19 new stories on The Next Web today |  |
- Forget the CEO, the Entrepreneur, the Lawyer and everyone else. Ask the mice. [TNW Entrepreneur]
- How Internet-connected TVs could get you spending a lot more on music [TNW UK]
- London Tube travellers to get 48-hour loans of Samsung Galaxy Tab [TNW Mobile]
- Opera announces Opera Mobile for Android, launches within a month [TNW Mobile]
- Virgin Media and Spotify close “to concluding a partnership deal” [TNW UK]
- T-Mobile to begin throttling speeds of heavy data users on October 16 [TNW Mobile]
- Web Directions South Conference, Day 1 [TNW Australia]
- Interview with head of Rebate Networks, Southeast Asia’s biggest daily deals fund [TNW Asia]
- Bump iPhone app now lets you send “location snapshots” to friends [TNW Apps]
- Klout adds Facebook data to its social importance scale [TNW Social Media]
- Rumor reversal: AOL working with private equity firms to take over Yahoo? [TNW United States]
- The Archivist: Archiving tweets to provide awesome insight [TNW Apps]
- Google suffers setback in TV advertising, just as Google TV about to hit shelves [The Next Web]
- Microsoft attacks Open Office in new video [Update] [TNW Microsoft]
- Michael J. Fox in new teaser for Back To The Future’s 25th anniversary [TNW Shareables]
- Apple beats Acer for third place spot in US computer market [TNW Apple]
- Updated: Bell denies Montreal Canadiens app to all but their own customers [The Next Web]
- Wanderfly. Travel recommendations tailored to you. We have Invites! [TNW Apps]
- Bell denies Montreal Canadiens app to all but their own customers [The Next Web]
- Lane Merrifield: Entrepreneurs Aren’t [TNW Canada]
| Forget the CEO, the Entrepreneur, the Lawyer and everyone else. Ask the mice. [TNW Entrepreneur] Posted: 14 Oct 2010 04:05 AM PDT
But there was one detail that kept me excited all day. Mr. Eckert tells about a mice problem they had at the laboratory. The mice were eating through the insulation of the wires. They needed to get rid of the problem. So what Better Mousetrap did these geniuses come up with? Did they come up with a solution at all? What if they would have asked a consultant to get rid of the problem? Or a lawyer? Lets take a look at a few possibilities: The Consultant The Lawyer The Manager Your Mother The Developer The Entrepreneur The CEO And I'm sure we could come up with hundreds of these. Go knock yourself out in the comments or mail me your suggestions and I'll add them. Don't forget the obvious 'iMouseTrap' and 'MS Mousetrap 1.0 server edition' jokes. But back to those geniuses who built the first computer. Who did they ask for advice? None of the above. They asked the mice:
That is why they are geniuses. They didn't consider the mice the real problem. They found out that the fact that those mice ate their insulation was the real problem. And that problem turned out to be easy to fix. The real challenge isn't building a better mousetrap but finding out what the actual problem is. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]     |
| How Internet-connected TVs could get you spending a lot more on music [TNW UK] Posted: 14 Oct 2010 03:25 AM PDT
At the In The City music industry conference in Manchester, UK yesterday, music and media figures gathered to discuss the opportunities for music to make money from app-enabled TVs. What it all boils down to is that impulse buying of music will become a lot easier in the near future. Here are some of the ideas that were discussed: Next-generation Shazam-type apps for your TVWhile Shazam currently allows you to discover the artist and title of a song simply by playing it a short burst of music, that’s just the start. With Shazam built into your TV you’ll be able to find out the details of any song, and buy it as it plays in a film, TV show or ad. Shazam has already been trialing this concept with US channel Syfy, but a dedicated app that works with any channel is a potential music industry goldmine for generating impulse buys. Metadata in TV shows: Product Placement 2.0Product placement is set to be taken to the next level in the near future. Products within the show could be ‘clickable’. Like the car the actors are driving in? Select it on screen and information could pop-up, allowing you to book a test drive. In the same way, information about songs playing on-screen could be baked right into the broadcast. Imagine hearing a great song in an ad. With the press of a button it could be purchased and downloaded to a computer somewhere on your home network. Cloud-based music collections, the next generationFor those who don’t want to buy music, apps that allow “All you can eat” consumption of music through the TV are likely to becme common. Spotify, for example, could offer an app that paying subscribers could use to stream unlimited music into the living room. However, discovery of new music is a problem if users no longer visit music stores (either bricks & mortar shops or online). Panelists today thought the Pandora-style “Playing tracks by similar artists” model wasn’t good enough and that algorithms for digging up music a user will love need to be improved to make the living room listening experience more compelling. Instant discovery of music via the TV shows, movies and ads (as mentioned above) will also aid this process. As well as offering the option to buy each song, it could be sent to a Spotify playlist to be streamed later. The next frontier, a new challengeIt’s refreshing to see the music industry talking about these ideas and letting them develop. The panel at yesterday’s event discussed how music is no longer about selling songs individually but about creating an enivronment where music can be sold in whatever way a customer will pay for it. The Internet-conected TV represents a bold new frontier for the music industry. As we’ve seen, there are some great opportunities waiting to be exploited. The challenge it has is to turn the potential into real money. The Battle For The Living Room panel session featured: Ted Cohen of TAGStrategic, Vincew Bannon of Getty Images, Ben Drury of 7digital, Cliff Fluet of Lewis Silkin, Alex Vlassopulos of Omnifone, Pete Downton of Imagination Technology, Gary Clay of Microsoft’s Xbox360 division and Mike Ryan of Idaho.Image source [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| London Tube travellers to get 48-hour loans of Samsung Galaxy Tab [TNW Mobile] Posted: 14 Oct 2010 03:14 AM PDT
Samsung is inviting selected members of the public to “Tube Test” the Galaxy Tab before it heads to retailers, allowing them to test out the device on their journey to work and see if the 7-inch tablet is as portable and easy to use as Samsung would like us to believe. From October 18, a limited number of Galaxy Tab units will be available to testers who will be able to test out the device for 48 hours during a two-week period. The devices will be available from four Tube stations: Liverpool Street, Balham, Highbury & Islington or Ealing Broadway, the 48-hour period will be from a Monday, Wednesday or a Friday. If you are based near any of those stations or travel via the selected places, you can apply emailing Samsung at galaxytab@tubetest.co.uk or by speaking to a member of the Galaxy Tab team who will be positioned outside one of the four Tube stations. Registration opens at 8am on October 15, for more information head over to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab minisite. Samsung hope that this initiative will give its new tablet device some positive exposure ahead of its launch on the 1st November, the only problem we see is that there is almost no cellular coverage on the London Underground, rendering many of the Galaxy Tab’s features useless. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Opera announces Opera Mobile for Android, launches within a month [TNW Mobile] Posted: 14 Oct 2010 01:55 AM PDT
Opera already has browsers for nearly all mobile operating systems, including Opera Mini 5 Beta for Android smartphones. The news dropped after the company published a new blog post, announcing that the browser would be available for all Android versions and would feature two new features; Hardware Acceleration and Pinch to Zoom. As Opera puts it “This is without a doubt the next generation of mobile browsing.” Opera states that its Hardware Acceleration will allow the Android browser to run super fast, making page navigation super speedy, improving the UI also. Hardware Acceleration allows for Pinch to Zoom functionality, which comes in two flavours; full page zooming or zooming in to read text. As soon as the app goes live, Opera Mobile for Android will be downloadable from m.opera.com or via the Android Market. Expect to wait around a month as Opera makes the final adjustments to its browser.Image Source [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Virgin Media and Spotify close “to concluding a partnership deal” [TNW UK] Posted: 14 Oct 2010 01:35 AM PDT
According to The Guardian, Virgin Media has already secured Universal Music for its service, some 16 months back, but failed to negotiate terms with EMI, Sony Music and Warner Music which are all thought to have issues with services offering an unlimited amount of downloads for a specific fee. With these three companies blocking the deal, it is thought that it will take a further 12-18 month for Virgin Media to establish its own service so it has looked to other companies, namely Spotify, to partner with and offer a music service in the meantime. A close source to Spotify told The Guardian:
Spotigy did not comment on the deal specifically but did mention that it was in talks with “a range of internet service providers” however a deal was not in place “at this time”. Virgin Media were coy, stating:
A Virgin Media deal would be a great boost for Spotify, which has already secured deals with some mobile carriers. With music piracy still a huge issue, Spotify is doing its best to provide a decent alternative for music lovers whilst keeping record labels happy.Image Source [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| T-Mobile to begin throttling speeds of heavy data users on October 16 [TNW Mobile] Posted: 14 Oct 2010 12:57 AM PDT
It is thought (judging by T-Mobile’s statement) that only 1% of T-Mobile subscribers will be affected by the threshold, any customer found to have exceeded the limit will receive a free text message informing them that their allowance has been reached and data speeds will be reduced from then on (until the next billing cycle). The move will come as a blow to T-Mobile customers who have just upgraded their devices to take advantage of T-Mobile’s HDSPA network, offering 3.5G data speeds across a large part of the US. With quicker and more widespread coverage, customers will find their allowances quickly eaten up as they consume more content. That said, bandwidth is a commodity, you can expect far worse from carriers in the future, we assure you of that. The full announcement:
[Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Web Directions South Conference, Day 1 [TNW Australia] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:39 PM PDT This is a guest post by Bart Jellema. Bart attended the Web Directions South conference for The Next Web Australia and below is his report on some of the main attractions of the day.
His presentation was concise and to the point and explained the impact of the consistent design and messaging of the Obama campaign. So it goes to show that design decisions can be so important that they can effect a presidential election and ultimately change the world. Below is a short interview I did with Scott: Scott also explained the pains suffered in getting his book Designing Obama published but said it was all worth it. There was plenty of time left after the keynote for Scott to take questions and the audience fielded some interesting ones. In response to the question “How successful was the online ‘vote for change’ campaign”, Scott explained that they managed to register one million new voters and it helped win the state of North Carolina. During the beginning of the campaign it wasn’t always clear who had to sign of on things and this became an issue when they decided to combine elements of the presidential seal with the Obama logo, which caused quite a stir and was even brought up by John McCain later in the presidential debate. This was the biggest slip-up that Scott could recall from the campaign. There seemed to be quite some focus on HTML5 and CSS3 in the presentations during the day, while Paul Burnett from Adobe told me we shouldn’t get too excited yet as it could take quite a while before a large percentage of browsers will support it: Digital Eskimo brought a digital whiteboard powered by a projector, 2 wiimotes and a low powered UV pen. I’ve seen the video for a Low-Cost Multi-touch Whiteboard using the Wiimote a while back, but it was nice to see this in action. For anyone who is in town, tonight there will be a choice of events, starting with the official opening night drinks reception from 5pm until 7pm, followed by Code Wars at Crown Plaza Bar. There is also a Startup Networking Party at the Home nightclub in Darling Harbour. Stay tuned for our report from Day 2 of the conference – img src=”JJ Halans“[Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Interview with head of Rebate Networks, Southeast Asia’s biggest daily deals fund [TNW Asia] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:10 PM PDT
Within a year, Rebate Networks has created a portfolio of daily deals firms in all the major Southeast Asian markets, from the Philippines to Vietnam. This probably gives it the widest reach in Southeast Asia’s daily deals space. Rebate Networks also has stakes in China’s Lashou.com and a Japanese deals site called Piku.jp. Lashou is reportedly one of the five Chinese deals sites that has had private meetings with Groupon recently. We know that Rebate Networks put US$2 million in Thailand’s Ensogo and US$1 million in Dealguru, which runs daily deals sites in Singapore and Malaysia. Deals sites are mushrooming across the region. Singapore has approximately five deals sites, Thailand three, Indonesia two and Malaysia has three. Alldealsasia, a Singapore-based company, is a deal aggregator site for Southeast Asia. So we wanted to find out more about Rebate Networks. Is it setting itself up for a big exit by buying Asian market-leaders and then offloading them to an acquisition-hungry Groupon? What is a German fund’s interest in Southeast Asia? We managed to track down Michael Brehm, Rebate Networks’ managing director, after a few rounds of email ping-pong. TNW Asia: Give us a brief history of Rebate networks. Brehm: We founded Rebate Networks at the beginning of 2010. We saw great potential in the business model of daily deal sites and wanted to extend the model around the globe. This has the benefit of sharing experiences between our companies, improving customer experience each time a new website is launched or a new product is introduced. TNW Asia: What do you look for in a potential investment which makes it stand out from the rest of a crowded market? Brehm: There are different key elements that I look at for different potential investments. What remains a common trait is the company's team. The team must be experienced, have good staff supporting them, and must be motivated and energetic. There are thousands of daily deal sites out there and most of them won’t last long, at the end it is the people that drive a company, not simply a business model. TNW Asia: What’s the size of Rebate Networks’ fund? Are there any other investors in this fund? Brehm: We have two institutional investors and are well funded. So far, we have invested into or co-founded 15 different companies that are present in 25 countries. TNW Asia: What is Rebate Network’s exit strategy for these investments? Brehm: Right now we are only focused on building great and long-term sustainable companies. We are not thinking about an exit at the moment. TNW Asia: You have invested in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Thailand and Indonesia. Have we missed any other markets you’re in? Brehm: We are also present in the Philippines via www.Ensogo.com and in Vietnam via www.NhomMua.com. Apart from that we are also running businesses in Europe and South America but we aren't limited to these markets. We focus exclusively on the www.deal.com.sg business model and in most of the countries we are present, there are between 20 to a few hundred similar platforms. This is the most competitive project we have been involved in, so we put all of our energy and focus into it. We believe that all companies but one or two per market will disappear within the next 6 to 12 months. Barriers to enter are zero but barriers to scale are very high. You need a lot of cash and very good teams. For example, in Germany there were about 20 group purchasing companies, several of them backed by huge companies. Now there are only 2 left, one of them is our www.dailydeal.de. 18 disappeared or are about to close down and lost a lot of money. TNW Asia: What is motivating your investments of this type in Asia? Brehm: 1996 was my first time in China and later I went to many other Asian countries. Since then I have admired the different Asian cultures all of them having a very strong socialising factor. Daily deal sites offer a way for these cultures to leverage advantages of purchasing in groups and especially for adventure seekers, to discover their city with friends and family. Furthermore discounts in general seem to work really well in Asian countries. I have always been interested in doing business in Asia and see a huge potential in the whole internet startup landscape here. Being able to combine my interest and experience as an internet entrepreneur with a business model that matches market needs is a great opportunity that I just had to take. TNW Asia: In a span of 10 months, you have invested in about six deal sites in Asia. Which country do you find has the most traction? Brehm: Luckily we have a number one position in nearly all the markets we are active in. Thus, in relative terms, all sites are doing very well. In absolute terms, of course, China and Japan are by far the biggest markets. TNW Asia: Do you have any advice for investors or start-ups looking to enter the Chinese market? Brehm: It's a market full of great opportunities. Find the right people to support you. Things can change from region to region, so it is important to have a partner or colleague who understands the market and culture. TNW Asia: What other countries are you looking at potentially investing? Brehm: We are interested in any market that looks like it can provide an opportunity for young entrepreneurs and that is open for such a group purchasing platform. TNW Asia: You also have investments in Europe, what differences do you see in the markets – have the sites in Europe adopted a different approach? Brehm: The basic business model is the same, however, there are minor differences, for example the types of deals offered or the marketing channels used. Another example: In some countries where online purchases are relatively less common, our experience in ramping up our reputation is significantly different as opposed to those countries that are more inclined to online purchases. TNW Asia: In countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia where the Internet penetration is low, how do the deal sites reach out to the consumers? Brehm: We are testing many different kinds of marketing strategies and so far our well-balanced system of approaching the consumers online and offline is proving successful. TNW Asia: How much of a factor is mobile, and the much heralded growth of the mobile web, in Asia on your investments and the sites themselves? Brehm: Depending on where you are, mobile internet access can make or break your sales or customer acquisition. In some Asian countries the mobile web is a big part of our business model. TNW Asia: Away from daily deals, what other investments do you run, or are you interested in, across Asia? Brehm: At the moment, I am very focused on the daily deal sites in Asia. Given our experience and the pages we already have, I think this is also a very good opportunity for young entrepreneurs to learn a lot about internet startups. So, more than anything, we are strongly looking for talented Asian entrepreneurs, interested in working in the start-up sector. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Bump iPhone app now lets you send “location snapshots” to friends [TNW Apps] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 09:55 PM PDT Bump made a few changes to its iPhone app today (the first significant update since its major 2.0 overhaul), including selecting multiple photos to share at once, and pinch-zoom and landscape support in photo viewer. However, it was another feature that really caught our eye: the ability to now send a “location snapshot” to Bump friends. That said, we were slightly confused about what exactly a “location snapshot” was, so we reached out to Bump for a further explanation, and here is how they explained it:
Ok, so, using your phone’s location (which, btw, Bump needs to have anyway to work) the app creates a little map with a pin at the center and sends it as a message to your friend through the “chat” feature (as you see below). The chat feature is basically works the same as sending MMS between you and a friend, but within the Bump app itself, and not like IM (where both users have to be logged in at the same time), with push notifications. So up until now, Bump has integrated well with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but this new feature would seem to go in a slightly different direction – more towards events and meetups (think OpenTable, Eventbrite and Plancast). This would be a nature progression for the app, as Bump has already added calendar event and calendar comparing functions into the app previously. Another – even more exciting to us – possibility could be perhaps integration with social location services such as Foursquare or perhaps even Latitude. This feature has a very Latitude feel to it in a way, as it is – initially at least – about sharing location with very defined users/people. We also asked Bump if there was anyway to include anything else into this “snapshot” – especially an image, which was our first thought – but unfortunately, that isn’t the case (there is also no way to tag content in the Bump app, which would be nice). That said, like MMS, users can send images back and forth (Bump made it very clear that these are free to send in the app), so you could say send a friend a location snapshot (i.e. a little map of where you are) and then right after that send an image, but it would seem to us that this would work much smoother if it all came together in one message. At any rate, it will be interesting to see what direction Bump takes this interesting app-internal chat function it is building. As we’ve said before, Bump is one of the most interesting mobile apps out there (heck, you can even Bump an iPhone and Android phone – which btw, Bump says it hopes to have updated “within a few months”) and we’re guessing is a major acquisition target for a number of business-focused companies out there. If its not, well, it should be.Image Credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Klout adds Facebook data to its social importance scale [TNW Social Media] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 04:55 PM PDT
Today, according to the Klout Blog, that reach is spreading to include your Facebook data as well. I logged in to check the new updates, and I have to say that I’m fairly impressed. Considering that I don’t typically hold Klout in very high regard, that’s saying quite a mouthful. Taken from the Klout Blog, here’s an explanation of how the Facebook data integration works:
Of course, Klout is based in part on rewards, and the Facebook integration comes with its own as well. As your numbers increase, so too will your reward badges and your overall Klout score. From what I’ve seen so far, I have only compliments for the integration of Facebook data. There are a couple of caveats, of course. Klout warns that it will only index your personal page at the moment, and does not take any business or group pages into account. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Rumor reversal: AOL working with private equity firms to take over Yahoo? [TNW United States] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 04:36 PM PDT Well, this is certainly a rumor reversal: the Wall Street Journal is citing “people familiar with the matter” in saying that “several” private equity firms including possibly Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone, are “either teaming up with AOL to buy the company or trying to take it private on their own.” That company? Yahoo. So that how does a company with a market cap of $2.68 billion (AOL) take over a company with a market cap of $20.56 billion? Here’s how the WSJ lays it out: Scenario #1
Scenario #2
In both scenarios, Yahoo would sell its stake back to Alibaba, but is that going to happen? Many have speculated about the disintegration of ties between the two companies, with rumors abounding that Alibaba founder and CEO Jack Ma doesn’t personally like Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. One thing is for sure, however – Bartz must know that Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba is one of the key elements that is holding Yahoo together, because, well, everyone knows that. For Alibaba to really have a shot at buying back its stake, most likely it is going to have to put out a price that shareholders are not going to want to pass up, and frankly, Bartz may just well be waiting for that. At any rate, this whole thing is a role reversal from what many (including us) were saying earlier in the year – that Yahoo should buy AOL. However, many people would prefer to see AOL CEO Tim Armstrong at the head of a AOL-Yahoo / Yahoo-AOL, instead of Bartz, so perhaps that is what is driving these private equity firms to get involved. There is and has been a lot, repeat that A LOT, of speculation swirling around this for a long time now (again, us too) but it stands to reason that something eventually has to give, so we’ll speculate one more time – Yahoo and AOL will be one company within 6 months. But please, don’t quote us on that. Oh, and Kara Swisher over on BoomTown has a lot more on all of this – including Yahoo’s stock going up after this report apparently. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| The Archivist: Archiving tweets to provide awesome insight [TNW Apps] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 04:02 PM PDT
The Archivist is a partnership project between Plexipixel and Microsoft's web design and developer community team MIX Online. For a really in depth understanding of what The Archivist does, I suggest reading the blog over at the MIX website. The Cliff’s Notes version looks something like this – you head to The Archivist and type in a word or phrase. Then this happens:
Understanding that The Archivist can’t go back in time, it’s important to realize what it does. The Archivist will take a search term or phrase and start a long-term collection of data about it. You can then come back at any time and view not only the raw data and tweets, but also some graphs that have been built from what it found. And what does it find? According to the website, The Archivist keeps track of these areas:
Then, when you go back to look at the results, you’ll see things like this result for the tracking of the word “flood”: The question that immediately comes to mind, however, is what you can do with it. I had to figure that out for myself, and then it became really clear. Let’s say, for instance, that a company starts out a new branding campaign over Twitter. What better way to get an idea of how the campaign is sticking than to look at metrics of that campaign over a period of time. Or let’s say that Apple is releasing a new product. Watching how that product comes up in conversation over a period can certainly give some insight as to how successful the product might be. As I started to come up with more use cases for The Archivist, the true genius of the application begins to shine. Give it a shot, and let us know what you think. Personally, I think it’s brilliant, and a great use of information that we’re presently letting blow into the wind. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Google suffers setback in TV advertising, just as Google TV about to hit shelves [The Next Web] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 03:32 PM PDT Google has apparently taken a step backwards in its efforts to be major player in the cable television advertising ecosystem, just as the first Google TV powered products are about to this the shelves this weekend. According to AdAge, Google and NBC Universal have ended an advertising deal that the two giants entered into in 2008, a year early. The agreement had allowed Google “to sell advertising inventory on select NBC Universal-owned cable outlets – such as SyFy, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, Sleuth and Chiller- with the potential to expand to other networks down the line” according to AdAge, but that’s not going to happen obviously, as the agreement is over. That said, an Mark Piesanen of NBC Universal said:
So they’re still friends, and Google is also still working with DirectTV, DishNetwork and smaller cable channels, NBC Universal was the biggest media deal that Google had in place in television advertising, so ending this deal early doesn’t seem to bode too well. That said, in the long run, none of this may matter if Google TV is an absolute hit, as Google can then worry less about selling ads on cable and just sell them right within the Google TV framework. The faster that Google can help to cut the cable cords, the strong its bottom line will be. When this happens (ok, we’ll say if too, but really, it’s going to happen, though of course Google won’t be the only winner when it does), Google may look back at this time in its advertising as a bridge, and laugh. But today, this news has probably got to sting a little.AdAge [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Microsoft attacks Open Office in new video [Update] [TNW Microsoft] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 03:05 PM PDT This post has been updated, please see the bottom of the post for details. In the world of productivity suites there are three real options: Microsoft Office, Open Office, and iWork. For broke PC users everywhere, Open Office has long been a fall back option. While it has never rivaled Microsoft Office in adoption, that does not stop it from being a potential threat. Free is any consumer’s favorite word, and Microsoft knows it. To combat the suspicion that perhaps it might be better to use said free software, Microsoft put together a video that slams the suite as hard to use, hard to integrate, hard to support, and in the end rather expensive. As a fair warning, if you don’t like Microsoft, this video might not be good for your blood pressure: In related news, Oracle has promised new support for Open Office, kicking the war of the productivity suites into a higher gear. Update: Microsoft has set the video to private, pulling it from the public eye of YouTube and the media coverage that had swarmed it. It was viewed thousands before it was taken down. If and when Microsoft issues a statement, we will bring it to you here.Ars, Image Credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Michael J. Fox in new teaser for Back To The Future’s 25th anniversary [TNW Shareables] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 02:49 PM PDT I am one of those superfans and this is indeed one of the greatest motion pictures ever made. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Apple beats Acer for third place spot in US computer market [TNW Apple] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 02:07 PM PDT
Just how many Macs did Jobs sell in Q3 2010 to US customers? Just under two million, with a total of 1.999 million Macs moved by the Cupertino giant to the 50 states. That puts Apple’s US market share at 10.6%, overshadowing Acer. Acer, the Taiwanese giant, sold 1.949 million computers in the same time frame and location, giving them 10.3% of the market. Acer’s generally low cost line of machines has suffered as the US economy has slowly recovered. Reports have also circulated that the iPad has undercut sales of netbooks and other low end computers, Acer’s bread and butter. Both Dell and HP lost minor amounts of market share, with HP topping the US PC charts with 4.5 million sold computers. It should be noted that on a global scale, Apple is not among the top six largest PC manufacturers. Acer is the world’s second largest computer manufacturer, and HP reigns around the world with more than 15 million computers shipped last quarter. Apple will be holding an event this October 20th concerning its Mac line.Electronista [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Updated: Bell denies Montreal Canadiens app to all but their own customers [The Next Web] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 01:49 PM PDT Please see the updates at the bottom of the post. If this isn’t a kick in the head to all Habs fans in Canada, heck the world, I don’t know what is. Bell Canada released a mobile app for the Canadiens, which is cool, I have the one for the Canucks, but instead of letting all hockey fans get the app; it’s only available to Bell Canada customers:
Seriously Bell? Hockey is one of the things that unites Canadians. Fine, until playoff time, but still. In the States (and many other places) this practice is called tying, but here I think it’s just unsportsmanlike conduct. That’s, what, five minutes in the penalty box?
Not only does the app allow fans of the Canadiens to follow along, they also get to vote on the game’s Three Stars, usually decided by the sports media. So, what Bell is doing is limiting this fan choice to only the fans who are lucky (?) enough to pay Bell? Yeah, that’s a fail in my book. So while we can lobby the government to ban tying in like this, I think Bell should just suck it up, open up the app to all hockey fans, and let the fans enjoy it. Remember, keep your stick on the ice. Update: I am happy to be wrong! Yes, wrong. I got voicemails and emails from Bell Canada correcting the source story. Although I couldn’t find the app in the Apple App Store yet, the app will be available to everyone. But … Not all the features are available to everyone. Bell customers get exclusive videos and the ability while at a Habs game to be able to share pictures that can be shown on centre ice. Fair trade? Yeah I’m okay with that. Sure some folks will be annoyed, but you have to offer some perks to your own customers. Would it make me switch from my carrier to Bell just for that? Probably not, but then again I’m not a Habs fan. The rest of the features, including Three Stars voting, are open to all. The full press release available for you to check out. Ah, it’s good to be wrong sometimes.Source & screenshots Digital Home, photo credit stuart001uk [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Wanderfly. Travel recommendations tailored to you. We have Invites! [TNW Apps] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 01:10 PM PDT
Wanderfly, a new service now in beta, aims to solve your travel troubles by tailoring a trip around your budget, your interests, and more. Why choose Wanderfly?
Wanderfly is a grand tool for anyone looking to get away and it is dead simple to use. Once you log in you set your departure location, your budget range, the time period you wish to leave and for how long, what/where you want to explore and the types of activities that interest you. After you hit “Get Going” Wanderfly returns options custom tailored to your limits, complete with total costs, hotel and flight information, and so much more. Wanderfly even suggests other activities that you can bookmark, you can share your trip with friends, email your trip to yourself, learn more about your trip, view multiple trip options, and more. The options really are limitless. The Wanderfly database features more than 1,200 destinations, representing 130 countries in every continent except Antarctica. Further, Wanderfly has lined up some impressive partners for its service such as; Yelp, foursquare, NileGuide, Lonely Planet, photos from Flickr and social functionality from Facebook. If you’re looking to travel, but have no idea where to go, what to do and/or how you can get the most bang for your buck, Wanderfly is a slick way to solve all of your destination dilemmas. Right now it is in beta, going live for all on October 19. That said, for the first 200 TNW readers who use the code, thenextweb, you’ll get access to this wonderful service! Where do you plan on traveling soon? No idea? Let Wanderfly help! [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Bell denies Montreal Canadiens app to all but their own customers [The Next Web] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 01:05 PM PDT
Seriously Bell? Hockey is one of the things that unites Canadians. Fine, until playoff time, but still. In the States (and many other places) this practice is called tying, but here I think it’s just unsportsmanlike conduct. That’s, what, five minutes in the penalty box?
Not only does the app allow fans of the Canadiens to follow along, they also get to vote on the game’s Three Stars, usually decided by the sports media. So, what Bell is doing is limiting this fan choice to only the fans who are lucky (?) enough to pay Bell? Yeah, that’s a fail in my book. So while we can lobby the government to ban tying in like this, I think Bell should just suck it up, open up the app to all hockey fans, and let the fans enjoy it. Remember, keep your stick on the ice.Source & screenshots Digital Home, photo credit stuart001uk [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
| Lane Merrifield: Entrepreneurs Aren’t [TNW Canada] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 12:28 PM PDT
Not to give short shrift to the only speakers, especially not to the student who has been a regional, Provincial, national, and international science fair participant, but I want to really focus on Lane’s keynote. Lane Merrifield was one of the co-founders of Club Penguin which started in, and is still based in, Kelowna, BC that was later acquired by Disney. I think it’s safe to say that Lane has a good amount of street cred as far as the whole entrepreneur/startup person goes then. While Lane related one of his early startups, mowing lawns at 11, it was his “what isn’t” and “what is” an entrepreneur that gave the audience the most to chew on. Maybe it was crystalizing something that entrepreneurs inherently understand, but I think these parts of the talk seemed to resonate deeply with the audience. From Lane, what an entrepreneur isn’t:
In contrast being an entrepreneur is:
Lane emphasized that being an entrepreneur is about being and doing something bigger than yourself. Club Penguin, for example, was started to be something fourthree dads created for their kids. A website and game that was safe, ad-free, and fun for their kids. Of course, millions of other kids felt the same way. They never took outside funding, because they didn’t want the pressure and change that taking funding would have meant. If you “get funded”, everything changes. You have other responsibilities to manage. The investors want their money back and maybe the investors might steer you away from your original course. Lane related the story of how they created the “white fur” mystery for Club Penguin. When the “white fur” was discovered, they didn’t have a plan for what it would be or would mean, they let the kids decide. In the end, the white fur belonged to a polar bear (now the arch nemesis in Club Penguin) and that was what the kids said would be cool and not what they said would be bad. Huh, funny that, listening to your customers and doing what they want. Listening. Listening is one thing that seems ingrained in Club Penguin. Lane told the audience that every email is answered by a real person. They feel that if a child takes the time to email to them, the child deserves the time and attention to get a good answer. Yeah, they get thousands of emails a day and they all get answered. From that though, they get they best insights in how to fix, change, and improve the game. The trade-off in time needed to answer emails pays off in being more customer-centric as a whole. A couple last things that Lane talked about. Now he didn’t say this to brag, because it relates to how they work as a company, Club Penguin donates $4 million dollars a year to NGOs that help kids. A million of that money goes to the place the users/audience think it should go. Yes, Club Penguin makes sure that they give money so kids around the world can have a better life and go to school. The final comment on charity is what stuck with me the most: “If you want to find and hire the best people, start giving away money to the things that matter.” Yeah, I came to a keynote and got inspired to do more and better. Fair trade I think.Photo credit: Club Penguin, Club Penguin [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.]    |
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