Cloud or Unified Communications or Something Else?

Communications industry personnel are not always noted for creating snappy, easily understood product or service names. "Unified communications" might be a case in point. Granted, it is in some ways a tough, perhaps overly-elastic concept to put across. A recent survey of providers shows more than a little variety, made more complicated by the new "cloud" appellation.

Of course, a continuing problem is that there is not universal agreement on the minimum, or core, or common features a "UC" solution represents.

No Jitter | blog | Cloud Communications Provider Survey

New Chrome Extension Can Hide Unwanted Search Results

Google has launched an experimental Chrome extension that allows people to "block" ("hide," at any rate) sites from their web search results. If installed, the extension also sends "blocked site" information to Google, allowing Google to study the resulting feedback and possibly using that information as a potential ranking signal for search results.

You can download the extension and start blocking sites by downloading the extension here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nolijncfnkgaikbjbdaogikpmpbdcdef.

Official Google Blog: New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results:

YouTube to Launch Video Service in U.K.

Google's YouTube is reportedly getting ready to launch a movie-based video subscription service, bringing YouTube into more direct competition with Netflix and Amazon, and will launch first in the United Kingdom and other European markets.

Google apparently has earmarked $100 million for buying content, as part of the launch. YouTube reportedly also is in negotiations with both the National Basketball Association and National Hockey Leage to start broadcasting live pro-basketball and ice hockey games, according to a Bloomberg report.

YouTube users tend to spend 15 minutes on the site daily, on average. Google has found, to no surprise, that showing live sports can boost viewing to an average of 40 minutes.

Hit Fast-forward: Goole eyes UK launch of YouTube movie service - NYPOST.com

Honeycomb: The Next Generation for Android

Google Tweaks Search Algorithms

Google says it tweaks its search algorithms virtually all the time. Now Google says it has made some changes that will affect search rankings for perhaps 12 percent of queries.

Google says it has revised the algorithms to reduce rankings for low-quality sites that add little value add for users, especially those that copy content from websites or sites that are just not very useful. Google doesn't say so, but we obviously are talking about "content farms" that are created for the nearly-exclusive purpose of generating traffic to support ad impressions, producing "webspam." See http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/google-search-and-search-engine-spam.html.

Webspam is the "junk" users might see in search results when websites successfully cheat their way into higher positions in search results or otherwise violate search engine quality guidelines.

At the same time, the new algorithms will provide better rankings for high-quality sites, those with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on, Google says on its blog.

The new changes presently affect only U.S. searches.

Official Google Blog: Finding more high-quality sites in search

Mary Meeker on Mobile

If you have an hour, and really want to learn something, here's Mary Meeker's full presentation. You'll learn a lot:

Half of U.S Broadband Homes Have Video Stored on PCs

Nearly 50 percent of U.S. broadband households report that they store their electronic video home library on their desktop PC. Some 30 percent use their notebook PCs.

Smaller percentages store electronic video on their gaming devices, portable media players, Flash devices, and mobile handsets.

Digital video usage models are now a mix of physical discs, free content, video on demand, streaming and rental models, in addition to outright purchases, says says Keith Nissen, Principal Analyst.

Nevertheless, downloading and storing video is a growing and important element in the overall mix. By 2015, collectively, U.S. broadband households will be storing over 4.5 million GBs of professional video content. This translates to up to 65GBs stored per household.

In-Stat - Press Releases

How Netflix Beat Blockbuster

Source: Online MBA Programs

U.S. Mobile Banking Population Doubles

U.S. mobile banking adoption has experienced rapid growth in the past three years, more than doubling from five percent of online adults in 2007 to 12 percent in the second quarter of 2010.

By 2015, Forrester predicts that one in five U.S. adults will be using mobile banking. Much of that activity will be "informational," with consumers checking balances, for example.

US Mobile Banking Forecast, 2010 To 2015 - Forrester Research

Apple to launch iPad 2, Sources Say

Apple is poised to launch the second-generation of its popular iPad mobile tablet device on March 2, 2011, according to reports. The iPad 2 is said to be thinner, lighter, pack more memory and use a faster processor.

Report: Apple to launch iPad 2 in March

Motorola Xoom Launch

Tablets Displacing Smartphones and Netbooks in Enterprise Market?

The global tablet market was the hardware segment that had the highest growth rates in 2010, according to Frost & Sullivan. Almost 100 new tablets were launched in 2011, but Apple's iPad sold 18.3 million tablets in 2010, about 90 percent of all such devices sold globally.

In Brazil, about five percent of tablets were purchased by business enterprises. But Frost & Sullivan projects 30 percent of sales will be by businesses in 2015. The pioneer verticals in the use of the tablets are pharmaceutical, construction and consumer goods industries.

The logical question is whether tablets might, at least for a time, become the device that accounts for the bulk of new enterprise device buying, not smartphones or netbooks or other PC devices.

Tablets are threat to Smartphones and Netbooks, analyzes Frost & Sullivan

Foursquare Looks at Content to Enrich Experience

Multi-OS Mobile App Development Platform Kinoma

With some signs of developing conflict between app developers and app stores, some developers may want to hedge their bets by developing once, for multiple platforms, just in case, Kinoma claims to provide that environment.

Google Pulls Visual VoiceMail, In-App Payments the Reason?

Google has pulled the Visual VoiceMail app from Android Market, citing a violation of the developer payment rules.

Visual VoiceMail believes the reason is that the app does not for process in-app payments through Google Checkout.

Google Pulls VoiceMail App in Possible In-App Payment Move