Military to Use Android Battlefield Apps

The U.S. military has chosen the Android platform as a base for the development of battlefield applications.

Known as a Joint Battle Command-Platform, or JBC-P Handheld, it is the first developed under an Army effort to devise an Android-based smartphone framework and suite of applications for tactical operations.

The government-owned framework, known as Mobile/Handheld Computing Environment, or CE, ensures that regardless of who develops them, applications will be secure and interoperable with existing mission command systems so information flows seamlessly across all echelons of the force. 

Internet Advertising Revenues Show Strong Growth

PricewaterhouseCoopers released their Internet Advertising Revenue Report for 2010 (http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_Full_year_2010_0413_Final.pdf).

Growth is strong at 15 percent year over year.

 

From the report:

 

"Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. totaled $7.45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of 15 percent from the 2010 third quarter total of $6.46 billion, and an increase of 19 percent from the 2009 fourth quarter total of $6.26 billion. 2010 full year Internet advertising revenues totaled $26.0 billion, up 15 percent from the $22.7 billion reported in 2009. Internet advertising revenues in the U.S. totaled$7.45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of 15 percent from the 2010 third quarter total of $6.46 billion, and an increase of 19 percent from the 2009 fourth quarter total of $6.26 billion. 2010 full year Internet advertising revenues totaled $26.0billion, up 15 percent from the $22.7 billion reported in 2009."

 

You can view a webinar on the report here: view the webinar 

Eye Tracking and Heat Maps

Eye tracking has become a hot topic in the last few years. Eye tracking devices are used to create heat maps showing where attention is focused on display pages. A sample heat map of a Google search results is shown below:

A dominant pattern for search engine results is the "F" pattern showing the eye being drawn to the upper left and then moving down and across from there. There are, however, factors (such as the inclusion of images, graphics, and additional columns) that can significantly alter this pattern. This is shown in the sample YouTube pages below:

You can do a Google Images search of "eye tracking" to see sample heat maps. Having a basic understanding of how people focus their attention on internet sites is important for improving traffic and conversions. Heat maps of specific sites can help to further improve results.

Basic Usability Testing

Doing basic testing for website usability can often be simplified down to a series of sessions with users who spend an hour or so each being observed carrying out specific website tasks. Usability testing is often put off or ignored resulting in websites which are difficult to use and have low conversion rates. Sometimes simple fixes can have big results.

 Click here to see a video on a sample usability testing session.