Only a few hours into its general release, Mozilla’s Firefox 3.5 is already approaching one million downloads. As of 10:22 PST, Firefox 3.5 had been downloaded 741,417 times. How do we know this? Because Mozilla has launched a real-time tracker, where you can see exactly how many times the browser has been downloaded.

Additionally, you can also see how many downloads there have been by country, the current number of downloads per second, and how download activity is trending. So far, the new browser has been downloaded the most by users in the US, Germany, France, and the UK.

While that is a huge start, it seems unlikely that the launch will match that of Firefox (Firefox) 3.0, which saw 8 million downloads in its first 24 hours. That’s not surprising given all of the hype for 3.0, but nonetheless shows the huge enthusiasm that Firefox fanatics still have for the browser.

Photo above: Apple unveiled 40 million devices sold

Apple has just announced yet another milestone for its popular App Store: 50,000 applications are now available in the store. The announcement was made at the WWDC event in San Francisco, alongside the news that Apple has sold some 40 million iPhones and iPod touches.

This follows Apple hitting its 1 billionth app download in April 23 2009, and 35,000 apps available later that month. The significance of the milestone (besides just the 1 billion mark) is that it’s taken only nine months from when the App Store launched on iTunes to hit 1 billion paid and unpaid downloads.

The Apple platform shows no sign of slowing down and that’s bad news for rivals, including the new Palm Pre, which launched on 6/6/2009 with about 49,981 fewer apps.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach all these users, subscribe to 2020 CALL service.

Photo above: New iPhone 3G S with video, voice control, spotlight search, and compass features

Apple unveiled a new iPhone today at its Worldwide Developers Conference held in San Francisco, the iPhone 3G S — the “s” stands for speed. Although it looks almost exactly like the 3G, it’s much, much faster — some tasks are almost four times faster. Data speeds are upped to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and the camera is now a 3 megapixel unit with tap-to-autofocus and auto white balance — and just as expected, it now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features.

You’re also getting a built-in compass, Nike+ support, and a new battery that offers 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi internet use. There are some surprises, too — holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you do everything from make calls to control iTunes, and Apple’s touting a new “fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating.”

New and end-of-contract pricing is set at $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB when it goes on sale June 18th Stateside and in 80 more countries in August — and the current 8GB 3G will remain on sale for $99, effective immediately. You’ll have to pay a bit more if you’re mid-contract, though — $299 for the 3G and $399/$499 for the 3G S.

 We will be attending the ad:tech trade show from 4/21/09 -4/22/09, let’s meet up if you are there.

For all customers who subscribe to the 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service, your ad will be seen by additional millions of people starting today.  Your ad will be in the new AOL Classifieds section, part of the AOL Local Network, with a monthly reach of 54 million unique visitors.

About AOL Classifieds:

AOL has entered into the classified market place with the launch of AOL Classifieds that allows users to search through local listings for every Zip Code in the U.S., as well as post their own ads for free.

AOL Classifieds links users directly to classifieds listings on other properties within the AOL network including AOL Autos, AOL Jobs, AOL Personals, and AOL Real Estate.

“With the current economic climate, providing consumers with an easy way to buy and sell merchandise and services, or make local connections through classifieds is becoming even more important,” said Chris Spanos, General Manager, AOL Local and Specialty Verticals.

AOL Classifieds will be competing with more established services such as Craigslist and eBay’s Kijiji.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these potential customers, subscribe to 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service.

Forthcoming January traffic data will reportedly show that Google Maps has taken the lead from MapQuest as the top mapping site in the US.  According to comScore, MapQuest’s January monthly unique visitors were 41.5 million and Google’s were 42.2 million.

This is the first time that Google Maps has overtaken MapQuest.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these Google Maps users, subscribe to 2020 IYP service.

Photo: Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder Facebook

From the official Facebook Blog (Jan 7, 2009) and the owner himself:

A Great Start to 2009
by Mark Zuckerberg

Today, we reached another milestone: 150 million people around the world are now actively using Facebook and almost half of them are using Facebook every day. This includes people in every continent—even Antarctica. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria.

When we first started Facebook almost five years ago, most of the people using it were college students in the United States. Today, people of all ages—grandparents, parents and children—use Facebook in more than 35 different languages and 170 countries and territories.

The full potential of the web is to make the world more open, so everyone has a voice and can share what is important to them. With 150 million voices and counting, we can’t wait for the rest of 2009, and we look forward to offering even more ways for you to connect with the people who matter most.

Update: Facebook hits 175 million users in Feb, 2009.

JPMorgan’s Internet analyst Imran Khan and his team released a massive 340 page report titled Nothing But Net with Top 10 predictions for what 2009 holds in store for the technology industry.  J.P. Morgan’s predicts Yahoo and Microsoft will finally strike a search deal, video advertising on the Web isn’t working, retail bankruptcies could actually help e-commerce companies, and that M&A activity will pick up in the second half of 2009 (but the IPO market will be dead until 2010).  Some key takeaways:

—Bearish online video: Khan expects the accelerated shift to performance ads having a dampening effect on the growth of online video ads. Even in a series of downward revisions, online video ad growth still seemed poised for healthy gains this year. For example, at the end of November, eMarketer forecast online video growth of 44.9 percent, which was still nearly half of the 81 percent growth rate the researcher predicted for 2008. Khan believes that online video is headed for a considerable slowdown because one, it’s still reliant on the CPM model, as opposed to performance-based measurements like cost-per-click or cost-per-action based display. And unlike television, which still can count on advertisers to respond to CPMs, online video can’t guarantee viewership for any specific video the way TV does in the upfront model.  Plus, considering the unpredictability of popular videos, the uneven quality, and the continued battles over copyright, JP Morgan doesn’t expect online video to have great prospects for the next few years. However, Khan is intrigued by Google’s experiments with an e-commerce platform—i.e, performance-based model—for YouTube videos. For example, if a user watches a song featured in a music video, they can click on a link that lets them buy music directly Amazon and iTunes, with YouTube getting a cut of the revenue.

—Social nets need new approach: Looking at the projected slump in online ad sales for sites like Facebook and MySpace, JP Morgan strongly advises that online communities look for sources other than display for revenue. In particular, the report offers a few possible routes to profitability, including greater use of cost-per-action ads, lead gen, sales of virtual items, connecting to classifieds or e-commerce sites, and charging for premium membership, as LinkedIn and Classmates do.

—Mobile looks good long-term:  But as for the near-term, the long-awaited explosion for mobile ads will simply have to wait for a better economic environment—not to mention better phones and technology, Khan says.  Although mobile phone penetration is high at 84 percent in the U.S., the mobile search market is in the early adoption stage.  In Q108, only 15.6 percent of wireless subs were using mobile web, according to Nielsen Mobile data.  Even within this small subset of mobile internet users, usage drastically trails that on PCs. Nielsen Online says that a PC online user visits more than 100 domains per month, whereas mobile web users visit 6.4 individual sites per month, on average.

—M&As start slow, but gather steam in H209:  With last year’s total deal count down by 20 percent, according to a report last week from DeSilva + Phillips, JP Morgan anticipates continued coolness in the acquisitions area for at least the first six months of 2009. But things are likely to heat up in the second half of the year, assuming the economy begins to stabilize.

Many businesses, from leading global brands to favorite local bands, are enjoying tremendous impact using Facebook Pages for free viral marketing.  Check out some key strategies from the most successful businesses on Pages.

Facebook Pages Insider’s Guide

Download Facebook Pages Insider’s Guide (PDF)

Have you ever wanted to mark up Google search results? Maybe you’re an avid hiker and the trail map site you always go to is in the 4th or 5th position and you want to move it to the top. Or perhaps it’s not there at all and you’d like to add it. Or maybe you’d like to add some notes about what you found on that site and why you thought it was useful. Starting today you can do all this and tailor Google search results to best meet your needs.

Today Google is launching SearchWiki, a way for you to customize search by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting on search results. With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site. You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don’t feel belong. These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users. We store your changes in your Google Account. If you are wondering if you are signed in, you can always check by noting if your username appears in the upper right-hand side of the page.

The changes you make only affect your own searches. But SearchWiki also is a great way to share your insights with other searchers. You can see how the community has collectively edited the search results by clicking on the “See all notes for this SearchWiki” link.

Here is a demo video:

Jerry Yang will be stepping down as CEO of the company, a job that he took on an interim basis in June 2007.

Yang will return to his former role as Chief Yahoo, and will remain on the board of directors. The company has hired executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to find the new CEO.

This was an unavoidable event, and in our opinion Yang took too long to step down. In May it was clear that Yang’s heart was no longer in it, and he reconfirmed that last month at the Web 2.0 Summit. Under his watch the company has lost tens of billions of dollars in market cap and thousands of former Yahoo employees (and hundreds of execs) are now gone.

How much of the downfall was his fault? It’s impossible to say, except that he takes full responsibility for mishandling the Microsoft acquisition offer last February. One thing you have to love is Yang’s tenacity in keeping Yahoo an independent company at any cost. But what shareholders and employees need is a leader with an actual plan.

The press release:

Yahoo! Conducting Search for New CEO
Co-Founder Jerry Yang to Step Down Following Appointment of New CEO
and Return to Former Role as Chief Yahoo! and Board Member

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) –

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) today announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a search for a new Chief Executive Officer. Jerry Yang, co-Founder of Yahoo!, has decided to return to his former role as Chief Yahoo! upon the appointment of his successor as CEO, and he will also continue to serve on the Board. Yang, 40, assumed the CEO role at the Board’s request in June 2007, and he has led Yahoo! through a strategic repositioning and transformation of its platform.

Chairman Roy Bostock, working with the independent directors and in consultation with Jerry Yang, is leading the process of assessing potential candidates and determining finalists for consideration. The search will encompass both internal and external candidates, and the Board has retained Heidrick & Struggles, a leading international executive search firm, to assist in the process.

“Over the past year and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has led the repositioning of Yahoo! on an open platform model as well as the improved alignment of costs and revenues,” said Roy Bostock. “Jerry and the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level. We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo! as a key executive and member of the Board.”

“From founding this company to guiding its growth into a trusted global brand that is indispensible to millions of people, I have always sought to do what is best for our franchise,” said Jerry Yang. “When the Board asked me to become CEO and lead the transformation of the Company, I did so because it was important to re-envision the business for a different era to drive more effective growth. Having set Yahoo! on a new, more open path, the time is right for me to transition the CEO role and our global talent to a new leader. I will continue to focus on global strategy and to do everything I can to help Yahoo! realize its full potential and enhance its leading culture of technology and product excellence and innovation.”

For all our healthcare related customers who subscribe to the 2020 CALL service, your pay-per-call ad will be distributed to Healthcare.com, the leader in local healthcare provider search.

Starting today, 2020 Healthcare solutions customers will have the opportunity to connect with millions of consumers who use HealthCare.com Care Provider Search™ to find a local provider, including physicians, dentists, hospitals, and other providers of healthcare-related services.  HealthCare.com users will be able to connect with you (the advertiser) in a personal way via a real-time phone call.

The HealthCare.com Care Provider Search™, is a local directory tool that allows users to find health providers.  The Care Provider Search™ features over 1.3 million providers grouped in main categories such as, Mental Care, Pain Management, Eye Care, Dental Care, Cosmetic/Elective, Women & Fertility, Respiratory Care, Senior Care, Diabetes Care, Child Care, amongst others.  HealthCare.com users have the ability to search for a provider by category and specialty, name or with an interactive body/symptom animated tool.  Additionally, searches can be narrowed by insurance affiliation and geography.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach all these users, subscribe to 2020 CALL service.

For all our customers who subscribe to 2020 IYP service, your ad/company info will be display to all T-Mobile G1 users starting Oct 22, 2008 when the device launches.  The device is expected to sell between 250k to 450k units by end of 2008.

—-

In 2007, T-Mobile became a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, an initiative that is committed to greater openness in the mobile industry. T-Mobile supports increased openness because it will foster rapid innovation to best meet consumer demands.

The T-Mobile G1 with Google is the first commercially available phone to run on the ‘Android’ operating system, which empowers developers with tools to create and offer consumers applications that add values.  It will be the first major smart phone to use open-source technology and steps towards the open movement.

The handset works internationally and offers innovative features such as a scanner that allows consumers read product bar codes and compare prices online.  This would be great for consumers and further boost mobile e-commerce activities.

It features a 320×480 touch screen, a hidden QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, 3G, and an accelerometer. Integrated on the G1’s keyboard is a trackball for thumb-based navigation, and a 3-megapixel camera.

Finally, there is a dedicated Internet and phone search button, built-in Internet applications and access to thousands of applications via the new Android marketplace.

Price: $179 w/2 yr contract

Data plans: $25 per month for limited data, e-mail and text messages. $35 a month for unlimited data and messages.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these T-Mobile G1 users, subscribe to 2020 IYP service.

Google is launching its own browser named Chrome to battle against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer’s 75% market share.

Full review of Chrome V.S. IE 8 beta.

Photo: Google branded rocket

2020systems IYP customers will reach more customers starting September as Google is in a deal to purchase even higher resolution of satellite images to boost traffic to it’s Google Maps and Google Earth products.

Under the deal, Google is the exclusive online mapping site that may use the imagery.  The rocket with the 4,300-pound satellite is set to launch on Sep 4, 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  GeoEye-1 will orbit 423 miles above Earth, but it will be able to gather imagery with details the size of 41 centimeters.  Google, though, is permitted to use data only with a resolution of 50cm because of the terms of GeoEye’s license with the U.S. government.

“The GeoEye-1 satellite has the highest ground resolution color imagery available in the commercial marketplace and will produce high-quality imagery with a very accurate geolocation,” said Google spokeswoman Kate Hurowitz, adding that most commercial satellite imagery has a resolution of 60cm. “It is our goal to display high-resolution imagery for as much of the world as possible, and GeoEye-1 will help further that goal.”

Google’s current imagery in Google Earth spans a range of resolution, the coarsest being 15 square meters per pixel, which is only good enough to see larger geographic features.

Photo: Google got a sponsor logo on the side of this rocket, set to launch the GeoEye-1 imaging satellite on September 4 2008

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these Google Maps users, subscribe to 2020 IYP service.