Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Several years ago, people would say that word of mouth is no longer a powerful advertising tool. With mass media in its growth the most successful advertisements were often the ones with the most air time on television, the largest billboards, the most posters and the widest streamers.
People could still give out recommendations to friends and family, but word of mouth can only travel so far. Unless you were a journalist or elsewhere in the media, a personal opinion and recommendation is not going to change the future of your favorite corner book store.
Today, a single Tweeted opinion can be as powerful as the most expensive commercial air time during a major sports event.
This is the world that we live in today, highly influenced by three major factors: better smart phone technology, the growth of social networking and the improvement of mobile wireless technology. Information can be sent, received and share instantly, not just among small circles of friends, but across hundreds and thousands of linked acquaintances, colleagues, peers, co-workers and other contacts.
In a portion of the findings from research firm Gartner’s study, it was revealed that may people rely heavily on what people in their social network say regarding products and services. The study covered the influence of social networking in the purchasing habits of over 4000 consumers from all over the world.
According to Gartner, the realm of social networking is a highly underutilized tool for marketing that many commercial companies are failing to tap to into. Despite the already large number of ads that appear all over sites such as Facebook and sponsored Tweets there are still plenty of avenues left unexplored, and many brands still without an online presence.
One could say that smart phone technology and the internet have turned the concept of marketing into a full circle –giving the power of influence back to the consumers. From what we are seeing, it looks like the progress has pushed marketing beyond its’ original scope.
Tags: Facebook, Internet, smartphones, social-networking, technology, Twitter
According to a recent study, radio is back! Smart phones are indeed very influential, not only because of the things they can do, but also because people have them all the time. Not only did they change the way people access the internet, but they also gave life back to the dying media that is known as radio.
The digital music industry did a pretty big number on radio as less people wanted to tune into broadcasts and instead, chose to focus on the music stored in their devices. However, the smart phone industry is slowly changing all of that. Users now state that they have rediscovered radio thanks to their smart phones. It seems that having an FM radio is a big deal –as it allows users to listen new things all the time.
Now, since users often carry around their mobile phones and have access to radio, people are tuning in more often than not. Aside from using the car stereo to listen to the latest chart toppers while on the road, many have found that listening to the radio on the mobile will free up plenty of space on the handset that was originally dedicated to music.
A study showed that 13% of adults use mobile phone technology to listen to the radio. And that number is expected to continuously grow over the next couple of years as users realize the value of having an extra guard on the handle.
Podcasts are ironically, the new broadcasting medium that is encouraging users to tune into actual radio stations. While listening to a specific podcast program will get users specific kinds of content, being able to tune into whatever is on the air is a great idea –and something that most smart phone users have learned to practice when basic web access is not available.
Tags: Internet, mobile-phones, radio, smartphones
Size does matter in choosing a mobile phone that is right for you. While there are already a handful of sleek, classy mobile phones out in the market, there is only one modular mobile phone. Meet the Modu, the world’s lightest handset. This means that you will now be able to call, send text messages and play music using a device that weighs only 40.1 g. There is even Bluetooth connectivity and a 2 GB internal storage.
Bluetooth connectivity is also present, as well as MP3 playing capability and a (non-expandable) 2 GB internal storage capacity. Since the mobile phone measures only 72.1 mm high, 37.6 mm wide and 7.8 mm thick, it can only house a 1.3 inch screen. The OLED display is able to show up to 65 thousand colors, decent enough but the size of the screen may not be for everyone.
If you are worried that you may fumble with the lightweight Modu, you can always just go for a “jacket”. These jackets add new features, such as a 3.2 megapixel camera, or convert your mobile phone into, say, an 8 inch digital photo frame charging dock.
You can also turn it into a fitness buddy with its pedometer option. If you can’t sleep without a night light, the Modu can be slipped on an ambient light jacket for your convenience.
The miniscule gadget has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, being deemed the lightest in the world. This innovative device first came out in its home country of Israel about 2 years ago, but fortunately, the Purely Gadgets website is going to sell them exclusively for the UK market. They will cost 129.99 GBP a unit and a Modu jacket can come with it at a discounted price. Check it out at the web store this month.
Tags: Bluetooth, camera, gadgets, mobile-phones, Modu, Modu-1, MP3, OLED
The Android Os is fast spreading in the world of smart phone users. Currently it is said that there are more devices using the Android OS over all others. Of course, this does not mean that all of these Android phones are running the same version of the OS.
Samsung has already unveiled their upcoming devices for the second half of 2010, and right now, the only question is which of their devices are going to be ported over from Korea to the UK? The I5500 S and the Galaxy Corby are certainly going to hit the shelves, but nothing has been reported about the Galaxy Tab.
HTC has once again caught the attention of many Android fans after a leaked roadmap showcased a couple of HTC devices that are coming later this year. The HTC Ace has not been detailed, but the HTC Vision has already come out in images. The Vision comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard –which makes this handset the very first HTC Android that comes with a physical keyboard. In the meanwhile, HTC Androids (like the Sabor and the Scorpio) that were not part of the roadmap have disappeared from the radar.
It has recently been announced that the Japanese manufacturer Fujitsu has been eyeing the Google Android operating system. So far, it is rare that Japanese phone developers would make new handsets outside the land of the orient (and considering their very unique smart phones –or ketai as it is called in their country), but with Fujitsu, we are certainly hoping that whatever device they make will be meant for a world wide release.
Orange Mobile UK is also working on a proprietary smart phone. The Project JAL handset is rumored to be a low end Android smart phone featuring a 3.5 inch OLED screen and a 3 mega pixel camera.
Tags: Fujitsu, Google-Android, HTC, HTC-Ace, HTC-Vision, Orange, Project-JAL, Samsung, Samsung-Galaxy-Corby, Samsung-Galaxy-Tab
A special music edition of the OT-708 One Touch Mini is now available at the official Phonse4U website. The handset, which bears the nickname “Rainbow”, is a special edition version of the device that sports a new color theme and music that features the artist Eliza Doolittle.
The new color scheme is simple and there is only one complimentary music track included in the phone. But aside from that, the handset is pretty much the same OT-708 handset that was released last year. The special edition is confirmed to have a retail price of 29.95 Pounds on pay as you go and this version is exclusive to Phones4U (fans of the music artist would certainly appreciate the cheap price for this handset).
Specs wise, the Rainbow is a standard 2G handset with a decent touch screen display.
The 2.4 inch TFT touch screen gives users 240 x 320 pixels of resolution and about 256k color capacity. It is decent enough for handling most common low resolution videos and for viewing the internet. Images are rendered nicely onscreen but do not expect super rich colors and quality. The user interface on the handset bring together the use of widgets, embedded images and a series of touch sensitive keys located on the bottom of the screen.
With a 1.3 mega pixel camera, this device will not be good for taking super high resolution images. But if all you need is a decent snapper for taking quick photos, it will fit the job nicely. The internal memory for storing content is only 5 MB so users are expected to have a microSD card (it supports up to 4GB cards).
In terms of additional features, the Rainbow offers quite little aside from music playback and web browsing support. Lack of GPS means that no map and location based services will be available.
Tags: 2G, GPS, microSD-card, OT-708-One-Touch-Mini, Phones4U, Rainbow
Many smart phones will allow a user to instant take a video recording of almost anything. And chances are these videos are shared with friends and families online on various file and video sharing sites like YouTube before they are posted on Facebook.
In many ways, this little convenience is something that users should be careful about. Uploading a video is quite easy (especially when there is a stable and fast internet connection), but the repercussions of doing such could be bigger.
Take the previous case of a Google video which showed a young boy being bullied. The case ended with three of Google Italy’s top heads taking the blame for the psychological damage that the video has brought. Despite the fact that Google does not control the content that is uploaded by users, many feel that they are responsible.
Since Google also owns YouTube, the same argument has also been made –not only because of an uploaded video’s potential effects, but also because of the fact that a large chunk of videos online contain copyrighted material. Viacom has filed a case against Google regarding this matter. Despite the fact that they lost the case, it drives in the fact that there is an issue with the content that is being uploaded to the video sharing site.
Copyrights are not the only issue that YouTube users should be wary of, after all, Google already takes measures to help out the copyright owners (if copyright owners request that certain videos be taken down, Google cooperates with them).
Being careful about how personal and private videos are shared is also important. While it may be nice to upload that video taken at a cousin’s recent wedding, be sure to ask permission from the people who are heavily involved in the video –more often than not, people find themselves tagged in embarrassing moments caught on camera that are publicly displayed by their contacts on Facebook and other social networking sites.
Tags: copyrights, Facebook, Google, Google-video, Internet, smartphones, social-networking, Viacom, video, YouTube
The smart phone industry already knew early on that the Android OS will be getting an update which brings with it the Adobe Flash Player. But now, it appears that the Google OS is not the only platform that will be getting this new feature. It seems that a large range of other platforms will also be getting Flash Players as well.
The only OS that we are certain will not be getting any support from Adobe is the Apple iPhone OS, so all those new Apple iPhone 4s might end up missing a vital feature.
It all started with the release of the Apple iPhone OS4 SDK. With the release of the developer kit, there was also a license agreement which forbade the use of third party software in the development of Apple iPhone apps. During this time, it was common practice for many developers to create Flash apps and use an iPhone compiler to port the game over to the Apple platform. Adobe’s new Flash Professional CS5 featured a Flash to iPhone compiler as its biggest feature. When the Apple license agreement basically cut off Adobe, hostilities between the two companies took a very open and public form.
Before the dust settled, Adobe has found itself declaring that it would no longer support Apple and that Google has teamed up with the developer. This immediately led to an announcement from Google about the new Android supporting Flash –a promise that is seeing realization just now. At the same time, Google and Adobe also announced that they would be supporting the HTML5 format as well –leaving Apple being the only OS in town not supporting Flash.
This reality will sink in even more as the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 OS is confirmed to be getting a Flash update after it is released and that many other smart phones will also be getting the update as well. Phones that make use of the Palm WebOS, BlackBerry OS, Symbian, MeeGo and LiMo are among those confirmed that will be getting a Flash Player.
Tags: Adobe-Flash, Apple, Apple-iOS-4, Apple-iPhone-4, apps, Blackberry-OS, Google, Google-Android, Palm, smartphones, Symbian, WebOS
You might have found yourself with a phone on low battery more than once. It is not a crime, but it is terribly inconvenient. Mobile phones are made to help people get in touch with one another, coordinate, communicate and plan. However, with most of society becoming all too reliant on the accessibility of the modern mobile phone, being stuck outside with a phone on its last few bars of energy leaves one with a feeling of hopelessness.
Here are a few simple pointers that could help ration the energy left on your mobile phone when a charge is still too far away.
First off, go silent. Most mobile phones have a silent mode setting that will keep all the tones, beeps, rings and music to a muted level. This helps save a lot of energy. If you are waiting for a message to arrive or a call, simply be sure to keep the phone on hand or in a visible position in your desk so you can check the screen regularly.
Of course, when checking the screen, there is no need to unlock the device if there are no updates –the dark standby screen often has notifications if you have a new message or call to check.
The second best thing to do is to go offline. Connecting to WiFi or a 3G network will drain your battery faster, especially when there is plenty of content coming in and out. When in a situation where a person really needs to have a phone with power, being offline from a social networking account for a few hours should not be much of a compromise (if it is, you might want to seek help).
Lastly, change the screen settings. LCD screens and backlights eat up power when left on for a long time. Devices often have a low power settings mode, or have similar adjustable settings to achieve the needed effect.
Tags: 3G, battery, social-networking, Wifi
Now here is a big claim. At the Nielsen 360 Consumer Conference, Sheryl Sandberg is saying that Email will eventually go away, despite the fact that even she finds it hard to imagine a future without it.
The silly thing here is that prior to this statement, Sheryl also declares that it is the current web usage patterns of teens today that determines the trends of the future. It sounds logical, but it also completely ignores what teenagers are actually doing. Her example covers the concept that teenagers would not send emails to each other; they would message each other privately using Facebook’s message features.
The only reason this happens is that accessing the ‘send a message’ button is far easier than logging into a web server. But if all email did was send personal messages among people in a one’s friends’ list, then the technology would have been phased out by now.
Emails do more than help people communicate. Email also works as a personal identification tool on the web –Facebook is trying to do the same, but the need for privacy alone is enough to stop the effort.
And the reason why people trust email accounts to identify them and not their Facebook accounts is due to the fact that emails, as personal as they are, are also anonymous. Of course, barring the use of one’s own name as an email address, anonymity is a key factor that Facebook cannot provide.
Despite the fact that the highest amount of traffic that mobile internet sees is with social networking site Facebook, search engine Google and microblogging Twitter, accessing emails is also an important part of the day for many people. Access to emails is one of the main reasons why smart phones were developed. And while social networking may be pushing the distribution of smart phone technology, it would never be able to replace or phase out emails.
Tags: email, Facebook, Google, Internet, social-networking, Twitter
If you plan on giving your child a smart phone with internet access, you might want to check into the latest Norton Family Report to be able to know what you need to do to prepare the child for access to the internet.
According to the annual study, children these days are more likely to encounter “negative experiences” when browsing the internet. Not that the internet has always been clean, but access to various content that contains violence, profanity, nudity and other similar material is now made easier. Norton states that at least 60% of children will encounter this content when they go online.
The initial solution for many parents is to control what their children can and cannot access. This usually entails placing firewalls, passwords and family filter protocols to determine what goes through the router and what cannot. However, shielding does not actually prepare the child for anything; it is simply delaying the inevitable.
A generation ago, it would have made sense to keep children away from such materials until they are at an age where their level of understanding and level of maturity is able to cope with the ‘negative content’. But given how integrated the internet is to our society (and how the material can also be found offline –on the telly and on other media), it is actually more important for parents to know and understand the value of educating their children properly.
The internet will not wait for your child, and keeping a child away from social networking, games and the internet in general would be akin to deprivation. What is important is to give the child discipline, confidence and awareness of what the internet truly is what can be found there.
With smart phones now considered to be a basic necessity for many modern families, this is one crucial step that parents cannot afford to miss.
Tags: firewalls, games, Internet, smartphones, social-networking
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