Filed under: Feature | Tags: E-mail, Handhelds, iPhone, Relationships, Smartphones, Text messaging
ONLINE VIDEO OF THE WEEK: TEXTING YOUR WAY TO LOVE
First came the love letter. On to the amorous phone call. Then, the flirtatious e-mail.
Now. . .
we’re reduced to text messaging, or in this case, flirxting.
This video is an extremely accurate portrayal. Don’t believe me? Just read the comments. Just wondering where the iPhone animation was at. Note: Perhaps don’t rock this one at work.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Barry Diller, IAC, IAC/InterActiveCorp, John C. Malone, John Malone, Liberty Media, New York Post, Sundance Channel
James Dolan‘s Cablevision appears to be the lead contender to acquire the Sundance Channel, according to the New York Post. The cable distributor was the top bidder when offers were submitted recently, and a decision could come as early as this week, sources said. Cablevision is not commenting on the rumor. (New York Post 4/25, Reuters 4/25)
IAC/InterActiveCorp boss Barry Diller is expected to meet with his board this week to restart the process of breaking up his company. Also, Diller and Liberty Media chief John Malone are still talking about a deal to trade one or more of IAC’s assets for Liberty’s ownership stake in IAC. (Iwantmedia 4/28, http://www.nypost.com/seven/04282008/business/diller__iac_board_set_to_meet_over_break_108532.htm 4/28)
Viacom’s Logo channel, which targets a gay and lesbian audience, performed better than any other ad-supported network in audience engagement, according to a new study from Simmons Research. The report showed that Logo was the most engaging with the 18-to-34 and 18-to-49 demographic groups and second with adults 25 to 54. (Mediaweek 4/28)
FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell does not see eye to eye with commission Chairman Kevin Martin on proposals that would force the cable industry to offer a la carte programming, particularly a Martin proposal that would allow cable companies to exclude from their most widely purchased tier any channel with wholesale license-fee rates of 75 cents or more per subscriber, per month. “My question for that [Martin proposal] was that it sure does seem like the sort of economic regulation that we heard he wasn’t interested in,” McDowell said. “If that’s offered up as a proposal, I’ll have a lot of questions regarding that.” (Multichannel News 4/27)
Lifetime, which recently pulled “Project Runway” from Bravo, is looking to attract a younger demographic. As part of the transition, Lifetime is touting a new, proprietary research study showing that viewers feel overwhelmingly positive about the network as a consumer brand. (Mediaweek 4/28)
The competition for the hearts, minds and wallets of subscribers has gotten so fierce lately that rival cable companies have stepped up their advertising messages, according to this article. “If you have someone who might consider leaving, you want to give them the direct, hard-hitting facts about the shortcomings in competitors’services,” one executive with Time Warner Cable said. (The Wall Street Journal 4/28)
The reason for Charlie Ergen’s interest in 700 MHZ spectrum may have been revealed. Dish Network, which acquired a license for the E-block spectrum during the FCC’s recently-concluded auction, is planning to test a new “DVB-SH” handheld mobile TV device with Alcatel-Lucent over the summer to validate its performance and cost effectiveness. (Cynopsis 4/28)
The Comcast Center in Philadelphia, the new headquarters of the U.S. cable giant, is almost finished. The 56-story skyscraper, at a cost of $750 million, is the tallest building between New York and Chicago. CEO Brian Roberts describes the building as “understated high-tech.” (Iwantmedia 4/28, http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20080427_Taking_a_walk_in_the_clouds.html 4/27)
The man voicing this video sounds wholly uninterested in what he’s talking about. Blah. Blah. Blah. There’s a whole section of this video devoted to what’s on the menu in the cafeteria. Thrilling stuff. My favorite moment: the end.
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Directories, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, WB, Yahoo, Yahoo Mail
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
The deadline passed and nobody blinked. So next up for Microsoft is a hostile takeover bid towards Yahoo if Steve Ballmer is true to his word. Fourteen out of 25 analysts polled by Reuters see this happening, but possibly with a slightly higher bid in hand. (After all, Microsoft’s $44.6 billion bid has fallen in value to $42.7 billion due to a drop in its stock price.) (Cynopsis 4/28, http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gx4SvPBEFvB3v-XiGEK36TkNoebwD90ASJP82 4/28)
Yahoo unveiled a plan to open up its web services to allow developers to access assets such as Yahoo Mail, Messenger and Address Book in order to build applications around them. Yahoo will also let developers use their bandwidth, storage, database and CPU resources to host their applications through Yahoo’s Application Platform, within reason that is. (Cynopsis 4/28)
Warner Brothers is expected to announce the rebirth of the WB broadcast network as an Internet destination and offer old episodes of programs like “Everwood” online. The Internet re-creation of the WB will join TV streaming sites like Hulu, Veoh and Joost. (Iwantmedia 4/28, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/business/media/28tube.html 4/28)
Finally, an online destination for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and, more importantly, Arrested Development.
TVGuide.com is reporting record traffic of 12 million unique visitors to its site in March, thanks to new products and content – a 40% bump from a year ago. TV Guide says 700,000 users are logging on to use the its newly revamped online video search engine, which sources officially sanctioned video available from 65 broadcast and cable sites. The site’s next big push will be to propagate its online video guide widget/syndication platform, which powers TV-related searches and is available to embed on third party sites. TVGuide is currently in talks with network sites to launch video widgets that will reside on their sites and index only their network programming, according to Paul Greenberg, SVP & GM of TV Guide Online. (Cynopsis 4/28)
Following in the footsteps of Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M. and others, The Material Girl began streaming her latest album Hard Candy via her MySpace page over the weekend, 4 days before its official U.S. release on Tuesday. Madonna has been building interest in the album with a Hard Candy video widget embeddable on MySpace, Facebook, Hi5 and other services. She’s also performing live at the Roseland Ballroom in New York on Wednesday, April 30 in a show that will be streamed live on music.msn.com. (Cynopsis 4/28)
MySpace, NBC and FremantleMedia are expected to announce a partnership that will allow MySpace users to upload audition video clips for the third season of the NBC reality show “America’s Got Talent.” One episode of the show will be devoted to auditions of MySpace users. (Iwantmedia 4/28, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arts/28arts-MYSPACEWILLH_BRF.html 4/28)
Microsoft is requesting the Dutch dictionary Van Dale remove the verb “MSN-ing” from the latest edition in order to stop the term MSN from being used by other companies as a brand name. “MSN-ing” is not to be allowed as a synonym for sending instant messages. (Iwantmedia 4/28, http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=30754 4/24)
IAC’s CollegeHumor.com wants to help its readers fulfill “their stupidest wish ever” — maybe a machine to dress them in the morning or a chute from their bedroom to the front door. The new advertising strategy lets sponsors build stronger ties with young men by catering to their tamer dreams. (Iwantmedia 4/28, http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2740051520080428 4/28)
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Gameloft, iPhone, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo's Wii, North America, Video game, Wii
Despite slower sales in North America and Europe, mobile game maker Gameloft reported first-quarter sales of nearly $40 million, an 11% increase. The company is looking for more of the same in the second half of the year because it will be releasing games on a number of new platforms, such as Apple’s iPhone and Nintendo’s Wii and DS. (GameDaily BIZ 4/25)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Grand Theft Auto IV, GTA IV, Metareviews, Microsoft, Playstation 3, Rockstar Games, Video game, Xbox 360
For the first time, Sony will not enjoy a PlayStation monopoly for the release of a “Grand Theft Auto” title when the fourth edition lands Tuesday and the newfound competition from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has ratcheted up the stakes for selling game consoles. Both companies are going all out to sell consoles on the back of what observers expect to be record-breaking sales for “GTA IV.” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer 4/27)
“Grand Theft Auto IV” will be officially released on Tuesday. Some are saying it will be the biggest video game launch ever, with at least 6 million sold. However, leaked copies of the software are already finding their way to torrent sites across the Internet. (Iwantmedia 4/28, http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12100DQE8AJM 4/24)
The Nintendo Channel will reportedly launch in the U.S. in the middle of next month as a free download with such features as the ability to rate WiiWare games, downloadable DS demos and Nintendo news. Nintendo reported last week a 73% increase in sales for the first quarter compared with 2007 as demand for the Wii and DS consoles continued to climb. (PCWorld/GamePro 4/27)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Business, Consumer electronics, Human Interfaces, Liquid crystal display, Plasma display, Sony, Television, Video
Japanese consumer-electronics companies are bullish on flat-panel TVs amid rising global demand for them. Samsung and Sony expressed plans to expand their S-LCD Corp. joint venture by spending $1.8 billion to increase LCD production while Matsushita said Sunday that it hoped to increase sales of flat-panel sets — a mix of LCDs and plasma TVs — by 40% in less than 24 months. (The Wall Street Journal 4/28, Reuters 4/27)
