How Many Screens Now are Relevant?

Not so long ago, "three screens" were the foundation of consumer multichannel video strategy, those screens being the TV, the PC and the mobile device. With the advent of the e-book reader, perhaps one can add a fourth screen. One can argue that the tablet PC now becomes a viable fifth screen.

There are probably other ways to conceive of "screens," some based on behavioral metrics or applications, rather than devices. Right now, though, it is virtually every other screen than the TV that is getting most of the attention, and rightly so.

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Virgin Mobile USA Aims Prepaid Mobile Broadband at Self Employed Workers

Virgin Mobile USA is aiming its new nationwide prepaid service at self-employed and independent workers.

The Broadband2Go family of mobile broadband products now includes a new $40 unlimited mobile broadband plan. The new offer replaces the previous $20, $40 and $60 plans, allowing consumers to access unlimited internet use at home or on-the-go for $40 per month. The $10 option for 100 MB, good for 10 days from purchase, remains for less frequent internet users.

A recent study from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that the self-employed and independent workers represent approximately 30 percent of the nation’s workforce, Virgin Mobile USA notes. The study determined that this segment of the self-employed population, consisting mainly of small business owners and freelancers, represents a large market of consumers who need to stay connected, mainly with email and internet browsing, without the constraints of a contract.

That's one way to segment a market.

Virgin Mobile USA

Multichannel Video Entertainment Business Loses Subscribers

Is it time to start talking about "plain old television" service, as we talk about "plain old telephone service"?

It might be just a bit early to say. We will need several more quarters of reports until we can say for sure.

But is seems likely something has changed. Multichannel video has been a legacy service for some time, as has POTS, but video has continued to grow subscriber counts, while landline voice lines have been contracting since about 2000 or 2001.

DirecTV to Stream NFL Sunday Ticket

In the emerging online video entertainment business, content rights remain a key stumbling block. Lots of people might like to buy their professional video on a more customized basis. Lots of people might prefer to buy programming they want on a more a la carte basis, rather than paying for traditional multichannel video service.

Now DirecTV says its exclusive "NFL Sunday Ticket" service will be sold as a streaming service, costing $350, without the need to buy the regular DirecTV service as well. When DirecTV subscribers buy NFL Sunday Ticket, they pay $300 on top of a DirecTV subscription.

The still-unnamed service will mean fans can get a full slate of games without switching their current cable, telco or satellite providers. The service will not offer the full resolution of the DirecTV-delivered service.

"We will make a full 720p HD resolution stream available online, but most viewers won't be able to experience the service at that resolution," says  Jon Gieselman, DirecTV spokesman. The picture quality will depend on a user's Internet connection.

For broadband Internet access providers, the implication is that chance to upsell connections featuring higher speeds that will increase the odds that the full 720p picture can be viewed properly. Latency and congestion issues can still pop up, and users might have to work harder at creating a setup able to send the streamed pictures to a TV set for viewing. For some, it will be worth it.

The larger point is that latent demand for viewing alternatives will not develop robustly until rights issues are settled and the whole process becomes nearly as easy as watching plain old TV.

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Tablet Buyers Are Early Adopters: What Does That Mean Now, and for Future Sales?

U.S. online consumers who own or intend to buy iPads and other tablets fit a typical early-adopter profile, and their characteristics have implications for product strategists designing tablets to compete with the iPad, says Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

They own multiple PCs and connected devices; they’re voracious media consumers; and they have an affinity for other Apple products but aren’t exclusively “Apple-ites.”

On average, consumers who own or intend to buy an iPad (“iPad buyers”) have 3.6 PCs at home, compared with three PCs for consumers who own or intend to buy a tablet (“tablet buyers”) and 2.3 for all US online consumers, says Rotman Epps.

All of that is important for manufacturers who want to enter the market now. What remains unclear is how characteristics might need to be modified to appeal to the greater mass of "typical" users who are not early adopters, may not own so many other devices, and arguably will be less willing to spend as much money on a tablet.

Of particular note is the rate of netbook ownership: 24 percent of iPad buyers already own a netbook, compared with 16 percent of tablet buyers and eight percent of all U.S. online consumers.

Potential iPad buyers also live in an ecosystem of connected devices, she says.  A whopping 69 percent of iPad buyers and 57 percentof tablet buyers also own a latest-generation game console,  compared with 37 percent of all US online consumers. Also, iPad buyers are four times as likely as U.S. online consumers to own a connected TV (nine percent, compared to two percent).

Some 24 percent of iPad buyers own wireless speakers compared to six percent of other U.S. online consumers.

Also,  iPad and tablet buyers are more likely to store data in the cloud.  Some 33 percent of iPad buyers say they store files in their email inbox and 12 percent say they use an online storage service. About 24 percent of all online users say they store files in their email inbox and four percent say they use an online storage service.

Tablet buyers really care about media as well. Compared with all U.S. online consumers, they are more likely to use every type of media. In addition, they spend more hours consuming all types of media than all US online consumers do, with the exception of offline TV.

These characteristics have obvious implicaions for would-be tablet manufacturers.

Tablets don’t have to, and shouldn’t, recreate the complexity of the PC. Curated computing experiences
that are simple and streamlined, seem both possible and desirable.

Better media experience and tablets optimized for enterprise use also suggest design avenues.  Perhaps there are ways to provide a better media experience or are designed for business use. Specialized devices aimed at children also are conceivable.

Also, other devices and peripherals might assume new importance as complementary to tablets. For example, consumers who own tablets will still need computers with keyboards, bigger screens, and more processing power, but they may not need the portability of a laptop anymore, so desktops could see some renewed interest if marketed correctly, says Rotman Epps. They’ll also need printers and other peripherals that “talk” to tablets.

It is pretty clear where demand is right now. The bigger question, over the longer term, is how tablet characteristics might have to be modified to appeal to most consumers who are not early adopters.

Chomp Launches, Provides iPhone App Search

Chomp's new iPhone app provides an app search function for iPhone apps, including a recommendation engine.

Broadband Access, Video and Mobility Drive Consumer Market

The residential services market is in rapid transition, Infonetics Research says. The decline of traditional fixed-line voice service and the rise of broadband access, video, and mobile data is speeding up.

PC-based mobile broadband subscribers will surpass all other types of Internet access subscribers by 2013. If telecom operators aren't able to provide competitive mobile services, they will be at a significant disadvantage.

Now that residential voice and Internet services are no longer tied to a physical household, operators can (and should) customize services for individual members of a household and compete on a nationwide basis versus a specific fixed territory,” advises Diane Myers, directing analyst.

The residential services market in North America, which comprises voice, video, and Internet access services, held steady during the economic downturn, maintaining $240 billion in 2009.

Service provider revenue from voice services (including VoIP and mobile voice) decreased five percent in 2009, while broadband access revenue increased five percent and video service revenue increased six percent.

Infonetics Research forecasts the North American residential voice, video and Internet access services market to grow to $271 billion by 2014.

Broadband access is the true growth engine for residential services, with annual revenue for North American service providers expected to grow at a 13 percent compound annual growth rate from 2009 to 2014, driven by both fixed and mobile broadband solutions.

In 2009, 70 percent of all North American voice subscribers were mobile; by 2014, that number will grow as an increasing number of consumers go mobile-only.

Samsung "Epic" Debuts

Michael Mandel Suggests a Moratorium on New FCC Broadband Regulations

Michael Mandel,founder of Visible Economy LLC, a New York-based news and education company, and a contributor for the Progressive Policy Institute, argues for a two-year moratorium on any new federal regulations on the broadband industry,including new regulation of ISPs.

"Whether or not you think that such a move is a good idea, such regulations are unlikely to boost investment or employment in the telecom industry, at a time when we need all the capital spending and jobs that we can get," he says. "For that reason, I suggest a two-year pause in new broadband regulation, keeping the current balance among the different players, which seems to be generating growth."

Nobody Knows Which Carrier Will Get iPHone Next in U.S. Market

Nobody yet knows which U.S. carrier will get the right to sell Apple's iPhone next, in 2011. There is logic for, and against, it being Verizon. At the moment some reports suggest Apple and Verizon are talking, but are not yet agreed on terms and conditions.

That makes sense. Verizon has been doing quite well with HTC devices lots of people do believe is the family of devices most similar to the iPhone. For that reason, Verizon might not feel it has to give quite so much to Apple to acquire rights to sell the iPhone.

Apple, on the other hand, has to weigh the advantages of a much-bigger base of customers Verizon would bring, compared to either Sprint or T-Mobile USA. Also, given component shortages at the moment, Verizon and Apple have to be weighing possible impact on device profit margins as well as ability to meet demand.

Verizon might not be willing to give Apple the margins it wants. And Verizon has to estimate a possible shift in demand from HTC devices to iPhones that result in no net gain in subscribers.

It is a fair guess iPhones will be available on some network other than AT&T's, in 2011. It will an important decision no matter which network it proves to be.

Verizon and Apple at loggerheads?

Why Social Media Fails

Why Social Media Projects Fail?! – A European Perspective

View more presentations from BSI.

At such an early state of development, one would have to expect more failures than successes. But it is helpful to know what doesn't seem to work, and why.

Fool-Proof Way to Save Smartphone Batteries

Radical thought, but it works!

I have to admit, I've done this

Five Key Trends To Watch In Unified Communications

IT leaders are rethinking their voice and UC deployment plans, says consultant Irwin Lazar. Those technologies with demonstrable cost savings such as SIP trunking (96 percent are deploying, planning to deploy, or evaluating SIP trunking) continue to move forward.

But replacement of TDM endpoints with IP has slowed as IT managers struggle with the costs associated with infrastructure upgrades at a time when mobility and telecommuting raise questions about return from such investments.

UC adoptions continue to increase, with nearly 88 percent of companies having at least some UC plans. Delivering on-premise web conferencing as part of a Microsoft Office Communications Server installation is gaining traction; while adding click-to-call or desktop video to supplement voice is more difficult to justify.

Video deployments continue to increase, but usually require some business case, such as reducing travel costs.

Five Key Trends To Watch In Unified Communications

comScore Reports Android Made Biggest Share Gains in May

Some 49.1 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in May, up 8.1 percent from the corresponding February period.

RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 41.7 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.4 percent share and Microsoft with 13.2 percent.

Google saw significant growth during the period, up four percentage points to capture 13 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 4.8 percent.

Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow.

comScore Reports May 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

Firms Embrace Social Media

About 72 percent of executives recently surveyed say they have a social media strategy in place. Of firms without an existing strategy, 80 percent say they will create one within the next 12 months. As you would expect, 85 percent of survey respondents say that original content is critical to the success of their social media campaigns.

Branded original and expert content is used more often than any other type of content, and audience development is one of the top objectives of marketers.

That finding alone points up what has become increasingly obvious with the growth of blogging and other self-publishing platforms. These days, firms themselves have become "media," producers of content. That obviously should have some important impact on the use of, support of, and health of traditional "media" outlets, shouldn't it?

In a sense, firms face a new sort of "build versus buy" decision in areas that used to be part of the marketing budget devoted to "advertising" and "web" spending. Firms can find "media" that already have aggregated the target audience, or firms can do their own media and create the target audience. In the former case, firms will "buy" placement in existing media, while in the latter case they will create their own media, and shift spending that used to go to "advertising" into "content production and distribution."

Fully 43 percent of respondents said they don’t need to show positive return on investment to get social media funding from their organization, as it apparently is clear to all that something new is beginning and the important thing right now is to get started, start learning and refine techniques as successful practices and approaches are discovered.

King Fish Media study, co-sponsored by HubSpot and Junta42, surveyed more than 450 senior management and marketing executives on their social media investments as part of the study.

As you would expect for activities that still are considered experimental, only nine percent of surveyed organizations have full-time positions dedicated to managing social media responsibilities, while 90 percent include those as part of someone’s overall responsibilities.

About 85 percent of companies are handling their social media efforts internally.

Two thirds of the company’s surveyed (67 percent) focus their social media efforts on their company as a whole, while 41 percent promote individuals within the company and 24 percent promote a specific brand.

Some 73 percent of respondents said original branded content was key, while 72 percent said expert content was important.

Video content (51 percent), user case studies (45 percent), and reviews (41 percent) are also used by roughly half of all respondents.

There seems a clear understanding that social media and networking are becoming more important, but it is just as clear that marketers are still struggling to identify best practices.  If you remember how the World Wide Web first was used by firms, and how it developed, you know it is part of the process.

That understanding also explains why 64 percent of firms aren’t yet requiring definitive measurable ROI to justify their social media budgets.

To download the complete findings of the King Fish Media Survey, go here http://www.kingfishmedia.com/marketing-resources/research/social-media-usage-2010/.