What’s more, Goby, a search and discovery engine, counts nearly  500,000 users as of the 1Q2011 — a figure Goby said was on track to reach one million by 4Q2011. Firs and foremost, Goby is a search engine for finding places to go and things to do there. Every part of it is designed to fit that need, a singular focus on a niche that makes Goby a powerful alternative search engine. Mark: Well, Goby is not just a vertical search engine. We are rapidly becoming a search, discovery, social and recommendation engine. In fact, it’s just starting. MORE >>

From job creation driven by companies that must scale up to meet massive demand, to an avalanche of opportunity unleashed as enterprises contract apps to boost productivity, support marketing and improve customer service, apps are emerging the growth engine of new and vibrant economy. Months of research, hard work and teamwork enter a new stage today as I deliver the final manuscript to the team at Adams Media for a new kind of app book ebook that equips developers, small businesses and brands with the business basics they need to produce and market mobile apps. Open for everyone. MORE >>

But that drags the consumer into another search and — essentially — they have to tell the search engine what they want to get the right answer. Our search engine will tell you the cookies are in this section of this aisle and specialty cookies are in this section of this aisle and cookie dough is in this section of this aisle. From mobile codes (specifically, barcodes) to mobile coupons, companies are enlarging their arsenal of capabilities to capture our attention while we shop. “So marketing has to influence that moment,&# Joe said. What does Aisle 411 do? MORE >>

Thanks to companies like Nuance Communications — which is also the speech-recognition engine behind Siri, the virtual personal assistant on the Apple iPhone — we are rapidly moving toward a voice-enabled future. Vlad is betting traditional search will “fall by the way side” because we don’t really need a powerful search engine that has indexed the whole Web just to access a restaurant review from Yelp, for example. Voice — speech recognition and natural language understanding — are poised to transform our daily lives and disrupt all industries — not just mobile. MORE >>

In fact, our requirement for human input and judgment is driving search engine giants to adopt new approaches and make way for new people-powered search schemes that effectively infuse human preferences into computer algorithms to deliver truly relevant results, not just search-optimized web destinations. Indeed, 2010 has turned out to be the year for multi-screen content services and – more importantly – for multi-purpose applications and solutions that allow consumers to call the shots. Center stage. The last months have seen a slew of apps from companies across the ecosystem. MORE >>