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The Future of the Social Web: In Five Eras « Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang | Social Media, Web Marketing April 29, 2009

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Expect the Groundswell to continue, in which people connect to each other –rather than institutions. Consumer adoption of social networks is increasing a rapid pace, brands are adopting even during a recession, so expect the space to rapidly innovate to match this trend. Clients can access this report, but to summarize what we found, in the executive summary we state:

Today’s social experience is disjointed because consumers have separate identities in each social network they visit. A simple set of technologies that enable a portable identity will soon empower consumers to bring their identities with them — transforming marketing, eCommerce, CRM, and advertising. IDs are just the beginning of this transformation, in which the Web will evolve step by step from separate social sites into a shared social experience. Consumers will rely on their peers as they make online decisions, whether or not brands choose to participate. Socially connected consumers will strengthen communities and shift power away from brands and CRM systems; eventually this will result in empowered communities defining the next generation of products.

We found that technologies trigger changes in consumer adoption, and brands will follow, resulting in five distinct waves, they consist of:

The Five Eras of the Social Web:

1) Era of Social Relationships: People connect to others and share

2) Era of Social Functionality: Social networks become like operating system

3) Era of Social Colonization: Every experience can now be social

4) Era of Social Context: Personalized and accurate content

5) Era of Social Commerce: Communities define future products and services

Update: CRM Magazine has more about the five eras, focus in on the graphic.

via The Future of the Social Web: In Five Eras « Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang | Social Media, Web Marketing.

Thanks for the public data, Google — Please, sir, can I have some more? April 29, 2009

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Google just launched an awesome new tool that allows you to chart public data, starting with unemployment and population numbers, making the information much more accessible.

The information that Google has charted, as well as the data it plans to add in the future, is already online, and usually available through, yes, a Google search. [...]

Google is trying to make it easier to find data through a Google search, and to help users better understand the data with its charts.

via Thanks for the public data, Google — Please, sir, can I have some more? » VentureBeat.

Wolfram|Alpha: Our First Impressions April 28, 2009

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The hype around Wolfram|Alpha, the next “Google killer” from the makers of Mathematica, has been building over the last few weeks. Today, we were lucky enough to attend a one-hour web demo with Stephen Wolfram, and from what we’ve seen, it definitely looks like it can live up to the hype – though, because it is so different from traditional search engines, it will definitely not be a “Google killer.” According to Stephen Wolfram, the goal of Alpha is to give everyone access to expert knowledge and the data that a specialist would be able to compute from this information. [...]

Alpha, which will go live within the next few weeks, is quite different from Google and really doesn’t directly compete with it at all. Instead of searching the web for info, Alpha is built around a vast repository of curated data from public and licensed sources. Alpha then organizes and computes this knowledge with the help of sophisticated Natural Language Processing algorithms. Users can ask Alpha any kind of question, which can be constructed just like a Google search (think: “hurricane bob” or “carbon steel strength”). [...]

Will it Kill Google?

No. Wolfram|Alpha will be an amazing product, but it’s quite different from Google and other search engines. Indeed, maybe it is actually wrong to call it a search engine at all (and Wolfram prefers to call it a “computational knowledge engine”). If you wanted to know what sights to see on your next trip to New York City, for example, Alpha, from what we’ve seen so for, will not be able to help you.

Alpha, however, will probably be a worthy challenger for Wikipedia and many textbooks and reference works. Instead of looking up basic encyclopedic information there, users can just go to Alpha instead, where they will get a direct answer to their question, as well as a nicely presented set of graphs and other info.

via Wolfram|Alpha: Our First Impressions – ReadWriteWeb.

Have a look also to a Live Webcast, where Stephen Wolfram give a demo about Wolfram|Alpha: Wolfram|Alpha demo

Hulu: CEO Jason Kilar On The State Of Hulu April 28, 2009

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Hulu CEO Jason Kilar sits down with Sarah Lacy on Yahoo Tech Ticker. The first and second segments are now up.

In the first segment, in response to Lacy’s question about why Hulu removed its content from the popular Boxee service, he talks about his need to juggle the needs of his three customers – networks, viewers and advertisers. The networks must be kept happy to make sure Hulu is around for the long term, he says, and this move was made to keep the networks happy. Kilar also addressed rumors of NBC pulling out of the joint venture.

Kilar talks about Hulu’s business model in the second segment. He won’t disclose revenue but says the company is ahead of plan. Analysts say the company may have made as much as $65 million last year on the back of advertising that sells at much higher rates than YouTube commands.

More segments coming up.

via CEO Jason Kilar On The State Of Hulu.

Microsoft Introduces Microsoft Vine, a “Societal Network” April 28, 2009

Posted by hruf in Internet & Communities, Mobile & Gadgets.
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Think of it as Facebook for the people you actually know and like, those whose health and safety you’d worry about in a natural disaster. It’s called Microsoft Vine and it’s not so much a social network as it is a “societal” one–or at least, Redmond likes to bill it as such.

Announced today and scheduled for beta in May, Vine is a hyperlocal messaging and alert system intended to be used to share information during a crisis. Properly configured, it will gather local news and public safety announcements along with location information, reports and messages from friends–eventually even those posted to other services, like Facebook and Twitter–into a handy little dashboard. This being Microsoft (MSFT), that dashboard will be proprietary and require PCs running XP SP2 or Vista and 600 MB of hard disk space. [...]

Anyway…. It’s an interesting idea–not so much as the “societal network” Microsoft touts it as but as a cunning end run around established services. Twitter and Facebook are fun, recreational, but Vine has gravitas. It’s the network you turn to when things fall apart–assuming you meet the proper system requirements–because it consolidates the Tweets and status updates you actually want to read with need-to-know public safety announcements. Of course, Microsoft won’t admit that. “We intend this to be a service of services–to not replace social networking tools that exist today, but embrace them,” Tammy Savage, Microsoft Vine general manager, told TechFlash.

via Microsoft Introduces Microsoft Vine, a “Societal Network” | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD.

Get your Google Voice On: VoiceCentral and GV Mobile finally hit the App Store April 28, 2009

Posted by hruf in Mobile & Gadgets.
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Nearly a month after we dabbled with these two iPhone Google Voice solutions, VoiceCentral and GV Mobile have finally made it through Apple’s torture chambers and onto the e-shelves of the App Store.

While we haven’t spent enough time with either post-release to recommend one over the other, we can say that VoiceCentral has gone and fixed every qualm we had with it in its early days. The UI has been polished, SMS support has been added, a History screen is now available, and you can choose which screen to show on start up. Both apps go for $2.99, and are now pretty much neck-and-neck as far as features (with a few perks exclusive to each app). At this point, which one would suit you better seems like a matter of personal preference.

via Get your Google Voice On: VoiceCentral and GV Mobile finally hit the App Store.

HTC Magic con Google now available from Vodafone Spain April 28, 2009

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My new phone: It will come ;-)

That’s right, folks. Earlier today, Vodafone Spain officially launched the highly anticipated HTC Magic (con Google, for you Español speaking readers).

While it may not be got for free (read: 139€ for the phone on the cheapest plan w/ mandatory 18 month contract) like its UK sibling (expected to launch in early May), the real point is that it is here, now (in Spain at least).

via HTC Magic con Google now available from Vodafone Spain.

Internet to overtake TV by June 2010 April 27, 2009

Posted by pannet in Internet & Communities, Multimedia.
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Key Findings:
• Based on current growth trends, Microsoft projections estimate that Internet consumption will outstrip traditional TV in June 2010, averaging 14.2 hours per week against 11.5 hours for TV
• Europeans spent on average 8.9 hours per week, or 1.5 days a month, using the web in 2008, up 27% from 2004 – more time than they did reading print media, watching movies, or playing video games. By 2010 Microsoft predicts people will spend over 2.5 days a month on the Internet
• Internet use on PCs will drop from 95% today to only 50% over the next 5 years as other web enabled devices such as IPTV, games consoles and mobile phones become more popular
• Online video has established itself as the most popular online entertainment application, with more than 1 in 4 (28%) Europeans watching short or full-length videos – an increase of over 150% since 20064
• Content (such as news websites and online video) and communication services (such as email and social networks) represent 65% of all time spent online and commerce represents a third (33%) of time spent on the web

“”While today the experience is fragmented across multiple media devices and environments – from the living room television to the bedroom PC to the portable music player and mobile phone – in future, software will enable connected, integrated entertainment experiences,” said Microsoft’s European vice president for consumer and online, John Mangelaars.

Full Report: http://download.microsoft.com/documents/uk/finland/press/europe_logs_on.pdf

Hulu iPhone App Coming Soon, ‘Badass’ April 22, 2009

Posted by pannet in Internet & Communities, Mobile & Gadgets, Multimedia.
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hulu-iphone-app-0_88x0_882Hulu is in the process of developing an app for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and iPod touch, we have learned from a plugged-in industry executive. The app is coming soon (within a few months) and is “badass” — as excellent as Hulu’s Web site. Video will work over both wi-fi and 3G, we’re told.

It won’t be the first Web video app for the iPhone — CBS’s TV.com app is on the market, as are Joost, i.TV and several others — but it could be the best. Hulu’s tech and design teams have demonstrated themselves as the best in the Web video industry, as everyone is now trying to emulate them. One hurdle, we assume: Because of Hulu’s streaming architecture, it might not be possible to download videos to watch later, such as on the subway or an airplane.

Why would Apple and AT&T approve this app, which will use up a lot of bandwidth and compete with Apple’s iTunes video store? Because it will help sell iPhones, iPod touches, and AT&T subscriptions. And that’s the whole point of the App Store. (And if we were Hulu, we’d offer Apple and/or AT&T an ad revenue-sharing deal, too.)

Mobile video has not taken off yet, mainly because most services — offered by carriers — are too expensive, or look terrible. Just over 3% of mobile subscribers watch video on their phones, according to comScore. An iPhone Hulu app, on the other hand, could be very popular.

http://www.businessinsider.com/hulu-iphone-app-coming-soon-badass-2009-4

Move Networks Acquires Inuk for Broadcast TV on the PC April 22, 2009

Posted by pannet in Internet & Communities, Multimedia.
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Move Networks has acquired UK-based virtual set-top box provider Inuk Networks in a deal that adds a broadcast component to Move’s ongoing efforts to distribute television over the Internet. The purchase price was not disclosed but it at least partly involved Move shares. Inuk had raised an $18.5 million second round only last June, but according to paidContent:UK, ran through its funding building a PC IPTV service that only had some 100,000 users, all university students. Inuk already uses Move’s adaptive streaming technology as part of a deal the two companies did last year. Move, which currently powers mostly on-demand streaming but also some live events, said it plans to launch Inuk’s Freewire platform in the U.S. and Scandinavia later this year. Inuk will remain in the UK and be branded as Move Networks, with Move’s major shareholders — including Steamboat Ventures, Hummer Winblad and Benchmark Capital — and Inuk’s major shareholders — including Wesley Clover, S4CDM and Cable&Wireless — continuing to have stakes in the combined entity. Move has made layoffs and is currently seeking a replacement for its CEO. The company has raised $68 million from Benchmark Capital, Cisco, Comcast Interactive Media, Televisa, Steamboat Ventures and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Though it has lost a bit of sparkle, Move still counts some major customers for its high-quality TV distribution on the web: ABC, FOX, The CW, ESPN360, ProSieben and Televisa.

http://newteevee.com/2009/04/22/move-networks-acquires-inuk-for-broadcast-tv-on-pcs/

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