The Ford Social Media Experiment is the latest in a long line of companies looking to leverage social media as a vehicle to promote a product or a service.

So what is this all about?

As part of the Fiesta Movement, Ford’s new platform to promote the 2011 Fiesta in the United States the company has selected 100 “agents” who will drive a new Fiesta for upto six months. Using their social networks ( Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Twitter and so on ) they will share their experiences with the rest of the world.

It will also act as a platform for Ford to obtain feedback on the car ahead of its planned launch.

“These agents are ready for adventure and eager to spread the word with their friends, fans and followers. They’re going to take our Fiestas on missions across the country and share how much fun they are having.”

– Connie Fontaine,
Ford’s Brand Content and Alliances Manager

This is a clear example of how much of an emphasis Ford is putting on social media.

Even before this initiative has taken flight this has received a huge response from the web bringing a lot of attention to Ford and the new Fiesta platform.

More than 4000 applications were submitted with an excess of 640,000 view of applicant videos on YouTube. The Ford Fiesta has over 300 fans on their Facebook page and over 600 followers on their Twitter account.

“We got a tremendous response from consumers, a lot of exciting people decided to apply,” said Sam De La Garza, small car marketing manager. “Choosing the 100 agents is a critical step in the movement, pulling us one step closer to getting people in the vehicles.”

This address a core business benefit - connecting with the next generation consumer group which will total 70 million drivers by 2010 and using social media ( which most of them use ) is a masterstroke towards building brand loyalty.

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Amazon has received a lot of attention after the launch of it’s Kindle and Kindle 2  . However there is a lot of speculation that the new generation of smartphones can do what the Kindle does better and much cheaper. At $359 the Kindle is far from cheap and with smartphones costing a lot less users might just decide to stay away from the device that is essentially a horse with one act.

Devices like the Apple iPhone are now offering a huge range of apps, some of which are ebook readers and at prices that are very competitive.

It will be interesting to see where this story heads.

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The latest news surrounding the multi-touch controversy is that Apple approached the Android team and specifically asked them not to implement a multi touch feature on the phone.

This decision to accept the request seems a little strange when you consider the fact that these are two competing companies in the mobile space. However on taking a closer look at things Google seems to have side-stepped potential litigation that could have delayed the launch of the G1 for a considerable period of time.

Palm’s Pre on the other hand does have multi-touch capability and based on the articles we’ve been seeing for a while Apple is most certainly going to get into a legal war with them.

Google also has a decent relationship with Apple over services and its possible that Apple might allow them to use the multi-touch feature on their phones in the future.

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Microsoft Corp. is looking at bolstering its service offerings on the mobile platform the most important of which would be an online shop catering to software distribution. This is most definitely to counter the iPhone store that has been doing brilliantly since its launch last year.

The much awaited Windows Mobile 6.5 should be out shortly as well however how it’s going to fare against the iPhone and Google Android is to be seen.  Even Palm is out with its Pre that many people are looking forward to. Smart phones have evolved from the pure business tools they once were to what we see today. Phones being used for so much more than checking mail and calling people.

The biggest news ofcourse is the MyPhone service that Microsoft is talking about. Which is more or less along the lines of what the iPhone offers users today. The biggest difference ofcourse would be the fact that it will have a feature like MobileMe that the company will not charge users for. ( Apple charges $99  a year )

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TUAW reports that there is a likelihood of seeing a new iPhone handset in June. It seems this information was garnered from a Emirate Telecom executive who was mentioning its launch in June.

There isn’t very much information on what to expect in this new phone but speculations have been made and analyst were hoping for a new device launch sometime during the first half of this year.

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In what can only be called a brilliant move Google has released its latest version of Google Earth (5) with the ability to explore what lies underneath the oceans and seas.

The major features of this new launch are:

• Oceans : Exploring the vast depths of the oceans around the world
• Historical Imagery: Turn the clock back and take a look at what our earth was like years ago.
• Touring:  Create your own virtual tour using the new record button.
• 3D Mars: Get a glimpse of mars.

And there is a lot more to read :

• Google Earth fills its watery gaps
• Google Earth Beta lets users explore the ocean floor
• Dive into the new Google Earth

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I know this is an old video but i just had to put it up.

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Well its finally out. Skype has joined the ranks of Nokia, Motorola and Apple amongst others with the launch of its first phone.

Britain’s Mobile 3 carrier will start selling the phone early November. There are also plans to branch out to Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Macau and Sweden.

Since Skype is built into the phone calls to other Skype users will be free.

Using a pay-as-you-go plan for the non-Skype calls it allows users the flexibility to use the phone as they see fit.

This is definitely a move away from carriers trying to lock users into a 2-3 year contract.

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