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| Google Prepares the Android Market Posted: 28 Aug 2008 04:18 PM CDT
The first version of the Android Market may not have applications for sale but they soon will once a later version is released. How will applications be paid for? Not quite sure about that one yet but we can bet that Google is pushing hard for Google Checkout to serve as the backbone. I can hear geeks rejoicing as this platform is the first competitor to the iPhone directory positioning Google at the forefront of the mobile platform competition. So where is Microsoft and Blackberry in this whole equation? Both companies have a massive reach but they appear to be falling behind when it comes to the latest technology. Almost overnight the mobile industry has been transformed from a battle of devices to a battle for the software running on this new wave of mobile platforms. The Android Market appears to be the most open version of the market with no limits on the applications that can be displayed. This strategy mimics Facebook’s strategy when they first launched their platform last year which also resulted in a one of the largest shifts in developer attention ever. While I’m not sure how attractive the “open marketplace” is to most developers, there have been a ton of complaints about Apple’s restrictions in their directory. Whether or not we’ll see a massive developer shift is still unknown but over the coming months Google and Apple are about to lead the battle of the mobile platforms of the future. |
| McCainSpace Makes Me Feel Really Connected Posted: 28 Aug 2008 03:08 PM CDT This afternoon I saw an article on Techcrunch which highlights the launch of McCainSpace, a social network for John McCain supporters. Its competition? my.barackobama.com of course which has actually succeeded at becoming a hub for the Obama grass roots campaign. The new portal was launched by KickApps (also one of the sponsors of Social Ad Summit) and provides a much needed upgrade to what previously existed. The most hilarious part of the site is the video of John McCain when you first view the homepage. I’ve embedded a copy of the video below and if I’ve ever met an enthusiastic person, John McCain is it. Check out the video:
The site also displays videos of individuals that support McCain for one reason or another and describe why they support him. One video appears to be a joke though. Maybe the person is being serious but it appears to be a little bit sarcastic. “I support John McCain because he likes the Bush tax cuts which really helped out economy.” I won’t get too political but the guy speaking in the video appears to be joking a significant amount. If you are big Republican fan then go jump on the bandwagon over at McCainSpace, something McCain is clearly passionate about. While McCain may not be technically savvy, as he just learned about Google and the internet a couple weeks ago, his campaign definitely is. According to the Wall Street Journal today, the McCain campaign is snapping up search terms faster than you can say “Barack Obama”. As the campaign heats up, it appears that both candidates are taking it to the web. While it’s one area that Obama used to dominate it appears that the McCain campaign is trying to shake things up a little. It will definitely be interesting to watch how the next few months play out. |
| C-SPAN Gets Social for the Dem Convention Posted: 27 Aug 2008 08:46 PM CDT Have you been paying attention to the Democratic National Convention? It’s pretty much the only thing in the news for the entire week so if you haven’t heard about it you have probably been living under a rock (or some similar form of shelter). There are a bunch of sites covering the events but when it comes to the mainstream press there aren’t many doing a great job as it applies to social media. If you haven’t read about it elsewhere, C-SPAN in partnership with JESS3 (who is also drives the images of the Social Times) released a site which has full coverage of the convention from C-SPAN as well all other sources around the web. It is not a single sourced coverage but is instead an aggregation of everything which is going on around the country. The site is significant because it places blogs on the same platform as traditional media. For the boring old C-SPAN, this site appears to be a complete shift from the company’s more traditional past. Included in the site are live streams from QIK and best of all an aggregator of all the Twitter activity surrounding the DNC as well as the RNC. The difference between this and Politweets, another political Twitter aggregator, is that this site has a basic level of statistics about the tweets taking place. Take a look at the DNC08 Twitter Page to see more DNC coverage. As the coverage concludes later this week, look to the site to give full coverage of the RNC convention. It’s a competition between the parties for building the most buzz and we are only half way through the process. This week the Democrats have taken the stage, continue to watch the coverage through next week on the RNC Convention Hub. |
Remember that thousand-dollar application that was for sale on the iPhone? Remember how it was shut down? Worry no more about meaningless applications being banned from mobile application directories with the 
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