India’s $35 Android tablet, the Aakash, lands in America

We are now well past the birth of the Tablet - and even with its popularity the iPad will not be the device for the masses. The Aakash android tablet, at least in India, seems to fit the bill and I must admit that I was blown away by the retail price of $60. This is wonderful to see - in less than two years we have gone from the $600 iPad to a $60 Aakash. I am already calling friends in India to secure one for myself.
Find Tablets for Less than $100

Amplify’d from www.washingtonpost.com

The Indian government thinks the $35 Aakash Android tablet has the power to change the world. After testing one out, we’d tend to agree.

The 7-inch Android-based device will be distributed at a government subsidized price of $35, making it the world’s cheapest Android device. The general retail price will be $60, which is still remarkably cheap for such a powerful device

Jugaad is an Indian word which means “to make-do.” The Aakash tablet is a Jugaad in a very high tech way Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

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Amazon’s Apple War Costs Investors $20B

With strong pre-sale demand the Kindle Fire has attracted consumers for two reasons: Price and OS. While Amazon is losing money on each unit initially - they should easily recoup the loss, once Fire users start to download books/videos or get up-sold to Amazon Prime. I am sure the Jeff Bezos is counting on it, especially because he personally saw his worth drop $4.6 Billion in the value yesterday, as Amazon's stock price dropped 19%.

But the real opportunity with any Amazon device will be its ability to easily connect digital content from magazines/newspapers/books/movies to products and services offered at Amazon.com.

Amplify’d from www.bloomberg.com

Amazon’s operations could lose $200 million in the fourth quarter as costs mount, the Seattle-based company said yesterday

To gain an edge in tablets, Amazon is selling its new Kindle Fire device for as low as $199 -- less than half the price of Apple’s cheapest iPad. At that price, the company will lose $10 per device, research firm IHS Inc. estimates. Read more at www.bloomberg.com

 

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News outlets look to tablet computer users for revenue

There is no question that the tablet has changed our media consumption habits - become a primary gateway to all things "Web" - including news. For news organizations the cost of producing mobile apps across popular platforms is expensive (time & resources) and their return on investment is unpredictable. Unfortunately, news organizations have no choice, they need to have their products available to mobile users, while trying to find better ways to attract new subscribers.

One recommendation I have for the News orgs is to focus on their mobile websites - an often overlooked component of a web strategy - it is an easy fix which could help your organization attract new mobile customers and who you can eventually up-sell to premium products/services, including apps.

Amplify’d from www.latimes.com

The majority of tablet enthusiasts say they don't want to pay to get access to news and other information, according to research by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Just 14% of tablet news users have paid directly for news content on the devices. But via a subscription to a print newspaper or magazine, 23% more have obtained digital news access. That roughly one-third who have paid directly for content is a much higher figure than suggested by previous research. Read more at www.latimes.com

 

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WikiLeaks suspends publishing to fight financial blockade

Julian Assange's whistle-blowing has been put on hold, while he looks for more money. His company WikiLeaks is fighting a financial blockade by the Bank of America, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Western Union, which has left the company without the ability to receive donations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/24/wikileaks-suspends-publishing?newsfeed=true

Google slips Google+ into bed with Reader

Its fair to say that Google is pulling its loose parts into the circle. This move makes sense in order to promote Google + & to allow the sharing of more news related items. After all News is meant to be shared. Just yesterday, I was trying to figure out why my +1's of news content never appeared in my stream - well if you go to profile and select +1 - you'll see them. But they won't appear in your stream unless you add a comment.

Amplify’d from www.theregister.co.uk

Google is overhauling its neglected web and news aggregating tool Reader

Reader will soon be wrapped in Google+

Reader will undergo the same makeover treatment that much of the Chocolate Factory's online estate has already been subjected to since the arrival of Google+ Read more at www.theregister.co.uk

 

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MC Hammer Launches Search Engine

MC Hammer has become one of my favorite people to follow in the web 2.0 era. He has leveraged technology to revive his career and become a much sought after Web 2.0 spokesperson. Now he's gone one step further and launched his own venture - I'm sure that there are a number of folks working behind the scenes on this - but MC Hammer is the front-man.



Previous Post: http://mediamix.amplify.com/2011/04/15/mc-hammer-the-twitter-effect/

Amplify’d from www.wallstreetjournal.com

Stanley Kirk Burrell obviously is not stupid. He knows he is going to get far more publicity for an early test version of his WireDoo search engine if he presents it under his stage name, MC Hammer

His strategy has been successful, attracting screenfuls of publicity for his presentation on “relationship search” at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco including this from Mashable Read more at www.wallstreetjournal.com

 

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Google search to have default encryption

I have had used the Google SSL search and I didn't notice any performance issues. Same search with and extra added layer of protection.

Amplify’d from www.computerworld.com

Websites visited from organic search listings will still know that the user came from Google, but will not get information about each individual query

But if the user clicks on an advertisement appearing on the search results page, the browser will continue to send the relevant query over the network to enable advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns

The Google experience using SSL search might be very slightly slower than people are used to because the computer needs to first establish a secure connection with Google

users get an end-to-end encrypted search channel between their computer and Google Read more at www.computerworld.com

 

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Google Docs Revamps Presentations, Adds 50 New Features

This week Google introduced a new version of its Googlde Docs presentations Web app, which sports more than 50 new features, like Slide Transitions, Animations and new Themes. On the downside, you will have to use the latest versions of most browsers to get it to work. Worst of all - it doesn't have spell check. 


 Deals on Streaming Video at Home

Google search to have default encryption

I have had used the Google SSL search and I didn't notice any performance issues. Same search with and extra added layer of protection.

Amplify’d from www.computerworld.com

Websites visited from organic search listings will still know that the user came from Google, but will not get information about each individual query

But if the user clicks on an advertisement appearing on the search results page, the browser will continue to send the relevant query over the network to enable advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns

The Google experience using SSL search might be very slightly slower than people are used to because the computer needs to first establish a secure connection with Google

users get an end-to-end encrypted search channel between their computer and Google Read more at www.computerworld.com

 

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Why Google Should Be Scared Of Siri

Is Siri going to scare Google? I don't think so. Siri's is simply an app that adds nice functionality to your mobile, its not revolutionary. Additionally, I don't see any serious impact to Google's traffic. On another note, there is always room for hardware improvement -

Amplify’d from seekingalpha.com

the competitive advantages on smartphones in the future will not be in the hardware, but in the software. A lot of people are missing out the real game changer, Siri, and Google (GOOG) should be very scared about it.

Siri is a personal assistant app can take voice command from the users and translate the commands into tangible actions. Voice commands on all other phones, including the previous iPhones, are all very basic. They are only limited to calling someone or playing some music. Siri totally changes everything. Read more at seekingalpha.com

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Rachael Ray magazine being sold by Reader's Digest

This was clearly a break that has been in the works for some time. Reader's didn't see much value in Ray's magazine, which only produced a $6 million in profit in its best year. It will interesting to see if Everyday with Rachael Ray fairs any better at Meredith. I suspect it will.

Amplify’d from www.businessweek.com

The parent company of Reader's Digest is in talks to sell Rachael Ray's cooking magazine to Meredith Corp., publisher of Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Parents and Fitness.

Every Day with Rachael Ray had a circulation of 1.7 million in the first half of 2011, an increase of 2 percent from the same period the year before. Read more at www.businessweek.com

 

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Apple rumored to counter Amazon Kindle Fire with 'iPad mini' in 2012

This is straight from the rumor mill. Apple is said to be developing an iPad mini, targeted at a lower price in the mid to high $200 range.

Amplify’d from www.appleinsider.com

Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities has been touring China and Taiwan and meeting with component suppliers, where he has heard rumblings of a so-called "iPad mini" arriving next year. The "mini" name doesn't necessarily refer to the size of the device, he said, but a lower entry-level price

"We believe this lower priced iPad could be priced in the mid-to-high-$200 range," Read more at www.appleinsider.com

 

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Amazon's Kindle: Commuter Gadget of the Year, beating Apple's iPad and iPhone

There is something to be said about low-noise devices and their popularity within a specific demographic audience, in this case commuters. It will be interesting to see how many existing Kindle users follow an upgrade path to the "Fire", Amazon's upcoming Android-based tablet. Or will the added functionality be a detractor?

Amplify’d from www.thisislondon.co.uk

Judges at the awards said the Kindle's simplicity helped it win. "The one thing the Kindle has over the iPad 2 is that it does one job really well," said T3's editor Luke Peters. "When people commute, they want something they can pick up and use straight away. Read more at www.thisislondon.co.uk

 

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iPad now 97% of tablet traffic, eclipses iPhone, iOS remains mobile leader

If your media company's mobile/tablet strategy is still up in the air - get a handle on it soon. Its not a secret how your customers want to consume their media content.

Amplify’d from www.comscore.com

iPads dominate among tablets in driving digital traffic. In August 2011, iPads delivered 97.2 percent of all tablet traffic in the U.S. iPads have also begun to account for a higher share of Internet traffic than iPhones (46.8 percent vs. 42.6 percent of all iOS device traffic).

In the U.S., tablet users display the characteristics of early technology adopters: young males in upper income brackets. In August, 54.7 percent of all tablet owners were male and nearly 30 percent were age 25-34. Nearly half (45.9 percent) of tablet owners belonged to households earning $100K and more.

Nearly 3 out of 5 tablet owners consume news on their tablets. 58 percent of tablet owners consumed world, national or local news on their devices, with 1 in 4 consuming this content on a near-daily basis on their tablets. Read more at www.comscore.com

 

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Are Text Message Charges a Thing of the Past?

In 2000, I wrote an article about instant messaging and how its rapid fire/free attributes would make it a critical form of business communication. Text messaging has also become an important business communication tool, but unfortunately its not free. Given the amount of revenue generated by mobile carriers - it won't be free any time soon.

Amplify’d from economictimes.indiatimes.com

At a time when email and many other forms of electronic communication are essentially free, wireless carriers are still charging as much as 20 cents to send a text message to a phone, and another 20 cents to receive it. Paying so much to transmit a handful of words is starting to look as antiquated as buying stamps. Read more at economictimes.indiatimes.com

Cool Solar Charger: Solar Mobile Charger

iPhone 4S preorders top 1 million in single day

If the pre-order numbers are any indication - the 4S should do well. But it won't be the game changer that many anticipate the 5 to be.

Amplify’d from news.cnet.com

According to Apple, first-day preorders of the iPhone 4S hit 1 million, easily besting the previous single-day preorder record of 600,000 set by the iPhone 4. Read more at news.cnet.com

Solar powered mobile charger: Hybrid Solar Charger

Steve Jobs Dies: Apple Chief Created Personal Computer, iPad, iPod

Hey Steve, Thank you!

The Macintosh sparked my love for technology. I started on a Apple IIc in high school, then IIe & Quadra's in college (I taught a fellow student how to use a Mac- I later married her), it got me my first job using Quadra's and LCII's and III's, I got my first laptop in 1996 the 5300, my first PDA the Newton 110 (a gift from my boss Fred), basically I've used every Mac since then till today. I still have a Power Computing Power Tower Pro. It was an exciting era - the best was attending Macworld in San Francisco and Boston and even New York - the good old days.

The great thing is I still work with Macs, so does my wife and our two kids use them. And come to think of so do all of my neighbors. Not bad for a company that many had predicted to fail. It didn't because of Steve.

Amplify’d from abcnews.go.com
See: Apple iMac MC309LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop

Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," read a statement by Apple's board of directors. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

The homepage of Apple's website this evening switched to a full-page image of Jobs with the text, "Steve Jobs 1955-2011." Read more at abcnews.go.com

Google Wallet Surprisingly Easy To Use

Over a decade ago, I had dinner with Scott McNealy where the main topic of conversation was NFC. At the time, Scott envisioned that we would have chips embedded in a credit card size device (and in our bodies))that would detect our arrival into a store and computerized shopping carts would store our transaction information. At the time, none of us realized that the large mobile blocks in our suit jackets would be come the point of access. The only surprising thing is that it took so long to arrive.

Amplify’d from searchengineland.com

When Google Wallet launched last month I wrote that it was important but mostly symbolic because of its limited availability.

NFC technology can also be embedded in a sticker affixed to the outside of an existing phone, Google Wallet’s full functionality (e.g., simultaneous payment and coupon redemption) wouldn’t be available to “sticker-users.” Google said it’s studying the approach and is currently undecided about whether to distribute these stickers.

the simplicity and efficiency of the transaction convinced me that convenience may be the biggest driver of NFC-based mobile payments. Even the relatively simple steps involved in pulling out a wallet and using a debt card or credit card and signing a receipt seem awkward and cumbersome by comparison. Read more at searchengineland.com

 

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Google Takes Page From Sunday Newspaper With New ‘Circulars’ Ads

I guess you don't have to wait for the Sunday paper anymore. This doesn't mean that retailers are abandoning print, but they may be shifting dollars away from it, which is more bad news for the papers.

Amplify’d from www.bloomberg.com

Google Inc. (GOOG) is on a quest to make Internet advertising look more like the Sunday paper.

The online-search giant is working with advertisers such as Best Buy Co. and Macy’s Inc. (M) to create Web-based circulars, similar to the ad inserts included in newspapers. Read more at www.bloomberg.com

 

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