Is FeedBurner’s candle dimming?

FeedBurner, the service cofounded by Dick Costolo, seems to be getting a hard time from commentators on the web right now (actually, it’s been taking flak for quite some time now but I won’t go into that. It seems that the $100 million investment by search giant Google has been left hanging in the wind and the recent departure of Costolo to pastures greener (aka Twitter) doesn’t seem to have helped matters either - “FeedBurner is dead!” say the experts.

So, why all the grumbling? For a start, there’s the lack of integration with some of the amazingly powerful tools offered by the big G - Analytics; probably one of the best web analysis tools going right now but still no hooks into FeedBurner. Sure, we all know that integration takes time but Google bought FeedBurner back in 2007 which has given them ample time to get the work done.

The next big grumble comes from ad revenue; Google has integrated adsense into FB allowing you displaying pretty little ad boxes on your feeds. The problem is that the revenue derived from this feature is truly appalling. One commentator quoted a site making $200 every 1,000,000 impressions! You won’t be paying your debts off with kind return, let alone running a business based on ad revenue.

The original idea was that FeedBurner’s powerful set of RSS tools would be merged with Google’s infrastructure providing users with an incredibly powerful extension to the already awesome array of analytical tools available. Had this have happened everybody would have been happy: killer marketing tools for online businesses and a healthy revenue stream coming from Adwords straight into G’s very large wallet!

All well and good but, for some reason, this simply hasn’t worked out. And, with the departure of Costolo to Twitter, it looks unlikely to happen anytime soon. Ask any good techie and he’ll almost certainly tell you that integration is one of the hardest jobs going but, even if it is only one step at a time, Google needs to fix this. The highest priority for many webmasters is stats. After actual readers, stats are the lifeblood of any website (how did we get by in the days before search engines?) are need to fixed fast. The danger for Google lies in FeedBurners competition; there are plenty of sites out there that offer similar, and better services, than those seen on FeedBurner. If the search giant starts to lose ground in the distribution of RSS feeds how long will it be before competing sites start to build more, and better, functionality that eats into Googles core revenue generator? It will certainly be interesting to see if Twitter takes up the baton under the steely eyed guidance of Costolo!

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Microsoft revenue dips, Apple gaining ground

It doesn’t look like Microsoft is having a good time right now; their last quarterly financial results show a shortfall of about $1 compared to projections and a year-over-year decline of 17%! Before you start to write the MS obituary, remember that they are still a highly profitable company with a lot of cash tucked away in the bank and a huge user base. However, Redmond has never experienced year-over-year declines like this before, so what’s going on?

As you’d expect, executives are blaming the economy: home users are short of cash and companies are sticking with what they’ve got; after all, it works! Given the current climate it would be easy to accept that answer, however…Google is doing well , albeit after a few dips in share price, as is Apple. In fact, Apples share of the high end computer market is growing which means the money to buy high spec computers is out there but it’s not being channelled in the Microsoft directions! This point becomes even more interesting when you realise that although Apple sells to the mid to high end market, historically, they have never held the majority stake.

Windows is at the core of everything Microsoft does that makes money. They sell Windows, then they sell software that runs on Windows. As Windows goes, so goes Microsoft, and right now Windows is heading south.

The Windows OS seems to be losing ground at a rapid pace. Now, many will say ’so what?’ but the key here is that Microsoft builds applications that work on MS platfroms i.e Windows XP - lose the platform and you lose the installation base for your apps!

Many analysts are citing Vista as one of the main sources of Microsoft’s woes: expensive bloatware that needs a pretty high spec just to run (then there was the whole shambles around Vista certified hardware only being able to run Home Basic!). How many Windows users have you met that absolutely love Vista? Sure, Windows 7 looks good and runs well on moderately spec’d hardware but it may be a case of too little too late.

Then there’s Google. The announcement of the Google Chrome OS may, or may not, have sent shivers throught Redmond. Personally, I think that MS aren’t too bothered about Googles OS - at the end of the day Chrome will probably be designed around gathering even more information about your browsing habits so that the big G can send you even more relevant ads! Equally, Google are probably eyeing the announcement of the MS/Yahoo deal with an interested eye. The effective merger makes MicroHoo the second biggest search engine with about 28% of the market.

As I seee it, the major problem for Microsoft is diversification - too much, too soon. The release of the Vista memory hog didn’t help either. Right now, it’s time to get back to basics and deliver something that works, and works well. Once you re-capture the majority share you start to spred the tendrils.

Then again, I could be wrong. Microsoft may not have any plans for the future release of OSes - after all, they seem to be putting a lot of money into SaaS (just like Google). It’s food for thought….

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Google Chrome looks to have done a good job of reigniting the browser wars that many of have long since forgotten Sure, FireFox is doing a good job and has picked up significant market share but the recent announcement of the Chrome OS looks set to upset the apple cart…again.

So far, Chrome has managed to garner a respectable market share of nearly 2 percent which may not seem like a lot but you have to remember that it was only launch back in 2008. The main disadvantage that Chrome has is that it’s not bundled into an OS like Microsofts Internet Explorer or Apples Safari but that is all changing. Google recently announced that they are building the Chrome OS designed specifically to fun on those feisty little netbooks that seem to be all the rage right now. This could give Chrome a significant advantage the developers favourite, FireFox.

Google has also been working hard to emulate features seen in other browsers - plug-ins, bookmark management, print preview, and all the other gizmos that nobody really uses! In addition, they’re working on greater security and faster performance when running applications written in the JavaScript (such as the ability to kill of a tab that has hung).

One of the most significant announcements to come from the search giant is the current development of its O3D plug-in which allows for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics into its Chrome browser. The idea behind this plug-in is to further Google’s ambition to speed up the transformation of the internet from a static medium into a foundation for applications - think Google Apps. Another ongoing project is the Google Native Client, which allows Web applications to take advantage of a computer’s native processing power.

In short, it looks like Google is progressing with their aim of moving your desktop and applications onto the web, a sort of cloud computing gargantuan.

Are we going to see a return of the browser wars? Probably but nothing compared to the early days of IE. Google has a plan for the Chrome OS and it isn’t just about being the best web browser. Watch this space.

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6 of the best for Google! The search giant has owned up to breaking the rules of Apple’s iPhone SDK when it created the latest version of the Google Mobile application for the iPhone.

Apparently, Google Mobile uses undocumented APIs (application programming interfaces) in order to use the iPhone’s proximity sensor to prompt a verbal search. iPhone developers are supposed to use only the APIs that Apple publishes in their SDK when creating their ‘home-brewed’ applications - it’s written in the terms!

Although Google has put their hand up over breaking the terms of the agreement it has denied a far a more serious charge; linking to private or dynamic frameworks in the Google Mobile application. Now, I’m not a hardcore developer but even I know that merits more than a slap on the wrist. Undocumented API’s have a major failiing - the lack of documentation around means that future updates of Apple software could break as a result of an undocumented API being used.

It’s not clear if Apple knew that Google were using undocumented API’s but it’s likely that they just sort of slipped through the net. Apple has a hard time policing policing all the apps that go into the App Store so it could be a simple oversight…or it could be part of Google’s plan to take over the whole world, one mobile vendor at at time.

If Apple decides to enforce the agreements terms, Google could be forced to rewrite the Google Mobile code. Simple enough, you might think but look at it another way; Google Mobile’s proximity sensor/verbal search software works because it uses undocumented API’s. Without them, the code will probably be bloated and a long time coming - not the sort of news that current users want to hear.

There is one other solution - Google can simply buy Apple. Or Apple could build their own search engine…..hmm.

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Watch out Google, the rumour mill is grinding and sources suggest that Apple is developing a search engine to rival the search giant - I can hear Google sniggering as I type!

The news, which came out of TechCrunch.com, may well be influenced by the fact that Google’s Android OS looks set to take a chunk out of the iPhone market - fight fire with fire, boys.

Although this rumour seems to be a death wish it’s actually quite a logical move on Apple’s part - right now, iPods and iPhones own a seriously large chunk of the market for their respective sectors. By building a search engine which integrates into OS X and charging for ad space Apple could pull in some serious moolah. Then there’s Safari - make an Apple search engine the default setting, sit back and let the money roll in.

TechCrunch does go on to point out that Apple may simply be redesigning the user experience for searching whilst retaining Google as the engine of choice.

Either way, Google currently holds the search engine crown. To beat them, Apple will have to produce something specatular which integrates easily and provides the relevancy users want. Integration will be simple for Apple - they own OS X, the rest…let’s wait and see.

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You can stop holding your breath; as of the 31st October the T-Mobile G1 went on sale in the UK. Unfortunately, it’s exclusive to T-Mobile (we’re sure that will change in the future - it’s not like Google to be tied to one distributor). The G1 is available for free on T-Mobile Combi and Flext tariffs which start at £40 a month. This tariff includes unlimited mobile internet browsing so this should appeal to many of you.

The G1 includes Google Maps, allowing users to view maps, satellite imagery and get driving directions. A really nice feature of the G1 is that Google Maps synchs with the built-in compass - 360 degree navigation made simple. There are currently 50 applications that users can download for free at Android Market (it’s a sort of App Store clone) but expect to see a growing list of goodies as developers jump onto the Android bandwagon.

It’s looks like the G1 is off to a good start; free apps, a reasonable tariff and some pretty interesting features built into the Android OS should entice many users over to the way of Google. How will Apple respond to this?

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Remember when you found out that Apple had implemented a kill switch on the iPhone? Many iPhone fans weren’t overly happy that Apple could remotely remove apps and software that they thought inappropiate or just downright malicious. Yeah, I admit it takes some of the fun out of owning the iPhone but at the same time Apple were minimising the risk of lawsuits along the lines of “iPhone ate hamster”.

The Apple kill switch is old news. The Android kill switch is new news.

A report from Computerworld suggests that Android software has a very similar feature built into it. The article states that Google expressly says that they reserve the right to remotely kill off apps running on a users handset. A little bit too Big Brother for you? Reading into the article it appears the kill functionality is designed to protect Google and users alike - in the same way as the iPhone kill switch. In practice, Google is likely to remove apps that infringe on licensing or development agreements rather than removing your will to browse!
Interestingly, once the kill switch info was publicised, Google didn’t seem to receive much in the way of consumer vitriol; unlike Apple. Then again, it’s a fairly recent news event - it’ll take time for the information to filter down. At the end of the day, open or closed source doesn’t mean a thing. If you want to keep customers sweet tell them the truth from the outset.

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Engadget have produced a complete review of the Android based G1 handset. Overall, the handset received a massive thumbs up from the Engadget reviewers, Joshua Topolsky and Chris Ziegler. The most important point to come out of the article is that the G1 is that the device isn’t about hardware - the look and feel is ‘ok’ but the software features are the jewel in the crown for Google.

We’ve listed some of the reviewers high, and low, points below:

• handset design has a slightly retro feel
• not be the lightest of phones (weighs in at 5.57 ounces)
• it would appear that the flip out screen doesn’t give the reviewers the solid confidence of other handsets. When opened the screen felt a little loose and rattled when receiving calls/texts
• the 480×320 screen got a huge thumbs up. Outstanding colours and crisp text went down well. One minus point here - the G1 doesn’t utilise multi-touch; if users shout loud and long enough it’ll probably be added to future versions
• speaker performance could be better - it’s not as good as the Blackberry
• 3G speed tests were surprisingly poor - this has been attributed to T-Mobile relatively new 3G network which is still experiencing some issues alongside poor coverage
• GPS got a real panning - you can follow the link at the end of the article if you want the full details
• no support for VPN, Microsoft Exchange, and BlackBerry Enterprise Server
• the G1 had problems distinguishing between a long press and a scroll motion - the handset detects that your finger has moved, it kills the notion of the long press in progress until you lift your finger off the screen and try again
• the device has copy/paste between any two text fields - at last, a manufacturer listened to what we want!
• attractive home screen with plans to add widget support
• Google’s Calendar, Contacts, Gmail, and Google Talk support out of the box - although the reviewers weren’t overly impressed with all these features (but the GMail client has a ringing endorsement)
• no Flash support

As I said, on the whole the G1 is a real winner (in the eyes of the review team). It seems like Google has listened and implemented what users want. Admittedly, there are some annoyances but it’s early days right now.

Here’s the link for the G1 review

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YouTube now lets you buy your favourite tracks direct from the site. This new offering allows site users to buy games and music through a number of YouTube partner companies. No more asking where you can get track x or when the latest game will be on release - click, pay and download. Sales links will be made available on the watch page below the viewed video.

Music and games lovers will be able to choose from links to sites such as iTunes and Amazon.com. It looks like it’s YouTubes intention to target “…partners across all industries — from music, to film, to print, to TV”. This should mean an almost limitless source of media for YouTube users.

Currently, the retail links are only available to US customers but YouTube are planning to slowly expand the offering globally. Google looks to be really ramping up their battle for the hearts and minds of…everyone. Add the YouTube announcement to the Adsense for games news and I think you’ll come to the conclusion that internet based revenue will probably drive Googles profits for the forseeable future.

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Marriage of convenience?

Android’s here and it seems like everyman and his handset is going pie eyed over the open source mobile phone software - including Motorola. To be fair, Mototola has been a supporter of Android since the early days but now they’re really starting to show their commitment. Motorola are upping the number of Android development team from 50 to 350. This indicates a serious attempt to unseat Apples iPhone 3G as THE target for web developers.  As we all know, the better the app the more likely the phone will be adopte as the choice of users.

The most notable absence from the Android huddle is Nokia. The mobile phone manufacturer currently uses it’s own OS for mobile phones; Symbian. Although Nokia has open sourced Symbian other vendors are slowly chipping away at the market dominance of Nokia’s operating system. It would be fairly logical to accept that Nokia could, at some stage, join the party and launch their own Android based handset.

So, an act of benevolence on the part of Motorola or a shotgun wedding in an attempt to get a nice slice of juicey, sale pie? Considering Motorola’s falling market share I know which option I’d plump for!

Food for thought, eh Apple?

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