Over the last year Maven Mapper’s Information has covered many different topics.  The focus has expanded and contracted on multiple occasions.  I have recently signed on to apply my pen and keyboard and mind to TechnoBabble owned by Raj Dash, known by many for several of his sites but also his excellent contributions to the Performancing Community.

As I write at TechnoBabble I will be refining my focus here at Maven Mapper’s Information as historically there has been a little over lap of topics.  Regardless, I will continue to deliver great articles here and spread out to focus on topics at TechnoBabble as well.

Here I will be adding to my reviews of many different products including electronics, software and web related.  At TechnoBabble I will often get more into the nuts and bolts of the industry at large.  On both sites I will work on the utilization of some great tools, processes, systems and services.  There will still be some over lap in this area but I will be segmenting out some of the industry trends and analysis here.

Technorati tags: Performancing, Raj Dash, TechnoBabble, Maven Mapper’s Information Refocussed

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Cafe.com provides an interactive multi player game combined with a social network background.  Users can setup a free account, and then download free games.  They can select an Avatar and then play the game online with other friends or players.  The games are free, there is no adware or spyware.

Cafe.com business model is to make money off of selling upgrades, better avatars, accessories, more game levels or options.  But the starting point is free and does give users a way to play and hang out online.

More and more business models like cafe.com’s are popping up as businesses learn how to create a market, capture a market, nurture a market or harvest a market ripe for the picking.

The avatars are interesting enough and definitely fun looking.  There are many different movements and gestures that your avatars can perform adding a visual social dynamic to the entire game process.  The games aren’t going to entice the hard core gamers much, but they will prove addictive and the social environment reinforces that more and more.

At the end of the day people like to play games.  The games do not have to be super complex as long as other people are involved.  That social dynamic combined with avatars that put the human face and body language on the situation make this sites and sites like it work well.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Technorati tags: avatar, video game, social networking

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Sony Ericsson came out this week with a great new business plan.  They have decided to begin competing in the market for cheap phones.  Sony Ericsson is the Second Most Profitable mobile phone company after Noka, which is also the number one mobile phone company for market share in addition to profits.

Sony Ericsson is holding onto the number 4 position in terms of market share, but they grew over 2 percent year of over year last year.  They still lag Motorola and Samsung.

Grass is Greener on the Less Profit Side of the Fence

Apparently Sony Ericsson is turning green with envy over the profit warnings from Motorola and wants some of that moto profit dropping mojo for itself. So Sony Ericsson is going to sell cheaper phones and they started this week, by offering 4 new low end phones.

But wait, maybe they are not so crazy after all.  Their low end phones are priced at levels of 150 - 200% more than base models from Motorola and Samsung.  Maybe they don’t want to lose that number two spot from profitability after all.

Sony Ericsson also introduced four higher end phones including two new walkman phones.  Sony Ericsson has sold 20 million walkman phones in total, which is about how many iPods were sold in the fourth quarter of 2006.  If their latest Walkman phones continue to gain traction, they might find themselves chasing or leading Apple as well.

Technorati tags: Sony Ericsson, second most profitable mobile phone manufacturer 2006, race to bottom, mobile phones

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