Hosted Conferencing to Exceed Traditional Conferencing by 2014

At least in Europe, every conferencing service provider of any size and almost all of the network service providers are offering unified communications services in one form or another. says Wainhouse Research. Hosted services are expected to grow faster than traditional conferencing services by 2014.

Combined, conferencing services and hosted or managed unified communications services will achieve over $4 billion in revenue by the end of 2014.

Wainhouse Research

Mobile Changes Restaurant Reservations Process

According to OpenTable, of the total 17 million seated diners during the second quarter, nearly 1.3 million came from mobile apps.

In the first quarter of 2010, of the total 15.6 million, the company seated about a million diners who came from mobile apps. Since it first started offering the mobile apps in 2009, OpenTable has in total seated around four million diners, with 2.3 million of those signing up in 2010.

For OpenTable, Mobile Means Mo Money

New Motorola Tablet PC Might Support Verizon Multichannel Video

Motorola reportedly is developing a tablet device in conjunction with Verizon Wireless that will allow users to watch television on it, including the sort of multichannel video fare Verizon fixed network customers can watch, the Financial Times reports.

The device, which will have a 10-inch screen and operate on Google’s Android software, could launch as early as this autumn in the U.S. market. The Financial Times report suggests the video features will "tie closely to Verizon’s FiOS digital pay-television service."

As typically is the case for such innovations in the video business, content rights discussions will be key. Perhaps the most-logical offering is a "TV Everywhere" service similar to what U.S. cable operators are developing, where a Verizon FiOS TV service subscriber could watch the same content on devices powered by the Verizon Wireless network, either within the Verizon wired network geographical footprint or perhaps within the Verizon Wireles footprint, which exceeds the fixed network footprint substantially.

What remains unclear is whether Verizon Wireless can rework rights agreements enough to be able to offer the equivalent of its FiOS services over the Verizon Wireless network to customers who do not live within the fixed network footprint. That of course would tend to conflict with other distribution agreements programmers have with satellite and other terrestrial providers.

Technology really isn't the issue here: content rights arrangements and compensation are the key issues.

more here

Mobile Video Revenue to Grow 23% Annually

The mobile video market is set for rapid expansion in the next few years, with revenues expected to roughly triple between 2009 and 2014, rising from $436 million to $1.34 billion, according to eMarketer.

Mobile video revenues, including direct downloads, subscriptions and ad-supported video, are expected to reach $548 million in 2010 as the population of mobile video viewers in the US grows to 23.9 million, the firm reports.

Of these three primary revenue streams for mobile video, the ad-supported component will be the fastest growing. Ad-supported mobile video revenues will post a 60 percent compound annual growth rate between 2009 and 2014.

The number of mobile video viewers who watch at least one item, at least once per month, will continue growing in the double digits for a compound annual growth rate of 22.8 percent from 2009 through 2014, eMarketer says.

Google Adds "History" Results for Android, iPhone

Google has extended the "Google Mobile Web Search" feature by adding the "history" display that has been available for Chrome users on PCs for some time. The new "history" display shows a user's past searches.

To choose one of your previous searches, just tap the result. I've found the history feature to be quite useful on a PC, but on a touchscreen mobile, it is even more useful, as it means users have a sort of "passive bookmark" capability, allowing a fast navigation to a web page without having to type in the address or do a search to find the website.

Froyo (Android operating system version 2.2) just downloaded to my Evo. So far, I haven't noticed anything different, except for a few icons changing. Of course, I haven't had time to play with it.

Search history Overview : Using Search - Google Mobile Help

Android. iPhone, BlackBerry: Growth is Not the Same As Installed Base

NPD Group has found Research in Motion remains the smartphone leader, at 36 percent market share for the second quarter of 3010. Android devices had 28 percent share of quarterly sales, and the iPhone OS was third at 21 percent.

Quarterly share reports, though, do not describe the installed base, equally important. Looked at that way, RIM, the iPhone and even Windows Mobile and Palm had higher installed base percentages in December 2009, for example.

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100804.html

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