With products like the Powermat and Energizer’s IC Pad, there are plenty of uses for Inductive Charging with mobile devices.  In my mind, one unexplored location for this technology is the Kitchen centerpiece, the refrigerator.

Most of the time, the refrigerator is the location where notes, pictures, bills, and coupons are put on display. This results in an unending battle for space superiority. Wouldn’t this be a great location for a screen where you can wirelessly display all of your small items?

We’ve all seen the overly expensive refrigerators with small lcd panels built-in, from manufacturers like LG. They have failed to gain traction because watching tv on your refrigerator is, for the lack of a better word, stupid. But the need for displaying other types of data is a very good use if a display. And most of us probably have purchased a digital picture frame at some point, but have struggled to find the perfect place to utilize the news, weather, stocks, and Facebook (Social Media) possibilities of this kind of platform.

The answer is, integrate both uses in the refrigerator.  If appliance manufacturers would place an Inductive Charging location on the front door, manufacturers of electronic equipment (like photo frames) could start making devices to place on the front of their refrigerator.  That way, they could wirelessly write notes, place reminders, update their social media status, show pictures, and get news.  And what’s great about it is, they can switch between devices on-the-fly, as they desire.  And as the technology improves, they can replace the less expensive external devices more frequently, since the appliance is a less often upgraded purchase.

I’m looking forward to see what’s in store at CES in Las Vegas.

David Kirkpatrick is the author of — “The Facebook Effect.” I first met David at Pivot in NYC a few months ago — where he was fielding a number of questions about Facebook from the live audience. Kirkpatrick is one of the most knowledgeable authors on Facebook so his insights in this particular story are noteworthy.

There has been a world-wind of rumors this week about Google’s possible acquisition of Groupon. In case you are unfamiliar with the company — Groupon is a Chicago based company founded by Andrew Mason; in 2008. The company features daily discounts on the stuff to do, buy and eat. You can take a quick look at the video below to get a better understanding of the companies operations.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/12825301[/vimeo]

There is no doubt that Groupon is currently a hot commodity — especially with a $1 billion dollar evaluation earlier this year. Secondarily, the company is growing:

• 1,000 people working in the Chicago headquarters
• a growing office in Palo Alto, CA
• regional offices in Europe and Latin America and local account executives in many cities
• providing discounts in 300 markets and 35 countries

Groupon most certainly looks like the company to buy — especially since the company has so many local assets. Unfortunately, as Kirkpatrick point outs:

The barriers to entry in this business are extremely minimal, as is evidenced by the 150 or so copycat companies that are already operating around the country. And Groupon does have substantial competition, notably LivingSocial…

So is it worth Google purchasing Groupon for the rumored $5.3 – $6 billion dollars? What makes the purchase a harder pill to swallow is that Groupon does a large part of its business on Facebook. Google and Facebook have become mortal enemies. Why would Google consider purchasing a company that is so close to the enemy? It would seem a poor purchase decision for Google?

Analysts say the Google wants the local advertising market — badly — which is a coveted asset for the search giant. Why do you think Google wants Groupon so badly?

Source: The Daily Beat

Many of us are focused on Facebook’s 1:00 PM (EST) press conference, today. The company has invited a handful of press to the event but very little more than that has been made publicly available. There is some speculation on what Zuckerberg will be discussing. According to the NYT — Facebook will announce that the company is launching an email service.

Does this make sense for Facebook? I think that this move make a great deal of sense for the six-year-old company. Facebook has built an impressive list of accomplishments:

• over 500 million active users
• people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
• the average user is connected to 80 community pages
• more than 550,000 active applications currently on the Facebook Platform
• the launch of Places — location-based functionality

Facebook is not simply the 800 pound gorilla — they are massive intimate communications platform. Now they will add email services to the list (that is the rumor). My speculation is that the email service will be used to weave all of Facebook’s services together. In essence the company will create a unified communications system for its active users. As I mentioned above there are 550, 000 applications on Facebook — that can take advantage of this new feature.

“All of the e-mail vendors should be worried – Google, Yahoo, MSN,” said Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst with the Altimeter Group, who was not briefed on Facebook’s plans. “All of those platforms have been trying to add social networking features to their services.”

I do think that companies such as Google should worry. The Facebook email service should not be considered a Gmail-killer — simply stiff competition. Gmail did not kill Hotmail and that is the largest email service in the world — for now.

Windows Live Hotmail is the world’s largest web-based email service with nearly 364 million users.

-Comscore, August 2010

(Source: The Washington Post)

Yesterday Microsoft invited us to a private preview of Kinect for XBOX 360 — at the beautiful MPE Penthouse. Now we have been invited to a handful of private previews this past year. What made last night such a pleasure was being able to see a very polished Kinect sensor. We were met by a handful of Microsoft Entertainment and Devices representatives — they were very eager to show off all the refined features. Throughout the salon Microsoft had a number of Kinect stations setup for demonstration. We started off the night with Video Kinect.

Microsoft explained that XBOX movies can be accessed either through NetFlix or Zune – which supports 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound. The Kinect philosophy is – “a controller free experience.” So after a number of hand gestures Harry Potter begins to play. As the movie starts you immediately see a scroll bar pop up. This scroll bar is controlled by simple hand gestures – which allow you to stop, fast forward, play and rewind a movie. It was impressive to watch how easy and accurate the sensor was.

Please ready the rest at the Huffington Post.

I was invited to a private Project Natal sneak peek. The event was held at the beautiful EZ Studios in New York City. I met with a member Project Natal product team. She gave us a brief explanation of the Natal vision and gave us only a few technical details:

• RBG camera
• depth camera
• Current games will not be compatible with Natal

Read more at The Huffington Post…

In the new line of products unveiled this week (M580, Playsport Video Camera, Pulse Digital Frame, SLICE, Z981, and new printers), the 14MP Kodak Slice Touchscreen Compact Digital Camera displays the next evolution in that pursuit.  The team at Kodak is always reinventing itself, and this camera is an indication that they are looking ahead.  This model is taking a shot right across the bow of the $349.00 10MP Sony Cyber-shot® Digital Camera TX1.   Kodak’s Share and Tagging functions (Facebook, Kodak Gallery, Flickr, and YouTube), the 2GB of on-board storage, 3.5″ LCD, plus the 14 megapixel sensor, spells bad news for Sony.

…more here.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (or NORAD) was founded on May 12, 1958. It is a joint venture between Canada and the United States. It’s primary mandate is the defense of these two countries by way of air sovereignty and aerospace warning. Cheyenne Mountain – located in Colorado Springs, Colorado is home to NORAD. The design of this facility is most notably unique in that it is housed 2,000 feet into the Cheyenne Mountain. Apart from the defense of Canada and the United States, NORAD also is responsible for tracking one of the most protected national treasures – Santa Clause.

For over 50 years NORAD has been tracking Santa’s Christmas Eve flight. The tradition began in 1955 when Sears misprinted Santa’s phone number in one of its’ advertisements. The phone number was not to Santa but to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD); which is the predecessor to NORAD. So children were calling and in the spirit of Christmas, CONAD  gave the children updates as to where Santa was.

Decades later the tradition continues. NORAD volunteers to personally respond to Christmas Eve phone calls (877-446-6723) and emails (noradtrackssanta@gmail.com). Today, we can also track Santa’s whereabouts from the NORAD Tracks Santa web site. You can also follow NORAD on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on where Santa’s whereabouts. So go ahead and track Santa – enjoy the experience with your family and I wish you Merry Christmas.

New York’s Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act, (e-STOP) is focused on the prevention of sex crimes against minors who access social networking sites. e-STOP would authorize NY to provide companies with user names, e-mail addresses and Internet providers – for all registered sex offenders. e-STOP now gives these companies the authority to bar access to Internet services and advise government entities, including law enforcement of any potential threats to public safety.

Facebook and MySpace have already used e-STOP to remove NY sex offenders. Following their lead 13 more social networking sites of done the same. The 13 sites are BlackPlanet.com, Yahoo’s Flickr.com, AOL’s Bebo.com, Flixster.com, Classmates.com, Fotolog.com, Hi5.com, MyLife.com, Multiply.com, are Google’s Orkut.com, Tagged.com, Imeem.com and Stickam.com.

“The country’s most popular social networking sites have taken an important step in making the Internet safer by using e-STOP to purge sex offenders from their sites. That some companies are continuing to ignore the e-STOP database is not only inexcusable, it is potentially dangerous,” Andrew Cuomo was stated as saying.

As a parent, I give thanks to these 15 sites. I give thanks because we are all part of this new digital community. The community is vast and dynamic – making it very difficult for even the most astute parent, to keep their children safe from harm. There is nothing more vile than the harm that these convicted sex offenders can do – to our children, families and communities. Why would companies purposely ignore e-STOP is ” not only inexcusable” but “it is potentially dangerous.”

For some time now Facebook has been under pressure, from various groups, to provide better security for its’ 350 million members. Facebook, intimately understands that it lives in and services a dynamic digital community. As such, it is charged with protecting the digital citizens – keeping its’ members safe. This is a fairly daunting task even for the Social Networking Goliath - Facebook.

Facebook understands that it does not have all the answers and that it must tap industry experts for assistance. Facebook has reached out to the digital community and asked The Family Online Safety Institute, Common Sense Media, Childnet International, WiredSafety and ConnectSafely - to become members of Facebook’s global Safety Advisory Board. The advisory board is an international mix of experts from North America and Europe. One of the first initiatives for the safety board is to retool the safety information that is available on Facebook’s Help Center. My hopes are that the Safety Advisory Board spend considerable time addressing Cyber-bullying.

It’s great to see this level of commitment from Facebook. As a parent and brother to two teenagers I am concerned about online safety. I constantly tell parents that the Internet is not a bad place but that there are bad people out there. It’s our responsibility as parents and digital citizens to be responsible for safety. Knowing that the Facebook Safety Advisory Board is taking an active role in keeping us safe – lets’ me know that I have an authoritative resource to engage if I have questions or concerns.

Richard Allan, Facebook’s Director of European Public Policy, explains that improving safety is a community effort – whether by reporting abusive behavior or making sure account passwords are kept secure. Here is Allan’s “Working Together for Online Safety” post.

To be honest with you, I have never really cared much for the Roku player or Netflix for that matter. I am able to get all my content through Hulu, Boxee, XBOX Live Market place and Verizon FIOS. I was not about to add a 5th gadget to my video consumption pleasure. I am not going to lie – it would be grand if I could pair down the gadgets too 1 or 2 devices and stop giving Verizon FIOS so much money every month. I have not had any real luck or faith in any one device – that is until Roku’s announcement of its’ new service. Today Roku, announced its’ Channel Store.

The store has thirteen channels and they fall into three categories:

Featured

• NetFlix
• Pandora
• MLB.com
• Amazon Video

Free

• MotionBox
• Mediafly
• Blip.tv
• Twit.TV
• Facebook Photos
• Revision3
• FrameChannel Flickr
• MobileTribe
• Pandora

Premium

• NetFlix
• Amazon Video
• MLB.com

The Channel Store will be similar to the ever popular mobile phone app stores. The Store will be rolled out over the next few weeks and more channels will be added between now and the Consumer Electronics Show in January. What would be fantastic is if one of those channels were to be a Hulu channel. In any event, Roku enters an already competitive space – it has to contend with the likes of XBOX, PS3, Boxee and Hulu. Now, Roku does have one major advantage – price. The cheapest Roku will run you $79.99.

I am fairly excited about the Channel Store – this may actually force me to pick up a Roku player.  In my opinion, due to price and number of channels, the Roku player warrants a space on your gift list.