Google and Tivo form partnership

Google and Tivo have formed a partnership to for Google to have access to Tivo’s user data.  Google, will get paid ad revenue when advertisers ad is seen.  However, Tivo allows users to fast foward through commercials.  Having access to Tivo’s data, Google will be able to tell which ads are being bypassed.  Therefore, if all ads are being bypassed, Tivo will not get any revenue.

The deal is similar to the deal that Google already has with Echostar.  Ecostar provides ads to show on Dish Network.  Google is making it easier than ever to have ads online their adwords system and or having ads on tv.  The agreement is likely to increase revenue for both parties as advertisers are seeking new ways to reach their customers.

Twitter adding a business model

Twitter the increasingly more popular model for business to attract new customers is adding a business model to its portfolio.  Officials at Twitter state that the ads won’t be traditional ads that alot of people ignore, rather that the ads will be something that is interesting, cool, and that people will love.

Other potential revenues for Twitter users is to charge people for viewing their data.  Some people may want to see which twitter updates are getting the most traffic.  This type of data that people may want to see could be valuable in marketing their business.

It is expected that Twitter will have this business model out sometime in 2010.

Sears partners with Gazelle.com to reduce eWaste

Sears has joined forces with gazelle.com to try and reduce electronic waste.  Electronic waste is quickly becoming a big waste stream in our landfills.  Most electronic devices contain toxic materials that can seep into the ground.  With this partnership, Sears hopes that it can do its part to try and reduce the amount of electronic waste the Americans are generating.

Americans, can send their electronic waste to gazelle.com and they will determine the amount payout after factoring in the age, condition and use of the electronic waste.  It will then send a Sears gift card to be used at all of the Sears locations.  Other companies such as Staples, Costco, Walmart and Apple have similar programs to recycle electronic waste.

Americans are throwing away thousands upon thousands of cell phones, music players, and computers a day.  Retailers like these help to reduce this amount of toxic materials that go into landfills.

Your phone will be your wallet and key

Currently, South Korea and Japan who are far ahead of the United States in terms of cell phone technology is already allowing people there to use their phones to make purchases, open doors, clip coupons and a host of other feature not found on phones in the U.S.   However in about 5 years, this will all come to a change.

Phones have some limited features in the U.S. today.  Currently, some companies such as Starbucks is allowing customers to order their exact coffee formula from their phone using an app.  Also, some food service companies such as Pizza Hut and Chipotle allow you to order food from your phone.

In the future, your phone will be able to make purchase from your phone.  Right now there are rumors that Apple is experimenting with RFID to allow short range purchase from your phone.  Much like the purchasing you can do at some kiosks with your phone and using some cards to allow you to get through turnstiles at the subway station.

Critics however say that if someone steals your phone, it will be the ultimate in identity theft.  Phone makers however argue that there will be security measures in place to prevent this from happening.  Currently, iPhone users with mobile me can wipe their data from their mobile me accounts.  There maybe password protected purchases to prevent thieves from making unauthorized purchases from your phone.

In any case, the future will be upon us where we can make our purchases and open our car doors and house doors with your mobile phone.

Motorola Droid Releases Tomorrow

Motorola, the company that introduced to us the star tac, razr and other phones is trying to recover from a dismal cell phone offering in recent years with their new Droid.  The Droid gets released tomorrow featuring the Android 2.0 operating system.

The phone may be the only option for Verizon users that were holding out for the iPhone to come to Verizon.  Many Verizon users would love to have the iPhone but choose to have better cell phone coverage than a better phone.  Therefore the Droid may be their phone for now.

AT&T and Verizon have been attacking one another as the release gets closer with advertising and lawsuits.  AT&T has recently filed a lawsuit against Verizon for misleading claims about their 3G coverage.  Verizon has been advertising their Droid against the iPhone.  Verizon’s advertising blitz for the Droid is not only drawing the ire of AT&T but it may be doing the same with Apple. It seems that Verizon may not see the iPhone for some time.

The Droid is certainly a great phone.  It is getting positive reviews from tech Guru’s Walt Mossberg and David Pogue, two Apple friendly columnists.  However, David Pogue does not see the Droid as an iPhone killer but he does see it as a great phone.

There are features on the Droid that make it stand out from the iPhone.  It has a better GPS with Google maps, it has a physical keyboard, and has a better camera.  However, the Droid only has about 12,000 apps compared to 100,000 from Apple.

RIM market share eroding

Research in Motion, makers for the Blackberry is seeing their market share eroding in recent weeks.  The biggest culprit to the erosion is the Apple iPhone.  The iPhone has been gaining strength with the 3GS introduction.  Their market share has risen an astounding 30% in the two plus years the iPhone has been available.

The introduction of the Palm Pre has done nothing to the market share of both Blackberry and iPhone.  Their market share has not gotten above the double digit mark and their markets share is already dwindling.

The new fear on the market for RIM is the coming introduction of the Droid.  Droid is Motorola’s most recent entry into the smart phone era.  Motorola has been hit with lackluster phones for the past several years.  Motorolas partnership with Google to introduce the Droid which runs Android 2.o software may make another big dent into RIM’s smart phone dominance.  The droid is seen as the best competitor of the iPhone of late.

So RIM needs to come up with some answers to the smart phone woes soon.  It is pinning its hopes possibly on the next storm.  The upgarde to the not so popular original storm is said to be a worthy upgrade.  Whether it is going to be able to compete with the iPhone and Droid will be a wait and see.

Google introduces free GPS

With the release of the Droid from partners Verizon and Motorola comes with something unseen in mobile phones.  A service that’s free.  Google just introduced a service on the droid to provide free turn by turn directions.  With the announcement, the stock prices of both Garmin and Tom Tom tumbled.  Both Garmin and Tom Tom provide gps navigation but with a fee.

The service brings features never seen on any gps system.  The free service from Google, allows for turn by turn direction in conjunction with street view so that you can actually see the intersection that you’re supposed to turn on.  Sometimes its difficult to even follow turn by turn directions by looking at a surface map but with having a visual of the actual intersection, getting lost will be a thing of the past.

The gps system that Google is bringing to the Droid may be available of the Apple iPhone however executives from Apple may think otherwise.  Apple has recently acquired a mapping company that may be enhanced features to its own turn by turn gps navigation.

Netflix and PS3 Join Forces

Netflix and Sony have teamed up to allow Netflix movies and TV shows to be streamed to the PS3 free of charge.  Netflix has the same service for XBox however, to allow streaming of content from Netflix, it requires a Gold account with a fee of $49 per year.  Netflix is heavily investing into the streaming aspect of movies.  Currently, Netflix is providing more and more movies to be streamed to the user instead of having to send out physical DVD’s.

The PS3 has the advantage of being able to play blue ray content and it is being set up to be more than just a gaming console.  PS3 is hoping to take back some market share from XBox with this new venture.  Microsoft does not plan on having a blue ray drive in its gaming console.

Los Angeles city employees will use Google for email

The Los Angeles city council has approved the use of Google to supply the city with email services for all of its 30,000 city employees.  The contract was seen as a boon for Google for a large city such as Los Angeles to adobt its email system for all of its city employees.  Other companies such as Microsoft was campaigning for the contract with the city.

The city council unanimously voted 12-0 to approve the 7.25 million dollar contract.  However, before the vote, some city council members did express concerns over security and reliability of the system.  Also, council members had doubts whether the adoption of Google’s email system would actually save the city money as Google contends.

Skepticism about the service did pare off and the council did vote unanimously.  The adoption of Google’s system may entice other smaller cities to adopt a similar form of email service if Los Angeles and Google can show success of the system.  This is why this contract was so heavily sought after.

Blackberry and U2

Blackberry is currently headlining the sponsorship for U2’s new 360 tour instead of Apple, who people might have thought would have made sense.  Apple and U2 have had a great relationship in the past and possibly still do.  Apple had introduced a special limited edition U2 ipod with the autographs laser etched into the back of the iPod.  However, in obtaining sponsorship to the concert, U2 did end up picking Blackberry.

It’s unknow whether U2 approached Apple for sponsorship or not but it does seem to have made sense since they did have a relationship in the past.  However in attending the U2 concert last night, had Apple and the iPhone had sponsored the concert, it may not have looked good when I couldn’t use the internet at all last night because of the heavy traffic that 20,000 or so possible iPhone user trying to update their Facebook status’ to one cell AT&T cell tower.

If the iPhone had sponsored the event, it would have been embarrassing that I was either on edge or no connection to the internet at all.  It would have been funny, since The Edge is the guitarist for U2.  Who knows, maybe Blackberry had some sort of black out.  Text messages were getting received 20 minutes later, Facebook wouldn’t connect, phone service was somewhat spotty, and it was just an all unpleasant experience.  Who knows what problems Blackberry users were experiencing though.