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Sunday, January 2, 2011

Apple's absence to be felt at CES gadget show (AP) : Technet

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Apple's absence to be felt at CES gadget show (AP) : Technet

Apple's absence to be felt at CES gadget show (AP)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 11:50 AM PST

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Sun Jan 2, 2:50 pm ET

What do you call it when you have 120,000 people and an elephant in the room?

The International Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off this week in Las Vegas.

The elephant is Apple Inc. It won't be at the show this year, but its tablet computer, the iPad, is the most important new product for an industry that needs to once again excite consumers. Sales of the iPad have been strong since its April debut, and the whole industry is now trying to mimic Apple's success.

With the iPad, Apple single-handedly cracked the code for the tablet, a device that dozens of manufacturers have tried to take to the masses for two decades, with little success.

Apple itself doesn't do trade shows. When Apple has new products to reveal, such as iPads or iPhones, it stages its own events.

But nearly every other company in the industry will be there for CES, which runs Thursday to Sunday and is the largest trade show of any kind in the Americas. A good many of them will show off their tablets — computing slabs with touch-sensitive screens. Big names expected to do so include Motorola Inc. and Dell Inc.

DisplaySearch analyst Richard Semenza estimated that a hundred different tablet models are in development, though not all of them will reach store shelves.

Competing tablets will have a hard time catching up to Apple's lead, at least this year. Certainly, no one managed to do so last year, even though a lot of manufacturers, including Dell, brought out tablets. Samsung did have some success with its Galaxy Tab, but sales didn't come close to the iPad's.

"For the next year or two, we expect there to be a lot of false starts, failed attempts, and disasters," Richard Shim, another DisplaySearch analyst, said in a blog post.

Apple sold 7.4 million iPads through September, in the device's first six months on sale. That means they're already outselling Apple's Mac computers, but not iPods or iPhones.

Analyst Shaw Wu at Kaufman Bros. believes Apple sold another 6.1 million iPads in the holiday quarter, and there's every indication that it was a popular holiday gift. Even some retailers that don't normally sell electronics, including TJ Maxx, carried the iPad.

Apple's would-be competitors include Motorola, which has been hinting that it will show off its first tablet at the show. Dell and Acer Inc. are also expected to show tablets. Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer will likely touch on tablets in his keynote speech Wednesday, an annual fixture the eve of the show's opening.

The electronics industry's need for a hot new product is especially strong this year. Overall, the recent holiday season was the best for retailers since 2007, but electronics sales were up just 1.2 percent from the previous year, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks spending across all transactions, including cash. They're still down 10 percent from pre-recession levels.

For about five years, the industry has been bolstered by Americans rushing out to buy flat-panel TVs. Now, that rush is slowing, as 61 percent of households already have such sets, according to Leichtman Research Group.

Meanwhile, sales of other products that have driven growth, such as GPS units, picture frames and digital cameras, have tapered off. The people who really want them already have them, while the rest make do with their cell phones instead.

Other technologies that have been promoted at CES in recent years have been met with tepid interest from consumers.

At last year's CES, Japanese and Korean TV makers showed off 3-D TVs as a way to keep consumers buying newer TVs. But when the sets hits stores a few months later, sales were disappointing. Samsung Electronics Co. estimates all manufacturers combined sold 1 million 3-D sets in the U.S in 2010, far short of its initial estimate of 3 million to 4 million.

This year, manufacturers aren't giving up on 3-D, but some of them are likely to change their strategy to make 3-D viewing a bit more affordable and comfortable. Last year's 3-D sets require bulky, battery-powered glasses, which cost about $100 a pair. This year, we're likely to see more sets that use thin, unpowered glasses of the kind used in 3-D movie theaters. Vizio Inc., the No. 1 maker of LCD TVs for the U.S. market, already introduced one model with this kind of "passive" 3-D screen in December.

Aside from the benefit of cheaper glasses, the image flickers less with passive 3-D technology. On the other hand, it cuts the resolution in half. It's still high-definition, but less so.

"Having convinced the world to adopt 'Full HD' TVs, someone is going to have to get creative to market 'Half HD'," Semenza said.

TV makers will also push Internet-connected TVs at CES.

"Basically, the TV will look like your smart phone and have access to the Internet," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, which organizes the show.

Internet-connected TVs have been around for several years and are starting to gain consumer interest now that they can display video from such online sources as Netflix Inc. and Hulu.com. Research firm NPD estimates that 12 percent of TVs sold in the U.S. were Internet-capable.

At the show, manufacturers are set to talk about TVs that are even "smarter," with access to better downloadable applications for social networking and other tasks.

"This is going to be the year for ... the first generation of truly smart TV applications, where people are building them for the first time unique to this platform," said Eric Anderson, vice president of content and product solutions at Samsung Consumer Electronics America's. Samsung has a nearly 60 percent market share of Internet-capable TVs sold in the U.S.

Apple is involved in connecting TVs to the Internet as well, through its Apple TV add-on box. But Apple's isolation from the rest of the industry may be hurting it here. It hasn't let anyone build its software into TVs, so its $99 add-on box is competing with software that comes free with many TVs.

Apple's shadow also falls on the presence of Verizon Wireless, which will be at CES to show off the first phones for its next-generation wireless data network, known as 4G. The network was turned on in December and offers the highest data speeds yet, but only for sticks that plug into laptops.

Apple is widely expected to introduce a version of the iPhone for Verizon's network this year, but indications are that it won't happen at CES.

That leaves the CEO of Verizon Communications Inc., Ivan Seidenberg, to talk about other smart phones at his keynote presentation Thursday, while everyone will be thinking of the elephant in the room.

iPhone alarm glitch leaves users fuming (AFP)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 08:26 PM PST

– 36 mins ago

NEW YORK (AFP) – The bells weren't ringing for many iPhone users this New Year's weekend, when thanks to a glitch the alarms on Apple's iconic mobile phones failed to go off, causing many to oversleep.

It was the second time in just a few months that the alarm function on the phone failed to activate correctly, prompting an avalanche of complaints on the social networking micro-blog Twitter.

"Dear iPhone, why didn't your alarm go off this morning? I set six of them. I've now missed church. Thanks for nothing," said one user Sunday morning.

"Some sort of digital iPhone pandemic is going on. Alarm clock failure reports are pouring in from all sources around the globe," said another Twitter user.

Apple said in a message sent to Macworld magazine that the California-based company was aware of the problem. "We're aware of an issue related to non-repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2," spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said.

"Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3."

The problem seemed to be affecting Apple's most recent versions of iPhones and iPods launched in November, but website Engadget suggested that it may also have hit earlier versions.

The problem first occurred when the clocks went back at the end of October and early November when Australian and British iPhone owners complained of being late for work because their alarms had not switched over to the new time.

Apple did not immediately respond to a query from AFP on Sunday.

Five things to expect from the mobile industry in 2011 (Appolicious)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 06:20 PM PST

Jump through hoops with Dolphin Browser Mini for Android (Appolicious)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 08:14 AM PST

HOW TO: Use Social Media to Create Better Customer Experiences (Mashable)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 07:36 AM PST

Maria Ogneva Maria Ogneva – Sun Jan 2, 10:36 am ET

Maria Ogneva is the director of social media at Nimble, a social relationship management solution that transforms your entire community into business opportunity by leveraging the best of customer relationship management, social media and communication tools. You can follow her on Twitter at @themaria or @nimble, or find her musings on the company blog and her personal blog.

It's no secret that customer experience is one of the cornerstones of an effective business strategy. In all honesty, it should have been all along, but many companies chose to hide behind corporate walls and only talk to customers when it was convenient for them instead of when the customer needed them. There's no need to belabor the point that social media has put customers in the driver's seat. However, companies don't need to live in fear of the next Kevin Smith or Nestle Fanpage episode. They just need to fix their customer experience to ensure that products and services actually do what they're supposed to do and the company's support and service are actually helpful.

Social CRM Connects Social Customer to Social Business

Today's business must address more aspects of the customer experience than ever before. In addition to a stellar product or service, you now have many more channels to listen to and participate in, while keeping the experience consistently excellent. Where it gets complicated is wading through the noise, turning data into insights that the whole company can use, and sharing these insights. Because there is so much data being hurled at you, solutions that help unify and share information in a usable format have become necessary. Analyst firm Gartner estimates that more than 80% of growth in enterprise use of social networking tools will be driven by customer engagement projects and estimates social customer relationship management to be a $1 billion submarket of CRM in 2011.

Recall that in my previous post about social CRM, we addressed some key tenets:

  • Listen and engage;
  • Have a 360-degree view of the customer;
  • Adopt transparency and customer service as cultural foundations for your business;
  • Share and align with your team; develop necessary workflow;
  • Social engagement must be enterprise-wide.
In an effort to see these theories applied to real-life situations, let's examine some examples of how my personal customer experience was affected by businesses correctly capturing, sharing and acting on relevant information.

Honeymoon and Teamwork

For my honeymoon, I stayed at a world-class resort called Tabacon in Costa Rica. Each day was full of thoughtful and personalized details that were carefully orchestrated among various employees of the hotel, as well as external parties. The best part of the experience was a private dinner in a cabana in the rainforest. Let's dissect the collaboration and communication that had to occur for this experience to happen:

  • Our travel planner contacted the hotel to make arrangements and communicate our honeymoon status.
  • A reservation specialist received the reservation, captured client (mine) information in the internal record system, analyzed honeymoon suite inventory and booked it.
  • The hotel referenced client preferences via my profile for that hotel group ("Leading Hotels of the World") and discovered my preference for champagne.
  • The hotel communicated this preference to housekeeping; housekeeping prepared the room for arrival with a champagne bottle and a personalized note of congratulations.
  • The concierge greeted me at the door and offered the private dinner and established a channel in which I could book it.
  • The hotel collected menu preferences and desired time; communicated time to chef and waiter.
  • The waiter came to pick us up in the room and the chef prepared food to client specification.
At least five people and two systems (internal and external) were involved in making this an unforgettable experience. So why did I use this as an example, even though there was no social media involved? Because social or not, the underlying business principles haven't and shouldn't have changed. A finely tuned communication and collaboration system is key if you want to provide an excellent experience, whether it's via the social web or in-person.

How Does Social Media Enhance Experience?

Only when you are confident in your ability to support the collaborative process should you invest in a full-scale social media effort. I recommend following these simple steps:

1. Listen and respond. You should be listening for signals from social media for needs of existing and potential clients. You want to engage proactively: listening at the point of need; as well as reactively: listening for indicators that someone may need help. To provide another personal example, Virgin America effectively and quickly responded to a need I had via social media. Unlike its competitor, Virgin got back to me very quickly, taking care to resolve the issue in the backchannel instead of sending me to an 800 number.

2. Cross-reference social and internal customer data. Is there anything that could have made the Virgin example even better? Certainly! It would have been even better if the company automatically knew my frequent flyer number without me having to message it. To successfully serve someone or give them an unforgettable experience, you need to know what your relationship is with the person who tweeted, your history of communication, as well as purchase history, if it's a customer. For example, at my company, we help you cross-reference people from the social media stream (either your own or as a result of tracking keywords) to the internal record for a full 360-degree view.

3. Understand context of relationship. Quick caveat: this new level of customer intelligence should be used in context of the relationship. While the customer may want you to get the full scoop on him or her in a customer service scenario, a company should never appear like it is using the personal information of someone who has no relationship with the company.

I once had a sub-par experience with a major financial institution where I couldn't get in touch with customer service. Exasperated and in a panic, I complained on Twitter, after which the Twitter rep got back to me promptly. Before I could even write back with details about my situation, she proactively e-mailed me via the e-mail address on record. In this case, it wasn't creepy and actually provided value, because we had a relationship, and I knew the company had my e-mail address.

Of course, if an existing customer is having a bad experience, your first priority should be fixing the experience, communicating it back to the user and asking this person to keep voicing feedback and opinions. This will increase brand affinity and create an experience worth sharing with others. Whether your customer is having a good experience or bad, it's key to create a participatory channel in which ideas can be voiced and captured, and progress communicated back to the customer.

Share and Collaborate, Rinse and Repeat

As you do all of the above, make sure that your team, as well as key external parties, are on the same page with you. Cross-reference social data with internal data, retain and reference current and prior conversation threads and ensuing actions items. Just like how the Tabacon personnel immaculately shared information about me, delegated tasks to each other, and stayed on the same page, so should any business that wants to provide a superb customer experience.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Facebook Insights for Small Business
- 6 Free Chrome Apps and Extensions for Small Businesses
- Top 10 Digital Advertising Innovations of 2010
- 5 Predictions for the Public Relations Industry in 2011
- 5 Predictions for Small Business in 2011

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AndyL

Music Tech: 8 Digital Instruments for the Cutting Edge Composer [VIDEOS] (Mashable)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 04:32 AM PST

Zachary Sniderman Zachary Sniderman – Sun Jan 2, 7:32 am ET

Some kids grew up wanting to drive DeLoreans or throw LightDisks at each other. Some kids wanted to be rock stars and play for the crowds. These instruments combine both of those dreams into one tech-filled bonanza of light and sound.

Technology has always played a big role in the evolution of instruments. The washtub bass became the acoustic bass, which became the electric bass and so on, each one taking and adapting its generation's technology -- analog or otherwise -- and running with it.

The earliest inventors only had to worry about how to make sound and then how to most efficiently amplify it. Now, technology has led to so many different musical possibilities that it can be hard to figure out what's "next" and what's just a gimmick.

An instrument that can play the weather report? Digital splicers? Interactive musical tables? We've gathered some of the most interesting tech instruments -- most of which are so new or niche that they've barely cracked the market.

With that, read on for eight instruments on tech steroids, and let us know in the comments below which gadgets you found most interesting.

1. Otamatone

The OtamaTone is a cute, toy-like instrument. Behind its adorableness is a pretty sophisticated voice simulator. Moving your fingers along the stem changes the pitch, while squeezing its head changes the volume. Unfortunately, the science behind the OtamaTone is probably more pleasing than the sound it actually makes.

2. 1-Bit Symphony

Blurring the line between "instrument" and "album," 1-Bit Symphony doesn't give the user a ton of control. The device literally plays the album as you listen to it. Think of it as a digital, post-modern music box.

3. Tenori-on

The tenori-on is Yamaha's version of the monome, a much sought-after, reprogrammable board with buttons. After setting a time signature, the instrument will play whatever buttons (and their associated tones) are depressed in as it scans from left to right. It's easiest to understand by actually trying it -- and while it might be hard to actually get yours hands on one, there is a pared-down, digital approximation you can try right here.

4. Continuum Keyboard

It's easiest to think of this as a variable MIDI-controller. You can assign individual sounds or sets of sounds to the keyboard, which can then be individually controlled by how hard you press, where you press, and by where you slide your fingers once down. It's a clever use of electrical current to change sound from external sources. Judging from the video above, however, it might be a load of work for the casual user.

5. Arduinome

The arduinome is another riff on the monome idea similar to the Tenori-on except with a different pattern to how notes are played. Rather than a straight left-to-right, the arduinome plays in alternating, oscillating patterns that can be individually manipulated and changed. Where the Tenori-on is percussive, the arduinome is a touch more expressive. Same idea, though.

6. Brick Table

Brick Table "Weather Report" Tangible Multi Touch Interface from FlipMu on Vimeo.

The Brick Table is a way of turning data (from weather reports to graphs) into music. Each object has a certain sound pattern and movement associated with it. When they are placed on the interactive map they pick up on different sounds and time patterns to create the surreal soundscapes heard in the video. If you can program, this might just be your thing, but don't expect to see too many Brick Tables at your high school talent show.

7. Lemur

Somewhere between an iPad app and a stand-alone device, the Lemur is touted as a jazz machine, though it seems to share more in common with apps like Ableton. Still, its touchscreen interface allows for the user to manipulate beats, sound and ambient effects to mix and create music.

8. Reactable

One part TRON, one part music jigsaw puzzle, one part Minority Report, the reactable is the most far out addition to the list. A fully interactive table responds to the location and orientation of specially designed objects. Drum cubes can be spun to speed or slow down, and different instrument blocks can be modified by placing and rotating objects in their vicinity. It looks like fun, but can it actually make music? Apparently so. Even Bjork, the oddball laureate of emotional music has one.

9. Kaoss Pad

Anyone familiar with DJing should know what a Kaoss Pad is. The tiny, interactive MIDI-controller from Korg can be used to distort, modify, or generally scramble any music sample you're spinning. As the above video shows, it's also fun to just hit the buttons and see what happens. Just try and forget the vocal sample.

More Music Resources from Mashable:

- 8 Musical iPad Apps for the Digital Maestro
- 4 Ways Bands Can Cash in Online Without a Label
- Top 10 Twitter Tips for Bands, By Bands
- 5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood
- 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head

Facto.Me Is an Addictive App for Sharing Facts About Yourself (Mashable)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 10:33 AM PST

Jolie O'Dell Jolie O'dell – Sun Jan 2, 1:33 pm ET

From the maker of designer/developer community Forrst comes Facto.me, a highly self-referential app that's at least mildly addictive, entertaining and social.

The premise is simple: We all have stories to share about ourselves, but sometimes, they don't quite come out the way we'd like them to in conversation. We tend to disclose information about ourselves in passing and as it's relevant to the conversation. Often, this means we leave out the most interesting bits about ourselves and our lives, simply because no one ever asks us those questions.

Like Formspring, a similarly addictive anonyous Q&A app, Facto.me draws our focus inward. We're asked not to respond to questions from strangers but rather to share fascinating non sequiturs about ourselves, things few or no other people might know.

For example, Kyle Bragger, the guy who made Facto.me, secretly enjoys country music (secret's out, buddy). And I turn to the crochet hook when I need to unwind.

Users are invited to interact with others' facts with a row of buttons under each fact. You can respond "Me too!" or "No way!" or, if you're feeling a bit blasé, "Boring," among other options. You can also click to see a random fact from a random user.

If you're not just pounding out fact after fact about yourself, it's also a great way to learn things about the people in your world. Once the service's userbase grows a bit, we're hoping Bragger creates some cool tools for discovering people in your social graph.

And for now, it's an interesting way to learn random facts about random people -- and we do mean random -- from all around the web. Again, with more and a greater variety of users, it could be a fascinating app for online voyeurism; if there's anything we humans love more than talking about ourselves, it's peering into the strange, strange lives of others.

Take Facto.me for a spin, and let us know what you think in the comments.

TypeLink, Wizard Hex top iPad Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 03:50 PM PST

Google moving in on Apple's digital newsstand (AFP)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 08:24 PM PST

– 38 mins ago

NEW YORK (AFP) – Google is trying to get media backing for a new Google-operated digital newsstand for users of devices that run its Android software, hoping to muscle in on Apple's own version, The Wall Street Journal said.

Google has already approached several publishers, including Time Warner Inc.'s Time Inc. unit, Condé Nast and Hearst Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

In recent weeks, these sources said, Google has told publishers it would take a smaller slice on any sales they make of Android apps than the 30 percent cut Apple typically takes on iTunes sales.

"Google has also proposed giving publishers certain personal data about app buyers to help with marketing related products or services," the daily said.

Google, it added, issued a statement on the matter saying: "We've consistently said we're talking with publishers about ways we can work together, including whether we can help them with technology for subscription services. We have nothing specific to announce at this time."

Google exploring digital newsstand: report (Reuters)

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 05:48 PM PST

– Sun Jan 2, 8:48 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc has approached several magazine publishers about creating a digital newsstand, in a move that could open a new front in the Internet company's rivalry with Apple Inc, according to a news report.

The digital newsstand would provide a way for media companies to sell versions of their publications designed for tablet PCs and smartphones based on Google's Android operating system, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, citing anonymous sources.

Google has discussed the venture with publishers including Time Warner Inc's Time Inc unit, Conde Nast and Hearst Corp, and has told some publishers it would take a smaller cut of revenue than the 30 percent that Apple typically takes from iTunes sales, the report said.

Google has also offered to provide publishers with certain personal data of customers who purchase the digital versions of their publications.

The report said that Apple is also planning several changes with its iTunes online store, including making it easier for publishers to sell subscriptions -- in addition to single issue sales -- as well as the possibility of sharing more customer information with publishers.

Representatives of Google and Apple were not immediately available for comment.

The report said that the timing of Google's digital newsstand remains vague and that it's possible the venture might not materialize at all.

Last month, Google, the world's No.1 Internet search engine, began selling digital books through an online store, entering a market dominated by Amazon.com Inc, and intensifying its competition with Apple, which also sells electronic books for its iPad tablet.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
at 9:20 PM

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