Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 440
06-11-2008
by Deirdre McArdle
Web 2.0 helps Obama to victory | Greens want in on the Web 2.0 action | Oops! I did it again -- BoI loses customer data | Boo-hoo! Goo-Hoo deal off the table | Will Papermaster become the iPodmaster? | Downturn hits European mobile market
Web 2.0 helps Obama to victory
As the US presidential election reached its climax on Tuesday night, with Barack Obama sweeping to a historic win, many reports highlighted the key role the internet played in the result. Right from the start Obama's use of the net and Web 2.0 technologies stood out, particularly when it came to fundraising and mobilising support. Obama supporters were able donate any sum from USD15 to USD2,300 via the web; over the course of his campaign some USD440 million was raised online alone. As of this week Obama had almost 2.5 million supporters on his personal fan site on the social network Facebook, four times as many as his rival John McCain, while some 1.5 million Americans had registered on his personal site, my.BarackObama.com. YouTube was also a popular tool of the Obama campaign. During the last week the campaign uploaded 70 videos to YouTube, many of which focused on the swing states. Not only did the web allow Obama to raise a record amount of campaign funding, it also enabled the campaign to reach a demographic that has been traditionally difficult to get in touch with -- the 18-25 year olds. In fact, in a bid to target hard-to-reach young adult male voters, in mid-October Obama made US political history by inserting the first presidential campaign ads into online games on Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Reporters and analysts are suggesting that Obama's clever and innovative use of the internet, and more specifically Web 2.0 technologies, marks a sea change in US, and indeed world, politics. Batten down the hatches: in the future we're likely to see a marked increase in politicians signing up for Facebook and MySpace, political messages on YouTube, and text messages from local politicians.
Greens want in on the Web 2.0 action
A case in point is Ireland's Green Party. In a bid to capture some of that Obama magic, the political party is planning a major change in its communications strategy. The party is currently searching for a new media officer, who will be tasked with building systems and tools to enable the organisation to contact voters, mobilise supporters and fundraise online. Whoever gets the job will need to know their Web 2.0 technologies, according to Damian Connon, communications manager with the Green Party, who told ENN that the party wants to use social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to "mobilise support" and to target niche demographics by "engaging people in topics they're interested in". Connon explained how the party successfully gathered around 1,000 e-mail addresses at the Electric Picnic this year. Though the dizzy heights of Obama's online fundraising campaign are almost certainly out of reach, Connon said raising campaign funding and organising events through new media is definitely on the agenda. While the last General Election saw a marked rise in the use of Web 2.0 tech by political parties to garner votes, the Green Party says its current strategy is aimed more at grass roots level. "We recognise the potential of Web 2.0 technologies to get networks going around the country. It's a resource- and cost-effective way to mobilise support and to spread the word," said Connon.
Oops! I did it again -- BoI loses customer data
Over the past year, many incidents of data going missing from financial and public sector organisations have been reported. Dozens of laptops, PDAs, Blackberrys, mobile phones and memory stick holding sensitive information have either been stolen or mislaid during this time. In April, for example, it emerged that four Bank of Ireland laptops containing information relating to 31,500 customers had been stolen. This latest incident involves Bank of Ireland again, a memory stick and information pertaining to 900 of the bank's customers. These customers, who have been notified by the bank, were from across the country and had various accounts with the bank, including pension, life insurance, mortgages, personal and business. The information on the device included account numbers, the first line of the customers' address and contact numbers. The Data Protection Commissioner is investigating the incident; however, it does not regard it as a major incident, according to the deputy Data Protection Commissioner Garry Davis. According to the Irish Examiner, Davis said the incident was most likely a "one-off". "The chances are that the only way this information could be used is by picking up a phone, so we would advise anyone who receives a call not to give out any personal information," he said. Despite the fact that security experts say information such as that contained on the bank's memory stick could well be used by fraudsters to steal someone's identity, it seems that consumers aren't overly concerned about ID theft. Less than 5 percent of the 377,000 people whose personal data was contained on a laptop stolen from the Department of Social and Family Affairs in August queried the department when informed of the theft.
Boo-hoo! Goo-Hoo deal off the table
Following four months of investigation by the Department of Justice in the US, Google and Yahoo's advertising deal has fallen apart, with Google walking away from the agreement. David Drummond, chief legal officer at Google, explained the internet giant's position on the deal, saying that while it was clear that government regulators and some advertisers had ongoing concerns about the agreement, "pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners. That wouldn't have been in the long-term interests of Google or our users, so we have decided to end the agreement". Naturally, Yahoo, which let's face it has more to lose here, was disappointed by Google's decision. "Yahoo continues to believe in the benefits of the agreement and is disappointed that Google has elected to withdraw from the agreement rather than defend it in court," it said in statement. The deal had acted as somewhat of a lifeline to Yahoo, which, at the time the agreement was struck back in June, was facing a takeover bid from Microsoft. You've got to feel sorry for Yahoo at this stage. It seems that luck is just not with the search giant. Though its statement was decidedly bullish, the cracks are sure to be expanding: this deal was pitched at shareholders as a lucrative alternative to selling up to Microsoft at USD33 per share; now Yahoo shares are worth under USD14. It's hard to know where Yahoo can go from here. Its third quarter results were less than inspiring and worryingly pointed to a weakness in display ads, one of the firm's key revenue streams. So, with antsy shareholders and little cash to make any acquisitions that could revive the firm's money-making potential, could the way be clear for Microsoft to swoop in with a new offer for the flagging search firm?
Will Papermaster become the iPodmaster?
The past week has signalled some changes at Apple with the news that Tony Fadell, who was influential in the development of the iPod, is leaving the company for personal reasons. Stepping into his shoes will be IBM veteran Mark Papermaster, a chip design expert and one of the main architects behind the Power PC processor. Fadell, currently the senior vice president of Apple's iPod division, was seen by some industry watchers as a possible candidate to take over from CEO Steve Jobs eventually. His departure is likely to leave a hole in Apple's executive line-up; commentators are undecided as to whether Papermaster will slot comfortably into the role. Papermaster was previously vice president of IBM's blade server unit, a position which gave him access to a wide range of the company's intellectual property and trade secrets. IBM is suing Papermaster to prevent him from joining Apple and breaking a non-compete contract; neither Apple nor Papermaster have commented on this issue yet. For now, it looks like Papermaster will be assuming the role of senior vice president of devices hardware engineering at Apple, essentially the head of the iPod and iPhone development team. This seems like a strange announcement from Apple, and one that has many analysts scratching their heads. One conclusion doing the rounds is that Apple is planning to develop its own processors for the iPod and iPhone. Apple acquired chip start-up P.A. Semi in April of this year and has been keeping its plans for the firm close to its chest, apart from a few hints from Jobs to the New York Times in June when he mentioned that "P.A. Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods". There's been no further comment on that revelation since so we'll have to wait and see how this jigsaw puzzle pieces together.
Downturn hits European mobile market
The ongoing global financial crisis took its toll on the European mobile market during the third quarter. According to IDC figures, mobile shipments in the region dropped 8.1 percent year-on-year, down from 49.8 million units shipped in the third quarter of 2007 to 45.8 million in 2008. Usually the third quarter is marked by a substantial increase in year-on-year shipments, often as high as 20 percent growth, as mobile makers prepare for the holiday season by stocking up their sales channels. While Nokia remains the top mobile maker in the region, it is steadily losing share to Samsung. During the quarter Nokia saw its market share drop from 39.8 percent last year to 34.9 percent, while Samsung's share jumped from 23.7 percent to 28.1 percent. Nokia's shipments for the quarter dropped too, to 16 million units from 19.8 million units in 2007, a 19.2 percent decline. Samsung was the only one of the top five vendors to see a rise in shipments during the three-month period; it shipped 12.9 million devices, up 9.3 percent from 11.8 million units in 2007. Despite the overall drop-off of the market, smartphones proved popular in the region during the quarter with shipments jumping a significant 58 percent year-on-year. As if to illustrate the growing popularity of smartphones, Apple stormed into the market during the quarter, shipping a whopping 1.95 million iPhones in the region to steal 4.3 percent of the overall market. This marks an impressive increase in market share from 0.4 percent in the second quarter of the year. Looking ahead to next year IDC expects growth to remain slow although competition in the market will increase as vendors vie to impress consumers with low-cost handsets.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 