Our Mobile Phone Wonderland
August 25, 2012
Here is where hype and over-the-top marketing collide with reality. Cell Phone Digest reports that “Pew Research Reviews Mobile Phone Problems.” Reporting on a recent survey from the Pew Research Center, the article states:
“Even though mobile technology often simplifies the completion of everyday tasks, cell phone owners can also encounter technical glitches and unwanted intrusions on their phones. In an April 2012 survey, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project assessed the prevalence of four problems that cell owners might face.”
The four problems: dropped calls (72% experienced them), unwanted sales calls (68%), spam texts (69% of texting users), and slow download speeds (77% of those who go online with their phones). The survey found that smartphone users experienced these problems more than those with phones of average intelligence.
The write up notes that, though the study was not structured to measure illegal cell phone marketing, the amounts found imply a lot of that is going around. The article reminds us to look into the National Do Not Call Registry if we wish to reduce the number of marketing calls and texts we receive.
Researchers suspect that our levels of dissatisfaction are the result of technology that has not been able to keep up with our expectations. Could less-than-completely-honest advertising have anything to do with that? Nah, that can’t be it.
Cynthia Murrell, August 25, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Dedicated iPad Content is No Media Savior
August 25, 2012
It seems that content tailored to the iPad is not the panacea media outfits hoped it would be. Gigaom examines the (lack of a) trend in “HuffPo, The Daily and the Flawed iPad Content Model.”
It has been just over a month since The Huffington Post launched their paid iPad content service, and already the site announces it is reducing the price. To zero. Meanwhile, News Corporation‘s dedicated iPad division The Daily has sharply reduced its staff and, it is rumored, may be on its way out altogether. What’s happening? Is the iPad not the savior of news organizations?
Writer Matthew Ingram suspects the culprit is the very way users have come to access media online. He explains:
“Whether media companies like it or not (and they mostly don’t), much of the news and other content we consume now comes via links shared through Twitter and Facebook and other networks, or through old-fashioned aggregators — such as Yahoo News or Google News — and newer ones like Flipboard and Zite and Prismatic that are tailored to mobile devices and a socially-driven news experience. Compared to that kind of model, a dedicated app from a magazine or a newspaper looks much less interesting, since by design it contains content from only a single outlet, and it usually doesn’t contain helpful things like links.”
This viewpoint, though probably correct, seems to leave little hope for traditional publishers who strive to make it in today’s media landscape. Ingram acknowledges that a couple of organizations who already had a very strong brand, like the New York Times, and some that target niche audiences are doing well. For the field as a whole, though, fresh ideas are desperately needed.
Cynthia Murrell, August 25, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Tableau BI App Now Available for Android Tablets
August 15, 2012
Tableau version 7.0.6 includes Android functionality, according to “Tableau Software Expands Mobile Business Intelligence Capabilities with Support for Android” at the San Francisco Chronicle. The press release explains:
“The native Android application will provide Android users with touch-optimized controls for dashboards, including filters, pinch and zoom and dynamic scrolling. It will also allow users to browse the content on Tableau Server right from their Android tablet device.”
The BI consultants at I.T. firm InterWorks got to test drive the beta version, and were happy with the results. Their James Wright declares:
“Presenting business intelligence via a Tablet really breaks the mold and completely reframes expectations. The user expects, and receives, a fully interactive experience that transcends the traditional BI approach of ‘Sit and Stare.’ I never walk into a new client or training session without a Tablet.”
That’s a very good point. A version with touch-aware support for the iPad was released last year. No word yet on a version for the Surface. Hmm.
Last year Gartner and IDC rated Tableau Software as the world’s fastest-growing business intelligence company. The enterprise grew from a Department of Defense project, pursued at Stanford University, that sought to increase folks’ ability to analyze information. Founded in 2003, Tableau is headquartered in Seattle, WA, and has four other offices sprinkled through the US and Europe.
Cynthia Murrell, August 15, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Google Now May Make Android 4 1 a Siri Killer
August 14, 2012
The Android Does blog recently posted an interesting write up on what Google knows about people in the article “Google Now: One Step Closer to a Star Trek Future.”
According to the article, Google has some futuristic plans for the next wave of Android products that will allow devices to perform searches and tasks when circumstances prompt it, rather than when a stated query or command does.
The new tool that allows for this is called Google Now and it aims to make the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) a fierce competitor of Apple’s Siri.
When explaining Google Now, the article states:
“Google Now is more than an assistant; it tells you today’s weather before you start your day, how much traffic to expect before you leave for work, when the next train will arrive as you’re standing on the platform, or your favorite team’s score while they’re playing. And the best part? All of this happens automatically. Cards appear throughout the day at the moment you need them. I don’t know about you but the possibilities from here are pretty exciting; let us know what you think in the comments.”
Google Now will make Android 4.1 by far the most technologically advanced smartphone personal assistant to date. But are smartphone users ready for technology to be one step ahead of us at all times?
Jasmine Ashton, August 14, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Neofonie Technology Underpins Labdoo
August 10, 2012
Neofonie GmbH, based in Berlin, Germany, is a long-term player in search; the company has been in the market since 1998 and created the early German search engine fireball.de. Their technology is now being used at Labdoo.org, home base for the Labdoo project, a 501(c)(3) organization. The project’s About page explains its goals:
“A laptop is a door to education, providing children free access to open source education tools and electronic books through the Internet.
“In the richer countries, every year more than a hundred million laptops are replaced by new ones. This number continues to increase, yet most of the children in the poor regions of the world still lack access to education.
“The goal of Labdoo is to use grassroots, decentralized, social networking tools to efficiently bring excess laptops to the children in the developing world without wasting additional Earth resources.
“Join Labdoo and use the social network tools to bring a laptop to a child!”
A worthy cause, to be sure. Though the project won’t be officially launched until early next year, its Web site is up and running. The organization encourages visitors to use its tools to build their own “mini-missions and hubs.” Doing so, it emphasizes, will help further the development of their platform.
Neofonie began as an offshoot of the Technical University of Berlin. They make it a point to meet, and to innovate beyond, market demands. The company produces enterprise search as well as portal and vertical search products for both Web solutions and mobile apps.
Cynthia Murrell, August 10, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Basho Releases Riak 1.2
August 8, 2012
Basho proclaims, “Riak 1.2 Is Official!” Riak is the powerful open source, distributed database behind many scalable, data-intensive Web, mobile, and e-commerce applications. The software’s newest version has creator Basho celebrating. There are several new features; the write up specifies:
“*More efficiently add multiple Riak nodes to your cluster
*Stage and review, then commit or abort cluster changes for easier operations; plus smoother handling of rolling upgrades
*Better visibility into active handoffs
*Repair Riak KV and Search partitions by attaching to the Riak Console and using a one-line command to recover from data corruption/loss
*More performant stats for Riak; the addition of stats to Riak Search
*2i and Search usage thru the Protocol Buffers API
*Official Support for Riak on FreeBSD
*In Riak Enterprise: SSL encryption, better balancing and more granular control of replication across multiple data centers, NAT support”
The write up details Riak’s latest innovations in areas like cluster management, partition rebuilding, and LevelDB performance improvements. I highly recommend checking out the article for more information.
Basho ends their post with a thank-you to their open source community, and, naturally, a petition for feedback on the newest version of Riak. The company was founded in 2008, and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Customers, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, use Riak to implement global session stores and to manage large amounts of structured and unstructured data.
Cynthia Murrell, August 08, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Crushing Teen Communication. Oh, Dear!
July 30, 2012
Mashable’s headline may be a little sensationalistic, or not, depending on whether you consider email to be social media. The site exclaims, “Without Social Media, 18% of Teens Would Stop Communicating.” (The infographic that goes with the piece is here.) The write up cites a recent survey from marketing company AWeber which asked American high school and college students about their communication habits. Writer Emily Price tells us:
“According to the survey, 90% of teens are on [Facebook], and an astounding 93% of teenagers use mobile phones – the same amount that use email. 74% of teens are YouTube users, and 47% use Skype to keep up with others.
“Facebook and Email own almost equal parts of teens’ hearts. With teenagers going for both when they wake up in the morning, while they’re in class, and even while they’re on vacation.”
The study went on to ask respondents what they would do if the unthinkable occurred: cell phones, and the technology to recreate them, have disappeared from the Earth. In that event, only six percent would consider using a landline or the postal service to keep in touch. Eighteen percent vowed the hardship would push them into a virtual oubliette, from which they would never communicate again.
Consider this, though. As my beloved publisher so delicately asks, is it a loss or is it a gain when eighteen percent of teens no longer share their thoughts with the world?
Cynthia Murrell, July 30, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Insight Into the Future of Search
July 30, 2012
As technology progresses, we are becoming more and more reliant on our mobile devices, really the apps on those devices, to get the job done. Nir Eyal of the Nir & Far behavior engineering blog recently published an article that breaks down the way modern apps are being developed, called “Stop Building Apps and Start Building Behaviors.”
According to the article, app developers are currently using interaction design and psychology to create products that will work with your brain in mind. There are three qualities that modern apps need in order to achieve this: be a feature, build it easier, and make it a habit.
When explaining the importance of building a simple yet engaging app, Eyal looks into the future:
“The next wave in mobile computing will move beyond the phone. Several companies are anticipating a world where users wear devices to make difficult behaviors much easier.LumoBack, a company now money on Kickstarter, has built a new way to improve users’ posture. [Disclosure: LumoBack co-founder Charles Wang is a close friend.] A device, worn like a belt around the waste, sends data to an avatar named Lumo on the user’s phone. When he or she slouches, so does Lumo, providing immediate, actionable feedback.”
So, the future of app development really has very little to do with designing overly ornate apps that meet your every need, but rather focusing on simplicity and elegance.
Jasmine Ashton, July 30, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Mobile Devices are Great but at Least Dust the Desktop
July 29, 2012
Today’s internet savvy individuals are texting, tweeting and Facebooking from the driveway to the grocery store. Mobile electronics are winning the popularity contest according to Hostway’s article,“Tablets Account for 4 in 10 Mobile e-Commerce Searches.” Are the people starting to forget there was internet before the mobile device?
If what the British Retail Consortium (BRC), says is true, many a neglected desktop and laptop sit being blanketed in dust. The BRC released a study that reflected the use of mobile electronics, like tablets and smartphones was increasing in the home. Mobile devices are even being used while watching television.
The factoids from the new research show:
“Some 40 per cent of online shopping searches that take place on a mobile device are carried out using a tablet. Interestingly, the sector which is experiencing the biggest increase in mobile e-commerce searches is food and drink, which is up by 163 per cent year-on-year. Smart consumers are increasingly using new devices to price check before purchasing their groceries.”
Apparently, there is now an ‘M’ (mobile) generation, as today’s youth often texts away while walking, driving, watching a movie or eating. Phones and tablets are nice, but seriously… staring at those tiny buttons most the day cannot be good for the eyes.
Mobile devices are great, but at least dust off the desktop every now and then. Our beloved leader, the addled goose, is too old to type on an iPad.
Jennifer Shockley, July 29, 2012
Android Fragmentation Pinching Some Developer Toes
July 18, 2012
Here in Harrod’s Creek, we absofreakinglutely know that there is no Android fragmentation. We remember what Google says. But some folks are not heeding the message it seems.
Google is trying to tip toe between their hardware developers and their partners to knock the edge out of fragmentation issues with Android. Slashdot’s “Google Trying New Strategy to Fix Fragmentation” talks about the impressive new features Android is offering while they sidestep the fragmentation problems.
Despite Androids release of Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean, the majority of users are still using Gingerbread. Google admits that according to their data only around 7% of Android users are utilizing the current version. The sad irony is that makes the latest OS innovations unavailable to the other 93% and developers are forced to test apps across multiple devices and versions.
How is Google appeasing the developers? Google is giving free tablets and phones to developers at the event, and:
“Google’s Hugo Barra announced a Platform Developer Kit during the opening keynote at I/O this week and the news was greeted with applause. The PDK will provide Android phone makers with a preview version of upcoming Android releases, making it easier for them to get the latest software in their new phones. But is the PDK enough to secure for developers the single user experience for big numbers of Android users that developers crave?”
The fragmentation continues to contribute to the cost of making apps and Google risks chasing its developers away. Google is walking on eggshells and ignoring frag issues with their hardware partners and developers who want to customize devices. If ignored? Maybe no one cares.
Jennifer Shockley, July 18, 2012
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