Hardware - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

According to comScore, Facebook has overtaken MySpace as the world's most visited social network.

Scaling can be tricky for consumer internet startups, especially when it comes to hardware and infrastructure.

Many startups have failed in part because they couldn't successfully scale effectively and sensibly.

The past week was again dominated by big topics driven by the economic landscape.

From Microsoft's attempted buyout of a struggling Yahoo to Cisco's disappointing financial outlook, it's clear that the Fun Train has left the station and the Reality Train is on its way.

Microsoft’s Xbox Live may have surpassed the 10m user milestone but this is no time for ebullient press releases from the Redmond-based giant. Since Christmas, playing Xbox Live online has been nothing short of a nightmare.

Microsoft has totally failed to manage user expectations, to accommodate new Xbox users, and to cater for the spikes that were bound to appear over the holiday period. It’s a pity, since the Xbox Live experience, when it works, is nothing short of sensational, and should get better and better.

Customer satisfaction with UK broadband providers has fallen for the second year in a row, with good old BT coming last in a survey by research group JD Power.

Complaints now outnumber service related queries, according to the study, while overall satisfaction levels have fallen nine points to an average of 645 out of 1000.

Microsoft plans to add a new social networking option to its Xbox Live platform, by allowing users of the service to connect with friends of friends.

The Dashboard Update will be introduced on December 4, to allow gamers to find friends, send messages and invites, and to compare games.

All of which prompts the question: Is Microsoft trying to become 'the new Facebook'?

Consumer electronics giant Philips has just launched a major redesign of its consumer website to improve usability and help shoppers “fully experience and interact with products as though they were right in front of them.”

The firm says it’s its biggest upgrade for three years. New features include a Google Maps mashup showing the location of retailers' outlets, as well as tools to allow greater interactivity on product pages. Philips also deployed technology to improve communication with retailers about stock availability and lead generation.

We spoke to Gilles Domartini, Philips Consumer Electronics’ VP & GM of online sales and marketing, to find out a bit more about how the company's e-commerce strategy is changing as brands seek to interact more closely with consumers.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has overtaken the Wii as the most searched for games console in the US, according to figures from Hitwise.

The research group's Bill Tancer said the increase in searches was down to a combination of factors - hype about new games, rumours of a drop in prices, as well as 'red ring of death' issues.

Microsoft has responded to customer concerns and taken steps to deal with the many problems customers have been having with faulty Xbox 360 consoles.

The company has announced that it will be covering the costs of all repairs to the console, and has said that hardware failures will now be covered by a three-year warranty from the date of purchase.

We believe that the amount of noise in the blogosphere on this issue has to some degree forced Microsoft's hand.

People who research their electronics purchases on the internet spend 10% more in store than those who don't research online, according to a study by Yahoo and ChannelForce.

Yahoo and ChannelForce surveyed 1,100 US adults in electrical stores, and found that the majority of electronics buyers researched their purchases online before visting the store.