Category Archives: Technology

iPad Defies Skeptics, User Satisfaction Still Increasing, MU Survey Finds

By Guest PostJuly 11, 2011Technologyapple, ipad owners, ipad tablet, ipad users, journalism, laptop computers, mobile devices, own tablets, real world experiments, reynolds journalism institute, roger fidler, university of missouri, user satisfaction

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Since its launch in April last year, Apple’s iPad tablet has defied skeptics and set a high bar for manufacturers that are now introducing their own tablets. An internationally recognized authority on media tablets and e-readers from the University of Missouri, has found that iPad owners are reporting exceptionally high levels of satisfaction and that user satisfaction appears to be increasing the longer they use the device.

Roger Fidler, program director for digital publishing at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, has been conducting surveys of iPad users since last fall to gain insights into how iPad owners use the devices in their daily lives and how the iPad may influence journalism and news consumption. Fidler says he is surprised by the high levels of user satisfaction. (more…)

Mastering Disaster: Students Create Software to Save Lives

By Guest PostJuly 7, 2011Technologybosnia and herzegovina, brazil, chulalongkorn university, claire bonilla, czech republic, dam collapse, disaster victims, echo project, edward g happ, European Union, Facebook, flood, floodsim project, floodwaters, geographical information assistant, global positioning system, igor peric, imagine cup, imagine cup 2011, international red cross and red crescent societies, jon perera, kriangkrai pipatvilaikul, largest student technology competition, maps, microsoft sponsored event, nethope, new york city, northern thailand, pdas, personal digital assistants, smartphone application, social networks, software projects, spread of cholera, spu, team gina, terra, thailand team newkrean, tsunami, world, zbynek poulicek

*At the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals, dozens of student teams showcase software projects that in some cases are already improving disaster relief efforts.*

REDMOND, Wash. – July 7, 2011 – When floodwaters swept across northern Thailand last fall, Kriangkrai Pipatvilaikul knew he had to help. So he boarded a bus with fellow students from Chulalongkorn University and went to a devastated village he had seen on TV.

The students joined scores of volunteers arriving at the same village with food, water and medical supplies. As they helped with the relief effort, the group heard about a harder hit area, one that hadn’t made the news, and they decided to push on. What they found shocked them. As they paddled through the submerged town, desperate villagers surrounded their boat and tried to grab whatever food they could. The students realized no other volunteers had been there despite the short distance from the previous site. (more…)

comScore Reports May 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

By Guest PostJuly 5, 2011Technologyapple, Comscore, google android, mobile phone industry, mobilens data, motorola, oem, Samsung, smartphone, top handset manufacturer

*Smartphones Reach Key Milestone; Now Owned by 1 in 3 Americans*

RESTON, VA, July 5, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending May 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.8 percent market share. Google Android led among smartphone platforms with 38.1 percent market share.

OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in May, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 24.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 21.1 percent share and Motorola with 15.1 percent share. Apple strengthened its position at #4 with 8.7 percent share of mobile subscribers (up 1.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 8.1 percent share. (more…)

Summer Sailing in the Cloud With Office 365

By Guest PostJuly 5, 2011Technologyamerican spirit, ben vanheusden, boston whaler, california, chelsea piers, chicago to new orleans, ft lauderdale, john bertsch, john mirassou, lync online, marty burke, maryland, Microsoft, microsoft technology, motorboats, new york city, norfolk, office 365, penny delgadillo, redondo beach, sailors, sea, spirit 7, statue of liberty, tough economic times, Washington

*Three friends are sailing the U.S. Eastern Seaboard in search of the American spirit. They’ve chronicled their journey and stayed connected with help from Office 365, an official sponsor of the trip.*

BOSTON – July 5, 2011 – In 1987, John Mirassou and two friends set sail from Ft. Lauderdale on a 17-foot Boston Whaler. They didn’t expect to find anything more than good times on their journey, which ultimately logged some 6,100 miles. They were wrong.

“What started out as way to see the country by boat really turned into a story about the American people,” Mirassou said. “Everywhere we went we were taken in by people we had never met. This American spirit came out in amazing instances of generosity.” (more…)

Google Android Leads Acceleration in Smartphone Adoption in Japan

By Guest PostJune 30, 2011Technologyandroid devices, apple, apple iphones, canada, Comscore, comscore japan, comscore mobilens, daizo nishitani, european mobile media landscapes, google android, Japan, japan kk, Microsoft, mobile usage in japan, regza, smartphones, sony ericsson, toshiba, xperia

*iPhones Still Account for 3 of Top 5 Smartphone Models*

*comScore Releases Latest Mobile Industry Insights from its MobiLens Product*

Tokyo, Japan, June 30, 2011 – comScore Japan KK, a wholly owned subsidiary of comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest insights into mobile usage in Japan from its comScore MobiLens product. The report found that Google Android led as the top smartphone platform in March 2011 with 4.6 million users, more than doubling its subscriber base from December 2010. Apple ranked second with 3.9 million mobile subscribers in Japan. (more…)

Microsoft Launches Office 365 Globally

By Guest PostJune 28, 2011Technologybell canada, elia wallen, intuit inc, kurt delbene, Microsoft, microsoft ceo, microsoft corp., microsoft lync online, microsoft office, microsoft office 365, microsoft sharepoint online, ntt communications corp, office 365, steve ballmer, telefonica, travelers haven, vodafone group plc

*World-class collaboration tools are now available for businesses large and small.*

NEW YORK — June 28, 2011 — Today, at media events around the world, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of Microsoft Office 365, the company’s newest cloud service. Office 365 is now available in 40 markets, and it brings together Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online in an always-up-to-date cloud service, at a predictable monthly subscription.

The service was introduced in beta last year with enthusiastic response and, in a few months, more than 200,000 organizations signed up and began testing it. Businesses using Office 365 are already reporting impressive results and reducing IT costs by up to an estimated 50 percent while boosting productivity. (more…)

Microsoft Helps Imagine Cup Competitors Turn Golden Ideas into Golden Opportunities

By Guest PostJune 23, 2011Technologyasthma, azmo the dragon, bizspark, boon sheng ooi, chase sandmann, cy khormaee, digital spirometer, dream spark, gps technology, hotel palomar, imagine cup, imagine cup 2011 worldwide finals, malaria, malaysia, measure lung capacity, Microsoft, new york city, noela evans, one beep, radha basu, rice university students, san francisco, santa clara university, silicon valley, smart phone game, team dragon, team lifelens, team spirit, Technology, university of auckland, vinny lohan, windows phone, xilnex

*Some of the brightest young technologists in the nation visited San Francisco on Wednesday to share their ideas with venture capitalists, academics and media.*

SAN FRANCISCO – June 23, 2011 – A collection of students who want to change the world with technology pitched their ideas to Silicon Valley industry experts, academics, and media on Wednesday.

Several teams of students who will participate in the July Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals in New York City got to first showcase their projects to people who could help them refine their concepts, find markets for their ideas, and eventually find investors to provide the money they will need to turn their ideas turn into viable businesses. (more…)

‘Angry Online Commenters Can Cause Negative Perceptions of Corporations’

By Guest PostJune 22, 2011Technologyautomobile corporations, bo kyung kim, corporations, Facebook, hyunmin lee, international communication association conference, kim, mu, negative online comments, online sources, pervasiveness of social media, public expressions of anger, Twitter, university of missouri, web based information

*Organizations should monitor online comments from victims during crises, MU researchers say’

COLUMBIA, Mo. – With the increasing pervasiveness of social media and online communication in the operation of most organizations and corporations, little is known about the potential effects of public expressions of anger displayed throughout various online sources. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that angry user-generated comments on Internet sites can further perpetuate negative perceptions of an organization undergoing the crisis.

Based on her findings, Bo Kyung Kim, a doctoral student in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, urges public relations practitioners to consider angry user-generated messages as critical crisis information that has a direct impact on the public in general. She says evaluation is particularly crucial because of how much the public relies on unsubstantiated web-based information. (more…)