IphonME

Sitting on Your Butt Can Kill YOU! [Infographic]

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:06:00 +0000

I could not have put it better than this really cool #infographic as to "Sitting is Killing You"...Get off your chair, take a walk and read up this on your phone while walking!

Are you one of these people? Well, it's hard not to right?

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

COLDPLAY's "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" = A "Ritmo De La Noche" COPY?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:17:00 +0000

This weekend I heard the Coldplay's new single called: "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall", which I liked and immediately transported me to my childhood. But, was that a good thing?

Well, I've found this song an exact copy of "Ritmo De La Noche" by Mystic (also covered by The Sacados - the version I heard when a child). I like Coldplay and their music, but it's hard not to notice that they have been copying several artists these days, by taking their tunes, lyrics and music and making it their own. In fact, one of their last album's hit "Viva La Vida" garnered a lot of controversy on this very same topic. Granted, it seems like a lot of artists are doing this now, as in the case of Jennifer Lopez and her recent hit: "On The Floor", tune that was made famous by the 90s Brazilian band Lambada. Interestingly, this makes two Brazilian bands' music copied by two English speaking artists. Is the music industry running out of ideas?

I really like Coldplay but, is it necessary to use this cool famous rhythm for this new song?
Does Coldplay or Jennifer Lopez producers think that people won't recognize these things and be able to call then up on it?

Listen to this Coldplay song and The Sacados version below and you be the judge...What do you think?

The War of The Social Networks - Which Are Gaining and Losing Users?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:50:00 +0000

Social Networks are all the rage these days, taking over popularity and in traffic as in the case of Facebook over online portals that in their hay day dominated the internet, as in the case of Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, MySpace, etc.
While some websites are growing and peaking, others are shutting down or on the verge of collapse, the perfect example is Mypace, a social network pioneer that's becoming victim of its own success. Myspace's staggering decline is leading to desperate measures like mass lay offs and in search of buyers ASAP before it's too late and its value nears bottom. News Corp's recent negotiations of having MySpace sold to Vevo certainly suggest the best option left for the once leading social network is to merge with an uprising internet music star to be able to survive. Facebook on the other hand continues to outdo itself in terms of technology and experience, offering its users a long term-stay.

Recently I came across this Infograph--which I've come to love--that beautifully paints an excellent picture of the winners and losers in social media these days and it further breaks down the demographic breakdown for the top players in the world. Take Plaxo for instance, as pointed out by Mashable: it's "the network with the most users over the age of 65, while Facebook is more popular with women, Digg and Reddit tend to be more popular with men, Linkedin is the “richest” social network, but Plurk outranks it when it comes to well-educated users who have graduate degrees."

Take a look at this detailed infograph below and you be the judge...

Shamrock, Shakes and Youtube Leprechauns: How Do Americans Celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:27:00 +0000

What are your plans for St. Patrick’s Day (this Thursday, March 17): hanging out with friends, shamrocks, dressing up like leprechauns, wearing green, going to an Irish pub...?

Well, in 2011 St. Patty's has gone social, so take a look at this cool infographic that shows how social networkers will celebrating this special day, revealing their opinions of that green-beer-besotted holiday that’s coming soon to a corner pub near you.

Disclaimer: Lab 42 surveyed data from 405 social network users, and the company assures us those respondents were evenly distributed across all age groups and income levels.

So, tell us what you think of this infograph and if you fit the mole, and share how and where you will be this green Thursday...check in Facebook places or Foursquare!

Cheers:-)

History of Social Networking - What's Next?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:03:00 +0000

It's already the second month into the New Year and we have had blizzards, floods in Australia, protests in Africa, and a handful of impactful world events, I just can't believe how fast 2011 is going and how many things have already happened in such a short time!

As time flies, I've realized that it's been a while since my last post, so here is a cool infograph I found that nicely documents the 'History of Social Networking'...what do you think will be the next ''it'' social platform?

What we know for sure is that pioneers like AOL and MySpace have long been struggling now and the most recent news is that the once largest social network in the world is now officially for sale as reported by our friends at Mashable.

WORKING FROM HOME: WHO IS ALLOWED TO DO IT?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:40:00 +0000

I was approached a couple of months back by Dawn Papandrea, a writer from Getcurrency.com--a website recently launched by American Express intended to help better manage personal finance and provide with personal stories as people work to define and achieve success on their own terms--to take part on a story about young professionals working from home and I said why not! Check out this interview piece below for more about this story...these days anyone can do this, as long as you can prove your boss that your worthy of it.

Getting Your Boss to Let You Work from Home

Source: GetCurrency

Let's experiment. That's the message that Reese Ramos, 32, a digital-marketing and publicity professional in Los Angeles, was proposing when he suggested, just weeks into his new position, that he work from home on Fridays to increase his productivity.

"My boss wasn't very sure with the idea, as it was new to him," Ramos says. But he pleaded his case, arguing that he could make calls and work on business development leads with less disruption. "The office is a big communal loft space with no privacy, so my productivity level was much higher at home," he says. And Ramos knew from feedback that he was regarded as dependable and professional, with a great work ethic. His boss soon agreed to give work-at-home Fridays a shot.

"If you think you're a good candidate to work at home, you must create a business proposal that takesyour needs out of the equation," says Darcy Eikenberg, a certified workplace coach and founder of Coach Darcy LLC. "While you may want to do it to shorten your commute or avoid parking costs, that's not your company's issue—unless it helps them in some way. You have to make the case that it's good for the company." In other words, if you don't have an hourlong commute, you can start earlier and work later.

Working His Way Toward Home

Over several months, Ramos kept proving himself to be self-motivated and accessible, and he gradually asked to increase the number of weekdays of working from home. "I agreed to be reachable at all times via e-mail and phone, to meet with the team in person twice a week, to meet with clients throughout the week, and to provide weekly reports," he says. And whenever he requested a schedule change, he wrote up a formal proposal and followed up with his boss to discuss the logistics.

He works exclusively from home now—10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and sometimes late at night. So far, it's working out, he says: "When everyone is asleep is when the best ideas come up," he says. During the day, he says, staying connected is key. "We're always talking via e-mail, IM, and Facebook about things related to work."

Telecommuting is In

Thinking of taking a shot at making a similar proposal? Be prepared to work even harder than you do at the office, Ramos says: "Show your boss that you care, that you're entrepreneurial, and that you have a passion for your company and what you do."

Now might be a great time to broach the subject, with the economy still struggling. "As technology becomes more instant and accessible, working at home has become popular, and even encouraged by companies as they seek to reduce real estate and other location-based costs," says Eikenberg. "It's great for many roles and industries where the work can be done any time of the day or night, and without the direct interaction of others. And it can be an excellent option to attract new talent or to retain a high-performing associate who no longer lives near the office."

But if you thought working at home means tremendous flexibility, give up on that fantasy. "Working successfully at home means truly committing yourself to the work time, and not blending it with household tasks, childcare, or other distractions," Eikenberg says. Many large companies even require documentation that you have a dedicated home office that meets certain technology standards.

And another caveat: "Out of sight, out of mind is a reality," Eikenberg says. "To work at home successfully, you must also work to stay relevant and visible within your organization."

It's really all up to you!

The Battle of the TITANS: Google Vs Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:54:00 +0000

I saw this cool infographic on AllFacebook.com illustrating the rise and current place of Google and Facebook in the online space.

Who do you think will prevail?

Or will they just become the next AOL and MySpace in due time?

What are your thoughts???

Social Media Now Main Stream: Should We Be Concerned About Privacy?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:55:00 +0000

Social Media is here to stay and continues to expand by leaps and bounds, as a new study by Nielsen Online titled “What Americans Do Online”, shows 43% annual increase in the use of social networks and blogs. The study indicates that 1/3 of Americans spend their online time communicating via social networks and blogs than any other method. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and blogging platforms like Wordpress, BlogSpot and Tumblr are making a big imprint in the Internet space by initiating and continuing conversations going in a more social and lax manner. These are open and free platforms for people to express and share how they feel at any specific moment with no boundaries. These numbers speak for themselves as more and more online users continue to become more social and are very quickly turning social media into a mainstream activity.

What is social media?

Social media include web-base platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Blogs, etc., used as mediums of social interaction, networking and broadcasting media dialogues. Unlike traditional media—print, broadcast, radio, mobile and so on—social media is a interconnected web of online digital platforms for interaction and relationships, not ads or content the way traditional media publishes. Social media relies heavily on technology and new trends, as online users become more familiar and comfortable with new tools that make it easier for them to communicate in a more fluid and free environment. This is why players like Google, Facebook and Twitter occupy important places in the space, as they offer users easy to use, useful and interactive technologies to make their online experiences simpler and more fun.

A video put together by Erik Qualman—online marketer and author of the book Socialnomics—released a year ago and published on his blog has garnered over 2 million views, takes the social media obsession with stats to another level. The high pace engaging video compiles a slew of key statistics from many reliable sources that strongly demonstrate that “social media is not a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate”, as he calls it.

Here is a quick glance at those impressive stats:

1. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web

2. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media

3. Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet

(4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…

iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.

For the entire video click play on the button below:

Real-Time Numbers

To illustrate the importance of how social media today, its power, influence and true magnitude here is a truly astounding and dynamically updated statistics widget that was put together by online media producer and social media guru Gary Hayes. It feeds from a Flash application that shows how active & dynamic the Social Web, Mobile Industry and Game Business is, by spewing real-time results of what’s happening now and what people are doing in this very moment.

Do You Know Who is Watching?

But, because of the nature of social media and technologies available out there, online users must always be aware of privacy issues and concerns that may sometimes compromise personal information. Granted, the two big players out there: Google and Facebook make everyone’s online experience unique and a fun experience, but by the same token they are also keeping a closed eye on us.

Check out this great creative image that describes the issue of lack of privacy in the Internet in a concise and graphic manner...

Infographic byWordStream Internet Marketing

Privacy is in everyone’s mine and to keep a balance on what remains private and public is very important. Key Internet players must listen to the user’s concerns about this to maintain a healthy balanced relationship between user and provider. But, people must also understand that social media isn’t just a fad indeed and that Google and Facebook are here to stay and make social media more open and dynamic.

What are your thoughts about social media today and your concerns about privacy issues?

New iPhone 4.0 Gets High Marks!

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:57:00 +0000

New iPhone Keeps Apple Top of Class

June 22, 2010
by Walter S. Mossber

Just three years ago, Apple wasn’t in the mobile-phone business at all. Since then, its game-changing iPhone has become the most influential smartphone in the world. Now, on June 24, the company will roll out the fourth generation of the device, called the iPhone 4.

While attractive, capable new smartphones emerge regularly from competitors, a new iPhone deserves special attention for two reasons. First, the device lies at the center of a huge ecosystem of 225,000 apps, plus popular related gadgets like Apple’s iPod Touch connected media player and iPad tablet, which collectively are approaching 100 million units sold. Second, the iPhone’s multitouch, gesture-based interface; elegant Web browser; sophisticated music and video playback; and other features have been emulated on many competing devices, so what Apple does affects the whole industry.

I’ve been testing the iPhone 4 for more than a week. In both hardware and software, it is a major leap over its already-excellent predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.

It has some downsides and limitations—most important, the overwhelmed AT&T network in the U.S., which, in my tests, the new phone handled sometimes better and, unfortunately, sometimes worse than its predecessor. I’ll get into that below. But, overall, Apple (AAPL) has delivered a big, well-designed update that, in my view, keeps it in the lead in the smartphone wars.

The iPhone 4 is a dramatic redesign. It manages to pack a radically sharper screen; a second, front-facing camera; a larger battery; a better rear camera with flash; and a faster processor into a body that is 24% thinner, a bit narrower, and retains the same length and weight as its predecessor’s. In fact, Apple claims that the iPhone 4 is the world’s thinnest smartphone and sports the world’s highest-resolution smartphone screen.

With the front-facing camera, and clever new software called FaceTime, Apple has brought simple, high-quality video calling to mobile phones, albeit, for now, only over Wi-Fi and only among iPhone 4 owners. In multiple tests, this feature worked very well for me and is a classic example of the value of having one company do integrated hardware and software.

In addition, the iPhone now includes an updated operating system—which also can be installed free on the prior model—that introduces catch-up software features such as limited multitasking (the ability to run apps simultaneously); folders for grouping related apps; and, for email, a unified inbox for multiple accounts and the ability to present messages as threaded conversations. This software is called iOS4.

The iPhone 4 will cost the same as the iPhone 3GS: $199 for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory and $299 for 32 gigabytes, with a two-year contract from AT&T (T). The 3GS model will drop to $99 with a two-year contract and 8 gigabytes of memory.

Design

Physically, the iPhone 4 is attractive and feels great in the hand. Even the back is now clad in glass, which Apple claims is a superstrong variety 30 times tougher than plastic. I dropped it several times from a few feet onto a hard surface with no problem, and it acquired no scratches at all in my testing, even though I didn’t use a case or coddle it.

Although it is the same weight as its predecessor, the iPhone 4 feels denser and tighter—more like a fine possession than a disposable gadget. It still looks like an iPhone, but it manages to make the 3GS appear bulbous by comparison.

While its 3.5-inch screen, once considered huge, is now smaller than those on some other smartphones, the high resolution packs in a lot of material and makes text appear almost like ink on fine paper. The software is simply richer looking and smoother to use than on competing phones I’ve tested, with fewer confusing menus and settings, and far more apps.

Screen, Voice, Battery and Camera

Always brilliant at marketing, Apple has dubbed its new screen the “Retina display.” At a resolution of 960×640, it has four times the pixels of its predecessor and displays a whopping 326 pixels per inch. I don’t know how it compares with the human retina, but I do know that, just as Apple claims, text on the screen shows no jagged lines, even when expanded to giant size.

Voice quality was quite good, even on long speaker-phone calls, and data performance over Wi-Fi was excellent. Video and audio streamed from the Web played smoothly.

Apple claims longer battery life for most functions—seven hours of talk time, for instance, versus five hours on the earlier model. I didn’t perform a precise battery test, but, even in heavy use, the iPhone 4’s battery never reached the red zone on a single day of my tests.

The new rear camera is another big plus. My test pictures came out sharp and clear, even in low light and close-up situations. It isn’t the best cellphone camera I’ve tested, but it is a big improvement.

The iPhone 4 records video in high definition and, in my tests, these videos came out very well in most conditions. Apple also is selling for $5 an iPhone version of its Macintosh video-editing program, iMovie, for editing the videos.

FaceTime

Video calling is one of this device’s best features. As noted, it currently requires an iPhone 4 and Wi-Fi connection on both ends, though Apple says it is making the technology free to others and hopes to have millions of compatible devices. There is no setup and nothing to learn. You just press a FaceTime button, and if the other person accepts the invitation to talk face to face, his or her image appears, with your own image showing in a small corner window.

You can tap an icon on the screen to swap the front camera for the rear one, so you can show your caller around the room, or include other people near you who are behind the phone.

You can even begin a video call as an audio cellular call, push a button, and switch it to a Wi-Fi FaceTime call. It worked great for me, except for a couple of brief freeze-ups.

Multitasking

After years of complaints, Apple finally has brought multitasking to the iPhone. But it has done so in a limited way that won’t please everyone. On the iPhone 4, multitasking doesn’t mean every app can work fully in the background. To prevent a disastrous drain on battery life, Apple has allowed only certain apps to fully multitask. These include streaming audio services like Pandora, which keep playing music from the Web while you do other things, and voice-prompted navigation apps, which keep working while you’re on a call. Others that fully work in the background include Internet calling apps, and those that perform long downloads.

But some logical candidates, such as Twitter and Facebook, merely pause in place when you switch away from them. You can get back to them quickly, and they update more rapidly than before, but they don’t constantly update in the background. They only wake up in the background if you have set them to notify you of an update, and then only for a limited time. Apple says constant fetching of hundreds of social-networking updates in the background would kill the battery too quickly.

In fact, for many scenarios, such as games, Apple’s version of multitasking is really just fast switching among open apps that save their place. And, even to achieve this, the apps must be updated. For some users, this limited version of multitasking will be a disappointment.

To use multitasking you just press the iPhone’s home button twice and a row of icons representing running apps appears. Click on the one you want and, if it has been updated for the new operating system, it will appear just as you left it.

Multitasking also will work on updated iPhone 3GS models, but not on models older than that.

Folders

Because iPhone users can easily accumulate hundreds of apps, it can become difficult to organize them. So the new iPhone OS now allows you to group them into folders. For instance, I grabbed the icon for The Wall Street Journal app, dragged it on top of the one for the Washington Post app, and a folder was instantly created called “News,” based on the apps’ built-in categories. You can change the name to anything you like, or alter or disassemble the folders.

The Big Downside

The most important downside of the iPhone 4 is that, in the U.S., it’s shackled to AT&T, which not only still operates a network that has trouble connecting and maintaining calls in many cities, but now has abandoned unlimited, flat-rate data plans. Apple needs a second network.

Both Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T) told me they worked to make the iPhone 4 do a better job with AT&T’s network. For example, the phone itself is surrounded by a prominent stainless-steel trim piece that acts as a large antenna. And Apple said it also tuned the phone to try to grab whatever band on the network was less congested or less affected by interference—to stress the quality of a signal over its raw strength. AT&T said it, too, made some changes to its network with the new iPhone in mind.

But, in my tests, network reception was a mixed bag. Compared with the previous model, the new iPhone dropped marginally fewer calls made in my car, both in Washington and in Boston, and was much louder and clearer over my car’s built-in Bluetooth speaker-phone system.

Yet, in some places where the signal was relatively weak, the iPhone 4 showed no bars, or fewer bars than its predecessor. Apple says that this is a bug it plans to fix, and that it has to do with the way the bars are presented, not the actual ability to make a call. And, in fact, in nearly all of these cases, the iPhone 4 was able to place calls despite the lack of bars.

However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting “no service” or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this. The iPhone 4 quickly recovered in these situations, showing service after a few seconds, but it was still troubling.

Just as with its predecessors, I can’t recommend this new iPhone for voice calling for people who experience poor AT&T reception, unless they are willing to carry a second phone on a network that works better for them.

For everyone else, however, I’d say that Apple has built a beautiful smartphone that works well, adds impressive new features and is still, overall, the best device in its class.

Courtesy of All Things Digital Web site.

2010 WORLD CUP: Branding & Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:16:00 +0000

It's been four long years since the last world cup took place in Germany, when Italy beat France for the prestigious cup! This Friday the referee’s whistle will mark the beginning of the first world cup of this decade, hosted for the first time in the African continent. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be in its 19thedition and it’s scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. Soccer mania is seen everywhere: outdoor advertising, print, radio, mobile and online, with media spends this year higher than any other year.

Some of the biggest soccer stars today like: Messi, Torres, Ronaldo, Kaka, Beckham and many others will take part on the world's most-watched sporting event. According to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ / Infront Sports & Media, billions of people watched the World cup, and a good chuck of it did so in 2006 via online, from which we can only speculate that those numbers will rise tremendously this year.

Here are the 2006 numbers: FIFAWorldCup.com became the most successful sports event website in history with 4.2 billion page views from June 9 - July 9 — more than double the traffic recorded during the 2002 event. More than 125 million video streams, and more than 73 million page views on the mobile web portal after FIFAWorldCup.com went mobile for the first time. So, this clearly demonstrates that the online medium has grown quite a bit and that there is a huge market that can be prove to be high lucrative to tap into.

New and existing brands that support FIFA are beginning to spend more time and money in online marketing and have come up with many different ways to capture the loyal soccer fans attention to grab a piece of the pie. It’s all about making a good and long lasting impression, capturing the most eye balls and highest participation possible. Smart branding for an event of this magnitude and scale is key!

But before taking a look at the participating brands involved in this whole marketing game, let’s see how the hosting nation is branding itself to impress the world.

In preparation to this worldwide event, South Africa spent billions of dollars to brand itself the best way possible. Five new stadiums were built for the tournament and five existing venues have been upgraded. In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa has also improved its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with state of the art transportation systems and projects.Hotels, restaurants, parks and many other hospitality establishments have also spent millions preparing for this big event to be ready to accommodate visitors to full capacity.

South Africa has also implemented safety and security measures for local and international tourists attending the largest event in the world. Overall, the country has invested almost $10 billion, in four years leading this event, which they hope to be a great success and view the whole thing as an investment in the long run. That’s a lot of money for a developing nation struggling with so many internal problems like health and crime. Let’s just hope that what happened to Greece at the Olympics doesn’t replicate here a few years later!

South Africa has put a lot on the line in the name of branding itself to the world the hard way, but are they investing money in social media channels the same way World Cup sponsors have?

Let’s now take a look at how well some brands are doing branding themselves particularly in the online side of the business.

Official FIFA sponsors and sports/soccer centric brands have invested a great deal of money in social media for this World Cup. All of the official World Cup sponsors (and many non-official sponsors too) have been busy working on the newest application that can connect fans with a global social media audience via Facebook and their mobile phones, the most engaging viral marketing campaign and the most fun and simple ways to engage audiences and get them to participate.

Here is a list of brands that are present at this edition of the World Cup (some of them long-standing sponsors): McDonald’s, Powerade, Continental, Sony Ericsson, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Visa, Budweiser, Emirates, Nike, Puma, Umbro, and many others. However, not all of these made the cut on my short list of brands worth mentioning that have done a great job branding themselves at this year’s World Cup with solid online marketing campaigns and should capitalize from social media. These top player brands include:Sony Ericsson, Visa, Adidas, Coca-Cola and Budweiser.

Sony Ericsson - One of the long-term sponsors of the World Cup.

Power of Twitter - With Twittercup, Sony has proven to keep it as simple as possible, with a smart Twitter campaign that tells us social media and sports are a natural fit. The Twittercup collects and counts fan tweets, creating a competition among attending nations. The good is that since its launch in December 2009, the Twittercup has already amassed 43,000 tweets, the bad is that I cannot seem to easily find this on Twitter only the Sony site.

Visa – They have replicated a social application format used during the Olympics that proved to be highly successful called: social media match planner.

Facebook App – Visa’s game planner application with ability to share with friends and leave match related comments, scores high in terms of fun and functionality.

Adidas – A World Cup sponsor heavy weight in so many levels, Adidas has been a sponsor of the game since 1954.

TV Soccer Celebrity Ads – Adidas is relying heavily on a big budget TV ads with soccer celebrities like:Kaka, Michael Ballack, Messi, Villa and Zidane called: Fast vs Fast featuring their F50 adizero boots and trying to spark social media conversation on Facebook. At almost 80,000 views thus far, the video count is quite low for a big player in the game known for killer creative ads.

Nevertheless, Adidas has a huge advantage for being a close and strategic partner of the cup with the match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, manufactured by them and provides with boots and wear to many of the players and teams, giving them perhaps the most direct exposure and appeal to a fan.

Coca-Cola – Another brand heavy weight and present at the World Cup since 1974.

Funny UGC YouTube Video Contest – Coca-Cola has taken inspiration from Roger Milla’s 1990 corner flag dance to encourage users to upload their own unique celebrations on to YouTube, the winner of get to go to the World Cup. UGC funnies have proven to be very successful and the simplest the better, so Coke scores high here. Additionally, Coca-Cola is perhaps the largest brand on Facebook with 5.5 million fans and a huge following on Twitter, where the contest is nicely supported.

Budweiser – A well-known brand with a long standing history of success on branding and a sponsored of the World Cup since 1986.

YouTube Reality Show: Budweiser United – Budweiser held a global audition via YouTube to find 32 fans from respective World Cup countries who will live together in South Africa “Real World” style. Once the Cup kicks off Budweiser will create a YouTube reality show documenting the fans as they play out their rivalries en masse. As their team is eliminated so the house member will be kicked out. The two final fans will go to the World Cup final and the winner will present the Budweiser man of the match trophy to the best player.Facebook will play a supporting a strong supporting role.

This one can prove to be the most creative social media campaign that promises to have a lot of legs, since it uses the two strongest channels in social media to replicate a reality show that was very compelling and successful among fans altogether, and may take reality shows to a new level and platform.

What do you think?

Who is faring the best in Social Media?

How well has South Africa done preparing for this colossal event? Have they neglected social media?

Share your thoughts!

Hispanics in Social Media: Chat with Matt Reyes Founder of 'Twitteros'

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:21:00 +0000

Recently I had a chance to speak with an influential Hispanic player in the digital space, and one who has made a difference in making his voice heard and who has been able to recruit a solid fan base from the bottom up.

In an exclusive interview with Matt Reyes the founder of Twitteros, we will get a chance to learn more about his role as a successful Latino influencer in the online world and how the Hispanic market has grown and become a key player in the marketplace. According to eMarketer there are currently over 26 million Hispanics using the Internet every day, and that number is growing just as fast as the total number of people within this minority, and by the end of 2012, it is estimated that there will be nearly 30 million Hispanics on the Web.

Let’s begin!

Have you ever heard of Twitteros?

According to Mat Reyes, the term Twitteros is a Spanish adjective that means, “Twitter user”.

Matt is the founder of Twitteros, a social media community hub for Latinos that Twitter, based on the Ning platform that launched in late 2008. The community hosts profiles, music, photos, blogs, forums, and other features.

As he explains: “The whole idea of Twitteros is to connect all Latinos that Twitter. We have so much to say and so much to learn from each other, and this group will only connect us even more!”

In my 1:1 chat with Matt Reyes, he was very open to share with us more about Twitteros and his role as an influencer in the market, so influential that the 2010 US Census partnered with him and his social network to encourage Hispanics to be counted and share the importance of taking part in the act.

Who is Matt Reyes?

I’m a Texas-born and Washington, DC—based marketer, musician, politico, and Texas Longhorn. I am the founder of the Department of Influence, a new media initiative, and created Twitteros.net.

I am well-versed and active in bottom-up media, organizations, and theory, I believe in the marketing philosophies of Douglas Rushkoff and Seth Godin. As a follower of these principles, I have helped organizations ranging from major brands to cultural arts institutions define their purpose, create authentic word of mouth, and become innovative.

How big do you think is the Hispanic influence online these days?
It's growing each and every day. We are still yet to be on par with the general market, but influence is much greater among younger communities.

Do you consider yourself part of the generation Y and a web 2.0 junkie with the creation of Twitteros? Yes, I definitely consider myself a millennial and consider those who join Twitteros millennial-minded.

Do you consider yourself a tech junky?

Yes, of course.

How did the whole idea of creating Twitteros come up? Basically, I modeled Twitteros after Twitter Moms with the goal of uniting Latino Twitter users and showing their diverse interests. Twitteros is the network for digitally influential Latinos.

(His profile reads on Twitter Moms: “I am a fan of Twitter Moms...even though I'm a dude!” From this, we can infer that his approach of creating a community like this moms' hub for Latinos to connect, seems to have certainly worked.)

Why a parrot?

A parrot humorously replaces the bird that is famous on Twitter. Matt further explains: “I wanted a character that is Latino and thought the parrot would be a pretty funny take on the Twitter bird!”

How long has it been since you began your online community and how far have you gotten from where you started--traffic, members etc.?

Twitteros hit its 1-year anniversary this past December and we've grown to over 600 strong, influential members (subscriber) who are well-connected on the Internet.  We've surpassed 100,000 page views since we began.

How is your audience broken down in terms of geography, US versus Latin-American based members? The site is mostly Latinos living in the US right now.  However, there was a big jump of Chileans who joined after the earthquake.  We are also gaining traction in other parts of Latin America.

Are you considering of migrating your community to any other platform—Face book? For the time being, Twitteros is based solely on Twitter and allows users to show their extended presence to their blog/websites.  There is a Facebook page, but that is mostly for those who want to keep up with the blog posts that users post daily.

Are you still a one man show or do you have bloggers who write for Twitteros? Fortunately, the members help keep the website vibrant and full of content, especially when important issues come up.

What's your influence with this year's census and Latinos? Twitteros is currently an Official Partner with ‘Voto Latino’ to reach out to digitally influential Latinos to get a complete, accurate count in the 2010 Census.

Have brands also reached out to you to help them get a WOM in the Hispanic community using Twitteros as the platform for it? Yes, we've had some support from @southwestair and @tmobile. We did a great campaign with T-Mobile during the Latin Grammys.

Where do you see Twitteros a year from now?

A year from now, I see Twitteros connecting even more Latinos with their varied interests both in the US and in Latin America. 60% of tweets are in a language other than English.

What do you like most about social media and what do you foresee in the future of digital space?
Social media is only as good as the apps and open-source development that come from it. Content is nice (and key), but the tools are where the magic happens.

With the direction Mobile technology is gone in recent year, are you thinking of integrating your community to mobile in the near future? We are already connected. If you visit Twitteros on an iPhone, you can see the iPhone version of the site. (But, still no phone or Android application for Twitteros though).

Matt Reyes is one of those people who had a vision to connect Latinos online and his hard work and perseverance has paid off, his influence in the digital space among Latinos has certainly resonated in this community. This is a growing community who is very interested in following the latest trends in technology and innovation, shopping online and connecting with people online. Like Matt, there are many other influential young Latinos who have made their mark in the space, by creating an ecosystem that is necessary and useful for people among a specific community to connect and share their ideas and passions with each other.

Feel free to visit http://www.twitteros.net and check out Matt’s channel on Vimeo.

Much Anticipate Iphone OS 4.0 Update Announced, Addressing Many Complaints From Consumers!

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:50:00 +0000

Courtesy of Yahoo! Tech News

APPLE: Multitasking Coming to the iPhone this summer, iPad this fall.

One of the biggest criticisms leveled at the iPhone and the iPad — that it can't run third-party apps in the background — will be fixed at last (partially, anyway), with a little help from iPhone software 4.0,Steve Jobs announced Thursday. The major OS revision will arrive this summer for the iPhone, while iPad users will have to wait until the fall.

The new iPhone software will pack in more than 100 new features, Jobs promised, including (besides multitasking) a unified email inbox, support for Apple's new iBookstore, a social gaming network, a series of interface enhancements (such as app folders and wallpapers for the home screen) and — yep, it was bound to happen — a new, Apple-controlled mobile ad framework, with Apple set to keep a generous 40 percent of future ad revenue for itself.

Without further ado, then, let's get down to the nitty-gritty:

Multitasking
Here's how it'll work: If you're running an app on the iPhone — anything from the core Mail app to, say, a game like Tap Tap Revenge — you just double-click the Home key to pull up a small window shade at the bottom of the screen, which can show four apps at a time (just swipe to scroll through more running apps). Tap an app in the new multitasking "dock" and you'll switch to the app, with the first app's state saved in the background.

So, will all these apps actually be running in the background? Well, no (if they did, they'd slow iPhone performance to a crawl and eat up battery life, Jobs said). That said, Apple will be allowing a few selected processes to run in the background, including music, VOIP, and location-based apps.

For example, Pandora will still play music while you're browsing on Safari (you can even pause Pandora or skip tracks using the iPhone's "lock" control bar), you'll be able to answer and maintain VOIP calls (think Skype and the like) while you're working in other apps, and location-aware apps like Loopt will be able to track your location in the background via cell-tower triangulation. (An icon will appear in the iPhone's top status barto warn you if a background app is tracking your location; you'll also get to tweak a series of new location-based privacy settings).

Universal e-mail inbox
Here's a feature that's been a long time in coming. Currently, iPhone users checking multiple email accounts have had to switch back and forth between those accounts to see their respective in boxes (a process that takes several more clicks than it should). With iPhone OS 4.0, however, users will at last get a single, unified in box, just like BlackBerry users have enjoyed since ... well, forever. You'll also be able to "fast switch" between accounts, sort messages by thread, and open attachments with a third-part app (nice). Also, good news for Exchange users: No longer will you be restricted to a single Exchange account.

Home screen enhancements
You know how the iPhone won't allow you to select wallpaper for the home screen? (That's the home screen with all your app icons, not the lock screen with the digital clock and the "slide to unlock" thingy). That's all set to change once iPhone OS 4.0 comes out. You'll also be able to create "folder" icons that contain a series of apps — say, for all your games — effectively boosting the number of apps that can be displayed on the iPhone's home screen from 180 to more than 2,100.

Social gaming network
The Xbox 360 has Xbox Live, the PS3 has the PlayStation Network, and now the iPhone will have Game Center, a new social gaming system that'll let you earn achievements, invite pals to your personal gaming network, compare top scores on leaderboards, and square off with other players via matchmaking. Third-party developers who've already set up their own social gaming networks for the iPhone (such as Gameloft and OpenFeint) aren't gonna like this one bit.

A word from our sponsors
Plenty of iPhone apps already feature in-app advertisements, but Steve Jobs (unsurprisingly) thinks Apple can do it better — thus, iAd, a framework for dynamic new in-app, HTML5-powered ads that "deliver interaction and emotion" (I know, I know). Jobs showed off a series of demos, including a full-motion app for Pixar's "Toy Story 3" (shocker!), a Nike ad that lets you design your own shoe, and a Target ad that lets you set up your dorm room. Ads won't pull users out of a running app, Jobs promised, and you'll also be able to play videos, games, download wallpaper, and view maps from within the ad itself. Last but not least: Apple says it'll split ad revenue with advertisers 60-40, with Apple keeping the 40-percent cut. Look who just got into the advertising business.

Other enhancements
Expect the iBookstore to come to the iPhone with OS 4.0, along with a series of enterprise enhancements (in-app encryption, wireless app deployment for an entire workforce, etc.) and support for Bluetoothkeyboards.

Which iPhones/the iPad will be compatible with OS 4.0?
The iPhone 3GS and the third-generation iPod Touch will be fully compatible with the new OS, multitasking and all, Jobs said. If you have the iPhone 3G or the second-gen iPod Touch, they will run "many things" in OS 4.0, but multitasking won't be one of them. Finally, the iPad will also be getting all the new OS 4.0 features — including multitasking — but not until this fall. Jobs didn't mention the original iPhone or iPod Touch, nor did he mention a fee for iPod Touch users wishing to upgrade (as we've seen in the past).

What we didn't get
No Flash support (just "no," Jobs reportedly said). No status-bar notifications for new email or SMS messages (which already exist on WebOS and Android phones). And no mention at all of an iPhone for Verizon.

So, what do you think: Happy with the new features? Has Apple fixed the iPhone's/iPad's multitasking problem at last, or think there's still work to be done?

Source: Yahoo! Tech News

Toktumi's Line2 iPhone App Can Turn an Ipod Touch Into a Phone

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:05:00 +0000

Check out this neat article from the NY Times; but, didn't the Google Voice Iphone app exist before Line2?

Line2 seemed to have better luck with Apple's Iphone approval process and certainly mixes up things a bit more in the marketplace.

IPhone App to Sidestep AT&T

by David Pogue
Thursday, March 25, 2010

provided by

For a little $1 iPhone app, Line2 sure has the potential to shake up an entire industry.

It can save you money. It can make calls whereAT&T's (T) signal is weak, like indoors. It can turn an iPod Touch into a full-blown cellphone.

And it can ruin the sleep of cellphone executives everywhere.

Line2 gives your iPhone a second phone number -- a second phone line, complete with its own contacts list, voice mail, and so on. The company behind it, Toktumi (get it?), imagines that you'll distribute the Line2 number to business contacts, and your regular iPhone number to friends and family. Your second line can be an 800 number, if you wish, or you can transfer an existing number.

To that end, Toktumi offers, on its Web site, a raft of Google (GOOG) Voice-ish features that are intended to help a small businesses look bigger: call screening, Do Not Disturb hours and voice mail messages sent to you as e-mail. You can create an "automated attendant" -- "Press 1 for sales," "Press 2 for accounting," and so on -- that routes incoming calls to other phone numbers. Or, if you're pretending to be a bigger business than you are, route them all to yourself.

The Line2 app is a carbon copy, a visual clone, of the iPhone's own phone software. The dialing pad, your iPhone Contacts list, your recent calls list and visual voice mail all look just like the iPhone's.

(Let's pause for a moment here to blink, dumbfounded, at that point. Apple's (AAPL) rules prohibit App Store programs that look or work too much like the iPhone's own built-in apps. For example, Apple rejected the Google Voice app because, as Apple explained to the Federal Communications Commission, it works "by replacing the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls." That is exactly what Line2 does. Oh well -- the Jobs works in mysterious ways.)

So you have a second line on your iPhone. But that's not the best part.

Line2 also turns the iPhone into a dual-mode phone. That is, it can make and receive calls either using either the AT&T airwaves as usual, or -- now this is the best part -- over the Internet. Any time you're in a wireless hot spot, Line2 places its calls over Wi-Fi instead of AT&T's network.

That's a game-changer. Where, after all, is cellphone reception generally the worst? Right -- indoors. In your house or your office building, precisely where you have Wi-Fi. Line2 in Wi-Fi means rock-solid, confident reception indoors.

Line2 also runs on the iPod Touch. When you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot, your Touch is now a full-blown cellphone, and you don't owe AT&T a penny.

But wait, there's more.

Turns out Wi-Fi calls don't use up any AT&T minutes. You can talk all day long, without ever worrying about going over your monthly allotment of minutes. Wi-Fi calls are free forever.

Well, not quite free; Line2 service costs $15 a month (after a 30-day free trial).

But here's one of those cases where spending more could save you money. If you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot most of the time (at work, for example), that's an awful lot of calling you can do in Wi-Fi -- probably enough to downgrade your AT&T plan to one that gives you fewer minutes. If you're on the 900-minute or unlimited plan ($90 or $100 a month), for example, you might be able to get away with the 450-minute plan ($70). Even with Line2's fee, you're saving $5 or $15 a month.

Line2 also lets you call overseas phone numbers for Skype-like rates: 2 to 5 cents a minute to most countries. (A full table of rates is available at toktumi.com.) As a handy globetrotters' bonus, calls home to numbers in the United States from overseas hot spots are free.

All of these benefits come to you when you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot, because your calls are carried by the Internet instead of by AT&T. Interestingly enough, though, Line2 can also make Internet calls even when you're not in a hot spot.

It can, at your option, place calls over AT&T's 3G data network, where it's available. Every iPhone plan includes unlimited use of this 3G network -- it's how your iPhone sends e-mail and surfs the Web. So once again, Line2 calls don't use up any of your monthly voice minutes.

Unfortunately, voice connections on the 3G network aren't as strong and reliable as the voice or Wi-Fi methods. Cellular data networks aren't made for seamless handoffs from cell tower to tower as you drive, for example -- there's not much need for it if you're just doing e-mail and Web -- so dropped calls are more likely. Fortunately, if you're on a 3G data-network call and you walk into a hot spot, Line2 switches to the more reliable Wi-Fi network seamlessly, in midcall.

Whenever you do have an Internet connection -- either Wi-Fi or a strong 3G area -- you're in for a startling treat. If you and your calling partner are both Line2 subscribers, Line2 kicks you into superhigh audio-quality mode (16-bit mode, as the techies call it).

Your calling partners sound as if they're speaking right into the mike at an FM radio station. It's almost too clear; you hear the other person's breathing, lip smacks, clothing rustling and so on. After years of suffering through awful cellphone audio, it's quite a revelation to hear what you've been missing.

Now, this all sounds wonderful, and Line2 generally is wonderful. But there's room for improvement.

First, as you've no doubt already concluded, understanding Line2 is complicated. You have three different ways to make calls, each with pros and cons.

You miss a certain degree of refinement, too. The dialing pad doesn't make touch-tone sounds as you tap the keys. There's no Favorites list within the Line2 app. You can't get or send text messages on your Line2 line. (The company says it will fix all this soon.)

There's a faint hiss on Line2 calls, as if you're on a long-distance call in 1970. The company says that it deliberately introduces this "comfort noise" to reassure you that you're still connected, but it's unnecessary. And sometimes there's a voice delay of a half-second or so (of course, you sometimes get that on regular cellphone calls, too).

Finally, a note about incoming calls. If the Line2 app is open at the time, you're connected via Wi-Fi, if available. If it's not running, the call comes in through AT&T, so you lose the benefits of Wi-Fi calling. In short, until Apple blesses the iPhone with multitasking software, you have to leave Line2 open whenever you put the phone to sleep. That's awkward.

Still, Line2 is the first app that can receive incoming calls via either Wi-Fi or cellular voice, so you get the call even if the app isn't running. That's one of several advantages that distinguish it from other voice-over-Internet apps like Skype and TruPhone.

Another example: If you're on a Wi-Fi call using those other programs, and someone calls your regular iPhone number, your first call is unceremoniously disconnected. Line2, on the other hand, offers you the chance to decline the incoming call without losing your Wi-Fi call.

Those rival apps also lack Line2's call-management features, visual voice mail and conference calling with up to 20 other people. And Line2 is the only app that gives you a choice of call methods for incoming and outgoing calls.

All of this should rattle cell industry executives, because let's face it: the Internet tends to make things free. Cell carriers go through life hoping nobody notices the cellephant in the room: that once everybody starts making free calls over the Internet, it's Game Over for the dollars-for-minutes model.

Line2, however, brings us one big step closer to that very future. It's going to be a wild ride.

Thank you NYTimes.com!

Brands Take Notice: Tap on Hispanics Online Presence and Influence to Maximize your Reach

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:37:00 +0000

I would like to share an article I wrote for Karma Media Labs about Hispanics and their place in Social Media these days...Enjoy!

HISPANICS: The Majority Minority and Its Influence in Social Media

Posted on Mar 3, 2010
by Reese Ramos
As a friend pointed out to me recently, one of the subjects that is starting to get as much press as sports lately (Tiger Woods & Olympics aside) is the national Census, which will determine how rapidly has the U.S. Hispanic population grown in the last ten years, as according to the last census, Hispanics made up 15% of the total US population.

Currently there are over 46 million people of Hispanic origin or descent in the U.S., and is estimated that by the time 2010 census is completed this number will surpass the 50 million mark, making it the fastest growing and largest minority group in the United States. This majority minority is quite evident in urban centers of various states like: Florida, New York, California, Texas and New Mexico; for instance, in Los Angeles County, Hispanics make up the largest ethnic group.

The growth on this minority is not only evident on its total numbers among the US population, but its online penetration and presence has also increased tremendously within the last decade.
According to eMarketer there are currently over 26 million Hispanics using the Internet everyday, and that number is growing just as fast as the total number of people within this minority, and by the end of 2012, it is estimated that there will be nearly 30 million Hispanics on the Web.

People who have telecommunications services, such as a home telephone and a personal computer with Internet access, are able to effectively engage the global market economy, meaningfully participate in political discourse, and socially interact within the global village. People without home telephones and personal computers with Internet access risk being left behind, disconnected from the global village. But the latter is not the case for Hispanics, as they are closing the usage gap with the general market, and they have a pursuing passion about going online and trust the information they find there. Between 2006 and 2008 Hispanics showed a significant increase in Internet use among any group, as a result of having broadband Internet access at home or at school.

AOL completed a recent cyber study about Hispanics that provides with some great findings about the current online trends among this social group that tends to be much younger than the general population, as the study shows that 46% of Online Hispanics are under 35 years old, compared to just 28% of the US internet population.

These young Hispanics are considered the power users among this group, as they log on the most, and have more confidence in online product ratings than the opinions of their friends. They find the Internet as a place of discovery and connection where they can meet people, read about the latest current events, keep up with the latest trends and find the best deals. They find the Internet as their medium of information and choice for socialization. Hispanics online are early adopters, as they are more adventurous and eager to try new media communication formats and technologies. This group spends over 24 hours per week on the web, connecting over half the time via mobile and other devices. The study indicates that Hispanics are highly engaged Internet users, accessing through more devices than non-Hispanics, which demonstrates a high level of comfort with and willingness to try new technologies.

Another key finding in this study is that younger Hispanics online users prefer English language online media. They find the English site as more comprehensive, more detailed, more useful, and offering much better deals and options to them than the Spanish language counterparts. The preference for English among the younger segments is due to the fact that young Hispanics are more acculturated and more engaged in the digital lifestyle. And In other cases older users among this group may choose Spanish language sites because it provides them with a more familiar voice that reminds them of their home country. But all in all, they are all looking for one thing in common, the best online experience possible.

Hispanics have for sometime now have made an impact in traditional media, and now they are also becoming a very influential group in non-traditional media as well. Hispanic consumers view the Internet as a very important information source in the purchase decision-making process. They look to the Internet to learn about products, brands, features, stores and pricing, and what’s the best fit for them. And the rest is up to the brands, whether or not they take full advantage of this goldmine the best way possible. In turn, companies should always do is listen to the consumer and provide to them with what they want. This may also mean reaching out to key influencers within a selected group that can act as brand ambassadors for their community, and in return the readers/followers of these influencers will listen to them and to their recommendations, providing a brand with quality trusted maximum exposure.

Below are a couple of examples of influential Hispanic people in the digital space who have made a difference in making their voices heard and recruiting a fan base. They also clearly follow the latest trends in terms of what Hispanics are looking for online and the undeniable power this group has overall.

Hispanic Profiles
Matt Reyes, a Texas consultant who in less than two years has grown his forum for Latino Twitter fans, called Twitteros. It only took Reyes a month to design and create Twitteros, a social networking site to extend the conversation from Twitter among Latino users, in December 2008 and now he has thousands of Hispanic subscribers from all over the country and Latin America. According to the website the site reaches over two thousand users every month and 74 percent of them are in the United States. It skews toward educated, middle aged people with a slightly higher percent of men than women. The site is in English and its audience is predominantly bilingual.

Similarly in California, in October of 2007 Juan Carlos Perez Jr. launched MiAltos.com, a website for fans of Jalisco, Mexico, their families and friends, and whose goal is to reconnect friends and families that have been distanced due to emigration to the United States. Members are able to share and reconnect their lives by sharing pictures, posting blogs, and actively participating in meaningful discussions. His website is noteworthy because it is based in Ontario, California and 90 percent of his five thousand plus registered members, and over 30 thousand monthly visitors are in the United States. The site is in Spanish and the audience is predominantly recent Mexican émigrés and older generation Hispanics residing in Southern California.
Twitteros and MiAltos has been a great success because they cater to a very focused group of people and are both able to provide them with content they cannot find anywhere else.

Stay tuned for what the 2010 national Census will tell, perhaps that way brands will finally take this group seriously!
Reese Ramos is Director of Digital Publicity with KARMA Media Labs.

Apple's Ipad has finally Arrived

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:06:00 +0000

After so much waiting and so many rumors over the last year, the Apple tablet has finally arrived!

Today was a big day for Steve Jobs and his $90 billion worth company, as it was the announcement of its much anticipated baby, the Ipad, which according to him it's designed to fill the perceived gap between the smartphone and the laptop.

As the Apple website describes it:

"The best way to experience the web, email, photos and video. Hands down. All of the built-in apps on iPad were designed from the ground up to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch screen. And they work in any orientation. So you can do things with these that apps you can’t do on any other device."

Without doubt this is the must have "IT" item right now!

Prices range from: $499 - $829

Check out a comprehensive guide on this awesome new gadget from our tech friends after the jump: Mashable.

CES 2010: Where was Apple and Google? [Nexus One & 'iSlate' REPORT]

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:12:00 +0000

This year's Consumer Electronics Show came to an close this past Sunday with more than 100,000 tech addicts descending upon the showrooms in Las Vegas to check out the latest gadgets to hit showrooms in 2010. Even though CES has been known as the perfect platform for developers and tech companies alike to showcase and launch their newest products to the market, two notable tech giants decided not to be present at this event to launch two of the most anticipated gadgets for the new year.

The focus this year at CES was heavy on the latest in computer technology and 3D-TVs and cameras, which after the huge success of Avatar, 3D is here to stay and promises to be a BIG player in the market this year. But where were the big players like Apple and Google and their new gadgets that everyone can't wait to get their hands on?

BIG ABSENTEES

Google's newest buzzing phone, the Nexus One smartphone, launched this past Tuesday in a press conference from Mountain View, California, to which many tech lovers tuned-in on their computers to watch despite the fact that a lot them were headed to CES. Even though Google had a booth at CES with the Nexus One showing, it's a bit odd that the online leader didn't choose it as its launching platform on Tuesday.
So, to many CES attendees this may have been a let down considering the impressive buzz the Nexus One had leading into the Consumer Electronic Show. Google's decision had to have been strategic, as everything they do is almost perfectly executed.

The other big absent player was Apple; they have the much anticipated tablet, which its long-rumored to launch in early 2010. Indeed, its probable name ''iSlate'', is set to finally be unveiled in San Francisco at the end of this month, January 27th to be exact. The same way Apple has revolutionized the smartphone mobile market with the Iphone, as well as digital music with MP3 players with their Ipods, their tablet is expected to have a similar effect in the market. Granted, Amazon and Sony were in the space before Apple, but there is so much room for improvement and innovation, territory that Steve Jobs and his team I am sure seeks to occupy.

But, again; why not be present at CES and use this platform as the launching place? Apple the same way as Google, must have his reasons.

GOOGLE
What's interesting to note here is that Google now has become a major player in the mobile market, as well as in pretty much everything else, and they want to take things to the next level with their Nexus One. This is just a few months after the launch of their ''Droid'' smartphone, that has sought to directly compete with the Iphone and challenge to dethrone it as a major player in the space.
Furthermore, the ''Droid Does'' marketing campaign powered by Google and its latest mobile partner Verizon loudly demanding Apple's attention was clearly the defining moment for Google. The ''Droid'' and the "Android" platform speaks for itself, it provides simple usability to the user and it's very accessible to everyone, making it a one place sort of shop--Google search, mobile, maps, mail, etc. And this is something that Apple should perhaps learn from, this means no lucking of phone features or rejection of submitted useful applications like 'Google Voice'.

Google Nexus One
Google's Nexus One phone is thinner than the iPhone, it's an Android-powered phone and it's part of the ecosystem that it's growing very rapidly, with more than 20,000 applications and counting. Many of which are a lot more useful than all those Iphone apps found on the Apple App Store. This certainly puts Google in a special place, as the most innovative and accessible player in the mobile OS market.

APPLE

On the Apple front, their tablet promises to be sleek and elegant, lightweight and minimalist. The new device will boast a 10-11 inch screen, surf the web, play video games, watch multimedia, read e-books and possibly run on the Iphone Apps platform, which will be a BIG deal for Apple, as it counts with over 100,000 apps so far. Steve Jobs and his team I am sure have much bigger prospects, which would entail opening their Itunes store to their big music market and expand their reach by including E-books, newspapers and magazines to be available via the same ecosystem and have make these fit to their table screens. This will not only make it a major player in the market and compete directly with Amazon for the customer base in the space, but also would guarantee an important place among publishers, as they will go with whomever captures the biggest critical mass appeal and largest customer base. So, the battle between Google and Apple overall, will not only be limited to technology, but will extend to their content and its partners and the role those will play in shaping each of their product's place in the marketplace. Stay tuned for the BIG launch coming at the end of the month...it promises to be worth it!

It's remarkable how Google and Apple, the two most promising brands out there coming up with innovative products, technology and services to the world, are now going head to head in the marketplace. And the power of Google seems to be unstoppable, as demonstrated with Dell's Android operated tablet launching at CES this year, which validates the big strides Google is making in every market and gadget territory.

Best of CES 2010
Despite these two major gadgets absentees, other big players decided to be present at CES this year and capitalized on the buzz surrounding smartphones and tablet prototypes, as it was the case of a Windows 7 device from HP and an Android tablet from Dell. So, from 3D TVs to next-generation e-readers, these were the products that we can’t wait to see on store shelves in 2010. Check out the top tech products at this year's show courtesy of Digital Trends:

Asus NX90

Toshiba Cell TVs

Samsung LED 9000 Series

Plastic Logic Que E-Reader

Panasonic 3D Camcorder

Spring Design Alex E-Reader

Motorola BackFlip

D-Link Boxee Box

Lenovo X100e

Kodak PlaySport

Scarlett Johansson CAN Sing!

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:14:00 +0000

Last year I heard from a friend about Scarlett Johansson becoming a singer and releasing her debut album, and I didn't take him seriously, as actors often times don't make good singers. But to my surprise; I was wrong, as there are exceptions to the rule!

I have recently heard Pete Yorn's and Scarlett Johansson's musical collaboration entitled "Relator", the single of their album called: "Break Up". The song is pretty good and Johansson's voice is quite nice...it sort of reminds me of Feist.

The girl can not only act, model, look good, but she can also SING...now, that's what you call a ''triple threat!"

Check out the music video below and you be the judge:

Apple's much Anticipated Tablet is Set to Launch Spring 2010 Plus MORE...

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:12:00 +0000

The latter part of 2010 wasn't the best time for Apple and one of its biggest gadgets, the Iphone; this was largely due to the much anticipated release of Google's operated Droid running on the Verizon network and manufactured by Motorola. The Droid has had strong sales so far, reaching one million units since its launch early this Fall. This is an impressive outcome for a newcomer, but then again Google is behind it, and having it run on Verizon is a big PLUS for them. The Droid was also recently distinguished by Time Magazine and being named the number one Gadget of the Year, and relegating the Iphone to 4th place.

But it's not all rosy for the Droid, as Time goes further to say and experts in the field agree with, as explained by Pete Cashmore of Mashable.com:

The Motorola phone on the Verizon network is a great device on the best network, TIME argues, making it the obvious choice despite being new to the market.

TIME writes:

Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it. The Droid’s touchscreen is phenomenally sharp and vivid, it has an actual physical (not great, but good enough) keyboard, and, best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network.

We tend to agree; the Droid is a fantastic phone and a poster child for Google’s Android OS. Nonetheless, it’ll seem a lot less appealing next year if the iPhone finally comes to Verizon. We still think the iPhone is a superior phone, albeit on an inferior network.

HERE IS A RECAP...

The Iphone suffered from some negative buzz surrounding its App Store decision of rejecting Google Voice's app on their store and being still only available on AT&T, whose network is not nearly as efficient as Verizon's. And this was followed of course by a ad battle between both carriers flaunting who is better, and in the end Verizon prevailed.

So, disenchanted Iphone users and unhappy AT&T customers decided to leave them and make the switch, and some of them seem happy but not fully satisfied!

The question now is what's in store for Apple?

Well, there have been rumors about the Iphone running on Verizon and the release of a much anticipated tablet...what's to make of this?

These rumors are true and expected to finally happen in 2010.

So even though the Droid was the "IT" gadget to have and garnered the most attention the end of 2010, Apple is coming back with bigger and better things in 2010!

Apple's exclusive contract with AT&T expires next year and an improved and better Iphone will be released come 2010 to run on the biggest mobile network in the country.

The release date is rumored to be Summer/Fall of next year...stay tuned!

And as for the Apple Tablet; it's said to be ready for launch in Spring of 2010.

Charlie Sorrel of Wired.com further explains:

Yair Reiner, an analyst for Oppenheimer, has lit some incense, drained his tea-cup and stared deep into the pattern of the remaining leaves. The fates have thus communicated to him the following “fact”: Apple will ship a 10.1-inch touch-screen tablet in spring 2010.

The average reader of the average gadget-blog knows more about the real workings of the tech world than even the best of analysts (or “prophets” as I prefer to call them). But we shall humor Uncle Yair, and present here his rock-solid inferences, based on the study not of actual tea-leaves, but of his supply-chain contacts.

The Jesus-tablet will use an LTPS (Low Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon) LCD like that of the iPhone instead of a pricier OLED display, and if Apple wants to have enough in stock to meet demand (at a projected manufacturing speed of a million units per month) then a launch date in March or April is likely.

The price? The same as a MacBook with a full keyboard, or $1,000. This would be the perfect price for Apple to charge if it didn’t want to sell any.

Reiner goes on to speculate that book publishers, “disgruntled by Amazon’s terms” which give the publisher just 70% of revenue on an exclusive deal, prefer the numbers offered by Apple. And what is this sweet, sweet deal from Apple? An “App Store-type 30/70 split.” Can you spot the difference? Me either.

By now, we’re pretty sure that we’ll see an Apple tablet soon, probably in the first half of the year (spring for tablets, summer for iPhones, autumn for iPods, and Macs when they are ready). We’re also sure that until it is actually announced by Apple, every week will bring further groping guesses about this tech-unicorn, in increasingly desperate attempts to drum up publicity (December 9, 2009).

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THESE EVENTS HAPPEN NEXT YEAR!

New DROID Release - Will it be the Iphone Killer?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:14:00 +0000

The New Droid phone from Google by Motorola officially landed today offered with the Verizon network. There has certainly been a lot of buzz surrounding this release, to the point that disheartened AT&T and in some cases Apple users are defecting to try this hot new alternative phone in the mobile market. Well, there are many reasons as to why to may be and here are just a few: first, Apple's rejecting of Google Voice's application to run on the Iphone system, this certainly created a lot of bad sentiment against Apple, to the extent that FCC had to get involved in an investigation as we all know; second, Apple's restrictions and unwilling to open up its system and release all the current updates and capabilities that the Iphone may offer, instead of releasing and opening things up so slowly, which in some cases cause users to jail brake their phones or simply switch to the Android system; and lastly, the AT&T network and the services which is second to Verizon and non-existent or lack of customer service.

So, this takes us to the Iphone's prospective future...will the new Droid dethrone it from its place in the market? Well, as many editors and bloggers have expressed in their reviews of the Droid and comparison to the Iphone; the new Android device is not really a threat to the Iphone and by no means it's BETTER than Apple's Iphone. The Iphone is much sleeker, smoother, has a humongous app store, has a huge market share and it's Apple, among many other factors!
The Droid is a much more functional phone in that is open and has no many restrictions and limitations to its users, Android app center is smaller, but has a much more qualitative number of useful apps and is part of Google, which without question is always on the online/internet technology forefront!

My verdict is that the new Droid has come at a very good time and has made a very clever choice by going with Verizon. Apple's Iphone and it's reputation has been tarnishing a bit in the last few months and having an exclusive contract with AT&T most certainly DOES NOT HELP!
AT&T's actual submergence in the mobile market is due largely thanks to the Iphone, which has made a incomparable impact to the mobile market and its devices by introducing a revolutionary smart phone that has almost everything!

By no means the Droid will be an Iphone killer; it will just become an alternative to mobile users out there and it's nice to see a more 'realistic' challenger to Apple's phone because up to this point the only that would come anywhere near is the Blackberry, but again is a whole different market and phone. Competition will be good for all parties involved in the mobile industry, which has proven to be one of the fastest growing forms of media these days--along with social media.

Even though that skeptics and Apple haters think the Iphone ''sucks'', like this blogger from the UK recently called it the ''worst mobile phone ever!"; Apple is by no means in trouble.
Apple's contract with AT&T will finally expire at the end of next year and rumors has it that they will go with Verizon next, not to mention the next Iphone update will prove to everyone why Apple is the choice for many. Even though the most recent ad campaign for the Droid makes fun of the Iphone and gives it a bad name--with the help of Verizon--it's only a transitory stunt that Verizon seems to have pulled to make a bigger buzz and catch Apple's attention.

So, I can't wait to see the new Iphone update and what is has to offer and once it's offered by Verizon switched to them and have a much better phone service altogether.

For more on these rumors read on this article from my friends at Mashable...

IPHONE COMING TO VERIZON IN 2010 [RUMOR]
Many signs point to the Apple and AT&T agreement that makes the latter the exclusive carrier of the iPhone within the US coming to an end within the next year.

For starters, non-exclusivity has been profitable for Apple in other parts of the world. Moreover, even AT&T’s CEO acknowledges the deal won’t last forever.

And while Verizon might be all about showing off what Droid does right now, a new report suggests it could become the first carrier other than AT&T to offer iPhone on American soil, starting in the second half of 2010.

According to a report obtained by Apple Insider, “Apple has contracted to produce a UMTS/CDMA hybrid iPhone due in the third quarter of next year that will enable the company to sell a single global handset to all carriers, and specifically to Verizon Wireless in the US” – the significance of CDMA being that it’s the standard that Verizon’s network uses, versus AT&T’s GSM.

As you might suspect, there’s currently no comment from Apple or Verizon, but it’s not the first time the two companies have been linked. Just last month, a report surfaced suggesting that Verizon and Apple were already testing a 4G version of the iPhone. While we await more details, we can’t help but be amused by how we might end up looking back at the current attack ad battle taking place between Verizon, AT&T, and Apple if a Verizon iPhone comes to fruition.

CAN'T WAIT FOR IT!!!

Free WIFI Offered by Airlines

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:48:00 +0000

Free WIFI on Airlines across the US?

Wait a minute isn't this already available? Well, we may be thinking of the rest of the world, as the U.S. seems to be lagging behind in technology; namely internet access, speed, etc!

Nevertheless, the news are good for us I guess...read on this article from my friend's a Mashable.

Ads On a Plane: Free WIFI Coming to Airlines

October 7, 2009, by Barb Dybwab

Mobile media company JiWire and satellite broadband provider Row 44 are teaming up to deliver an in-flight Wi-Fi system that will come to you for free via advertising support.

Southwest and Alaska Airlines have already begun to test the new service, which will make it possible for advertisers to target the coveted “business traveler” demographic in exchange for free Wi-Fi. The system is expected to launch fully on at least those two airlines this fall.

The company doesn’t specify exactly how the ads will appear, whether via pre-rolls or some sort of browser framing experience. Row 44’s Skytown Center is mentioned as one place where ads will appear — a virtual shopping mall and content portal unique to specific airlines. Perhaps a mandatory stroll through the virtual mall will be required for entry into the wild and wooly internets.

The service sounds like a boon to consumers, who will benefit from free Wi-Fi (that’s hopefully not too caged by the ad experience). It should be a good opportunity for advertisers as well considering a recent study by the Wi-Fi Alliance showing that 76% of business travelers would pick an airline based on Wi-Fi, and more than 70% would choose Wi-Fi over a meal service.

When you travel, do you pick your flights based on Wi-Fi availability? Would you leap at the chance for a free hot-spot in the air, or are you content to shell out a few bucks for an ad-free experience? Let us know in the comments.

GOOD TIMES!!!

Top Five Acts at this Year's MTV VMAs

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:18:00 +0000

Sitting on my couch with no much to do on a Sunday night, it's no surprise, as there is often not much on TV. But, last night was an exception! While flipping through the channels I found out that the MTV Video Movie Awards were being telecasted and I was curious to see what the '80s hit channel had to offer this time around, as it has failed to delivered to its audience for quite sometime now. To my surprise, the show was actually quite entertaining and well done! It certainly helped having an impressive roster of talent in attendance.

So, here are my Top Five Acts of the evening:

FIRST with no doubt, MUSE!!!
The VERY talented British trio made its American television debut with "Uprising", the first single from their latest kick-ass album called: "Resistance", which released this week in the UK.
They sounded terrific and they have yet to disappoint! I have seem them perform live once and I was blown away by their incredible talent and their great show...see it for your self here, as they take over NYC and its street!

Muse - New Music - More Music Videos

SECOND, Beyonce with "Single Ladies"; she really got into it with some sexy hot moves!
And she get bonus points on my book for being so classy when she received her award toward the middle of the show and asked Taylor Swift to come out and finish her speech that was rudely interrupted earlier in the show.

Beyoncé - New Music - More Music Videos

THIRD, Lady Gaga's bloody performance and outlandish costumes...she's VERY STRANGE!

Lady Gaga - New Music - More Music Videos

FOURTH, Pink's "Sober" performance that left everyone very impressed with her singing and trapeze pirouettes coordination and physical strength!

P!nk - New Music - More Music Videos

AND FINALLY, Kanye West's at his RUDEST EVER!
He jumps on stage to grab the microphone away from Taylor Swift--who has an tremendously HUGE fan base--to say that Beyonce's video was better and should have won, simply speechless!
Kanye West has truly lost it this time...he seems to be able to outdo himself with arrogantly rude stunts, see it for yourself:

MTV Shows

AND THAT'S MY UPDATE!

Los Angeles In FLAMES

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:55:00 +0000

These pictures speak for themselves...fires in the West San Gabriel Mountains--Tujunga, Montrose, La Canada, Altadena & now Pasadena--has been burning for days now and has tripled in a day and it's ONLY 5% contained!!!

Where are our state government officials now?
Shouldn't Arnold call it a state of emergency and send MORE help to these affected areas like the big tankers to combat these flames?
And request more help from other states or the federal government to slow or attempt to stop such destruction???

In the meantime, acres upon acres are being destroyed at night at VERY RAPID pace, when fire fighter efforts via air come to halt, and reclaims more wildlife in its path, many homes in these various foothill communities, producing A LOT of SMOKE and ASH, contaminating our LA air even more.

GOVERNMENT PLEASE TAKE A MORE ACTIVE ROLE COMBATING THESE FIRES NOW!

Images courtesy of: LA TIMES

MicroHoo? What's next for Yahoo!

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:37:00 +0000

As we all know, a great deal has been said about last week's Microsoft and Yahoo! ten year partnership deal, but who is getting the best deal out of all of this?

I am a loyal and avid fan of Yahoo! and this news are a bit sad to me, but I completely understand the move as the company has been struggling for quite some time now and the these are desperate times!

Carol Bartz and Steven Ballmer's deal is not that surprising, as we all saw this coming since the last days of Jerry Jang. A deal of some sort was inevitable and granted this maybe have been the last chance Yahoo! would get from Microsoft. Even though Microsoft has been trying to re-invent itself with the launching and marketing campaign behind Bing, which has paid of for them, as their market share numbers have been boosted nicely. But, Yahoo's market place is much higher than Bing's, with an over 20% share in the search engine business, what is the benefit for Yahoo's brand to give this advantageous reach away to Microsoft?

Does this mean the end of Search business for Yahoo! and the take over of Bing in the field? It seems like it, as Yahoo's latest efforts seem to be focusing elsewhere--recent release of their new homepage and focus in more unique, compelling editorial content with deals with AP and other news sources--and has almost given up on the search business all together and not bother to compete with the giant in the space--GOOGLE--and this latest partnership is just giving Bing the credentials to go after Google with Yahoo's help.

It is very sad indeed to see the direction Yahoo! has decided to take, as it is clearly uncertain what is going to happen to the online pioneer and its name after this contract ends. I think Bing gets the better deal out of the picture. I hope Yahoo's plan works out well for them after all and the brand doesn't go the direction MySpace is going or worse, it is finally sold to Microsoft altogether. This way perhaps Bing may be able to stand more strongly against Google, who owns over 70% of the search business market share.

I read this great article this past week on Media Post Search Insider's Newsletter: But Enough About BingHoo, Let's Talk About BingHoo, which provides with an excellent analysis on this BingHoo deal as they call it and what Yahoo! should expect out of the deal.

But Enough About BingHoo, Let's Talk About BingHoo
by Rob Garner , Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Bing-rise/Yahoo!-fall last week, which makes now as good as time as any to start thinking about what it really means in the broad scope of "search engine marketing" - for both paid and natural search. I personally spent the better part of last week talking about and reflecting on the change, and I've written numerous thoughts on the implications. Given that there has been a little bit of time to let the news sink in, here are a few additional thoughts on what this change means in the long term for the search industry:

Two years is a long, long time in the search business. With all of the hype around this partnership, it is important that both paid and natural search marketers don't to get too over-amped about the immediate impact to their campaigns. Once the deal passes U.S. government scrutiny (at least six months), it may be anywhere between 18 to 24 months before Bing results are rolled out into Yahoo! pages. If you are currently engaged with a search agency, or are involved in an enterprise search campaign, then you are as familiar as you need to be with Bing results, for the time being. But watch and monitor developments closely.

Yahoo!'s market share will inevitably erode before Bing results get implemented. With Yahoo! exposed as having given up on search for an extended period of time, users will flock over to alternatives, most likely Google. But ultimately Bing wins either way, as Yahoo! is effectively put out of business as a search provider, though what Bing gains from Yahoo! will be much less later on.

Google's share and domination will rise. As I have stated in previous columns, Google will continue to dominate , and I see them going to as high as 85 percent total share in the coming months. While Bing wins in this deal at the expense of Yahoo!, the category leader also reaps the benefits of such a tremendous shift in the landscape. Google also gets share from Yahoo!, and there is a case to be made that Google is also getting category lift from Bing's $100MM ad campaign .

Bing will have to prove the quality of its traffic in the Yahoo! network before budget share increases. Budget shift in paid media is not a given for Bing, and perhaps one of its greatest challenges will be scaling its existing performance into the Yahoo! network. Bing generally performs well across many different verticals, but there is just one problem for marketers: There has never been enough available traffic from it to shift a substantial share of budget. With increased reach through Yahoo!'s share of search, they now have that opportunity. But how these campaigns react in Yahoo!'s various ad distribution deals off of the search page remains to be seen, and how they perform will be directly proportional to how many marketers increase their budgets to Bing.

A search pioneer falls. Having been a longtime user of Yahoo! search, syndicating Bing results is somewhat of a return to their roots; like the days where Inktomi or Google supplied the results, long before pay-per-click became a primary aspect of the landing page. In the early-mid 2000's, Yahoo! managed to grab a hold of virtually every major search play still standing - including Overture, AltaVista, FAST/AllTheWeb, among others. Effectively, most of this search legacy will be completely wiped out with the replacement of Bing results (though Yahoo! managed to kill most of them on their own), and there is nothing to indicate that Microsoft will be adopting any of these technologies at any major scale anytime soon.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CONCORD & SUPERSONIC FLIGHT EXPERIENCE?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:22:00 +0000

The Concord may be gone, but it's supersonic technology isn't!

The return of supersonic flight?

Courtesy of Yahoo! Tech!

New York to Paris in three and a half hours? Those with the money enjoyed amazingly quick travel times across the Atlantic, courtesy of the Concorde, for 27 years. Alas, those flights ended in 2003, following the aircraft's fatal (and first) crash in July 2000 and the general troubles that impacted the airline industry following 9/11.

The Concorde may be gone, but interest in supersonic travel -- which cuts flying in time by more than half in most cases -- remains high. The only real trouble, of course, is all the noise. Once a plane passes through the sound barrier (Mach 1), a defeaning sonic boom erupts. The loudness of that crack has prevented supersonic flight from ever being allowed over inhabited areas due to the disturbance it creates on the ground below.

Now comes word that there might be a solution to the sonic boom issue, with NASA and aircraft manufacturer Gulfstream collaborating on the creation of system that would severely dampen the loud crack of a sonic boom. The idea: A telescoping pole that sticks out up to 24 feet from the front of the aircraft and which disrupts the formation of the sonic boom almost completely. According to Pilotbug, the so-called Quiet Spike still causes the aircraft to create a sound, but one which is "10,000 times quieter than the Concorde." Additional improvements in the design of the aircraft's wings and body also help to muffle the noise.

The FAA has said it's interested in seeing the system in action, and has said that if supersonic aircraft can meet its general noise restrictions it would likely approve supersonic flights over U.S. territory. LAX to JFK in two hours? It's hardly anything you'd want to put money on yet, but it just might be on the horizon...

Online Giant Wars, which Search Engine/Portal do you prefer?

noreply@blogger.com (iphon) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:47:00 +0000

AOL, Google, Microsoft or Yahoo, which Search Engine/Portal do people choose?

As we all may know three of the "Big 4" are suffering tremendously the squeeze of the current financial times, online trends and ultimately people's choice. AOL, MSN and Yahoo! are not longer the big guys there once were in online search and as online top destinations. With the arrival of Social Media networks like Facebook and Twitter, and the solid consistent growth over the years of Google; AOL, MSN and Yahoo! must reinvent themselves. There has been a lot of buzz for the last couple of years whether or not Yahoo! will sell to Microsoft or AOL to become what it was once the top online destination and really compete with Google, but with all the changes at Yahoo! taking place and their financial struggle, as well as AOL's--massive layoffs--and Microsoft new plans, this may no longer be an option.

Recently Microsoft re-launched its search engine with a new name: "Bing", to make it catchier and compete more directly with Google. Microsoft is certainly going through an identity crisis, as it was first called MSN, then Live.com and now it' s "Bing" for search--MSN is still their online portal. "Bing" launched a couple of weeks ago with a pretty big marketing campaign online and TV called: Search Overload, aiming to relieve that and provide with a new engine/tool to the user with qualitative results in a more organized and sleek way. This campaign seems to be working, as it has raised some eyebrows from Google and they have taking notice thus far.

According to Comscore, "Bing" has continued its market share over the last two weeks after it launched. Microsoft's search share hit 12.1 percent from 9.1 before "Bing" launched, giving Microsoft a BIG boost and putting it in second place, after Google and dethroning Yahoo! from it!
Pretty good gain and effort from Microsoft, but will it be enough?

I checked out "Bing" when it first launched and I think it's pretty good, much better than Live or MSN, so I used it for a day or so, but old habits are hard to overcome and I returned to my choice: Yahoo! and sometimes Google. There have been some hiccups over the last two weeks with "Bing" that include some down time and maintenance issues, which has cost them some additional traffic that they could have claimed had their system been optimized and ready for any issues like that.
Something that is worth noting on the marketing side of "Bing" is their Search Overload approach to their campaign, which is interesting, as several weeks prior Xerox came up with their own online marketing campaign with a humorous video that addresses and seeks to overcome Information Overload Syndrome today. Microsoft's series of Search Overload themed videos and approach is sort of an imitation/copy of Xerox humorous take on IOS, so wouldn't this be considered plagiarism on Microsoft's part--just food for thought?

Check them out and you tell me your thoughts...

XEROX - IOS

BING - SO

In any case, I think that "Bing" will be able to do the trick for Microsoft for now, until something bigger comes...until the day when Yahoo! decides to join forces with them to try to beat Google.

AOL on the other hand is the weakest of the "big 4" and with Time Warner's decision to legally and structurally separate from AOL, their future is grimmer! With massive layoffs, dropping traffic numbers and archaic and non-effective ways of going forward in the business, AOL must come up wit something BIG and unique to really become what it once was: one of the pioneers.
So, let's wait and see what happens with American Global Internet--formerly America Online.

On the Yahoo! front, I think that things are not as bad as AOL's, but not much better than or equal to Microsoft's positioning and place in the online space these days. With Carol Barz at the helm of the company since early 2009, Yahoo! seeks to become what once was: the true pioneer of the internet! But to be able to maintain that claim the fame and directly compete with Google and Microsoft, Yahoo! must deal with the many challenges it faces wisely. This financial recession is not helping them at all, so the company is going of a selling spree of properties and domains that they don't use or no longer work or are profitable to them. Some examples are: Yahoo! 360, the auctioning of domains like Candy.com, Toys.com and more recently Contests.com for a meager quarter of a million dollar, as Tech Crunch recently reported.

Additionally, Bartz is not focusing so much on Yahoo! search's capability and doesn't seem to care about "Bing's" threat or Google's for that matter. So, many people are not really using Yahoo! for search and as she has said: "we are more of an all around destination/portal that offers editorial content to the public with search capabilities", insinuating that search is not their focus, which is unfortunate because in able for Yahoo! to keep up and compete with the others it must be good and strong in all levels!

Granted, I am a true/avid fan and follower of Yahoo! since day one and I will always be loyal to them, but sometimes I find myself using Google for things that require more in depth results and updated features like Google search and Google maps, so Yahoo! please do work on improving these and be cutting edge like Google manages to often be!

Nevertheless, Yahoo! manages to be a better rounded destination/portal for online users, offering: news, reviews, video, social networks, mobile, search, etc...While Google is more focused on search and video now with its acquisition from a few years ago of YouTube. And this is something Yahoo! can learn from acquiring new strategic online properties to become a bigger competitor...did anyone say Twitter, perhaps!

And Google, I don't think that there is much left to say, you are the WINNER, who takes it all! To be on top you have proven to be cutting edge, revolutionary, consistent, fresh, fast and so on; thus, your place as the number one in the online space in terms of traffic, popularity, choice, market share, etc. But, one thing Google, Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo! should always remember is that even though defection of fans is critical, true fans can also be loyal and stick with what they know and is familiar and those habits can be hard to change! Take me for instance, I will always be a Yahoo! fan until then end and until that happens I will not defect and fully convert to anyone else...I mean, I will try something and use it for a while or once in a while and go back and forth, but not fully commit to "Bing", Google or AOL!

So, after this dissection of the "big 4", what are your thoughts...who do you prefer and choose to be your search engine and online portal?

Please share your thoughts on this and what your liking is...