Roundup of the Week (w/e 20/02/2011)

February 21, 2011 Leave a comment

Last week’s tech headlines were filled with the endless stream of model releases and general hullabalo of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. To mobile vendors and resellers alike it was certainly a key event, but remarkably little news of substance emerged – predictably given the difficulty in getting one’s message heard above the noise.

No doubt about it though, Google’s made a huge impression with their sushi-bar style display with Android handsets passing tantalisingly by the assembled journalists, the mainfold shapes and sizes of Google’s challenge to Apple. Whilst this year will continue to be Apple’s in mobile and tablet terms, something tells me that next year will be Google’s.

Market News

  • Mobile Subscription Wars – Apple Demands 30% Share of in-App Purchase Revenue, Google asks for 10%
    Apple is now demanding a 30% cut of any revenue passing through its market place (gross, not net). If content providers want in on Apple’s platform, they can’t offer their content cheaper anywhere else. The predictable reaction from content providers suggests that many of them will simply look for alternative platforms…In a direct counter to Apple, Google announced it’s One Pass subscription model with a more modest share of 10% going to Google and the user data passing to the content provider – a deal that is clearly going to be much more attractive than Apple’s for publishers and the music industry. Over the long term, I can’t help thinking Apple have got this badly wrong. For the analysis in full see https://takenobabble.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/that-30-revenue-cut-subscriptions-and-the-end-of-apple%E2%80%99s-empire/.
  • This Weeks Punch-Up – Mozilla v. Microsoft over IE9
    Last time round Microsoft received a savaging from Google over the ownership of search results and Bing. This week, Mozilla suggested that IE9 was not a truly modern browser, given its poor support for HTML5 and its second-rate CSS compliance. Anyone in the web design business could tell you a tale of woe about time, effort and money wasted on the non-compliance of IE6/7/8 – let’s all pray that in practice Mozilla are wrong – and certainly this hasn’t put off the 2 million who downloaded the release candidate within a week of being published.
    http://opensource.cbronline.com/news/mozilla-attacks-microsoft-claims-ie9-not-modern-170211

CMS / Knowledge Management

Web

  • IE9 Offers “Pinning” to the Task Bar in Windows 7 as a Key Traffic Builder for Sites
    With the advent of IE9, it is now possible to have your site, rather than just the web browser, pinned to the task bar on Windows 7.  This is already proving a major traffic booster to sites that are using it, even though IE9 is still only in Released Candidate.
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20031845-75.html
  • Google Nearing Completion of Google Native Client for Browsers
    Anyone who attempted to use Microsoft’s ActiveX client plugins for delivering complex functionality to the web in years gone by may well have some apprehensions about the complications of using a similar platform. Google, however, assure us that the new Google Native Client will have none of the complexity and security concerns of Microsoft’s aged technology. If Google pull it off, it will herald the advent of full-powered low-level code running at high speed as proper apps within browsers – let’s hope they succeed.
    http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/20/googles-native-client-almost-ready-for-takeoff-ready-to-make/

Social Media

  • Twitter banished UberMedia, then readmits them
    Twitter doesn’t often make the news for reasons other than growth or potential mergers and acquisitions. This week, however, Twitter suspended use of its API by UberMedia’s popular Twidroyd Twitter app, citing irregularities in manipulation of user posts for money. This caused somewhat of an outcry, as it immediately led to the blocking of access to Twitter, through the app, of a large number of users. Twitter has relented on the basis of reassurances offered by Ubermedia – though this will require an application update to be released by the publishers.
    http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/pbRCEttK-W0/ubermedia-responds-twidroyds-suspension

Tablets

Android Market Growth Outstripping Apple Store

  • The App Genome Project by Lookout Security compared in detail the development of the Android Market with that of the Apple Store, highlighting some eye catching trends. Over the period since August last year, the Apple Store has grown by 44% and the Android market by 127%. The proportion of paid apps, and particularly paid apps over 99 cents in the Android Market has also markedly risen. As one might expect, as a more mature market, the Apple Store is nearer to saturation – but if these comparative rates of growth are sustained, the Android Market will surpass the Apple Store at some point mid-2012.
    http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/219780/app_genome_project_finds_android_apps_outpacing_ios.html

Mobile

Desktop

  • Mac App Store off to Good Start – Microsoft an Early Publisher!
    The launch of the Mac App Store is yet another significant move for Apple, bringing the tendency of users to buy fragments of functionality, rather than major app suites, to the desktop.  To a lesser degree this experience already exists in the form of Browser Plug-ins, particularly on Chrome, but the move by Apple is sure to be duplicated on other platforms, thus changing the dynamics, not to mention the economics, of the purchase of desktop software. Ironically, Microsoft were in on the game early, providing a Mac based version of software to connect to Windows 7 mobile.
    http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/index/~3/KOHgUntq_N0/ios-developers-making-leap-to-the-mac-thanks-to-mac-app-store.ars

This Week I got Excited About

  • Evernote
    I have tried all manner of personal knowledge management tools – but have only recently tried Evernote – and I’m mightily impressed – specifically because the variety of apps and browser plug ins available means that you can capture virtually anything you are up to on the fly, and have it synced via a web account with all of your devices. For a good overview of what you might want to do with it, see http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/14-practical-ways-to-use-evernote-guy-kawasaki

Filed under Google, Internet, Market, Mobile, Technologies, Twitter, Weekly News Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Roundup of the week (w/e 13/02/2011)

February 14, 2011 Leave a comment

Last week’s most significant news must surely have been that smart phone sales are now outstripping those of PCs . The explosion in tablets and mobile more generally is already proving to be a profound game-changer for the way we interact with both content and software. On the content side, people gather their intelligence in entirely new ways, and consume it in much smaller packages. On the software side, people expect to make choices about smaller aspects of functionality, installed and fulfilled with almost no effort – it can only be a matter of time before the app market model becomes the main model for consumer software on all platforms.

Market News

  • Smartphone Market now Bigger than PC Market
    Anyone in any doubt of the importance of mobile must surely have had their minds changed by the official announcement that smartphone sales are now outstripping those of PCs. Mobile is exploding, and the way we access information, the web and even software has changed for good. http://www.businessinsider.com/smartphone-bigger-than-pc-market-2011-2
  • Leading Industry Analyst Mary Meeker Predicts Future of Tech
    Anyone with slightest interest in the future shape of the mobile, PC and tablet markets simply must read the presentation delivered by Mary Meeker at a major Google event last week. http://www.businessinsider.com/mary-meeker-matt-murphy-2011-2
  • Microsoft Trades HP for Nokia
    Is it a case of one-in one-out for Microsoft – as Hewlett Packard departs its embrace for the enticements of webOS, Nokia recognised the increasing precariousness of its position post-Symbian and hooked up with Microsoft. Seems funny how yesterdays all-powerful-giants come to be portrayed as underdogs or has beens in relation to Google, despite their massive ongoing market share. Yet, this deal isn’t necessarily bad news for Google – Nokia’s shares have slumped and it may be that existing Microsoft phone partners (Dell, LG, Samsung, HTC) may be questioning their long-term allegiance now that Nokia is set to receive special treatment. On the other hand, the guarantee of a large market going forwards is bound to attract the more active interest of developers in Windows as a mobile platform. http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/02/11/microsoft-nokia-deal-might-be-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-android/
  • Sony may Abandon iTunes
    After accusations of Apple effectively holding it and other content producers to ransom, Sony may be one of the first to entirely abandon iTunes, in favour of alternatives. I sense that this is the first of many major battles ahead for Apple – whose past history is littered with examples of it attempting to keep very tight control over all activities related to its brand and platforms, and which nearly led to its demise in the 90s. http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/mp3s/war-looms-as-sony-hints-that-it-will-abandon-itunes-20110210-1aonn.html

CMS / Knowledge Management

  • SharePoint 2010 Deployment Reaches 44%
    The proportion of SharePoint installations on 2010 is now equal to that on 2007, which marks a turning point in how developers are likely to be focussing on making use of the extra features available in 2010. As with any such version turning point, it is difficult to wholeheartedly pursue development of brand new functionality for as long as backwards compatibility is a key driver. http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-cms/sharepoint-deployment-reaches-44-but-faces-challenges-010143.php
  • Pen.io allows ad-hoc micro-content-management
    Task.fm found Anthony Feint has created Pen.io as a platform for creating ad-hoc content management for individual pages or page sections, without having to set up hosting accounts – only a URL and a password is required. As an agency, we often get situations where a static site is too difficult to update, but a full CMS seems overkill – I think this may well catch fire! http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/10/techcrunch-pen-io

Web

  • IE9 Release Candidate Available
    The first official release candidate for IE9 is now available. This will apparently make Microsoft’s browser much more standards-compliant with almost full support for CSS3, as well as adding a considerable amount of HTML5 support, as well as geolocation, privayc controls, hardware acceleration improvements and a whole bunch of other goodies. From an agency point of view, if IE9 really is as compliant as promised, there will be a lot of happy faces from designers and developers alike. http://www.webmonkey.com/2011/02/new-ie-9-offers-geolocation-privacy-controls-and-more-speed/
  • Bing Growing, more Accurate than Google Search
    After last week’s tussle between Google and Microsoft over the ownership of search results, figures show that Bing is continuing to grow at Google’s expense, whilst apparently offering more accurate results. The increasing amount of spam afflicting Google’s results is opening up a space not just for Bing, but also for others such as Blekko who are focussing heavily on the quality of search. It is not inconceivable that Google may be outflanked soon by someone in the way that it outflanked Yahoo on its own rise to fame and glory. http://www.businessinsider.com/bing-more-accurate-than-google-and-gaining-share-2011-2

Social Media

  • Cultural Dimensions of Social Media – The Facebooks of China
    The so-called Great Firewall of China has ensured that much of the social media so dominant elsewhere, such as Facebook, is simply not available, which has led to the creation of sites that first cloned, and then altered these key social media experiences. Whilst it may be marked in the case of China, there is a more general point to be absorbed about the crucial nature of social. cultural and demographic context in the use of social media. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/152/the-socialist-networks.html

Tablets

  • HP webOS preview
    Clearly HP want to be taken seriously as a software company as well as a hardware provider. What do they expect to bring to the tablet market that isn’t already there, other than a strong association with B2B. This roundup from the Cocoia Blog summarises some of the interface elements we can expect – webOS looks quite promising on this view. According to Silicon Valley Insider, the US launch may be as soon as June, at a price of $699 – $100 cheaper than the Xoom. From a developer’s point of view, webOS sounds like a dream, based as it is on javascript and HTML5 – one enterprising 14 year old has already built a successful company developing for webOS. http://blog.cocoia.com/2011/hp-webos-event-roundup

Mobile

  • BBC iPlayer Released for iPad and Android but not iPhone
    The decision of the BBC to release the iPlayer only for iPad and Android 2.2, and only allowing streaming over wifi, kicked off a predictable storm of protest – which would have been expected for anything much short of universal access. The combination of a commitment to Flash on the part of the BBC, and Apple’s rejection of Flash has certainly left the corporation in a difficult position. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2011/feb/09/bbc-iplayer-app-ipad-android
  • Haptics Platform Released for Mobiles – Engagement of more than just the Visual
    One of the great boons of mobile devices, I have long thought, is the possibility for different kinds of physical engagement, above and beyond the visual domain that we habitually use – most notably in the haptic (touch) sensory modality. Thus the announcement by Immersion of their MOTIVE platform for Android caught my attention. This platform will allow companies to use an amazing range of haptic effects on nearly any Android phone. My bet is that over time muti-modal sensory interfaces will help us navigate not just games, but also tasks, with greater speed and efficiency – once a suitable shared haptics vocubulary has evolved. http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/10/buzz-editor-immersion-releases-motiv-haptics

This Week I got Excited About:

  • Kentico CMS 5.5 R2 Intranet Portal
    The new version of Kentico comes with an out-the-box Intranet portal template – which we have started using to implement our new company intranet – first impressions are very positive, though the real proof will come when we start using it in anger. http://www.kentico.com
  • Rapid-I Rapid Miner
    Very easy to get this data mining framework up and running in terms of getting it to function – but obviously you need to know exactly what you are doing – working on a hobby project with this to do textual analysis of RSS and Twitter feeds – bit of a learning curve. http://rapid-i.com/content/view/181/190/
  • CrunchBase
    Free database on technology companies, people and investors – a kind of corporate & financial wikipedia. Good for doing research on Social Media and technology start-ups, as well as the Silicon Valley big-boys. http://www.crunchbase.com/

Filed under Browsers, Design and Technology, Internet, Mobile, Technologies, Weekly News Tagged with , , , , ,