Amazon prepares to launch Android app store

Amazon is expected to launch a mobile app store soon, in an attempt to compete, head-on, with Google's Android Marketplace. A number of Amazon's developers have already submitted some apps to its Appstore Development Portal.

Amazon has also created a Developer Blog and a Twitter account, to promote this launch. Amazon has even have made video postings on YouTube, explaining how to submit apps to its online store.

Rumors indicate that consumers will be able to buy Android apps, from Amazon, on computers, as well as, smart phones and tablets, running Google's Android OS. For Amazon account holders, app purchases will be made using the same account they currently use to make online purchases. To read the full article, please click here.

Facebook's 'Sponsored Stories' Turns Your News Feed Activity Into Ads

Facebook is rolling out a new advertising format called Sponsored Stories, which allows advertisers to prioritize content from the News Feed by turning your Facebook activity into promoted content.

Sponsored Stories are seen only by your friends that would normally see your stories in their News Feeds. However, according to the product's help page , there is no op-out option for Sponsored Stories.

Already, similarities are being drawn between Sponsored Stories and Twitter's Promoted Tweets, which presented advertisements in the form of content for the site. But Facebook's approach goes a step further by turning the activities of its users into revenue for the site.

Facebook hopes that these Sponsored Stories (aka "word-of-mouth recommendations") will engage users more than the site's targeted ads. "Seeing that a friend has checked in at Starbucks is a much more compelling reason to visit than a standard advertisement telling a user to go get a coffee," Inside Facebook writes.

For the complete article, please click here.

What's In Store for Technology in 2011

It has been a big year in personal technology, from the debut and early success of Apple's iPad, to the rise and continuous improvement of Google's Android smart phone platform, to the continued surge in social services led by Facebook and Twitter.

Apple: Coming off a highly successful 2010, in which it introduced a new category of portable computer—the multitouch tablet—and sold millions of the product, Apple will have to withstand an onslaught of competitors by wowing consumers again with the second version of the iPad. At the same time, it will have to make a widely expected transition for the iPhone from a single carrier in the U.S., AT&T, to a second, likely Verizon

Google: The search giant, also riding high, is now in so many product areas it competes with nearly everyone. In its core search business, it must focus on fending off a surprisingly strong challenge from Microsoft's Bing by giving consumers more attractive, actionable results.

Microsoft: The software giant still generates strong consumer loyalty with its older products, like Windows and Office and Xbox, all of which have had updates in the past year or two. But it faces big challenges in two hot areas: smart phones and tablets. Its new Windows Phone 7 platform has some nice design features, but also some missing capabilities that need to be addressed.

RIM: The BlackBerry maker had a good 2010 in some ways, though sales were propped up by two-for-one giveaways, and consumer surveys show enthusiasm fading for the iconic smart phone. The company has an answer: a new software platform called QNX, but is vague on when that will show up on the BlackBerry. For 2011, RIM's big move will be a new QNX-based tablet, the PlayBook, which looks speedy and highly attractive in the limited demos RIM has provided.

HP: The technology behemoth's laptops and printers have proved popular with consumers. But it hasn't had any real presence in smart-phones, tablets or consumer cloud services. To solve the problems, in 2010 HP bought innovative but struggling Palm, whose smart-phone operating system, webOS, and phones, the Pre and Pixi, got good reviews but sold poorly and didn't attract many third-party apps.

Facebook and Twitter: The twin leaders in social networking were red-hot in 2010, attracting vast numbers of users. They have huge opportunities for further success, but face challenges. Smaller services, like social-coupon company Groupon, continue to emerge with new social and community ideas consumers like.

For the complete article, please click here.

Why I Hate Twitter

NOTE: This does not reflect the opinions of Parks Associates. Just my personal musings. As a communications tool, there is no question that Twitter can have enormous value. Look at how protestors in Iran were able to get their message out to the world. Heck, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a proponent of the short messaging service's ability to get emergency alerts and updates out to people in an efficient manner. However, my jaw was this close to dropping as I read the article in today’s Wall Street Journal regarding the Twitter outage yesterday. So, I get the benefit...sort of. We live in a world where information moves very quickly, and efficiency in dissemination is important. Shoot, I've probably lost a few of you already because this paragraph is too dense.

But, man, does Twitter embody some highly-disturbing attributes (again, my opinion).

• Celebrity worship;
• The notion of false-urgency, where there are no filters for any and all information, and everything becomes a reaction to life's events with little time for reflection thereof;
• Narcissim; and
• Treating silence as an enemy, where we are uncomfortable in mere thought and consideration. Why must we feel compelled to comment on everything at everytime? Why do I check my e-mail at 5:30 in the morning before breakfast? Why is the Blackberry constantly buzzing (and drawing my attention)? Why can't we simply absorb information, think through it critically, and then act?

I hope that the world still has room for thoughtful oratory and writing, newspapers, and considerate debate. I hope that we still see value in the time and effort it takes to observe, think, and act. I hope that Twitter is not the beginning of the end for Western Civilization. See the quotes from the Journal and my commentary:

WSJ: MC Hammer was in the middle of an interview early Thursday morning when he encountered the unimaginable: life without Twitter.

After 10 minutes of trying to check messages from his 1.2 million followers on the site Twitter.com, the 1980s rapper known for his trademark balloon pants realized that the social-networking service had gone down.

"My baby wasn't acting right. Did I notice it was out? That would be the equivalent to asking, did you notice you woke up?" says Mr. Hammer, whose given name is Stanley Burrell. "My immediate thought was, 'There is no replacing this platform...I couldn't satisfy the need to communicate.'"

Kurt: So, I guess if you’re a B-list celebrity whose career has jumped the shark, Twitter is your inexpensive path back to the public’s consciousness. A valuable marketing tool, no doubt. Hammer needs all the revenues he can get. So, Twitter can help Hammer. But, was the world worse off with a few minutes of Hammer Time being off the grid? Hmmmm…the sun was shining pretty brightly today. I heard birds singing. The Earth’s rotation continues. We’re okay.

WSJ: Thursday's outage foiled Ian Schafer, the CEO of Deep Focus interactive ad agency in New York. Mr. Schafer, who prides himself on live-tweeting conferences and events to his nearly 5,000 followers, was preparing to live-tweet from a bris, a Jewish circumcision rite, for two baby boys.

Kurt: Ah, yes…live play-by-play and color analysis of a bris. I’ve heard of Twitter being used in hospital operating rooms to keep the family and friends of a patient informed, but maybe we’ll move it to less-intrusive procedures.

WSJ: On the way to his car in the morning, Mr. Schafer kept trying to get on Twitter from his iPhone, but figured his Web access was down. When he arrived at the ceremony, he tried again. His tweet -- "I'm at a bris. Not mine" -- took 45 minutes to crawl through. The next missive -- "In case you were wondering, a bris of twin boys happens one at a time" -- took another hour.

Kurt: Interesting information – I did not know this. But did I need it in real time?

WSJ: So he gave up. He posted a few photos of the food on his Facebook page and called it a day.

Kurt: Food – the best part of any church or religious event. Attend a Lutheran potluck. You’ll know what I’m talking about. Good for you for giving up, though. The food report can wait...really.

Kurt: The first two examples are merely humorous. Now, we're getting to jaw-dropping time.

WSJ: Washington journalist Ana Marie Cox, who has posted roughly 6,500 tweets, was unable to tell her nearly 952,000 followers that she purchased a new pair of jeans because of Thursday's outage. Ms. Cox often shares her choice of attire with a tweet dubbed "pants status."

Kurt: Ummm...okay

WSJ: "Strangely, I've found that the world has continued to exist without me having shared that," says Ms. Cox, a national correspondent for Air America and a contributing editor at Playboy.

Kurt: I am not sure how we survived, but by golly, we pulled through.

Kurt: But we’re getting to the best part…

WSJ: But she did get to leave a good impression with a lunch date. "This person probably thinks I'm very focused and polite," Ms. Cox says. Had Twitter been functioning, she says she would've been tweeting throughout the meal. "I would have come off like I usually do," Ms. Cox says, "which is obviously rude and insensitive."

Kurt: This was a date? Where typically one person attempts to get to know another person through ... uh ... conversation? Since you clearly have no interest in these types of personal interactions, you could really save yourself some money and take just you and your smartphone out to eat, you know.

Another thought...it took Copernicus far less time to figure out that the Earth revolves around the sun than it will ever take the human race to figure out that the same does not apply to them.

Kurt: And finally, somebody with whom I symphathize, because I get this. But still...

WSJ: Other Twitter addicts were grateful to have a few extra minutes tacked onto their day. "The truth of the matter is, I got back 10 minutes of my morning -- not to have to think of something interesting to twitter which is so damn hard at 5 a.m." says Richard Rosenblatt, CEO of Demand Media, a digital-media company.

Kurt: Why, may I ask, why? A compulsion to Tweet every day? At 5 a.m.? Regardless of whether you have anything interesting to say or not? How is this helpful to you or the world? Can't we wait until there is something truly interesting to say? Sheesh.

Verizon allows TV viewers to Tweet

Here it comes. Just a few weeks after introducting Twitter and Facebook access on its Widgets Bazaar, Verizon has added enhancements to allow subscribers to use their onscreen keyboard to send Tweets and the ability for subscribers to update their Facebook status with personalized messages.