September 2011

As ‘Like’ Buttons Spread, So Do Facebook’s Tentacles

When you click a Facebook “Like” button on other Web sites to tell your friends about a cool band, favorite political candidate or yummy cake recipe, you may know that you are also giving intelligence to Facebook the company, which makes money through targeted advertising. But did you know that even if you don't hit the button, Facebook knows you were there?

That’s because the “Like” and “Recommend” buttons Facebook provides to other Web sites send information about your visit back to Facebook, even if you don't click on them. Since these buttons are now all over the Web — about 905,000 sites use them, the privacy-software maker Abine estimates — Facebook can find out an awful lot about what you do online even when you’re not on Facebook. Facebook says data from the buttons is used to personalize Web content, improve its services, fix bugs and implement certain security features. It says it does not use the data to track users or target advertising to them, and that it deletes or anonymizes the data within 90 days. But privacy advocates aren't exactly comforted.

Comcast study: Broadband boosts real estate metrics

Broadband is the most important selling point in the commercial real estate market behind price, parking and location, according to 90% of building owners and property managers in a survey conducted by Comcast Business Class.

Other results from the survey:

61% of commercial building owners and property managers report that having advanced communications in their buildings provides them with a competitive advantage
One-half of respondents said that providing multiple service provider options positively impacts occupancy rates by up to 19%
More than a third of respondents said the topic of access to advanced communications services comes up in 75% of negotiations with prospective tenants

Mobile broadband data is king to telcos

The amount of data generated by business technology systems, digital cameras and mobile phones has grown over the past several years. The growing trend towards mobile data and mobile broadband in Africa is being pushed by consumers who are constantly snapping photos, accessing the Internet, and sending email on their smartphones. On the other side enterprises are giving the broadband platform a pull as they seek business analysis information from the market. Participants at the ongoing Capacity Africa 2011 conference at Nairobi's Intercontinental hotel had mixed reactions as to the capacity of African telecom operators to handle the data growth on their networks.

Increasing broadband speed boosts national GDPs, Ericsson says

A new report from shows that doubling the broadband speed for an economy increases GDP by 0.3 percent. The report was conducted jointly by Ericsson, Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology in 33 OECD countries, and quantifies the isolated impact of broadband speed.

A 0.3 percent GDP growth in the OECD region is equivalent to USD 126 billion. This corresponds to more than one seventh of the average annual OECD growth rate in the last decade. Only one U.S. city makes the list of the top ten globally in broadband download speeds, according to a recent study. This Ericsson study also shows that additional doublings of speed can yield growth in excess of 0.3 percent (e.g. quadrupling of speed equals 0.6 percent GDP growth stimulus). Both broadband availability and speed are strong drivers in an economy. Last year Ericsson and Arthur D. Little concluded that for every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration GDP increases by 1 percent.

US tops IT competitiveness rankings

Despite the prolonged economic downturn, the US remains the most competitive nation for information technology, according to a report from the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The group ranked 66 nations on their overall business environment, IT infrastructure, human capital, research and development, legal environment and public support for industry development. The U.S. came out on top, followed by Finland, Singapore, Sweden, the UK and Denmark. The biggest movers in this year's rankings were Malaysia and India, which jumped 11 and 10 spots, respectively, thanks to strong research and development in both nations. Conversely, Canada dropped three places to seventh after slipping on R&D and intellectual property protection. China's rise was also slowed by the country's poor record of protecting IP rights.

IBM, Intel Start $4.4 Billion Chip Venture in New York State

International Business Machines and Intel will invest $4.4 billion over five years to create a research and development hub for nanotechnology in Albany, New York, Gov Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) said.

To support the project, the state will make a $400 million investment in the State University of New York College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany. Globalfoundries Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics are also investing in the project, which will create and retain 6,900 jobs, including 2,500 new technology positions. A Nanometer is about one twenty- five millionth of an inch and chips of this scale are used in systems from supercomputers to consumer devices, said IMB spokesperson Michael Loughran.

Broadband: A Driving Force for American Job Creation and Economic Growth

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski spoke at the Washington (DC) headquarters of Living Social, focusing on broadband in the 21st century – how high-speed Internet is creating jobs in large numbers across sectors, boosting opportunity, and driving global competitiveness. He addressed three key issues from the National Broadband Plan:

Why broadband is so vital to near-term economic recovery and long-term prosperity
How positive developments in the broadband economy are strong reasons for optimism about America’s economic future, and
What we must do to address threats to our broadband economy and harness the power of high-speed Internet to spur economic growth and job creation, such as implementing voluntary incentive auctions and Universal Service Fund reform.

Laying out his policy roadmap to Mobilize America, Connect America and Empower America, Chairman Genachowski spotlighted several key issues. First, unleashing spectrum for mobile broadband through voluntary incentive auctions – to Mobilize America. Second, expanding access to connect millions more schools, library and hospitals to fast, affordable Internet – to Connect America. Third, grow the rate of broadband adoption by giving Americans the necessary tools to get online – to Empower America.

Is Net Neutrality Really An Internet Iron Curtain?

For all the rhetoric, the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules themselves largely enshrine the status quo. They prohibit all Internet service providers, including wireless companies, from blocking or degrading service. To date, some ISPs have tinkered with Web traffic, but only rarely. Whether that will change if the neutrality regulations are quashed remains to be determined.

Handful of Apps Drive Most Usage

Despite the hundreds of thousands of mobile apps available, people tend to rely on just a handful on a regular basis. Ashmeed Ali, director of mobile insights at Yahoo, said research the company has done shows users have 34 apps on average on their mobile device. But only four are used on daily basis. Yahoo also found 55% of apps aren't meeting user expectations, and 43% felt their apps weren't properly organized on their phone so they couldn't easily find a particular one.

Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Will Be The First True Media Tablet

On Sept 28, Amazon holds a major launch event and will likely unveil its first tablet, the Kindle Fire. To date, everyone bar Apple has failed with tablet launches. If Amazon mimics Apple then its tablet will fail too. Apple has too many economies of scale, industrial design expertise and supplier relationships for a retail-centric company like Amazon to emulate. To succeed, Amazon must take a different approach. Amazon cares little about the post-PC world, unlike Apple and Microsoft who are playing that different game. Instead, Amazon is driven by a post disc and post print world where all media will be digital. Amazon will build a true media tablet. The first true media tablet. The Kindle tablet will focus on the future of all media — TV, movies, music, books, magazines — to enable Amazon to become the dominant digital media retailer. That is Amazon’s ambition.

On that basis, here are the areas to watch for in Amazon’s tablet product launch and what impact each item will have on the market:

The extent to which the Kindle tablet’s business model is content-subsidized.
The extent of the app catalogue available at launch and soon afterwards.
The type of color screen used.
Whether there is any business relationship with Google.
The role for new visual eBook and magazine formats.
Type of connectivity, 3G / WiFi, and route to market.

Benton

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