Friday, May 11, 2012

Microsoft Bing goes social in search war with Google


Teaming up with Facebook and Twitter, Microsoft moves to intensify Bing-vs.-Google search battle

May 11, 2012 02:02 PM ET
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Computerworld - Microsoft's move to boost Bing's social networking feaures could finally give it an opportunity to truly take on Google's dominant search engine, analysts say.
The updated Bing search engine, unveiled on Thursday, can now include the user comments, likes and activities posted in popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, agreed withMicrosoft's contention that the redesign is "the most significant since Microsoft launched Bing three years ago."
"The Bing redesign really is a search revolution and the biggest change I have seen from them in years," Moorhead said.
"Bing could revolutionize social search by tapping into Facebook's and Twitter's capabilities. Unlike Google, Bing and Microsoft aren't vying to create their own social media destination, so they canaccess the best-of-breed social media sites like Facebook and Twitter," Moorhead added.
Bing's new interface, which is expected to move from a private to a public beta test period soon,offers users a sidebar that focuses on people in the user's social networks and their opinions and search queries, Microsoft said.
For instance, a user might search for a local bike shop. Along with the usual search results, there will be a "people you know who may know" social sidebar that offers up bike shops that friends have "liked" or commented on.
The social sidebar also is designed to let users ask their friends questions about their query topic, and those friends can respond either through Bing or Facebook, Microsoft said.
"Contrary to their history of unnecessarily overcomplicating software, Microsoft has shown a knack with Bing for boiling down functionality to a useful level," said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at CurrentAnalysis. "I think if anything, it will entice consumers to try Microsoft Bing."
Since Microsoft first launched Bing in the summer of 2009, the company faced a daunting task in taking on Google's dominant search engine.
And Google has remained dominant. Despite all of Microsoft's efforts, including an upgrade in 2011, Bing simply hasn't been able to take a significant bite out of Google's market share.
Now, Microsoft is hoping that its social search capabilities can become thegame-changer the company needs in the battle against Google.
Because it has its own growing social network, Google+, Google is at a disadvantage when trying to work with widely used offerings like Facebook and Twitter, analysts noted.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has strong relationships with both companies.
"Google needs to play more openly with Facebook as well as other social networking destinations, like Pinterest, Quora, Twitter and FourSquare," said Shimmin. "Google cannot afford to close its borders in defense of in-house solutions."
Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research, said Microsoft advancing the social context of its search engine is a good move for the company right now.
"Bing needed to redesign itself. It was the Dr. Pepper of the search market, and if it was ever going to make a move, it needed to do something different," he added. "I think the social search wars will be a great battlefront over the next few years. Bing has made their play, and now it's back to Google to respond."
Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at Twitter@sgaudin, or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed Gaudin RSS. Her e-mail address issgaudin@computerworld.com.
Read more about Internet Search in Computerworld's Internet Search Topic Center.
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Monday, May 7, 2012

Android Developers Can't Get Paid And It's Killing The Platform-Here's Why (GOOG, AAPL, NOK, MSFT, RIMM)


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A version of this note appeared last week on Business Insider Intelligence, BI's market research service on the internet industry. If you were a subscriber, you'd already know this! Click here to find out more and sign up for a free trial →
Cross-Platform Revenue Comparison: iOS vs. AndroidAndroid has a monetization problem. According to a report from Flurry, for every dollar of iOS revenue, developers only get 24 cents from Android.
Recently, we spoke with Peter Farago, VP of Marketing at Flurry, to get his thoughts on the mobile platform wars. Flurry is a mobile analytics company and so has a pretty good vantage point on trends and developments in the app ecosystem.
Farago laid out three reasons for us that he thinks are behind Android's monetization gap:
  1. Payments are not seamless on Android. Google Wallet, a new mobile payments system, was supposed to help solve this problem. However, as Farago told us, "Google Wallet has limited penetration, there is commerce friction."Compare this to other platforms. With iOS, you can link your phone to your iTunes account and download an app with one click.  Farago also cited Kindle Fire as another example. When a consumer fires up their brand-new Kindle Fire, they have to put a credit card down for the Kindle store, or else they can't use the device.
  2. "They don't have a curated store." This is Farago's personal hypothesis. As a result of the platform's nature, Android has a less efficient app distribution model than iOS. Farago thinks consumers have been burned more on Android, or, as he put it, "There's a lot of garbage on the shelf."
  3. "The consumer on Android is less willing to pay, there is more of an expectation that they get free stuff." Farago tells us this is a lot of developers' hypothesis. However, he believes it is often a self-fulfilling prophecy; developers choose to release a free, ad-supported Android app. He pointed to Rovio's Angry Birds Space, one of the most popular games of all time, as an example. Rovio only released a premium version on iOS. However, they created a free version, in addition to a premium one, for Android.
Farago also believes that Google will have a hard time fixing the problem, it goes against the company's DNA. Google wants to create highly scalable, frictionless systems. Consequently, it's the "anti-customer service company;" search engines don't have help lines. Apple andAmazon, on the other hand, have customer and retail in their DNA, it is a critical aspect of their user experience.
Furthermore, Farago told us, "It's against their culture, but it's also against their business model." Google wants to drive ad revenue, they are not as worried about the store. Their primary concern is expanding their ad inventory.
Closing Android's monetization gap, therefore, is not only a cultural challenge, but an inherent issue with the platform's business model.
We go deep in the weeds of this topic in our special report on the mobile platform wars →
DON'T MISS: Like Hell It's A Bubble [The State Of Startups] →
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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Apple Wins Ruling, Sanctions in Samsung Infringement Suit


By Joel Rosenblatt - May 5, 2012 9:01 PM PT
Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), sanctioned by a U.S. judge for its failure to produce source code in a patent- infringement case in San Jose, California, won’t be able to use some evidence to defend itself against Apple Inc., a judge ruled.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal wrote in his May 4 ruling that Samsung “plainly violated” a court order requiring it to turn over code to Apple, and ruled that Samsung won’t be able to offer evidence in the case about its efforts to “design around” three patents at issue in the case.
In its lawsuit, Apple claims that Samsung’s 4G smartphone and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer infringe its patents. In December, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose ruled against Apple’s request to block Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung from selling that phone and tablet in the U.S. That order followed an Australian court ruling lifting an injunction on the tablet there.
Samsung, which was the world’s largest seller of smartphones last year, and Cupertino, California-based Apple have filed at least 30 lawsuits against each other on four continents since April 2011.
In his ruling, Grewal said producing source code in patent litigation is “disruptive, expensive, and fraught with monumental opportunities to screw up.” Still, under federal law there is no exception to the requirement, especially when a defendant in a patent suit challenges the opposition’s failure to analyze the accused product’s source code, the judge said.

Design-Around

Grewal said he focused on Samsung’s so-called design-around source code developed for products with the “specific intent” of avoiding Apple’s patent claims. The ruling targets that code because “by their very nature design-arounds impact key questions of liability, damages and injunctive relief,” Grewal wrote.
“They are inevitably designed with substantial input from counsel for the specific purpose of distinguishing other products at issue,” Grewal wrote. “In short, they matter. A lot.”
Adam Yates, a Samsung spokesman, didn’t return an e-mail yesterday seeking comment on the ruling.
“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” Apple said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”
The case is Apple Inc. (AAPL) v. Samsung Electronics Co., 11-01846, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco atjrosenblatt@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
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