Android Music versus iTunes: Table Stakes

There's lots of activity in the mobile music space at the moment. Spotify is preparing to launch in the United States and Nokia is rolling out multiple new "Comes With Music territories. But Google is lijely the most significant of the new entrants.

Not that music stores per se are that big a deal on the revenue front. Of course the music download store has never been the end game. The margins are so small that the a la carte download store only has any value as a means to an end, a way to add a sticky application and increase device value, for example, as well as to provide an e-commerce platform, to a lesser extent.

Android Music versus iTunes: When Open Isn’t Quite As Open As It Might Appear | Forrester Blogs:

4G Speeds From T-Mobile

T-Mobile USA is touting its "4G speeds" in the Northeastern United States and other major cities across the country. Some are going to argue at the claim, which is properly made. T-Mobile's HSPA+ network will in face operate at speeds fourth-generation network providers are promising.

Users will not care about which air interface gives them their bandwidth, but they will care about the speed. It's true "4G speed" is not the same thing as "4G network," but only carriers care about such things. Users just want the better performance.

The latest activations are in the New York City metropolitan area, including New Jersey and Long Island, Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, Connecticut (Hartford, New Haven, Milford and Stamford) and Providence, R.I.

The faster network already is live in Philadelphia, as well the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Boston and Washington, D.C. are expected to be "lit" in the coming weeks.

4G Speeds From T-Mobile Now Broadly Available in the Northeastern U.S. and Other Major Cities | Business Wire:

Are Millennials A Predictable Part of the Generational Cycle? | Millennial Marketing

That "Millennials" might be different from their parents, but neither generation arguably is so "unique and different" as sometimes might appear. Nearly 20 years ago, William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote “Generations,“ which suggested there is a repeating four-generation pattern in American history.

If at all accurate, Millennials are part of a pattern. Though their common generational experiences mark them as different from the three preceding generations in the cycle, the cycle will repeat, with Millennials in turn succeeded by a generation with different, but broadly predictable outlooks.

Sometimes we mistake the forest for the trees, focusing on how much "technology" is simply a background factor for Millennials. What we overlook is the pattern that suggests why their values and views are different from that of their parents, but also that those values are part of an old pattern.

If so, yet another turn is coming.

Are Millennials A Predictable Part of the Generational Cycle? | Millennial Marketing

Walmart drops price of iPhone 3GS to $97

Handset price is getting to be a non-issue for users who want to buy an Apple iPhone. With the announcement of the next-generation iPhone just weeks away, Walmart has lowered the price of the soon-to-be-replaced 16GB iPhone 3GS to just $97, when purchased with a two-year contract.

Walmart drops price of 16GB iPhone 3GS to $97, impending iPhone HD to thank

Will Apple "Blow Google Out of the Water?"

Google used the occasion of its developer conference to jab Apple. Will Apple take the opportunity at its June 7 meeting to jab back? Most people think it likely will.

"If Google didn't act, we face a draconian future," said Goolge VP Vic Gundotra at Google's recent developer meeting. "One man, one company, one device would control our future," said Gundotra.

At its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple is expected to detail its new iPhone operating system, OS 4.

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/23/steve-jobs-on-wwdc-announcements-you-wont-be-disappointed/

Twitter Bans 3rd-Party Ads

Twitter has is banning third-party advertisements on its site, in a move to control its monetization of the micro-blogging service, and perhaps also to protect users from perceived ad spamming.

The Twitter "Promoted Tweets" platform poses some risks of user annoyance, but might arguably provoke much more irritation if the appropriateness of the promoted messages is not controlled.

As mobile advertising starts to become a more important and bigger revenue stream, control of inventory is going to become a bigger issue, as it always does for ad-supported media.

Twitter Gets Serious About Getting Paid - PCWorld

BBC Looks To Ban Over the Top Use of Its Content

The BBC, saying it seeks to maintain its brand, says it does not want to make its programs available to third parties for VOD distribution on an unbundled basis. In part, that is one more example of how the debate over content pay walls is being played out, and also an example of the broader ways in which the battle between open and closed ecosystems likewise has heated up.

BBC Looks To Ban Third-Party iPlayer Builds | paidContent:

AT&T Launches Free Wi-Fi In Times Square

AT&T is launching a free wi-fi network for its customers in New York City's Times Square, obviously designed to take a load off the 3G network.

The move illustrates both the importance of wireless offload strategies as well as a changing role for fixed-line networks, which are assuming much more importance as mobile video consumption increases.

That might provide small comfort to fixed-line service providers, but comfort nevertheless. The fundamental answer for why broadband fixed line networks will remain relevant in a market that emphasizes mobile service has to do with superior bandwidth.

Fixed lines will remain the "best" way to deliver huge quantities of video to end users, in many venues, including both the linear multi-channel video and over-the-top Internet modes.

AT&T Launches Free Wi-Fi In Times Square To Take A Load Off Its Battered 3G Network

Mobile Passed Fixed for Voice in 2000, But Fixed Voice Lines Continue to Grow

You might not be especially surprised that wireless accounts in service surpassed fixed phone lines in Japan, Korea and Finland back in 2000, meaning it has been a decade since a fixed line was the preferred way of using "voice" in the consumer, and part of the business market.

(Click image for larger view)

You might not realize 2000 also was the year that wireless accounts surpassed fixed lines for voice in the U.S. market as well. At the beginning of 2010 there were 2.4 wireless lines in service for every fixed voice line, about 276 million wireless lines compared to about 114 million fixed voice lines.

That said, people often overlook the fact that fixed voice lines in service actually have grown since 2000, from about 100 million lines, up to 114 million lines. The confusion typically is driven by the decline of telco market share compared primarily to the growth of cable operator-supplied lines.

In Japan, cellular phone service was first introduced in 1979. The number of mobile ubscribers exceeded that of fixed phones late 2000.

In Korea, cellular phone service was first introduced in 1984. In 2000, the number of
subscribers exceeded that of fixed telephony.

Finland was the first country to introduce the digital GSM standard in 1992. Mobile revenue surpassed fixed line revenue in 1997.

58% of All U.S. Web Users Visit Social Networking Sites

As popular as social networking has proven to be--eMarketer now says 58 percent of U.S. Internet users visit a social networking site at least once a month--there have been questions about Facebook's business model. The answer typically has been that "a model will be found," as improbably as was the case for Google before it.

Advertising and e-commerce have been the most-frequent answers to the question of how any widely-used "free to use" application can support itself over time. And despite some "privacy" stumbles of late, Facebook continues to explore ways to position itself as an advertising venue, despite some obstacles, related in part to fragmented use of the service (there is no single "home page" everybody goes to, which would create a huge venue for display ads) and the suitability of the content environment (YouTube has the same basic problem).

Still, the rule in media is that whenever a sufficient number of "eyeballs" can be aggregated, advertising becomes viable.

eMarketer estimates that 57.5 percent of Internet users, or 127 million people, will use a social network at least once a month in 2010. That's eyeballs.

Two-Thirds of Web Users to Visit Soc Nets in 2014 - eMarketer

Social Networking and Brand Building: B2C Works Better than B2B

The top 10 brands on Facebook, according to number of fans suggests a couple of obvious "lessons" for marketers. All of the top-10 brands are in the consumer space, and all tend to have "enterprise" size marketing budgets. Facebook itself is in the top position, but ignoring that, the list looks like:

#2 Starbucks 7,266,488 Fans
#3 Coca-Cola 5,567,046 Fans
#4 YouTube 5,114,322 Fans
#5 Red Bull 3,727,372 Fans
#6 Disney 3,488,088 Fans
#7 Victoria’s Secret 3,470,724 Fans
#8 Converse 2,749,691 Fans
#9 McDonald’s 2,270,109 Fans
#10 H&M 2,062,377 Fans
#11 MTV 1,924,744 Fans"

In the business-to-business space, and especially for any firm that is small or mid-sized, Twitter probably is a better bet.

Is Social Media a New Way to Build a Brand? | Millennial Marketing:

CEOs, Managers Using Social Media for Work

You might be surprised to learn that social media is being actively used by business managers, including CEOs, to keep track of news and conduct research, in addition to keeping up with friends.

In a recent survey of 337 social media users in North America and Europe, about 84 percent of social media users indicated they use it to keep up to date on news, while 78 percent also indicated they use social media "to get ideas to help me in my job," says Nigel Fenwick, Forrester Research analyst.

2010: A Turning Point for Telecom?

Watch the Webinar

Some years in telecommunications are pivotal: 1934, 1982, 1996 and 2000, for example, set into motion huge changes that fundamentally shaped the entire industry in transformative ways. Will 2010 prove to be a pivotal year? It might be. One can easily foresee that regulatory frameworks such as "network neutrality" and the "national broadband plan," could affect business models for years to come.

But those are not the only changes. There are new 4G wireless networks coming on line that could, for the first time, drive mobile broadband substitution as smartphone penetration grows from 15% to 50%. Beyond that, questions linger on how consumer behavior was shaped by the "great recession" and if these changes in buying behavior are permanent.

This webinar takes a look at all those questions and discuss possible implications. When the regulatory environment, business models, fundamental technologies and end user demand curves all at change at once, transformative and historical changes are likely.

Social Networking is a Time Waster, Telecommuters Report

Mobile or remote access to email still tops the list of perceived productivity-enhancing tools telecommuters have access to, a survey by iPass finds.

About 85 percent said remote email access enhanced productivity, eclipsing even telephone access, at 75 percent. About 67 percent suggested text messaging and 66 percent reported that instant messaging boosted productivity.

Surprisingly, but maybe not for millions of people who routinely must attend lots of meetings, just 54 percent of mobile workers said meetings enhanced their productivity, while just 48 percent said travel was productivity enhancing. The former report suggests many meetings actually impede people getting their work done, while the latter finding probably only confirms that travel is a time-consuming activity that likewise prevents people from getting more work done.

And despite its popularity, 78 percent of mobile employees report that social media is a drain on their work productivity, as many suspect. Much social networking is a diversion from work, not an enabler of work.

Telecommuters Work Longer Hours, iPass Finds

Do you think you and your co-workers are the only people working much-longer hours than you used to? You are not alone. Though the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the average employee workday at 8.8 hours in 2008, iPass finds after analyzing its data that the average workday for mobile workers was one hour longer, closer to 10 hours a day.

About 34 percent of survey respondents say they work 55 hours or more a week, or at least 11 hours a day. Such workers also telecommute more frequently than the other segments. About eight percent report they are "always" working.

About 62 percent telecommuted at least one day a week, for example. Perhaps not surprisingly, 13 percent they did see a negative impact on their work-life balance.

About 47 percent of respondents say they work 45 to 55 hours a week; in line with modern workday averages.

About 18 percent of respondents report working 40 or fewer hours a week, are most likely to go into the office every day, and less likely to telecommute.

In fact, 19 percent did not telecommute at all.


The surveys suggest, contrary to what some employers seem to believe, that in-office workers spend less time working than workers who are allowed to telecommute, though it is likely the findings are skewed to the extent that telecommuting works best for employees whose jobs are "outcomes" related and are relatively easy to measure.