11 posts tagged “apple”

Please check out this post on my SocializeMobilize blog.

Here are a handful of my predictions for mobile and social media in 2009, moving into 2010… For the record, I’ve left off everything I know will happen in 2009 and limited this list to things I *think* will happen:

• Smartphones and feature phones will continue to converge in iPhone-esque fashion.  
• Mobile Internet will drive usage of smartphones, and with it, more robust experiments with mobile advertising and payments will begin.  
• Mobile advertising and payments will gain some momentum in 2009 but won’t really take off until 2010 and beyond.
• A few thoughts on Android:
• Android will struggle to gain momentum until there is infrastructure to distribute paid apps and an iTunes-esque web or client-based interface for PC & Mac.  
• Ultimately, Android will do well, but it’s going to take longer than many anticipate.
• Mobile and web convergence will continue heating up…
• Mobile back up and “kill pill” services will gain increased momentum, as those who convert to ‘smarter’ phones start storing more important data on their mobile (i.e. contacts, calendar, email, etc.).  Mobile Me, Dashwire and other services will continue to improve, and new players will enter the market, making it easier for users to access data on their phone from the web and reducing the pain associated with a lost or stolen phone.
• Mobile will become more social.  ShoZu, Xumii, Pixelpipe, PixSense, and others social media gateways are already making a play in this market.  But, in 2009, web-based players (ala FriendFeed) will experiment with mobile.  And, we’ll see acquisitions and consolidation in this space.
• Towards the end of the year or early 2010, I think we’ll start seeing converged development platforms that allow developers to create both web and mobile apps/widgets in fewer steps.  In late 2009-2010, mobile OS providers and OEMs will start looking beyond SMS, MMS, and email and incorporate social messaging tools like Twitter and maybe FriendFeed into basic functionality of phones.  And, mobile address books should become more social, allowing you to input your friends’ social networking details into your address book and interact with them via your chosen medium in 1-2 clicks.
• Both web and mobile development platforms will continue to duke it out for developer attention.  Developers will choose the platforms that provide the easiest-to-use, most robust tools and monetization and distribution options.
• I’m hoping Microsoft pulls a rabbit out of a hat… Perhaps, they will finally make computers chewy like cake, but more likely Windows 7 and the next generation of Windows Mobile (which I bet will be called "Windows Mobile 7") will play better together than previous mobile and PC OSes.
• I don't want to predict a rampant mobile virus, but I think it could happen easily, as mobile-web convergence accelerates: A mobile virus has a high probability of emerging in 2009 (though, I won't go as far to say that one will emerge), targetting PIM data (contacts, calendar, etc.).  This type of virus would negatively impact both mobile owners and anyone with an email or mobile number listed on an infected mobile phone. A virus like this would be particularly nasty because it could simultaneously spread through Internet enabled mobile apps, SMS/MMS, and email. So, even if it stopped spreading through mobile apps, it could continue to spread through email and SMS/MMS. The most likely phones that would be impacted are smartphones on open development platforms like Android that give 3rd party developers access to PIM data but don’t closely regulate free app content or distribution.  The likelihood of this happening will decrease if open mobile OS providers (like Google) implement better checks and balances for apps, though doing so may slow innovation in the 3rd party app space.  The other group of users that could be impacted by a mobile virus are those who back-up their PIM data to an un-proven “server in the sky” provider that gets hacked.
• The mobile app store war will heat up… The success of the iTunes app store has blown other smartphone stores out of the water, and bolstered sales of the iPhone. Microsoft, RIM and others will attempt to join or leapfrog the competition.
• Social media and mobile measurement, monitoring, and monetization tools like Radian6, Bango, Mobclix and others (all of which solve pieces of this puzzle) will improve, converge, and become more robust widely used and accessible. 
  
• Social media and mobile marketing will gain validity as measurement tools improve.
  
• More big brands will embrace mobile and social campaigns rather than running away from them.
• Marketers will be able to target content more appropriately to users based on behavior, location, and handset.
• Developers will be able to more effectively understand consumer behavior and increase app traction.
  
• There will be increased consolidation in the social media aggregation space.  Smaller social networks will die or be acquired into larger networks.  Aggregation sites like FriendFeed will become more popular. Turf wars will escalate with larger social networks taking increased action against smaller aggregation networks that violate terms of their API licenses and encroach on their turf (Facebook's lawsuit against Power.com and action against Google Friend connect were just the start).
  
• Facebook will continue to grow in popularity and eventually find a way to properly monetize its 150,000,000 + users.
  
• Twitter will make a big move in 2009.  Someone smart will acquire Twitter (if the offer is good enough) or Twitter will acquire more of the best companies in its developer community and build out a more robust platform with increased consumer appeal.  Twitter will (hopefully) begin to monetize in 2009.
  
• While “Virtual Gifts” will continue to grow in popularity, “Real Gifts” (like Givereal.com) will gain increased momentum in 2009 and really take off in 2010.  Online retailers will make their real products (books, clothes, etc.) easily giftable via social networks.  You’ll be able to send gifts to your friends/acquaintances without knowing their real address.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these predictions.  If you're not a vox member, please email your comments to me, and I'll re-post. 

Want to Twitter this post? Here's the tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/7wvyw9
Want to follow me on Twitter?: www.twitter.com/lisawhelan.

For those of you that disconnected during Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year, etc…  Welcome back. Here’s a summary of the most interesting social media and mobile news I read in the last few weeks:

Apple:

• 1/6/09: At Macworld….
• Apple announced tiered pricing for songs on iTunes that allows record labels to charge higher amounts for more popular songs… Their new pricing scheme, which will launch in April will offer songs at 69 cents, 99 cents, or $1.29.  When I heard this, I couldn’t help but think of the old Taco Bell commercials of the early 1990s… “.59, .79, .99”  I know record labels need to make a buck, but I’m more inclined to pay $1.29 for a taco than I am for a new song on iTunes.
• On a happier note, songs will finally be DRM free and 256 Kbps AAC by the end of Q1. Today, iTunes store has 8 million DRM-free songs. By the end of March, they’ll have 10 million.  
• And, if you’ve got an iPhone 3G, you’ll be able to download songs directly to your iPhone over the 3G network, and the songs will sync between your computer and your phone….Ahhh… Finally!
• In FY 2008, Apple sold 9.7 million Macs, and Mac sales increased at two times the rate of the overall PC market.
• The new version of iPhoto within iLife will have facial recognition software, which allows you to pick photos of a specific friend from your album without a text tag.  And, iPhoto will be Facebook and Flickr compatible!
• 1/5/09: Steve Jobs told the world that his recent rapid weight loss is due to a hormone imbalance and not a return of pancreatic cancer.

Facebook:

• 1/2/09: Facebook sued Brazilian start-up Power.com for trademark and copyright infringement, violation of the computer fraud and abuse act, and unlawful competition.  Facebook’s complain states that Power.com “is offering a product that solicits, stores and uses Facebook login information to access information stored on Facebook computers without authorization and to display Facebook copyrighted material without permission.” You can read the NY Times article that describes the suit here.
  

Microsoft:

• 12/31/08: Proving that the “blue screen of death” is alive and well, Microsoft’s 2006 30GB model Zune experienced a massive failure on the last day of 2008, and users were not amused. The bug appears to have been fixed, though users are still unhappy about it.
  

Twitter:

• 1/5/09: Twitter was hacked over the weekend, and 33 high profile accounts were hijacked. There was also a separate phishing scam through the direct message capability.  You can learn more about it on Twitter’s blog.
  

UIQ:

• 1/5/09: Symbian partner, UIQ filed for bankruptcy.
  

Verizon:

• 1/5/09: BusinessWeek reports that “The $5.9 billion acquisition of cellular carrier Alltel Corp. by Verizon Wireless will close on Jan. 9”.  This will mean that Verizon trumps AT&T as the largest US mobile operator with ~ 78 million subscribers.
  

Xobni:
1/5/09: Xobni (inbox spelled backwards), the company behind a very cool outlook plug-in that turns your email inbox into a social network, announced $7M in Series B funding from new investor Cisco Systems and Xobni’s existing investors.

Layoffs:
1/6/09: Clearspring, which plays in the widget distribution space laid off 20% of its workforce in early December, and their President/COO, Jay Rappaport is leaving.

Misc. Social Media & Mobile News:

• I just learned about Twtpoll, which lets you poll your Twitter followers.  Looks like a great idea if you’re a brand that wants feedback from its community of users.
• 1/1/09: California passed a no-text messaging while driving rule, which became legal on Jan 1. I can’t help but wonder how it can be illegal to text while driving, and yet, it’s perfectly okay to fiddle with your radio, AC, or GPS.  Not that I’m advocating texting while driving. It just seems like an inane law, given the many distracting things you could be doing while driving.
• 1/3/09 The 1.0 version of a Firefox add-on called Power Twitter launched, allowing “search, search scoped to a specific user, status history peeking on mouseover, Facebook status updates, inline YouTube, Flickr, and TwitPic, url expansion, url translation to page titles, and open web update (news feed) mapping.”  It sounds interesting to me and gets good reviews, but I’ve heard a few complaints from people I follow on Twitter, so I’m waiting until the next release.
  
• 12/31: TechCrunch did a great piece on the Top Social Media Sites of 2008, which summarizes data from comScore.  Top Social Media Sites (ranked by unique worldwide visitors November, 2008; comScore):

1. Blogger (222 million)
2. Facebook (200 million)
3. MySpace (126 million)
4. Wordpress (114 million)
5. Windows Live Spaces (87 million)
6. Yahoo Geocities (69 million)
7. Flickr (64 million)
8. hi5 (58 million)
9. Orkut (46 million)
10. Six Apart (46 million)
11. Baidu Space (40 million)
12. Friendster (31 million)
13. 56.com (29 million)
14. Webs.com (24 million)
15. Bebo (24 million)
16. Scribd (23 million)
17. Lycos Tripod (23 million)
18. Tagged (22 million)
19. imeem (22 million)
20. Netlog (21 million)

• 12/31/08: TechCrunch has an interesting article on the rise of Y-Combinator, start-up Scribd.  Scribd allows users to post and share documents online.  TechCrunch reports: “According to the comScore numbers, it has more unique visitors worldwide than imeem and almost as many as Bebo, with 23.5 million visitors in November, 2008. (In the U.S., it had about 4 million visitors).”  And, Scribd grew “218 percent from November, 2007.   Pretty incredible stats for a company that initially only raised $300,000! “
• 12/31/08 The UK loves watching the TV show “Big Brother,” and rumor has it, they may be forced to live a frightening real-life version of it in the future.  The Guardian reports,

“The private sector will be asked to manage and run a communications database that will keep track of everyone's calls, emails, texts and internet use under a key option contained in a consultation paper to be published next month by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary.
A cabinet decision to put the management of the multibillion pound database of all UK communications traffic into private hands would be accompanied by tougher legal safeguards to guarantee against leaks and accidental data losses.”

Even though the report hasn’t yet been published, critics of its rumored contents are speaking out against it including Sir Ken Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions.

• 12/31/08: Obama’s Change.gov site is getting great use.  According to TechCrunch, “more than 74,031 people have submitted more than 53,369 questions (and counting) for his administration and voted 3,122,015 times to prioritize the questions in a Digg-like fashion.”  You can see the top list of questions here.
  
• 12/30/08: Hitwise reported 3 interesting holiday social media trends in the UK:

1. “Facebook accounts for 1 in 22 UK Internet visits on Christmas Day”
2. "Video site YouTube received more UK Internet traffic than Microsoft Windows Live Mail (Hotmail) for the first time during Christmas week 2008.”
3.  “social networks accounted for 1 in every 10 UK Internet visits during Christmas week.”

• 12/26/08: Amazon.com announced it’s best Christmas season ever with “6.3 million items ordered worldwide on the peak day, Dec. 15, which is a record-breaking 72.9 items per second.”
  
• 12/15/08: BusinessWeek reports that Palm will launch its new Nova OS at CES.  After several layoffs, many ups and downs over the years, I find it amusing that they decided to name it Nova (“no va” means “no go” in Spanish.)  Chevrolet learned how disastrous that name could be when it launched the Chevy Nova years ago.  I’m not sure if this was lost on Palm’s marketing team, if it was an inside joke, or if they knew about it and decided to buck tradition and go with the name anyway. I love Palm, and I’m keeping fingers crossed they find a way to make this work. I think it’ll be tough in to re-gain developers’ trust after several false starts in recent years.
  

I took a blogging break for Turkey, so this social media and mobile round-up includes the most interesting news in mobile and social media since November 21:

Apple:

• Apple is changing the App store to show a broader range of top apps in each category and separated free from paid apps.  Hopefully this will discourage developers from arbitrarily lowering prices of their apps to make them turn up closer to the top of the listings. 
  
• Apple gives developers the ability to deliver promo codes for their iPhone apps.
  
• iTunes App store results, 5 months in.
  

AOL:

• Bebo launched “Social Inbox” on December 10.  It “combines e-mail, social networking and media recommendations in one easy-to-use interface. “ 
  

Facebook:

• Facebook is reportedly running A/B tests on its sign-up process. I think this is great. Testing is a very important part of improving customer experience, and more companies should test UI regularly. Here’s more on the test.
  
• Facebook announced the 5 grand prize recipients of its fbFund of $225,000 each: GroupCard, Kontagent, Mousehunt, by HitGrab, WedSnap created the Weddingbook application, and  Wildfire
  
• TechCrunch interviewed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg here.
  
• Facebook Connect is now generally available.  TechCrunch reports “Now any third party website that wants to pull personal data about visitors from Facebook - and send back activity reports to their news feeds - can do so by first filling out a self-service application.”
  
• Good article from NY Times. Facebook Connect attempts 2 turn around dismal performance of social media ads.
• Oodle will power the Facebook Market (classifieds)
  

FIM:

• MySpace launched its new MySpace Toolbar for Firefox and Internet Explorer.  It enables: auto login, alerts, updates, Myspace Search by Google, quick links and user links from your browser.
  
• MySpace announced DataPortability Project  with new data portability standards.
  
• MySpace launches streaming mobile video.
  

Google:

• Mobile / Android:
• The Open Handset Alliance announced that the following 14 companies joined the Alliance: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone. 
  
• “Google's Android Open Handset Alliance Project unveiled the Android Dev Phone 1. The Android Dev Phone 1 is hardware and sim unlocked G1 in black with a special skin aimed at developers.  The Android Dev Phone 1 sells for $399 in 18 international markets. “
  
• The Phandroid blog speculates that Google will soon introduce Ringtones and Wallpapers to the Android Market.
  
• Google advertisers can now “show [their] desktop text and image ads on the iPhone, the T-Mobile G1, and other mobile devices with full (HTML) Internet browsers.”
  
• The Kogan Agora is the latest Android phone. It’s now available for pre-order and will be released Jan 29, 2009.
  
• Here’s an interesting summary of Android Market performance from MediaLets.
• HTC raised G1 sales forecasts for 2008 to 1 million devices.
  
• Chrome:
• Google’s new browser, Chrome, exited beta on December 11.
  
• Gmail:
• Gmail adds to-do list management (“tasks”) to its list of features.
  
• You can now SMS through Gmail’s new task manager. You can activate it here.
  
• Search:
• Google released zeitgeist 2008, a summary of the “big events, memorable moments and emerging trends that captivated us in 2008”.  The fastest rising global search terms? That’s right folks, it’s the ever frightening, “Sarah Palin” at #1 and “Jonas Brothers” at #10.  Obama falls in at #6.  In the UK, Google reports: “From BBC's iPlayer to Facebook to YouTube, many of the top searches in Britain this year have been for our favourite websites. We also see three web-savvy politicians come tops in searches”.  Check out all the stats here.  Very cool stuff.
  
• FriendConnect is now open for all websites.  As TechCrunch reports “Google Friend Connect is OpenSocial’s answer to Facebook Connect. It lets other websites accept a member’s OpenSocial OpenID username and password to log into their sites. More importantly, it also lets websites access users’ social data, which includes friend lists, profile information, feed messages, reviews, ratings and the like.”
  
• YouTube:
• YouTube launched an enhanced abuse and safety page.
  
• YouTube is tightening its standards on content.
  

Microsoft:

• CrunchGear speculates that Microsoft may announce a Zune Phone at CES 2009.
  

Motorola:

• MOTODEV’s Widget Developer Challenge underway. Be one of the first 100 unique submissions received by December 18, 2008, and win a $250 gift card to Amazon.com.  Click here to learn more.
• Motorola introduces Rokr EM35 with WebUI widgets & Windows Media support & music player with virtual surround sound.
  

Nokia:

• Nokia announced the N97, which looks like a very cool phone.
  
• Nokia announces “Point and Find” mobile image recognition technology. It allows users to point their camera phones at poster or billboard and get more information on what’s being advertised on their phones. I’ve seen technology like this before from companies like Pongr and Kooaba.  It’s great to see a big mobile OEM embrace it.  Check out a demo of Point and Find here.
  
• Nokia released a new email platform for Ovi. Check out the beta here.
  

Yahoo:

• Flickr launched a new mobile site, which allows video streaming.

Misc:

• Recent Layoffs:
• CBS Interactive: CBS Interactive laid off workers at LastFM, but rumor has it that CBS Interactive isn’t reporting the extent of layoffs across CBS Interactive.  CBS isn’t confirming the extent of the layoffs, but TechCrunch is speculating: “According to a source inside Cnet, the buzz is that the total number of employees asked to leave today was “275-ish.” A CBS spokesperson wouldn’t confirm that number. So take it as a rough estimate.”
  
•  Microblogging platform, Pownce, closes doors & founders including Digg's Kevin Rose join Six Apart

• Industry News:

• Mobile ad rates drop as inventory increases. Experts say mobile CPMs are ~$15 compared w/ ~$23 earlier this year.
• Blogging platform, Tumblr received $4.5M in series B investment from its Series A investors in a new round of funding this week.  They also announced that they’ll be releasing premium services. 
  
• VC firm, Accel Partners, announced two funds worth $1Billion.
  
• Industry Events:
• LeWeb08 took place in Paris December 9-10.  
• While I couldn’t make it to Paris, I enjoyed watching some of it on UStream.  
• The interview with Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Product, was particularly good.
• In particular, the closing session on the main stage with the Gillmor Gang was entertaining.  I don’t see it up on the Gillmor Gang site yet, but fingers crossed they’ll post it when they’re back from Europe.   
• Seesmic founder and organizer of Le Web, Loic LeMeur apologizes for “organizational issues” at LeWeb08.
  
• Technology announcements:
• Hi5: Announced virtual gifts on December 10.
• Opera: The alpha of the Opera 10 browser is now available for free download.
  
• TechCrunch reports that “Netvibes Founder Building iPhone-Like Operating System For Netbooks” called Joliweb.
  
• TechCrunch reports that UStream is entering the race to dominate the live mobile broadcasting market (other players include Qik, Kyte, and FlixWagon).  See a video and analysis here.
  
• New Start-up, “Give Real” encourages people to forget about giving virtual gifts in favor of giving “real drinks redeemable at any bar or restaurant.”  Check it out here and as an app on Facebook.
• Misc.
• Itsmy released a mobile social networking study of 15,000 active users. Results here.
  
• In her November 21 BoomTown blog Kara Swisher summarized the Astia Awards Dinner, which celebrated venture capital firms that support women-led companies. I’m not a fan of awards dinners so I wouldn’t normally mention one, except that for this one, Venture Capitalist, Tim Draper, who couldn’t make it to the event in person, sent in a very funny video of himself taking off a piece of clothing for every woman-led company he’s invested in.
  
• Vodafone buys European mobile location and navigation services company, Wayfinder.
  
• Sling.com, which, like Hulu, allows you to watch TV shows online, launched in beta.
  

Apple:

• iPhone 2.2 Firmware was released. MobileCrunch’s review is here.  Excerpted summary of the article: “Safari’s address bar/search … tweaked a bit, apps now request a rating upon deletion, over-the-air podcast downloads …, various video and audio quality tweaks, and assorted bug fixes throughout… Google Maps has been upgraded to include Street View and directions for public transit and walking - if you have an iPhone rather than an iPod Touch…According to early reports, 2.2 for the iPod Touch brings everything but the Google Maps upgrade.”

Facebook:

• The SEC gave Facebook permission to stay a private company, while having over 500 shareholders.  This will allow Facebook to continue to issue options and restricted stock to its current and future employees.
• Facebook launched its verified app program, which requires developers to pay $375 to have their app “verified”
  

Google:

• Google Mobile: John Gruber reports that Google seems to be using an undocumented API for the voice search feature in its recently updated Google Mobile iPhone application.  Normally doing this is against the SDK Guidelines. So, the questions are: Did Google get Apple’s permission to use this API? Did Apple not realize that that Google was using an undocumented API, or did they turn a blind eye to the usage. You can read about the saga on  John Gruber’s post here.  You can see the Google video demo of  the Google Mobile update here.
• YouTube: A researcher is claiming that he’s discovered the key to predicting the success of YouTube videos. TechCruch’s summary is very good:  “Crane claims every time a YouTube video turns into a hit, the development takes the form of an “attention spiral”, a geometric pattern that partly follows physical laws. He discovered that a decrease of popularity with certain videos, for example, can be explained through methods usually utilized in modeling the aftershocks of earthquakes.”
  

Motorola:

• Motorola launched the "MOTODEV Widget Developer Challenge" for it’s mobile Linux platform.
  

MySpace:

• MySpace for RIM’s Blackberry is which launched on Nov 12 has apparently been downloaded more than 400,000 times!  You can get it here.
  

Twitter:

• Check out the real-time results of Guy Kawasaki’s ongoing survey that asks people how much they’d be willing to pay for Twitter.  So far, more than 662 people say they’ll be willing to pay $5 or more a month for Twitter. 1,780 say they won’t pay and would rather Twitter go away than start charging.

Yahoo!

• Jerry Yang stepped down as Yahoo!’s CEO, and Yahoo! Is now on the lookout for a new leader.
  
• Yahoo is rumored to still be thinking about buying AOL.
  

Misc:

• Recent Layoffs:
• Strands and Qik lay off 10 % of their staff.
• Palm Inc. A friend reports that over two thirds of the business development and developer technical support teams were affected 
• Industry News:
• Mobile advertising company AdMob’s latest Mobile Metrics Report just came out. You can download it here.  Highlights of the report include: “The iPhone is now the #1 device worldwide in the AdMob Network with 4.1% share of requests in October. Since AdMob launched its ad units for iPhone sites and applications, iPhone requests have increased from 28 million in July to 236 million in October. This month, we break out iPhone requests by country and region.”
• Appterra, a mobile advertising company just closed a $10.5 Million round of financing and announced that former Yahoo! senior executive David Karnstedt joined its board of directors.
• “Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) today announced that Internet advertising revenues reached almost $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008, representing an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2007. While double-digit annual growth continues, the quarter-to-quarter curve remains relatively flat compared to recent past performance.”  Read more here.  This is very good news for the technology industry, which largely monetizes through advertising.  I’ve been concerned that since advertising was one of the first industries to decline in the 2000-2001 dot com fall out that the decline in internet advertising between Q4 07 and now may signal challenging times ahead for the monetization of online properties. This study is a re-assuring sign that Internet advertising is on the rise after a brief decline.
• Videoegg extended its online advertising reach to the iPhone.
• Technology announcements:
• Citysearch overhauls mobile and web sites, maximizing on Yelp's bad press. They also went social by integrating with Facebook Connect in this new beta version of Citysearch.
• SnapTell: This is a new, free iPhone application that gets great reviews from TechCrunch: “take a photo of the cover of any CD, DVD, book, or video game, and the application will automatically identify the product and find ratings and pricing information online.“  It just launched on the iPhone.
• Sony adds social networking to the Playstation in the form of its Home virtual world.
• OpenTable released an iPhone app available in the iTunes store.  
• Xobni, an Outlook plug-in that helps you organize email conversations, contacts and attachments just added integrations with Yahoo Mail, Facebook, Skype, and Hoovers.
• According to a new study, 22% of consumers are unlikely to respond to email social marketing. 12% will click on messages on social sites.
  

• Apple
• Apple is now the #2 smartphone manufacturer. Nokia remains #1, RIM is now#3, and Motorola is #4. More here.
  
• The iPhone surpassed the Motorola Razr as the top selling consumer phone.
  
• Facebook
• TechCrunch reports that Facebook violated its own privacy policy to give Microsoft access to user emails: “Microsoft’s Invite2Messenger appears to violate that policy. Messenger users are asked to log in to Facebook, and then the names and email addresses of all that user’s Facebook friends are then sent to Microsoft and displayed in clear text on a page they control (Facebook itself only shows friend’s emails as images to prevent scraping). You check off which friends you want to invite to use Messenger, and then Microsoft sends each of them an email to install the client and become friends with you. Screenshots of the process (with emails removed) are below.“
  
• Facebook launched an app that allows users to vote for their favorite FBFund apps.  There are 25 finalists, five of which will receive $225,000 FBfund grants. Add the app here.
  
• Google
• YouTube launched a “new advertising program that enables all video creators -- from the everyday user to a Fortune 500 advertiser -- to reach people who are interested in their content, products, or services, with relevant videos.” 
  
• Motorola
• Interesting article on the perception of Motorola’s recent announcements regarding changes to the org: “Motorola's Turnaround Plans Meet with Skepticism”
  
• Nokia
• Nokia cut its 4th quarter outlook on handset sales from the 1.26 billion it forecast in October to 1.24 billion handsets. It also forecast a decrease in the global market for fixed and mobile network infrastructure. More here.
  
• Sony Ericsson
• Sony Ericsson ranks highest among customer satisfaction for the 3rd time in a row.
  
• Mobility Today is calling the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 the “ultimate Windows Mobile phone anyone can ask for”:
  
• Twitter
• Twitter surpassed its 1 Billionth tweet this week.
  

• Misc:
• Recent Layoffs:
• TechCrunch reports 58,709 tech layoffs over the past two and a half months. Check out the TechCrunch Layoff Tracker to see the latest Layoff news.
  
• Technology announcements:
• Loopt:
• Loopt has become more popular than the MySpace and Facebook mobile apps on iPhone.
• Loopt has reportedly hired Allen&Co to represent them in a financing transaction or sale
• To cut costs, Loopt is partnering with a Qualcomm subsidiary, SnapTrack, which provides GPS data for a monthly fee.
  

• OpenSocial celebrates its one-year anniversary. You can see the presentation from the press and developer event here.
  

• Soocial launched its public beta.  They say that they “aim to link all currently disconnected address books to each other. A change in one of these address books will result in a change in all your connected devices.”  It’s getting good reviews. Check it out.
• European events search engine Happener just launched after a year in development. Check it out.
  
• You can now make your own customized guide book at Offbeatguides.com, which was founded by Technorati founder Dave Sifry.
  

• AOL:

• AOL announced its earnings this week.  The most interesting part of the report: “Revenues decreased 17% ($207 million) to $1.0 billion, due to a 26% decline ($165 million) in Subscription revenues and a 6% decrease ($33 million) in Advertising revenues. The decline in Subscription revenues reflects mainly a decrease in domestic AOL brand subscribers, related primarily to AOL’s strategy to offer its e-mail and other products free of charge to Internet consumers. Driving the decrease in Advertising revenues were declines in display advertising on AOL Network sites and sales of advertising on third-party Internet sites, offset partially by an increase in paid-search advertising.” 
  

• Apple:
• According to a recent report by SquareTrade, The iPhone is more reliable than Blackberry and Treo after one year of ownership.  This doesn’t surprise me since there are less externally moving parts on the iPhone than a Blackberry or Treo.  The study is summarized by MobileCrunch here.
• Facebook:
• Rumor has it… Will Facebook buy Twitter? 
• Google:
• Google ends it’s Advertising Agreement with Yahoo because “government regulators and some advertisers continue to have concerns about the agreement” 
• According to CrunchGear, Steve Ballmer says Google is behind the competition and is questioning Android’s financial strategy.
• Google patched the
  
• LinkedIn:
• According to an Anderson Analytics’ study, LinkedIn users are high income.  You can see a good summary of the review here.  Among the findings: LinkedIn users that make between $200,000 and $350,000 were around seven times to have more than 150 LinkedIn connections than those who made less money. 66% of LinkedIn users are identified as “decision makers”.
• TechCrunch reports that LinkedIn cut 10% of its staff, some of which will be re-assigned to other roles:
• MySpace:
• MySpace launched with Auditude, an online video tracking platform.  Auditude fingerprints user posted videos to determine who the “content owner” is. It then inserts advertising into the video and tells the user whose content they’re watching.
• TechCrunch reports that  less than 1 month after it’s launch, MySpace MyAds is making a load of money: “Demand for the product was immediate and significant, we’ve heard from multiple sources close to the company. Average daily revenue, say our sources, is $140,000 - $180,000, which means MyAds is at least a $50 million/year business for MySpace already.” 
• Nokia: 
• Nokia laid off around 600 workers in “follow-up” to its earlier 2008 layoffs.  Nokia Research Center is also going to “sharpen its focus on fewer but stronger research areas.” You can read the announcement here.
• Nokia launched the beta of “FriendView”, “a location and micro-blogging service that helps you stay in touch with your close friends. It let’s you share where you are and how you feel from home, work, or on the go. With Friend View it is easy to meet up at only a moment’s notice. “   
• RIM:
• CrunchGear reviewed the Blackberry Bold saying, “The Bold is unequivocally the best piece of hardware that RIM has ever put out.”
• Samsung:
• Samsung reportedly surpassed Motorola in US Mobile market.
• Twitter:
• Twitter is contemplating corporate accounts as a way to make money.
• Twitter is now hiring a Director of Strategic Partnerships. This is the company's first business development hire... At last, the answer to "How do those guys plan to make money?!" question will likely soon be answered.
• TechCrunch reports that “Digital Garage, Twitter’s partner with Twitter Japan, launched Twicco, a site that lets Twitter users create groups and then subscribe to them.” 
• <Repeated from above> Rumors are swirling… Will Facebook buy Twitter? 
• Yahoo:
  
• Flickr: The 3 Billionth photo was uploaded to Flickr this week.  
• Misc:
• Rumor has it…
• <repeat from above> Rumors are swirling... Will Facebook buy Twitter? 
• Recent Layoffs:
• <repeat from above> LinkedIn 10% layoff
• M&A:
• Wink & Reunion.com are merging and will launch a new site next year: “Through this merger, we're redefining the people search space by bridging existing social networks and providing consumers with the tools they need to find, be found, and stay connected," said Michael Tanne, chief executive officer of Wink. "We're aiming to create an entirely new online experience that simplifies people's lives by making it easy to find and keep up with everyone they know. There will be exciting developments in the coming months as we integrate our strengths and push our business forward." 
• Technology announcements:
• PerfSpot: Perfspot will be rolling out “Friendvouch” to its 25M members in 3 million member segments over the coming months.  Friendvouch enables users to sign up for advertising offers, which they can send to heir friends.  When those friends indicate interest, Perfspot then sells those details back to advertisers and rewards the referring user.   Here’s how the Friendvouch website describes it: “Make great recommendations and earn cash with friendvouch. friendvouch is a community of people created to connect you directly to your favorite brands. Become a brand ambassador while earning money in the process.”  
• Barak Obama & Joe Biden: The office of the President Elect launched a transition website, where people can learn about what they’re planning. There’s a blog, newsroom, job application submission, agenda information, and more. Citizens are encouraged to submit their ideas to the future administration on all agenda items including technology. 
• MobileCrunch did a nice summary of the “Mobile Market View” study by The Kelsey Group.  The most interesting point from my perspective: “18.9% of mobile consumers in the United States are now toting smartphones, with 49.2% planning to pick one up within the next two years.”  
• Though not released this week, I learned about the Pico Pocket Projector by Optoma, which is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.  For all of you mobile geeks, this pocket-sized projector seems to solve the problem of needing an Elmo to showcase the latest and greatest app on your phone AND makes it easy to project the videos you store on your ipod or mobile phone on a wall... Very cool.
  

1. The line: I spent 4 years living in England, the rumored birthplace of queuing.  I know the rules of standing in a line, and I respect a good queue.  It avoids people trampling on each other, and that's a good thing.  But, when a line is 1/4 mile and 3+ hours long, count me out.  I can't think of a single reason why I'd wait in a line for anything longer than 30 minutes, except for maybe medical care or food, following a major disaster.  A week after the iPhone 3G came out, I stood the line in front of the Apple Store very briefly with a friend before discovering that it was still hours long, and the chances of getting a 16GB model were slim to none.  We left in favor of brunch. Since then, I've had the opportunity to play with friends' iPhone 3Gs, and I'm happy I didn't wait longer in line.
   
2. You can only use one app at a time: As if the queues in front of the Apple store weren't enough, once you get the iPhone home, you've got to line up your apps too.  That's right, you can only use one 3rd party application on your phone at a time.  I gave up on PalmOS because it is a single threaded operating system that only allows you to use one application on the phone at a time.  I was excited for the iPhone 3G because I assumed that with the launch of the App Store, Apple would launch a device that enabled several apps to run at the same time.  Unfortunately, it's one at a time.  Until this changes, some of the coolest mobile apps out there won't work as well on the iphone as they do on other phones.  Being able to keep one app open while checking another app is a valuable feature, especially when you're cutting and pasting information between applications.
3. No copy and paste: Speaking of cutting and pasting, you can't copy and paste on the iphone.  TechCrunch reports that Proximi has an app called MagicPad, which is awaiting approval to launch from the App Store.  But, MagicPad won't enable you to copy and paste from one application to the next.  The main ways I want to use copy and paste on a phone is to copy from my browser or email and paste into my calendar or contacts.
4. Built-in battery and abysmal battery life: 3G speeds, massive data streaming, and multimedia applications are a battery suck for mobile phones.  That's why so many "smart phones" are still huge... They've got big batteries.  The iPhone 3G looks much more elegant than any of the other mobile phones on the market, but the battery life leaves something to be desired.  Most mobile phones have a removable battery, which means that if you're a power user, you can swap in a spare battery if your phone goes dead. iPhone 3G has a built in battery.  So, if your battery goes dead, you need to find an outlet and wait for the phone to re-charge.  That's especially inconvenient if you're a road warrior or want to use your iPhone for all of it's features - phone, music, applications, GPS, etc.  Also - anyone who has had a laptop for a couple of years knows that battery life decreases over time. The same is true with mobile phones.  I worry that after a year or so, battery life on the iPhone 3G will dwindle and replacing that battery (which requires monkeying with the hardware) will likely be expensive and time consuming.
   
5. Reported performance problems switching between many apps: I've heard reports from friends that when you download a large number of apps from the App Store (say 15) and open and close them throughout the day, the iPhone 3G goes a little nuts - blanking out parts of the screen, showing jumbled lines of text, etc.  To correct this, you've got to soft reset the phone.  This really only impacts power users, but it sounds like enough of an issue that I'd like to wait for a fix.
   
6. No turn by turn directions:  iPhone 3G has integrated GPS but no turn by turn directions, which means that you can't use it as a GPS while you're driving.
   
7. I have a Love/Hate Relationship with Multi-Touch: Multi-Touch is cool, but sometimes, I just need a keyboard... In bright daylight, it's tough to see an LCD screen.  The iPhone 3G's "Multi-Touch" technology does not provide sensory input that allows you to feel what keys you're pressing.  It requires you to actually see the keys.  I much prefer a QWERTY keyboard, though I would rather have a screen the size of the iPhone.  I'd love to see someone come up with a jelly case that incorporates a real keyboard on the back of the iPhone - so that I can look at the big, beautiful screen as I touch type.
8. Tethering isn't possible: Most 3G smart phones allow you to 'tether' your phone to your PC - using your phone as a modem.  iPhone 3G does not.  This means, that you've got to buy a separate card for your Mac or PC to enable it to connect to AT&T's network.  Wireless cards are cumbersome... I'd rather use my phone.  Apparently, I'm not the only one. Yesterday, TechCrunch reported that "tempers flared" when a tethering application that was briefly being sold on the iPhone App store was quickly taken down.
9. Removing the SIM card voids your iPhone 3G warranty: I work in the mobile industry and am constantly trying new phones.  To do this, I swap my SIM card out of one phone and into another.  Apple says that taking your SIM out of your iPhone voids your iPhone warranty.  Frankly, swapping my SIM should be my prerogative.  If I own several phones, I should be able to use whichever one I want - depending on the circumstances.... If I'm at my client site (Motorola), I may want to use my Motorola Q9H (smart phone), but if I'm going out for a night on the town, I might want to swap to a smaller, more portable phone that fits easily in my pocket. 
   
10. The iPhone 3G is locked to AT&T: You must use your iPhone with an AT&T SIM card.  I'd like the option of paying more for an iPhone to unlock it so that I can use it with a pay as you go SIM card when I'm overseas (to avoid overseas roaming rates).  I still use my AT&T SIM to check messages when I'm abroad, but it seems silly to pay $2/Minute to make a local call when I'm visiting London.

P.S.  8/4/08: #11 (which should actually be #1): The Daily Mail (authority on all things tabloid-worthy) just published the following article which claims: "Apple to launch the iPhone 'nano' in time for Christmas." 

Over the past couple of months, I've noticed an unusually large increase in the number of my friends and former colleagues based in the UK that are joining Facebook.  The recent surge in popularity of Facebook among my UK friends has me wondering: What lit a fire under so many people in non-overlapping networks to join Facebook at around the same time?  Is it a fluke, or is the flurry of activity the product of something else?  A particular marketing campaign? Increased mentions in the UK press?  Unusually fast spread via word of mouth?  The announcement of new developer network? 

From the outside, I can't point to a particular cause, but one thing is for sure... Facebook newbies are joining at the right time, as the site continues to get a whole lot cooler thanks to the addition of 3rd party applications to Facebook.com.  The economy of 3rd party Facebook applications is now booming.  Developers are going wild, and as a result, Facebook is becoming a much more interesting place to spend time online.

Opening up the Facebook platform was a GREAT move for several reasons:

1. Creating a 3rd party developer network will bring a whole new segment of users to Facebook - developers and those in their networks.
2. The availability of a larger number of applications gives users more reasons to spend time logged on, which in turn increases Facebook's attractiveness to both users and advertisers.
   
3. It creates an economy upon which a larger number of people can benefit.  With Facebook, 3rd party developers have a place to be creative and market their products to a wide and connected audience, without the financial risk associated with going to market on their own.  Facebook users are closely connected to each other, and as a result, good applications have a much greater chance of succeeding quickly through viral marketing.

Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Palm, and others have been benefiting from their investment in Developer Relations for many years.  In most cases, opening up their platforms to developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) increases interest in the said platform, boosts usage scenarios, and generates buzz among press.  In my experience (managing global partnerships with with Windows Mobile Developers for Palm, Inc. for the Treo 700w and Treo 750v launches), besides users, 3rd party developers are some of the best evangelists a company can get.  They're passionate, fiercely loyal, and incredibly vocal.  When a company invests in Developer Relations/ Partner Alliances, giving developers all of the tools/ documentation/ support they require to innovate and profit from development, the results far outweigh the costs.  In sharp contract, when a company doesn't invest significantly enough in 3rd party developers or invests in a program that lacks direction or doesn't provide developers with the basic tools, information, and sales/ marketing channels they need, the results can be disastrous.

So far, it appears that Facebook is doing a great job providing developers with the tools they need.  And, as a result, the market for 3rd party Facebook applications is booming.  A couple of my friends recently developed a Facebook app and based on their experience, development of a Facebook app is easy.  It's been fun to hear about the success of the application and share it with my friends.  I've also enjoyed browsing the Facebook applications catalog.  I recently added a BBC news feed and an app that let's me track which US states I've visited.  What's great about the catalog is that you can read reviews of apps before installing them, and it's quick and easy to remove apps you don't like.   In the future, I'd love to see a Yelp-style star system of reviewing enabled in future generations of the catalog to users help weed through all the apps before making a selection, but the existing catalog is a great 1st generation starting point.

If you're interested in developing a Facebook app, check out Softwaredeveloper.com, who just published a very useful article for developers called "How To Develop a Hit Facebook App: 29 Essential Tools and Tutorials."

I read a really interesting blog today called "The iTunes personality test".  In it, blogger, Rob Horning, offers his thoughts on PsyBlog's report on a recent study (Rentfrow & Gosling, 2006), which paired participants in same sex and opposite sex pairs and asked them to get to know each other over six weeks.  The result of the study indicated that music is one of the most common topics of conversation when people are getting to know each other.  According to PsyBlog article,

"In the first week on average 58% of the pairs discussed music compared to 37% of all the other categories of conversation combined. Other categories included books, movies, TV, football and clothes."

The study went on to compare how much musical tastes can be used as an indicator of personality:

"Participants were asked to judge people's personality solely on their top 10 list of songs. This was compared to participants results on a standard type of personality test measuring the big five personality traits: openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability. Overall the results showed that music preferences were reasonably accurate in conveying aspects of personality."

With the above findings in mind, Horning writes:

"The study led me to wonder, though, if you couldn’t develop an iTunes plug in that would interpret your personality to yourself by analyzing what you are currently playing or have played most often most recently along the lines of how Pandora analyzes music and makes recommendations...It would work like a horoscope, perhaps, making oracular pronoucements about how you are feeling and what you seem to need. When iTunes inevitably becomes a social networking tool, this horoscope could link you to other people who might be especially compatible with you. If music is proxy for personality, it seems a cinch to make networked iTunes libraries into a kind of dating service."

I think Horning's ideas on the future of music in social media are interesting.  One of the big challenges with leveraging music in social media at the moment is the ongoing DRM debate.  However, with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates both criticizing DRM in recent statements, hopefully, one day, this will change. In particular, ending the DRM debate would give social media companies, artists, and record labels the ability to use music to make money in more innovative ways through social media.  I, for one, would love to see Horning's ideas come to fruition and "meet" people on-line whose iPod content most closely mirrors my own.    

For a while now, I've been meaning to read the following book, which talks about the emotion of music:

The author, Daniel J. Levitin, was once a rock music producer and is now a neuroscientist at McGill University in Canada.  Based on the reviews I've read, it sounds like theories explored within This is Your Brain on Music may provide support for Horning's social media ideas about music and the stickiness of popular music social media sites like Pandora.com and Lastfm.com.  Take for example, the following excerpt from Salon.com's review:

Levitin proposes several reasons why music might have been important to humans over the long sweep of history. Making and listening to music is a social activity, and could thus have improved cohesion among members of the species. "Music may have historically served to promote feelings of group togetherness and synchrony" in ancient societies, Levitin writes. Singing around the campfire, way back in the day, "might have been a way to stay awake, to ward off predators, and to develop social coordination and social cooperation within the group."

...

Finally there is that most important thing about music: its connection to love, or, more specifically, to arousal and mating. Unlike birds and whales, humans don't produce musical mating calls. But as social animals, humans need strategies to attract potential mates, and music might have been an important part of the process. "As a tool for activation of specific thoughts, music is not as good as language," Levitin writes. But "as a tool for arousing feelings and emotions, music is better than language." If you want your potential mate to remember you, you serenade her, or at least get Peter Gabriel to do it.

In a great interview on Wired.com, Levitin talks about the power of music as a mood regulator:

Music activates the same parts of the brain and causes the same neurochemical cocktail as a lot of other pleasurable activities like orgasms or eating chocolate -- or if you're a gambler winning a bet or using drugs if you're a drug user. Serotonin and dopamine are both involved....  Most people in Western society use music to regulate moods, whether it's playing something peppy in the morning or something soothing at the end of a hard day, or something that will motivate them to exercise. Joni Mitchell told me that someone once said before there was Prozac, there was her.

Science is just starting to uncover just how powerful a force music is in people's lives.  I look forward to seeing if/ how social media companies and record labels ultimately use scientific research to find ways to work together and better monetize the value they create.