Michael Boland
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Michael Boland is a Senior Analyst and Program Director with BIA/Kelsey, covering online and mobile media. He runs the BIA/Kelsey Blog and contributes to leading news sources such as Search Engine Watch, Huffington Post, and Mobile Marketer. Previously he worked as a journalist for business & tech publications including Forbes, Red Herring, and Business 2.0.

Blog Entries by Michael Boland

Apple's Mobile Payment Plans Come Into Focus

Posted November 16, 2011 | 14:21:58 (EST)

Last week, Apple announced a nifty new feature in its Apple Store app. Customers in its physical stores can fire up the app to scan a barcode with their smart phone, and pay for items through their iTunes account. For now it only applies to lower...

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Googorola One Week Later: What's it Really About?

Posted August 23, 2011 | 16:40:04 (EST)

We're about a week into the news and opinion cycle following Google's bid to acquire Motorola's Mobility group for $12.5 billion in cash. But lots of coverage has missed the point.

Moto's patent portfolio has been one area of focus,...

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Mayor of Galapagos: A Conversation With Foursquare

Posted February 16, 2011 | 15:27:50 (EST)

In television's early days, typical ads involved a guy standing in front of a camera smoking a Lucky Strike and reading a script. That's simply because it was done that way in the previous golden age: radio.

Early automobile...

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What Will a Post-"FMail" World Look Like?

Posted November 12, 2010 | 18:09:59 (EST)

The blogosphere is abuzz over what Facebook will launch during its announced press event in San Francisco Monday.

Few doubt that it will be a new email client. Rumors point to an internal "Project Titan", and Facebook spent most of this week...

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iPad: Is it a Computer or Mobile Device?

Posted April 1, 2010 | 14:15:00 (EST)

We're days from the awaited iPad release and the reviews are in from tech review titans Walt Mossberg and David Pogue. Reactions are mostly positive -- not a big surprise from the traditionally Mac-friendly Mossberg.

Not a product reviewer myself, I'm happy to defer to the...

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Apple and the Gadget Continuum: Where Will the iPad Fit?

Posted January 29, 2010 | 04:30:04 (EST)

In the past week, we've endured a lifetime of iPad conjecture, most of it before the device was even seen. Since its unveiling, the subject has been whether or not it's a viable device, a Kindle killer, or if Steve Jobs will be canonized by the Vatican.

...
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Nexus One: Not a Blockbuster, But Still a Big Deal

Posted January 14, 2010 | 17:17:12 (EST)

There's been lots of talk about Google's Nexus One falling short of expectations. Research firm Flurry indicated that the device's first week sales pale in comparison to those of the iPhone 3Gs, HTC MyTouch 3G, and Motorola Droid.

The Droid is perhaps the closest comparison in...

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Avoiding Head Injuries and Bad Dinner Guests: The Future of Mobile Search

Posted January 13, 2010 | 17:01:00 (EST)

With new smart phones and "superphones" pelting us from all angles, we're increasingly equipped to take the internet with us wherever we go. As these devices evolve, so are the ways that we search the web.

Specifically, we're seeing developments in search inputs that are more fitting...

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Happy Droid Day: Please Stop Saying "iPhone Killer"

Posted November 10, 2009 | 13:40:56 (EST)

November 6th has been well marked on the calendars of gadget geeks throughout the land. This of course is the public release of Motorola's Droid.

The mobile device runs on Verizon's network, and is the first to be powered by the newest release (v. 2.0) of Google's

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All the Blogging That's Fit to Print

Posted March 23, 2009 | 16:26:37 (EST)

It's always fun to look back on past decades' visions of the future -- especially when we're currently living out those actual periods. We didn't end up with the levitating cars, dreamed up in the 1950s; the imperialistic government of Orwell's 1984 (kind of); nor the spacecapades of Arthur C....

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Good Beer In Bad Times

Posted February 6, 2009 | 16:48:03 (EST)

As an analyst who covers local media and the small-business marketplace, I'm always trying to engage real-life businesses on how they're running their shops -- kind of my own little focus group.

This can get especially annoying for my friends who run local businesses. Lately these conversations have shifted to...

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