Here's some good news for brand marketers: In five years, you might be the ones holding your company's technology pursestrings.

According to recent findings from Gartner, by 2017 the chief marketing officer will be responsible for more technology spending than the chief information officer. A comparison of IT and Marketing department budgets for 2011 shows that Marketing is around a 10 percent share of revenue vs. a 3.6 percent share of revenue for IT, according to Gartner. Whereas Marketing departments expect their average budget to increase about 9 percent, the average increase for IT departments will be about 4.7 percent.

Marketing departments have become big spenders on technology, driven by the need to track interactions and buying activity by customers across many channels. Customers now have many ways of interacting with a company — by phone, mail, and online. Increasingly, they're using mobile devices and social media, not just for personal reasons, but to conduct business.Continue reading...

Turns out that maybe American drivers are more sensible than either the U.S. government or automakers give them credit for. New research shows that when it comes to "infotainment" and "telematics" in cars, auto owners are much more interested in Point-A-to-Point-B applications such as navigation than they are in making sure they can feed their Twitter account from the driver's seat.

Mobile applications are encroaching in the vehicle — look at Ford's Sync voice-activated technology, Hyundai's Blue Link, GM's OnStar, the Mercedes-Benz "iPhone on wheels" concept and Apple's iOS 6 announcement that it's integrating Siri voice recognition as an "eyes-free" (from the device, not the road) digital sherpa. Look for Siri voice command buttons on the steering wheels of upcoming vehicles from nine automakers: Land Rover/Jaguar, BMW, GM, Mercedes, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, and Honda. (Update: the news took at least one of the auto brands by surprise — Fast Company reports that Chrysler wasn't aware of being included in Apple's announcement.)

But for all the push of technology and connectivity into the passenger seat, consumers don't want Facebook and Twitter integrated into the driving experience, nor are they looking for a Zooey Deschanel-style chat about adding reminders or what to listen to (sorry, Siri).Continue reading...

A year ago, it was referred to as the “Google Phone.” Today, Android is gaining in brand recognition and accelerated adoption by cellular manufacturers and providers. Can Android-based devices topple the competition -- the iPhone in particular, popular but plagued by complaints about exclusive partner AT&T's coverage -- and gain market share?

Introduced last fall on the T-Mobile network and G1 handset, Android was a mere babe in the woods. Now, as Verizon launches a major campaign for their Droid phone, every major carrier in the United States has begun to, or agreed to, carry Android phones. Android fever is catching on.

Manufacturers are following suit quickly, and the rumor mill is working overtime on who will be next to release an Android device. Most notably, Motorola has dropped the Windows Mobile operating system in favor of Android. Motorola, manufacturer of Verizon's Droid, is confident in the ability of Android to win market share, and plans to carry the operating system on at least 30% of their products in 2010.Continue reading...