Archive for June, 2011
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
 U.S. hoteliers, B& B owners and innkeepers cited online marketing: SEO, SEM and banner advertising (63 percent); social media (39 percent); mobile (27 percent); email marketing (22 percent); and paid listings on user-generated review sites (17 percent) as the top areas in which they would prefer to increase spending, according to TripAdvisor , the world’s largest travel site, in its latest Accommodation Owners Survey.
With mobile marketing a major focus for owners, 84 percent of survey respondents said it is important to offer a program that allows travelers to book their inventory using mobile devices. However, the results varied by property type: 92 percent of hotel owners, 77 percent of B&B owners and 77 percent of innkeepers said a mobile marketing program is important.
Marketing Budgets Stable or Growing
Of the survey respondents with a marketing budget, 34 percent said their overall marketing budgets have increased this year, 49 percent said their budgets have stayed the same and 17 percent said their budgets have decreased.
What are accommodation owners’ greatest marketing expenses? Online marketing: SEO, SEM and banner advertising (31 percent); dues and subscriptions (16 percent); and online travel agency (OTA) commissions (12 percent) were lodging businesses’ top expenses, according to the survey.
Owners Use Social Media to Reach Travelers
Of the survey respondents with a social media program, the majority (60 percent) said that TripAdvisor is the most effective social media site for marketing their properties. Facebook (22 percent) and Twitter (16 percent) were the next most effective sites for marketing their properties, according to owners taking the poll.
The top reasons owners cited for using social media were posting deals/special offers (54 percent), answering customer care questions (48 percent), promoting events (40 percent), sharing general industry news (26 percent) and promoting contests (18 percent).
Survey respondents cited industry research/reports (46 percent), competition (30 percent) and marketing from social media sites (24 percent) as the top three factors in their decision to use social media as a marketing tool.
Top Deals and Distribution Tactics
According to survey respondents, most owners (76 percent) use their property website to market deals to potential guests. Email (52 percent) and social media (44 percent) were the next most commonly used methods for marketing deals, followed by user-generated review sites (25 percent) and online travel agencies (21 percent).
During this summer travel season, the top five deals owners are planning to offer travelers are discounts on rooms (56 percent), special amenities (43 percent), free parking (33 percent), rewards points (26 percent) and deals on nearby attractions (23 percent).
“The latest TripAdvisor Accommodation Owners Survey reveals that, whatever the future may hold, owners’ marketing budgets have for now generally increased or stayed the same, which is an encouraging economic indicator,” said Christine Petersen, president of TripAdvisor for Business. “Lodging owners are placing great importance on online marketing, social media and mobile marketing, as these strategies become increasingly important for reaching discerning travelers online or on-the-go.”
Tags: B&Bs, Holtel owner survey, hotels, inns, Marketing, Search, SEO, social media, survey, TripAdvisor
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, smartphones, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
By Allan Maurer
 Home Elephant ATLANTA -Chandler Powell, a co-founder of the hyper local neighborhood social media site Home Elephant, was in Chicago working on a project with his colleague Matt Fromm when he got a call from his wife in Atlanta. Crying, she told him a drunk had followed her while she was out walking the dog and said some bad things to her. “I wanted to warn the neighbors, but even though I had lived there seven years, I only knew about three. That felt wrong and I started working on Home Elephant that night,” Powell says.
One of the realities of the modern world is that many of us no longer know our neighbors well if at all. I’ve lived in apartment complexes where I knew the family next to my unit and no one else. Home Elephant, an Atlanta-based startup wants to make us neighborly again – via the web.
It’s not the only company trying to build a hyper local neighborhood hub — we’ve covered others that act as places to research a neighborhood before moving into it and still others focused on local news and so on (some are www.i-neighbors.org and www.everyblock.com). Home Elephant, though, is intended as a niche social media platform where neighbors can meet, create events calendars (so you won’t forget which day is trash pickup and which is recycling day or when the next condo meeting will be held).
The company launched in January and is currently building a user base, says co-founder Chandler Powell, who created the self-funded site with Jeff Jahn and Matt Fromm.
The three founders previously started a software business together.
Powell says they initially built the site to cover their own neighborhood up to a mile around. Then, 60 days ago, they released it worldwide and already they have 4,103 (or more by now) neighborhoods from 43 countries and every U.S. state signed up. We just added ours while doing research for this story.
Sign up is easy. You just put in your name, address and email and from there you’ll be paired with a neighborhood if one is already created, or you can create one, if not.
Powell says they’re being judicious about privacy and won’t store any address info on users. “Once you enter it, we swipe it,” he says. “No spammer in China can get your home address.”
It’s likely first users from many neighborhoods won’t know email addresses of their neighbors any more than I do, so you may have to do some social engineering of your own to make this work for your neighborhood.
But once it’s up and running, users could handle a problem like the one that inspired Powell to start the site: “If someone sees something suspicious they can snap a photo and send an alert in addition to calling the police,” he says.
Powell says the company hopes to focus on monetization in Phase II. “We’ve had conversations with large local and national retailers,” he notes. They’ve also heard from the NOA about using it to push out weather alerts for specific areas.
“We could make money selling third-party connections to a weather service,” Powell says. He adds the company has also received emails from some “big names” who want to advertise.
Home Elephant recently also released an iPhone app for the service, which was well received.
See also: Home Elephant new iPhone app makes neighbors more neighborly
Tags: Allan Maurer, Atlanta, Chandler Powell, Everyblock.com, Home Elephant, i-neighbors, iPhone apps, Jeff Jahn, Matt Fromm, neighborhood social media platform, Startups
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
 It may seem contrary to the belief that women are more socially oriented than men, but a new LinkedIn study says men are more savvy than women at networking generally.
In a LinkedIn blog post about the study, Scott Nicholson notes what seems like another anomaly: women are more savvy networkers in ranching, while men are more savvy in the cosmetics business. That led him to reach, “Wait, what?”
Other surprises: men ranked as more savvy at WalMart, Kaiser Permanente and Mary Kay. Women on the other hand are rated more savvy at Best Buy, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
H’mmm. Odd results, huh?
The LinkedIn post suggests some possible explanations for the gender differences in the data, which include factors such as seniority, job function, and desire on the part of the minority gender to connect with the majority gender.
Here’s LinkedIn’s infographic on the study results:
Tags: gender differences in networking savvy, infographic, LinkedIn networking study
Posted in Internet/New Media, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
 Brian Solis When you hear experts discuss social media during interviews for stories or at events such as the Digital Summit or upcoming Digital East and Internet Summit events TechMedia puts on annually, you begin to hear a consensus evolve regarding best practices. Top Rank’s Lee Odden captured 35 such insights from a key note presentation by Brian Solis, summing up many of the best business approaches to social media marketing we’ve heard.
First, Solis says, keep in mind that social media provides and opportunity to do something more meaningful than just marketing.
He notes that social media provides tools to help you connect and engage and that each social platform is its own community. Where do you start? Ask “what makes your business special?”
It’s easy enough to go wrong. Why do people unlike brands on Facebook? Solis says the brands “post too often and posts are too promotional.” That’s exactly in line with what we hear from other experts. You can’t just sell, sell, sell in social media communities. “It’s not just about engagement, it’s about being engaging.” — Allan Maurer
Full story.
Tags: 35 business social media insights, Brian Solis, Digital East, Digital Summit, Events, facebook, Internet Summit, Top Rank
Posted in Business advice, Events, Facebook, Internet/New Media, social media | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
 Wilmington, MA-based Lilliputian Systems Inc. has raised more than half, $11.12 million, of an offering targeted at $21 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Previously the advanced micro battery firm raised more than $90 million in venture backing.
Researchers at the M.I.T. Microsystems Technology Laboratory, develops microchip sized batteries that can power hand held electronic devices for a week. It is fueled by recyclable high energy fuel cartridges. The technology is reliable, safe (approved for use on aircraft) and environmentally friendly (6x more efficient/lower carbon footprint than using a wall charger).
Investors include Fairhaven Capital and Rockport Capital, both based in Massachusetts.
Video tech provider On Demand Real Time raises $1M in debt and equity
New York-based On Demand Real Time, a company selling technology for video replay on mobile devices, has raised $1 million in convertible debt and equity, according to a filing with the SEC.
The company is developing what it says is the first commercially deployable system for instant video replay on mobile devices called PlayItOver. It is working on consumer apps for mobile devices.
It also offers LiveClips, an SaaS product that can automatically create video clips of live sporting events and deliver them to the web or mobile devices in seconds.
LucidMedia Networks nabs $5.4 for digital ad management platform
Reston, VA-based LucidMedia Networks has raised $5.43 million of a $6.18 million offering, according to an SEC filing. The company sells a demand-side platform that includes page-level contextual analysis and intelligent real time bidding as either self-service or managed service to interactive agencie and brand advertisers.
Glympse grabs $7.5M for location-sharing app
Redmond, WA-based Glympse has raised $7.5 million in Series B funding co-led by Menlo Ventures and Ignition Partners. www.glympse.com
Tags: device battery that lasts a week, digital ad platforms, Energy, fundings, Glympse, Lilliputian Systems, LiveClips, LucidMedia, M&A, M.I.T., micro battery, New York, On Demand Real Time, PlayitOver, Reston, VA, venture fundings, video replay on mobile devices, Wilmington
Posted in Energy, Money, video | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
 Users of enterprise B2E (business-to-employee) and B2C (business to customer) smartphone and media tablet mobile applications are forecast to grow at a CAGR of nearly 90 percent and exceed 830 million active users by 2016, according to a new study from ABI Research.
These numbers include B2E apps such as line-of-business apps and B2C, branded company apps. In both cases, enterprises are leveraging their vast stores of corporate data to make employees more efficient and to foster greater customer intimacy.
Enterprise smartphone and media tablet adoption is providing the foundation for enterprise app development and deployment. But, according to enterprise practice director Dan Shey, “Mobile suppliers are providing the critical enablers boosting app adoption.”
There are two important supply-side drivers. First, the supplier market offering mobile application platforms has exploded. With these platforms, an app can be written once and deployed across multiple devices in the highly fragmented smartphone and tablet supplier market. Many platforms also provide management and system integration capabilities, and are highly cost-effective.
Second, many mobile application and app platform providers now offer cloud services as a component of the application or app platform. This reduces the investment for businesses, opening up the market for smaller organizations.
The majority of users are B2C customers, with a large share from branded banking, airline, and shopping apps. But according to Shey, active B2C customers could be a much larger group than they are. “There is no reason why most businesses could not offer B2C smartphone or tablet apps to their customers, regardless of business size. The challenge for mobile suppliers will be to promote and facilitate application development for all businesses with the opportunity to generate greater app service and management revenues.”
“Mobile Enterprise Applications for Smartphones and Media Tablets,” provides a quantitative, in-depth review of the enterprise mobile application market for smartphones and media tablets. Particular emphasis is placed on dissection of the technology drivers and the opportunities and challenges for nine segments of the mobile supply chain. Included are B2E and B2C app customer and service revenue forecasts segmented for seven world regions and by device type as well as 2010 industry B2E app estimates.
Tags: 2016, ABI Research, B2C, B2E, forecast of enterprise smartphone and tablet app users, media tablet mobile apps
Posted in IT, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
 A survey conducted by Symantec on 3,700 information technology managers in 35 countries, entitled “Virtualization and Evolution to the Cloud” revealed key points in what benefits businesses expect from implementing a virtual strategy.
While there were many findings, some specific findings also showed two-thirds of enterprises list performance degradation as a somewhat/extremely large factor in their hesitation to place business-critical applications into a private cloud.
An excerpt from the Symantec whitepaper stated performance can be a factor that either drives virtualization or inhibits it. While virtualization/cloud computing can help streamline operations and save money, sacrificing performance is not an option.
Any gains in other areas will be negated if customers and employees are unable to work within a fast, secure environment that provides maximum uptime.
Among organizations that have implemented storage virtualization, 84 percent of respondents stated that one of their goals in doing so was to improve storage performance or speed. In contrast, two-thirds of enterprises list performance degradation as a somewhat/extremely large factor in their hesitation to place business-critical applications into a private cloud.
One key question in the survey asked how important the following goals were at the time of implementing server virtualisation and showed the following:
- 88% said somewhat/completely important to improve the
scalability of our servers
- 87% said somewhat/completely important to reduce expenses
- 85% said somewhat/completely important to improve up-time and
availability
- 83% said somewhat/completely important to improve recovery
readiness
- 83% said somewhat/completely important to improve server speed
This hesitancy to fully implement a virtual environment is very much highlighted in another survey which was published in a whitepaper sponsored by EMC and carried out in conjunction with Computing.
- 5% have virtualised 96-100% of their IT infrastructure
- 17% have virtualised 70-95% of their IT infrastructure
- 16% have virtualised 50-69% of their IT infrastructure
- 21% have virtualised 30-49% of their IT infrastructure
- 16% have virtualised 10-29% of their IT infrastructure
- 10% have virtualised 10% of their IT infrastructure
- 15% have virtualised none of their IT infrastructure
The above statistics show that companies are only gradually going to a virtual environment, and by doing so hope to reduce expenses, improve scalability, improve performance and increase disaster recovery preparedness.
Tags: cloud computing, reasons firms hesitate to put critical apps in the cloud, survey, Symantec, virtualization, white paper
Posted in Cloud, IT, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 DisplayLink, a provider of networked display technology for multi-monitor and USB-connected computing, has announced that it will receive eight million dollars of new financing in a fourth round investment, with an option for an additional six million if needed. The Palo Alto-based company did not disclose the investors providing the new capital. DisplayLink has previously received financing from Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital, DAG Ventures, DFJ Esprit and WTI. The company has raised a total of $68 million.
DisplayLink Corp develops hardware and software solutions to enable easy connectivity between computers and displays over standard interfaces such as USB, Ethernet and wireless networks. DisplayLink technology is used in dozens of globally branded PC accessories including monitors, universal docking stations, display adapters, projectors
SolarBridge nabs $19M third round funding
Austin, Texas-based SolarBridge Technologies (SolarBridge), a developer of module-integrated microinverters for the solar industry, announced it has secured $19 million in series C funding. The company has raised more than $46 million to date.
The funds, raised from current investors as well as new financial and strategic investors, will be used to ramp up production capacity, expand sales support and logistics organizations and scale up research and development teams.
ScaleXtre,e weighs in with $11M Series B round
Palo Alto, CA-based ScaleXtreme Inc. the first cloud-based systems management company, today announced it has closed an $11 million Series B led by Ignition Partners with participation from previous investor, Accel Partners.
The new financing will be used to accelerate the rollout of additional product capabilities, and expand marketing and sales for ScaleXtreme’s innovative new way of managing hybrid clouds. Frank Artale, managing director at Ignition, will join the board that includes Ping Li from Accel and Nand Mulchandani and Balaji Srinivasa from ScaleXtreme.
Urban Interactions gets $1.6M
Somerville, MA.-based Urban Interactions Inc. has closed a $1.6 million equity offering, raising the amount from six investors, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company raised $455,000 in 2010. Urban Interactions matches job hunters with positions that suit them best.
Ping Identity, cloud ID solutions firm, lands $21M fifth round
Denver-based Ping Identity, which sells cloud identity security software, has raised a $22 million fifth round. Triangle Peak Partners and Silicon Valley Bank were new investors. Return investors include Appian Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, General Catalyst Partners, SAP Ventures and Volition Capital. Ping raised about $38 million in previous rounds.
Tags: Austin, CA, cloud ID security, Denver, DisplayLink, M&A, Palo Alto, Pind Identity, ScaleXtreme, SolarBridge, Sommerville, TX, Urban Interactions
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 Seventy percent of IT leaders say that they would leave their current role for an increase in compensation, while 53 percent of survey respondents indicate they would leave for an immediate or near term promotion, according to TEKsystems, a technology staffing and services company in its quarterly IT Executive Outlook survey, conducted in partnership with the Inavero Institute.
In terms of the lowest rated job characteristics, nearly half (49%) of those surveyed say that a lack of opportunity for advancement is the worst aspect of working within their current IT departments, while only 12% of IT leaders say that their companies excel at offering advancement opportunities for their employees.
Underscores the voltaility of the IT job market
“The large number of IT leaders who would be willing to leave their current role for a promotion underscores the volatility of the IT labor market, especially for IT skill sets in high demand,” says TEKsystems Director, Rachel Russell. “To keep important IT leaders on staff and motivated, we counsel organizations to frequently monitor the effectiveness of their workforce management strategies. Fair compensation practices and formal career path discussions are keys to morale and retention.”
Training presents another challenge. Only 2% of IT leaders say that their companies are good at training and developing the IT team. “This is an interesting finding,” says Russell, “because the survey also shows that 36% of leaders said that their companies increased the training budget this quarter. Through our experience, IT training is a critical aspect of workforce planning, but easier said than done. Beyond adequate budget, great training involves selecting the right topics, using the right delivery models and building the right reinforcement mechanisms.”
While compensation, promotions and training opportunities are serious considerations, IT leaders express appreciation for other areas of their jobs. Survey respondents say that the best job features are tied between work/life balance (36%), the team (36%), the culture (36%) and the technologies utilized (36%). “We consistently hear this message from the clients and consultants we work with,” says Russell. “Key motivators like advancement, compensation and training are important, but their real motivators are heavily weighted on the softer, more psychological aspects of their work.”
Russell continues, “As businesses undertake increasingly strategic IT initiatives that are central to gaining a competitive edge, IT workforce management should be a top priority. To outpace the competition, it’s critical for businesses to have the best and brightest IT professionals onboard, and to keep them personally committed to the enterprise.”
About the IT Executive Outlook survey:
TEKsystems partners with the Inavero Institute to conduct a quarterly survey of more than 1,000 IT leaders in the U.S. and Canada. IT directors represented the majority of survey respondents at 49%, and IT executives made up 22% of responses. IT leaders represented all industries, regions and company sizes with 55% of responses from organizations that gross $1 billion or more annually.
Tags: IT executive outlook survey, TEK Systems
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 Google has just launched “Me on the Web,” which is a tool that allows individuals and organizations to track what is being said about them online. It appears as though its aim is to allow people to manage what is being said online, and perhaps more importantly, remove items that they control such as photos, posts and comments.
Google also provides tips on how users can go about getting negative items removed from their index that they don’t control.
This is an important first step in helping people take control of what is being said about them online. However, the team at ReputationManagers.com, a company that specializes in online reputation management, feels that it still somewhat falls short, because there is still nothing people can do to get Google to remove slanderous content on other people’s websites. Google continues to maintain that they are simply serving up content, and it is the responsibility of the website owner to check the validity of the content.
“This is a great step. We are happy that Google rolled out a tool to give average, non-tech people ways to go about managing their reputations online,” said Danny DeMichele with ReputationManagers.com.
The foundation of the system appears to be Google Alerts. It runs in a very similar fashion, with similar functionality. The team at Reputation Managers believes it will be interesting to see how this technology develops in the future.
Tags: Google "Me on the Web" tool, online reputation management, reputationmanagers.com
Posted in Google, Internet/New Media, IT | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 Worldwide mobile advertising revenue is forecast to reach $3.3 billion in 2011, more than double the $1.6 billion generated in 2010, according to Gartner Inc. Worldwide revenue will reach $20.6 billion by 2015, but not all types of mobile advertising will generate the same opportunity. Search and maps will deliver the highest revenue, while video/audio ads will see the fastest growth through 2015.
“Mobile advertising is now recognized as an opportunity for brands, advertisers and publishers to engage consumers in a targeted and contextual manner, improving returns,” said Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner. “For that reason, mobile advertising budgets are set to increase tremendously across the various categories and regions, growing from 0.5 percent of the total advertising budget in 2010 to over 4 percent in 2015.”
“As the adoption of smartphones and media tablets extends to more consumers, the audience for mobile advertising will increase and become easier to segment and target, driving the growth of mobile advertising spend for brands and advertisers,” said Andrew Frank, research vice president at Gartner. “Brand marketers who want to include mobile in their advertising initiatives should not delay their trials, and should have their budgets in place now to take advantage of mass consumer adoption of smartphones and media tablets.”
North America and Western Europe are the regions where mobile advertising budgets will grow most, representing 28 percent and 25 percent of the global market by 2015 (see Table 1). However, Asia/Pacific and Japan will remain the leading market throughout the forecast period. Asia/Pacific and Japan is forecast to account for 49.2 percent of mobile advertising in 2011, and 33.6 percent of the global market in 2015.
Table 1
MobileAdvertising Revenue by Region, Worldwide, 2008-2015 (Millions of Dollars)
| |
2010 |
2011 |
2015 |
| North America |
304.3 |
701.7 |
5,791.4 |
| Western Europe |
257.1 |
569.3 |
5,131.9 |
| Asia/Pacific and Japan |
868.8 |
1,628.5 |
6,925.0 |
| Rest of the World |
196.9 |
410.4 |
2,761.7 |
| Total |
1,627.1 |
3,309.9 |
20,610.0 |
Source: Gartner (June 2011)
Gartner analysts said various types of mobile advertising will behave differently.
“Mobile search, which includes paid positioning on maps and various forms of augmented reality, all of which can be informed by location, will spearhead mobile ad spending,” Ms. Baghdassarian said. “Mobile display, which includes both standard Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) banner formats and nonstandard rich media and interactive formats, will continue to be closely divided between in-app and mobile Web (in-browser) placements, reflecting consumer usage.”
For several years, mobile advertising has been scrutinized, and it is expected to take off, thanks to various players in the market, from communication service providers (CSPs) to ad networks.
“In 2011, we are finally seeing some important drivers fall into place, so that we can expect the market to more than double year-over-year in the coming two years,” said Mr. Frank. “This doesn’t mean, by any stretch, that the experience delivered by mobile advertising will reach its optimum point in that time frame. We expect that targeting and contextualization, especially in social sites and applications, will carry on improving throughout the forecast period and beyond.”
Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Forecast: Mobile Advertising, Worldwide, 2008-2015.” The report is available on Gartner’s website at www.gartner.com/resId=1598915.
Tags: Gartner, mobile ad forecast 2011, worldwide mobile ad revenue to double
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, Money, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 In the pre-9-11 world, getting on a plane was as easy as emptying your pockets and walking through a metal detector. In the post-9-11 world, airline passengers must take off their shoes, their belts, empty their pockets and be subjected to invasive body scans and pat-downs that add dignity and privacy to the price of an airline ticket.
But a new Star Trek-like handheld scanner may signal the end to some of those more invasive security checks.
“Benjamin Franklin once said that those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety,” said Mitchel Laskey, CEO of Brijot®, maker of the AllClear™, a handheld screening device that the company claims can scan for security risks without pat-downs or invasive imaging.
“While I can’t disagree with the idea of using security screening to make our airways safer, I knew that there had to be a better way than taking naked pictures of people or patting them down like common criminals. That’s why we developed the AllClear.”
The AllClear is a handheld, battery-powered, passive millimeter wave people screening device that detects metallic and non-metallic objects and provides an alternative to the need for pat-downs, according to Laskey.
“The AllClear addresses the world’s need for concealed item detection while protecting the safety and privacy of people being screened,” Laskey said. “Instead of being a metal detector that only looks for metal objects, or an imaging device that takes a picture, it uses millimeter waves to detect concealed objects. Millimeter waves are naturally occurring forms of electromagnetic wave energy ranging from approximately 30 GHz to 300 GHz or 1 mm to 10 mm in wavelength. The AllClear is a passive millimeter wave system, so the AllClear measures the natural millimeter wave energy naturally generated by bodies and objects, enabling screeners to detect anomalies without the need for a pat-down or an imaging scanner.”
The new technology enables the device to detect without ever touching the person being screened:
- Metallic objects
- Liquids
- Solids
- Powders
- Explosives
- Currency (paper)
- Ceramics
- Drugs (various types)
- Contraband (including CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, cell phones, etc.)
“The AllClear’s passive millimeter wave system is different from other scanners that use active millimeter waves, so there is no radiation involved with the screening,” Laskey added. “It poses no health risks, so it’s safe for everyone, including children, pregnant women, and people with pacemakers.”
According to the company’s website, the device does not need to be in contact with a person’s body. All surfaces of a person can be scanned without contact — including the hair, top of head, chest, arms, sides, groin area, legs, and ankles. Laskey added that the device could not only end the lion’s share of invasive security procedures, but also speed up the lines at airport security checkpoints.
“The AllClear only requires one operator, minimal training, and is easy to use,” he said. “The time it takes to screen a person using the AllClear is similar to using a handheld metal detector and takes less time than a pat-down. What’s more, it’s not just for airports. It can be used anywhere security measures are taken to keep the public safe – schools, public buildings, courthouses, concert venues, theme parks and more. We think that it’s time Americans feel safer again, without having to give up their privacy or dignity to do it.”
Tags: airport pat downs, airport security, Brijot, new airport screening tech, new airport security tech, Star Trek like hand held body scanner
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 TechAmerica Foundation announced today the winners for the American Technology Awards, which bestows the only “Best Of” awards that recognize all technology products and services across the technology industry. Nominations for The American Technology Awards, “The Termans”, were vetted by industry experts and technology companies. These awards were named after Frederick Terman, who is widely credited as being the father of Silicon Valley.
“We had a lot of nominations for these prestigious awards, and we congratulate these companies and individuals for their winning achievements,” said Senator Bob Bennett, Chairman, TechAmerica Foundation. “TechAmerica Foundation is excited to highlight these companies and individuals as they continue to influence technology development throughout the rest of the world.”
The American Technology Awards were presented for each of the inclusive segments of the technology industry: Aerospace and Defense; Clean Tech/Green Tech/Smart Grid; Cloud Computing/Software as a Service; Computers and Peripherals; Consumer Electronics; Cyber Security and Authentication; Electronic Components; Internet Services; Measurement and Control Instruments; Medical Devices; Server & Storage Technology; Software; Technology Consulting; Technology Services; and Telecommunications.
The Government Technology Executive of the Year was Vivek Kundra, the U.S. Federal Chief Information Officer. The Corporate Leadership Award was presented to Bill McDermott, Co-CEO of global software company SAP. In his keynote remarks, McDermott applauded Kundra’s efforts to reform federal IT management and urged government to harness three “mega-trends” — cloud computing, in-memory computing, and mobility — to save money and improve performance.
“Imagine spending less on IT infrastructure and more on accomplishing the mission, all with unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability. These goals and many more are possible today, driven by the innovative spirit we see in all of the Terman Award winners,” McDermott said.
The winners in all categories are:
Program Manager of the Year: Christopher Milowic, LBI Branch Director, OIT, Customs & Border Protection, DHS
Aerospace and Defense: Space Exploration Technologies (Space X) – Falcon 9 vehicle
Clean Tech/Green Tech: Petra Solar – SunWave System
Cloud Computing/Software as a Service: Akamai Technologies, Inc. – Dynamic Site Accelerator
Consumer Electronics/Computers and Peripherals: Logitech – Logitech Revue with Google TV
Cyber Security & Authentication: Daon, Inc. – Identity X
Heath & Medical Technologies: ConforMIS, Inc. – iTotal® Knee Resurfacing System
Internet Services & E-Commerce: webtrends Inc – Analystics
IT Services & Consulting: HP – HP NetTop
Semiconductors & Electronic Components: Atmel Corporation – maXTouch™ for Large Screens
Server & Storage Technology: DataCore Software Corporation – SANsymphony-V
Smart Grid & Smart Instruments: Petra Solar – SunWave System
Software: GPS Insight – GPS Insight Fleet Tracking Solution
Technology Manufacturing: 3M ™ – 3M ™ Cubitron ™ II Abrasives
Telecommunications: ViaSat Inc. – ViaSat–1 High-Capacity Satellite System
Breakthrough Technology: Flex Display Technology by NanoLumens
Tags: 3M, Akamai Technologies, American Technology awards, Atmel Corp., Bill McDermott, Bob Bennett, Charistopher Milowic, Cubitron, Flex Display tech, NanoLumens, OIT, Petra Solar, SAP, Space Exploration Technologies, SunWavesystem, Tech America, The Termans, ViaSat, Vivek Kundra
Posted in Government/Defense, Internet/New Media, IT, Maryland, Potomac, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
 Linda Henman Dr. Linda Henman isn’t as concerned about CEOs getting paid large salaries as much as she is about them being worth it.
CEOs earned an average annual paycheck of $11 million in 2010, with pay soaring by an average of 23 percent last year, according to research released by the AFL-CIO in April. As the economy’s sluggish recovery has analysts worried, Henman, a consultant for Fortune 500 CEOs, believes that company top dogs who actually earn their money are easy to spot.
“Those at the top have three major responsibilities: Develop the business, grow talent, and make decisions that drive innovation,” said Henman, also author of Landing in the Executive Chair: How to Excel in the Hot Seat. “There is much shuffling at the top. Too often Boards don’t make wise decisions about CEOs and CFOs, and these executives, in turn, don’t make wise hiring decisions throughout the enterprise.
But if leaders do a better job, companies can do a better job, which means individuals can do a better job. These leaders create companies where customers want to do business and people can do their best work. That all leads to financial health on the micro level, which translates to better financial health for the country. That’s why I think it’s important for people to understand if their CEO evidences the ability to soar above the competition, because in the end, only the strong will survive.”
Henman’s top qualities of a good CEO include:
- Strategy – Strong strategic thinking defines the effective CEO. These leaders understand how to match a strong strategy with the tactics and talent to see it through. CEOS who constantly react to events, instead of planning for the future, remain followers and not leaders.
- Decisions – When CEOs consistently make good decisions, little else matters; when they make bad decisions, nothing else matters. Even though decisiveness distinguishes leaders from everyone else, effective decision-making stands at the center of executive leadership. A decisive CEO who can’t hit the target is the same as an indecisive CEO who doesn’t even know where to find it. The results are the same.
- Hiring – Successful CEOs know how to tie talent to their strategies so they ensures the company hires the best and the brightest and compensates them fairly. Moreover, they give these people a chance to thrive.
- Excellence – Leaders who attract and retain top talent stress excellence. They focus on good execution of plans and strategies, and they don’t skew the mission by placing value on tertiary issues that have little to do with execution of strategic goals.
- Results Orientation – Too many executives talk about how to motivate the troops. Those who excel in the hot seat do better. They hire people who are self-motivated, define clear objectives, hold people accountable, and then they get out of the way. Couple these practices with challenging, rewarding work, and the organization ends up with both better results and motivated employees.
“It all comes down to leadership, as opposed to management,” Henman added. “Managers come in all different flavors: good, bad, neutral, ineffective, overbearing, innocuous, and more. But true leaders, by definition, move people to perform at levels that allow them to beat the competition.”
She adds, “Moreover, leadership doesn’t necessarily come with a title or a status. Responsibility and accountability come with that title, but leading requires the ability to take people to places they wouldn’t have gone if you hadn’t been in the picture. Leaders who possess this ability offer golden opportunities for their organizations and the people who work in them; those who don’t simply hope for a good golden parachute.”
Tags: Best Practices, evaluate your CEO, is your CEO worth his pay?, Landing in the Executive Chair: How to Excel in the Hot Seat, Linda Henman, results orientation, Viewpoint
Posted in Business advice, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2011
 Daily deals appeal to consumers always on the lookout for a bargain, with 44 percent of those in PriceGrabber’s Local Deals Survey saying they use daily deal sites. But even more (52 percent) say they feel overwhelmed by the number of deals offered via email.
The survey includes responses from 2,088 U.S. online consumers and was conducted from May 20 to 25, 2011.
That’s not all the daily deal providers such as Groupon, LivingSocial and a host of niche and regional firms have to worry about, though. As we reported last week, a Rice University prof who studies the space thinks the daily deal business model may not be sustainable over the long run.
We also suspect consumers may tire of too many deals from the same sorts of businesses (spas, massage, restaurants) or the number that don’t attract enough people to pan out.
Most consumers, though, seem to really like the daily bargains, the PriceGrabber survey says.
Consumers subscribe to several local deal sites and are looking to streamline
U.S. shoppers can’t seem to get enough of the thrill of finding a good bargain — but in true American fashion, they still want a shortcut to the greatest deal. According to PriceGrabber, 63 percent of consumers receive emails from two or more local deal Websites a day. Still, fully 60 percent of respondents said they feel the daily deal industry is getting crowded with too many sites.
Of course, PriceGrabber did not do the survey for fun. It has a motive.
This emerging frustration felt by shoppers as the daily deal industry explodes is underscoring the market’s demand for a more streamlined process to shop for local bargains. On June 1, 2011, PriceGrabber launched a solution: its local deal category, a one-stop shop for consumers who want to browse thousands of deals from more than 20 local deal Websites.
It’s simple: Consumers use daily deal sites to save money
Consumers’ interest in deals of the day can be attributed to the simple fact that shoppers are always looking for new ways to save money. Survey results find that 78 percent of respondents said they purchase local deals because they like saving money. Only 19 percent listed the ability to try out new services that are normally out of their price range.
“Whether we are in the depths of a recession or the height of a booming economy, consumers are looking to save money — period,” commented Graham Jones, general manager of PriceGrabber.
“The daily deals sector clearly shows promising signs for long-term growth, but the data reinforces the frustration consumers can feel when a new trend explodes so quickly. With our local deal category, PriceGrabber saw the opportunity to fill a niche begging to be added to the daily deal marketplace by providing consumers with a more efficient way to sort through numerous offers.”
Shoppers indicate that they love to share deals
The power of social buying is infectious. According to PriceGrabber, 86 percent of respondents indicated that when they find a great deal, they share the information with friends and family. When asked to select all of the ways in which they would share this information, 71 percent said word of mouth; 64 percent chose email and 26 percent shared information through Facebook.
“Our data shows that shoppers truly believe a deal is only as good as the people with whom you enjoy it,” said Jones. “Part of the appeal that comes with local deals and group buying is very likely the fact that the discount can be experienced with others. A trend that allows for experiences to be shared will almost certainly have staying power. We are confident that PriceGrabber’s local deal category will save consumers money and time by offering them the most efficient way for sharing great deals with their friends and family.”
Tags: can daily deals sites survive, consumers love daily deals, Groupon, LIvingSocial, PriceGrabber Local Deals survey, Rice University, sustainability of daily deals sites questioned
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2011
Virtual desktop infrastructure, or VDI, essentially copies a desktop PC, including the operating system, all applications and everything on its hard drive, to central servers in an enterprise’s data center, which then can remotely “deliver” that computer virtually to an actual PC, a thin client, or even a smart handheld device.
Hosted virtual desktops generated by Norton Ghost, Citrix XenDesktop, VMware View, and similar solutions deal with two of the key challenges facing IT administrators today: providing data security and meeting the demands of the mobile workforce.
According to a new study from ABI Research, the worldwide market for such hosted virtual desktops is forecast to grow from about $500 million in 2009 to a cumulative total of nearly $5 billion in 2016. North America and Europe will comprise the majority of the market for virtual desktops throughout the forecast period.
Larry Fisher, director of the firm’s Automotive, Energy and Emerging Technologies practice, says, “The VDI market will exhibit impressive growth in the next five years; buyers will principally consist of large enterprises looking to reduce their desktop support and management costs, and companies and organizations that need to lock data in the data center, either for compliance or security reasons.”
Companies also will be attracted by the lower overall energy requirements of virtual desktops, as well as the enhanced business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities they provide. Fisher adds, “The process allows the IT department to integrate a wide range of devices into corporate networks with relative ease. For example, they can enable users to access their full corporate desktops through iPads, smartphones and other popular devices.”
Fisher concludes, “Among factors inhibiting even greater adoption of hosted virtual desktops are the cost and complexity of VDI deployments, other more mature and cheaper technologies that can provide the same functionality, and the inclination of IT decision makers to stick with what they know: traditional desktop PCs.”
A new study from ABI Research, “Desktop Virtualization: The Global Market for Virtualized Business Desktop PCs” examines the technologies behind Desktop Virtualization, as well as its ecosystem, key trends, drivers and challenges. It includes forecasts for shipments, ASPs and revenue.
Tags: ABI Research, Citrix XenDesktop, Desktop Virtualization market, Norton Ghost, Report, VMware View
Posted in Cloud, Internet/New Media, IT, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2011
 The growing success of tablets is leaving many to question the viability of the e-reader market’s sustainability, says market intelligence firrm In-Stat. E-readers still offer the truest reading experience and appeal most to avid readers, but a broader market of consumers are demanding multimedia functionality, like web browsing, video and gaming, in their next mobile device.
Tablets, like the Apple iPad, are optimized to deliver this kind of multifunction experience, and therefore, represent a stronger opportunity for suppliers and manufacturers alike. As a result, In-Stat (www.in-stat.com) is forecasting that tablet shipments will outpace e-reader shipments by the end of this year.
“Of the two, the tablet market is the stronger and more sustainable opportunity,” says Stephanie Ethier, Senior Analyst. “In fact, e-reader manufacturers will soon begin adding tablet-like devices to their lineups in order to take advantage of the tablet frenzy. Barnes & Noble already offers the Color Nook, which is often compared to a tablet, and Amazon, the leader in the e-reader space with its Kindle, will likely launch a tablet device later this year in an effort to compete head-to-head with the iPad.”
At TechJournal South we have tested the Xoom tablet and use a Kindle. While we understand the general users desire for more functions on a tablet-like device, those added features can come with drawbacks such as added weight, screens hard to read in the sunlight, and decreased battery life.
Personally, we prefer a dedicated e-reader, although we suspect we’ll end up with both the light, easy-to-carry Kindle-like readers and a more tablet-like device eventually. The key for us would be a device that uses an E-ink technology like the Kindle’s rather than a backlit LED screen for just reading. Also, a non-reflective screen is essential. It does seem like a good idea right now to wait until the more advanced units hit the market.
Additional market and survey data findings include:
Of the 1,000 US respondents to In-Stat’s latest end-user survey, 38% own a tablet as compared to the 26% who own an e-reader.
Fueled by low prices and continued expansion of e-book content, global e-reader shipments will reach 40 million by 2015.
Tablet shipments will outpace e-reader shipments.
The total semiconductor opportunity for tablet suppliers will reach $13.8 billion in 2015.
The total semiconductor opportunity for e-reader suppliers will reach $1.6 billion in 2015.
Over 60% of future tablet purchasers plan to buy a tablet equipped with both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity.
By 2015, 15% of all tablet shipments will go into business markets.
–Allan Maurer
Tags: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Color Nook, forecast, In-Stat, iPad, Kindle, mobile devices, Nook, semiconductor opportunity, tablet computers, tablet market, Xoom
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Monday, June 20th, 2011
 Apparently, nuclear reactors are not the only thing melting down in Japan. Japanese video game developer Sega says hackers have stolen data from 1.3 million of its customers.
The company says names, birth dates, e-mail addresses and encrypted passwords were among the data compromised, but payment information such as credit card numbers, were not taken. That’s probably only because the company uses a third-party processor for financial transactions, so it didn’t store that data itself.
Sega makes games such as “Sonci the Hedgehog. The data breach is just the latest of a series of major cyber attacks that have hit Sony’s Playstatio, Nintendo, and Citigroup, among others.
A Sega spokeswoman told Reuters, “We want to work on strengthening security.” Fine time to think about that. What is wrong with these high tech companies and their security arms? How many serious break-ins will it take before they harden their ramparts?
In one odd twist, the hacker group Lulz tweeted, “Sega – contact us. We want to help you destroy the hackers that attacked you….these people are going down.”
Google deal with British Library will make 250,000 texts available
Google has made a deal with the British Library to digitize and make available 250,000 out-of-copyright texts from 1700 to 1870.
Google has made similar deals with other libraries as it works toward its plan of digitizing as many books as possible. In the U.S., Google’s efforts to put copyrighted texts online in digital form as well met with opposition and a law suit.
Tech firm employees want to cash out
 Many employees of tech and social networking firms such as Facebook are eager to sell their stock while valuations are still somewhere in the stratosphere, says a New York Times report.
Facebook has been driving the trend, says the Times. Its stock accounted for about 45 percent of all trades on SecondMarket, where private company shares are traded. About 100 of Facebook’s early employees, who are not restrained from selling shares the way employees who joined the company later are, have left the firm. Most, according to Times informants, left to start new companies.
That is one of the reasons major successes in tech are so important to the startup ecosystem. They pump up the entrepreneurial ecosystem with new blood and new cash.
The Times says that Chicago-based Groupon has seen the most investors and founders “take money off the table.” That includes the CEO, chair and others, who have already become rich from its almost billion in venture-backing, even though the company is still losing money. We recently reported that daily deal sites may face an uphill battle to establish sustainable businesses despite their faddish popularity right now.
Tags: British Library and Google, Chicago, Citigroup, digitizing books, early cashouts at tech firms, facebook, Google, Groupon, Lulz, Sega hacked, Sony Playstation, twitter
Posted in Facebook, games, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, video | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2011
 Raleigh, NC-based Valencell, an innovator in mobile health and fitness technology, has received $5.5 million in Series B venture investment. The round was led by Best Buy Capital, the investment group of Best Buy Co., Inc., with participation from Series A investors TDF and True Ventures. Valencell was a presenting company at TechMedia’s Southeast Venture Conference in Atlanta in March.
Seeded by its three founders, Valencell previously raised a Series A round of $1 million and has been awarded more than $3 million in R&D grants.
Valencell created a technology it calls Healthset powered earbuds, which gives audio headsets the ability to monitor the health and fitness of the user.
Healthset sensor technology tracks real-time physiological metrics including heart rate, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, speed and more, while the consumer listens to music, talks over the phone, or goes about daily life activities. Data is streamed to smartphones and/or mp3-players through wired or wireless links, enabling live body metrics, training, and coaching via fitness applications on mobile devices and online.
“People everywhere are listening to music while running and exercising,“ explained CEO and cofounder Dr. Steven LeBoeuf. “Integrating heart rate sensors directly and seamlessly into music earbuds fits right into the behavior of consumers today. Everyone’s body responds differently to exercise, so being able to monitor the heart, the body’s engine, will help consumers customize and personalize workout regiments for their specific goals whether it’s for weight loss, toning or endurance. Users will be able to view their metrics live through fitness applications on their iPhone, Android phones, other mobile devices and online.”
Recent research from PricewaterhouseCoopers cites growing demand for mobile health monitoring: 88% of physicians said they would like their patients to track their health information and 40% of individuals said they would buy a personal health-monitoring device or pay for a subscription to send health information to their providers.
California-based social commerce firm BeachMint chews on $23.5M financing
BeachMint has secured a $23.5 million round of funding led by Scale Venture Partners and Lightbank, the technology investment fund started by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, cofounders of Groupon.
Existing investors, New Enterprise Associates, Trinity Ventures, and Anthem Ventures also participated in the round. The new funding will be used to grow the existing brands, JewelMint and StyleMint (launching July 1), to accelerate the company’s phenomenal growth and to expand into new categories.
Sharon Wienbar, Scale Venture Partners’ managing director, will join the company’s Board. She said, . ”Consumer e-commerce is being transformed by social networking and curation,” said Wienbar. “BeachMint is redefining online shopping by taking advantage of these trends to deliver great consumer value. We are excited by the amazing traction BeachMint has achieved in a short time with JewelMint.”
BeachMint was founded by MySpace Co-Founder, Josh Berman, and serial tech entrepreneur, Diego Berdakin.
Evernote raising about $50M in new capital
TechCrunch reports that the popular notetaking service, Evernote, is raising about $50 million in venture funding in a round led by Sequoia Capital. It is already up to $40 million in the round. It previously raised $20.5 million. We use the free version of Evernote, which makes it easy to save text, images, and urls when you’re doing web research, and saves your data in the cloud, so it is available on any machine on which you install the software.
Daily Deals for Moms lands angel funding
Yet another niche play in the crowded daily deals space has grabbed initial angel funding.
Denver-based Daily Deals for Moms, a social couponing website for moms and families looking for and sharing great deals with a commitment to support small business and keep retail dollars in the community, says it has secured a round of angel funding. The group of investors includes Victor Lazzaro, Jr. of Denver based Volante Capital.
The company will keep the financing open to strategic investors, but intends to close the round within the next few weeks. The infusion of capital will fuel growth, further build infrastructure, and continue to drive awareness of the site as it expands into more cities.
Launched in 2010 by Mompreneurs Ashley E. Kingsley and Whitney Trujillo, Daily Deals for Moms primarily serves secondary markets such as Denver, Toledo, and Des Moines. It is specifically focused on daily deals for moms and families.
Some of these niche players in the daily deals and coupons sites may have a better chance of survival in the long run than the 800 pound gorillas if they create deals that benefit both the consumer and the business. If nothing else, they’re likely to be targets for the larger companies if they go public and have substantial reserves of cash to make acquisitions.
OwnerIQ closes on $7M for targeted advertising platform
OwnerIQ, the inventor of Ownership Targeted media and developer of one of the most advanced Real-Time media buying platforms in the industry, announced today it has closed a $7 million expansion round. All existing investors participated, and Longworth Venture Partners also joined this round.
Founded in 2006 in Boston, OwnerIQ operates a network of channel-focused websites to help consumers easily find and store must-have self-support product information. The company pioneered the concept of Ownership Targeting, providing brand advertisers with highly customized programs to precisely target consumers based on products they already own.
Tags: Atlanta, BeachMint, BestBuy Capital, Boston, Brad Keywell, CO, Daily Deals for Moms, Denver, ecommerce, Eric Lefkofsky, Evernote, financings, Groupon, Healthset, JewelMint, Lightbank, Longworth Venture Partners, m Anthem Ventures, mobile health monitoring earbuds, NC, NEA, online note taking software, OwnerIQ, Raleigh, Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, SEVC, social commerce, social networking, Southeast Venture Conference, StyleMint, targeted advertising, TDF, Trinity Ventures, True Ventures, Valencell, venture funding
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Monday, June 20th, 2011
Large brands from the entertainment and financial services industries are the most likely candidates at the front of the queue to apply for new ‘.brand’ Top Level Domains, according to global brand interest received by Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services.
Just applying for one of the new ‘.brand’ top level domains costs more than $100,000.
 Creative Commons License: some rights reserved Ninety-two per cent of the 150 organizations which have expressed interest to Melbourne IT DBS about applying for a new Top Level Domain (TLD) indicated their preferred choice would be their core brand name, or a ‘.brand’. (For example: Canon has publicly stated they will apply for ‘.canon’). A further 11% indicated they were interested in applying for a generic term as a TLD (example generic names could be .bank, .hotel and so on).
ICANN approved the final application guidelines for its new TLD program today in Singapore, paving the way for applications to open for the new domains in January 2012. ICANN has indicated that it anticipates between 300 and 1,000 new TLDs could be created under the new program, providing an alternative to existing TLDs such as .com or .net.
It has been widely assumed that applicants for new .brand TLDs would be large brands and the information drawn from the 150 organizations which have expressed interest to Melbourne IT DBS supports this:
- The average market cap of interested applicants is $36.7 billion USD
- 92% are interested in applying for their main brand, and a further 9% in a product brand. 11% interested in applying for a generic term
- 87% indicated they are interested in applying for one TLD, but the remaining 13% are interested in applying for two or more new TLDs
- Consumer facing brands are the most keen (65%) with the remainder being business-to-business brands. The highest proportion of interested brands are drawn from the entertainment, publishing and media industry (19%) and financial services (19%); followed by IT and Telecoms (15%), travel and tourism (7%), and consumer goods industries (7%)
- The reason for applying is clearly split between two intentions – 48% indicating their primary intention is to protect against brand infringement, with another 45% indicating the primary intention is to create competitive advantage for their business
- The 150 organisations are spread across the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
“Today’s decision by ICANN will unleash a new wave of domain name innovation. This is the biggest change to domain names since the creation of dot com 26 years ago,” said Theo Hnarakis, CEO & Managing Director of Melbourne IT.
A significant marketing opportunity
“For many organizations, the chance to secure their company name as a ‘.brand’ domain represents a significant marketing opportunity. It also provides increased control for organizations over their web domain, allowing them to protect their brand and build trust in an increasingly complex digital world. No longer will big brands be sharing their domain space on the Internet with others – they’ll be masters of their own domain.”
Applications for new TLDs will open in January 2012 and close 90 days later. Once the application period is closed, it is expected that future applications for new TLDs will be unlikely to be accepted for at least 2-3 years. The first new TLDs are expected to go live on the Internet in 2013.
“Brands need to act now if they want to apply for one of these new domain names as it is not as simple as registering a .com address. ICANN’s application fee is $185,000 USD and the application process is complex, requiring a submission which will run into hundreds of pages. Many companies will engage with a specialist to help them apply and manage their new TLD,” Mr Hnarakis said.
“Melbourne IT DBS is ideally placed to assist organizations considering applying for a new TLD – from business plan development, management of the application process, to assembling and operating the technical infrastructure.”
Tags: .brand domain names, ICANN, infographic on brand domain names, Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services, new high level domain names for brands
Posted in Apple | Comments Off
|
