Apr
05

Feedback’s Greatest Hits 2013, Vol 12

by Feedback

Here’s our pick of the top news stories from this past week!

Welp — here it is…

HTC and Facebook announce the First smartphone with AT&T, arriving April 12th for $99.99

Further reading: Why Facebook Home bothers me: It destroys any notion of privacy, Manjoo: The Facebook Phone Is Not as Dumb as I Thought It Was Going to Be Slightly different take on the story from the BBC: Facebook releases ‘home’ software for Android phones

Youth flock to mobile messaging apps, may be threat to Facebook

We’ve been literally saying it for years: the trend in social media is towards more privacy and discreet communication — as seen in this turn towards messaging apps by many younger people.

Dish.fm launches a beautiful new food exploration app on iPad

What if social food switches form the restaurant (Yelp, Foursquare) and more towards the dish?

Keep an eye out for our UK office’s perspective on the Facebook Home launch and other news stores via our Facebook page and Twitter feed!

Aug
19

The Patent Wars

by Feedback

There’s been a bit of buzz among the techies this week regarding Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, formerly the telecom stalwart’s Mobile Devices division.

The move signals the search giant’s desire to supercharge its Android mobile operating system, but there’s more at play here. Since the announcement – coinciding with significant turbulence in the markets – Google’s value has dropped considerably, indicating that the finance community is not impressed with the acquisition or the price paid (there was a significant premium for the Motorola shares).

So if the move wasn’t made for the bottom line, what other factors were behind this decision?

If you don’t follow the business side of the mobile computing industry, well, I’ve probably lost you already. But for those who stuck around (related: thank you!) and don’t know, there’s a major legal battle brewing over patents filed for smartphone features that we all take for granted. This is stuff like capacitive touchscreens, software (as opposed to physical) buttons for navigation, and the different functions of ‘swiping’ your fingers across the screen. All these features are in dispute, and Apple (and its mountain o’ cash) is leading the litigious charge.

In defending the single best selling smartphone out there, the iPhone, Apple claims that its desire is not to be anti-competitive, but rather to push peers to come up with their own innovations. Well played, Apple. Well played.

To that end, they’ve sued everyone responsible for the Android food chain (Google, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and more) for copying parts or features of the iPhone. They even teamed up with former nemesis Microsoft to buy up the intellectual property of former telecom and networking giant Nortel, to the tune of $2.6 billion for some 6,000 patents. Clearly, the game is afoot and it is played with a lot of zeros. Taiwanese smartphone and tablet maker HTC, for their part, snatched up 265 patents for $300 million by buying S3 Graphics, a company that has had recent success against Apple in copycat court.

Which brings us back to Google: what are they getting for their $12.5 billion investment in Motorola, besides bringing a major Android licensee in-house?

A: 17,000 patents with another 7,000 pending.

That’s some serious firepower.

What does this all mean for the consumer? Probably nothing. There’s a lot of money changing hands and a lot of lawyers involved here, but at the end of the day, neither side seems to have a distinct advantage. Patents seem to be either super-specific or overly broad and litigation tends to lead more to deal-making than product-breaking. Apple tends to be particularly tough to work with in this regard, but if they had a really strong case, chances are they would have never let Android smartphones achieve their current level of success, leading as a platform, if not a singular device. The only potential downside I see is that instead of improving their devices and pushing the envelope and technology forward, they’re spending their capital on expensive pieces of paper and international bickering.

But, as anyone who’s ever had to replace a smartphone knows, if the cost of these devices is any measure, there’s plenty of money to go around.

-Thomas (@thomasmcdonald)

Jul
29

Anna’s Social Media Picks of the Week (July 29, 2011)

by Feedback

The social space online changes rapidly. Feedback stays on top of emerging media news so you don’t have to. Here are the top must-read social media articles of the week for July 24, 2011.

Read More »

May
26

Banking on Socialization

by Feedback

During the past few months, we've been researching deeply into the financial markets, but not in the way stockbrokers and analysts do. We want to find out how banks are using the web, and paint a picture of what the industry will look like in five, 10, and 20 years. Read More »

Apr
27

Instagram-plification

by Feedback

Few social services have risen as quickly to the level of Instagram, the photo sharing app for iPhone (and Android at some point) that has grown to more than 3 million users in the seven months of its existence.

Read More »

Mar
24

Big App-spirations

by Feedback

The other day I downloaded some mobile app I was referred to called Ditto. If you haven’t heard of it, all you really need to know is that it’s for groups of people to schedule get-togethers or something like that. For the purposes of understanding where I’m going with this, its specific purpose doesn’t really matter. Read More »

Mar
18

Anna’s Social Media Picks of the Week (03/18/11)

by Feedback

My top picks for social media news this week include the buzz around SXSW products, Facebook Deal subscriptions, March Madness, Twitter’s Birthday, and an article on how to get paid news free with a “social loophole.” Read More »

Feb
07

Why Tumblr is Gaining Steam

by Feedback

As traditional, sit-at-a-computer blogging slowly passes away in the shadow of social networking services that cater to uniformity such as Facebook and Twitter, Tumblr stands out as a lesser-known platform that is attracting more than just the creative user, but those who are craving for simplicity – and speed – in the blogging experience.

At Feedback, we’re looking forward to watching Tumblr mature as a web and mobile content creation service, both as a personal platform and for businesses, particularly companies in the media world with a steady stream of words and pictures to post online. We believe that Tumblr’s power will be fully realized within the next year with new features and support that will give even the casual-est Internet users who may not have a lot to say a rather personable community to express themselves. (We would be remiss not to mention that New York-based Tumblr recently opened its second office here in Richmond.)

Founded in 2007 just as Twitter began collecting its initial momentum, Tumblr’s ease of use was pretty unparalleled considering the other blogging services that were out at the time. It made the blogging process simple, but on the back end, it also incorporated a feed where you can follow other “Tumblrs.” It looks much like a Facebook wall or Twitter stream, but it’s even more simplified – and that has made all the difference.

Composing posts with the Tumblr interface much easier than blogging services like WordPress or Blogger with the ability to categorize the types of posts that users make. For instance, if your post is expressed through words, you compose a Text post. If you found a great picture that you want to share, a Photo post would be appropriate. Not near a computer and want to leave some thoughts on your blog? Found a thought that someone else articulated so well that it stands without context? The Quote or Chat option can handle that with ease.

Tumblr is also made for posting from mobile devices, so if you’re an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android user, it’s never been easier to pop content up on the fly.

The Tumblr backend, which looks not unlike a Facebook wall.

In addition to becoming a nexus for content of any nature — magazines like GQ, The Atlantic and the National Post have accounts on the service — Tumblr promotes popular and trending blogs within its own network based on recommendations of its users into the Tumblr Directory. Directories – which are in the process of being overhauled to be more easily searchable, according to Tumblr founded David Karp – is a listing of the most influential blogs categorized into keywords such as “historical,” “fashion,” “cute,” “gaming” and more. Every Tuesday, hundreds of users place their seal of approval on popular accounts and moderators add the best to the hall of fame-like status of the Directory.

The social aspect of the service has been simplified as well. All posts have a heart icon akin to Facebook’s Like button, and, as we opined earlier, such feedback is key to any online community. You follow users that have interesting thoughts by clicking the plus sign that appears in the top right corner of all Tumblr blogs. Reblogging, a term that’s become pretty common across the services, is less a sharing mechanic and more of a conversation tool. Posts become threaded conversations and not just a means to copy and paste someone else’s writings to your blog.

Today, the network has broken through the top 100 most trafficked websites on the Internet and continues to grow as it stands its ground against long-standing blogging and interactive media alternatives. Tumblr is also experimenting with a super cool ad model to maximize how attractive the service it is to users who might call it their new blogging home, too.

An "advertisement" on Tumblr, if you can even call it that. Tracked #cars tags aggregated onto a page sponsored by Top Gear. Sweetness.

The only ad campaign that I could spot is one highlighting the BBC’s Top Gear program in the #cars tag channel. It advertises the show, sure, but it does so in a way that you almost don’t notice. It’s nothing but a page full of car posts and pictures, curated by volunteers who pick the best posts to be delivered to those who wish to track the #cars tag. There are then two reasonable, standard-size banners opposite the content timeline that are not intrusive and ultimately relevant to just about every motorhead that might venture onto that page. But seriously, if you’re a fan of cars and you haven’t heard of Top Gear, I have doubts about your fandom.

Anyway, enough talking about it. I encourage you to check out Tumblr and get to know it before everyone else does.

-Brad (@bcarr on Twitter, and carrtrubl on Tumblr)

Jun
18

Anna’s Social Media Picks of the Week (06/18/10)

by Feedback

Do you have time to search the web everyday to find the newest social media tools? If the answer is no, then you have come to the right place. I have searched the World Wide Web for social media information all week, and stumbled upon a few favorites along the way. Here are my picks of the week:

YouTube Video Editor:

You can now do quick editing to a video on YouTube. This week, YouTube announced a cloud based video editor that allows you to trim a video and replace background noise with music. To learn more about this feature, go here: http://bit.ly/dzsyZG

Like Even More on Facebook:

Ever like a comment someone posted on Facebook? As of this week, now you can now show it. Facebook is now allowing users to like comments on posts.  See an example below:

Twitter Places:

On Monday, Twitter launched a new feature called Twitter Places. Users can now tag tweets with existing Twitter Places, as well as add new Twitter Places on Twitter.com and Twitter mobile. Twitter places is also being integrated with Foursquare and Gowalla.

Record Breaking iPhone Pre-orders:

Apple took over 600,000 pre-orders for the new iPhones on the first day the gadget became available. This was a record number for Apple, 10 times higher than pre-orders for the iPhone 3GS last year.  The high demand for the new iPhone did cause some difficulties when it came to processing orders through U.S. carrier AT&T Inc.

FIFA Fever:

Have the FIFA Fever? If so, there are plenty of World Cup apps to ensure you keep up with the games wherever you are. Free blackberry apps include AP 2010 World Cup Coverage and Goal Mobile. Free iPhone apps include ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup & Vuvuzela 2010. Android apps include World Droid Cup & World Cup 2010. There are also paid subscriptions such as Mobitv where you can watch games live. Twitter is also getting in on the action, with special hashtags, icons, & live Tweets for the World Cup. Go to twitter.com/worldcup for more details.

-Anna (@alucas9)

Dec
18

Anna’s Social Media Picks of the Week (12/18/09)

by Feedback

Do you have time to search the web everyday to find the newest and coolest social media tools? If the answer is no, then you have come to the right place (& if the answer is yes, leave a comment with your favorites). I have searched the World Wide Web for social media information all week, and stumbled upon a few favorites along the way. Here are my picks of the week:

Nexus One:

Information about Google’s new smart phone has been spreading around the web this week. We now know that the name of the phone is “Nexus One,” have photos of what it looks like, and reviews from people who got to test it out. The overall consensus is positive, although the Nexus One does not have multi-touch capabilities.

Cable Online:

Comcast has been working to give their customers television shows on the web since late June. On Tuesday, Comcast successfully launched “TV Everywhere,” an initiative allowing subscribers to watch 27 channels (including HBO, Cinemax, and TNT) online. The best part: there is no additional charge for this additional feature.

Twitter Hacked:

On Thursday, something unusual happened on Twitter. The Screen turned back, and the twitter bird was red.  Twitter…was hacked. One of the world’s most popular websites… was hacked.  Images were changed, and then Twitter and the status blog were taken down. Who did this? A group calling themselves the “Iranian Cyber Army.” Read more about the records that were temporarily compromised here.

Foursquare for Facebook:

Foursquare is now on Facebook. On Tuesday, Foursquare released an app that allows people to check in to locations via Facebook’s mobile app. Having Foursquare on Facebook allows you to automatically share check-ins and gain mayorships and badges on Facebook. As of now, it is only available for Android and Blackberry’s. Expect it on the iPhone soon too, the app request has been submitted, and once Apple signs off on it, iPhone users will be able to use Foursquare on Facebook too.

Keeping Facebook Private:

A lot is changing on Facebook these days. From Facebook wanting users to be more public, to allowing easier updates to Twitter, to testing out Facebook replies via email. With all these changes, and this push towards being more public, I saw it fit to share a few resources on how to stay private. Fast Company has a guide for Three Ways to Keep Yourself Private on the New Facebook, and AllFacebook has a list of 10 New Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.

-Anna (@alucas9)