Rumours have been circulating for several months now on whether there will be a new addition to the Apple evolution, specifically, the nicknamed “iTablet”.

Engineered to sit between an iPhone and touchscreen MacBook, the highly anticipated tablet has been dubbed as the “iPhone on steroids”, referring to its ability to play movies, read books and more.

Endless stories, rumours and theories have been abuzz on Apple’s soon to be released new gadget, including whether it will include a camera or not.

And according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, it is expected to sell anywhere between $500 and $700.

Debates over the actual size of the device have itself been in abundance, with sizes expecting to range anywhere between 7 to 10 inches. Dena Cassella suggests thinking of it as “small enough to carry in a handbag, but too big to fit in a pocket”.

Nick Gold, sales manger at Chesapeake Systems, believes the iTablet will fill the usability gap between smartphones and notebooks. “A laptop doesn’t offer the experience of an elegant digital note pad with Internet access, nor does an iPhone serve for anything but the tersest of notes. A tablet could potentially address this middle space quite well,” he says.

Another factor yet to be determined, is whether the iTablet will cease the end of the Kindle and other e-book readers. Shane Spiess, president of MacForce believes the iTablet will have the capability to do everything a Kindle can do. “It’ll be a success if it allows me to access basically everything I own, from magazines and books to movies and television shows, no matter where I’m at” he says.

Pending the rumours are true, the iTablet will have the functionality to do anything the e-reader can do, along with having access to applications and the web.

Having already achieved a huge amount of success with the iPod and iPhone, it is highly likely that the Apple iTablet will render much of the same enthusiasm and acceptance.

A media launch scheduled later this month is set to unveil the new product as well as clarify all those rumours and theories. The question that will remain however is, will customers still buy a Kindle, iPod, or laptop, when the iTablet can do the lot?

It’s no hidden fact that designing and building an effective website is probably one of – if not the most important – aspect to running a successful, results-driven business.

Many websites however lack that all important strategic direction and functionality, when it comes to reaping in the ‘returns’. A website should function as a source of leads and revenue, not just an online brochure.

Reasons for Limited Investment Returns

Steven Leung says that there are three primary reasons why websites fail to bring in a profit:

1. Difficulty in finding through search engines – According to Nielsen, 70% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses. Sadly, many site owners focus too heavily on their websites’ ‘look and feel’ and not enough attention on search engine ranks.

2. There is no call for immediate action – Similarly, if there is no call to action (lead them to a purchase page, contact us etc), visitors will immediately go elsewhere. If this is happening frequently, it can be quite damaging to your company. All visitors are a potential lead and all leads are potential customers.

3.  The site isn’t strong enough for referrals – A majority of visitors will generally refer the site to a friend if they are impressed with it. It is no longer enough just to get people to visit. Ensure your website is convincing enough and merits a referral.

So how do you avoid these mistakes?

Follow Leung’s 5 C’s to generate leads and increase your revenue.

1. Create. Providing quality content on your website will assist visitors in making decisions, whether it be on purchasing a product or using a service. Remember to consider search engine functions and ensure your company is easy to find.

2. Compel. After visitors have read the content on your site, they should feel compelled to take further action. Whether this is signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase (hopefully it is the latter!). Ultimately, this should be your primary goal.

3. Collect. The visitor must first trust your website enough to allow you to collect their contact details. This way, you have obtained a lead which you can now follow up on. Be weary of requesting too much information as some people will either resent the intrusion or get bored and leave the page.

4. Count. Ensure you are clear on what factors are working for your website and which are not. Count and measure your website’s successes in order to reveal what needs improving and what is achieving profits.

5. Change. Be open-minded enough to adapt to changing market conditions in order for you to stay ahead of your competition. Allow your website to be adaptable should you require any repositioning of your products and services offered.

Use these points to build a productive and profitable website to ensure your business stays ahead of the online game and reaps in those deserving rewards!

We have just received an interesting alert from lawyers Barnes & Thornburg, thanks to the initiative of one of our very proactive clients – thank you Gordon New, Managing Director at Ronson Gears!

The news will be particularly relevant to a number of our clients, with offices in Asia and the Middle East for example, and relates to new developments on internationalised domain names (IDNs).

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has begun accepting requests from leaders around the world for new Internet extensions that represent their country name.

Currently, domain names only consist of characters from the Latin alphabet (a-z letters, 0-9 numbers and hyphens), whereas the new system would include the use of non-Latin characters.

This new development will provide opportunities for countries and territories to utilise country-code domains in their own language, such as Arabic, Chinese or Hindu.

These new additions are anticipated to become available to several countries over the next year.

Already, the Egyptian Minister of Communication, Tarek Kamel, has stated that Egypt will open the world’s first Arabic language Internet domain, using the Arabic words, “misr” meaning “egypt”.

Although overall acceptance of the IDNs is still tentative, Barnes & Thornburg have cautioned that this new development could provide further opportunities for cybersquatters to hold brand owners’ domain names to ransom.

David A. W. Wong from Barnes & Thornburg advises that, “The new IDNs are fertile ground for cybersquatters. Brand owners that have, or intend to have, an international presence should consider proactively registering new relevant IDNs before a cybersquatter or domainer does the same.”

Thanks to Gordon New and the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) for sending this information through.

This week we came across this video on the importance of social media in today’s society. While this remains a contested area of discussion, Eric Qualman author of Socialnomics and creator of this video argues that it is perhaps the biggest shift since the industrial revolution. What do you think?

A recent study has revealed that brands that have achieved high levels of engagement on social media enjoy greater financial success.

As reported by Digital Media, the study conducted by the Altimeter Group and the resultant report, ENGAGEMENT db, assessed and segmented the top 100 global brands based on their level of engagement  with various social media outlets including Facebook, blogs, Twitter, You Tube, forums and wikis and their financial success.

The brands were segmented into one of the following categories: Mavens – high presence, high engagement; Butterflies – high presence, low engagement; Selectives – high engagement, low presence; Wallflowers – low presence, low engagement.

The report indicates that ‘Maven’ companies such as Starbucks, Toyota, SAP and Dell showed the greatest revenue growth as compared to those with lower engagement levels.

Arguably the results of this report apply to large organisations with suitable levels of brand recognition amongst its targeted communities in order to achieve sufficient levels of engagement.

What does this mean for you?

Although there may be a different social media strategy required for small to medium sized businesses, these new channels of communication have now proven their worthiness. There is a direct link between revenue increases and a business’ level of engagement with its target audiences.

It is important to consider how best to create this engagement for your business and communicate with audiences that would previously not have been aware of it or its services.

Want to find out more? Read the full report.

So what next?
Connecting Images can assist in forming effective consumer engagement strategies for your business. Call us to arrange to come in for a coffee and a chat contactus .