Stacy Huggins

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January 18, 2012 at 2:20 pm Leave a comment

Google CEO: Product Success Relies on the Mobile Ecosystem

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt talks with CNET's Molly Wood at the Next Big Thing panel at CES. (Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET )

Google CEO Eric Schmidt sat down with CNET yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show during a session titled, “The Next Thing”. Schmidt spoke about how the hardware specs and processing speeds are important to be competitive, but true success lies in the hands of the way the product interacts with the ecosystem it taps into. The San Francisco Chronicle recapped yesterday’s session:

[Schmidt] said when he looks at his handset, he doesn’t see a phone, but a network of supercomputers, content and smart algorithms all immediately accessible over the device. “Computing devices that are not on a network are lonely,” he said.

We certainly agree with Schmidt. What’s more, we believe that a product’s success also depends on the health of that ecosystem. That is why it is so important to develop a smart system that supports all of the members of the mobile app ecosystem – especially the developers who create the content we love.

Learn more about what Signup Ads by Pontiflex are doing to support app developers and help to grow their business here.

January 11, 2012 at 4:14 pm Leave a comment

Game Developers Choice Picks Their Nominees for Best Game

This year the Game Developers Choice awards has changed the name of the Best Handheld Game to Best Handheld or Mobile Game. This is a very big deal for mobile game developers. Not only that, mobile games make up most of this year’s nominees for the highest honor.

Here are the nominees. Read more here…

January 6, 2012 at 6:38 pm Leave a comment

NYC’s Tech Scene: Startup Trends That Defined 2011

Where are we seeing rapid growth in the technology industry? Right here in New York City. Often touted as Silicon Alley in the press, this city is getting major attention for being a tech startup incubator to rival its west coast counterpart. NYC’s recent rise in the tech scene was listed by Mashable in an article outlining The Six Important Startup Trends That Defined 2011.

Mayor Bloomberg’s office is paying special attention to further the advancement of the tech industry here in NYC, most evidently in the appointing of the city’s first Chief Digital Officer, Rachel Sterne.

We couldn’t be happier about our decision to keep our headquarters here in Dumbo, Brooklyn. We look forward to adding to the buzz in 2012!

December 30, 2011 at 1:58 pm Leave a comment

Pontiflex CEO Zephrin Lasker Rallies for NYU-Polytech in Dumbo with Borough President Marty Markowitz and Senator Squadron

Today, Pontiflex CEO Zephrin Lasker joined Brooklyn elected officials and business leaders to rally in support of the NYU Poly-Tech proposal for a new applied sciences campus at 370 Jay Street in Dumbo. This new campus would create a hub for science and technology and become an institute for innovation, which could potentially produce technical talent for growing tech companies here in Brooklyn.

“By pursuing NYU-Poly’s proposal, the City can bring a world-class applied sciences institute to Brooklyn and Brooklyn’s incredible talent and vibrant tech scene to the world,” said State Senator Daniel Squadron.

Zephrin Lasker was asked to speak at today’s press conference on behalf of the tech business leaders. “Access to tech talent is crucial for the growth of the company,” said Lasker. “This center could provide businesses like Pontiflex, Huge, and Etsy with interns and graduates looking to start their technical careers.”

The Wall Street Journal recently did a feature on the booming tech scene in Dumbo – more here.

More on the potential NYU-Poly-Tech campus moving to Dumbo here.

Photo by Kathryn Kirk In photo (left to right): Lizzie Bildner, Red Antler; Gavin Fraser, founder and CEO, Small Planet; Zephrin Lasker, CEO, Pontiflex; BP Markowitz; State Senator Daniel Squadron; Tucker Reed, president, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership; New York City Council Member Letitia James; Alexandria Sica, executive director, DUMBO BID; Assemblymember Joan Millman; District Leader Jo Anne Simon; Chad Dickerson, CEO, Etsy.

December 21, 2011 at 4:40 pm Leave a comment

Google Predicts: All Businesses Are Going Mobile First

G oogle posted a “look back at 2011” today. The blog post focused on mobile trends that evolved in 2011 and those that will continue to evolve in the coming year.

Through Google’s own research, they predict that the growth of publishers going forward will depend heavily on the growth of mobile ads.

Google also predicts that customers will increasingly expect to interact with local businesses on mobile in addition to their favorite brands:

“It’s hard to believe, but as far as the industry has come in 2011, we’re still in the earliest chapters of mobile’s story. The ways people connect to businesses on their mobile devices and the tools they’re using to connect from them progressed by leaps and bounds this year and soon, we’ll see the mainstream shift that changes the way mobile connects people with brick-and-mortar storefronts as well.”

Read more reflections and predictions from Google here.

Find Pontiflex CEO, Zephrin Lasker’s predictions for the coming year here.

December 19, 2011 at 7:08 pm Leave a comment

Signup Ads By Day; Bollywood Movies By Night

Believe it or not, many of us here at Pontiflex really do have other interests outside the realm of mobile signup ads. One such person is Arun Krishnan. When Arun isn’t writing about mobile advertising he is an author and podcaster. Arun’s podcast, Learn Hindi from Bollywood Movies, is not your typical language lesson. As a Wall Street Journal reporter recently put it, “[The] podcast is a creative and hilarious approach to language instruction.”

Read more from the Wall Street Journal Feature here.

Check out Arun’s blog here.

Listen to the podcast here.

December 14, 2011 at 5:25 pm Leave a comment

How Music Labels are Stifling Spotify

The music industry is still at it. Just when we thought the music labels were ready to accept the inevitable and start cooperating with the free music sharing services, their secret demands are revealed. In some great reporting by GigaOm, the terms that the music labels have drawn up are brought to light. Their terms will apparently never allow for music sharing sites like Spotify to turn a profit.

Technology has changed the way we consume and share music. We’ve gone from a push economy to a user-curated pull economy. But, since the days of Napster the labels have been fighting against the wants of the user and ultimately, the inevitable. We thought they had begun to surrender. But, after a closer look it appears they could still be trying to prevent the changing tide.

More details on the secret demands of the music labels here.

December 12, 2011 at 4:22 pm Leave a comment

Android Market Reaches 10 Billion App Downloads

The Google Android app market reached a huge milestone this week. 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the Android Market. GigaOm reports that people are downloading 1 billion Android apps a month. That number is huge. Read more about the race between the Apple App store and the Android Market and how developers will look to Android for better monetization in the future. We were happy to read one particular point made by GigaOm reporter Ryan Kim:

“But as more developers increasingly make their money through free-to-use apps that monetize through in-app purchase and advertising, the growth in downloads on Android Market will only entice more development on Android. The platform still needs work to become more profitable for developers, but the download momentum is clearly there.”

Signup ads by Pontiflex have been proven to be the best option for developers who really want to keep their apps free for users.

December 9, 2011 at 4:43 pm Leave a comment