For some consumers, surveys breed feedback fatigue (AP) : Technet

For some consumers, surveys breed feedback fatigue (AP)
Four executives leaving in Sprint reorganization (AP)
Yahoo dangled $27M pay package to get new CEO (AP)
Apple may file lawsuit against the makers of disturbingly realistic Steve Jobs doll (Yahoo! News)
Chimeric monkeys are a genetic mash-up … for science! (Yahoo! News)
How to Find the Right Digital Training Tool for Your Company (Mashable)
Israel vows to hit back after credit cards hacked (Reuters)
Actress who sued Amazon over age IDs herself (AP)
Love and war rage as PBS' 'Downton Abbey' returns (AP)
2011's Android Winners and Losers (ContributorNetwork)
How Farmville Parody 'Cow Clicker' Made Thousands on Facebook (ContributorNetwork)
Which U.S. Carriers Still Offer Unlimited Data? (ContributorNetwork)
Samsung and Best Buy choose Appolicious to power app discovery (Appolicious)
Android connected devices expected at CES (Appolicious)
Could music stream ripping software put Spotify and other music services at major risk? (Digital Trends)
The best apps for iPads and Android tablet devices (Appolicious)
Symantec: parts of antivirus source code exposed (Reuters)
Google buys more patents from IBM (AP)

For some consumers, surveys breed feedback fatigue (AP)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 09:04 PM PST

By JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press – 58 mins ago

NEW YORK – We appreciate your decision to read this story. Would you take a short survey about your satisfaction with the reading experience? Could you review this article on a website? Rate it for other readers?

As inboxes fill with requests to appraise holiday purchases and trips, it's prime time for feedback fatigue.

With emailed appeals for comments on commonplace transactions and customer-service calls that beget requests to take a survey, consumers are being pinged for opinions at a rate that has gotten some publicly grousing about a surfeit of surveys.

One such lament spawned dozens of responses on a frequent fliers forum last year. Some Gmail users complained about recurring bids to react to a change in the email service's look this fall, prompting owner Google to curtail the requests. Comedian Bill Maher dinged the feedback frenzy in a video for The Huffington Post in 2010, telling a nameless company, "I was actually pretty happy with your customer service, up to the point where you asked me to take a survey about your customer service."

Surely, it's nice to be courted for input, at least sometimes. But some consumers say they're fed up with giving time-consuming feedback for free, don't like being drawn into a data web used to evaluate employees or feel companies don't act on the advice they get. Others say they simply don't have anything revelatory to impart about, say, ordering a shirt or buying a package of pens.

"I resent the assumption that I'm interested in helping this company beyond making a purchase. Giving them your money is enough," says Travis Van, 34. He blogged about the issue in June on the website of ITDatabase, a San Francisco-based service he founded for technology companies seeking media contacts.

While market-research polls have been conducted for decades, customer-satisfaction surveys have proliferated in recent years because of technology, a growing emphasis on getting data to shape decisions and measure results, and a drive to hold onto customers in a difficult economy, experts say.

"People care much more about what the customers think today," said Brian Koma, vice president of research at Vovici, a Herndon, Va.-based firm that conducts surveys and helps businesses integrate the results with views customers express online, in phone calls and elsewhere. It's owned by Melville, N.Y.-based Verint Systems Inc.

There's no scientific measure of the number of customer-feedback requests, but questionnaires have percolated into such professional settings as law firms and doctor's offices and become de rigeur for even everyday purchases.

"I can't remember the last time I bought a fast-food hamburger or a sandwich without seeing a request for a survey on the receipt," said Valerie Salven, 57, a semi-retired lawyer in Lexington, Ky. "I don't always have that much to say about a purchase."

Julie Pfeffer has sworn off phone surveys and most online ones. She finds most so vague that it's "impossible to see how they could ever be of any use," and she questions whether companies are even listening. Pfeffer, 44, who works in money management and lives in Hockessin, Del., recalls trying vainly to provide specific comments to a car-rental company survey-taker who wouldn't veer from a "totally satisfied, somewhat satisfied, not satisfied"-style script.

Brian Warner doesn't mind being asked for input on such a big-ticket item as a car or a cruise. But "my goodness, after an oil change?" the retired high school principal chuckled.

Moreover, he's unsettled by the plaintive tone of some pleas for feedback. "It gives me the picture of some poor manager who's going to be taken out and flogged" if the response isn't ebullient, says Warner, 66, of Blaine, Wash.

A reluctance to weigh in might seem ironic in an era when countless consumers volunteer their views on social media networks and user-generated ratings sites. But to frequent traveler Wayne Rutman, it often makes more sense to comment on such sites than to take surveys.

"This way, both potential customers and management can benefit," says Rutman, 44, a Wilmington, Del.-based equity analyst who participated in an outpouring of survey weariness on the online forum FlyerTalk last year. He feels companies should offer rewards for responses, as some firms do, though some survey experts question the effectiveness of incentives.

"Survey fatigue" has long been a concern among pollsters. Some social scientists fear a pushback on feedback could hamper important government data-gathering, as for the census or unemployment statistics.

If more people say no to those, "the data, possibly, become less trustworthy," said Judith Tanur, a retired Stony Brook University sociology professor specializing in survey methodology.

Response rates have been sinking fast in traditional public-opinion phone polls, including political ones, said Scott Keeter, the Pew Research Center's survey director and the president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Pew's response rates have fallen from about 36 percent in 1997 to 11 percent last year, he said. The rate includes households that weren't reachable, as well as those that said no.

The Associated Press conducts regular public opinion polling around the world and has seen similar trends in response rates. There's little consensus among researchers on whether lower response rates, in themselves, make results less reliable.

Keeter attributes the decline more to privacy concerns and an ever-busier population than to survey fatigue. But the flurry of customer-feedback requests "undoubtedly contributes to people putting up their guard," he said.

Still, some consumers say the surveys can be useful to companies and customers alike.

To Seth Miller, "feedback surveys can offer an easy and efficient way to raise an issue." The 34-year-old New York information technology consultant and travel blogger fills out as many customer surveys as he can and finds they sometimes bring specific responses.

Even feedback about feedback can prove valuable.

After users sounded off in a Gmail forum about repeated requests for opinions on Gmail's fall overhaul, Google Inc. shortened the number of days the request would appear from 14 to four.

"We're very passionate about user feedback" and solicit it in various ways, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said in a statement this week.

"We know not all users like to be surveyed," Google added.

___

Leave your feedback about this story using an easy, 140-character form at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

Four executives leaving in Sprint reorganization (AP)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 05:46 PM PST

– Fri Jan 6, 8:46 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Four executives are leaving Sprint Nextel Corp. in a reorganization that will combine the sales and marketing functions for both its consumer and business units.

Spokesman Scott Sloat confirmed the move, which was laid out in a memo sent by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse on Friday.

The news was reported earlier by Reuters.

Sprint is in the midst of a costly upgrade to put its phones on a "4G" network, and Hesse expressed the need to become more efficient in the memo.

Sprint shares fell 5 cents, or 2.2 percent, to close at $2.19 on Friday.

Yahoo dangled $27M pay package to get new CEO (AP)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 05:14 PM PST

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke, Ap Technology Writer – Fri Jan 6, 8:14 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Yahoo dangled a $27 million pay package to lure its newly hired CEO Scott Thompson away from PayPal.

The struggling Internet company disclosed the details of Thompson's compensation in a regulatory filing late Friday. Thompson starts his new job Monday after spending the past four years running eBay Inc.'s PayPal service, where revenue more than doubled during his tenure. PayPal took in an estimated $4.4 billion last year.

That kind of robust growth is a fuzzy memory for Yahoo Inc., a one-time Internet star whose revenue has sagged as online advertising flowed increasingly to rivals Google Inc. and Facebook.

Yahoo has promised better times under three new CEOs in less than five years, only to frustrate investors each time. They've been especially disenchanted since the company squandered an opportunity to sell itself to Microsoft Corp. for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, in May 2008. The stock hasn't traded above $20 in more than three years, with the shares closing Friday at $15.52. The last time it closed above $33 was 2006.

Thompson, 54, is highly regarded in Internet circles, although some analysts question whether he is the right fit for Yahoo because he has no experience in online content or advertising, the company's financial lifeblood.

Yahoo offered Thompson a deal that includes a $1 million salary and a bonus of up to $2 million this year. Yahoo is guaranteeing to pay him $1 million of the bonus; the remaining $1 million will hinge on Yahoo's financial results this year.

Thompson also will receive stock incentives valued at $22.5 million. The stock awards could be worth more or less, depending how Yahoo's long-slumping shares fare under Thompson's leadership.

To top it off, Yahoo is paying Thompson $1.5 million to offset money he forfeited by leaving PayPal. A $6.5 million chunk of the stock awards are also meant to offset some of the compensation Thompson would have gotten at PayPal, according to the filing.

Thompson received a $10.4 million compensation package at PayPal in 2010. It included a $645,000 salary. EBay hasn't yet revealed how much it paid Thompson last year.

Unless more money and stock is added later in the year, Yahoo won't be paying Thompson as much as his predecessor, Carol Bartz, who was hired three years ago and fired four months ago. Tim Morse, Yahoo's chief financial officer, had been running Yahoo since Bartz's ouster.

Bartz's compensation package during her first year on the job was valued at $47.2 million. Much of that, though, included stock incentives that haven't become as valuable as the original calculations envisioned because the company's shares remained in a funk during Bartz's regime. Bartz's salary was $1 million, like Thompson's.

Now that Yahoo has a new CEO, it may be looking to replace some of the directors on its 10-member board to placate unhappy shareholders. The company, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has hired the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. to hunt for possible replacements, according to a story published Friday on The Wall Street Journal's website. The story quoted unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Much of the shareholder anger has been aimed at Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and co-founder Jerry Yang, who both played central roles in rebuffing Microsoft's takeover attempt. The Journal's story didn't identify which Yahoo board members might be replaced.

The board approved Thompson's hiring and pay package. He is also joining the board.

Apple may file lawsuit against the makers of disturbingly realistic Steve Jobs doll (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 06:06 PM PST

Chimeric monkeys are a genetic mash-up … for science! (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 03:03 PM PST

How to Find the Right Digital Training Tool for Your Company (Mashable)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 01:35 PM PST

Peter Bray Peter Bray – Fri Jan 6, 4:35 pm ET

Peter Bray is the chief marketing officer of Trivantis, a provider of innovative e-learning software, including Snap! by Lectora PowerPoint to Flash software and Snap! Empower Flash interactions builder. Free trials of both solutions can be found at SnapbyLectora.com. Corporate training helps to strengthen a business by focusing on one of the top assets of an organization: the employees. Not only does training and development arm staff with much-needed skills, but it also conveys that the company is invested in its employees' future.

[More from Mashable: 5 Fitness Brands Kicking Butt on Social Media]

When implemented effectively, corporate training plays an integral role in helping to improve employee productivity, quality of work, workforce morale, safety, corporate image, profitability and employee retention.

If corporate training yields all these benefits, then why do many employees cringe when they think about having to attend a corporate training session? If you've ever sat through a death-by-PowerPoint training presentation, then you understand their disdain. Corporate trainers need help creating better presentations and adopting innovative approaches.

[More from Mashable: 7 Social Media Predictions for 2012]

With new technologies and trends constantly emerging, corporate training professionals are finding it increasingly difficult to stay ahead of the curve while operating within tight budgets during this uncertain, fragile state of today's economy. As a result, corporate training professionals with financial limitations may feel they are unable to afford materials and technologies needed for successful e-training in the workplace.

However, with the right strategy, finding the perfect e-learning tool at an affordable price is a much more feasible task. Take these three important questions into consideration.

1. What Do Learners Expect?

Today's learners have high expectations for workplace training. They want courses and tutorials that are easy to navigate, highly interactive, engaging and, above all, fun. Employees expect e-learning content to not only provide them with new insights and information, but also to excite them along the way.

Today's learners also expect courses to adapt to their evolving needs using the latest technologies available. For instance, a vast majority of the current workforce can easily manage mobile devices or tablets – and it doesn't expect e-learning courses to be any different. Along the same lines, learners also use social outlets like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn on a daily basis, so sharing e-learning through these means is a huge bonus for this information-now audience. As technologies change, so should your e-learning.

Ordinary, mundane e-learning courses and training are sure to disappoint learners and leave them wanting more. And when your learners are bored, they aren't paying full attention to your content, which defeats the purpose of your training. As you search for the right e-learning solution, put your employees first by choosing an authoring tool that allows for the creation of truly fun, exciting tutorials and courses. When courses are engaging, you'll impress your learners and make it easier for them to retain information.

2. How Can I Save Time and Energy?

For an e-learning tool to be a perfect match, it must do more than entertain your learners – it must benefit you as an e-learning developer as well. As an individual working in a fast-paced environment and running on a tight schedule, it is essential that you're armed with a truly rapid e-learning tool that allows for the speedy creation of e-learning course and training. When time is precious, having the right tool to cut down on development can make all the difference.

Picking an e-learning tool that is easy-to-use and allows for natural navigation is the most logical solution for rapid e-learning content creation. Incorporating audio, video and interactivity is a must, but without all the development effort of the old days. Rapid e-learning without the learning curve saves you time and energy with every course and tutorial you create, leaving you more time for other tasks on your to-do list.

3. How Do I Get More Bang for my Buck?

A fast, fun and easy-to-use rapid e-learning tool seems to be everything an e-learning professional dreams of. But if a tool doesn't have impressive, robust capabilities, why purchase it? A rare find among rapid e-learning tools is a product that is affordable, simple and has brilliant features that pack a real punch and make it truly unique.

When purchasing e-learning on a budget, one final point to consider is whether you're getting the features and capabilities you need along with low price and ease-of-use.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Stanford EdTech

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Israel vows to hit back after credit cards hacked (Reuters)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 01:01 PM PST

By Dan Williams Dan Williams – Sat Jan 7, 4:01 pm ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said on Saturday the online publication of thousands of its citizens' credit card details by a hacker who says he is based in Saudi Arabia was comparable to terrorism, and promised to hit back.

The data theft, which appeared to focus on commercial websites, was one of the worst Israel has said it has faced.

While government officials and credit card companies said the financial damage was minimal, the breaches were welcomed by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and have heightened concerns about the potential use of stolen information by the Jewish state's foes.

Such cyber-attacks are "a breach of sovereignty comparable to a terrorist operation, and must be treated as such," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in a speech, adding that Israel had not yet ruled out the possibility that the hacking had been carried out by a group "more organized and sophisticated ... than a lone youth."

"Israel has active capabilities for striking at those who are trying to harm it, and no agency or hacker will be immune from retaliatory action," he said, without elaborating.

The hacker, identifying himself as Saudi-based OxOmar, said on Thursday he had leaked private information about more than 400,000 Israelis. Credit card companies said around 25,000 numbers, some of them expired, had been posted as of Friday.

After Israeli media ran what they described as interviews conducted with OxOmar over email, the Haaretz newspaper said a blogger had tracked the hacker down and determined he was a 19-year-old citizen of the United Arab Emirates studying and working in Mexico.

An aide to Ayalon, Lital Shochat, said Israel was aware of the report but had not yet requested help from Mexican authorities.

Hamas, an Islamist group that sees itself as locked in holy war with Israel but has hinted it could curb armed attacks as part of reconciliation talks with more moderate Palestinian rivals, described OxOmar's actions as "a new form of resistance.

"We urge Arab youth to ignore these cowardly Israeli threats and to use all means available in the virtual space to confront Israeli crimes," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in Gaza.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)

Actress who sued Amazon over age IDs herself (AP)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 05:23 PM PST

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Gene Johnson, Associated Press – Fri Jan 6, 8:23 pm ET

SEATTLE – An actress who filed an anonymous lawsuit against Amazon.com and its Internet Movie Database for revealing her age identified herself in a federal court filing Friday.

Huong Hoang of Texas, may be better known by her stage name, Junie Hoang. She has appeared in such films as "Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver" and "Hoodrats 2: Hoodrat Warriors."

The actress filed a million-dollar claim against Amazon last fall, saying the company mined her IMDb account to learn her age, 40, and then posted it on her profile — causing her offers for roles to dry up.

The lawsuit caused a frenzy of online speculation over who the actress might be — as well as a bit of soul-searching about ageism in youth-obsessed Hollywood.

Women over 40 make up 24.3 percent of the U.S. population, but a casting analysis by the Screen Actors Guild showed actresses over 40 get just 12.5 percent of roles for television and film. Men of that age are also about a quarter of the population, but nearly equal their ranks in casting.

Last month a federal judge in Seattle ordered the lawsuit dismissed, saying the actress had no grounds to proceed with an anonymous complaint. Hoang refiled it under her real name.

She did not immediately return an email seeking comment, nor did her lawyer immediately return a voice message left after business hours.

A lawyer and a spokeswoman for Amazon also did not immediately return calls.

Hoang's IMDb profile says she got her start in dance at 16, was the salutatorian of her high school class and earned a degree in biomedical science from Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine. It lists her at 5-foot-2, 100 pounds, and suggests she can play characters ages 26-33.

She played Sandy in "Gingerdead Man 3," a sequel to a 2005 Gary Busey movie in which "an evil yet adorable gingerbread man comes to life with the soul of a convicted killer," according to a description on IMDb.

Other credits include a part as a triage nurse in the television series "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant," and as the part of Janet in "My Big Phat Hip Hop Family."

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

___

Online:

http://imdb.to/xyBLtv

http://www.juniehoang.com/122011

Love and war rage as PBS' 'Downton Abbey' returns (AP)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 12:26 PM PST

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer Lynn Elber, Ap Television Writer – Sat Jan 7, 3:26 pm ET

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – It's an irony that acid-tongued Violet, aka the dowager countess of Grantham, would savor: One of TV's hottest romances is playing out among English nobility, with nary a cell phone or laptop in sight and, most shockingly, on PBS.

"Downton Abbey" devotees eagerly await the drama's season two return 9-11 p.m. EST Sunday, when the romance of Matthew and Lady Mary resumes its rocky course as World War I scars Europe. There's also fallout from the war within Mary's family digs, the stately mansion that gives the series its name.

Consider it "Yorkshire 90210," but with writer-creator Julian Fellowes' witty dialogue and rich characters, stunning period costumes and (generally) chaste love affairs.

Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens, who play the star-crossed young couple, said they are both delighted and surprised at the series' international success.

"It's huge in Australia," Dockery said.

"And Spain," added Stevens. The 11 Emmy nominations and six trophies, including best miniseries, earned by the period drama's first season were a thrill: "For a show like this to get that kind of attention over here, it's great," he said.

Success has created a burden of secrecy regarding the fate of young lawyer Matthew, unexpected heir to Downton under England's early 20th-century inheritance laws, and Mary, who could keep her family's hold on the estate by marrying him.

In season one, the willful Mary had rejected, accepted and rejected again smitten Matthew, and then she was rebuffed. Now both have turned elsewhere for love, while war and other historical events toy with their fates.

Dockery, 30, and Stevens, 29, project such on-screen chemistry that people who know better confuse fiction with fact.

"There was a great picture of me and Dan at the Derby (the famed horse race) and even my boyfriend said, `It kind of looks like you're together,'" Dockery said, smiling.

Fans are desperate to know what happens next.

"Not least my own wife," said Stevens, interviewed on a California visit before season two aired in the U.K. "She's forever trying to find the scripts and is desperate to read them."

Spouse Susie Hariet now knows the story so far, with the season just concluded in Britain (a third season has been announced). But U.S. viewers who avoid spoilers online must wait for the drama to unfold over seven weeks, through Feb. 19.

Downton's younger generation matures quickly during wartime, with Matthew tested as an army officer slogging through trench warfare in France.

"It was a real delicious challenge to take on, such a far cry from the first season for me. I was caked in mud for half the series," Stevens said. "For a lot of us, it feels like a graduation in terms of what was asked of us, emotionally, and the intensity of the story lines. The stakes were higher and everything is notched up one or two pegs."

Dockery said she and Stevens got the chance to switch up their acting game.

"Matthew becomes more harder as a result of what he's seen and been through, and Mary's much softer. It's really interesting playing that," she said.

There's more to "Downton Abbey," of course, than one star-crossed couple. Robert, the earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), is itching to jump into the war, while wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and younger daughters Edith (Laura Carmichael) and Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) make their own wartime contributions, and the girls pursue romance.

And there's major action downstairs. Among the estate's servants, some are called for war duty while Bates (Brendan Coyle), Lord Grantham's valet, and head housemaid Anna (Joanne Froggatt), find their future together endangered by Bates' vengeful estranged wife.

Commenting with glee and self-interest on the action is Violet, her lines delivered impeccably by grande dame actress Maggie Smith, a 2011 Emmy-winner for her portrayal. In a scene in which she gives her granddaughters approval to aid the war effort, Violet reminds them that Great Aunt Roberta "loaded the guns at Lucknow."

Fellowes, the man behind all the clever words and stories, already proved his mastery of the genre with the Oscar-winning script for the 2001 stately mansion drama "Gosford Park."

PBS is hoping for a repeat of last year's ratings bonanza. "Masterpiece," the umbrella series under which "Downton Abbey" airs, had a 30 percent ratings increase and saw its ratings for young adult female viewers double.

New "Masterpiece" sponsor Viking River Cruises, which stepped in last year in after a difficult search to replace longtime underwriter ExxonMobil, found the experience rewarding enough to agree to support the series for 2012.

Another fund established to allow public TV station contributors to make direct donations to "Masterpiece" of $25,000 and up met its goal of $1 million, "Masterpiece" executive producer Rebecca Eaton said recently.

That's "a Godsend as we go forward, because these programs are not getting any cheaper," she said. PBS teamed with British producers on the series.

Eaton gave vague but tantalizing hints of what is in store for season three, which will be set in the 1920s and which PBS hopes to air a year from now.

"People will live. People will die. People get married. People get born. Bates will probably continue to be in trouble. That man cannot seem to get out of trouble," she said.

Amen, say "Downton" fans.

___

Online:

http://www.pbs.org

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Lynn Elber is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. She can be reached at lelber(at)ap.org.

2011's Android Winners and Losers (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 01:50 PM PST

Jared Spurbeck Jared Spurbeck – Sat Jan 7, 4:50 pm ET

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COMMENTARY | Early last year, Android overtook iOS as the most popular mobile platform in the United States, according to Mashable's Stan Schroeder. But the latest reports suggest that while Android is winning the market share war, it's Apple who's leaps and bounds ahead of the competition when it comes to making money: About two-thirds of all the profit in the market goes to Apple.

With that in mind, which Android device manufacturers had the best year ... and created the most popular devices?

The Winners

Out of all the companies that launched their own Android-based iPad competitors, only two managed to gain any traction: Barnes and Noble with its Nook Color and Nook Tablet, and Amazon.com with its Kindle Fire. Both sold millions of tablets, although Amazon played coy with its actual sales figures.

Meanwhile, Samsung is increasingly defining the Android world, with its smartphones and tablets that closely mimic Apple's designs. Its Galaxy Tab was temporarily banned in some countries thanks to an Apple lawsuit, but its Galaxy Nexus -- the first smartphone to run Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" -- had male Android enthusiasts lining up down the street for it. It was the second Nexus smartphone in a row made by Samsung; the previous one, the Nexus S, was released right at the start of 2011, and was the first phone to use Google Wallet for NFC payments.

According to Enders Analysis, as of the third quarter of 2011 Samsung was shipping more smartphones than any other major vendor. Motorola could possibly be considered a winner as well, if only because of the impending Google acquisition.

The Losers

HTC's profits and shipments were both up in the third quarter. But the Taiwanese smartphone and tablet maker has lagged behind in the fourth quarter, posting its first profit decline in two years according to Bloomberg's Tim Culpan. Its purchase of Beats Audio has so far failed to reverse its decline, and its first Beats-equipped smartphone -- the Rezound -- largely failed to make a splash against the likes of the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S.

Likewise, pretty much all vendors that made "Android tablets" (instead of Kindles or Nooks) failed to make a dent in either the iPad's market share or profit share. None have yet dropped to the $99 fire sale levels of the WebOS-powered HP TouchPad, but many have seen massive price drops.

Barnes and Noble has also stumbled, despite the success of its color Nook tablets. A report by Phil Wahba of Reuters cites " disappointing numbers for its $99 Nook Simple Touch e-reader," as well as aggressive competition with Amazon.com, which is able to undercut Barnes and Noble's prices and sell the Kindle Fire below cost.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

How Farmville Parody 'Cow Clicker' Made Thousands on Facebook (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 01:50 PM PST

Jared Spurbeck Jared Spurbeck – Sat Jan 7, 4:50 pm ET

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The "Cowpocalypse" is already upon us; there are no more cows to be clicked. But at its height in 2011, the Facebook social game Cow Clicker had over 50,000 players, according to Jason Tanz of Wired ... and at least 10,000 were still clicking on empty patches of land as of last December.

The "game" was an intentional parody of Zynga's Farmville, made by independent software developer Ian Bogost, who normally prefers to write "machined haiku" for the Atari 2600. Its gameplay was exactly what it says on the tin: You bought cows (for "Mooney") and clicked on them, and your Facebook friends saw when you clicked.

So how did such a blatant non-game get to be so popular, and to make enough money to help finance Bogost's artistic pursuits?

Its ironic appeal

The first "players" of Cow Clicker, according to Kotaku's Leigh Alexander, were other indie game designers who played it as a form of protest.

Zynga VP Bill Mooney had given an award acceptance speech at the 2010 Independent Games Festival, which many designers saw as a threat to their art and their livelihood if they didn't make social games like his. Cow Clicker was originally Bogost's retort, designed to show just how shallow he thought Farmville was, and each cow clicked was (at first) a jab at everyone's friends who played it. It just didn't stay that way for long, as some people actually joined in looking for fun.

Its funny (and sort of fun) design

Cow Clicker's self-aware sense of humor led to the creation of a variety of themed cows, including "Cowthulhu" and "My First Cow" (drawn by Bogost's daughter). In addition, Bogost actually began taking player feedback seriously and making design tweaks in response.

Its player com-moo-nity

Tanz interviewed Jamie Clark of Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, who said she liked talking to the other Cow Clickers. " I don't meet a lot of people who discuss politics and religion and philosophy," she said, "but these people do". And as of December 20, the players had donated $1,125 to Oxfam America through buying a "Cowclicktivist Cow" ... which was created to make fun of social games giving to charity, but did in fact give to charity.

Its psychological mechanism

In a nutshell, Cow Clicker (like other Facebook social games) is a "Skinner Box." The psychology behind what makes people want to keep clicking on stuff in social games is well-known, which is why Zynga makes so much money ... and why Bogost was able to put one together so quickly.

At the same time, though, the other ingredients above helped make it a hit. And if nothing else, it brought some interesting people together over a very unusual game.

Which U.S. Carriers Still Offer Unlimited Data? (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 03:56 PM PST

Jared Spurbeck Jared Spurbeck – Fri Jan 6, 6:56 pm ET

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The news is not looking good for heavy wireless data users: Sprint, formerly the only major US carrier to offer truly unlimited monthly smartphone data plans, is now throttling data "for about 1% of users" according to Greg Bensinger of Dow Jones Newswires. (Greg Kumparak of Techcrunch clarified that it only applies while roaming, however, and that the fine print of a Sprint contract allows them to do this for "off-network" data usage.)

"Throttling" data means drastically lowering your connection speed while using wireless data. As David Ruddock of the Android Police blog put it, " It's like having unlimited milkshakes - but after the first two, you have to drink them with chopsticks until next month rolls around."

Sprint-owned Virgin Mobile has already announced plans to throttle its unlimited data plans. So far, Sprint's current $79 a month plan is still the closest an iPhone owner can come to truly unlimited data, so long as you stay on Sprint's network. But if you're willing to switch to Android there are a few contract-free options ... sort of.

Republic Wireless

This North Carolina-based startup now offers contract-free unlimited everything for $19 per month. The catch? It's a public beta test, sort of an experiment to see if offloading your voice minutes onto Wi-Fi via "Hybrid Calling" will work. And right now, they're not taking any new subscribers.

When I tested out Hybrid Calling on my Republic Wireless smartphone, I noticed a lag of a few seconds while talking over Wi-Fi. Others' mileage may vary, especially as Republic works the bugs out of the software, and there's no guarantee that the experiment will work out.

Boost Mobile

Boost Mobile's CDMA Android phones use Sprint's network, but unlike Sprint the company offers unlimited everything for $55 a month. What's more, for every six months of payments you make on time your bill shrinks by $5 a month, to a minimum of $40.

So what's the catch? As with all contract-free carriers, including the other three listed here, you have to buy your phone up-front. That means no free Android smartphones, and prices of up to $229 just for a Samsung Transform Ultra -- a far cry from the $199 iPhone 4S.

MetroPCS offers similar rates, minus the "shrinkage" option and with a drastically reduced coverage map.

Virgin Mobile

Another prepaid carrier that uses Sprint's network, Virgin Mobile's "Beyond Talk" plans start at $35 per month for unlimited data and texting (and only 300 voice minutes per month), and go up to $55 per month for unlimited talk as well.

The catch is that while Virgin Mobile doesn't yet throttle its customers, it's planning to start sometime in 2012.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Samsung and Best Buy choose Appolicious to power app discovery (Appolicious)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 05:11 PM PST

Android connected devices expected at CES (Appolicious)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST

Could music stream ripping software put Spotify and other music services at major risk? (Digital Trends)

Posted: 07 Jan 2012 08:45 AM PST

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Sat Jan 7, 11:45 am ET

The music industry has been forced to reinvent itself thanks to the Internet. Ever since Napster first appeared on the scene, consumers have been finding ways to get their music for free, at the detriment of recording labels and artists. One answer to this issue has been the subscription music model: Services like Spotify, Last.fm, MOG, and Rdio are compromises between a market that is searching for profit models and customers who simply won't spend what they used to.

How well this new business model works is up for debate. Indie artists say they're getting ripped off by such services, and some established musicians won't allow their music to be sold this way. Selling access to music rather than selling the commodity is a very new idea, and one with its drawbacks and benefits. While in the case of most services consumers don't actually have ownership over this data, it has largely been linked to cutting down on piracy.

Still, there are always ways around this. Via stream ripping, users are still able to pirate music, even within what are supposed to be safe harbors for artists.

And Spotify is one of the services to fall victim to the tool. The site is still relatively new to the U.S., but sites like SpotifyRipper and dozens like it give users a loophole in the system so they can get their music for free. Using applications like ReplayMusic, they can record from the service to access the music offline.

"This is a grey area as the concept has not been tested in court," according to the SpotifyRip website. "However it's legal to record from Internet radio and it could be said that Spotify is a type of Internet radio." Still, the site admits this is against Spotify's user policy. There are such services available for a variety of applications, like MOG and Pandora. Developers are actively making and selling software to help consumers (of every tech skill level) grab and keep their music.

"Stream ripping is nothing new and there are a number of cheap and free software tools available online to enable this activity," says Mark Mulligan of Music Industry Blog. "It has been a risk of streaming services for years. The reality is that stream ripping will happen, but I do not consider it to be a major risk." He says that while many services are user-friendly, all metadata is stripped from the files, so the process itself can be time consuming.

"That is not to say this isn't a problem for Spotify, it is," he says. "But it is much less of a problem than issues such as hitting profitability, creating long-term financial viability, [and] competing with other streaming services."

Music industry analyst Kevin Erickson also says that while Spotify has legally covered its bases with its terms of service, stream ripping can still hurt it. "If SpotifyRip becomes popular, then the press will not be favorable. Spotify claims to have stopped piracy (or reduced it) in some markets, so that claim will go out the window if SpotifyRip makes inroads."

While it's seemingly not a major issue, it could continue to give streaming services an uphill battle with record labels. Google Music has had trouble getting all four major companies on board with its application, and Spotify's launch was delayed because of contract negotiations. Back in 2007, the RIAA said stream ripping wasn't a threat to the industry, but that it hoped technology to prevent it would be adopted to circumvent the issue altogether. Of course music consumption has undergone vast changes since 2007, and it's looking like the powers that be didn't follow the RIAA's hopes about avoiding stream ripping entirely were in vain.

There seem to be endless hurdles on the road to an artist-profitable, consumer-centric music market. Stream ripping has been happening for years without much concern, or mainstream users being aware of it, but the increasing popularity of the subscription platform could seriously change that. If stream ripping were to become a more popular activity, new services could have trouble getting off the ground.

Spotify could ultimately serve as a cautionary tale for this: "[It] could begin to receive pressure from the labels to close the tech gap in the platform to counteract the SpotifyRip technology," Erickson notes. If it becomes a big enough problem, labels will start to turn toward services that have prevented or are taking steps to prevent stream ripping.

It also means that consumers have a loophole at their fingers. Authorities have known about stream ripping but either thought that technology would eventually disable it or that the music model wouldn't lend itself to it. But the opposite has happened, and that means that yet again there's a small window for music lovers who want some ownership over their digital content.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

Technet

Saturday, January 7, 2012