The McKinsey Global Institute published a study on “unleashing value and productivity through social technologies,” which indicates that “things like improved communication and collaboration from social media in four major business sectors could add $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in value to the economy,” reports The New York Times.
The value is largely achieved through increased productivity. According to the article, this study could “add credence” to the decisions being made by corporations to spend billions on social media acquisitions and strategies.
Companies are investing in improved ways to manage how customers perceive them in chat rooms to internal communication tools similar to Facebook.
“Social technologies like wikis, broadly accessible instant messaging, content searches and user forums, McKinsey says, are particularly effective among so-called interactions workers,” notes NYT. “These people are general managers, for example, but also consultative sales representatives, engineers working with teams to figure out new products, or health care workers personally figuring out patients’ needs.”
The report suggests that the main challenges to implementing effective use of social media in the workplace “are organizational and personal, as managers have to develop nonhierarchical cultures, where data and knowledge are exposed and shared, not hoarded.”
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a series of 25 new patents for Apple this week.
Patently Apple writes about one in particular, “that touches on advancing television, advanced 5D technology, interactive gaming, teleconferencing, advanced tactile feedback technology, virtual reality data gloves and even a unique touch signature for starting a future vehicle.”
Apple acquired the patent “years ago” from Canadian inventor Timothy Pryor. “Apple’s granted patent is a sweeping patent covering the widest range of applications that I’ve ever seen,” writes Jack Purcher in the report.
Purcher provides interesting details, highlighting 14 potential advantages of the patent for Apple, further noting that it could lead the way to developments involving the long-rumored Apple TV.
“Much of Apple’s newly granted patent focuses on projection TV technology and applications,” he writes. “Yet the patent makes it clear that the ‘concepts, while they’ve been shown in the context of a rear projection display device… are really quite usable in the context of the invention with any sort of display device.'”
Purcher also notes Wii or Kinect-like gaming capabilities as well as virtual reality and simulation using the invention.
Writing for Wired, Steven Levy comments on the changing ways in which society is digesting video content.
“We are well clear of the world of television — where video meant sitting down in a living room and watching carefully scheduled, professionally produced ‘shows’ — and now are about to move from our more fluid, DIY and YouTube-infused paradigm into something different: an explosion of video as its happening now,” he writes.
Levy notes the proliferation of live-streamed events and the popular use of Skype services to boost his point of view that within 10 years, “more than half” of the video we see will be live streaming.
He predicts that “the next step is for everyone to make use of the tiny, high-quality HD cameras in our phones and our computers to routinely stream live to selected friends or everyone,” citing services like Ustream and YouTube as proof of a growing trend. There’s also Justin.tv, the upcoming Airtime, Socialcam and more.
The coming generation is likely to appear daily on some form of Internet-streamed video. “Fundamentally, 30 million Americans are five feet away from a video camera 24 hours a day. It’s never been that way before,” says Socialcam CEO Michael Seibel.
“An entire generation already is unaware that it was once thought of as a huge novelty to ‘be on TV,'” suggests Levy.
“Safari 6 brings improved performance and many new features to OS X, including offline reading lists, a unified search field and support for Do Not Track,” reports TechCrunch, noting all of this may not be available to Windows users this time around.
“Indeed, it looks like Apple has removed all download links for Safari from its site for the time being,” explains the post. “This could be due to the fact that Apple is currently highlighting Safari’s new features in Mountain Lion (which pre-installs Safari 6), or because Apple has indeed ended development of Safari for Windows.”
It seems that Windows users can still download the old version of Safari through a hidden link on Apple’s support page.
Safari has never been a runaway hit with Windows users, who tend to prefer Google’s Chrome browser.
Additionally, Safari for Windows “was not a priority for Apple and users often complained that Safari (just like Apple’s other Windows applications) felt unnecessarily bloated and slow,” according to TechCrunch.
During its quarterly earnings call, Apple announced that there are now more than 650,000 apps in the App Store, an increase from 600,000 in April of this year.
Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer notes that 250,000 of those apps were developed specifically for the iPad.
What does this mean for the developers? “Apple paid out approximately $5.5 billion to developers. This is a huge jump from the $4 billion figure Apple reported in April. iOS 6 — with its deep Facebook integration — and the new iPhone, which is expected in September, should only bolster these numbers,” writes TechCrunch.
“To get a little perspective, Google’s most recent numbers in the Google Play department are at 600,000 apps,” explains the post. “That number is from June, and Google has been slowly closing in on Apple, so it’s possible that the two app stores are pretty neck and neck.”
Apple’s quarterly numbers are out and not quite as booming as anticipated. The company reported “earnings of $9.32 per share ($8.8 billion total) on $35 billion in revenue,” reports The Verge.
“It’s a $1.5 billion gain over last year’s profit in the same quarter, but missed analyst estimates of $10.37 earnings per share,” notes the post.
“We’re thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter,” commented Apple CEO Tim Cook. “We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline.”
Sales of the iPhones took a predictable dip as consumers are choosing to wait for the iPhone 5’s expected fall release.
“Apple’s major new hardware release this quarter was the MacBook Pro with Retina display, but the new laptop didn’t move the needle much on Mac sales: just four million, about a two percent increase over the year-ago quarter,” reports The Verge.
Not surprisingly, sales of the new iPad and the discounted iPad 2 remain strong.
Six months after losing its longtime chief marketing officer Leslie Kilgore, Netflix has announced a replacement: former Warner Bros. executive Kelly Bennett.
Kilgore left during a tumultuous time at Netflix, during which subscribers were denouncing the company for splitting up its DVD and streaming services and implementing a rate hike as part of the restructuring.
“While the moves were driven by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, the company’s communication with its customers proved to be the company’s real downfall,” suggests TechCrunch. “Recently, the company has been in the midst of a turnaround, but it was still in need of a new marketing chief.”
After nine years working at Warner Bros. and experience on international campaigns to promote films, “Bennett is well-positioned not just to help Netflix rebuild its brand in the U.S., but could also be instrumental in the company’s international expansion,” according to TechCrunch.
“Kelly has been a pioneer in developing incredible digital campaigns for some of the biggest box office hits in recent years,” said Hastings in a press release. “We are delighted Kelly is bringing creative and marketing expertise to Netflix as our streaming business becomes increasingly global and our focus intensifies on commissioning high-quality original programming for our more than 26 million members.”
Nielsen Soundscan has been keeping track of album sales in the U.S. since 1991. In that time, it has witnessed a massive drop in overall sales with the onset of digital downloads. However, “until last week, they’d never seen old records outsell new ones,” writes OC Weekly.
During the first six months of 2012, 76.6 million “catalog records” were sold, meaning albums that were released more than 18 months ago, compared to 73.9 million current albums.
Of those catalog titles, Guns N’ Roses’ Greatest Hits and four of Whitney Houston’s records sold the most.
This likely has much to do with the fact that retailers are selling those older titles for cheaper prices, often for around $5.99.
“Though album sales dropped 3.2 percent in the first half of the year as compared to the first half of 2011 — with 150.5 million albums sold — digital album sales (current and catalog combined) grew 13.8 percent and physical albums stayed basically flat, shedding just 0.6 percent,” notes OC Weekly.
Jason Hughes, the owner of Ballard’s Sonic Boom, says that new albums should not be sold for more than $12.99. On the other hand, they should not be sold for less, either.
“As you lower the price of the CD, you’re lowering the value of someone’s art,” notes Hughes. “At what point do you say ‘We’re going to sell them for $9.99 and [artists are] not going to be able to make a living off their music, or they’re going to have to tour 11 and a half months a year?'”
During an earnings call on Thursday, Google SVP and chief business officer Nikesh Arora talked about growth at YouTube, “saying that the company had finally found a business model that works for the giant video site,” reports TechCrunch.
“YouTube unites the world through video,” said Arora, citing the company’s relationship with the upcoming Summer Olympics as one example.
YouTube will serve as the live streaming platform for NBCUniversal in the U.S. and will provide video coverage for more than 60 other countries.
Arora discussed the growth in “monetization for its content partners,” noting that the company has “thousands of partners now making more than six figures a year,” according to the post.
He also said that Google is working on a way to show that ads are more effective on YouTube than on traditional TV.
“Arora claims that YouTube ads show a higher ROI than TV ads for brand advertisers. Not just that, but given the number of views and viewers, as well as the comparative CPMs between online and TV, YouTube could provide greater reach than comparable TV adverts,” writes TechCrunch.
According to Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the current lawsuit against Apple and other e-book publishers “could wipe out the publishing industry as we know it.” The Wall Street Journal ran Schumer’s editorial on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice is targeting Apple, Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Penguin, Pearson, and Simon & Schuster for “allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices,” reports Ars Technica.
“If publishers, authors and consumers are at the mercy of a single retailer that controls 90 percent of the market and can set rock-bottom prices, we will all suffer,” comments Schumer in reference to Amazon, which led the e-book market until Apple’s introduction of the iPad and iBookstore.
“Choice is critical in any market, but that is particularly true in cultural markets like books,” he adds. “The prospect that a single firm would control access to books should give any reader pause.”
When it launched its bookstore in 2010, Apple decided to go with an “agency model,” which “allowed them to set their own prices for e-books,” explains Ars Technica.
The article further notes that “Amazon’s wholesale model allowed the company to sell e-books at prices below cost, a strategy that irked publishers because they felt Amazon was undercutting their prices and devaluing their products in the marketplace. Throughout 2010, publishers pushed Amazon to switch to the agency model as well, and eventually, it did.”
“As our economy transitions to digital platforms, we should be celebrating and supporting industries that find ways to adapt and grow,” writes Schumer. “By developing a pricing model that made e-book sales work for them, publishers did just that.”
“I am concerned that the mere filing of this lawsuit has empowered monopolists and hurt innovators,” he suggests. “I believe it will have a deterrent effect not only on publishers but on other industries that are coming up with creative ways to grow and adapt to the Internet.”
Online auction and shopping site eBay announced its Q2 numbers on Wednesday, saying that it expects eBay and PayPal mobile to each transact $10 billion this year.
CEO John Donahoe noted that the projected numbers more than double the 2011 totals, describing it as “a staggering surge” in mobile commerce.
The new projections are up from January, largely due to the unpredictability of mobile commerce, along with eBay’s strong investment in it. “The line is blurring between online and offline, and that behavior is happening because of the investments we have made in mobile,” said Donahoe.
The eBay chief spoke about why Amazon and eBay are doing well in the realm of mobile commerce: “If you think of it as an app-based world, we aren’t going to carry around a Neiman Marcus app and a Walmart app and a Best Buy app. By being a marketplace, it’s a single app that gives you access to a lot of things. That’s why we are getting viral traction on it.”
And to further boost its mobile presence, eBay acquired Card.io on Tuesday. “The year-old company allows users to skip the tedious process of entering their credit number into various fields at check-out by taking a picture of the card,” reports AllThingsD.
According to Donahoe, this could allow consumers to create a PayPal account by taking a quick snapshot of their credit card and ID card.
According to a Nomura Securities’ quarterly report on prime time TV viewing, “the percentage of broadcast commercials skipped by DVR users dropped to 46.7 percent in the 2011/2012 season from 58.8 percent in 2007/2008. For cable, 50.4 percent of the ads were skipped this past season vs. 52.8 percent in 2007/2008,” reports Deadline.
Slate culture critic June Thomas believes more viewers are watching commercials because of the way advertisers and cable networks are delivering those ads.
Thomas cites a recent example of this while watching the program “Drop Dead Diva.” Right as the commercial break begins and fast-forwarding starts, a commercial appears featuring the show’s main character, still in character, promoting a hair product. The viewer is tricked into stopping the fast-forward function.
The tagline for this commercial: “Get to the essence of your inner diva. Keep watching Drop Dead Diva, brought to you by Herbal Essences.”
TNT has been implementing a similar type of advertising during its hit show “The Closer” that focuses on the lead character’s sweet tooth. At the end of a show segment, the camera pans to discarded candy wrappers and a handwritten note: “Need the energy to grind out one more confession? Go nuts.” A PayDay bar appears and the interstitial cuts to a PayDay commercial.
“Whether it’s the ‘Drop Dead Diva’ ad featuring a character from the show, or the TNT interstitials that appear to contain a written clue, these fake-outs cause the fast-forwarding viewer to pause to figure out if what’s flashing by is content or commerce,” notes Thomas. “It’s annoying, but it’s good advertising. Not only did I watch those spots, I even remember the names of the sponsors.”
This could be a better alternative than overt product placement, which has shown up in more shows recently and can be irritating to the viewer.
Last week we reported that Judge Richard Posner, a prolific jurist who sits on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, was questioning the need for software patents.
Posner, who dismissed the Apple-Motorola case that involved alleged infringement of patents for smartphone components, has written a piece for The Atlantic in which he describes his desire to see patent law reformed in the United States.
“With some exceptions, U.S. patent law does not discriminate among types of inventions or particular industries. This is, or should be, the most controversial feature of that law. The reason is that the need for patent protection in order to provide incentives for innovation varies greatly across industries,” he writes, adding that “most industries could get along fine without patent protection.”
Posner warns of the risk of monopolies in an environment where so many patents are granted: “A patent blocks competition within the patent’s scope and so if a firm has enough patents it may be able to monopolize its market. This prospect gives rise to two wasteful phenomena: defensive patenting and patent trolls.”
He describes defensive patenting as “getting a patent not because you need it to prevent copycats from making inroads into your market, but because you want to make sure that you’re not accused of infringing when you bring your own product to market.”
Patent trolls are “companies that acquire patents not to protect their market for a product they want to produce…but to lay traps for producers, for a patentee can sue for infringement even if it doesn’t make the product that it holds a patent on.”
Posner suggests the following actions: “reducing the patent term for inventors in industries that do not have the peculiar characteristics of pharmaceuticals that I described; instituting a system of compulsory licensing of patented inventions; eliminating court trials including jury trials in patent cases by expanding the authority and procedures of the Patent and Trademark Office to make it the trier of patent cases, subject to limited appellate review in the courts; forbidding patent trolling by requiring the patentee to produce the patented invention within a specified period, or lose the patent; and (what is beginning) provide special training for federal judges who volunteer to preside over patent litigation.”
Yahoo has begun to push its “Beyond Gold” 2012 Olympics coverage. The company plans to offer content online and on various apps and screens.
Fans can get started using Yahoo Hub, a subsection of the Yahoo Sports site, which will be “available on PCs, mobile, and tablet browsers, and will feature breaking news, photos, highlights, reporting and analysis from the Games,” reports TechCrunch.
As for apps, Yahoo will offer IntoNow, which the company acquired last year. “Users of the second-screen app will be able to sync it up with TV coverage, to get medal counts and images from the Games, as well as Twitter commentary and trivia to keep viewers engaged,” according to the post.
Yahoo’s own Sportacular app will “feature a special tab with personalized access to news and information about the Games,” notes TechCrunch. For those with connected TVs, there will also be a Beyond Gold app available.
According to company stats, Yahoo Sports had 32 million unique visitors during the 2010 Vancouver Games and 38.5 million in 2008 for the Beijing games.
This summer’s London Olympic games will represent “a monumental experiment for network television in the digital age,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
Network executives at NBC are using a new formula, providing cable and satellite subscribers with live online content.
Including NBC’s cable channels and the online content, the network plans to broadcast 5,535 hours of Olympics coverage, “about 2,000 hours more than the Beijing games and compared with a total of 14 hours from the 1964 Tokyo games,” notes the article.
Choosing to broadcast so many live events online could be a risky move for NBC. “At stake is the billions of dollars NBC paid for U.S. broadcast rights and hundreds of millions in advertising revenues in an audacious bet that viewers will still come to the network at prime time,” explains WSJ.
The network’s hope is that chatter over social networks will fuel viewership, creating an environment in which people want to see the action for themselves during prime time re-runs.
And that hope is a very possible reality in this current, connected climate. “NBC confronts a very different world from Mr. Ebersol’s time. In the last four years, Facebook has grown to more than 900 million subscribers from 100 million, while Twitter has grown from near-nothing to more than 140 million active users tweeting some 340 million messages a day,” according to WSJ.
The McKinsey Global Institute published a study on “unleashing value and productivity through social technologies,” which indicates that “things like improved communication and collaboration from social media in four major business sectors could add $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in value to the economy,” reports The New York Times.
