Observant webmasters were in a bit of an uproar earlier this year when the Google sent a letter quietly informing them that their website benchmarking tool were leaving the realm of Google Analytics and would be replaced by a vaguely described quarterly benchmarking newsletter.  Fast forward through 4 months of benchmarking darkness and Google has released the first quarterly newsletter to subscribed site admins via email at ~8:30pm EST on the Friday preceding the 4th of July weekend, (a treatment usually reserved for a bad earnings report).  So the question is, “has Google taken website benchmarking and made it better?”

The industry benchmarking tools in GA had their flaws (including questions over whether enough data existed to make the results valid for any particular website’s industry,) but the tools were free (to any site who agreed to anonymously share their own data with Google). However, taken with a grain of salt, they were better than having no idea of how your website stacked up to its peers.  Now looking at what’s changed, we can see how Google has decided to reward “hundreds of thousands” of sites for anonymously sharing dozens of measureable aspects of site usage with Google.

Unlike the Google Analytics reports which a webmaster could run on demand to compare their site to its peers on a variety of key metrics, Google has published a single report, containing a just a few stats, summarily describing either the world in total or if you’re lucky; your whole country.  The benchmarking newsletter also substitutes your date range of choice with Google data which was 5 – 8 months old at time of press.

Interesting bits from the report includes:

• Decreases in the number of pages viewed per site visit (vs. one year earlier) and average time spent on the site, but a lower bounce rate (i.e. less people left after just one page.)
• Minor changes in how users are finding their destinations with search engines guiding about 1% of traffic previously directed by website link referrals.
• Goal conversion rates (percent of visitors who complete the goal set by the site.) Most of the world fell between 0.7% – 1.6%.
  

  11/1/10 – 2/1/11
  Direct	36.80%
  Referral	19.40%
  Search Engines	28.00%
  Other	15.80%

So does the new quarterly benchmarking report leave site admins and developers feeling like Google still knows how to share and share alike?  Well, the new report is fewer metrics, less current, is completely generalized so that it does not apply to individual sites/industries and is only available once every 3 months.  In short, Google is getting just as much as Google currency (data) as it did before, but seems to be reserving the information capital for itself.  Without some big changes it’s hard to see this report escaping from its holiday weekend, Friday night release schedule.

You can view the full Google Quarterly Benchmarking Report courtesy of Rapid Repair Here.

Sony has recently announced the release of the Playstation® Vita (or PSVita). Sporting a ARM Cortex – A9 Processor, 5 inch 960 x 544 capacitive multi touch screen, a rear touch pad, and forward and rear facing camera’s, it is potentially a game changer to the hand held gaming platform. The Vita will come in two flavors, Wi-Fi only and a 3G enabled device, the latter allowing for online gaming anywhere at anytime. Other highlights on the device include:

• Dual shock technology
• PS3 Integration
• Support for Augmented Reality gaming.
• Facial Recognition software

The Playstation Vita is scheduled for release for the upcoming 2011 holiday season. The Wi-Fi only version will be $249.99, while the 3G enabled device will go for $299.99 and will be exclusive to the AT&T Network. One of the benefits of being on that network is the wide variety of mobile applications that they have available.

Stay tuned for more on the PlayStation Vita

THE GOOD

The biggest point here is that finally you can have an iPhone 4 on T-Mobile (or any other GSM based carrier that will support the phone) and not have to worry about missing updates or potentially getting in trouble with “Big Brother”. This is definately a good thing for anyone who has been with AT&T for a while and wants to switch carriers.

Other good points about the move include:

• With options for different carriers, you can shop for the best carrier and the best plan.
• International travelers will appreciate being able to pop in a local SIM card to avoid roaming and international charges.

THE BAD

While it may be great to just stroll into an Apple store (because I can’t imagine AT&T selling you an unlocked phone to take to someone else) and pick up an unlocked iPhone 4, You may have a minor issue. The iPhone 4 uses a Micro SIM card, which is drastically reduced in size to the standard SIM card. In fact, the phones won’t come with a SIM card at all. This shouldn’t be an issue though, as you have a SIM card cut down.

Other bad points about the move include:

• Only AT&T can support the iPhone 4′s 3G connection. If you choose T-Mobile, you will be stuck on the slower Edge network.

The UGLY

The biggest thing here is going to be initial costs. Right now, unlocked phones go for $650 for the 16GB and $750 for the 32GB. That’s above the average for other comparible phones like the HTC EVO 4G or the Samsung Galaxy. Additionally, even though you will be free of AT&T with these phones, Apple will still be a big part of your cellular life. You will still have to purchase your apps through the iTunes Store, and update the phone through iTunes.

Other Ugly points about the move include:

• This move will not allow CDMA based carriers to support the phone (I.E. no Sprint iPhone yet).
• No word on if existing AT&T customers can terminate early and have Apple unlock their current phone.

Overall, I feel that the move is a step in the right direction for Apple. There is no denying that the phone is a very popular device, and by offering it unlocked, it opens the door to a larger market. We will just have to wait and see how it pans out though.

Article written by Mike Arnold

The alleged reason is “iPhone 5, or more likely the iPhone 4S, has been delayed until November following an issue with the handset’s software”, according to a unnamed source.

The general consensus is that the iPhone 5, or more likely the iPhone 4S, will be similar to the iPhone 4 with the exception of iOS, which could mean that the i5 (4S) could come with iOS 5.

Is there any truth to this rumor?  Most Apple “pundits” don’t think so, mainly because November 21 is a Monday and we all know that Steve’s favorite day for unveiling is Friday!

Some experts also believe that iPhone 5, or more likely the iPhone 4S, will be getting a larger screen (4”) to compete with such phones as the HTC Evo, the Nexus S, and the HD7.  Also rumored is the upgrade to an 8MP camera with separate LED Flash and a dual Qualcomm CDMA / GSM chip, and possibly even a dual core processor.  This hardware would put the iPhone on even ground with the leading Android offerings.  Just the larger screen itself would make an incredible difference.

Stay tuned at www.rapidrepair.com for up to date iPhone 5, or more likely the iPhone 4S, news!

The White iPhone 4 will cost a suggested retail price of 199USD for the 16GB and 299USD for the 32GB model, with a new 2 year agreement of course.

“The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived and it’s beautiful,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we’ve worked to get every detail right.”

In response to the media hyped frenzy against Apple for the alleged “tracking bug in the iPhone”, Apple is about to release an update.  Reputedly, in a couple of weeks or so, Jobs is releasing iOS 4.4/iOS 4.3.3 to address the situation.  The following is what the Cupertino guys had to say..

“Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone.  Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so… The iPhone is not logging your location.  Rather, its maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location… The location data that researchers are seeing on the iPhone is not the past or present location… We plan to cease backing up this cache in a software update coming soon.

Sometime in the next few weeks Apple will release a free iOS software update that: reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone, ceases backing up this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.”

So it sounds like Apple has the situation under control.  Despite media reports, Apple is not Skynet and they are not compiling a database of every step you take.  Didn’t we go through this same hysteria with Windows CE way back in the day?

In related news, its seems someone has actually filed suit against Apple, claiming the company is secretly recording and storing the location and movement of iPhone and iPad users.  Filed in Tampa, Florida, the actual complaint is privacy invasion and computer fraud.  Its been reported that developers had this to say…

“As many observers have noted, the iOS location database does not record exact GPS data, instead seeking to pinpoint the locations of Wi-fi access points and cell towers that the device comes within range of…”

We’ll keep an ear to the vine on this suit and report more as it develops.