@BasilPuglisi

Content & Strategy, Powered by Factics & AI, Since 2009

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TripAdvisor: TripWow Provides Impressive Presentations for Many Uses

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When creating this product, TripAdvisor relied heavily on the in-house developers at TravelPod. Their main focus was to provide slideshows that displayed unparalleled production value. However, their most vital concern was that the tool provided the greatest functional ease possible with current technologies. It seems as if they have succeeded. The presentations produced by this software are amazingly vibrant, professionally presentable, and utterly impressive.

How to Use TripAdvisor – TripWow

To begin, users can choose from a variety of themes such as Family Vacation, Flying, Outdoors, Backpacking, Celebrations, Romantic, and more. Once the user has selected their theme, or skipped it altogether, their next option is one of the most shining aspects of this tool. Users can now retrieve their photos from Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, TravelPod, or their local computer.

Choosing the Facebook option to test its capabilities, forty-seven photos were uploaded in less than twenty seconds. Then it allowed the selection of photos individually, or by rows. The preview button makes this a fail-proof option in creating the perfect slideshow, as quickly as it can be done. To top it all off, you can now view your slideshow, make changes to it, and then download it to your machine or device. Users are even given a link where their slideshow will remain indefinitely.

Social Media Sharing

If the presentation itself isn’t impressive enough, and it is, than the quick one-click option to share your slideshow on Facebook, email it to your entire contact list, embed on your site, or to send it to other social networking sites like Myspace, Twitter, and over three-hundred and forty more social networking and aggregate sites.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAyKFuTO_ow&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]

Open Options

Although TripAdvisor does target locations which allows for users to designate where their photos were snapped at, this doesn’t mean this tool has to be limited to sharing your family’s weekend road trip alone. Other uses could include:

  • Marketing Presentations
  • Training Slideshows
  • Travel Logging
  • Visual Campaign Management

There are certainly other options that could be helpful to many industries. A small business owner that owns a Roofing company could take photos of each roof they have completed, and build their highly professional and presentable slideshow to embed to their website.

Regardless of the business, most people will agree, seeing is believing. If your company makes a claim, and can provide visual proof of their integrity and workmanship, they are more likely to garner visitors from those websites that cannot.

Although many small business travel agencies have begun using TripAdvisor to advertise some of their greater destinations, no big names have picked up on this nifty tool as of yet. Considering the social media options and present-ability of their finished products, I would expect that to change in the very near future.

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Is Google Plus (G+) the key in the transition to Web 3.0

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A Google account has become the most powerful tool that any entrepreneur or small business owner could ever hope for. While Google’s general public brand has been tied to Search, Google has been building a monopoly that can and will change the shape of business, politics, and education forever. In fact, Google is Web 3.0!

Google has many, many tools and products in its offering, most of which are free! If you have not taken the time to look around I suggest you spend a few minutes and start to familiarize yourself with them, they will save or make you A LOT OF MONEY!!!

Google recently made a few updates, but the top bar has been around for longer than most realize, it is in this bar that Google is writing the book on Web 3.0.

What is it that makes Google such a force? Why is Google Plus or G+ such a big deal?

As seen above, Google has captured the “cloud” era ahead of schedule. Without even looking at the advanced features or Google Apps, one can create and store documents on their google account, set appointments organize and share a calendar, find new information and search for products, solutions, books, or even watch a movie or a how to video.

Social Media has changed the way that people interact and use the web, in fact web 2.0 was all about social media. Websites, software and plug-in updates that allowed people to interact with one another and turned a one directional internet into a multi directional web. In web 2.0 not only can you talk back to the media or information source, you could share it or pass it around. The individual web user could claim the brand of a company for better or worse. Dell had individuals that were not related or employed by the company providing customer support in the forums, and Milton’s Scrabble lost thousands, arguably millions in its brand because two other developers claimed the brand in Facebook.

Web 3.0 has been branded the “cloud” era where information, both public and personal is stored on the world wide web and accessed via data plans, Wifi or traditional cable and dial up. This includes massive files for things like high definition media, entire company databases, etc. This is really not something that is new, just look at how startups like Patch Media use google to simulate a traditional IT infostructure or Saleforce.com to organize track and distribute leads, sales and work. With only one main hub in NYC, Patch Media delivers people and content without traditional overhead in over 800 communities around the United States.

Google Plus bridges the gap between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

In Google Hangout people interact in a real time public space. Others now have to rethink how they look, speak and the body language or facial features that they use. (The innovative marketers and advertisers will need to think how to get a coke can on the desk during that hangout, how to get a new movie poster on the wall behind that person on the hangout etc.)

Google Hangouts has a game changing advantage for those that know how to present, speak and are truly genuine in public. Users should be aware that this new social tool is a lot like “Larry King Live” and you better be prepared for questions that you may not want to answer.

Google Plus has an A symmetrical sharing system, which means that we can send to others but not get a share in return. G+ from its creation allows users to separate professional and personal lives and even organize beyond the largest separation issue that has plagues social users. This interface along with many other features makes Google Plus the most advanced social media site/tool/software that has ever been created, but all that pales in comparison to why Google is so powerful in web 3.0.

If you are in a space where you are using social in a way that allows you to network and share both your personal life and professional life, what could be better than the Google suite of products? You can share and update documents in real time, video conference, make appointments, develop leads, search out information, shop and buy products, services and so on…

A small business now has an IT Dept. in one place. They can seek out support, generate leads, share reports, organize their schedule, promote their business with video, learn from other videos, advertise in Search, not to mention capture the power of social or viral activity. The digital business can now provide face to face support in a familiar environment something that many still crave.

A teacher or tutor can instruct a class or group from half way around the world, share documents, collect home work in real time. A educator or small college can now reach millions and take online learning into a space that captures the best of brick and mortar with distance learning once only done through text based posts.

A politician can capture and organize moral entrepreneurs, organizations and supporters from an account that brands who they are, what they are doing and interact with them with little or no technical experience or knowledge.

The shift in the world economy has come from millions of individuals competing with large corporations and brands that once held a monopoly on professional marketing, networking and talent. Thanks to a Google account you can now work with the best talent, develop a impressive network and generate a brand that is professional, technologically competitive and organized.

 

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Google Plus: A short Intro to G+

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Vic Gundotra of Google explained that, connection is a “basic human need”. The current online choices in social media did not have enough diversity inside each individual social tool.

Who should be worried about Google+:

  • GoToMeeting
  • Flikr
  • Skype
  • Facebook
  • Microsoft
  • EVERYONE!

Bradley Horowitz, VP Products helped build Google+ explained in an interview for Twit:

Google+ allows individuals to create social networks inside a single social tool to share as you want where you want, when you want. It allows you to not only share via a news feed, but puts you face to face with people via video chat or in “Google Hangouts”.

In the real world people interrupt conversations and the technology in Google Hangouts was developed to recognize that and move the camera, its designed to develop the natural communication we see in real life.

Another innovation in Google Plus is Spark. Spark uses google news and google search to integrated with content that you interested in, it will provide a personal filter for content that is fresh and new to generate conversation. It keeps the discovery and sharing within your circles.

Another Great feature of Google Plus is the instant upload feature for Android. It allows users to automatically upload pictures as you take them on your mobile phone, then when you use G+ its loaded and ready to share if you choose.

Huddles is the mobile version of the platform that allows you to interact in small groups, I hope they add video to this, it would make the mobile video a real userfriendly social option.

Changing Social Interaction on the Web:

In Google Hangout people have to interact in a real time public space, something that others will now have to rethinking. Success will now include how they look, speak and the body language or facial features that they use. Google Hangouts has a game changing advantage for those that do know how to present and speak in public and are truly genuine. Users should be aware that this new social tool is a lot like “Larry King Live” and you better be prepared for questions that you may not want to answer.

Stay Tuned for “What does Google+ Really Mean for Google?”

This is a great video look at Google+ and really starts to get to the culture of Google+ at 44 minutes.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3evAu7WN4Q]

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Why Online Videos are Important to Your Business?

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Videos are increasingly attracting huge audiences online. People love to share online video content, especially young people. They post them on social networking sites or spread them through e mails. Marketing people say that if you are not using video in your marketing campaign, you might soon be behind the crowd.

Why is that?

Think about this simple fact: 1 minute of video equals 1.8 million words, as demonstrated by Dr. James McQuivey of Forester Research. The amount of information contained in one single frame can take 3 pages to describe. The mood, the colors, the message is seen immediately. It is a known fact that people engage more when they watch a video and tend to stay watching it. They are also happy to pass it along.

Since e commerce has become so impersonal, a video that shows the business owner, the business itself and the products makes it more personal and human. There is now a face behind the business. The choice of music in the background makes the experience fun and uplifting, retaining the audience.

How big will online video be in a marketing campaign? It will be huge the experts say. Statistics done by Cisco.com and Invodo.com reveals some amazing facts:

  • In their estimation video will be about 90% of all internet traffic in 2013.
  • 64% of retail site visitors who view video stay two minutes longer in average compared to a site that does not contain video. In the e commerce world, the longer a visitor stays on the site, the greater the chances of him turning into a buyer.
  • Between January 2010 and January 2011 viewing time of videos grew by an amazing 44.5%.
  • Video in e mail marketing has been shown to increase click through by 96%!
  • With the right optimization, video increases the chances of a front-page Google search result by 53 times.
  • Internet retailers report that visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy the product than visitors who do not look at videos.

With these kinds of numbers, no wonder many experts turn to video in an attempt to get to the first page of the search engines.

Studies reveal the need for engagement from the viewers, and videos provide this kind of engagement. Just like comments and reviews on product pages, YouTube looks at the number of comments to a video when it decides which video should be on their front page. It’s more than just broadcasting, videos engage audiences and sends them to your site if the video is insightful, funny, gives information, educates and talks about people – how your product can help others to be more… what they want to be.

Where do most of those videos originate? On Google, 82% of video originate from YouTube, 3% from DailyMotion, 2% from MetaCafe, 1% from Google video and 10% from other sites which support self-hosted videos.

On Bing, 38% of the videos come from YouTube, 37% from Bing, 9% from Vevo, 4% from Fox News, 3% from CNN and other news organizations. The others, about 5%, come from different sites.

Does it mean we all need to become film makers? Not necessarily. There are many ways to create sales and promotions video; telling a story (which is the most complicated), using a simple camera and following the owner around, using screen shots, animation or just captions with music in the background to explain a complicated point. The big companies have been doing so for some years now but with modern technology, cheap cameras and free software, everyone can do it too.

Videos are an Information Experience:

Here is a law firm talking about the importantce of video, almost as if the lawyer is selling the product he just bought!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t2RmvrfV7k]

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New Creative Commons Option for YouTube Fans

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YouTube recently released some new options in creative commons licensing for their uploading fans. Users will now be able to choose to license their videos under CC BY or to retain the default option of Standard YouTube Licensing.

In human terms, CC BY is the ability to share, remix, or make commercial use of the video under the conditions of Attribution. This means the video must be attributed in the method that the author specifies, however, not in a manner that suggest that the original creator endorses you, your products, services or ideas.

 

Users must retain the understanding:

  • That any of the previous conditions can be waived if permission from the copyright holder is received.
  • That regardless of where the video or any elements of it are located in the public domain under the applicable laws, that its status is not affected by the license.

Most commonly, providing a link to the original authors web page is sufficient for applying proper attributions.

10,000 Videos

Along with its newly launched CC BY implementation, YouTube has also created a Creative Commons Video Libary that contains 10,000 videos from Al Jazeera, C-Span, Public Resource.org and Voice of America. This base catalog of videos are available for users to access, edit, and if desired, incorporate into their own projects.

YouTube Video Editor

The always useful video editor now also contains a CC option that will allow users to search for only creative commons videos from the freshly filled library and choose from them which to edit and remix. This can save loads of time for those who find video editing part of their daily grind. Once the CC BY video has been edited and remixed, the newly created video will automatically display the proper attribution linked titles to their original source videos.

The good news is that this library will only continue to grow, making the new liscening and editor capabilities. As it stands, after its first week with this format, the CC BY library has already grown from its initial 10,000 to well over 60,000.

What Does This Mean for Small Business?

Quite simply, this means that if you currently run your social media marketing campaigns through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you will be able to garner direct benefit for your business in time saved, higher quality videos, and quality linking to help build your web presence.

Whether you do your own video editing, or pay an employee to do so, this has been in the past a rather costly, time consuming element of a marketing campaign. The problem lies within the available creative commons licenses. As any video editor can tell you, searching for and locating videos or the content of videos can be a needle-in-the-haystack endeavor, with a walking-on-eggshells result.

This is because there are few places on the internet that allow for free, the usage of any of their material. Just like stock photos, there are stock videos, and fortunately, users can usually rely on these to be of high-quality.  Unfortunately, these can also be extremely costly and the specific proper attributions can make managing the editing process incredibly tedious.

YouTube’s new library and editing attributions presets have taken all of the hassle, and the hours of data mining out of the equation. Now creating a quick video to toss into your social media networks is easy work for just about anyone.

 

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Skype: The Platform that Microsoft Just Bought

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An announcement on May 10th that Microsoft had bought Skype was obviously colossal business news, however, most users seem more concerned with how the eight and a half billion dollar deal will impact their user experiences.

Skype in 2010

In the past year, Skype has seemingly remained focus on providing a positive user-experience for their consumers, and that focus may have also been a driving factor behind a reported $7 million dollar loss for the company. With whispers of a holographic Skype in the works, among other improvements, it seemed to be doing fairly well in keeping up with the times though. Other key elements in important improvements to Skype in 2010 included:

  • Two way video calling for the iPhone was implemented
  • New capability for phoning friends on Facebook
  • Even the President took the first-ever Skype call at a town hall meeting to help bring the entire world into the digital dimension.

In early 2010, Skype teamed up with Citrix to provide remote desktop capabilities in GotoMeeting for Skype video chat users. This partnership brought an entire new aspect to Skype’s capabilities when it came to meeting and beating the curve for a fully bundled, big business remote meeting or educational tool.

Ending the year with a crash due to shaky servers and a possible bug in the client software, Skype may have been sent plunging towards the edge it was brought to when the decision to sell began to seem like the best one for current users.

Skype Users

It seems that everyone is using Skype for either personal reasons that can include things like communication with family in the same country, or across the globe, to large corporations that have begun to use it to conduct meetings, or even hiring processes, thereby saving immense expenses in travel and other costly elements for their companies.

Predominantly used by highly educated males ages 45 years old and up, global traffic statistics shows its three-month traffic ranking stands at #198, while the US ranks it at #281. It is also incredibly popular in other countries such as Algeria, India, and Russia. Skype is still currently located in Luxembourg.

Future positive prospects for Skype may be possible, however, Microsoft may need to go as far as needed to retain the best, brightest employees that Skype currently has while implementing lucrative changes for the products longevity. Whispers of possible changes for the Skype program have included a wide variety of possibilities.

Facebook Friendly

One of the rumors includes putting the Skype product in front of over 600 million Facebook users by integrating video chat into their social network. Although it may have been no more than a passing comment, it was mentioned around the recent sale that ‘social’ may be one of the possible new uses for a Microsoft-lead Skype.

Since Microsoft still actually owns a small piece of Facebook with a buy-in of $240 million in 2007, it seems a quite likely, time and money saving idea for their developers.

Improving Microsoft Mobile Technology

It is no huge secret that Microsoft’s Windows phones are no true leaders on the cell phone market circuits. Since Android and Apple products already have the capability to run Skype apps, it seems likely that Microsoft would now follow suit, however, it is also obvious from a marketing standpoint that not quite everyone is into the video chat scene quite yet, although it of course remains a frank possibility for future benefit.

Gaming Integration

Although the Xbox remains a very popular gaming console with off and online capabilities, for high-end gamers, other consoles still remain top priority when it comes to real-time communications.

Considering that at least 10 million Xbox users now have cameras attached to their Xboxes, those 10 million now owning the Kinect system, already have the works for setting up video chat capabilities, indeed, video chat gaming integrated capabilities, could be quite endless with Skype as their video tool, and immensely intriguing to the gaming world, another extremely lucrative industry. No doubt putting Skype on the Xbox could be a significant push forward for both products.

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Social Brand Visibility: UStream

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UStream is a unique platform that consist of networks that include a wide diversity of channels that are open source options for live video streaming. Brad Hunstable and John Ham co-founded UStream while attending West Point, a renowned US Military Academy. Both of the co-founders had long been inspired by technology and received degrees in the engineering fields, however, it may have been their stints in the armed services that had a heavier inspiration for creating a source of live video communications.

With so many friends deployed to Iraq and time very limited in the war zones, an idea like UStream seemed the perfect solution for allowing soldiers to communicate with their families in real time and whenever they were capable.

Getting Started on UStream

Since UStream accounts are free there are some definite possibilities for any users with interest in live video casting. Simply head to the sign-up page and create your own account. Remember to try to utilize your keyword in your user name if at all possible.

Once you have a personal account it is only a matter of creating your own show or channel. You can create your own channel in just minutes as it only requires a quick trip to the dashboard, one-click create a show option and your channel is up, running and viewable by anyone.

Although users can create a snap channel and dive right in, it is also important to those who want to utilize UStream for marketing purposes to take the time to fill in the details. The easiest way to get the most coverage is to enter the correct tags, choose the closest category to your content and uploading a relevant photo.

You also have the opportunity to enter a short description of your newly created show or channel. The information you put here may be the most important as it is what will offer the most inclusive short description of your channel content possible.

Who Uses UStream?

Everyone from rock stardom to political conventions have been covered by UStream. Even big name radio stations such as Air America and Fox News Radio uses UStream to broadcast live streaming video casts which provides an enjoyable and free alternative to straight radio. Even CBS has their own live news breaking feed regularly on UStream.

UStream isn’t limited to politicians by any means and many famous young people are bringing attention to this format originally created with the best intentions at heart. To promote and connect with their fans users also include:

  • Ashton Kutcher
  • Snoop Dogg
  • Miley Cyrus
  • Perez Hilton

And many more celebrities from the A to Z list. UStream can go a long way for those celebrities that have not quite achieved public status. UStream can provide prospective consumers with a teaser of their music or live video shows. Even better yet, live events such as this RV show can be broadcast to those who may have great interest in the product, but no means to attend the event physically.

Recently, UStream was used during Social Media Week 2011 at the Social Media Camp hosted by the Roger Smith Hotel in New York. This event broadcasted live in two rooms as presenters covered various topics related to Social Media.

Statistically, common usage shows that there are only 438 sites with a better quarterly global Alexa traffic ranking than UStream. However, with much popularity in Japan, it is estimated that 33% of its visitors originate from there which has landed it a traffic ranking of 62 for their country. Although UStream began a slow but steady climb on daily traffic and page use in late 2009, numbers for the last thirty days show a 103% in user visits. 

Although obviously very popular in Japan, its average user tends to be moderately college educated and childless Hispanic males, with an age range of 18 to 34, who browse mostly from home.

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YouTube Advertising & Channels

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Having a custom YouTube channel is kind of like having your own television channel. It will allow the user to upload their personal videos and to promote their own products or services via their video as well as URL linking on the custom YouTube channel page.

To begin you would simply need to sign up for a YouTube account and begin uploading your videos to their site. Once uploaded, users should than plan to ‘market’ their videos in various places online such as social medias, blogs, news articles and website content.

Once you have an account you will find many options for customizing your personal channel. However, if you want more than just a custom channel for private use and have a good history of having great views on your YouTube content, you may need to apply for  a YouTube Partner account.

YouTube Partners

Becoming a YouTube partner will make you privy to specialized tools and customization options, including page analytics. This will absolutely help to generate far more revenue than simply using the regular methods of ‘getting the word out’ via social medias and bookmarking.

How Does YouTube Advertising Help?

When you use the phrase YouTube advertising this can mean two different things. YouTube does offer their own method for advertising your products or services via Ad campaigns through their web site similar to Facebook ad campaigns, where a user pays for a certain amount of views or clicks.

YouTube advertising can also mean the method where business owners or those promoting their personal services use YouTube videos as a means to help drive more traffic to their own website. Providing helpful YouTube video ‘How-to’s’, Tutorials and walkthroughs on products, services, internet tools and a vast variety of other things that can help bring one more viewer to a users site via providing helpful content in hopes that it will encourage the user to get help from the ‘pro’s’, which is hopefully what your YouTube video will make you appear as.

 There is no doubt that both of these forms of YouTube advertising can be effective. Even the smallest bloggers have had great results by utilizing links to and from their YouTube videos. The more videos a user uploads the better their chances of bringing more users to their channel.

Most YouTube advertisers also understand the what’s and why’s of why others are utilizing its capabilities as well, so are commonly known to help promote good content by sharing it on their own social medias, or by joining your channel or choosing to ‘favorite’ your videos. This type of ‘word-by-digital-design’ is just as helpful if not more so than traditional methods of advertising such as banner ads or affiliate linking.

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    Facebook Marketing Tool: Involver.com

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    Noah Horton and Rahim Fazal founded Involver.com in 2007 in efforts to provide a startup that can help brands begin to get a grip on managing their social media channels. Having grown from a company of a dozen employees to over sixty with many offices in areas such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Austin, and with more coming soon, it looks like Involver, is in fact, fully involved, with no plans of leaving any time soon.

    Involver has four main ways in which they help companies and organizations create rich and helpful experiences all across the social web.

    1. Involver helps to generate earned media by attracting attention from influential sources.
    2. Involver helps to get prospective customers engaged with your products and services through social networks.
    3. Involver can help to reduce marketing cost through a series of fully automated social networking services.
    4. Involver helps to maintain constant and consistent branding and advertisement for your products and services.

    This kind of brand management can be critical to a company and its ultimate success online. Those who use Involver will also want to take advantage of the features offered in the applications area.

    Flickr

    You can bring all of your Flickr photos to Facebook with the Flickr App from Involver. This will allow users to stream their Flickr photos displaying their entire album, or allows users to choose sub albums to categorize their photo streams.

    YouTube Channels

    You can set your video to directly deliver to your social networks upon uploading. This will help incorporate your YouTube videos into your active marketing campaigns.

    With so many more applications available there are bound to be at least a handful of ways to improve your social media interactions in Involvers many apps.

    • Facebook Stories
    • Social Catalog
    • RSS Feed
    • Promotion Galleries
    • Music Player
    • Polls
    • Coupons
    • Static HTML for Pages

    Many more apps available make this attractive and professional option in social media marketing and product or service branding an invaluable tool in the likely already full bag of marketers tricks of the trade.

    Get 10,000 Fans on Facebook

    “It was in November of 2010 that my train baseball fan page had reached 10,000 fans and I decided that I would finally start a business that aimed at helping other small businesses like you get off the ground using tools like Facebook. So this is where things sit today. I’m 24 years old, and get a pretty neat opportunity to help out small businesses make better use of facebook.”

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mFBa3QVD2Q]

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    iPad2 Announced and Motorola Xoom Released!

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    Even though it was questionable as to whether he would make an appearance today or not, Steve Jobs had an announcement he wanted to be the one to share. As he strode out to the tune of “Here Comes the Sun,” he brought with him the information on a much awaited device. The iPad 2.

    While some of the newest viewers claim that the iPad 2’s cover is far more impressive than the moderate upgrades and updates made to the new iPad, others heartily disagree. Jobs wants users to understand, that this isn’t a simple tweaked and fluffed upgrade, but a new device created from the ground up.

    Narrow Augmented Reality

    This version of the iPad will be a bit thinner, a tad lighter and have a few more features than the old version. Front and rear-facing cameras will allow users to use applications like Facetime as well as take photos or video. In addition, augmented reality applications that require users to ‘look through’ the iPad while drawing data atop of the normal view is supported.

    Motorola Xoom has already been tested with an augmented reality option in the recent past. In fact, the March 2011 issue of Popular Science will feature a 3D interactive cover that will reveal Android’s 3.0 Honeycomb-powered Xoom device. Xoom comes with a 1.3MP front camera, and a 5MP rear camera.

    More Apps

    Apparently, there can never be enough apps. With over 65,000 apps currently fueling the iPad, the new iPad 2 has already generated a whole new generation of apps. A YouTube application allows users to watch videos directly from YouTube. With a high resolution screen, users can also choose to view their videos in high definition with impressive results.  

    Xoom already has its own impressive list of apps in those such as the Wall Street Journal Tablet Edition app that allows more than just an informative read, but also allows users to download entire papers to read at their own pace, even if out of range of a wi-fi connection.  Fuze Meeting, that helps to facilitate communication between team or group members has proved another reliable Xoom app.

    New Processors

    The new main CPU on the iPad 2 is the Samsung A5 dual-core processor. This processor will offer speeds up to nine times faster than its original device. Additionally, there is also a newer graphics processor that is twice the speed of the original iPad.

    On the Xoom you will also find a dual-core processor, the Tegra 2 powered by NVIDIA. 

    Aesthetics

    Although unlikely to be dubbed fashion-forward by anyone, it will come available in white or black from day one this time. Also, the iPad 2 is only a mere 8.8mm thick. This is thinner than the iPhone itself. Think that is amazing? It has become even lighter at a slight 1.3 pounds.

    Motorola Xoom comes in black.

    However, as with just about any other mobile device, both products have already sparked another set of case and cover industries so your customization options, in the manner of accessories, is nearly limitless on both devices.

    Verizon Support

    If you are one of the many consumers locked into a Verizon data-network, than you will be delighted to know that there will also be a version of the iPad 2 that will support Verizon’s cellular network. Since Verizon claims one of the most widespread networks in the United States, this could be incredibly good news for an incredible amount of iPad users. Although Verizon isn’t known to be the most affordable carrier, they do boast incredible coverage that will make this version of the iPad 2 nothing short of phenomenal in coverage for this type of device.

    Xoom has this covered as well. There is an available Verizon version for this device as well. The Xoom like the Ipad2 will has data and non data options.

    Under the Bling and $$$’s of the iPad 2

    Although iPad 2 sure does seem to sport some shiny bells and impressive whistles, in the end, it may not be enough to talk consumers out of anywhere between $500 and $1200.00 of their hard earned cash, and those at ‘auction’ pricing. 

    The new iPad will be released for purchase on Friday, March the 11th, 2011 in the United States and on March the 25th in other selected countries worldwide.

    Under Xoom’s Hood

    Although personal choice in applications or abilities and even things such as accessories can always be weighing factors in personal choices between these types of technological devices, these specifics or details are still likely not the deciding factor for most who may be weighing which of the newer devices they actually plan to sink the funds into. Although Xoom may be a bit more expensive in initial cost at around $800 for the Verizon version and $600 for open wi-fi, in the long run, its application cost and accessories are likely to cost far less than its Apple counterparts.

    My Biased Opinion

        Apple has its core following, it has grown as far as it can, now that more reasonable and advanced players are in the Market with Android it shouldn’t be long before the Android platform surpasses the iPad just like it did the iPhone.

       Steve, its called Flash, wonderful little upgrade you missed.

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