Does Its Open Source Nature Weaken Android for Google?
June 4, 2012
Though Dan Graziano still feels the open source choice helped Android get where it is, he suspects open source may soon be the death of the operating system. Specifically, all the manufacturer add-ons and inconsistencies between versions leave users with a sour taste. The writer shares his views in BGR’s “Being Open Could Close the Door on Android.” He asserts:
“I understand that vendors need to distinguish their devices from the competition, but forcing customers to use a clunky, battery-wasting skin is not the answer. I wouldn’t be so against Android skins if the manufacturers allowed the average user to remove them completely, and I mean without the need to root a device.”
Yeah, me too. While he’s at it, Graziano notes that carriers are not helping the situation:
“Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint — they all do it, some more than others — pre-install apps on their devices. This ‘bloatware’ often cannot be uninstalled and is found on just about every Android device, including my ‘pure Google’ Galaxy Nexus. To make matters worse, carriers and vendors sometimes enter into exclusive partnerships to offer services on certain devices.”
The most egregious exclusive services deal, according to the write up, was Verizon swapping out the default option for a number of Google services to Microsoft‘s Bing. That just adds insult to injury.
I won’t mention here the pun Graziano uses for cheap knockoff tablets; see the piece if curious. His point, though, is that closing Android would knock those useless things off the shelves.
Since Google seems determined to plow ahead with its Motorola Mobility acquisition despite China’s insistence that Android remain open for at least another five years, it would seem the OS will not become closed and licensed for some time. Can Android survive five more years of manufacturer and carrier tampering?
Cynthia Murrell, June 4, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
New Version of Cuadra STAR Available
June 4, 2012
Knowledge management company Cuadra is releasing version 2.0 of their popular archival collections management solution, STAR Knowledge Center for Archives (SKCA). This version features the addition of a Research Services module, which had been requested by costumers. The press release explains:
“SKCA users requested the new module because they wanted to integrate the tracking of requests with the cataloging data that they already have in SKCA. They needed to be able to track the work done by archives staff on behalf of researchers, including actions such as pulling materials from storage, photocopying, digitizing, and research. . . .
“With SKCA 2.0’s integrated approach, a staff member can easily log a request, generate a pull report, identify materials that need digitization, and use batch operations to mark the catalog records of materials that have been pulled, returned and reshelved. In addition, archivists can use the statistical and management reports to help them substantiate the work they have already done and monitor the additional needed work.”
Customer response to the new module has been positive. In fact, one client shared that the software will not only help with their current work, but also help them pursue long-term plans. Very nice.
Founded in 1978, Cuadra is headquartered in Los Angeles and has offices in Silver Spring, MD, and New York, NY. At the core of each of their products is STAR, an acclaimed software package with the power and flexibility to manage information collections of all types from many types of environments, including archives, libraries, museums, and publishing houses. A SaaS version of the system was released in 2003.
Cynthia Murrell, June 4, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Balakam Beta for Web Media Search
June 3, 2012
There’s a new service called Balakam, still in beta, that combines search with live media streaming. More than just a portal, the site allows you to search the Web for streaming radio, TV, and Web cams. Their About page states:
“The searching service allows to find sources of live broadcasting stations – radio, TV channels and web cameras transmitting live audio and video content over the Internet.
“The patented technology dramatically enhances the effectiveness of web browsing thus making the searching process quick and easy providing for the high relevancy of the search results.”
Balakam says its Geo feature lets users narrow the scope of their search to focus on a geographical area, be it their hometown or someplace on the other side of the world. However, I don’t yet see a link to use this feature, except for one little icon that lets me specify the US. As I am trying it out, the functionality is a teensy weensy bit buggy, and results seem highly skewed toward radio so far. I can’t hold that against them, though; this is a beta after all.
It sounds like the media search engine is a way to test the waters for the new company that specializes in Web search technology R&D. Located in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, the startup began at MeraLabs, a privately owned incubator for high-tech venture projects, and has received seed funding from Russian Venture Company.
Cynthia Murrell, June 3, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Scholarly Research Blogs Going Strong
June 3, 2012
More indications of trouble for the big buck professional scientific technical medical publishers—the scholarly research blog has become a big enough phenomenon to warrant its own scholarly study. Scientific American hosts a “Discussion of Scholarly Information in Research Blogs.” In this write up, Hadas Shema discusses an article she published with colleagues characterizing 126 blogs found at aggregator site Researchblogging.Org. She shares their inspiration for the project:
“Groth & Gurney (2010) wrote an article titled ‘Studying scientific discourse on the Web using bibliometrics: A chemistry blogging case study.’ The article made for a fascinating read, because it applied bibliometric methods to blogs. Just like it says in the title, Groth & Gurney took the references from 295 blog posts about Chemistry and analyzed them the way one would analyze citations from peer-reviewed articles. They managed that because they used RB, which aggregates only posts by bloggers who take the time to formally cite their sources.”
Ms Shema goes on to discuss the teams reasoning, roadblocks, and some of their findings complete with infographics. Shema is an Information Science graduate student at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University and a member of ACUMEN.
Cynthia Murrell, Sponsored by PolySpot
Sponsored by PolySpot
Competition in E-Commerce: What Draws Consumers to Your Brand?
June 3, 2012
Globally, online shopping is on the rise but does your website have what it takes to bring in the traffic? The more content you have online, the more consumers you’ll attract according to the article, eCommerce on the Rise: Is your Brand Visible to Consumers?
It boils down to convenience, pricing and availability aka ease of access as:
“Increasingly, consumers are spending their money online. For many it’s about finding the best price, ordering an item not available locally, or shopping from the comfort of home. Above all it’s about convenience and immediacy. Is your product or service available online and able to be found when consumers are searching for it?”
“Global e-shoppers spend on average 22% (us average: 23%) of their annual outgoings on goods and services online.”
It seems the traditional Sunday sales papers have become fodder for the recycling bin as consumers find better deals online. Even department stores that run weekly sales often have better pricing via their websites. Not to mention, scrolling through organized product lists and images is far more convenient then strolling around for hours gazing at shelves.
If you want to compete with the e-commerce businesses of today, you have to get the consumers attention… and keep it. Reputation is earned, and you can earn it by developing and utilizing a strategic marketing plan. The traditional advertising techniques no longer make an impact, so what can firms do? We suggest implementing Augmentext to bring the consumers business back to you.
Jennifer Shockley, June 3, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Price Comparison Search Tool Provides Enlightenment
June 2, 2012
There’s a new search tool that’s providing enlightenment with comparative shopping, according to Search tool Centzy helps compare prices at local firms. Confucius say, ‘always compare pricing and you will find best deal.’ Well, maybe not Confucius, but those are wise words none the less
The company is Centzy and they are catering to consumers in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Their delivering a new online search tool that may help consumers get more bang when giving local businesses their buck. They provide smart shoppers with business comparisons based on prices, reviews, store hours, and proximity to a user’s work or home.
Centzy gives the following input along with a little promotion:
“Ever have the nagging feeling that you’re getting ripped-off on your dry-cleaning or oil change? Know instantly with Centzy, the only one-click tool for comparing prices of local businesses you already use.”
“The cheapest yoga class, top-rated oil change or a dry cleaner that stays open late. Centzy simplifies your daily life by providing accurate prices, reviews, hours, and best-value ratings all in one place so you can make smart decisions. Compare, choose, and carry on—all with a few clicks.”
Currently this site just covers specific industries, but the possibilities are endless. Customizable price comparison search tools may become the next web designer Zen. Smart shoppers everywhere would be logging on and searching for price enlightenment.
Jennifer Shockley June 2, 2012
Sponsored by www.highgainblog.com
PayPal Clobbers Google Checkout
June 2, 2012
A recent study from performance management group New Relic reveals what’s happening in the world of online payment gateways. VentureBeat examines the results in “PayPal Handles 60% of Web Transactions, Leaves Google in the Dust.” The infographic that accompanies this piece is worth a look.
Though Google’s was found to be the fastest payment gateway, PayPal is trouncing it with 60% of Web’s transactions. That is quite a surprise to us, since we experience interesting situations with PayPal. Some are of the unpleasant interesting variety.
Perhaps we should switch to Google? Regarding that fifth place contender, writer Jon Koetsier reports:
“Google does win, however, in the speed category. Google Checkout’s average payment processing time was a blistering .26 seconds. In less than a third of a second, New Relic spokesman John Essex said, Google has to “collect and transfer your payment information – name, address, card number, purchase details, etc. – to the financial institution”, and then, of course, query Visa or MasterCard to see if you are a good credit risk, get a response, and return it to the website’s e-commerce engine. PayPal’s performance was only mediocre, but hardly pokey, averaging just under one and a half seconds.”
Average time across the board was 3-4 seconds, but some outliers clocked around a lethargic 90 seconds. As the article points out, speed is key in online purchases; no one likes waiting to check out.
Cynthia Murrell, June 2, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
How to Get More Search Traffic to Your Website
June 2, 2012
Biznology recently provided readers with an interesting take on how to fix a cluttered website in the article “How to Clean Up a Cluttered Website? Content Analytics is the Answer.”
According to the article, Google’s new search ranking algorithm allows the search giant to pay more attention to overall cleanliness and architecture. Therefore, it is essential that websites focus on content analytics.
Even websites that follow all the SEO rules such as writing excellent copy with relevant and engaging imagery as well as incorporated social media and relevant keywords and hash-tags sometimes don’t get high search rankings.
Here is why:
“A common reason: there are other pages in your environment optimized for the same keywords. Especially in large corporate settings, the main culprit to SEO failure is duplicate content. Often this is old junk that is just sitting on a server getting in the users’ way. More importantly, the old stuff is taking up slots in Google’s index, distracting the algorithm in its attempt to rank your content. Even if the old stuff was never optimized, these pages have links into them that should be pointing to your optimized experiences.”
The solution that this author offers to the problem of duplicate content is to “clean house” by auditing content, building a strategy, and choosing the right tools. If organizations follow this simple advice they are bound to up their search traffic.
Jasmine Ashton, June 2, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Understanding Microsoft Specifications for Designing a SharePoint Farm
June 1, 2012
In the eighth part of his SharePoint 2010 series, Robert Schifreen explains how he found that reading between the lines is an essential part of understanding Microsoft’s approach to specifications. His full account is relayed in, “Designing a SharePoint Farm: Tiers before Bedtime.” Schifreen decided on the three-tier model as the best architecture for performance in his farm: the first tier for SharePoint server IIS processes, the second tier for three more SharePoint servers doing all non-IIS things, and the third tier for an SQL Server.
Schifreen goes on to explain:
Having decided on a farm architecture, we also needed to think about the storage architecture too. The web, and especially TechNet, is full of warnings that storage can be the major bottleneck, and that it’s best to split the major data paths across separate physical drives. We originally drew up a plan that saw us using around 20 separate drive volumes on the SQL server, to include content databases, non-content databases, search indexes, transaction logs, tempdb, and so on.
But after further research, the team came up with a different method:
A subsequent session with SharePoint 911 convinced us that this was not a wise move because it would be too difficult to manage. Also, our SAN should be able to take care of ironing out any storage bottlenecks anyway. So we decided to start off with a couple of 1.6TB volumes, to put all the databases on those, and then to request further volumes from our SAN people as and when required. Moving a database from one volume to another, within the same SQL server, is relatively painless.
Overall, the post provides some practical insight into the design process. While SharePoint is a powerful and ubiquitous program, Schifreen points out that the data limits are a little deceiving as there are limitations with 1.6 terabytes. To round out your SharePoint system, consider a third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise.
Here you can read about the cost-efficient solution:
Company knowledge and the information in the Cloud are constantly growing. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Fabasoft Mindbreeze web client is the driving force behind the information pairing. It makes the access to knowledge user-friendly and easy. Correlations and links are semantically recognized and displayed. This provides your employees with a flexible, dynamic, yet still easy to use platform that grows with you. This is the professional implementation of Unified Information Access.
Navigate to http://www.mindbreeze.com/ to learn more.
Philip West, June 1, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Nuance to Perfect Life for the Couch Potato
June 1, 2012
Thanks to Nuance, it has never been easier to become an actual couch potato. Their software combined with Dragon TV just made your universal remotes obsolete. The article Nuance adds Rovi’s metadata to Dragon TV, becomes annoyingly good at TV trivia provides would be human sofa cushion a glimpse into television heaven.
Nuance created software that turned sci-fi to reality. The ingenious interactive programing allowed users to create their own great Trekkie moments, where your voice commanded an action from your computer.
According to the press release;
“Nuance and Rovi are also developing a new application that marries Dragon TV with Rovi’s innovative guide technology. The result is the ability to simply speak to change the channel, and browse, bookmark and search for content on both live and On Demand TV programming. For instance, people can say, “Find comedies with Adam Sandler. By incorporating Rovi’s broad content and information data in its language models, Dragon TV offers the industry’s most compelling, expansive and ready-to-deploy TV voice platform.“
The day couch potatoes have been dreaming of has finally come to pass. No more will you have to leave your couch to find the remote control, nor will you have to make inconvenient store trips for replacement batteries. Instead, simply speak your command and your television will be compelled to do your bidding. Thanks to Nuance, it is indeed a proud day for couch potatoes everywhere.
Jennifer Shockley, June 1, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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