And for them, it didn’t come as a surprise when Blue Sky announced the launch of ‘I’m Watch’, the first real smart wristwatch ever made.

One thing we know for sure is, we are not far away from a time when we could be sporting smart watches that allow us to access our calls, text notifications, photos, emails, music, and notifications from Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare.

Doesn’t that sound simply amazing! This technology is brought to us by an Italian company called Blue Sky.

Under the hood, this Android watch houses a Freescale IMX233 application processor with 64MB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, a Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR for smartphone tethering and a 450mAh Li-Po battery that offers a talk time of up to 2 hours or a standby 48 hours without Bluetooth and up to 30 hours with Bluetooth. On the surface, it features a 1.54-inch curved capacitive TFT LCD with 240 x 240 pixel resolution.

Though I’m Watch is not an Android phone, it can run Android apps and can pair with Android devices, iPhone 3GS (with iOS 4.3 or superior), iPhone 4 / 4S and eventually with the Blackberry and Windows Phone 7.

So, how does this stuff work?

I’m Watch connects with your smart phone via Bluetooth and lets you see caller details on your watch screen when someone calls. Since the device comes with a mic and a speaker, you can accept the call just by tapping on the button on the watch screen, and start talking straight away!

In addition to this, you will also get your text and email alerts along with your Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare notifications.

All this being said, doesn’t this smart watch sound like a gadget worth going after? And I’m sure you’re also  eager to know its price. Although actual price details are not available yet, rumor has it that the base model could start at €299.

And if your pockets are much more deeper, you can add some luxury to your smart watch. The company offers a wide range of expensive makes, like the ones in Titanium, yellow gold, white gold, diamonds, etc. You can pre-order your I’m Watch at Blue Sky’s official I’m Watch website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSRmzVK0L4Y

We’re not too far off from the days when you would be searching for apps on your smart watch. And if, at any point, you want to make an app for your smart devices, you know where to find us.

Finally Google has arrived at the ‘Micro-blogging’ platform with a real ‘buzz’. On 9th February 2010, Google introduced ‘Buzz’, the new social networking application to embark on its battle to limit the popularity of Twitter. So, now there are lot of competitions going on in the Internet space. Google Vs Microsoft (Operating System & Enterprise Application Suits), Orkut (Owned by Google) Vs Facebook (Social Networking) Google vs Apple (Smart phone market). Before acquiring YouTube, they fought against them with Google Videos. So what we understand from all these competitions is that Google is not just targeting a niche or industry, rather it want to rule the entire IT Business.

At the first look, we may feel that Google Buzz is an integration of Facebook and Twitter, but it is beyond that. First and foremost advantage is that you don’t have to go to another web page to see the ‘buzz’, it’s there right below the inbox in  the Gmail. The conversation will go like an email thread which is the fascinating aspect of Buzz. You can post in the Buzz, which can be held as private or public. Also, you can connect your profiles in Flickr, Piccasa, Google Reader and Twitter to Buzz. That means you aren’t missing any of your friends and by start ‘Buzzing’, you are increasing your friend and professional network. See this wondeful Video of Buzz, to get more insights.

Now we can perhaps clearly say that it is now ‘Google Vs. Rest of the World’. Apple and Microsoft are companies that are worth more than  $ 100 billion each, Facebook and Twitter are the champs of their respective niche, though they are not monetizing it well. There is no doubt that the internet and enterprise software market will come under the reign of Google, which is not far away.

What is Ning?

Ning is an online platform for creating social networks. More than 2.5 million networks have been created so far and there are 41 million registered users. The number of people visiting Ning sites  in a month come to around 92 million. Similar to Facebook, Twitter and Linked in, Ning also does not have a direct competitor. However Crowdvine, KickApps, CollectiveX, ONESite and few more companies offer similar services. Let us capture few of the features that Ning provides.

1. White Label – Ning allows its platform users to customize it with their own brand. There is no fixed frame or color scheme which has to be followed. The entire site can be created in the user’s interests.

2. Domain Name – There’s more than just vanity URLs in Ning. It provides options to create new  domain names and map already existing ones. Community links for most of the companies in their website are mapped to the Ning site.

3. Even More Social Experience – Ning provides a deeper social experience. Interaction with brands, celebrities, musicians go to the next level here: Personal profiles, events, forums, chats and many more.

4. Ads and Other Premium Features – Best of all, Ning platform also allows its network creators to generate money from their networks through ads. Premium features like virtual gifts also does the same.

None of the popular social networks offer all of the above features. It convinces us to conclude that Ning stands in a different dimension without aligning itself along any other already existing social networks and therefore compel businesses to be a part of it. Let us also look at a few networks created in Ning.

Ning Networks

(a) Gaither

Gaither.com is the official website of the Gaither vocal band. The band has a Ning network for its community. The community has sub-groups, micro blogging, forums, latest events and many more for their fans. The Connect section in the snapshot below shows links to various social media links from the Gaither website including Ning.

(b) Ellen Degenres show

One of the popular show in the United States, the Ellen Degeneres Show has many active members in its Ning community. The sub domain http://community.ellen.tv is being mapped to the Ning network.

The above snapshot is taken from the Ellen official website. We can see the links to Twitter, Facebook, Ning (community) along with the other main links .

(c) Techcrunch (Zorapcrunch)

Techcrunch, one of the leading reporters of web developments and happenings are also having their presence in Ning.

(d) Content Wrangler

Content Wrangler is a popular destination for communication professionals seeking information about content management. This is an initiative of Scott Abel, a content management strategist. The screen shot below shows the community created in Ning where a global network of content professionals from around the world meet and collaborate.

Similar to these communities, there are more than 2.5 million networks created so far. Celebrities,  politicians and established organizations have already made their presence. For more information on Ning, visit Ning Help.

Recently, the computer giant Dell, revealed in one of its blog posts that more than $2 million has been generated in revenue from @DellOutlet, one of its Twitter sites. Here is how Dell has been using Twitter.

Dell identified early that Twitter is an effective means of communicating with customers. Dell Outlet, the sales division of Dell started tweeting in 2007, using Twitter as a means to attract customers by extending exclusive offers, discounts, clearance events and new arrival information.

Users who follow Dell on Twitter receive messages when discounted products are available at the company’s Outlet Store. Those who are interested will immediately click to purchase the product or they might forward the information to their friends.

Dell has been able to compute the revenue generated by Twitter users by tracking the clicks that came from Twitter to its site, which resulted in sales. The figure $2 million is a relatively small amount for a company like Dell. However, it goes to show that small companies can also reap rewards by using Twitter as a marketing tool. Recognizing the benefits of using Twitter, Dell has created Dell.com/Twitter to allow customers to choose the most relevant Twitter account for them to follow.

Thus, Twitter as a sales/promotional tool is no doubt invaluable to small and large companies alike; given proof of the kind of revenue it helps to generate.

Twitter continues to gain popularity and expand its user base day by day as more and more corporate companies are diving in to make the most of it. However, Twitter has yet to come up with a business model which could generate revenue for Twitter too. It is speculated that they might introduce paid accounts or take a share in sales generated from Twitter.

As the long awaited business model takes its own time in materializing, Twitter users are quite happy tweeting their way to success.