ClustrMaps came to my attention last week. ClustrMaps provides a small Icon displaying a map of the world. Within the map, the geographic location of visitors to a website or blog are tracked. It’s a visually powerful tool that quickly gathers information from visitors ot websites from locations around the world.

A picture is worth a thousand words and in this case maybe worth several worlds. By clicking on the picture, the viewer can go to the URL for ClustrMaps where a larger representation allows a bigger view of the world including plots of the locations of various visitors.

Red dots pinpoint the location and the larger the dot, the larger the number of visitors or impressions from that corner of the Earth.

The service is free if a site has visitors totalling less than 2500 visits per DAY (correction original aricle stated ‘per month’ actually ‘per DAY!’). There is a $9.99 per year fee for sites with visitors up to 25,000 visitors per DAY(correction original aricle stated ‘per month’ actually ‘per DAY!’). Then for sites with daily visitors totalling 100k – 10m, ClustrMaps will quote a price and display one publicly this quarter sometime. (See Products at ClustrMaps for more details. )

Another interesting twist is that with the paid version, users are provided the ability to zoom to a continent and view hits by country or (states and provinces in North America).

There are a number of reviews available from ClustrMaps or from Del.icio.us.

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It should be a slam dunk press event.

The Cast: Heavy weight partners Samsung, Microsoft and Intel all on stage together.

The Plan: Show off the latest and greatest gadget to full effect doing it what its designed to do.

The Audience: News and technology vendors from all walks in one of the most advanced technology cities in the world, Seoul Korea.

The Product: Samsung Q1 Ultra Mobile PC alias Microsoft Origami.

The Problem: Either the executives from each of the big 3 can’t work the product or the product doesn’t work or some combination of the two!

The Korea Times details a presentation Snafu during a press conference designed to show off the Samsung Origami device named Q1.

Executives from the three partnering companies gathered together to provide a presentation on the new Origami unit from Samsung named the Q1.

Three Strikes and their out!

Strike 1
Samsung’s Vice President of the PC Division attempted to make his presentation using the Samsung Q1, but could not get the device to toggle to the 2nd page of the presentation (the device has no keyboard).

Strike 2
After getting help from his staff, the VP made it several pages into the presentation only to be stomped on when the batteries ran out(the device has a 3 hour battery life as projected)

Foul Ball
Microsoft Korean unit President was next up to pinch hit, but couldn’t get started without assistance from the Samsung staff, and then watched as the device rapidly scrolled through the entire presentation in just a few seconds.

Strike 3
Confidently rising to the podium Intel’s Exec claimed he could avoid the problem by “‘do it my own way as my predecessors have had a difficult time.’” Unfortunately, he received the third strike for the group as he also required help from the Samsung team to make the device function appropriately.

Samsung is hoping to sell 100,000 units in the first 12 months, but will need to practice their presentation and consider improving battery life and increasing the availability of user training, especially within their own ranks.

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People from all walks of life have different methods for developing their focus in high stress situations. Gilbert Arenas plays online poker at half time.

“‘I’m a little offbeat. I think of myself as the Dave Chappelle of the NBA, that nobody knows about. Like, at halftime, while everybody’s getting ready, I’m playing poker online. It’s just a mental challenge, to keep my mind going.’ “Online Poker at Halftime? Works for Arenas — Newsday.com

Online Poker has grown substantially over the last 6 years, and despite some poker sites ties to nefarious offshore groups, its audience is becoming more and more mainstream.

People need to exercise their brains, and release tensions. Many famous NBA players from Michael Jordan to Dennis Rodman have made headlines due to their gambling habits. Arenas has managed to bring the habit right into the locker room. It will be difficult to imagine where this trend will evolve next.

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KKR to buy Flextronics unit for $900 mln��Reuters.com: “An affiliate of U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has agreed to buy the software development unit of Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) for about $900 million, making it the biggest leveraged buyout in India.”

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AMD has requested a subpoena Microsoft to support AMD’s anti-trust lawsuit against Intel.

(see Kristen Kennedy’s article AMD subpoenas Microsoft in Intel Antitrust Case)
“Specifically, the subpoena requests documents reflecting the following:
Microsoft’s decision to develop software for AMD’s 64-bit CPUs, and the timing and schedule for development of that software.
Microsoft’s discussions concerning desktop, development and implementation of standards, specification protocol or software for secure input interfaces, and AMD or Intel’s inclusion in such discussions. An AMD spokesman said this issue largely refers to the Trusted Computing initiatives that have been worked on by Intel and Microsoft.
Discussions pertaining to actual or perceived collaboration or support of AMD’s advertising and promotion, AMD processors, support of AMD product launches, and Intel’s reaction to that support.
Discussions internally and with third parties concerning AMD’s financing, valuation or financial viability.
Discussions and reports comparing Intel and AMD products from a price, quality and performance standpoint.”

Bill Gates expressed how he used Share Point to find information in his corporation these days. Therefore, we should probably expect an press push by Microsoft as it touts a cost saving example by using its own server to track down the subpoena information. It was just a few years ago when Larry Ellis of Oracle proclaimed that his company had saved $1b by installing Oracle.

So how much will bill save in legal fees and research using Sharepoint?

Many companies spend a large fortune attempting to track information so that they can document for legal proceedings Sorbanes Oxley requirements, SEC requirements, Accounting documentation and tax returns.

Can Microsoft turn this into a an advertising play?

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