Over at the Hilton Hotel, Amazon brought the AWS Summit roadshow to Sydney. Featuring Dr Werner Vogels (Amazon CTO) and Simone Bronuzzi (AWS Evangelist) it prodided 3 streams of content for Executives, Architects and AWS Ninjas (!). I attended the Executive stream, which covered such things as Disaster Recovery and usage examples from NEWS Ltd, Vodafone and REA group.

I wont go into the details as all the videos are online at http://www.slideshare.net/AmazonWebServices. I recomend viewing the videos, however there is a lot of content there (over 12 hours!).

The one thing I was intrigued about was the posabilities for all companies. No longer are companies required to purchase and maintain servers for peak loads that remain idle for a majority of time. Now with the “elastic” methodology built into AWS, extra capacity is only a key click away, and you only pay for what you use.

This is very attractive for start-ups, as they can develop an app using AWS systems (like the server product EC2 and the storage product S3). So the hardware cost can be minimalised and if the product takes off, extra capacity is easy to add without large capital purchased or leasing of server banks.

However, AWS can also assist businesses of any size. AWS can scale up to super-computer size instances, so for large scale processing like rendering video, data mining, massive computations and what not can be purchased in an ad-hoc manner.

One thing Amazon was stressing in the presentations was the security of the AWS system, from both datacentre and network side of things. Aditional secuity of data and services is provided by the AWS Zones (areas defined by physical AWS server locations). Zones is another intresting idea, as the use of multiple zones means that multiple copies (or instances) of the data (or virtual servers) in different locations will protect the user if someone decides to put an anchor into a underwater data trunk line.

Another intresting idea Dr Vogel talked about is DynamoDB, a NoSQL service that is designed from the ground up for scalability. Given the issues many companies (classic exampel Twitter) faced when the user based streached their databases beyond their capacity, this represents exciting technology for business’s of all levels.

You do not have to spend money using AWS (a free service is available for low end users) and there is a plethora of server images or in AWS speak Amazon Machine Image (available in linux and windows) available for use. The actual costs of AWS has dropped, a point that the Amazon staff where proud of. They see reducing costs as an incentive to keep customers long term, an interesting and in my opinion a better version of lock in compared to the infamous IBM/Oracle style lock in.

Is Amazon AWS for everyone? No. For some business, having a cloud server is overkill, especially if all they need is to share a printer and net access. Government departments are prevented in keeping its data overseas, another problem with the AWS (as there is no Australian ‘Zone’, but even then they can use AWS for testing or other short term projects (servers for something like a policy launch for example).

However, the flexability of the many AWS services available means that many companies can benefit short or long term with using AWS.

More information can be found here http://aws.amazon.com/products-solutions/

Uniquely, Spotify is also the first music service to use the Freemium model.

There are three levels of service involved. The free low bitrate ad supported service, a $6.99 service which is the same without the advertising removed, and a high bitrate (320kbps) premium service priced at $11.99

Mobile streaming is supported, however there is no free subscription. I found that the android software works nicely on my Motorola Xoom tablet, installs but goes into a panic loop on my Samsung Galaxy S II, and will not install on my HTC Desire. I have not tested on iOS, but would suggest the service will work bette on it due to the more homogeneous Apple platform.

Already the music industry is complaining about the royalties paid by the service , however much of the money Spotify pays in royalties is taken by the Recording companies, and little is passed onto the performers.

As a result of royalties, some of the bands (classic example is of-cause the digital friendly Beatles) have removed their content from the service. However Spotify advertises a catalog of 12 million songs, which is larger than RDIO and MOG.

Having tested the service on both mobile and desktop, I found the desktop to be a more rewarding experience. The ability to create stations based on artists or songs reminds me of Last.FM. Also both mobile and desktop recognised locally stored music.

Premium Mobile users can also cache music for offline use (according to the FAQ 3333 songs) and the service ties in with the Sonos music system.

Many people complain that Stotify is heavily tied into Facebook, requiring a facebook sign in and uses the FB platform for the social eliminate. And unlike Rdio, Spotify is a stand alone program and not web based, which will annoy some users (I do not, I prefer the application method of delivery).

In terms of using the service, the sound quality is great, and new users can get the premium level free for 30 days.

So far this is the closest locally available service to my favourite Last.FM. I found the system easier to use than MOG and RDIO, and is the one I seem to feel comfortable with the most. Taste will vary, however with a better local content collection and a larger library, Spotify seems to be the current winner in the heating up music subscription marketplace.

Normally I shy away from news like this. However, we have covered BIG Commerce in the past, and it allows iTechReport to review the growth of this Aussie company.

From the PR release:

BigCommerce, the world’s fastest growing ecommerce platform has named Steven Power as the new Chief Revenue Officer of its global operations.

Formally from ReachLocal, Powers will be based in Austin, Texas.

Again from the PR release:

“BigCommerce is transforming the way that businesses conduct e-commerce and I’m genuinely excited to be part of it. It’s not only brimming with exceptional talent, but it is one of those amazing companies in which everyone is excited to be on board.”

Big Commerce has been advertising, and I personally heard a BigCommerce ad on the TWIT network.

Given that the VC funding of $15m allowed two offices to be created, one in Australia and one in the US, it makes sense to focus on the US market, if only because of the population size and the better acceptance of catalogue/internet shopping. It also shows that there is still a large untapped market for the BC e-commerce platform globally.

And people are noticing too, with an intriguing write up in the New York Times, showing that there is an upside to using the BC platform for retail. And as Aussie retailers struggle(like Video Game retailer GAME) companies that retail on-line with tools like Big Commerce will be able to compete on an equal basis to large retail. And given that the base price of $25 that includes Credit Card processing and SSL security, it makes financial sense too.

The issue will be if the financial slowdown post Global Financial Crisis will hinder expansion for services like Big Commerce. I do not think so, short term, as in the US the tech sector has been running stronger than the average US economy. And given both the traditional entrepreneurial spirit in the US and the cost saving using BC’s platform for traditional retailers will allow BC to expand further.

The blog has some examples on how people use BC for their retail site, and there are some impressive sites on display.

Given that the release of Diablo III is tomorrow, there will be a few nervous gamers seeing if their pre-orders of the long awaited fantasy game from Blizzard.

Price Waterhouse Coopers has been appoint Voluntary Administrators (under the names of Warwick and Greg Hall). Unlike other retail collapses recently (liek REGGroup, owners of Angus and Robertson and Boarders Australia), pre-orders and gift cards will be honoured if possible, and will be allowed to be claimed as an unsecured credit if not (which in layman terms they may get something after the secured creditors Administrator fees and Superannuation are recovered.)

So what options are available for GAME?

1. They are free to trade on, until such time the Administrator either hands back control to the directors or the Administration structure changes (this is rather complex, for those who care Chapter 5 of the Corporations Act is the base legislation for this situation)

2. The Administrators must have a meeting of creditors, who may vote to Liquidate or accept a Deed of Company Arrangement (or DOCA, simular to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy found in the US). A DOCA is similar to a debt compromise, where creditors accept a percentage of the debt in return that the rest is forgiven.

3. The Administrator sells the company  as a going concern (something the Directors where working on before the Administration).

4. One of the players may seek Court intervention.

The first report seen on  Twitter was from Kotaku, who said shipments of Diablo III was delayed/stopped due to non payment to shipping companies. Lifehacker Au has an article advising if it is safe to shop at GAME.

Personally, shopping at the stores should be OK, and normally there will be a fire sale even of the company avoid liquidation. The risk Angus at Life-hacker does not mention is warranties may be an issue. You may also find that you could be refused sale if you use loyalty cards of gift cards (it is up to the Administrators to determine of they will be accepted, and the FAQ advises for the short term, they will be).

We will have a better idea of the viability of GAME when the Administrators collects the Proof of Debts from creditors and the Circular to Creditos is issued outlining assets and liabilities of the company.

1. Schematiq is creating a Social Media service. How does Schematiq differ from the plethora of Social Media “experts” that seem to clutter the internet?

The difference with Schematiq is that we aren’t just “Social Media consultants”. In fact, I cringe at that term and I have been tempted to shy away from it! Obviously, we are offering this Social Media Management service as a product that has been created in response to requests & feedback from the market — but strategy is paramount (as is measurement). Our focus (and passion) is about making sure that any investment in new technologies or platforms always comes back to core business goals.

The difference with this package, over other Social Media Management or VA services is that a) we are focused on hiring the best social media talent b) we have access to range of celebrity/high profile bloggers and c) it is always underpinned by a strategy.

More broadly, a major frustration for us is that your traditional social media consultants are so focused on Tweets & Likes & day to day management at the expense of actually looking at the broader strategic aspects — such as Crisis Response, Collaboration, Policy… how you manage your processes and people…

2. How much of Schematiq is service and how much will be platform, given that both you and Martin Frinking have extensive web and IT backgrounds?

Well, Schematiq is, first and foremost a Social Consulting company, so that incorporates a fairly broad scope of services, from Enterprise 2.0, BYO Tech, Cloud, Collaboration — right through to social media and digital creative. Because of Martin’s extensive experience in IT Project Management and particularly large-scale implementations, and my background in Digital Creative and social media – there is a lot of overlap in what we can consult in.

The Social Media Management Package is just one product that has been developed in response to a gap we have identified – where there is a need for high quality, strategically aligned social media management.

So whilst it is predominantly a service-related business, we are looking at developing a wide range of both services and products as time goes on.

3. How important is social media for a brand, especially since we have seen some spetacular social media failures recently?

The failures actually highlight how important not ignoring social media is — not just in the form of making sure you have a presence, but a strategy and a set of policies to deal with a crisis. It is not simply about the setup and management of a Facebook Page, Twitter or LinkedIn profile. It is how you develop a strategy, manage your processes and work with your people to adapt to disruptive technologies.

The next step, is to make sure you have the right people managing the front line. Whether this is by hiring someone with specific skills in social media management in-house, or using a service like ours… you need to ensure that you treat your social media channels like any other front-facing aspect of your business and have people that know how to manage it.

4. In what way should a company that may be less technically aware engage in social media?

The key point is that social media is not actually about technology. People get intimidated, thinking that Social Media is about being tech savvy. It is about communicating effectively and having processes to support it, like any other aspect of your business, from Accounts to Marketing, to Legal. One of the key shifts in thinking is away from the gadgets and the tech and into seeing these things as tools that help you do what you’ve always done… which is to build relationships, have conversations and engage with people.

We obviously offer the service where we can manage it for you, or help to transition the business into using social media themselves. One of the key benefits of using someone like Schematiq is that Social Media is what we do best — so we work with our clients to come up the best approach for them. We can ease through them through in a way that makes the technology component less intimidating. Because the tools are generally pretty intuitive once you know how. The big step is in the psychological shift and the changes in thinking, or making it a priority in your workflow that we help with.

5. Is there an issue with companies like Facebook and Twitter ‘utilising’ information created by or for a company?

What we are seeing is that a lot of the networks are under tremendous pressure to a) value and protect Privacy and b) have some transparency about what they do with the data. Because every company is different, every strategy is different, and as such, the approach will have to be tailored. The flow on from that is that you have to consider the platforms’ Terms as part of the strategy. Obviously because we are across this it is much easier.

But generally issues of ownership of IP, Copyright, privacy are the main 3. But as social media evolves (and it is still evolving), we are seeing less risk. Again, it comes back to having a strategy that considers all factors and assesses the risk versus the benefit of any individual platform.

6. How adaptive will Schematiq be, given the fluid nature of technology and social media?

Well, we are as adaptable as a Company can be, given that we are both leaders in our fields and passionate, early adopters ourselves. We are going through many of the same struggles that our clients do with Social Media, and we stay abreast of all major developments.

The industry is huge. It is so difficult to keep up with industry developments, as technology is changing at an exponential rate. But it is our job to filter all of that information and align it with the needs of our clients. It all comes back to making sure that requirements are easily adaptable – by reviewing performance and adjusting the strategy accordingly. It is part art, part science.

I did not know this was it’s first time it was being run, however I found the experience quite rewarding.

Organised by Catherine Eibner, it is a spin off from the “Silicon Beach“ start-up meetup. Sponsored by Microsoft Bizspark, it was not a Microsoft only event, as I had discussions with both an iOS and Windows Mobile developer/startup, as well as web based developers.

It is slightly intimidating, as I felt I had to barge in to groups to have a chat, but I was surprised and rewarded by people willing to tell me about their projects and in being a part of the start-up process. Up to now I am mainly interviewed people who are further along the start-up path, or are being mentored by successful entrepreneurs. Talking to people who are starting  or about to release their project provided some interesting information, and I hope to tell their story at a future date.

One of the most interesting chat is with Bosco Tan of Getlisted. A person who has been through the start up process a couple of times. His presence at the meet-up is one of the reasons these sessions are valuable. Creating networks with successful (and lets be truthful, unsuccessful entrepreneurs as well), as well as with industry peers is something that has recently become accepted practice. Like the world of Open Source Software, people are creating value from lessons learnt, and unlike keeping this information locked up, people find that by sharing this information adds value to the whole software development industry.

One interesting discussion I had was with someone (I forgot who, sorry!) who was looking at Kickstarter style funding. A previous company interviewed by itechreport, studioproper , is also using Kickstarter  to fund it’s next release of modular wall mountable covers. To see start-ups considering a more open funding model is quite exciting, and may be the way of the future for developers and people looking to fund ideas and projects.

Even Cafe Vivo was an interesting location. Inside the cafe in the Old American Express building (that’s how I refer to the building anyway, but I am old) across the road from the Apple store, it is the only Cafe that I have seen that has it’s own Podcast Studio, Eagle Waves Radio. It made my dinky Macbook air and USB mic look uncool. Hopefully I can start recoding some of these attendees here and at Silicon Beach.

Would I recommend attending one of these meet-ups? For my first experience I would heartily encourage readers of iTechreport to attend, especially if they are looking for ideas or help in their projects. And not just start-ups. Anyone who wants to invest in these companies should attend as well, if only to learn the pro and cons of Venture Capital, Angel Investing and bootstrapping.

1. How did you come to create uVent?

We’ve had the uVent idea for eights years now, but we knew it was important for companies to take social channels more seriously before we could launch and get traction.

There are many services that rate a company’s product and service features but there are none in place that rate the service received after the purchase was made.

Post purchase service in Australia is generally poor.

In most cases the issue resolution process after purchase happens in private. We thought it would be very valuable for consumers to understand who else had issues with these companies, how those issues were resolved, the time it took to resolve the issue, and the level of customer satisfaction with outcomes received.

For companies, the cost of acquisition and retention is a big issue. Churn (switch) is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Australia and we wanted to create an interface that helps tackle this by offering a known/predictable fee.

2. Given that the idea is a meeting place for consumers and producers, do you see any difficulty in maintaining uVent as a neutral third party trusted by all involved?

uVent is specifically designed to be a balanced proposition. Both parties have the responsibility to resolve their issues. If a company responds to a uVent and the customer fails to respond to the company, then the vent is deleted.

We have terms and conditions regulating our behaviour and the behaviour of our users.

3. Social media is at the heart of the uVent idea. Does this mean you have to gain a lot of people attached to the uVent channels, or can the concept work virally?

We utilize social media channels to pull users into our interface which provides a more effective

issue resolution channel. Our opinion is that at a certain critical mass of awareness uVent will operate virally or via word of mouth.

4. Do you see less tech savvy companies using uVent? Would you offer support and services to help these companies engage with their users/complainers?

The current uVent model is business-to-consumer.

If companies want uVent to respond quickly in order to assist them to build PR advocacy we would look at this as a service option.

We will also offer a syndicated platform so that businesses can integrate our service into their own platforms in a parent/child relationship.

5. Where do you see uVent in 5 years?

uVent has received an extraordinary amount of attention from media, consumers and companies in a short period of time and we are very optimistic of good growth potential. Feedback we’ve received from both consumers and customer service analysts has been very positive.

uVent will revolutionise customer complaints, ensuring issues are resolved faster, and consumers are always receiving the best possible deal.

6. Can the idea spread outside Australia/English speaking world?

We have already been approached by representatives from other countries, however each country has its own service model and levels of expectation.

We do believe the model can expand but it will need to evolve to meet different needs.

River City Labs (as reported previously by iTechReport) is a new startup incubator in Brisbane.

Ahead of a Silicon Valley Advance summit in May, River City Labs is running its first Pitching IQ session in conjunction with Advanced Organisation.

Four tech start-ups will make a pitch of their ideas to an audiance and to a group of panellists to prep for the Silicon Valley Advance.

This is a good chance to see how a pitch to Angel/Venture Capitalists and learn insights into the local and US venture capital scene. As well, with the drinks afterwards, you can take the opportunity to network with other tech entrepreneurs and specialists.

There is limited number of seats, so make sure you book before the 24th.

Event Details:

When:    Tuesday 24th April 2012
Time:     3.45pm – 5pm, with networking drinks to follow
Where:   River City Labs, Level 2, 282 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley
Web:       http://www.rivercitylabs.net/index.php/2012-01-19-14-30-05/event-list/river-city-labs-pitching-iq.html

MOG.com, the online music streaming services, has announced it will soon be available to Australian users. It will partner with Telstra, and the service will be called “Mog, powered by Telstra”.

From the release:

The ability to stream ad-free, unlimited music on connected devices for less than the price of a CD each month means the days of storing CDs or deciding what playlists to load onto your devices are coming to an end. With 15 million songs at your fingertips, you think of it, and there it is.

Choosing Telstra means MOG will of cause have the strongest network behind it. Telstra already has a branded music-mp3 store Bigpond Music which is mainly a competitor to download music sites iTunes and Bandit.FM (to name two). There are even more awaiting in the wings like JB Hifi .  There is no news or details how (or if) Bigpond Music will interface with MOG.

This can also been seen as a response to Spotify which has limited release in Australia, and Google Play Music and a potential, unannounced  iTunes streaming service (based on the purchase of much loved Lulu) which has not been released in Australia.

MOG will be based on HTML5, so it is compatible with all systems, both mobile and desktop platforms, even Linux. So far it promises unlimited downloads and 320kbs stream, meaning the music will be high quality (better than default 256kbs MP3).

From the blogpost:

The service will be available to all Australians in the coming months regardless of network

This is good news in theory, however, it will be interesting to see how download quota’s be affected. Bigpond users may be quota free, however ISP like Optus, iiNet and TPG may not get that luxury.

At the moment, as an iiNet customer, I get unmetered Quickflix (streaming video) and iTunes (al la carte music, TV and Movies).

Given that Bigpond Music is tied into the Bigpond billing system, I suspect that Telstra will offer the same for Bigpond members for MOG, with non Telstra customers paying a monthly fee via credit card. No pricing details released.

The thing that makes a music live or die is the ability to give people the music what they want, when they want, in the format they want. A platform neutral music platform that allows a wide music choice on a subscription is one way music companies can maintain control of music via DRM in a way that should be palpable to music fans. Music is an area where there are many wrecks on the path, so it will be interesting if MOG will succeed in this country.

In a statement released by Telstra overnight, the company announced the exclusive deal that will also offer unmetered music streaming via the NextG network for Telstra customers.

“Telstra’s network superiority means customers will receive the best music experience with MOG through faster download speeds, faster streaming and no data costs for using the service,” Telstra Executive Director of Media, Applications and User Experience, J-B Rousselot said in the statement.

Music, streamed at 320kbps over the Internet, will be available for all Australians, but will only be unmetered for Telstra customers.

“Australia is a key, major music market and we’re pleased to be the sole provider of on-demand streaming music for the leading telecommunications provider in Australia,” CEO and founder of MOG, David Hyman said.

“With Telstra’s superior network music lovers will get the best streaming experience from MOG’s entire catalogue of on-demand music from wherever they are and we’re making it easier than ever to do so.”

Music streaming services are flocking to Australia this year, with JB Hi-Fi leading the pack with its Now service, Rdio recently launching and Spotify on the cards for a not-to-distant launch.