Face Recognition Coming to iOS 5
Apple is planning to include face detection capabilities in the next version of its smartphone/tablet platform, iOS 5, 9to5Mac has discovered.
It is too early to tell exactly how the face recognition in iOS 5 will work, but it appears Apple plans to open it up to developers via several API controls, including a call for recognizing the position of the person’s eyes and mouth. This means that in the future we’ll be seeing iOS apps utilizing face detection from third-party developers and possibly from Apple itself.
The technology behind this feature probably comes from Polar Rose, a Swedish face recognition company, which Apple acquired in 2010.
Check out this video showcasing an augmented reality app called Recognizr, which Polar Rose co-developed.
Source: Mashable
Facebook Adds Skype Video Chat
Facebook has announced a partnership with Skype to add video chat to the social networking site. The move is likely to be seen as a shot across the bow of Google, which recently launched a Facebook rival, Google+, also featuring video calling.
This is not the first time Facebook and Skype have teamed up – they already share some instant messaging tools. Skype is in the process of being bought by Microsoft, which is a major shareholder in Facebook.
The new video-call service was launched by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who also revealed that the site now had more than 750 million users. However, he said that the total number of active users was no longer a useful measure of the site’s success.
Instead, the amount of sharing – of photographs, videos and web links – was a better indication of how people engaged with the site, explained Mr Zuckerberg.
At launch, Facebook’s video chat service will only be able to connect two users face-to-face, whereas Google’s system allows group video calls, known as Hangouts. Mark Zuckerberg said that it was likely that other “premium” Skype functions would be added in future.
He also appeared to offer a back-handed compliment to Google+, saying that its creation was a vindication of Facebook’s vision for the social web. Industry analysts welcomed the announcement.
“Advertisers love anything that keeps users on Facebook for longer and that is something Facebook has been brilliant at – keeping people engaged with the platform for increasingly longer periods of time,” Susan Etlinger of the Altimeter Group told BBC News.
“It stands to reason that the longer you are on Facebook, the happier advertisers will be.”
In California, Skype chief executive Tony Bates welcomed the partnership, calling it a “long-term relationship” that could benefit both companies. At one point he had to correct Mr Zuckerberg on the subject of Skype’s ownership, reminding him that the Microsoft deal was not yet complete and still had to be cleared by regulators.
The tie-in was announced a week after Google announced its own social networking service, Google+.
“The two companies built these products separately and independently over a number of months but they will be compared directly,” said Ben Parr, editor-at-large of social media blog Mashable.com.
“They are going to be in more heated competition in the next year or so and you are going to hear a lot about who is going to win the social networking war – how does Google catch up, how does Facebook respond. This story isn’t going away.”
Source: BBC News
Posted in: Facebook, Social Networks, Web Video
How To Grow a Facebook and Twitter Fanbase Using Green Pie Vans
One of the most common conversations we have with clients is about how to grow an online community around their brand – particularly how to increase the number of people that ‘Like’ their Facebook page and ‘Follow’ them on Twitter.
There are lots of elements to successfully achieving growth, particularly around creating engaging content and frequency/quality of interaction, that could (and will no doubt) make up a dozen future blog posts…but, there are also the simple, common sense things that every business should be doing to build awareness amongst existing and potential customers of the opportunity to connect with their brand online.
We refer to it as making the most of your customer ‘touch points’ – wherever you interact with your customer either in person or online, let them know where and how they can connect with you.
So, promote your Facebook page and Twitter profile online and offline, internally and externally – embed Facebook and Twitter boxes on your website, add ‘Like us on Facebook’ call to actions on email signatures, business cards, stationery, packaging, external marketing collateral e.g. posters, press ads, TV commercials (seeing so many more of those coming through), on in-store point of sale and even vehicles.
Talking of which, one of our clients, Holland’s Pies have this week added Facebook and Twitter logos (along with their profile names Holland’s Pies Official and @HollandsPies) to their iconic fleet of green pie vans.
It’s a simple and relatively inexpensive thing to do, but makes really smart marketing sense since Holland’s 30+ pie vans are cris-crossing the North West (their core customer territory) on a daily basis and receive thousands of customer ‘eyeballs’ (OTS to you marketing types) that can potentially be converted into online fans of the brand.
When advising them to do this, one thing we stressed was the importance of adhering to both Facebook and Twitter’s brand usage rules. Luckily, both sites have very good, easy to follow guidelines and areas where you can download official logo’s that can be used both online and offline. You’ll find Facebook’s guidelines here and Twitter’s here.
What other ‘touch points’ are you using to promote and grow online communities?
Posted in: Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
Sweden Has the Most Wired Economy, Whilst the UK is Only 15th
Sweden and Singapore are the most competitive countries in the digital economy, according to The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011 by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Nordic and Asian economies are best at using information and communications technologies (ICT) to boost their growth, the WEF said. Finland is in third place, Switzerland fourth and the United States fifth. The UK is down in fifteenth place.
The WEF said ICT was “a key enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world”. It said the use of information communications technology was especially important “in the aftermath of one of the most serious economic crises in decades”.
MOST DIGITALLY CONNECTED ECONOMIES
- Sweden
- Singapore
- Finland
- Switzerland
- US
- Taiwan
- Denmark
- Canada
- Norway
- South Korea
Source: WEF
The WEF report focuses on the power of ICT to transform society in the next decade through modernisation and innovation.
Other highly-placed Nordic countries include Denmark in seventh spot and Norway in ninth place, with Iceland ranked in 16th position. Meanwhile, led by Singapore in second place, the other Asian Tiger economies highly placed are Taiwan and South Korea in sixth and tenth position respectively, and Hong Kong following closely in 12th. Canada completes the top 10 in eighth position.
The report, which covers 138 economies, looks at three areas.
They are the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholder sectors – individuals, businesses and governments – to use and benefit from ICT; and the actual usage of available ICT.
Source: BBC News
Posted in: Digital Britain, Web Stats
Facebook to Start Showing Films
Just picked this up from the BBC…
Warner Bros has announced it will stream some of its movies on Facebook. It’s the first major Hollywood studio to work with the social networking giant in this way. Executives hope it will be a new way for the entertainment company to make money.
The service will only be available to Facebook users in America to start with. But if it proves successful it could roll out to other countries around the world including the UK.
It works by charging people 30 Facebook credits, the equivalent of $3 (around £2), to rent the film. They then have 48 hours in which to watch it.
The first movie being made available is 2008 blockbuster Batman: The Dark Knight. Other films will follow over the next few months although there are no details yet on which ones.
As high speed broadband becomes more widely available growing numbers of people are expected to download more content like movies.
Warner Bros is the first big Hollywood player to make this step but if it’s a success others will no doubt try something similar. It also has implications for other providers of movie streaming services. Netflix claims it is the world’s largest with 20 million users across North America. Meanwhile in February Amazon launched its own version called Prime.
But by offering its service through Facebook Warner Bros has secured instant access to more than 500 million people around the world. That number dwarfs anything that competing subscription services have. It’s a fact that will not be ignored by other major players in the movie business.
Source: BBC News
Facebook Like Button Takes Over Share Button Functionality
Say goodbye to the Share button because the Like button is taking over.
After months of updates to its Like button, Facebook has released an update that fundamentally changes the button’s functionality to that of a Share button. Now after hitting the Like button, a full story with a headline, blurb and thumbnail will be posted to your profile wall. You’ll also be given an option to comment on the story link. Previously, only a link to the story would appear in the recent activity, often going unnoticed by users.
Though users may now think twice about hitting the button, given how prominently it will appear on their walls and in their networks’ newsfeeds, it should ultimately increase traffic to publishers’ websites.
Facebook has slowly been rolling out updates to its Like button and has stopped developing the Share Button. Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich told us that while the company will continue to support the Share button, Like is the “recommended solution moving forward.” However, Lucich today called it a test, saying “We’re always testing new products that incorporate developer feedback as we work to improve the Platform experience, and have no details to share at this time.” It’s unlikely that the change is just a test, however. Typically such tests from Facebook only affect a small number of users, whereas this change affects all Like buttons.
Perhaps the change was necessary. Because it was never made clear to users that the Like button would function differently than the Share button, many never understood what it meant to click Like on a piece of content. Making the result the same as the Share button could build stronger user expectations, ultimately fashioning a better user experience.
Source: Mashable
Posted in: Facebook, Social Media
SMEs Look to Facebook and LinkedIn for Lead Generation
According to eMarketer, Social media is becoming more popular among US small-business owners and many will be spending more on advertising, marketing and new business development in 2011, which will also impact the amount of resources devoted to social media.
More than 55% of small-business owners view Facebook as somewhat or very beneficial to their business, according to data from Ad-ology, which surveyed 752 US small-business owners. Other sites, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, also received nods from small-business owners, while group-buying sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial were lower on the list.
Additionally, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all saw significant increases in the percentage of small-business owners who view them as beneficial compared to last year. In the prior year’s survey, only 33.2% of respondents called Facebook somewhat or very beneficial, and only 18.5% said the same of Twitter.
Just as several social media sites are useful to small businesses, there are also many objectives companies find social media outreach useful for. Lead generation was the top benefit reported, selected by 57.2% of small-business owners. Ad-ology also found 54% of small-business owners highlighted monitoring what is being said about their businesses. Improving customer experience was another reported benefit of social media.
In a separate survey, Manta, an online community for promoting and connecting small businesses, found that 42% of small-business owners consider social media useful in connecting with consumers. Twenty-three percent of those same small-business owners also reported that they plan to make advertising and marketing their No. 1 priority expenditure for 2011, while 24% plan to prioritize new business development.
As social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn prove themselves beneficial to small businesses within several areas of their companies, small-business owners will keep social media in mind as they plan to increase spending in 2011.
Source: eMarketer
Posted in: Social Media, Social Media Statistics
Tech Review of 2010 by Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore
Interesting video interview from Bloomberg featuring Mashable’s CEO Pete Cashmore and his review of the ‘Top Tech’ of 2010 – a very good year for Facebook and Apple according to Cashmore.
Posted in: Social Media, Social Networks, Web/Tech, YouTube
Facebook Connections Map the World
Facebook intern Paul Butler has been poring through some of the data held by the social networking firm on its 500m members.
The map above is the result of his attempts to visualise where people live relative to their Facebook friends. Each line connects cities with pairs of friends. The brighter the line, the more friends between those cities.
After tweaking the graphic and data set it produced a “surprisingly detailed map of the world,” he said in a blog post.
“Not only were continents visible, certain international borders were apparent as well,” he wrote.
“What really struck me, though, was knowing that the lines didn’t represent coasts or rivers or political borders, but real human relationships.”
However, large chunks of the world are missing, such as China and central Africa, where Facebook has little presence.
Source: BBC News
Posted in: Facebook, Social Media, Social Networks
UK Government Reveals Super-Fast Broadband Plans
Every community in the UK will gain access to super-fast broadband by 2015 under plans outlined today.
The private sector is to deliver broadband to two thirds of the UK. Other, mainly rural, areas will receive public funds to build a “digital hub” with a fibre optic internet connection. Ministers say they aim for the UK to have Europe’s best broadband network.
“The reason we want to do this is very simple — it’s about jobs,” says Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Speaking to the Today Programme he said the government had a key role in “catalysing investment by the private sector” in broadband. Mr Hunt cited the example of South Korea which has high speed broadband throughout the nation and which was “90%” paid for by private firms. The government has earmarked £830m for the scheme, with some of this money coming from funds given to the BBC to pay for the switch to digital TV.
Mr Hunt said the strategy would give the country Europe’s best broadband network by 2015 and will be central to economic growth and the delivery of future public services, dependent on quick, reliable access to the internet.
Explaining why the government had abandoned the plans of the former administration that promised 2 megabits per second broadband for all by 2012, he said: “It’s silly to hang your hat on a speed like two meg when the game is changing the whole time. He added: “What we’ve said is that just giving people two meg is not enough, what people use the internet for is changing the whole time.”
A recent study by the regulator Ofcom revealed that fewer than 1% of UK homes have a super-fast broadband connection, considered to be at least 24Mbps. However, the government does not define the minimum speed it hopes super-fast services will achieve.
“In order to determine what constitutes ‘the best’ network in Europe, we will adopt a scorecard which will focus on four headline indicators: speed, coverage, price and choice,” the strategy says.
“These will be made up of a number of composite measures rather than a single factor such as headline download speed.”
Difficult-to-reach areas
Much of the detail of the government’s broadband strategy has previously been announced, including how it will be funded and the coalition’s desire to see everyone able to access broadband with speeds of at least 2Mbps by 2015. Labour promised the same minimum speed for everyone by 2012. But the coalition says that it will now roll together its drive for universal access with its strategy to deliver super-fast broadband.
At the heart of this is a plan to create a “digital hub” in every community by 2015. ”Our goal today is very simple: to deliver a fibre point in every community in the UK by the end of this parliament,” Mr Hunt is expected to say when he delivers a speech outlining the strategy at the London headquarters of computer giant Microsoft. Communities and local operators would then be expected to take on the responsibility for extending the network to individual homes.
The coalition has earmarked £50m of the £830m to pay for trials – particularly in difficult-to-reach areas – to see how it can ensure that super-fast fibre optic broadband reaches these communities in the timescale.
These new trials will run alongside projects in North Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Cumbria and the Highlands and Islands, announced earlier this year.
“We will be inviting local bodies and devolved administrations right across the UK to propose new testing projects in April of next year, with a view to making a final selection in May,” Mr Hunt will say. In his speech, Mr Hunt will also confirm that the government will sell off parts of the spectrum in 2011 that could be used for mobile broadband services.
Back aches
The strategy was welcomed by the Independent Networks Cooperative Association (Inca), a group of community broadband schemes. ”It is great that the government has taken up the ‘digital village pump’ idea that has been put forward by a number of broadband champions,” said Malcolm Corbett, CEO of Inca.
“This could go a long way to tackling one of the big problems with all rural broadband services – the costs of backhaul – the connection from the community to the internet.
“However, more needs to be done and the strategy misses some obvious opportunities, not least the way that business rates are levied on fibre.”
The current regime of levies on fibre installations has been a major bone of contention, with smaller firms claiming they are discriminated against compared to giants BT and Virgin Media.
Inca’s view was echoed by Trefor Davies, CTO of communications firm Timico. ”The problem with this is that it is effectively handing the cash to BT because the fibre tax system will make BT the only company able to offer a competitive backhaul,” he said.
Both called on government to address the levies and also to ensure that smaller firms had “viable” access to existing infrastructure – such as BT’s ducts and poles – that would be used to carry their services.
Without this, they said, small firms would be at “a competitive disadvantage” compared to BT when bidding to provide services. Mr Hunt said that BT had signaled that it will match the government’s £830m of funding if it is awarded the contract to provide the infrastructure for the community hubs. The firm said that if it was to “win funds on that scale” it would be able to provide fibre to 90% of the UK.
Under current plans, its fibre will extend to 66% of the UK, although only a quarter of this would be the faster Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) technology. The rest is the slower Fibre-To-The-Cabinet (FTTC), similar to the government’s “digital hub” plans, which does not guarantee a super-fast fibre connection all the way to a person’s home.
Source: BBC News
Posted in: Web/Tech
