Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA by Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Today Microsoft released Photosynth, a site that stitches plain photographs together to create a pseudo-3D world. Microsoft first presented the product back in 2006, and has since demoed it a number of times. The two year wait for Photosynth ended yesterday as Microsoft finally opened the doors to the public. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/21/microsoft-celebrates-photosynth-server-failure-surprised-people-like-it 8/21)

I think this service is super hot in theory but not in practice.  Currently, photosynth doesn’t allow you to stitch together existing photographs meaning that each user will need to upload 100 photos (the recommended number) to stitch together in hopes of creating this 3D world.  Who are these people with all of this free time?  Certainly not me. . .

With Facebook surging, MySpace co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson say they plan to focus on music, pop culture and a proven advertising model to spur growth. MySpace is no longer a social network, they insist. It’s a “social portal”: a global, content-rich hub with a social component. (Iwantmedia 8/22,  http://www.fastcompany.com/article/whats-new-myspace 9/08)

“Social Network” is so 2005. MySpace Cofounders Chris DeWolfe (left) and Tom Anderson are calling their site a “social portal”. | photo by Jill Greenberg

Yahoo News says it plans to build an Internet-age news service, leveraging its global audience of a half-billion people to win exclusive interviews with world leaders. Yahoo is cutting deals with wire services and other traditional outlets as well as investing in its own reporters. (Iwantmedia 8/22,  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080821/tc_afp/usitinternetmediacompanyyahoo 8/21)

Google, MySpace and The Huffington Post are offering Wi-Fi access, food, drinks and even mini-facials to bloggers covering the Democratic convention. At a time when many mainstream news organizations are struggling, the online disruptors “will be in plain view.” (Iwantmedia 8/22,  http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/22/news/obama_media.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008082210 8/22)

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