Among the most interesting of the presentations were representatives from TweedlePay and GoalSaver, whose use of pre-existing social technologies have made it possible to develop and launch useful money-oriented products in a short amount of time. TweedlePay used the structure of Twitter and the functionality of BancBox to create a Tweet-based payment system. GoalSaver utilizes s familiar social networking format to improve the saving process for a particular goal (like college or buying a home) in a public environment where friends and strangers can track a user’s progress and even make monetary contributions.

SaveUp, another uniquely mobile method for saving money is described in the article:

“We turn savings into a game,” SaveUp CEO and co-founder Priya Haji said as she went through her seven-minute pitch in front of several hundred bankers, investors and bloggers at the San Francisco conference that ended Wednesday. “You save money, you earn credits, and you use your credits to win sponsored prizes from companies like Banana Republic and Virgin Airlines.”

Some of these new products could easily improve the way we handle money electronically by simplifying and streamlining buying and investing on the web. Those that integrate existing technology may be the first to find success since they are already familiar to the public, though consumers may want to approach with caution initially. Social networking sites like Facebook have already seen major security issues concerning user data, and with the addition of more private information and connectivity, networks like this will need to prove that their data protection passes the test. Startups with similar functionality but of a smaller, tighter scope may find themselves on top in the long run if security issues emerge. That said, these and the other products point to a simpler, more connected way of managing money in the near future.

Derek Clark, May 17, 2012

From the article:

“The revised mobile warning seems especially pertinent after Facebook reported a disappointing first quarter. Facebook made $205 million in net income on $1.06 billion in revenue in Q1 2012. The revenue figure was six percent lower than in the previous quarter, and the income number means that Facebook made $28 million less than it did in the same quarter last year.”

Currently seeking investors, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his advisors must come up with a strategy and launch a revamped advertising initiative soon, if they hope to make their move into the public sector count. It is a bit shocking that this came as a surprise to Zuckerberg and Co., as a number of popular applications have positioned banner ads on the top and bottom of their interfaces for years, and these ad placements have been largely tolerated the app-happy mobile customers so far. Facebook should also be aware of the advantages of their design, as users on other platforms are already coping with the rising number of customized ads in their news feed.

Derek Clark, May 16, 2012

In the blanket license for Google Drive Google states:

“The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones.”

In its “terms of service” Google continues:

“You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.”

The information in this article suggests Google may have built loop holes into their blanket license agreement for their own use for future gain. When a service offers cloud storage of personal data privacy of that data should be guaranteed and the number one objective. We ask what is the fair exchange for the “free” service and the pay-back for offering the storage space in a land where nothing is “free” and consumers pay less attention to their own privacy in the glittering gold of social networking and cloud computing?

Sandy McIntosh, May 9, 2012

Klout’s David Temple explains:

“Brand Squads” are Klout’s way of giving influencers a place to be recognized and have a direct impact on the brands they care about most.””

Temple continues:

“Previously, brands had more simple pages with just their Klout Score. Brand Squads is a different twist on brand pages, where top influencers for brands have a chance to be recognized and have an impact on the brand.”

With this new app from Klout social media users have an opportunity to access brand data and ultimately win perks. Klout reports data based on influence to companies that offer these perks. Looking at the bigger picture companies that participate can acquire marketing data that could be useful to impact future sales. Klout’s app offers a seemingly win-win for consumers and brands. We raise the question of privacy with all of this tying of brand to social network users there is a degree of shared information. It makes us wonder, do consumers even realize what they give up to win  those perks?

Sandy McIntosh, May 8, 2012

CEO Garrett Camp states in the article:

“If we continue at this rate, we could see hundreds of millions of users.”

Camp also says:

“Last December, StumbleUpon unveiled a redesign intended to make the service more friendly to new users and to brands. Then earlier this month, it released an app that integrated with Facebook Timeline. Both changes are starting to make a difference in the company’s growth and usage.”

It sounds like Stumbleupon has stumbled upon success. However, success like this doesn’t happen by accident. The company is successful because it did the necessary homework and listened to their users. Additionally, plans are in the making for an API and expansion in Europe leading to more successful ventures, or so it seems.

Sandy McIntosh, May 3, 2012

The article describes the Zynga model:

“To help persuade entrepreneurs to stay, Zynga offers stock units that vest over two or more years. Unlike many Silicon Valley acquirers, the company typically doesn’t structure deals around performance incentives, or so-called earn-outs, which reward founders with extra cash or stock after their product gains a certain number of users, hits a revenue goal or meets some other business objective.”

While Zynga seems to have the resources and know-how to continue to expand their mobile game portfolio the article mentions some concerns and disagreements with the way Zynga does business. Analyst Arvind Bhatia questions the sustainability of continuing spending the large sums Zynga has been offering and the company has a done relatively poor job in keeping the talent that it recruits. Their strategy demonstrates a lot of confidence so we may just have to sit back and watch to see if their plan is justified.

Derek Clarke, April 26, 2012

From the article:

“We have reason to believe that the license model for streaming music players will change and that it will be legal to use a streaming music player in bars, cafes, restaurants and shops. Soundrop is a perfect tool for all of these businesses to engage their guests and customers with. You can imagine checking in with your phone to your favorite café and be able to either vote on the music that is upcoming or add your favorite tracks.”

This social music service app seemingly makes the idea of listening to “rooms” and sharing music with others wherever they are physically more user friendly. Also Soundrop’s proposed CRM data management feature is certain to entice the professional music community.

Sandy McIntosh, April 25, 2012

Gnip is linked with a full suite of social networks and plans to expand that social content with help from Tumblr then sell to enterprise customers to improve marketing strategies.

Chris Moody, President and COO of Tumblr, conveys this from the article:

Tumblr is a rich medium for longer-form content that has seven different options for what users can post. As a result, Tumblr is incredibly visual but also offers an immense amount of text based content (5 million text based posts per day).

In these posts, we see conversations happening on Tumblr that aren’t happening elsewhere on topics that aren’t typically discussed on other platforms. For Land Rover, that was a picture they posted that received 5,000 notes on Tumblr and almost no notice anywhere else. For Urban Outfitters, it was a picture a photographer posted of a piece from one of their new collections that received over 1,000 notes and almost no mention elsewhere.

For brands these viral activities matter a lot in areas like product development and brand management.

On a side note, and not to play down this huge growth pattern, I wonder if the influx of new people embracing the various social networks in general has anything to do with this vast number of social media activities?

Sandy McIntosh, April 24, 2012

However, one Internet rage has managed to break through the great firewall of China and is taking the country by storm. According to the Washington Post in an article titled, “Angry Birds Maker Works on Winning Players in China,” Angry Birds, Rovio Entertainment Oy’s popular touchscreen mobile game that involves birds being slung at pigs, has been downloaded more than 100 million times in China. According to Henri Holm, senior vice president of Rovio Asia, this is largely because of the growth of smart devices in the country especially those using the Android and iPhone operating systems.

With Angry Birds downloads expected to surpass the 100-million mark in 2012 Rovio is naturally seeking to expand its Internet distribution with Chinese social-networking companies like Renren Inc., Tencent Holdings Ltd., and Sina Corp.

Apart from tapping into China’s 513 million Internet users Rovio sees great advertising potential since most Chinese users are playing the free version of the game on which ads can easily be placed.

“Advertising is one of the ways we can monetize,”

Holm told the Post.

Another way is through Angry Birds merchandising; so far the most profitable arena for Rovio. The company is also exploring the possibility of making a version of Angry Birds that is compatible for the 10 percent using China’s HTML5-based web browsers.

So far companies like Renren are handling the matter coyly telling the Post in an email,

“We often have discussions with companies like Rovio, as we constantly look for potential partnerships and joint products that would further enhance our user experience.”

Pete Fernbaugh, April 19, 2012

Also discussed in the article are the pros and cons regarding the latest in TV viewing such as Smart TV, Social TV and Second Screen capabilities.

The editor, Jeremy Toeman, founder of Dijit Media, made this comment:

“My newest golden rule of creating TV technology and experiences is this: If the product doesn’t take “escape” into account in a major way, it is utterly doomed to fail.”

This summation of the “typical” North American household watching TV for 4+ hours is probably right on the mark. Unfortunately, while moving forward with technology in the home entertainment industry, families and people in general are sometimes less likely to depend on their own innate skills. Also, escaping into someone else’s existence, as this story suggests, puts a limit on creative and social talents.

Sandy McIntosh, April 17, 2012