The
Year 2012AD, the Year of the Dragon, is definitely not going in FaceBook’s
Favour. Not with Search Engine Giant Google holding the handle of the sword in
the form of its control over Google Search results and its soon-to-be-dominant
Google Chrome Browser that it can bias in favour of its nascent Social Network
Google+ as pointed out in my blog
article entitled“FaceBook
extinct as Chrome to be No. 1 Browser in 2012AD – FB rides Bed Knobs and
Broomsticks Mobile Revolution against Google+”.
My
article at the time presented an elegant solution:
1.
Coax Microsoft to improve IE (Internet
Explorer) to make it more easily updatable and Open Source, thus easily fixable
and free and deeply integrate it into the browser, much as Microsoft has deeply
integrated Skype into FaceBook as stated
in my blog
article entitled “Microsoft
aquires Skype for US$8.5 billion - Miley Cyrus's Fly on the Wall Drops it Like
it’s Hot” and “FaceBook
deeply integrates Skype - Microsoft, the Ladykiller of Landline”
2.
Develop a Mobile phone Strategy for FaceBook, as like Mozilla Firefox, FaceBook lacks any presence on Mobile phones
as note in as stated in my Geezam Blog
article entitled “Chrome
16 beats Firefox and IE8 –Mozilla going Mobile and Cloud OS on Smartphones, Tablets
and UltraBoooks”
Since
that last article, FaceBook has indeed
begun to make strides towards doing both, despite negative press about their FaceBook stock taking a nosedive on the NYSE
(New York Stock Exchange) in May 2012AD as stated in the article “Where
are FaceBook's friends? Stock slide deepens”, published Wednesday, May 23,
2012, The Jamaica Observer and “FaceBook
falls below US$30”, published Wednesday, May 30, 2012, The Jamaica Observer.
Interestingly,
an unrelatedly, they also had a Server outages one of FaceBook’s Server’s crashed, taking down
most of FaceBook, adding more fuel to the
fire that FaceBook was never ready for
primetime as stated in the article “More
Bad news for FaceBook as site Crashes”, published May 31 2012 by Stacy
HigginBotham, Gigaom.
After
all, FaceBook like Google, was merely
making money from advertising and charging people to play Social Games via its FaceBook Credit System, which was a business
model that was not sustainable for the long term as like adverting, it’s based
heavily on the popularity of the FaceBook
website as stated in my blog article
entitled “FaceBook
Credits and Online Gaming - The Pied Pipe's Revenge in the Age of Empire”.
Combines
with the fact that FaceBookEmpire was yet
to spread to certain parts of the World such as Russia, China and Africa, which
is not yet a part of the Internet based on Data provided by Data from Google
Trends and Alexa as noted in the article “FaceBook
colonization of the world progress report”, published June 10, 2012 11:23
AM PDT by Dan Farber, CNET News.
Both
FaceBook and Google need to expand their
empires into these areas if Social Networking is to remain a force to be
reckoned with, with access to user’s personal information the ultimate prize as
surmised in my blog
article entitled“Google
vs FaceBook - Age of Empire and TRON Legacy”.
The
statistics below gleaned from Vincenzo
Cosenza's World Map of Social Networks
based on Google Trends and Alexa Data herald’s FaceBook’s
expanding Empire:
1.
There are 2 billion Internet users worldwide
4.
V Kontakte and Odnoklassniki control the
former Soviet Union
5.
QZone, Tencent Weibo and e Sina Weibo
control China's social networkers.
6.
Cloob, the Persian-language Social Networking
site controls Iran.
8.
Africa remains unconquered largely due
to a lack of Wired and Wireless Broadband infrastructure to access the Internet
FaceBook,
despite being Top Dog in Social Network Websites, did not have a clear business
Plan that included a guarantee of increased profitability in terms of future
expansion as well as sustaining revenues long term with dedicated subscribers
to its FaceBook
Credit system.
The
Data above was a big enough a red flag for investors to turn their nose up at
the FaceBook
stockand hence it’s plummet on its debut. The NYSE has had enough of Dot Com
Bubbles, choosing not to inflate this one and bursting it before it got any
bigger.
The
lack of a clear MobileStrategy even prompted CNET Editor Molly Wood to come out
of her corner predicting doom and Gloom for FaceBook
if they did not clearly enunciate a Strategy for Mobile as stated in the
article “If
FaceBook dies (and it might), its killer will be born Mobile”,
published May 30, 2012 12:00 AM PDT by Molly Wood, CNET News.
Which
they apparently did not see as important, despite Mobile Computing increasing
importance as stated in the article “Uh-oh,
PC: Half of computing device sales are Mobile”,
published Kevin
C. Tofel, GigaOM
and
the trend towards smartphone and Tablet ownership as summed up in the most
recent stats in the following articles:
1. Nielsen
Stats from February in the First Quarter of 2012 indicating 50% of Mobile-savvy
Americans own smartphones as stated in the article “Smartphones now account for half of all Mobile phones”,
published March 29, 2012 2:23 PM PDT by Scott Webster, CNET News.
2. ComScore Stats indicate that Android phones are now 50% of the market as
stated in the articles “Android now represents half of U.S. smartphone market”,
published April 3, 2012 11:19 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News and “Android still dominates U.S. smartphone market”,
published by June 1, 2012 2:06 PM PDT by Steven Musil, CNET News.
3. ComScore
Statistics report that 25% of smartphone users also have a Tablet, most likely
the Apple iPad as stated in the article “U.S. tablet usage hits 'critical mass,' ComScore reports” published June 10, 2012 11:37 AM PDT by
Steven Musil, CNET
News.
Interestingly
enough, FaceBook
has not been resting on its laurels all this time. Earlier in May 2012AD, FaceBook
announced that it was launching an App Store for Apps that use FaceBook
on Wednesday May 9th 2012AD, hinting strongly at the possibility
that FB was planning to make a smartphone of its own as stated in the article “FaceBook
launches app store, seeks iPhone magic”, May 9 2012 by Om
Malik, GigaOM.
The
FaceBook
smartphone idea soon gained credence when it recruiters confirmed that FaceBook
was looking for a Dirty
Dozen (1967) Engineers, preferably with Apple iPhone
and Apple iPad experience to work on their smartphone project as stated in the
article “FaceBook
phone possible as Zuckerberg hires iPhone engineers”,
published 28 May 2012, 2:58pm By Rich Trenholm, CNET News.
Hopefully,
it would be an improvement on the Android-powered HTC Salsa and HTC ChaCha,
which were not as spicy and popular as they sounded, despite the convenient
“FB” button to post happily snapped pictures.
And
as an indication that FaceBook is serious
about making their own Mobile smartphone, they launched their Mobile App Centeron
Thursday June 7th 2012AD as stated in the article “FaceBook
makes another Mobile push, launches App Center”, published June 7, 2012,
5:33pm PT By Eliza Kern, GigaOM, keeping
good on its promise made earlier on Wednesday May 9th 2012AD.
One
would have thought that FaceBook would
have learned from the experience of Microsoft and its attempts back in April of
2010 to make a pair of Social Networking smartphone name Kin 1 and Kin 2 as
chronicled in my Geezam Blog article
entitled “Comeback
Kids: Microsoft Kin – Design is Everything”.
Interestingly,
Danger, the company that Microsoft bought and its phone whose hardware was the inspiration
for the Kin 1 and Kin 2, saw it fortunes return via a revival in December
2010AD courtesy of FaceBook’s enemy,
Google Android as stated in my blog article
entitled “T-Mobile
SideKick’s rides the Bobsled Lazarus Effect - Logan's Run”.
So
a FaceBook phone is inevitable.
The
questions that remain mainly are:
1.
Design and Features
2.
Mobile Phone OS
3.
Network Support
Well
it would seem some of FaceBook’s worries
are partially over.
This
as Apple has now deeply integrated FaceBook
into their latest MobileiOS 6.0, which made its debut on Monday June 11th
2012AD as stated in the article “Apple’s iOS 6 Includes Deep FaceBook Integration”,
published June 11, 2012 by Sarah Kessler, Mashable and“Apple
kicks Google Maps off iPhone,adds FaceBook”, published Wednesday, June 13,
2012, The Jamaica Observer.
This
all predicted, with some stuff not quite spot on in my blog article
entitled “Apple's
WWDC heralds the Return of the Mac and iOS 6.0 - Future Hunt for Red October
Amazon and Samsung in Mini-Tablets and IPTV”. More in another article
later!!!
Right
now, it would seem despite the better judgment of CNET Editor Molly Wood, FaceBook has gotten what is effectively a
stay of execution. Apple, albeit a “frenemy” of Microsoft, FaceBook’s partner in crime, seems to like
Social Networks, having deeply integrated Twitter back in 2011AD when they had
released iOS 5.0.
The
result?
Twitter
flourished, with the added benefit of an increase in tweets by about 10 million
and 47%of photo-swapping traffic originating from iOS powered devices. FaceBook can therefore look forward to a
similar benefit from this deep integration as they are now firmly in the
Driver’s seat for what is now clearly a Mobile Strategy driven by Apple’s
spanking new iOS 6.0.
This
is basically Microsoft and Apple, The
Penguins of Madagascar (2008) teaming up against Google Android by helping the
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
as neither company likes Google and its Machiavellian ambitions very well. Apparently
that was what all that activity surrounding the App Store launch was all about.
Apple has now drawn the line in the sand
But
something is amiss. Why seeking to hire Apple Engineers with Apple iPhone and
iPad Experience? Is FaceBook STILL
looking to have its OWN Mobile phone, after the HTC Salsa and HTC ChaCha failed
romance?
Stay
tuned to this blog for more as details become available…..
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