Blackberry Messenger 6 – Lets be ‘Social’
Research In Motion (RIM) has recently launched Blackberry Messenger (BBM 6). RIM, the Canadian Company which invented the revolutionary Blackberry Smartphone, has added many new features to the 6th Messenger and has concentrated more on the visual aspects of the software. However the most amazing feature of BBM 6 is the social app layer. The following are the features of this social app:-
- It enables you to update your status, scores and achievements
- You can recommend other apps to your friends which they can then download
- You can display the applications that you are yourself using
Other than the social app BBM 6 has some new features and customizable looks. The color of the contacts and the chat boxes can be changed so that you can easily distinguish between different chats. Also new flashy 6.1 icons are supported in this messenger. RIM has said that Foursquare, The Huffington Post and Wikitude are the companies that will provide BBM apps and later more companies are for sure to be added.
BBM has over 45 million users, mostly teens, and about 70 % of these users use BBM on a daily basis. No doubt the new BBM 6 will be a hit amongst these users, especially with the launch of the social app.
Netflix Integrating with Facebook
Netflix, the online streaming service that, its integration with Facebook is on the horizon. The integration is most likely to be implemented in the next three months. Due to legalities that surround video sharing, however, the company has cautiously decided not to launch Stateside yet. The service will initially be launched only in Canada and Latin America. Online sharing and distribution of works is a very controversial issue. America is among those countries who have taken a very severe stance against companies or individuals who violate the laws of distribution of copyright works.
America’s “Big Six” studios are represented by The Motion Picture Association of America. Big Six includes Disney, Sony, Paramount, Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. The organization has become very infamous for filing lawsuits against those found guilty for copyright infringement. The organization thus brings the issue to the notice of mainstream media attention. Netflix has definitely made a smart move to stay away for the time being.
Netflix has been very successful and is also acclaimed as the company which has taken DVD rentals to the internet. Netflix has become the leader in the market in its field with the convenience and cheaper prices and further aid has been provided by the increase in the speed of internet. Netflix says that a law is currently pending in Congress and this law will address the legal issues and allow the integration of Netflix with Facebook. In a statement to the investors, the company has noted that Video Privacy Protection Act discourages Netflix from integrating with Facebook. Under the Act it is vague as to when and how a user can allow his viewing data to be shared. Netflix is not the only company indulging in integration with the social network media. Microsoft’s new acquisition, Skype also recently added video chat to Facebook has enabled a multi-facet interaction service to the users of Facebook.
Senior Swisscom Executive Says iPhone5 will be Launched in October
The iPhoneitalia received a very confirmed news from a reliable source that iPhone5 will hit the market on October5. It is sure that it will at least be launched on Swisscom’s network. The reliable source is Swisscom’s senior executive. iPhoneitalia is a website that can boast about its reliability. It is one of those websites which does not publish any news without confirming it. So this news about the launch of iPhone5 definitely has some base, unlike the other prediction based news reports. The reports on iPhoneitalia said that they have learned from a very reliable source about the strategies of Swisscom with regards to the release of iPhone5. The swiss service provider has previously sold iPhone3G. The report also says that the same reliable source has told them that IPhone5 will be launched in September, and by October 5 it will be launched in many other states. The senior executive from Swisscom is absolutely sure about this news because Apple must have already contacted the service provider about the launch and distribution of the new iPhone.
It is also very obvious that Apple will inform various wireless carriers around the globe before they launch the new version of iPhone. Swisscom is among the leading wireless carrier in Switzerland. In the past they have provided wireless services to iPhone models. So definitely this news from a senior executive from Swisscom can be trusted and taken seriously. However, the report seems to be a bit confusing because it states that iPhone5 will be launched in September and then it says it will happen in October. It probably means that it will be launched in US in September and it will see a world wide release in October. This next generation iPhone will certainly have the very powerful A5 processor. Some other probable features are greater RAM, higher mega pixel camera and a better battery life.
Rdio App For iPad Awaits Approval
Rdio, which is a music subscription service, is all set to release an app for iPad very soon. They have submitted their big screen friendly app to Apple for the very crucial approval from Apple. Rdio says that it will soon add an app for iPad to its platform including web, Mac, window clients. The news has leaked about the existence of the app but Rdio doesn’t know when the app will be officially available and users will be able download it. Like all other Rdio app this app is also full of the Rdio features like: social aspects, offline caching, charts, playlists, recommendations, radio stations, etc. Once the user subscribes for Rdio unlimited for $9.99 per month, they will get access to 9 million songs on the iPad.
After exclusive hands-on on the new app the impressions formed about it are:
- Except for one or two crash experienced in the initial log-in process, the app is stable
- When you move from music navigation to screen to the playback screen, the Rdio app puts the art of the album front and centre. The album art is high resolution and is a beautiful experience while you are jamming.
- The interface is very intuitive. No learning curves are required in using this app.
- The interface has a gun metal look and the things are laid out in a very easy and accessible way.
There are a number of on demand contenders. Among them Rdio is one of the few who have developed an app for the iPad.
iPad 2 Meets the White KIRF knock off
China is becoming a huge market place for manufacturing and trade of counterfeit electronic products. Nowadays you can usually find the duplicate iDevices of Apple which are, no doubt, poor products. Once in a blue moon, a fine one springs up that instills the interest of many in the tech world. Latest on the charts is the copycat of second generation iPad, which is packed into pure white plastic body, which is certainly not the Apple’s taste. The plastic body does not make the catch but there is something more that the iDevice users really look for, that is, a microSD card slot. It is a cheap way to boost the memory of the product without paying much as in the case of iPad 2 where Apple charges around $100 for each memory upgradation. But that does not affect the sales of the real deal.
Talking about the specifications, Shenzhen Huaqiangbei’s white shell KIRF runs on Android 2.2, contains 800MHz VIA 8650 processor and includes storage capacity of 4GB. Its touch screen measures 9.7 inch and overall dimension are 205x157x9.9 mm. along with microSD card slot, it has 1.3 megapixel rear camera and a 2800mAh battery for long backups. This hefty line of specs does not add up to the weight of the device making it lighter than the actual iPad 2. Also it comes with a price tag worth $93 which makes it worth checking- not for interest but at least out of curiosity.
Though it is a pretty good deal, we recommend the genuine counterpart instead of the knock off as you never know in the long run, when the heart will beat of the knock off stalls. Also with the real deal one get the reliable product and good support from the company which cannot be paralleled by the low price knock off.
Twitters Drives Much More Traffic Than We Assume
Most of the web publishers use analytic packages like Google Analytic, Omniture or Core Metrics, to measure what is the source of the traffic. These packages gave good and reliable results in the pre social media world. But today they have become terribly wrong. The allocation of marketing budgets depends hugely on who is referring your traffic. Twitter is driving much more referrals than you think. It is estimated that it is almost 4 times of what we think. Awe.sm is a product by Jonathan Strauss. Awe.sm works by allowing publishers to be able to track every individual share behavior to a very granular level. Such a tracking is not enabled with any other campaign tracking tool.
Awe.sm shows traffic as “direct – bothsid.es / bothsid.es – twitter”. Any other tool will show this as direct only. So, one would assume that one is getting more direct traffic than one is really getting. The fact that Twitter is driving almost 4times more traffic than one thinks. And this fact is true in case for most publishers in terms of understating referrals. This becomes a problem because then publishers don’t invest in Twitter campaigns as much as they do in other campaigns. This is because they do not get the last minute attribution rights. This very often happens in other marketing campaign too. For instance, you see an advertisement in the newspaper or on the television, and then you rush to search about the same on Google. Marketers will assume that Google has driven the traffic. But the fact is that the traffic was driven by your television or newspaper.
Twitter generates a number of social hooks to websites. But the Twitter data including links is pulled by many other websites. So, it is difficult to know that who is referring the traffic. One such example in social media world is LikedIn. Many Tweets these days are being sent to LinkedIn. Publishers assume that the referrals are being generated by LinkedIn. All this is similar to ‘snowball effect’. This is why Jonathan Strauss named the company “Snowball factort”. So it is very important that companies use sophisticated market tracking tools, so that they can know the real source from where referrals will be generated. The story is never as simple as the data reveals. This emphasizes on the need of sophisticated tools. The absence of such tools might cause underinvestment by publishers in some particular site.
Kids Educational Games