Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Ashton Kutcher, EBay, iPhone, Live Search, Live Search Cashback, Microsoft, Skype, Twitter
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
If it seems like Twitter is growing faster and faster each day, that is because it is. ComScore has released its March numbers for the U.S., and it estimates that unique visitors to Twitter.com grew 131 percent between February and March to 9.3 million visitors. No wonder Twitter is more popular than Britney. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/15/boom-twitter-more-than-doubles-unique-visitors-to-93-million-in-march 4/15)
After shopping the fast growing unit, eBay announced Tuesday it would spin off its Skype internet-based calling service via an initial public offering during the first half of next year. eBay purchased Skype back in 2005 for $2.6 billion, but never delivered on its promise to integrate the calling software with its international auction sites. Yet the calling service has continued to grow in leaps and bounds in terms of its user base, with over 400 million registered users to date. Skype added nearly a half a million new users since launching its controversial iPhone app, downloaded by 2 million users in its first week of release. (Cynopsis 4/15)
The days of offering free live video coverage of major sporting events to everyone online may be coming to end. NBC will offer cable MSOs, telcos and satellite providers exclusive access to live streaming of the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver, reports Sports Business Journal. The broadcaster plans to introduce an authentication system to limit live broadband viewing of the games only to paying subscribers of the providers who agree to license the service. (Cynopsis 4/15)
Microsoft says that Live Search Products
and Live Search Cashback have now been unified into a single experience. You can now access Cashback on Live Search Products page, which is Microsoft’s comparison shopping vertical site. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/15/microsoft-tries-to-re-energize-cashback-by-plugging-it-into-its-products-engine 4/15)
Earlier today The Business Insider reported that CNN may have acquired the massively popular CNNbrk Twitter account, which is currently in a heated race with Ashton Kutcher to attain 1 million followers. Thing is, up until recently CNN didn’t actually own that account, which made the story’s coverage on the cable network over the last few days all the more bizarre. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/15/confirmed-cnn-acquires-cnnbrk-twitter-account 4/15)
The 13th Annual Webby Award nominees were announced yesterday across a range of categories with familiar names such as the NYTimes.com (13 nominations), NBC.com (12), The Onion (8) Guardian.co.uk (6), PBS (5), NPR (5), The Sundance Channel (5) garnering multiple nominations. (Cynopsis 4/15)
Officials from 38 states have sent a letter to the Obama administration saying, in effect, that they want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes time to allot more than $7 billion in funding from the economic-stimulus package that has been set aside for broadband expansion. But that isn’t sitting so well with some national consumer groups, which are fretting that an unfair share of the money could go to firms with strong ties to local officials. The Wall Street Journal (4/14)
Kosmix, the universal search engine that dynamically generates guides to search queries using dozens of different content sources, is quickly gaining momentum. According to today’s latest comScore numbers, the site has jumped up to 3.2 million monthly uniques in March – a 419% growth since February. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/15/universal-search-takes-off-kosmix-posts-419-growth-in-march 4/15)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Android, Bluetooth, Google, iPhone, MetroPCS, Motorola, Smartphone, Wall Street Journal
Google has released an “early look” version of the much-anticipated Android OS 1.5 open smartphone platform. The update features an on-screen keyboard with soft-keyboard support, speech recognition and home-screen widgets and is largely based on the Cupcake development branch of the Android Open Source project. eWEEK.com (4/14) , IntoMobile (4/14)
As part of a recent effort to up the interest quotient of its handset line, MetroPCS has begun offering the supercompact Motorola QA30 Hint. Measuring 3.23 inches by 2.43 inches, the slider phone includes a full QWERTY keyboard, stereo Bluetooth, a music player, a 2-megapixel camera, USB connectivity with PC syncing and other features. It is listed at $249 on the MetroPCS Web site. MobileBurn (4/14) , CNET (4/14)
Recognizing the next must-have devices, extending his company’s exclusive deal for the iPhone and refocusing its marketing effort on wireless are among the challenges facing AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who represents the generational shift in telecom from wireline to wireless services. “We have 77 million wireless customers and 30 million consumer phone lines,” he said. “Which customer base would you rather work from?” The Wall Street Journal (4/15)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Microsoft, Nintendo, Video game, Wii, Wii MotionPlus, Wii Remote, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort
Microsoft has extended the warranty on its Xbox 360 game console, this time in response to the E74 system error reportedly caused by problems with the console’s fault display connector or graphics controller chip. Customers who paid for out-of-warranty service to repair consoles displaying the E74 message will receive refunds. Digital Trends (4/14)
Nintendo set a release date of June 8 for its Wii MotionPlus controller, an accessory for the Wii Remote that attaches to the bottom of the Wii-mote to more accurately trace motions in 3-D space by better orienting the controller. A sequel to the Wii Sports module, “Wii Sports Resort,” will be the first game to take advantage of the add-on, allowing users to accomplish such feats as duel with swords or throw a Frisbee. (Cynopsis 4/15)
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Filed under: Feature
HIATUS: APRIL 14TH
We will be on hiatus today, Tuesday April 14th. Updates will resume tomorrow.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Comedy Central, Dish Network, MTV Networks, NFL Network, Nickelodeon, Television, Tim Robbins, Viacom
TNT has passed on renewing Trust Me for second season. The Erick McCormack/Tom Cavanagh dramedy debuted in January to 3.4 million viewers, tho that number fell off considerably thru the season. (Cynopsis 4/13)
MTV Networks and BET will launch HD feeds of many of its networks on the DISH Network, reports THR. Of the network involved are BET, CMT, Spike, VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and CMT. All will be available to those DISH subscribers who have the Classic Bronze 100 HD package. (Cynopsis 4/13)
Also on DISH, the NFL Network and the satellite provider have settled their issues – terms were not fully disclosed, but we do know that it includes carriage of the NFL Network on DISH in a new multiyear deal. (Cynopsis 4/13)
Showtime had four pilots in front of it for possible development, and has decided to pass on all four. One of Possible Side Effects, written and directed by Tim Robbins and starring Josh Lucas; others included Ronna and Beverly from Lionsgate; The Farm, a spin off of The L Word; and The End of Steve starring Matthew Perry. (Cynopsis 4/13)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Google, Google Earth, Microsoft, Search Engines, Searching, Time Warner Cable, Web browser, Yahoo
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Earlier this week the Google Earth team released a new plugin
that allows users to view Google Earth tours directly from their web browsers. These tours, which were introduced in the 5.0 release of Google Earth in February, allow users to create virtual flythroughs through any location on Google Earth, which can lead to some pretty impressive results. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/10/google-earth-flythroughs-come-to-the-browser/ 4/10)
Portal rivals Microsoft and Yahoo have once again resumed their search partnership talks, reports the WSJ. The two companies are also discussing content-sharing agreements with Demand Media, which operates niche web sites and publishes and syndicates online content. (Cynopsis 4/13)
Time Warner Cable is receiving some backlash over it’s recently announced tiered pricing structure for broadband access. Users are up in arms over the new plans priced from $22.95 to $54.90 a month for 5GB, 10GB, or 40GB of data. To put this in perspective, stream 9 HD movies per month and you will exceed the 40GB cap. That may not sound like a big deal to you know but as availability increases, so will your usage.
ESPN chose the day of the Cubs home opener to launch its first hyper-local site, ESPN Chicago. A collaboration between multiple divisions including ESPN Digital Media, ESPN production, ESPN Radio and local and regional sales teams, the site is the company’s first attempt to super-serve the interests of a single city’s sports fans with localized content including streaming audio feeds from Chicago’s ESPN Radio 1000, local blog posts and a daily video news report ESPN Chicago SportsCenter. (Cynopsis 4/13)
The online video industry pulled in more than $80 million in venture capital funding in the first three months of 2009, about the same as the last quarter of 2008, according to a report from VideoNuze. “People realize that video on the Internet is going to happen, and you know in four years that’s how people will be watching content,” said Neil Sequeira of General Catalyst, a VC firm that has closed four online video deals so far this year. TVWeek.com (4/12)
Google continues to increase its share of the U.S. search marketplace capturing 64% of all searches increasing its market share by 16% over the past year, according to Nielsen Online. (Cynopsis 4/13)
Top 10 Search Providers for March 2009, Ranked by Searches (U.S.)
Provider Searches (000) YOY Growth Share of Searches
All Search 9,522,853 16.7% 100.0%
Google Search 6,113,906 27.6% 64.2%
Yahoo! Search 1,505,426 1.7% 15.8%
MSN/Windows Live Search 982,661 0.3% 10.3%
AOL Search 356,569 6.6% 3.7%
Ask.com Search 197,957 -0.7% 2.1%
My Web Search Search 59,597 -15.1% 0.6%
Comcast Search 57,605 30.2% 0.6%
Yellow Pages Search 37,295 N/A* 0.4%
NexTag Search 22,432 -23.7% 0.2%
Dogpile.com Search 19,461 0.7% 0.2%
Source: Nielsen Online
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Microsoft, Miley Stewart, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Video game, Wii
Not only is Hannah Montana hitting the big screen, but fans can relive that movie experience in a video game. In the video game Hannah Montana The Movie, kids join Miley Stewart and her superstar alter ego Hannah Montana in an adventure set in Miley’s hometown of Crowley Corners, Tenn. The console version is available now on the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3, with the Windows PC version coming later in the summer. There is also a DS version that is similar. (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/jinnygudmundsen/2009-04-09-hannah-montana_N.htm 4/9)
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