Profectio » Microsoft http://profectio.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:19:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Advertising Week: Connected Experiences http://profectio.com/advertising-week-connected-experiences http://profectio.com/advertising-week-connected-experiences#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:50:42 +0000 Taia Postolati http://profectio.com/?p=5275

Editor’s note: This a guest post written by Taia Postolati. Taia is the PR Coordinator at Broadplay Mobile Inc. full service digital marketing agency.

This post is part of Profectio’s coverage of Advertising Week 2010.
The world has gone digital, what else is new? Here in Toronto, fast on the heels of Apple’s big Tablet announcement, Microsoft’s Jason Daily showcased the Surface. There is no more evangelism, we’ve arrived!

The Surface is an impressive piece of digital hardware. A wide angle touch screen display that rests in front of the user like a table. It incorporates multimedia functionality and device recognition. Imagine sync-ing your phone, camera or media player by simply putting it down on the table in front of you. This is what Surface does, what’s even more impressive is that it can read bar codes so when you put down a piece of paper with the appropriate markings Surface will recognize it and provide you with corresponding content.

The Surface interacts with all sorts of digital devices giving the user a sort of digital hub and putting them in control of their content consumption. The user can choose to continue their interaction with one, all or none of their device and the brand experience is enhanced in a non intrusive way.

The most elusive and coveted media space is in the users pocket and the Surface gives marketers a way to follow the users where ever they go. Surface takes content mobile in a way that does not interrupt the user’s brand experience.

The question remains to be answered; will the Surface be a game changer in the digital mix and will clients take the bate?

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]]> http://profectio.com/advertising-week-connected-experiences/feed 0 Is Your Canadian Startup Primed And Ready For Acquisition? http://profectio.com/is-your-canadian-startup-primed-and-ready-for-acquisition http://profectio.com/is-your-canadian-startup-primed-and-ready-for-acquisition#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:14:00 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=5140

There has been a lot of speculation that 2010 will be a very big year for merger and acquisitions (M & A), Google has stated they are in acquisition mode and most recently Apple has hired a Goldman Sachs (GS) investment banker to help look at potential deals.  Taking a look at some of the bigger players on the Internet and the number of Canadian companies they’ve acquired over the last year does reveal something interesting:

Acquisitions made by Apple of Canadian companies in 2009 – 0
Acquisitions made by Amazon of Canadian companies in 2009 – 0
Acquisitions made by Cisco of Canadian companies in 2009 – 0
Acquisitions made by HP of Canadian companies in 2009 – 0
Acquisitions made by Microsoft of Canadian companies in 2009 – 2

  • Opalis Software – December 11, 2009
  • BigPark – May 7, 2009

Acquisitions made by Yahoo of Canadian companies in 2009 – 0

Why is it that out of all the millions of dollars being spent to acquire other companies only 2 were Canadian companies 2009?



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]]> http://profectio.com/is-your-canadian-startup-primed-and-ready-for-acquisition/feed 0 CES: HP Pcs Worldwide To Come Pre-Loaded With Microsoft Bing http://profectio.com/ces-hp-pcs-worldwide-to-come-pre-loaded-with-microsoft-bing http://profectio.com/ces-hp-pcs-worldwide-to-come-pre-loaded-with-microsoft-bing#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:59:33 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=4990

Steve Ballmer hit the stage yesterday at CES 2010 and made the announcement that Microsoft’s search engine Bing will come pre-loaded as the default search engine along with MSN as the default homepage.  This will be included on all new HP PC’s being shipped around the world, previously this was include only on HP machines being shipped in the United States.

Not a bad way to gain some market share in the battle of search engines.



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]]> http://profectio.com/ces-hp-pcs-worldwide-to-come-pre-loaded-with-microsoft-bing/feed 1 Hitwise Says Google Has 71.6% Market Share of Search http://profectio.com/hitwise-says-google-has-71-6-market-share-of-search http://profectio.com/hitwise-says-google-has-71-6-market-share-of-search#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:34:24 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=4736


Hitwise has released their latest number of the search landscape and once again Google takes the top spot with 71.6% of the search marketing share in the world.

search-marketing

Unfortunately this means that both Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing have both taken a dip. Yahoo is down 5% to 15.39% and Bing is down 2% to 9.39%.



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]]> http://profectio.com/hitwise-says-google-has-71-6-market-share-of-search/feed 0 Will Google Set A Trend For Free Public Wifi In North America? http://profectio.com/will-google-set-a-trend-for-free-public-wifi-in-north-america http://profectio.com/will-google-set-a-trend-for-free-public-wifi-in-north-america#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:23:34 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=4585

Google is bringing consumers across the Unites States an early Christmas gift as they announce the availability of free wifi in 47 airports including Las Vegas, San Jose, Boston, Baltimore, Burbank, Houston, Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, St. Louis and Charlotte. Additionally, as a result of this project, Burbank and Seattle airports will begin offering airport-wide free Wi-Fi indefinitely.

Will Canada Have Free Public WiFi?

I asked Google’s public relations person if they’d also be bringing WiFi to Canadian airports this holiday season and was told while they don’t have any specific plans they are not ruling it out in the future.

The recent move by Google did trigger Microsoft and Yahoo to launch similar free public WiFi offerings recently. Microsoft is teaming wifiup with provider JiWire in airports to offer its free WiFi, as long as users use Bing for at least one search. Yahoo is offering free WiFi for an entire year in New York City’s Times Square.

Here in Canada there have been a number of providers including Rogers, Toronto Wireless and most recently Vex Canada entering the market place.   Each having a slightly different business model that will allow consumers to be always connected.



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]]> http://profectio.com/will-google-set-a-trend-for-free-public-wifi-in-north-america/feed 0 How Big Is Search? 100 Billions Searches Per Month According To comScore http://profectio.com/how-big-is-search-100-billions-searches-per-month-according-to-comscore http://profectio.com/how-big-is-search-100-billions-searches-per-month-according-to-comscore#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:33:20 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=3982

So we heard this search this is big and continues to grow but did you realize that over 100 billion searches were done in the month of July 2009? comScore released some new data yesterday which indicates that over 113 billion searches were done in the month of July 2009, which is a 41% increase from the same time period one year earlier. Google dominated more of the searches with 76.7 billion searches or 67.5% of the search market and Yahoo! Sites ranked second worldwide with 8.9 billion searches (7.8 percent share). Chinese search engine Baidu was third with 8 billion searches (7.0 percent share).

worldwide_search_summer09
Expect a big change next year as stats from Bing and the proposed Microsoft/ Yahoo search deal will definitely make an impact on the numbers reported.

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]]> http://profectio.com/how-big-is-search-100-billions-searches-per-month-according-to-comscore/feed 0 MSN.ca Relaunches With New Look And Feel, Well Not Really http://profectio.com/msn-ca-relaunches-with-new-look-and-feel-well-not-really http://profectio.com/msn-ca-relaunches-with-new-look-and-feel-well-not-really#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:10:36 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=3915

I previously mentioned the spit between Bell and Microsoft which created Sympatio/MSN was coming, the announcement happened sooner than I had expected.  Today marks a brand new day where both entities unveil their separate portals that will “wow” us all.  Sorry boys and girls, I think I spoke too quick there, aside from the integration of Microsoft’s search platform BING I don’t see anything new on the new MSN.ca which is 100% owned by Microsoft.

msn

Hopefully in the coming months Owen Sagness, Vice-President and General Manager, Consumer and Online, Microsoft Canada will unveil something that will raise the bar and keep consumers wanting to come back to msn.ca, I’m sure Bell has something up their sleeves now that they are free to move in any direction.

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]]> http://profectio.com/msn-ca-relaunches-with-new-look-and-feel-well-not-really/feed 2 Bell And Microsoft Cut Sympatico/MSN Ties Tomorrow, Get Ready For New Websites http://profectio.com/bell-and-microsoft-cut-sympaticomsn-ties-tomorrow-get-ready-for-new-websites http://profectio.com/bell-and-microsoft-cut-sympaticomsn-ties-tomorrow-get-ready-for-new-websites#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:28:59 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=3893

I few weeks ago I had mentioned the “divorce” between Bell and Microsoft which created Canada’s largest portal Sympatico/MSN.ca is about to get the plug.  Bell has made an official announcement today where they outline a new partnership with Microsoft and new websites will be launch tomorrow, September 1, 2009.  A new three deal has been signed and both companies will continue to work together and exchange traffic between each other’s portals, while Sympatico.ca will also leverage the new Bing(R) search engine and continue to offer Windows Live, Hotmail and Messenger inventory to Canadian advertisers.  The default home page for sympatico.msn.ca will move to Sympatio.ca

“Over the last 14 years, Sympatico.ca has been Canada’s leading portal. Bell is a pioneer in the industry and we have continued to build on the Sympatico portal’s popularity as we evolve to meet our clients’ needs,” said Kevin Crull, President of Bell Residential Services. “In our five successful years managing and operating the joint sympatico.msn.ca portal, Bell has seen the Internet advertising industry evolve significantly. It’s clear that creating two distinct portals now allows market expansion by both partners in terms of new online advertising and revenue opportunities.”

Bell has also launched four new portal channels today including Autos, InMovies.ca, YourMoney.ca and Best Health, a Reader’s Digest publication.  Microsoft will continue to operate msn.ca and has been busy hiring advertising and editorial staff over the last few month to continue to operate their online portal.

Sympatico.ca was originally launched in 1995 and as of September 1, 2009 the end or an era is at hand.

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]]> http://profectio.com/bell-and-microsoft-cut-sympaticomsn-ties-tomorrow-get-ready-for-new-websites/feed 1 Microsoft And Nokia Bring Microsoft Office To a Nokia Phone Near You http://profectio.com/microsoft-and-nokia-bring-microsoft-office-to-a-nokia-phone-near-you http://profectio.com/microsoft-and-nokia-bring-microsoft-office-to-a-nokia-phone-near-you#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:57:49 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=3787

Microsoft and Nokia have announced a new global partnership between one of the world’s largerst software vendorand the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer. As part of the deal Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications will be available on certain Nokia devices.

“With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us,” said Elop. “Today’s announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser.”

All Microsoft Office functionality will be be made available including viewing, editing, creating and sharing Office documents, an enterprise version of instant message and Enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center.

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]]> http://profectio.com/microsoft-and-nokia-bring-microsoft-office-to-a-nokia-phone-near-you/feed 0 Facebook Now The Forth Largest Site On the Internet http://profectio.com/facebook-now-the-forth-largest-site-on-the-internet http://profectio.com/facebook-now-the-forth-largest-site-on-the-internet#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:43:47 +0000 Dave Forde http://profectio.com/?p=3712

Facebook continues its rapid growth, exponentially as it crawls up at number 4. It follows names like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, each of which have been on the web for much longer time than the leading social network. The site has grow by over 150% , surpassing bigger names in business like Amazon, MySpace. I don’t doubt Facebook going ahead of Yahoo and Microsoft eventually, even though each has between 200 million to 400 million users to top what Facebook currently has, but that appears to be a small number given Facebook’s growth in the recent past. As for giving Google any trouble, I think it has quite a bit more to grow until it becomes that big.

Growth is good and Facebook just keeps getting bigger every week and now is the 4th largest site on the internet, behind Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. Some people are predicting that in time it will surpass Microsoft and Yahoo, possibly Yahoo if it doesn’t get its acts together quickly but chances of passing Microsoft are pretty low. Not only does Microsoft have its suite of online destinations such as MSN but with their Microsoft Office suite online I think it is fair to say they will have the lead for quite some time.

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