Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Monday 25 February 2008, 9:43 AM
Facebook's statistical uncertainty
A lesson in picking and choosing statistics here: in the middle of last week, Nielsen stats showed Facebook usage was down 5 percent in the UK from December to January (although MySpace and Bebo were also down). Now Facebook has hit back saying its own figures tell a different story.
"The number of users for Facebook continues to climb in the UK," says a spokesperson. "Our internal monthly active user numbers rose between December and January in the UK and are now at more than 8.3 million. Facebook tracks active monthly users, rather than registered user or unique visitors. Active users reflect those who have used the site in the past 30 days."
Not really sure how to interpret this one. Given that it is notoriously impossible to delete a Facebook account, it's not like people are leaving the site as such. What Facebook says does tally with what I was suggesting last week about tasters dropping off and the active user base remaining, but... let's see how this plays out over the coming months.
Thursday 21 February 2008, 1:26 PM
Facebook usage down in UK
According to Nielsen Online, via the Grauniad, Facebook saw its first dip in UK usage - around 5 percent - between December and January. That doesn't stop it being the top social networking site in this country, though. It's worth noting that MySpace also saw a comparable drop, while Bebo is also down.
Some people have jumped on this story as a marker of the decline of Facebook. Personally I reckon it's completely normal for a site like that to spike then stabilise as it finds its long-term user base and loses those who do approach it more faddishly. I certainly know many people who are losing interest - but then again I know lots of people who are using it more and more to organise their social calendar etc. Either way, Mark Zuckerberg & Co. haven't yet found a way to make money off the thing, so even a slight decline in usage will be bad news for them.
If Facebook is genuinely starting on a faddish decline, then I can't see what the next fad - the next big thing in social networking - is going to be yet. I certainly doubt that social networking itself is going to go away anytime soon. Furthermore, I suspect that Facebook has become entrenched enough for the majority of its userbase to need a damn good reason to go elsewhere - as it stands, that would be needless and counterproductive fragmentation.
On the subject of Zuckerberg's Folly, a US company called WorkLight has brought its Facebook overlay, WorkBook, over to the UK now. This apparently makes it secure and enterprise-friendly, so if your organisation is currently blocking FB over security concerns, it might be worth a gander.
Wednesday 20 February 2008, 10:50 AM
What a £99 laptop looks like...
We finally got a picture of this Elonex £99 laptop that's about to be launched, and here it is:
Some people have pointed out that it looks an awful lot like a Chinese "Simple PC" from Fontastic, but Elonex assured me on Monday that they designed it themselves - suggesting, I suppose, that Fontastic are the rebadgers...
Monday 18 February 2008, 4:22 PM
Windows Mobile 6.1 spotted
Readers of this blog may recall my frustration at Microsoft's spectacularly unspectacular press conference last week at Mobile World Congress. They just didn't have much to say, which was really annoying given that everyone was expecting something about an update to Windows Mobile - either WinMob 7 (yeah right) or, more reasonably, Windows Mobile 6.1. It's no secret that 6.1 exists.
And then, via a Hungarian blog (and Coolsmartphone, where I spotted it), comes this. On Sony Ericsson's Xperia WinMob phone, it's... Windows Mobile 6.1. As to why I didn't spot this myself, in my defence we only flew into Barcelona as the Sony Ericsson launch party was underway.
So, Microsoft, why the reticence? Is 6.1 out there or not?
Tuesday 12 February 2008, 5:16 PM
Ya want Wi-Fi in that?
According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, 56 percent of those surveyed want Wi-Fi in their next phone, although they´re "not always informed as to why they need it". The words of Karen Hanley, the Alliance´s chief - I was chatting with her earlier today at Mobile World Congress in Barca.
The Alliance didn´t really have much news to share this week (they´re not the only ones), other than to say that it has now certified 200 Wi-Fi devices in the Wi-Fi Protected Setup scheme - a programme set up to make the pairing of devices easier for consumers, using technologies like PINs and near-field communications. Oh, and 60-something percent of people would rather give up chocolate than Wi-Fi.
It was an interesting chat, though. IEEE approval for 802.11n is now apparently expected for mid-2009, but never mind, "the stability of draft 2.0 is very good". Almost 30 million draft 2.0 devices have been shipped. According to Hanley, "we have been seeing more interest in the enterprise space for 11n than we might have expected" - figure out the connotations of that amongst yourselves.
What about BT Fusion, I asked. Apparently a senior BT bod will be addressing the Alliance´s membership "in a few weeks", and he has assured the Wi-Fi overlords that fixed-mobile convergence is "still a key part of [BT´s] offering". Huzzah!
And what does the Alliance think of this newfangled WiMax business? "A good complement" to Wi-Fi, particularly for backhaul, but more expensive because it doesn´t have Wi-Fi´s benefit of unlicenced spectrum. All true.
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