A platform on top of a platform? Seems to have worked out well for Labpixies, the app development firm that was recently acquired by Google. The deal suggests Google’s desired expansion for apps to run on its Android platform, which has staked its claim in the mobile realm and is moving beyond to include other consumer electronic devices. As Google continues to push Android, the need for apps running on the platform continues to grow as well.

Giving the app market a bit of a kick start, Labpixies was acquired in order to incorporate more casual games into options for users. This is a welcome change, as gaming on the Android platform has been relatively dismal, especially when compared to Apple’s mobile platform for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, or even when compared to Facebook.

Labpixies uses Google’s OpenSocial platform, meaning its apps will run on Facebook and other places where widgets and OpenSocial apps are supported. This gives Google a multi-pronged approach to maintaining a widespread presence, even if it can’t own all the aspects of that presence across the board.

This is an important perspective for Google to have, as it looks to control a major portion of its consumer data. Given Google’s ongoing move into industries that are new to the company, Google leverages its search tools for individual consumer benefits. While that has given Google a wealth of opportunities, it’s also given the company plenty of chances to toy around with various aspects of several industries.

The mobile industry looks to be very promising, and in Google’s desire to appeal to consumers, apps have become an ideal way in which to do so. Using Labpixies as a part of this initiative will also encourage other developers and publishers to get more involved with the android platform as well.

Of course, there are many other things to address before Android becomes the top platform for developers and consumers, particularly as its open source status and frequent updates means a less stable environment than Apple’s for building mobile apps. This appears to be a step in the right direction for Google.

Will the iPhone require Apple to take a more controlling stake in mobile advertising? A recent rumor has emerged saying that Apple is acquiring Quattro Wireless, an advertising company that is considered to be a competitor to AdMob. While the rumor is unconfirmed and the reasons behind Apple’s purported interest are unknown, it makes for some interesting speculation as to what Apple may have in mind for its advertising future.

In the middle of the rumored acquisition talk is a battle of pride, glory and industry dominance. Google acquired Quattro Wireless competitor AdMob before Apple could close the deal, with some saying that this slap in the face caused Apple to “steal” music search tool LaLa from Google before an acquisition was complete. The ongoing spat may have led to Apple’s supposed acquisition of QuattroWireless, but there’s likely much more to the story than just a company feud.

Apple is in a powerful position as far as mobile devices go, having created and successfully marketed the iPhone on a global scale. Focusing on its platform capabilities, Apple is primed to take the mobile economy in a number of directions. Building out its mobile platform means the furthered generation of an app marketplace that could sustain developers, publishers and service providers. Improving on the device itself will help Apple to retain its customer base in the face of oncoming competitors in the smartphone industry.

Google could become a major contender in the mobile space, as its own Android operating system stands to create a viable marketplace to harbor developers as well. The ability to monetize one’s mobile platform is at the forefront of discussions surrounding smartphones at this point, as the meeting of enterprise and consumerism happily plays out in the havens of wireless service providers.

The point here is that Apple could very well take a larger stance in mobile marketing that occurs around its platform and app marketplace. Early on it appeared as though Apple were moving in this direction, having worked closely with a number of mobile advertising firms towards experimental marketing campaigns associated with native apps on the iPhone. With the growth of the iPhone app market, however, the ability for third parties to take advantage of access to iPhone customers gave revenue opportunities to all parties involved.

Being the middle man, Apple could really benefit from having a more established ad network through which third parties could run campaigns, either unifying the experience for end users or simply extending additional options to advertisers and app developers.

Regardless of what Apple’s plans are, the company is forced to take a closer look at the system operating independently of its own “cult” world, as well as the system it has helped to create and standardize. So far, Apple has announced plans to make iTunes available via the Internet, marking the small but obviously necessary steps Apple is taking to become more convenient for its consumers. Keeping a focus on the consumers will continue to help Apple in whatever ideas it has towards the integration of an ad network.

Google Friend Connect has added some new features this week, releasing an entire set of new options for end users and site publishers. The idea is to make it easier for people to connect on Friend Connect-supported sites, in a more personal way.

As Google Friend Connect adds the possibility for any website to become more social (in a Google sort of way), the ability to further connect based on these social interactions is a natural next step for Google. In doing so, users will have a more personalized experience when they visit a Friend Connect-supported site, as long they’re already signed into Google. Now they will also be able to more easily connect with other users based on similar interests. The heavy lifting for these connections is driven by the shared information between end users, Google and the site publisher. Google becomes the provider of data, with the site publisher acting as a virtual environment seguewaying individual connections.

That means if you visit a Friend Connect-supported fashion site, you could find yourself connected with another user that likes Free People tops. To further facilitate connections, Google will provide a way for you to directly communicate with each other. You’re already signed into Google. You already have a Gmail account. You already have Google Talk and gChat. Why not be friends, based on your shared love of adversely over-priced clothing lines?

Google has been seeking ways in which to become more social for years now, personalizing search data, creating social networks and launching a platform that everyone got on board with. Many of these initiatives have competed directly with Facebook. But the Friend Connect updates look to make it even easier for third parties to make their sites social, bringing the platform to them instead of the other way around.
Google is permeating more areas of our lives than Facebook at the moment. Especially once you factor in Google’s mobile efforts, which have the potential to collect a great deal of data on individual users. Applications on Google’s mobile platforms can tie in with GPS and Google’s own array of applications are staking their claim on the company’s mobile platforms as well.

Tying everything back to advertising, the information voluntarily given up by end users can be helpful for recommendations and the improvement of targeted ads and search engines. As ads are becoming more integrated into our email experience, Google would do well to incorporate more market research-driven data into these types of targeted ads.

Beyond the typical Google ads, however, the company is also looking at ways to make email more interactive for marketing partners. Testing is underway for a dynamic newsletter that companies can send to registered customers via Gmail. As Google Friend Connect also enables email newsletter options (based on the data collected on site visitors) with the feature updates, this may eventually tie in with Google’s tested efforts for more direct and interactive newsletters.

This is also a way for Google to make all of its other applications, including Gmail, even more social. The reverse approach to Facebook’s Platform means that site publishers have more opportunity to appeal to users that already have a Google account. While Facebook has its own Facebook Connect that competes more directly with Friend Connect, the concepts around each approach still differ in that Facebook still has a dedication to connecting existing friends instead of fully initiating new connections. Nevertheless, Facebook’s advantage over Google is the fact that many consumers may not be comfortable with a social overlay within their typical Google App activity.

There are several factors involved when calculating the effectiveness and potential of either approach. I think they will both serve their purposes in the erection of standardized platforms, attracting consumers based on their services provided.

Mobile providers and device manufacturers are finally realizing the importance of platform marketplaces, and the necessity for nurturing good relationships with members of the developer community. In the past two weeks we’ve seen a handful of initiatives being announced from AT&T, Blackberry, T-Mobile and Verizon. They all have something in common–they’re making some big promises for the developer community, selling them on greater access to their respective customers.

This all comes shortly after Apple announced it had reached the 1 billion mark for downloaded apps through its own mobile marketplace, which features products for just the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Yes, that’s a lot of apps. And it’s a lot of money for Apple, as well as the creators behind the downloaded applications. As more mobile network providers shift their revenue generators from voice calls to data plans, such marketplaces only make sense.

There are several factors involved, contributing to this trend. At the core is the fact that mobile and PC devices are blurring their distinctive lines, creating a device that’s all-encompassing for just about every one of our media, entertainment, work and communication needs. That means that the mobile industry itself needs to be able to continuously shift gears, because it won’t be a service for just voice calls and basic data plans for much longer.

A major driving force in the need for mobile apps has also been the permeating presence of social networking, which easily carries over from mobile to PC devices, and from the virtual to the real world. In the past three years we’ve seen mobile integration for social networking sites limited to basic photo sharing and status updates to an unlimited number of features you can use for the main actions on these sites.
The socialability of mobile applications has also evolved to include games and many other types of apps that were once present on social networks. These marketplaces on social networks and mobile devices are making it easier for applications to bridge the gap and spur the conversion of mobile and PC devices.

Having a strong platform marketplace is going to be key for the future of all the mobile networks. It ties in with the growing virtual goods trend, the support of the developer community, and the ability to meet the demand of consumers. This all goes towards stimulating a certain economic niche which will only grow in size and customization, making mobile platform marketplaces all the more important in the near future.

by Kristen Nicole

MySpace launched a new feature on its application platform last night, which allows developers to distribute notifications to users regarding the apps those users have added to their MySpace account.

Why is this notable? Because notification alerts are the best way to distribute information about a given application. They’re the bridge that closes the gap between MySpace users and the applications themselves. They’re tiny reminders that the application a MySpace user has added to their account is still there, and needs some attention.

Notification alerts are also the worst thing that could happen to an application platform. OK, not the worst thing, but they’re easily regarded (or disregarded) as spam. Too many notifications about applications can feel like an overwhelming bombardment of irrelevant content to a user. They’d probably be more responsive to a notification alerting them to a new photo tag or a friend request.

It’s the reason why MySpace waited so long to allow developers to distribute notifications in such a manner. But how does MySpace plan on curbing the spam, now that it’s taken a considerable amount of time to work on this particular feature offering? The notifications will display in a MySpace user’s channel, which means they’ll be less assertive, hopefully translating into something that feels less spammy.

There’s a fine line that MySpace is walking here, especially as a good portion of MySpace activity has been hailed as spammy in the past few years. While Facebook is currently dealing with spammy attitudes towards applications and their interaction with end users, MySpace is being even more cautious in its future releases in order to avoid the perception of spammy behavior. Nevertheless, the opening up of notifications is a feature that’s highly requested by developers, and it’s ultimately up to the user to determine what types of apps they will keep on their profile.

That’s not to say that MySpace can’t continue to tweak things in order to make application notifications feel less spammy. I’ll be the first to admit that notifications can be annoying. When I log onto Facebook and see that only 3 of my 36 notifications aren’t app-related, my heart sinks a little. The prodding notification nudges enticing me to play a game or take a quiz can get irksome. So MySpace, Facebook and all the other platforms can have increased user options for selecting which apps send out notifications, as well as modifying frequency and distribution methods overall.

by Brian Solis, sourced from PR 2.0

Ev Williams, Biz Stone and team have created something so significant, that it’s changing how millions of people communicate with each other – and it’s only growing beyond imagination.

Twitter boasts a substantial community that is emphatically hyperactive, evangelical, and religiously loyal – all in productive and positive ways. The first two legitimate competitors, Jaiku, acquired by Google, and Pownce, a company co-founded by Digg’s Kevin Rose, ultimately learned that Twitter’s momentum was untouchable. Jaiku is migrating to an open source model to allow developers to roll-their-own microblogging services and deploy them on the Google App Engine. Pownce was acquired by Six Apart and shuttered, in its current form, for the time being.

In just a couple of years, Twitter has soared to new heights reaching 4.5 million visitors – that’s a 752.9% increase in just one year.

At its current volume of traffic, Twitter recently surpassed Digg according to Hitwise.

Twitter not only represents a detour in human interaction, its community is building highways, roads, cities, and a support infrastructure to power this new direction. It has created its own vibrant and flourishing ecosystem known as the Twitterverse.

From this point of view, Twitter already has created an important and promising new conversation platform.

Twitter has influenced how:

- Media connects with audiences

- Businesses listen to and respond with customers

- Communications professionals, marketers, and advertisers connect with the new world of influencers

- Journalists, bloggers, analysts, event organizers can get help and answers from the community, instantly

- Everyday people can create an in-demand personal brand to open new doors and create new destinies

- People are made aware of news and important information from all over the world

As Twitter gains in relevance and prominence, its conversation platform will ring the alarms of any business that monetizes relationships, connections, and information exchange.

Simultaneously, another company is also building a conversation platform that will force an intersection with any direct and perceived competitor and further reshape the mechanics of human interaction.

Facebook is a dominant player in the world of social networks and reports show that Facebook is now nearly twice the size of MySpace worldwide.

According to Comscore, 222 million people visited Facebook, representing a 10.8% monthly growth rate.

Facebook’s news feed combined with the new Facebook Connect infrastructure is setting the stage for a global conversation platform that may go unrivaled.

Facebook is already hosting channeled conversations sourced from Twitter, FriendFeed, and many other notable communities with an audience that is undeniably substantial, captive, and vigorous.

Recently, Facebook quietly explored the prospect of acquiring Twitter, which resulted in both companies concluding discussions without alignment.

As a conversation platform, Facebook will only gain in importance, creating a precedence that may prevail as it aggregates the ability to share, read, and respond across multiple communities, from one centralized social hub.

In the meantime, Twitter will also continue to increase its stature as both a category-defining conversation platform and also an illustrious community that will further influence the dynamics of engagement and dialog, while attracting new users en masse.

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