Mobile: Apple and Starbucks Expand iTunes Song Giveaways To iBooks, Apps, and Video

First, there was the pick of the week song on iTunes that you can redeem when you visit Starbucks.  I like to think it was a success and now it looks like Apple and Starbucks are working closer together for other give-aways.

Now, we can expect iBooks, TV shows, and even iOS apps that are given away on a regular basis.

I find this kind of symbiotic relationship among vastly different companies (maybe not their philosophies) that can come together and make some magic.

But if you consider just how deeply in tuned both companies are in mobile, you cannot help but not be surprised.  Maybe Apple should so something and forge an even closer relationship with something like the iPod touch or the iPad.  Go to any Starbucks and you'll find it difficult to not see an iOS device or a Macbook at the coffee tables.  In some areas, they outnumber even PCs.

This has the feeling of something that Starbucks pursued and Apple quickly see value in this.  You want to drive traffic and free content is definitely something that will work.  These days, apps, music, and video are the bulk of media consumed on mobile devices.

On top of that, if your user can pay $4 for a drink a few times a week you want those kinds of customers come back for more.  

For Apple, this is a very important step to further step into the mobile mindset of the average user.  And this is particularly important with iBooks selections.  So far, they'll be offering excerpts from iBooks.  Maybe this is what the future bookstores are about?  Go into a coffee shop to browse books.  

Source:  Mashable.

Social: Reason For Apple Working with Twitter Instead of Facebook

Here's a must read post on why Apple added Twitter into iOS 5.  Apple really really thinks Mark Zuckerberg is a major (you fill in the blank but must be something negative).  

With the rise of Google+ and the threat it possess, I wonder if Facebook will mellow out a bit and try to try to work with other companies like Apple.  Yes, I did purposely write "try to try". 

Google will stop at nothing to come after Facebook.  And by working with another successful company with a strong mobile following like Apple, it provides an insurance policy of sort.  Facebook will stumble and fall.  At least by working with the likes of Apple, Facebook at least has some real friends.  

Or at the very least, not make an enemy of a company that has a very vindictive CEO.

The implications of the previous Apple-Facebook over iTunes user data has left Apple's Ping without a link to the outside world.  With Twitter, things will change for iOS mobile warriors.

There are also signs of thawing between the icy relationships between the two companies.  On the online Apple stores, Apple appears to be experimenting with Facebook and Twitter updates.  

Source:  Scoble G+, MacTrast, Cult of Mac.

Mobile And Social Media To Drive Education And Play Big Roles

Huffintgon Post has listed 7 innovations that are driving education right now in school.

I'll let you guess what they are since they're mostly what we talk about here.

Yup, mobile tech and social media.  They mentioned iPads and smartphones but they could have just as easily replace "iPad" with "tablets" to be more politically correct.

Smartphones definitely should have a place in the market as well.  Consider the Atrix from Motorola.  Instead of a backpack, students can carry their smartphones to school.  Then dock the device into a station at school and you're off learning new stuff.  Then take that smartphone home and dock it into your station at home and you're off doing your homework.

I'll let you click through to see what else they think are driving learning in schools today.  I can say I agree with one in particular.

Here is what I want now. To be able to go back to school now.  What a time it'll be to be learning with these tech and social tools.

Mobile: GroupMe Bought by Skype, Is This Another Mobile Arms Race

Is this the start of another mobile arms race? CNet reports that Skype bought mobile messaging service GroupMe for an undisclosed amount. And by default, it is Microsoft that bought GroupMe since Microsoft bought Skype earlier in the year for $8.5 billion.

Is this possible we are at the start of another arms race and this time the weapon of choice is SMS like messaging services that will eventually spell the doom of the era of mobile providers gauging its users for texting plans that require little to no bandwidth.

I have to say messaging would not be my choice of service if I want to arm my company's mobile services. Honestly, I think location-based services like check-in companies Foursquare or Gowalla offers more opportunities for commercialization than group messaging.

Facebook already made their move with Beluga. Apple already has iMessage that will be forthcoming with its next iOS update. Google has, well, a bunch of homegrown services at its disposal. Gtalk and elements of Google+ like Huddle comes to mind. So I find it difficult any of the major mobile platforms would be interested in snatching up their own messaging company.

It's possible some carriers might be interested in their own messaging services to prepare for the demise of texting.

We'll see over the next two weeks where this goes and why Skype and Microsoft wants GroupMe. Skype already has an IM feature as does Microsoft.


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Top HP Execs Were Not Told of Move To Kill Web OS Hardware; What Now For Former Palm Guys

According to All Things Digital (via Gizmodo), Todd Bradley, head of personal systems group at HP and Jon Rubinstein of Palm were not informed of HP's decision to gut Web OS until the Sunfay before HP made its announcement to that effect and looking at options to spin off the PC arm of the company, which has been seen as a drag on the company as a whole.

ATD's post gave a good examination of what questions remain and what options are there foe the men who were tasked to lead the assault on the mobile market on HP's behalf.

This is important as it could determine the fate of Web OS and who will end up owning it and the patents HP now possesses through last year's $1.2 billion Palm buyout.

HP will have to determine if it'll get more out of Web OS if it leverages the OS and the mobile patents as a separate entity either through a licensing agreement or a Nortel like auction that may or may not include the talents that created them.

Or it could bundle Web OS as a part of a new company should it decide to spin off a PC company. It would certainly sweeten the pot for investors or potential buyers.

However, such a buyer would have to be someone who wants to get into both the PC market and own its OS instead of licensing one from Google or Microsoft.

What HP wants will determine what happens to Web OS and the patents and who gets it.

At this time, I am certain many companies have approached HP to get a feeler for what HP is leaning. Samsung has been a popular choice on the blogs for acquiring Web OS and the patents even though it already has its own OS, Bada.

I think Lenovo is a strong candidate. It was Lenovo that bought IBM's PC business and this think outside of the box attitude could also make them a prime candidate. Plus, if they should be interested, they may well also be interested in HP's PC business as well. There might be some huffing and puffing in Congress about a Chinese company owning suh a big PC share but I am sure Lenovo's lobbyists and attorneys will take care of that once the initial outcry dies down.

Then there is Apple. No one has said much about this but don't discount Apple as the company that might walk away with Web OS.

What no one has addressed is what'll happen to the small but dedicated legion of Web OS users. A couple of Palm friendly blogs, like parents late at night at the dinner table worrying about bills, have tried to keep up an optimistic front. But even they may go the way of the Web OS unless miraculous event happens and Web OS finds a happy home.

Mobile's Next Revolutionary Leap? Maybe Microsoft Is Right (Their Commercials At Least)

In thinking about mobile and how we are always so engaged with our phones and looking down on them instead of looking up and around our environment. So I started to wonder about this and the next mobile revolution.

Could the next leap in mobile be about taking mobile experience to the next level. Allowing us to not miss life while still being kept up to date on out social media updates, news, and other mobile computing tasks that some in our society are labeling as distractions.

This is what is going on now. You see lots of folks, especially kids, who almost text continuously a few years ago, now migrating to busily updating Their Facebook and Twitter feeds, or getting updates from friends and families.

Consider waiting in line for rides at amusement parks like Disneyland. In the past, kids and their parents has to wait patiently in line. Even among friends. They are forced to chat, take in the sights, or simply complain about the 90 min or so wait.

Today, kids are immersed in their handheld gaming systems, parents are looking at their mobile phones, friends who are literally standing inches from each other conversing on Facebook!

Perhaps Microsoft's Windows Phone commercials were right. Less is more. Less time on the mobile devices means more time for other things.

We know Microsoft did not create those commercials with what I've pointed out here in mind. But they may have just stumbled onto something.

I am not sure they would really know what I am talking about here. Maybe not Apple. Perhaps it'll be a startup that gets it and is working on solving this issue and leading us to make next mobile leap forward.

Green: Mobile Games That Help Emphasize Green Efforts and Conservation

Do games help change our behaviors in real life? There are a lot of debates about that. They are ongoing and subjective to interpretation based on one's philosophy on the matter.

But I believe green games can help in ways children's games help teach certain learning skills.

Take for instance the games mentioned in this Sci Tech Today post. They teach about recycling, saving mythical whales, learning about a delta ecosystem, or knowing what to price to set at a yard sale based on what can be reused. Those kinds of games are valuable to teach aspects of conservation and what is involved in green living.

Fate of the World puts the player in charge of a full city dealing with 200 years of near real world scenarios of population growth, food management, and other socioeconomic issues.

Okay the last game might be a bit far fetched but nonetheless brings attention to problems we deal with outside of the confines of a virtual earth.

All of these are excellent topics for gaming developers, especially mobile ones, to consider working on.

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