R.I.M. said Wednesday that after three days it was still trying to restore service for BlackBerry customers spanning five continents. Service interruptions began on Monday and initially effected BlackBerry owners in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. By Tuesday, the problem migrated to Brazil, India, Chile and Argentina. On Wednesday, problems were reported in North America. The failures left subscribers regions without access to BlackBerry’s instant messaging service, e-mail and the Web.

BlackBerry users took to Twitter to complain about outages, with many noting the irony in the BlackBerry interruptions coming the same day as Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone iOS5 launch. The iPhone 4S, which will be available on Friday, obliterated pre-order sales records.

Just how bad was it for BlackBerry? We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

BlackBerry buzz

Conversations around BlackBerry spiked to their highest point this month by far.

BlackBerry sentiment

Conversations around BlackBerry were an average of 75% positive throughout the month, but spiked to 83% negative today.

Nearly every major topic of conversation around BlackBerry was negative today. The word iPhone appeared in 11% of all BlackBerry conversations.

The interruptions could not have come at a worse time. The company has had a bad year. In its most recent quarter its revenues were 10% lower than a year before, at $4.2 billion. Its profit was down by more than half.

Can BlackBerry recover?

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011 kicked off in Las Vegas this week with several companies making major announcements along the themes of mobility, 3D and 4G with new TVs, cameras, phones and games. But the biggest buzz of the conference so far has been generated around tablets.

The iPad’s success in 2010 validated the market, opening the door for countless other companies to attempt to make a splash and try to become true competitors to Apple’s popular device.

We used Social Radar to run analysis on topics of conversation around CES this week. The word ‘tablet’ has appeared in 25% of CES posts, and 91% of the discussion around tablets has been positive.

CES Conversation Topic Cloud

Several companies made tablet announcements this week:

• Motorola debuted an Android Honeycomb tablet, the Xoom, a 1080p device running Android 3.0, a version of the OS built specifically for the tablet form factor. Android 3.0 is the first version of Android to have a full tablet interface variation different from the phones.
• Research in Motion (R.I.M.) will be offering a tablet called the BlackBerry PlayBook designed to completely integrate and synchronize with BlackBerry devices.
• Microsoft announced Windows-7 powered tablets. Several different versions offer unique features, including touchscreens, slide-out keyboards, dual-screen machines, stylus-friendly tablets and more.
• Samsung announced a new Sliding PC 7 which bridges the gap between netbook and tablet. The device is a 0.78 inch thick touchscreen tablet that transforms into a netbook when you reveal its slide-out keyboard hidden underneath. In addition, Samsung also added an LTE modem and upgraded camera to its Galaxy Tab.
• Pandigital announced 7- and 9-inch tablets running Android 2.1.
• Microvision announced a prototype Android ‘mini tablet’ with built-in projector.
• OpenPeak debuts OpenTablet 10 with a transflective display, front-facing 720p cam, an HDMI out for 1080p video, a digital MEMS microphone, and optional 3G connectivity in addition to the standard WiFi.
• ASUS announced a new tablet lineup – three Android-based Eee Pads and one Windows-based Eee Slate, each with its own “twist” (the Slider, Transformer, MeMO and Slate EP121).
• Acer announced the Acer Iconia Tab A500, a 10-inch Tegra 2 tablet with Verizon LTE.
• T-Mobile announced a G-Slate tablet, the company’s first 4G tablet and running Android 3.0.
• Toshiba announced an Android-powered tablet with it’s 10.1-inch widescreen display, built-in SD card reader as well as a mini USB connection and full-size HDMI and full-size USB ports.
• Dell announced the Streak 7, deemed a ‘Generation Y tablet’ based on price. The device runs Android 2.2 with a 7″ multi-touch display.

Within all CES tablet-related conversations, Android Honeycomb appeared in 14% of posts while iPad appeared in 21% of posts.

CES Tablet-Related Conversation Topic Cloud

We ran further analysis on each of the tablets announced at CES 2011.

Mentions Within CES-Related Content/Articles

The Motorola Xoom is generating the most tablet buzz so far this week, followed by BlackBerry Playbook, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Toshiba Tablet, and ASUS Eee Pad.

We conducted topic analysis on each of the top five tablets generating the most buzz.

CES Tablet Conversation Topic Distribution

How does the tablet conversation compare when you group them by Android, Apple, Windows 7, and Linux/other?

CES Tablet Conversation By Group

CES Top Sources

Which are the key sources talking about CES 2011? Engadget is the top source, currently making more than 32 CES-related and generating more than 1100 links in per day.

We will continue to monitor CES buzz this week and tablet buzz throughout 2011. Which tablets do you think are best positioned to rival the iPad?

Facebook continues to become one of the most important platforms for brands to engage. The Next Web published a list of the top 25 most ‘liked’ brands on Facebook. Do more Facebook ‘likes’ mean increased chatter for brands online? We used Social Radar to run analysis on Web chatter around each of these brands in 2010. Compare the lists below.

Interestingly, there seems to be little correlation between which brands have the most Facebook ‘likes’ and which brands are being talked about most online.

The chart below contains the brands ranked in order of most Facebook ‘likes’, with bars representing online chatter.

Three of the highly anticipated Windows Phone 7 devices went on sale in the U.S. this week: HTC HD7, HTC Surround, Samsung Focus. Engadget posted reviews Monday.

We used Social Radar to run analysis on chatter around Windows Phone 7 and all three models, compared to iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.

The HTC Surround is currently generating the most positive chatter, while the HTC HD7 is the most negative.

Overall chatter around Windows Phone 7 was 80% positive. The word ‘impressive’ appeared in 16% of Windows 7 posts, ‘beautiful’ appeared in 14%, ‘intuitive’ in 13%, and ‘cheap’ in 13% of Windows 7 posts.

However, when we analyzed overall chatter this week, we found that Windows 7 Phone devices were receiving miniscule chatter compared to iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.

Will the Windows 7 Phone be a viable competitor in the smart phone market?

Pictures surfaced yesterday on the popular tech blog Engadget providing evidence that the rumored PlayStation Phone does exist.

The word PlayStation is currently appearing in 21% of conversations online around the word ‘phone.’

We ran analysis around all smart phones chatter for the last month. Today, PlayStation spiked above Palm, Windows Phone and BlackBerry, and is only trailing Android and iPhone in chatter.

The Android-based gaming PlayStation phone is still a prototype and will likely be released in Q1 or Q2 2011.

Microsoft announced yesterday its answer to the iPhone and Android devices: Windows Phone 7. After initially releasing Windows Mobile 10 years ago, Microsoft has finally embraced the new smartphone philosophy. It threw away the stylus and created a completely new, finger-friendly UI, coupled with an OS that enables easy integration with Microsoft services Xbox Live and Bing, as well as social networks such as Facebook.

Windows Phone 7 is a sprawling mobile platform that, by year’s end, will power about a dozen devices, from four manufacturers, spanning 60 carriers through 30 countries.

Buzz around the new Windows Phone spiked yesterday.

Windows 7 chatter trend

But chatter around Windows Phone is minuscule compared to iPhone and Android.

Window Phone 7 vs. iPhone vs. Android chatter

Windows Phone 7 has six “hubs” organized around common tasks. The first is “people,” and includes things like speed dial, speed text and “speed wall postings.” The second is “pictures,” which organizes photos. There are also hubs for “office mobile,” “music and videos,” “apps” and “games.”

Apps were the most talked about feature within the Windows Phone conversation, followed by games, people, office, videos, pictures and movies.

Windows Phone 7 “hubs” chatter

How does the phone perform? Techcrunch claims that while Android phones can often feel like a cheap imitation of an iPhone, the Windows Phone 7 feels completely different, and better than Android.

What are people saying online? Sentiment around Windows Phone 7 has been 75% positive the past two days. Comparatively, iPhone was 84% positive, Android was 83% positive, and BlackBerry chatter was 75% positive.

Windows Phone 7 vs. iPhone vs. Android vs. BlackBerry sentiment

Microsoft is positioning the phone as “the phone to save us from our phones,” with ads for the new phone mocking smartphone addiction, as well as entrenched leaders BlackBerry, iPhone and Android. Interesting brand message. Is Microsoft claiming that it will make a phone that customers will want to use less?

The November 2009 Social Radar Top 50 measures the brands with the most active Web presence based on overall online conversation volume. To create the Top 50 list, we used Social Radar to analyze millions of blog posts, news feeds, forums, social networks and Twitter posts to aggregate a list of the words and brands mentioned most frequently on the Web during November 2009. The list measures the number of unique individuals or sources that posted content about each brand during November 2009 rather than the overall number of mentions, which would be more heavily influenced by big fans who post frequently about a specific brand.

There were quite a few shifts this month. The success of Windows 7 has increased the chatter of Microsoft and Windows, raising their ranking three spots. Verizon has made it into the Top 50 this month and AT&T has increased rank mostly due to chatter around recent Verizon-AT&T attack ads. Also making an appearance this month is Oprah due to her announcement of the show ending in 2011.

The biggest surprise this month is Android, or “Droid”. It has made a remarkable jump to 11th place, surging past heavy hitters iPod, Blackberry, and even MySpace. It received nearly identical amounts of chatter as Windows and Microsoft this month.

Rank	Chg	Brand
1		Twitter
2	(+1)	Google
3	(+2)	YouTube
4		Facebook
5	(-3)	iPhone
6		Mac
7	(+1)	Obama
8	(-1)	Apple
9	(+3)	Windows
10	(+3)	Microsoft
11	(+18)	Android
12	(-3)	iPod
13	(-2)	MySpace
14	(+1)	XBox
15	(-5)	LG
16	(+1)	Fox
17	(-1)	Yahoo
18	(-4)	BlackBerry
19	(+2)	Amazon
20	(-1)	Playstation
21	(+2)	NFL
22	(-4)	BBC
23	(-1)	Wii
24		CNN
25	(+6)	AT&T
26	(-6)	Disney
27	(+5)	Firefox
28	(-2)	Sony
29		Oprah
30	(+4)	Nokia
31	(-4)	MTV
32	(-2)	NBA
33	(-5)	Starbucks
34	(-9)	Linux
35		ABC
36	(+4)	Dell
37	(+1)	eBay
38	(-1)	Skype
39		Verizon
40	(-7)	ESPN
41	(-5)	Ford
42		Wikipedia
43	(-4)	UPS
44		NASA
45	(-1)	Samsung
46	(-1)	BMW
47		Intel
48	(+2)	CBS
49	(-3)	Blu-Ray
50	(-7)	Canon

View the full list below, or download the PDF. For additional information about how you can analyze chatter sentiment to gauge positivity/negativity, view key words mentioned about your brand and identify key influencers, visit www.infegy.com/socialradar.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @adamcoomes.

The October 2009 Social Radar Top 50 measures the brands with the most active Web presence based on overall online conversation volume. To create the Top 50 list, we used Social Radar to analyze millions of blog posts, news feeds, forums, social networks and Twitter posts to aggregate a list of the words and brands mentioned most frequently on the Web during October 2009. The list measures the number of unique individuals or sources that posted content about each brand during October 2009 rather than the overall number of mentions, which would be more heavily influenced by big fans who post frequently about a specific brand.

There are no big surprises with the Top 10 this month. NFL dropped 10 spots as the season opening excitement has died down a bit, while NBA jumped 11 spots as the basketball season kicks off. AT&T has dropped, while other cell phone related brands have increased such as LG and Blackberry, as well as newcomers to the list – HTC and Android. With many new Android devices out and on the horizon, as well as the recent “droid does” campaign, Android has joined our list this month at a surprising 29th place.

Rank	Chg	Brand
1		Twitter
2	(+1)	iPhone
3	(+1)	Google
4	(-2)	Facebook
5	(+1)	YouTube
6	(+2)	Mac
7		Apple
8	(-3)	Obama
9		iPod
10	(+2)	LG
11	(-1)	MySpace
12	(+2)	Windows
13	(-2)	Microsoft
14	(+5)	BlackBerry
15	(+8)	XBox
16	(-1)	Yahoo
17	(-1)	Fox
18	(+4)	BBC
19	(+1)	Playstation
20	(-2)	Disney
21	(+3)	Amazon
22	(+5)	Wii
23	(-10)	NFL
24	(+2)	CNN
25	(+4)	Linux
26	(-1)	Sony
27	(-10)	MTV
28	(+2)	Starbucks
29		Android
30	(+11)	NBA
31	(-10)	AT&T
32	(+1)	Firefox
33	(+3)	ESPN
34	(-6)	Nokia
35	(-1)	ABC
36	(+1)	Ford
37	(-5)	Skype
38	(-7)	eBay
39		UPS
40	(-2)	Dell
41	(+4)	MLB
42	(+2)	Wikipedia
43	(+3)	Canon
44	(-4)	Samsung
45	(+4)	BMW
46		Blu-Ray
47	(+3)	Nintendo
48	(-5)	Nike
49		HTC
50	(-2)	CBS

View the full list below, or download the PDF. For additional information about how you can analyze chatter sentiment to gauge positivity/negativity, view key words mentioned about your brand and identify key influencers, visit www.infegy.com/socialradar.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @adamcoomes.

The September 2009 Social Radar Top 50 measures the brands with the most active Web presence based on overall online conversation volume. To create the Top 50 list, we used Social Radar to analyze millions of blog posts, news feeds, forums, social networks and Twitter posts to aggregate a list of the words and brands mentioned most frequently on the Web during September 2009. The list measures the number of unique individuals or sources that posted content about each brand during September 2009 rather than the overall number of mentions, which would be more heavily influenced by big fans who post frequently about a specific brand.

Twitter falls a bit, but still takes top spot. LG’s new BL20 Chocolate helped LG jump 11 spots. NFL rises again this month as the NFL season heats up. MTV jumps 13 spots due to buzz around the MTV Video Music awards. AT&T’s announcement of MMS support on the iPhone raised AT&T’s position up 5 spots.

Rank	Chg	Brand
1		Twitter
2	(+1)	Facebook
3	(-1)	iPhone
4		Google
5	(+1)	Obama
6	(-1)	YouTube
7	(+1)	Apple
8	(-1)	Mac
9		iPod
10		MySpace
11		Microsoft
12	(+11)	LG
13	(+6)	NFL
14	(-1)	Windows
15	(-3)	Yahoo
16	(+1)	Fox
17	(+13)	MTV
18	(-4)	Disney
19	(-4)	BlackBerry
20	(-4)	Playstation
21	(+5)	AT&T
22	(-1)	BBC
23	(-5)	XBox
24	(-2)	Amazon
25	(-5)	Sony
26	(+3)	CNN
27	(+1)	Wii
28	(-2)	Nokia
29	(-2)	Linux
30	(+2)	Starbucks
31		eBay
32	(+5)	Skype
33	(-9)	Firefox
34	(-1)	ABC
35		Oprah
36		ESPN
37	(-3)	Ford
38	(-3)	Dell
39		UPS
40		Samsung
41	(+3)	NBA
42		Intel
43		Nike
44	(-6)	Wikipedia
45	(-4)	MLB
46	(-1)	Canon
47	(-4)	Marvel
48		CBS
49	(-1)	BMW
50	(-3)	Nintendo

View the full list below, or download the PDF. For additional information about how you can analyze chatter sentiment to gauge positivity/negativity, view key words mentioned about your brand and identify key influencers, visit www.infegy.com/socialradar.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @adamcoomes.

The July 2009 Social Radar Top 50 measures the brands with the most active Web presence based on overall online conversation volume. To create the Top 50 list, we used Social Radar to analyze millions of blog posts, news feeds, forums, social networks and Twitter posts to aggregate a list of the words and brands mentioned most frequently on the Web during July 2009. The list measures the number of unique individuals or sources that posted content about each brand during July 2009 rather than the overall number of mentions, which would be more heavily influenced by big fans who post frequently about a specific brand.

Once again, Twitter holds on to the top spot. MySpace jumped 17 spots, mostly due to MySpace’s new mail service. Amazon jumped 6 spots to #16 from chatter regarding the acquisition of Zappos. eBay jumped 8 spots and Skype joined the list this month due to a legal battle that may threaten the future of Skype.

There were some other surprises this month as well. The LG Chocolate helped LG jump 11 spots. Starbucks joined the list thanks to their Free Pastry day spreading lots of chatter. BlackBerry jumped 15 spots thanks in part to rumors about the new BlackBerry Storm as well as their new app store. Nintendo, Wii, Sony, Playstation and XBox all dropped this month after buzz from the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) subsided.

View the full list below, or download the PDF. For additional information about how you can analyze chatter sentiment to gauge positivity/negativity, view key words mentioned about your brand and identify key influencers, visit www.infegy.com/socialradar.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @adamcoomes.

Rank	Chg	Brand
1		Twitter
2		iPhone
3		Google
4	(+1)	Facebook
5	(-1)	Obama
6	(+1)	YouTube
7	(+1)	Mac
8	(-2)	Apple
9		Microsoft
10	(+4)	iPod
11	(+17)	MySpace
12	(+1)	Yahoo
13	(-3)	Windows
14	(+1)	Firefox
15	(+15)	BlackBerry
16	(+6)	Amazon
17	(+4)	BBC
18	(+16)	CNN
19	(+6)	Fox
20	(-4)	Linux
21	(-10)	XBox
22	(-10)	Sony
23	(+10)	Disney
24		AT&T
25	(-5)	Nokia
26	(-8)	Wii
27	(-8)	Playstation
28		Starbucks
29	(+8)	eBay
30	(-4)	MLB
31		MTV
32	(+6)	NFL
33	(+11)	LG
34	(-7)	Ford
35	(-12)	Dell
36	(+13)	NASA
37		ABC
38	(-21)	NBA
39	(-10)	Samsung
40	(+10)	ESPN
41		Nike
42		UPS
43		Skype
44	(-2)	Wikipedia
45	(-5)	BMW
46	(-15)	Nintendo
47		Kindle
48		Canon
49		Verizon
50	(-14)	Intel