It’s that time of year again. Internet analyst Mary Meeker, general partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, presented her annual Internet Trends report in California yesterday. Speaking at the D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Meeker noted there are now 2.4 billion worldwide Internet users. Mobile usage is rapidly expanding, while the Internet is becoming more social and content rich. In the future we should anticipate wearable computing devices, connected cars, drones and other new platforms. Continue reading D11 Conference: Mary Meeker Presents Internet Trends Report

According to Cisco’s new Visual Networking Index (VNI) forecast, online video is growing faster than any other type of consumer service, and within four years online video services will be more popular than social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The report predicts that by 2017 there will be 3.6 billion global Internet users and 19 billion global networked devices. Additionally, the average broadband speed will increase by a factor of 3.5 to 39 Mbps. Continue reading Cisco Says Online Video to Outpace Social Networks by 2017

Kickstarter announced yesterday that the crowdfunding service has reached a new milestone by launching more than 100,000 projects. Nearly 44 percent of the projects have been successfully funded by a total of $535 million. The top categories for launched projects include Film & Video, Music, Publishing, Art and Games. If its current funding rate continues, the service could raise its first billion as early as sometime this year. Continue reading New Milestone: 100,000 Projects Crowdfunded via Kickstarter

Major phone companies have begun selling data related to their subscribers’ locations, travels, interests and Web browsing habits. The availability of such data provides a long-anticipated and powerful tool for marketers, but not surprisingly raises a number of privacy concerns. Mining data for profit marks a shift in the relationship between carriers and subscribers, similar to what is typically expected today with services such as Google and Facebook. Continue reading Phone Companies Begin Selling Customer Data to Marketers

Twitter is capitalizing on the growing trend of television viewers using social media while watching TV. Its new product called Twitter Amplify will allow marketers to match TV advertisements with Twitter commentary by viewers who are watching specific programming. Brands can then forward messages to selected Twitter users who have already watched the TV ads. The company offered a presentation on Twitter Amplify in New York yesterday. Continue reading Advertising: Twitter Amplify Will Target Social TV Viewers

Twitter has rolled out a new component to its #Music service for the Web that offers charts based on genre and artist popularity. The service is powered by the San Fancisco-based company We Are Hunted, which Twitter acquired in 2012. The charts provide compelling data that should be of interest to record labels and could potentially lead to artists engaging more directly with their fans on Twitter. Continue reading Twitter Introduces New Music Charts that Track Popularity

Following three years of partner testing, Twitter has announced the general availability of its advertising services for U.S. businesses. Kevin Weil, Twitter’s senior director of product for revenue, made the announcement on stage yesterday during the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York City. The launch of Twitter Ad services could increase company revenue in preparation for an anticipated IPO. Continue reading Twitter Ads Service Now Available for All U.S. Businesses

The Associated Press Twitter account was hacked yesterday with a false report involving explosions at the White House. The account was quickly suspended, but not before the news had been retweeted thousands of times, resulting in a temporary yet sharp drop in the Dow and news outfits clamoring to ascertain details. Although the account is active again, the news agency has nearly 2 million less followers, which Twitter explains could take up to 24 hours to repair. Continue reading AP Twitter Account Hacked: Underlines Need for Security

Twitter released an updated version of its free Vine app last week that provides users with mobile-to-Web capabilities and allows them to embed Vine looping videos into social tools such as tweets and Facebook updates. Before the Version 1.0.7 update, users had to rely on third party tools like Vineit, which could only grab the videos via a desktop browser. Now the process is possible through the app and via mobile devices. Continue reading Vine App Update Includes Ability to Embed Looping Videos

The Mobile Symphony Orchestra in Alabama introduced its “tweet seats” late last year during a performance of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony. The seats are located in the back row of the auditorium and are made available to those who wish to text or tweet during the performance. This type of move is representative of many arts organizations’ attempts to encourage audiences to engage technologically with performances. Continue reading Tweet Seats and Other Attempts at Audience Engagement

According to Nielsen NRG’s 2012 American Moviegoing report, owners of wireless mobile devices go to movie theaters at a higher rate than the average cinema fan. The report also suggests that smartphone and tablet users spend more money on entertainment in general. Interestingly, about 30 percent of moviegoers explained that comments on social media sites had affected their choice of films to attend. Continue reading Nielsen Study Says Mobile Users Make Better Moviegoers