Will Google+ Be a Kiler App on Mobiles?

"Because Google is also available on the iPhone you may be tempted to downplay the significance of the app for the Android ecosystem," argues Matthew Panzarino. But Google will be able to do things with the app on its platform that would never happen on iOS, he argues.

Things like a "Hangout" or "Huddle" widget, the system wide integration of Google into the operating system to capture photos and videos or email addresses and phone numbers categorized by "Circles" will only exist on Android. "In the end, it’s safe to say that Apple will never integrate even basic Google functionality into the innards of the iPhone’s OS," he argues.

And it’s not enough that Apple has its own equivalents to some of these features in its iCloud suite, Panzarino. For instance, every picture can be automatically uploaded to your Google gallery every time you press the shutter button of an Android phone, mimicking the behavior of the Photo Stream in iOS. But these photos cannot be instantly shared with a Circle of your friends, they can’t be viewed in a gorgeous, socially enabled, online gallery.

With Google , Android finally gets its killer app - TNW Google

Blogs Don't Work?

There is an argument to be made that "blogs" aren't relevant anymore. Of course, the possible reason is simply because "blogs" have become an indispensable part of a brand's online experience, adding the dynamic component that Google and other search engines use to rank sites. In other words, to get more attention, brand websites have to become more content rich. In that sense, "blogs" as a separate activity is an idea that might have become outmoded.

"Blogs are replacing the static websites that businesses have traditionally considered their online home," says Jeff Korhan. The reason, as noted, is that search engine optimization now makes fresh content an essential element for website ranking.

Blogs are where people in the know go to get the most relevant news, Korhan argues. This is precisely why AOL Media paid handsomely for top blog The Huffington Post, a site that is seldom referred to as a blog. Indeed, it isn't. It is a media site.

But there is one practical implication. "It may be time to forget about blogs and instead direct our communities to our interactive websites, these online forums where they can tap into our expertise and a great deal more," he argues.

Your Interactive Expertise Distribution Site

Smart Phone Mobile Activities Rival PC

Research from Google and the Mobile Marketing Association finds Internet usage on mobile devices is quickly becoming as important as internet usage via PC among those who own smartphones.

In the United States, 58 percent of smart phone owners had used their phone to go online every day, compared to 78 percent who said the same of their PC. When asked about usage, 53 percent of respondents said they used the mobile internet multiple times, compared with 67 percent who said the same of their PC.

Mobile Activities Rival PC for Smartphone Owners - eMarketer

DOCOMO to Develop New Services by Working with Twitter

NTT DOCOMO will be working with Twitter to develop new applications and services incorporating Twitter features for DOCOMO feature phones and smartphones.

Real-time tweets and other Twitter content will be added to the search results on the DOCOMO “i-mode” portal for feature phones and the “docomo market” portal for smartphones. DOCOMO expects to launch the service for feature phones this summer and for smartphones later this year or early next year.

DOCOMO also plans to update an existing “touch and follow” application for feature phones, which will allow two DOCOMO customers to begin following each other quickly and easily by simply placing their feature phones together to exchange follow permissions via the NFC data transmission function of DOCOMO phones.

DOCOMO to Develop New Services by Working with Twitter

Double Your Phone’s Battery Life?

Justin Manwelier‘s "SleepWell" is a piece of software that helps maximize download efficiency by alerting the WiFi device in your phone when a download is finished on a neighboring device.

Most WiFi devices have to “stay awake” while waiting for their turn to download, draining a good deal of battery in the process."

New Wifi Tech Could Double Your Phone’s Battery Life

European Mobile Ops See Mobile Payments as Way to Avoid "Dumb Pipe"

European mobile operators, for better or worse, seem to think that now is the time to get into the mobile payments and mobile wallet businesses, before they are reduced to "dumb pipe" providers in one more application space.

Peter Van Leeuwen, strategy and business development manager for KPN, believes that mobile networks and banks are in danger of not gaining ownership of the m-commerce channel and being relegated to being "bit pipes" in the value chain. Watch a video here.

Whether that is a legitimate fear some will question. The larger question might be the extent to which mobile operators can establish key roles in developed markets, as compared to developing regions, where the business case and mobile operator role would seem to be much clearer.

The difference in market potential is simple. "Payments and banking" are not broken processes in the developed world. In the developing world, those functions are, in fact, quite undeveloped. To succeed in developed markets, mobile operators and others must create new value, not just displace existing payment systems.

In developing markets, the value is clear and obvious. No existing business has to be disrupted to succeed. The value there is not "a better way to pay," but "you can use a bank."

European operators dash for m-commerce involvement

Telenor Launches Mobile Payments Trial

Telenor has launched a 250-person mobile payments trial using near field communications with DnB NOR and MasterCard.

Each member of the 250-person test group is equipped with a Samsung mobile phone and a special SIM card. The SIM card contains information for the person’s MasterCard, issued by the Norwegian bank DnB NOR. By holding the phones up to a card reader in selected stores around the city, this group of testers can buy everything from shampoo to pizza slices using their phones alone.

Mobile payment becomes a reality in Oslo - News and Media - Telenor Group