Kindle: More 5-Star Reviews than any Amazon Product!

In my ongoing fascination / following of Amazon's marketing for the popular Kindle device (see February, March and April campaigns) - I have another to add: Amazon's most recent Kindle advertising includes Amazon product reviews and notes that the Kindle has "more 5 star reviews than any other product on Amazon."

Impressive. And compelling. And a nice inclusion of Amazon's reviews platform (which, in my opinion, is the web's best) and a promotion of their active community (particularly Gloria from Oklahoma!):

Also interesting: how much promotion Amazon has given to Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8: "Your Amazon Browser." I am not entirely sure what that means and I am not inclined find out as I am a happy Chrome user:

Android: "Traffic Growing at Compounded Monthly Rate of 32% per Month"

For mobile news, the best reading each month is the AdMob Mobile Metrics Report (see previous coverage here). The March 2010 report is noteworthy for a few reasons and have a consistent theme: Android has arrived: 1. Device proliferation / diversity "Two Android devices, the HTC Dream and HTC Magic, collectively represented 96% of Android traffic in September 2009. Seven months later, 11 devices represented 96% of Android traffic in the AdMob network."

2. Manufacturer diversity

"Motorola was the leading Android manufacturer with 44% share of traffic in March 2010 due to the success of the Droid and CLIQ. HTC was a close second with 43% of requests, followed by Samsung with 9%."

3. Significant, compounded growth

"The Android platform has experienced significant growth in monthly traffic over the past year. Android traffic has grown at a compounded monthly growth rate of 32% per month, going from 72 million requests in March 2009 to 2.0 billion in March 2010. AdMob overall worldwide traffic for March 2010 is up 18% month over month."

4. Android's operating system share within the US is accelerating; iPhone's is declining (based on AdMob's metrics

Amazon Pushes Kindle as Applications; Grows Titles by 20% in Two Months

Being squeezed by Apple's iPad and Barnes & Noble's Nook, Amazon's Kind promotion has moved from hardware to software.

Before the iPad was released, I noted how Amazon aggressively ramped Kindle promotions. The marketing seems to have shifted to platform / application: regardless of the device, Kindle can power your reading experience. Additionally, the same core messaging applies: Amazon's selection in unrivaled. As an iPad owner and iBooks user, this is resonates.

They marketed 420,000 titles on March 1 and less than two months later that number is 500,000+ - a 20% gain.

My One Major iPad Complaint: The VGA Adapter

I have glowingly written about the iPad and its potential to disrupt markets and consumer behaviors. My laptop has become less relevant to my daily life: I no longer bring it home from work and to-and-from between meetings... rather, I depend on my iPad for email, web, and even core apps like Keynote and Pages. Its terrific. ... except for the $29.00 Apple iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter. I can get over the fact that it is ridiculously overpriced (after all, most Apple components are - let alone other tools like HDMI cables). Worse than the price is that the cable:

1. only works with specific Apple-created apps (YouTube, Keynote, iTunes Videos) 2. even with those applications, it rather unusable and does NOT actually transmit what is directly on the screen

Imagining how the cable should work is relatively easy: it should transmit directly what is on the iPad's screen... whether it is for work (ie Keynote, Pages), web, or applications (ie Netflix, MLB At Bat). One of the beauties of the iPad is its portability... this is a clear weakness.

Also frustrating, there is no mention of the limited functionality on the packaging or Apple Store: "Use the iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter to connect an iPad to your television, projector, or VGA display. Then see your videos and slideshows on the big screen. The iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter connects to your iPad or iPad Dock via the dock connector and to your projector or display using the VGA adapter."

The good news is that this is a software (and likely a philosophical) issue. So it is solvable. Hopefully Apple is reading the reviews on the Apple Store (see example below) and addresses the problem:

Sending mine back because it doesn't enable mirroring.

Once again I get suckered into buying an overpriced iPhone or iPad AV connector because Apple cleverly omits the fact that it only works with certain apps. Don't they realize that people buy these accessories mostly to do demos of apps, or to mirror whatever's on their device's screen? This basic scenario does not work with this adapter. I found that it only works when playing video, or if you're a developer and you write special code in your app to support an external screen. So buyer beware...

20% of All Google Searches are Location Related

The last week of tech news has revolved around: Twitter, Foursquare, Apple, Google (who today announced Google Places) and Facebook (who announced communities yesterday and has F8 tomorrow).

The common threads across each of these: location and mobile. As part of Google's Places announcement - which introduces local advertising campaigns, custom QR codes, and a revamped Favorite Places program - they underscored the importance of local on their core business model:

1 in every 5 Google searches relates to location.

Over time - as hardware, software and search algorithms / relevance improve - local will represent an even more significant portion of search queries. And as we have seen with Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and others, location will play increasingly important roles in our social experiences.

Sprout Enables HTML5 & Flash Ads - Simultaneously

After last week's Apple announcement, I declared HTML5 as one of the winners. Generally, I believe that mobile represents a significant change in our web usage / consumption... and HTML5 plays an increasingly important role in that experience. This certainly is true for publishers...

... and increasingly true for advertisers - who have to create units that intelligently work in different formats, locations, etc. Sprout's now allows simple creation of rich-ad units that work in both HTML5 and Flash.

The motto: 'Build once. Publish anywhere.'

Below is a demo of Sprout's 'Engage Ads' platform - showcasing the units in both HTML5 and Flash.

View more on TechCrunch: "Sprout Now Lets You Simultaneously Build Rich Ads In Both HTML5 And Flash"

Google's Q1: 60,000 Android Devices Activated Daily; AdSense Revenue Growth (+24%)

During their Q1 earnings announcements, Google revealed some good tidbits about their business and strategic initiatives... which clearly include Android and Chrome:

- 34 devices from 12 OEMs are Android operated - 60,000 Android devices are sold and activated daily... that's a run-rate of 21m / yr - which is an Apple-worthy number - 38,000 Android apps - which is +70% quarter over quarter - With Android, Google is focused on "openness" of market and platform - Nexus One is "profitable" One other interesting note from the Google search business - Google-owned properties drove $4.44B in revenue (+20%) - AdSense is $2.04B (+24%)

More from TechCrunch and PaidContent

E-Commerce on the iPad: Gilt Group & eBay Help Us Imagine

Not because I shop regularly on Gilt Group or eBay... But I encourage iPad users and folks within e-commerce to download their iPad apps... Because it represents that potential of what e-commerce can look like atop the iPad (or extracted beyond: our new wave of computing / mobile devices).

With its large, crystal clear and touch-enabled screen, the iPad enables developers and brands to think more creatively... and in the same way that we were all encourage to think about consumers in the transition from web to mobile browser / app - we again have that same opportunity. So with Gilt Group and eBay, we have two iPad applications that were available on launch, sit in the iTunes top twenty apps and provide unique, powerful experiences different than the web or iPhone apps. These are good directional glimpses of e-commerce on the iPad:

- super simple layouts with very clear action items: browse and bid/buy - both have huge, colorful pictures - with color, layout and clear actions, both encourage serendipitous browsing - images are highly interactive - swipe them to see additional views - Gilt's navigation is nested and reminiscent of the iPad's email system - very clever - Gilt also uses the push notifications to alert users of new sales (interesting concept for flash sales, low inventory, etc) - Gilt provides an incentive / reward for download: iPad owners get to circumvent the 'exclusive' invite process and register directly

iPhone OS 4: Five Takeaways

Today Apple announced iPhone OS 4 - which ships in the summer for the iPhone and iPod Touch and in the winter for the iPad. Lots of incremental and much needed changes (ie App Folders) but a few significant updates for consumers AND developers:

1. Multitasking. ... and ... 2. Background Tasks (consumers) We have asked for it essentially since Pandora's app launched... you will be able to run background services for: - audio (ie Pandora - a huge winner today) - voip (ie Skype) - location (ie directions, maps)

3. Enhanced Mail (consumers) This is particularly important for iPad users: multiple Exchange accounts, threaded conversation, improved attachments, etc.

4. iAd (developers) We knew this was coming with Apple's recent Quattro acquisition... and it arrived today. Apple will become an ad platform for the app ecosystem: selling and hosting the ads on a 40/60 split (40 to Apple). Ads are fully interactive and done in HTML5 (another big win for HTML5).

Not only is this an opportunity for HTML5 developers and web marketers, it is an opportunity for app developers to reach new users and drive downloads. Powerful.

5. Game Center (developers) Traditionally, mobile apps have not been as 'viral' as Facebook apps... with iAd and Game Center there are new ways for developers to drive adoption. Game Center is Apple's take on Xbox Live: a gallery for players, leaderboards, achievements, etc - effectively a heightened platform to foster game mechanics and drive usage.

More reviews at: Gizmodo / Engadget / TechCrunch / VentureBeat