There's a lot of chatter about social media changing the landscape of the way we communicate in campaigns.  Certainly, the rules have changed.  So why is it that many companies still rely so heavily on the traditional press release mechanism to get their messages out to the media and other audiences they seek to influence?  For my money, traditional techniques will continue to apply and work alongside the "new" new media tools and will work together for the strongest effect.  What really bugs me is that I see less and less creativity in communicating, especially in business to business PR.  Press releases have changed and become social media releases which means that clever PR's can package up valuable assets to accompany the written news release and the recipients of such can select and use the relevant content according to individual requirements. So, old can become new with a little creativity and digital thinking.
 
I would think that by now, all of the communities who need to be informed and educated are more than a bit fed-up with the blandness of the material they receive.  Has anyone seriously considered how much of this stuff they get every day?  It's a very old story, but it hasn't changed in my view and it needs to.  If communicators began with creative thinking just imagine how much more interesting life would be for everyone, not just the sender and the recipient of information.

http://inconvenientprtruth.com/research/

Dee Gibbs

German government warns against using MS Explorer
The German government has warned web users to find an alternative browser to Internet Explorer to protect security. The warning from the Federal Office for Information Security comes after Microsoft admitted IE was the weak link in recent attacks on Google's systems. Microsoft rejected the warning, saying that the risk to users was low and that the browsers' increased security setting would prevent any serious risk. However, German authorities say that even this would not make IE fully safe.
BBC News

Yahoo criticised by Alibaba for 'reckless' China stance
Yahoo's partner in China has called the US internet giant "reckless" for supporting Google in its stand-off with Beijing over alleged cyber-attacks. Yahoo said it was "aligned" with Google's position that the violation of internet privacy was deeply disturbing and something that had to be opposed. But an Alibaba Group spokesman said on Saturday it did not "share this view".  Beijing has tried to play down Google's threat to pull out of China because of attacks by hackers and censorship.
BBC News

Jury clears British 'Pirate Bay' operator of fraud charge
The first person in the UK to be prosecuted for online music sharing has been acquitted of conspiracy to defraud, scuppering the music industry's hopes that it would have a homegrown equivalent of last year's high profile Pirate Bay case in Sweden with which to deter British music pirates. Alan Ellis, 26, was accused of making hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Oink website, which he operated from his flat in Middlesbrough. Before it was shut down in a police raid in 2007, the website had more than 200,000 members who had downloaded more than 21m music files.
The Guardian

Google picks up Nexus One support
Google appears to be trying to boost its customer support for Nexus One customers, posting replies to many more queries on its online forum. Google has come under fire since the launch of the Nexus One after hundreds of messages were posted with complaints or questions about the phone. Many customers said that after calling T-Mobile they were referred to HTC, the phone’s maker, or the reverse. Google does not have a customer service phone line, and customers sending emails were being told to wait one or two days for a reply.
Techworld

Facebook users banned for Haiti spam
Some Facebook users sending messages about the Haitian earthquake may have been a bit dismayed at times this week to find that they'd been booted off the site for suspicion of spamming. Facebook acknowledged today that some users had been dropped from the site because they had been sending out so many messages after an earthquake struck Haiti that the site mistook them for spammers. Facebook's mechanism to automatically detect potential spammers was triggered by an avalanche of messages going out about Haiti, said Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications at Facebook.
Techworld

Amazon MP3 store comes to Android 2.1
Google's latest update to its phone OS - Android 2.1 - has finally arrived in the UK, courtesy of the Google Nexus One handset and with it a number of new UK-specific features. One of the more interesting things is that now you can get direct access to the Amazon MP3 store from the phone, something the US has had since the G1. The service comes preloaded on the Nexus One and offers up information on the latest songs and albums and how much they cost.
Techradar

Phones to be world's most popular web browsers by 2013
The latest forecast from the analysts at Gartner shows that mobile phones are set to overtake PCs as the most common web browsing device by 2013. The increasingly popularity (and decreasing cost) of smartphones such as the recently-launched Google Nexus One and Apple's iPhone, means one thing mainly - the widespread availability of fast and easy-to-use mobile web browsers. And with those rumours of a soon-to-be-launched iPhone 4G building up a head of steam, the smartphone market is sure to get even more interesting (and busy) later in 2010.
Techradar

CBS launches local news apps for iPhone
US broadcast network CBS has announced the launch of 13 new iPhone apps, delivering local news and video from its stations around the US. Markets covered include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Miami, among others. The apps will offer text and video news, local weather forecasts, Twitter feeds from local reporters and news anchors, as well as content from CBS' national operation.
Mobile Entertainment

Report: $1 trillion of mobile service revenues in 2013
The mobile industry will generate more than $1 trillion of mobile services revenues globally in 2013, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media. The analyst firm predicts that data revenues will account for more than $330 million of that, helping to make up for a fall in voice revenues. "The growth in data revenues is being spurred by the rise in take-up of more advanced technologies and mobile broadband services, as well as new handset interfaces and mobile content strategies based on application stores rather than walled gardens," says chief research officer Mark Newman.
Mobile Entertainment

UK comes in 26th for web speeds
The United Kingdom ranks 26th amongst all countries in broadband speed, according to the most recent report from Akamai. The traffic management firm found that the average UK connection clocked in at 3.4 MBPS. The company estimates that some 73 per cent of residents have speeds above 2 MBPS, while 19 per cent have speeds higher than 5 MBPS.
V3

iPhone, Android and BlackBerry users share same app tastes
The same apps tend to be popular no matter what app store you look at, judging by a new piece of research from Mplayit. The company, which runs an app discovery service on Facebook, has compared the most popular apps on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry among its users.
Mobile Entertainment

Manchester to get 100Mbps fibre network
Parts of Manchester will get access to super-fast 100Mbps broadband after Geo announced plans to install a next-generation fibre cable network in the city. Geo has been appointed by Corridor Manchester, the body that encourages economic investment in the central Manchester area, and Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA).
Computer World

China defends its right to censor web
In the wake of the recent declaration by Google that it will be refusing to censor search results in China any more, all eyes have been on the Asian superpower for its response. That response has now arrived, with multiple government departments issuing statements.
Pocket Lint

Schools must embrace mobile technology
The need for schools to prepare for 21st century learning was top of the agenda at this year's BETT conference.  They must embrace mobile technologies, games, podcasts and social networking, according to leading educationalist Professor Stephen Heppell.  Schools should also break away from traditional classroom and curriculum models, he argued.
BBC News

16m accessed work emails over Xmas
Survey results released by TalkTalk today, reveal that 16 million Brits accessed their emails over the Christmas period. One in 10 spent more than 10 hours working from home whilst on holiday over the festive break.
Web User

Robots powered by alcohol?
Its sounds like something from Doctor Who, or a Hollywood blockbuster sci-fi, but two design concepts from design graduate Daizi Zheng could be a reality. Zheng theoretical  “bio-battery” generates electricity through the use of sugar in coca-cola.
Tech World

HTC to re-launch Google Nexus One as Bravo?
January appears to be rumour time and Google is no stranger to a rumour. However this time the rumour follows the launch of its Nexus One mobile phone. Leaked images and specs in Sweden suggest that HTC, the manufactures of the Nexus One, is about to re-launch the phone as the Bravo.
Tech Radar

Mobile phones to overtake PCs for web surfing by 2013
Gartner reckons by 2013, more people will be accessing the web from mobile phones than from PCs. The company is predicting  that there will be 1.78 billion PCs in use that year, outstripped by the 1.82 billion install base of smartphones and browser-equipped feature phones.
Mobile Entertainment

WiFi wireless signals used to charge mobiles
Wireless charging has become a big talking point in 2010, as more consumers look to reduce their carbon footprint and get rid of the wires. RCA has joined in the noise and showed off its prototype Wi-Fi Hotspot Power Harvester called Airnergy that's designed to convert Wi-Fi radio signals into DC power for charging small wireless devices such as smartphones.
Tech World

3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour
3D TV is being billed as a possible saviour for recession hit manufacturers looking to boost sales. On the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show, CES, in Las Vegas, all the big names unveiled 3D TV's. Industry experts said the picture looks promising with a survey showing around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year. "It's a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this," said Panasonic's Elsuke Tsuyuzaki. "To me, the thing that's going to get us there is 3D," added the firm's chief technology officer.
BBC News

Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder
The rise of social networking online means that people no longer have an expectation of privacy, according to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Talking at the Crunchie awards in San Francisco this weekend, the 25-year-old dotcom chief executive of the world's most popular social network said that privacy was no longer a "social norm". "People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people," he said. "That social norm is just something that has evolved over time."
The Guardian

CES 2010: 'Airnergy' gadget promises wireless charging over Wi-Fi
Gadgets have been powered by many means over the years, from the humble plug to the battery to wind-up radios. But now one company thinks it can take things a step further - and pluck power from the air simply by harnessing Wi-Fi signals. Airnergy, a new system from electronics company RCA, hopes to make a breakthrough by allowing people to charge up their gadgets without lifting a finger. The company's first Airnergy device - dubbed a "Wi-Fi hotspot power harvester" by its makers – claims to harness small amounts of the signals broadcast by wireless internet access points, turning it into a useful power source for small devices like mobile phones and music players.
The Guardian

Firefox 3.6 nears release
Mozilla has shipped a release candidate build of Firefox 3.6. The final release follows a run of betas that started in early November, features nearly 100 bug fixes from the fifth beta that Mozilla issued 17 December. The fixes resolved numerous crash bugs, including one that brought down the browser when it was steered to Yahoo's front page. Another fix removed a small amount of code owned by Microsoft from Firefox. The code was pointed out by a Mozilla contributor, and after digging, another developer found the original Microsoft licence agreement.
Techworld

Acer recalls overheating Aspire laptops
Acer is recalling about 22,000 Aspire laptops after customers reported that some models were overheating. The problem lies in a microphone wire found underneath the notebook's palm rest, which can short-circuit and overheat, according to an alert from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Acer initiated the recall after three customers reported "light melting of the external casing."
Techworld

France considers a new Google tax
The French PM wants net firms such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook to pay more tax in his country in order to boost online sales of books, movies and music. A new report, commissioned by Nicolas Sarkozy's government, suggests that taxing Google's content heavier would generate funds that could be channelled towards ways of encouraging legal, commercial downloads of content and discouraging the growing problem of online copyright theft.
Techradar

Google facing Nexus One customer service headache
Last week, Google was hailed for smashing the US carrier monopoly on handset distribution with its Nexus One. Now it's facing the hangover. PC World reports that Nexus One early adopters are swamping Google support forums, complaining about the customer service. Specifically, they're claiming that Google is only answering questions via email, rather than on the phone. What's more, it seems Google's US operator partner, T-Mobile, is referring queries to Google or manufacturer HTC, but HTC is referring them right back to T-Mobile.
Mobile Entertainment

T-Mobile UK takes on the Joggler with Vega Android tablet
T-Mobile UK has secured an exclusive on Innovative Converged Devices' (ICD) Vega Android tablet, and will begin selling it later this year. The device was unveiled at the CES show last week. It has a 15-inch touchscreen, and is designed to be used in the kitchen by families - you could call it a competitor to O2's Joggler. Key features include a 'household calendar' accessible via the tablet, or from other computers and mobile handsets. However, web browsing, TV, social networking, an FM radio and games are all on board.
Mobile Entertainment

Nokia launches location-based music app
Nokia's content R&D teams have certainly been busy. Having shown off LBS game Ovi Maps Racing, the company has also unveiled a location-based music app. It's called Gig Finder, and lets users search for music concerts, buy tickets and get recommendations of other bands they might like. The app, which has been released by Nokia's Beta Labs division, taps into the GPS feature of handsets to find gigs nearby a user's current location. It also offers directions to the venue using Ovi Maps, lets people share details about gigs via SMS, email or Facebook, and also ties into the Nokia Music Store to buy music by the artists.
Mobile Entertainment

Tweetdeck adds geotagging and maps for iPhone
iPhone-owning Twitterers are spoilt for choice when it comes to apps - there are numerous high-quality ones to choose from on the App Store. Tweetdeck - based on the desktop Twitter client of the same name - is one of them. It's just been updated to version 1.3. The key new feature is a location-based addition: geotagging. It uses Twitter's geo API to allow users to automatically geotag tweets with their location. Tweetdeck's iPhone app bolsters that with a new map feature, letting users browse tweets on a map, zooming in to see what people are saying.
Mobile Entertainment

New internet piracy law comes into effect in France
The first effects of France's new law against internet piracy will begin to be felt as the new year begins. The law was passed after a long struggle in parliament, and in the teeth of bitter opposition from groups opposed to internet restrictions. Illegal downloaders will be sent a warning email, then a letter if they continue, and finally must appear before a judge if they offend again.
BBC News

iPhone apps about Dalai Lama blocked in China
Chinese users of the iPhone are unable to download applications related to the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhist Tibet, or Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled minority leader, after Apple apparently blocked them from its iPhone App Store in the country. The move suggests that Apple has followed Google in self-censoring content available in China, under pressure from the government. Apple does not maintain a single app store; there are different ones for each country, and Apple has the final say on what software appears in each.
The Guardian

Nokia sues Apple over more alleged patent infringements
Nokia has accused Apple of infringing Nokia patents in many of its products, including the iPhone, iPod and some computers. A case filed with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) claims patented Nokia innovations are being used by Apple to develop key features in its products, according to reports. The alleged infringements relate to user interfaces and camera, antenna and power management technologies.
Computer Weekly

Chinook computer was 'positively dangerous' say newly-disclosed MoD documents
A computer flaw in the type of Chinook helicopter that crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, killing all 29 on board, was known to be "positively dangerous", according to military documents that have not been published until today. The RAF blamed the two pilots, Flight Lieutenants Rick Cook and Jonathan Tapper, for the crash of Chinook ZD576 on 2 June 1994, which killed 29 senior police and intelligence officers. But an RAF Board of Inquiry was unable to establish why the crash happened. It did not rule out problems with the Chinook Mk2's innovative, software-controlled "Fadec" fuel control system as a contributory factor in the crash.
Computer Weekly

Lenovo to use AMD chips in Thinkpads
Lenovo is looking beyond long-term partner Intel and will offer budget ThinkPad laptops based on AMD processors. The company announced a new line of ThinkPad Edge laptops that will include AMD's single-core and dual-core Athlon Neo and Turion Neo processors. ThinkPad Edge laptops will be priced between US$500 and $800, said Charles Sune, global marketing manager at Lenovo. The first Edge offering, priced starting at $549, will include a 13.3-inch screen. More Edge laptops will be released later this year with screen sizes between 13 inches and 15 inches and either AMD Turion and low-power Athlon Neo chips.
Techworld

Windows continues its slide in market share
Microsoft's Windows continued its long term gradual slide as the operating system's usage share dropped by about a third of a point. That was despite Windows 7 posting a second straight month of impressive gains, according to web metrics firm Net Applications. Although rival desktop operating systems - Mac and Linux - essentially remained flat, mobile OSes, including Google 's Android and Apple 's iPhone OS, took up the slack created by Windows' dip. Mobile operating systems, said Net Applications, now power 1.3 percent of all the hardware that surfs the Internet.
Techworld

Microsoft bringing Xbox Live to Windows Mobile
Microsoft is planning to ramp up its mobile gaming activities, tying Windows Mobile into its Xbox Live community. At least, that's what it says it's doing in a job advert for a Principal Program Manager - LIVE Engagement Job, which was uncovered by MobileTechWorld: "We’re connecting players via the LIVE services on new devices beyond the console," says the ad.
Mobile Entertainment

Mplayit reveals most-shared apps for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry
App discovery firm Mplayit has published charts of the most-shared mobile apps on its Facebook Arcade application. The charts cover iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Java, and represent the apps that were most discussed and shared on its Facebook service over the holiday season. The iPhone chart shows a bias towards entertainment apps, BlackBerry is more about work and travel, and Android saw popularity for barcode-scanning apps.
Mobile Entertainment

PS3's Vidzone is world's biggest music video streaming app
According to Sony, the music video streaming app for PlayStation 3 is the biggest of its kind in the world. Vidzone's creators have been celebrating the massive success of the video service, which has been downloaded over two million times and has served over 200 million videos since it launched six months ago. Not as big as YouTube yet. "VidZone is officially the biggest dedicated music video streaming application in the world," said Ben Creasey, head of VidZone production.
Techradar