Webremixed Articles for tags: web-2.0

Labor Efficiency: The Next Great Internet Disruption

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:00:38 GMT

For more than a decade now, the Internet has done a great job of making things in our day-to-day lives more efficient by easily connecting parties who can have a mutually beneficial personal or business relationship. This same idea is now on the verge of disrupting labor and changing the definition of employment as we know it.

Facebook – Run from the Bulls?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:28:58 GMT

Much ink has been spilled these past few days on the Facebook IPO filing . Much of it analyses the details revealed in the S1 initial document . Some of it has focused on revenue and growth ; some of it on control and corporate governance , some on valuation and how reasonable or not it is likely to be, and a little on whether or not the IPO represents the end of Facebook’s growth cycle . So, should you be a bull, and buy? Or should you run as fast as you can away from the bulls?

An Arab Spring For IT

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:00:56 GMT

Change in the air. It’s palpable. Those of us in the technology world are witnessing a transformation: a buyer-led revolution in how information technology is both produced and consumed. Smartphones and tablets are upsetting the PC order; social applications are impinging on traditional “workforce productivity” and communications applications.

Gillmor Gang 02.04.12 (TCTV)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:15:53 GMT

The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, John Taschek, and Steve Gillmor — trembled in the face of Facebook's IPO and all-out war on the open Web, also known as Google. Me, I go back to Bill Gates during the DOJ deposition when he basically said we don't need no steenkin' breakup when Google will come along and be invented. @kevinmarks makes a good college (fitting) try of defending the open schmopen set, while none of us seem to notice Social Spring just keeps on rolling over conventional wisdom. Me, I'm pretty jacked up waiting for what this means for Twitter. Go Giants!

Algorithms/Data vs. Analysts/Reports: Fight!

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:11:58 GMT

Quick, what's the second most traded commodity in the world, after oil? Sorry, no: it's not coffee . In fact, while hard data is scant, it may well be -- of all things -- carbon. No, really. According to the World Bank (PDF) , the global carbon market was worth a whopping 1.42 Facebooks US$142 billion in 2010. Mind you, it's not like container ships weighed down to the gills with graphite are crossing and recrossing the Pacific every week. What we're actually talking about here is the trade in carbon offsets , ie, the absence of carbon. Very Zen, no? Anyway, techies should be comfortable with this notion; I seem to recall spending less time studying electrons than I did "holes," ie their absence, while acquiring my EE degree. Anyway, where there's a $twelve-figures market, there are startups fighting for a share. In particular, there's a bit of a war on to see who will be the primary aggregator of carbon-market data. On one side, dominating the market, I give you the Goliaths Point Carbon , a tentacle of the Thomson Reuters kraken, providing "independent news, analysis and consulting services for European and global power, gas and carbon markets," and Bloomberg New Energy Finance , doing much the same. On the other, I give you plucky little David eCO2Market , a Paris-based startup with an algorithmic sling.

Sh#t VCs Say: “Have You Ever Tried Kiteboarding?”

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:16:45 GMT

Following in the tradition of "Shit Silicon Valley Says " and other Shit ______ Says memes, August Capital's David Hornick has made "Shit VCs Say. " There are some gems in here, including:

Mark Zuckerberg’s 6 Ingredients For Success

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:04:03 GMT

Leadership guru Warren Bennis asked whether leaders are born or made. When asked if Wall Street would accept a young Mark Zuckerberg in his early 20s as CEO, Facebook investor Peter Thiel said: “Well, we’ll wait until he’s over 25 to file”. Wise move, considering that Mark’s title on his business cards read “I’m CEO, bitch”. This week Facebook filed its S-1 to go public. Mark is 27. How Mark managed to launch a social networking site after Friendster had crashed during MySpace’s zenith has been widely chronicled . What’s been less discussed is how Mark mastered the six requirements to succeed, namely Ambition, Vision, Determination, Execution, Luck and Timing.

Which Service Has The Best Welcome Message? (Hint: Pin Carefully!)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:00:11 GMT

Two days ago, I received an invite to Pinterest. (I know, I'm late.) After signing up, I pretty much ignored the welcome message, just as I do with most services. But last night I decided to get myself caught up after the Crunchies, and started reading through all my unread emails (even the ones from Nigerian royal's relatives) and found myself actually reading through the Pinterest welcome email, too. It's wonderful, and the reason it's wonderful comes down to just one bullet point:

Pin carefully! As one of the first members of Pinterest, your pins will help set the tone for the whole community. Use big images, write thoughtful descriptions, and pin things you really love. Also, no nudity :)

Daily Crunch: Zen

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:00:46 GMT

Here are some recent stories on TechCrunch Gadgets: The Zen Table Practices Mindfulness So You Don’t Have To The Wheel: What Is The Foxconn Debate Really About? iModela Adds CNC Milling To Your Home 3D Printing Arsenal

Facebook Javascript API Goes Down, Taking Down Likes, Comments And Apps With It

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:22:57 GMT

I dare you to Facebook Like or even comment on this post. You can't, because the Facebook Javascript API , the backend system which allows developer applications and Facebook's own apps like Likes and Comments to communicate with the data available on the social network, is down, and has been down for at least an hour as far as I can tell, begging the question, "If article falls on a blog and no one Likes it, does it make a sound?"

Investors Drive $ZNGA Up 26% In Two Days Following Facebook IPO Filing

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:54:13 GMT

Those of us who have been following the social gaming industry already know that Zynga has made up a big portion of Facebook's revenues. But lots of public investors only seem to have gotten the memo on Wednesday evening, when Facebook's S-1 filing revealed that the developer made up 12% of its total revenues, or $445 million. In the two days since, Zynga's stock has gone up more than 26%, to close at $13.39 this evening.

I Use Wikipedia More Than Makeup

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:27:07 GMT

I just donated $40 to Wikipedia, because I promised myself I would every time I poked fun at its Holiday donation drive and then just never got around to it. Did you know that you could actually donate during the off-season (Via the covert "Donate to Wikipedia" link at the far left of each individual entry page)? I didn't, before I asked Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales whether it was possible to donate in the off-season. Spoiler alert, it is. My 40 bucks got me, in addition to the very sweet 'Thank You' letter below, the satisfaction of paying duly for something I use all the time.

Google Adjusts Political Posture With Sponsorship Of Conservative Conference

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:09:02 GMT

In interesting but ultimately not very shocking news, Google has signed on as a major sponsor of the Conservative Political Action Conference , which is more or less what it sounds like. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just a little odd seeing Google, which is becoming increasingly political, listed next to such organizations as the Koch Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the NRA. But this isn't the moment Google comes out as a closet Republican. It's actually quite in keeping with Google's position of aggressive neutrality.

Watch 2012 Super Bowl Commercials Now With Facebook + USA Today’s Ad Meter

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:48:56 GMT

Want to watch the big budget Super Bowl commercials, but can't wait till Sunday or don't care about football? Facebook and USA Today have just launched Ad Meter, a Facebook app where you can watch many of the TV spots right now. Then from kickoff until Tuesday night you can vote for your favorites. Traditionally an offline poll done live with handheld meters, USA Today has finally brought Ad Meter online so you can judge ads both in real-time and post-game.

Pokki Gives Quick Access To Madden NFL Superstars, Just In Time For The Big Game

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:00:32 GMT

It's the Super Bowl season, when a host of services and apps debut just in time for the biggest television event of the year. And, if you're a fan of Madden's NFL Superstars (a web app that's available through Facebook), then you'll like this launch: the game is now available as a Pokki right here . Pokki , for those that haven't used it, is a platform that lets you install lightweight apps that live in your Windows Taskbar (a Mac version is on the way). Each app gets its own icon — click on it, and the app will pop open immediately, click away and it'll hide itself, and when you click it again, it'll pick up right where you left off.

Arianna Wants To Put A Nap Room In TechCrunch HQ. LOL.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:48:36 GMT

Silicon Valley absolutely, positively doesn't need a nap room because in theory we don't sleep, let alone nap (and if we do need to nap -- like in an emergency -- we take that shiz home, far far away from hungry competitors!). Please Aol Mr. Sr. Facilities Manager, take that money and buy us a bunch of Diet Coke to drink late at night or that great beef jerky we used to have or a copyediting slave intern or passes to Burning Man or anything but a room specifically designed for being less productive.

Fear Not: Google Will Still Support The Verizon Galaxy Nexus

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:29:23 GMT

Earlier this afternoon Droid-Life noticed something strange: the Android developer devices page had been modified to remove the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, leading the site to question whether Google may have removed support for the device because of its spat with Verizon over Google Wallet. Which would stand to infuriate a lot of new Galaxy Nexus users (including myself), who are looking forward to receiving device updates directly from Google and not having to wait for Verizon to get around to pushing their own releases. Thankfully, we've confirmed this isn't the case: Google says it will indeed be updating the Verizon Galaxy Nexus in the future.

U.S. Government & Military To Get Secret-Worthy Android Phones

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:50:16 GMT

The amount of stuff we trust to fly in and out of our smartphones is astounding . Just look at what happened when a couple of reporters got access to an unwitting (and rather unlucky) Apple employee's iMessages alone — within days, they learned more about him than most people know about their closest friends. Now, imagine all the stuff that could fly in and out of a government official's phone, or that of a highly-ranked member of the military. Forget saucy texts and booty pictures — we're talking about state secrets, here. Looking to keep their secrets underwraps while on the go, the U.S government is working on a build of Android custom-tailored to meet their security requirements.

Gillmor Gang Live 02.03.12 (TCTV)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:00:14 GMT

The Gillmor Gang - Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor – are recording live at 1pm PT. Recording has concluded.

Apple Kicks Chart Topping Fakes Out Of App Store

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:39:15 GMT

Temple Jump, Tiny Birds, Numbers With Friends. These are not the apps you love. They're fakes designed to scam you out of $1.99 when you go to buy Temple Run, Tiny Wings, or Words With Friends. Today Apple took a stand against plagiarism, kicking these rip-offs out of the US App Store. Good riddance, but how can platform owners stop these developers before they rob users of thousands or even millions of dollars?

Micron CEO Dead At 51

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:30:12 GMT

The CEO of Micron Technology, Steve Appleton, died in a small plane crash today in Boise, Idaho. He was 51. Appleton worked at the company since 1983, starting on the night shift production line. He died piloting a Lancair experimental aircraft around Boise.

OnSports Mobile App Battles Its Way Up A Tough League Ahead Of The Super Bowl

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:15:47 GMT

Most popular mobile sports apps are trying to feed you scores and news, or show you fantasy numbers. OnSports , by HitPost, is in a smaller class of apps that's focused on users running the discussion themselves. And now, ahead of the Super Bowl this Sunday, viral growth and featured spots on the Android Market and the iTunes App Store are helping it step up against larger competitors.

The Zen Table Practices Mindfulness So You Don’t Have To

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:00:08 GMT

Remember those little Zen rock gardens they used to sell for desks? So you could take a minute of your busy day to contemplate the void? Thanks to the magic of Kickstarter , you can build your own automatic, desktop-based Zen garden that will rake itself into endless patterns.

Ansca Mobile Accuses Partner PapayaMobile Of Copying Its Code

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:57:52 GMT

Ansca Mobile , the Palo Alto-based mobile development company and makers of the popular Corona SDK , is accusing its partner PapayaMobile of ripping off parts of its SDK for use in PapayaMobile's Social Game Engine . According to Ansca Mobile COO David Rangel, his company recently discovered that Papaya's engine is what he calls a "blatant copy" of some aspects of the Corona SDK. In addition, says Rangel, some of PapayaMobile's syntax and sample code is identical to Ansca's, and the company is using graphic assets it took from the code on the PapayaMobile website.

Some Refurbished Xooms Could Put Personal Data In The Wrong Hands

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:55:56 GMT

Maybe it was too thick, maybe it was too heavy, maybe you just didn’t like Honeycomb. Regardless of your reasoning, you may want to keep your eyes peeled on your credit score if you bought and returned a Motorola Xoom between March and October 2011, because your personal information may be in someone else’s hands.

Tumblr Now Lets You Highlight Your Favorite Posts For A Dollar

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:29:05 GMT

Tumblr is introducing a new feature today that lets its users pay a dollar in order to have their post featured on the Tumblr Dashboard. The option is called "Highlights," and it's now available right from the new post page on Tumblr. With Highlights, you can choose a special icon that will appear next to the post along with an optional message that points out why the post is important.

The Wheel: What Is The Foxconn Debate Really About?

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:20:31 GMT

Thirty spokes meet at a nave; Because of the hole we may use the wheel. Clay is moulded into a vessel; Because of the hollow we may use the cup. Walls are built around a hearth; Because of the doors we may use the house. Thus tools come from what exists, But use from what does not. - Tao De Ching There's a carousel in a small Cape Cod town that we visited this summer and the kids rode it a few times. The carousel is quite old and quite handsome and it makes a great diversion of an evening. I'm reminded now of trying to take pictures of the kids while they rode the carousel. For a while I'd wave and try to get their attention as they roared past, their laughter dopplering around the edge of the curve, and then, after four or five tries I'd give up and just watch. It's a wheel, an endless circle, designed to delight and enthuse and distract.

Peter Thiel Invests (Again) In Xero’s $16.6M Round

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:00:46 GMT

Online accounting software maker Xero has raised a new $16.6 million round of funding from existing investors — including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, whose most famous investment, Facebook, just filed for an IPO,

Keen On… Dane Jasper: Why High Speed Broadband Is The Key To US Innovation (TCTV)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30:09 GMT

There are few more articulate supporters of high speed broadband access than Sonic.net CEO Dane Jasper . Not only does he think Americans should have the right to high quality broadband, but he also thinks that it is the key to innovation in the broader economy. Home video is, of course, increasingly dependent on broadband and so, Japser told me when he came into our San Francisco studio earlier this week, is innovation in our healthcare and education sectors.

The Founders of Warby Parker Talk Wire Frames – And The Hipster Question

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:25:33 GMT

Earlier this week during the Crunchies we snagged the founders of Warby Parker for a backstage interview — which was fitting, as I've been wearing a pair of their specs myself (they seemed pleased by this). Tune in to the video above for some details on the company's 'Buy A Pair, Give A Pair' program, through which Warby Parker matches every purchase by donating a pair of glasses to people in need. And for those of you looking for an alternative to the hornrimmed classes, there's good news: wireframe glasses are on the way (early spring can't come soon enough). Oh, and we also take a stab at what the founders do when people tell them they look like hipsters (given their response, you may want to hold off on doing that).

Shazam, Delivery Agent Let You Buy Super Bowl Gear While Watching The Big Game

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:48:55 GMT

The Super Bowl is just around the corner, but unfortunately most of us won't be able to attend the big game. Parties are fun and all, but there's nothing like leaving the stadium with arms full of jerseys, footballs, foam fingers and the like. How else are you supposed to relive the excitement over and over without mementos? (In a non-serial killer kind of way, of course.) Well, the good news is that Shazam and Delivery Agent have partnered yet again to let you buy Super Bowl XLVI goods from your phone, PC, or tablet while you watch the game.

Making Learning Fun For Kids, Everything Butt Art Launches Its First iPad App

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:55:28 GMT

You know what's funny? If you Google "how do you get kids to learn" (sans quotes, even), the first result goes to this TechCrunch blog post about an app that lets kids draw butts on the iPad. Really! The post details the company called Madbrook (aka Everything Butt Art ), which launched at TechCrunch Disrupt NY in May. It's the brand behind a series of printed books, all of which are meant to teach creativity and step-by-step drawing while using humor and silliness to appeal to the young demographic. Now, the iPad app promised at Disrupt has finally arrived. The company's first digital creation, Butt Art -Kids Learn to Draw Zoo Animals Step-by-Step , has gone live in the App Store.

Assange Awaits Verdict on His Fate

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:40:00 GMT

WikiLeaker Julian Assange could be on a plane headed for a jail cell in Sweden in a couple weeks if his two-day appeal to Great Britain’s Supreme Court this week fails. Assange claims the arrest warrant issued by Sweden’s public prosecutor instead of a judge has no weight and his lawyer reached back as far as the sixth-century Byzantine Codex Justinius to try to prove that the concept that “no one can be a judge in his own case” is a “fundamental principle.” Unfortunately for Assange prosecutors often play a judicial role in Sweden and elsewhere on the continent and Britain generally defers to other European systems.

Dear Nokia, This Pink Lumia 800 Commercial Discouraged Me. -Boys Everywhere

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:29:22 GMT

Nokia's UK YouTube account has posted a video promoting the pink Lumia 800, and shockingly enough it seems pretty targeted toward women. Here's the thing: It's pretty obvious that, with a pink phone, the majority of its owners will be teenage young ladies. That's fine. But doesn't a commercial that shows only women enjoying the phone kind of ruin it for guys? What if there's a young man in the UK that was really excited about the pink Lumia 800? He's probably not so excited after seeing this commercial.

Test Dropbox’s New Android App And Snag Some Extra Storage Space

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:23:56 GMT

Dropbox has no shortage of fans or users these days -- their stellar wins at the Crunchies are proof of that -- and now the cloud storage service is leaning on them to test an experimental new build of the Dropbox Android app. While the thrill of being on the bleeding edge is probably enough for some people to take the plunge, the real meat of the experimental build comes in the form of the new auto upload feature for photos and videos. It's pretty much exactly what the name implies: as soon as you snap a photo or take a video with your Android device, it automatically gets uploaded to your account. And in usual Dropbox fashion, it just works.

IBM to Acquire Mobility Vendor Worklight - An Analysis

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMT

IBM has jumped into the MEAP (mobile enterprise application platform) competition with yesterday’s announced intent to acquire MEAP vendor Worklight. Worklight is headquartered in New York and was founded in 2006 by CEO Shahar Kaminitz. Worklight's software supports HTML5, hybrid and native applications for smartphones and tablets with industry-standard technologies and tools. Their solutions include an Eclipse-based software IDE (integrated development environment), mobile middleware, mobile solution management and analytics.

Worklight Studio competes with Appcelerator, Verivo (formerly Pyxis Mobile), Sybase Unwired Platform (SAP), Antenna, Syclo, ClickSoftware, Kony Solutions, Rhomobile (Motorola), Webalo and other mobility vendors that are experiencing rapid growth.

The deal size was not disclosed by IBM or Worklight, but the Israeli website Globes (www.globes.co.il) reported the acquisition to be $50-60 million. Worklight raised $21 million in investment capital, from investors Genesis Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Index Ventures, and Shlomo Kramer. Globe also estimated 2011 revenues for Worklight at between $5-10 million (http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000720723).

My analysis is that all ERP vendors need a standardized approach for supporting mobility. Mobility, and MEAPs in particular, are far too strategic to leave up to partner ecosystems to deliver. SAP acquired Sybase, IBM will acquire Worklight, and we are all awaiting Oracle’s expected 2012 move to acquire a MEAP vendor.

Interesting note, I cannot think of many situations where an ERP vendor bought a mobile apps company. I am told that SAP's proposed acquisition of SuccessFactor will involve some mobile apps, but have yet to see them. ERP vendors seem to want to buy the middleware, so they can standardize integration, syncing, security and management, and leave most apps to their partner ecosystem.

In a recent IBM study of more than 3,000 global CIOs, 75 percent of respondents identified mobility solutions as one of their top spending priorities. Nearly all of the global analyst and research firms are also reporting enterprise mobility to be a top three priority. In the Enterprise Mobility Survey 2011 that I conducted in September of 2011, 80% of survey respondents said enterprise mobility was "very important" to "critical" to their company's future success.

IBM officials said with this acquisition, IBM's mobile offerings will span mobile application development, integration, security and management. Dow Jones Newswire reported on an internal memo from IBM’s senior vice president in charge of middleware software, Robert LeBlanc that highlighted their ambitions, “"Now is the time to make IBM essential in the era of mobile computing."

I had the privilege of interviewing Worklight’s COO Kurt Daniel about 15 months ago and published the interview on this site. Here are some excerpts that you may find interesting given this week's news.

Worklight has developed a MEAP (mobile enterprise application platform) and a mobile SDK (software development kit), not for their own use, but rather for systems integrators and end customers to use to develop their own enterprise mobility solutions. They want to be a technology company, not a mobile application company.

Kevin: What are your areas of responsibilities at WorkLight?

Kurt: I look after our worldwide business channels, partnerships, sales and marketing.

Kevin: Tell me about your solutions.

Kurt: We have the WorkLight Studio, WorkLight Server and WorkLight console. ISVs and OEM partners use these solutions to build their own packaged mobility applications.

Kevin: How do you avoid competing with your partners in the mobility market?

Kurt: We don't sell applications. We are not experts on ERPS or other backend systems. We focus on developing the best mobile technology possible, not services or mobile applications.

Kevin: How do you fund your start-up business in the early years without generating revenue from services and mobile applications?

Kurt: We raised over $17 million. That affords us the opportunity to invest in the technology without losing focus by delivering services and enduser solutions.

Kevin: How do you keep your users loyal to your technology?

Kurt: We provide them with a platform and SDK that supports the latest modern devices. We provide them with great productivity tools that enable the same code base to be used across multiple devices and mobile operating systems. We offer trial versions for 60 days.

Kevin: Where do you see mobility going in the next 18-24 months?

Kurt: Enterprises are going to need to support a larger number of mobile devices and mobile operating systems. They will need to support iPads, tablets of all kinds, Android and many more mobile apps. Internally, companies will be launching large numbers of their own mobile applications that were developed in-house.

Kevin: Who do you compete with?

Kurt: In-house development teams, Sybase and Antenna.

Kevin: In conclusion, where does your company fit in the enterprise mobility ecosystem?

Kurt: WorkLight is a 100 percent technology focused company. We develop a horizontal MEAP.

It is fascinating to ponder Worklight's strategy. They decided to build a new and powerful MEAP, but not to provide services or sell mobile apps to end users. They chose to use their investment capital to focus exclusively on developing technology and developer support. That is a rare strategy. Sybase mostly followed that strategy with their embedded mobile database and synchronization business (iAnywhere and former Extended Systems) and was purchased by SAP, and now Worklight who followed a similar strategy will be acquired by IBM. What does this tell us? Perhaps ERP vendors don't want the burden of supporting a large MEAP or mobile app enduser base that does not fit their traditional customer profile. They would rather just acquire the technology stack? What do you think?

Most MEAP vendors depend on services and end user app sales to help cover expenses as they develop and mature their solutions and channels. Worklight refused to follow that path. It doesn't appear they had yet reached profitability, since it seems they took in another $4 million in investor funding in the past year, but they did accept IBM's offer as their exit strategy. They committed to focus on the technology, rather than indulge the temptation (and distraction) to grab short term end user sales.

End user mobile app sales are sexy. They get the press and show well, but ultimately I think the MEAPs themselves are the mobile market consolidation points. Not just the mobile middleware, but the IDEs. The integrated development environments that are used to design and develop the apps. Some mobility vendors like ClickSoftware and Syclo actually support several choices of mobile middleware under their IDEs. The customers often only see the IDE, but underneath the covers are middleware options. SAP and the Sybase Unwired Platform also offer numerous choices (SUP, NetWeaver Gateway, Sybase 365, etc.) for middleware in their architecture.

If all the large ERP companies are going to ultimately acquire their own MEAP solution, that means MEAP market fragmentation will be hardened along ERP lines. If that is the case, would mobility vendors that focus on mobile end user applications find it necessary to support all the major MEAPs if they want to sell into those markets? That would be expensive!!! If that is how the market evolves, then it seems cloud based ERP-to-mobile app integration hubs would be worth a consideration. Mobile app developers would simply connect to one cloud based integration hub that integrates with all the ERPs. Wow, this line of thinking reminds me of my early days working with EDI/B2B translators and EDI hubs.

It will be interesting to watch the choices companies will make that have a mix of different business solutions and ERPs across their IT landscape.

If I have any bad data or information in this article please correct me!

Please share your thoughts and ideas with us!!!

*************************************************************

Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Volunteer

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility and Sybase Unwired Platform Groups

Read The Mobility News Weekly

Read The M2M News Monthly

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Kevin Benedict, Mobility Analyst and Consultant Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

The 16-Year-Old Startup CEO And The Hong Kong Billionaire [TCTV]

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:13:55 GMT

We covered the launch of Summly an application that summarises text last year , but I recently caught up with Nick D'Aloisio, the16 year year-old programmer who came up with the application for a video interview.

Daily Crunch: Dust

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:00:11 GMT

Here are some recent posts on TechCrunch Gadgets: The Peek Bites The Dust Steve Jobs Impersonator With Angel Wings And Halo Used To Hawk A Worthless Android Tab The $199 PlayBook Returns For A Limited Time

The Seven Most Interesting Startups At 500 Startups Demo Day

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:59:45 GMT

Halfway to living up to its moniker with over 250 startups, 500 Startups held a series of demo days this week and last, where a group of 33 scrappy startups presented their wares to investors in both New York and San Francisco. As we are wont to do with these things, we visited the 500 Startups offices in Mountain View and interviewed the seven that we thought were the most interesting, from both an investor and consumer standpoint. The startups chosen spanned all sorts of market territory, from a novel take on media-based eCommerce to an SaaS for farmers, but what they all had in common was a unique approach to the problem they were trying to solve as well as inkling of that other indeterminate thing that makes a startup great.

Facebook Tests Photo Viewer That Encourages Comments, Google+ Comparisons

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:25:32 GMT

Facebook is testing a new photo viewer layout that mounts engagement buttons and comments to the right rather than beneath images. See, Facebook doesn't want you to just view comments, it wants you to start a conversation. Apparently the company doesn't care about being accused of copying Google+, since the viewer's layout is very similar to that of its competitor .

The Revolution May Or May Not Be Branded

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:39:43 GMT

The Occupy movement, or rallying cry, or whatever you want to call it, is by its nature decentralized. By refusing to come together under one banner other than the word "Occupy," they've both diluted their message and allowed it to spread more quickly. You don't need an Occupy license to occupy a bank's lobby in Kansas City, but at the same time there's a natural question of whether one occupation is related to another. Political considerations aside, the point is that Occupy might benefit from a recognizable face. On this front, some faction of the movement has decided to do a little branding, but in keeping with the democratic, bottom-up nature of the organization (or rather dis organization), they've opted to run a contest and let the "official" logo be selected by popular vote. It's a great application of web technology to an interesting problem, and will probably prove to be a memorable case study in an increasingly common phenomenon: the necessity of branding an emergent movement or pattern on the internet.

Yammer Time: In 2011 “Pretty Much Everything Tripled”

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:57:50 GMT

Yammer grew like crazy last year. How crazy? Product VP Jim Patterson just tweeted out the Yammer 2011 Year in Review infographic below with the comment: "Pretty much everything tripled." Paid seats went from 300,000 to 800,000, total users went from 1.6 million to 4 million (2.5X growth), and employees went from 80 to 250. Also, all told, 200,000 companies are using Yammer, including 85 percent of the Fortune 500 (and TechCrunch).

AT&T Galaxy Nexus Gets Semi-Official Google Wallet Support

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:44:06 GMT

The tale of Google Wallet's life thus far is a bit of a weird one, but here's the gist: Google launched it back in September, initially as an exclusive feature on Sprint's Nexus S. We reviewed it here . Then came Google/Samsung's new flagship Android phone, the Galaxy Nexus — and, for one reason or another, none of the Galaxy Nexuses on any of the US carriers supported Wallet. Android fans roared, and everyone involved pointed fingers everywhere else until everyone just kind of forgot about it. Flash forward to day: without much fanfare, AT&T Galaxy Nexus owners are reporting that Google Wallet now appears to support their devices.

Hitwise: Facebook.com Now Accounts For 1 In Every 5 Pageviews On The Web (In The U.S.)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:32:40 GMT

In case you happened to be the victim of a day-long coma yesterday, it was a very exciting day for Mark Zuckerberg , Silicon Valley, and that quaint little social network we've all come to know, love, and be terrified of. Facebook filed its S-1 on Thursday with the crystal clear intent to go public on a market near you very soon, and will be raising $5 billion ahead of its IPO at an expected valuation of between $75 and $100 billion. In fact, there was so much excitement and noise around Facebook's IPO yesterday that the volume of visitors looking to check out Facebook's filing succeeded in crashing the SEC's website . Hitwise tells us that SEC.gov apparently saw a 15 percent increase in total visits, compared to the day before and a 42 percent compared to previous Thursday. And guess who was the number two source of traffic for the site? That's right, TechCrunch.com -- less than 3 percent behind the top source, Google.com. Thanks to you, readers, we gave the SEC all the traffic they could handle. And apparently more.

The Alan Lomax Folk Collection Will Be Available For Streaming In February

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:47:42 GMT

Alan Lomax single-handedly (and some would say, heavy-handedly) saved the folk music from oblivion. Son of John Lomax, Alan travelled across the US and around the world recording folk musicians in their natural habitat. Some of his most notable songs - work songs, cowboy songs, and ballads - formed the bedrock of the folk movement and the succeeding rise of the singer-songwriter in the 1960s and 70s. Everyone from Bob Dylan to Nickelback owe him a debt of gratitude.

Want To Buy Last-Minute Tickets To Local Events (At A Discount)? WillCall Is For You.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:02:55 GMT

If you're anything like me (and hopefully for your sake, you're not), then you tend to do things --scheduling, booking, and so on -- at the last minute. For we Last Minute Scramblers, some highly usable services have popped up that not only allow us to book at the last minute, but receive deals while doing so. You may be familiar with HotelTonight , an app for Android and iOS that takes last-minute deals (discounts up to 70 percent) offered by hotels on their unsold rooms -- and serves them to you via your smartphone. Well, another San Francisco-based startup thinks that there's more to this whole last minute booking thing. Yes, from 500 Startups' summer batch comes a new app, called WillCall , which wants to be the HotelTonight for ... live events.