Half of Mobile Users to Be Web-Enabled by 2013

85.5 million mobile users will access the web from their mobile devices in 2010, more than eMarketer earlier had forecast.

In 2013, penetration will reach the halfway mark, and by 2014, 142.1 million users, representing 54 percent of the U.S. mobile user population, will access the internet using mobile browsers or applications.

Half of Mobile Users to Be Web-Enabled by 2013 - eMarketer

Majority of U.S. Mobile Users Rely on Smartphones, Rather than Feature phones, to Access Mobile Web

Smartphones now have surpassed feature phones as the devices U.S. mobile users rely on to access the mobile Internet, Nielsen reports.

Android the Only Smartphone OS Gaining Market Share?

In the U.S. market, at least, Android devices seem to be the only class of devices, sorted by operating system, that has gained market share over the last six months, Nielsen reports.

Android and iPhone Users Seem More Loyal Than BlackBerry Users

Users of iPhone and Android devices seem to be more loyal than BlackBerry users, a new analysis by Nielsen suggests.

Based on "next desired smartphone" responses, existing iPhone and Android users are more likely than BlackBerry users to want to stick with the same operating system when they buy their next devices.

Gowilla says it has "not yet" been approached by Google about a potential acquisition, though there is some speculation that could be in the offing as Google ramps up its efforts in the social media and social networking areas.

Google Docs Gets New File Conversion Feature

Google has announced a new file conversion feature in Google Docs that lets you convert files that are already uploaded to your document list into a Google Docs format, as opposed to only being able to do so upon upload.

For example, you can convert PDFs to text using Google’s Optical Character Recognition technology. The changes make it easier for users to use Google Docs and then export content in ways that are compatible with Office and other productivity suites.

Files that can be converted include:
For spreadsheets: .xls, .xlsx, .ods, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tsb
For documents: .doc, .docx, .html, plain text (.txt), .rtf
For presentations: .ppt, .pps
For OCR: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf

To use the feature, simply right click on the file and click 'make a Google Docs copy'

Google Docs Gets New File Conversion Feature | jatiN mahindrA doT coM

Revamped Google Images Now a Bandwidth Hog?

Google's redesigned "Google Images" is intended to allow searchers to discover more images faster. My own anecdotal experience with image search is not entirely conclusive, yet.

Google Web Search Help does have a complaint from a school in New Zealand with 1,200 students. Their Google Image Search data usage has more than doubled their weekly bandwidth fees, the post claims.

That's a pretty startling result.

Google Images Redesign Doubles Schools Bandwidth Bill | jatiN mahindrA doT coM:

Google "Caffeine" Promises 50 Percent Fresher Results

Google's latest search indexing system, "Caffeine," promises search results that are 50-percent fresher than Google used to be able to provide under the old indexing system. In a world where real-time and near-real-time content is boosted by applications such as Twitter, that's important.

"Whether it's a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before," the Google Blog notes. Google noted that faster indexing is needed in part because with the advent of video, images, news and real-time updates, the average webpage is richer and more complex, and user expectations simply are higher.

Searchers want to find the latest relevant content and publishers expect to be found the instant they publish.

The old index had several layers, some of which were refreshed at a faster rate than others; the main layer would update every couple of weeks. To refresh a layer of the old index, we would analyze the entire web, which meant there was a significant delay between when we found a page and made it available.

With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before—no matter when or where it was published.

Caffeine lets Google index web pages on an enormous scale, processing hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day, Google says.

Tiered Access Pricing the Result of Google-Verizon Net Neutrality Deal?

Well, yes, in a manner of speaking, but probably only in the sense that "cable TV" or multichannel video entertainment services are sold.

Netflix and Epix Plan to Disrupt On-Demand TV

Start-up pay-TV channel Epix is in serious negotiations to give Netflix exclusive online rights to films from its three equity partners -- Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The five-year arrangement would allow Netflix subscribers to watch movies such as Iron Man 2, Dinner for Schmucks and The Expendables on a streamed basis.

Netflix and Epix working on major digital partnership to shake up pay TV landscape

Dish Network Sub Losses Worry Investors

Dish Network shares fell more than 10 percent in early trading Monday Aug. 9, 2010, after the second largest U.S. satellite TV service provider reported a loss of 19,000 customers in the second quarter, a result that some investors feared could be a signal of future declines.

Dish Stock Plunges

Google’s Social Strategy Might Include Buying Jambool

Google continues to gobble up companies that will form the backbone of it’s new social strategy and the upcoming war with Facebook.

The rumor is that Google is buying Jambool for its "Social Gold" payment product.

Another Piece To Google’s Social Puzzle: To Acquire Jambool For $70 Million

Google and Verizon Reach Net Neutrality Agreement

In a move intended to break the current logjam over network neutrality discussions, Google and Verizon have reached their own agreement on network neutrality principles, and the compromise offers something for most key stakeholders.


The agreement enshrines "best effort" access as the mandatory form of service consumers are sold. Internet access providers could not apply their own packet priorities to legal traffic. You might assume this precludes creation of new quality-assured applications. The agreement, though, seems to preserve this option, but makes it an option only application providers can supply.


Application providers, on the other hand, could create quality-assured versions of their applications, while ISPs cannot. 


The agreement also exempts wireless networks from any of the rules, and allows ISPs to create new managed services (sort of like cable TV or satellite TV) that are not limited to best effort features. 


The companies agree that there should be a new, enforceable prohibition against discriminatory practices. This means that for the first time, wireline broadband providers would not be able to discriminate against or prioritize lawful Internet content, applications or services in a way that causes harm to users or competition.

In addition to not blocking or degrading of Internet content and applications, wireline broadband providers also could not favor particular Internet traffic over other traffic. That is a key provision. It means an ISP cannot favor its own video services over rival video services, for example.

The proposal, however, also would allow broadband providers to offer additional, differentiated online services, in addition to the Internet access and video services (such as Verizon's FIOS TV) offered today. Such "managed services" would not be traditional "Internet access" or "broadband access" services, but rather new and separate services.

The Google-Verizon proposal also includes safeguards to ensure that such new online services must be distinguishable from traditional broadband Internet access services and are not designed to circumvent the rules.

The FCC would also monitor the development of these services to make sure they don’t interfere with the continued development of Internet access services.

Wireless broadband is different from the traditional wireline world, so the proposal refrains from applying new rules to wireless networks and services.

The Government Accountability Office would be required to report to Congress annually on developments in the wireless broadband marketplace, and whether or not current policies are working to protect consumers.

Both firms agree also about enforceable transparency rules, for both wireline and wireless services. Broadband providers would be required to give consumers clear, understandable information about the services they offer and their capabilities.

The two firms also call for new ability by the FCC to enforce these openness policies on a case-by-case basis, using a complaint-driven process. The FCC could move swiftly to stop a practice that violates these safeguards, and it could impose a penalty of up to $2 million on bad actors.

Both firms support reform of the Federal Universal Service Fund, so that it is focused on deploying broadband in areas where it is not now available.

Both companies say they favor turning the Federal Communications Commission's "Internet Freedoms" principles into enforceable rules. Those principles, already in place, stipulate that consumers have access to all legal content on the Internet, and can use what applications, services, and devices they choose.

Both firms hope the agreement can serve as the framework for the FCC's broader network neutrality rules.

[75% Verizon LTE Converage by April 2012

Verizon Wireless is aiming to have at least 75 percent of the country covered by its new LTE network by April 2012. Like DOCSIS 3.0 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps service, the headline numbers are more about marketing platforms than volume end user demand.

But we ought to get ready for another ratcheting up of the headline speed wars as Clearwire and Sprint defend their fourth-generation network and Verizon touts its new offering, while AT&T and T-Mobile USA make their own claims about network quality or speed.

Verizon Wireless 2010/2011 Roadmap is all about Android and LTE

Is Mobile Phone Market Bifurcating?

One feature of market structure in many highly-competitive markets is a bifurcated distribution of firms, measured by size (revenue, typically).

What one has tended to see in retailing and communications is a concentration of firms that are very large, a squeezing of the number of phones in the middle ranges, and then relatively lots of firms that are small.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank think that is happening in the mobile phone business as well, favoring devices that are high-end smartphones or low end devices.

In part, the new competitive pressures are the result of Apple's entry into the market, Deutsche Bank says.

"Hardware has become a commodity with heavy pressure on margins" while "software is the only way for vendors to differentiate their products." At the moment, that is favoring Apple and Android. 

The result is that the best software platforms at the high end are taking share from smartphones. The other trend is that "feature phones" in the middle are losing share to smartphones. The result might be called a barbell, with high volumes at the low end of the market and high end, but little in between.

One might also note a Pareto distribution, where a few market-leading firms are able to get the majority of share or profits. Deutsche Bank analysts note that Apple and RIM sell 10 percent of devices, but get 66 percent of the profit.

Apple and RIM Still Sucking Profits from the Smartphone Industry