's right -- Mountain View, CA-based PayNearMe is partnering with 7-Eleven and Ria Financial Services to set up bill payment centers in the convenience stores. Ria Financial will process the money transfers.
    
    Statistics show that some 25 percent of Americans do not have credit or debit cards. In fact, in 2010 Americans used cash to pay for $1.2 trillion in purchases.
    
    PayNearMe is a start-up operation that gives consumers the ability to pay bills through wired transfer. The company says its fees are lower than money orders and Western Union transfers.
    
    When customers bring the bill to a 7-Eleven the cashier scans the barcode. The payment is automatically transmitted to the biller.
    
    PayNearMe is already working with Amazon.com and Greyhound Lines to serve customers without credit cards. When orders are placed online from Amazon.com or Greyhound, customers can print out a PayNearMe receipt and take it to a 7-Eleven. They then pay 7-Eleven in cash and the receipt acts as the bus ticket.
    
    PayNearMe's fee varies by product and by customer. In some cases the merchant will pick up the cost of the fee.
    
    The company's primary competition is coming from Green Dot Netspend Holdings, which offers prepaid cards that are sold in supermarkets and convenience stores. But PayNearMe's marketing advantage is the bill-paying service. The company already has around 3,000 billers enrolled. Bills from those companies will include a 7-Eleven logo, a bar code and payment instructions.

• Google and Privacy

  • Google has another privacy-related lawsuit on its hands.  This one is from the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and it claims that Google’s plan to consolidate its privacy policies violate an agreement already in place with the FCC.

    CDD says the new policies violate the FCC-Google consent decree because Google will not have to get direct consent before sharing user information.

    The complaint additionally alleges that the Google is misleading the public about the reasons for the consolidation.  The suit says Google is doing it for advertising marketing reasons and not for the ease of the customer experience as they are claiming.

    That’s not all.  CDD says that Google is not being upfront with how data collection, profiling and targeting practices could ultimately violate their privacy.

    “In particular, Google fails to inform its users that the new privacy regime is based on its own business imperatives: to address competition from Facebook' to grow its capacity to finely profile and target through audience buying; to collect, integrate, and utilize a user's information in order to expand its social media, social search, and mobile marketing activities ... and generally to expand its DoubleClick (advertising) operations," the complaint says.

    The issue of privacy is everywhere in the news these days and will continue to be until further standards that everyone agrees to are in place.

    We may be talking about privacy issue for a while.

• The Ultimate Social Media Dashboard?

  • A new tool called Engagio released February 15th with the goal of becoming the dashboard of social media.  The idea was to make it like g-mail, but for social media.

    It works like this:  Engagio links user’s accounts from twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Tumblr, as well as Foursquare and web forums.  It collects comments, replies, messages and updates and publishes them to a single box.  The user is able to post any responses back to these services as well.  Engagio is planning to add support for other social services, including Quora and additional forums on Stack Exchange.

    It certainly would be beneficial to have communications from social media channels come to one, easy to manage location, as opposed to being bombarded via e-mail by each individually.  And I can easily see the time that could be saved with this tool as well.  No switching back and forth between the channels.  Log in to one place and peruse the board, respond and you’re done.  On first glance, this would certainly seem to be a convenient and time saving tool for the social media user.

    To check it out yourself go to: http://www.engag.io/welcome

• The "Reading Room" is Now the "Browsing Room," Too

  • Is that stack of magazines in your restroom collecting dust? Are you taking your smartphone in the john to do a little mobile shopping?
    
    It's no great secret that smartphones are typically glued to the owner's hand nearly every waking minute (some may even be sleeping with their smartphone in-hand). According to a new study conducted by Google and the market research firm Ipsos OTX, 39 percent of smartphone owners use their smartphone while doing their "business."  Even more eye-opeing -- about one-fifth of smartphone users would dump their cable TV over their smartphones, if given the choice.
    
    The study also examined the most frequent uses of smartphones. The research found:

    • 77 percent use it to search for websites
    • 57 look for news
    • 51 percent look for restaurants
    • 49 percent seek entertainment
    • 47 percent do some shopping on their smartphone
    • 32 percent look for technology-related information
    • 31 percent check out travel sites
    • 26 percent seek finance-related info
    • 17 percent look up auto-related sites

    Additional findings include:

    • More than half (53 percent) of smartphone users have made a purchase through their mobile device
    • 95 percent have looked up local information
    • 61 percent call a business from their device (you'd think that would be much higher, since it is still a phone, right?)
    • 27 percent of smartphone purchases were made through a mobile website and 22 percent were made through apps
    • Smartphone shoppers spent an average of $300 on purchases made through their device (entertainment, electronics and apparel are the most popular items purchased)
    • 71 percent decided to search on their smartphones because of some sort of advertisement.

• SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act) Dead…for Now

  • It has been announced by House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor R-(VA) that SOPA, H.R. 3261, has been tabled for now.

    This comes after blog postings from the White House in which they said, “while we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cyber security risk, or undermines the dynamic innovative global Internet.”
    “Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses, large and small,” according to the blog.

    The Senate bill known as the Protect I Act, also seems to be on hold, after the realization that it as well as the house bill are flawed.

    The pressure from companies such as Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla and Yahoo! Had more than a little bit to do with the bills’ suspension as well.

    The Internet blackout was still held on Wednesday, January 18, 2012.  Companies planning to participate include Wikipedia, reddit, MoveOn and Mozilla.

• Mobile on the Move

  • Your first order of business for 2012 is to get your site mobile-device ready.  Mobile browsing set a record in December 2011 – 7.7% of total browser usage originated from a mobile device.  That number may inch down a little bit in January and February, but overall expect usage to continue to rise.

    There are definitely challenges to be faced in developing your site to be seen on various size screens.  If you are using T3leads products you will already be mobile friendly, but if not you have a lot of programming to be done.

    The good news is, it will be worth it.  More and more mobile products are being sold.  Record numbers, in fact.   PC and notebook sales numbers are not rising at the same rate.  Mobile is indeed the future. 
    In fact, NPD DisplaySearch released figures that showed almost 73 million tablets were shipped to stores worldwide in 2011, giving tablets a 25.5% share of the mobile PC market.  Interestingly, notebook shipments were up 12% from 2010 to 188 million units shipped.  The numbers also show that many users own both a notebook and a tablet.

    What this means for search is clear – although notebooks are showing resilient sales figures, their overall usage may be falling.  This means fewer searches on the notebooks and more from tablets and other mobile.

    In other numbers, Safari is still the number one mobile browser with 53% of the total usage.  Opera rose to 21.7% and Google’s Android browser stands at 15.9%.
    In the desktop market, Internet Explorer stands at 52%, Firefox at 21.8% and Chrome 19.1%.

• The Crystal Ball Says… _______________ is in Store in 2012

  • It’s that time of year.  It’s the “end of year, list-making season.”  The best of movies, TV shows, facebook postings, YouTube videos, etc.  There are also lists of predictions for the coming year in the field of technology.  After perusing the articles, we’ve collected some of the more intriguing tidbits predicted for 2012.

    Erica Ogg of Giga OM collected these from British Digital Design Agency, Fjord. 
    1.    The use of consumer devices in the workplace will become more commonplace.  Employees are already using personal tablets and laptops because they have the installed software that they prefer.  By using programs such as Dropbox, Evernote and Skype, the way they use them at home, employees are more efficient. 
    2.    Wearable technology.  Fjord also thinks this will be a big trend.  They think as we do, that this will bring on a revolution in communication.  When you combine voice activation with digital jewelry, you begin to see a real “James Bond” experience on the way. 
    3.    Which leads us to the next “James Bond” experience – hands free and gesture-controlled interfaces.   It’s already happening in game technology, so how hard is it to imagine the use in our phones or other devices?  Thanks to Siri, voice control is here and will only grow.  The next area of exploration is naturally gestures and facial expressions.  It is Fjords’ prediction and recommendation, that smart companies get on board with new interfaces and modes of communication.

    Paul Sloan, in an article for Cnet News, sat down with Mark Andreeson, co-founder of Netscape and now partner in the Silicon Valley venture firm Andreeson-Horowitz.  They kicked around thoughts for 2012. 
    Andreeson predicts that software will continue to rule the world.  Our words, not his.  His exact words were, “software is eating the world.”
    “Software has chewed up music and publishing. It's eaten away at Madison Avenue. It's swallowed up retail outlets like Tower Records. The list goes on.”

    4.    His next predictions go hand in hand, literally.  The use of smartphones will expand to a point where most people on the planet will own one.  This ultimately will lead to the downfall of retail as we know it.  But, first things first.  A smartphone is a collection of software that fits in the palm of your hand.  Cloud engineering makes it possible to do almost anything from the palm of your hand.  Now think of that power in hands of the world.  Andreeson says in three to five years, 6 billion people will have smartphones.  The opportunity that provides for a Google or an Amazon is mind boggling.  Not to mention all the companies that have not even been formed yet.  After all, who heard of Google ten years ago?
    5.    He sees the rise of e-commerce continuing, and 2012 will be the year that traditional retail really feels the pressure.  He points out the example of Warby Parker, an online eyeglass e-tailer.  He calls it “software eats LensCrafters.”  Borders will not be the last big name in retail to go under. 
    6.    The technology is not just changing retailing.  He gives another example:  Uber.  “Software eats taxis.”  It’s a smartphone application that brings town cars to you.  You watch the car on a map as it makes its way to you.

    He also mentions Foursquare and how it is connecting people and businesses in a whole new way, that was totally impossible before smartphones.  He foresees people running not just their personal lives, but running businesses from smartphones. 

• Privacy Protection Act of 2011 Would Impact Cellular Carriers

  • U.S. Senators Al Franken and Max Blumenthal have introduced a measure that would restrict the ability of mobile device developers to disclose the location of a cell phone and tablet users.
    
    The bill was comes after recent news that mobile device providers and app developers were obtaining users' location data, sometimes without the user's consent.
    
    The bill also addresses the use of geo-location data in cases of interstate domestic violence and stalking. It calls for a study on the use of location technology in domestic violence and stalking cases, provides that such crimes will be reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, and requests that the Attorney General develop a training curriculum regarding the investigation and prosecution of such crimes for law enforcement, courts and victims advocates.
    
    The Franken-Blumenthal proposal would also provide for a private right of action for affected individuals and criminal sanctions for the development or dissemination of apps that knowingly and intentionally disclose geo-location information while knowing and intending that domestic violence or stalking will occur as a result of this disclosure and for the knowing and intentional aggregation and sale of the location data of children 10 years old and younger.

• Smartphone Study Shows Mobile Ads Are Effective

  • A survey coducted by Harris Interactive for Greystripe (a ValueClick company) has revealed several business categories are experiencing success in branding themselves through smartphone advertising.
    
    The study polled 2,090 U.S. residents over age 18. It indicated the top categories for smartphone advertising include: entertainment, technology, retail and gaming.
    
    According to the research, more than 77 million Americans -- and 60 percent of smartphone users -- can recall a mobile phone ad.  And, among the smartphone users who can recall an ad, 67 percent (39 million) can rememebr the brand category.
    
    The most recalled brand categories among smartphone users are:
    
    * Entertainment - 39 percent
    * Tech - 36 percent
    * Retail - 32 percent
    * Gaming - 29 percent
    * Finance - 22 percent
    * Auto – 22 percent
    * Fast food restaurants - 19 percent
    * Consumer packaged goods - 18 percent

• Can Google Plus be a Plus for Your SEO Efforts?

  • As Google Plus is in the beta test phase, the buzz about the new social media product continues to build. Still, with over 20 million users in its test phase, should online SEO marketers begin to take advantage of Google Plus? Possibly.
    
    One benefit Google Plus will offer that Facebook and Twitter do not is the ability to follow links with high page rankings. In other words, links shared on Facebook and Twitter will not count toward your website's overall page rank. But, since Google pretty much control the search engine world, the Google Plus links will help to enhance your page rank. Therefore, online marketers can certainly gain some value from marketing through Google Plus.
    
    Clearly, Google Plus is still in its infancy stage. As the weeks and month pass by it will become more clear how marketers can take advantage of Google Plus; and how Google Plus will stack up compared with other social media sources as a tool for enhancing your website's search engine optimization.

• Interesting Data for Marketers

  • Most marketing professionals are always looking for tidbits of information that can assist them in their marketing efforts. Check out the following items related to mobile technology that could be very useful to e-commerce marketers:
    
    * Search engines are the most visited websites on mobile devices. Some 77 percent of smartphone users visit search engines, followed by social networks, retail sites and video-sharing websites.
    
    How does this assist e-commerce marketers? It points to the need for enhancing your website's search engine optimization when it comes to mobile phone searches. You may want to consider mobile search ads to help improve your organic search ranking.
    
    * Over half of mobile phone users search for: news, dining and navigational information.
    
    How does this assist e-commerce marketers? If your business does not fall into one of these categories, the clever marketer can still devise ways to capitalize. How so? Maybe you can create a "industry news" section. Maybe you can create a navigational guide to businesses within your category.
    
    * Roughly 90 percent of smartphone searches result in a purchase, a visit to a business, or other sorts of activities. In addition, 24 percent of smartphone users recommended a brand or product thanks to their smartphone search.
    
    How does this assist e-commerce marketers? Provide a way for the consumer to take action when they visit your website: make a purchase; drive to your store locations; provide the ability to forward pages or articles to friends and associates; etc.
    
    * The more local the consumer, the more likely the are to take action on your site:   
        - 95 percent of smartphone users seek local information.
            - 88 percent take some sort of action the day they visit a site.
            - 77 percent have actually contacted a business.
        - 61 percent call a local business.
        - 59 percent visit the local business.
    
    How does this assist e-commerce marketers? This points to the need to make sure your search engine optimization is localized; amd it is vital that consumers can easily contact your business.
    
    The world of mobile technology is advancing at the speed of light. It is difficult to keep pace, and it is crucial you allocate resources toward this arena.

• Do Online Privacy Laws Provide Enough Protection?

  • Internet privacy laws in the U.S. vary greatly depending on the segment of the online world. And, it's safe to say consumers should not assume their private information is completely secure on the Internet.
    
    Facebook, for example, has stated its members' posts are public domain. It has been reported that Twitter tweets are recorded by the Library of Congress.
    
    Although there are few U.S. laws aimed at regulating websites and their content, numerous law enforcement factions are working diligently to gain access to private Internet data. The WikiLeaks investigation and other big-time website breaches have given officials a reason to push for greater access to private data.
    
    One example of this beefed up enforcement effort is coming out of the United States Department of Transportation. The DOT has developed the Next Generation 911 Project, which will provide consumers with numerous emergency contact services, such as text messages, email and photos.
    
    The downside to the DOT proposal is that it may expose personal medical information to 911 responders. For example, the Google search engine saves the searches users make. This could be used to identify the searchers.
    
    Social networks are loaded with a ton of personal user information. And, to date, social networks do not offer any do-not-track services. Therefore, users should assume all their personal data is being tracked.
    
    You've probably noticed how frequently Internet banner ads are from companies you have either visited or shown an interest. A recent survey from Gallup and USA Today revealed 67 percent of those polled do not want advertisers to access their data in order to peddle their products to a targeted online market.
    
    We are already beginning to see lawmakers pushing for restrictions on Internet vendors accessing online consumer data. Clearly, if more data breaches occur, there will be an even greater push from government officials to implement tighter Internet security.

• Is the "PC Era" a Thing of the Past?

  • It's no secret the growth of smartphones and tablets is astronomical. Some studies have shown the global smartphone market is expected to grow by nearly 50 percent in 2011. Last year, 303.4 million smartphones were sold, and in 2011 it's expected that  450 million will be sold.
    
    Tablet sales are experiencing a similar explosion. One research firm anticipates a 224 percent growth in the tablet sales in 2011.
    
    Does this mean the personal computer era is coming to an end? Not just yet.
    
    Although it is clear that much of the technology and marketing dollars are being earmarked to the mobile and tablet arenas, studies are showing the PC market is still growing. One study shows a potential increase in PC sales of 6 percent in 2011. But, as more and more consumers are opting for tablets over traditional laptops, it is becoming obvious that the tablet market is gobbling up the laptop market. In fact, research shows tablets will eat into some 35 percent of the notebook sales totals for 2011.
    
    So -- from a marketing standpoint, how can a marketing professional who has been focusing on PC-related Internet marketing make the leap to the mobile and tablet world?
    
    Internet affiliate marketers - who are among the most tech-savvy marketing pros -- are typically on the cutting edge when it comes to forward-thinking marketing methods. Here are some ways in which these astute marketers are utilizing mobile and tablet marketing resources:
    
    * Text it! The average SMS text message is opened within four minutes (unless you are a 15-year-old, where the average is probably four seconds). Therfore, an opt-in SMS text campaign is an excellent way to quickly reach your target audience.
    
    * Think CPL. Until smartphones become more user-friendly for forms and applications, many astute marketers are focusing on mobile technology in order to capture leads, rather than sales. Once the marketer captures the customer's request for information, a follow-up email can be sent to actually generate the sales.
    
    * Think small. Mobile devices are signficantly smaller than a PC or laptop screen. Therefore, every aspect of mobile marketing must be downsized: the text, the images, the forms, etc.
    
    * Compatibility is key. The various mobile and tablet devices all have different capabilities. So, when developing your campaigns, make sure they are functional for the various services: Apple®, Android, BlackBerry®, etc.
    
    * Don't forget about the old standards. While mobile and tablet marketing is the wave of the future, make sure you continue to earmark resources toward the areas that have worked in the past. This may include: email, social media, PPC, banner ads, and more.
    
    The PC era is not completely over. As you begin to understand mobile and tablet marketing opportunities, it is equally important to carve out part of your marketing budget for the tactics that have been working for you.

• Google+ in a Battle for Survival?

  • The LA Times reported on Nov. 17, 2011 that Google+ has been facing decreasing site visits for virtually its entire history.  According to numbers provided by Hitwise, Google+ traffic has dropped in 11 of its 21 week history.  There has been an increase in visitors since the launch, but most of that came in the week following its opening to the public.  They have not help onto to that growth.  In that week, visits went from 1 million to 15 million.  More than half of those visitors did not return the next week.

    There was another spike when it announced pages for businesses and groups.  We will keep an eye out for what happens after that dust settles.

    One important note:  Hitwise does not measure traffic from mobile devices.  As you know this is becoming an increasingly important part of how people use the internet, and in particular Google.

• Cyber-security Laws May be on the Horizon

  • The federal government could soon enact some strict regulations governing cyber activity.
    
    The Obama Administration has been circulating a proposal aimed at clamping down on potential online data breaches. The administration's plan would mandate public disclosure of data breaches, regulate the nation's critical information infrastructure, and manadate rules for securing government computer systems. The plan would seriously affect firms involved with any online information gathering.
    
    Recently, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and co-sponsor of the Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act (S.413), applauded the Obama administration plan. On the other hand, Larry Clinton, president/CEO of the Internet Security Alliance, is not so thrilled. Clinton does not believe the plan would be an effective means to thwart cyber-threats. Clinton countered by proposing a cybersecurity insurance market to ward off cyber-threats.
    
    The administration's cybersecurity plan would:
    
    * Give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the primary authority to secure "covered critical infrastructure" from cyber threats.
    * Direct the DHS secretary "to assist in national efforts to mitigate communications and information technology supply chain vulnerabilities to enhance the security and resiliency of federal systems and critical information infrastructure."
    * Mandate a "special provision for federal contracts" in the title establishing DHS' regulatory framework for protection of critical infrastructure.
    * Provide the DHS with resources to protect national systems.
    * Authorize the DHS to operate "consolidated intrusion detection, prevention, or other protective capabilities and ... countermeasures ..." DHS would also be authorized "to acquire, intercept, retain, use, and disclose communications and other system traffic that are transiting to or from or stored on federal systems and to deploy countermeasures ..."
    * Establish a federal reporting system for data breach incidents.
    * Provide the Federal Trade Commission with authority to implement the reporting requirements.
    
    The proposed regulations would impact businesses handling over 10,000 individuals' personal data during any 12-month period.
    
    The business segments expected to be most impacted by such a program woulde include the defense industrial base indsutry and the telecommunications industry.
    
    It is expected that Congress may act of the cybersecurity legislation in the fall of 2011.

• Zynga Addiction Growing

  • Online games are exploding in popularity -- and probably no company has produced as popular and addictive games as Zynga.
    
    Zynga is the force behind Facebook favorites Farmville and Mafia Wars. The company has recently rolled out its latest game craze -- CityVille. Believe it or not, there are some 300 million-plus users of their games. Altogether, Zynga has developed 13 different games that each boast more than 1 million players.
    
    The core to the Zynga success is developing games with a reward-share system, has been present in many other games. And they clearly saw which parts worked best and which didn't.
    
    Another component to Zynga's success is the fact that their games are free. So -- how does Zynga make money? Zynga partners with affiliate marketing programs and online advertisers to generate much of their revenue. Game players are encouraged to sign up for these programs and Zynga earns a portion of the revenue from converted affiliate sales.
    
    But probably the biggest reason for Zynga's success is the company's ability to create addictive games. It is typical to see the highly addicted Zynga game-players spending several hours on FarmVille or CityVille or several other games.

• Will Google Plus be Serious Competition for Facebook?

  • Ever since Facebook exploded on the social networking scene a few years ago there have been few competitors challenging Mark Zuckerberg's "baby" for the premier spot in the social media world.
    
    Now the Internet community is eager to see whether Google Plus will make a considerable dent in Facebook's marketshare.
    
    Google has been slowly rolling out Google Plus to a limited test group since June 28. How will Google Plus differ from Facebook, and how will Google try to improve on the Facebook experience to lure in more users?
    
    * Google Plus offers "Circles" - clusters of friends.
    
    * Google Plus offers users applications such as Google Docs, a calendar that can be used with friend circles, a video chat room called‘Hangouts,’ the ability to watch Youtube videos with others in your circles, a group messaging feature called‘Huddle’ that can be used on Android OS and iPhones.
    
    * Users may upload videos and pictures with one-touch button.
    
    * Google Plus notifications and other settings can be customized by each user.
    
    * What appears to be missing from Google Plus -- at least in the beginning -- are the popular game apps such as Farmville.
    
    * Reports are indicating Goolge Plus apps may require a high speed connection.
    
    * It's hard to believe, but the world's biggest search engine did not include a search feature in the first incarnation of Google Plus.
    
    Although it is in limited distribution, Google Plus already has some 20 million users in the few weeks since its launch.

    It will be very interesting to see if Facebook can hold on to its number-one social networking position as Google Plus grows its user base.

• New Domain Names Up For Grabs

  • The Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers (ICANN), the non-profit governing body in charge of Internet domains, are slated to meet in Singapore in June, 2011, to brainstorm over expansion of domain suffixes.
    
    ICANN will determine if websites may be created with unique suffixes. If this transpires, a flood of registgered domain could be expected.
    
    One benefit for major companies is that such a move could help to enhance their brand and strengthen their online presence.
    
    Smaller businesses would be able to develop more targeted online marketing efforts.
    
    If the ICANN plan is implemented, businesses could register a geo-targered domain name. For example, "dot-nyc" would represent domains targeting New York City consumers.
    In addition, the domain suffixes could be better designed for specific industries, such as "dot-music" for websites representing the music industry.
    
    Michele Jourdan, ICANN communications manager, predicted the change could lead to 300 to 1,000 new domain extensions.
    
    In addition, companies may be able to purchase their own domain. This could dramatically help major companies to strengthen their brand.
    
    Such custom suffixes may cost about $185,000. Custom extensions for smaller businesses would be priced considerably lower.

• Google Analytics To Add Webmaster Search Query Data

  • Google has announced it will add Google Webmaster Tools data to its Google Analytics.
    
    The new feature is currently in a pilot stage, and will be available to everyone later this month.
    Google will add a new section in "Traffic Sources" called "Search Engine Optimization." There will be sub-sections for Summary, Queries and Landing Pages.
    
    “Webmasters have long been asking for better integration between Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics,” Google reported on one it its blogs.
    
    The SEO reports also take advantage of Google Analytics’ filtering and visualization capabilities for deeper analysis.
    
    How will this benefit webmasters? You may filter for queries that had, for instance, more than 100 clicks. A chart will appear illustrating the extent to which each query helped your overall clicks from top queries.
    This will enable webmasters to better determine the more effective PPC campaigns.

• U.S. Judge Rejects Google Books Settlement

  • The court settlement between Google and numerous authors and publishers has been rejected by a U.S. federal judge
    
    After a two-year battle, Justice Denny Chin has delayed Google's plan to implement a massive online library. It's one of the most prominent copyright-related court cases.   
    
    In 2004, Google began a massive book scanning project for online publication searches. The objective was to allow people to view exceprts of books from Google's library. That sent the publishing community into a tizzy. In 2005 the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers hit Google with a class action suit for copyright infringement.
    
    Google's defense? The giant search engine said section §107 of the US Copyright Act allows copying without permission from the rightful owner for limited and 'transformative' purposes (i.e., for commentary, criticism or parody).
    
    In 2009, the parties came up with a settlement agreement that would authorize Google to continue to scan publications, sell subscriptions and online access to books. The agreement would also allow Google to sell advertising on book pages. Google would pay copyright holders 63 percent of revenue generated; and more than $45 million to those whose works had already been scanned.
    
    In addition, Google would need prior approval to display books in print. There would be an opt-out clause for those whose books are out of print in order to remove the publication from the digital library.
    
    So, why did Judge Chin object to the agreement? The judge agreed there was cultural, intellectual and educational benefits from the Google library. However, he ruled:
    
    … the ASA would simply go too far. It would permit this class action ... to implement a forward-looking business arrangement that would grant Google significant rights to exploit entire books, without permission of the copyright owners. Indeed, the ASA would give Google a significant advantage over competitors, rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission, while releasing claims well beyond those presented in the case.
    
    Judge Chin was more concerned with the opt-out clause, especially where the author cannot be identified ("orphan books").
    The judge said the issue over orphan books would be more appropriately addressed by Congress.
    
    Google has several options at this point, including attempting to revise the settlement.
    
    The case points to the need for lawmakers to address Internet-related copyright matters.

• LinkedIn IPO Could Rake in the Dough

  • Business social network LinkedIn is preparing for an IPO that could pull in an estimated $274 million. LinkedIn unveiled its IPO pricing on May 9. The company will offer 7.84 million shares at $32 to $35 per share.
    
    Initially LinkedIn estimated its IPO would generate $175 million, but the company now says there is increased interest from the investment community. The company will trade under the symbol LNKD. LinkedIn hopes to debut in May, 2011 on the New York Stock Exchange.
    
    LinkedIn generated $243.1 million in revenue in 2010, which was a whopping 102 percent gain over 2009. That growth trend is continuing in 2011. In the first quarter of the year, LinkedIn raked in $93.9 million, a 110 percent increase over the same period in 2010.
    
    Most of LinkedIn's revenue comes from its hiring and marketing solutions and premium subscriptions. As of March 31, 2011, LinkedIn reported 102 million registered users.

• Google's New Algorithm Weeding Out Content Farm Traffic

  • It appears Google’s recent revamping of its search engine formula is accomplishing its objective: to penalize content farm websites.
    
    The Google enhancement that was launched earlier in 2011, dubbed "Panda," was designed to block website publishers that cram unrelated content into their site in order to enhance their Google rankings for various search terms.
    
    The Internet research firm Experian Hitwise has examined downstream traffic from Google (the next site visited after Google.com). Earlier this year, 0.57 percent of Internet visitors jumped from Google to a site operated by Demand Media, one of the alleged content farm sites. As of mid-April, around 0.34 percent of Google’s downstream visited Demand -- a significant 40 percent drop.
    
    Answerbag, a Q&A website, is faring far worse than Demand. Answerbag's traffic has plummuted 80 percent; and eHow's traffic has fallen by 29 percent since Panda took effect.
    
    Other sites feeling the pain of Google's algorithm change include Examiner.com (down 51 percent), Associate Content (down 61 percent) and Mahalo (down 78 percent).

• Google Tinkers With Search Page

  • In an effort to keep pace with some new search engine competitors and their unique features, Google has been playing with some design changes of its own.
    
    The new page Google is testing includes more white space in an attempt to simplify the navigating process. There are also dotted lines that separate the search results.
    
    One blog, TechCrunch, criticized the potential changes, commenting that the overall page looks too sparse and bland.
    
    There's no indication that Google is losing much ground to its competitors. The search engine giant accounts for about two-thirds of all searches, according to ComScore.

• Domino's Slices Up Competition in UK Digital Media Awards

  • This is no cheesy award.
    
    Domino’s Pizza has delivered several prestigious UK media industry honors. The pizza delivery company's UK site, http://www.dominos.co.uk/, was recognized for its innovative online activity in the Revolution Awards. The honor notes that Domino's has consistently pushed the envelope with its Internet ingenuity.
    
    The pizza giant's Facebook Superfans campaign was awarded "Best Use of Affiliate Marketing." Domino's Superfans page amassed some 32,000 followers in just four months.
    
    Domino's also was lauded for its social affiliate ‘widget,’ which enables web publishers to download the widget and earn revenue for any pizza orders received through the widget. Over 6,500 web publishers have downloaded the widget to date.
    
    The pizza chain's social networking initiatives were developed with the help of Domino’s digital agency, Arena Quantum.
    
    Domino’s Pizza has 672 stores in the UK and Ireland.