There’s been a lot of talk about mobile phone applications that read barcodes using built in cameras to deliver instant offers, product information and many other interactions.

Skuair, a new cell phone application developed by Daem Interactive works with any mobile phone camera reads not only barcode lines and numbers but can read product logos or images. Take a picture of an ad or logo and their robust image recognition server returns associated content. They are currently working on a user generated content feature.

Check out the demo.

Since the popularity of Twitter microblogging sites have been taking off. New sites like Pownce and Tumblr have added functionality so that users can post not only about what they are doing right now but also post video, audio, events and other more structured content. So why are these sites so becoming so popular even addictive for some of us?

One reason is that they help us experience more relevant content on the web. The major aggregators of content typically have so much content that its difficult to effectively identify what content you want to see. The recent comScore study suggests “heavy clickers” distort reality of display advertising. In the same way it distorts what is presented as “most popular” on sites like YouTube. The ”heavy clickers” most likely aren’t people that are ‘like’ you.

You follow and connect with people on these sites that you have something in common with. The more people you ‘follow’ and that ‘follow you’ the more chance you will serendipitously find links and ideas that are meaningful. In contrast to the Twitter public timeline. I quickly noticed on Tumblr, where friends are posting video, that almost every video I saw I liked; compared to the 1 out of 20 videos I would find interesting on YouTube.

Site/Service	SMS	Full API	Simple UI	Custom Profile	Recipient Options	Advanced Features
Pownce	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Twitter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Jaiku	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
PlayTalk	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Blabto	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Tumbr	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Meemi	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes

What’s next? I hope too see more intelligence around connecting member to ‘like’ people. Social recommendation site Zync uses intelligence to deliver social recommendations with other members that share common profile selections. This may not be as spot on as your direct network but it can better connect you with more members and content you’d otherwise not have easy access to.

If you could change a headline, graphic, or promotional text on your website and increase click-through or conversion rates, would you do it? Of course you would. However, knowing what to change can be a challenge. Even more challenging is tracking which changes have the most effect. This was a daunting task, until now. Google’s Website Optimizer gives you the ability to make changes that create alternative layouts on your site. You are then able to track site visitor’s actions from one page to another based on the different scenarios you created. For instance, if you wanted to see if changing a certain graphic increased conversion rates, you could set the Optimizer to change from the original graphic to the new graphic and then track the different layouts to see which one has the better success.

1. First; Sign-up. Google has prepared a great tutorial to help you get started. Once you sign up, you can use the tutorials to guide you through the set-up.
2. The next step in the set-up involves identifying your landing page and your destination page (where you want users to click to). This is done by simply filling in the blanks with the specified URLs.
3. Next, you will copy the tags that the optimizer generates, and add them to your landing page HTML. Then, you will create the different variations or combinations that you would like to track. This involves copying and pasting the HTML from each tracked item to the optimizer.
4. Now, you can easily change a font, change text, or change a graphics source from inside the optimizer. Finally, you are asked to review your different variations and make changes before going live.
5. The best thing about the Google Website Optimizer is the reports. From a graphical interface, you can view all of your different variations in one spot. There are two types of reports, page section reports and combination reports. Page section reports let you see how each headline, graphic, or promotional text change fared in comparison to the original. The combination reports let you see how each combination or section variation fared against one another. You can easily see which combinations or section changes you should be using for better conversion.

If you want to improve your click-through rates on your website, try Google’s Website Optimizer.

 If you are promoting a blog or website you can make use of the various social bookmarking sites. After all the word ‘social’ tends to make you think of anythi ng other than online business issues, as it doesn’t really give a fair representation of what these sites actually do.

But if you are not taking advantage of them you are missing a valuable – and free – trick that you can put to good use as a marketing tool.

Sites such as Stumble Upon, Digg and del.icio.us make it easy to share the latest advances and additions to your website with the world at large, and they can provide a good stream of traffic once you know how to use them properly.

The first thing to bear in mind is that there is more involved than simply bookmarking your site and hoping that people will find it. You need to make the best possible use of the tools available to you to maximize your chances of seeing lots of traffic coming your way.

1. Start by joining each of the above sites and submitting your website home page to each one. You will be able to enter a short description of your site in each case, and it’s up to you to make sure that this description is tempting enough to make lots of people want to follow it up and actually visit your site.
2. The next important step is to create a list of keywords in the space given for this purpose. Think about the words people might type in to find bookmarks similar to yours and include them in your list. Make good use of phrases as well – or long tail keywords as they’re known – as they will attract the people who are looking for the specific information you can offer.
3. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that you should make constant use of your social bookmarking memberships. Don’t simply use each one once to tell everyone about your home page. Bookmark your blog. Bookmark every article you write for the web that links back to your website. Bookmark everything you possibly can to create a huge web of connections which all lead back to you.

Being found online is all about persistence and getting out there to make your mark. That’s where social bookmarking sites can really be of use when you’re trying to promote your online business – so long as you remember to use them frequently.

Does anyone have experience with social bookmarking sites? If so I’d love to hear about it.

When I was reviewing the Justin Timberlake concert on Comcastic Island by One to One Interactive I was of the opinion that Second Life was a destination for brand sensationalism and odd geeky people. Then I attended the MIT Emerging Technology Conference where the sessions where simultaneously viewed by Second Life members; and the Q&A included the virtual audience.

The early value proposition of distance learning was that an event like this could cost thousands for travel and admission fees not to mention the time and productivity cost. The challenge was to develop content compelling enough to create meaningful learning experiences without the social aspect of the traditional physical learning environment. Second Life provides a distance learning experience that maintains the social interactions.

San Jose State University School of Lirary & Information Sciences is one of many schools conducting courses in Second Life. Alliance Library System and OPAL are teaming up to extend the programs currently offered online to librarians and library users to the Second Life virtual reality game. Although there are a couple of libraries currently on Second Life, none currently offers programs or services. Alliance and OPAL will start with programs and eventually hope to offer library services. San Jose State University.

Watch this video from the KQED QUEST Community Science Blog: Second Life: Big Avatar on Campus

Social E-Challenge is a business plan competition that promotes the creation of social ventures that use entrepreneurial tools to effect social change. Participants range from for-profit businesses with strong social responsibility to nonprofit’s with sustainable revenue generation models. The common denominator is that by being successful, these companies have a positive impact in our society and the environment.

Spigit is a newly launched community that aims to provide a network of support for start-ups and their founders – the Entrepreneur Challenge. The simulation engine provided by spigit is a way to sort of test out your idea. The simulation runs through three stage where approval badges are awarded for things like buzz percentile, number of views, and expert approval. Completion badges are awarded at the end of each stage, enabling ideas to graduate to the next level. Several data points are considered for the simulation engine, including the tracking of dynamic interaction on the site. Spigit’s simulation benefits carry over into the virtual stock market as well, where “spigits” can be traded to determine the market value of a particular idea. 6 Top Companies will meet with Keiretsu SoCal; 1 will be selected to present to Keiretsu Investors for Funding Opportunities.

This is a very cool example of how social media is being put to innovative use; spigit is a platform that provides professionals the ability to showcase new ideas and innovations and in the process build their professional network. Companies and Entrepreneurs can obtain feedback-contributions-ratings from employees, partners and customers. Through the simulations they can build and refine an idea, find the right resources to contribute, create buzz, and calculate a multitude of targeted metrics to provide insight into viability and simulate the likelihood of success.

What happened to the days of stealth start-ups and signing non-disclosure forms? Would entrepreneurs be afraid of getting their ideas poached?

Analysts expect nearly 200% growth of the $800 million content delivery network (CDN) market in 2008. The highly competitive companies trailing behind industry leader Akamai, includes Limelight, Mirror Image, Itiva and Grid Networks. Companies are looking for ways to differentiate themselves in the highly competite market.

Enter BitGravity with their game changing architecture designed specifically for the challenge of delivering more immersive bandwidth intensive applications. The BitGravity progressive download technology allows high-definition video video to play with hardly any download time and minimal choppiness. It also allows you to jump around the video with hardly any latency.

The ability to deliver HD video can be a hugh differentiator for consumers. The Tom Green Show is a recently launched internet TV show that uses BitGravity; and there’s a noticible difference in quality and performance. Look at the videos below; the same video in normal YouTube compression quality and the second is HD.

YouTube Version

HD version on Vimeo

Gone in a Flash – HD from Chris Crutchfield on Vimeo.

BitGravity CEO, Peri Wu, was at the Demo 08 conference to lauch their new service BG Live Broadcast, the first carrier-grade live video broadcasting solution for the Internet. The service is really simple to set-up, there’s no download required and its high-definition. It was used to broadcast the Demo conference worldwide; bringing web expeirences one step closer to broadcast.

I have been using Google Docs lately for writing and ideation. I’ve written a few executive summaries, some business concepts, have been working on a book all using Google’s browser-based authoring environment. I have also used Google Spreadsheets do conduct some financial projections, model scenarios and track expenses.

Recently I contemplated sending an executive summary to an acquaintance that is a well-known venture capitalist. Of course I think its an amazing idea worth billions so before I hit send I’m starting to worry that the firm will just steal my idea. I don’t have an NDA or any legal documentation around the idea. What happen’s if the VC steals my fantastic idea?

My evidence would be as follows:

1. I have the Gmail record of sending the idea to the VC,
2. Since the VC has a Gmail accounts there is likely to be a record of the time and date the email was read
3. I have the Google docs showing the date the document was written and with a history of edits
4. I have the spreadsheets with rough financials

All of the evidence is time stamped in the Google database; I could not hack into and alter these records. This seems evidence seems to trump the ‘write-it-down-and-mail-it-to-yourself’ form of gorilla copyright protection.

What do you think – if the VC steals my idea will I have legal grounds?

The last couple of days I’ve been in Palm Dessert California at the Demo 08 – the start-up launch conference. This is my first time at Demo and it won’t be the last. The mix of new companies and solutions is a fantastic barometer of the industry.

Web 2.0 and social media solutions are abound with an undertone of green eco-responsible solutions. I met Demo’s SVP Eric Silverman and had a backstage tour. There’s a few semi trailers of gear to support well produced show complete with music, multiple cameras and live video coverage. Over 1000 live stream connections at any given time including a group of 500 viewers in Japan gathered to watch the event.

The format is basically 2 days of presentations from start-ups with about 6 minutes each to show their wares and convince VC’s and potential partners to visit their booth in the Demo pavilion.

More coverage to come.