We've heard that the iPad will change your life, but will it change the way you blend? Read on

Johns reaction: I can hear some of you scream in horror, but the story continues for Will it blend

Big advertisers are interested in experimenting with new forms of online advertising. Frank Cooper, a senior vice president at Pepsi and its chief consumer engagement officer, said onstage at the event that big brands today have to be open to trying out different advertising schemes in order to reach an increasingly fragmented audience. Cooper said he's been closely following the ways people behave in online social spaces, and he's interested in finding ways to weave in place a layer on top of that experience, with a brand that consumers perceive as adding value. He said the big question is, "Where do we actually have a deeper engagement with consumers" Read on

Johns reaction: Competing for cultural impact, not just product sales.

Remember the brandjacking experience of Exxon? In 2008, someone set up a Twitter account representing themselves as a spokesperson for the oil company. The account fooled several prominent people in social media who praised the fake Exxon for leveraging Twitter to have conversation about its business with the public. Several days went by before the public realized the account was a fake. Read on

Johns reaction: 5,542 Followers, why listen to the real thing, this is new media comedy content ;)

When Google launched Buzz, a microblogging social network, several months ago, the company boasted that the network had been generated automatically, by algorithms that could connect users to each other based on communications revealed through Gmail and other services. Read on

Johns reaction: Algorithms that claim to understand the nature of social connections. However they can still miss identifying the most intimate connections because these are likely to be face-to-face rather than digital communication. All getting a bit creepy if you ask me.

When Google upgraded their Local Business Center to Google Places, it launched the opening salvo in what we expect to be a long war for local advertising dollars. With local advertising revenues expected to reach $144.9 billion in 2014 according to BIA/Kelsey and more and more dollars are shifting away from traditional media toward digital media buys the new war for local ad spend will be a battle between the Internet (Internet) titans and social networks. Read on

Brads reaction: Another example of how Facebook is stripping away at Google's search dominance. Very insightful article.

Apple is building Facebook features into the latest version of its iPhone software, we're told by a plugged-in source in the mobile industry. These features could be announced during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on June 7, when Apple is expected to unveil a new iPhone. Our source tells us that Apple is at least going to build Facebook contact syncing directly into the iPhone software, so you can pull Facebook contacts into your iPhone's phonebook. This is a no-brainer, and is already a feature that some of Apple's competition offers, so it makes sense to include on the iPhone. Read on

Brads reaction: Others have done this but when Apple does it you know that Facebook must be doing something right. It is starting to become prevalent throughout the web and now in hardware.

Last week, in an essay criticizing Adobe's Flash platform, Apple CEO Steve Jobs drew attention to, among other things, its lack of support for touch--something essential to the experience of an iPhone or iPad. "Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers," Jobs wrote. Read on

Johns reaction: A need for redesigning outdated websites...here we go again

Item: I got mail from really well-known Web technologist his competence is not in doubt making his first foray into mobile development. He wrote: I m trying to avoid appstore hell by developing rich HTML5 apps, but the performance on iPhone is shoddy whenever network IO is going on, and I seem to be able to crash the browser on our departmental Nexus One with such frequency it's not even funny. I think I've got a lot of optimization to do to my app to dial down network access, but I just wondered what the jungle drums say about HTML5 as a sensible approach for delivering apps in 2010. Read on

Brads reaction: With all the argument over Flash v HTML5 for video delivery. What about other aspects of what Flash does? With the difficulties of developing apps in HTML5 maybe its time for Adobe to stop whining, take advantage of the opportunity and build a version of Flash that outputs HTML5?

By Jeff Hilimire. You know you want to. You are dying to do it, actually. Your boss wants you to do it. Her boss wants you to do it. Heck, even your competitors are starting to do it. You want to reach customers on their mobile phone. Please don't! Okay, so I am being a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I very much believe that marketers are going to try to ruin mobile. Read on

Brads reaction: Mobile marketing is certainly starting to move. Its worth understanding that its relevancy requirements are much higher. Jeff makes some good points here.

Steve Jobs has just posted a long open letter on Flash, listing all the reasons why Apple has decided not to support it on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The letter is a clear, sober, in-depth view in all of Flashs defects from Apples point of view, and while we are sure it will be dissected over and over again in the upcoming days (especially the part about Flash not being open), you have to admire its frankness. Read on

Johns reaction: In short, doesnt want a third party layer of software [to] come between the platform and the developer'. Jobs also has a go at how Flash drains the battery of mobile devices; its not good for multi-touch operation; and its generaly a shoddy product.