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e_Marketing Blog WiMAX for Portland WiMAX service will soon be available in Portland, Oregon. What is WiMAX? It is a wireless alternative to cable or DSL. For a number of years this technology has promised to revolutionize the delivery of "last mile" service connecting homes and offices to internet access points. But these days the focus is more on mobile applications that make it a viable alternative to standard cell phone services. The provider of this service in Portland will be Clearwire, a company formed through joint cooperation of Sprint, Clearwire, Google, Intel, Comcast, and Time Warner. WiMAX will not be significantly cheaper than the alternatives, but it does promise to offer greater potential for merging disparate services such as internet, cell phone, Voip and cable tv. 2009 Will Be Pivotal for Microsoft 2008 has not been the greatest year for Microsoft, but they have still done surprisingly well in spite of the economic slowdown around the world. In an article from PCWorld called Microsoft's Top Three 2008 Mistakes, Shane O'Neill of CIO.com discusses some of the things that went well for MS, and some that clearly did not. In spite of aggressive marketing by Apple, Mac sales fell 1 percent over the year and Windows PC sales were up 7 percent. Microsoft's grip on the PC market remained firm - with 90% of users running Windows, and 70% of internet browsers using Internet Explorer. One has to think that the bad press MS keeps getting will have to impact these market shares eventually. Although it sure seems like both Apple and Firefox do not understand that their elitist attitude ("we're so much better and smarter than the other 90% of you") is an implicit criticism of the very customer they are trying to reach. 2009 will be a pivotal year for MS as they continue to try to beat off Apple, Google and Mozilla (Firefox). According to the PC Word article Microsoft's biggest mistakes for 2008 were: 1. Poor marketing of Windows Vista - They've been letting Apple get away with bashing Vista for years now. It's just not as bas as the critics say it is, and MS's own lack of promotion reinforces the idea that the critics are right. 2. Letting Apple Build Anti-Vista Momentum - Even though the sales figures may not yet show it in a convincing way, Apple has taken the marketing game away from MS with their constant Vista-bashing. MS has not shown that it can adequately respond. Expensive ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld missed the mark. Just recently I saw an ad touting the unique features of Vista in a straight-ahead way. It's about time. 3. The Failed Yahoo Bid - Early in 08 the bid for Yahoo looked like it might be a case of two search losers getting together. The failure of the bid did nothing for MS's image as a "winner" or a company forging into the future. As it turned out it was probably good for MS that Yahoo rejected their offer. Now Yahoo is worth a fraction of what MS offered, Jerry Yang, the big Yahoo opponent of the bid is gone, and new Yahoo investors are now courting MS. MS is still interested in Yahoo's search business, and may very well end up with it in 2009. Upgrading to Wordpress 2.7 Just finished upgrading one of my many Wordpress blogs to v 2.7 - the newest upgrade which was released on Dec. 10 makes several attractive improvements to the interface. This upgrade is not so concerned with functionality as it is with improving the user interface. I was able to upgrade my Article Marketing blog in about 15 minutes when all was said and done. There were no suprises and no hitches along the way. I'm sure subsequent upgrades on other sites will go faster. |
Ezine-Network.com - This site contains information about getting published — submission of articles, photographs, ebooks, and other special features for a growing number of online publications. It also contains significant amounts of information, resources dealing with, and examples of blogs and blogging. Ezine-Network.com is a member of the sbo-linknet.com network of websites. Apr 20, 2006 - Linknet Business News Mobile Phones Developing New Business Uses Apr 20, 2006 - Linknet Tech News - by Rick HendershotCompare mobile phone deals - Save hundreds of dollars on your mobile phone costs | Inkjet Cartridges - Replacement Ink cartridges and Remanufactured ink cartridges. Consumers Not Excited about Mobile Wallet Concept According to a recent study by In-Stat, U.S. consumers are lukewarm to the idea of using cell phones as mobile wallets. This is an idea that was being pushed in the 90s as "M-Commerce" -- using cell phones as mobile payment devices. But the current manifestation of the idea sees mobile wallets carrying electronic versions of other things usually found in wallets -- membership cards, loyalty cards, and other forms of identification. Advocates of the mobile wallet concept include credit card companies, hardware vendors, credit card terminal companies, and traditional wireless companies like Nokia and Cingular. Industry representatives project there may be as many as 25 million wireless subscribers in North America by 2011. But the survey of consumers found that only about 33% of those surveyed were interested in the idea. 72% of respondents were concerned with the additional fees that would be attached to this service. A smaller, but still very significant, number of respondents were concerned about the potential loss of privacy and security. Mobile Wallet Idea Big in Japan The mobile wallet concept was given a large push in 2005 when a number of major Japanese credit card and mobile phone companies formed the Mobile Wallet Alliance. The incentive for such a service is greater in Japan than in the U.S. and Canada because fewer Japanese consumers rely on credit card transactions. The mobile wallet is seen as a replacement for cash -- especially for "micro payments". Japanese credit card companies and mobile phone companies both see this as a future growth area because it will increase cell phone usage as well as reliance on the credit card infrastructure. Things are a bit different in North America because use of credit cards is already widespread. So converting customers to cell phone payments does not have the same appeal for North American credit card companies -- they already have the business. However, other non-credit card payment processors such as PayPal actually do have a vested interest in seeing the mobile wallet payment system move ahead. Paypal, which has developed a massive online presence have an obvious interest in moving into more traditional payment processing areas. They see mobile payments as a way of offering an alternative to consumers and taking business directly away from credit card processing companies -- just as they have done online. Cell Phones and I-Pods being used for Tour Guides Another expanding use for cell phones is being experimented with in places such as New York City where several companies are developing audio tours for places like museums, art galleries, and even street tours. WNBC reports that the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan offers audio tours on handheld guide devices, and also makes the tours available in MP3 format for free on their website, and even at iTunes. These tours can be downloaded and then played on your iPod or MP3 enabled cell phone while you browse through the Museum. Just don't be surprised if you're asked to stop talking on your cell phone while in the Museum. One similar service includes walking tours narrated by celebrities, developed by Talking Tours. These audio tours can be accessed by cell phone. The .95 charge will be added to your cell phone bill. Another service is made available by Soundwalk. Tours are avaible on CD or as a download. You can then load them into your iPod, cell phone, or other MP3 device so you can listen to an "insider tour" while you "walk the walk". Find Mobile Cellphone Information at Mobile-Cellphone-Guru.info
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