Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Amazon.com, AOL, Compete.com, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Myspace, Wal-Mart
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
In November 2008 Facebook drew 200 million unique worldwide visitors; more than 1 in 5 people who accessed the Internet that month visited the site. When sites are that big growth generally stagnates, but in Facebook’s case it’s still skyrocketing. In December, 222 million people visited the site says newly released Comscore stats, a 10.8% month over month growth rate. 22% of the total Internet audience went to Facebook in December. Facebook now has nearly 100 million more worldwide users than MySpace, which added 4 million new users in December to 125 million total. The page view difference is more dramatic – Facebook had 80 billion monthly page views in December v. 43 billion for MySpace. Just six months ago the sites were about the same size. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/22/facebook-now-nearly-twice-the-size-of-myspace-worldwide 1/22)
Google just released fourth quarter earnings
. Net Income was down a whopping 68 percent to $382 million (compared to $1.2 billion a year ago), primarily because of a $1 billion impairment charge related Google’s ownership stakes in AOL (for which it took a $726 million writedown) and Clearwire ($355 million writedown). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/22/google-takes-1-billion-charge-to-write-down-aol-and-clearwire-investments-profits-take-a-68-percent-hit 1/22)
Amazon.com was visited by 73 million unique users last month, a 20% spike over December 2007, according to the latest figures from Compete.com. That performance put Amazon way ahead of the Web portals of brick-and-mortar retailers Target and Wal-Mart. Dealerscope (1/22)
On a day when Microsoft announced 5,000 layoffs, the 7 or so people losing their jobs at Digg may seem like a drop in the bucket. But that represents about about 10 percent of Digg’s 75-person workforce, whereas the 5,000 at Microsoft represents 5 percent. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/22/as-growth-flattens-digg-downsizes 1/22)
Google is testing a feature that automatically turns direct links to YouTube videos copied into the instant messaging application (seems to work only from within Gmail, not the desktop client) into embedded clips.( http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/22/new-in-google-talk-embedded-youtube-videos 1/22)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: App Store, App Store's Entertainment, Apple, iPhone, iPhone Viewing Application, IpodTouch, Ustream, Ustream.tv
Only two days after its release, Ustream’s iPhone Viewing Application has already hit the top spot of the App Store’s Entertainment section, and is ranked the 6th most popular free application overall. Ustream says that its latest figure for number of downloads stands at a whopping 113,000, which only represents the first 24 hours that the application was available (Apple doesn’t update download counts in real time). The application allows users to watch live and archived streams from Ustream.tv directly on their iPhone or iPod Touch, and also features an integrated chat. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/21/ustreams-iphone-viewing-application-downloaded-113000-times-in-48-hours 1/21)
Microsoft has debuted a mobile-music service in the U.K. in a partnership with London-based VidZone Digital Media. The inventory includes 1 million tracks and 10,000 videos, all of which are DRM-protected. Microsoft will charge about $2.06 per song, twice that amount for ringtones and $2.75 per video. mocoNews.net (1/21) , Pocket-lint.co.uk (1/21)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Business, Economic, Microsoft, Net income, Personal computer, Seattle, Steve Ballmer, Wall Street Journal
Microsoft announced that the software giant would cut as many as 5,000 jobs amid slowing sales and a reported 11% drop in its fiscal second-quarter net income. The job cuts, to be implemented over the next 18 months, are projected to save the company $1.5 billion. These are the first companywide layoffs in Microsoft’s history. 
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (1/22) , Bloomberg (1/22) , The Seattle Times/Microsoft Pri0 blog (1/22) , The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (1/22)
LED-based technologies will see a nearly 3% revenue increase this year, a rare bright spot in an otherwise dreary semiconductor forecast, according to a new study from iSuppli. LED growth can be attributed to their use as a lighting source in some LCD television sets, a category that will account for $163 million in LED revenue in 2009, the report stated. TWICE (1/21) , CEPro.com (1/21)
For audio lovers chained to their computers, Peachtree Audio has introduced the DS4.5, a high-quality set of speakers with a four-inch woofer and silk-dome tweeter that can be hooked up to a PC. The unit, which can be combined with Peachtree’s Decco integrated amplifier, sells for $599 a pair. ElectronicHouse.com (1/21)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: A&E Network, Arts, Bravo, Emeril Lagasse, Networks, Television, Top Chef, Warner Bros.
Emeril Lagasse will be a guest judge Feb. 18 when Bravo brings its “Top Chef” contestants to New Orleans. The challenge will reduce the number of chefs from four to three as they head toward the show’s Feb. 25 finale. TVWeek.com (1/20)
A&E Network’s third season debut of Paranormal State with two back-to-back episodes on Monday night at 10p attracted an average of 1.1 million A25-54 viewers, 1.2 million A18-49 viewers and 1.5 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 1/21)
Warner Bros. announced yesterday it will shed 800 jobs in the coming weeks as well as outsource 300 positions to a third-party company. (Cynopsis 1/21)
“What Color Is Love?” — an original movie that debuted on Lifetime Movie Network this past Sunday — earned a 1.9 household ratings and a 1.1 ratings with women in the 18-to-49 demographic. It was the network’s third-best-rated original movie ever. Multichannel News (1/20)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Google, Google Maps, Joost, New York City, Search Engines, Searching, TV.com, YouTube
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Big media companies have always had a love-hate relationship with YouTube. They don’t know whether to sue YouTube for abetting copyright infringement or get in bed with it because it is the biggest Web video game in town. YouTube is trying to convince them that love is better than war by giving them a cut of advertising revenues from their videos that appear on YouTube, regardless of who put them there. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/21/exclusive-youtube-will-soon-let-big-content-partners-bring-their-own-ads 1/21)
Here’s the moral of the story kids. Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Monetize it instead. If only media companies could start thinking this way, consumers everywhere would rejoice.
New York City has just launched a revamped webportal at NYCgo
, which now offers an extensive database of events, restaurants, hotels, and other points of interest. All of these are tied into the Google Maps API, making it easier for visitors to quickly find things to do in their vicinity without having to hunt down their hotel’s concierge. The site will also include a listing of promotions and discounts, like the incredibly popular Restaurant Week, during which upscale restaurants offer meals at a flat (and heavily discounted) rate. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/21/nyc-teams-with-google-to-launch-its-own-citysearch 1/21)
Online video sites such as TV.com, Hulu and Joost, which offer much of the same content, are building more social-networking applications into their portals as a way to differentiate themselves and build loyalty. TV.com, for instance, allows viewers to comment on and review videos, enter discussion forums and even create their own blogs. BusinessWeek (1/19)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: App Store, Apple, Cellphones, Microsoft, Mobile phone, MobileMe, United States, Verizon Wireless
Concerns about overloading the country’s wireless networks came to naught Tuesday as the major cell phone carriers reported their aggressive preparations for Inauguration Day paid off. They reported few problems despite a significant increase in their normal traffic loads of calls and texts. Carriers had established satellite sites to provide more capacity. AT&T had poured in a reported $4 million to beef up its network and Verizon Wireless pointed to its $1 billion long-term investment in the Washington market. USA TODAY (1/21) , The New York Times/Bits blog (1/20) , InformationWeek (1/20) , CNET (1/20)
Microsoft will introduce several new mobile services next month, including a rival to Apple’s MobileMe, code named “SkyBox,” that will leverage the Internet to help users sync content on their phones, according to a report. Microsoft also will offer a similar service aimed at small businesses as well as an App Store-like mobile marketplace. Neowin.net (1/19) , The Register (U.K.) (1/20)
Cell phones equipped with GPS technology will continue to grow this year — albeit at a slower pace, according to ABI Research. It predicts in a study that GPS-enabled phone shipments will grow globally 6.4%, compared with a single-digit decline for the overall handset market. cellular-news (U.K.) (1/20)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Android, Apple, Chief operating officer, Fiscal year, iPhone, South Korea, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook
iPhones sales numbers for the first fiscal quarter of 2009 (which ran from Oct. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31st, 2008) are already in. Over the past 3 months, Apple has sold over 4,363,000 iphones. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/01/21/apple-pushed-44-million-iphones-in-the-last-quarter 1/21)
At the tail end of Apple’s quarterly earnings conference call today, COO Tim Cook (CEO Steve Jobs, who is taking a medical leave of absence, was not on the call) noted that 17 million iPhones have been sold to date. When he was asked about the rising competition from Android, Blackberry, and Palm, Cook made an oblique threat: We approach this business as a software platform business. We are watching the landscape. We like competition as long as they don’t rip off our IP. And if they do, we will go after anyone who does. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/21/apples-tim-cook-warns-competitors-if-you-rip-off-the-iphone-well-go-after-you 1/21)
LG has introduced the 42PQ60D and the 50PQ60D, the former of which is a 42-inch plasma TV with a 600Hz refresh rate while the latter is a 50-inch display with a contrast ratio of 1 billion:1. Initially, the models will only be available in LG’s home market of South Korea. Electronista (1/20)
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