Checking - in

All the buzz swirling around social app Foursquare is good news for mobile advertising.

For years we've been promised location based services and the ability to match location with personal offers. Now with apps like Foursquare and Gowalla users are happy to reveal their location by 'checking in' giving advertisers permission to hit them based on location.

The check-in model is more attractive than constant tracking because it gives people more choice in disclosing their locations. And its gathering pace.

Foursquare has swelled to more than 500,000 users and has more than 1.6m 'check-ins' a weeks from around the world. Gowalla says it has 100,000 people using its application. Facebook is expected to adopt the 'check-in' method when it introduces location features in coming months.

One drawback with 'check-in' as opposed to constant monitoring is that people have to remember to use a service, but just as people have successfully got into the habit of tweeting they'll learn the habit of checking in.

If 'checking-in' goes mainstream its going to be good news for advertisers as it allows them to do some interesting things like coupons and offers based on location.

Read this and weep

More bad news I'm afraid for the news industry.

The latest US mega study from the masters of media research Pew has found in a long report a lots more depressing insights. Here is a few for you:

• 82 percent will go somewhere else to get news if their favorite site starts charging

• Only 35 percent told Pew they had a favorite news site, which means the number the study says would be willing to pay is closer to 7 percent of all online news users.

• For those with a favorite site and willing to pay they prefer a subscription fee to micropayments by 54 percent to 24 percent.

• 81 percent said they didn’t mind online ads but 77 percent said they either don’t click on them (42 percent) or “hardly ever” click (35 percent)

Its well worth reading the long study - State of News Media 2010. Its an excellent snapshot of the US New market with lots of stats and facts on how bad it is in traditional media.

The Report, also, does a reasonable job at breaking out all the new and exciting things that are going on, but then slaps us back by saying that the new stuff doesnt come close to replacing whats been lost!

Probably the best bit of the Report is the Major Trends so here they are in full:

Major Trends

For 2010, we want to emphasize six points.

As we learn more about both Web economics and consumer behavior, the unbundling of news seems increasingly central to journalism's future. The old model of journalism involved news organizations taking revenue from one social transaction -- the selling of real estate, cars and groceries or job hunting, for example -- and using it to monitor civic life -- covering city councils and zoning commissions and conducting watchdog investigations. Editors assembled a wide range of news, but the popularity of each story was subordinate to the value, and the aggregate audience, of the whole. And the value of the story might be found in its consequence rather than its popularity. That model is breaking down. Online, it is becoming increasingly clear, consumers are not seeking out news organizations for their full news agenda. They are hunting the news by topic and by event and grazing across multiple outlets. This is changing both the finances and the culture of newsrooms. When revenue is more closely tied to each story, what is the rationale for covering civic news that is consequential but has only limited interest? The data also are beginning to show a shift away from interest in local news toward more national and international topics as people have more access to such information, which may have other effects on local dynamics.

The future of new and old media are more tied together than some may think. A new multi-university study released in this report finds that even the best new-media sites in the country still have limited ability to produce content. No doubt they will evolve. Yet their reportorial capacity ultimately will still depend on finding a revenue model far larger than what exists today or is projected to come from conventional online advertising. While there are some competing values and different reportorial cultures, in the end new and old media face the same dilemma and may be much more aligned in their search for revenue than many have thought. In some cases, there will be formal alliances or networks of new and old media. One concept that will get more attention is collaborations of old media and citizens in what some call a "pro-am" (professional and amateur) model for news. Yet how traditional news organizations cope with such partnerships, the rules for what is acceptable and what is not, remain largely uncharted.

The notion that the news media are shrinking is mistaken. Reportorial journalism is getting smaller, but the commentary and discussion aspect of media, which adds analysis, passion and agenda shaping, is growing -- in cable, radio, social media, blogs and elsewhere. For all the robust activity there, however, the numbers still suggest that these new media are largely filled with debate dependent on the shrinking base of reporting that began in the old media. Our ongoing analysis of more than a million blogs and social media sites, for instance, finds that 80% of the links are to U.S. legacy media. The only old media sector with growing audience numbers is cable, a place where the lion's share of resources are spent on opinionated hosts. One result may be the rising numbers in polling data that show 71% of Americans now feel most news sources are biased in their coverage and 70% feel overwhelmed rather than informed by the amount of news and information they see. Quantitatively, argument rather than expanding information makes up the growing share of media people are exposed to today.

Technology is further shifting power to newsmakers, and the newest way is through their ability to control the initial account of events. For now at least, digital technology is shifting more emphasis and resources toward breaking news. Shrinking newsrooms are asking their remaining ranks to produce first accounts more quickly and feed multiple platforms. This is focusing more time on disseminating information and somewhat less on gathering it, making news people more reactive and less pro-active. It is also leading to a phenomenon in which the first accounts from newsmakers -- their press conferences and press releases -- make their way to the public often in a less vetted form, sometimes close to verbatim. Those first accounts, sculpted by official sources, then can spread more rapidly and widely now through the power of the Web to disseminate, gaining a velocity they once lacked. That is followed quickly by commentary. What is squeezed is the supplemental reporting that would unearth more facts and context about events. We saw this clearly in our study of news in Baltimore, but it is reinforced in discussions with news people. While technology makes it easier for citizens to participate, it is also making giving newsmakers more influence over the first impression the public receives.

The ranks of self-interested information providers are now growing rapidly and news organizations must define their relationship to them. As newsrooms get smaller, the range of non-journalistic players entering the information and news field is growing rapidly. The ranks include companies, think tanks, activists, government and partisan activists. Some are institutions frustrated by the shrinking space in conventional media and the absence of knowledgeable specialists to cover their subjects. Others are partisans and political interests trying to exploit a perceived opportunity in journalism's contraction. There are varying degrees of transparency about the financing and intentions of these efforts. Some are quite clear. Others present themselves as purely journalistic and independent when in fact they are funded by political activists, yet only by digging and cross-referencing websites can the agenda and financing be divined. In an age where linking and aggregation are part of journalism, news organizations must decide how they want to interact with this growing cohort of self-interested information players. Will they pick up this material and disseminate it? Can they possibly police it? Can they afford to ignore it? The only certainty is that these new players are increasingly vying for the public's and the media's attention, and their resources, in contrast to that of traditional independent journalism, are growing.

When it comes to audience numbers online, traditional media content still prevails, which means the cutbacks in old media heavily impact what the public is learning through the new. An analysis in this year's report of online audience behavior, extrapolated from Nielsen Net Ratings data, finds that 80% of the traffic to news and information sites is concentrated at the top 7% of sites. The vast majority of the top news sites (67%), moreover, are still tied to legacy media financed largely by their shrinking end of the business.³ New media are growing, but their ranks among the most trafficked sites are still small. Another 13% of these news sites are aggregators, whose content is derived from legacy media. Only 14% of these sites are online-only operations that produce mostly original reportorial content rather than commentary. In short, the cutbacks in old media are not only drastically affecting traditional media but significantly impact online content as well.

Google versus Newspapers - battle continues

Newspapers have blamed Google for their woes, and Google, in turn, has helped remind newspapers that they did a pretty good job of digging their own grave.

The latest haymaker in this heavy weight punch up is from Chief Economist Hal Varian, in a speech to the FTC today. Below, the big takeaways from Varian’s remarks, which are drawn from a longer post

• People spend more time brushing their teeth than reading news online: “The average amount of time looking at online news is about 70 seconds a day, while the average amount of time spent reading the physical newspaper is about 25 minutes a day. Not surprisingly, advertisers are willing to pay more for their share of readers’ attention during that 25 minutes of offline reading than during the 70 seconds of online reading. So even though online advertising has grown rapidly in the last five years, it appears that somewhat less than 5% of newspapers’ ad revenue comes from their internet editions, according to the most recent Newspaper Association of America data.”

• Special’ sections aren’t special any more: “Traditionally, the ad revenue from ... special sections [like automotive, travel etc.] has been used to cross-subsidize the core news production. Nowadays internet users go directly to websites like Edmunds, Orbitz, Epicurious, and Amazon to look for products and services in specialized areas.”

• One consolation: “There are huge cost savings associated with online news. Roughly 50% of the cost of producing a physical newspaper is in printing and distribution, with only about 15% of total costs being editorial. Newspapers could save a lot of money if the primary access to news was via the internet.

Lets stick with the positives.

The Googler is right lets move the primary access channel digital and enjoy the cost savings.

For those that want the newspaper as paper thats absolutely fine. They subscribe and the newspaper is delivered to their homes i.e becomes a premuim service based on their needs and choice.

For the rest its digital access - online, over mobile and increasingly over e-readers - enjoyed for micro payments

As we have said before the content needs to adapted, evolved and improved for digital access and enjoyment but thats not only possible its preferable - digital releases content and gives it wings......

Apple at the Oscars

The glamour, dresses and feigned looks of surprise returned on Sunday evening with the Oscars holding their annual movie jamboree. Alongside the shoes, dresses and hairstyles sat a number of businesses paying top dollar for advertising space. One such company was Apple who choose the awards ceremony as its first external showcase for the new iPad. Sadly, unlike many historic Apple ads in the past the iPad did little to excite many in the media.

It rather blandly begins with the obviously airbrushed hands of a man picking up the tablet, checking out some videos and then reading the New York Times – an unsurprising app to choose since the NY Times has already been highlighted by Apple at the launch of the iPad as a new revolutionary way of reading the news. Overall the ad tended to suggest the iPad is going to be aimed at the mainstream, a belief backed up by its accessible price tag, but did little to suggest the product is going to revolutionise the technological world in the same way the iPhone did to telecoms. A shame, as the creative genius behind the technology is usually matched in their communications.

A launch date of April 3rd in the US, with the UK following later that month, will be the real test. Commentators continue to say that this is a device that needs to be touched and handled to appreciate its true value. We’re looking forward to putting that to the test.

Big news: social is bigger than search

Facebook is now the top source of traffic for major news and entertainment portals such as Yahoo and MSN, according to traffic analysis firm Compete, and is “among the leaders” for other sites as well.

Although far from conclusive, this is just another sign of how the “social web” is becoming an increasingly dominant force in terms of driving traffic flows on the Internet — and that in turn makes it a growing threat for major web players such as Google, MSN and Yahoo.

Compete’s director of online media and search told the San Francisco Chronicle that a snapshot of web traffic from December showed 13 percent of the traffic to major web portals like Yahoo, MSN and AOL came from Facebook. Traffic from Google generated just 7 percent, which Compete said actually put it third in traffic sources behind eBay, which accounted for 7.6 percent.

If your core business depends on controlling and/or getting a piece of the web’s traffic flow, as it does for many of the Companies we are interested in, the social web is something you ignore at your peril.

Social web is a major focus for us and its why we are hooking up with really smart companies such as CitizenNet. These guys are experts in monitoring and managing social marketing campaigns and the stuff they are doing is very powerful.

Tiger replaced by elephant

Has anyone else seen the Accenture ads in Heathrow lately?

As you may remember they used to star Mr Tiger Woods. Well now - sticking with the animal theme - Tiger has been replaced by an Elephant on a surf board!

oh the irony......

Lebedev on verge of getting Indie

Ive just returned from South Africa where I got it on very good, very senior authority that the Indie deal is done and the buyer is Lebedev.

So disregard all the rumors of other buyers and of interest from 'prominent UK family' and watch the Indie story unfold under new ownership.

On strength of todays NRS news that Standard's readership has increased 113% since it went free its probably a fair assumption that Indie will try something similar along free or part free lines.

It could get very interesting as triple digit readership growth at the Indie (if it happened) would be a big enough event to cause advertisers to sit up and take notice of the paper for the first time in 15 years and it might even cause the Telegraph and Times mild concern.

Redundancy Deals at the Indy stopping Lebedev takeover?

Picking up on this morning's MediaGuardian lead story, to get the Lebedev deal done, journalists will be asked to halve their redundancy terms from 4 weeks pay for every year served, to 2 weeks pay, a number of things spring to mind.

Mr Lebedev obviously has grand plans to strip the carcass of the Indy even further back, which suggests a joint Standard/Indy editorial resource.

If there are journalists still at the Indy who have previously turned down a generous four week offer for each year served, that's surprising in itself. "Independent to finally break even next year" is a headline that's been trotted out every year for a while. To be left at the end of the dance, without chance of getting the same deal as everyone else, must be particularly hurtful.

As a combined business model - free London edition, with a free national edition - using the same resources - it's an interesting idea. How to distribute the national free paper and make it pay, will be a massive challenge, before getting onto branding issues.

We wait with interest

Farewell Times 2?

Reports this morning that Times 2 is to be axed, after a somewhat troubled life.

Born in a different age, when Editorial whim could predict a circulation uplift and bypass a business case, T2 ended up being a dumping ground for features, TV and fluffier content.

It never really worked, despite numerous re-launches and editorial changes, and never managed to carve out a niche as a destination section, rather than a generic catch-all.

Doubt it'll be missed by many, but will the main book improve with the absorption of the better T2 content? Placing the features pages back in will prove a harder challenge than pulling them all out, as there is the potential to disrupt the flow between domestic - international - business - obits and then into sport.

But then, that's why the Editor gets the big bucks, to make the best use of available content. Bit harder to do this on a print newspaper, than on a website, but that's the value of experience.

Two Dozen Carriers Worldwide Unite Against Apple’s App Store

Two dozen of the world's largest mobile-phone companies, including Verizon, AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, Deutsche Telekom, China Mobile and Vodafone, are teaming up to create an "open international applications platform,".

This is 'the industry's' response to Apple's success with its own iPhone App Store.

The announcement was made this morning at Mobile World Congress.
In addition to the 24 carriers, the GSMA and three handset manufacturers—LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson —are also supporting the initiative.

Combined, the group reaches 3 billion subscribers worldwide, making it easily the largest app-store initiative.

This 'stop Apple' initiative is an extraordinary cross industry alliance and shows just how scared the industry is by Apple's success.

Will it work?

Alliances of this scope are exceedingly complicated on a human and technological basis.

Its also significant that there are massive players missing - Google is missing, no. 1 handset manufacturer Nokia is missing and Telefonica is missing.....

So let's wait and see.

In the meanwhile Apple and Google will continue to shake-up the industry and ultimately consumers will benefit so that's to the good.

Lebedev Gets Two More Weeks On Exclusive Independent Sale Talks

Alexander Lebedev, the billionaire Russian and owner of the Evening Standard is getting a two week extension on his exclusive negotiations to buy the Independent and Independent On Sunday newspapers. Extension enables him "to facilitate bringing these discussions to a successful conclusion"


Toby Constantine
Director | Market Evolution Ltd

Research | Analysis | Insight | Advice | Action


Sent from my handheld

iPad

Apple's forthcoming iPad tablet will cost as little as $229.35 for the company to produce, according to an estimate on Wednesday from research house iSuppli.

This makes things interesting doesn't it.

This lowish cost of production might well make it affordable (and viable) for publishers to package subscriptions with e-readers.

As we've written before we believe that this would prove popular with a broad cross section of consumers and is the model of the future.

We will run the maths and report back.

Toby Constantine
Director | Market Evolution Ltd

Research | Analysis | Insight | Advice | Action

Sent from my handheld

Yahoo! and Creme Eggs use Consumer Connect

Interesting looking development from Yahoo! working with Nectar data to target advertising at consumers based on their previous purchase history. Cadburys have become the first brand to properly engage with the service for their Creme Egg campaign.

We like smart uses of consumer data, this would look like a positive step forward.

Recession even hits the Premier League?

Spending in this year's January transfer window by Premier League football clubs ended up at about £30m, with £7m coming from a single player, Adam Johnson. This is well down on the £170m splashed out last year. Loans played a much larger part in plans this time round, with clubs reluctant to commit the cash.

So, is this a sign of the recession forcing belt tightening in the top flight? With the saga at Portsmouth becoming more dangerous (and ridiculous) as each day passes, and debt levels rising to worrying levels at other clubs, has the Premier League woken up to the realities of the consumer recession?

Short answer is obviously no, the TV revenue outweighs the money through the turnstile, but there is a definite sense that spending patterns have changed for a large number of clubs.

On a different subject, the first 3D broadcast of a live game was well reported and apparently well received. Will it catch on? I'd like to think so, but it will create fans-only pubs on match days, can't see it working well for non-footballing partners standing around without daft glasses on.

iPad

Lots has already been written about the ipad.

The nay sayers damn it as just an over sized iTouch and its fans say it's a radical step forward in convergence.

Whatever your point of view I'm pretty sure of 2 things:

1. consumer will buy it and in large numbers forcing more innovation, me-too products, and ultimately mass adoption. A great thing.

2.Whilst the ipad won't on its own 'save' print media (how can it?) it's launch marks a significant moment in the print industry's revolution - the moment when industry and consumer saw for themselves the future.

I'm a fan and I say thank you to Apple

Now it's time for the publishing industry to WAKE UP, stop whining and create e-content that people will 'want' to pay for.

The technology is arriving but it's less sure that the content is there to run on it.

The iPad - the future?

Yesterday saw the very high profile launch of the new Apple product - the iPad. Despite the fact it was widely expected to take the world by storm and signal the death of the increasingly popular Netbook it seems that the majority of the world's press have been left largely underwhelmed. Half an inch thick and weighing in nicely at 1 1/2 pounds the iPad looks the part but is it essentially just too big? Many insiders were expecting something that would actually fit in a pocket rather than have to be carried in a bag.

It is clear that Apple are aiming for people who are already their customers, the pad contains many similarities with the phone and the touch but the practicalities of its size are already being discussed. It is far smaller and lighter than a laptop, will undoubtedly be slicker and sleeker but it also clearly not aimed for business. It will seemingly be difficult to work on and so is aiming at the market as a leisure device. But can it actually do enough to be considered a ‘must have’?

The iPad has very little that is new or different from an iPhone and it appears that internet browsing and e-books are the fundamental selling points. Apple have signed deals with several major publishers including Penguin and HarperCollins and the iPad has an impressive library format for storing the books and an equally appealing reading format, described by many to be as close to reading a book without actually holding it in your hands.

Interestingly, Apple have also struck a deal with the New York Times who have specifically designed an app that showcases the power of the iPad perfectly, allowing readers to view content filled video clips immersed within an article. It is clear the NYT feels very strongly that the iPad will be a success, "The iPad combines the best of print with the best of digital, all rolled up in to one," according to Martin Nisenholtz, a senior executive at the newspaper, "It's something you can really immerse yourself in. We're pioneering the next version of digital journalism." This sounds like a full multi-media experience, bringing static content neatly to life.

A bold statement indeed, could this really be the future of digital news? Would people be more willing to pay for content on an iPad (or similar) than on a netbook or PC? Perhaps, perhaps not. Our thought is that it is just slightly too big for the pocket and surely liable for damage in a bag, if you wanted to read from it, or play a game, or surf the net surely it would be easier if your device was pocket size and less obvious?

It is definitely too early to say how well the iPad will sell, still relatively few people have actually seen one in action, but what we can be sure about though is that competitors will be quickly developing their own alternatives and that Apple have, once again, pushed technology firmly, but accessibly, into the future.

Would KRM sell Times Newspapers?

Rumours are the fuel that keeps the media bonfire burning warmly during these cold winter days, and there's a very interesting one doing the rounds at the moment. Is Times Newspapers Ltd up for sale? Acquired in 1981 by Rupert to sit alongside the more profitable News Group Newspapers, and undoubtedly occupying a place in the great man's heart, this rumour would in recent times have been laughable.

Now though, could there be a grain of truth in it? With the move to digital paywalls imminent, and the group registering £50m+ losses in recent years, would NewsCorp consider disposing of this prize asset? With James having firmly replaced Les, is their enough ink in the blood at the top of the tree to keep the Papers at any cost? The recent decision to move from free home delivery to paid for delivery for Times+ customers, and increase the cover price to £1, suggests a need to tighten up on revenues is moving further through the business. It'll be interesting to see how many customers drop the home delivery now that a weeks worth of newspapers will cost them over a tenner.

Throw into the mix the ruling by Ofcom that Sky has to wholesale its prized sport assets, diluting potential profitability, then these are challenging times across the News Corp portfolio.

That said, it's one of the few newspaper groups I'd buy at the moment. Good audience, a lot of good strategic work already done, maybe all it needs is to be unbound from the restraints of a big Corporation to survive and flourish in this new age.

68,979 downloads for Guardian news app

The Guardian has claimed that its readers are happy to pay for online content citing the success of their iPhone application. According to the newspaper their app has been downloaded 68,979 times in the first month of its release. The app costs £2.39, an expensive price considering similar apps from the Telegraph, Independent and Financial Times are all free, but it has climbed steadily up the UK App store charts and as a result is now available in other European countries, the US and Australia.

The Guardian claims that one reason the app has been so successful despite the price tag is the impressive number of downloads available on the app. As a result the app ‘proves to the industry that users are willing to pay for a news application.’

Our question would be whether this is a more of a reflection on the Guardian’s technologically minded readership, many of whom will be regular iPhone users and Guardian loyalists? Our view is that this isn't definitive proof that readers are willing to pay for online news content. More to come in this area over the next few months.

YouTube to show live sports

Cricket is not normally a sport we talk about on this blog, mainly because up until now the sport has been well governed by its television backers. Today however, the IPL (Indian Premier League) a twenty20 league noted for its extravagant salaries and very limited exposure in the UK announced they had completed a deal with YouTube to show 59 matches live, all around the world.

This is not the first time the online video channel has dabbled with big events, its streaming of a U2 concert proved very successful, and we feel that this is only just the start. The YouTube ‘brand’ is already well developed and with the much anticipated launch of Apple’s tablet coming soon it is possible live TV streamed from YouTube could become a staple for the modern media generation.

Talent spotting

This year will apparently be the toughest year for graduates to be finding employment, with 25% of jobs being taken by those who graduated in 2009. There should be a pool of people with the potential to grow into excellent employees who will be left waiting for their opportunity.

Strikes me that smaller agencies with similar expertise and specialisms should work together and offer internships to a pool of this undeveloped talent, allowing the best and most enthusiastic to spend 4 weeks in one agency, then another 4 weeks at the second agency, and the third month at a third agency - allowing them to experience a range of work in a number of businesses. Would allow us smaller agencies to see a number of people in action, without the headcount investment, and save ourselves paying any headhunters. Anyone else think this is a good idea worth developing?

One Screen to read them all

Pixel Qi's low power displays can switch between colour and ereader-like black-and-white bridging the gap between computer and ereader.

This is significant as it means that very soon we will see devices that can handle e-content - colour, video and black-and-white. Convergence is truly on its way.

Half of employers 'reject a potential worker after look at Facebook page'

Almost half of employers have rejected a potential worker after finding incriminating material on their Facebook pages, research has found.

Bosses are now using the popular social networking site as a tool to double check how likely it would be that their new worker would take a sick day for being hungover or on drugs the night before.

And job seekers were being found out for lying about their qualifications, with employers checking their Facebook pages to see if their online details matched their resume.

One in 10 were knocked back for boasting about drinking and drugs online, 13 per cent were vetoed for making racist comments and nine per cent were overlooked for placing racy photos on their Facebook page.

Big Brother employers reported the biggest online mistake that job seekers made was lying about their qualifications but having their real academic record available for all to see on line.

There were 38 per cent of job seekers knocked back for boosting up their qualifications on their resume and then getting caught on Facebook.

Examples of online posts that have caught employers' eyes include:

* Employee X "wishes his desk was near the television to watch the cricket at work

* "It's one para weekend for me".

* "Tramp related hangover"

More than four in 10 employers discarded a job seekers resume after checking their Facebook page, a survey of 450 employers for careerbuilder.co.uk found.

Career Builder president Farhan Yasin(ok) said job seekers could have all the skills needed for a job but fail to secure their dream job because they had been sloppy about what they posted online.

"More employers are now using social networking sites to uncover any digital dirt," he said.

"Job seekers are urged to be mindful of the information they post online. They are indirectly communicating with potential employers.

Mr Yasin said social networking sites like Facebook could be a bomb waiting to go off in the background checks employers do on potential recruits.

"Social networking is a great way to make connections with potential job opportunities in 2010 and to promote your brand across the internet," he said.

"Make sure you are using this resource to your advantage by conveying a professional image and underscoring your qualifications."

Mr Yasin said there were simple things job seekers could do to protect themselves from prying employers' eyes online.

"Clean up digital dirt before you begin your job search. Remove any photos content, and links that can work against your in an employers' eyes," he said.

"Consider creating your own professional group on sites like Facebook to establish relationships with business leaders, recruiters and potential referrals."

Mr Yasin said no employer likes whinging employees.

"Keep your gripes offline. Keep the content focuses on the positive, whether that relates to professional or personal information. Make sure you highlight specific accomplishments inside and outside work," he said.

"Don't forget others can see your friends, so be selective about who you accept as friends. Monitor comments made by others and consider using the block comments feature or set your profile to private so only designated friends can view it."

Thanks to the Daily Telegraph for this article.

HP Tablet Computer

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer unveiled a new Hewlett-Packard Co tablet computer on Wednesday, beating Apple Inc's hotly anticipated move into the market.

Google's Nexus One reviews

“I like very much the way social-networking information, including status messages, is integrated into the contacts app. One tap on a person’s picture in Contacts lets you quickly choose whether to call, email or message her, or map her address—all without opening the contact card itself. I also liked the pictures and videos I was able to take with the five-megapixel camera and flash, which I preferred to my iPhone’s camera. You can even view a photo slideshow or listen to music when the phone is in the optional desktop dock.”
Walt Mossberg, All Things Digital

“Overall, the phone is good enough that it's conceivable in a way that it wasn't a few months ago that we'll see a replay of Apple's experience in the PC market twenty-five years ago, in which Apple's fit and finish was unquestionably superior, but a commodity platform that was "good enough" and available to the entire industry ended up taking the lead.”
Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Radar

“Android, including the new 2.1 version, isn’t as smooth as the iPhone. One needs to make more of an effort on the Google Phone to get things done. I guess you can blame that on the lack of multitouch features. Now don’t get me wrong — Android 2.1 running on Nexus One is pretty darn good. Just not as good as an iPhone. It feels somehow disjointed – much like all the other Android phones. When you install non-Google applications, they don’t quite have the tight integration of Google-based apps. Of course, that’s the downside of an open platform, one not entirely controlled by a single entity.”
Om Malik, GigaOM

“Finally, the Nexus just doesn’t attain the iPhone’s fit and finish. The buttons under the screen (Back, Menu, Home, Search) are balky, often ignoring your finger-presses completely. One of the animated wallpapers freezes the phone with a message that says: “Sorry! The application Android Live Wallpapers has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again.” (Note to Google: I did. The same thing happened.) But maybe it doesn’t matter if the Nexus One isn’t nirvana. Google says it’s only the first Google phone of many, with one store to sell them all.”
David Pogue, New York Times

“The noise cancellation feature is particularly useful. The device has a second microphone on the back that monitors inbound noise and automatically cancels it out (anyone who’s used Bose noise cancellation headphones on a long flight will appreciate this). It does a great job of canceling out machinery and wind noise on the other end of the call. In my testing, call recipients noticed a substantial increase in call quality on this phone v. either the Droid of the iPhone. Look for other phones to quickly add this feature, it’s a must have.”
Michael Arrington, TechCrunch

Google Phone - Nexus One

Google finally announced its own mobile handset yesterday, the Nexus One.

There has been a lot of hype built around this launch and lots of thought into its consequences. Why would Google risk a rare move from software into hardware?

The obvious answer is to break the stranglehold Apple has on the mobile web through its iphone and App store franchise.

But the answer is bigger than that.

Its another move in a carefully constructed plan by Google to retain its leadership as computing shifts from one generation to another. Mobile is a game changer. As people increasingly rely on powerful mobile phones instead of PCs to gain access to the Web, their surfing habits are bound to change. As a result Google's economic model is under threat.

'The new paradigm is mobile computing and mobility. That has the potential to change the economics of the internet business and to redistribute profits yet again' David B. Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School.

Now Google saw the threat posed by mobile long ago and are well prepared making shrewd moves before Nexus One. In fact Google have been busier and have invested more than their rivals. Their mobile operating system Android has grown fast and is already beating Microsoft in mobile. They are trying to buy AdMob, the leading mobile ad placement company. They bought Grand Central a smart call handling services company. They've invested in mapping (recognizing services based on location are going to be critical particularly in ad placement).

Yes this is defensive but its also a recognition that mobile is going to be bigger, far bigger than PC and gives them a great place to grow revenues. All in all its the only place for them to be.

As for Nexus One it doesn't look that amazing when compared to iphone but that in itself doesn't matter. The game is much bigger and much more important than that.

2010 - e-content takes off (driven by Apple)

Happy New Year.

The global economic situation will undoubtedly remain challenging but in our world of digital media there is so much to be excited by in 2010.

We open the year with the news that Amazon sold more digital books than the ink on paper kind (on Christmas day) and that their e reader was the most popular gift item.

2010 is the year, we forecast, that e readers take off and media companies make full use new found ability to bring content to life - e-content.

Consumers can look forward to the convenience of the printed product combined with the dynamism of the web.

What drives this?

E readers whilst making some headway haven't really broken through. People like their Amazon Kindle (me included) or their Sony Reader but they don't love them. What we need is a really great e-reader.

Enter Apple.

We are excited by the imminent launch (in shops in US as early as March) of the much hyped Apple tablet computer - the iSlate.

Combining several products in one (think of it as an extreme iphone) the iSlate opens up a new frontier in personal digital 'convergence' technology. It will, also, act as an electronic reader and given Apple's designers ability to transform markets it should do for content access and presentation what ipod did for MP3 and e-music.

We can look forward to a fun, simple system which we can download (and pay for) dazzling e-content. A sexy system that many people want to buy.

Hope newspapers and magazine content companies are ready! We certainly are.

World map of Social Networks

Italian writer, blogger and photographer Vincenzo Cosenza has for the second time put together a visualization that shows the most popular social networks around the world on a map, based on the most recent traffic data (December 2009) as measured by Alexa & Google Trends for Websites.

Evening Standard and Indie talks back on

Independent News & Media said Friday that it has entered into an exclusive in principle - but non-binding - agreement with London Evening Standard newspaper owner Alexander Lebedev. The firm said it is "currently engaged in discussions with regard to the future ownership of The Independent and Independent on Sunday."

We are surprised by this news. We thought this deal was off - sensibly dead and buried. As we said last time we just don't see the commercial sense of it or what possible good will come from these two loss making papers joining together. We'd love for someone to help us understand the rational.
Toby Constantine
Director | Market Evolution Ltd

Research | Analysis | Insight | Advice | Action

Sent from my handheld

Murdoch visits newsagents

Image via Wikipedia

Fantastic story in The Guardian about Rupert Murdoch visiting newsagents.

I'm not surprised at all by this (although few billionaires would have the same inclination). Murdoch remains totally committed to and focused on newspapers. He remains energetically interested in the dynamics of the business and where the faultlines are and where improvements can be made and what better place to hear it as it actually is than from the the mouths of newsagents.

He,also, loves to wrong foot his management with first hand experiences of the market place. It reminds of an story from the early days of Sky when Murdoch evaluated Sky dish sale success on the number of dishes he had counted from the back of his car on the journey into London from the airport!

Promiscuity - part of the human condition

The researchers at media consultancy Oliver & Ohlbaum surveyed 2,600 readers about their news-reading habits. And it discovered a deep seated human characteristic: promiscuity!

Even the print loyalists the researchers found, have almost no loyalty when seeking out news (or comment and analysis).

For example, it found that readers of our client the Daily Telegraph got just 8 percent of their online news from its website. They spent twice as much time visiting the BBC’s news website and more than twice as much reading other quality papers.

They were also more likely to read tabloid papers, like The Sun and the Daily Mirror, online than their own favourite paper. Others were no more loyal. Sun readers, for example, visited the websites of quality newspapers about as often as they did those of tabloids, including their own Sun.

Now come on. What's surprising about this? Nothing! We are promiscuous at heart aren't we? Especially if are allowed to be or moreso when we can afford to be ie it doesn't hit us in the pocket!

Browsing, search and book marking technology coupled with fast internet connection speeds and the allure of free quality content has made it extremely easy for us (its encouraged us) to enjoy multiple (content) partners.

But promiscuity is itself a fragile beast. Like bubbles and soap promiscuity dies when confronted with the commitment that comes with a pay wall or even registration.

My conclusion to all this is simple. The online content market place is growing up. And it’s painful. It’s coming to the end of the ‘teen’ period of discovery and exploration i.e. multiple partner 'hook ups' and is entering the more responsible phase of fewer partners and greater commitment!

Now some users will attempt to hold back the tide and try to remain in multiple relationships. Some will just settle down with the BBC. The rest will be content to choose a limited number of paid high quality partners who will provide them with all they need for a committed and informed life.

Now I am hoping that publishers will adopt micro payments to encourage me to have my chosen few trusted content sources with whom I have a paid relationship rather than pay walls which force me to make a single partner commitment. Pay walls won't work because they presuppose that consumers can get all they need from one mega 'ikea' content site. It doesn't work like that. As the O&O research says readers are promiscuous not just because they can afford be right now but more importantly because they get specific things from different trusted sources. I, for example, use BBC online for breaking news, Sun for Sport, FT for business and IHT for the World! I'm not normal but we all know that single sources don't (can't) satisfy and it’s a naïve and dangerous assumption to think they can. 'All you can eat' paid for 24 hour access doesn't do it either. I don't want to come in - gorge - and leave only to have to pay again next time. I want specifically what I want when I want it (and jettison the rest) . I would, therefore, advocate a service where I can choose and pay for the bits of content from various publishers that do it for me and have then ‘housed’ on a platform that allows me access from whatever device I choose.

Surely in this technological age this isn’t too much of an ask??

Google phone - confirmed

Finally we have confirmation that Google is entering the mobile handset business.
Speculation has been rampant for months that the Google would begin to ship their own handset. Its a controversial move as they have been successfully pushing their mobile operating system Android to handset manufacturers and this move takes them from partner to competitor. Its also heralds a rare venture by Google into hardware.

The phone will appear in January 2010 and will be made by HTC of Taiwan.

2010 going to be a very interesting year for mobile.

Apple counter sues Nokia

Way back in October 2009 we wrote about Nokia suing Apple for alleged patent infringement and we suspected that Apple would respond with a counter claim. Well it appears that we were on the money.

Apple has today filed a counter suit against Finnish handset maker Nokia,

In its response lawsuit, Apple says Nokia infringes on 13 of its own patents, and even outright accuses the company of theft:

“Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s General Counsel and senior vice president.

We will continue to watch this one as these two giants square up. Both have a huge amount at stake and neither is likely to throw in the towel easily. Meanwhile it sure is a happy Christmas for their lawyers.

Sports Illustrated shows us the future

Please watch this video. Its a graphic illustration of whats coming and why we should be so excited to be in media. Strong brands with original high quality content are going to be set free by technology and will thrive in the digital era.