Google+ is in Business

Moving into the spotlight from its appearance in natural search listings, Google's +1 button began appearing on display ads in October, and incorporating personal recommendations into the AdWords advertising ecosystem. In late September, over 1 million websites had the +1 button installed and were generating over 4 billion impressions daily. Whether or not this tactic will change the way people engage or interact with advertising is a toss-up, but the international scope and it's availability for both desktop and mobile ads provides one of the first opportunities outside of that other social media advertising player (ahem, Facebook) for users to define and express their interests as the +1 button applies to the same content across the Web. 

The Big Question: To Respond or Not To

Social media gives businesses and brands an outlet to engage with their customers creating personal relationships with them. But it also creates an opportunity for consumers to complain about a brand or product openly, especially on Twitter. The big question is, should a business respond to these complaints? The obvious answer is YES! However, according to customer-experience experts Maritz Research, only one third of customers who tweeted a complaint actually received a response. Web companies must make responding to tweets a top priority because consumers are overwhelmingly positive when brands take the time to interact on Twitter.  The study revealed that 86 percent of consumers want responses to their critical tweets. Additionally, 75% of those that get a response are satisfied with the outcome.

Tablets: Revolutionizing Commerce

According to Forrester Research, mobile commerce will hit $31 Billion by 2016. This will represent a 39% growth rate per year. There is little research necessary to confirm that growth estimate and to answer the inevitable question of: What does this mean for commerce?

Forrester released a white paper which examined the impact of tablets on shopping habits, and unearthed insights into how tablets are changing behavior. Of 2,333 tablet owners, 60 percent of those surveyed either shopped and purchased using their tablet, or merely shopped and did not complete the purchases. Even though some of the respondents said that the functionality did not equal the experience on a PC, the tablet owners were happy with their experiences on a tablet. Tablets provide a richer experience, certainly, over cell phones and even some PC's with features such as flippable and directional features that suit online catalogs very well. Those surveyed also commented that shopping on a tablet was more "leisurely and intimate" than shopping on a PC end in an encouraging way, had little concerns over security when using a tablet for shopping.

According to the paper, perhaps the greatest opportunity is the tablets innate compatibility with a television, which provides retailers the opportunity to maximize a multi-channel marketing experience. The question which opens up is, how will tablets change the commerce landscape? Are welooking at e-commerce, m-commerce, or t-commerce (television commerce), or is it all the same really?

Maybe there wil be a progression through the 'physical' commerce-old fashioned cash and cards (fixed-commerce)-on the pc (unfixed commerce). Apps are a significant part of the tablets make up and make it more of a smartphone than a PC.  In-App billing is a compelling and an intuitive answer to commerce questions on a tablet, howver, there are some kinks in there as well. However if in-app billing takes off, then carrier billing will suffer unless he telcos are able to make a move against it or embrace it. Currently, the telcos are breathing a sigh of major relief that Ggle still prefers carrier billing through its Marketplace with carrier billing. But just becasue Google has not mastered the process of in-app billing now, does not mean that they wont in the future. 

To summarize: Tablets will be huge, if not ubiquitous.

ASUS Transformer Prime: The king of all things Android

Social Moves: LinkedIn

LinkedIn launched another new feature recently, continuing to establish itself as the business professional's premier social network. With the latest addition, companies can now share status messages the same way that individuals can by posting updates and distributing media up to 500 characters long. The update provides business' a new way to engage LinkedIn users through the sites homepage feeds.  It also gives professionals a way to keep up with job postings, personnel changes, and any other news from the companies that they follow. The status and ability to comment features just came available in October of 2011, but the Company Follow feature has been around since last year. 

High Stakes for Google with Android 4.0

Google recently unveiled Android 4.0 known as Ice Cream Sandwich. Google has a lot riding on the mobile OS. Samsung and Google made the announcement together. To no ones surprise, there were the customary oohs and ahhs that wuill make people feel foolish in the not too distant future. 

Some of those crazy statements and sounds come from Google directly. Google execs called Android enchanting, referencing it's "magazine style". The new 4.0 version of Android also makes you feel powerful and smart. The last statement almost makes you laugh when yopu hear it. It is worth it tpo go through the various features, with all of the new functionality: Face Unlock-image editing, a new people app that looks a little like windows phones approach along with some other goodies.Fast forward to Google and their strategy: Google really needs Android 4.0 to be easy, and enchanting. Android has long been dubbed an a geek OS and some people just want their smart phone platforms to fade into the back ground and just work. When compared to Apples iOS and Windows Phone, Android is said to be a little more clunky. 

Here is why the stakes are so high for Android 4.0:

• Android doesn’t update as much as it used to. When I first bought into Android part of the deal was that Google would iterate quickly. However, the development cycles have gotten longer. Google is largely on an annual cycle now like everyone else. With that cycle, you want more polish and expectations are higher.
• Ice Cream Sandwich is the great unifier. Android 4.0 is supposed to be the OS that bridges the phone and tablet. Distribution ensures that Android 4.0 has a smartphone following. Android tablets have hit a brick wall called the iPad.
• Apple has more distribution and Microsoft’s Windows Phone will follow. Apple is on three carriers in the U.S. and has a ton of upside for iOS just by adding carriers. Microsoft will have distribution via Nokia. In other words, there will be more non-Android choices in the field.
• Google has to prove it has design chops. Can a company dominated by engineers delight and integrate seamlessly with hardware? We’ll see, but when Google CEO Larry Page uses words like “auto magical” I instantly turn skeptical. Samsung’s Nexus is the flagship phone for the Google experience. If Android 4.0 doesn’t deliver there it doesn’t stand much of a chance. As carriers and other hardware makers get Android 4.0 they’ll start tweaking.

Box offers iOS owners 50GB of free storage

After only one day, Box, the cloud storage service is already taking aim at Apples competing iCloud service and iOS 5. Box is offering iPhone and iPad owners a huge 50GB of free storage, which is dwarfing the free storage of iCloud with only 5GB included. Users who take advantage will receive a gift of a 100MB file size.  The default limit is merely 25MB.

All you have to do to take advantage is simply install version 2.4.3 of the Box iOS App and then log-in. Piece of cake!

Many of you will remember that Box released an identical program back in July.  That was for the HP Touchpad. HTC  phone owners are also getting 5GB of free storage. 

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