20th Century Fox Puts Movies Online First With A Big Push Behind “Digital HD”

Posted by & filed under Amazon, Business Intelligence, business models, Cloud Computing, Ecommerce, streaming video, YouTube.

Description: 20th Century Fox has recently shown some innovation in attempts to boost their online movie sales. Going forward, new movies released by Fox will be offered online in “Digital HD” 3 weeks ahead of In-store DVDs. This shift in priorities may just inject some life into a floundering industry.

Source: TechCrunch

Date: September 18th, 2012

 

Don’t call it electronic sell-through. Call it “Digital HD.”

20th Century Fox, the studio behind hits like Prometheus has got a whole new type of movie to sell you online. And while the actual product isn’t that different than what you might have bought before, there are a few key differences in Fox’s approach when dealing with a hip young audience and peddling its wares online. Read Rest of Story

Questions for discussion:

1. Why is it cheaper to sell Digital HD online?

2. How does this push affect distribution?

Social media changes back-to-school experience

Posted by & filed under cyber bullying, education, ethics, FaceBook, free speech, national culture, politics, social impacts, Social Media.

Description: Social media has changed the experience of going back to school for kids. By using social media to stay in-touch throughout the summer, kids are able to draw on each others shared content to start conversations and meet new friends. However, for some this might mean enduring more bullying than before.

Source: CBC.ca

Date: September 4th, 2012

Hordes of children across the country are heading back to classrooms, and experts say social networking and smartphones are radically changing the whole back-to-school experience.

“It’s almost like multimedia friendship,” said Ester Cole, psychologist and former chair of the Psychology Foundation of Canada. “It means children have a magnified exposure to information.” Read Rest of Story

Questions for discussion:

1. What are some of the upsides of kids using social media?

2. What are some of the downsides of kids using social media?

How Technology Democratized Development

Posted by & filed under education, ethics, free speech, Internet, iphone, market intelligence, national culture, smartphones, social impacts.

Description: Individuals in Africa are becoming more empowered and productive with the help of their mobile phones. Today, anyone anywhere can make a positive difference in their own – or somebody else’s – community.

Source: BBC.com

Date: September 7th, 2012

Twenty years ago, if you were information technology-literate and interested in international development, your options were limited.

That’s how things were for me when, in 1993, armed with ten years programming and networking experience I began turning my attention to the developing world.

My efforts didn’t get me far. The information technology revolution we see today had barely started at home, let alone in many of the developing nations. If you weren’t an English teacher, a doctor, a policy maker, an economist or a dam builder, careers in development seemed somewhat limited.  Read Rest of Story

Questions for discussion:

1. What types of benefits does tech offer Community Health Care workers, farmers and citizens in Africa?

2. What’s the next stage of the communications revolution?

Samsung in Hot Seat Over Abusing Chinese Workers

Posted by & filed under Apple, ethics, Human Resources, industry analysis, iphone, national culture, smartphones, social impacts.

Description: New York-based China Labor Watch has recently conducted a six month investigation into eight Samsung factories in China. The investigation has unearthed issues that include  safety, work hours and underage workers.

Source: theglobeandmail.com

Date: September 5th, 2012

Fresh off a billion-dollar loss in a patent fight with rival smartphone maker Apple Inc., embattled Samsung Electronics Co. now finds itself accused by a labour rights group of mistreating workers in China and illegally using child labour.

The New York based-China Labor Watch said its investigation into workplace conditions at eight factories in China showed some employees were working more than 100 hours per month of overtime and that children were knowingly employed. Read Rest of Story

Questions for discussion:

1. What was Samsung’s response?

2. Which other mobile manufacturer has recently come under employment scrutiny and why?

Dorm Rooms and a Garage are Launching Some of the Best in Startups

Posted by & filed under business models, education, FaceBook, Internet, iPad, iphone, programming, smartphones, social impacts, Social Media.

Description: The University of Waterloo boasts two productive launch pads for students wanting to build a start-up company. The Velocity Residence and the Velocity Garage offer places for students to learn, collaborate and test their industries.

Source: Techvibes.com

Date: September 6th, 2012

How many times have you heard or read the phrase “student startup” in the past year?

Since Facebook established a reputation for being started in a dorm, this phrase has consistently become more and more common.

University and entrepreneurship are starting to go hand in hand, and this is especially true at the University of Waterloo. The University of Waterloo promotes entrepreneurship as one of its six foundation pillars and stresses experiential learning as one of the key components of education. Read Rest of Story

Questions for discussion:

1. Which faculties do Velocity students come from?

2. What makes the Velocity Garage “invaluable”?

TV Makers Join Forces Against Smartphone Giants

Posted by & filed under Apple, branding, business models, streaming video, telecomunications.

Description: The rise of Apple and Google in the smartphone market has pushed Nokia and Research In Motion to the brink of irrelevance. Now, television makers are scrambling to make sure the same does not happen to them.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Date: Sept 5, 2012

TV makers are wagering that mobile phone users hooked on consuming content will want the same access — and on bigger screens — when they return home. For manufacturers to hold back Apple and Google, which are both trying to take a slice of the TV market, they have to develop a joint operating system because consumers will not accept more than a few competing platforms, said Klaus Böhm, the head of the media practice at Deloitte in Düsseldorf.

“All market participants have to consider this as part of their strategy, and if they make the wrong call, they may be out of the market in a few years’ time,” he said. Apple and Google “can set de facto standards against the consensus of the market and assert themselves because of their market power and unique selling points.”

Questions for discussion:

  1. What is the threat to TV makers from the mobile device industry? Why
  2. What strategy can the TV makers pursue that will give them a competitive advantage over Google or Apple?

Political Campaigning with Technology

Posted by & filed under Obama, Presidential Campaign 2012, Romney, Social Media.

Description: A look at the way President Obama and Mitt Romney have been utilizing technology. Dan Simon reports.

Source: www.cnn.com

Date: Sept 5, 2012

Questions for discussion:

  1. What are various methods used to campaign digitally in 2012 presidential election?
  2. Do you feel that the candidate with the lead in technology will have a distinct advantage in this election?  Explain Why or Why not?

Mitt Romney 2012 campaign uses secretive data-mining

Posted by & filed under data analytics, data mining.

Description: Mitt Romney’s success in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the costliest presidential race ever can be traced in part to a secretive data-mining project that sifts through Americans’ personal information — including their purchasing history and church attendance — to identify new and likely, wealthy donors,

Source: www.clarionledger.com

Date: Aug 24, 2012

For the data-mining project, the Republican candidate has quietly employed since at least June a little-known but successful analytics firm that previously performed marketing work for a colleague tied to Bain & Co., the management-consulting firm that Romney once led.

The project shows that the same strategies corporations use to influence the way we shop and think are now being used to influence presidential elections. The same personal information that we give away, often unwittingly when we swipe our credit cards or log into Facebook, is now being collected by the people who might one day occupy the White House.

Questions for discussion:

  1. Describe the benefits of the data-mining project that Mitt Romney is employing in the 2012 election.

2.  The effort by Romney appears to be the first example of a political campaign using such extensive data analysis; does this give him a sustainable competitive advantage?  Explain Why or                 Why not?

How an Eco-Friendly Fashion Startup Landed on Top Retailers’ Shelves in 6 Months

Posted by & filed under branding, Business Intelligence, ethics, social impacts.

Description: Georgetown University buddies Vincent Ko, Luke Lagera and Michael Mills have founded Panda, a Washington, D.C.-based sunglasses maker that uses sustainably-harvested bamboo for its frames.

Source: Entrepreneur.com

Date: August 29th, 2012

It may sound like a ploy to get shoppers in the door, but the power of “green” and eco-conscious consumers can’t be denied. After all why else would giant companies like Groupe Danone purchase the Londonderry, N.H.-based organic-yogurt maker Stonyfield Farms in 2003 and the Coca-Cola Co. snap-up Honest Tea in 2011?

So Georgetown University buddies Vincent Ko, Luke Lagera and Michael Mills thought: Why not? And in the fall of 2011, the now 24-year-olds started up Panda, a Washington, D.C.-based sunglasses maker that uses sustainably-harvested bamboo for its frames. To complete the virtuous cycle, they’re devoting a portion of their profits towards funding eye exams and cataract surgery to aid people in the developing world. Read Rest of Story

Questions for discussion:

1. Which company was a huge inspiration for Panda?

2. Why did Panda partner with TOMA?

10 Incredibly Simple Things You Should Be Doing To Protect Your Privacy

Posted by & filed under data mining, disruptive technology, education, fraud, hackers, Internet, Privacy, Security, smartphones.

Description: Everyone is at risk of a personal security breach, even Wired‘s Mat Honan. These 10 simple tips can help you improve your privacy online.

Source: forbes.com

Date: August 23rd, 2012

Over the weekend, I wound up atWashington, D.C.’s Trapeze School with a group of friends. Before one of them headed up a ladder to attempt a somersault landing from the trapeze bar, she handed me her phone and asked me to take photos. “What’s the password?” I asked. “I don’t use one,” she replied. My jaw dropped as it often does when someone I know tells me they’re choosing not to take one of the very simplest steps for privacy protection, allowing anyone to snoop through their phone with the greatest of ease, to see whichever messages, photos, and sensitive apps they please.

So this post is for you, guy with no iPad password, and for you, girl who stays signed into Gmail on her boyfriend’s computer, and for you, person walking down the street having a loud conversation on your mobile phone about your recent doctor’s diagnosis of that rash thing you have. These are the really, really simple things you should be doing to keep casual intruders from invading your privacy. Read Rest of Story

Questions for discussion:

1. Why shouldn’t you give out your email address, phone number, or zip code when asked?

2. Why turn on 2-step authentication with Gmail?