TKG Data and Analysis: A Weekly Recap

Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full.

Palm Pre: What Will It Mean for Users (and Developers)?

Many Palm Pre reviews are out before the device’s public release tomorrow (competing with “iPhone 3.0″ announcement Monday). They include, most notably, The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and The New York Times’ David Pogue. The verdict is that the Pre has lots of attractive features that make it a suitable competitor to the iPhone. Mossberg goes as far as saying it’s the “strongest rival to the iPhone to date.” (read more…)

Some Doctors Muzzling Patient Reviews

Ratings and reviews of service professionals are increasingly sought when consumers are ready to make a choice. But doctors and hospitals remain a last frontier in review-dom. And that’s the way it will remain, if some elements in the medical community have their way. (read more…)

More on App Development: A Conversation With Verve Wireless

Following the report released today on the decisions that mobile app developers face, I had the chance to talk to Verve Wireless CMO Greg Hallinan. Verve works with top local media publishers (McClatchy, Media General, Freedom and Media Span) to power their mobile apps and help them with their mobile strategies. (read more…)
New TKG Mobile Report: To App or Not to App?

A new TKG report published today looks at some of the strategies behind mobile product development. Specifically, it tries to tackle the first question many companies run into: Which mobile platform offers the greatest opportunities? In our conversations with companies extending their brands to the mobile space, this has been the subject of a lot of airtime. (read more…)

L.A. Times Revises Neighborhood Maps Based on Reader Input

The Los Angeles Times‘ ambitious Mapping LA project, which classifies 30,000 city blocks by neighborhood and soft launched in February, has made 100 changes based on 1,500 comments from readers. (read more…)

TurnHere Extends SMB Video via Affiliate Program

Leading SMB video production house TurnHere announced an affiliate program today, which will allow Web site publishers and local search sites to offer video to their advertisers. This essentially lowers the barriers to resell TurnHere’s customized video production. (read more…)

John Malone Wants to See the Money

In a June 2 article in The Wall Street Journal, summarizing interviews at the recent ‘D’ Conference in Carlsbad, CA, cable and media mogul John Malone talked to Walt Mossberg about monetization and pricing models in the new era of TV. (Oh, by the way, the word is now “video” — only older folks say “TV” anymore). (read more…)

Cobalt: Car Buyers 3X More Likely to Click Through on Mobile Than Web

In the wake of GM’s bankruptcy, auto dealers are being pitched mobile applications and other technology that would steer likely customers their way. Cars.com reports success with its mobile app, and now Cobalt, a major provider of tech and marketing solutions for dealers, is out with an app as well. (read more…)

Google’s Local Business Center Gets a Facelift

Google announced today (though it leaked out yesterday) that it will integrate more analytics features in its Local Business Center. The LBC, for those unfamiliar, is the place where businesses can go to “claim” their listings and correct or update any information about them. The benefit to businesses doing this is that this information will make them more findable: These are the business data that end up in Google maps. (read more…)

AgendiZe: Local ‘Save & Share’ Functionality Increases Leads

Local search technology provider AgendiZe has released new data that indicate the utility of “save & share” functionality for online local listings. This was done in the context of “time-shifted leads” — listings info that users will save and use later. (read more…)