Does it Matter Whether VoIP is Dead or Not?

It's typically pretty easy to get a robust conversation going about whether VoIP is dead or not, and what each of us means when taking a position either way. Interesting viewpoints exist on either "side" of the debate, relevant for technology enthusiasts and developers but rarely of interest to the mass market that will use the technology.

One might as well say, in advance, that now that Twitter seems to be reaching some sort of inflection point or critical mass, lead technology adopters and developers will move onto the next big thing. Technology rarely is interesting to technologists when it is simply "there."

I remember the same thoughts expressed about session initiation protocol. The disenchantment isn't worrisome. Technology enthusiasts simply have different values than mainstream users, who just want value they understand, easy to use, acquire and support, at fair prices.

Technologists love technology. Most people don't care, so most large, successful businesses are built in ways that hide technology from end users. It makes about as much sense to argue about whether "electricity is dead, or not," as it does to worry about whether VoIP is, or is not.

Technology always is most successful, and most ubiquitous, when it is just furniture. VoIP isn't yet "just furniture." But that is where we inevitably will go.

http://blog.radvision.com/voipsurvivor/2009/04/30/it’s-about-time-we-kill-voip/

58% Local Search Growth in 2008

Local search, using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services, grew 58 percent in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches, says comScore. By comparison, overall core U.S. Web searches grew 21 percent year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008.

About 75 percent of the top 100 keywords searched on Internet Yellow Pages sites were non-branded, indicating that a majority of consumers have not decided on a specific company or product brand when they begin their search, comScore says.

Nearly half (45 percent) of Internet Yellow Pages and local online directory searchers made an online purchase in the fourth quarter of 2008.

One wonders whether Google Maps and mobile Web access have at least something to do with the growth. Local search makes much more sense when one is out of the home or office, and Google Maps, with or without global positioning satellite support, makes it really easy to search for something one needs, where one is at the moment.

The other angle is that small businesses, which operate locally, now are investing more heavily in Web sites, which would allow them to be found more easily.

http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/local-search-grows-58-outpaces-overall-online-search-8929/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink

http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/smbs-poised-to-triple-website-spending-8894/

Satellite Broadband: What Will Reviewers Do?

There is little doubt but that satellite broadband providers will try to secure broadband stimulus funds to subsidize the cost of customer premises equipment, a move that Hughes Network Systems SVP Mike Cook believes could increase its subscriber base by an order of magnitude.

WildBlue presumably also would see customer lift if such subsidies were possible.

There also is some speculation that funds could be sought for new satellite construction to offer customers much-higher access speeds.

Anything is possible, of course. But if I were reviewing grant applications, I'd be looking for projects that get broadband services to people as fast as possible, to as many people as possible, creating new jobs now, are sustainable after grant funds are gone and can get services to the most-isolated locations, across the United States, now.

Anything is possible. But looking at funding for new satellites that might not be launched for years, and consuming lots of program cash, compared to spending lots less and serving lots of rural customers now, would rank a lot higher.

Politically, I'd also (for better or worse) be looking in advance for evidence to justify why I made my decision. Enabling new broadband services to rural residents in all 50 states, within months, is safer than defending a relatively signficant capital investment that won't result in new services for some years.

Also, as a reviewer, I would be looking to get the biggest bang for the buck, spreading the money as widely as possible. On that score, subsidizing CPE would seem a more defensible choice that building satellites.

Social Gaming Grows

The number of people playing social games is expected to surge to 250 million in 2009, from 50 million in 2008, by some industry estimates. And there is a shift in the way games are used. Connecting with friends, and doing things with friends or other people, now is becoming more important.

It's but one more example of how social aspects of gaming, media and content consumption are growing.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090429_963394.htm

Video, Social Networking Top Online Growth

Online users have significantly shifted their interests over the past five years, say researchers at Nielsen Online. Where  portal-oriented browsing sites, such as shopping directories, guides and Internet tools or Web services used to be the top categories for user engagement, today the active Internet user tends to prefer sites that contain more specialized content.

There is a growing shift to more-fragmented usage, in other words, as well as more use of video and social sites. Video and social networking sites are the fastest-growing sites in 2009.

The number of American users frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339 percent since 2003, for example.  Time spent on video sites has shot up almost 2,000 percent over the same period.

In the last year alone, unique viewers of online video grew 10 percent, the number of streams grew 41 percent, the streams per user grew 27 percent and the total minutes engaged with online video grew 71 percent.

There also are 87 percent more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883 percent more time devoted to those sites.

• In the last year alone, time spent on social networking sites has surged 73 percent.

In February, social network usage exceeded Web-based e-mail usage for the first time.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nielsen-online-global-lanscapefinal1.pdf

1 of Every 7 Minutes of Media Use are on Mobile

More than a third of high-use smart phone users are taking action on mobile advertisements, according to AOL Platform-A and Interpublic Group of Companies UM. About 53 percent of smart phone users are clicking on advertisements.

Some 35 percent are requesting more information or a coupon, while 24 percent are making purchases, a new study sponsored by AOL and UM indicates.

The study shows 82 percent of smart phones get used at work while 81 percent are used while people are shopping. Currently, nearly one of every seven minutes of media consumption takes place on a mobile device, and six of every 10 consumers expect their mobile internet usage to increase significantly over the next two years, AOL and UM say.

And though there was a time when mobile Web access might once have been an area where U.S. consumers trailed other consumers, that is no longer the case. In fact, mobile Web access is so widespread that the use cases are morphing.

"Now mobile is less about 'wireless online' and more about being a highly personal, customized medium," says Graeme Hutton, UM director. So the big question is how smart phone applications evolve in the direction of  answering unmet needs. The mobile Web is not simply a mobile version of the PC-accessed Web, in other words. It might be evolving in the direction of becoming a medium in its own right.

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-28-2009/0005014377&EDATE=

Mobile Twitter Passes ESPN, Facebook, and Google

Subscribers to paid community Predicto are different from users of the free mobile Twitter community, says Nielsen Mobile. Twitter has a dominant presence among young and male oriented audiences while Predicto attracts a more mainstream following with a broader penetration, particularly with the female and older demographics.

Twitter is the leading free mobile community, and Predicto is the largest paid mobile community, Nielsen says.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, Twitter amassed approximately 812,000 unique text messaging users, while Predicto Mobile interacted with over 2,303,000 unique users, according to Nielsen Mobile.

Some other key differences in the user breakdown of the two leading mobile communities include 57/43 percent male/female ratio for Twitter versus 45/55 percent for Predicto.

Some 49 percent of Twitter users are in the 35-plus age group versus 68 percent with Predicto. About16 percent of Twitter users earn $100,000 or more compared to 20 percent for Predicto.

During the fourth quarter of 2008, Twitter overtook other free mobile services including ESPN, Facebook, and Google. At the same time, Predicto remains the undisputed leader in the premium mobile space, further distancing itself from NBC in second place, Nielsen Mobile says.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/04/prweb2367764.htm