Whats all the Buzz about?

Many of you avid Gmail users such as myself may have recently noticed a new 'Buzz' link on Gmail. Well in all honestly I was a little late at finding out because I'm always logged into Gmail and not until I was forced to log out(Gmail addict!) for a Firefox restart did I see the new link .

Buzz is Google's new entrant into the social media space and unlike Orkut/Google Freind Connect, Buzz gained instant traction (albeit a few privacy hiccups) among its already existing and faithful Gmail community.

I'm not going to go through a feature list or comparison with facebook/twitter here, you can read more about that on mashable. I want to comment on is what this means for us mortals in the real world. Buzz will mean more time on Gmail...obviously Google wants that, but its also means that we now also have to track friends and their status' on Buzz. Aren't we doing enough of that on Facebook and Twitter already? Because of the simplicity and ease of use of Buzz a lot of users will get convinced to start Buzzing on Buzz, which in turn will mean less time you spend on Facebook, Twitter etc or working (whichever you do more of). We do after all only have 16-18 awake hours in a day and everyone is fighting for your time on their service.

Businesses have an even harder challenge since they now cannot ignore Buzz and so they have add it to their social media marketing strategy(if they have one). The vast majority of businesses are no where close to having a social media marketing strategy and a new entrant into this space makes it an even more confusing, expensive and daunting task. One set of businesses however will really benefit, the companies offering social media marketing services for others. They just got more money handed to them.

What are your thoughts on Buzz? How has it impacted your time on social media sites? Please comment.

Cross listed here.

Technology incubators, a slingshot to success!

I visited a Silicon Valley technology incubator(Plug&PlayTechCenter) a few months back and I remember returning from the visit simply awed by the level of energy and entrepreneurial buzz around me. Start ups were given a mere two minutes to pitch their ideas to venture capitalists and angel investors lined up in front of them ready to invest millions of dollars into the next Google or PayPal. I recently read about a new technology incubator (iHub) and technology park(Malili) in Nairobi which got me thinking about the potentially immense value of incubators to developing nations.

For those not familiar with the concept of an incubator. An incubator is a usually an office complex or building that hosts early stage start up companies and provides them with invaluable access to finance (venture capital, debt etc) as well as sales, marketing, HR and legal support. The key idea is that start ups get access to a large network of advisors that they would not normally have. Going through the selection process for an incubator also allows starts ups to fully vet their idea and get a preliminary 'stamp of approval' that their idea is viable. Technology companies are specially suited to incubators because of the remote and collaborative nature of the business. Technology incubators in Silicon Valley have been particularly successful at harnessing their power.

These projects in Nairobi show a great foresight and initiative on the part of the goverment and local technology community since the vast majority of the impact from an incubator is intangible and extremely long term. InfoDev an NGO affiliated with the world bank has done a number of studies (available for free) on technology incubators as a means to promote sustained growth. One of the key findings is that incubators in developing nations must be formed on a sustainable financial as well management model to ensure that the long term value is derived from the investment. It also stresses the importance of corporate partnerships/sponsorships to bring in local stakeholders who would benefit from the incubation. The report also analyzes multiple case studies of incubators in developing nations in South America and the Middle East.

Technology incubators should be on the roadmap for all countries in Africa as an integral part of their plans to ecourage entrepreneurship and boost job creation. With the recent fiber optic connectivity to Eastern Africa a major infrastructure hurdle has been resolved leaving just the initiative to be taken.

How do I find new stuff?

As Google continues to grow, it faces a mounting challenge. Where to find new content to search and index? Content apparently isn't coming in as fast as Google needs. So it took it upon itself to create new content as this article describes. Google started a contest at universities in East Africa to promote the translation of Wikipedia articles to Swahili, a language with very little content online but a potential 100 million strong user base.

Does it really have to take foreign firms enticing us with prizes for us to generate new content? Especially in Swahili. Bloggers in East Africa have started to create some of this content, however the quantity is minuscule. The question is how can we promote 'local' and 'original' content creation? Should local universities start promoting this? Will print media companies see this as a void that they can easily fill?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave your comments.

The cutting edge from CES!

Last weekend, I attended the annual Consumer Electronics(CES) show in Las Vegas. For those that don't know, this is the largest annual consumer technology event in the U.S (i.e geek Mecca) and has all the cutting edge technology on display for you to look and play with.

Needless to say, being a technology enthusiast I've been dying to go for many years and it definitely did not disappoint. I'm going to try give a glimpse of some of the technologies/trends that I saw, especially those that would be more practical and useful in developing countries.

The big hype:
A couple of technologies that everyone was talking about were 3D home televisions, E-readers and Mobile digital TV (M-DTV). 3D technology in general is not anything new, however the fact that you can now enjoy 3D television from the comfort of your home, is a compelling proposition. The sample movies on display were extremely captivating and they are already plans to launch live broadcast tv in 3D. Imagine a live Manchester United Vs. Arsenal game in 3D!

Mobile digital TV is another next generation technology that is gaining some traction. Again digital television is not new, but imagine that you could now be watching your favorite tv show while sitting on the beach.

E-readers were recently launched in the US, most popularly by Amazon ('Kindle'). The thing to note from CES about E-readers was that smaller companies are rushing into this market. E-readers of multiple shapes, sizes, colors and functionality are emerging much like MP3 players did about 3-4 years ago. From a developing world standpoint, very cheap e-readers could help students in developing countries avoid the large, expensive and hefty books that need to be purchased each year. Mobile phones took away the need for landlines in many parts of Africa, E-readers could do the same. Plus this might be more ecologically friendly in the long run...woot for less paper.

The cutting edge:
An augmented reality demo was one of the coolest things I experienced. I was given a pair of funky glasses to wear and a small board with bar code like squares on it (see below). As soon as I wore the glasses, the board turned into a virtual reality maze that could be juggled around to get a virtual ball through the maze.

The extremely thin size of LED TVs was also very interesting to see. The models I saw from LG, Samsung and Sony were as thin as a cigarette in thickness (from the side, you could only see a line).

Wireless charging devices were on display by 'PowerMat'. Basically, a small pad on which mobile phones (with a small attachment) could be placed, which would charge the device's battery. This is definitely a technology to keep an eye on.

The practical solutions:
A key trend I noticed was that the Android OS platform has been widely adopted by various OEM manufactures and so any device with a screen and some memory could now potentially have an OS built into it. This means that applications could be developed to run on Android and any of these devices...your creativity is the only limit as to how this technology could be put to use (e.g portable tablets for waiters in restaurants)

Wi-fi routers with 3G capabilities were also on display. These routers either come with a direct sim card slot or allow for a USB data card to be plugged in to provide the 3G/EDGE connection. Very useful for internet cafes or homes in areas were wired internet is still not available but mobile phone service is.

Web Hosting for the Masses - TZ Style

I recently discovered www.tovutiyangu.com by mistake through a random google search. On the surface, it just seems like one more web hosting company sprouting in Tanzania. But look more closely and you'll see an innovative model and some creative services.

First, they're mission is very clear and their services are geared around this mission. Second, they have lowered the barrier to entry so that anyone can now have a site to promote themselves or their business for potentially zero initial cost. They are also using mobile payments to collect payments, which I personally haven't seen much of.

What I'm really glad to see is that local technology entrepreneurs in Tanzania are thinking beyond just making money and getting creative in how they do business. This they will need to continue to do if they are to survive in the increasingly competitive East African market.

Also posted at: Vijana-FM

Our Fascination with Numbers

I recently added Google Analytics to one of my websites and I've become instantly addicted to the constant feed of numbers. I realize though that this is nothing new, we are barraged with statistics everywhere. Whether it be sports games on TV or the stock ticker widgets many are glued to. I'm glad in away that the website statistics feed is not real-time otherwise I'm not sure if I would get any work done.

My fascination with this google analytics package stemmed more from the slick and organized dashboard presentation (see screenshot below) than the numbers themselves. Although there are all sorts of statistics for each page from the number of visitors, bounce rates to visit duration the mix of tabular and graphical presentation provides keen insight into the performance and usage of the site. This also allows you to infer user behaviour; so for instance if you had a lot of visitors for the home page but minimal hits on the sign up confirmation page you could infer that visitors are discouraged from signing up for whatever reason (bad form design, aesthetics etc).

Now google analytics is just for website tracking, this idea has been extended to all aspects of business from inventory control to customer service calls. The power of real time statistics and customer behavior inferences quickly turns into increased R.O.I which is why business analytics is such a rapidly growing industry.

The latest in collaboration tools…

The last few years has seen a gradual yet dramatic change in the quality and popularity of online collaboration tools available and affordable to the mass public. With the recent financial crisis looming over everyone’s heads, its no surprise that companies are looking for ways to cut costs in any shape or form. This has subsequently spurred on demand for such tools and brought about rapid innovation. We take a closer look at how these services have evolved over time and the major incentives for corporations as well as entrepreneurs to adopt their use. We also delve deeper into analyzing key features and looking at what the future holds in store.

The virtual collaboration space began with independent tools/services such as chat clients, terminal services, Voice over IP (VOIP) services and primitive combined tools such as NetMeeting which were only great for one purpose or too difficult to configure. There were also larger corporate offerings through Cisco and HP which required significant investments in facilities and equipment to setup customized conferencing centers. However, cheaper bandwidth and storage have now brought down prices enough to make these tools a mass market product. Updates to web standards as well as the new role of the browser as the central point of interaction/client have also allowed disparate services to be brought together to offer greater usability and interactivity for conversing parties. The latest tools let users simultaneously, chat, draw on a virtual whiteboard, talk, share files as well as share a desktop all in one location.

Corporate jet setting executives are beginning to realize the benefits of actually getting more work done since online collaboration tools are reducing the need to travel for meetings. Employees are also able to benefit through more flexible work schedules Entrepreneurs and small business are also now able to leverage resources located remotely while some are doing away with offices completely.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the cool features of one of these services, DimDim.

• upto 20 simultaneous users for free! – perfect for startups and small group projects
• Share desktop screen, webpage, presentation/document, or whiteboard – great for brainstorming, demos
• Either use computer microphone/speakers or dial into meeting – you can be on the road or at your desk
• Chat functionality – always a great backup
• Mashups with other web-based products – examples include Moodle, SugarCRM
• Record meetings – finally do away with meeting minutes

As we have seen with DimDim, there is a lot of innovation happening around connecting collaboration tools with other relevant web services. The aim with these mashups is to make it intuitive and seamless for the user to use the collaboration tool as if it were an included feature. Some other tools that it could be integrated with include, project management software, recruiting tools, planning software and customer support services.