Why Google Isn't Good at Social Apps Yet

The kind of application that Google knows how to make well are the kind that serve a utilitarian function. Google's search engine excels at allowing users to search for something, consume, and move onto the next thing.

Google so far does not excel at applications that are by their nature designed for "hanging around."

Can Google Figure Out How to Appeal to Lobsters As Well As Pandas?

PR Experts: iPhone 4 Hardware Recall Is “Inevitable”

Some now believe Apple will be forced to recall the iPhone 4 because of hardware defects related to its antenna design.

“Apple will be forced to do a recall of this product,” said Professor Matthew Seeger, an expert in crisis communication. "This is potentially devastating.”

That seems a bit of hyperbole. Every smartphone I can think of has some issues. Sure, users might have to adjust the way they hold their devices, or add a bumper. Users of other devices need to make adjustments to account for battery life, presence or absence of a keyboard, the size of their fingers and lots of other small adjustments. Some people use the speakerphone function whenever possible, or simply limit the number or length of calls to limit brain exposure to emitted radio frequency energy.

The iPhone 4 reception issue is not hazardous to health. The device does not fall apart. It is not perfect, but what device actually is "perfect" on every measure? As the Eagles song goes: "Get over it."

PR Experts: iPhone 4 Hardware Recall Is “Inevitable” | Cult of Mac

Slow Recovery Ahead for Total Media Ad Spending

Online ad spending will grow while traditional advertising channels will remain stagnant or decline, says eMarketer.

Marketers who turned to digital for its effectiveness and measureability in tough times will continue to appreciate those qualities as budgets go up, and with the world’s population spending more and more time with digital media, dollars will follow eyeballs, eMarketer predicts.

One also wonders whether the greater efficiency of online and mobile formats also is having some effect. Advertisers might reason they can achieve their objectives even while reducing overall spending.

Slow Recovery Ahead for Total Media Ad Spending - The eMarketer Blog

Skype Blocks Fring Video Calls

Commercial disputes in the communications business are not uncommon. Now fring says it has been forced to stop its four years of Skype interconnectivity following threat of legal action by Skype.

The apparent reason is fring’s recent launch of mobile video calling on the Apple iPhone 4.

www.fring.com - Following fring’s string of mobile video calling wins - Skype blocks fring

Google SEO Includes "Human" Ranking

Some people might be worried about whether Google can, does, or might be tempted to manipulate search rankings in ways that favor its own business interests. But every search engine has to use some specific algorithms to attempt to assess "quality" and "relevance" of content found on the Web.

All of which has spurred a rather-robust search engine optimization business, with a sort of constant "cat and mouse" game between the keepers of search algorithms and content providers who try to come up with legitimate, perhaps sometimes questionable methods of "gaming" the Google search algorithms.

"There’s good SEO, allowing people to get to more relevant content,” says Google’s Amit Singhal, an engineer who works on the algorithms, according to the Financial Times.

“Sometimes people do shitty things and sometimes our algorithms are fooled,” he said. That appears to be one reason why Google says it does use some human oversight as part of its overall system.

Given the potential for some abuse, that's likely a necessary and legitimate undertaking. Algorithms are precise, people are fuzzy. Sometimes adding a little human fuzziness might be a good thing, producing more-valuable search returns.

The potential for mischief, real or imagined, will always exist. But that's why markets and competition are so important. Too much mischief should lead to less-useful results, which will lead users to switch to rival search applications. It might not be a perfect system, but it is hard to imagine any other better set of safeguards.

FT.com / FT series / In depth - Groups magnify chances of Google hits

HTC: Carry a Spare Battery

Sprint Nextel Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse has a solution for his carrier’s Evo 4G’s infamous battery drain: Carry a spare, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Before you dismiss the idea, consider that a spare, original manufacture HTC Evo battery runs between $25 and $40 online. Those of you who have purchased spare batteries for other smartphones, that might seem a bit steep, but bigger screens and heavy Web use will drain any battery fairly quickly.

In fairness, users who want longer battery life should buy devices with much-smaller screens, and then not use mobile Web features unnecessarily. Battery advances do not occur at the same rate as changes in processor and memory, so the advent of larger screens and mobile Web usage is simply going to be a bigger issue.

Lots of us use, or have used, devices with much-smaller screens, as well as devices more typically used primarily for voice and texting. Battery life is longer on such devices, period. In phone technology, as with other devices, there are trade offs.

The HTC Evo's battery life is noticeably shorter than many would like. That's the price of the bigger screen, for the most part. Would I be willing to trade down to a smaller screen? No. But I routinely carry two mobiles, one primarily for voice, the HTC for Web apps. So in a sense I alrady carry a spare battery.

Netflix Edges Past Hulu In Total U.S. Traffic

Web traffic to Netflix was 20.2 million in June, 2010, just edging past Hulu’s 19.7 million.

It has to be said that most of the Netflix traffic likely was people updating their queues and so forth, while more of the traffic to Hulu was people viewing actual videos, but the traffic is some indication of the potential for Netflix to move into the video download space, some would argue.

Netflix Edges Past Hulu In Total U.S. Traffic (comScore)

Microsoft Says 74% Of Business Computers Still Running On Windows XP

74 percent of business PC's are still running on XP, according to Tammi Reller, CVP of Microsoft Windows. That is some measure of how Vista failed to get traction, but also suggests a large opportunity for Windows 7 upgrades.

Reller says the average age of a PC is the highest it's been in a decade at 4.4 years old. Typically that would suggest replacement is imminent, as most enterprise PCs have tended to be replaced every three to five years.

The new wrinkle might be increasing use of smartphones, netbooks or tablet PCs powered by other operating systems. Those devices are unlikely to replacement existing desktops, but might siphone off some of the incremental demand.

Microsoft Says 74% Of Business Computers Still Running On Windows XP

IntelePeer and WorkSpace Communications Partner to Launch Hosted Unified Communications Solutions

IntelePeer has announced a partnership with WorkSpace Communications to deliver an easily deployed, hosted unified communications offering based on Microsoft Office Communications Server.

By combining IntelePeer's "Quick Start SIP Trunking" program, "Voice Peering Network" and "SuperRegistry," with WorkSpace Communications' Microsoft OCS environment, the companies provide a complete, turnkey solution.

IntelePeer and WorkSpace Communications Partner to Launch Hosted Unified Communications Solutions

Consumer Reports Does Not Recommend the iPhone 4

Consumer Reports says it cannot recommend the iPhone 4 because of reception issues. The consumer testing group says its findings are not based on the inaccurate signal reception display, but actual reception issues caused when the device is held in certain ways.

"When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal.

Consumer Reports Electronics Blog: Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can't recommend the iPhone 4

Screen Shortage Might Last Until 2012

HTC Evo devices are in very short supply at the moment, as are HTC Incredibles, and most likely, HTC Droid X devices as well, as all seem to use the same screens, and there currently is a shortage of capacity to manufacture the screens, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Analysts say there's a particular dearth of the Samsung Electronics Co. touch screens the HTC phones use. Samsung is building a $2.2 billion factory to make the screens, but it won't start operations before 2012.

It is unclear how the parts shortages might affect mobile providers selling the popular HTC devices, in particular Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile, none of which yet has the right to sell the Apple iPhone.

But to the extent all three carriers experience HTC device shortages, it does not seem clear that the relative positions of the three carriers will change, based specifically on ability to sell HTC devices in this class. For Sprint, though, the advantage it had by launching the first nationwide 4G network is dwindling as Verizon Wireless readies its own launch later in 2010.

84% of Internet Users Never Click on Ads

About 84 percent of Internet users never click on any ads, comScore says.

Conversely, eight percent of users are responsible for 85 percent of activity.

Should we be surprised by that? Not really, considering the Pareto principle, commonly known as the "80/20" rule.

Despite that pattern of behavior, it seems unlikely most advertisers will stop relying on click-through rates.

Google Chief Predicts "Interactive Video Ads"

Google CEO Eric Schmidt says  "interactive video ads," are on the way, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The ads, which could appear anywhere on a Web page, would be like mini-Web pages, allowing Web users to watch a video, leave a comment and see real-time updates within the ads that are more customized to their interests.

Schmidt says he has pushed Google's ad teams to think about the potential for such ads, without specifically adding details.

Indian Operator Aims at Wireless Broadband Market

Infotel Broadband Services plans to use its 20-MHz worth of national wireless spectrum in India to make a dent in that country's roughly one-percent broadband services penetration. But the company will not be able to offer switched voice services, according to the terms of its license. The restriction means Infotel will offer a fairly focused data access service, with users able to use PC-to-PC calling services to other Infotel subscribers.

The restriction illustrates the foundational impact regulation has on business models. Some observers say Infotel can only get so big while it has no ability to offer full mobile voice, which would require that it acquire another firm able to do so (a 2G or 3G provider, for example).

Government officials note that 30 percent to 40 percent of  36 million fixed line connections in India are not capable of supporting broadband services.

read more about Infotel

read more about fixed broadband in India

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