Last night, I partied with the IT team at Genentech at Full Spectrum 2008.  It was an awesome event.

On the one hand, it was a typical tech party (note: Dr. Spock and Neo).  On the other hand, I’ve never seen an IT team embrace Facebook with such vigor…

And, as an added bonus, there there were glow-in-the-dark dancers on roller skates, casino games, and at least 4 simultaneous games of “Rock Band” (the video game) going at a time…

Thanks to Paul Lanzi for the invite and the photos.

Last year, I wrote a post with predictions for mobile in 2007 and beyond, using inCode’s  “Top 10 Global Wireless Predictions for 2007” as a starting point.  We’re almost 2 months into 2008, and it’s the perfect time to re-visit those predictions to see what came true, and make a few more predictions for 2008 and beyond.

Topping both InCode’s and my own predictions for 2007 was the mobilization of social networks.  To date, while social networks aren’t nearly as mobile as I’d like, they’re taking big strides and moving in the right direction.  In October 2007, Dustin Moskovitz (co-founder of Facebook) spoke at CTIA in San Francisco on the importance of mobilizing social applications and announced Facebook’s first mobile application (for RIM).  And, in one of the most exciting things to happen since I started blogging, Dustin Moskovitz read my post expressing disappointment about Facebook’s mobile announcement and solicited my input on how to improve Facebook’s mobile strategy and WAP site.

In other exciting mobile social networking news in 2007, ShoZu (one of my consulting clients), who makes it easy for users to interact with their favorite social networking sites from their phone, was nominated for a TechCrunch Crunchies Award.  And, in early 2008, ShoZu announced that ShoZu will ship on 50 Million Mobile phones in 2008, the number of users downloading the app from non-pre-installed phones is doubling quarterly, and 100,000 users are registering for ShoZu every month!  With stats like that, it’s clear that mobile OEMs and Operators are buying into the mobile social networking proposition, and users are embracing mobile social networking in droves.  Mobile social networking on the whole will continue to increase in popularity in 2008, and mobile accessibility will improve dramatically, as mobile browsers and social media apps get better.

inCode also predicted that in 2007, “Multi-Function Devices [will] Become Cheaper and More Versatile” – including the introduction of video-capable, GPS-enabled, and LBS-capable devices to the masses.  Video-capable devices are definitely here to stay.  GPS-enabled devices haven’t saturated the market, but LBS is taking off.  Google Maps recently incorporated LBS via network triangulation, and while triangulation isn’t nearly as accurate as GPS, it’s still very useful.  It’s great to see carriers like AT&T opening up triangulation to allow mobile internet technologies to leverage LBS.

A year ago, I predicted that in 2008, “large mobile operators and OEMs will begin to pre-load devices with social networking-focused applications that incorporate GPS.”  It seems that mobile operators are moving in the right direction, based on several new product announcements at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona earlier this month.  OEMs like Nokia and Sony Eriksson are jumping on the GPS bandwagon in 2008 with innovative handsets with built-in GPS and designs that rival the iPhone.  Once GPS technology is more readily available on slimmer handsets, the influx of GPS-enabled social applications will come.  By 2009, interacting with friends from your mobile phone and locating people near you so that you can interact with them in real life will get easier thanks to new GPS enabled handsets and apps.

Last year, I also predicted: “collaborative and community-based entertainment like YouTube on the go will evolve and continue to be popular.  I also expect that sites that monetize video footage (of, say, news events) that users take on their mobile phones will become increasingly popular….Think sites like: ScoopLive.com, Scoopt.com, and SpyMedia.com.”  So far, I’ve been right on YouTube, but monetization from video is still a long way off.  Check out the lack of traffic on the above sites according to Alexa!:

Paidforuploaders

Given the current economic downturn in the US, I don’t suspect we’ll see much movement in the paid-for citizen journalism space until 2009.  And, by that point, there will probably be a whole new set of competitors.  More likely,  I suspect we’ll see Video AdSense from Google (just released from beta) and similar video ad platforms make their way towards mobile and start picking up momentum towards the end of the year and into 2009 as mobile advertising revs up.

With an increased amount of mobile content becoming available and more ISVs and websites trying to monetize their mobile efforts through advertising, the discoverability of mobile content needs to improve.  So, I’m sticking with my original prediction from 2007 that later in 2008, mobile search and mobile SEO will gain momentum.  Mobile ads will gain some momentum later this year but won’t likely take off until 2009.  By that point, there will be a need to track the effectiveness of mobile ads, and by 2009, I suspect we’ll see an increase number of mobile analytics vendors like Bango and Mobilytics emerge.  From there, it’s only a matter of time before the heavy hitters in website optimization and testing incorporate mobile website testing and optimization tools into their product suites.

It’s an exciting time to be in both mobile and web 2.0, and 2008 and 2009 will be exciting years for both industries as convergence moves further away from a dream and towards a reality.

Today is an exciting day for my client, ShoZu, who closed $12 Million in Series C funding in a round led by SEB Venture Capital in London. ShoZu makes uploading/downloading content to/from your favorite social networking sites very easy, and usership is growing rapidly amont those downloading the app from their mobile browsers (m.shozu.com). Plus, ShoZu is being pre-loaded on over 50 million mobile phones in 2008!  Here’s a copy of the release:

ShoZu Raises $12 Million in Series C Funding;

Round Led by New Investor SEB Venture Capital, London

Mobile Social Media Company Now Attracting Over 100,000 New Users Monthly

LONDON – January 28, 2008 – ShoZu Inc., the leading provider of mobile social media services for exchanging content between mobile phones and Web-based social media sites, today announced the closing of a $12 million Series C round of financing led by new investor SEB Venture Capital, London, the UK-based venture capital arm of Swedish financial services firm Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken.  Previous investors Atlas Venture, Crescendo Ventures and TTP Ventures also participated.

The new cash commitment reflects ShoZu’s growing market traction in the highly competitive mobile social media sector.  The ShoZu application will ship pre-installed on more than 50 million mobile phones in 2008.  In addition, the number of users downloading the ShoZu client to non-preloaded handsets is more than doubling every quarter, with more than 100,000 users currently registering every month.

“ShoZu is the only mobile social media company that has secured global pre-installation agreements with multiple handset manufacturers.  That fact alone positions the firm for substantial growth,” said Frank Kelcz, an investment manager with SEB Venture Capital’s London office who has joined ShoZu’s board of directors.  “Demand for Mobile-to-Web enabling technology is being driven by a variety of factors, including the need to stay connected with online social media like Flickr and Facebook on the go, and ShoZu has the opportunity as well as the initial market presence to dominate the space.”

“The industry is still grappling with solving the usability problems of the mobile Web, from navigation to dropped connections,” said ShoZu CEO Mark Bole. “ShoZu is addressing many of these challenges with its approach to simplifying the user experience, exchanging content in the background, and providing an open gateway that offers a shortcut to key destinations.  Strategies like these may be the answer to mobilising social media in the short term and also help define the shape of the mobile Internet moving forward.”

Over the past year, ShoZu logged a series of successes in establishing its service as the industry standard in mobile social media connectivity.  Achievements in 2007 included securing global pre-installation agreements with Motorola and Samsung, creating the first unlimited-use ShoZu access package through a carrier partnership, expanding its Web 2.0 partner ecosystem to a market-leading 30 sites, and introducing the market’s first two-way multimedia social media capability with a service that will send friends’ latest Flickr photos directly to the handset on request.

Also in 2007, the company added to its collection of major industry awards with the top 3GSM award for Most Innovative Mobile Application, a 2007 MEFFY Award from the Mobile Entertainment Forum for best handset application, and a 2007 Ultimate Innovator Award from the Interactive Advertising Bureau for its mobile advertising platform.

These developments coincide with growing consumer demand for mobile connectivity to social networks and other online communities.  A recent Juniper Research report predicted that the number of users accessing social networking sites by mobile will skyrocket from 14 million in 2007 to nearly 600 million by 2012, helping to push mobile operator revenues from user-generated content from $576 million to $5.74 billion.

ShoZu’s Share-It service enables mobile users to maintain contact with their Web-based social networks, personal blogs, photo/video sharing sites and other social media with a few clicks.  Users can publish photos and video clips up to 10 minutes in length from their phones to favorite Web 2.0 sites without complex navigation, transmit photos at full or blog-quality resolution, exchange comments with friends, and sign up to receive friends’ photos and other multimedia files on their handsets automatically with no manual intervention.  These and other capabilities are unique to ShoZu.

The ShoZu application is currently available on 317 handset models with users in over 100 countries.

About ShoZu

ShoZu is the leading provider of mobile social media services that connect mobile consumers with their online social networks, personal blogs, photo storage sites and other Web 2.0 properties from the handset.  The company’s patented technology provides fast, easy, one-click uploads of photos and video clips from the mobile to the Web, full-resolution photo and video delivery without compression, an emerging suite of services that push content to the phone, the ability to work in the background even if a connection is dropped, and other unique features that simplify and enhance the user experience, plus a mobile advertising service that provides non-intrusive and behaviorally targeted ad delivery.  The company was founded in 2000 and has formed partnerships with some of the leading players in the mobile ecosystem, including Motorola and Samsung.  For more information, visit www.ShoZu.com/AboutUs.

About SEB Venture Capital
SEB VC is the venture capital arm of SEB, a leading Nordic financial institution. SEB VC has 280 M€ under management in an evergreen fund structure, focusing on early stage and expansion investments in life science, media and technology, and industrial growth. The firm’s 22 seasoned professionals have made more than 70 investments and 34 exits since the fund’s inception in 1995. Offices are located in Stockholm, London, Vilnius, Gothenburg and Malmö.

Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of the publication of one of my most popular posts to date: “Using Social Media to Sell Products to Kids…Interesting but Potentially Dangerous.” In that post, I talk at length about how toy manufacturer Ganz is using the internet and social networking principles to market and promote its very popular Webkinz toys to 6-11 year old children.  I expressed concern that the FTC and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) aren’t enough to protect kids:

Companies are marketing to children, soliciting information from them on-line, and asking them to read legal agreements, which are beyond their level of comprehension.  It is difficult for parents to watch out for their kids in situations like this.  If a kid thinks it is okay to input their information onto, say, the Webkinz’s site without parental permission, what is to say that same child won’t think it is just as okay to give that information to a stranger via another website?  Nothing, unless their parents are involved.

In response to that article, I’ve gotten dozens of emails and a handful of comments from parents, internet professionals, teachers, and others, all of whom agreed with the concerns I raised.  I was also pinged by a nationally syndicated TV morning show who was thinking of doing a story on the topic.  And despite all of this ‘concern’, in February of last year, The Toy Industry Association awarded Webkinz the “Specialty Toy of the Year 2007,” and Webkinz and Lil’Kinz (another Ganz toy) are still hugely popular (and now collectible).  In fact, as recently as January 8, 2008, a retired Webkinz “Cheeky Dog” sold on eBay for $735!

Today, I received a “comment” on my original post from a divorced dad of four who expressed concern that his ex-wife is using Webkinz to “babysit” their eight year old.  “Hank,” who works with computers and the internet for a living, defines his eight year old as a “Webkinz Addict.”  His son has lost interest in “normal” kid activities (Boy Scouts, Little League, etc.) in favor of playing entirely with his 55 Webkinz toys, a trend which is “encouraged” by his mother:

This past Christmas, [my ex-wife] “promoted” that all should buy a specific Webkin to assure no duplicates! In gross dollars, the child received over $700 worth of Webkins, less than $40 worth of other toys and less than $50 worth of clothing!

How does Hank know how much his eight year old’s other presents cost?  It sounds like Hank was the only family member that bought his son something besides Webkinz for Christmas.  I encourage you to read Hank’s comment in its entirety. It’s both frightening and sad.  It also re-emphasizes the importance of good parenting and the need for every parent to understand the potential dangers of the internet and toys that encourage their young kids to use it.

Hank’s comment also re-emphasized my believe that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) doesn’t do enough to protect young kids whose parents don’t know how to protect them from the internet.  It’s easy enough to point the finger at parents to say that they’re at fault for exposing their kids to the net, but it’s also not entirely fair.  Most parents don’t understand the dangers of the internet as well as they should, and the landscape is constantly evolving, which makes it hard for them to ‘keep up’.  Most parents think that the ‘danger’ is in their kids stumbling across porn or sexual predators on-line, but internet marketing should be a concern as well, especially since children under 13 are extremely vulnerable to suggestion.

The Webkinz website describes the toys as:

lovable plush pets that each come with a unique Secret Code. With it, you enter Webkinz World where you care for your virtual pet, answer trivia, earn KinzCash, and play the best kids games on the net!

Parents must see the Webkinz marketing copy and think they’re getting their kids a great educational toy.  And yet, after listening to the explanatory ‘tour’ on the Webkinz site, I can’t help but think that that the Webkinz proposition encourages an unhealthy level of consumerism and the kind of compulsive behavior exhibited in gambling and/or shopping addiction.

Kids are encouraged to make “Kinz Cash” by playing games in an ‘arcade’ and entering ‘contests’. They can use this cash to ‘decorate’ their Webkinz’s virtual room. If they don’t take care of their Webkinz by going back to the site ton a daily basis, the “health” of the Webkinz will deteriorate. Kids are encouraged to ‘chat’ with their real-life friends’ Webkinz on the forum and to buy more Webkinz so that they can have more fun on the site (“Collect them all!” says the tour).  Given what a time suck the Webkinz site appears to be, I can’t imagine any parent having enough hours in a day to supervise their child 100% of the time on the site and still have the child complete all of the tasks/ things that there are to do on Webkinz.  More likely, parents are, as Hank describes it, using Webkinz’s website as a babysitter, while they do other things around the house, assuming that the site is an ‘educational’ tool and perfectly harmless to their child’s well being.

Looking at the list of symptoms for “Pathological Gambling” as defined by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in conjunction with listening to the ‘sales pitch’ on the Webkinz site, I can’t help but think that would be easy for a child to develop a Webkinz addiction like the one Hank described.  The APA says that having 5 or more of the following symptoms constitutes having a gambling problem:

• Preoccupation with gambling-related thoughts, plans or activities;
• Needing to gamble with increased sums to produce the desired excitement;
• Restlessness or irritability when attempting to cut down or stop gambling;
• Gambling to escape from problems or relieve an undesired mood such as helplessness, guilt, anxiety or depression;
• After losing money gambling, often returning to try to win it back (chasing losses);
• Lying to conceal gambling activities or consequences;
• Committing illegal acts to finance gambling;
• Jeopardizing or losing a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of gambling;
• Relying on a “bailout” (money from others to relieve a desperate gambling-related financial situation);
• Having made repeated unsuccessful attempts to control, cut back or stop gambling.

By supplying a unique cocktail of arcade games, necessary dependency on the site (your Webkinz will suffer if you don’t take care of it daily by visiting the website), and ways to earn and spend cash, I wonder if the Webkinz site and product philosophy have the potential to encourage a child (like Hank’s son) to rack up 5 or more of the above symptoms (or variations of them).  I don’t have the same concern for 13 year old + focused social sites like Facebook and MySpace because:

• A user’s online experience doesn’t deteriorate if s/he doesn’t check into the site on a daily basis.
• Users aren’t required to earn money in a fake currency to purchase things on the site (though apps like AceBucks give users the option of earning/spending fake currency).
• The point of these sites isn’t to play games (though users can do that). It’s to stay in touch with friends.
• These sites are “free” and supported by advertising, which I’d hope 13+ year olds have at least some cognitive ability to filter.

(Though, there are other potential hazards for 13-18 year olds on some social networking sites.)

Thinking about WebKinz reminds me of the Joe Camel debate of the early 90s*  Just because something looks like it should be for kids, doesn’t mean that it’s good for kids.  In the constantly evolving world of social media and online marketing, it’s tough for the average parent to tell the difference.  There’s a fine line between teaching kids about the internet in a safe way, coddling them/ being over-protective, and exposing them to things online that could be harmful.  I’d love to hear what a child psychologist with a strong knowledge of web 2.0 thinks about Webkinz.

*According to Wikipedia: “Joe Camel was a controversial cartoon camel that primarily appeared in advertisements for Camel, but also appeared on “Camel Cash” and a number of origami Pop-up print ads. Joe Camel came under scrutiny as some considered use of the character to be advertising directed at children.”

Watching Bill Gates’ keynote from CES 2008 reminded me of how important it is to work with people you not only like but also that bring out the best in you and compliment your skills.  Gates is a technology genius, but he didn’t put together this ‘mocumentary’ alone.  This is the work of marketing genius:

Speaking of Bill Gate’s forthcoming last day in the office, I thought it might be fun to dredge up a little something that I saw on the Late Show a couple of years ago:

Treemo is a social networking site that’s all about digital expression – “sharing digital media, empowering self-expression, and transforming creativity into action” by creating and sharing video, audio, photography, words, and visual art.  I like Treemo because there is an emphasis not only on creativity but also on mobile

Yesterday, Treemo launched the “Alicia Keys – As I Am” contest, benefiting the charity, “Keep a Child Alive.”

Keep a Child Alive is an urgent response to the AIDS pandemic ravaging Africa. With more than 28 million dead and 15 million orphaned, the disease continues, wiping out whole societies, threatening economic infrastructure and creating tragic family devastation. Keep a Child Alive provides life-saving medication, support, and orphan care, to keep these children and families alive. Keep a Child Alive gives 100% of public donations to it’s cause.

For every contest entry, Treemo will donate $1 (up to $10,000) to Keep a Child Alive.  To enter, upload a photo, video, image or text message to the site that explains why you or one of your friends is a “Superworman.”  If you’re a Treemo user, go to the registration page, or text an explanation to: 873366. Click here to sign up for a Treemo account.

The grand prize winner will receive a VIP All Access Trip for 2 to an Alicia Keys concert.  And, one finalist will receive an iPod Touch, an Autographed “As I Am” Alicia Keys album, and a Alicia Keys poster.

Today, I got an invitation to try the closed ‘pre-Alpha’ of Loic Le Meur’s (former head of SixApart Europe and founder of Le Web) new start-up, Seesmic, which enables Video conversations on your phone.  You can think of Seesmic as a video Twitter plus a load of forthcoming features to come.  TechCrunch’s review from back in October covers the current and some forthcoming features well (integrations with YouTube, Skype, Twitter, etc.).

So far, I’ve not gotten into vlogging or publishing videos on YouTube, etc., but when I get a new Mac (with video camera), Seesmic will probably change that.  The site is still alpha, but I’m excited to see how it continues to develop.  The idea of being able to have a ‘conversation’ online with people all over the world through video is awesome.  The conversations I’ve seen on Seesmic so far are really interesting and entertaining, and they’re being had by smart people who I like listening to and can envision wanting to talk to. I’m looking forward to participating as soon as I bin my ol’ PowerBook G4 for something new (crossing fingers that Jobs announces new laptops at Mac World next week).

If you register for the beta on seesmic.com, you won’t get an invite immediately. There are thousands and thousands of people on the waiting list, and the current version is invite only.  But, while you’re waiting for your invite, you can still watch the Seesmic “show” on YouTube.  The show is a great way of hearing what Seesmic is up to, and as an added bonus, it’s entertaining.  The last few videos I’ve watched with Loic and Vinvin (famous vlogger and VP of Content) are hilarious.

Here are some of the seesmic show episodes that you should see (* indicates more factual than funny but still entertaining):

I could keep going on my recommendations, but once you watch the above, you’ll probably want to explore more.  The bottom line is that Seesmic is definitely a start-up to watch and try.  Oh, and if you’re looking for a job, as you’ll see from the videos, soon, more than 1/2 of the employees at Seesmic will be have been discovered through their Seesmic activity.

What do you think about Seesmic? Post a comment.

If you like my blog, this video will make you laugh, cry, or both!

Ahhhhh…. How refreshing to see something emerge from Silicon Valley
that doesn’t take itself or the crazy wild world of web 2.0 too
seriously.

At the end of November, I published a Dear Abby-esque post on Plaxo Pulse.  In it, my friend, Paul emailed me to get my opinion on Plaxo Pulse, and I didn’t have many (okay, ANY) positive things to say about it.  So, it was with great amusement that I read Michael Arrington’s post on TechCrunch this morning – Plaxo Flubs It.

I’m all for companies that creative to solve challenges, but not when they infringe on the privacy of others or the terms of use that other companies put in place to protect their users/customers.  I’m continually amazed by how many people and companies (especially in the world of web 2.0) are willing to cast ethics and good sense to the side to benefit themselves in the short term.

Wouldn’t it be great if instead of letting rogue product managers run wild finding ways to benefit their customers to the detriment of innocent bystanders, more web 2.0 execs started standing up for what the internet should be about – making the world a better place?!  As those first Google employees used to say,”Don’t be evil.”