Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Normal People Don't "Share," They "Send"

Facebook has replaced its "share" button with "send" button. You might wonder why. Most likely, it's an attempt to leverage user behavior. People who have been using email for a long time are used to "sending," though the notion of "sharing" is not so well entrenched a behavior.

The "Send" button forwards the current Web page a user is on to a Facebook friend or Facebook group. Facebook probably guesses, and probably correctly, that the former "share" function will get more use as a "send" function.

U.S. Smartphone Market is a Bit Like Fashion

Smartphones and other mobile devices are a bit like fashion, introducing a great deal of volatility.

According to The Nielsen Company’s monthly surveys of U.S. mobile consumers from July 2010 to September 2010, consumers planning on getting a new smartphone had a very clear preference: A third (33 percent) wanted an Apple iPhone.

Slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) said they desired a device with the Google Android operating system. And 13 percent said they wanted a RIM Blackberry.

Those same surveys for January 2011 to March 2011 show significant changes. According to the latest figures, 31 percent of consumers who plan to get a new smartphone indicated Android was now their preferred OS. Apple’s iOS has slipped slightly in popularity to 30 percent and RIM Blackberry is down to 11 percent. Almost 20 percent of consumers are unsure of what to choose next.

Developer Enthusiasm for Android, iPhone Pauses a Bit

Android has lost some of its momentum among developers, if not consumers, amid concerns about fragmentation, patent protection and open source credentials. However, the alternatives to the Google OS and Apple iOS are failing, as yet, to take advantage of these weaknesses. In fact, developer interest in the iPhone and iPad also has slipped a bit in recent days, an IDC study sponsored by Appcelerator has found.

Attention is the New Currency

 
You might argue it is hard to get attention from Millennials. Heck, it's hard to get anybody's attention, these days.

(Graham Brown mobileYouth) #Trends: Paid vs Earned Media

YouTube to Launch Streaming Video Service?

YouTube is launching a movie-on-demand service, TheWrap reports.

Major studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal are said to have licensed their movies for the new service, as have numerous independent studios, including Lionsgate and the library-rich Kino Lorber.

YouTube already sees 130 million monthly users, giving the site a huge potential buyer base.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Mobile Banking Growing; Still in Single Digits

By 2015, more than 50 million U.S. adults could be using mobile banking services, says Emmett Higdon, Forrester Research analyst.

In a survey of 5,500 U.S. consumers Javelin conducted in November, 29 percent of respondents said they call their bank and 30 percent log into online banking when they receive an alert about their financial status from their bank, says James Van Dyke, Javelin Strategy and Research president.

Only four percent said they log into mobile banking. By comparison, of the survey respondents that were customers of Bank of America, 25 percent said they call their bank and 38 percent log into online banking. Another seven percent said they log into mobile banking.

Directv-Dish Merger Fails

Directv’’s termination of its deal to merge with EchoStar, apparently because EchoStar bondholders did not approve, means EchoStar continue...