I came across an interesting post a few days ago on how the Android operating system parallels (or even imitates) Windows. No, we’re not talking about from an interface perspective — but rather how the Android ecosystem is in a bit of mess, much like the Windows ecosystem and the complex relationships that Microsoft and Google have with hardware suppliers.

I’m not sure the parallel is entirely accurate — since with Windows, the hardware manufacturer is no providing a customized version of Windows (which is usually the hold up for delivering new Android versions — the hardware manufacturer needs to build their own UI into the updated Android version).

The article actually spends more time talking about Apple than about Windows — and how Apple is better at providing updates to their mobile software. The problem with Android however, isn’t so much with Google’s lack of updates (Google’s actually been pushing out updates on a fairly regular basis — although they never really like to provide dates or changelogs). The problem with Android is that the hardware manufacturers have been given so much flexibility (which the article does mention) with what they’re going to do with the OS. Personally, I’d rather stick with stock Android — but I doubt Android would’ve been able to gobble up market share without Google providing OEMs with the ability to customize Android to such an extent.

Today we’ve got a great guest post from David Sumner from twago. This article lists some tips and tricks on how to conduct a successful online marketing campaign through twitter, and tells you how to work around the 140 character limit of tweets. Thanks David for the great guest post!

A successful twitter marketing campaign in 140 characters?

Due to the large twittersphere population (approx. 200 million), and of the ability to enable instant communication, twitter has become an integral part of online marketing. However, the key to a successful and exciting online marketing campaign through twitter can be constrained by the 140 character limit posed by tweets. The key to success therefore lies with a number of tools and features which can aid your twitter marketing campaign regardless of the 140 character limit.

Creativity and expressiveness:

The goal of a tweet is to communicate interesting, unique content in the shortest way possible. However, it is vital that you can communicate important campaign information, offers, promotions etc to your customers on twitter without breaking the 140 character limit. So how can you do this?

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