Thursday, July 14, 2011
Video Post: The big brand question with Google
The incredible amount of hype around Google+ is making companies eager to join the site. Google is forcing all but a few businesses to wait on their company profiles, however. They are planning for separate business pages in the future, but are not ready quite yet.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Google+ Off to an Amazing Start
When Google launched its new social network, Google+, in late June many people did not have much faith in its success. Google's social network history is not strong: both Google Buzz and Google Wave were complete flops. This time, however, it seems as though Google has finally got it right.
Paul Allen, of Ancestry.com, has come up with a method for calculating the number of users on the site. His grand total? Just over 9.5 million! This number is sure to reach the 10 million mark soon; according to his math, 2.2 million users have joined in the last 32-34 hours alone. Google has yet to comment on the number of users, so these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. They do, however, give us antsy PR people a good estimate.
Last week we joined the network and explored the features. In our opinion, it will give Facebook a good run for its money. What really sets the site apart from other social networks is the group video chat capability and the personalized social circles. Group video chats make the site more inclusive than other sites, while individual social circles make it more exclusive. When you post content you can choose which circles will have access to the post.
It will be fun to see what other ideas Google has up its sleeves to keep the network successful and growing. The company has been a leader in many other areas, and seems to be headed in the same direction in the social network world.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Apple Users Increasing Their App-etite
Good news for iOS app developers: Apple users are not only buying more apps, but they are paying more for them too.
Apple dropped this announcement just days after last week's statement that more than 15 billion apps had been downloaded from its App Store.
However, this newest announcement has much more impact on the state of the mobile industry and deserves a closer look.
Apple's release noted that users are downloading 61% more apps than they were a year ago. Not only that, but the average selling price per app has increased 14% ($1.44/app) since 2010. That's great news for developers, who saw app prices fall 18% from 2009-2010. Obviously, the prevalence of iPads and their more expensive tablet-optimized apps have a lot to do with this.
This is all good news for app developers, but this doesn't necessarily mean those looking to get in on the app market should slap a $1.99 price tag on their app.
That's because 82% of iOS apps are still free. From a marketing standpoint, this means you have to take the time to weigh your pricing options. On one hand, you need to turn a profit to make the app development financially viable. However, if people can get something similar for free your app downloads will suffer.
Either way, it's clear that the app market is still going strong and worth consideration.
Apple dropped this announcement just days after last week's statement that more than 15 billion apps had been downloaded from its App Store.
However, this newest announcement has much more impact on the state of the mobile industry and deserves a closer look.
Apple's release noted that users are downloading 61% more apps than they were a year ago. Not only that, but the average selling price per app has increased 14% ($1.44/app) since 2010. That's great news for developers, who saw app prices fall 18% from 2009-2010. Obviously, the prevalence of iPads and their more expensive tablet-optimized apps have a lot to do with this.
This is all good news for app developers, but this doesn't necessarily mean those looking to get in on the app market should slap a $1.99 price tag on their app.
That's because 82% of iOS apps are still free. From a marketing standpoint, this means you have to take the time to weigh your pricing options. On one hand, you need to turn a profit to make the app development financially viable. However, if people can get something similar for free your app downloads will suffer.
Either way, it's clear that the app market is still going strong and worth consideration.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Facebook Friday: Let the Video Chat Wars Begin
Earlier this week, Mark Zuckerberg hinted that Facebook would unveil an "awesome" new feature in the coming days.
It turns out that the "awesome" feature is a set of new chat features to benefit the social networking giant's 750 million users, which were announced on Wednesday:
It turns out that the "awesome" feature is a set of new chat features to benefit the social networking giant's 750 million users, which were announced on Wednesday:
- Group chat redesign: Facebook has redesigned the group chat page is more fitting for wider screens, with a side bar of your most commonly-chatted with friends and whether they are online or not.
- Group-less Group chat: One of my biggest complaints about Facebook's existing Group Chat feature was that you had to have a group set up first. What if you just wanted to talk with a few friends about weekend plans? Normally you'd have to make a new group with those friends and chat from there. Luckily, Facebook has solved this by allowing users to create group chats without creating groups.
- Facebook + Skype: The biggest announce of the day centered on a new, Skype-based video chat. Unfortunately the chats are limited to one-on-one, but its still a big step forward for Facebook.
It's a solid set of new features, but right now the buzz continues to focus on Google+, which I will be covering more next week. The one thing I know for sure is that the social networking race is really starting to heat up.
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