Competition heats up with new products, features announcements and new battleground forming in Censorship
If you judged last week’s news by buzz monitoring, the share of voice would land easily in Apple’s camp as their fall event introduced a new line up of iPods, operating systems features, AppleTV and a social music service called Ping. Looking beyond Steve Job’s presentation and masterful marketing machine you can see competition heating up on a number of fronts:
Competing for talent: Google Making Extraordinary Counteroffers To Stop Flow Of Employees To Facebook
Google competing with Skype & Microsoft? Last week’s round-up included mention of Gmail’s voice calling capabilities, making it a telephony & Skype market disrupter. This week, it’s all about lowering the switching barriers on your current email services, like Microsoft’s Outlook and RIM’s mobile email client, through removing inbox-overload pain. Read more: Gmail just got a whole lot smarter with Priority Inbox – an adaptive algorithm that aids in identifying urgent priority emails, and helps to cut down on “insignificant email” reading time.
Competing for wallets: Social Gaming’s popularity continues to rise, and Facebook makes their smart entry into brick and mortar stores. Target to Sell Facebook Credits as Gift Cards in Stores
Competing for time/SocialNetworking value: Apple’s new Ping rocks out as it allows you to see what music your friends are digging, as well as connect with your favorite music artists and see what they’re tuned into. Preview: Apple’s Ping Music Social Network In Action on iOS.
Competing on form/platoform:
- Archos unleashes five (five!) new Android Froyo tablets and they’re all in different sizes–Engadget goes hands-on
- Mobile OS by the numbers–while Jobs claimed 230,000 installs per day, Android continues to make progress
- Apple: 74% tablet market now & >70% in 2011 much like their mp3 player dominance. http://bit.ly/cMVkxv
Censorship in the news:
- Apple Hides Prop 8 Tweets from Lady Gaga Promo Page for Ping
- Craigslist blocks Adult ads; some see it as a ploy while others worry about expanded government reach into censorship
Any big market news I missed from last week? Post it in comments below.
