14 new stories on The Next Web today |  |
- Forget Kryptonite. It’s the Internet that is the fall of Superman
- The iPad is coming to Wal-Mart. Steve Jobs last seen on aisle three.
- Say this or say that? Write better with Phras.in
- Video: Sesame Street spoofs Old Spice Guy with “I’m on a cow”
- MySpace has a new logo – it’s a “my” plus a space – get it?
- 3DS users in Japan to have “Nintendo Zones” for free WiFi
- Big failure: Microsoft reportedly closing down game ad platform Massive Inc.
- Twitter is about to unleash the revenue dragon
- China netizens calling Nobel Peace Prize “Gunpowder prize” to get around censors
- Rogers Launches On Demand TV and Movie Rentals
- Google kills its free GOOG-411 service
- The four best ways to track traffic to your favorite websites
- Libya clarifies the vb.ly takedown. Bit.ly can breathe easy.
- Awkward Family Photos Gets Its Own TV Show
- Amazing: Your body organs could soon send status updates to your phone
| Forget Kryptonite. It’s the Internet that is the fall of Superman Posted: 09 Oct 2010 03:58 AM PDT |
| The iPad is coming to Wal-Mart. Steve Jobs last seen on aisle three. Posted: 08 Oct 2010 09:54 PM PDT First it was only through Apple. Then you could buy an iPad on Amazon. Next came Target and apparently the next stop is Wal-Mart. It’s not the first Apple product to hit the discount store shelves, as Wal-Mart has been selling the various iPod models for the past few years. Given Apple’s massive success in outlets other than its own, it’s also not surprising. MacRumors has gotten its hands onto a couple of “spy shot” photographs that detail the stock and launch prices of the iPad for Wal-Mart, which will reportedly be sold in 1,000 of the company’s stores in the US as soon as next week. Wal-Mart is said to be aiming for an additional 800 outlets within November. Surprisingly (or maybe not?) There is no discount on the coveted slate as there was for the iPod devices. Though the discount was slight ($5-$7, depending on model, if memory serves me correctly) it was still enough to entice people to buy from the retailer instead of through other options. There’s the story, as we’ve seen it so far. We’ll of course keep you updated if we find any additional information, but chances are that you’ll be able to snag the coveted device right alongside a case of generic cola and Sam’s Choice pretzels for some Christmas-morning enjoyment. Whether you are still making excuses to not buy an iPad, or if you’ve finally been convinced that there’s no excuse left, sales of the device will be skyrocketing this holiday season.     |
| Say this or say that? Write better with Phras.in Posted: 08 Oct 2010 09:21 PM PDT
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| Video: Sesame Street spoofs Old Spice Guy with “I’m on a cow” Posted: 08 Oct 2010 04:32 PM PDT Remember the Old Spice Guy commercials? Right, like any of us will ever forget. Well, there have been a number of spoofs since the commercials became a hit, but the one below is certainly the most kid friendly we’ve seen. Grover might not be as muscle toned as Old Spice Guy, but hey, he still does his own stunts. h/t Mano Marks    |
| MySpace has a new logo – it’s a “my” plus a space – get it? Posted: 08 Oct 2010 03:53 PM PDT At the Warmgun design conference today in San Francisco, MySpace unveiled a new logo, amid a week of logos gone crazy. The new logo is a “my” + a “space”. Get it? Of course you do. Tricks are for kids after all. MySpace VP of User Experience Mike Macadaan
Here is the video of Macadaan’s short talk. The logo is currently not yet live on the site – we’ll reach out to MySpace to see when it will be. [UPDATE: MySpace VP Sean Percival told us "next month"] Below is an example of what users will be able to do with the new logo apparently. So what do you think? Good design or just “whatever”?    |
| 3DS users in Japan to have “Nintendo Zones” for free WiFi Posted: 08 Oct 2010 02:34 PM PDT
Though SpotPass is designed to work in the home as well, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has explained that instead of making users pay a monthly fee for data/3G, the gaming company decided that most users wouldn’t pay, so in order to get as many 3DS users online as possible:
We’re pretty interested to know how 3DS users will find/know about these “Nintendo Zones”. Will there be signs or will users need to use their phones to locate them? Also, will they be in public areas or will they be in some kind of enclosed space? (we’re guessing they’ll just be in public areas, but still, wouldn’t it be cool if there were Nintendo lounge chairs or something too?). The “zones” haven’t yet rolled according to Nintendo Life, but when they do, if they are anything to look at, we’d love to see some pictures from our readers in Japan.Nintendo Life    |
| Big failure: Microsoft reportedly closing down game ad platform Massive Inc. Posted: 08 Oct 2010 01:12 PM PDT
Ironically, it was probably Xbox that helped to kill Massive. Media Week says that former Massive CEO Mitch Davis in 2006,
Another problem: Electronic Arts, which Massive provided in-game advertising for previously for a number of popular games, decided to ditch Massive for its own in-house solution. So for Massive, it would seem like game over.Media Week    |
| Twitter is about to unleash the revenue dragon Posted: 08 Oct 2010 11:55 AM PDT
Rumors put those deals at large enough dollar amounts to push the company to break even status in one fell swoop. Then things went south. The @EarlyBird account was shut down, and reports have promoted tweets under performing. To hell with that says Twitter, revenue is not a problem that we have, we have just been waiting. According to an interview with Ad Age, now CEO Dick Costolo is confident in the ability of Twitter to turn on the revenue tap in a big, big way. Twitter has two main plans: expand the number of advertisers in their system, and to grow the number of products that they can drop change on. Twitter has worked with more than 40 advertisers so far, and plans to have engaged with more than 100 by the end of the year. While their current strategy revolves around growing promoted tweets and trends, Twitter also has a known ace up their sleeve that will be played shortly: promoted accounts. Twitter plans to take content that is “organic,” and then promote it for monetary recompense. The company hopes that this different form of advertising will rewrite the script on ad supported companies. The question that remains is will Twitter have enough ad spots to ramp up revenue and handle the number of advertisers that the company needs to begin turning a profit? Costolo said that it would be “very easy for us to have enough distribution to [allow companies to] spend as much money with us as [they] want [abbreviated].” Even more, the Twitter CEO said that companies are going to spend “millions” on Twitter. All in all Twitter is not looking to operate at a loss for much longer; the company has gold in its eyes, and plans to get it.Hat Tip to AllThingsD    |
| China netizens calling Nobel Peace Prize “Gunpowder prize” to get around censors Posted: 08 Oct 2010 11:36 AM PDT China’s Internet is understandably abuzz over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo. However, the discussions are being highly whitewashed by China’s censors, with discussion posts taken down and apparently the search function of one of China’s biggest microblogging sites all but disabled. China Digital Times has published an order from the “Ministry of Truth”, the nickname for China’s state-controlled propaganda machine:
One measure that those in support of Liu’s award are using, is to use a code name for the Nobel Prize, calling it the “Gunpowder prize” according to Danwei.org founder Jeremy Goldkorn, though how effective this code is at averting the censors, we’re not sure: Of course, the “gunpowder prize” refers to Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite. Also, Goldkorn says that Sina Weibo, one of the most popular Twitter-clones in China, has apparently seen its search shut off for all but username searches according : Here’ one, however, that I haven’t seen before from the censors: Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices retweeted this out – filtering out transliteration of SMS between Chinese cell phones:
UPDATE: China Digital Times has translated some tweets on reactions of Liu winning the prize. UPDATE 2: Global Voices has an excellent article both the censorship and police actions since the announcement. UDATE 3: We just saw this tweet from Twitter user @kfeds: Note: the thumb image is from HK, not Mainland China, with Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo pictured in the sign.China Digital Times    |
| Rogers Launches On Demand TV and Movie Rentals Posted: 08 Oct 2010 11:21 AM PDT
If this isn’t a shot across the bows of both Blockbuster Canada (they are planning a streaming service in Canada, but haven’t launched it yet) and Netflix (who launched here, but whose selection is nothing short of abysmal) then I don’t know what else would get their collective attentions. Now, limitations. Limitations are huge here. Netflix wins props for being able to watch stuff on the most places and devices (PS3, Wii, iOS, XBox, and computer), Rogers is just computer. I don’t think trying my PS3 would work out too well because the site uses a lot of Flash to make things work, so no watching on the HD TV for me. Free selection of TV and movies? The more I’m exploring the more impressed I am. Seriously. Boardwalk Empire? Yep. Dexter? Yep. Lost Girl? Nope. Which makes sense, that’s a CTV show. New movies? Well no Iron Man 2, but Karate Kid is there and for $5 you have to start watching within 30 days and finish within 48 hours (just like iTunes I believe). The potential big gotcha in all of this is bandwidth. Yeah even Rogers customers don’t get a break on this. You start a movie and TV marathon for a couple days, you might be getting a call from your ISP about your bandwidth consumption. So, here’s where we’re at right now. Netflix launched and pretty much just did it to say they have a stake in the ground in Canada. Yes, I know, the back catalogue and stuff. Fine, still it was disappointing to more people than just yours truly. Rogers/CityTV have the iPad app (which is very cool) and now Rogers On Demand. Nice touches, maybe a Rogers On Demand iOS app will be coming soon. That would be very cool. CTV just online channel surfing at the moment. However, with the job posting I saw last night, I’m betting that a CTV iOS app will be coming shortly. Blockbuster Canada better get on the stick and launch something. Yes, they aren’t affected by the US bankruptcy, but if they want to move into the online game, they better get something soon. Rogers isn’t just a telco, broadcaster, and ISP … remember all the Rogers video stores out there. At this point all I can say is that this is getting very, very interesting. And that I need to catch up on Boardwalk Empire, so if you’ll excuse me…Source: Rogers Red Board, Thumbnail photo credit: believekevin, Flickr    |
| Google kills its free GOOG-411 service Posted: 08 Oct 2010 11:16 AM PDT
In answer to the “why” question, Google talks about the voice search features (which have now been released for the iPhone as well as Android platforms) and offers the following:
It looks as if the text-based service will still live on, however. Sending a text message to Google at 466453 will enable you to pull limited information such as weather or phone numbers. Of course the real push is to get you to download the Google Voice Search application, and Google conveniently provides a link at the end of the post.    |
| The four best ways to track traffic to your favorite websites Posted: 08 Oct 2010 10:54 AM PDT
It’s not magic, and the tools that most people use are public and free. There are two classes of services that are useful: trackers that give estimates, and those that only give relative size of websites. Both have their purposes and uses. Do note however, that nearly always you are going to be looking at traffic estimates, meaning that you always need to take the numbers with several grains of salt. Also, it is crucial to use several services concurrently to average out estimates to make sure that the numbers are grounded in reality. CompetePerhaps the best known traffic estimation shop online, Compete has a single weakness: it only tracks US traffic. While this might be what you want, Compete is a US or nothing experience making it hard to use in some cases. That said, Compete has clear, easy to read graphs, and will serve you a full year of traffic for up to three websites at a time. Some people fault Compete for often being perhaps more inaccurate than other services, but for a quick and dirty guesstimate of traffic, Compete is a go to solution. Do note that Compete only updates their traffic once a month, not on a rolling basis as some other services do. AlexaAlexa is the granddaddy of traffic tracking. It has been around since the dawn of time (it feels), and in recent times underwent a backend overhaul to improve accuracy. Alexa tracks traffic in a number of ways, but does not give raw traffic estimates. While that is the case, it maintains a famous list of the top 100 websites in the world and offers interesting information such as estimated pageviews per user among other statistics. Alexa updates frequently with a slight delay (perhaps a day or two), meaning that you can get a better view how a website is performing over short periods of time. This is, again, the chart for Digg: QuantcastQuantcast is the dark horse of website analytics, but can be a veritable treasure trove of information in certain cases. Some websites are ‘quantified,’ meaning that they are actually live tracked by the service. Quantcast does run estimates for most other large websites, so if you are hunting for the data on a big site, Quantcast needs to be in your tool box: Google Trends for WebsitesFinally, Google Trends does have a very interesting feature for websites. Now, like Alexa Google Trends won’t give you real numbers, but for comparing websites it is very, very strong. Here is a chart off Digg against Reddit: There you go ladies and gentlemen, the four best ways to track your favorite large websites. Go get comparing!Image Credit    |
| Libya clarifies the vb.ly takedown. Bit.ly can breathe easy. Posted: 08 Oct 2010 09:16 AM PDT
Today, though, NIC.ly has released a statement that clarifies the move and gives further explanation into its practices.
As our own Ahmad warned, in his writing, “Dorothy, this ain't Kansas”. That is to say that there are distinct rules and regulations that domains registered with the .ly suffix must abide by. vb.ly had claimed that the shutdown was without warning, though NIC.ly states the contrary, going so far as to say that the contacts were attempted over a 3 week period and essentially forcing the hand of NIC.ly:
NIC.ly goes on to say that any domain shorter than 4 symbols will continue to be relegated only to sites that have a presence within Libya proper. As more domain shorteners become popular, Libya appears to be concerned with maintaining its solidarity for the shorter domains such as art.ly. The good news, of course, is that bit.ly appears to be in the clear. As a Libyan-registered domain, operating under strict rules, the service has not yet seen any issues. With over 40 million clicks and $10 million in recent funding, you’ll surely hear a sigh of relief from the Bit.ly staff.    |
| Awkward Family Photos Gets Its Own TV Show Posted: 08 Oct 2010 06:08 AM PDT
Many people understood how Justin Halpern’s “Sh*t My Dad Says” Twitter updates could be translated to a television show, after all he was charting funny anecdotes from his father’s everyday life, people would be able to relate (at least they should have been able to, the show was panned by critics). With news that Awkaward Family Photos is heading to ABC, someone has to ask how a website full of embarrassing haircuts, dodgy fashion choices and cringeworthy family shots would translate to television. Its screenwriters will certainly have a job on their hands. That said, our hats go off to the guys who created the popular blog, we are already working on The Next Web: The Movie, hoping it will hit screens early next year.    |
| Amazing: Your body organs could soon send status updates to your phone Posted: 08 Oct 2010 05:27 AM PDT
It sounds a little alarming, but it this could actually be really useful for many people. A system has been developed to send data about how your body is performing directly to your mobile phone. The New Scientist today reports on a new system demonstrated this week by Dutch researchers. The Human++ BAN platform allows sensors placed within the body to send readings via a short range radio network to the owner’s phone. From here the data can be forwarded to doctors via a WiFi or 3G data connection. Users can also see the readings on their phone screen, giving them instant updates on how the organ in question is doing. Although the system was demonstrated with electrocardiogram sensors for the heart, it can reportedly work with sensors for other parts of the body in order to monitor neurological conditions, neuromuscular diseases and more, and to monitor those at risk of developing a condition in the future. Interestingly, the system could also be used as a tool to help athletes accurately monitor their body’s performance during training. The system works via a dongle plugged into a phone’s SD card slot and the software for the system takes the form of an Android app.@scepticgeek, The New Scientist, Image source    |
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