Friday, December 17, 2010

Salvation Army Android App

The Salvation Army's “The Daily Cup” app allows users to make a $10 donation from your Android device.

The Salvation Army used Didmo’s Magmito Application Creator to create the app, and distributes through Getjar. You can download the app here download it HERE now

Thedroidguy.com

Whether Content or Distribution is King Depends on Who You Are

Pundits and participants always have argued about whether "content" or "distribution" is king in the media ecosystem. The truth is, both are essential for a completed value chain and revenue model. But at any point in time, the question can only be answered concretely, based on who the actor is.

Large, powerful content creators and networks (networks are also distributors of content) tend to have more power, and one generally can say that in those cases--ESPN for example--it is the content packager that is "king." But ask any of the lightly-viewed small networks carried on cable, telco and satellite networks whether content or distribution is "king," and you are likely to get a much-more-nuanced answer. Small networks have to fight to get distribution, and might well say distribution is king.

To become a top 1,000 website you need at least 4.1 million visitors per month. To become a top 500 website you need at least 7.4 million visitors per month. See http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/07/05/what-it-takes-to-be-a-top-100-website-charts/ for more detail.

To become a top 100 website you need at least 22 million visitors per month. To become a top 50 website you need at least 41 million visitors per month.

For most websites, distribution would appear to be "king." In every case, if you are one of the small number of market leaders, content is king. For most organizations, distribution is going to appear to be the bigger business issue, and so distribution would remain king.

PayPal Black Friday: Mobile Payments Climb 300%

PayPal says "Black Friday" shopping results showed a 27 percent increase in total payment volume on Black Friday 2010, compared to the previous year.

PayPal saw an approximately 310 percent increase in mobile shopping on Black Friday. as well.

Dwolla Enters Payment Business on National Level

Mars Cafe, a Des Moines restaurant, is testing an in-store payment system powered by Dwolla. People can use their smartphones to pay Mrs Cafe right from the phone.
Next to the cash register is another smart phone that tells the clerk the bill has been paid electronically. The clerk provides a receipt and the customer's on his way.

Hulu Subscription Program Working Better Than Expected?

Hulu might be getting more takers for its subscription service than originally expected just a month ago.

Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said he expected the company's 2010 revenues to reach $260 million, up from a $240 million projection he made last month.

The eight-percent gain might be due to higher-than-expected demand for Hulu's new subscription service.

Old Debates Over "A La Carte" Might Not be Relevant in Future

An economist might say the typical video bundle works because it allows distributors to apply scale and scope economics.
 
The corollary is that most networks, which are advertising supported, want to be part of a "no choice" basic tier for business reasons of their own, namely the ability to better sell the advertising that underpins their business models.

According to some studies, relatively few networks actually make a $100 million or more in annual ad revenue, though.

When multichannel video distributors say a bundled approach creates economics that favor smaller, niche networks to thrive, they are right.

Deprived of carriage on a broad "enhanced basic" tier, perhaps 60 percent of networks might find themselves immediately imperiled, as going concerns.

An end to bundling would likely decimate most smaller, more-lightly-viewed networks. To the extent that content and program diversity is a desired end user benefit, "choice" in all likelihood would decline in a full a la carte environment, because most people would not buy most channels.

The possible advent of over-the-top TV viewing worries most in the current ecosystem for one compelling reason: "households view less than one quarter of the networks they are forced to buy in the bundle," the Consumers Union noted in an past analysis assuming a 50-channel offering. Even today, with hundreds of available channels, end user behavior does not seem to have changed much.

Most people watch a dozen or so channels on a regular basis.

Cable operators have argued that end-user costs might actually climb in an a la carte environment, for a number of reasons. Higher customer care costs, operating and marketing are likely, cable operators have argued. Part of the argument has been based on the need to supply new decoders to customers who did not previously need them. That is likely not much of an issue these days, as cable operators convert to largely-digital or all-digital services where customers already must be provided set-top boxes.

So perhaps some of the historic objections from a distributor point of view have eroded.

Separate studies by the Federal Communications Commission seem to have concluded that unbundling could save money, or wouldn't save money. See this study. One of the studies suggested “consumers that purchase at least nine networks would likely face an increase in their monthly bills" when buying a la carte.

Likewise, one of the studies suggested bill increases ranging from 14 percent to 30 percent under a la carte, while the other suggests a consumer purchasing 11 cable channels would face a change of bill ranging from a 13 percent decrease to a four percent increase, with a decrease in three out of four cases.

The point is that it is very hard to tell, conslusively, what might happen if providers shifted to a la carte viewing. With online delivery coming to the fore, it might not ultimately matter. A la carte might happen, but on the Internet.


1-Day Number Porting Mandatory on Jan. 31, 2011

Neustar's one-day number porting service for small-to-medium-sized telecom operators now is available. The Neustar "PortXpress" is a cloud-based service that enables operators to reduce the interval for number porting requests to just one business day, enabling them to meet the Federal Communications Commission’s new one-day number porting requirements by the January 31, 2011, deadline without system modification or new capital investments.

Comcast, Level 3 Dispute is Still About Money

Comcast says "Level 3 and Comcast engineering teams held several in-person discussions over the past 48 hours to discuss potential significant revisions to parts of our peering and direct connect architecture."

Comcast says the engineers "developed a potential new and different architectural approach" that Comcast wanted to test with Level 3 as soon as next month. The solution would require both to make a "relatively modest investment" that would allow both companies to better understand the traffic, routing, and economic considerations.

Comcast also offered to keep the economics of the existing newly executed agreement at 'no cost' until the companies learned the actual costs of the new approach during this trial.

"Level 3 chose to leave the meeting when we wouldn't agree to a 'zero cost' outcome," Comcast said.

The Tron Trailers are Gorgeous

My mom didn't like the original, and I don't think she'll like this sequel, either. But take a look at the visuals.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/disney/tronlegacy/

Are Web Apps the Future of Websites?

Web apps, it is argued, will displace browser-based apps. What seems a fairer statement is that apps will displace some browser-based content and app access.

If you have used both browser and mobile apps on a smartphone with a good touch-based browser, for example, you might not be so convinced that apps are better than web pages in all cases. You might have discovered that self-executing applications such as navigation programs, work best as traditional apps.

In other cases, if you want content richness, an app can provide a leaner experience than the main news page of a content source you are interacting with.

Test of T-Mobile HSPA and Sprint WiMAX Networks

One has to take mobile broadband speed tests with a bit of circumspection, as experienced throughput can vary enormously at any single location, at any point in time, when using only one device.

But in a recent test of the T-Mobile myTouch 4G and Samsung Epic 4G in Philadelphia and Trenton, N.J., the T-Mobile USA and Sprint WiMAX networks performed virtually the same in Philadelphia, with the Sprint network performing much better in Trenton, N.J.

The tests also showed differing speeds at various test points in each city, as well. You probably can argue the merits of each network (HSPA+ and WiMAX) based on these tests. They do suggest that HSPA+ can offer comparable throughput to WiMAX, at some times and places.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Social Contact Centers

Social software is starting to be deployed both in the contact center and the enterprise, says Blair Pleasant, COMMfusion owner.

Enterprises basically are starting to treat Twitter and Facebook posts just like another media channel for the contact center.

MetroPCS Eyes TerreStar Assets - WSJ.com

MetroPCS Communications is exploring a purchase of assets of mobile-communications business TerreStar Networks Inc. out of bankruptcy court, the Wall Street Journal reports.

TerreStar's most attractive assets are government licenses to use spectrum for mobile satellite applications. MetroPCS, the fifth-largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers, has been on the hunt for spectrum that will help it become a national operator.

It isn't clear whether the spectrum could be "re-purposed" for terrestrial fourth-generation networks, but LightSquared has been able to get such authority, as Terrestar has customers already making use of the satellite communications network.

MetroPCS also could use wholesale capacity from the proposed LightSquared network, as well. MetroPCS might also bid on spectrum Clearwire wants to sell. 

AT&T's "Satellite Augmented Mobile Service" uses the TerreStar network and dual-mode handsets that use both cellular and satellite networks.

The TerreStar "Genus" smartphone operates with terrestrial mobile as the primary default mode and satellite access capability as a secondary option for voice, data and messaging.

The access to the TerreStar satellite network enables wireless communications coverage in remote areas for government, energy, utility, transportation and maritime users, as well as backup satellite communications capabilities for public safety agencies, first responders and disaster recovery groups.

Netflix Encounters Complexity of Content Rights

Netflix said some of its deals with studios and other content providers prevent it from offering its streaming video service on TiVo DVRs distributed by Suddenlink Communications and other multichannel video programming distributors.

"Only those TiVo units sold in the retail channel are licensed to offer the instant streaming functionality from Netflix," Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said.

TiVo apparently does not have the rights to offer Netflix on the boxes provided to Suddenlink because Netflix agreements with numerous content providers don't extend to devices distributed by cable companies and perhaps others.

It is likely similar issues will develop as more providers enter the streaming video business, and discover the complexity of rights agreements.

Twitter Illustrates Pareto Distribution

The "long tail" distribution is a standard Pareto distribution, popularly thought of as the "80/20" rule, where a disproportionate share of just about anything comes from a fraction of the causes.

Twitter followers in December 2010 show a clear Pareto distribution, as do people that Twitter users "follow."

The clear implication for things such as market share in any sphere of business will also have a Pareto distribution.

The implications for businesses and organizations that use Twitter as a social tool is that, in all likelihood, modest expectations should be watchword. It is highly unlikely most companies and organizations will ever appear at the head of the tail. Those spots normally are held by celebrities of one sort or another.

That isn't a reason not to use Twitter, just a reminder to be realistic about expectations.

AI Impact: Analogous to Digital and Internet Transformations Before It

For some of us, predictions about the impact of artificial intelligence are remarkably consistent with sentiments around the importance of ...