When Do "Features" Become "Attributes"?

Nobody thinks of a "battery" as a feature of a mobile device, unless the battery offers unusual performance. On the other hand, few really consider short battery life when using Internet features a key "bug," either. People just learn that their batteries won't last very long when they are using the Internet on their mobiles. That's a bit like the ability to make and receive phone calls. It isn't a feature, just an expected capability or attribute of a mobile phone.

But some features do, over time, become mere attributes. That might be happening to Research in Motion, which once dominated the "email-optimized smart phone market. It isn't so clear that the ability to use email on a smart phone any longer is a clear feature, as opposed to an attribute or expected capability.

The point is that when features become mere capabilities, the ability to build a whole market segment based on that feature also goes away. That might be one key reason for RIM's faltering market share.

So now Blackberry’s most significant feature – email – is no longer very interesting.

RIM, Caught Between Work And Whimsy, Has Lost Its Way

Google Wallet Has Advertising as Revenue Model

Advertising has become a revenue model for software. Now Google Wallet takes the concept another step by attempting to make advertising the foundation for mobile-based payments.

Though mobile payments often are seen as a mobile phone replacement for use of a credit or debit card for retail payments, Google Wallet is more of an advertising play. Sure, it will store loyalty program credentials, but the clear new revenue model is ads, promotional emails and store coupons.

http://www.mondaynote.com/2011/05/29/google-wallet-big-deal-or-another-buzz/

Twitter Is Launching Its Own Photosharing Service?

Twitter is reported ready to unveil its own photo-sharing service, according to TechCrunch, a move that will place Twitter in direct competition with some of its own third-party developers, but which some say is a logical step for Twitter to take, given the popularity of photo sharing and its obvious relevance for sharing fast-breaking news and opinions.

Twitter Is Launching Its Own Photosharing Service

24% of U.S. Internet Users Have Used PC-Based VoIP

Nearly a quarter of American adult Internet users (24 percent) polled by the Pew Internet and American Life Project say they have placed phone calls from their computer using a service such as Vonage or Skype. That amounts to 19 percent of all American adults.

On any given day five percent of Internet users are going online to place phone calls, Pew researchers say.

Both figures are marked increases from previous readings in surveys by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Using different question wording, the Project found in February 2007 that eight percent of Internet users (six percent of all adults) had placed calls online and two percent of Internet users were making calls on any given day.

The latest survey was the first time that Pew researchers had asked the question using this wording: “Please tell me if you ever use the internet to make a phone call online, using a service such as Skype or Vonage?"

Main report | Pew Internet & American Life Project

Users Trust Product Information Found on Blogs

Some 88 percent of active blog readers surveyed by Nielsen Co. on behalf of BlogHer  trust the information they get from familiar blogs. Asked why they have this level of trust, nearly half (48 percent) say it’s because they had made purchases in the past based on blog recommendations and were satisfied with the results.

Over 50 percent of the active blog readers in the general U.S. online population have made a purchase based on a blog recommendation, the study found. That number jumps to 80 percent in the BlogHer network community.

The top categories where BlogHer users turn for reviews include food and beverage (67 percent), clothing and shoes (67 percent), movies (62 percent), and cosmetics (59 percent).  

In the general online population, the top vertical for blog reviews is consumer electronics.

Every week, 78 percent of online women use some form of social media, and 40 percent read blogs that frequently, the study suggests.

BlogHer says a key implication is that, when it comes to product recommendations and information, consumers now trust the voice of any "person like me" over just about any "corporate" voice.

Women bloggers talk about brands and products regularly, authentically, and enthusiastically. Brands should find the bridge that will help them join in.


Facebook is very highly adopted in the online population, approaching the level of adoption that television enjoys. It's also clear that there are two driving forces that cause active social media participants to turn to Facebook: to keep in touch with friends and family (78 percent) and to relax and have fun (55 percent). Why? Facebook has made it very easy to quickly check in, catch up, and play a game or two. It's all about digestible, casual, friendly interplay.

Users do not go to Facebook expecting to research potential product purchases. Instead, those same users turn to blogs to spot trends (47 percent), research products (35 percent), and drive purchasing decisions (25 percent), BlogHer suggests.

But most women surveyed by Nielsen still turn to search, and the ensuing links to blog posts, websites, and articles, when they want to research and ultimately make purchases. That suggests the clear rationale behind multi-channel strategies.

Bh social media 0511 without notes

View more presentations from BlogHer

See  http://www.blogher.com/2011-social-media-matters-study

PayPal Lawsuit Against Google Won't Derail Google Wallet

PayPal's lawsuit against Google alleges that former Google employees took proprietary information to Google. If past precedents hold, PayPal's suit will fail to halt Google Wallet. Courts have in the past ruled that even "non-compete" clauses of employment agreements are unenforceable, one might note.

155 Different Digital Marketing Channels Complicate Choices

One reason digital marketing has gotten so complex is that there are so many channel choices. A recent Adobe global survey of 1,941 respondents, primarily at businesses headquartered primarily in North America, Western Europe and Japan shows that 155 different digital venues now are in operation by businesses.

In addition to the expected emphasis on websites and web analytics, social communities, blogs and microblogs were among the tactics respondents were using most frequently. Mobile tactics, starting from a low base, are growing rapidly, however.

As you might guess, though marketers are unsure about the return on investment from social and mobile tactics, that uncertainty is not preventing companies from investing in the tactics.

While a majority (58 percent) of the respondents say social has a positive impact on conversion, social
features garnering the most “very effective” ratings remain those more mature and proven tactics like
customer reviews and ratings.

In fact, unchanged for the last three years, the social features that drew the most “very effective” votes this year are user comments and reviews, and user ratings and rankings, cited as “very effective” by 32 percent of the respondents.

The content marketing angles are clear. Content has to be created in order for users to comment, review and rank products and services.

Social and mobile tactics, though, are poised to be adopted quickly by small businesses, Adobe says.
Despite the mixed outlook on social and mobile’s effectiveness, that these tactics are among the most planned deployments suggests that small businesses are bypassing tools like site analytics, universally deployed by large businesses.

Instead, smaller businesses are eyeing leading-edge tactics in social and mobile as a fast-track
to reaching users and converting them.

Fully 73 percent of the businesses surveyed say they plan to invest in website redesigns or would otherwise make significant enhancements to improve their site’s return on investment. The vast majority (82 percent) say they plan to deploy those enhancements within the year.

Analytics, social media, and rich media and merchandising are the most deployed tactics globally, while mobile apps, social executions and rich media are among the top planned tactics.

Read more here

Business use of ‘big-screen’ mobile broadband to triple

The number of connections for "big-screen" mobile Internet devices (tablets and notebooks) used for business will almost triple over the next five years as the worldwide workforce becomes increasingly mobile, predicts Ovum.

Broadband connections for devices such as laptops and tablets on enterprise contracts will hit 74 million by 2015, up from 25.8 million in 2010 and a compound annual growth rate of 24 per cent.

Use of mobile handsets will continue to dominate the enterprise market with connections on enterprise contracts predicted to hit 233 million by 2015, a CAGR of six per cent from 2010 to 2015.

Meanwhile, total global revenues for the enterprise mobile market will reach $146 billion in 2015, with the majority of growth globally coming from the use of data services.

Business use of ‘big-screen’ mobile broadband to triple

Cisco to Unveil New Wholesale Managed Services?

Cisco Systems believes it has found a gap in the telecom managed services market and is set to unveil a new white-label offering for operators in the coming weeks. Cisco will attempt to sell the managed service, called SmartOps, to telecom operators looking to serve small business customers.

Operators are expected to brand the service under their own names, which would be run from a Cisco data center.

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=208383

6% of U.S. Mobile Owners Used a Shopping App Last 3 Months

About six percent of U.S. mobile phone owners have used a dedicated shopping application in the last three months, according to Forrester Research. That doesn't include any shopping-related activities using a standard mobile browser.

The Data Digest: Are Consumers Using Their Mobiles To Shop? | Forrester Blogs

CEO Changes Evidence of Computing Era Shift?

Hewlett-Packard Co., Google Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. lead technology companies with a combined $265 billion in market value on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index that have changed CEOs since August 2010. That’s up from companies worth $75 billion a year earlier. Privately held Twitter Inc. replaced its CEO in October, a month after Finland’s Nokia Oyj did the same.

There now are calls for replacing Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer and Cisco CEO John Chambers. Research In Motion probably is next, said Bill Coleman, a partner at venture capital firm Alsop Louie Partners in San Francisco.

One wonders whether the changes are just one more sign that a new computing era, to be lead by new firms, is gaining momentum, pressuring the old leaders.

Those of you familiar with the evolution of computing technology over the past few decades are aware of the way historians describe the key "eras" of that history. We begin with mainframe computing, transition to mini-computers, then to personal computers, then to a period we generally call the "Internet" or "Web" era and now seem to be at the beginning of the next era, for which we do not generally agree on a name.

The point we like to make is that, in each era, and eras do not break cleanly and neatly into 10-year periods, there are some firms which dominate the business in terms of market share and influence. What we also have seen, though, is a different set of leaders in each era.

Apple might be the anomaly, as it is in so many other ways. Some will argue that Apple already was a "leader" in the PC era. Others of us who once were Apple fanatics and were forced by our trading partners to join the Wintel orbit might not agree that Apple was a leader in the PC era.

In that case Apple might yet remain a candidate to emerge as among the leaders of the next era. But you already can see that leadership is shifting to software companies rather than "hardware" firms.

Einhorn Adds to Drumbeat for CEO Exits With Call to Oust Ballmer - Businessweek

PayPal Sues Google Over Google Wallet

PayPal has filed a lawsuit accusing Google of stealing trade secrets because former PayPal executive, Osama Bedier now works at Google.

Stephanie Tilenius, another ex-PayPal executive now at Google, violated contractual obligations by recruiting Bedier, PayPal said.

Bedier “is now leading Google’s efforts to bring point of sale technologies and services to retailers on its behalf,” according to the complaint. “Bedier and Google have misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers.”

read more here

All Spectrum below 5 GHz for Mobile Broadband?

"I think mobile broadband will occupy all of the spectrum below 5 GHz in five years," said Telstra general manager Brian Miller, as Australian authorities prepare for mobile spectrum auctions expected to happen in 2012. Whether that was just a bit of exuberance or a genuine belief is hard to say, but it is nothing if not bold.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority plans to auction 700 MHz frequencies as well as 2.5 GHz licenses for mobile use, and is expected to underpin new Long Term Evolution fourth generation mobile networks.

Australian super-auction could take place by end of 2012

Vast Majority of Small Businesses Unaware of Cloud Computing?

Some 71 percent of small businesses surveyed by Newtek Business Services said they have never heard of cloud computing. The poll of approximately 1,800 respondents found 26 percent of those who had heard of cloud computing could describe what it was. See http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/most-smbs-ignorant-of-cloud-computing-30355.

On the other hand, during the first half of 2010, 14 percent of small and medium businesses reported using cloud computing services and another 10 percent reported plans to deploy cloud-based services, according to a study by Spiceworks.

Twice as many SMB information technology professionals (28 percent) are using cloud solutions today compared to the second half of 2010 (14 percent).

The difference in survey findings might be that the Newtek survey is of non-technical business owners, while the Spiceworks survey is of IT professionals. One might assume the Newtek respondents do not have in-house technology staffs, while the Spiceworks respondents in fact work in that capacity.

Growth plans for 2011 continue to be aggressive, as another 14 percent of IT professionals plan to start using the cloud by midyear. In all, 42 percent of SMB IT pros plan to be using cloud services by mid-2011.

Among SMB IT pros using the cloud today, 39 percent use the cloud for web hosting, making it the single largest varietal in the cloud family. Another 14 percent plan to start using the cloud for web hosting within the first half of 2011.

As for other cloud services, email hosting (32 percent), data backup and recovery services (29 percent) and application hosting (25 percent) were top applications.

The 1,500 Spiceworks respondents work at firms with fewer than 1,000 employees. But the study suggests smaller SMBs are more aggressive when it comes to cloud services adoption than their larger SMB counterparts. See http://www.crn.com/news/cloud/226700068/smbs-gobbling-up-cloud-computing-in-2010.htm.

Some 38 percent of SMBs with fewer than 20 employees use or plan to use cloud solutions in the next six months, the Spiceworks survey found. This adoption rate is markedly higher than the 17 percent of organizations with between 20 and 99 and the 22 percent of organizations with more than 100 employees that use or plan to use cloud services over the same time period.

Technology companies also are adopting cloud services at a faster pace. Some 34 percent of SMBs in the tech sector use or are planning to use cloud services. Companies in the services sector (finance, HR, consulting) comprise next fastest growing vertical segment with 22 percent using or planning to deploy cloud solutions.

Vast Majority of Small Businesses Unaware of Cloud Computing

So Where are the Net Neutrality Rules?

It has been about five months since the Federal Communications Commission decided to impose network neutrality rules on fixed line access providers. But the actual rules haven't been published in the Federal Register, so haven't taken effect.

That is an unusually long delay, and some think it will take another five months before the rules actually are published. The delay, say FCC officials, has to do with the sheer complexity of implementing the order. In other words, some might say, it isn't easy to quantify exactly what has to be done, what cannot be done, and how to collect information to ascertain what is happening.

Then, once the actual orders are published, the lawsuits will start to be filed, leading to possibly years more delay. And in the meantime, it is entirely possible that the market participants might themselves come to some understanding that either side steps the rules or makes them unnecessary.

FCC slow to publish neutrality rules