Infographic: How Social is B2B?

Business to Business Social Networking. 

How much potential is there?

source

Facebook Search Engine

A dedicated team of Facebook employees are working hard to build a Facebook Search Engine.

Or rather a Social Search Engine. 

Facebook hasn't been giving much thought to search until now. We all know how useless searching for a person, a brand, or a group  on Facebook can be. We usually resort to asking our friends for the concerned pages to make life easier. Looks like Facebook has finally caught up with this problem and has decided to create a Facebook Search Engine.

This search feature is to be purely concentrated on helping people to navigate themselves better through  Facebook.

It is a known fact that Facebook monitors the activity's of its users from what they 'like' to all the status messages and links they share on their page. This is a massive amount of content that Facebook users, knowingly and unknowingly, create day in and day out. Facebook will surely take advantage of this massive data pool to aid in its Search Engine establishment. The only fact is that, even though there are many sources authenticating this news of Facebook Search Engine, Facebook itself considers it a rumor (this info itself is a rumor).

Currently Facebook uses the service of Bing for search.

Image source

It is no doubt that Facebook considers Google+ its menial rival.  Google Plus, even though not that successful comparing to Facebook, has an added advantage to it in terms of Search media. It has the super  algorithmic efficiency of Google and its millions of users. By performance, if not fame, Google Plus is a tad bit more efficient than Facebook.

As for the matter of Facebook Search Engine, it is still under construction. When it is due is yet to be known. But it is sure to create a stir with its arrival. Creating an efficient search engine is no easy task and no one is good at it more than Google. Search is not something that is simple, and no one is good at it better than Google

Facebook surely has a long way to go with this. Lots of investment of both time and money are needed to achieve optimum results. Lets see how this major Facebook project is brought about.

Also read these two articles on Facebook Search Engine for more details:

• Mashable
• Businessweek

Cloud Computing

This is a brief description of what Cloud Computing is all about. 

I have done my best to make the common man/woman understand the idea behind Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing is one of the most talked about concept in recent times. Some of you would be well aware of this terminology and its purpose while others might still be a little vague. This is what its all about:


Cloud Computing, as by definition, concerns with providing software as a service instead of a product. 


To make things simpler, lets take the term 'cloud' to be synonymous with the word 'network'. We all know what a network is in the computing sense; and the biggest ever computer network being the internet. Now the word computing,  is nothing but the simple and menial, and also complex work we do using computers. Word documents, spreadsheets, databases, CRM software, etc.

Instead of having these software's as a product, you will be able to use them directly from a 'cloud'. These software's will be located not on your personal laptop/PC but in a remote server. With  Cloud Computing, you need not carry your laptop or hard disk around. All your data will be store in one location, a distant server, and you will be able to access it from anywhere in the world (with internet connection). The data can be accessed from any device with the facility to connect to the world wide web.


Your Cloud need not be completely private. If you wish you can share certain facets from your cloud with a third party, a person or even a group. This gives you much more resourcefulness and ease with sharing data and/or service. Evidently, your 'Personal Cloud' would be something that is solely accessible by you alone. A personal private space containing your stuff only.


There are a few such services already available and much much more to come. An example of personal cloud storage would be Dropbox, and Ubuntu One. The Chromebook is an excellent example of a device that is majorly dependent on Cloud Computing. 


There are many other deeper and more sophisticated definitions to Cloud Computing, but basically this is the main idea behind it.

Hope you have understood Cloud Computing in its basic sense. For more information visit: Cloud Computing Wikipedia Page

Infographic: ROI of Social media

The Effectiveness of Social Media

source - http://www.tpblog.it

Infograph: Branding in the Social Media Age

An Infograph of how Branding can be optimally achieved in this Social Media Age.

Source

Facebook Timeline: 5 Things You Need to Know

Facebook is converting all Business brand pages to the 'Timeline' format by the end of this month, March 2012. (Although, some say it may change this Friday! 30th March 2012)

The new timeline feature from Facebook has gone through thorough inspection and scrutiny. Lots of raving comments, good, bad and unspeakable, have occurred. Many welcome the change whereas some dislike every aspect of it; there are also some who have shifted to timeline accidentally and are left perplexed (it cannot be undone). Converting your profile to 'timeline' can be easily done, all you need is a single click.

I personally welcome the 'timeline' and find the change rather interesting. There are many personal profiles as well as business brands that have already transitioned to the new 'timeline'. Eg: Red Bull, Burberry, Ubuntu etc.

The main reason it has attracted many criticism is because of its 'confusing' attributes. The 'timeline' needs a little getting used to. There are many new aspects that need tinkering with and also managing and locating certain known features can be a little time consuming. One does need to spend some time to learn  what the 'timeline' is and how it portrays itself. 

The best way to go about maybe through experimental learning but not everyone has time for that.  Lack of time, happens to the best of us. 

Below, I have listed the main features and what you need to know of the new 'Timeline'. I have cut through most of the nonsense and kept it as brief and up to the point.

1. The Cover Photo.

First things first. the moment you open the page, this is what catches you, a very creative 'aesthetic' factor of the new profile.  

It is very important you keep the cover photo accordingly to its size, 850 x 315 pixels in dimension, get full force of the brand you depict. 

And then there is this square area insert the cover photo where the profile picture is displayed. For brands this may be the location to put its Brand Logo.

A major point to note is the conditions that are set regarding the cover photo (for businesses). These are the things that are NOT to be displayed :

• Price/Discount/purchase/product information. Eg: you cannot display a 'download for free' ad as a cover photo.
• Words that provoke action, eg: "click this link " or "Spread the news" or "download now!"
• References to elements such as 'Like our Page!' and other profile features. 
• Any type of Contact Information

Facebook is rather strict with these rules even though they may seem very anti-marketing and anti-promotional

NOTE: you should also be aware that the facebook landing page has been removed.

2.  Changes in the 'About' Section.

There are now two ways in which you can showcase the 'about' section, either by

- Physical location

OR

- A mini Introduction

These two examples are only of the initial views, a fan/customer can view more details about the brand by clicking the 'about' button located below the introduction.

3. Profile Links Featured more Prominently.

The application boxes on that used to be on the side bar  is now located on more prominently on right below the cover photo.

You can also see, from the above picture, the time-stamps. These help the viewer go to a certain time frame and see the posts and events that have taken place then. An excellent feature aiding 'research' I must say!

4. Pin a post for 7 days.

With the new timeline you can pin a post/page to the top of the timeline for up to 7days. These posts will have a bookmark like addition to the corner of the post. (pic below)

5. Highlights and Milestones

Highlights is one of the options of how you can chose to view the page. It is also the default manner in which the page is displayed.

You can select the way you want to view the page by clicking the 'highlights' button that is located below your cover photos and page links. 

Milestones is a feature that helps add information of certain key points in time/milestones of your brand/business. This can be done exactly the way you would update your status.

Here is a view of an actual milestone on the Lexus page : 

Android 4.0.4 : announced through Google+

Android 4.0.4 to be first experienced by  GSM Nexus s, HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus and Xoom Wi-Fi

The release of Android 4.0.4  Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade was forecast on Google favorite social networking site.

A crucial point to note is that this upgrade (Android 4.0.4 ICS) is not available for all phones. Once again Google has chosen to cater to its favorite Nexus models and Xoom WiFi.

All who have subscribed to the Android page of Google Plus (Google+) should be aware of the news, else, here is the screen shot: (click image to zoom)

Quote:  " We’ve started rolling out Android 4.0.4, Ice Cream Sandwich, to UMTS/GSM NexusS, Xoom Wi-Fi, and HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus devices, and we'll be rolling it out to more devices in the coming weeks. Some of you will be receiving Ice Cream Sandwich for the first time, while others will be receiving an update to your existing Ice Cream Sandwich experience with stability improvements, better camera performance, smoother screen rotation, improved phone number recognition and more."

Android's Google+ Page : Android

More on Android version 4 ICS : Ice Cream Sandwich 

Infographic: The History of the Marketing Executive

An Infograph explaining the Evolution of the Advertising Executive

source

Android Apps can now Run on Windows OS

BlueStacks has come up this an emulator for running Android apps on Windows.

Bluestacks, the software company dedicated on bridging the gap between Google's Android OS and Microsoft's Windows OS, has  now introduced  'App Player' an emulator that will help run the many Android applications on any Windows OS devices.  Yes, not only on PC's  but also on Windows tablets.
This emulator can run on Windows versions of  XP, Vista and Windows7.

The emulator uses a layercake technology that accelerates hardware to enhance the performance of the Android applications. This feature is a new one and was not available in the previous, alpha version, of Bluestacks App Player,

The BlueStacks App Player can be downloaded on this site : http://www.bluestacks.com/
More about Bluestacks on - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlueStacks

Infographic: Social Media vs Search Media

Who gets better priority, Social Media or Search Media?

Social Media is becoming a staple for Businesses to connect itself more intimately with customers as well as other businesses. Even though thoroughly concentrating on Social Media a business cannot forget the power of Search Media.

Search Media is where a business should initially establish itself. This is the place one would initially try to locate a product or service and learn more about them. When it comes to brand awareness Search sites may take a back seat but is still a prominent area to establish itself. It is only later, when the basics of a business product or service are learned, a potential customer would try to locate the business on Social Media.

In certain areas though, Social Media gains priority over Search Media, here is an Infographic representation of the battle between Social media vs Search Media.

Image Source: MG Advertising

Temple Run for Android

Yes!! it is here!

The much talked about iPhone game is now available on for Android devices. Officially!

Temple Run for Android requires your device to be of version 2.1 or up. Its a Free game app but with very high ratings. Scroll to the end of this article for the link 

Here is a Youtube video explaining Temple Run for Android hands

Temple Run is available in the Google Play App store, type the search phrase 'Temple Run' and scroll through pages to find the actual App, or just click this link - Temple Run 

You are Welcome ;)

I/O conference tickets Sold Out!

Google's I/O developers conference tickets vanish within 30 minutes!

To be held at :  San Francisco’s Moscone Center from June 27th – 29th, 2012.

I/O Conference official site: https://developers.google.com/events/io/

Tickets for Google's I/O developers conference 2012 were completely sold out within 30 minutes. All of approximately 5000 tickets were hastily grabbed by the hungry crowd eager to attend this years I/O conference. This new record breaks last years' by a whole 30 minutes. It tool 1 hour for the tickets of 2011 I/O conference tickets to disappear.

Ticket Price:  General - $900 ;  Academia- $300 (for Students, Staff , Faculty and Professors)

What is even more surprising is that Google had doubled this years ticket prices and yet it managed to sell completely within half the time it took the previous year. I/O conferences have been conducted since 2008. And now sells three times more the number of tickets than it originally started with. Although, this increase is still not enough to satisfy the crowd.

Google's developer conference, I/O (Input/Output), concerns with everything from the latest mobile technologies, web and Android version releases to Chrome improvement and even Goolge+. Also covers the relative Cloud based systems and services. Rumor has it that the latest version of Android OS, Jelly Bean, is to be introduced in this years I/O conference.

Of the new technologies that are anticipated in I/O conference 2012 include Google's Play Media App store, the so called rival of Apple's iTunes. Last years conference introduced Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and showcased its new Chromebook laptops.

Held in the same venue as Apple's WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference), this years Google I/O developers conference is something which almost every one in the tech world is most eagerly awaits.

ICS - Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0)

Android version 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich

Ice cream sandwich is the name given to the latest version of the Android operating system. This latest version, ICS is compatible with any android device with the version 2.3.x or above. Released in October of 2011 Ice Cream Sandwich now has two more recent versions, respectively 4.0.2 and 4.0.3. Ice Cream Sandwich is the most latest platform from Android for phones, tablets etc.

Ice cream sandwich has got the enhanced  versions of the most loved features in an Android platform. To name a few, Customizable widgets and home screens, enhanced multitasking, posh notifications and faster performance are some of the rejuvenation features.

Other notable features in Ice Cream Sandwich:

• Face recognition unlock - phone unlocks with the recognition of face
• Certain applications can be used without unlocking the phone
• Improved spell check and error correction
• Real time speech-to-text conversion, and also better voice recognition
• A built-in photo editor
• Enhanced cloud computing experience
• Android Beam - a near range data sharing between NFC (near field communication) enabled devices.

Infographic: The State of Social Media in Small Business

Infograph showing how small business are using Social Media. 

source: http://www.infographicsarchive.com/social-media/small-business-stuck-in-neutral-on-social-media/

Draw Something, $180 Million Cheque maybe?

A six week old drawing game bags millions of users and even more millions of dollars.

Draw Something, a fairly new multi-player social game has become super hit in just over a month. You must have heard the name of this game at least once in recent times. Draw Something is literally on the fingertips of almost everyone with a smart phone. 

Draw Something is a revamped and digitized version of the traditional game Pictionary. A unique feature to this game is that it suggests a different set of words for different regions on the world, keeping in mind what is known and is familiar to those people. 

Launched just six weeks before this game went viral and  bagged over 36 million downloads on smart-phones and alike.

Valued about $180 million, the app company OMGPOP has sprung from the brink of bankruptcy to an unimaginable height as the game company Zynga decided to purchase this simple but powerful game of theirs. Draw Something is fairly a new game developed by the five year old gaming company, OMGPOP.

"People are busy. They want quick ways to say hi, to keep in touch.And there is no better way to do that than through games. Maybe you don't have time to call but if you are playing a game together, to me it feels more social.

"I have lots of friends I keep in touch with on Facebook but when I do this one to one thing with Draw Something or Words With Friends, it feels a little bit more special." says the chief mobile officer at Zynga, David Ko.

The reason Draw Something has been valued for such a high amount is purely because of the competition between the many gaming companies to buy off the product. How the game might change from now on, only future can tell.

Infographic: Social Media Benchmark

A Graphical guide showing how Businesses are using Social Media Today. 

Source : http://www.smbenchmark.com/

The Fold and Below.

You've all heard the term 'above the fold' and some of you may think this is an old practice an wave against keeping all the important info above the fold. Indeed, 'above the fold' is a diminishing custom. Although there are many who still abide by the procedure.

The the upper half of the front page of a newspaper is known as the area 'Above the Fold'

The phrase 'Above the Fold' was traditionally used with newspapers. The 'fold' implies to how the newspaper is folded. The crease, above which all the major news and headlines are situated. Since 'above the fold' is the area where all the important news is printed and so that is how the reader is captivated into buying the paper, came the importance of keeping the main points above the fold.

This practice evolved and is was widely practiced with email marketing and web designing. It makes sense to apply this practice in email marketing, since that is where most of us tend to look, above the fold. If what we see initially does not captivate us then off to the trash can the mail goes, without even a second thought. But for web pages, one can slack on the using the principle of keeping all the main info above the fold. This is purely because we all love to scroll and make it a point to see the whole web page before deciding to leave. So it doesn't actually make sense to keep all the interesting parts above the fold.

One can argue that the 'fold' can be defined differently for an email and a webpage. Of course,  we all find it painstaking to scroll through emails but not on websites. Therefore, for the email the fold would exists at the end of the screen and for a webpage the fold would exist at the end of the page, no matter how long the page might be. Even so, I would suggest to keep certain captivating items above the fold, in a webpage, so that the visitors desires to keep exploring the webpage and eventually the website.

This is a purely a personal opinion, you can go ahead an do as you like with your webpage.

Instagram for Android

Now taking mails for signing up.

click here to sign-up

How many times have you seen an iPhone equipped friend or foe boast with Instagram? How many times have you envied an iPhone user for this sole reason? Even though the Android OS comes with may awesome apps, Instagram is indeed an unique innovation that was kept exclusively for the iOS. Until now.
 Instagram is compatible with iOS of 3.1.2 or above (for iPhones, iPads and iPod touch).

The good news for the Android users is that Instagram is now soon to be available for Android OS. But the unnerving part maybe that no one actually knows when it is to be available in the Android app store. Even though we were all anticipating Instagram to open this doorway, people are still unaware as to when the application will be made available even in the beta version.

For now, one can stand in queue waiting for Instagram for Android be released. One can only wait in line to be notified by Instagram of the date of release, click here to sign up to be notified of the release - Instagram for Android

Even their logo is a cute one, a merge of the Instagram square camera and the Android bot. We do hope to hear from them soon!

Instagram

site: http://instagr.am/

Instagram is a photo sharing application that is native to the iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch). It is available for the version 3.1.2 and above. It has over 27 million users worldwide and is the most talked about mobile photo sharing app.

Instagram allows users to apply various photographic filters to the photos and post them on various social networking sites, including Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter, as well as its own. Instagram pictures must be square cropped. This is one distinctive feature that makes Instagram unique.

Event though Instagram is currently available in Apple app store it has announced that it would soon be available for Android phones too.

Instagram is a Free application

Ultrabook

Ultrabook is the name given by Intel to the new and upcoming design for Notebooks. Ultrabooks are said to be a better and high end version of the traditional Notebooks. Low power Intel processors, graphics and SSD integrated, the Ultrabook is one of the latest and most revered innovations by Intel.  The Ultrabook is said to provide a better battery life regardless of its sleek design (less than 21 mm).

The main features in an Ultrabook include:

• Lightweight and Sleek design
• Efficient Power Usage
• Enhanced Performance
• Extended Battery Life  (without compromising performance)
• Super fast Start-up
• Bios/Firmware enabled to expose hardware features for Intel Anti-Theft Technology and Intel Identity Protection Technology (source)

The Ultrabook is expected to hit stores early 2012. 

for more info visit -  http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2011/07/the_world_of_computing_is/ OR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook