Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Family Guy, Google, Hulu, Joost, MacFarlane, Picasa, Seth MacFarlane, YouTube
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
So much for Joost’s
carefully prepared plans to release a browser version of their TV over IP service later this month. News leaked
this morning that Joost would be abandoning their year old XUL based desktop client in favor of a browser based service that’s more like Hulu and YouTube. Users will still be required to download a plugin that facilitates P2P transfers of files, which is still an adoption hurdle. But at least users can watch videos directly in their browser. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/05/screenshots-of-the-new-joost 9/5)
On the heels of a major upgrade earlier this week that added facial recognition and video-editing
features to its Picasa photo management service, Google added a new Explore page
today that shows off the most popular public photos uploaded by members. In addition to the featured photos, shown in a 3 X 4 grid, the Explore page also shows the most recent photos uploaded in a slide-show widget.
On Wednesday, dozens of short cartoons by “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane will start rolling out through Google to a variety of sites. The new “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy” series could change the way entertainment is distributed on the Web. (Iwantmedia 9/5, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB122057832909402221.html 9/5)
In what is heralded as the seeds of an Internet-age emergency broadcast system, MySpace is teaming with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to spread news on hurricanes through users of the online social network. A new widget will feed hurricane data to MySpace users. (Iwantmedia 9/5, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080905/tc_afp/usitstormweatherinternet 9/5)
U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama is running a more advanced online campaign than rival John McCain, according to comScore. Obama leads McCain in both candidate searches and display ads. (Iwantmedia 9/5, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329529,00.asp 9/4)
According to a new study by research firm TNS, about 20% of homes that log on to the Internet also watch TV shows online for a variety of reasons: they can watch episodes when and where they want and they can, for the most part, skip ads. “The shift from appointment TV to content on demand is well under way,” said Michael Saxon, senior vice president of brand and communications at TNS. “Fundamentally, consumers expect content to be available when they want it, and on the screen of their choice — TV, PC or mobile.” InformationWeek (9/4) , Variety (9/4)
Almost one of every five Internet users — 19% — have downloaded a podcast, according to a new study from The Pew Internet & American Life Project. That’s an increase from the 12% that reported downloading a podcast in an August 2006 study and the 7% who said they did so between February and April 2006. Radio Ink (9/4)
Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Billing Revolution, dolby, Dolby Laboratories, Dolby Mobile, LG, LG Group, Mobile phone, Touchscreen
LG is following up the success of its Viewty with a new 8-megapixel smartphone, the LG-KC910, which at 13.95 millimeters is said to be the slimmest such device on the market, according to LG. Equipped with a 3-inch touch screen, the LG-KC910 has improved multimedia features, such as Dolby Mobile, and advanced photographic features, the company said. TMCnet.com (9/4)
Although buying products from your desktop at home has become just as customary as buying products at the store, few have found reason to buy products on their cell phones
. In an attempt to buck that trend and make it easier for consumers to buy products from their cell phone, Billing Revolution
announced today that it will offer a ’single-click’ billing and payment service that will streamline mobile purchases.
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto IV, gtaiv, Liberty City, rockstar, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, taketwo
The slowdown in consumer spending apparently does not apply in Liberty City. The fictitious city is the setting for the wildly popular “Grand Theft Auto IV” game that sold 1.5 million copies in the fiscal third quarter of games publisher Take-Two Interactive, which, not coincidentally, just reported sharp increases in revenue and profit for the period ended July 31.
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (9/4) , The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (9/5)





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