Unable to process all of the résumés it receives—over 100,000 monthly—Google has designed a mathematical algorithm to take care of the first round of candidate sifting. The automated formula questions possible employees about their attitudes, behavior, personality or background details. This according to an article in the New York Times, which cites the existence of a barrage of 300 questions such as “What pets do you have?” This question is more important than it would seem, given that in its code of conduct Google defines itself as a dog company. The software rates answers on a scale of 0 to 100 and analyzes how well the new employee would fill the position being sought and fit into the Google company culture.

The Internet has simplified the process of sending résumés, which has in turn led to a notable increase in the volume of applications received by companies. To try and sift through the thousands of résumés it receives, Google has opted for designing a tool that automates the process to the maximum.

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Title: Digital Music Report 2007
Source: International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)
Date: January 17, 2007
Abstract: 2006 was a good year for the digital music business, with trade revenues doubling to reach $2 billion. However, these results did not offset the fall in compact disc sales, a market which saw an overall decline of 3% during the past year.
Accordingly, John Kennedy, president of the IFPI, has called upon governments and judges to take actions allowing for ground to be gained in the fight against piracy. However, this is not the only problem. Despite the fact that subscription music services such as Rhapsody, Napster and eMusic last year experienced a 25% growth, that progress could run into some obstacles due to the incompatibility between digital music players.
Meanwhile, the success of social networking sites such as MySpace and YouTube has spurred industry interest in developing new business models.
In Spain, digital music trade accounted for 22 million euros, a figure that represents 6% of the total national music market. The IFPI report predicts that 2007 will be a crucial year for mobile music, especially in the case of the US. Nevertheless, in Europe this market is slower to develop due to the high price of connections and the fact that 3G technology is not yet widespread in some countries. At the other end of the scale is Japan, where mobile phone downloads account for 90% of the country’s digital music sales.

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The online video market continues to grow. According to data from eMarketer, by late 2006 over 107 million people in the US had watched videos on the Internet and it is expected that by 2010 the figure will surpass 150 million people. In light of these forecasts, companies are starting to add online video to their array of marketing tools. With minimal investment—compared to what TV ads cost—advertisers get considerable visibility as well as more emotional and direct communication with consumers. This is the case with Coca-Cola, Unilever and PepsiCo. The latter ran a contest to promote its Doritos brand at the Super Bowl in which consumers created their own ads in the form of online videos.
But it is not just with marketing where companies are capitalizing on the power of this channel. Some such as Google, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Nordstrom use online videos as a means to recruit new employees while others, such as Cisco Systems, use it as an internal communication tool, thereby proportioning greater control over its content. As with corporate blogs, it is important that the company be committed to transparency. If not, it could generate negative reactions among consumers and a loss of confidence in the brand.

Articles in Business Week
Study in eMarketer (payment service)

The 40th annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2007), held this January, highlighted the importance of digital entertainment for the growth of the worldwide consumer electronics industry. Mobile telephones, personal computers, video consoles, multimedia devices and, above all, flat-screen LCD and plasma televisions. The latter will gross $26 billion during 2007 in the US alone, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, the organizer of the event held annually in Las Vegas.
Among the stars of this year’s show were: device convergence; Windows Vista, the new operating system from Microsoft; and the DVD war, namely the strategies for facing the existence of two different formats, Sony’s Blu-ray and Toshiba’s HD DVD.
Meanwhile, shifting to the MacWorld stage in San Francisco, Apple president Steve Jobs officially introduced his company’s iTV, which allows the user to view computer content on the television set and, more importantly, the iPhone, a mobile phone with which the company is hoping to repeat its iPod success, which equates to an 80% market share in the US.

Report in El País
Images and videos CES 07
Official website of CES 07

By Christelle Sapata, research assistant of e-Business Center PwC&IESE Adopting mobile technology within a company requires a solid plan for design and implementation, a firm commitment from upper management, choosing the areas that could bring the most immediate benefits and reducing organizational and cultural hindrances.

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Digital convergence vs. digital divergence will be the central theme of the 12th edition of “La Nit de les Telecomunicacions” (Telecommunications Night), which will be held on March 8 at the Palace of Congresses of Catalonia. The event, organized by the telecommunications engineer’s association of Catalonia (COETC) and backed by the collaboration of the e-Business Center PwC&IESE, will be an ideal forum for experts and professionals from the sector to debate on digital convergence from different points of view: the boundaries between information and participation, potential technology-related solutions and user value, among others.

More information (In Spanish)