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Gamification will be more embedded in daily life by 2020

May 18th, 2012
gamification word cloud

By Allan Maurer Way back in the late 1980s, I wrote an article for Science Digest magazine about the US Army’s use of video games to train tank crews and gunners. Since then, “gamification,” the use of game-like elements in education, training, marketing, wellness and even scientific discovery, has advanced steadily. You’re likely to see ...

I don’t need no stinking Timeline

May 17th, 2012
Allan Maurer

By Allan Maurer Facebook users don’t much care for its Timeline feature, which it touted much the way Steve Jobs did the first iPad. A new study from Attensity, a provider of social analytics and engagement applications, says the results of its analysis of public reaction in social media to the new Facebook Timeline format for profile pages, ...

Social media could shape the the 2012 presidential race

May 18th, 2012
Obama

The most significant poll to date on the impact of social media in the 2012 presidential race reveals that almost 70 percent of likely voters believe the race will be heavily shaped by social media platforms. The survey also finds that the Internet is deepening its role as a major factor in what promises to ...

Big data use more important to most brand marketers than Facebook

May 18th, 2012
33 Across

Three-quarters of the brand marketers and agency reps surveyed by  33Across, operators of the largest social and interest graph in the world, reaching over 1.25 billion users, say that the rest of the web is more important to them than Facebook advertising. The survey also points out the increasing importance of big data – all that information about ...

Viewers engage in seven different types of social TV activities

May 18th, 2012
TV

Have you engaged with social media or services while watching TV? While fairly nascent, social TV and co-viewing trends are growing rapidly, representing a shift in TV viewing from a lean-back to a lean-forward experience, according to Viacom’s ”Social TV: Viewers C’s The Moment” study exploring the social TV phenomenon through the lens of the viewer. ...

Confidence on US economy rises sharply among execs

May 18th, 2012
Pwc

Confidence about the US economy’s 12-month outlook rose sharply this past quarter among executives surveyed for PwC US’s Private Company Trendsetter Barometer.  Sixty percent of Trendsetter executives voiced optimism (up 21 points from the prior quarter), with just 8% expressing pessimism; the remaining 32% were uncertain. For a while there earlier this year we saw one or two ...

Business use of hosted & cloud services grows, price a major factor

May 18th, 2012
JD Power

Among business data customers, 18 percent are leveraging remote offerings, such as hosted and cloud-based services, up from 12 percent in 2011, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Business Data Satisfaction Study(SM) released today. The report says price is a major factor in the data service provider selected, as it is in just ...

Telecom industry expanding as wireless services fuel growth

May 18th, 2012

The US telecommunications industry continues to expand as business spending for wireless services fuels industry revenue growth, says a new market research report from Insight Research. Insight estimates that all US businesses will spend $154 billion for telecommunications services in 2012 and business spending on wired and wireless calling will grow to$184 billion by the close of 2016, ...

Why did GM drop its Facebook advertising?

May 17th, 2012
Facebook

On the eve of Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO), the markets are contemplating why auto manufacturer General Motors decided abruptly yesterday to terminate advertising on Facebook. WordStream Inc., a provider of search engine marketing software and services, has released new research comparing the value of Facebook advertising to Google’s Display Network. That’s the portion of ...

Which cities have the most social media savvy businesses?

May 17th, 2012
Frisco

Topping the list of most social small business cities in the U.S. on the just released Radius Social Small Business Report: San Francisco and Los Angeles, as West Coast cities overall ranked higher than their East Coast counterparts. New York ranked #7, while other major East Coast cities, such as Boston, and NC Research Triangle cities ...

Most IT pros view social media sites as a security risk

May 17th, 2012
InformationWeek

A large majority – 86 percent – of IT pros surveyed by InformationWeek’s 2012 Strategic Security Survey view social media sites as a security risk. Malware infection via malicious links, however, ranked as the top threat. Fully half of the 946 respondents to the survey cited identity and password management as the most valuable security ...

Private equity firms increasing employment at portfolio companies

May 17th, 2012
McGladrey

Amid difficult economic conditions, private equity firms have become increasingly focused on improving strategy and operations at their portfolio companies as a means of creating value, according to the  McGladrey LLP, fourth annual survey of private equity (PE) executives. In fact, nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of firms reported that they have generally increased employment at their ...

Local mobile and online ad spending expected to double in five years

May 17th, 2012
BIA Kelsey

According to BIA/Kelsey’s Media Ad View reports, local advertising spending will experience a compound annual growth rate of 2.6 percent between 2011 and 2016, with revenues climbing from around $132 billion to more than $150 billion. BIA/Kelsey, adviser to companies in the local media space, expects spending to increasingly shift from traditional media and direct advertising to digital alternatives. ...

Are we wired for mobile learning? (infographic)

May 16th, 2012
mobile devices

Today’s students are “digital natives” who grew up connected. And mobile digital devices are like extensions of their hands. They’re wired for mobile learning, says Voxy.com. It created this infographic: Via: Voxy Blog

Companies looking to the cloud to protect against data loss

May 16th, 2012
cloud

More than half (55%) of U.S. organizations expect their use of the cloud to increase as part of their business continuity and data protection strategy over the next year, according to the survey commissioned by CA Technologies Canadian organizations are starting to make the switch but are less advanced than their American counterparts, with a ...

U.S. job market needs more fuel from small businesses

May 16th, 2012

Revving the U.S. job engine requires more fuel from small businesses. This is according to a report released today by TD Economics, an affiliate of TD Bank. Two and a half years following the end of Great Recession, hiring rates are still very low, but the number of people separating from their jobs – quitting or being ...

“Social Network” writer Aaron Sorkin to helm Steve Jobs bio pic

May 16th, 2012
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Aaron Sorkin, the writer who penned “The Social Network,” about Facebook’s rise, and “The West Wing,” will write and direct a film based on Walter Isaacson’s biography of Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs. Hollywood has been hot to jump on the Jobs mania bandwagon since his death. Ashton Kutcher is staring in the unauthorized “Jobs,” a ...

Mobile open source projects surge, most for Android

May 16th, 2012
Linux mobile penguin

More than 10,000 new mobile open source projects were launched in 2011 bringing the cumulative total to over 18,000, according to the Black Duck KnowledgeBase. The database includes over 600,000 projects from more than 5,000 sites, and is updated with thousands of new projects on a regular basis. The surge in new projects reflects twofold growth ...

Do you know how to reach the five types of digital moms?

May 16th, 2012
Digital moms

Digitally connected moms can be divided into five types, each with different spheres of influencers, motivations, and preferences when connecting and sharing with others via social networks. That’s according to a study released today by MWW Group, one of the top ten global independent public relations firms. The study is based on a survey conducted ...

BYOD can be a competitive advantage, IT managers say

May 16th, 2012
BT

Many of us use our own smartphones, tablets and laptops for both work and personal use – which a majority of IT managers believe is a good thing, even though it makes them nervous. Over 80 per cent of IT managers think that enterprises with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy hold a competitive ...