Is Social Media Over-Hyped?

1 Example of Mobile Enabling a New Business, Or At Least a New Sales Channel

A nurse in the aiport offering vaccinations and flu shots. You might have seen them recently.

Some of them seem to be using Apple iPads equipped with a "Square" attachment to collect payment with a credit card.

Mobile Enables New Businesses

Verizon Has Won the Marketing War for High-End HTC Devices

People ask me what device I'm using, and neither "HTC" or "Evo" rings any bells. If I just say "Droid," they seem to know what it is.

That's winning.

Verizon Wireless Lights 38 Cities for LTE

Verizon Wireless 4G LTE will be available in 38 cities on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010. Cities include:

Akron, Ohio
Athens, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Baltimore, Maryland
Boston, Massachusetts
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Houston, Texas
Jacksonville, Florida
Las Vegas, Nevada
Los Angeles, California
Miami, Florida
Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota
Nashville, Tennessee
New Orleans, Louisiana
New York, New York
Oakland, California
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Orlando, Florida
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Phoenix, Arizona
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rochester, New York
San Antonio, Texas
San Diego, California
San Francisco, California
San Jose, California
Seattle/Tacoma, Washington
St. Louis, Missouri
Tampa, Florida
Washington, D.C.
West Lafayette, Indiana
West Palm Beach, Florida

Verizon Wireless Launches The World’s Largest 4G LTE Wireless Network On Dec. 5

4G Debate is Meaningless, Clearwire Says

The debate going on about who is or isn’t 4G is unimportant because whether it’s called 3G, 4G, WiMAX, LTE, or HSPA, all that matters, in the end, is getting a great price on a fast connection with a ton of included usage, Clearwire says.

Purists won't agree, but users don't care. There are good reasons for standards, but standards bodies are only one way "standards" get set. Sometimes the market sets the standards

The Chicken Soup Debate CLEAR Blog

Collaboration Will Become More People-centric in 2011

Collaboration used to be more a matter of sharing documents. Recently, collaboration has changed to become more people-centric. 'Need to know' becomes 'need to share'. The change can be illustrated by growing use of social networks and video collaboration, for example.

Collaboration Will Become More People-centric in 2011

Are Apps Overrated?

A new study, commissioned by promotion and experiential agency Moosylvania, found that the majority (80 percent) of smartphone users surveyed used apps. But of the 300,000 or so apps on the market only about a handful dominate.

While 30 apps were reported as the norm, most mobile users (85 percent of men and 75 percent of women) actually used only about 10 apps on a regular basis. This could be discouraging news for marketers, since an app only can work if it gets used, and works better if it gets used by lots of people.

Free helps too. Some 44 percent of app users said that all, or nearly all, of their apps were free.

Are Apps Overrated

The Top 5 Web Trends of 2010 and 2011

The mobile Web, the Internet of Things, location-based social networks, the real-time Web and structured data are the top five Web trends of 2010, as assessed by ReadWriteWeb, and are likely to remain key in 2011 as well.

Mobility was a top trend in 2010 and will continue to be a top trend in 2011, ReadWriteWeb says. As Android growth, tablets, the iPad and the launch of Windows Phone 7 have shown, mobility was, and will remain, a key trend to watch in 2011.

Internet of Things, or machine-to-machine communications, also will be key, as will location-based social networks.

The real-time Web, principally exemplified by the growth of Web-delivered video, also will continue to be a top trend.

read more here

Chrome usage jumps over 9% from October to November 2010

Between October and November, Internet Explorer dropped a full percentage point in terms of global installed base, a drop bigger than the last four months.

Firefox, meanwhile, fell 0.07 percentage points. Chrome gained 0.78 percentage points (one of its biggest gains to date), making it the biggest winner of the month.

Safari was up 0.22 percentage points and Opera dipped 0.08 percentage points.

Chrome usage jumps over 9% from October to November

No Matter What the ITU Says, There is 4G

Some will argue that because the new International Telecommunications Union has defined "fourth generation" networks they way they have, there actually is "no such thing" as an actual "4G" network in operation anywhere in the world, right now.

That's actually not correct. The WiMAX and Long Term Evolution networks now operated in the United States and elsewhere use different air interfaces, standards and protocols from "3G." And since the difference between first generation analog, 2G, 3G and now 4G networks is in fact that they represent entirely-new technology generations, it still is accurate to refer to LTE and WiMAX networks, as they now exist, as 4G. They aren't "fully compliant" with the formal ITU definitions, but easily would meet even an industry insider's definition of a "new network, running different protocols, standards and air interfaces," than the older generation of networks.

End users won't care even that much, as in many cases HSPA+ will offer faster downloads and more bandwidth than some 4G networks. Let the purists quibble. Lots of real revenue is going to be made, and lots of new applications and use cases created, by 4G networks that fall short of the full ITU definition. At this point, the business models and businesses do not have to wait for formal compliance. Real-world 4G networks will fashion real business models and earn lots of real revenue without complying fully with the full standards.

Oddly Enough, Rural-Urban Digital Divide is About to Get Worse

In just about any country, of any size, there typically is a gap between the typical speeds a city dweller can buy, compared to what a rural resident can buy, based almost entirely on the fact that rural infrastructure is much more expensive than urban infrastructure, for any number of reasons.

But the rural-urban broadband access "divide," ironically, is going to get worse as fixed-line providers and wireless providers roll out their faster-speed networks. The reason is logical enough: the places those faster cable, telco and wireless 4G and HSPA+ networks are being introduced are largely metro markets.

As Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications and other cable opertors keep adding areas where it is possible to buy 50 Mbps access as a standard consumer service, and as wireless operators light faster 4G and HSPA+ networks, rural networks will find it virtually impossible to keep up.

So get ready for another round of complaints about the gap between rural and urban broadband networks. In fact, get ready for complaints that matters have gotten worse over the last year. That will be the unavoidable consequence of faster networks being activated in urban areas, both fixed line and wireless.

Verizon to Switch on 4G Network

Verizon Wireless will turn on its 4G wireless network Dec. 5, 2010 in 38 U.S. cities, though the new network will not support smartphones until the first half of 2011. Verizon's 4G network is not the first of Verizon's networks to support data communications, or even mobile broadband, but it will be the first that launches without any voice devices, as other 4G networks earlier have done.

There are a couple reasons for those choices. First, voice standards for 4G are less complete than you might think. Also, the primary advantage 4G offers over 3G is bandwidth for Internet access applications, not voice. Also, there is a "chicken and egg" problem." Device manufacturers have incentive to create hot new devices when there is an opportunity to sell lots of units.

But 4G uptake will be relatively slow at first, so handset development also will lag.

The new Verizon 4G network will support a pair of USB modems from LG and Pantech, making Verizon's 4G network initially a complement or substitute for fixed-line broadband connections or 3G dongles.

The devices will cost $99 with a $50 rebate and two-year data contract. Service costs $50 per month for 5 gigabytes of data, or $80 per month for 10 gigabytes.

Both modems are backwards compatible with Verizon's 3G network, so if users roam outside a 4G area, the connection will default to 3G. The deals immediately make 4G service a better deal than 3G service, which costs $60 a month, with a 5-Gbyte usage cap.

Verizon to switch on 4G network on Sunday, but not for smartphones

Netflix to Stream FilmDistrict Films Earlier than Premium Cable Gets Them

Netflix and FilmDistrict have signed a deal allowing first-run, theatrically-released films distributed by FilmDistrict to be streamed by Netflix in the 'pay TV window' a few months after their release on DVD.

Under the deal, major motion pictures that traditionally would have been licensed to premium cable channels will flow instead from FilmDistrict to Netflix for streaming to its members, beginning in 2011.

The deal is another example of gradually-evolving distribution channels in the movie and TV business, with the key trend being the loosening of online viewing restrictions.

Netflix and FilmDistrict Announce Agreement to Stream First-Run Theatrical Films

CounterPath Unveils Hosted "One Number" Service Supporting Text Messaging Using Landlines

CounterPath Corporation says the next release of the "Messaging Convergence Gateway (MCG) 2.0," a hosted solution, will give wireline operators the ability to extend their VoIP and messaging services over the top of mobile networks.

Paradoxically, though over-the-top voice services have mostly cannibalized fixed-line voice services, over-the-top is one way fixed-line services can be made more relevant in a world where much voice activity (not to mention text messaging and instant messaging) occurs on mobile devices.

CounterPath says the solution will be the industry’s first platform to provide single-number reachability for voice, Instant Messaging, and SMS across an operator’s existing wireline VoIP network and on feature phones, smartphones or tablets from any mobile operator.

CounterPath’s wireline mobility services solution will give Internet Service Providers and wireline operators a cost-effective way to provide SMS services to their VoIP subscribers. The gateway also allows fixed-line service providers to provide "one number" services for voice or text messaging, whether a user is on the fixed or mobile networks.

In addition to handling inbound communications, wireline mobility services lets users initiate conversations with their contacts using their new “single” number. Users can initiate voice, Instant Messaging, and SMS conversations using their feature phone, smartphone or SIP-enabled applications on their PC.

Mobile workers and other business users now can use their main number to receive and send SMS messages, making them more accessible to customers – such as younger demographics – who prefer texting over e-mailing or calling.

When consumers are using their smartphone or PC at home or in a Wi-Fi hotspot, calls to their wireline VoIP number ring their VoIP client. By doing so, users preserve monthly buckets of minutes and SMS messages.

Wireline mobility services works with any mobile phone on any wireless network. No client software is required on the handset, allowing it to work even with entry-level feature phones and any mobile operating system.

ITSPs and wireline VoIP operators can quickly and cost-effectively add wireline mobility services without replacing existing network equipment. Operators also can roll out service quickly because they don’t need to first establish a relationship with a mobile operator.

Symbian Devices Lead Mobile Web Usage in Africa, Asia, Latin America

Symbian always has been more popular elsewhere than in the United States. That remains true for related metrics such as share of mobile Web activity as well, according to Statcounter.