Did The iPad Preemptively Kill The US Tablet Market Like The Kindle & Nook Killed Other Ebook Readers?

The U.S. market for ebook readers is basically a choice between the Kindle or the Nook.

Can you can blame the Apple iPad for that state of affairs? Or is it the business arrangements? Ebook readers, after all, are only as valuable as the selection of available content, pricing and delivery of that content.

It might be more difficult than most of us realize to get all those elements, plus an attractive user interface and device pricing, into alignment.

Did The iPad Preemptively Kill The US Tablet Market Like The Kindle & Nook Killed Other Ebook Readers?

Clearwire Appeals for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch Users

Clearwire now offers an "iSpot" access device that allows users of Apple iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone users to use the iSpot Wi-Fi connection instead of the AT&T network. The $29 iSpot uses the Clearwire mobile network to create a mobile hotspot.

The iSpot "On-the-Go" service provides unlimited data usage for $25 a month.

Compromise on Net Neutrality Rules?

Meetings between Federal Communicastions Commission officials and industry stakeholders may be nearing an agreement on net-neutrality regulations. as one would have suspected would be the case.

The meetings are part of talks aimed at finding a compromise on Internet regulation that would satisfy both the FCC's desire for preventing abuses (blocking or unfairly discriminating against legal content), and the industry's desire to retain ability to create new products that might well include enhanced quality of service features.

Many policy advocates have suggested must include a ban on network management techniques that give priority to any bits, at any time. Service providers have argued that would prevent them from creating new features and managing networks at times of peak demand.

Policy advocates have maintained that any prioritization is undesirable, keeping the Internet access business on a "best effort" basis. Service providers have argued that such prioritization, when not conducted for the purpose of discriminating against business competitors, is a typical traffic management process, and furthermore would preclude development of services end users might want, such as "video-optimized, gaming-optimized, voice-optimized or conferencing-optimized services."

In the past, such sharp disagreements typically have been resolved in ways that are not as far-reaching as policy advocates want, nor as benign as service providers might want, but which nevertheless are workable. There is little reason to doubt that such a compromise will fail to be reached this time as well.

Industry, FCC coming close to agreement on net-neutrality

Facebook Reaches Critical Mass With Advertisers

Facebook seems to have reached advertising critical mass, where its sheer mass makes it increasingly attractive as a channel.

Facebook Inc.’s biggest advertisers have boosted spending by at least 10-fold in the past year as the social network crossed the half- billion user mark, becoming more alluring to marketers that want to reach a broad online audience.

Some advertisers have increased spending by as much as 20-fold or more, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an interview. The site’s ad prices have held steady even as user growth fueled a surge in inventory, or pages that can carry ads, she said.

“Two years ago the big brands were experimenting with us,” said Sandberg.

Facebook Advertisers Boost Spending 10-Fold

Real Estate Arguably is the Location-Based App With the Greatest Commercial Value

Mobile real estate apps, such as those available from Zillow, Redfin, ZipRealty, Century 21 and Realtor.com, have an obvious value. Home hunting is, by definition, an "out and about" experience.

So it is quite valuable to look up sale and pricing information about the house you are standing in front of, as well as sales history for other homes in the area.

In Zillow’s case, the app finds homes for sale nearby your current location, or you can look up the value of the house you are standing by.

Mobile Marketing an Appetizer, Though Some Say it is a Main Course

We are a bit early in the adoption cycle for mobile marketing to be considered a mainstay of the advertising business. It still remains a bit of an appetizer. But enthusiasm is growing.

Android the New Windows, iOS the New Apple?

Android's growth has happened so quickly that many wonder if Android will become as ubiquitous on smartphones as Windows has on PCs.

The obvious analogy then is that iOS might be likened to the Apple OS of the past.

Loyalty is fairly high for Android, with 71 percent of current Android users saying their next phone will be another Android device, according to recent Nielsen findings.

As Smartphone Growth Skyrockets, Which Brand Will Dominate?

Here's how much data 3G FaceTime Consumes

A five-minute FaceTime call with lots of movement uses 14.7 MBytes of data. That's about 3 MBytes per minute.

Here's how much data 3G FaceTime uses

Accedian Networks Raises $19.5 Million

Accedian Networks, a provider of service assurance solutions for Carrier Ethernet and IP networks, has gotten $19.5 million in a round of financing led by Summit Partners, a growth equity firm with offices in Boston, Palo Alto and London.

Rho Ventures and Skypoint Capital, existing investors in Accedian, participated in the round as well.

Accedian has had four years of 100 percent-plus, year-over-year growth and profitability.

“The rapid increase of mobile device usage and network traffic has left carriers struggling to meet consumer demand and service level agreements, with the backhaul function representing a notable bottleneck on most networks,” said Tom Jennings, a Managing Director at Summit Partners who has joined the company’s board of directors.”

Since inception, Accedian has sold over 55,000 platforms to over 150 service providers and enterprise customers world-wide. The new funding will be used to grow a global sales force, as well as further support product development, marketing, and administrative support organizations

Android 2.2 is Coming

Miss Your Interview or Lose Your Hard Drive? Tough Choice!

Fully 84 percent of computer users polled by Kelton Research believe that the contents of their computers are more a reflection of their personality than what you might find in their wallet.

That should come as no surprise. There is a limit to the amount of detail and data in a wallet. There is richness of detail on a PC's hard drive if you consider email, documents, calendars, contacts, web browsing history, applications and usage history, bookmarks and so forth.

Nearly 36 percent of respondents would rather be late to an important meeting than lose all of their personal files stored on their PC. That's a rational position and one might only be surprised that the percentage of respondents is not higher.

Despite the tough economy and the high unemployment rate, 20 percent of those polled would choose missing an important job interview over losing their data. Though this is a judgment call, job interviews can be rescheduled. Non-backed up data can be impossible to reconstruct.

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Will Clearwire Make its 2010 Buildout Goals?

Summer normally is the time of year when landline and wireless construction gets into really high gear. In Clearwire's case, it had better.

Clearwire is racing to add coverage and win customers before Verizon unveils out LTE network in the fourth quarter of this year. At the moment Clearwire might be only half way to meeting its 2010 timetable.

Some of us are anxious for Clearwire to meet its goals, on time. Clearwire might be even more motivated, as the spectrum and speed advantage the company has held over all its other major competitors will be coming to an end relatively soon.

Verizon's LTE network is supposed to be lit, covering 100 million people with Verizon's own fourth-generation network, and taking away much of Clearwire's marketing advantage.

Clearwire isn’t Even Halfway to its 4G Coverage Goals

iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S (Captivate), Evo 4G

Here's a review of the Apple iPhone 4m the Samsung Galaxy S (Captivate) and the HTC Evo 4G.

iPhone 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy S (Captivate) vs. Evo 4G:

HTC Evo WiFi Hotspot Function Demo

Who Ever Thought Verizon Would Not Need the iPhone?

Make no mistake, Apple's iPhone has been a huge success for AT&T. Other carriers, and the most often mentioned candidate, Verizon Wireless, would likely not spurn the chance to sell the iPhone.

But it is just possible that Android devices now are getting enough traction that Verizon Wireless, though it might want to sell the iPhone, does not actually need to sell the iPhone.

That is a big shift. Android's growth, fueled by Verizon exclusives such as the Droid X and Droid Incredible, might finally be reaching the point where the issue no longer is so critical.

The Android-powered HTC devices might be reaching such critical mass that going too far out of the way to get an iPhone deal is less important. Apple has a carefully-cultivated and faithful following. But most people are not Apple addicts. If the Android can demonstrate it is as easy to use, supports the same apps, costs the same and works the same, most people are likely to give it a look.

Right now HTC seems to have captured most of those qualities.

What Android's Impressive Growth Means for You