Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s former chief software architect, says we are in a post-PC world where the PC is no longer central, but co-exists with other devices.
According to Reuters: “The PC, which was Microsoft’s foundation and still determines the company’s financial performance, has been nudged aside by powerful phones and tablets running Apple Inc and Google Inc software, the former Microsoft executive said.”
Microsoft, which dominated the PC era, has developed Windows 8 that will operate on ARM-powered tablets and hopefully put the company back on the cutting edge — or the “doom and gloom” scenario for Microsoft will be if people switch to portable, non-Windows devices.
“It’s a world of phones and pads and devices of all kinds, and our interests in general purpose computing — or desktop computing — starts to wane and people start doing the same things and more in other scenarios,” said Ozzie.
American Express is partnering with Twitter on a program that syncs with credit cards for automatic merchant discounts and coupons.
“The service is similar to one that American Express has with Facebook, letting consumers use their favorite social network to take advantage of special offers,” reports GigaOM.
Amex customers who sync their cards to their Twitter accounts can use a special hashtag to redeem coupons. “Users don’t have to actually clip a coupon or print anything out to take advantage of the service. They just have to send a tweet and the discount is stored for them,” explains the article.
Best Buy, McDonald’s, H&M, Whole Foods and TicketMaster are among the early participants.
NBC has teamed up with YouTube as its “official on-demand partner” for the 2012 Olympics.
Some 11,000 athletes from 205 countries are scheduled to compete over 17 days at the Summer Olympic Games in London.
“All events will be streamed live on Google’s backbone (likely via NBC.com) with replays of web-exclusive events, all the TV broadcasts and ‘behind the scenes’ footage all available at your whim,” reports Engadget.
According to the press release: “We plan to deliver the most extensive 2012 Olympics content to viewers, including — for the first time ever — ALL events streamed live. That’s right, you’ll be able to watch up to 3,000 hours of live streaming covering all 302 Gold Medals and every event in between.”
“Live streams will be available across our mobile platforms, providing an extraordinary 360-degree coverage of The Games,” adds the release.
Music sales were up 14 percent for 2011 over the previous year, while the number of music buyers also increased 2 percent.
NPD reports 78 million Americans purchased music in 2011, marking the second consecutive year that the number has increased.
The report indicates that CD sales continue to decline, but some 45 million music fans opted for digital downloads via iTunes and Amazon, up 14 percent from 2010.
“Given that it’s easier than ever to listen to free music, legally, via streaming options like Pandora and Spotify, the fact that paid downloads are up is a little counterintuitive,” notes AllThingsD. “But that’s always been part of the streaming music service pitch to the big labels: Let us give away your stuff, and we’ll help increase demand — just like radio used to do.”
With Apple expected to announce its much-anticipated iPad 3 today, a survey of mobile users reports that 29 percent plan to purchase the new tablet.
According to independent mobile ad network inMobi, of that number, 54 percent have never purchased a tablet before.
Nearly two-thirds of those wanting an iPad 3 said they would also consider an older device at a cheaper price, and almost half of the entire group reported no interest in a non-iPad tablet.
Initial rumors indicate the iPad 3 “will be slightly thicker and will include a higher-resolution Retina Display, better cameras, and the inclusion of LTE 4G chips,” reports VentureBeat. “Other rumors suggest that the unit will offer a new quad-core A6 processor to replace the iPad 2′s dual-core A5 chip, which will make processing high-end games and apps much smoother.”
The three most sought after features specified by survey respondents: “faster processor speed, better battery life, and higher-quality screen.”
Canon announced the long-awaited EOS 5D Mk III DSLR, which takes its place between the EOS 5D Mark II and Canon’s professional EOS 1D X.
“This solid looking shooter packs a new 22.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor (increased from 21.1 on the Mk II), a high-performance DIGIC 5+ imaging processor and a 61-point High Density Reticular Autofocus (AF) system — the last two being lifted from the 1D X,” reports Digital Trends.
The new camera is being released on the 25th anniversary of Canon’s EOS camera system.
“The Mk III also features a 1,040,000-dot 3.2-inch rear LCD screen — again pulled from the top-of-the-range 1D X camera — and allows photographers to display two images side by side, which is a first for an EOS camera,” adds the post. “Its ISO capability stretches from 100 to 25,600 in the standard range; it can also be pulled down to 50 at the lower end and whacked up to two you’ll-probably-never-need settings of 51,200 and 102,400.”
The EOS 5D Mk III will ship at the end of this month for $3,499 (body only).
Following the successful use of iPads by commercial airlines, the U.S. Air Force announced it will replace its paper-based flight bags with the Apple tablet.
“Air Mobility Command, which provides transport and refueling services to the U.S. military using cargo planes and other military aircraft, announced on Friday that the U.S. Air Force will be buying as many as 18,000 iPads worth over $9 million to be used as electronic flight bags by its pilots,” reports Digital Trends.
In a related story from The Verge, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives announced it will be switching out its BlackBerrys for new smartphones with better “ease of use and adaptability,” the agency said.
“The iPhone is set to be the big winner here, with the ATF selecting Apple’s handset to replace 60 percent (or 2,400) of those units starting in March. The remaining 1,400 will be phased out and replaced with a mix of other smartphones, though the agency hasn’t specified which mobile OS it will employ for those devices. The entire switch is expected to be completed within one year,” The Verge reports.
Mobile payments startup Square plans to help merchants modernize point-of-sale devices with its new iPad app called Register.
The app, announced Monday morning and currently available, is designed to help merchants ditch traditional cash registers.
“The app accepts cash and all major credit cards, can track a customer’s purchase history, and even allows for analytics to see which times are the busiest and what days aren’t performing up to snuff,” reports VentureBeat. “The app also allows for employee permissions, tipping, and smart receipts.”
Additionally, Square announced it had reached $4 billion in annual mobile payments.
The post includes screenshots and a 1-minute video promo.
Digital Trends suggests location-based apps Foursquare and Gowalla are about to face some competition.
“There’s a new trend set to emerge at this year’s SXSW known as ‘ambient social networking.’ At the helm of this burgeoning trend is the budding two-person startup, Highlight, headed by founder and CEO, Paul Davison,” indicates the post.
Highlight’s goal is simply to connect users with similar interests by running silently behind-the-scenes.
“Rather than the check-ins feature that even Foursquare founder, Dennis Crowley, has admitted was losing steam, ambient social networking applications will only notify users with a pop-up notification when another user of the same application approaches your immediate vicinity,” adds Digital Trends.
Highlight decided to launch in time for SXSW. From the company blog: “We want Highlight to make Austin even more fun for you — by surprising you with hidden connections, surfacing information about the people you meet, and helping you remember these people when you bump into them at a random New York coffee shop a year later. You can expect to see some useful enhancements to search and discovery, new ways to interact with people, and continued improvements to performance and battery life.”
Peel is a free app for Android and iOS devices that draws on TV show recommendations made on a social platform.
“The app is similar to how Pandora recommends music, or how Netflix suggests films,” reports Reuters.
The company has worked with Samsung to install the app on some Samsung products with infrared capability.
“The app also pairs up with the Peel Smart Remote for consumers who want to control their television sets without using their remote controls,” notes the article. “The pear-shaped piece of hardware takes commands from the app and then uses infrared to control the television, settop box, or virtually any other device in a user’s living room.”
“It’s about how to use an intelligent app to find the right show to watch based on the shows I like today and based on shows my friends are watching,” says Scott Ellis, vice president of marketing for Peel.
“Ellis said that the next steps for the app are to integrate a more interactive second-screen experience for television shows. The company plans to focus on the social aspect of the app going forward, and to announce a partnership with a major television show in the coming weeks,” reports Reuters.
The New York Times takes a look at how time-shifting is impacting consumer behavior and the way the industry analyzes television ratings.
The article looks at ABC’s immensely popular “Modern Family” as an example: “No other show on television comes close to that comedy in adding 18- to 49-year-old viewers who record shows and watch them later. So far this season, new episodes of ‘Modern Family’ have grown from a first-day average of 7.1 million viewers in that age group to 10.2 million, counting seven days’ worth of added viewing — a gain of 3.1 million each week, according to Nielsen Research.”
However, time-shifters are not currently including in calculating the overnights.
According to Charles Kennedy, head of research for ABC, the overnights still “set the tone and the agenda” at the networks, influencing marketing and programming decisions.
He adds: “we’ve had to build in this fudge factor,” Kennedy said, “when we know — at least with shows that already have a track record — that the total number will be significantly higher.”
What matters most for networks and advertisers at the end of the season in May, “is the ranking of shows once digital video recorder playback is included in the viewership totals.”
After suffering setbacks in the past year, Sony and AT&T will release the foldable dual-screen Tablet P this week.
The unique tablet will be available with a two-year 4G HSPA+ service agreement from AT&T for $400 — or with month-to-month or prepaid-service data plans for around $550.
“Sony’s latest tablet certainly carries a unique form factor,” reports Digital Trends. “The Tablet P weighs a measly 0.83 pounds, and features dual 5.5-inch displays that fold together. It’s powered by Google’s Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) operating system and — in a nod to gamers — comes with full PlayStation certification, which means users can download and play original PlayStation games.”
“Customers will also be able to connect wirelessly to Sony’s music and video-streaming services, as well as download ebook content from Sony’s Reader Store,” adds the post.
Twitter will launch Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts across its official mobile apps.
This will be the network’s first effort to reintroduce promoted content since a disappointing effort last year, suggests Wired.
This time, promoted content will be integrated into users’ main timelines and search results, rather than featured in a separate area of the screen. The content should also be easily dismissible by scrolling or swiping.
“Twitter announced that sponsored tweets and accounts would soon be rolling out to the timelines, searches and suggested follows seen by users of the social network’s mobile client apps,” indicates the article. “Promoted Accounts will appear immediately in user searches and suggestions with the latest updates to Twitter’s official mobile apps for Android and iOS.”
“Users of third-party mobile clients, of course, won’t see any of that advertising at all — something bound to be a point of continued tension between Twitter and the developers who use its API,” reports Wired.
Sales of virtual goods in the U.S. hit $2.3 billion last year.
According to Frank N. Magid Associates and PlaySpan, this marks a 28 percent increase over 2010.
The firms report that fans of games such as Zynga’s “FarmVille” spent an average of $64 on virtual goods last year.
Nearly half of gamers who purchased virtual items conducted transactions through games played on consoles, while 42 percent made purchases within game apps and 40 percent used prepaid cards obtained at retail outlets.
“Among other findings, only 26 percent have bought virtual goods as gifts, suggesting a bigger opportunity in that area,” suggests MediaPost. “Key factors affecting purchases included price, the genre of the game, friends’ recommendations, user reviews and if a game can be played with friends.”
Media access management is expected to be a catchphrase at this year’s NAB Show.
Vendors will be showcasing MAM tools that help facilitate more efficient interaction among TV stations’ news, promotion, sales, graphics and engineering departments.
“At the 2012 NAB Show, the top MAM vendors will introduce still more features and greater workflow efficiencies, with an emphasis on automation; more flexible control of media at the station and through mobile devices; and playout to a wide range of video platforms,” reports TVNewsCheck. “Some vendors will even stretch the definition of media management to automatically confirm commercial runs and generate client invoices.”
An early snapshot of some of the top products scheduled to be on display: Invenio MAM software by Harris integrated with its NewsForce server/editing platform; the latest from Avid emphasizing “improvements in workflow orchestration, innovative control of automation and remote access over mobile devices;” advances in scalable long-term storage from SGL; Grass Valley’s channel-in-a-box product; NVerzion’s “systemwide controls, cross-platform operation, automatic ingest from media services and automated commercial traffic and client billing;” and a new cloud-based service for media storage and emergency restoration from Front Porch Digital.
