Because the announcement of the ‘new’ device was delayed a few weeks (these announcements usually come in the Summer) everyone thought Apple was gearing up for something big. With the exit of Steve Jobs earlier this year, critics claimed that Apple had something to prove at this reveal and that the new product line would be a testament to their ability to survive without him. While this is unfair, the blogosphere none the less went crazy with iPhone frenzy. Expectations were high. Apple instead delivered a faster version of the iPhone 4. The 4GS features voice recognition, an improved antenna setup, and an 8 MP camera among other features.

What were the game changers that everyone was expecting? What would have satisfied even their toughest critics?

4G Technology – A late bloomer in the United States, but much welcomed. It’s important to note that the iPhone at 3G speeds can out-perform some Android devices running on 4G, but is dependent on your network, location, and device. Increased data speeds have opened the market up to watching TV on your phone, an increase in mobile web traffic, and more. The ability to reach higher connection speeds will continuously change the way we use handheld devices. Many would argue it’s the current device speeds that are slowing down the growth potential of the mobile market. We’ve heard it every year, ‘This is the year of Mobile!’ Eh. Not yet. People demand more of their phones, and no significant change will occur until it becomes truly fast and convenient. Will the iPhone 4GS speeds be able to do just this? We’ll find out soon.

NFC Chips – Near Field Communication chips are changing the way we use our phones. It transforms them from communication and entertainment devices, to practical devices. Imagine holding up your phone to a sign, and being able to check into Foursquare automatically, without having to open the Application and search for the venue. Imagine a phone that can be waved at a register to pay for your groceries. Keep losing your discount and reward point cards? Its ok, that information is saved in your phone now. This is the future of your mobile device. Not in 5 years; now. Google Wallet has already introduced the system. While availability is still limited, it won’t be long until its common practice.

However, this is dependent on large segments of smart phone users having the ability to use their devices in this manner. With a large percentage of smartphone owners, iPhone users, its absence not only disables their ability to use their phones in this way, but very possibly holds up the development of the strategies themselves. If iPhone users cannot pay for their goods with their mobile phones, a significant portion of users are left out. This reduces the chances that businesses would invest in near-field-communication strategies.

Apple’s lack of inclusion in NFC chips doesn’t just leave iPhone users behind, it stagnates the market until they do. Guess we’ll wait til next year and get excited about the iPhone 5 all over again.

Steven Sinofsky, President of Windows says that a device with an old Atom processor and 1GB RAM would be enough to run Windows-8, even Windows-7 can run well on that configuration. Windows-8 has improved on system performance and speed on more powerful devices – tablet computers, Mobile Devices, desktop and laptop PC’s. The operating system which is due to released in 2012, works with ARM low power processors. The company will soon reveal details on the chips that will be integrated into desktop and laptop machines.

Microsoft Corp. is also planning to launch its own marketplace; “Windows Store” for Tablet PC’s as well mobile devices. It is being introduced with number of Metro-style apps. The company is ahead of its growing competition in the mobile device and Tablet sectors.

Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky showcased some of the new changes at BUILD. Internet Explorer’s new version-10 will be able to switch between the standard desktop view and Metro style UI. The design language applications of Windows-7 are now easily compatible to run through Windows-8 devices. Sky-Drive storage supports integrated cloud based applications like Mail, Calendar and apps with the user’s Windows Live ID, which will have the new Metro UI process.

Windows has been controlling its growth due to market competition. The global market for Desktop Systems and laptops are slower than in the past, whereas for tablets – they are expected to reach over 70 million at the end of this year and grow up to 300 million in 2015.

For more discussions and conversations about Windows-8, please head over to the forums: http://win8.ms/forums

However, technology evolves (especially in the Internet field) and we can easily see that more and more customers are looking for information on the web, even when pertaining to interactions with local businesses. “Where is the nearest hardware store?” “Where can I find someone that will fix my bike?” are questions that you may ask yourself sometimes. Is your first reflex to check the internet? The change in reactionary behavior is an interesting development in the past 20 years and one of the main reasons one must reconsider the manner in which their marketing efforts are directed. Many don’t have enough capital to launch huge marketing campaigns, so how should they begin to approach local marketing?

Google can play a huge role with just 2 of their many tools: Google Adwords and Google Places. Adwords allows businesses to create a PPC (Pay per Click) advertising campaigns. These ads can be found almost anywhere on the web, more than just on Google searches. Depending on your communication needs, you can launch a campaign that would target only the people you want to visit your business, and convert the visit for profit. This works very well when for local campaigns, as you will appear only on the results pages and on websites in your area. Obviously, it makes no sense to display an ad for a hardware store in San Francisco on a New Yorker’s screen, unless the business is virtual.

Less popular but effective is Google Places, a great tool that allows you to add your business address on Google/Google Maps so that you can share your information more easily – location, hours of operation, pictures of your store and deals or discounts you may be offering to entice customers. When someone does a local search, Google provides the information you’ve submitted to let users to find the business most able to suit their needs.

Now with these two tools, let’s imagine a combination of them to create a super efficient PPC campaign. You would be able to appear in the results pages thanks to the Google Adwords campaign, but also in Google Maps when someone is looking for “places near them”. As a result, you gain a better visual impact on Google as the user can see your business twice, and is given relevant information pertaining to their search. You can obtain greater efficiency in your marketing campaign without having to spend a lot of money.

The newer version of iPhone is expected to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4 and said to have an 8-mega pixel camer. The iPhone will operate with Qualcomm Inc.’s wireless baseband chips, a person familiar with the matter tells the Wall Street Journal.

A source at one of Apple’s suppliers says the company is looking to meet its goal of 25M units by the end of this year-2011. Apple said it sold 18.65 million iPhones in the fiscal second quarter, which ended March 26. Last month after returning from a trip to Taiwan, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said Apple will commence production on the next version of the iPhone this August.

Shipments of the new iPhone could be delayed if Hon Hai can’t improve its yield rate as the new iPhone is “complicated and difficult to assemble, the WSJ says.

The first GSM call was made by Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri to Kaarina Suonio who was the Vice-mayor of Tampere. The call took place in Finland on July 1, 1991. The first network was built by Telenokia and Siemens and operated by Radiolinja (now Elisa) using a 900 MHz band. In the call, Holkeri and Suonio discussed the benefits of the New GSM technology, voice quality, security, privacy and the phones identity being in the SIM card. This allowed consumers to easily manipulate and choose products they like.

The GSM standard was agreed on in 1987 by 13 European nations, settings standards for the technology. In 1992 the first short messaging service (SMS or text message) was sent and Vodafone UK and Telecom Finland signed the first international roaming agreement. In 20 years, GSM has grown rapidly and today has reached over 4.4 billion people in 212 countries.

The first commercial GPRS services were launched in 2000. The first UMTS (W-CDMA) network was launched and worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 500 million that year. In 2002 the first GSM network with 800 MHz frequency band became operational and also the first multimedia messaging services (MMS) were introduced. EDGE services first became operational in 2003 and the number of worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 1 billion in 2004.

Over time, the technology has evolved to support 400, 800, 1800 and 1900MHz bands; and now supports WDCMA-based UMTS (3G) and later HSPA and HSPA+. The GSM standard Association currently holds 80% of the global mobile market.

Quite possibly, this San Jose tech firm will put them at ease.  GET IT Mobile offers a mobile marketing platform for leading brands to connect with their audiences who are deluged with content from all angles.  How will they do it? These are some features of product differentiation:

• Web analytics – A partner site with measurement tools on par with other leading dashboards, customizable for your small business. Campaigns can be set up  at your discretion
• Landing Page Flexibility – Brands can customize their pages according to hardware platform due to the inclusion of product landing pages.
• Brand Experience – I like the shortened GET.IT URL. Links are becoming another domain where companies can stretch position and generate visibility.

The press release from EON offers more tidbits on the value of this new platform for businesses. After you review those, then GET IT over here.

1. Starplayer from Heineken

Around the time of the Champions League, Heineken developed a mobile game called Starplayer that was based on the real-time game on TV. The game could be unlocked about 10 minutes before the actual start of the UEFA game, and it interacted with users via questions that were predictive about the real game such as – corner kicks and the possibility of a goal going in. The game encouraged players to utilize their football instincts and mental skills, and earn points and badges. Starplayer could also be played online through Heineken’s facebook page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XP5yySEZub8#at=58

2. Cornetto’s Mobile Game via Projection Mapping

Cornetto came up with an innovative street campaign using projection mapping technology in Turkey to build more brand awareness. They developed a game that could be played by 5 users at a time in a busy central square area in Istanbul. Any passerby could use his mobile to call and enter the game, and get assigned a character. If they were successful in the game, they could redeem a coupon for a free ice-cream. This game pulled in a lot of crowd as it only required the use of the keypad and hence could also be played by those who didn’t own smart phones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eXI8doq1k5Y#at=161

3. Danoo’s Digital Advertising via Bluetooth

Danoo offered digital advertising solutions across high football areas, via Bluetooth to encourage users to download content that were of interest of them from what was displayed on digital screens.  The content was available for download free of charge. Danoo’s results from this campaign were impressive, as they discovered that 10% of the people already had their Bluetooth on and about 28% chose to download information. These results were very encouraging to other advertisers.

4. Lynx – Complete the Missing Parts!

Axe, commonly known as Lynx in Uruguay ran a fun cheeky campaign using mobile marketing to engage their male audience in particular. They ran print ads with missing parts in the pictures, and encouraged users to text to a number to get the missing parts. This campaign was very effective as it got users to directly interact with the brand just to see more of the ad.

1.  The Webby Awards

I didn’t have a chance to watch them, but I heard this year was one of the better editions.  It took place here in New York at the Hammerstein Ballroom. They also continued the tradition of acceptance speeches with five words.  Here is a good synopsis of the event. The headline link is a portal to complete video coverage presented by YouTube.

2.  RIM Not Producing Spring Blackberries

Investors came down on the Canadian firm this week after sluggish data on earnings for the last quarter.  They also worry about RIM’s ability to maintain standing in the mobile marketplace.  Android phones and the new iPhone are scheduled to launch in September with upgraded OS servers while RIM plans to continue pushing older devices which have struggled to gain sales traction.  RIM executives feel that their products will produce juice for developers. The cup dryeth for others.

3.  Apple Trying To Shut Down Venue Recording

Many of you know that in the blogosphere, the video of a live concert experience is the new cassette recording. It can be shared in real-time as opposed to being found through tertiary sources like a music vendor or shop.  Apple is looking to earn a patent to stop all that.  According to the headline from Mashable, the motivation lies in avoiding copyright infringement with major content distributors.  The article makes an interesting suggestion that Apple could charge users a fee for recording in a public concert space.  If scaled, it could change the video sharing experience for everyone involved.

4.  The History of Email

This morning, Mashable had an infographic depicting the history of email as a communication tool.  You can view it above in the piece. According to the release, email networks existed in the public sector for a decade before the term was coded.  Some people today wonder about the future of email with the continued development of video content and social media outreach.  Quality marketers believe that email remains an effective measurement of customer preferences and tastes.  It also offers the widest platform to debate and discuss objectives of the day. Viva email!

5.  Senate Reviews Digital Privacy Mandate

From cnet.com, the Senate is looking to revise a 1986 law for modern times to protect the personal data of the public. This law, named the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, has a clause where Internet users have more protection when data is stored locally.  The article also touches on law enforcement obtaining a search warrant before obtaining data records for a criminal investigation.  Other Acts are being debated in Congress now between Republicans who refuse to budge an ounce, forcing Democrats to seriously weaken mandates before submission. Corporations, as we know, need to step up their security encryption policies before the government does it. And fast. I’m talking to you, Sony.

That’s the Blue news on this Saturday at midpoint. Enjoy.

Apple updated their US online store on Tuesday offering carrier unlocked models of the GSM iphone 4 – starting from $649.

Both white and black versions are available, with the 16GB and 32GB models priced at $649 and $749.

The black models are shipping in 1-3 business days while a white model will take 3-5 days. US customers can choose from AT&T and T-Mobile Networks, though data speeds will be slower on EDGE Protocol and Verizon’s CDMA Model is not available at this time.

When travelling abroad, US iPhone users who don’t want to be locked with AT&T contract, freedom from contracts and free with international roaming charges get a Prepaid SIM card from local corner store.

Legion members of the mobile payment, we introduce you to Square.  Square is a free credit card service that includes many beneficial services. Signees receive a pocket-sized reader that attaches to your audio jack. The mobile application is available for use with both smartphones and tablets.  Transactions fees are static at 2.75% with no contracts or monthly fees.  This application also has the versatility of an open source platform, allowing the mechant to engage with customers coupled with altering online advertising campaigns based on financial reporting.

It will be interesting to see if Square engages with the geolocal movement spearheaded by social media ventures like Foursquare and Gowalla.  Local businesses could extract significant earnings lost to nominal ATM kiosks when cash is the only accepted form of payment.  Live artists who spend a premium on devices for recording can use Square on the road without compromising storage space.  Huey Lewis knew it all along.