Archive for September, 2008

Joost: Music, Television Shows, Films, All In Your Browser

As Mashable has reported this morning, Joost has now moved to a web based version. If you don’t know what Joost is, it is basically a television streaming service but without the ads. There are hundred of channels to choose from and you are able to watch programs straight in your browser.

Joost has channels in a variety of sectors, old television programs, sports, news, music videos and more. It is totally free to watch and can be viewed from any country in the world, unlike Hulu.

When you head over to the site all you need to do is register and then download the plugin that launches the application within your browser, and thats it.

Google Chrome gets first update and more confusing

The new web browser that everyone is talking about and not using, Chrome, just got an update to it.  This update is kind of unusual though in the fact that you now have a choice of how beta and unstable you want it to be.  If you are into trying out new things, reporting bugs and getting fresh updates daily or every few days, this is for you.  If you use Chrome on a regular basis though, the update is kind of mandatory as it

fixes bugs with areas including Microsoft’s Silverlight software, tab behavior, video playback with YouTube and other Flash players, and scalable vector graphics, and it suppresses full-text indexing of sites accessed with encrypted Web connections

Cnet News has all the information on how to do the update, to me the killer is you can’t even update from the software itself, you need to go to another website.  Then you have to choose which updates you want to receive, Beta or Dev, and then watch as it updates.  I have no problem with software being released and not being finished, it happens all the time, but with Google’s track record of keeping apps in beta for years and years, why put so many users through the growing pains of both Dev and Beta versions?  Me thinks Chrome should have been a private invite only release like Gmail was originally to get most of the issues flushed out in the first place.

Chrome is nice, it has a lot of cool features and has everyone who uses the internet interested, but as reported earlier, no one is really using it and no one on a Mac can even start to use it.  It pains me when major companies rely on the free labor of their own users to finish building and fixing software that shouldn’t be released yet, much less make them jump through hoops to get the update.

Anyone here a die-hard Chrome user yet?

Is the World Ready for Android?

Just announced today, the new Android phone is set to release on Monday, October 20th. This much anticipated release is expected to change the face of mobile phones, similar to the expectations prior to the release of the first iPhone.

Expected specs for the phone were released back in August and can been seen on the TechCrunch website here. Currently this full featured phone is set to be released on the T-Mobile network, similar to Apple‘s partnership with AT&T. This exclusivity is sure to give T-Mobile a significant boost to their market share, and their profits will be sitting pretty too if this phone delivers all that is expected.

iPhone users are might be sitting pretty right now, but soon Android might be the next “in” phone to have. Is Apple worried? Only time will tell once this phone hits the market. Already tech pundits and gadget fans are preparing their long stay on the streets over that weekend. I’m interested to see just how much more powerful this Android phone will be, with the support of Google, there’s no telling!

iPhone “Epic Fail” in Japan

It’s a known fact that mobile devices in Japan are just better, plain and simple. Doubt me? Mobile devices in Japan have been proven to be years advanced their stateside counterparts. For years now mobile devices, especially cell phones, have been able to receive TV, music, take photos, etc. Just as we attempt to close the gap, the Japanese take their phones to another level of increasing the quality of picture and audio, but also increasing the use of these devices. Phone overseas have been able to scan items for pricing for years already, and they’ve also been used as debit cards and train passes.

So what does Apple and Steve Jobs plan to provide for their customers in the Land of the Rising Sun? Well…nothing. While units were expected to hit sales of 1 million units, when all is said and done they will be lucky to have sold 500,000. Not good. Apple’s offerings with the iPhone just don’t compete with the already existing high end phones that are available to both the consumer and professional market.

Released just over three months ago, the iPhone which saw explosive sales the first few weeks of release has taken a drastic nosedive. Selling out immediately on July 11th, with lines of people ready to purchase is the complete opposite of the sites now, where sellers stock their windows with iPhones, promoting specials, and looking for ways to move the inventory with little to no luck.

Since Apple could not wow them with their song and dance, what will it take for Apple to break into the Japanese market? We saw similar experiences when Microsoft released the first iteration of the X-box, which impressive sales at first, but then falling off the charts. Steve and Co. might need to go back to the drawing board for our eastern friends and think of a plan to counter an already established market.

TechCrunch Hits 1 Million Milestone

TechCrunch is a self proclaimed “obsessive” site for everything technology, especially start-ups. Michael Arrington, co-founder of TechCrunch, has a well established career in doing what he loves best and, in my opinion, being damn good at it. But don’t take my word for, they have just recently hit a huge milestone for any site, over 1 million subscribers follow them via RSS Feeds. In less than 39 months they have achieved this goal and by the looks of it, will continue this trend.

Arrington reports that like any other site, their numbers fluctuate. Weekends are slow, but mid-week is their best time period. Still, even with the fluctuations, fans stay for the news and are even offered various ways to stay in touch with what is happening in the world of technology; Twitter, RSS Feed, FriendFeed, are just as few examples of how TechCrunch stays in touch with their readers.

Recentlly TechCrunch held their TechCrunch50 event which has been covered on Crenk here and here. Because of Arrington’s love for start-ups, he offers some of the best in the world a stage for them to highlight their products, network with VC’s and other interested high profile people, and in turn gives a little back with the success he’s achieved.

I highly recommend businesses to take a look at TechCrunch because as investors, you could be a part of the next big thing in the tech world!

iPhone App Review of Campaign

Last week I searched the Apple iPhone App store in search of a dedicated political application that I could use to follow the elections. Interestingly enough I only found news apps, which is great, but too convoluted with other news that I did not want to have to filter through. That being said I was greatly disappointed and left the site.

Just this week I came across Campaign, a dedicated political updater that keeps you informed on how both parties are doing in this monumental election. Now even for those not stateside, this election has a global impact. The next person in office will have to make some big decisions, and I feel confident in saying that myself along with the rest of the world hope that decisions are the right ones, not for personal gain or economic reasons.

This little application is brought to you by Gorloch Interactive, which states they will try to provide you with all the dirt on both candidates to make you a “more-informed” voter. Do no worry if you think this application is one sided, three categories keep you informed on both parties in relation to News, Polls, and Candidates. Once you download the application you have your chance to set up your desired results.

If you want all the latest updates on who said what, who did what, and where they stand on upcoming issues, then definitely get Campaign. You might also want to hurry, because the election is over in two months, and you want to be the most informed voter you can be.

Mashable: Non-stop Technology & Web News

Founded in 2005 in an unlikely city in Scotland, Pete Cashmore has turned his dream of up to the minute updates on everything tech, media, web, and social networks into one of the most profitable blogs in history, Mashable. With over 5 million monthly pageviews, anyone that makes it on the site either in an article or as a sponsor for the site is sure to be seen by the who’s who of the online media world.

Mashable has been highlighted in Technorati, the New York Times, Washington Post and Forbes, while being a fan favorite to interact and catch up on the latest events. Mashable’s contributing writers are all published and established writers that look to be a part of a much bigger blog. Just recently Pete and the Mashable team put on a Mashable Tour with their partners of Social Media Camp. This multi-city tour highlighted presentations from the best of web and media minds and afterwards offered an excellent opportunity for these minds to mingle.

Currently Pete Cashmore divides his time between San Francisco, New York, and the UK. He’s constantly staying abreast of the latest trends in social networks, and hosts monthly events to keep the conversation going.

I have personally met Pete during one of the Mashable tours here in Austin, and was amazed at how cool and approachable he was. He literally took photos with all the hundreds of people that attended the after party and was truly interested in talking to everyone.

Mashable is a definite site to subscribe to, and make sure to follow Mashable on Twitter as well for even more information then you think you can handle. Just watch out for the overload!

Seinfeld and Gates at it Again

If you found yourself just as confused by the first commercial from Microsoft featuring the $10 Million Dollar Man himself, Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, so was the rest of the world.

The media slammed against what seemed like a commercial about nothing, similar to the description of the show Seinfeld from 10 years ago. Personally I am a big fan of the show, but the humor does not translate 10 years later, and if they look to enter a new, younger, more media savvy market, digging 10 years back for jokes does them no good.

Well the second clip has been released, and the extended version has already been all over YouTube and other video posting sites. While this will not show on TV in its entirety due to it being over 4 minutes long, I can’t imagine the cut version being any better.

The TWiT podcast hosted by Leo Laporte even attempted to dissect the first commercial for the underlying message looking for symbolism in the commercial and even they fell short near the end. If the commercial looks to be that cerebral, they will more then likely lose people rather than gain.

I say thumbs down to this sitcom-ish style advertising, but you be the judge.

John Chow dot com 3 launches, I yawn

One of the popular web celebrities who blog about blogging and making money from blogging is John Chow.  His personal site was launched for no other real reason other than to see how much money he could make from blogging about, well blogging and making money.  He’s a very successful tech blogger and media network owner, so he knows the ins and outs, but a year or two ago, blogging about blogging really started to take off, so why not jump on board, share some tips and tricks and profit.  He’s done well, real well, nearly $30,000 a month well and has a cult like following.

I was a daily reader of his site up until he switched to version 2.0 maybe a year ago.  At that point, it was clear that the focus was on ad placement and started to make reading the content that much harder.  John’s primary readers are bloggers and creative writers who are looking for ways to turn a profit on their own sites, they want information, not blatant advertising.  The overall layout was clean though with good graphics, but I stopped reading daily.

Today, Version 3 launched and John has moved the index of the site to be similar to one of the other super popular bloggers, Darren Rowse of Problogger.net with respects to being more of a magazine style with snippets of current articles, more ads and some static information.  Inside the site is supposed need less scrolling to read the articles and be cleaned up even more; I can agree to disagree with that.  He did finally do away with having exotic cars in his header, but that only appears to be because others ripped the idea and so he could fit more advertiser space in.  On my 1280×1034 screen I count 13 ads plus the top half of two more ads and one more ad promoting his e-book.  It’s a bit much.  The footer takes on the trends of other larger Web 2.0 sites with what must be close to 500 pixels high worth of information, sadly there is no button to take you back to the top of the page

With more than 30,000 RSS subscribers, 2,000 more following on Twitter people listen to what he says, but I think more is being emphasized on how it looks instead of better content.  John is still posting up photos of food and other random things and shares his insight on how to run a blog for money, but getting to the content for me isn’t worth the trouble anymore.

Yammer is Top Prize Winner at TechCrunch50

After three days of presenters and presentations, the dust has settled and cleared. Yammer was announced the winner of this years TechCrunch50, so a big congrats to them.

Yammer is a Twitter based internal corporate communications tool for businesses. They provide a great model for companies to use Twitter inside their company in a closed and private way where employees can sign up and communicate with their co-workers across the company’s network. This is an excellent idea and looks to unite people across different departments without having to pick up a phone or physically walk to them.

The catch to their monetization process is this, if the company itself wants full control of the chatter and its employees, that’s when the model turns profitable and businesses pay into the service. TechCrunch‘s article states “There is such a huge demand for this type of service that 10,000 people and 2,000 organizations signed up for the service the first day it launched on Monday.”

Pretty amazing numbers that only look to go up in the coming months as internal corporate communication tools will be a necessity for day to day operations. If you’re in a business looking to building community amongst your employees, definitely check out Yammer.