Strategy, Innovation, Leadership and Security
With the iPhone 4s now released, tech pundits have turned their attention to the next product in line for a refresh the Ipad 3. Susquehanna Financial Group’s Jeffrey Fidacaro now claims the Ipad 3 is already in production preparing for a release in early 2012.
Let the specification rumors start.
Source: Barrons
When I say tablet, most people will automatically think of Apple’s iPad. But if the fire-sale liquidation of HP’s WebOS tablets taught us anything, it is that consumers will buy anything for the right price.
The New York Post is now claiming that Amazon’s much talked about Android tablet will be released soon and cost hundreds less than Apple’s iPad. Their unnamed source claims that the mythical Amazon tablet will launch sometime on September or October and be priced aggressively to ensure it sells.
Amazon has deep pockets and can afford to sell the hardware as a lost leader and then upsell its other services (think of ebooks, the Amazon appstore, Cloud Drive, Streaming movie service, etc). If anyone can compete with Apple’s unified offering, it is Amazon. Competition is great for customers as it drives innovation and price competitiveness.
Digitimes is at it again and now believes the iPhone 5 will sport a display smaller than 4 inches (3.5-3.7 inches). They are also claiming that the glass back will be replaced with a metal one.
Other claims are ones we have hear before namely: an 8 megapixel camera, full HD video recording, the iPad 2's A5 dual-core processor and a thinner design. Most "unnamed sources" seem to agree on these specs which means although the iPhone 5 will get a slight spec bump, it is an evolutionary upgrade.
One rumor that we hear was that Apple was testing LTE but I doubt that would make it in the iphone 5.
Let's remember that this is Apple and that they have very strict information protection protocols. Regardless of what we read, no one can be sure of anything until it is unveiled sometime in September or October.
Facebook has become the premium identity management company on the web with 500 million+ users. Just think of how many apps allow you to log-in using your facebook ID (aka Facebook Connect). In late 2010, Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook COO) stated that 10,000 websites integrate with Facebook everyday (that is over 3.6 million new sites every year).
Facebook knows who you are, what you like, who your friends are, where you have been (Places) and what you are thinking about (status updates). Do you think that helps when targeting advertising?
Remember that Facebook posts are [mostly] off limits to search engines which means Google can’t leverage your info to sell search, offer their services, create user profiles for better targeting, etc.
They want to know who you are and what you like so that they can profile and target you more accurately.
How much time do you spend on Facebook as opposed to checking email, searching the web, etc? Comscore says the average user spends 375 minutes per month browsing Facebook and only 231 minutes on Google services.
This “lost screentime” for Google means less opportunity to advertise.
Many users use to search the web for provider recommendations (aka doctors, lawyer, restaurants, barbers, etc), but now turn to their network on Facebook.
Facebook is now the number 1 source for product and service recommendations
Google is not standing still and is willing to try almost anything to convince you to move your identity over to them. They released +1 and opened Google Plus (Google+) to a limited beta group.
They also understand that in the next 5 -7 years, our mobile phones will become hub of our digital identity. As more and more users shift to smartphones, a new opportunity may open up identity management domination (Apple, Google or HP). Don’t forget every iPhone or Android device requires an ID with the publisher to work.