21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic

#1 - Target Your Content to an Audience Likely to Share

When strategizing about who you're writing for, consider that audience's ability to help spread the word. Some readers will naturally be more or less active in evangelizing the work you do, but particular communities, topics, writing styles and content types regularly play better than others on the web. For example, great infographics that strike a chord (like this one), beautiful videos that tell a story (like this one) and remarkable collections of facts that challenge common assumptions (like this one) are all targeted at audiences likely to share (geeks with facial hair, those interested in weight loss and those with political thoughts about macroeconomics respectively).

If you can identify groups that have high concentrations of the blue and orange circles in the diagram above, you dramatically improve the chances of reaching larger audiences and growing your traffic numbers. Targeting blog content at less-share-likely groups may not be a terrible decision (particularly if that's where you passion or your target audience lies), but it will decrease the propensity for your blog's work to spread like wildfire across the web.

#2 - Participate in the Communities Where Your Audience Already Gathers

Advertisers on Madison Avenue have spent billions researching and determining where consumers with various characteristics gather and what they spend their time doing so they can better target their messages. They do it because reaching a group of 65+ year old women with commercials for extreme sports equipment is known to be a waste of money, while reaching an 18-30 year old male demographic that attends rock-climbing gyms is likely to have a much higher ROI.
Thankfully, you don't need to spend a dime to figure out where a large portion of your audience can be found on the web. In fact, you probably already know a few blogs, forums, websites and social media communities where discussions and content are being posted on your topic (and if you don't a Google search will take you much of the way). From that list, you can do some easy expansion using a web-based tool like DoubleClick's Ad Planner:

Once you've determined the communities where your soon-to-be-readers gather, you can start participating. Create an account, read what others have written and don't jump in the conversation until you've got a good feel for what's appropriate and what's not. I've written a post here about rules for comment marketing, and all of them apply. Be a good web citizen and you'll be rewarded with traffic, trust and fans. Link-drop, spam or troll and you'll get a quick boot, or worse, a reputation as a blogger no one wants to associate with.

#3 - Make Your Blog's Content SEO-Friendly

Search engines are a massive opportunity for traffic, yet many bloggers ignore this channel for a variety of reasons that usually have more to do with fear and misunderstanding than true problems. As I've written before, "SEO, when done right, should never interfere with great writing." In 2011, Google received over 3 billion daily searches from around the world, and that number is only growing:

sources: Comscore + Google

Taking advantage of this massive traffic opportunity is of tremendous value to bloggers, who often find that much of the business side of blogging, from inquiries for advertising to guest posting opportunities to press and discovery by major media entities comes via search.
SEO for blogs is both simple and easy to set up, particularly if you're using an SEO-friendly platform like Wordpress, Drupal or Joomla. For more information on how to execute on great SEO for blogs, check out the following resources:

• Blogger's Guide to SEO (from SEOBook)
• The Beginner's Guide to SEO (from Moz)
• Wordpress Blog SEO Tutorial (from Yoast)
• SEO for Travel Bloggers (but applicable to nearly any type of blog - from Moz)

Don't let bad press or poor experiences with spammers (spam is not SEO) taint the amazing power and valuable contributions SEO can make to your blog's traffic and overall success. 20% of the effort and tactics to make your content optimized for search engines will yield 80% of the value possible; embrace it and thousands of visitors seeking exactly what you've posted will be the reward.

#4 - Use Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to Share Your Posts & Find New Connections

Twitter just topped 465 million registered accounts. Facebook has over 850 million active users. Google+ has nearly 100 million. LinkedIn is over 130 million. Together, these networks are attracting vast amounts of time and interest from Internet users around the world, and those that participate on these services fit into the "content distributors" description above, meaning they're likely to help spread the word about your blog.
Leveraging these networks to attract traffic requires patience, study, attention to changes by the social sites and consideration in what content to share and how to do it. My advice is to use the following process:

• If you haven't already, register a personal account and a brand account at each of the following - Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn (those links will take you directly to the registration pages for brand pages). For example, my friend Dharmesh has a personal account for Twitter and a brand account for OnStartups (one of his blog projects). He also maintains brand pages on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
• Fill out each of those profiles to the fullest possible extent - use photos, write compelling descriptions and make each one as useful and credible as possible. Research shows that profiles with more information have a significant correlation with more successful accounts (and there's a lot of common sense here, too, given that spammy profiles frequently feature little to no profile work).
• Connect with users on those sites with whom you already share a personal or professional relationships, and start following industry luminaries, influencers and connectors. Services like FollowerWonk and FindPeopleonPlus can be incredible for this:

• Start sharing content - your own blog posts, those of peers in your industry who've impressed you and anything that you feel has a chance to go "viral" and earn sharing from others.
• Interact with the community - use hash tags, searches and those you follow to find interesting conversations and content and jump in! Social networks are amazing environment for building a brand, familiarizing yourself with a topic and the people around it, and earning the trust of others through high quality, authentic participation and sharing

If you consistently employ a strategy of participation, share great stuff and make a positive, memorable impression on those who see your interactions on these sites, your followers and fans will grow and your ability to drive traffic back to your blog by sharing content will be tremendous. For many bloggers, social media is the single largest source of traffic, particularly in the early months after launch, when SEO is a less consistent driver.

#5 - Install Analytics and Pay Attention to the Results

At the very least, I'd recommend most bloggers install Google Analytics (which is free), and watch to see where visits originate, which sources drive quality traffic and what others might be saying about you and your content when they link over. If you want to get more advanced, check out this post on 18 Steps to Successful Metrics and Marketing.
Here's a screenshot from the analytics of my wife's travel blog, the Everywhereist:

As you can see, there's all sorts of great insights to be gleaned by looking at where visits originate, analyzing how they were earned and trying to repeat the successes, focus on the high quality and high traffic sources and put less effort into marketing paths that may not be effective. In this example, it's pretty clear that Facebook and Twitter are both excellent channels. StumbleUpon sends a lot of traffic, but they don't stay very long (averaging only 36 seconds vs. the general average of 4 minutes!).
Employing analytics is critical to knowing where you're succeeding, and where you have more opportunity. Don't ignore it, or you'll be doomed to never learn from mistakes or execute on potential.

#6 - Add Graphics, Photos and Illustrations (with link-back licensing)

If you're someone who can produce graphics, take photos, illustrate or even just create funny doodles in MS Paint, you should leverage that talent on your blog. By uploading and hosting images (or using a third-party service like Flickr to embed your images with licensing requirements on that site), you create another traffic source for yourself via Image Search, and often massively improve the engagement and enjoyment of your visitors.
When using images, I highly recommend creating a way for others to use them on their own sites legally and with permission, but in such a way that benefits you as the content creator. For example, you could have a consistent notice under your images indicating that re-using is fine, but that those who do should link back to this post. You can also post that as a sidebar link, include it in your terms of use, or note it however you think will get the most adoption.
Some people will use your images without linking back, which sucks. However, you can find them by employing the Image Search function of "similar images," shown below:

Clicking the "similar" link on any given image will show you other images that Google thinks look alike, which can often uncover new sources of traffic. Just reach out and ask if you can get a link, nicely. Much of the time, you'll not only get your link, but make a valuable contact or new friend, too!

#7 - Conduct Keyword Research While Writing Your Posts

Not surprisingly, a big part of showing up in search engines is targeting the terms and phrases your audience are actually typing into a search engine. It's hard to know what these words will be unless you do some research, and luckily, there's a free tool from Google to help called the AdWords Keyword Tool.
Type some words at the top, hit search and AdWords will show you phrases that match the intent and/or terms you've employed. There's lots to play around with here, but watch out in particular for the "match types" options I've highlighted below:

When you choose "exact match" AdWords will show you only the quantity of searches estimated for that precise phrase. If you use broad match, they'll include any search phrases that use related/similar words in a pattern they think could have overlap with your keyword intent (which can get pretty darn broad). "Phrase match" will give you only those phrases that include the word or words in your search - still fairly wide-ranging, but between "exact" and "broad."
When you're writing a blog post, keyword research is best utilized for the title and headline of the post. For example, if I wanted to write a post here on Moz about how to generate good ideas for bloggers, I might craft something that uses the phrase "blog post ideas" or "blogging ideas" near the front of my title and headline, as in "Blog Post Ideas for When You're Truly Stuck," or "Blogging Ideas that Will Help You Clear Writer's Block."
Optimizing a post to target a specific keyword isn't nearly as hard as it sounds. 80% of the value comes from merely using the phrase effectively in the title of the blog post, and writing high quality content about the subject. If you're interested in more, read Perfecting Keyword Targeting and On-Page Optimization (a slightly older resource, but just as relevant today as when it was written).

#8 - Frequently Reference Your Own Posts and Those of Others

The web was not made for static, text-only content! Readers appreciate links, as do other bloggers, site owners and even search engines. When you reference your own material in-context and in a way that's not manipulative (watch out for over-optimizing by linking to a category, post or page every time a phrase is used - this is almost certainly discounted by search engines and looks terrible to those who want to read your posts), you potentially draw visitors to your other content AND give search engines a nice signal about those previous posts.
Perhaps even more valuable is referencing the content of others. The biblical expression "give and ye shall receive," perfectly applies on the web. Other site owners will often receive Google Alerts or look through their incoming referrers (as I showed above in tip #5) to see who's talking about them and what they're saying. Linking out is a direct line to earning links, social mentions, friendly emails and new relationships with those you reference. In its early days, this tactic was one of the best ways we earned recognition and traffic with the SEOmoz blog and the power continues to this day.

#9 - Participate in Social Sharing Communities Like Reddit + StumbleUpon

The major social networking sites aren't alone in their power to send traffic to a blog. Social community sites like Reddit (which now receives more than 2 billion! with a "B"! views each month), StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Tumblr, Care2 (for nonprofits and causes), GoodReads (books), Ravelry (knitting), Newsvine (news/politics) and many, many more (Wikipedia maintains a decent, though not comprehensive list here).
Each of these sites have different rules, formats and ways of participating and sharing content. As with participation in blog or forum communities described above in tactic #2, you need to add value to these communities to see value back. Simply drive-by spamming or leaving your link won't get you very far, and could even cause a backlash. Instead, learn the ropes, engage authentically and you'll find that fans, links and traffic can develop.
These communities are also excellent sources of inspiration for posts on your blog. By observing what performs well and earns recognition, you can tailor your content to meet those guidelines and reap the rewards in visits and awareness. My top recommendation for most bloggers is to at least check whether there's an appropriate subreddit in which you should be participating. Subreddits and their search function can help with that.

#10 - Guest Blog (and Accept the Guest Posts of Others)

When you're first starting out, it can be tough to convince other bloggers to allow you to post on their sites OR have an audience large enough to inspire others to want to contribute to your site. This is when friends and professional connections are critical. When you don't have a compelling marketing message, leverage your relationships - find the folks who know you, like you and trust you and ask those who have blog to let you take a shot at authoring something, then ask them to return the favor.
Guest blogging is a fantastic way to spread your brand to new folks who've never seen your work before, and it can be useful in earning early links and references back to your site, which will drive direct traffic and help your search rankings (diverse, external links are a key part of how search engines rank sites and pages). Several recommendations for those who engage in guest blogging:

• Find sites that have a relevant audience - it sucks to pour your time into writing a post, only to see it fizzle because the readers weren't interested. Spend a bit more time researching the posts that succeed on your target site, the makeup of the audience, what types of comments they leave and you'll earn a much higher return with each post.
• Don't be discouraged if you ask and get a "no" or a "no response." As your profile grows in your niche, you'll have more opportunities, requests and an easier time getting a "yes," so don't take early rejections too hard and watch out - in many marketing practices, persistence pays, but pestering a blogger to write for them is not one of these (and may get your email address permanently banned from their inbox).
• When pitching your guest post make it as easy as possible for the other party. When requesting to post, have a phenomenal piece of writing all set to publish that's never been shared before and give them the ability to read it. These requests get far more "yes" replies than asking for the chance to write with no evidence of what you'll contribute. At the very least, make an outline and write a title + snippet.
• Likewise, when requesting a contribution, especially from someone with a significant industry profile, asking for a very specific piece of writing is much easier than getting them to write an entire piece from scratch of their own design. You should also present statistics that highlight the value of posting on your site - traffic data, social followers, RSS subscribers, etc. can all be very persuasive to a skeptical writer.

A great tool for frequent guest bloggers is Ann Smarty's MyBlogGuest, which offers the ability to connect writers with those seeking guest contributions (and the reverse).

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ are also great places to find guest blogging opportunities. In particular, check out the profiles of those you're connected with to see if they run blogs of their own that might be a good fit. Google's Blog Search function and Google Reader's Search are also solid tools for discovery.

#11 - Incorporate Great Design Into Your Site

The power of beautiful, usable, professional design can't be overstated. When readers look at a blog, the first thing they judge is how it "feels" from a design and UX perspective. Sites that use default templates or have horrifying, 1990's design will receive less trust, a lower time-on-page, fewer pages per visit and a lower likelihood of being shared. Those that feature stunning design that clearly indicates quality work will experience the reverse - and reap amazing benefits.

These threads - 1, 2, 3 and 4 - feature some remarkable blog designs for inspiration

If you're looking for a designer to help upgrade the quality of your blog, there's a few resources I recommend:

• Dribbble - great for finding high quality professional designers
• Forrst - another excellent design profile community
• Behance - featuring galleries from a wide range of visual professionals
• Sortfolio - an awesome tool to ID designers by region, skill and budget
• 99 Designs - a controversial site that provides designs on spec via contests (I have mixed feelings on this one, but many people find it useful, particularly for budget-conscious projects)

This is one area where budgeting a couple thousand dollars (if you can afford it) or even a few hundred (if you're low on cash) can make a big difference in the traffic, sharing and viral-impact of every post you write.

#12 - Interact on Other Blogs' Comments

As bloggers, we see a lot of comments. Many are spam, only a few add real value, and even fewer are truly fascinating and remarkable. If you can be in this final category consistently, in ways that make a blogger sit up and think "man, I wish that person commented here more often!" you can achieve great things for your own site's visibility through participation in the comments of other blogs.
Combine the tools presented in #10 (particularly Google Reader/Blog Search) and #4 (especially FollowerWonk) for discovery. The feed subscriber counts in Google Reader can be particularly helpful for identifying good blogs for participation. Then apply the principles covered in this post on comment marketing.

Do be conscious of the name you use when commenting and the URL(s) you point back to. Consistency matters, particularly on naming, and linking to internal pages or using a name that's clearly made for keyword-spamming rather than true conversation will kill your efforts before they begin.

#13 - Participate in Q+A Sites

Every day, thousands of people ask questions on the web. Popular services like Yahoo! Answers, Answers.com, Quora, StackExchange, Formspring and more serve those hungry for information whose web searches couldn't track down the responses they needed.
The best strategy I've seen for engaging on Q+A sites isn't to answer every question that comes along, but rather, to strategically provide high value to a Q+A community by engaging in those places where:

• The question quality is high, and responses thus far have been thin
• The question receives high visibility (either by ranking well for search queries, being featured on the site or getting social traffic/referrals). Most of the Q+A sites will show some stats around the traffic of a question
• The question is something you can answer in a way that provides remarkable value to anyone who's curious and drops by

I also find great value in answering a few questions in-depth by producing an actual blog post to tackle them, then linking back. This is also a way I personally find blog post topics - if people are interested in the answer on a Q+A site, chances are good that lots of folks would want to read it on my blog, too!
Just be authentic in your answer, particularly if you're linking. If you'd like to see some examples, I answer a lot of questions at Quora, frequently include relevant links, but am rarely accused of spamming or link dropping because it's clearly about providing relevant value, not just getting a link for SEO (links on most user-contributed sites are "nofollow" anyway, meaning they shouldn't pass search-engine value). There's a dangerous line to walk here, but if you do so with tact and candor, you can earn a great audience from your participation.

#14 - Enable Subscriptions via Feed + Email (and track them!)

If someone drops by your site, has a good experience and thinks "I should come back here and check this out again when they have more posts," chances are pretty high (I'd estimate 90%+) that you'll never see them again. That sucks! It shouldn't be the case, but we have busy lives and the Internet's filled with animated gifs of cats.
In order to pull back some of these would-be fans, I highly recommend creating an RSS feed using Feedburner and putting visible buttons on the sidebar, top or bottom of your blog posts encouraging those who enjoy your content to sign up (either via feed, or via email, both of which are popular options).

If you're using Wordpress, there's some easy plugins for this, too.
Once you've set things up, visit every few weeks and check on your subscribers - are they clicking on posts? If so, which ones? Learning what plays well for those who subscribe to your content can help make you a better blogger, and earn more visits from RSS, too.

#15 - Attend and Host Events

Despite the immense power of the web to connect us all regardless of geography, in-person meetings are still remarkably useful for bloggers seeking to grow their traffic and influence. The people you meet and connect with in real-world settings are far more likely to naturally lead to discussions about your blog and ways you can help each other. This yields guest posts, links, tweets, shares, blogroll inclusion and general business development like nothing else.

I'm a big advocate of Lanyrd, an event directory service that connects with your social networks to see who among your contacts will be at which events in which geographies. This can be phenomenally useful for identifying which meetups, conferences or gatherings are worth attending (and who you can carpool with).
The founder of Lanyrd also contributed this great answer on Quora about other search engines/directories for events (which makes me like them even more).

#16 - Use Your Email Connections (and Signature) to Promote Your Blog

As a blogger, you're likely to be sending a lot of email out to others who use the web and have the power to help spread your work. Make sure you're not ignoring email as a channel, one-to-one though it may be. When given an opportunity in a conversation that's relevant, feel free to bring up your blog, a specific post or a topic you've written about. I find myself using blogging as a way to scalably answer questions - if I receive the same question many times, I'll try to make a blog post that answers it so I can simply link to that in the future.

I also like to use my email signature to promote the content I share online. If I was really sharp, I'd do link tracking using a service like Bit.ly so I could see how many clicks email footers really earn. I suspect it's not high, but it's also not 0.

#17 - Survey Your Readers

Web surveys are easy to run and often produce high engagement and great topics for conversation. If there's a subject or discussion that's particularly contested, or where you suspect showing the distribution of beliefs, usage or opinions can be revealing, check out a tool like SurveyMonkey (they have a small free version) or PollDaddy. Google Docs also offers a survey tool that's totally free, but not yet great in my view.

#18 - Add Value to a Popular Conversation

Numerous niches in the blogosphere have a few "big sites" where key issues arise, get discussed and spawn conversations on other blogs and sites. Getting into the fray can be a great way to present your point-of-view, earn attention from those interested in the discussion and potentially get links and traffic from the industry leaders as part of the process.
You can see me trying this out with Fred Wilson's AVC blog last year (an incredibly popular and well-respected blog in the VC world). Fred wrote a post about Marketing that I disagreed with strongly and publicly and a day later, he wrote a follow-up where he included a graphic I made AND a link to my post.
If you're seeking sources to find these "popular conversations," Alltop, Topsy, Techmeme (in the tech world) and their sister sites MediaGazer, Memeorandum and WeSmirch, as well as PopURLs can all be useful.

#19 - Aggregate the Best of Your Niche

Bloggers, publishers and site owners of every variety in the web world love and hate to be compared and ranked against one another. It incites endless intrigue, discussion, methodology arguments and competitive behavior - but, it's amazing for earning attention. When a blogger publishes a list of "the best X" or "the top X" in their field, most everyone who's ranked highly praises the list, shares it and links to it. Here's an example from the world of marketing itself:

That's a screenshot of the AdAge Power 150, a list that's been maintained for years in the marketing world and receives an endless amount of discussion by those listed (and not listed). For example, why is SEOmoz's Twitter score only a "13" when we have so many more followers, interactions and retweets than many of those with higher scores? Who knows. But I know it's good for AdAge. :-)
Now, obviously, I would encourage anyone building something like this to be as transparent, accurate and authentic as possible. A high quality resource that lists a "best and brightest" in your niche - be they blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, individual posts, people, conferences or whatever else you can think to rank - is an excellent piece of content for earning traffic and becoming a known quantity in your field.
Oh, and once you do produce it - make sure to let those featured know they've been listed. Tweeting at them with a link is a good way to do this, but if you have email addresses, by all means, reach out. It can often be the start of a great relationship!

#20 - Connect Your Web Profiles and Content to Your Blog

Many of you likely have profiles on services like YouTube, Slideshare, Yahoo!, DeviantArt and dozens of other social and Web 1.0 sites. You might be uploading content to Flickr, to Facebook, to Picasa or even something more esoteric like Prezi. Whatever you're producing on the web and wherever you're doing it, tie it back to your blog.
Including your blog's link on your actual profile pages is among the most obvious, but it's also incredibly valuable. On any service where interaction takes place, those interested in who you are and what you have to share will follow those links, and if they lead back to your blog, they become opportunities for capturing a loyal visitor or earning a share (or both!). But don't just do this with profiles - do it with content, too! If you've created a video for YouTube, make your blog's URL appear at the start or end of the video. Include it in the description of the video and on the uploading profile's page. If you're sharing photos on any of the dozens of photo services, use a watermark or even just some text with your domain name so interested users can find you.
If you're having trouble finding and updating all those old profiles (or figuring out where you might want to create/share some new ones), KnowEm is a great tool for discovering your own profiles (by searching for your name or pseudonyms you've used) and claiming profiles on sites you may not yet have participated in.
I'd also strongly recommend leveraging Google's relatively new protocol for rel=author. AJ Kohn wrote a great post on how to set it up here, and Yoast has another good one on building it into Wordpress sites. The benefit for bloggers who do build large enough audiences to gain Google's trust is earning your profile photo next to all the content you author - a powerful markup advantage that likely drives extra clicks from the search results and creates great, memorable branding, too.

#21 - Uncover the Links of Your Fellow Bloggers (and Nab 'em!)

If other blogs in your niche have earned references from sites around the web, there's a decent chance that they'll link to you as well. Conducting competitive link research can also show you what content from your competition has performed well and the strategies they may be using to market their work. To uncover these links, you'll need to use some tools.
OpenSiteExplorer is my favorite, but I'm biased (it's made by Moz). However, it is free to use - if you create a registered account here, you can get unlimited use of the tool showing up to 1,000 links per page or site in perpetuity.

There are other good tools for link research as well, including Blekko, Majestic, Ahrefs and, I've heard that in the near-future, SearchMetrics.
Finding a link is great, but it's through the exhaustive research of looking through dozens or hundreds that you can identify patterns and strategies. You're also likely to find a lot of guest blogging opportunities and other chances for outreach. If you maintain a great persona and brand in your niche, your ability to earn these will rise dramatically.

Bonus #22 - Be Consistent and Don't Give Up

If there's one piece of advice I wish I could share with every blogger, it's this:

The above image comes from Everywhereist's analytics. Geraldine could have given up 18 months into her daily blogging. After all, she was putting in 3-5 hours each day writing content, taking photos, visiting sites, coming up with topics, trying to guest blog and grow her Twitter followers and never doing any SEO (don't ask, it's a running joke between us). And then, almost two years after her blog began, and more than 500 posts in, things finally got going. She got some nice guest blogging gigs, had some posts of hers go "hot" in the social sphere, earned mentions on some bigger sites, then got really big press from Time's Best Blogs of 2011.
I'd guess there's hundreds of new bloggers on the web each day who have all the opportunity Geraldine had, but after months (maybe only weeks) of slogging away, they give up.
When I started the SEOmoz blog in 2004, I had some advantages (mostly a good deal of marketing and SEO knowledge), but it was nearly 2 years before the blog could be called anything like a success. Earning traffic isn't rocket science, but it does take time, perseverance and consistency. Don't give up. Stick to your schedule. Remember that everyone has a few posts that suck, and it's only by writing and publishing those sucky posts that you get into the habit necessary to eventually transform your blog into something remarkable.

 

Posted By R9:26 AM

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Future Of Gadgets

iPhone App Starts Car

Crap...did I lock the car?

No worries.  With the Viper SmartStart you can not only remotely lock and unlock your car but also start it and adjust the climate control.  From anywhere.

Another step forward in the smartphone as remote control for life.

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Asimo Controlled By Human Thought (Video)

We've already seen thought-controlled avatars, so it comes as no surprise that robotics represents a new frontier for brain computer interfaces (BCIs).  Still, the following video of a human controlling Honda's Asimo via BCI marks a profound socio-technological development, offering a glimpse into the future of work, entertainment and security:

Isn't it interesting that this didn't make its way through national media channels? Just a few years ago human-BCI-controlled robotics would have been perceived as revolutionary

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Google Power Meter translates energy into information flows

One of the great efficiency opportunities for the next century is based on the convergence of information and energy flows. The notion of a 'smart grid' is a more reliable and efficient energy web based on the integration of software, sensors and energy storage. 

There are dozens of 'smart grid' infrastructure startups that service utility companies, as well as more commercial/industrial efforts being pushed by IBM, Johnson Controls, Honeywell, and Cisco.

And for those homes with 'Smart Meters' or Smart Devices, solutions are coming online quickly. Google has now thrown its hat into the ring around the basic idea: 'if you can measure it, you can improve it'.  The Google Power Meter is a software tool integrated into smart meters that helps consumers better understand how they use energy in order to reduce their costs and consumption.  Google is a big name, in an expanding space of 'smart energy' startups, like Sentillaand REGEN, who are trying to build demand in the residential market.

[Video] Impress Touch Project Hints at Post-PC Era Interfaces

During the next decade we are likely to see commercial products that will start to define the 'Post PC' Era of smart, networked objects that follow a new path of product development.  Users will interact with embedded devices beyond the keyboard and mouse.  We know that OLEDs offer a clear path to flexible, transparent display screens, but what about the combination of sensors and low power chips that make the 'screen' irrelevant for new applications.  If it is hard to imagine commercial Post PC applications for enterprise sectors, what about designs for education and entertainment markets based on visions like Impress project from Sillenet [via Vimeo]

2.7 Inch Cubic Projector Hits Market in Japan

The latest intriguing mini-projector to hit store shelves (in Japan) is a small cubic, 25 ANSI Lumen LED called the Miseal.  Manufactured by little-know Japanese comapny Sanko, the device is just 2.7in. x 2.7in. x 2.8in. and weighs just over half a pound.

Sporting a 100:1 contrast ratio, 800x600 SVGA resolution and ability to cast an image up to 16ft. away at a diagonal width of 70in, the Miseal packs a serious punch for something of such wee size.

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Are micro fuel cells coming out of Hype Cycle? Toshiba's Micro Fuel Cell Battery Recharger

Most new technology platforms must walk up the stages of the 'Hype Cycle', and confront our tendency to overestimate short-term change, but underestimate the long term potential.

Fuel cells are this decade's poster child for failing to meet expectations of the Hype Cycle. But there are positive signs of progress.

PC World is reporting that Toshiba plans to release its first commercial version of a Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) battery recharger by the end of the first business quarter.

Micro Fuel cells help you unplug
Micro power applications are widely considered to be the first market application for fuel cells.  Dozens of startups and incumbent energy companies are developing micro methanol fuel cells as portable power solutions that help us 'unplug everything'.

Rather than carry around a charger+cord, you could carry a small fuel cell to recharge.  Of course the idea of a fuel cell battery recharger is still a strange concept to consumers, and could remain an early adopter niche product.  

The inevitable step for micro fuel cells is to replace batteries entirely.  To arrive at this future, hardware makers must integrate MFCs into products, and consumers must be able to buy small fuel cartridges (e.g. liquid methanol, solid hydrogen) on every retail shelf.  Until that day, the 'recharger' concept is the industry's best option. 

• HP and ASU Develop a Cheap Flexible Electronic Display

  

  HP and the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University announced their first prototype of a flexible screen that is both easy to produce and affordable.  Made almost entirely out of plastic, the displays hope to revolutionize the size of our electronics such as laptops, phones and televisions.  The amazing thing about it is their prototype consumes 90% less material than traditional displays of the same screen size.

  It's been difficult for flexible screens to break into the mass market due to their cost and complicated design, but with recent breakthroughs like this we can expect flexible displays start to show up in our everyday lives by next year.  I mean, if they can build a plant that can crank out thousands of feet of thin film solar fairly quickly, it would make sense they could use the same type of production to mass-produce flexible displays.

  via BusinessWire

• Commuters to Generate Electricity From Walking Into Train Station

  

  A train station in Tokyo, Japan has put up a demo LED display which is powered by pedestrians stepping on a spring-board type power generator.  "A person weighing 60kg (132 lbs) can generate 0.5W by stepping on the panel twice."  The small panel you see above generates enough power for the LED screen to light up and display how much power has been generated so far.  Although it will be removed by the end of the year, it still shows the potential power we can generate from the human body.

  The greatest thing about this demo is it's sheer practicality in the real world.  So many have been talking about solar panel highways or body-heat generating mobile devices, but not so much about kinetic energy.  The energy-generating springboard has the additional benefit of being comfortable on the feet and back, something cement and pavement clearly lack.  If these were installed in every pedestrian zone (heck, even on roads) it would feel like walking on a basketball court which are in themselves springy.  If it proves to be more beneficial instead of developing a solar asphalt, it may just take over ground-level solar production.

  via Digital World Tokyo

• Apple Aplies for Mysterious Patent, OLED Touchscreen On The Way?

  A while back I reported on Microsoft's prototype called the SideSight, a cellphone which uses infrared sensors to determine your hand movement.  Now it turns out Apple has applied for a patent on just that.

  

  Sure, the image isn't too clear, but what you see is a possible infrared sensor array using LEDs or OLEDs as the sensor.  You'll be able to rotate displays with just a wave of your hand if you bring it close to the screen.  It doesn't stop there too.  Apparently they're looking into the same technology for a possible OLED iPhone that will feature these sensors.  Now THAT would be awesome.

  via OLED-display.net

• Robotic Tank Built by Two Guys In Maine For Only $1 Million

  What you're looking at is a robotic tank that is capapble of ruining your world.  Built by twin brothers in Maine, the Ripsaw MS1 is capable of speeds up to 60mph, can perform maneuvers that would leave a crew bruised and battered, and can be outfitted with a remotely operated machine gun.  On top of this, it's extremely rugged, easy to fix, and can caarry a payload of up to 2,000 pounds.  This is one mean machine.

Posted By R6:59 AM

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Micromax Funbook Review

Micromax Funbook Review, Micromax tablet Specs and Price

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The new players in the entry level tablet market are now providing some really cool stuff at such a lower price tag and Micromax Funbook tablet is none other than that. Micromax tablet is launched keeping an eye on the large student base of India as is loaded with lots of utilities and content for students. Funbook has tried to cover all the things that lags in other tablets such as Aakash tablet and BSNL tablet. The processor is faster than both and also the internal memory is increased. The main feature of Micromax funbook is Operating System.It runs on the latest Android version 4.0 also known as ICE CREAM SANDWICH. Android 4.0 ICS is the latest in Android arsenal and provides you faster performance, more flexibility, less bugs and Intuitive Interface which ensures you never have to look back at your PC again for malfunctioning of Apps. Micromax has also partnered with many international and national publishers (Pearson, Scholarshub etc) to provide content for students. This is one of the best fit for the students who were looking for a bit more functionality and feature than Aakash and did not want to spend more for Apple Ipad or Samsung Galaxy tab. It is the 3^rd ICS tablet in India to be launched after Zync Z-990 and HCL ME Tab U1 within 48 hours and under Rs. 10,000. Micromax tablet is priced at Rs 6500 keeping an eye over the aakash tablet price and HCL ME U1 tablet.Fun book provides 1 month free subscription of Bigflix movie streaming worth Rs 249 which is another freebie you will get after free Tata Photon+.

Operating System	Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich
Processor	1.2 GHz Cortex A8
Video Processor	Dual Mali 400 2D/3D
Sensor	Gravity Sensor and Accelerometer
Connectivity	Wi-Fii( 802.11 b/g)
Screen Size	7″ inch.
Screen Resolution	800×480, 16:9
Screen Type	Touch Screen Capacitive Multi Touch
Internal Memory	4 GB
Random Access Memory (RAM)	512 MB DDR3
Expandable Memory	Upto 32 Gb with SD card slot
USP support	Only Micro USB
Audio support	3.5 mm jack
File extension Supported	Almost every available extension supported
Weight	350 Grams
Dimensions	Height 192 mmWidth 122 mmThickness 10 mm
SIM Card Slot	Not Present
Phone Support	Not present
Price	INR 6500 /-

Micromax Funbook tablet Review

Hardware and Design of Micromax Funbook

The tablet is available in 2 colors Slate Grey and Midnight Black with a nice slim and sleek design. The front panel includes 3 physical buttons for Back, Menu and Home. A branding logo of Micromax is provided at the lower back of the tablet. A VGA camera is mounted on the top of the screen for video calling and chatting. Micromax tablet size (dimensions) are 192mm in height, 122 mm in width and about 10mm thick. The tablet weight around 350 grams. The processor of tablet is based on CORTEX A8 architecture which is seen in Samsung galaxy tab which clocks at 1.2 GHz makes it lighting fast thereby saving a lot of time in processing. A Dual Mali 400 2D/3D video processor is also added to Micromax tablet for the smoother transmission of videos and multimedia processing which means that your games can run fast and with better graphics. Internal memory of 4GB NAND Flash storage is provided which is double than tablet with price less than 5000. The internal memory can be extended up to 32GB using a flash micro SD card. RAM (Random Access Memory) of this tablet is around 512 MB which is again double than both of his cheaper counterparts. A gravity sensor and accelerator sensor is also provided in the tablet which intelligently recognizes which direction you are holding the tablet and switches to portrait or landscape mode accordingly.

Display, Sound and camera of Micromax Funbook tablet

Micromax tablet funbook has a 17.78 Cm capacitive touch screen with multi touch. Multi touch functionality and Pinch Zoom were most innovative functions of Apple Ipad and now comes with most of the high end tablet. The pinch zoom allows you to zoom in and out a picture with your 2 fingers.Touch Screen of micromax tablet supports 5 point touch which means it can detect the touch at 5 points on the screen at a time. There are a few problems with viewing angle of the tablet and you can’t get clear picture at every angle which can be expected at this price range. The screen resolutions are 800 x 480 pixels with aspect ratio of 16:9. The touch screen has a high pixel density of 2160 which ensure more clear pictures and allows you to play HD videos. A 3.5mm jack is provided with the Micromax funbook to connect it with headphones or external speakers. The sound quality of the tablet is yet to be tested. A VGA camera (0.3 MP) is provided over the top of touchscreen to enable video chatting in Micromax tablet. Funbook is preloaded with many apps but still you can integrate it with Skype for Android and can use it for calling and video chatting.

Battery life and Connectivity of Micromax tablet funbook

All images credit to Micromax Ltd

A battery of 2800mAh is used in Micromax funbook to power the device without power. The capacity of the battery looks little low and you cant expect longer backup time. The HD video processor and display will further ruin the backup and you can get about 2 hours backup from this tablet without any power. The tablet is provided with a micro USB 2.0 port which forces you to carry one more cable to connect any of your USB devices. One HDMI port is also present to connect it to your TV or projector for HD videos playback on other screen. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g support is also present in the tablet to connect it with Internet at any Wi-Fi hotspot beside this you can connect it with any 3G datacard for Internet connectivity. Micromax funbook tablet comes bundled with TATA Photon+ which itself cost around Rs 1400-1500 so the effective cost of the tablet is around Rs 5000 which definitely a stealer at this price.

Software Specifications :-

Operating System of Micromax Funbook:

Micromax tablet is powered with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich which is the latest version of Android present currently in the market. This saves you from the unnecessary firmware update to upgrade your Android OS. Updating Android is a tedious task and many times the incompatibility results in frequent system freezes and crashes, system failure and Data loss most of the times. The presence of latest version of Android stops you from getting involved into it.

Micromax tablet Multimedia Apps:

Micromax funbook runs on Android 4.0 ICS which is a big advantage as it enables you to play every format related to videos and audios. Many android apps are available in the market to let you play every video and audio format you can even dream of. A picture browser and Web Browser is also present and you can include opera and other browser for Android from market place. A lots of preloaded apps are present for almost every need of yours including Adobe PDF, Flash, Office, ZIP archives, Youtube and many more.
Micromax has partnered with Bigflix entertainment for free HD movie streaming on fun book tab through it Bigflix app. Bigflix is Reliance Industries subsidiary and one of the largest Movie on Demand Portal in India. The users will be provided with one month subscription worth Rs 249/- for free for HD movie streaming. The users can logon to the Bigflix site and can watch the exclusive collection of thousands of HD movies from the Bigflix using its Bigflix Plus Android app. Movie rental service in India are still lacking the momentum largely due to low bandwidth and poor Internet connectivity but if you are at a high speed Wi-Fi Hotspot this service is something to go for. Video Processor in Micromax tablet enables you to play HD videos on the tablet also if your internet connectivity is good you can watch live TV through its Zenga TV App. Bigflix One month subscription is another free goodies you will get with Micromax tablet as it already offer free Tata Photon+.
Availability: Micromax tablet will be available in about 50 cities from 3rd week of April. Currently it is available only in Delhi and via Snapdeal portal which is experiencing a huge demand of about 30 tablets per hour. Snapdeal has partnered with micromax to sell the tablet via its portal.
EDUTAINMENT :
Yes that’s what Micromax call it. Funbook is loaded with so many entertainment apps and study materials that it is a fusion of both education and Entertainment which are the 2 most important things of Youths life. Micromax funbook tablet is aimed for youth and the features are designed especially according to it. Micromax has partnered with many publishers for good content to students. Pearson, Everonn, and Vriti are a few of those who will provide the digital content including HD video lectures and presentations for the tablet and BigFlix, Zynga and Indiagames will provide the entertainment applications for the funbook owners. You will get everything related to course material to sample papers and self-study material on Micromax tablet. The content is however not free and a Fees of Rs 700 will be charged for getting access to any of the class study material in Micromax Funbook tablet.

The Good	The Bad
Speedy processor and RAM	VGA Camera
High performing GPU	Low Screen Resolutions
Multi touch supported Capacitive screen
High Pixel Density 2160 PDI	Poor viewing angles
Latest Android 4.0	Poor Battery
Free Tata Photon+	No USB (only micro USB )
Valuable Content Partnership	Paid Content

Posted By R6:31 AM

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Linux Command Directory

Basic Linux Commands

Command	Example	Description
cat		Sends file contents to standard output. This is a way to list the contents of short files to the screen. It works well with piping.
	cat .bashrc	Sends the contents of the ".bashrc" file to the screen.
cd		Change directory
	cd /home	Change the current working directory to /home. The '/' indicates relative to root, and no matter what directory you are in when you execute this command, the directory will be changed to "/home".
	cd httpd	Change the current working directory to httpd, relative to the current location which is "/home". The full path of the new working directory is "/home/httpd".
	cd ..	Move to the parent directory of the current directory. This command will make the current working directory "/home.
	cd ~	Move to the user's home directory which is "/home/username". The '~' indicates the users home directory.
cp		Copy files
	cp myfile yourfile	Copy the files "myfile" to the file "yourfile" in the current working directory. This command will create the file "yourfile" if it doesn't exist. It will normally overwrite it without warning if it exists.
	cp -i myfile yourfile	With the "-i" option, if the file "yourfile" exists, you will be prompted before it is overwritten.
	cp -i /data/myfile .	Copy the file "/data/myfile" to the current working directory and name it "myfile". Prompt before overwriting the file.
	cp -dpr srcdir destdir	Copy all files from the directory "srcdir" to the directory "destdir" preserving links (-p option), file attributes (-p option), and copy recursively (-r option). With these options, a directory and all it contents can be copied to another directory.
dd	dd if=/dev/hdb1 of=/backup/	Disk duplicate. The man page says this command is to "Convert and copy a file", but although used by more advanced users, it can be a very handy command. The "if" means input file, "of" means output file.
df		Show the amount of disk space used on each mounted filesystem.
less	less textfile	Similar to the more command, but the user can page up and down through the file. The example displays the contents of textfile.
ln		Creates a symbolic link to a file.
	ln -s test symlink	Creates a symbolic link named symlink that points to the file test Typing "ls -i test symlink" will show the two files are different with different inodes. Typing "ls -l test symlink" will show that symlink points to the file test.
locate		A fast database driven file locator.
	slocate -u	This command builds the slocate database. It will take several minutes to complete this command. This command must be used before searching for files, however cron runs this command periodically on most systems.
	locate whereis	Lists all files whose names contain the string "whereis".
logout		Logs the current user off the system.
ls		List files
	ls	List files in the current working directory except those starting with . and only show the file name.
	ls -al	List all files in the current working directory in long listing format showing permissions, ownership, size, and time and date stamp
more		Allows file contents or piped output to be sent to the screen one page at a time.
	more /etc/profile	Lists the contents of the "/etc/profile" file to the screen one page at a time.
	ls -al |more	Performs a directory listing of all files and pipes the output of the listing through more. If the directory listing is longer than a page, it will be listed one page at a time.
mv		Move or rename files
	mv -i myfile yourfile	Move the file from "myfile" to "yourfile". This effectively changes the name of "myfile" to "yourfile".
	mv -i /data/myfile .	Move the file from "myfile" from the directory "/data" to the current working directory.
pwd		Show the name of the current working directory
	more /etc/profile	Lists the contents of the "/etc/profile" file to the screen one page at a time.
shutdown		Shuts the system down.
	shutdown -h now	Shuts the system down to halt immediately.
	shutdown -r now	Shuts the system down immediately and the system reboots.
whereis		Show where the binary, source and manual page files are for a command
	whereis ls	Locates binaries and manual pages for the ls command.

Posted By R8:33 AM

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Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos (Gt-B5512)

 

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos (Gt-B5512)

 

Samsung GALAXY-Y-PRO-DUOS-GT-B5512 is a GSM phone. Samsung GALAXY-Y-PRO-DUOS-GT-B5512, a SmartPhone mobile comes with a great list of features. Samsung GALAXY-Y-PRO-DUOS-GT-B5512 price is optimal and it is a great buy

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos (Gt-B5512) Features & Specifications

Sales Package

Battery Charger User manual Warranty card

Dimensions

Length	110.8 mm
Width	63.5 mm
Thickness	11.9 mm
Weight	112.3 gm

Memory

Internal Memory	512 MB ROM, 384 MB RAM
Memory Card Type	microSD
Extensible Memory	up to 32GB

Power Management

Battery	Li-Ion
Talk Time	Up to 9 hrs
Standby Time	Up to 528 hrs
Capacity	1350 mAh

Connectivity

Bluetooth	Available
Wi-Fi	Available
3G	Available
USB Connector	Available
GPRS	Available

Display

Keypad	Available
Touch Screen	Available
QWERTY	Available
Display Type	TFT
Resolution	320 x 240 pixels
Number of Colors	256K
Display Size	2.6 Inch

Voice Features

Voice Dial	Available
Loud Speaker	Available

Camera

Type	MegaPixel
MegaPixel	3.15 MP
Recording	Available

Multimedia

FM Radio	Available
Music Player	Available
Video Player	Available
Music Formats	MP3/WAV/eAAC+
Video Formats	MP4/WMV/H.264
Video Recording	Available
Ringtones	MP3

Applications

Google Search Maps Gmail YouTube Calendar Google Talk Picasa integration

Messaging Features

SMS	Available
MMS	Available
Email	Available

Warranty

1 Year Manufacturer Warranty

Personal Information Management

Organizer Image/video editor Document viewer Voice memo/dial Predictive text input

Special Features

Java Enabled	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
Android OS	Available
OS Version	v2.3 (Gingerbread)
Dual Sim	Available
Processor	832 MHZ
Bluetooth Version	3.0

....................................................................................................................................................................

Samsung Star 3 Duos S5222

Samsung Star 3 Duos is the successor of the Samsung Star Duos and Star 2 phones. The Star 3 Duos comes with a 3inch wide display. It allows users to keep two lines in a single handset and maintain two accounts. Managing billing plans is simple with the Star 3 Duos. It is an upgraded version hence applications like multimedia messaging, group chat and buddies is much more fun with the Samsung Star 3 Duos. It measures 102.00 x 58.00 x 11.5mm and weighs 95gm. Powered by a 1000 mAh battery, the phone offers up to 14hrs talk time and up to 520hrs stand by time.
The entertainment option in the Samsung Star 3 Duos begins with the user friendly display that allows prime viewing. Capturing lifes special moments is simple with the 3.15 MP camera. You may also enjoy good music on the go with the built-in music player that comes with the 3.5mm audio jack to plug in ear phones and portable speakers. You may store so much more with the Micro SD type memory card which allows up to 32 GB of memory.
Social networking enthusiasts have a special reason to rejoice as SNS sites namely Facebook and Twitter are included as native applications. Samsung Star 3 Duos also includes instant messaging options on Chat ON, Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk and Facebook Chat. Samsung Star 3 Duos is packed with innovative applications. If you are a Samsung fan, its time you upgraded to the Samsung Star 3 Duos for a never before user experience.

Samsung Star 3 Duos S5222 Features & Specifications

Sales Package

Battery Charger Handsfee Warranty card

Dimensions

Length	102 mm
Width	58 mm
Thickness	11.5 mm
Weight	95 gm

Memory

Internal Memory	20 MB
Memory Card Type	MicroSD
Extensible Memory	Up to 32 GB

Power Management

Battery	Standard Li-Ion
Capacity	1000 mAh

Connectivity

Bluetooth	Yes, v3.0 with A2DP
USB Connector	Yes, microUSB v2.0
GPRS	Available
Edge	Available
WLAN	Available

Display

Touch Screen	Available
Display Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen
Size	3.0 Inch
Resolution	240 x 320 pixels
Colors	256K

Camera

Type	MegaPixel
MegaPixel	3.15 MP
Resolution	2048x1536 pixels

Multimedia

FM Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
Music Formats	MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC+ player
Video Formats	H.263/H.264/MP4 player
Loudspeaker	Available
Ringtones	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
3.5mm jack	Available

Call Management

Phonebook	Yes, Photocall
Call records	Available

Messaging Features

SMS	Yes, Threaded view
MMS	Available
Email	Available
IM	Available

Warranty

1 Year Manufacturer Warranty

Personal Information Management

Posted By R7:34 AM

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