Glucose Digital - The Glublog

TechCrunch Tablet Update: Prototype B

2009-01-19T19:25:00.001-08:00

About | Advertise...
TechCrunch Tablet Update: Prototype B
463 Comments
by Michael Arrington on January 19, 2009

It's time for an update on the progress we've made on the low cost touch screen tablet that I first wrote about in July 2008 when I asked for a dead simple touch screen web tablet that boots right to the browser. Here's our first post on the tablet, which we're now calling the CrunchPad internally.

The idea is to get a new type of device into people's hands for as cheap as possible (we were aiming for $200, it looks like $299 is more realistic). It fits perfectly on your lap while you are sitting in front of the TV, so you can look up stuff on Wikipedia or IMDB as you channel surf. It plays Flash video flawlessly so you can watch movies and TV shows on Hulu or Joost or wherever. Or listen to music on MySpace Music. Or use TokBox to have a video chat with your parents. Then check email and call it a day. Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Hulu, Wikipedia, Google Docs and Gmail are the killer apps for this device.

Because the device skips the resource-sucking parts of the operating system and focuses on one application - the browser - very low end hardware can be used and still give users a desktop-like Internet browsing experience.

We built a working but very humble Prototype A in August. It barely booted, but once it did it was a working touch screen web tablet built on very low end hardware. And when I surfed the web with it, I knew I wanted one that worked properly.

Since August a lot has happened. First, we now have a team lead - Louis Monier. Louis, formerly the founder/CTO of AltaVista (he is credited with building one of the first Internet search engines), has also spent time at eBay (head of the Advanced Technology Group), Google and Cuil. Louis left Cuil in the Fall and has been spending his spare time working with outside teams to build the new prototype. He's in love with the project, and we're lucky to get his time.

Second, we've completed Prototype B of the CrunchPad and are ready to show it to you. I include pictures and video to show it in action.

CrunchPad Prototype B

The device has a 12-inch touchscreen with a 4:3 aspect ratio (which is ideal for web browsing in my opinion). It is powered with a Via Nano processor, which has performed at par with the Intel Atom in our testing. 1 GB of ram (its more than we need) and a 4 GB flash drive to store the OS and browser and any cache. Resolution is 1024*768, which means the vast majority of websites are viewed in full width without scrolling. The device also has wifi, an accelerometer (so when you turn the screen on its side you can view more of a web page), a camera and a four cell battery. Total cost of the device, when we include estimates for the case, codecs and other miscellaneous items, is just over $200. Prototype B is actually much less expensive because the screen we used isn't very good. The price estimate includes a much better, more expensive LCD.

The case, which was designed and built by David Yarnell and Greg Lalier from Dynacept, is 12.5'' x 9.7'' x 1.3''. It's about twice as thick as is needs to be without further engineering - we just built in a safety thickness in case of heat or other issues. The device weighs three pounds, partially due to the extra batteries we've stuffed into it to see how long we can run it without power. Still, the device weighs in at 2 oz less than the 10'' eeePC.

The software: currently we're running a full install of Ubuntu Linux on the prototype with a custom Webkit browser. A lot of the work done to date has been on the drivers and the virtual keyboard, which you can see in the videos. The software has been created by Singapore-based Fusion Garage, who continue to work with Louis on the feature set and user experience.

More pictures:

Blackberry Storm

2008-10-15T07:44:00.001-07:00

Blackberry Storm

IPhone Killer?

2008-10-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

Check out the Nokia 5800

From SMM Guru

2008-09-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

I decided it would be a good idea to take all of the best posts and information I have read online lately and put them in one list. Keep in mind that while a lot of this information will give you great insight on making money and leveraging social media, SMM and affiliate marketing is not for everyone. Those who are creative, driven, and LIVE outside the box are those who make the buku bucks.

And now for the list:

Facebook Social Ads Command Center

Laundering your Facebook Traffic

Messing with Facebook Social Ads

Messing Facebook Social Ads - Take 2

Gaming Facebook Ads - Part 1

Gaming Facebook Ads - Part 2

5 Killer Tips for Facebook Ad Ownage | NickyCakes.com

A Killer Facebook Strategy Revealed

A Successful Campaign Revealed!

Facebook and Landing Pages?

In my experiances I have found that Facebook can be highly profitable if you are willing to put the time in. It will not take long before 100 other people are running ads that are for the same thing (even exact copies of your ads lol) so have ideas waiting in the wing.

If you can stay ahead of the game, you can make some big bucks off Facebook.

Citizen Journalism

2008-09-29T07:36:00.001-07:00

Social media and citizen journalism now on your iPhone

IBL News (Spain): Social media and citizen journalism now on your iPhone. Excerpt:

Mobile devices are clearly the platform for citizen newsgathering, and an iPhone application is a logical funnel. Soon people will be able to broadcast anything live from the street; in a way, individuals will become walking televisions.

Last week, CBS Mobile released its EyeMobile iPhone application, making CBS the first broadcast network to launch an application enabling users to become personal broadcasters as they upload, view and comment on photos and videos live, from anywhere.

The EyeMobile application is available, free of charge, at the iTunes App Store.

The EyeMobile application offers the full functionality of CBSEyeMobile.com which launched earlier this year. Using the iPhone camera, users can capture and upload photos to the CBS EyeMobile site where they can view and rate reports and interact with other EyeMobile on-the-go journalists. ...

Google rolls out rival to iPhone

2008-09-23T20:09:00.001-07:00

Reuters
Google rolls out rival to iPhone
09.23.08, 6:11 PM ET
UNITED STATES - (Adds HTC comment, T-Mobile comment, recasts throughout)
By Sinead Carew and Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK (Reuters) - T-Mobile has rolled out Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people )'s answer to the iPhone as the Web search giant makes its biggest stab yet at leaping from consumers' computers into their pockets with a device cheaper than rival Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) offers.

The widely-anticipated G1 phone, introduced Tuesday made by HTC Corp, has a touch-sensitive screen, a computer-like keyboard, Wi-Fi connections and uses Google's new Android operating system.

Available in three colors -- black, white and brown -- it includes familiar Google services, such as Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. Like the iPhone and other "smartphones" the device is meant to broaden the appeal of Web surfing on the go.

"If we see more mobile Web usage we'll be happy," Google co-founder Sergey Brin told Reuters after arriving at the launch on roller-blades.

His company, a powerhouse in Web advertising, would benefit if Android led more cell users to spend time on the Web, no matter which phone they are using.

Google is well ahead of rivals Yahoo Inc (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) and Microsoft Corp (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) in Web search on computers, but it wants to use Android to ensure this dominance carries over to the phone when mobile Web surfing becomes more popular.

But while no clear mobile Web winner has emerged so far, Google faces stiff competition from longer established phone players such as Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ), Research In Motion Ltd (nasdaq: RIMM - news - people )'s BlackBerry and Microsoft, as well as Apple.

Analysts saw the device as a "good first step" rather than an iPhone killer, but some expect as many as 400,000 to be sold in the United States by year-end. A T-Mobile executive said the estimate was "not incredible."

When it becomes available to U.S. consumers on Oct. 22, the G1 will sell for about $179 -- slightly cheaper than the entry-level price of $199 for Apple Inc's iPhone -- with a two-year contract.

The G1 will be launched by T-Mobile's UK unit in November and other European countries such as Germany, Netherlands and the Czech Republic in the first quarter of 2009.

"The G1 doesn't threaten Apple now, but Android has raised the bar for competing mobile platforms. The bigger concern here is for Microsoft and Nokia if Google can win over the hearts and minds of operators and developers," said Geoff Blaber, an analyst with British firm CCS Insight.

NEXT GOOGLE PHONE MAY CHANGE

Both Google and Apple are wooing developers to create applications for their devices, but unlike Apple, which keeps a tight grip on the iPhone's hardware and operating software, Google's Android is open to be changed by outside developers.

Asked if the user interface of future Google phones would look anything like the first one, Andy Rubin, who developed Android for Google, said: "Its completely replaceable."

For example, Leslie Grandy, T-Mobile USA's product development vice president sees the carrier selling a range of Google-powered phones in future, including more basic ones without a touch-screen or full keyboards.

The new phone features Android Market, where customers can find and download free applications to expand and personalize their phones. T-Mobile's Grandy said the marketplace would eventually include applications that are sold for a fee.

"Because the platform is open, we think Android is somewhat future proof," Rubin, Google director of mobile platforms, told the audience at the launch.

A similar strategy helped increase the buzz around Apple's second-generation iPhone, which can support more than 3,000 applications available online.

Amazon.com (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people )'s digital music store will be loaded on the G1, allowing users to search, download, buy and play more than six million songs, pitting it against iPhone's music player.

Android also competes with Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, which has been solidly gaining ground. HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou told Reuters his company, which has concentrated on Windows phones so far, is already planning more Android and Windows devices.

Between the United States and the United Kingdom, Chou said he expects to have sold more than 400,000 G1 by the year end.

Android's biggest competitor is Symbian software, which represents 60 percent of the smartphone market and which Nokia plans to buy out and open to other developers.

Nokia, which has about 40 percent of the mobile phone market, has also branched into mobile Web services such as mapping that compete directly with Google. Speaking at a conference in Chicago Tuesday, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said he was not worried by new competition.

"The entry of Apple and Google -- in fact today in a very concrete way -- in mobile communications is the best possible illustration of the fact that there's a lot of possibility here," he said. (Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki in Helsinki and Benjamin Klayman in Chicago; Editing by Derek Caney and Andre Grenon)

2008-09-23T07:08:00.001-07:00

us·able

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: web2.0 internet)

Insights hide in strange places

2008-08-05T12:54:00.001-07:00

Insights

DVB

2008-07-31T11:05:00.000-07:00

German Mobile 3.0 service to close down

By Robert Briel | July 31, 2008 | 08:01 UK

Just a few months after its start, the German mobile TV operator Mobile 3.0 is said to be closing down , according to a report on the online version of the Handelsblatt. The main reason is the refusal of mobile operators to sell hand sets equipped for DVB-H reception.

Earlier this year, Mobile 3.0 was issued with a nationwide licence to start offering a DVB-H pay service (see Broadband TV News passim). The company is owned by a consortium including the Burda and Holtzbrinck publishing firms and Naspers of South Africa.

At the moment, Mobile 3.0 broadcasts in four cities with linear TV channels and radio stations, but has trouble finding customers. According to the report, which was published in a title owned by one of the Mobile 3.0 consortium members, the company plans to shut down operations soon.

Earlier this year, Vodafone brought two mobile phones of the market with a built-in DVB-T tuner, reception of which does not require a subscription as with the Mobile 3.0 DVB-H service.

HDR

2008-05-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Applied carefully, High Dynamic Range-technique (HDR) can create incredibly beautiful pictures which blur our sense of the difference between reality and illusion

what is Google up to?

2008-05-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

pay attention to OpenSocial

My take on mobile advertising -4CAST - Maurice on Mobile

2008-05-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Wondering out loud if this is the same Maurice Levy that was SVP Sales and Marketing at Purolator in the late nineties. If it is, having worked together, it doesn't surprise me one bit that he is bang on in his assessment of the adoption rate for mobile advertising.

UPDATE - Its NOTthe same Maurice

The unidentified forecasts dont add much to the discussion with a skew of $ 1billion to $24 billion over a four year span. This is hardly an estimate at all, it says we are all over the map on this one. So, if that makes the forecasts useless here, lets turn to the commentary by the European operators for some insight. And indeed, there is some to be found. It is noteworthy because they are effectively saying we need to sell this medium the same way we would sell a mass medium. Just because we can measure the granular delivery details down to the phone user level (phone capability level), its not making our jobs easier when we approach advertisers with small micro-targeted communities. This article is worth a read. A 4Cast (for what its worth) by yours truly is that the consumers will figure out how to use the mediums to suit their lifestyle requirements first and foremost. Second, they will willingly agree to advertisements that bring tangible value in exchange for their eyeballs and the power of their social network relevance. This latter stat to be a topic for a future discussion. For now, focus on the piece of the article that I believe was msicategorized as a stumbling block.

" STUMBLING BLOCKS

"There are people on this earth who in their life will never have a TV or a laptop but they will have a mobile phone. (So) thinking logically, there is no reason why mobile phones should not be the most powerful tool for advertisers."

There is ONE big reason why logically this is incorrect. It removes from the equation the notion of delivering the right message, at the right time, using the right medium. Take the mobile device out of the equation. Start by focusing your strategy first on the audience then on how you can ubiquitously connect to that target.

Maurice knows that. I'm sure. Thats why I believe he says the adoption rate will be slow. He knows that the players don't collaborate on solutions, they race to market with profitable service offerings.

Again, just one man's mind. Comments are welcome.

JK

By Kate Holton and Niclas Mika

PARIS (Reuters) - Advertising on mobile phones has enormous potential to become a significant platform for marketers, but any breakthrough is years away and major operators must work together to succeed, executives said.

Mobile operators increasingly see advertising as a powerful offering, given falling traditional voice revenue, as it allows brands to target consumers based on their location and at times of the day when they are otherwise hard to reach.

Executives from advertising and telecoms groups told the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms summit mobile advertising was inevitable and would become hard to resist.

But it was still at the experimental stage, and many brands and mobile operators were wary of alienating customers.

"It will be slow, it will take time but it will be there," Maurice Levy, chairman and chief executive of advertising group Publicis, told the summit in Paris.

"Why? Because it will be in the interest of the phone companies, consumers and advertisers. So it will be very difficult to resist."

Forecasts suggest the mobile ad market will generate revenue of $1 billion to $24 billion within the next 4 years.

Many operators are experimenting with plans and one service, Blyk, has signed 100,000 clients in the UK with its offer of some free calls and text messages in return for accepting ads.

"If you look at the long horizon, I think that advertising on mobile phones is going to be very, very significant, simply because there are going to be 5 billion mobile phones and they are always with you," Hamid Akhavan, the head of Germany's T-Mobile, said.

STUMBLING BLOCKS

"There are people on this earth who in their life will never have a TV or a laptop but they will have a mobile phone. (So) thinking logically, there is no reason why mobile phones should not be the most powerful tool for advertisers."

All participants agreed there were many stumbling blocks.

Virgin Mobile USA told the Reuters summit in New York that it would use AOL's mobile advertising system exclusively to deliver banner ads to its customers who surf the Web on their phones. But they intended to approach the offering carefully.

"A cell phone is an intimate device," Chief Executive Dan Schulman said. "We pay a service provider to have that service and we don't want to be spammed, quite frankly."

French mobile operator SFR said there would be a market for mobile advertising and it had established a team to work on a business model, but said its customers would have to opt in.

"People will have to agree to take this service," Chief Executive Frank Esser said.

T-Mobile's Akhavan saw mobile advertising being held back by the large number of different phones and their capabilities, meaning the inventory space for advertising was very fragmented.

"By the time you say how many countries you cover and what your share of the market is, how many people have that kind of phone and how many of them are interested in Nike, you end up with an inventory of 6,000," he said.

"And are you going to go to Nike and waste their time over 6,000 potential customers?"

A cooperative model was likely the only way to succeed.

"So in Europe for instance all the big names have to work together, look at the inventory and try and figure out a way for us to share it in a very cooperative way and together go and pitch. That's the only way it is going to work," he said.

Akhavan said operators were starting to discuss this but that it was not a top priority.

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)

(Editing by James Regan)

what's next for yahoo?

2008-05-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

after surviving Microsoft's $40 billion takeover attempt, Yahoo surely will continue a recurring pattern

Twitter

2008-05-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/30/twitters-success-its-the-ecosystem/

Web ---> Mobile

2008-04-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

The mobile future is calling
Maggie Shiels Technology Reporter
Web 2.0 San Francisco

Developers are being asked to devise applications for mobile devices so users can "access it, mix it up, save it, and store it".

The plea to harness the creativity of the internet and apply it on mobile phones was made by Mitchell Baker the chair of Firefox developer Mozilla.

All of this functionality "should be the same if I am on a laptop or phone, at home or on a train," says Ms Baker.

"The breadth of the new ideas floating around and the different ways that people are thinking about information and using the web further away from browsing into more personalised information is exciting," said Ms Baker, speaking to the BBC News website at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.

She is convinced that mobile phones will be one of the forces that will help people make better use of information pertinent to them

"Information that matters to me is what the future is about," she said.

Transforming experience

For Marc Davis, Yahoo's social media guru, there's no doubt that the future is about mobility - with the numbers of handsets about to hit 4 billion there's plenty of evidence of their popularity.

We are about 18 months from an incredible boom in mobile applications and mobile adoption
Mike Butcher, TechCrunch
"The mobile web is not just about accessing the web from your phone," he said "Mobile phones that are location aware, temporarily situated and socially connected will transform our experience of the web, the world and ourselves."

"The next web," he says "will be about place and time."

He suspects that we are near the point at which more people will be able to access the web via their phone than their desk top computer.

Open strategy

Echoing Mozilla's call to developers, Mr Davis is urging them to get involved in being part of Yahoo's mobile future. As a way to convince his audience he highlighted the company's earlier announcement at the Expo called Yahoo Open Strategy (Y!OS).

"Openness is deeply in our DNA and we are coming out as an 'open company' now in a big way. So we are making it possible for developers to write an application, to write a widget and open this up."

Yahoo is no the only one championing widgets. Mobile giant Nokia has announced the next stage of its Widget platform for Symbian Series 60 smartphones .
The new stage will give developers access to GPS, contacts book, communications stacks, e-mail and SMS functions on the phone.

"These are the kinds of things that really make a phone unique," says David Rivas, vice president for Nokia's Series 60 technology management devices group.

"We are at a real crossroads in terms of mobile phone technology and it is this availability of web technology on the mobile device that signals that crossroads."

But when can consumers expect results? Not for a while said Mike Butcher from technology blog TechCrunch.

"We are not there yet," he said. "We are about 18 months from an incredible boom in mobile applications and mobile adoption."

"I think there are two things that are going to happen," he said. "Firstly the mobile platform is being opened up for other people to create interesting applications. And the second is the handsets are constantly improving which means the overall experience promises to be good."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7366403.stm

Published: 2008/04/26 06:00:36 GMT

Green tech - will there be a green tech bubble?

2008-04-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

very cool product

2008-04-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Kindle

Nokia pushes '4G wireless' plans

2008-04-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer, has signed up Sony Ericsson, NEC and Alacatel-Lucent to its plans for a 4G wireless system.

The companies have formed a licensing framework for their patents for the emerging mobile standard, called Long Term Evolution (LTE).

The deal will add momentum to LTE, which is seen as a direct competitor to Wimax, which is being pushed by Intel.

The first LTE networks are being rolled out in the US and China.

LTE is a faster and more long distance wireless system compared to 3G.

Nokia and its partners believe LTE is the logical evolution of 3G systems and are selling it as a solution for mobile phones, as well as laptops and even fixed broadband connections, replacing wi-fi.

The framework deal also involves NextWave Wireless and Nokia Siemens Networks.

The companies have committed to keeping royalty payments for use of essential LTE patents low to give the technology the best chance of success.

Intel believes Wimax will be the future of wireless communications.

In a recent interview with BBC News chief executive Paul Otellini said in a year's time 10 million people would be using Wimax, rising to "hundreds of millions two years after that".

"We see Wimax as the most cost-effective way to deliver high-bandwidth wireless broadband," he said.

A handful of Wimax-enabled phones have been produced so far.

Nokia itself has released a Wimax-enabled internet tablet but pulled out of a partnership with Intel to look at putting 3G connections onto laptops alongaide Wimax.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7348706.stm

Published: 2008/04/15 13:20:11 GMT

Apple's OS Edge Is a Threat to Microsoft

2008-04-14T06:18:00.001-07:00

A recent upgrade to the Mac operating system moves Apple closer to challenging Microsoft for overall computing dominance, even in the corporate market

by Gary Morgenthaler

The 20-year death grip that Microsoft has held on the core of computing is finally weakening—pried loose with just two fingers. With one finger you press "Control" and with the other you press "right arrow." Instantly you switch from a Macintosh operating system (OS) to a Microsoft Windows OS. Then, with another two-finger press, you switch back again. So as you edit family pictures, you might use Mac's iPhoto. And when you want to access your corporate e-mail, you can switch back instantly to Microsoft Exchange.

This easy toggling on an Apple computer, enabled by a feature called Spaces, was but an interesting side note to last fall's upgrade of the Mac OS. But coupled with other recent developments, the stars are aligning in a very intriguing pattern. Apple's (AAPL) recent release of a tool kit for programmers to write applications for the iPhone will be followed by the June launch of iPhone 2.0, a software upgrade geared toward business users.

Taken together, these seemingly unrelated moves are taking the outline of a full-fledged strategy. Windows users, in the very near future, will be free to switch to Apple computers and mobile devices, drawn by a widening array of Mac software, without suffering the pain of giving up critical Windows-based applications right away. The easy virtualization of two radically different operating systems on a single desktop paves a classic migration path. Business users will be tempted. Apple is positioning itself to challenge Microsoft for overall computing dominance—even in the corporate realm.

KERNEL OF COMPUTING MIGHT
Such an idea rarely finds expression in public. Apple today is a "consumer-products company." Each new Apple product unveiled—from iPod to iPhone—comes with the excitement and glamour of Steve Jobs' "reality distortion field." Yet if you look at the larger picture, broader battle lines are forming. It's as if Jobs were a general from the 19th century, quietly massing troops out of view and under cover of trees. Mere "features" like Spaces look increasingly "strategic." On present course, an Apple assault on Microsoft's (MSFT) seemingly impregnable enterprise monopoly now appears quite possible by 2010.

It all started with Mac OS X, the multi-core, multi-processor platform officially released in 2001. Based on "Mach," a university UNIX research prototype, Mac OS X represented a clean break with the computer industry's uniprocessor past. The modular new OS allowed Apple to condense its core task management function into a tiny computing kernel.

That kernel has proved easily adaptable across the entire Apple product line, from highly complex servers all the way down to the relatively simple iPod Touch. Such modularity allows Apple to add whatever functions are necessary for each product environment—all while maintaining cross-product compatibility.

By contrast, Microsoft has held on to an OS tethered to the 1980s, piling additions upon additions with each upgrade to Windows. With last year's arrival of Vista, Windows has swollen to 1 billion bytes (a gigabyte) or more of software code. The "Mach" kernel of the Mac OS X, however, requires less than 1 million bytes (a megabyte) of data in its smallest configuration, expanding modestly with the sophistication of the application.

This bloating has saddled Vista users with increased costs and poor performance on average computers. Bloating has also led Microsoft to fragment its OS product line: one OS for the server, desktop, and laptop; one for cell phones and Zune music players; and a separate OS for its Xbox gaming console. Finally, through sheer complexity, bloating makes every subsequent "enhancement" of Windows buggier than the last. Thus, the current Vista product fiasco (BusinessWeek.com, 1/23/08).

TOWARD AN APPLE-FLAVORED OFFICE
The contrast between Microsoft's and Apple's product development strategies couldn't be starker. Where Microsoft is increasingly hamstrung by OS rigidities, Apple moves flexibly and swiftly. While Microsoft struggles to bring a kernel-based "Windows 7" to market in 2010, Steve Jobs has declared Mac OS X the right platform for the next decade of new products. Engineering improvements in one Apple product quickly find use at low cost in another. While Apple's "multi-touch" screen innovation made its debut with the iPhone, it appeared on the MacBook within 60 days. With this sort of flexibility, Apple is ever-free to target existing markets or invent whole new ones.

Given these advantages, how might an Apple assault on the corporate market play out?

• Despite Apple's relative scarcity on corporate desktops, Mac laptops are already well accepted within the enterprise, with a market share of more than 20% and growing. For business travelers, the new MacBook Air, some three pounds lighter than comparable Windows-based laptops, already offers one huge advantage. And now, with the ability to jump back and forth between Mac and Windows applications, more corporate users are bound to embrace Mac laptops.

• While Mac desktops offer a growing number of superior features over Windows desktops, it's still not enough to persuade corporate IT departments to make a switch. So for now, Apple will merely strive to hold the line on its current share of the business desktop market and apply greater marketing pressure elsewhere.

• Apple's recently introduced Leopard servers compete in a market of unhappy Vista server buyers where Microsoft's market share is only 40%. Leopard has a decent chance to expand from its small beachhead.

• Surprisingly, it's the 4.8-ounce iPhone that will sweep Apple decisively back into the enterprise. Even without any enterprise applications, the iPhone has seduced business users with the prospect of easy listening (iTunes), easy surfing (Safari), and easy compatability with a Mac computer. And with the impending business push, the device will soon provide corporate e-mail access and perform serious computing tasks such as setting calendars, checking inventory, figuring prices, and taking orders on the spot.

MORE MOBILE, MORE APPLE
As corporations become increasingly mobile, the pressure will build to make them Apple-centric from top to bottom. Rising sales of Apple laptops and iPhones will make the Mac OS only that much more mainstream and acceptable to corporate IT departments. By 2010, the number of iPhones in use could approach 100 million. It's possible that the iPhone's share of the U.S. smartphone market (28% in the fourth quarter) will soon approach the 70% share iPod now holds in the MP3 market.

The final piece to this puzzle would be the rebirth of the Apple applications development ecosystem. The new Software Development Kit (SDK) for the iPhone not only allows independent developers to create new applications for that device but also brings them back to the Macintosh platform. That means any program written for the iPhone can be easily adapted into a Mac computer version as well. The response has been huge: More than 100,000 developers downloaded the SDK in the first week of its availability. And iPhone's popularity for mobile business applications can only grow. (Put Vista on a cell phone? I don't think so.)

So, the battle ahead seems clear: It's Apple's seamlessly integrated software strategy, minimally sized and maximally efficient, competing against Microsoft's strategy of multiple incompatible, bloated, and fragmented operating systems. It's Apple's growing customer acceptance vs. Microsoft's rising customer pain. By failing to modernize its operating system in a timely way, Microsoft has left its flank wide open for an all-out assault from a once-vanquished rival.

Gary Morgenthaler is a partner at Morgenthaler Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif.

3d design - yes we are learning it as you read this

2008-03-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

the future of glucose design

Come check out the FITC Event

2008-03-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

FastCompany.TV Launches, Scoble at Helm

2008-03-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

FastCompany.TV Launches, Scoble at Helm

posted by: Will Richmond

Nanotechnology

2008-02-28T13:18:00.001-08:00

Stage 9 Digital Media, an experimental new media content studio, is another key milestone in the fast-moving broadband video industry.

2008-02-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

Disney/ABC's Stage 9 Launches, With YouTube

posted by: Will Richmond

UGC and Branding by Will Richmond

2008-02-19T06:36:00.001-08:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about where there may be potential points of intersection between user-generated video and brand marketing.

On the one hand, YouTube and others have demonstrated there's huge interest among amateur producers in creating and posting video content. Since the overwhelming majority of these producers do not make any meaningful money from these videos, their motivation is emotional. On the other hand, brands are grappling with things like how to break through the clutter, deepen consumer engagement, create more authenticity and build loyalty.

So it seems like there should be a natural point of intersection if brands could incent their passionate customers to create videos which not only sang the praises of their favorite products but actually provided valuable information sought by other prospective customers. Offering these videos would enable customers to show off their favorite products in action and also provide a valuable service to prospects. The concept is sort of like a video-based TripAdvisor, but not limited to travel.

Here's an example from a personal experience. Recently I've been in the market for a 50+ inch HDTV. If you've been in this mode recently you know the drill - lots of online research, reading users' comments, going to stores to see different models, etc. Even after doing all this, I still felt like I was missing something. I really wanted to see the intangibles - what distance seemed right, what's the right height for the stand, what were the ambient issues, how were accessories connected and so on.

In short, I was looking for actual owners to provide short, but informative videos showcasing how the TV actually worked out when brought into their homes. To be sure, there's no shortage of text comments to this effect. But the best I could find beyond text was a link at Amazon to "Share your own customer images." It seems like such a natural to me that online retailers, review sites and TV manufacturers should all provide a user-generated video platform for consumers to upload videos providing further information on their TVs.

What I'm describing is not another brand-sponsored UGC contest, but rather solid consumer-contributed product information. T-Mobile has something like this running with Current TV right now, but seems to really be the exception. I looked at the web sites of Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, Philips and Mitsubishi and, although in some cases there are buying guides and FAQs, none of them seek to harness the enthusiasm of their actual customers by enabling video contributions.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think this is a big untapped opportunity. I know companies like ViTrue and StashCast are pursuing opportunities like this, and then there are countless private label social network platforms like KickApps, Ning and others (TechCrunch has a good list here) that also enable some flavor of this. But I just haven't seen this concept clearly or pervasively implemented yet. If you have, please post a comment. I just have to believe that some smart brands - particularly those selling complex, expensive products that benefit from video-based information - are going to realize their passionate customers are incredible assets just waiting to be empowered to speak out through user-generated video.

Excerpt from 10 Golden Rules Podcast

2008-02-07T09:39:00.001-08:00

A close friend of mine, Jay Berkowitz has moved to Boca Raton and become one of the leading SEO and Online marketing strategists in North America. He has started a podcast and I just recently started listening.

Its a perfect listening companion on my iPod as I shovel snow day after day in this brutal winter we are having.

Here is an excerpt from Jay's Podcast.

"technology is transforming every part of our business,"

2008-01-30T06:28:00.000-08:00

Zucker Preparing NBC for Broadband Era
posted by: Will Richmond

Jeff Zucker, NBCU's president and CEO gave a stirring, candid keynote at the NATPE show yesterday, in which he essentially said that all the rules that the broadcast TV industry has lived by for six decades have now changed. It was a pretty blunt assessment, given in terms not often heard from PR-cautious CEOs.

I thought Zucker nailed it on the head when he said that "technology is transforming every part of our business," suggesting that to succeed in the future the company must re-engineer itself from top to bottom. The technology drivers - DVRs, broadband distribution, VOD, mobile and inexpensive production equipment are all leading to fundamental changes in distribution, advertising sales, marketing and content development.

Zucker said that the "historic economic model supporting broadcast TV is wounded." This is well exemplified in the broadband space, where networks have eagerly pushed their hit programs online. Yet in referring to its broadband initiatives, Zucker acknowledged, "Our challenge with all these ventures is to effectively monetize them so that we do not end up trading analog dollars for digital pennies," noting "This is the Number 1 challenge for everyone in this industry today."

I believe many of the steps Zucker's taking will help surmount this challenge. They include: Improving the allocation of resources and efficiency of the pilot process to help NBC maximize the opportunity that the mass-scale broadcast business still provides. Expanding the marketing of its programs beyond traditional influencers to help tap into the water coolers of the digital age. Broadening the role of its stations encompassing all local media opportunities instead of just selling TV ad space to enhance their competitiveness. Setting up digital studios to produce content geared for the broadband and mobile to tap new audiences.

Listening to Zucker, I felt myself being optimistic about his leadership and the likelihood that his game plan will ultimately lead to a successful transformation of the business. It won't come without plenty of bumps in the road, but it did strike me as clear-headed thinking which was sensitive to the network's traditions, but not obsequious to them. Throughout his keynote, he repeatedly reminded the audience that great storytelling and content is what all matters. The story of how NBC and the other networks will learn to succeed in the broadband era is definitely one worth following.

Visual Networking

2008-01-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

3D Desktop on OS X

2008-01-24T13:42:00.001-08:00

D.I.

2008-01-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

Glucose (MS) celebrates new years the only way he knows how......with some deep live house

2008-01-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

More new years photos

2008-01-03T06:39:00.001-08:00

Glucose (JF) hosted a new years party....

2008-01-03T06:36:00.000-08:00

9 Months Later - we now have a house - a Gluhaus !!

2007-12-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe its been 9 months since the Glublog was first created. Its probably indicative of the wild ride we (yes we) have been on over at Glucose Digital. The client list is growing, mostly through word-of-mouth, and the team has expanded as well. Early wins include Visa Canada, M Marketing, Time Publishing, Inco, Rosen Newman, and Boardwalk Gaming. Phill and I recruited talent and it arrived in the form of Jeremy and Marc who joined the team full time.

We outgrew our sublet at M Marketing just down the road at 49 Ontario St but we have managed to stay downtown. In August, we moved into our new offices at 69 Ontario Street. We have converted a charming townhouse into a Digital Development office. The team now includes Phill, Jeremy, and Marc. Shayna has moved on to a larger outfit and we miss her but we continue to move onwards and upwards.

Our official website :

http://glucosedigital.com/Glu_v8.html

The site has been a constantly evolving entity. In 2008, we are going to take it to a whole new stratosphere. Today, people can see it and know a little bit about who we are. It still doesn't show off what we can do. The fact is, we are too busy doing it for our clients. I have asked Jeremy to force in some time to focus on us.

It's the hardest time to find. We are all guilty. Heck, I haven't updated this blog since March.

New Year's Resolution for 2008:

*More blog updates

*More website updates

*A few more clients

*2-3 more staff members

*1 strategic alliance for SEO marketing

*Glucose CMS enhancements

I have added a music box to this site. That said, my personal blog will likely be the place where you can delve deeper into my musical mind. I am an avid blog reader and in 2008 I promise to do a better job sharing the jewels I have stumbled on in this quest. The blog is called With My Own Bare Hands. Look for it in the links section of this blog.

Happy New Year - thanks for being a Glufan !!!!

Warmest wishes -

Jordan

And so it begins.......

2007-03-15T02:19:00.000-07:00

This started as an experiment. Hopefully we will scroll back here one day and remember that.