Filed under: MISC
ONLINE VIDEO OF THE WEEK: HAROLD AND KUMAR ARE BACK AGAIN
And Neil Patrick Harris is back for the sequel as well. Considering a writers’ strike is looming, My WHOLE day just got a bit brighter. . .
Release Date: April 4, 2008
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
It’s official. At a press conference held just minutes ago, WGA announced it would go on strike as of Monday, November 5th. First shows effected by the strike - late night talkers which depend on writers for their day and date opening monologues. Those shows will likely go into repeats as soon as the strikers begin picketing. The majority of the scripted TV series would begin to see the effects of a strike in 1st and 2nd qtr 2008. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975256.html?categoryId=2821&cs=1 11/2)
Two years after fending off investor Carl Icahn and his quest to break apart Time Warner, the media giant is reported to be considering a plan to split off cable, publishing and AOL. (http://www.cnbc.com/id/21581790/site/14081545 11/1)
Viacom, owner of MTV and the Paramount film studio, says third-quarter profit rose 80%, fueled by cable advertising and the hit movie “Transformers.” U.S. viewership decreased 3.3% at the company’s cable channels, with the largest drops at MTV and Nick at Nite. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awFB8kn5bdsI 11/2)
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is reporting a narrower third-quarter loss, benefiting from sales of household products at Macy’s and a new collection of pillows, duvets and other bedroom goods at Kmart stores. The company is planning to sell food with Costco and wine with E. & J. Gallo. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=apfiYuH23cn0 11/2)
Verizon’s FiOS TV service is stepping up to DirecTV’s 100 channel HD challenge promising to offer 150 HD channels by the end of 2008. The company will begin expanding its line-up, currently offering just 21 national HD feeds, sometime next spring.
Comcast is suing the FCC in federal court over the agency’s refusal to grant the company a waiver of its set-top-box rule. Without an exception, cable operators are required to deploy new cable card enabled set-tops to their customers across the nation. Comcast is arguing the rule is “arbitrary and capricious,” after it waited 503 days for the FCC to rule on its wavier request.
A new study from Canalys reports that worldwide Internet protocol television subscriptions will hit 39.6 million by the close of 2010. Europe, the Middle East and Africa will remain the biggest IPTV markets, the study said, and North America will have 12.1 million subscribers by 2010. (eMarketer 11/2)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
MySpace and Google are issuing a press release confirming rumors that the News Corp.-owned social networking site will be part of Google’s new OpenSocial developer initiative. LinkedIn and Friendster are also part of OpenSocial; Facebook is excluded. (http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9809413-36.html 11/1)
So let’s recap. Google tries to buy a minority interest in Facebook. Microsoft wins the battle and buys a 1.6% minority equity stake in Facebook for $240 million. Google releases OpenSocial excluding Facebook. Bitch slap to Facebook. You thought Google was going to let Microsoft win? Afraid not.
So, in essence, here’s the story. Facebook allows developers to create applications within their own social networking environment. This new service from Google allows developers to create applications for a variety of sites simultaneously. From the developer angle, it’s now much easier to create an application to launch on a variety of sites promoting even more growth. From the user’s perspective, it will now be easier to use favorite applications across a variety of sites.
Steve Case and a group of music luminaries officially launched Qloud, a free on-demand music streaming service that has attracted 1 million Facebook in the past three months. Qloud matches music you already own on your iTunes library then syncs it with the Facebook app, allowing users to build and exchange playlists and browse friends’ libraries. (http://www.betanews.com/article/Steve_Case_Launches_New_Music_Service/1193934366 11/1)
Funny that this story comes out the day I decide to remove the application from my Facebook profile. I like the idea of adding my personal iTunes playlist to my profile as consistently updated by the application. That said, from my experience, the application doesn’t truly work. Some music appears in the recently played window and some never appears no matter how many times I play the song. The exact same application available through iLike works MUCH better updating my playlist almost immediately after I play a song. Easy. . .breezy. . .beautiful. . .
The number of people who click on “banner ads” that run on many Web sites is shrinking steadily. Meanwhile, Facebook on Nov. 6 is expected to announce that it will allow targeting based on demographic profiles. Such targeting could “rescue all forms of digital advertising.” (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_46/b4058053.htm 11/12)
Blockbuster, the world’s largest video-rental chain, is posting a quarterly loss that is wider than some analysts anticipated. The movie-rental company is cutting jobs and shutting down stores as more customers switch to online rentals from Netflix and movie downloads. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aZBTEf_sGbf8 11/1)
Google is dismissing rumors that commercial considerations play a role in how it ranks Web sites, as a screenshot of a Google search results list with dollar values for each link circulates in the blogosphere. Search results are “completely independent from our paid advertisements,” Google insists. (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139174-c,google/article.html 11/1)
Hearst-Argyle increased its presence on YouTube, launching 10 additional channels to bring its total to 26. The news, weather, sports and entertainment-themed services, which pull content from local stations and its recently launched High School Playbook site, have served more than 13 million video views on YouTube to date. (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6496681.html 11/1)
Online movie service CinemaNow announced a partnership with Samsung optimizing video downloads for its P2 Portable Media Player. CinemaNow offers download-to-own movies and TV shows from studios including Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Brothers.
Net neutrality advocacy group savetheinternet.com filed a complaint with the FCC against Comcast‘s network management policies. Comcast admitted earlier this month it “delays” peer-to-peer traffic during peak times, which advocates claim violates FCC internet policy.
In the consumer-tech blogosphere, the rivalry between Engadget and Gizmodo is as lively as a big-city tabloid war. Venture capitalists estimate each site to be worth between $30 million and $50 million. Engadget founder Peter Rojas “wants to win at all costs,” says Gizmodo’s Nick Denton. (http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/01/technology/blog_wars.fortune/index.htm 11/2)
Fox News is issuing cease-and-desist letters to Republican presidential candidates regarding the use of debate videos. Long after other major networks have relented and permitted the use of their debate videos, Fox News wants all the candidates to stop using theirs. (http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/11/02/fox-pushed-to-free-presidential-debate-videos 11/2)
TheStreet.com is acquiring Bankers Financial Products, which owns the Web sites BankingMyWay.com and RateWatch.com, and is one of the largest U.S. providers of pricing solutions for banks and credit unions. The company has some 5,700 subscribers at financial institutions. (http://www.thestreet.com/s/thestreetcom-acquires-bankingmyway-and-ratewatch/newsanalysis/mediaentertainment/10387970.html 11/2)
(Below) One would think that all newspapers would have a Facebook application. Yup, not the case.
WashingtonPost.com is developing a “newsTracker” service for users of Facebook. The news app will keep users of the social-networking site updated on topics important to them, with news compiled from the Washington Post and 400 other news sources around the world. (http://robcurley.com/2007/11/01/the-washingtonpostcom-newstracker-for-facebook/ 11/1)
NYTimes.com is relaunching its technology section, with tech news aggregation from other online news sources. Content feeds will be provided by BlogRunner.com, an automatic aggregator owned by the Times. Also: The Times is now allowing comments on some articles. (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/the-robot-in-the-newsroom/index.html 11/1, http://gawker.com/news/the-new-york-times-is-just-a-fancy-blog/new-york-times-rolling-out-moderated-comments-on-articles-318126.php 10/31)
Filed under: GAMING
GAMING
The Nintendo’s Wii’s comfortable sales lead over rival Sony’s PlayStation 3 has shrank for the fourth consecutive month in Japan. The Wii still enjoys a 2-1 lead over the PS3, but new titles and cheaper consoles are helping the Sony offering appeal to more gamers, according to this article. (Yahoo!/Reuters 11/2)
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Warner Music is withholding its content from Nokia’s new music Web site over concerns about illegal downloads. Warner is choosing not to sell its music through the Nokia Music Store in part because Nokia’s file-sharing site mosh.nokia.com is being used to distribute material. (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0246478020071102 11/2)
Time magazine is naming Apple’s iPhone “invention of the year,” citing the device’s design, innovative touch screen and potential for changing the tech industry’s approach to mobile computing. YouTube was the recipient of the Time honor last year. (http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1677329_1678542_1677891,00.html 11/1)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
Looking for gadgets for your iPod and iPhone? The new iLounge buyers’ guide is out profiling all the latest goodies.
