How People Are Signing In Across the Web

Identity management provider Janrain has just released its latest usage study detailing what social networks and services people use to sign in and share activities across the web.
As in its last report back in April, Google and Facebook continue to dominate websites that offer third-party login options. Across the 250,000 sites that use Janrain Engage, Google (Google) represents the preferred sign-in option for 38% of users. Facebook (Facebook)
is in second place, with 24% of sign-ins and Yahoo is in third place with 14%. Twitter (Twitter), which is a popular option in certain segments, only accounts for 5% of generalized sign-in data. Google is the dominant catch-all login in the aggregate, but other services, particularly Facebook, really take the lead when websites are segmented by type.

For example, for news media sites, Yahoo represents approximately 34% of all logins.
For magazine publishers, Facebook is the clear choice amongst website visitors. Fifty-seven percent of logins are from Facebook, nearly triple its nearest competitor, Google, at 20%. Likewise, with music sites, Facebook leads with 55% of logins and second place Twitter
is at 18%.

Brand logins are also largely dominated by Facebook. It makes sense that Facebook has such a strong presence in magazines, retail brands and in music. This can likely be tied with the brand and publishers’ usage of Facebook pages.

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TV Guide Gets a Slick New iPad App

TV Guide has just released its official, free app for the iPad [iTunes link]. The application features television listings, the latest news from TVGuide.com, video clips and episode sneak peeks. The app also has a built-in social component that lets users share what shows they
are watching or are excited about seeing via Facebook (Facebook) and Twitter (Twitter).

The iPad is a perfect couch companion; early usage studies show that many iPad owners use the device while watching television. Ergo, TV Guide is presumably a natural fit for the device. TV Guide isn’t the first television-focused listings and news app for the iPad; Yahoo Entertainment app and What’s On TV? HD [iTunes link] have been available for months.

Still, TV Guide for iPad offers direct access to TVGuide.com as well as an updated television guide. And the app might be able to edge out from the rest of the pack with its video offerings.

Right now, as part of its “Fall Preview,” the TV Guide iPad app includes access to the first episode from the new Showtime series The Big C. In addition to the numerous prongs of Showtime’s social media marketing campaign for this show, the channel is also offering
a language-edited version of the pilot online.

TVGuide.com is a pretty solid resource for gaining online access to commercial TV shows
and we hope that the iPad app will continue in that direction in the future.

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Xbox Live Comes to Windows Phone 7: Here’s the Games Lineup

An email from Microsoft tonight tells us that Windows Phone 7 will be launching with a whole roster of Xbox Live games to push the envelope of mobile gaming.

A grand total of 63 games from have been announced today, and more will be available by the device’s holiday-season launch. The games include well-known titles such as Castlevania
and Guitar Hero, classically inspired numbers such as Frogger (Frogger), casual games that include Bejeweled and many more.

We’re told that Windows Phone 7 will integrate all the aspects of Xbox Live that hardcore gamers love: Multiplayer, messaging, leaderboards, full game library access and more.

Windows Phone 7’s gaming content will come from Xbox Live, Microsoft Game Studios,
and major and independent game publishers. Some of their launch portfolio games include titles from Gameloft, Konami Digital Entertainment, Namco Bandai, PopCap and THQ.

Matt Booty is Microsoft Game Studios’ general manager of mobile gaming; he stated in a release today, “Windows Phone 7 is the launch of a major gaming platform for Microsoft. Just like we’ve done with Xbox 360, our charter is to push the envelope and deliver definitive games that maximize the platform. We will have an incredible lineup of MGS titles, and that’s just the beginning.”

As far as mobile devices for gamers go, this phone will be serious competition because of its deep integration with the Xbox platform; we suppose that’s the benefit of having a parent company that is all things to all consumers. The other mobile that’s shaping up to be a
must-have device for gamer geeks is the rumored PSP phone.

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iPhone App Makes Barcode Scanning a Social Experience

Quick Pitch: Ever wonder if the product you’re about to buy is worth it? Scan its barcode,
see what your friends think and make the right choice.

Genius Idea: With the help of mobile phone applications like RedLaser, consumers are embracing barcode scanning for in-store comparison shopping. Bakodo is a barcode intelligence service for the iPhone that aims to take the scan to the next level.

Bakodo can scan most types of barcodes including traditional barcodes and QR codes and acts like a barcode search engine. It integrates with Amazon, Google, Best Buy and eBay product search engines so that each scan provides access to extensive product data on more than 12 million items. The app also shows relevant GoodGuide ratings, ShopWiki info and attached Stickybits for scans.

The next version of the iPhone application is coming soon and promises to introduce social functionality around barcode scans. The idea is to encourage barcode scanners to rate and review products and create a community around products and goods. Users can see what their friends are scanning and reviewing and ideally make more informed purchase decisions.

The pending update will also add more than 60,000 grocery items to the application’s database, which Bakodo founder Andres Douglas believes will be extremely popular with shoppers.

“In 2009 we ran a number of beta tests that showed people love scanning pretty much everything, even their groceries,” Douglas says. “But we realized there were huge gaps in product information, so we developed our own crawling, scraping and search technology for barcodes, focusing on groceries in particular.”

Bakodo also doubles as a white label, software-as-a-service offering for businesses. Retailers can license the technology to encourage, reward and track in-store scans.

Services such as Bakodo and the social barcode startup Stickybits point to a future where our mobile phones not only help us find good deals but also encourage us to tap into word-of-mouth product info at the exact moment we’re ready to buy.

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Recent Posts

- How People Are Signing in Across the Web
- TV Guide Gets a Slick New ipad App
- Xbox Live Comes to Windows Phone 7: Here’s the Games Lineup
- iPhone App Makes Barcode Scanning a Social Experience

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