BBY, Connected TVs, and the Innovator’s Dilemma in Action 0

BestBuy recently announced they would launch a connected TV under the Insignia brand using the Tivo user interface.  This is a great example of the Innovator’s Dilemma in action.

The Insignia brand is one of Best Buy’s house brands.  It (like other private label brands) is frequently used as the opening price point for devices.  House brands tend to do this best for maturing categories – where consumers have become comfortable with how they use their devices and are largely looking for replacement devices.  It also works for late adopters who are looking for their first purchase in a given category (and might be more price sensitive).  In both cases, these consumer segments are looking for low-priced options.

The Insignia brand has grown to represent some 10 percent of the television market.  Moving into the Connected TV space is an interesting move for the Insignia brand.  It is certaintly a growing segment of the declining TV market. In the first half of 2010 they represented about 8 percent of total shipments. Just a year later the share of connected TVs had grown to about 20 percent of total TV shipments.  While they’re grown significantly in terms of shipment share, they still represent a relatively low share of the installed base.

The move will allow the Insignia models to enter a growing segment of the TV market.

State of the Mobile Internet 0

Some interesting tidbits here from Akamai (with the full report here).  My comments are in Bold.

  • The average monthly 3G traffic is the highest for laptops (1-7 GB), followed by tablets (250-800 MB) and smartphones (80-600 MB) ->  not surprising

 

 

  • On tablets & smartphones, online audio, e-mail, software downloads, and social networking traffic are big consumers of 3G data traffic. -> great story for Pandora, staying connected while on the go (email, social networking traffic), and filling voids in your time or discovering apps in social settings and downloading them immediately (app downloads)

 

  • Tablet and smartphone devices usually have frequent and short sessions typically during the whole day, sometimes showing a periodic nature. -> consistent with my thesis – consumers grab the “best” device for a given activity when that device makes sense because of some product attribute.

 

  • Laptops are usually on mobile connections for a few longer sessions, mainly during daytime and the evening -> not surprising, driven by production which is happening during large blocks of time

 

  • Tablet traffic patterns over 3G mobile networks are much closer to smartphone traffic patterns than to laptop traffic patterns -> tablets are above scaling a specific aspect of mobile phones (the screen size) so usage scenarios are similiar.

Some of my Favorite Web Services 0

Two weeks ago I wrote a post on my top 15 tech products for 2010.  Here are a few of my favorite web services (in no particular order):

1. Pandora: My single music source when I’m by a computer and now that I’ve integrated Boxee into the WMC connected to my primary TV, I find myself tuning in more frequently from the living-room/kitchen as well.  Looking forward to seeing how airplay-enabled speakers will impact my audio listening habits in 2011.

2. AwardWallet: Think of AwardWallet as Mint.comfor frequent flyer accounts. I would argue it is even better.  Mint.com never stuck with me, but I use AwardWallet religiously.  You can track existing trips and receive email updates of program accruals. I’ve never found either of these especially valuable.  For the former I rely exclusively on TripIt to organize all facets of upcoming travel.  The email updates are marginally helpful. But as far as organizing frequent flyer programs go, I haven’t found anything comparable to AwardWallet. In the past I’ve used MileTracker but in the end it completely failed me. I have yet to find a program not covered by AwardWallet – and I currently track 33 different accounts. A great feature is the ability to track accounts for different individuals in a single place and share access with them. So if your wife also has frequent flyer accounts you can track them in a single AwardWallet account, but you can each have your own log-in.  Another key feature is the ability to see when miles are set to expire due to inactivity. 

3. Google Reader: I was a Bloglines loyalist and when they announced they were closing their doors I transitioned to Google Reader.  I miss Bloglines, but moving back wasn’t as seamless as it should have been so I haven’t fully moved back yet.

4. Genieo: Genieo uses your search and browser history to built intelligence into your home page by populating it with articles relevant to your history. I’ve been using Genieo for a few months now.  The personal homepage has gotten smarter, and while I typically detest pop-ups, I’ve found many of the pop-ups more worthwhile than a distraction.The favorite sites tab hasn’t been useful yet, nor has the day in pictures (though I like the concept). One huge complaint – I frequently use google for directions by simply typing in the origin-destination in the google search bar and then clicking the map tab when I click through.  I also do this with products by clicking through the shopping tab on the google homepage.  Neither of these tabs exist Genieo-Google page which is incredibly frustrating and nearly makes it worth abandoning Genieo.   

5. Tumblr: I experimented with Tumblr early on but didn’t find a fit for microblogging outside of Twitter. But in the last few months I’ve found Tumblr useful for organizing photos and other posts enroute to Twitter.  I imagine my use of Tumblr will expand in 2011.

6. Twitter (over Facebook)

other web services to do more with in 2011:

1. Spotify: can it live up to the hype if it ever sees official support in the US?

2. OneTrueFan: another tool to build/find relevency.

3. IceRocket: the best blog and twitter search engine?

4. Presentation tools Tableau and Prezi: I intended to use Tableau all year and it just never happened, but I do plan to use Prezi for atleast one of my CES presenations.