Yes seriously, Microsoft should start watching out for new application startups. Defend Microsoft and IE how you may but clearly the younger demographics are rebelling against their older counterparts in more ways than personal style alone.

As a service whose sole purpose is to track the applications that people actually use on their systems… The data comes from the over 75,000 Wakoopa users that have installed the desktop tracking software to enable the company to see actual usage. These users have logged over 525 million hours of app usage, across over 200,000 apps.

Some key trends in the report:

• Social networking usage tends to peak between 9 and 10 PM.
• Facebook, the most popular social network, usage is pretty constant throughout the day.
• Other web apps tend to peak at between 4 and 5 PM.
• Google Chrome is growing quickly, and is now past 15% usage across all Wakoopa users.

But some of Wakoopa’s charts in the report contain even more interesting information. For example,…

• Mozilla’s Firefox browser… is the number one app on both Windows and Mac platforms.
• And in every continent besides Africa, it’s over 60% usage among web browsers
• In Africa it’s (Firefox) still at 50%.
• Africa is the only continent where Internet Explorer finishes as the second most-used browser.
• On every other continent, IE is in third place among browsers — or worse.

While that may sounds a bit ridiculous given that IE is still by far the biggest browser worldwide in terms of market share, that has to be very troubling for Microsoft as it’s probably safe to assume that a lot of Wakoopa users are early adopters of technology and could signal a trend of where things could go for the general population in the coming years.

Also not a good sign for Microsoft: The older you are, the more likely you are to use IE.

• In the youngest age group, 11 to 20 year olds, even smaller browsers like Opera beat it.
• IE has been losing market share at a steady pace for the past several years.

More insights…

• Google products dominate the top-used web apps.
• Gmail is #2, YouTube is #3, Google Search is #4 and Google Reader is #5.
• YouTube and Gmail would be ahead of Google Search,
• Because people use their built-in search toolbars rather than Google.com to start searches.

Regardless, Facebook trumps them all.

(via: Virology.TV)

(Found via: SixRevisions)

There isn’t much to explain why this is an especially important share. But for colleagues not already in the loop, music is integral in our product portfolio. We run 8 radio websites, music charts are key parts of these portals, song downloads will be available if not already, mobile music is the defacto keyword in Asian music distribution, and lastly, entertainment is big in our digital product plays.

Again, I have broken it up into 2 parts – Most Beautiful 5, and the rest of the other 25. Beauty = function and aesthetics.

The Top 5

Last.fm

Gigotron

just hear !t

LyricSift

iLike

13 tips for making ideas happen. From Behance’s 99% conference. Because Ideas are 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.

Best of Behance’s 99% Conference: 13 Tried and True Practices For Making Ideas Happen | Fast Company:

1. Keep a notebook.
Bierut started this practice in 1992, and now has 86 of the things. But they’re not some fancy Moleskins full of lush watercolor sketches. They’re plain vanilla notebooks, filled with, well, notes and the occasional sketch. They seem to work as well as the high-priced spread.

2. Listen first, then design.
Actually, you don’t have to be a designer to take this advice. If you’re selling office paper at Dunder Mifflin, or pitching an account at Sterling Cooper, listening is still a good way to get a project off on the right foot.

3. Don’t avoid the obvious.
The obvious can be your best friend. There are few new ideas, folks. Mostly just better iterations of the old ones. Trying to reinvent the wheel too often just results in a lot of wheel spinning.

4. The problem contains the solution.
Read the brief or the specs, or actually pay attention to your notes from the client meeting (see #1, above.) Often, the solution is right there.

5. Indulge your obsessions.
They’re passion made tangible.

6. Love is the answer.
There are worse things than leading with your heart. As Bierut has proven, you’ll often be successful, do great work, and probably make money. And you’ll likely be happy.

7. Don’t let the urgent demands of today always subvert your plans for tomorrow.
In other words, don’t let the often trivial demands of an overflowing inbox consistently distract you from the more important items on your to-do list. Along those lines, keep two lists: one of daily tasks, the other of longer term projects with specific action items attached. – Scott Belsky, CEO, Behance

8. Don’t underestimate the importance of staying organized.
Chaos subverts progress. Creativity x organization = impact – Belsky

9. Hang around people who are passionate about things.
Their enthusiasm will rub off on you. Whom you hang out with really matters. – Jason Randal, theorist on developing expertise

10. Hire the best lawyers.
“I’ve met many people who run billion-dollar companies. They aren’t that smart. They hire good lawyers. It’s one of the things that made this project happen.” Robert Hammond, Co-founder, Friends of the High Line.

11. Share ideas liberally.
If you share things quickly, you’ll be more accountable.

12. Surround yourself with people who motivate you, and write things down.
Something as large as a presidential campaign was done simply by checking items off a to-do list. – Scott Thomas, design director, Obama for America

13. Nothing trumps hard work.
“Many successful people don’t want to talk about how hard they work. Even when you’ve made it, you’ve got to keep working.” – Jill Greenberg, photographer

(via: FastCompany)

From source WebDesignerDepot, is a collection of 50 excellent corporate web designs. I’ve reviewed them and categorised them further into 5 of the best, and then the rest. Some obvious design trends of 2008 and 2009:

• Large image headers are a key part of the the design. Like LARGE.
• Image headers state clearly that one item that the company do. ONE.
• There is always a product showcase, demo or a walk through of a product or products.
• Large typography is in trend.
• Dark is in.

Know of any more beautiful corporate website designs? Please do share or join the discussion.

(Source: WebDesignerDepot)

The Top 5

What I find interesting about the data below is not the numbers and figures. But oh boy, are they high. It’s the Alexa ranking. Check these out – Facebook at 1.45 million users is ranked #5 while QQ with 376 million (yikes!) users is #17. Can anyone enlighten me on Alexa’s algorithm?

Chinese Social Networks ‘Virtually’ Out-Earn Facebook And MySpace: A Market Analysis: While companies like Facebook struggle to conquer market share in China and to create viable business models everywhere, their Chinese clones have built lucrative cash machines literally earning billions of dollars a year. Unfortunately, adopting Chinese methods may not help American social networks due both to cultural differences in Chinese user behavior and industry practices.

(via: TechCrunch)