Nexus S: The Next Generation Pure Google Phone. What does this really mean?

As most of you (tech/gadget fanatics) know. Actually, scratch that. As many of you know (due to Google's savage AdWords campaign) there is a new Android phone on the market, which can be safely called Pure Google in a phone v2. This phone, the Nexus S, has been massively hyped in tech forums, discussion boards, blogs, and actively through WOM. 

Why is the is an important step? Well, who's heard of the Nexus One? Right, aside from the people that talk to me all the time about my fascination with mobile phones, there are a few of you "normal" people that have heard of the Nexus One. Google was a little to arrogant in their first round of Nexus Ones, trying ambitiously to shape human purchasing habits and get around those pesky service providers (a.k.a. buy directly from their site). On top of that, Google wanted to brand this line of phone as "superphone," a step above what we call smartphones today. Tisk. So why did this hurt them? People aren't ready to start buying phones they've never held before. Apple does a tremendous job of letting users play with their phones and their amazing UI before they even think about buying a phone or an iPod or anything else for that matter, that's why Apple sells tremendous amounts of hardware and Google sells service. They are very different companies at the end of the day, regardless of how many people try to say that they are competing within the same industry. Yes, tech is an industry, but each is a giant within its own sector.

But enough of that niche stuff. There have been progressive movements by Google in producing products that people can use everyday. Take the Cr-48 as an example of a new product that Google is currently testing before spreading it in the market. They are doing something unique and trying to force all their products to connect to their services via the cloud, etc. The Nexus One, the phone I carry with me everyday, forces me to use almost all Google services before I can fully experience it. Luckily, I am a diehard Google guy. I use Google apps for all my work and Google everything else for personal use, so it was fairly easy to integrate. To get the rest of the general audience that is already so familiar with Yahoo, AOL, etc. it's going to be extremely hard to start this Google-centric movement. One step a time, right?

Now back to the Nexus S. Why is this important for Google specifically? The Nexus S is supposed to pay the way for the next generation of smartphones in many ways. First of all, although this phone doesn't beat the iPhone in terms of retina display quality, it comes with all the bells in whistles we'll soon be seeing standard in many phones. Here is a short little list:

• Gingerbread - Android 2.3.1. This is setting the standard for features and functionality.
• 1 GHz Hummingbird process for incredible processing speed and multitasking capabilities. It's a snappy processor and gets what you want done...now.
• 4-inch 800x480 CURVE Super AMOLED screen resolution. This contour display is the first in the industry and ergonomically cradles your head for calls.
• Increased 16GB internal storage and removable microSD storage. With the introduction of Froyo in Android 2.2, users are already having the capability of pushing applications to the SD card to save space.
• Dual facing cameras.
• It has all the standard bells and whistles when it comes to WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, and digital compass. But wait, what's that? An NFC chip? NFC, in my opinion, is the next wave of mobile technology to be widely adopted by the masses. Big dogs like Apple, Google, Microsoft have been doing their due diligence in this technology, but this is the first time we've seen in in a widely offered phone. Near Field Communication gives us the ability to use our phones as a means of payment and making interactions with things out in the open. Imagine using your phone as a credit card so you never need to bring your credit card again? Smart.

Ok, more on why this is an important launch for Google. The build up and active marketing for this product was astounding - all the way up to and through their official release in all Best Buy stores on December 16th at 8am. You couldn't go to a single website without seeing a prominent banner ad. Chances are if you are going to the pages I'm visiting, you're seeing it a lot more often than you want to. Many of their D2C marketing campaigns were excellent - namely running the Twitter focused contests and awarding the most clever of users a Nexus S after going through some grueling mind challenges (my favorite was puzzle #2). 

And some marketing campaigns weren't as good. 

Bottom line, Google's doing some big things on the sales and marketing department, and I wouldn't be too far off to say that 2010 Q4 will be a solid testing model for launch of future products. Good luck Nexus S (named so after Samsung didn't want to be #2) and good luck Google on Q1 next year. It's about time financial focus wasn't put solely on AdWords ;).

AND, if you wanted to check out some reviews for yourself to see if the Nexus S is a good fit for you (trust me it is), then check it out here. And if you like iPhones, here's a cool video for you guys too. Much love.

TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/06/google-nexus-s-review/

Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/10/nexus-s-review/

Slashgear: http://www.slashgear.com/nexus-s-review-14119387/

Cnet: http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/samsung-nexus-s-unlocked/4505-6452_7-34431171.html

Android Community: http://androidcommunity.com/nexus-s-review-20101216/

Pocket Lint: http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/5199/google-nexus-s-samsung-review

Android and Me: http://androidandme.com/2010/12/news/nexus-s-review-and-unboxing-roundup/

Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/fred-wilson-nexus-s-review-2010-12

Phone Arena: http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Google-Nexus-S-Review_id2619

Happy holidays and let me know if you get one!

George

Bonus video here.

Posted via email from A blog by George Dy

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(300x250) Ad Campaign by Google

We all know advertising space is huge for all kinds of websites. Whether it's a blog, website, or shopping destination, real estate for ad space is very important to generate revenue. Getting a bid for $.10 CPC vs. $10.00 CPC is a huge deal and can really make the difference at the bottom line, so creating quality ads to convey a message in all our short attention spans is huge.

Here is an example of a Google 300x250 ad that I saw populated on Mashable. This is a really catchy ad with some basic components that all good publishers and advertisers should look at. Keep in mind that information and this factor of "catchiness" varies based on the type of ad you have. You can change from skyscraper, to leaderboard, to the infamous 300x250. And after that, you need to focus on content, color, and most importantly - placement.

I'm talking too much about advertisment and ad space now. Take it as a lesson - while people are still predominantly on websites (though now migrating to mobile devices) on-page advertisements are going to be a huge industry. Nice touch, Google.

Posted via email from A blog by George Dy

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10 Key Takeaways from "The Social Network"

First, and foremost, I want to start by apologizing for not writing for such a long time. I've currently been working with a company called Weatherista, Inc. where we are currently brewing something amazing. If you care to read more about it, you can find the beta at www.weatherista.com, but I'll be sure to write a blog when the time comes.

Secondly, before I get started on my key takeaways from the movie, I wanted to write my own "review" of the film. In one word (as the marketing campaign seemed to love doing) - brilliant. I truly believe that the cinematography and story were extremely well done. The film was entertaining, yet retaining a sense of intensity that I couldn't help my heart from racing for many scenes - but maybe it's because things like Facebook and startup related talk make me very excited. In any case, though there were some historical fallacies, I thought it was well done and maintained a good balance of fact and fiction. Great job Mr. Sorkin! I thought everything from music to casting was done well, but from previous experience with movies winning the "Best Movie Award," I'm not sure if it fits the bill. For those of you that haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching it and please don't read on and get mad at me for spilling the beans. Enough of that (and my biased view). 

10 Key Takeaways from "The Social Network"

1. Stay In School: You're Not Mark Zuckerberg. To give proper credit where it's due, I've linked you to the original article written by Vivek Wadhwa from Y Combinator. Here is what I think on the subject. We've heard people say they want to jump onto the entrepreneur wagon and ride it to riches just like Zuckerberg and Gates before him, but in reality...well, it's not realistic. We see and hear all these glorified stories, but what we don't see is all the college dropouts that have failed miserably. Even though Zuck is a very talented programmer, he had perfect timing, a good team, and luck on his side. It really is luck when you consider the following: the general public was ready for a paradigm shift in online communication, Mark met Sean, who managed to get funding and introduce him to the right people, he had team members like Dustin Moskovitz, who the movie heavily downplayed. For Zuckerberg, he was really at the right place at the right time and with the right product. Not many people will have this chance.
2. The idea of motivation and inspiration driven products over money is thoroughly refreshing. If you take a look back, Mark's primary focus was never to make the money. While his co-founder Eduardo Saverin and eventual President Sean Parker made it their goal to monetize Facebook and grow its value, it seemed like it was always the primary interest to build something that would be used by people. That's why markers like 1,000,000 users are so important over selling the company for a couple mil in the beginning.
3. Crowdsourcing was important then and it is important now. The scene where Mark shows us that he is crowdsourcing his art homework on Facebook is pure genius. Companies like crowdSpring have sprouted and began leveraging the power of crowdsourcing, showing us that it is truly a revolutionary idea that could only truly be implemented with social networks like Facebook.
4. Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. Even though Mark and Eduardo had a strong relationship and co-founded the venture together (bringing business and engineering genius together), thefacebook would never have taken off with Eduardo. I know it's a bit mean to say, but what started as an in-dorm project could not have sprouted to be the #1 social network in the world and #2 most visited site behind Google with an early focus on ad space. Zuck was right in the beginning: giving people a "cool" experience will really play its cards in the future - just look where they are now. Ads can really ruin a page and a user experience, which is something that Eduardo did not fully understand at that point in his life. Ads were money, and that's how he measured success. But ads was NOT the way to grow Facebook at such an early age, which is something that Parker knew from the get go. So while it may have seemed awful and "traitorous" to have backstabbed Eduardo like that, it was better for Facebook in the long run (they all probably have more money than they would have gotten with the initial business model).
5. Don't waste time, be wired in. In a subsection of 37signal's book "Rework" Jason Fried states that "Interruption is the enemy of productivity" and breaks the work day down into several pieces of high productivity disrupted by meetings, phone calls, and incessant interruptions. The phrase being "wired in" infers being a part of the product/a part of the machine. We should all learn a little lesson from programmers and implement it in our daily lives. If our goal is to build something truly impressive, you must bring it to market ASAP and iterate according to the masses. The best way to do this is to work efficiently, passionately and without interruption.
6. Get it in writing and read your contracts. It's important to get agreements in writing when you are bringing someone into your project, let's say..an NDA Mr. Winklevi (though this is not really the case since the product that they were trying to produce was not directly resembling thefacebook). Also, it is just as important, if not MORE important to thoroughly read contracts that you sign - or at least have an attorney read your agreements for you. In the case of Eduardo Saverin, he wasn't so lucky and suffered a 25% share decrease, though 5% and roughly $1.3B isn't bad at all.
7. Prepare to lose some friends over a great idea. While it may seem like an amazing opportunity to work on a product you are passionate about with your very best friends, think again. Most of the times you are rarely engaged with your friends in this kind of setting...and once money becomes involved, the entire situation becomes messy. With something as game-changing and revolutionary as Facebook, there was bound to be some internal dispute. Pick your team wisely.
8. Ideas hold no value, execution counts. What you create is rightfully yours. It's the twins faults that they didn't have Mark sign an NDA, though this may not have prevented Zuck from doing what he did. In any case, the case was simply put (and settled if you ask me) by Eisenberg's most resonant line in the film: "If you were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook." There were services like Friendster and MySpace (oops, My_____) that existed before Facebook, but even though they had the capability and history behind them to create the Facebook concept, they didn't. Enough said.
9. Don't be afraid to rock the boat. I really enjoyed the scene when Zuck first launch www.facemash.com and subsequently crashed the Hardvard system. Just like Napster defied the system, this was more like a sign of Mark's capabilities and his capacity to do revolutionary things. Sometimes it takes breaking a simple rule (or crashing an entire school's network) to make you realize the potential of a product that would otherwise be halted by red tape.
10. Go out and build, be inspired. This was the first thing that I thought of (besides, I wish I had created Facebook, hah) when I left that theater. You may not be Zuck, but it just shows how one simple idea, executed on time and well can redefine the way people interact with each other. Who knew Facebook would be an international phenomenon that caused a paradigm-shift in business attitudes, expectations, and the way we all communicate with each other. I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg, himself, was not thinking about this when he wrote the first line of code. So focus on your product, build something with passion, and see where your hard work will take you. It takes time to build something great, as the cliche saying goes: Rome wasn't built in a day."

Posted via email from boochikan's posterous

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Cool Infographic on App Distribution: Facebook vs iPhone vs Android

via holykaw.alltop.com

I love infographics for more than one reason. One, because they look awesome and two, because they are high quality link builders. For SEO purposes, infographics can get viral and develop into a link back fortune - though obviously premium content like infographics, video, etc. come at a high price.

Posted via email from boochikan's posterous

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The Social Media Effect

via 2.bp.blogspot.com

This infographic is incredible...though I wonder what viral content would look like. However, this all goes without saying that the content must be "spread-worthy" before something like this happens to it.

Posted via email from boochikan's posterous

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