Sony's Vaio P: Slim and sexy, but don't call it a 'Netbook'

Never mind the tiny physical footprint of the Vaio P, if you ask Sony, they will tell you they have never made a netbook. If you ask me, however, I'll tell you they just did.Why does Sony regard its smallest Vaio as a notebook and not a netbook? They have endowed the tiny (9.65" x .78" x 4.72") machine with a 1.33 GHz Intel processor, has 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM,Windows Vista Home Premium or 32-bit Home Basic and up to 128GB of flash memory or 60GB HDD. Representatives I spoke to this evening classified a netbook as a device that's encumbered by a processor too slow to handle a full desktop or notebook OS (and therefore derives much of its value from its connectivity).


After handling the Vaio P, I would beg to differ. I would say a netbook is any computer that demands a substantial adjustment of the user's computing technique to accomplish a task. This could happen because of a slower processor, but it could just as easily happen because of limited screen real estate or an awkward physical interface like a cramped keyboard or oddly-placed mouse buttons. Whether Sony likes it or not, the tiny form factor of the Vaio P forces the user to adjust.

Firstly, the size of the screen: though it's 8 inches across and extremely dense in pixels, the odd dimensions change the workspace substantially. Second, the keyboard is problematic. It is absolutely rock solid and responsive, but the placement of the pointing stick cuts into the size of the G, B, and H keys and necessitates some alertness when typing quickly.

To shrink down the unit to about the thickness of an issue of The Economist (or Guns and Ammo, if you're so inclined), the ethernet port and VGA out have been removed from the chassis and placed on the unit's charging dock. This means if you use a wired connection or external monitor, you have to carry around an extra block of plastic that is independent from the power cord/charger components. The Vaio P also has two USB ports, one less than most netbooks.

Netbook or not, the Vaio P is undeniably elegant, with an instant on feature that utilizes Sony's trademark XMB interface, integrated A2DP bluetooth, integrated mobile broadband connectivity, and GPS. For $899, there is a lot of computer rolled in that miniscule frame.

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Panasonic Exec Sees 3D HD As The Next Big Thing

Will consumers really be willing to put on a pair of 3D glass to watch TV?

For few days ago, Panasonic (PC) made the case for 3D television in a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In an interview on Friday with Tech Trader Daily, Yoshi Yamada, CEO of Panasonic’s North American arm, asserted that 3D could be the third great leap in the history of television, ranking with the move to color from black and white and the switch to flat-panels from cathode ray tubes.Yamada sees 3D as a way to amp up consumer excitement about television, and contends that 3D high-def televisions are “just around the corner,” with a target of 2010 for the introduction of the first commercially available 3D capable televisions. That seems ridiculously optimistic; as Yamada notes, the industry still has to agree to a standard for 3D broadcasts; he says Panasonic is holding talks with the Blu-Ray trade group and others, but concedes that there are a number of proposed standards for 3D. Other obvious hurdles: the lack of 3D content and the need for consumer to put on special glasses to watch television.

Although, certainly, nothing is more stylin’ than a pair of 3D specs.

I’d note that Panasonic was not the only company at the show singing the praises of 3D video; the subject took up a considerable chunk of time in the keynote on Thursday by Sony (SNE) CEO Sir Howard Stringer. I’d suggest that’s it no accident that the CE players are talking about 3D TV at a time when sales growth for flat-panel TVs has slowed dramatically: it’s another reason to upgrade.

Yamada said Panasonic is accelerating the completion of a 3D Blu-Ray authoring system, and should have it completed by the end of the month. Yamada said it is too early to say how the addition of 3D functionality will affect the cost of building flat-panel displays.

On the outlook for 2009, Yamada said “we’re certainly facing very challenging times, no question about that,” but that the industry is far better positioned than, say, the housing or auto industries. He notes that the Consumer Electronics Association is expecting a flat year in 2009; he thinks Panasonic can do better than that.

Friday morning, Panasonic announced that it might not hit its financial targets for the March 2009 fiscal year.

Yamada said the company’s U.S. flat panel business had been doing well through the end of September, then slowed down beginning in the middle of October. He said November was “discouraging,” but that December sales were actually better than expected in flat-panel TVs and Blu-Ray players. “There was growth,” he says. “Not big growth, but it didn’t drop.” By contrast, he says sales in December were down “sharply” in camcorders, digital still cameras and audio systems.

On Friday, Panasonic fell 28 cents, or 2.1%, to $13.14.

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Sony Rolls Out Wi-Fi Digital Camera with Web Browser

Jan 09, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) ----Sony introduced what it called the world's first Wi-Fi enabled digital camera that uploads photos and videos to Web sites through any public hotspot due to its built-in Web browser.The new Cyber-shot DSC-G3 digital still camera answers one of the most pressing needs for photo enthusiasts: how to share those photos and video clips of family, friends and events as soon as you shoot. The Cyber-shot camera makes it easy to upload images and video directly to photo and video sharing sites wherever a Wi-Fi connection is available.

"Research shows that our customers greatly value sharing images and video clips, but they often forget or don't have enough time if they wait to get home to upload images," said Phil Lubell, director of digital camera marketing at Sony Electronics. "Our new Cyber-shot DSC-G3 camera provides the simplicity and convenience of sharing in the moment, while the impulse is still fresh in people's minds."

The camera can wirelessly connect to any public hotspot, including hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and airports. Like a computer, the camera can connect to free or fee-based hotspots, as well as to secure and unsecured access points.

The new DSC-G3 model comes with complimentary AT&T Wi-Fi access to Sony's Easy Upload Home Page until Jan. 31, 2012. It includes Wi-Fi access at thousands of AT&T hotspots across the United States, including Starbucks, selected book stores and major quick-serve restaurant locations, as well as hundreds of upscale hotels and airports.

"By collaborating with Sony to launch the first digital still camera with a built in Web browser and embedded access across the entire AT&T Wi-Fi service network, we're enabling consumers to gain quick and convenient access to Sony's Easy Upload Homepage through thousands of AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots across the country," said Glenn Lurie, president of AT&T's emerging device organization. "The wireless capabilities and cutting-edge features of the G3 camera with the reliable coverage of AT&T's Wi-Fi network offers a unique consumer experience."

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Dell Launches Luxury Adamo Brand, $99 Mini-Laptop

Less than an inch thick with a 13-inch screen, the Adamo supports three USB ports and an eSATA jack, which could be used for plugging in an external hard drive.
Dell on Friday launched a luxury laptop line called Adamo and also took the wraps off its 10-inch Inspiron mini-laptop that it plans to sell for $99 with a two-year AT&T wireless broadband service contract.

The announcements were made during a news conference at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Dell executives revealed very few details about Adamo, as a model removed a thin, black laptop from a bag and posed with the machine. She did not turn it on and executives didn't say what was inside. Adamo means "to fall in love with" in Latin.

"We're not going to have very much more to say about this today -- just kind of a little bit of a sneak peek," said Michael Tatelman, VP of consumer sales and marketing at Dell.

A video of the Adamo suggests the laptop is less than an inch thick and has a 13-inch screen. Reports suggest the computer supports three USB ports and an eSATA jack, which could be used for plugging in an external hard drive.

Dell did not disclose pricing of the luxury line, which the company is launching in the midst of an economic recession. More details are expected in the next six months, according to The Associated Press.

In the meantime, Tatelman told reporters that the Inspiron Mini 10 would be sold exclusively by Dell for $99, with a $350 mail-in rebate. To qualify for the discount, buyers would have to sign up for a two-year service contract from AT&T, which costs about $60 a month.

The Mini 10 features an edge-to-edge 10-inch display and keyboard. It also has a built-in TV tuner and integrated GPS technology, 3G mobile broadband, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. The system is powered by an Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Atom Z530 processor. Pricing and a release date were not disclosed.

AT&T (NYSE: T) has partnered with other computer makers in offering to subsidize purchases of systems, if the buyer signs up for its DataConnect service. In October, for example, AT&T and Lenovo offered up to $150 off any ThinkPad notebooks bought with a two-year service contract. The deal was aimed at corporate buyers.

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How to chose best Anti-Virus for Internet Security

These days there are a number of choices that people have when they need to purchase internet security software packages to protect their computers from online threats. People can choose to visit some websites and get trial versions of security downloads before purchasing a full program, or they can simply go into a retail store and buy the software installation disk. Regardless of which method of acquiring the software is preferred, the question still remains for most people, “What is the best antivirus software available and which should they choose?”

In most cases, the antivirus internet security protection software that is published today comes with good warranties, guarantees and a strong level of customer support to help the computer user deal with any serious issues that might arise because of the various internet threats that are posed to their systems. Because of this level of support, many PC owners are most comfortable with an antivirus internet security suite from a highly reputable company.

But, there is a strong contingent of people who are convinced that the best antivirus software packages are the ones that are freely available to computer users. Indeed, there are many different, free internet security systems available that can be found at any of the numerous software download websites or through various software discussion forums. Often, software publishers will have free versions of their software available on the sites as well.

In some cases, the software publishers offer a limited time trial in order to allow the PC user to try out the software. This is a great benefit for computer users who are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of options they have to choose from.

Typically, the company will allow you to use a full version of their software for a limited time, such as two weeks or 30 days. At the end of that period, you must purchase a license in order to continue using their security software.

The biggest advantage to these trials periods is that the user has the opportunity to get a “feel” for the software and to see if they are able to run it easily. They can test the user interface and see if it is intuitive or if it was designed more for computer geeks and engineers than for the average computer user.

In most cases, these companies also offer at least a minimum level of support while the user is testing their software. This is done with the hope that the user will be pleased with both the software and the customer support so that they will decide to make the purchase of the internet safety antivirus package.

Another way that some of the software companies allow people to test out their computer internet security software is to allow them to use a limited or “lite” version. Typically, the limited version will provide some functions that the full software features, but will have many of the advanced features disabled. In most cases, these limited versions have no time limitation on them, but simply do not provide the full level of protection that computer users should have.

Once the PC owner has had the chance to test drive the security suite software in one of these ways, they will be able to determine for themselves which is the best antivirus package for them. While testing the software to see how it handles threats, it is also a good idea to research the software publisher to know if they are reliable and if they have a good track record for providing good customer service.

Now for the conclusion, perform a google search for something like “antivirus” or “internet security” and get yourself a limited or a trial version to get a feel of the software before purchasing.

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Vundo Fix Removal Tool: Spyware-Fix.net

Vundo is a particularly sneaky trojan horse that sneaks it way onto your computer and causes a host of problem on your system. The most popular threat is the fake spyware warning. Typically you will get a pop up warning that claims “windows has detected spyware infection”, “spyware has been detected on your computer”, or any combination of “false positive” declarations regarding spyware, adware, or virus infection. If you are currently having this problem for the love of all that is holy DO NOT download any software from these warnings. All they will do is infect your computer further and potentially scam you out of money. Before I show you how to perform a “Vundo fix” you should probably know where the spyware came from.

How did Vundo get on your computer?

The most common method of infection is through a vulnerability in Java. Typically Vundo will attach itself to DLL files and browser help objects. Although Internet Explorer is the most susceptible to Vundo recent versions have been able to attack FireFox as well. For future prevention either don’t use Java or simply download the absolute latest version. Java Sun 1.5 is the most commonly infected program but more recent versions do a little better job of preventing Vundo.

Vundo is one of the trickiest forms of malware on the net today. Figuring out how to remove Vundo can be quite a chore. Not only do you need to remove the associated .exe files but you have to physically go into the registry and delete the DLL files as well. Unfortunately these files are randomly named so it can be hard to choose which are malicious and which are necessary system processes. To add icing on the cake even if you find the DLL files and delete them, Vundo will simply regenerate them when you reboot. This is because it also infects your browser help object folder which is loaded before you start up.

Unless you are a computer expert, I would not recommend trying to remove Vundo on your own. What you need is to scan your computer with a special Vundo remover. Luckily I have found a program that can do it for you. It is my #1 rated spyware and antivirus remover on the web. You can visit www.spyware-fix.net and get rid of those annoying ads.

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PPC Landing Pages: PPC Visitors Have ADD

This week I'll pick up on the introductory discussion of PPC landing pages. If you haven't already read the first installment, go back and do so now. Also, a few caveat/plugs: the confines and scope of this column make it impossible to treat some complex topics thoroughly. Landing page design and testing is one of those topics.

For a truly in-depth, expert, A-Z description, I highly recommend the book Landing Page Optimization, written by my friend and fellow Search Engine Watch author Tim Ash. And for those of you faced with the task of creating and testing many different landing page versions, I encourage you to take a look at the landing page design tool/platform LiveBall from Ion Interactive.Before diving in, I want to clarify a few things. First, the advice here will pertain to landing pages that are the destination of pay-per-click ads, and not necessarily to home pages and other site pages. Second, you don't need to worry about the SEO value (or potential to hinder SEO objectives); these pages are not intended to be browsed, and in fact it's probably a good idea to exclude them from spider examination by using "nofollow" mechanisms.

As usual, I'll start very simply. I'll refer to the very stark mockup below. I'll start with the most important concept in this article:

The first and most important objective of the landing page is to convince the visitor that they've come to the right place.

If this crucial first step doesn't happen -- immediately -- many (and possibly most) visitors will hit the back button and click on one of your competitor's ads.



Landing page designers should assume that most people visiting the site via PPC suffer from Attention Deficiency Disorder. They're rushing through their day with the usual thousands of distractions, trying to accomplish a task quickly: buy what your site is offering.

They do a Google search. They click on your ad. They start at the top left corner of the page and try to decide whether the page (and by extension, the site) matches their need/desire. If it does, they continue scanning the page, and possibly convert. If not, they're gone -- possibly forever.

How long does this process take? You'll read various estimates. My educated guess? Less than one second. But you can find out yourself: use your web analytics package to find out the bounce rate for your current landing page, and the duration of the visit for those who bounced off the page.

I'm betting you'll find that the bounce rate is alarmingly high -- like, over 50% -- and the time on site for the "bouncers" is no more than a second or two. The bad news is: that's bad. The good news: you're on your way to improvements.

So what's the best way to ensure visitors conclude they've come to the right place? Reinforce it using the communications medium they've already used: words.

You'll improve conversion rates significantly by doing just one thing: mirroring the language of the PPC ad in the area just below the landing page logo.

So if the search term was "red nike sneakers," and the ad text included "Free Shipping. Delivery by Christmas!", the headline below the logo should be "Buy Red Nike Sneakers. Free Shipping and Guaranteed Delivery by Christmas!"

By now it should have dawned on you that the best strategy may be to create a separate landing page for each ad group. Some companies can afford to do that, others can't. I'll show you some shortcuts in future columns.

For now, since I'm running out of space, I'll list additional landing page design guidelines, and explain them in detail in the next column.

1. Keep the logo small. Take a look at the landing pages of prominent retailers - the size of the logo has shrunk steadily over the years. I personally believe the logo need be no larger than 200 or so pixels wide by 50 high.
2. Most people, including ADD site visitors, don't read content formatted as paragraphs. Put your content - benefits, features - into short, bulleted items.
3. Graphics can be very helpful -- product photos, pictures of happy people benefitting from your products/services -- but keep the graphics relatively small. They should reinforce your textual messages and help guide the visitor to a quick conversion. See #6 below.
4. The button or link that allows the visitor to take the next step in the conversion process should be big, prominent and "above the fold" - visible on the screen without forcing the visitor to scroll to see it.
5. Limit or exclude off-page navigation. The more specific the search term, the less likely that the visitor arrived on your page without conversion intent. For that reason, pages we design often contain only three links - the link going to the next step in the conversion process, plus one each for the Privacy Policy and About Us pages. The latter are included for those visitors who need to feel the site and company are trustworthy. But we want to keep the visitor on the landing page - so we usually open a new window to display these two, leaving the landing page visible and accessible behind.
6. Adopt the attitude, "If it's not helping, it's hurting." Any text, graphic or filigree must help focus the attention of the visitor on completing the conversion.

My column enjoys a hiatus over the next two weeks, so the next installment will be published January 9. I'll continue describing PPC landing page design. Meanwhile, here's some homework: do a Google search on the term "buy nike mercurial aero vapor sneakers." Then try to figure out which ad and landing page combinations convert the best. Let me know what you think by hopping over to the Profitable PPC forum. And I wish you happy, healthy, restful holidays -- and a 2009 full of juicy conversions!

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Search Shifts and Predictions for 2009

Last year brought us few new innovations besides, or course, the Google killer Cuil (you've heard of them, right?). In my humble opinion, 2009 will see search engines focusing less on new product innovations and more on new revenue streams during our economic crisis.Google has seen a significant drop in its stock price; Yahoo continues to tread water and await a buyer to save them; MSN continues to plod along at 5 percent market share with the industry questioning why Microsoft is even playing in the space; and Cuil, well, let's just hope they get to see 2010.

Consolidation

Speaking of Yahoo, my first prediction isn't much of a stretch. There will be consolidation within the search engine market space in 2009. The jury's still out on who's buying who, but if you've followed the news over the past six months, it's a good bet that someone will buy Yahoo.

Yahoo's not the only acquisition target. Ask.com may not have the market share, but the floundering search engine offers a good product line that could enhance someone's capabilities portfolio. Perhaps there's a buyer out there that's looking to build an application backline to challenge Google. Ask.com could prove a huge asset in that case.

Recession Boost

"Free" gets the attention of many people, including marketers. With the cost of paid search terms going up, the organic search folks may see a lot more attention in 2009.

Although organic search traffic is often touted as "free traffic," it truly isn't. Developing rankings for key terms in an industry requires an investment in all the elements that go into building a Web site: content, coding, design, and strategy. Though the traffic isn't free, the ROI tends to be better.

Organic search marketing just might become the bread winner as cash-strapped client become wary of increased media costs in traditional space and an up-turn in bid competition in paid search.

ROI on the Prize for SEO

It's about time! ROI will no longer be a "nice to have" for those who practice SEO in 2009.

Again, the economy will dictate scrutiny of every marketing dollar spent, and clients are going to want to know ahead of time what they can expect from their SEO programs. ROI models, all with their own flaws, will control the landscape of organic search programs as search marketers hope to woo marketing dollars away from less successful or measurable competing tactics.

As part of a global agency, I welcome a shift to focusing on client returns. This may help the SEO profession gain acceptance and operate at a higher standard.

Local All Over Globe

In the coming year, if you own brick-and-mortar locations you better get familiar with local search and put a program in place. Local search will be the big thing in 2009 for search.

Local search is far more measurable than a traditional organic listing and, therefore, lends itself better to demonstrated ROI benefits. Additionally, the number of mobile searches will only increase as mobile phones become more sophisticated. Marketers must make sure they show up in these results.

A Paid Inclusion Rebound

If there's one paid search service that can thrive on '09, it's paid inclusion. Yahoo offers a unique PPC program called Search Submit Pro, which provides marketers with the ability to feed results directly into the organic listings. As organic results become more important than ever, marketers will try to get into the listing by any means necessary.

So far Yahoo is the only engine to offer this service, but I predict that we'll see similar offerings as other engines look for new revenue streams in 2009. These may not be straight text search results, but I don't think we've seen the last of paid inclusion.

The Year of Monetization

This year will be interesting for search engines. As factors from recession to emerging technologies convene, engines will have to create new revenue. Only time will tell whether that revenue comes from acquisition and increased market share or new programs like Yahoo's SSP.

Marketers will also look toward search to drive additional revenues, but they will only make the investment if the ROI is there. This will be an interesting year for the agencies and practitioners of search; they will have to be even more creative in their search programs. Money talks, and this year SEO must answer the call to prove its worth.

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