Group items tagged

- 30% of smartphone users accessed social networks via mobile browsers - this was up from 22.5% in 2009. - Total social networking access via mobile browsers on all mobile phones rose to 11.1% - this was up from 6.5% in 2009. Most of this growth was in the uptick in smartphone usage. Big numbers. But how can content creators make money off it? Where's the profit? Are these sustainable media?

The mobile phone is a tool that can help bridge the digital divide permitting to US teenagers from low income households to access the Internet even if they don't have access to a home computer.

related to this, this article suggests that the humble mobile phone may be slowly eroding the digital divide in third world countries, India in this example. http://inside.org.au/india-mobile-revolution/

SeeClickFix is a free mobile phone and web app that enables citizens to take care of their neighborhoods by seeing non-emergency issues in their neighborhoods, clicking to create 'tickets' describing the issue and how to resolve it, and fixing the issue or reporting it to whoever can. This article discusses the technology and tools working to help citizens get involved in their communities and their governments. It also discusses the Gov 2.0 Expo held recently in the US. I found the discussion of mobile citizen governance apps particularly interesting, as it would be something that could be rolled out fairly easily.

A short review on the book "SMS Uprising: Mobile activism in Africa" which is series of essays about the usage of SMS for citizen activism in Africa including in Zimbabwe.

How mobiles are helping bridge the digital divide

The Mexican government approved a law that creates a national registry of mobile phone users, forcing people to provide their private information to associate mobile numbers with a registrated customer. More than 30m citizens are facing the possibility of service disruption if they don't comply with the forced registration.

Glad I am here!

Interesting article touching on issues of the digital divide, and how technology can affect and help development. The article also discusses the effect that technology, particularly mobiles, is having on politics in India - particularly on enfranchising and mobilising the lower castes.

Virgin Mobile marketing team clearly not understanding the Spam Act by sending customers email after they have opted out just to 'make sure you're still certain' about option out! Virgin since fined $22K and have committed to providing training for their staff.

This articles mentions the major highlights of the Australian Communications and Media Authority's Communications Report 2008-2009. Among the differents findings, are available some data about mobile service, mobile network, suscribers, wireless broadband, dowloadings, online advertising , expenditures, revenue, etc. It's all about the digital convergence, the Digital Economy and a demand for flexibility.

Gary Kim is referring to a survey made by e-marketer to point out that in the US the disparities in Internet usage between "Asians", "Hispanics", "Afro americans" and "white americans" will have almost disappeared, mostly because of the expansion of mobile phones giving access to Internet.

Police crowdsource to find perpetrators of the Oakleigh riot, asking the public to send in mobile phone footage, and also sourcing from internet, cctv, and news crews. Changing nature of public surveillance and law enforcement.

Interesting article applicable to the issues with the digital divide. Most notable is the way that many developing countries are 'skipping' over technology-steps: ie, going straight to mobiles without any landline infrastructure or going straight to tablet computers without ever having desktops.

The Chinese government is planning to engage mothers in an effort to apparently  "protect" children. A genuine concern or just legitimization of censorship?

It seems to be like by-the-book State mechanisms to legitimize policy. Classic propaganda.

In the US a coalition consisting of Google, Microsoft, Ebay, AT&T, and Intel is fighting for a change of the Electronics Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) that was enacted in 1986. The coalition stresses the fact that the Internet has changed tremendously since then and the law therefore needs to be adapted. It protects files in the homes of people but law enforcement entities do not need judicial warrant to view files stored with ISPs, in the cloud or get GPS data from mobile phones.\nDefinitely a case worth fighting for - and an opportunity for Google & Co. to get good press. What about the law that allows checking and copying peoples' computer harddrives at airports though?

Apparently the showdown between Adobe and Apple might result in a lawsuit in the weeks to come. Adobe has 95% Web browser market penetration, whilst apparently Apple has a monopoly on mobile applications, to the tune of 99.4% of downloads. It seems like some sort of synergy must be reached between the two companies.

Pew study shows the African-American population is more inclined in Mobile Internet and especially Twitter whose awareness has raised significantly

No, I don't agree that Internet Explorer is dead. However, there has been a significant progress in the adoption of alternative browsers, which is a healthy way to avoid a monopoly in browsers, which are the gate to internet for end users.  The decline in the use of IE thanks to the participation of open source browsers is acknowledged here. 

This is an article I bookmarked a few weeks ago but neglected to post to Diigo. I was planning to focus on Haiti as the subject for a blog entry but didn't follow through. Regardless, this article outlines the plan by broadcasters to gain money through digital sales of a telethon intended to raise funds for the relief effort in Haiti. The main point of the article is not to look at the digital divide between Haiti and the nations funding relief efforts, as I initially thought. It looks at the telethon as a test run to figure out how to monetize live internet streaming and mobile downloads of television content.

Imagine a web-based bank that let you deposit checks by simply photographing them with its mobile app. It lets you make cash withdrawals from ATMs all over the country at no cost, sometimes even re-embursing you for fees you get charged by other companies...

Another case in which intellectual property rights come into question. Apple is suing HTC for infringement of 20 Apple patents. It is interesting to note, that the majority of handsets which been specified in this case are powered by Google's Android operating system which is open source. I feel that corporations using open sources to power their products need to consider the potential repercussions. Although open source communities tend to operate with an ethic of contribution and collaborative innovation; it is inevitable that ideas and the products which stem from it will crossover from one realm to another, which in turn will lead to a figurative 'stepping on one another's toes' and ensuing law suits. In saying this, it is clear that whether or not it is open source product or not, that cases like this have almost become a symptom of the modern tech-business climate.