I was approached a couple of months back by Dawn Papandrea, a writer from Getcurrency.com--a website recently launched by American Express intended to help better manage personal finance and provide with personal stories as people work to define and achieve success on their own terms--to take part on a story about young professionals working from home and I said why not! Check out this interview piece below for more about this story...these days anyone can do this, as long as you can prove your boss that your worthy of it.
Let's experiment. That's the message that Reese Ramos, 32, a digital-marketing and publicity professional in Los Angeles, was proposing when he suggested, just weeks into his new position, that he work from home on Fridays to increase his productivity.
"My boss wasn't very sure with the idea, as it was new to him," Ramos says. But he pleaded his case, arguing that he could make calls and work on business development leads with less disruption. "The office is a big communal loft space with no privacy, so my productivity level was much higher at home," he says. And Ramos knew from feedback that he was regarded as dependable and professional, with a great work ethic. His boss soon agreed to give work-at-home Fridays a shot.
"If you think you're a good candidate to work at home, you must create a business proposal that takesyour needs out of the equation," says Darcy Eikenberg, a certified workplace coach and founder of Coach Darcy LLC. "While you may want to do it to shorten your commute or avoid parking costs, that's not your company's issue—unless it helps them in some way. You have to make the case that it's good for the company." In other words, if you don't have an hourlong commute, you can start earlier and work later.
Working His Way Toward Home
Over several months, Ramos kept proving himself to be self-motivated and accessible, and he gradually asked to increase the number of weekdays of working from home. "I agreed to be reachable at all times via e-mail and phone, to meet with the team in person twice a week, to meet with clients throughout the week, and to provide weekly reports," he says. And whenever he requested a schedule change, he wrote up a formal proposal and followed up with his boss to discuss the logistics.
He works exclusively from home now—10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and sometimes late at night. So far, it's working out, he says: "When everyone is asleep is when the best ideas come up," he says. During the day, he says, staying connected is key. "We're always talking via e-mail, IM, and Facebook about things related to work."
Telecommuting is In
Thinking of taking a shot at making a similar proposal? Be prepared to work even harder than you do at the office, Ramos says: "Show your boss that you care, that you're entrepreneurial, and that you have a passion for your company and what you do."
Now might be a great time to broach the subject, with the economy still struggling. "As technology becomes more instant and accessible, working at home has become popular, and even encouraged by companies as they seek to reduce real estate and other location-based costs," says Eikenberg. "It's great for many roles and industries where the work can be done any time of the day or night, and without the direct interaction of others. And it can be an excellent option to attract new talent or to retain a high-performing associate who no longer lives near the office."
But if you thought working at home means tremendous flexibility, give up on that fantasy. "Working successfully at home means truly committing yourself to the work time, and not blending it with household tasks, childcare, or other distractions," Eikenberg says. Many large companies even require documentation that you have a dedicated home office that meets certain technology standards.
And another caveat: "Out of sight, out of mind is a reality," Eikenberg says. "To work at home successfully, you must also work to stay relevant and visible within your organization."
Social Media is here to stay and continues to expand by leaps and bounds, as a new study by Nielsen Online titled “What Americans Do Online”, shows 43% annual increase in the use of social networks and blogs. The study indicates that 1/3 of Americans spend their online time communicating via social networks and blogs than any other method. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and blogging platforms like Wordpress, BlogSpot and Tumblr are making a big imprint in the Internet space by initiating and continuing conversations going in a more social and lax manner. These are open and free platforms for people to express and share how they feel at any specific moment with no boundaries. These numbers speak for themselves as more and more online users continue to become more social and are very quickly turning social media into a mainstream activity.
What is social media?
Social media include web-base platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Blogs, etc., used as mediums of social interaction, networking and broadcasting media dialogues. Unlike traditional media—print, broadcast, radio, mobile and so on—social media is a interconnected web of online digital platforms for interaction and relationships, not ads or content the way traditional media publishes. Social media relies heavily on technology and new trends, as online users become more familiar and comfortable with new tools that make it easier for them to communicate in a more fluid and free environment. This is why players like Google, Facebook and Twitter occupy important places in the space, as they offer users easy to use, useful and interactive technologies to make their online experiences simpler and more fun.
A video put together by Erik Qualman—online marketer and author of the book Socialnomics—released a year ago and published on his blog has garnered over 2 million views, takes the social media obsession with stats to another level. The high pace engaging video compiles a slew of key statistics from many reliable sources that strongly demonstrate that “social media is not a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate”, as he calls it.
Here is a quick glance at those impressive stats:
1.Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
2.1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
3.Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet
(4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…
iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
For the entire video click play on the button below:
Real-Time Numbers
To illustrate the importance of how social media today, its power, influence and true magnitude here is a truly astounding and dynamically updated statistics widget that was put together by online media producer and social media guru Gary Hayes. It feeds from a Flash application that shows how active & dynamic the Social Web, Mobile Industry and Game Business is, by spewing real-time results of what’s happening now and what people are doing in this very moment.
Do You Know Who is Watching?
But, because of the nature of social media and technologies available out there, online users must always be aware of privacy issues and concerns that may sometimes compromise personal information. Granted, the two big players out there: Google and Facebook make everyone’s online experience unique and a fun experience, but by the same token they are also keeping a closed eye on us.
Check out this great creative image that describes the issue of lack of privacy in the Internet in a concise and graphic manner...
Privacy is in everyone’s mine and to keep a balance on what remains private and public is very important. Key Internet players must listen to the user’s concerns about this to maintain a healthy balanced relationship between user and provider. But, people must also understand that social media isn’t just a fad indeed and that Google and Facebook are here to stay and make social media more open and dynamic.
What are your thoughts about social media today and your concerns about privacy issues?
Just three years ago, Apple wasn’t in the mobile-phone business at all. Since then, its game-changing iPhone has become the most influential smartphone in the world. Now, on June 24, the company will roll out the fourth generation of the device, called the iPhone 4.
While attractive, capable new smartphones emerge regularly from competitors, a new iPhone deserves special attention for two reasons. First, the device lies at the center of a huge ecosystem of 225,000 apps, plus popular related gadgets like Apple’s iPod Touch connected media player and iPad tablet, which collectively are approaching 100 million units sold. Second, the iPhone’s multitouch, gesture-based interface; elegant Web browser; sophisticated music and video playback; and other features have been emulated on many competing devices, so what Apple does affects the whole industry.
I’ve been testing the iPhone 4 for more than a week. In both hardware and software, it is a major leap over its already-excellent predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.
It has some downsides and limitations—most important, the overwhelmed AT&T network in the U.S., which, in my tests, the new phone handled sometimes better and, unfortunately, sometimes worse than its predecessor. I’ll get into that below. But, overall, Apple (AAPL) has delivered a big, well-designed update that, in my view, keeps it in the lead in the smartphone wars.
The iPhone 4 is a dramatic redesign. It manages to pack a radically sharper screen; a second, front-facing camera; a larger battery; a better rear camera with flash; and a faster processor into a body that is 24% thinner, a bit narrower, and retains the same length and weight as its predecessor’s. In fact, Apple claims that the iPhone 4 is the world’s thinnest smartphone and sports the world’s highest-resolution smartphone screen.
With the front-facing camera, and clever new software called FaceTime, Apple has brought simple, high-quality video calling to mobile phones, albeit, for now, only over Wi-Fi and only among iPhone 4 owners. In multiple tests, this feature worked very well for me and is a classic example of the value of having one company do integrated hardware and software.
In addition, the iPhone now includes an updated operating system—which also can be installed free on the prior model—that introduces catch-up software features such as limited multitasking (the ability to run apps simultaneously); folders for grouping related apps; and, for email, a unified inbox for multiple accounts and the ability to present messages as threaded conversations. This software is called iOS4.
The iPhone 4 will cost the same as the iPhone 3GS: $199 for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory and $299 for 32 gigabytes, with a two-year contract from AT&T (T). The 3GS model will drop to $99 with a two-year contract and 8 gigabytes of memory.
Design
Physically, the iPhone 4 is attractive and feels great in the hand. Even the back is now clad in glass, which Apple claims is a superstrong variety 30 times tougher than plastic. I dropped it several times from a few feet onto a hard surface with no problem, and it acquired no scratches at all in my testing, even though I didn’t use a case or coddle it.
Although it is the same weight as its predecessor, the iPhone 4 feels denser and tighter—more like a fine possession than a disposable gadget. It still looks like an iPhone, but it manages to make the 3GS appear bulbous by comparison.
While its 3.5-inch screen, once considered huge, is now smaller than those on some other smartphones, the high resolution packs in a lot of material and makes text appear almost like ink on fine paper. The software is simply richer looking and smoother to use than on competing phones I’ve tested, with fewer confusing menus and settings, and far more apps.
Screen, Voice, Battery and Camera
Always brilliant at marketing, Apple has dubbed its new screen the “Retina display.” At a resolution of 960×640, it has four times the pixels of its predecessor and displays a whopping 326 pixels per inch. I don’t know how it compares with the human retina, but I do know that, just as Apple claims, text on the screen shows no jagged lines, even when expanded to giant size.
Voice quality was quite good, even on long speaker-phone calls, and data performance over Wi-Fi was excellent. Video and audio streamed from the Web played smoothly.
Apple claims longer battery life for most functions—seven hours of talk time, for instance, versus five hours on the earlier model. I didn’t perform a precise battery test, but, even in heavy use, the iPhone 4’s battery never reached the red zone on a single day of my tests.
The new rear camera is another big plus. My test pictures came out sharp and clear, even in low light and close-up situations. It isn’t the best cellphone camera I’ve tested, but it is a big improvement.
The iPhone 4 records video in high definition and, in my tests, these videos came out very well in most conditions. Apple also is selling for $5 an iPhone version of its Macintosh video-editing program, iMovie, for editing the videos.
FaceTime
Video calling is one of this device’s best features. As noted, it currently requires an iPhone 4 and Wi-Fi connection on both ends, though Apple says it is making the technology free to others and hopes to have millions of compatible devices. There is no setup and nothing to learn. You just press a FaceTime button, and if the other person accepts the invitation to talk face to face, his or her image appears, with your own image showing in a small corner window.
You can tap an icon on the screen to swap the front camera for the rear one, so you can show your caller around the room, or include other people near you who are behind the phone.
You can even begin a video call as an audio cellular call, push a button, and switch it to a Wi-Fi FaceTime call. It worked great for me, except for a couple of brief freeze-ups.
Multitasking
After years of complaints, Apple finally has brought multitasking to the iPhone. But it has done so in a limited way that won’t please everyone. On the iPhone 4, multitasking doesn’t mean every app can work fully in the background. To prevent a disastrous drain on battery life, Apple has allowed only certain apps to fully multitask. These include streaming audio services like Pandora, which keep playing music from the Web while you do other things, and voice-prompted navigation apps, which keep working while you’re on a call. Others that fully work in the background include Internet calling apps, and those that perform long downloads.
But some logical candidates, such as Twitter and Facebook, merely pause in place when you switch away from them. You can get back to them quickly, and they update more rapidly than before, but they don’t constantly update in the background. They only wake up in the background if you have set them to notify you of an update, and then only for a limited time. Apple says constant fetching of hundreds of social-networking updates in the background would kill the battery too quickly.
In fact, for many scenarios, such as games, Apple’s version of multitasking is really just fast switching among open apps that save their place. And, even to achieve this, the apps must be updated. For some users, this limited version of multitasking will be a disappointment.
To use multitasking you just press the iPhone’s home button twice and a row of icons representing running apps appears. Click on the one you want and, if it has been updated for the new operating system, it will appear just as you left it.
Multitasking also will work on updated iPhone 3GS models, but not on models older than that.
Folders
Because iPhone users can easily accumulate hundreds of apps, it can become difficult to organize them. So the new iPhone OS now allows you to group them into folders. For instance, I grabbed the icon for The Wall Street Journal app, dragged it on top of the one for the Washington Post app, and a folder was instantly created called “News,” based on the apps’ built-in categories. You can change the name to anything you like, or alter or disassemble the folders.
The Big Downside
The most important downside of the iPhone 4 is that, in the U.S., it’s shackled to AT&T, which not only still operates a network that has trouble connecting and maintaining calls in many cities, but now has abandoned unlimited, flat-rate data plans. Apple needs a second network.
Both Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T) told me they worked to make the iPhone 4 do a better job with AT&T’s network. For example, the phone itself is surrounded by a prominent stainless-steel trim piece that acts as a large antenna. And Apple said it also tuned the phone to try to grab whatever band on the network was less congested or less affected by interference—to stress the quality of a signal over its raw strength. AT&T said it, too, made some changes to its network with the new iPhone in mind.
But, in my tests, network reception was a mixed bag. Compared with the previous model, the new iPhone dropped marginally fewer calls made in my car, both in Washington and in Boston, and was much louder and clearer over my car’s built-in Bluetooth speaker-phone system.
Yet, in some places where the signal was relatively weak, the iPhone 4 showed no bars, or fewer bars than its predecessor. Apple says that this is a bug it plans to fix, and that it has to do with the way the bars are presented, not the actual ability to make a call. And, in fact, in nearly all of these cases, the iPhone 4 was able to place calls despite the lack of bars.
However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting “no service” or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this. The iPhone 4 quickly recovered in these situations, showing service after a few seconds, but it was still troubling.
Just as with its predecessors, I can’t recommend this new iPhone for voice calling for people who experience poor AT&T reception, unless they are willing to carry a second phone on a network that works better for them.
For everyone else, however, I’d say that Apple has built a beautiful smartphone that works well, adds impressive new features and is still, overall, the best device in its class.
It's been four long years since the last world cup took place in Germany, when Italy beat France for the prestigious cup!This Friday the referee’s whistle will mark the beginning of the first world cup of this decade, hosted for the first time in the African continent. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be in its 19thedition and it’s scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa.Soccer mania is seen everywhere: outdoor advertising, print, radio, mobile and online, with media spends this year higher than any other year.
Some of the biggest soccer stars today like: Messi, Torres, Ronaldo, Kaka, Beckham and many others will take part on the world's most-watched sporting event.According to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ / Infront Sports & Media, billions of people watched the World cup, and a good chuck of it did so in 2006 via online, from which we can only speculate that those numbers will rise tremendously this year.
Here are the 2006 numbers: FIFAWorldCup.com became the most successful sports event website in history with 4.2 billion page views from June 9 - July 9 — more than double the traffic recorded during the 2002 event.More than 125 million video streams, and more than 73 million page views on the mobile web portal after FIFAWorldCup.com went mobile for the first time.So, this clearly demonstrates that the online medium has grown quite a bit and that there is a huge market that can be prove to be high lucrative to tap into.
New and existing brands that support FIFA are beginning to spend more time and money in online marketing and have come up with many different ways to capture the loyal soccer fans attention to grab a piece of the pie.It’s all about making a good and long lasting impression, capturing the most eye balls and highest participation possible.Smart branding for an event of this magnitude and scale is key!
But before taking a look at the participating brands involved in this whole marketing game, let’s see how the hosting nation is branding itself to impress the world.
In preparation to this worldwide event, South Africa spent billions of dollars to brand itself the best way possible.Five new stadiums were built for the tournament and five existing venues have been upgraded.In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa has also improved its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with state of the art transportation systems and projects.Hotels, restaurants, parks and many other hospitality establishments have also spent millions preparing for this big event to be ready to accommodate visitors to full capacity.
South Africa has also implemented safety and security measures for local and international tourists attending the largest event in the world.Overall, the country has invested almost $10 billion, in four years leading this event, which they hope to be a great success and view the whole thing as an investment in the long run.That’s a lot of money for a developing nation struggling with so many internal problems like health and crime.Let’s just hope that what happened to Greece at the Olympics doesn’t replicate here a few years later!
South Africa has put a lot on the line in the name of branding itself to the world the hard way, but are they investing money in social media channels the same way World Cup sponsors have?
Let’s now take a look at how well some brands are doing branding themselves particularly in the online side of the business.
Official FIFA sponsors and sports/soccer centric brands have invested a great deal of money in social media for this World Cup.All of the official World Cup sponsors (and many non-official sponsors too) have been busy working on the newest application that can connect fans with a global social media audience via Facebook and their mobile phones, the most engaging viral marketing campaign and the most fun and simple ways to engage audiences and get them to participate.
Here is a list of brands that are present at this edition of the World Cup (some of them long-standing sponsors): McDonald’s, Powerade, Continental, Sony Ericsson, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Visa, Budweiser, Emirates, Nike, Puma, Umbro, and many others.However, not all of these made the cut on my short list of brands worth mentioning that have done a great job branding themselves at this year’s World Cup with solid online marketing campaigns and should capitalize from social media.These top player brands include:Sony Ericsson, Visa, Adidas, Coca-Cola and Budweiser.
Sony Ericsson - One of the long-term sponsors of the World Cup.
Power of Twitter - With Twittercup, Sony has proven to keep it as simple as possible, with a smart Twitter campaign that tells us social media and sports are a natural fit.The Twittercup collects and counts fan tweets, creating a competition among attending nations.The good is that since its launch in December 2009, the Twittercup has already amassed 43,000 tweets, the bad is that I cannot seem to easily find this on Twitter only the Sony site.
Visa – They have replicated a social application format used during the Olympics that proved to be highly successful called: social media match planner.
Facebook App – Visa’s game planner application with ability to share with friends and leave match related comments, scores high in terms of fun and functionality.
Adidas – A World Cup sponsor heavy weight in so many levels, Adidas has been a sponsor of the game since 1954.
TV Soccer Celebrity Ads – Adidas is relying heavily on a big budget TV ads with soccer celebrities like:Kaka, Michael Ballack, Messi, Villa and Zidane called: Fast vs Fast featuring their F50 adizero boots and trying to spark social media conversation onFacebook.At almost 80,000 views thus far, the video count is quite low for a big player in the game known for killer creative ads.
Nevertheless, Adidas has a huge advantage for being a close and strategic partner of the cup with the match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, manufactured by themand provides with boots and wear to many of the players and teams, giving them perhaps the most direct exposure and appeal to a fan.
Coca-Cola – Another brand heavy weight and present at the World Cup since 1974.
Funny UGC YouTube Video Contest – Coca-Cola has taken inspiration from Roger Milla’s 1990 corner flag dance to encourage users to upload their own unique celebrations on to YouTube, the winner of get to go to the World Cup.UGC funnies have proven to be very successful and the simplest the better, so Coke scores high here.Additionally, Coca-Cola is perhaps the largest brand on Facebook with 5.5 million fans and a huge following on Twitter, where the contest is nicely supported.
Budweiser– A well-known brand with a long standing history of success on branding and a sponsored of the World Cup since 1986.
YouTube Reality Show: Budweiser United – Budweiser held a global audition via YouTube to find 32 fans from respective World Cup countries who will live together in South Africa “Real World” style. Once the Cup kicks off Budweiser will create a YouTube reality show documenting the fans as they play out their rivalries en masse. As their team is eliminated so the house member will be kicked out. The two final fans will go to the World Cup final and the winner will present the Budweiser man of the match trophy to the best player.Facebookwill play a supporting a strong supporting role.
This one can prove to be the most creative social media campaign that promises to have a lot of legs, since it uses the two strongest channels in social media to replicate a reality show that was very compelling and successful among fans altogether, and may take reality shows to a new level and platform.
What do you think?
Who is faring the best in Social Media?
How well has South Africa done preparing for this colossal event?Have they neglected social media?
Recently I had a chance to speak with an influential Hispanic player in the digital space, and one who has made a difference in making his voice heard and who has been able to recruit a solid fan base from the bottom up.
In an exclusive interview with Matt Reyes the founder of Twitteros, we will get a chance to learn more about his role as a successful Latino influencer in the online world and how the Hispanic market has grown and become a key player in the marketplace. According to eMarketer there are currently over 26 million Hispanics using the Internet every day, and that number is growing just as fast as the total number of people within this minority, and by the end of 2012, it is estimated that there will be nearly 30 million Hispanics on the Web.
Let’s begin!
Have you ever heard of Twitteros?
According to Mat Reyes, the term Twitteros is a Spanish adjective that means, “Twitter user”.
Matt is the founder of Twitteros, a social media community hub for Latinos that Twitter, based on the Ning platform that launched in late 2008. The community hosts profiles, music, photos, blogs, forums, and other features.
As he explains: “The whole idea of Twitteros is to connect all Latinos that Twitter. We have so much to say and so much to learn from each other, and this group will only connect us even more!”
In my 1:1 chat with Matt Reyes, he was very open to share with us more about Twitteros and his role as an influencer in the market, so influential that the 2010 US Census partnered with him and his social network to encourage Hispanics to be counted and share the importance of taking part in the act.
Who is Matt Reyes?
I’m a Texas-born and Washington, DC—based marketer, musician, politico, and Texas Longhorn. I am the founder of the Department of Influence, a new media initiative, and created Twitteros.net.
I am well-versed and active in bottom-up media, organizations, and theory, I believe in the marketing philosophies of Douglas Rushkoff and Seth Godin. As a follower of these principles, I have helped organizations ranging from major brands to cultural arts institutions define their purpose, create authentic word of mouth, and become innovative.
How big do you think is the Hispanic influence online these days? It's growing each and every day. We are still yet to be on par with the general market, but influence is much greater among younger communities.
Do you consider yourself part of the generation Y and a web 2.0 junkie with the creation of Twitteros?Yes, I definitely consider myself a millennial and consider those who join Twitteros millennial-minded.
Do you consider yourself a tech junky?
Yes, of course.
How did the whole idea of creating Twitteros come up?Basically, I modeled Twitteros after Twitter Moms with the goal of uniting Latino Twitter users and showing their diverse interests. Twitteros is the network for digitally influential Latinos.
(His profile reads on Twitter Moms: “I am a fan of Twitter Moms...even though I'm a dude!” From this, we can infer that his approach of creating a community like this moms' hub for Latinos to connect, seems to have certainly worked.)
Why a parrot?
A parrot humorously replaces the bird that is famous on Twitter. Matt further explains: “I wanted a character that is Latino and thought the parrot would be a pretty funny take on the Twitter bird!”
How long has it been since you began your online community and how far have you gotten from where you started--traffic, members etc.?
Twitteros hit its 1-year anniversary this past December and we've grown to over 600 strong, influential members (subscriber) who are well-connected on the Internet. We've surpassed 100,000 page views since we began.
How is your audience broken down in terms of geography, US versus Latin-American based members?The site is mostly Latinos living in the US right now. However, there was a big jump of Chileans who joined after the earthquake. We are also gaining traction in other parts of Latin America.
Are you considering of migrating your community to any other platform—Face book?For the time being, Twitteros is based solely on Twitter and allows users to show their extended presence to their blog/websites. There is a Facebook page, but that is mostly for those who want to keep up with the blog posts that users post daily.
Are you still a one man show or do you have bloggers who write for Twitteros?Fortunately, the members help keep the website vibrant and full of content, especially when important issues come up. What's your influence with this year's census and Latinos?Twitteros is currently an Official Partner with ‘Voto Latino’ to reach out to digitally influential Latinos to get a complete, accurate count in the 2010 Census.
Have brands also reached out to you to help them get a WOM in the Hispanic community using Twitteros as the platform for it?Yes, we've had some support from @southwestair and @tmobile. We did a great campaign with T-Mobile during the Latin Grammys.
Where do you see Twitteros a year from now?
A year from now, I see Twitteros connecting even more Latinos with their varied interests both in the US and in Latin America. 60% of tweets are in a language other than English.
What do you like most about social media and what do you foresee in the future of digital space? Social media is only as good as the apps and open-source development that come from it. Content is nice (and key), but the tools are where the magic happens.
With the direction Mobile technology is gone in recent year, are you thinking of integrating your community to mobile in the near future?We are already connected. If you visit Twitteros on an iPhone, you can see the iPhone version of the site. (But, still no phone or Android application for Twitteros though).
Matt Reyes is one of those people who had a vision to connect Latinos online and his hard work and perseverance has paid off, his influence in the digital space among Latinos has certainly resonated in this community. This is a growing community who is very interested in following the latest trends in technology and innovation, shopping online and connecting with people online. Like Matt, there are many other influential young Latinos who have made their mark in the space, by creating an ecosystem that is necessary and useful for people among a specific community to connect and share their ideas and passions with each other.
APPLE: Multitasking Coming to the iPhone this summer, iPad this fall.
One of the biggest criticisms leveled at the iPhone and the iPad — that it can't run third-party apps in the background — will be fixed at last (partially, anyway), with a little help from iPhone software 4.0,Steve Jobs announced Thursday. The major OS revision will arrive this summer for the iPhone, while iPad users will have to wait until the fall.
The new iPhone software will pack in more than 100 new features, Jobs promised, including (besides multitasking) a unified email inbox, support for Apple's new iBookstore, a social gaming network, a series of interface enhancements (such as app folders and wallpapers for the home screen) and — yep, it was bound to happen — a new, Apple-controlled mobile ad framework, with Apple set to keep a generous 40 percent of future ad revenue for itself.
Without further ado, then, let's get down to the nitty-gritty:
Multitasking
Here's how it'll work: If you're running an app on the iPhone — anything from the core Mail app to, say, a game like Tap Tap Revenge — you just double-click the Home key to pull up a small window shade at the bottom of the screen, which can show four apps at a time (just swipe to scroll through more running apps). Tap an app in the new multitasking "dock" and you'll switch to the app, with the first app's state saved in the background.
So, will all these apps actually be running in the background? Well, no (if they did, they'd slow iPhone performance to a crawl and eat up battery life, Jobs said). That said, Apple will be allowing a few selected processes to run in the background, including music, VOIP, and location-based apps.
For example, Pandora will still play music while you're browsing on Safari (you can even pause Pandora or skip tracks using the iPhone's "lock" control bar), you'll be able to answer and maintain VOIP calls (think Skype and the like) while you're working in other apps, and location-aware apps like Loopt will be able to track your location in the background via cell-tower triangulation. (An icon will appear in the iPhone's top status barto warn you if a background app is tracking your location; you'll also get to tweak a series of new location-based privacy settings).
Universal e-mail inbox
Here's a feature that's been a long time in coming. Currently, iPhone users checking multiple email accounts have had to switch back and forth between those accounts to see their respective in boxes (a process that takes several more clicks than it should). With iPhone OS 4.0, however, users will at last get a single, unified in box, just like BlackBerry users have enjoyed since ... well, forever. You'll also be able to "fast switch" between accounts, sort messages by thread, and open attachments with a third-part app (nice). Also, good news for Exchange users: No longer will you be restricted to a single Exchange account.
Home screen enhancements
You know how the iPhone won't allow you to select wallpaper for the home screen? (That's the home screen with all your app icons, not the lock screen with the digital clock and the "slide to unlock" thingy). That's all set to change once iPhone OS 4.0 comes out. You'll also be able to create "folder" icons that contain a series of apps — say, for all your games — effectively boosting the number of apps that can be displayed on the iPhone's home screen from 180 to more than 2,100.
Social gaming network
The Xbox 360 has Xbox Live, the PS3 has the PlayStation Network, and now the iPhone will have Game Center, a new social gaming system that'll let you earn achievements, invite pals to your personal gaming network, compare top scores on leaderboards, and square off with other players via matchmaking. Third-party developers who've already set up their own social gaming networks for the iPhone (such as Gameloft and OpenFeint) aren't gonna like this one bit.
A word from our sponsors
Plenty of iPhone apps already feature in-app advertisements, but Steve Jobs (unsurprisingly) thinks Apple can do it better — thus, iAd, a framework for dynamic new in-app, HTML5-powered ads that "deliver interaction and emotion" (I know, I know). Jobs showed off a series of demos, including a full-motion app for Pixar's "Toy Story 3" (shocker!), a Nike ad that lets you design your own shoe, and a Target ad that lets you set up your dorm room. Ads won't pull users out of a running app, Jobs promised, and you'll also be able to play videos, games, download wallpaper, and view maps from within the ad itself. Last but not least: Apple says it'll split ad revenue with advertisers 60-40, with Apple keeping the 40-percent cut. Look who just got into the advertising business.
Other enhancements
Expect the iBookstore to come to the iPhone with OS 4.0, along with a series of enterprise enhancements (in-app encryption, wireless app deployment for an entire workforce, etc.) and support for Bluetoothkeyboards.
Which iPhones/the iPad will be compatible with OS 4.0?
The iPhone 3GS and the third-generation iPod Touch will be fully compatible with the new OS, multitasking and all, Jobs said. If you have the iPhone 3G or the second-gen iPod Touch, they will run "many things" in OS 4.0, but multitasking won't be one of them. Finally, the iPad will also be getting all the new OS 4.0 features — including multitasking — but not until this fall. Jobs didn't mention the original iPhone or iPod Touch, nor did he mention a fee for iPod Touch users wishing to upgrade (as we've seen in the past).
What we didn't get
No Flash support (just "no," Jobs reportedly said). No status-bar notifications for new email or SMS messages (which already exist on WebOS and Android phones). And no mention at all of an iPhone for Verizon.
So, what do you think: Happy with the new features? Has Apple fixed the iPhone's/iPad's multitasking problem at last, or think there's still work to be done?
