I’m currently sitting on the train from Leicester to London on my way to Internet world 2011 at earls court. Fortunately a friend has a mifi connection to enable me to while away the time blogging rather than looking over the shoulder of the bloke next to me on his Samsung q330 laptop (ok I did look over his shoulder to check out the model).

I thought I would fire up a quick post on the anticipation of the show and then follow this up over the weekend to see how the actual experience matched. I missed out last year so I’m expecting things to have changed a tad in the time I’ve been away. After all we do work in the fastest moving industry-type there is, don’t we?

The blurb says there’s “Over 300 solution providers and 12,000 visitors, combining five shows in one event, Internet World is the event for digital marketing and online business!”

All very well and good. But as we all know, the fact that suppliers are paying a hefty fee to exhibit at the earls court venue, means we attend these shows armed with the knowledge we are about to be pitched to harder than if we were Peter Jones.

That said some very good contacts can be found. This year I’m especially interested in mobile advertising having launched a new app for the company I work for. I’m also interested in any search providers who can offer up something a little different in terms of trending, profiling and customisation of the end user experience.

The main reason to attend however, is the keynotes. This year Internet world have certainly pulled in some big guns, so it’s worth having a look at a few.

Keynotes:

Brian Mc Bride, UK Managing Director of Amazon’s will be talking about their many successes!
This will certainly be of interest. I’m a loyal amazon customer and have always been impressed with their innovations over the years. They always seem to approach web design and development from the customer angle and as a result have never over complicated things. I’m also an amazon associate, so it will be interesting to see if anything on affiliate marketing is covered.

Semir Mahjoub, President of Ericsson Mobile Services at Ericsson is appearing, so I’m wondering if anything will be mentioned of the recent joint ventures with Microsoft. Something of which I have blogged about in the past.

Rick Kelley , Director for Inside Sales EMEA at Facebook will be presenting. He helps oversee expanding advertising efforts with an emphasis on emerging brands. While I would always look forward to hearing from anyone at Facebook, it’s just a question if will this be a sales pitch?
If I see a live ad published with real-time stats being displayed on click-throughs, I’ll be tempted to walk out. I saw that 2 years ago.

Two more possible sales pitches may come in the form of James Kent, Analytics Research Specialist at Google who measures the impact of display advertising and
Amanda Rosenberg, Business Development Manager at Google who works specifically with mobile ads. As mentioned I am interested in how mobile advertising is developing so I’m hoping this produces some useful insight and isn’t just a pitch for more business.

The one keynote that i am disappointed I wont be able to attend is that from Laurence Bret-Stern, Marketing Director EMEA at LinkedIn. Laurence covered Social Media and the Talent Economy. I’m a real advocate of LinkedIn and believe while many social platforms may come and go, LinkedIn will continue to grow. I just hope the presentation will be made available.

Anyway, here’s hoping it will be a good show!

It’s going to be one of the biggest tech fights we’ve experienced in a long, long time and the winner will be decided by us, the consumer.

It will also change the way the majority of us consume news, music, films, local business info, games and search the web. The fact is, our tv is about to become the central hub of our lives (if it isn’t already), by opening up a portal to the world wide web.

Apple TV and Google TV are the reasons why consumers will be using their TV instead of their laptops to update their status’s one minute then stream a movie the next. But the question is, which one is the best choice for the UK public?

First things first, if you want to get into surfing’n’streaming via your TV now then there is only one option and that’s Apple TV. Apple have stolen the lead in terms of this technology through releasing their Apple TV globally first and here in the UK, although it’s not appeared in many stores yet, you can order one online and it will be with you inside two weeks.
Google on the other hand have not officially released a UK launch date as yet, with the only indication of a launch at all coming from Logitech who is building the boxes for Google in the US. They have said we will see “developments” leading to its roll-out in the UK from next January.

So, if you want one of these in the UK now, it has to be Apple TV.

However, if you are prepared to wait, then which one should you spend your hard earned monies on?

With both offerings you are going to be able to stream HD films from Netflix at the same price of approx £3.50. You’ll also be able to watch everything that’s on YouTube and flick through your holiday snaps on Flickr.
Alongside this both have good music offerings with Apple granting access to iTunes while Google loads up Napster.
Both make use of your mobile phones as remote controls, with Google allowing Androids to control the device as well as share media content to the big screen. The same goes for Apple; the iPhone or iPad can be used in exactly the same way.

Alot is on offer… but what are the differences?

Apple TV… what’s the deal?
It’s Apple. I know that will annoy some people, but in my opinion Apple’s design oozes quality and this small shiny black box will look the part in any home.
Connects to the iPad. I know Google allows their Android phones to connect to Google TV but the iPad is a bit different. You are more likely to have a lot more media content on your iPad just begging to be streamed over to the TV.
iTunes. Apple TV give you access to the proven excellent storefront that is iTunes. This may also get even better soon with the introduction of Ping. Opening up social networking on your TV.
Bound to set up very easily OK, I’m plucking at straws but I bet my bottom doller that Apple TV will be the easiest thing to set up you will ever plug into your TV.

Google TV… What’s the beef?
Open Source – Just like the difference between Apple and Google with regards to smartphones. Google are opening their TV offering up to the community to encourage them to develop apps for their black box. This could open up a whole host of possibilities.
Web browser – Google have included a version of Chrome so you can surf the web from your TV. That’s a biggie. If you want to find a local plumber your TV may now have the answer.
Power House – Googles box is full of power and can offer full 1080p rather than Apples 720p. The Intel chipset used in the Google box will also lend itself to upgrades… or a little tampering with at least! No chance of that with the tiny Apple TV box.
Apps – I really don’t know why Apple TV doesn’t have apps… but it doesn’t. (Steve – a word: It’s what made your iPhone the best selling smartphone of all time!). Yet it is only Google TV that will offer up apps, with the operating system being an Android platform.

And Finally…

It will be very interesting to see which one wins. Googles device is clearly the more powerful and encompasses all media rather than just giving you access to iTunes and a few channels like YouTube and NetFlix.
Google TV has opened itself up to developers, fully specced its device to run 1080p and included a proven web browser (Chrome) running on a proven operating system (Android).

But for all this, who would bet against Apple? They have launched a £99 device first and is the only option here in the UK. It also looks gorgeous when compared to Google lump of a device. iTunes is the comfiest jumper you’ve ever worn and that’s your arena for your content. Finally you can also be certain of a marketing campaign that will push this device like mad in the next few months. This may just steal a lead that Google TV finds too hard to claw back.

My first venture into the world of affiliate marketing was with myhealthandbeauty.co.uk which has done relatively well since its launch last year.  I learned a lot designing, building and maintaining that site and so thought I would apply those lessons to a new project.

There are literally hundreds of voucher code, discount and “bargain” websites out there, but one thing that struck me with all of them was the busy, throw-every-deal-we-can-find nature of them.

It took time and effort to trawl through the offers and in this fast paced life we all lead, I doubt many people have that time.
This is why I have come up with the concept of www.1dailydeal.co.uk
It literally is 1 webpage containing 1 deal for 1 day.  Then “tomorrows another deal”  If the user isn’t interested in the deal then its only 5 seconds out of their life.  If they are interested – then happy days!
I’m going to spread the word about the site using social networking as well as offline marketing.  I’ve also developed the site to be a different experience if the user is browsing on an iphone.  Turning the same webpage into a custom app.
So – check it out… you never know – there might be a deal just waiting for you.  It’ll take all of 5 seconds*
*not applicable if you’re browsing on a 386pc and 15k modem.

As I sit here enjoying my pork pie sandwich and watching a line up of hopefulls contend to be the uk eurovision entry, I cast my mind over the days events and think about what I’ve spent my hard-earned cash on.

Well, I purchased a second controller for my new wii, resident evil game, two snack sized pork pies and a loaf of bread.

in the uk?

What I didn’t buy is a brand new 190mm(w) x 243mm(h) x 13.4mm(d), touch screen, 16gb, wi-fi enabled, 1ghz A4 processor, 9.7 inch LED-backlit screen and 10hrs battery life device.  What I didn’t buy was the new apple ipad.

A couple of weeks ago I was going through one of my “I love apple” 15mins and was bigging up the fact they were launching this amazing new device globally at the same time.  Unfortunatly, that hasn’t happend.

Those lucky people in the US have been able to order today though, so if we’re lucky Steve Jobs is logging how many of his fellow countrymen have pre-ordered and therefore will be able to judge the demand that will be present in the UK and rest of the world.  Then when the ipads launched over here, apple will be able to meet demand and keep all its loyal followers happy… yeah right.

Almost certainly apple will limit supply, fire out a few thousand press releases about how the ipad sold out within a couple of hours and then say they’re working flat out trying to meet demand.

So, when is the UK public going to get its hands on the ipad?  Late April.
Yep… Late April.

You could buy one through using bundlebox who register a US postbox for you and have said they won’t charge duty.  Not bad.  But also be careful.  I’ve noticed a lot of blogs recommending this route and I’ve no idea how geared up they are.

If you can wait until the end of April, personnaly I would.

After all you’re only missing out on a non-flash-complient, non-multi-tasking, non-camera-owning, big ipod touch… and a revolutionary, lifestyle-changing, user interface experience you won’t find anywhere else.

Damn you apple for this love hate relationship.  If only you were marmite! I could make up my mind so much easier!