Well, that year is over. Let’s see how it went.

I talked about the power of the personal brands. If you look at last year, the Personal Brand was in full force. From the Kardashians to Steve Jobs, to Zuckerberg to you. Yes, you. Due to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs, you are out there as a brand whether you like it or not. Everything you do is being looked at and scrutinized, to a degree, by others. You are, in essence, forming a relationship with the world. Individuals are looked at as much as their companies are. Even with mass movements – individuals and their tweets and status updates stand out. YouTube has given millions the ability to become brands with nothing more than a video camera. And these brands are making money … lots of it. Take Randall and Honey Badger for instance. I happen to know he has an agent and a brand.

Another was the Power of the iPad. OK, so the iPad was an easy guess. But just how much of a game changer is it? Well, it’s now replacing airline flight manuals. It’s used in hospitals, restaurants and offices everywhere. It’s the new children’s book. It’s the new art gallery. It’s the new canvas. It’s every presentation. But more important, it’s what the next generation will grow up on and that is the real game changer. iPad kids will have a whole different perspective on what mobile is and will be in the future.

One of the things that will play this year as well is Real-time Interactive experiences that went past the computer and into the real world. Take a look at these wonderful examples of that. This year, the HYBRID of real and digital will continue to grow.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/sunday-review/the-internet-gets-physical.html

Then there was Crowdsourcing. It’s not just for advertising anymore. It is now helping us discover new products and help get them on the market. It’s also helping to publish books. But, best of all, it’s working toward discoveries in health care and science.

http://unbound.co.uk/

http://www.kickstarter.com/

I talked about how digital still wasn’t getting what TV has mastered. And that is still the case in my book.

Digital hasn’t figured out how to showcase its great content. And, in many ways, still isn’t providing great content to showcase. Digital needs to look at TV and learn some things. TV spends the money on content. TV promotes content. TV makes content an event even with TIVO. And TV still has more resources. But most of all, too many digital agencies spend their time talking about usability, wireframes, click-through metrics and half a dozen other digital buzzwords. That’s all well and good, but I am going to spend two minutes on your Web page if you are lucky. Meanwhile, I will spend more than four hours watching TV. Stop bullshitting me and put more on the Web that I need to see as much as I need to see the season finale of Homeland.

We were all wrong about Foursquare. I don’t use Foursquare much anymore and I don’t do a lot of checking in. I have also tired of watching my friends check in from different dive bars. So, from my perspective, I have lost interest in Foursquare discounts and I don’t want to be an imaginary mayor. Plus, my coffee place went to a frequency card.

It looks like Foursquare only figured out consumers and it didn’t even figure them out that well. It left companies to figure out the business portion.

And since the economy is getting better, the companies decided they don’t care about Foursquare as much either.

The consolidation battle between Facebook and Google rages on and on and on. Who will win your soul? Google. No, Facebook. No, Google. It’s hard to decide. Consumers seem locked in to Facebook. However, Google keeps throwing stuff against the wall hoping it will stick. Maybe something that helps individuals stand out more will be the key for Google along with all the customizable friend and privacy settings.

But the best prediction of last year was the Power of the Disenfranchised. The Occupy Wall Street set and whole countries decided they didn’t like the way things were going for them and moved on it. Social media was a conduit for these movements. This has empowered a great many to think they can cause the CHANGE that politicians have been inept at bringing. And if these movements get more organized with stronger leaders and missions, the sky is the limit. This may be the new system in 10 years. It’s pretty obvious the current political party system DOES NOT WORK (see Herman Cain and a host of Republican contenders).

However, the banks will never change. Greed wins over common sense the majority of the time.

All in all, not a bad year. So, what about 2012? Here are some thoughts on what will be more important in the coming year. (Not in any particular order.)

1. The Need for Privacy

Simply put, we don’t have any. Facebook, Google, your iPhone and the nation’s security issues have taken most of it away. With Facebook’s suicide button, you can report a friend who seems too depressed. How far away is that from reporting a person who seems like they might commit a crime? With Facebook’s Timeline, you can look into the history of friends and coworkers. You can look at a relationship status. You can stalk. It’s a window that is always open. With Foursquare, everyone knows you are out while your valuables are home alone. Your iPhone is tracking your movements. Cameras are everywhere. Phones can take a picture and post it to numerous social networks in seconds, tagging you forever. What happens when local cameras are automatically linked to phones? Watch out, terrorists. And what about the social index that can map when large groups are happy, sad, hungry, etc., from their social interactions? Can’t the same be done searching the key words used by individuals? Maybe I want to be sad ALONE.

It seems nothing is sacred anymore. We recently put a campaign together within Vegas asking people to Protect their What Happens Here, Stays Here moments by tweeting and posting discretely when on vacation here. It’s just the beginning. In the next couple of years, the privacy issue will provide a host of apps and a ton of conversation.

2. Transcending YouTube

YouTube celebrities have been showing up in the mainstream for a long time. Someone gets a ton of hits and you see them on a talk show or they get a TV deal. This year, however, brands will hook on to them like fine cheese at the wine tasting. Because the sheer number of fans is so appetizing. From Randall for Emerald Nuts to DJ Dave for Hyundai, the brands are taking notice of the number of hits on their videos.

As well they should. The tie in to Web videos for the brand should be easier since that is the original home of the celebrities in the first place. And if you think there are only a few of them getting the really big numbers of viewers, think again. For instance, try Nice Peter’s Epic Rap Battles – millions and millions of views. Just one of the many.

3. Putting a Brand Worth on Friends/Followers

What are those 600,000 Facebook friends really worth? What kind of ROI can I put to them? How can I spur them into action? How can I turn then into Brand Ambassadors, Brand Evangelists and, eventually, Brand Instigators? Because, as we all know, the key is not those people, but the people they will eventually influence. As more companies start building these groups, they’ll want to know what they’re really getting for the money. They can look at sales, do surveys or follow an online promotion setup for that very measurement, but this is really a small part of the picture. A lot of this is on the “come” as they say. Your Brand Instigators could have already influenced someone to use your product or service – someone who will never become your brand’s friend or tell you how they were influenced on a survey. That’s the nature of social and why it is so successful. Social still feels like an authentic suggestion from a trusted friend. How often is that happening and converting to sales? It’s a big question that will be on more companies’ minds than ever before.

4. The Online Content vs. Risk Dilemma

As more companies get a digital knowledge base, they will take less risk online. The Web is becoming less new and ambitious and more usability and content-driven. This has been happening for the last few years. That isn’t to say there aren’t wonderful sites to see. There are. They just happen to look and feel like what already works. The new mentality is that we will work on original content instead of originality. This is not a bad thing as long as the content is great. If it isn’t, then you just have another site. What does this mean for next year and beyond? Two things: 1. Content is going to get more and more competitive. 2. True originality will stand out like a sore thumb for better or worse.

The bottom line is that originality moves things forward while content makes what is working watchable and engaging. Originality will take a back seat this year on the digital front.

5. Screen Integration

Putting the TV screen, iPad screen and smartphone screen together will be paramount this year. Apps like Yahoo’s IntoNow listen for the audio signature of the show you are watching on television and provide you a unique second-screen experience to go with it. Well, a somewhat unique experience. In other words, the experience could use more content. Content is the key again here.

First off, the app is 100 percent accurate when it listens to identify what you are watching. Better than Shazam by a mile. And if you like to watch TV in a social manner, nothing will beat this. You can discuss with others who are watching the show, watch tweets connected with the show, get information about the episode and season, even buy the show ION iTunes. It’s all on one screen. If you are watching a sporting event, the stats are right there along with a lot of other great information.

What the app lacks is extra original content from the network. However, this will come in the near future. Think of the extras that can be made available to someone watching a show like LOST.

And that’s just the beginning of shared-screen experience. There’s already an app where you can paint over what you’re seeing on your iPad’s camera screen. It’s called Composite.

Couple that with augmented reality and who knows what will happen when you hold your iPad up to a television someday. Hidden characters? Hidden clues? Where to buy the outfits they’re wearing? Alternate endings? What’s to the right of picture where the screen ends? Games? Think of the possibilities.

6. The End of Talking to Anyone But Siri

Talking is out. It is a lost art. Texting allows you to interrupt at any moment. You don’t have to stop what you’re doing to do it (well, driving, finally – you have to stop driving – or you should stop driving). It allows you to put something out there with less risk of rejection. It’s casual even when it’s serious. It’s immediate. There are no awkward silences. When you text, you can attribute those silences to anything. Maybe they got hit by a bus or their phone went dead or they’re in a meeting on a bus that hit someone. No one ever has to believe that they are the reason for the silence. And, most of all, it’s just easier than talking.

Siri is perfect for the texting age. Siri is also immediate. Now you don’t even have to type. You can teach Siri to text someone. You can teach Siri who your wife is or who your best friend is.

And Siri is easy to talk to. She basically just does what you say. The only awkward silences are attributed to Siri not working. Which has happened to me a couple of times.

As Siri learns more and more apps learn to work with Siri, the dream of never having to talk to anyone real may become a reality. I look forward to the day when Siri starts to want stuff from me. Then I will know she is really learning.

7. Backstories

For those on the constant search for authenticity, this will be the year of backstories. In the world of art, the backstory is everything. The “provenance,” as it is called, should be able to trace the past of any great painting or sculpture. Companies and their products will start telling these stories more and more to today’s untrusting consumer. You will see the Web filled with videos showing how boots are made by hand; inspiration that led to that craft-brewed beer you like; the history of your jacket, and the individuals behind it all. It’s the year of pulling back the curtain. Even bankers will give it a shot, but who will believe?

8. The Gospel of Jobs and the Spread of Apple Innovation

The Steve Jobs love affair is just beginning. Pretty much everyone has read the Steve Jobs book (not me yet, but I have it on my iPad at the ready). They have seen his rules for innovation. They have felt his world-changing power. Now they all want to be a part of it. They like spreading the gospel of Jobs. They want to be Steve Jobs. For all the people who say there will never be another Steve Jobs, there are millions of inspired people and companies that will be trying to become the next Steve Jobs. And that will lead to Apple innovation and simplicity in a host of new and exciting products that cover a wide spectrum of our lives. Like the one below.

http://www.nest.com/blog/

I think there will be a number of Steve Jobs in our future. If not, at least some products he would be proud of.

9. Newsjacking

http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/newsjacking-turns-you-into-the-expert/

It’s not new, but it will become a bigger story this year. With search engines, blogs and the ability to target consumers like never before, the ability to make your brand part of breaking stories is easier than ever. Ad campaigns will follow closer to trends and often be built around them. In a world where “there’s an app for that,” marketers will have to move fast. These days, consumers have a thought and they want it taken care of. They want things that make sense for the times because they live current and interconnected. The river of information is in constant flow. It can’t hurt to jump on one of the big logs so that someone might notice you before the falls.

10. The Clouds

Consumers will discover the cloud this year. If you asked most of them last year, they would say, “What is that?” or “You mean the fluffy thing in the sky?” Most consumers look at the cloud as one, main place. This year, they’ll understand the cloud is Amazon, Dropbox, Facebook, Evernote, iCloud, Google and many more. The cloud is about as fragmented as it can be. As more consumers start to understand the cloud and what it means, they will look for ways to consolidate their information. This is the big hope of Google. Google has a place for all your stuff in the cloud under one account. Right now, it may be the easiest, but Apple is close behind with iCloud. And then there’s the personal cloud where you own the memory and the location of your personal server and access your information from there (R&R client Western Digital plug here).

If you’re using the cloud, get ready. Because the cloud wars are just heating up.

I hope some of this has been interesting to you. I certainly don’t know everything, but I would like to. So if you want to tell me what I’ve missed, argue one of these points or just call me an idiot, feel free. I am @arnied on Twitter.

Have a great 2012.

 The iPad has caused the rest of the world to make pads. Big pads, small pads, cheap copycat pads, pads with keyboards, pads that are also laptops, pads that work with other stuff and pads that defy description. From what I can tell, none of them are any better than the iPad, but a lot of them are just plain bad pads. This Dell spins the pad part around to become a laptop. That would be fine if it didn’t make it so fat. There were two Italian gentlemen looking at this Dell and I’m pretty sure they kept saying whatever “fat” is in Italian. 

And the Galaxy tablet from Samsung is only slightly bigger than the iPhone. It’s amazing how many people say to me, “Isn’t the iPad just a bigger version of the iPhone?” And I guess I would answer back, “At least it’s bigger.” My advice to anyone looking to buy a tablet is to buy an iPad. And to anyone looking to get a keyboard for their iPad, buy a 15-inch Mac Air. Getting a keyboard for your iPad just makes you look like you can’t afford a real computer. 

The Good – Televisions with Apps

Everything should have apps. They’re smaller than applications. They have cool icons. They’re cheap. And they’re useful. I think they used to be called widgets, but don’t worry about that. Apps are in and widgets are out. This LG television has all kinds of apps. Doesn’t it look fun? If the cable goes down, I can play with whatever these apps are. Most likely one of them will be Angry Birds.

It will be hard to drive my car and play Angry Birds at the same time, but at least I’ll get to try it someday once my computer, television, fridge, robot and car all have apps. And that is good.

The Ugly – The Rydis

This thing rolls around your home puffing out aromatherapy, playing mood music, has a screen that connects to the Internet and monitors your vital signs via a bracelet. For one thing, if you need your vitals monitored by this poor-man’s R2D2, it’s going to be very hard for you to chase it around trying to see the screen with the Internet even if it’s fairly slow. But should you have a heart attack while doing so, it will alert the authorities and puff out a soothing smell and mood music while you go toward the light.

The Good – Mobile 3-D

Although there doesn’t seem to be that many folks with 3-D TV, there are already small devices where you can shoot in 3-D. They were everywhere at CES. But more fascinating were all of the things they created to show off this technology at CES. Like a 3-D town; giant sand sculpture; this woman in a yellow dress who keeps twirling the umbrella toward you for 3-D effect; and a number of cars, including the car from the Green Hornet, in 3-D. I have to say, these 3-D cameras worked well and I loved all the weird stuff to demonstrate the effect.

The Bad – Weird Stuff

This is a paper shredder. It’s not ugly, but why is it good that a paper shredder looks like a megaphone? Is it because federal agents won’t know it’s a paper shredder? So you can stand right next to it and shred sensitive documents while they search for said documents? Anyway, it looks like a megaphone. Maybe if it was both and you could announce you were shredding documents and then shred them with the same device – that would be interesting.

There were so many different flash drives at CES. These are little miniature penguin flash drives. There were also Swiss Army flash drives, little wooden tree flash drives, flash drives that look like cassette tapes, flash drives that look like keys. There’s a whole world of crazy flash drives out there. It will come full circle to where there is a flash drive disguised as a flash drive. Then we will be done.

The Good – Simple Stuff

Simple things like this cheap plastic cover so you can take your iPhone under water. You don’t need to take your iPhone under water. You shouldn’t take your iPhone under water. But if you are on a boat with your iPhone, this might be a good idea.

The Ugly – Well, Bill Walton Was Never Very Attractive Even for a Basketball Player

I don’t know if it is ugly or just plain weird to have Bill Walton trying to sell Haier televisions at CES. I have never seen a Haier television in the store. It’s not at Costco. It’s not at Best Buy. It’s at Target, but I don’t remember ever seeing one there. So unless Bill Walton is going to drive me to the secret part of Target that has a Haier TV, I don’t know how he can help. I know they are using him to get the attention of distributors. I get that. I’m just hoping for their sake that the people who run Best Buy really like basketball.

The Gaga – Enough Said

Lady Gaga has now become all the rage of CES. She is the creative director of Polaroid. No one thought this was a good idea. But she commands so much attention it might be a good idea just for that. The throng at CES was huddled around the Polaroid area waiting to get a glimpse of the Gaga. They all kept trying to get as close as possible. I think so that some Gaga magic might rub off on them. I had to watch her on a big screen because I couldn’t get close enough. So nothing rubbed off on me. She announced the usual array of Polaroid mini picture printers and cameras with mini picture printers. She calls the new ones the Grey Line. The biggest idea from Gaga is these camera glasses that take a picture and then display the picture to everyone on the front of the lenses. It is a fun literal translation of Polaroid done in a cool way. That’s what people do with Polaroid pictures. They take them then show them. I have to say, this is one of those things that is either genius or not genius. As a creative director myself, I understand that great risk often brings great reward. So I will be rooting for her. Here’s looking at you Gaga and taking a picture at the same time and subsequently showing you that same picture.

There is no barier to the iPad. It's a game-changer.

2. The iPad – I have an iPad. My friend Mike has a Galaxy Pad. I feel bad for him, but I’m sure he’ll survive. When the iPad first came out, everyone viewed it as a big iPhone. Big mistake. I realized the iPad was much more when the owner of my company was carrying one around. He is not a tech person. But he is living on his iPad. That alone makes it a game changer. It’s something a computer couldn’t do. It couldn’t even level the playing field for someone like him. The iPad does. There’s no barrier to iPad. The iPad is for everyone. It’s just simple great. And simple great will take over the world.

3. Real-Time Interactive – It’s one thing to offer a website that allows you interaction. But how does that interaction change the real world? This will become more and more important as individuals start to look for a world outside the computer. They won’t let go of the computer, but they will want more real-world connections because of it. They will want to control or affect things that live in real time. They will want to be a part of more things that live in real time. Putting the Web world and real-time world together will be an even bigger deal than it was in 2010.

4. The Consolidation Battle – Facebook wants you to spend the majority of your time on Facebook, including your e-mail time. Foursquare wants you to check in on Foursquare and talk about things on Foursquare. Google wants you to turn into some sort of Google creature that can’t function without Google. Meanwhile, there are multitudes of other check-in sites including Foodspotting, Get Glue, Philo, etc. Many of these sites/apps are linked and many are not. The battle for the majority of your time is ongoing and well, pretty insane. Who will win? Will anyone? I don’t know but I know it will be a fight to the death.

5. Crowdsourcing – Using the Cloud to do all the work is in vogue. Although it’s not necessarily new, the execution of it has gotten far more sophisticated. Agencies like Victors and Spoils have taken it to a new level.  They have legitimized it to big advertisers like Harley-Davidson, WD-40 and others. Doritos and Converse have been doing it with their TV and Web films for years now. The trend will continue until it isn’t fascinating to advertisers anymore. That could happen soon or keep on indefinitely as more and more advertisers try it. It’s such a cost-effective way to go, that the trend is very appetizing and could remain so.

Foursquare checks in at No. 6 on our list -- as rewards and discounts for people who use it become more a prevalent business practice.

6. Coupon Gaming – Foursquare, Facebook, Yelp and a host of others are or will be rewarding people for checking in at their establishments with discounts and freebies. When I was at my coffee place (Sambalatte in Vegas), the Foursquare mayor was asking the owner why he wasn’t giving him a discount for being the mayor of Sambalatte. When the early adopters start demanding it, the regular folks will follow. It will be fun to watch the developments once everyone is in the game. And you thought seniors got all the discounts.

7. The Power of the Disenfranchised – Yes, they have power. And they are the multitudes. I’m not including myself because I have a job and can pay my bills. But I probably should add myself to the list. Why? Because I think there are a great many Americans who are figuring out that they are one bad Friday away from being disenfranchised. And that’s a frightening prospect that’s motivating people like never before. It’s also one of the reasons a Palin could become the Republican nominee for president. I didn’t say the disenfranchised made wise decisions. But they do have power. And that power will manifest itself outside the world of politics as they realize just how much they can effect. When roving mobs with pitchforks and torches come back, I will tweet about it.

8. New-Fangled Television Advertising – This is going to sound crazy, but I’ll say it. Television advertising is still important. The drive to spend more money online is hurting television advertising budgets and leveling out the mix but not making television obsolete. With Hulu, Netflix, Hi-Def DVRs, 3-D television, Google TV and about a zillion Web videos, you will need a good mix to have a chance at reaching anyone. Right now most digital shops don’t get the magic of television. They don’t understand what Web videos can be. They treat them more like content and not the branding vehicles they should be. When it’s done right, what you see on the computer is a perfect complement to what you see on television. I sit and watch television with my computer on my lap. I have learned to watch whichever one has the best stuff on it that particular minute. Try it.

9. Things That Have Nothing to Do with Technology – The wired world has already hit a kind of critical mass. Hipsters are looking for ways to let go of technology. That same need will get past the cool hunters and become a need for the rest of us this year. Like I mentioned above – computers are too entrenched for us to lose them completely. But we will start to look for things that can give us a well-needed break. But not exercise. That’s where I draw the line.

10. More and More Ways to Make You Part of the Entertainment You Watch Every Night – If you watch The Colbert Report, you know that he had an art episode with Steve Martin where he had Shepard Fairey and others work on a picture of him to make it collectable. Then he continued that online where you could participate and change the picture as well. Then those pictures that you created end up on the show. Conan has taken to involving the audience in making films for his show that live on the Web and on air. This is what the smarter shows will do – make you feel like a part of them.

In May, Apple announced it had sold one million iPad’s in just 28 days, beating sales of the iPhone, which took 74 days to sell the same number of units. So, what does this really mean for the ad industry? Even more fragmented budgets. Advertisers aren’t going to carve out a specific iPad budget, so that means agencies are likely to portion out a piece of either the online or the print budget to fund a foray into this “new” medium.

The good news, however is that the iPad could breathe new life into the floundering world of magazines and newspapers, allowing purchase and consumption in a way consumers never had before and perhaps higher ad perception. Additionally, with everyone doing their best to “go green”, this is a way for advertisers to place those oh-so-wonderful print ads while still saving trees! The caveat being that placing the ad will probably cost 400% more, but “dems the breaks” for being an early adopter. My suggestion is to just do it and see what happens.

Full disclosure: Brad is an interactive media planner and sees things through a digital lens. He is also a self described Google lover, so take it for what it’s worth.

In early February, Google announced a new endeavor to build an experimental fiber network and asked state, county and city officials across the US to respond to a RFI to be a part of the program. The selected communities would be eligible to become partners with Google in building the new broadband network. Everyday citizens were invited to participate by nominating their community for consideration. The deadline for responses was last Friday, and Google announced this week that they received over 1,100 official applications.  You can learn more about the project at Google Fiber for Communities.

Just when you thought you knew all the ins and outs of Facebook, Facebook changes something. This week, Facebook sent a memo to advertisers that “Become A Fan” will change to “Like” within Facebook ads and Fan Pages. The decision to change apparently comes from data testing “Like” buttons against “Become A Fan” buttons within Facebook ad units, in which users were twice as likely to click on the former. When this goes into effect, users that click “Like” on a Facebook ad will become a Fan of that advertiser’s Page and receive News Feed updates. There could be a very large backlash from users on this change (after all, there’s always some kind of backlash when anything changes on Facebook.) The question is, will users blame Facebook, or blame the advertisers?  See the memo from Facebook, or read this article from RWW.

iPad Week

MTV Developing ‘Co-Viewing’ Apps for the iPad – AdAge

iPad Out to Prove Itself as Gaming Platform, but Will Users Play Along? – AdAge

iPad App Store Preview Leaks: App CoverFlow – Fast Company

Apple posts up iPad Guided Tours… lots of Guided Tours – Engadget

Best Buy’s iPad supply: 15 per store – CNNMoney.com

Apple’s iAd Could Bite a Chunk Out of Google’s Mobile Ad Business – Fast Company

Social Media: Strategy

Viral Complexity (a review of ROI from 2009’s most viral videos) – Brandweek

Social Media Boosts E-Mail Marketing – Brandweek

Lessons From Leno and Twitter Bombers: 3 Rules for Next-Gen Marketing – Fast Company

The Two Most Important Questions in Social Media Marketing – Ignite Social Media

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

This Is What Cars Might Look Like On Your Next Kindle – Gizmodo

Android Devices Crave Google’s Attention - Wired

CTIA End-of-Convention Roundup: Android, 4G, and Even More Android – Fast Company

LinkedIn for BlackBerry Released [SCREENSHOTS] – Mashable

Digital Advertising

What Type Of Social Media Ads Are The Most Effective? – MediaPost

Apple’s iAd Could Bite a Chunk Out of Google’s Mobile Ad Business – Fast Company

Do You Like Us Or Like Like Us? “Become A Fan” Changing To “Like” On Facebook – RWW

Internet Trends

Facebook Will Rule the Web During the Next Decade – AdAge

Google Receives More Than 1,100 Official Applications for Fiber Broadband Network – Fast Company

Gowalla + Foursquare + Brightkite + Yelp + Google Maps=Checkin Mania – Fast Company

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.

Facebook hasn’t formally announce this yet, but the company has began to send weekly emailed reports on Facebook page metrics to their respective page admins. These reports include only metrics that are currently available to admins, so the weekly reports serve more as reporting summaries than anything else. Read more about this story at MediaPost.

Apple began to accept pre-orders for the iPad last Friday, with the promise that the first iPads will be arriving in the first week of April.  Rumor has it that over a hundred thousand  iPads have been pre-ordered, and some are speculating that more iPads will be sold in the first three months than iPhones sold in its debut. With all the attention the iPad is drawing, some are wondering if an iPad Killer is emerging… could it come from Palm? Or from HP?

YouTube and Viacom are in the mists of a copyright lawsuit, which has revealed a few embarrassing details about both companies in recently unsealed court filings.  Among other interesting tid bits, Viacom had tried to buy YouTube just before Google’s acquisition was finalized. Read more of the story here.

Social Media: Strategy

Will B2B Companies Embrace Social Media in 2010? - MediaPost

10 Essential Social Media Tips for B2B Marketers - Mashable

Making Social Media Connections, Budgets and ROI – MediaPost

The Million Follower Fallacy: Audience Size Doesn’t Prove Influence on Twitter - RWW

PCH Unveils Sweepstakes Social Media Service For All – MediaPost

Facebook Starts Weekly Email Reports For Page Administrators – MediaPost

5 Things You Need to Know About Location-Based Social Media - Mashable

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

Palm’s phone sales slump and its stock dives - Associated Press

Smartphones not enough for carriers at CTIA - Reuters

‘iPad Killer’ May be Palm’s Last Hope - PC World

Digital Advertising

iPad subscriptions could boost mag circulation - Associated Press

Google: Dynamic Data And Social Features Can Save Display Ads – MediaPost

Google Maps Test Ads in Australia - Mashable

Internet Trends

WordPress Guns for Web Content Management Duties - PC World

Facebook News Readers More Loyal Than Googlers - News Factor

Nintendo’s Miyamoto wants Wii in schools - TG Daily

Google Bringing The Web To TV? – MediaPost

Foursquare Adds Almost 100,000 Users in 10 Days - Mashable

Internet Law

Viacom, YouTube air dirty laundry in legal battle - Associated Press

The juicy details behind the Viacom-YouTube lawsuit - USA Today

When Your Trademark Becomes the Key to Your Competitor’s Internet Ad – MediaPost

Google May Leave China on April 10 - Mashable

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.

If you missed the announcment, you can check out videos on Apple’s website or YouTube.

Imagine a bigger, more expensive iPhone that doesn’t make calls (but can do web calls), support Flash (yet), or cater to games like most analysts predicted…and you’ll have a fair understanding of this new product.

Much remains to be seen about how it will shape ebooks (Washington Post), handle games, revolutionize apps, et cetera.

But I’m pretty sure that we’re seeing the capabilities we can expect in a host of other devices. Touchscreen interfaces, web connectivity, and social connectedness…

On the next round of televisions
At public kiosks
In home security systems

We’ve been hearing about convergence for a decade. And true, some computers have TV tuners and DVR capabilities (Windows Media Center anyone?), and every concert goer is accustomed to LCD displays from cell phones replacing Zippos. But here, with the iPad, most every functionality is built into a tiny display that is easily transportable. Soon, HP will release its own version, Slate, and we can anticipate expanded capabilities and compatibilities with the Microsoft operating system (especially with games) that will likely broaden the appeal of a presumably niche product.

Whether the iPad becomes a niche product or blows up like the iPod remains to be seen. But we can be sure, as advertisers we will be reaching people on the go with control over their content in most any situation that they are in. Even on an international flight locked on the relatively small confined space known as a jumbo jet, they may watch the movie (or choose from many channels depending on the carrier), take out their laptop to do some work, browse the inflight magazine, read a book or magazine they brought along or (GASP!) talk to the person next to them.

As these technologies mature, we can expect our access to consumer data to become greater. Greater. As in more of it. How we analyze that data and create insights will be fundamentally the same, except we’ll be able to apply it to just about every advertising initiative we place. Optimization, reporting, and the anayltics we are mastering online today will converge with the delivery of other mediums (broadcast, radio, newspaper/magazines, and even out of home).

Whether the iPad blows up and becomes a cultural phenomenon will play out this spring. But looking back in 5 or 10 years, I think that we’ll be able to say that the iPad was the first glimpse of the way we will interact with and access content in our living rooms and on the road. Unless you’ve seen Total Recall or Minority Report.

Interested in measuring ROI from your Facebook efforts? That’s about to become a little easier when Facebook rolls out its new conversion tracking tool. Facebook announced the upcoming feature at last week’s OMMA Social event in San Francisco. MediaPost embedded video from the discussion on this article.

Proctor & Gamble is officially in favor of social media marketing, embracing Facebook in particular and encouraging its brands to do the same. I found it interesting that in the article reporting on this topic, AdAge felt it was necessary to quote Ted McConnell, general manager-interactive marketing and innovation for P&G, with contradictory remarks from 2008. This one caught my eye:

“Who said this is media?” he said. “Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren’t trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant. … We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try to monetize it.”

With this quote AdAge is perhaps trying to demonstrate a riff in P&G’s ranks, though the remarks were said over a year ago and I have the suspicion that it may have been out of context. Whether McConnell supports social media marketing or not, this is a great quote with a lot of truth behind it. We can’t treat social media as advertising, it’s an entirely different kind of game. Ignite’s Jim Tobin was on the same wavelength in a recent Web Trends episode when he said, ”The web is the worst place in the world for interrupting people.”  I couldn’t agree more.

Facebook

P&G Embraces Facebook as Big Part of Its Marketing Plan - AdAge

Facebook Now Has Yahoo In Its Sites, Already Bigger In Pageviews (ComScore) - Tech Crunch

Facebook Develops Conversion Tracking Tool: What’s A Fan Worth? – MediaPost

Why Your Boss Hates Facebook - ReadWriteWeb

Baby Boomers and Seniors Are Flocking to Facebook [STATS] - Mashable

Foursquare

Does Foursquare Have A Douchebag Problem? - Tech Crunch

Will Foursquare’s Users Say ‘Bravo’ for Bravo? - ReadWriteWeb

Social Media: Strategy

Web Trends Talks Social Media Marketing with Jim Tobin [VIDEO] - Ignite Social Media

MediaPost’s OMMA Social SF 2010 [VIDEO] - MediaPost

Social Media: Consumer Electronics

Apple IPad Charges at Kindle and Netbooks - AdAge

Apple vs. Amazon: The Great E-book War Has Already Begun - Mashable

Firefox for Mobile Makes Its Debut - Mashable

AT&T Will Spend $2 Billion To Improve Wireless Network - Mashable

Digital Advertising

Study: Consumers Are Not Annoyed by Ads on Facebook - AdAge

Why Most Digital Ads Still Fail to Work - AdAge

Internet Trends

Apple’s Tablet and the New Splintered Web - AdAge

Proof the Splinternet is real - Groundswell

Google Exec: We’re Here to Help Newspapers - AdAge

Yahoo and the AP Reach a New Deal – But What About Google? - ReadWriteWeb

Rachelle Maisner is an Interactive Producer for R&R Partners, and  writes about social media at FiveFeetOfDynamite.com.