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Gavin O'Malley, Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 1:13 PM
The New Freemium: WiFi
GigaOm et al.
Free WiFi -- it's the gift that just keeps on giving, which partly explains why so many online companies are giving it to consumers this holiday season. This fall, both Google and Microsoft announced free WiFi promotions. As of today, Google is providing free WiFi on every Virgin America flight throughout the holiday season. (Google is also giving away free Wi-Fi in 47 airports across the U.S., including hubs such as Miami, Seattle, Houston and San Jose, Calif. The promotions will last through Jan. 15, 2010.)
Microsoft is teaming up with mobile ad network JiWire to provide free WiFi at airports and hotels, so long as users agree to conduct a single search on Bing. A JiWire executive tells MediaPost's own Laurie Sullivan that response has been "off the charts." eBay, meanwhile, is sponsoring free WiFi on 250 flights on Delta Airlines during the week of Thanksgiving, and WiFi users will get access to the eBay home page and an invitation to shop there.
Also as of today, Yahoo is providing free WiFi for an entire year in Times Square, to "be at the center of people's online lives," a company rep tells paidContent. The center of consumers' lives idea is also the theme of the company's ongoing $100 million ad campaign.
GigaOm's Om Malik -- who doesn't suffer fools, or foolish marketing ploys, lightly -- actually applauds the efforts. Reminding us that these services are only "free" as long "as long as you watch an ad or a promo for whichever company is sponsoring it," Malik says "the idea of free WiFi-based marketing is actually pretty smart."
With regard to Google's efforts, he says: "Given that many of the estimated 100 million travelers who will spend time in airports with Google-sponsored Wi-Fi will at some point in time encounter Google ads, the decision is more than a nice gesture. Google providing access to free Wi-Fi is kind of like publishing those free magazines littering coffeehouses. It's all about the ad revenue."
Regarding Microsoft's campaign, the Blog Herald says "it might actually achieve its purpose -- that is to make more people aware of Bing and let them try the search engine. But the question is, will this be enough to make users continue to use it once the Wi-Fi access is no longer free?"
"Who expected the search wars to open a new front involving WiFi?" remarks Greg Sterling on Search Engine Land, adding: "All these efforts are welcome but they're only temporary ... Eventually there will be ubiquitous WiFi/4G connectivity that will enable people out in the world to connect at higher speeds, hopefully for lower cost, than they can today through traditional WiFi networks."
Either way, we have to agree with Gizmodo's final analysis that "Holiday season air travel just got a little less crappy."
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Early Droid Sales Close, But No iPhone
Bloomberg
During its first weekend on the market, analysts are estimating that Motorola sold a respectable 100,000 Android-powered Droid phones. By contrast, Apple sold more than 1 million of its latest iPhone model in its weekend debut in June. Still, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie tells Bloomberg that the numbers are "encouraging." "There seems to be pretty good demand -- they've taken the right steps and picked a good partner with Google on the Android side."
Verizon Wireless, the carrier for the device, had 200,000 Droid phones on hand, and most stores sold at least half of their stock. Including other models, Motorola will sell 1 million phones based on Google Inc.'s Android software in the fourth quarter and 10 million in 2010, McKechnie estimates.
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Is LinkedIn's Twitter Tie-Up Desperate?
eweek
LinkedIn will now let members of its community feed their status to Twitter, and to their LinkedIn connections. Status updates have been an important part of LinkedIn, with working professionals using it to alert others to sales leads, new jobs and other business opportunities, writes eWeek. But, Twitter is fast becoming Web users' official status update, with millions of users blasting out messages to followers each day.
Also of note, LinkedIn's membership growth has cooled in the last two years, while Facebook has soared to more 300 million users, sparking speculation that many people have turned to the leading social network for their personal and professional connections. The move is therefore being perceived as somewhat desperate -- even every company, from Google to Microsoft, is racing to partner with Twitter these days.
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Amazon Bows Kindle App For PCs
PCWorld
Apple isn't the only company churning out apps these days. Amazon just released a Kindle for PC app, available as a free download for Windows 7, Vista, and XP. Similar to the Kindle for iPhone app, Kindle for PC syncs a consumer's Amazon e-book downloads, and shows them on their computer for convenient reading either when they're away from their e-book reader or don't own one. Amazon also says a Mac version is "coming soon." "Though not necessarily revolutionary," PC World says "the Kindle for PC app does the job." By offering additional portability, Amazon's broader aim is to dissuade e-book users from adopting competing technologies. Yet, argues PC World: "Until Amazon loosens its DRM and embraces the burgeoning ePub standard, the company may experience roadblocks as e-book readers evolve."
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Google Street View Completes U.S. Effort
Softpedia
Google Street View has officially finished visually cataloging all 50 US states. To mark the occasion, Google has launched an online gallery with some of what it considers to be most interesting imagery in Street View, including Alcatraz Island in San Francisco and the Kennedy Space Center. Google has also been working to bring even more locations to Street View, which have been previously impossible to reach. With the Street View "trike," Google can go to many places it otherwise wouldn't be able to go to and, after visiting some famous locations in Europe, it's bringing it stateside. In total, Google has gathered over 25,000 suggestions and has culled them to create several categories in which people can vote to support their favorite locations.
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Twitterer Lands CBS TV Deal
THR's The Live Feed
CBS has picked up a comedy project based on the Twitter account "Shit My Dad Says," which has attracted over 700,000 followers since launching in August. "Will & Grace" creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are set to executive produce and supervise the writing for the "multicamera" family comedy, which author Justin Halpern will co-pen with Patrick Schumacker. Halpern and Schumacker will also co-exec produce the Warner Bros. TV-produced project. After moving back in with his parents in San Diego, Halpern, 28, launched the Twitter account to document his 73-year-old father's priceless rants and remarks such as, "Sometimes life leaves a hundred-dollar bill on your dresser, and you don't realize until later that it's because it fucked you."
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