12 posts tagged “microsoft”

This post has been published on my new blog, Socializemobilize.com.  Check it out.

There’s a lot of talk about the value of openness on the web…. Open development platforms, open APIs, open source, OpenSocial, etc.  “Open” is a popular word these days, and depending on who you talk to, “open” can mean any one of many different things. “Open” as it relates to the mobile is no exception…. There’s The Open Handset Alliance, Android, LiMo, multiple derivations of WebKit, etc.  As mobile and web convergence accelerates, so too do conversations about “opening up” the mobile ecosystem. The underlying implication regardless of definition is that “openness” encourages experimentation and innovation, and that’s a good thing…Right?!  Many of the people I talk to (including most developers) advocate for a more open mobile ecosystem, but plenty of people are skeptical of “openness”. Who is right - the advocates or the critics?  The short answer is that they’ve both got valid points.

Mobile developers are sick of developing for so many mobile platforms and device quirks.  Supporting multiple OSes, screen resolutions, button configurations, etc. is painful, and with OSes coming and going (Note the fast turn-around and/or lack of market penetration of mobile technologies like: MOTOMAGX, SymbianUIQ, Palm Folio, ACCESS Linux Platform, and others).  Traditional mobile development is time consuming and expensive, and making your app ubiquitous across all mobile platforms is practically impossible.  From the mobile developer’s perspective, openness might make things easier.

However, there are plenty critics of openness – including Apple, which managed to change the mobile development paradigm, without being truly “open”.  I’d love to see the mobile ecosystem adopt more open standards for development, but I can understand why companies like Apple haven’t done it.  It’s a whole lot easier to differentiate your product with proprietary software (not only on device technologies like Multi-touch but also 3rd party apps) and a unique and robust distribution channel that is difficult for others to reproduce.

More than any other mobile OEM, Apple proves that it’s possible to create a successful developer ecosystem without being open.  It has strict guidelines for development and limits the way iPhone apps can be distributed to a single channel – the iTunes store.  Each iPhone app is reviewed carefully before it’s accepted to the iTunes App Store.  While many of the developers I speak to complain about the backlog for app acceptance, they all wholeheartedly embrace the iPhone platform because “it’s easy.”  While technically closed, Apple’s mobile OS is based on commonly used “open” web technologies (WebKit), so it’s easy for web developers to learn. There are millions of iPhone and iPod Touch users to target, and there’s a great distribution/ monetization strategy in place through iTunes.
 

Critics of “openness” often question the financial viability of a 100% open approach. Take Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer who bashed Google Android:

I don't really understand their strategy. Maybe somebody else does. If I went to my shareholder meeting, my analyst meeting, and said, 'hey, we've just launched a new product that has no revenue model!'...I'm not sure that my investors would take that very well. But that's kind of what Google's telling their investors about Android," he said.

In the short term, he’s right.  In the long term, if Android is successful, Google will be able to monetize through advertising and/or selling aggregate data about user behavior.  But, creating a successful advertising strategy requires millions of eyeballs, and right now, Android is a gamble.

Other critics say things like, “Open is dangerous because it can’t be controlled.”  In reality, “Openness” is a lot like personal freedom: wonderful in many ways but easy to abuse in the wrong hands and without guidelines.  In the US, for example, we are, for the most part, free to do what we like, but there are laws in place to discourage bad behavior and consequences for breaking laws.  I’d much rather live under a democracy than a dictatorship or an anarchy like The Lord of the Flies.  Some “open” technologies provide guidelines for development.  Others don’t.   There’s got to be a happy medium.

Google prides itself on the ‘openness’ of the Android platform and doesn’t provide strict rules for development… Google has a decency policy and reserves the right to pull any app from the Android Market.  However, Google is not acting as a gatekeeper when it comes to making or distributing Android apps. Google’s policy encourages innovation, but it also means that it’s possible for malicious or untested apps with a strong viral appeal to make their way onto dozens and possibly thousands, even millions of users phones before they’re recalled.

Case in point - Today, IntoMobile reported that an app called “MemoryUp” was removed from the Android Market for allegedly erasing the memory cards and address books of its users.  Simon Sage writes:

This may be the unfortunate reality of Android’s open source philosophy - the Market could continue to host faulty or poorly-done applications because everyone has the power to write one. User reviews can be faked, and heavy policing is not only impractical, but counter Android’s vision.

Open mobile policies with limited guidelines can also make users and their contacts more susceptible to mobile viruses, as I mentioned in my recent post. A rampant virus on an open mobile platform could negatively impact both mobile owners and anyone with an email or mobile number listed on an infected mobile phone. A virus on a truly open mobile platform 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 would be smartphones on wholly open development platforms that provide access to PIM (calendar and address book) data but don’t closely regulate free app content or distribution.

There are clearly a lot of pros/cons on both sides of the open vs. closed mobile debate, and so far, I don't see a clear winner.  My vote is for open development standards combined with guidelines (and consequences) for developers that protect consumers from malicious apps.  I also believe that mobile OEMs and OS developers should be able to differentiate themselves.  Without differentiation, the mobile ecosystem will collapse, and that’s bad for competition and innovation. 

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. 

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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.
  

• 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.
  

I'm starting do to a quick weekly round-up of the Social Media and Mobile news that I find most interesting.  Enjoy

AOL:

•  AOL Journals and AOL Hometown are shutting down (joining Xdrive and BlueString)
  

Apple:    

• Apple announces retroactive improvements to “MobileMe”. The following improvements were silently launched in Sept. : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3182
•  iPhone users in the US now get free wi-fi at all AT&T hotspots.
  
• Ralph Lauren launched an iPhone app.  I agree with TechCrunch... They're better off focusing their mobile marketing dollars and efforts elsewhere...Like ShoZu. ;-)
  

Fox Interactive Media:

• Rumor has it…According to TechCrunch, MySpace Music's CEO position is going to Courtney Holt, MTV Networks' executive vice president of digital music and media. 
  
• TechCrunch reports that MySpace is getting out of the Netherlands, closing its Amsterdam office and moving Beneluz ops to Berlin. When it’s attempted acquisition of Hyves didn't happen in February, it opened an office in Amsterdam to enter the Dutch market.
  

Facebook:

• Facebook’s lead over MySpace is reportedly widening. The global gap between the two is now 43.2 million visitors.
  
• Rumor has it… Facebook may be looking for more investment earlier than anticipated. TechCrunch reports that the bad economy may be slowing Facebook’s revenue growth, causing Facebook to look for investment in Dubai.
• TechCrunch reports that Facebook Connect will officially launch on Nov 30.
  

Google:

• Mobile text messaging apparently coming soon to Gmail.
  
• Google launched Google Apps Labs, which makes it “easier for business customers and schools using Google Apps to also take advantage of our innovations and ideas that aren't quite ready for prime time. We encourage your organization to experiment with the Google Labs features listed below to improve how you communicate and collaborate.”
  

Motorola:

• Motorola's earnings call..."$3.1 billion, down 31 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. The segment reported an operating loss of $840 million, compared to an operating loss of $248 million in the year-ago quarter. The loss this quarter includes significant charges, primarily related to decisions and plans to consolidate silicon and software platforms and simplify the product portfolio."
• Reportedly cutting 3000 jobs, 2000 in mobile unit.
  

Yahoo!:

• Yahoo! is now open: They are attempting to open their network, unlock social relationshps, and "mesh" Yahoo! expeirneces with other sites.  Developers can learn more here.

Miscellaneous news:

• Rumor has it…
• AOL and Yahoo may be doing due diligence on each other looking towards a possible merger.
• Recent Layoffs
• hi5 (last week)
  
• Technology improvements:
• OpenID:  
• TechCrunch reports: “If you have a Yahoo account, you have an OpenID. If you have a Windows Live account, you will soon have an OpenID. And today, if you have a Google e-mail account, you can also start using your Gmail address as an OpenID”.
  
• Windows Live is now supporting OpenID.
•  LinkedIn launched it’s new App Platform.
  
• Netflix is now available on Tivo in the US
  
• QIK  streaming video recording from the mobile is now available for Blackberry:
  
• SlingMedia’s new portal Sling.com set to launch soon. TechCrunch reports that the launch may be Nov 10.
  
• Twitter: As of the last few weeks, Britney Spears is now on Twitter.
  

Watching Bill Gates' keynote from CES 2008 reminded me of how important it is to work with people you not only like but also that bring out the best in you and compliment your skills.  Gates is a technology genius, but he didn't put together this 'mocumentary' alone.  This is the work of marketing genius:

Speaking of Bill Gate's forthcoming last day in the office, I thought it might be fun to dredge up a little something that I saw on the Late Show a couple of years ago:

 

My client, ShoZu, has been nominated in the Crunchies Award as Best Mobile Start-up.  

This award is co-produced by TechCrunch, Read/Write Web, VentureBeat and GigaOm.  Major sponsors include: Adobe, Microsoft, Sun and a few venture funds.

Please head to the voting link, http://vote.crunchies.techcrunch.com/ scroll to the mobile category and vote for ShoZu.  You can vote once and day, so please take the time to vote as many times as you can!

Voting ends January 10. The awards will be announced January 18.

I've had a great couple of days at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) Wireless IT & Entertainment Conference in San Francisco catching up with old friends and colleagues in wireless and learning more about where the industry is going.  It all started with Tuesday's keynote from Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, which CTIA themed "Enterprise." 

Yawn?   No way... Forget boring enterprise software, Ballmer made it clear that while Microsoft knows where its bread is buttered right now, their vision of the mobile future is equally bright for enterprise IT managers and consumers alike. 

Microsoft has learned a ton about the mobile marketplace in the last couple of years through the release of Windows Mobile 5 and 6 and the evolution of their strategic partnerships with Mobile OEMs, ISVs, and operators, and it is arguably now the world's leading expert in the combination of enterprise software, server infrastructure and mobile.  Unsurprisingly, convergence was a recurring theme in Ballmer's keynote...

"We have to meld these models of computing into one. That's an innovation challenge. And we have to bring together the business models in ways that are acceptable. The business model for the world of phones and cellular devices is different than the PC business model is different than the advertising-based model that people associate with online. And I think what we're going to find, if we want innovation to proceed at the most rapid pace, we have to meld and weave together those business models in a way that works for software developers, for users, for telecom operators, for content providers, and for software companies like Microsoft and others...

The phone has a unique role. While the PC is the most powerful device, the phone is the most popular device. It will be the device that we can most count on everybody in the planet having, and having available at any given time. But how do we evolve the phone so it participates fully in this world, fully in the lifestyle side of this world, and the work style side of this world? How do we bring all the business experiences and entertainment experiences of the other devices to the phone in an appropriate way? And that's a great opportunity for innovation from Microsoft, and for all of us in the room participating in this industry...
 
In many countries, the phone will be the PC for people who have very little money. What does the docking station look like so that when you bring your phone home at night, it can use a simple, cheap keyboard, and it can use the video screen of the television set to become kind of a PC-like workstation for people who simply don't have the financial resources for both devices?"

While I was pleased to hear Ballmer allude to a converged future, it was at this point, that I was unavoidably distracted by the loud conversation of three men sitting in front of me:

Man 1 (wielding a Blackberry Pearl): "Who is this guy?"
Man 2 (also with Blackberry): "Steve Ballmer"
Man 3: "Who's that?"
Man 1: "Yeah, what does he do?"
Man 2 (opens CTIA program and points to Keynote description of Ballmer)
Man 1 and Man 2 (in unison): oh

I was amazed and amused by what I was hearing...  Is there really a rock large enough to simultaneously shield two people in the IT industry from having at some point seen this on YouTube?: 

How could anyone at a Wireless IT and Entertainment conference not know who the CEO of Microsoft is?!  I was dying to find out where they were from, but I couldn't see their badges from behind, and I didn't want to stare. ;-)  Besides, I really did want to hear what Ballmer was saying:

"...IT does need to control and manage some things that go on on these devices, and yet end users are going to want to be able to control what they do with the devices in their personal lives for sure. And we have to make sure there's a rich set of tools that will support both the end user and the IT department to let these devices fulfill a broad set of work needs...

One of the major investments that we have made, which we are really announcing today is something we call the Microsoft System Center, which is the brand name for our line of enterprise IT management tools, Mobile Device Manager. This is a product that helps IT manage, secure, and provide secure access for phones that are on the go. It increases that sort of general management capability. It will work with forthcoming versions of Windows Mobile devices. There will be updates starting Feb. 2 of next year, Windows Mobile phones will allow this product to work."

As someone who has worked with IT departments who are resistant to change, I appreciate Microsoft's expression of a dual focus on IT and consumer.  It's a tough line to straddle, but assuming they can get it right, balancing IT's need for security with a consumer's need for productivity, fun and privacy, will propel Microsoft forward in the mobile space. 

Ballmer invited Brian Hoskins, Senior Product Manager the Mobile Communications Business, to demo the Microsoft System Center and Mobile Device Manager.  It was fantastic.  Device Management, Security Management, and Mobile VPN all in one.  No one in the mobile industry has done this successfully before, but Microsoft looks like it's onto a winner.  Imagine:

• never having to lose the settings on your device when you get a new one...
• being an enterprise IT manager and using the same system for PCs and mobile to control devices and distribute policies...
• total security with full file encryption
• being an employee and VPNing in to see corporate information (CRM, eHR, etc.) securely from your phone from anywhere
  

Awesome.

AT&T is Microsoft's launch partner for the Mobile Device Manager, and the Blackjack 2 is working with the Mobile Device Manager already.  HP, HTC, Intermec, Moto, and Palm are also working with Microsoft to bring the platform into use, and several systems integrators including a start-up called Enterprise Mobile (which is supported by Microsoft) and other systems integrators are also working on the project.

Moving from Enterprise to Lifestyle, Derek Snyder went on stage to demo some of Microsoft's enhanced community, personal and social entertainment capabilities.   Productivity improvements to  Windows Mobile 6 include easier and more robust on-device search (including voice powered search with Live search), Windows Live, and Office Mobile.  The smart filtering technology makes sorting through masses of emails and contacts easy, without having to enter a specific search mode... Just type in the letters of the person or email you're looking for, and results will filter.  There are also improvements to viewing photos and pictures on email.   Windows Live search is a free application that makes it easy for users to search for directions, restaurants, etc. all from the phone.  (I've tried it myself, and it's great... Download all of the Windows Live apps from your mobile browser by clicking here.)

Entertainment-wise... Pocket Media Player Mobile and support for stereo bluetooth headsets make listening to music and watching video on a Windows Mobile 6 phone a breeze.  And, better yet, with 3 keystrokes, you can get to any song in your library of music.  It is also now possible to control Media Center programming via a Windows Mobile phone.  Using Media Center from a mobile phone is very similar to using it from home, as the two experiences mirror each other.  Derek even managed to record his 'favorite show,' (ahem) Oprah from his phone.  At one point, the phone Derek was using lost reception (bound to happen with so many people using mobile phones in one room) but with a quick slide of hand in the form of a almost un-noticeable swap of phones, the demo went on...

Social networking is also a focus for Microsoft.  Specifically, Windows Live Messenger is now running on mobile. You can send voice clips to friends via Instant Messager.  While not particularly revolutionary in scope, it is also possible to blog and upload photos from a Windows Mobile phone to a Windows Live Spaces blog in one click.  Interestingly, while there was no mention of Facebook on Tuesday, today, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft agreed to invest $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook Inc.

As a fan of Windows Mobile, I was pleased to hear about improvements to the platform.  I have high hopes for the future of Windows Mobile... While there is still a lot of work to be done, so far Microsoft is doing a great job of innovating and pushing the mobile industry forward.

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."