Rachel Pasqua, Director of Mobile Marketing at iCrossing, characterized apps as the “flavor of the month” during an interview with Mike McDonald at SMX Advanced 2010.  She said that her best recommendation is instead to “start with your site” when trying to attract mobile users.

Pasqua explained, “The vast majority of users out there are accessing social networks . . . via mobile.”  With a proper social media strategy in place, businesses can then lure the users straight to their sites.

Companies simply need to make sure their sites offer a decent mobile experience.  “If your site takes more than 15 seconds to load, users are just going to be bouncing off,” Pasqua pointed out.

Heavy use of Flash should also be avoided, in her opinion.

Business owners might want to follow Pasqua’s advice sooner rather than later.  She observed that the availability of inexpensive Android devices is speeding up the adoption of smartphones, and it may not be long before advanced tech is available for free with a mobile contract.

Martin, the owner of Mobile Martin, which is a mobile SEO consulting service, began by highlighting some of the advantages offered by the HTC EVO 4G. This phone was the fastest Android device at the time of its release, and thanks to its 4G capabilities, offers improved videoconferencing compared to the iPhone 4.

The EVO 4G also has a bigger screen than the latest iPhone, although that can become a drawback since it tends to drain the battery.

Anyway, in terms of what other features Android and iPhone fans have to look forward to, Martin indicated he’s heard rumors about solar charging abilities coming to both platforms.

Then Android users alone may be able to look forward to kinetic charging (in the manner of watch), and Martin expects the Android Market to receive an overhaul when the Gingerbread version of Android is released later this year.

Meanwhile, rumor has it that Apple will at least address the iPhone 4′s reception issues with a hardware fix in the near future.

The iPad looks a lot like the iPhone, only larger. Jobs said, “Using this thing is remarkable. It’s so much more intimate than a laptop, and it’s so much more capable than a smartphone.”

Notable features of the new tablet include:

- Dimensions: 0.5-inches thick, weighs 1.5 pounds, and 9.7-inch display
- Powered by Apple’s A4 processor
- 10-hours battery life; One month on standby
- 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB of Flash memory storage
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled
- Built-in speaker and microphone
- Digital compass
- App Store application included

Some models of the iPad will have 3G. Apple and AT&T are offering two data plans without contracts. The first includes 250MB of data per month for $14.99, and the second includes unlimited data usage for $29.99 per month. These 3G versions will range in price from $629-$829, and those without 3G will start at $499 and go up to $699, both depending on storage size.

As expected, the iPad comes with an e-book reading application called iBooks. Jobs praised Amazon’s Kindle but said Apple hoped to refine that model.

Despite all the hype regarding Apple’s iPad, a tablet computer is not a new concept. Jobs admitted that tablets have not done well in the past but believes Apple is up for the challenge.

The company will begin shipping the iPad in 60 days and the 3G models in 90 days.

Do you believe Apple’s iPad will succeed?

Numerous factors such as Flash can slow a site down, but Martin told WebProNews that those factors were, “… a micro millisecond difference, but that’s gonna be part of the factors of 2010.”

Incidentally, Android recently celebrated its second birthday. Although no Android device has yet to emerge as the “iPhone Killer,” there have been several Android devices released recently. Droid is probably the most popular and is already on Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. It is expected to be on AT&T around the first of the year as well.

Martin compares the Android/iPhone battle to the PC/MAC wars and says that it wasn’t very long ago that no one was familiar with Android, but now it’s everywhere. Where will Android go next?

Mike teamed up with Taylor Pile, who is also of WebProNews and who just happens to be a new iPhone user, and the two conducted a brief comparative analysis of the devices. The phones have many similar features such as the 3.2 megapixel camera, browser view, touch screen, and more. There are however, significant differences as well.

For example, Mike and Taylor downloaded an identical application on each of their phones using WiFi. The iPhone downloaded it in 1 minute and 9 seconds, while the myTouch download completed in 17 seconds. When downloading an app on the network, the iPhone completed in 26 seconds, while the myTouch took 1 minute and 8 seconds to finish. We should note that the iPhone was on a 3G AT&T network and the myTouch was running on a 2G T-Mobile network.

In spite of the comparison, Mike is still sold on his myTouch and Taylor still favors his iPhone. How do you think the phones compare?

Google Voice is said to be a competitive threat to voice services that already come with the iPhone. Industry analysts have also said that AT&T is likely concerned that its company could lose revenue as a result of Google Voice services.

The FCC is looking into the matter as part of its continuing investigation regarding wireless open access and handset exclusivity. The letters also seek to find out if AT&T had any input in the decision to reject Google Voice.

Ironically, Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced his resignation from Apple’s board Monday, August 3. Although his resignation came just days after the FCC’s investigation began, the FTC had already been investigating ties between the companies and whether they were breaking antitrust laws.

What will become of the FCC’s investigation? How will it impact Apple’s iPhone? Was the timing of Eric Schmidt’s resignation simply a coincidence? Will these proceedings affect Google and Apple’s cordial relationship?

WebProNews got the inside scoop on the new product from Larry Fox, the AT&T Director of Sales for Central and Eastern Kentucky. He shared with us several of the top features of the device including the two that are the most talked about: speed and video. The iPhone 3G S is said to be two times faster than the 3G. With the video capability, users can shoot, edit, and share their video straight from their device. Other features include:

-    3-Megapixel Camera
-    Voice Control
-    Compass
-    Cut, Copy, and Paste
-    Landscape Keyboard
-    Messages
-    Search
-    Accessibility for the Visually and Hearing Impaired
-    Internet Tethering
-    Voice Memos
-    Stocks
-    YouTube

Interestingly enough, the iPhone 3G is gaining almost as much attention as the new release. Upon the announcement of the iPhone 3G S, Apple also reduced the price of the iPhone 3G to $99. So, you can get the 32-gigabyte iPhone 3G S for $299, the 16-gigabyte iPhone 3G S for $199 dollars, or the iPhone 3G for $99.

When we spoke with Larry this morning, he said inventory was tight, but they did have some devices still available. If you hurry out to get one of the new iPhones, feel free to get me one too!

The phone manufacturers of Android include HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and Huawei. The service providers are T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Rogers, and Vodaphone. Michael said Sprint would jump on board next year as well.

So, how are Apple and iPhone lovers responding to all this hype? To that question, Michael answered, “That’s a good question!” The primary difference between Android and Apple is that Android is open source and Apple is not. Michael does not believe Apple will relinquish its control and compares the situation to the 1980′s scenario of Mac vs. PC.

What do you think of all this buzz? Are you an iPhone fan or are you anxious to get your hands on Google’s Ion?

Cindy Krum of Rank-Mobile.com is one of the many who believes that the iPhone has changed search. Think about it, you can use your iPhone whenever you want no matter where you are to connect to the Web.

So, what does all this have to do with businesses? It is up to you to make sure your website is, for lack of better words, mobile search friendly. Does this mean that you have to set up an entirely different website just for mobile? Absolutely not. You simply need to use your existing site to reach the mobile audience.

iPhone users are most likely on the go and don’t have the luxury of having their computer in front of them. Therefore, they don’t have time to wait for a site packed with Flash, JavaScript, or heavy code to load.

In summary, iPhone users need convenience. If it’s not easy for them to get the information they need, chances are they will disregard your site.

With more iPhones selling and more iPhone clones being developed, you had better get your site ready because mobile search is nowhere close to going away.

Google and Apple are, “doing more and more things together. We have similar goals, and similar competitors.”

Apple’s new I-phone can work together with Google search and map features, but Schmidt did not state what the two companies currently work on.

The Netscape team released today the My.Netscape Beta. My.Netscape will keep its individuality as a personalized homepage, with the smallest amount of advertising. The left side of the screen includes a weather module. Logging in lets users save model layouts, and view them from anywhere. The Add Content layer makes it available for users to add modules to their My.NetScape screen. My.NetScape has around 100 modules to add, but if users don’t find what they want, Net-scape encourages them to use their generic RSS feed reader to add favorite sites.

NBC Universal and MSNBC.com have revealed a behind-the-scenes look at The Today Show Web site. Todayshow.com launched the video blog from co-anchor Al Roker with content from Today contributors and other ideas from iVillage. Today Executive Producer Jim Bell wants viewers to relate to the stories, the recipes, or just the TV personalities on the official Today show blog allDAY.
MSNBC.com’s deputy editor Randy Stearns comments on how MSNBC has highlighted this particular show with its own Web site, instead of putting it into the main MSNBC.com page. Viewers can log onto the site by clicking on allday.msnbc.msn.com.

A new UN led alliance will work to protect the environment from electronic trash, such as computers, microwaves, phones, batteries and televisions. Three UN agencies, 16 companies including Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, several government organizations and universities teamed up to create the Solving the Ewaste Problem, also known as STEP. STEP measures around 40 metric tons a year, or enough to fill a line of dump trucks stretching half way around the world. Step encourages manufacturers to make products with more durability to upgrade, rather than to throw out old appliances.

The latest Nielson/NetRatings show that Google controls the competition for online search. The ratings explain that Google performed around three-point-nine billion searches representing a little over half of all searches. Yahoo came in second with 22.7 percent of all searches, MSN at 8.9 percent, AOL at 5.4 percent and Ask.com with 1.8 percent of all searches. Google had the largest year-over-year growth percentage up 41 percent. Yahoo grew almost 29 percent, while MSN, AOL and Ask.com grew less than 6 percent.