CXO Europe

Apple Still Number One Smartphone Manufacturer

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:56:00 +0000

Head to head

Apple is still the No. 1 smartphone manufacturer, as it had been for over a year, but there are signs that the iPhone is approaching saturation in the developer community. In a Millenial survey, Android was the No. 1 platform developers plan to support in 2011, with Microsoft's Window Phone 7 and the iPad tied for second. The iPhone was relegated to fourth place, after the Blackberry.

The extraordinary growth of Google's Android phones can be traced in six months of smartphone advertising data from Millenial Media, the largest independent mobile ad network,

Through a series of pie charts, they show Android overtaking Research in Motion's (RIMM) Blackberry between June and July in ad impressions, gaining rapidly on Apple's iPhone between July and September and finally coming even with Ios in October with a 37 percent share apiece.

However, Millenial's November report shows that Android and iOS tied for the second month in a row, at 38 percent each. After six months of gains, there is now something that looks like equilibrium.

Apple puts sharp focus on camera development

Apple have released a flurry of imaging related patents showcasing the effort it's putting in to improve the camera on the iPhone.

The development came out on top of the iPhone's High Dynamic Range feature that Steve Jobs demoed last September. They indicate, as Patently Apple's Jack Purcher put its, "the importance that Apple is facing on cameras within the context of the greater iOS device revolution."

Purchers highlights three of the patens: One for correcting blurry photos, another for masking skin tones and a third for reducing radically-based chroma noise.

Google is most searched

Apple's iPad lost by a hair to number one Chatrouletee in Google's list of the fastest rising search terms for 2010.

Twitter was number eight and Facebook number ten. Android did not make the list.

In the consumer electronics category, the iPad was number one and the iPhone 4 number two. Android didn't make this list either, but an Android phone- the HTC Evo 4G- did.

Did Anonymous Crash Amazon Website?

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:51:00 +0000

Amazon is potentially the next high-profile name to be targeted by a group of cyber-activists in relation to the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, after the online retailer's website went down for half-an-hour on 12 December.

Among the European websites affected were the British, French, German, Austrian and Italian sites, which end .it, .de, .uk, .fr and .at - which are all hosted in Dublin. The half an hour crash happened at 21.45 GMT on Sunday - one of the busiest online shopping times.

Initial blame has been directed at Anonymous, a cyber-activist group that managed to bring down Mastercard's official website last week after the financial giant withdrew funding to Wikileaks. However Amazon were quick to point out that the outage on Sunday was in fact due to a "hardware failure" and not cyber crime.

"The brief interruption to our European retail sites last night was due to hardware failure in our European datacentre network and not the result of a [distributed denial of service] attempt," said a spokesperson for the firm.

Amazon stopped hosting Wikileaks material on its servers on 1 December saying the site was breaking its terms and conditions.

As part of its campaign, Anonymous had planned to mount a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Amazon on Friday, but publicly abandoned the plans, saying they did not have the "forces."

"While it is indeed possible that Anonymous may not have been able to take Amazon.com down in a DDoS attack, this is not the only reason the attack never occurred," read a statement that appeared to be published by the group.

"After the attack was so advertised in the media, we felt that it would affect people such as consumers in a negative way and make them feel threatened by Anonymous.

"Simply put, attacking a major online retailer when people are buying presents for their loved ones would be in bad taste."

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Samsung Galaxy Tab Hits 1 Million Sales

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:15:00 +0000

It may not have sold with the speed of its rival iPad, but the recently available Samsung Galaxy tablet has reached the one million sales plateau after only two months on the market.

The mark is a positive result for Samsung, who had come under scrutiny from Apple's Steve Jobs about the size of the Galaxy screen. At Apple's quarterly review, Job's claimed that a 10-inch screen was "the minimum required to create great tablet apps." He also expressed that 7-inch tablets like the Galaxy would be "DOA, dead on arrival and manufacturers will realize they're too small and abandon them next year. They'll then increase the size, abandoning the customers and developers who bought into the smaller format."

Despite a successful result for the Galaxy, the tablet still took a month longer to sell the same number of units as the iPad, however the result is still positive for Samsung and Google Android, the tablets operating system.

Samsung's success could be attributed to the popularity of its Galaxy S smartphones, which is sold by the majority of US carriers. According to a ComScore survey, 24.2 percent of the 3000 surveyed said they were using a Samsung phone or a similar Samsung device.

iPad have now estimated to have sold eight million tablets since hitting the market earlier this year, with fourth quarter sales peaking at four million.

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Google Could Buy Groupon Deals Site

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:42:00 +0000

Google, the internet giant is in talks to buy Groupon for $6 billion, according to sources from the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The move would solidify Google's move into the local advertising space, adding a welcome addition to its multibillion-dollar online advertising business. The purchase would also extend Google's dominance against surging competition from Facebook, which has rolled out its own deals initiative last month.

If the deal is completed, it would be Google's biggest acquisition ever, easily surpassing the $3.1 billion it spent for online display advertising firm DoubleClick in 2007 and the $1.6 billion for YouTube in 2006.

"I give it a 70-30 chance of going through," says Martin Tobias, CEO and founder of Groupon rival Tippr. "It's something that Google needs to do."

Groupon has seen a meteoric rise since it began only two years ago. In just two years, Groupon has staked claims in more than 300 markets worldwide and has more than 33 million subscribers, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in history. The local advertising market is extremely lucrative, and according to BIA/Kelsey, a consulting firm, total spending will reach $133 billion in the US this year. According to analysts Groupon's customers will spend $500 million through the website this year.

The possible buy-out is not without risk for Google, as Groupon has stiff competitors, yet Lou Kerner, a social media analyst at Wedbush Securities, said he's betting that Groupon has staying power.

"What we've seen is new businesses on the Internet can emerge and be immensely valuable. Quite often, the first company in these kinds of new and emerging fields on the Internet gain market share and continue to be the leaders," he said. "There's every reason to believe that Groupon will continue to grow and continue to command significant market share."

"Google's got the cash to spend, and Groupon is one of the few properties worth hunting. If Google buys Groupon, we will have to wait and see if it's worth the premium Google has to pay," BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said.

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The Daily - Murdoch�s Exclusive Tablet Alternative

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:20:00 +0000

Rupert Murdoch, the News Corp. CEO is planning on an iPad newspaper, according to reports. ‘The Daily', as it will be called, will have 100+ staff and break stories like similar news outlets.

Unlike Reuters and other online news resources, ‘The Daily' won't be free, with initial costs around $.99 a week. ‘The Daily' will not have foreign correspondents or any staff in Washington D.C.

"There are three managing editors," reports John Koblin of WWD Media. "Mike Nizza, a veteran of The New York Times, AOL News and The Atlantic; Steve Alperin, a producer at ABC News, and Pete Picton, an online editor at The Sun in the U.K. Alperin's TV experience gives a hint to a valuable part of the newsroom: In addition to journalists, there will be plenty of people producing videos. Also, there will be lots of design staff."

‘The Daily' will be exclusive to the iPad and other tablets, meaning it will not be available on normal desktops, or printed as a hard copy. According to reports, "It will be produced into the evening, and then a button will be pushed and it will be ‘printed' for the next morning. There will be updates - the number of which is still under discussion - but not at the velocity or with the urgency of a news website."

Murdoch is outlaying $30 million for the news outlet.

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Google Android to Replace Credit Cards?

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Google's next Android-powered smartphone could eventually replace credit cards according to the search engine giant's CEO Eric Schmidt.

The phone in question was revealed at this year's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, and will contain a Near Field Communication chip that enables mobile payments.

Although the manufacturers label was covered during the display, the phone is thought to be a Nexus device.

Gingerbread, the latest version of Android, due to land in shops within a month, will power this new handset according to Schmidt, and will feature this new mobile payments system as a key too.

"This could replace your credit card," Schmidt said. "The reason this NFC chip is so interesting is because the credit card industry thinks the loss rate is going to be much better, they're just more secure."

For users to use the new device as a credit card, they will require both a phone with an NFC chip and Android's Gingerbread operating system. To complete a transaction, users will need to tap their phones on a symbol or a designated item within the retailer which will make an action - like a payment - happen. Or "tap and pay" according to Schmidt.

Schmidt also outlined that Google has no affiliation with particular retailers and that it would partner with third-party payment processors. He also said that Google would not retain any personal data obtained through credit card transactions via the phone.

Google's Android operating system now has a market share of 25.5 percent worldwide, up from 3.5 percent in the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from Gartner.

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Samsung 7-Inch Galaxy Tablet to Rival iPad?

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:07:00 +0000

Samsung has released its 7-inch Galaxy tab - a mid-range tablet that aims to tap into the Apple iPad market. The new tablet will be available in the US on 4 major carriers: Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, T&T, and runs using the Google Android operating system.

Although the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy is smaller than the 10-inch iPad, there will always be comparisons drawn between rival tablets. In fact, even Apple CEO Steve Jobs was quick to shoot down a viable 7-inch tablet, saying at Apple's quarterly review that a 10-inch screen was "the minimum required to create great tablet apps" while 7-inch tablets like the Samsung Galaxy will be "DOA, dead on arrival and manufacturers will realize they're too small and abandon them next year. They'll then increase the size, abandoning the customers and developers who bought into the smaller format." To add even more flames to the fire, Jobs then criticised Google's Android system by exclaiming: "we think Android is very, very fragmented and becoming more fragmented by the day."

This comment could be in light of Google's original comments regarding the Galaxy's running system. The Android 2.2 Froyo, "[is] not optimized for use on tablets," according to Hugo Barra, Google's director of mobile products, which was reported by TechRadar UK back in September. Barra continued by saying that 2.2 Froyo was "not going to be available on devices that don't allow applications to run correctly."

Yet the Samsung Galaxy is here, and does run 2.2 Froyo, and has, generally speaking, impressed early users. The Galaxy has duel cameras (unlike the iPad) - one front, one back - which enable both a 3-megapixel camera similar to a smartphone and the advantage of conference calls with a 1.3MP lens in front for video chat using apps such as Qik and Fring.

The Samsung Galaxy's tab browser also comes with a Flash Player 10.1 - something the iPad doesn't - but early reviews suggest that this may hinder the tablet, as opposed to improve it. The issue being, that Flash videos, banner ads, and other interactive elements slow the tablet down - generally slowing a page opening by a few seconds - making usability a little more difficult.

A major sticking point for Samsung might be with price; according to which report you read, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are all charging around $600 for the tablet on a no-contract basis, with Sprint and T-Mobile offering to knock off a third of the price if for a two-year contract.

The price also varies slightly on storage space - the $600 option does come with a 16GB microSD memory card) - which is $30 less than the 16GB, 3G-enabled iPad.

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MWR Labs Warn Phones Are Open to Third-Party Attack

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:32:00 +0100

New research suggests millions of users worldwide could be open to attack due to unsecured mobile phone operating systems.

It sounds like something from a James Bond movie, but security flaws uncovered in two leading mobile phone operating systems could put countless users worldwide at serious risk, according to the findings of new research into mobile security. The most serious allows an attacker to take complete control of the phone and use it as a bugging device, even when it appears to be on standby.

The flaws were uncovered by MWR Labs, the research arm of security firm MWR InfoSecurity, who specialize in researching and finding new risks in technology and who are warning that the latest mobile phones are wide open to attack. After investigating the consistent but unconfirmed rumors that many mobile phones are at risk, MWR uncovered serious security flaws across the industry with two new phones giving considerable cause for alarm. A flaw in the Palm Pre allows the bugging of a conversation anywhere in the world, while the Google Android system allows the theft of user passwords from the phone via its Internet connection.

After vulnerabilities were reported during its quarterly conference Making Sense of Risk, MWR put in place a research project to investigate the rumors. It then uncovered the risks, which led to general concerns over mobile phone security. "This is one of the most serious implications in mobile technologies to date and calls into question fundamental assumptions about mobile phone security," says Alex Fidgen from MWR. "The flaws could have been ‘fixed' when the mobile phone companies issued new operating software recently, but they did nothing."

The first flaw in the Palm Pre phone allows the complete compromise of the operating system via the receipt of a crafted message, resulting in the ability to upload a back door and then force the phone to transmit and/or record audio and stored data. The impact of this vulnerability is magnified as the exploit can be executed from anywhere in the world and the data can be harvested via the normal carrier networks. This effectively turns the phone into a mobile bugging device with the user completely unaware.

The second flaw allows the harvesting of all username and password data stored by the Google Android operating system within its installed phone browser. The impact of this vulnerability is to potentially allow highly sensitive credential information to be stolen from users, including those credentials used to access online financial portals, e-mail and other commonly used facilities.

"Whilst it is unusual for a genuine and accurate James Bond scenario to be uncovered during research, that is exactly what this represents" says Fidgen. "A user would never know that every word they were saying was being recorded and transmitted back to the attacker, and the attack (once executed) would be trivial to perform. The more investigations we undertake the more problems we are uncovering and this is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg. It asks some fundamental questions about whether security has really been considered in the rush to release new phones and operating systems."

Of key concern is the increasingly linked nature of business and mobile working, over which the traditional security models are becoming blurred. With mobile phones now capable of receiving e-mails, recording conversations and taking pictures, they represent the perfect medium for fast and accurate data recording, a perfect target for an attacker. Even more significant is the move to provide mobile banking solutions via mobile solutions.

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Latest Smartphones Set to Unsettle The Market

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:11:00 +0100

Smartphone wars have commenced with the recent launch of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 and the Windows Phone 7 and the Nokia N8 due to be released this fall.

All three phones are designed to eat into the dominance of Apple's iPhone and Google's Android platform, as part of a fierce battle to gain market share in the highly lucrative handheld devices market. Whilst in the consumer space handheld devices are becoming commoditised, in the business sector there is still money to be made with all the key players jostling for position by preparing to introduce new features - all aimed at luring people away from Apple and Android devices.

The Windows Phone 7, which will allow users to edit SharePoint (Microsoft's web portal technology) documents on the move, is an attractive handset for people who need access to documents whilst they work on the go. However, most of the new features of this phone are based around consumer multimedia capabilities and consumer software applications linking the phone with Microsoft Live, Microsoft's consumer web platform.

Following the recent CEO change, Nokia is widely being viewed as a rising star in the market, with many experts believing that its aggressive pricing will help deliver considerable market share. The new Nokia N8 is powered by the Symbian 3 operating system and has unified communications software pre-installed - a boon for businesses wanting to use Microsoft's Unified Communications Technology. It also has improved multi-tasking (another business feature); however, many of the new capabilities are targeted at the consumer such as improved graphics, multi-point touch and multiple home screens.

The BlackBerry Torch 9800, meanwhile, runs the new OS6 and again has many improved consumer features - such as an improved 5MP camera and integrated social networking - and although it features a slide out QWERTY keyboard, the touch screen interface features heavily.

Despite such consumer-focused innovations, Mark Seemann, CTO for Outsourcery, believes such features will enable the new phones to compete with Apple on a large market scale, including the lucrative business-user sector. "From a business perspective, both Microsoft and Nokia have been historically strong but their market shares have weakened lately. RIM's BlackBerry devices have seen continued success within the business market, and with the imminent launch of the BlackBerry Torch its success could continue into the next year."

Smartphones are not the only market that RIM is looking to compete in, with the announcement of the launch of their tablet device (Playbook) at the 2010 BlackBerry Developer Conference at the end of September. Like its rival, Apple, BlackBerry is determined to ride on the back of the wave. "The key driver for smartphones is the growing demand for people wanting to work remotely, and it is this flexibility that has fuelled the growth in sales of Apple's iPad - which is effectively a hybrid PC/smartphone," says Seemann. "BlackBerry is determined to capitalise on this market with the imminent launch of its own Playbook."

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Apple Continue to Roll, Shares over $300

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:20:00 +0100

In light of the upcoming earnings report Apple has continued to see an increase in sales during 2010, despite a rise in competitors using platforms like Google Android.

In spite of the global recession hangover, Apple appears to be unaffected, and shares have continued their ascent and increased a further four percent and have now breached the $300 mark, settling at $316.40 a share.

"Expectations are high, but Apple has a way of exceeding already optimistic hopes, partially because it's an inveterate low-baller of financial expectations," Sam Gustin writes on DailyFinance.com.

And it appears the figures and growth could have been much higher if Apple could meet the insatiable demand for its iPhone and iPad, according to Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves.

The continued growth is off the back of Apple's iPad and iPhone, although the successes of each were achieved in very different market conditions. The iPhone has faced increasing competition from Google Android platforms, while the iPad enjoyed a total monopoly of the tablet market for the second quarter of the year. Both recorded record sales, with Wall Street expecting the iPhone to expand its shipments to the 11 million to 12 million range. If Verizon Wireless begins offering the iPhone 2011, as expected, that could add another 10 million units to 2010 iPhone sales projections.

According to analysts, the iPad is expected to shift 3.5 million to 4 million Mac computers, despite new tablet releases from companies like Acer and Samsung.

Wall Street are predicted lofty numbers for Apple, and those polled by Reuters expect Apple to report earnings of $4.08 a share on revenue of $18.9 billion.

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Facebook Apps Lead to Privacy Breach

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:50:00 +0100

By using particular Facebook apps, tens of millions of the social-networking site users are unwittingly divulging their personal information such as their names and their friends' names to third-party advertising and Internet tracking companies, according to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal explains that even those users who set their account to the strictest privacy settings will still be affected. This breach of privacy breaks Facebook rules, and renews questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users' activities secure.

The breach is related to the Facebook ID, a mode of identification that every user is assigned. Since a Facebook user ID is a public part of any Facebook profile, anyone can use an ID number to look up a person's name, using a standard Web browser, even if that person has set all of his or her Facebook information to be private. For other users, the Facebook ID reveals information they have set to share with "everyone," including age, residence, occupation and photos, according to the Journal.

"A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's Internet browser or by an application," the spokesman said. Knowledge of an ID "does not permit access to anyone's private information on Facebook," he said, adding that the company would introduce new technology to contain the problem identified by the Journal.

"Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information," a Facebook official said.

Facebook offers a range of apps to all of its 500 million users, although the majority of apps are produced by independent software developers.

Affected apps include Zynga Game Network Inc.'s FarmVille, which has 59 million users, and Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille. Three of the top 10 apps, including FarmVille, also have been transmitting personal information about a user's friends to outside companies.

"This is an even more complicated technical challenge than a similar issue we successfully addressed last spring on Facebook.com," a Facebook spokesman said, "but one that we are committed to addressing."

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IP Network Loss More Damaging Than Web/Phone Outage

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:14:00 +0100

In the build-up to IP EXPO at Earls Court on 20-21 October, a survey of 130 of the UK's top IT managers shows that they would consider losing their IP network more damaging to their business than losing telephone or web presence. However, over half the respondents felt that their companies were not using their IP networks most effectively and lack the funds to do so.

The survey was carried out by IP EXPO 2010, the UK's largest end-to-end IT infrastructure event. Of the professionals surveyed, an overwhelming 65 percent said IP network outage would be most damaging to their business. This was some distance ahead of mobile or fixed phone outage, ranked second at 21 percent, while loss of web presence was third.

While this is a strong indicator of the importance of IP networks to the running of the modern day business, IT managers want to make them even more essential. Of the 130 respondents who will be attending the IP EXPO, 80 stated that they did not feel they were using IP networks to their full potential, and although the benefits of IP networks are well understood 78 expressed frustrations in obtaining funds.

Adam Malik, Content Director for Imago Techmedia commented: "Over the past few years we have been seeing a steady stream of services moving across to IP, from applications shared across organisations through to sophisticated communications services. The survey reflects this: IP networks are now mission-critical. Lose your IP at your peril."

About the Research

The survey was completed by 130 of IP EXPO's top attendees. These include key players and decision makers in management, IT strategy, implementation and infrastructures.

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Windows Phone 7 Launched, Demonstrated

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:28:00 +0100

Microsoft launched its Windows Phone 7 yesterday in an effort to compete with Apple and Google's Android in the lucrative smartphone market.

The move is a strategic one, as operators predict that smartphones will have a 70 percent share by 2013.

The Phone 7 will launch on nine phones, with 60 operators in 30 countries.
Unlike previous Windows phones, the Phone 7 will have less appeal to business users, (although still have essential business apps) and is directed more at a younger, hipper demographic, who can enjoy user-friendly aggregated content. As a case-in-point, the Phone 7 is also equipped with Xbox live, which has 23 million subscribers, and a Zune music option.

This content will be based around social media apps, with Facebook, Twitter, eBay and railway timetables already fast-tracked with the phone's launch, with more apps to follow. The phone system's experience is built around so-called hubs that aggregate content like contacts, pictures, documents, and music and video.
Microsoft clearly sees the Phone 7 as a vast improvement on previous models, with poor limited functionality, fiddly user interface and lack of applications to customise resulting in a steady loss of market share.

Fight over market share

Nokia's Symbian still has the majority of market share for smartphones, although it has lost a significant percentage in the last 24 months. Apple has rapidly gained market share with its iPhones, while phones using Google's Android software are forecast to overtake Apple soon.

"There's a huge amount resting on the launch of Windows Phone 7 for Microsoft, its device and operator partners, and for the ecosystem market in general," said Tony Cripps of technology consultants Ovum.

"If it fails to claw back market share lost to iPhone and Android, then Windows Phone 7 may well mark the point at which Microsoft turns its back on smartphones forever."
"On the face of it Windows Phone 7 looks to have positioned Microsoft on the edge of a smartphone renaissance.

"Its all-important user experience looks to have brought some genuinely new thinking to a smartphone market in which all operating systems feel somewhat similar in use."

In the UK the phone will launch on 21 October, while the US launch will be in early November.

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Windows Phone 7 to launch on Oct. 11

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:15:00 +0100

Windows have announced the official launch of its Windows Phone 7 on 11 October, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The new phone will offer a series of smartphones using the revamped version of its mobile operating system.

The event invitation says the Windows Phone 7 will become available four weeks after the launch, which will take place in New York, at the New York City Microsoft Technology Center.

The Windows Phone 7 is being released as a direct competitor to the Apple iPhone, and is seen as an effort by Microsoft to re-establish a weakening market position which has seen Microsoft sink to below 12 percent of market share. Microsoft has also lost ground to Google Inc's Android smartphones.

"The market is really fearful of their positioning in those two markets (phones and tablets)," said Ken Allen, Baltimore-based portfolio manager of T. Rowe Price's Science and Technology Fund, which holds Microsoft shares. "Tablets -- the iPad in particular -- and the smartphone market are major overhangs and discounted heavily in the stock."

Whether the Windows Phone 7 will help rejuvenate Microsoft's position in the market is unknown.

"The product can't be an also-ran that just does everything that is already out in the marketplace," said Bryan Keane, an analyst for Alpine Mutual Funds, which holds Microsoft shares. "Right now, it isn't apparent that Windows 7 is better than anything that's out there, except that it might have a better tie-in to the actual Windows platform."

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has been quoted saying his company had "missed a generation" with Windows Mobile, which couldn't compete with iPhone and Android's usability and new apps.

The new Windows Phone 7 is a large upgrade on previous Microsoft efforts, and doesn't even allow resistive touchscreens, effectively chucking the stylus-wielding UPS guys and factory folk that use untold thousands of WinMo devices, according to crave.co.uk.

The Windows Phone 7 series is also aimed more at the general public and less at business types, unlike previous Microsoft phones; business apps were barely mentioned during their launch presentation.

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Social media consultant still in high demand

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:33:00 +0100

While most professions continue to struggle in the gloomy jobs market, exclusive figures from Europe's largest online business marketplace PeoplePerHour.com have revealed today's most in-demand skill - the social media consultant.

Job postings on PeoplePerHour.com for ‘Twitter consultants' have jumped more than 300 percent this year as increasing numbers of businesses recognise the value of using social medias like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as an integral part of their marketing plans.

"We're seeing increasing demand for social media experts to oversee the Twitter feeds and Facebook pages of a very wide variety of companies," said PeoplePerHour.com founder Xenios Thrasyvoulou.

"It's a profession that's likely to continue to grow. The feedback we're getting from the small business sector suggests that if companies aren't paying attention to social medias, they're missing significant marketing and sales opportunities."

PeoplePerHour.com's findings highlight how British businesses are rapidly incorporating social media into their marketing plans, but leading social media consultants are warning they lag behind their competitors from the other side of the Atlantic.

"We're six to 12 months behind American companies," observed Tony Wood, a freelance social media consultant from Norwich.

"In the US, around 90 percent of the top companies are really serious about social media and have invested in the infrastructure to make things happen.

"Here, it's improving rapidly, but only around half of the FTSE 100 companies are proactively harnessing social media outlets. And when you get down to SMEs, it drops down to around a quarter."

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Acer tablet takes chunk out of Apple�s iPad

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:03:00 +0100

There is a war waiting to happen, reputations to be trumped, brands to be tarnished and consumers to be rewarded....with some choice!

After a six month monopoly, there looks like there's going to be some proper competition for the supposedly all conquering iPad; the tablet PC which has completely monopolised the hand held tablet market. Like most people, we love Apple, we love the iPad; the way it looks; the way it feels. However, we haven't had the chance to fall in love with anything else... until now. The majority of the red-blooded public like change, and with competition growing there's no harm in a bit of window shopping.

So after the heralded release of Apple's iPad in April, Acer and several other manufacturers are circling the tablet PC landscape like rapid predators, ready to unleash their own bespoke interpretations.

Even before iPad's launch, head of Acer's IT products division Jim Wong confirmed that the company would be expanding its portfolio to include a tablet PC, in line with similar launches from HP, Toshiba and Sony. The iPad may stand alone on the market now, but it needs to be wary; it has a bullseye on its 10 inch touchscreen (speaking figuratively of course, although don't count out a bullseye app).

Acer may seem combative, but that attitude comes with the territory. Acer is among the top three biggest PC manufacturers in the world, and stepping up is an important move to maintain a dominant market position.

Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci has been vocal in promoting the new Acer tablet, unveiling various models throughout Q2 and Q3, including a five inch, seven inch and nine inch prototype. Originally Acer announced a seven inch model, which would be a direct competitor to the iPad (although slightly smaller), running Google Android OS. "We are not convinced that 10 inches is the right size for this type of device: it becomes too close to a netbook in size, and why should it not be a netbook with full PC capability?" Lanci told APC in relation to the size of the iPad screen.

For functionality and aesthetics the new Acer tablet will sport a QWERTY keypad and embedded 3G, which will likely get it mentioned under the same breath as the Kindle. Either way, Lanci believes the release of the Acer tablet will take a huge bite out of Apple's market share, from their current 100 percent position to something closer to 25 percent. Like the iPad, the as yet unnamed Acer device will make primary use of "books, music and videos, browsing the Internet, email and
chatting."

"I think people [are] start[ing] to recognize Acer as one of the first companies to come up with new innovation or new implementation in terms of technology," Lanci told MeetTheBoss.TV last week. "The tablet [is] a big opportunity [for Acer]."

So ring the bell, let the slugfest commence, let the noses be bloodied and may the best tablet win.

To watch the full interview click here at MeetTheBoss.tv

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eBooks are the new page turner

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 10:42:00 +0100

A few years ago, when the music industry was forced to sit up and take notice of the digital wave sweeping through its backyard and demolishing anything that wasn't secured in its path, both consumers and executives alike realised that times were a changing. So when the eBook unveiled itself to the world of publishing and electronics in 2007, perhaps it was a slight surprise to see that the same people were divided as to the potential of its success. Fast-forward three years and it certainly looks as though lightening can strike twice, with Amazon reporting this summer that for every 100 hardback books it sold, it sold 180 eBooks - and predictions suggest that it is nowhere near its plateau yet.

Of course, the publishing industry assumed that it was relatively immune to the digital threat; after all, nothing could replicate the anticipation and excitement of turning a page, could it? Well, for the hundreds of thousands of people who have bought an eBook device since its invasion of the market, it seems as though companies such as Amazon and Sony have done just that. In fact, when Amazon launched its first eBook - the Kindle - back in 2007, it would set you back a hefty €306. Compare that to its recently tweaked newer model with a price tag of €178, and you don't have to be a pricing expert to know what this means for the publishing world.

To add insult to injury, a new website known as 24symbols is trying to do for books what the likes of Pandora and Spotify did for music. The site, funded completely by advertising to ensure its services remain free, allows anyone with an eBook reader to log on and search through an archive of eBooks divided into genres, nationalities and publishing houses. And with 24symbols' ad-free subscription service, books can even be stored in cache for reading when not hooked up to the net. For the world of publishing, future market share can only be predicted, but perhaps it's time they re-wrote their own ending.

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Facebook could jump on board with new phone

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:59:00 +0100

It may never see the light of day, but there is some gossip on TechCrunch that social media giant Facebook is secretly creating its own cell phone, or at least, creating the software for a cell phone, whilst a third party will handle the hardware production.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook has become increasingly concerned with competitors like Google making inroads within the iPhone and Android platforms.

"Specifically, Facebook wants to integrate deeply into the contacts list and other core functions of the phone. It can only do that if it controls the operating system," says Michael Arrington.

Facebook released press, denying they were "building a phone," but didn't deny they were building software.

"Facebook is not building a phone. Our approach has always been to make phones and apps more social. Current projects include include everything from an HTML5 version of the site to apps on major platforms to full Connect support with SDKs to deeper integrations with some manufacturers. Our view is that almost all experiences would be better if they were social, so integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems is a good way to enable this. For an example, check out Connect for iPhone and the integration we have with contact syncing through our iPhone app. Another example is the INQ1 phone with Facebook integration (the first so-called 'Facebook Phone')," Facebook PR said.

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Social media key as businesses emerge from recession

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:55:00 +0100

According to a new research by a leading video and social media based company Job Search Television Network (JSTN), recruitment strategies are changing as employers look to bolster staffing levels as the economy recovers.

The hiring freezes and lay-offs during the recession have forced employers to show greater emphasis on lower cost and efficient tech solutions; the report indicates that social media is now being relied upon more heavily during the recruitment process.

Social media key for employers

"LinkedIn and Facebook with links to video has been hot for a while, but now we're seeing clients ‘micro-target' employees using niche blogs and LinkedIn groups. For example, one of our clients successfully uses niche blogs to locate workers with very specific types of financial service backgrounds. They started doing this when a new blog showed up on JSTN's client metric report. When they posted a video to the blog, it quickly became a ‘home run'. Clients are finding sites they weren't aware of because JSTN's video provides highly detailed traffic metrics and they can make changes on the fly," said Roger Stanton, CEO of Job Search Television Network.
Roger Stanton also confirmed the role social media sites and the use of visual media like video increases the number of applicants.

"We will usually see an enormous spike in viewership for a position right after a video is placed on websites and social media. With clients hitting average conversion rates of viewers to applicants around 18.8 per cent, the video is far exceeding other sources. In some cases, the conversion rate is as high 45 per cent! That can mean thousands of people have seen the video for a job, at very little cost to the employer and it provides very powerful employment branding. The candidates who do apply are more likely to be a more qualified fit for the job, since they've seen the video and have responded based on the compelling information they have viewed."

The final trend in hiring is via cell phone.

"We knew when payment systems started being developed for cell phones that mobile would replace computers as the center of our digital lives. This is why JSTN was created with the ability to TEXT ID videos to mobile phones. Now with smart phones penetrating the market at exponential rates, we're seeing this really take off. Looking forward, research states that by 2014, over 66 per cent of all mobile data traffic will be video [Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2009 - 2014]. One of our clients regularly sends job videos to prospects on cell phones with amazing results. Not only does the receiver actually view the video, they also usually forward it to numerous contacts in their network. The video quickly goes viral."

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iStrategy 2010: Paradigm shift in Social Media

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:10:00 +0100

We all know that time is money and understand that Social Media Marketing is a real-time, targeted way of communicating with an engaged and active demographic, one that gives as much feedback to the company in question as it provides to the demographic; hence its usefulness and transcendent ability.

Most companies, both on the business and consumer sides know and try to practice this, however success has not been equally quick for all enterprises. One of the reasons may be the lack of training within today's companies. The iStrategy Chicago conference, set to take place at the the Hotel Allegro on the 15th-16th September, packages this expertise in a way that all marketing and managerial professionals can utilize, no matter the company size, budget, or experience.

For a company, a single tweet, blog post or YouTube video can spread in a matter of hours, naturally finding its way into the attention of potential customers and clients. Even the most traditional CEOs are accepting the power of the tweet.

15 years of experience

iStrategy Chicago 2010 is hosted by GDS International; the company has over 15 years in some of the largest international industries in the world, from Oil and Gas, Pharmaceuticals, IT and Mining. Their C-level business to business summits and clients have given them an innate understanding of how to translate and explain the future of social media in B2B and B2C to executives who know their companies should be aggressive, but do not know how to execute. iStrategy 2010 is bridging the gap the way so many other social media conferences either haven't, or haven't bothered to.

The event is sold out, adding a further confirmation stamp to the popularity and importance of social media to all businesses. Amongst the brands confirmed are representatives from Disney, Sony, Ebay, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Cisco, Universal, Linkedin and Novartis eager to see the B2B and B2C capabilities of the right social media marketing package. They will be working with the leading social media experts from companies such as Adidas, Cisco, MTV, HSBC, Roche and Vodafone, amongst many others.

The success of these companies is obvious; their brands are synonymous within their relevant sectors; yet to be successful in an ever changing environment like social media, flagship companies understand the need to be flexible, adaptable and sympathetic to differing trends and movements, which is where iStrategy Chicago comes in.

Despite the simplicity of a social idea, the impact is incomparable; creating brand awareness money can't buy. Their relationship with iStrategy Chicago 2010 means that the power of social media marketing is now available to all, from the minds of some of the sectors best innovators and architects.

For More Information contact visit http://www.istrategy2010.com/chicago/

For a full list of attendees and speakers, visit http://www.istrategy2010.com/chicago/chicago-attendees/

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