Online Real Estate Technology

Google+ added games, including the hugely popular Angry Birds, to the fast-growing social network vying with Facebook to be the hub for people’s online lives.

‘We want to make playing games online just as fun, and just as meaningful, as playing in real life,’ Google senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said in a blog post.

‘When you’re ready to play, the Games page is waiting.’

Along with global game sensation Angry Birds, the initial array of offerings available at Google+ included Bejeweled Blitz, Zynga Poker, and Dragon Age Legends.

Google is a latecomer to social networking but its new site, Google+, has grown rapidly to more than 10 million members since its launch on June 28.

While Google+ may be the fastest-growing social network ever, it remains to be seen whether it can pose a serious threat to the social networking titan Facebook, which has more than 750 million members.

Google has a billion users worldwide that could be drawn into the California-based internet giant’s social network.

Games are among the most popular activities at Facebook, where social game startup Zynga rose to stardom.

Most Google+ users — 6.4 million — are in the United States, followed by India, with 3.6 million, Canada, with 1.1 million, Britain, with 1.1 million, and Germany with over 920,000, according to online tracker comScore.

In unveiling Google+, Google stressed the ability it gives users to separate online friends and family into different ‘Circles,’ or networks, and to share information only with members of a particular circle.

One of the criticisms of Facebook is that updates are shared with all of one’s friends unless a user has gone through a relatively complicated process to create separate Facebook Groups.

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The long-term profitability of participating in daily deal promotions remains an open question for local businesses, even as services like Groupon remain popular and more businesses jump on board with deal offers.

July research from UK-based Cooper Murphy Copywriters found that nearly two-thirds of US businesses that had run a Groupon promotion said the particular promotion had been profitable for them. While a few were unsure, only 35% said they did not make money off the deal itself—an early worry among many businesses due to the deep discounting offered for such programs.

Yet businesses remained unsatisfied. Fully 82% were unhappy with the level of repeat business their Groupon promotion brought in, and nearly as many said Groupon users were more price-sensitive than the average customer.

In the end, a slight plurality of respondents said they would not advertise with Groupon again.

Other research into merchant satisfaction with daily deals has indicated a similar ambivalence. According to a Rice University study, businesses reported that as of May 2011 just 20.4% of customers who came in because of a Groupon offer became repeat visitors, and that less than half of the businesses were interested in another such promotion. But consumer-based research from ConsumerSearch.com and The About Group found that more than two-thirds of daily deal users said they returned to businesses at which they had previously redeemed a deal.

These stats do not necessarily disagree. Consumers polled about their behavior indicate they returned to at least one business after using a daily deal, but may have redeemed many other deals at businesses they never returned to.

Furthermore, many merchants are satisfied with the level of business daily deals bring in; a MerchantCircle survey of small businesses found that, contrary to the Cooper Murphy study, 77% of them would run another daily deal promotion after their first experience.

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“Super Greenies” (adults who engage in 10 or more environmentally friendly activities on a regular basis) tend to use the internet more heavily than average adults, according to [pdf] an August 2011 study from Scarborough Research. For example, data from “All About the Super Greenies” indicates 51% of Super Greenies have visited Facebook in the past 30 days, making them 36% more likely than average adults to use Facebook.

The social networks where Super Greenies overindex the most, however, are LinkedIn and Twitter. Thirteen percent of Super Greenies have visited LinkedIn in the past 30 days, making them 179% more likely than average to have done so. And while only 9% have visited Twitter in the past 30 days, this is still almost double (96%) the average rate.

Super Greenies are avid consumers of online media beyond social networks. Forty-two percent have visited a newspaper website in the past 30 days, 61% more than average. And 38% have visited a broadcast TV website in the past 30 days, 38% more than average.

As with social networks, Super Greenies’ highest levels of overindexing on media sites is actually highest where their overall usage is lowest. Only 12% have visited Hulu in the past 30 days, roughly double (99% more) the average rate. And the 19% who have visited a radio station site in the past 30 days is 48% higher than average, second only to newspaper site usage for overindexing.

Super Greenies also consume local online content at rates higher than the overall population. Sixty-nine percent have checked local weather in the past 30 days, 51% more than the average adult. The most notable local content Super Greenies check online more than the total population is traffic, which 15% of Super Greenies have checked in the past 30 days, 231% higher than the average rate.

Super Greenies are top spenders in all retail categories measured by Scarborough. Super Greenies are 71% more likely than the overall population to own a foreign luxury vehicle. Half of Super Greenies have volunteered in the past year, and are 90% more likely than the average adult to have done so. 42% of Super Greenies have visited an art museum in the past year, making them 220% more likely than the total population to have done so.

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Computer giant Apple has launched legal proceedings in Australia against Samsung Electronics, accusing the South Korean firm of infringing its patents with its Galaxy Tab 10.1, court papers show.

Samsung is already embroiled in a patent dispute over smartphones and tablet computers with Apple in the United States, in which both sides have filed infringement claims against the other.

Documents presented to the Federal Court of Australia show Apple is seeking to permanently ban the sale or promotion of the latest Galaxy Tab 10.1, which would compete with Apple’s iPad, in Australia.

Apple says Samsung’s tablet infringes 10 of its Australian patents, according to a document filed to the court.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1, launched in its home market last month, is not yet available in Australia and Samsung said Apple’s complaint relates to a variant of the slim tablet which it had never intended to sell in Australia.

‘Apple Inc filed a complaint with the Federal Court of Australia involving a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 variant that Samsung Electronics had no plans of selling in Australia,’ Samsung said in a statement, seen on Wednesday.

A Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the Australian market would be released ‘in the near future’, it added.

Samsung has released its touchscreen Galaxy Tab 10.1, which it says is the world’s thinnest tablet at just 8.6 millimetres, in five overseas countries, including the United States.

The patent tussle began in April when Apple filed a suit accusing Samsung of copying its smartphones and tablet computers.

Samsung responded with a claim in Seoul alleging five patent infringements by Apple.

US-based Apple later lodged a second lawsuit against Samsung with a district court in Seoul, asking for a sales ban on the South Korean firm’s latest products.

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An outdated law meaning millions of people are unknowingly copying music illegally is due to be swept away by the Government.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has backed proposals to update what some have called the country’s ‘archaic copyright laws’.

At the moment it is technically illegal to transfer content from CDs and DVDs onto a different format such as a computer or MP3 player.

The Government is putting the wheels in motion to change this, allowing people to transfer content and make copies for their own and immediate family’s personal use.

However, at present millions of people are breaking the law, with many unaware they are doing it.

Intellectual property lawyer for Mishcon De Reya Adam Morallee believes legislation is merely catching up with what is already being done.

‘It really does have to catch up and look at what’s happening. The people who operate the fast sharing sites are miles ahead of the where the legislators are.’

These proposals are in response to a review of Intellectual Property legislation carried out in May. The government is expected to agree with much of the report.

Sharing of copyrighted material over the internet will still be illegal.

However some critics in the entertainment industry believe these proposals are merely altering an outdated law.

What they are not doing is tackling the real and pressing problem posed by illegal downloading.

Jonathan Shalit, chairman of Roar Global which represents artists, told Sky News he is worried about the repercussions for his clients.

‘The minute you say it is legal to copy something you’re then legitimising it and where does the barrier or boundaries of immediate family end.

‘I think it has not been well thought through and a lack of respect remains for artists who create the original product.’

Online spoofs are also expected to receive legal protection.

The makers of Newport State of Mind, a song which satirised singer Alicia Key’s Empire version by moving it from New York to South Wales, was removed from YouTube recently after a legal battle.

MJ Delaney, the director of the track, did not realise she had been breaking the law when she made the video and agrees with the changes.

‘EMI who took it down, they weren’t a victim in any sense of what we’ve done.

‘By the time we’d done that video the song Empire State of Mind was pretty old. It was long gone out of the charts so if anything all we did was raise the profile of the song and remind everyone what a great song it was.’

It is hoped the moves will benefit the UK economy, in part because individuals will be able to legally back up their music, films and e-books, encouraging the development of new technology.

It will clear the way for companies such as Google and Amazon to market online content storage systems for UK consumers, allowing them to create back-up files of their music and film libraries in a ‘cloud’ on the internet, so they can be retrieved even if their own computer or MP3 player is stolen or lost.

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Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co zoomed to the top of the list of global smartphone makers in the second quarter, blowing past Nokia Corp and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd, according to research firm IDC.

Korea’s Samsung made the biggest jump, from No 4 in the first quarter to No 2 in the second, on the strength of its Galaxy phones, which run Google Inc’s Android software. It sold 17.3 million smartphones in the second quarter, up from 10.8 million in the first, IDC said.

Apple rose to No 1, taking the spot from Nokia, by selling 20.3 million iPhones, up from 18.7 million in the first quarter. That relegated Finland’s Nokia, the long-time leader, to third place. Apple has yet to top Nokia’s high-water mark of 28.1 million phones in a quarter.

‘But given Apple’s momentum in the smartphone market, it may not be a question of whether Apple will beat that milestone, but when,’ IDC said.

Remarkably, Apple’s sales record comes nearly a year after it released its latest model, the iPhone 4, and it’s still selling millions of the even older iPhone 3GS. Competitors such as Samsung put out new models every few months.

Nokia sold 16.7 million smartphones, a sharp drop from 24.2 million in the previous quarter. The company has struggled to come up with an answer to the iPhone. Nokia is now transitioning to smartphone software from Microsoft Corp, but it’s first Windows Phones won’t be on sale until late this year, at the earliest.

Canada’s RIM fell from third to fourth place, as it saw a decline in BlackBerry sales from the first quarter to the second. Like Nokia, it has been struggling to update the high end of its line to compete with touch-screen phones such as the iPhone. It unveiled five new models with updated software this week.

HTC Corp of Taiwan remained in fifth place, but it’s seeing rapidly growing sales. Like Samsung, it has bet on Google’s Android software for its phones.

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Facebook is attempting to play a strong card against telcos with the release of a new instant messaging app that will also send free SMS.

The world’s largest social media company released Facebook Messenger for iPhone and Android phones earlier this week in the US, with Australia to soon follow.

The application allows for instant free messages between friends and groups with several options for when you are notified.

But Telstra said it doesn’t expect a move away from SMS despite the availability of free alternatives.

“Telstra has seen continued SMS growth in the face of mobile social networking” said a spokeswoman speaking to News.

The app will also be in competition with Blackberry’s instant messaging service, which sends encrypted messages, preventing them from being read by any one other than the sending and receiver.

Blackberry’s maker, Research in Motion went under the microscope recently when it was found that rioters in the UK were using the service to coordinate acts of violence and destruction.

A similar card will also be played by Apple next month when it releases its iMessenger app with the iOS 5 software update.

It will provide iPhone and iPad users the ability to exchange SMS style messages without using a mobile carrier.

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The Federal Government aims to introduce, by as soon as next year, mandatory energy star ratings for homes being sold or rented out.

Under the favoured system, vendors and landlords would have to pay about $200 to have their property assessed, with a total cost to homeowners and property investors of $1.1 billion over the next 10 years.

Housing experts said most McMansions would score very poorly on the ratings system, which would be similar to the methodology used to identify the energy efficiency of whitegoods.

Mick Fabar, director of private energy-ratings firm Green Homes Australia, said: "Through our experience with our rating tool, those two-storey McMansions would not get over zero."

There are significant financial implications for owners of these homes – and most older dwellings which are also likely to rate lowly.

Owners would need to either spend up on going green or face the prospect of a lower sale price.

A Federal Government study into a similar ACT scheme operating since 1999, which rates properties out of 10 stars, found that a 1-star difference affected selling prices by 3 per cent.

Asked whether the scheme would have a negative effect on the sale price of some homes, a spokeswoman for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet said: "It will allow buyers and renters to better compare different properties, making it easier to identify a property which uses less energy or water and thereby save money."

But the Federal Opposition’s spokesman for climate action, environment and heritage, Greg Hunt, said such a scheme would create "enormous uncertainty".

"It could push up the cost of rent for people just when they are feeling cost-of-living pressures," Mr Hunt said.

"It’s another cost imposed on people from the Government."

The new federal system is expected to replace the Bligh Government’s so-called Sustainability Declaration which was introduced in 2009.

Under the scheme, sellers were meant to sign a form detailing their home’s energy-efficient features.

But the property industry complained the forms were too complex and buyers were not interested in the information.

Story source: www.couriermail.com.au

About four in 10 (39%) users of the Janrain Engage social connection service used Facebook for social sign-in (SSI) during Q2 2011, according to data from Janrain. This was 30% more than the 30% of users who used number two SSI site Google.

Yahoo (12%) and Twitter (8%) remain well behind in third and fourth place, respectively. SSI allows users to sign into a restricted access site using existing sign-in data, rather than having to create a new account.

Tracking quarterly SSI preferences since Q4 2009, Janrain finds Facebook, after losing popularity between Q4 2009 and Q1 2010, began a dramatic ascent in SSI usage during Q2 2010, hitting 30% in Q4 2010. In Q1 2011, previous number one Google sharply lost close to 10 percentage points of SSI usage as Facebook surged past it to claim the number one spot.

The other most interesting SSI trends in the past seven quarters have been slight but steady growth in Twitter use and a dramatic drop in use of combined “Other” social networks for SSI.

There has been significant jump in the popularity of Facebook for social login on mobile apps in the last quarter, moving 60% from 35% in Q1 to 56% in Q2. Facebook’s growth in this segment came mostly at the expense of Google, which dropped 7%, and Twitter, which dropped 6%. Yahoo’s share dropped slightly, but it remained ahead of Twitter.

On media and digital publisher sites, Facebook is the most popular choice. Yahoo’s share has declined 6% during the past year and half, but its popularity as a sign-in provider is still more pronounced in this space than in any other vertical. However, for the first time, Google has eclipsed Yahoo as the second-most- popular choice.

After a consistent quarterly growth rate of 5% since Q1 2010, Facebook’s share of social sign-ins on retail sites has stabilized at a shade under 50%. On entertainment and gaming sites, Facebook’s leading share has declined a bit, with Google showing substantial growth and Windows Live having its best performance in any vertical with SSI share of almost 15%. In Europe, Facebook remains atop the list at 43%, with Google maintaining its position as the second most popular option. Facebook and Twitter are the leading destinations for socially shared content. 59% of users choose to share to their friends on Facebook, and 33% choose to share with their followers on Twitter.

Looking at the different kinds of companies/products Facebook users are fans of, an April 2011 study from ROI Research and Performics finds the highest percentage (46%) are fans of entertainment-related products. This category is followed by food (41%), restaurants (40%) and apparel (35%).

Service providers tend to be among the least popular categories, including categories such as educational institutions (22%), telecommunications (19%), and financial service companies (15%).

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Hacker groups Anonymous and Lulz Security have called for a boycott of PayPal to punish the electronic payments firm for its refusal to accept donations for WikiLeaks.

PayPal, Visa and MasterCard have stopped accepting donations for WikiLeaks in December after the website began releasing sensitive US State Department cables.

PayPal says the decision to restrict the WikiLeaks account wasn’t the result of any pressure from the US government.

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