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Charting the CES Chatter, Friday Edition [INFOGRAPHIC]

What were the hottest brands, trends and topics on Thursday’s penultimate day of CES 2012?

People couldn’t stop buzzing about Motorola for the second consecutive day. OLED display technology and tablet devices are still popular, but ultrabook laptops faded in the conversation as audio and gaming technology surged. And people shared more CES-related video than ever.

All this comes to us via Twitter this week in Las Vegas, provided by Simply Measured analytics. Click here for our report from Thursday, here for our report from Wednesday and here for our report from Tuesday. Check back this weekend for a comprehensive breakdown of CES Twitter buzz as a whole.


How Did Thursday’s Twitter Chatter Compare to Last Year?


As on the previous two days, overall Twitter talk tagged #CES showed the same general trend in 2012 as 2011, but with people tweeting at a higher rate this year. On Thursday both years, the Twitter action started slow in the wee hours before ramping up to peak in the late morning and then gradually ebb as the afternoon wore on.

(Note on graphics: CES officially runs Tuesday through Friday, so Monday is referred to as “Day 0,” Tuesday is referred to as “Day 1,” Wednesday is referred to as “Day 2″ and Thursday is referred to as “Day 3.”)



Thursday’s Biggest Brands


Motorola dominated the #CES-tagged conversation on Thursday, and peaked quite early in the day. The company has been very successful in creating buzz this year, largely on the heels of its announcement that it has agreed on a multi-year deal to create a series of Intel-based phones and tablets. No one came close to matching Motorola on Thursday, although Samsung did see a modest jump around late morning.


The Hottest Trends


Audio technology enjoyed a big Thursday, becoming the most mentioned tech trend for its first time this week. OLED display technology has remained steady all week, although Thursday represented its least noteworthy day so far. Meanwhile, slim ultrabook laptops have faded in relation to tablet devices over the course of CES 2012. Could this portend ultrabooks’ ability to compete against tablets?


Thursday’s Most Popular Domains


People shared more video than ever on Thursday, with YouTube becoming the top-tweeted domain name for the first time this week. As usual, the list of most-tweeted domains was heavily dominated by tech news and social sharing sites. Twitter has remained strong all week and hovered near the top of the chart again on Thursday, while Facebook had another slow day following a solid start to the week.


Who Are the Overall Brand Leaders?


Microsoft and Motorola are now tied for the largest share of #CES-tagged tweets, but are traveling on opposite trajectories. Microsoft grabbed a whopping 12% of the conversation on Monday, when CEO Steve Ballmer gave a highly anticipated keynote address, but has trended downward since. Motorola started slow but has increased in percentage each day.

But Microsoft has gotten more value per tweet, as people who mention the Seattle company have an average of 6,605 followers. That doesn’t measure up to Google, though; its mentioners average more than 13,000 followers each.

But enough from us. What does this data tell you? Let us know in the comments.

More About: CES, CES 2012, infographics, Twitter

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from Mashable http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/charting-the-ces-chatter-friday-edition-infogr...

Why Companies Need to Iterate Based on User Feedback


Ryan Martens is the founder and CTO of Rally Software, which provides agile application lifecycle management solutions and services to software developers. Rally is Ryan’s fourth software startup. Follow him on Twitter @RallyOn.

Unfortunately, Twitter and Facebook have become real-time streams of rotten tomato throwing.

Just ask Bank of America, which encountered wrath from its Facebook customers when it decided to tack on monthly debit card fees. Or Virgin America, when its site crash and subsequent system failure ignited a blaze of ticked-off fliers.

We all know the drill: You’re supposed to listen to your customers in social media, engage them authentically, and act like the human you are, not the company you represent. But I’m here to add that engaging with customers after they start using your product isn’t enough. You simply can’t wait until customers start getting mad and yelling at you online to change your product or strategy. At that point, it’s too late. 

Given the ability to reach customers and prospects via social networks, it’s now easier than ever to embrace customers in your product development process. Changing this process may not save you from the inevitable system failures, but it will help you avoid the slip-up phases typically associated with releasing new products or services. 

Users rule the world now; therefore, businesses must be more responsive by using agile and lean practices. Here are three simple steps to guarantee the development of desirable products and services.


1. Find Your Earlyvangelists


Today’s smart company asks lots of questions up front. The brand involves its customers in the product development process from the very beginning. Often called the “customer development model,” the premise is described by Steven Blank in The Four Steps to the Epiphany

Blank describes earlyvangelists as “a special breed of customers willing to take a risk on your startup’s products or service because they can actually envision its potential to solve a critical and immediate problem.”


2. Build a Minimum Viable Product


Start with bare bones. Put together a product that has the minimum bells and whistles, focusing on the must-have features only. Let your customers try it out and see what they like. Let them tell you what is missing. Let them tell you what is extraneous. Then build what really satisfies that problem, and stop there

When you solve a problem for earlyvangelists, you build a supportive customer base that will promote the product to other visionary customers.  You may now consider whether this product is desirable for an even larger market. 

In the software world, agile and lean software development methodologies leverage fast feedback from customers. Google’s product cycle is a pretty classic example of this customer-focused approach. Gmail Labs was designed to tighten the feedback loop between users and developers, so that it could learn quickly what people liked and disliked. It took out the extra step of having to go to a customer support forum or email a representative, and let users communicate directly with developers. This experiment greatly increased the frequency and quality of feedback, which in turn, allowed Google to rapidly improve Gmail and its suite of apps. 

Eric Ries’s book, The Lean Startup goes into these concepts in great detail, explaining how applying a combination of agile customer development methods and lean social media engagement can create a true collection of thinking and acting tools for today’s complex world. 


3. Release, Iterate and Repeat 


Once you have a desirable initial product, you can begin to test extension and offers into other markets and user segments. Using tools like KISS Metrics, you can now easily track the conversion metrics based on different offers to different segments before you build. This type of market feedback allows you to bring back “validated learnings” to the product team.  It lets you co-develop your market in the most capital-efficient and viral way possible.  

This is where the value of agile development kicks in. The short growth cycles that adapt to both positive and negative feedback let you steer your product into the segments without wasting precious development cycles. 

Surprisingly, many companies aren’t really embracing customer development yet. Maybe because they’re still afraid of what lies beyond company walls. If you have not figured out how to energize or support your customer base in 21st century social networks, then you might be very cautious with customer development.

So knock those walls down and begin truly embracing customers and prospects early in your development process. It’s clear that users rule, but they need you to make projects affordable and scalable first. Otherwise, be prepared for a social media rotten tomato storm.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Mableen

More About: contributor, development, features, Social Media, Startups, user feedback

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from Mashable http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/user-feedback/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_mediu...

Ask Engadget: Is there a Roku DVR?

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Jaime, trying to escape the tyranny of Windows Media Center with a DVR-enabled Roku. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

I gave up cable TV last year, making do with a (not very user-friendly) HTPC running Windows 7 Media Center. I watch free over-the-air HD and Netflix, but WMC is buggy and crashes a lot. Is there a Roku-style streaming player that has a built-in TV tuner and DVR functionality in addition to Netflix, Hulu and other services? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Our first thought was to hook up a Roku with Nowhere DVR and Elgato's EyeTV, but perhaps there's a device that's even simpler to set up that wedges both functions into a single unit without any sort of tweaking required. If you know the inside-skinny, rock on over to the comments and holler.

Ask Engadget: Is there a Roku DVR? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/14/ask-engadget-is-there-a-roku-dvr/

TiVo users watch less Live TV than everyone else

If you're a TiVo user it might shock you to learn that the vast majority of TV today is still consumed live in the US. TiVo's latest study shows that its users who have broadband connected DVRs only watch live TV 27% of the time. This just reaffirms what is obvious to some, that if people have an enjoyable way to access on-demand (streaming and recorded) content, they'll prefer it to live TV. These types of numbers do make one wonder whether the cable and satellite DVRs on the market are bad intentionally, or if its just because those companies are incapable. Either way, the mix of streaming options with recorded TV is a powerful one and the perfect stop gap while we all wait for the future to get here.

Continue reading TiVo users watch less Live TV than everyone else

TiVo users watch less Live TV than everyone else originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/14/tivo-users-watch-less-live-tv-than-everyon...

Nanocoating Waterproofs Any Gadget

An anonymous reader writes "Water has always been the bane of electronics, however American company Liquipel just announced that they have developed a way to completely waterproof any device against the elements. Using a revolutionary process, Liquipel applies a hydrophobic nanocoating to phones, computers, and other devices that completely waterproofs them and protects them against accidental exposure to liquids."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

from Slashdot http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/13/011233/nanocoating-waterproofs-any-...

The Coming Tech Battle Over 'Smart TVs'

An anonymous reader writes "One persistent theme from this year's CES is that television manufacturers are racing to establish the concept of 'Smart TVs,' sets that integrate modern browsing features, control through voice or motion, application support, and even upgradability. This article suggests the living room will be the location of the newest tech war. Quoting: 'To compete, the companies will have to offer carefully curated, high-quality applications and be open to supporting mobile devices such as tablets. Other media companies have already started: Comcast, for example, announced that it's going to allow OnDemand streaming not only to Samsung Smart TV's but also to the iPad. The TV makers are hoping that the multitude of additional features will be enough to trigger turnover like the industry saw after the introduction of flat-panel screens, Bloomberg noted. It's a big market, if the television makers can figure out how to crack it.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

from Slashdot http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/12/1418233/the-coming-tech-battle-over-s...

Twitter’s new @handle distribution pilot program

Today we introduce a new pilot program for distributing Verified Account @handles and public profile metadata to developers, media and content services, and consumer device manufacturers. The Echo Nest, Gracenote, and Rovi are the first partners in this program, which will scale the distribution of Twitter account data for integration in consumer-facing apps. Developers in the Twitter ecosystem can now work with these three partners to integrate Verified Account @handles and Tweets into their music and entertainment services.

read more

from Twitter Developers blogs https://dev.twitter.com/blog/twitter%E2%80%99s-new-handle-distribution-pilot-...

London Olympics Restricts Volunteers’ Twitter and Facebook Use

london 2012


London 2012 Olympic volunteers have been banned from posting updates and photos to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. The London Organizing Committee announced Friday that Games Makers, the 70,000 person volunteer squad, cannot post their roles, locations, or details about the athletes and other VIPs online.

“We understand that many of our Games Makers will want to use social media to share their exciting experiences at London 2012 with their friends and family,” a spokesman told Reuters. “As is standard in most organizations, we have provided some practical guidelines to give basic advice on interacting in a social media environment with the aim of protecting the interests of our workforce and operation.”

Broadcasting our whereabouts on Foursquare or snapping an Instagram of a celebrity sighting have become second nature for many of us. While athletes are permitted to tweet or post Facebook updates, the London Organizing Committee has made a decision that will limit the citizen discussion of Olympic events.

SEE ALSO: London to Get Europe’s Biggest Ever Wi-Fi Zone Before Olympics

Additional restrictions prevent Game Makers from making public statements relating to the London games, without prior permission from Olympics spokespeople, or speaking to schools about the events.

This won’t mean much of a change from Beijing 2008, considering that China bans Twitter and Facebook. However, one may argue Olympic volunteers could have provided excellent stories from behind the scenes at the games.

Do you think the Olympics are making a mistake by restricting what volunteers can post to social networks? Let us know what you think in the comments.

More About: 2012 London Olympics, 2012 Olympics, Facebook, Twitter

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/01/11/london-2012-olympic-facebook-twitter/?utm_sour...

Kogeto unveils Dot panoramic video capture prototypes for Android, GoPro (video)

Earlier this week, Kogeto announced plans to bring its Dot panoramic video recording accessory to Android handsets. Having already launched an iPhone version of the device back in May, Kogeto has a prototype of its Android counterpart on display here at CES, along with a second prototype, for the GoPro HD Hero 2. The idea behind the device is pretty simple: just download Kogeto's app, attach the holster to your smartphone, and begin recording. The accessory will then automatically capture 360-degree panoramic video, which can then be uploaded to the web, via the company's dedicated web platform. While you're there, you can also use Kogeto's online editing tool to cut and splice your video, jumping from angle to angle with the company's intuitive user interface. The quality of the video we captured during our hands-on with an iPhone 4 version wasn't exactly top-notch, but we're told that there are notable improvements for 4S users. All told, it's definitely a cool little attachment, and one that seems rife with creative potential. The iPhone 4 version, as we mentioned earlier this year, retails for $79. The Android rendition, meanwhile, is slated to hit the market this fall, likely for a similar price. No word yet on when we can expect to see the Dot arrive for GoPro, but be sure to check out our full gallery and video, after the break.

Mat Smith contributed to this report.

Continue reading Kogeto unveils Dot panoramic video capture prototypes for Android, GoPro (video)

Kogeto unveils Dot panoramic video capture prototypes for Android, GoPro (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/12/kogeto-unveils-dot-panoramic-video-capture...