Filed under: Feature | Tags: 3G, Apple, Bill Gates, Facebook, iPhone, Microsoft, Steve Jobs
ONLINE SITE OF THE WEEK: STEVE JOBS VS. BILL GATES
Good for a quick play on a Friday afternoon. Good for the ego too. You never seem to lose. Thank you Current for making me feel important again.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Berkley, DIY Network, E. W. Scripps Company, E.W. Scripps, Fine Living, Food Network, Scripps Networks Interactive, Shopzilla
The second installment in CNN’s “Black in America” three-part documentary premiered Wednesday night and, according to preliminary Nielsen figures, attracted a robust 2.1 million viewers. The installment, which focused on women and the family, pulled in 966,000 people in the 25-to-54 demo. (Broadcasting & Cable 7/24)
The news and documentary division of MTV is working on an unscripted project for actress Elizabeth Berkley that will be based on the real-life, self-esteem workshops that Berkley conducts for young girls around the country. The workshops are titled Ask-Elizabeth, which also is the working title of the project. (The Hollywood Reporter 7/25)
Scripps Networks Interactive — which includes channels such as Food, HGTV, DIY and Fine Living and was, on July 1, separated from E.W. Scripps — is not for sale. That’s what SNI Chairman and CEO Ken Lowe said during a conference call in which the company also reported quarterly revenue rose 13%, to $349 million. (Multichannel News 7/24)
Cablevision has struck a deal with MTV Networks that will add channels such as MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1 Classic and CMT to the cable provider’s video-on-demand menu. Shows involved in the deal include “From G’s to Gents,” “Brooke Knows Best” and “Trick My Truck.” (TVWeek.com 7/24)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Dallas Morning News, DVD, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Wash, Web search engine, World Wide Web
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Microsoft said Thursday at a meeting with financial analysts at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash., that it would soon begin providing Web search services and associated advertisements by the end of the year on the American portion of Facebook. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/business/media/25adco.html?ref=media 7/25)
Users will be able to stream movie rentals to their PCs beginning this summer, with prices starting at $2. Titles will be available online the same day as DVD releases. The Dallas Morning News (7/24)
Google has announced
that its search index, which chronicles the vast majority of the internet, has hit a major milestone: 1 trillion unique URLS. That’s 1,000,000,000,000 pages – more than twice as many as there are stars in the Milky Way. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/25/surprise-google-says-the-web-is-really-really-big 7/25)
Redlasso, the video site that allows bloggers to post clips of television content, has shut down its beta in response to a recently filed lawsuit by Hulu-backers Fox and NBC. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/25/redlasso-shuts-down-in-response-to-foxnbc-lawsuit 7/25)
Continuing the tradition of selling bad Web businesses for less than they were bought for (in the vein of Cnet selling Webshots for $45 million three years after paying $70 million for it), AOL is trying to unload online storage service Xdrive. Three years after buying Xdrive for a rumored $30 million (never officially disclosed), the price it is now trying to fetch is $5 million, and going south, says a source. Maybe AOL should put it on eBay. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/25/want-to-buy-xdrive-aol-is-trying-to-sell-it-for-5-million 7/25)
The as-yet unlaunched MySpace Music will likely partner with Amazon to handle all music ecommerce transactions, we’ve heard from multiple sources. Apple and Rhapsody are also bidding for the business, however, and one source says a final decision hasn’t yet been made. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/25/amazon-to-power-upcoming-myspace-music-downloads 7/25)
Netflix Inc.’s second-quarter profit crept up 4 percent, beating analyst expectations as the online DVD rental leader signed up 168,000 new customers while spending less money to attract them to the service. (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Netflix.html?ref=technology 7/25)
Looking to cut down its main competition and most high-profile copycat in the growing market for social gaming, Hasbro has sued the two Indian brothers behind the popular Web game Scrabulous, which has more than half a million regular users on the social network Facebook. (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/hasbros-notches-triple-word-score-against-scrabulous-with-lawsuit/index.html?ref=technology 7/24)
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: iPhone, iPhone 2.0, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, Mac OS X, Mobile phone, Samsung Electronics, South Korea
The Windows version of Pwnage, the iPhone 2.0 jailbreak and unlock software for iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch, is out now. Like the Mac OS X version, it will free all models to install non-Apple-approved applications, but it won’t unlock the iPhone 3G to liberate you from roaming charges. For unlocking you will need a special SIM card. (http://gizmodo.com/5028521/iphone-20-jailbreak-and-unlock-now-for-windows 7/24)
South Korea‘s Samsung Electronics said Friday that second-quarter net profit grew 51 percent compared with the same quarter last year led by its liquid crystal display and mobile phone businesses. (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Samsung-Electronics.html?ref=technology 7/25)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Comics, Japan, Kadokawa, Kodansha, Librica, Manga, Shogakukan, Shueisha
The company’s Librica service will offer comics from some of Japan’s largest publishers via its Wii Ware online service. Japanese readers spent nearly $4.5 billion on manga in 2006. (The New York Times/IDG News Service 7/24)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Apple Inc, Ina Fried, Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Mojave, Vista, Windows Vista, Windows XP
TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft has a secret new operating system they’re showing to XP-using Vista haters, reports Cnet’s Ina Fried. Codenamed “Mojave,” over 90 percent of the focus groups in San Francisco loved it, with at least one moved to effuse, “Oh wow,” while using it. When can you get hold of this wondrous new operating system? Right now. Mojave is actually just plain ol’ Windows Vista. (http://gizmodo.com/5028903/windows-xp-users-actually-love-vista-if-they-think-its-something-else 7/24)
According to NPD Group, navigation equipment defied a decline in car-audio sales of nearly 20% over the past year. Kenwood reported a successful conclusion to its recent promotion with Garmin, helping it become the sector’s top seller in the first quarter. (TWICE 7/24)
