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Spotify announce changes to ‘free’ accounts

By Cheryl | Posted in News, Services, Twitter at 12 | April 21, 2011 – 2:39 pm

If you are like me, you logged in to your Spotify account this week, only to be met by a message explaining that the company would be cutting back on their free music service, with limits effectively being cut in half.

The new rules mean that users will now be restricted to 10 hours listening time a month, but it’s not the time limit users are going to have a problem with; it’s more the track restrictions. From now on, users will only be allowed to listen to a track 5 times in total, not a month.

These changes, especially the track limit, will hit users hard and many people have already accused the company of trying to turn the free service in to a paying one.

For new users, things are a little different. The service will stick to it’s current format and limits for up to six months, and after this time will be switched to their new rules.

The company will offer a free 30-day trial of Spotify Premium throughout May, but it’s likely more people will go for the ‘Unlimited’ package, should they decide to upgrade.

Packages

Unlimited –
No advertisements
Unlimited streaming of music
£4.99 per month
Premium -
No advertisements
Unlimited streaming of music
Spotify on your mobile
Offline mode for playlists
£9.99 per month

As the saying goes, you don’t get anything for free. Spotify is known to be a very good service, so maybe it’s time to reach in to your pockets.

Changes will take effect on 1st May.

LinkedIn launches Android App

By Cheryl | Posted in Android, Application, Social networking, Twitter at 12 | April 15, 2011 – 12:08 pm

Although the LinkedIn app was already available on iPhone and Blackberry devices, the Android version has been stuck in Beta mode since December. The company finally announced on Tuesday that the app was now available on the Android market, which was welcomed by many of its loyal followers.

LinkedIn was launched in 2003 and has established itself as the number one business-oriented social networking site, covering more than 200 countries, with over 100 million users. The aim of the site is to allow professional people to keep in contact with each other.

Unlike many other social networking sites, you must know the person you would like to add as a ‘connection’. This enables you to maintain a list of people you have some kind of relationship with and reduces the amount of meaningless posts and messages.

Product Manager, Chad Whitney, explained that the company had decided to concentrate on the main features in it’s first release before undertaking those that were requested by beta testers. These features will include updates, search, connections, invitations, messages and reconnect.

This announcement means that Android users can now search the profiles of over 100 million professionals in real-time, while also using other key features from the website.

The app is available to download now from the Android App Store.

Advertising – When is it too much?

By Cheryl | Posted in Marketing, Twitter at 12 | March 28, 2011 – 11:58 am

Advertisements are supposed to grab people’s attention, but how far is too far when it comes to your advertising exploits.

Every day we see adverts – be it on buildings, transport, magazines or TV, but where should the line be drawn.

One of the main ways to advertise is on the internet; what is going to garner more attention than the web which billions of people around the world use daily? However, it seems as though advertisers are taking it a step too far these days.

For years we have been overrun with advertisements from the minute we go on to a website, that it seems we now have blinkers to the whole thing. This is exactly the reason why companies now feel the need to use flashy banners that come flying from the side, follow us down the page as we scroll, or even expand to cover the screen as our mouse glides over it. There is no such thing as being discreet anymore, but do they actually work?

Advertising only works when it is done correctly and in the right space. Maybe people aren’t clicking on your ad for a reason, but more often that not, using flashing images to get your word across usually won’t help your cause.

What a lot of people don’t realise is that pop-ups can damage a companies reputation. The majority of people don’t trust businesses that use that kind of invasive advertisement to promote their products and services, and you run the risk of giving your company with a negative image.

Advertising in the right way can be done through products such as Google AdWords. Although is comes at a cost, results can be monitored, making it easy for you to see what is working for your business and what is not. Most importantly is poses no threat to your companies reputation.

Always remember potential customers will judge you on first impressions, so make sure you paint your business in the best light, especially when it comes to advertising.

Digg Founder Steps Down

By Cheryl | Posted in News, Social networking, Twitter at 12 | March 21, 2011 – 12:56 pm

There’s been trouble in the Digg offices for a while, but is the announcement that founder Kevin Rose has stepped down the final nail in the coffin?

Digg was launched in 2004 and was an instant hit. The site allows users to submit stories which can then be digged by other people and is split in to different categories including Business, Entertainment, Gaming, Lifestyle and Technology.

As numbers slowly started to fall, the company announced in 2010 a complete redesign, explaining that the entire site had completely changed and had effectively been rewritten.

When the changes went public it caused a backlash from Diggs dedicated users who complained that the site was no longer user friendly. Since then, numbers have dropped dramatically as users look for the next big thing.

As of late, Kevin Rose hasn’t been very active on his Digg account, which caused many people to question whether his time at the company was coming to an end. This was confirmed by Kevin himself via Twitter, whilst also announcing he would be unveiling his new startup in the near future.

Unfortunately this looks like it could be the end for Digg. The company are failing in their attempts to stop the rot, and it doesn’t look like there is a way back for the once popular social news website.

Product Placement

By Cheryl | Posted in Twitter at 12 | March 18, 2011 – 1:16 pm

How times change. Three years ago Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham, slammed plans to introduce product placement on to UK shows, protesting that any sort of move would “contaminate” our screens. However, the government recently lifted the ban on product placements on TV, paving the way for big brands to spend mega bucks advertising on our screens.

Ofcom have introduced much tighter rules than other countries, ruling out a number of products that can be advertised, including those which are high in salt, sugar or fat or others relating to tobacco or alcohol. There is also a complete ban on advertisements across children’s television, news, religious and consumer advice shows.

Product placement will already be familiar to a lot of people as countries such as the US already advertise products on all of their daily programming and films.

The rules will differ over this side of the pond though. Ofcom have said that a logo must be shown before and after programmes that contain any kind of product advertisement. Also, unlike most US programming, the government has ruled that it must not deter from the shows artistic merit. This has been a problem for many UK viewers who have noticed blatant advertisement on popular shows and films imported from the States.

One channel that will not be lifting the ban however is the BBC. Under the terms of agreement, the BBC cannot use this kind of advertisements in programmes that are made for BBC licence funded services.

Will we notice a big difference? With Ofcom’s stringent rules it is unlikely that our programmes will be overrun by shameless advertising, although you will notice a difference. Generally the public are used to seeing brands on their screens, it’s just up to the TV companies to make sure the product placement doesn’t look too obvious.

Online advertising 2011

By Cheryl | Posted in Marketing, Twitter at 12 | March 14, 2011 – 1:03 pm

Online advertising looks set to take another rise again next year after the UK saw a 7% growth in 2010. Around £3.98 billion was spent by advertisers compared to £3.54 spent in 2009 and estimates for next year put it at a 4.9% rise.

What is Online Advertising?

Online advertising is promotion for business using the internet. Examples of this can include banners, email marketing, social networking ads and search engines. One major benefit of online advertising over more traditional methods is that ads can be immediately published rather than waiting for the release of actual publications and such.

Since 2009 online advertising has overtaken both television and print advertising to become the biggest output for many companies. These days a lot of magazines can be viewed online so the need for companies to advertise in a physical magazine is a lot lower and in a world of iPad’s and mobile phones, it looks like online advertisements are on the up.

Advertise on me

Sites such as Facebook have contributed to the increase of online ads with many companies taking up the opportunity to display their adverts on some of the most used site around the world.

Google and other search engines are another great way for businesses to get their brands noticed as small ads can be viewed next to search results which are viewed by millions a day.

Emarketer have released figures showing the billions that will be spent on Online Advertising in the UK.

2009 – £3.5
2010 – £3.79
2011 – £3.98
2012 – £4.33
2013 – £4.59
2014 – £4.84

LG’s G-Slate

By Cheryl | Posted in Android, Apple, Twitter at 12 | March 11, 2011 – 1:13 pm

At the same event they announced the Optimus 3D phone, LG also announced they would also be releasing the first 3D tablet, the G-Slate.

Although the tablet isn’t the thinnest on the market, the 8.9 inch screen makes it comfortable enough for everyday use.

The device itself is sleek and well designed, offering 5-megapixel front and rear cameras which allow video recording without the use of 3D glasses. These videos can then be instantly transferred to a 3D TV or YouTube 3D.

The tablet runs the Android Honeycomb OS and includes features such as a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 32GB memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth GPS, and the support of DLNA/HDMI connections.

The company has said the battery life will stretch as far as 9 hours watching films, but glasses are needed to watch videos on the device. Not something I would fancy wearing on the train!

Competition
Forget about the iPad 2. LG have set the bar for what is going to be a much sought after technology in the market. Although the tablet needs the help of 3D glasses, the fact that 3D capabilities are available on the device surely puts it ahead of the iPad.

Available
The tablet will hit the US market in March and although no official date has been announced for the UK, the product is expected to be released on the T-Mobile network through the middle of the year.

Mobile Development in 2011

By Cheryl | Posted in Android, Apple, Blackberry, Coding, Design, Mobile, Twitter at 12, website | March 7, 2011 – 1:03 pm

Every year people look ahead to what they think will be the big trends in the upcoming year. So, how do we think web development will change in 2011?

Gartner, the IT research company, has predicted that within three years, over half of all internet users will be accessing the web via their mobile phones and other handheld devices.

As the demand for Smartphone’s rises, the need for cross platform websites and applications follows suit. Statistics show that the mobile web has grown 110% in the US and 148% worldwide last year, meaning the need for mobile compatibility is extremely high.

Last year was the breakthrough of tablet devices, such as the iPad and the Android Tablet PC, both making their way on to the market to huge interest. It’s these tablet computers that will be one of the main consumer interests in the coming year, making it a learning curve for designers and developers.

Mobile development isn’t new by any means, but these days it’s a lot more advanced. A few years ago the screens were a lot smaller and excessive images on mobiles didn’t work well because the connections were so slow. These days, Smartphone’s have the ability to handle images a lot better, have a larger screen and run 3G for a faster network connection.

Is it difficult to transform your website on to a mobile or tablet platform? One of the main areas that can be a struggle for developers is screen size. Think of the amount of mobile phones on the market and you will see a varied screen size, whether it be height or width. In the development stage websites must be fully tested to allow for these types of occurrences.

The main point to always consider with mobile websites is simplicity is key. Although the design and layout is extremely important, there’s nothing more discouraging to a user than a slow website.

Meetup – The social networking site with a diffference

By Cheryl | Posted in Social networking, Twitter at 12 | March 4, 2011 – 1:09 pm

New to a city? Wanting to meet people with similar interests?

Sometimes it can be hard moving to a new country or finding people interested in the same hobbies as you, so could Meetup be the thing for you?

Meetup.com was founded in 2001, and has over 7.2 million members worldwide using the service. The website brings a new meaning to the word social networking; bringing people together through their interests and hobbies, with get-togethers in cities around the world. The monthly meetups are now up to 250,000 per month, across 45,000 cities, making it the largest network of local groups anywhere in the world.

Although the groups cater for an array of subjects such as wine tasting, rock climbing, kayaking, golf or to those new to the area, the service has proved popular for those just hoping to make friends.

Get your business involved

There is a special sponsorship option, allowing businesses to get involved and get their brand out there. The idea is for a company to offer members an incentive in return for joining a group; this could be anything from discounts on items to a place for the group to meet. The service costs $5 a month and could prove very successful, maybe even increasing sales and interest in the products or services you offer.

How does it work?

Users enter their postcode and the topic they would like to meet about. If there’s nothing that interests you, make your own group and invite people around your city to get involved. Sound simple? It is.

Vodafone Webbox – Turning your TV in to a Web Browser

By Cheryl | Posted in Internet, News, Twitter at 12 | February 28, 2011 – 12:54 pm

Vodafone recently announced that they would be releasing the Vodafone Webbox, which allows your television to become your web browser.

The device, which is actually a keyboard, plugs into your TV and allows internet access instantly. The keyboard comes equipt with a RCA connector,which can be found on most television sets, and with a Vodafone SIM card inside. The device runs the Opera Mini 5.1 browser and has a GPRS/Edge modem, with the 3G version hopefully not too far behind.

The company hopes it will allow people in developing countries to access the internet without fixed-line Broadband. The fact that you don’t need a PC and can use your existing television to access the internet means that Vodafone could be on to a real winner, especially in the emerging markets.

The Webbox will hit the South African market first under Vodacom, the African mobile telecommunications company owned by Vodafone, with others following suit throughout the year.

Will it work?

First of all, its a stylish keyboard and won’t stand out in any living room. The downside? Speed. This is not the product for users who are constantly browsing and streaming media as it will struggle to keep up; although it’s perfect for simple browsing and checking email.

Successful?

With countries such as Africa were there are many homes without internet access, this is the perfect and cheaper alternative. However, the company may find it harder to break markets such as the UK, as people now expect high internet speeds.

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