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)

Who Owns What? The Smartphone Market

According to a recent Nielsen study, Android currently owns 39% of the smartphone market. Apple trails Android OS by more than 10%, owning only 28% of the market. However, according to TechCrunch, Android’s have a rather high return rate. View the following chart to see a breakdown of the market.

Recruitment Plug-in: “Apply with LinkedIn”

For companies who are looking for a fresh recruitment tool, the latest LinkedIn Plug-in may be worth a try.  LinkedIn has created a simple “Apply with LinkedIn” button that companies can embed onto their website.  Then, with one click, Jobseekers can apply for the position with their LinkedIn profile.

Rumors has it…

There’s nothing like a good rumor to get the weekend kicked off. Well, that is at least true when the rumor involves the iPhone. There have been numerous “tipsters” sending out photos of the iPhone5 (rumored to debut in September) and the cheaper iPhone4S (also rumored to debut in September). According to these sources the iPhone5 will be thinner and the iPhone4S will be lighter (due to a plastic back). See the images below and read more about these rumors here.

Promoted Tweets to Followers

Twitter has officially debuted promoted tweets to followers. The new plan allows an advertisers Tweet to appear at the top of followers timelines. Current partners include Starbucks, Groupon, LivingSocial, JetBlue and Sephora. Twitter sugar coats this change by explaining, “We all come to Twitter to connect with the latest information on the topics and people we care about. So when we decide to follow a favorite brand, business or charitable organization, we expect to be among the first to get a special announcement, access to exclusive content or a great offer.”

Netflix On The Rise…. In Price

It appears unlimited streaming and DVD plans from Netflix will no longer be bundled. Netflix announced this week that the current pricing of $9.99 a mo. for unlimited streaming and 1 DVD at-a-time will no longer be available. Rather, users can purchase unlimited streaming for $7.99 a month or they can purchase the one-at-a-time unlimited DVD service for $7.99 a month. As you can see by the image below, many Netflix users took to Twitter to voice their displeasure with the change.

-Anna (@alucas9)

Our takeaway so far is this: banks that want to succeed in the future will start getting social now, and no, that does not mean creating a Facebook page and encouraging customers to “Like” it. It means sweeping and rapid mobile adoption and, moreso, transformation from a purely transactional model to one of customer engagement. And for an industry that is suffering from a reputation standpoint after a few less-than-stellar years on our wallets, there is no better time.

Bank simple? We'll see soon enough. Now in beta.

The problem, however, is that banks are extremely conservative and slow to adapt. They’ll tell you that, too. Most aren’t bothering with Facebook or Twitter, sometimes perhaps for good reason, and sometimes out of fear of regulatory scrutiny. But the banks that are adapting to the new financial model are doing it properly and effectively, from both a mass communications and regulatory perspective.

Which brings us to the concept of social banking – integrating the financial system into the way people interact online. You can see examples if your bank has an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android app. These services will continue to evolve with new features in coming months. Right now they’re mostly a basic, mobilized version of online banking, whereas they’ll soon be a handheld drive-thru teller.

Just this week, the biggest banks in the country – JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo/Wachovia – announced a partnership called clearXchange, which will allow their customers members to make transfers from checking accounts via email addresses or mobile numbers, rather than routing and account numbers. So, say you’re out to lunch at a hot dog cart that only takes cash. You only have a card. Your coworker pays for your lunch with cash, then you text the money to his or her account. The Charlotte, NC-based service will roll out nationally, then perhaps move into other financial institutions.

That’s social banking: social and mobile experiences combine to create a financial transaction. Social banking will change how you buy goods and services, how you spend and save, and how you live, work and play.

Another company we’re watching is a hot startup in New York called BankSimple. It’s not a bank, but partners with banks to provide online and social banking services. It’s also just issued its first debit and credit cards for testing in New York, Portland and San Francisco. The company claims “worry free” money management and “unrivaled” customer service. Mashable notes that “BankSimple’s draw will be fee-free ATM withdrawals, predictive money management, Zappos-style customer support and simplified money transfers between you and your social network friends.”

So banks, then, could become cool?

iTunes and the music industry. Amazon and books. Tablets and the publishing industry. Mobility and socialization and banks.

This is the part where I end this post, saying something moderately clever like “we’re banking on technology to change the financial industry.” But I won’t make a lame pun.

- Jeff (@jephkelley)

Instagram is one of the first successful mobile social networks, a service that stands alone and doesn’t require – but integrates with – some of the more prominent online services. With it, users can take photos, pop a filter on top to give the shot a cool look, tag it with their location, and share with others. It’ll remind you more of a storybook than another run-of-the-mill photo application.

It’s also got the following component of Twitter and the “Like” elements of Facebook or Tumblr. Such a feedback currency has become a staple of a successful online community.

Plus, the app is free.

Yet what Instagram has lacked is the ability to view these photos online, unless they’re posted to a personal page. That’s where a new Mac app comes along.

"Handcrafted" gives it a certain panache, don't you think?

We got a preview of Carousel, a new app for viewing Instagram shots and stories on your Mac. Best of all? It was built here in Richmond by Mobelux, mobile leaders in a city that is fast filling up with some hot and creative technology talent.

A screenshot of the Carousel app. Yes, also great for sharing pictures of food.

We’re not going to review it because a.) it’s still in beta and b.) we’d be a bit biased considering these guys are our friends, but the app is slick. It feels like a bigger version of Instagram, which is probably the point: keep it simple and familiar.

A nice feature of the app, as opposed to viewing on an iPhone, is the ability to drag-and-drop photos and view them bigger than a tiny screen allows. On the iPhone, Instagram shots save in the photos folder, so it takes a few extra steps to get them from the device to a larger screen. Crisis averted.

Look for Carousel in the App Store in coming days.

Lastly, you can point to at least three major bullets that indicate a social network is taking root in our digital lives:

• Brands want it. CBS is using Instagram to promote its show NCIS: Los Angeles (@ncisla), and NBC News does the same. This also includes tech-savvy celebrities, and in the case of Instagram, LL Cool J or TV personality Dave Holmes.
• It spawns real-life meet and greets. “InstaMeets” are now in their infancy (where local users can meet those they follow) and are the Twitter equivalent of a TweetUp or Tumblr’s simply defined “Meet Up.”
• Developers demand your API. When developers get the API, they can start creating applications that integrate with your service. Hence Carousel and likely an upcoming onslaught of other apps that build on Instagram.

For the founders of interactive networks, these are the best compliments. (And in the case of Instagram, a recent $7.5 million round of funding doesn’t hurt, either.)

-Jeff (@jephkelley)

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.

Aside from crashing every time I tried to use it (an issue that has since been fixed), my main thought was, “I can sort of do this already on Facebook or Twitter, or even over email or text.”

Keywords: Sort of.

The Ditto app, currently sitting in my iPhone's "Meh" folder.

Just as actors go to Hollywood in hopes of being discovered or writers go to New York hoping to grace the pages of GQ or Vogue, it seems more and more developers are creating mobile apps with the sole intention of being bought by an already-established social network. These apps aren’t too spectacular by their lonesome selves, but the technologies could add a certain oomph to existing, more well-known and frequently used services.

You can tell sometimes by just picking one of these apps up. The concept behind Ditto (“making plans with a group”), for example, has some potential. But perhaps not on its own. Why would I open a separate app to make plans when I can already use a more mainstream technology that most people use? My groups are already in place, and they aren’t on Ditto.

The Beluga app, good for groups but does not actually look like a whale.

Lots of these niche apps have similar looks and feels to the more mainstream social services we’ve all come to know and love, and sometimes hate. These aren’t bad applications, but the developers must – have – to understand that these services will never reach a critical mass of users. Instead, these apps are their tickets to the bigtime.

Consider the case of Beluga, the answer to BlackBerry Messenger for phones that aren’t BlackBerrys. The technology is slick, but I doubt Beluga on its own was never going to have mass appeal. Plus, most people hate caviar. Facebook bought the company a few weeks ago, and it would appear that, somewhere down the line, Facebook Groups are going to become better because of an app named after a type of whale.

Ditto looks an awful lot like Foursquare, and would be a great add-on (Foursquare shifts from “check-in service” to “make plans and check-in service”). An app called Where, which delivers information about popular places to users based on their location, resembles that of Yelp and could be a great component to that already popular places-ratings service.

These niche apps fill a similar hole that some of the now-official mainstream social media mobile apps did years ago. The official Twitter app was originally called Tweetie, created by a developer who made millions (probably) off the sale. Similar with Tumblr’s mobile app, which was built here in Richmond and was so good that it eventually became the blogging service’s official iPhone, BlackBerry and Android app. (Thanks in part to that little app, Tumblr now has an official office – and employees with good-paying jobs – here in the Virginia capital.)

Who Won The #SXSW Battle?

SimplyMeasured took a look at #sxsw hashtag chatter on Twitter during the interactive portion of the conference to determine which products garnered the most buzz. The winners were GroupMe for messaging service, Foursquare for check-in service, and iPhone for mobile platform. View the following charts to see the breakdown of contenders.

Twitter By the Numbers:

This week, Twitter turns five. On March 21, 2006 @jack (Jack Dorsey) sent the first tweet. Five years later, around a billion tweets are sent within a week. Wow.

Here are some of the attention-grabbing stats listed on Twitter’s blog:

• 3 years, 2 months and 1 day. The time it took from the first Tweet to the billionth Tweet.
• 1 week. The time it now takes for users to send a billion Tweets.
• 50 million. The average number of Tweets people sent per day, one year ago.
• 140 million. The average number of Tweets people sent per day, in the last month

• 572,000. Number of new accounts created on March 12, 2011.
• 460,000. Average number of new accounts per day over the last month.
• 182%. Increase in number of mobile users over the past year.

March Madness:

The madness has begun! NCAA Basketball fans, if you want to keep up with the scores or check your bracket(s) on the go, there are several apps you can use. Apps include ESPN Bracket Bound 2011 (for those in ESPN tournament), NCAA March Madness on Demand (Watch games live), and NCAA Fan Zone – March Madness (Scores) – and they’re all free.

Who’s going to take the win? According to a study completed by Zeda interactive, internet fans top picks include Syracuse, Duke, Kansas, and Wisconsin. So far, these teams have had the highest positive online buzz rankings.

Facebook Deal Subscriptions:

This week, Facebook is urging users to subscribe to their Deal service. With Groupon and LivingSocial, users learn about deals from daily emails and sharing among friends. Facebook appears to be trying to achieve this same stickiness, and is urging users to subscribe to Facebook Deals and invite their friends to subscribe as well.  Those who subscribe will soon receive news feed updates about local deals.

Free Reading:

I read an interesting article today titled “The Google Loophole Has Become The Facebook/Twitter Loophole.” It discusses how paid online news websites, such The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (which just announced a digital subscription), actually have loopholes where people can read for free. The main point of the article is that this loophole is shifting from search to social. For example, The Wall Street Journal allows free access if you type the article name into Google. The New York Times mentioned yesterday that they will be offering a new type of “loophole” for Facebook and Twitter users. All readers who come to the NYT through Facebook or Twitter will be able to read for free.

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.

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)

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)

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)

Flip for WiFi

If you like taking short videos and uploading them onto YouTube or Facebook, you’ve probably heard of Flip Cameras. Heck, you probably own one. Well, hopefully you’ll Flip for this: their cameras just got even better. In early 2010, a new Flip, with built in WiFi, will go on the market. So, now when you don’t feel like plugging in to the computer to upload your videos, you won’t have to.

Upload with Ease

Find adding photos onto Facebook a hassle? Well, Facebook addressed this issue on Wednesday when they announced that they were rolling out a new and improved photo uploading process. The new photo upload tool, which is just a prototype for now, gives you a preview of the upcoming replacement.

If you’re not excited to upload an album onto Facebook, maybe you’ll be excited to upload a video onto YouTube. On Thursday, Google announced that everyone now has the option to add captions to their YouTube videos automatically.

The Google Phone

Google is in the process of creating the latest android phone. Although details are still slim, we do know that they are creating and manufacturing a phone that will compete with the likes of iPhone and Droid. & According to sources, it’s coming soon. For more “well-sourced rumors,” read this TechCrunch article.

Foursquare Adds Fifty

Foursquare is a social game/application that is gaining popularity. Mashable has even named it “The Twitter of 2010.” Another thing Foursquare is gaining: ground. On Thursday, Foursquare announced that the mobile application is now available for 50 new cities, all around the world.

Retweet

I heard the announcement that Twitter was incorporating a Retweet action (making it easier for users to Retweet), and saw friends tweeting about how they were using the new feature. But it wasn’t until this week that I finally got to test it out myself. & Now, everybody can try it. On Thursday, Twitter tweeted that the Retweet feature has gone live for all.

-Anna (@alucas9)