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Sony Unveils Its Apple iTunes Competitor

Steven Finch — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:48:54 +0000

Sony has announced that they are planning on launching their own Apple iTunes competitor which will be an online store selling music, movies, and books as well as other downloadable applications for mobile products. This does sound very familiar, as Sony has already tried to compete with iTunes on the Sony Connect product which is no longer in existance. Sony’s top executives didn’t specify when the Internet store, tentatively called Sony Online Service, would go live or what it would look like. But the online storefront, announced at a management strategy meeting in Tokyo, is likely to bear some similarities to Apple’s iTunes store and would be Sony’s most ambitious attempt to link its products to its own vast library of digital content.

Current Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer has been set the mission to for a cohirant software strategy since taking over the top job in mid-2006.

The global recession has pummeled Sony’s businesses and left its earnings in a shambles. With consumers cutting back on electronics, Sony says it’s heading for its second straight loss. This fiscal year through March 2010, Sony predicts an operating loss of $674 million, from last year’s $2.6 billion loss. Sales are expected to slide 6%.

Sony executives refused to say how much it plans to invest in the new online service. Kazuo Hirai, executive vice-president for networked products and services, said the service would be based on Sony’s PlayStation Network. The Web-based gateway for PlayStation 3 video game consoles has been Sony’s most successful push into online commerce so far. Launched three years ago, the PSN has 33 million registered users and sells thousands of downloadable games, TV shows, and movies. This fiscal year, Sony expects the service to bring in $500 million in revenues, triple the previous year’s total. Last month, Sony signed a deal with Netflix that lets PS3 users stream movies and other content through the gaming console. “There’s some debate as to whether all PlayStation Network users would migrate to the new service,” Hirai said. “We would target quite a few of them.”

Will this new online store save Sony and get them back on track to the revenues of previous years? Will this also mean that Sony will remove their music from iTunes in the aim to get users to quickly adopt their new service?

Amazon Affiliates Prepare for Black Friday

Dean Sherwin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:45:11 +0000

Last week I did a post about how the Internet was getting all decked out in preparation for Black Friday. Well this morning when I checked my e-mail I had a newsletter from Amazon Affiliates who I occasionally use on my blog. They were pretty much telling me that if I wanted to make money now was the time to do it.

They have prepare special banners such as the one to the left and set up a special Black Friday section. What’s more (I’m sure this will please many bloggers reading this) affiliates earn 15% for every sale they refer on Black Friday – not bad.

Their entire new range of banners and widgets is available to view here.

Online sales for the week of Black Friday are set to rise into the millions as big sites such as EBay and Amazon prepare.

Is it really worth standing in line and charging around malls when you could do it all at home?

Skype Deal Finally Completed and Worth $2.75 Billion

Steven Finch — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:00:12 +0000

So much has happened in the last few months with regards to Skype. eBay which bought Skype for $2.6 million back in 2005 has finally settled its litigation with Skype’s founders, and now the sale and restructure has been finalised.

The result: Skype now owns all of its technology, the founders received 14% of Skype and two seats on the Board of Directors, eBay keeps 30% of Skype, and the rest is owned by outside investors.

1. eBay now owns 30% of Skype, outside investors (including Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board) own 70%.

2. 14% or so is owned by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of Skype who have been added to the investor pool.

3. The Skype deal values the company at $2.75 billion, which is a little higher than the price eBay paid for Skype in 2005.

4. Joltid Limited is an investor in Skype. Joltid is owned by the Skype founders and was a major part of the legal dispute between eBay and the founders. The company held a key P2P technology that Skype now owns as part of this deal.

Thats the full recap on the new situation for Skype. Hopefully now Skype can move forward and start more innovations with their product.

Myspace Acquires Imeem (Music Streaming Service) for Only $8 million?

Steven Finch — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:42:41 +0000

It has now been confirmed that Myspace has closed on its acquisition of Imeem, the music streaming service. It is paying a fire sale price of $1 million, sources familiar with the situation tell me, and could pay up to $7 million to $9 million in earnouts for key employees, who will likely include CEO Dalton Caldwell.

The deal basically values Imeem at around $8 million, even though Sequoia and Warner Music have already pumped $25 million into the venture.

I dont understand why Myspace thought it was a good idea to purchases Imeem! Was it just about the users who are still active on Imeem, cause it definitely wasnt about the technology or the earnings potential.

Facebook Definitely Coming to the PS3

Dean Sherwin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:05:31 +0000

Some of you may remember that last week we posted a screenshot which was supposedly from the PS3 website but had been leaked unintentionally. It depicted a Facebook logo on the PS3 Home screen indicating that Facebook was coming to the popular gaming console. Now, we can confirm that story.

In an update for the PS3 is out and ready for download. Along with outer features, Facebook is included. Here is what Sony said in an official press release:

Showcase Trophies: Instantly share trophies you earn in PS3 games in your Facebook stream. Simply sync your PS3 system and easily show off your accomplishments to friends and family.

PlayStation Store Purchase Log Publishing: Let friends and family on Facebook instantly know which PlayStation 3 games you’ve purchased. The PlayStation Store, available to PS3 and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system owners through PlayStation Network, features over 200 downloadable games, many of which are exclusive to PS3 or PSP system owners, in addition to over 4,000 pieces of add-on game content.

Game Event: With a few quick clicks of the controller sharing select game events, progress and statistics is now easier than ever with the Facebook integration.

So what are you waiting for? Go get the update!

Yahoo Go is Going

Dean Sherwin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:34:06 +0000

Back in 2006 before the average Joe on the street had a smart phone – we all used our cell phones to check our e-mails, Flickr, news, weather and other such services. The main port of call for this was Yahoo Go – a mobile client released by Yahoo!

However, Yahoo! have just announced that Go is to suffer the same fate as GeoCities did last month – it’ll be leaving us. Come January 12th next year, when you turn on Yahoo! Go on your mobile you’ll get an error message.

Undoubtedly this is because of the competition from more powerful apps and platforms such as those on the iPhone.

However I think this might be slightly pre-mature because the app is still being sold on phones as you read this. Perhaps Yahoo! are trying to push us into the smart phone market?

Orange to Offer MMS Photosharing on Twitter

Dean Sherwin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:30:16 +0000

Tweeting is now done mostly by third-party apps on mobile devices and on PCs It’s now becoming a rarity to tweet via the actual webpage. It’s becoming even more of a rarity to tweet via SMS as apps become more available even for the most basic of Java enabled mobile phones.

However, these apps for basic mobile phones don’t always offer the chance to tweet photos which is something we tweeters do quite a bit. So for the first time on Twitter ever, the ability to tweet via MMS is coming to the UK.

The service will allow those on the Orange network to send a snap to 86444 and have it appear on their Twitter timeline. It’s only available to Orange customers as the popular mobile network owns a photo sharing website called Snapshot which will host the pictures and tweet out a link.

The only alternative to this (and it’s what I do when I’m out and about) is to e-mail a picture from your mobile phone which can be done easily once you set up your e-mail right and have an account on a service such as twitpic.com.

Obama Never Used Twitter

Dean Sherwin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:28:28 +0000

Some of the most popular Twitter accounts (with followers well into the millions) come from well-known faces such as Ashton Kutcher and Stephen Fry. And of course, the president of the United States Barak Obama. He has over 2.6 million followers who will be disappointed to learn it’s not him behind the Twitter account.

I think everyone knew that he didn’t tweet all of the time but he actually said that he has ‘never’ used Twitter before!

It happened during a meeting with Chinese youth when somebody put a question to him about the freedom of the internet and information in China through networks such as Twitter. He then replied:

“I have never used Twitter but I’m an advocate of technology and not restricting internet access.”

To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got into a bit of trouble with his publicists who would have preferred to have people think he tweets. Oh well, half the celebrity Twitter accounts are fake anyway – at least this one is actually coming from somebody in the White House.

Evernote Raises another $10 million in Series B Funding

Steven Finch — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:12:47 +0000

Its been reported that Evernote the popular note taking service has raised another $10 million in Series B funding. This series B funding comes after already raising $6 million.

Already Evernote has a solid business model with a great number of premium subscribers who already pay for the service. Thus, Evernote has nearly two million users, some paying in the premium model, so why the new funding? Is Evernote looking to purchase any other startups or push their service into default applications on mobile phones?

Andrew Sinkov, VP of Marketing, tells us, “All of that money is going into the product. That’s always been Evernote’s approach. Our product is our marketing, so we’re using the funds to make Evernote better, more functional, and more accessible to new users. We’re also adding new platforms, new language support, and lots of other good stuff.”

Twitter Visits Decline – Are They Really?

Dean Sherwin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:27:50 +0000

Today, reports have surfaced saying that Twitters visitor numbers are decreasing for the first time ever. Apparently, visitor numbers fell by 8% in October. However, in this writer’s opinion Twitter isn’t floundering. These numbers merely represent the differences between Twitter and the rest of the web.

It’s interesting that these numbers are recorded for October. October is a month where people are settling back into school and college, winter’s coming in and the summer social bubble on the Internet has truly popped as people head back tot their normal routine after holidays, time off school and plenty of sunshine and tweet-worthy activities.

I think people are simple more busy and are tweeting from their portable devices instead which easily make up half of Twitter tweets. Instead of taking out the laptop while relaxing in the sun they’re cramming themselves into the Subway and letting everyone know about it from their phones.

Twitter are also rolling out new features such as Lists and now their GeoLocation feature which we discussed here the other day. Suggestions that Twitter is floundering are just hype. Until Twitter’s influence and micro-culture starts to evaporate – don’t believe any of these kind of statements.

The Internet is Getting Ready for Black Friday

Dean Sherwin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:10:44 +0000

Ah Black Friday – it makes headlines every year. Shopping malls all over the US are packed with people grabbing what they can, doing a 100m dash to the cash register while hurdling over three piles of fighting shoppers all while the kids follow behind, trying desperately to keep up. Was is two or three years ago that a security guard was killed when the shop’s doors burst in on top of him? Crazy…

And the Internet is already getting ready for its own Black Friday. Advertisements, sales and offers are creeping in all over the place. Dell for one have knocked off a whopping $334 dollars from this laptop:

And eBay is swelling with week long auctions for Christmas gifts such as iPhones, watches, iPods, laptops and the likes. So what other bargains have we found?

Well how about a Sonia Bravia 40” TV for just shy of $1,000. Or a 120Gb Zune for only $200. You can also get a FujiFilm FinePix A170 with 10.2 megapixels for less than $60.

Black Friday is already staring to climb up the Twitter Trends chart and I’m sure that by Wednesday it’ll be sitting there high and mighty as we all tweet about what we’re going to buy, what our plan is to outsmart the other shoppers (which will undoubtedly fail) and how much money we’ll save. All I can say is that I’ll be doing the bulk of my shopping online. It beats standing around in the freezing cold all night waiting for a shop to open.

If you’re looking for more money off when you go shopping next Friday (or indeed do it online), we suggest you check out Offers.com and Ask Deals for coupons and information on where items are the cheapest.

Flickr and SnapFish Team up for Photo Printing

Dean Sherwin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:42:21 +0000

For the first ever time Flickr has teamed up with a photo printing service for its users to use. Snapfish (owned by HP) will be Flickr’s preferred photo printing service and will be integrated with Twitter to make it easier for the users to export their pictures – and thus make it the preferred service of the users.

At the minute, users have to upload their pictures to an independent printer of their choice. However, because they’ll be able to export whole albums, photo streams etc… at the click of a mouse I can certainly see this being a promising endeavour for SnapFish. However, they will have to give some of their profits back to Flickr obviously – but because they’re available in 22 countries they’ll definitely be turning a profit this year.

Yahoo!, who own Flickr, have come under fire in recent times due to their management of the brand and the controversial decision to include video on the photography site (this has led to several online groups against videos on Flickr being founded). However, they still have over 4 billion photographs on the site and it’s growing by 100 million each month, so SnapFish won’t be complaining.

Google Chrome for Mac is Coming in December

Steven Finch — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:30:30 +0000

PC users have been able to use the Google Chrome browser for some time now, however for everyone using Macs they have been waiting patiently for their own non-developer version. Chrome day for the Mac is coming very soon.

CNET is reporting that recent discussion in a Chrome mailing list points to an early December launch. We could be just weeks away from a beta version of Chrome for Mac.

The Google group update in question is light on details, but by requesting that developers update to support Browser Actions, it also suggests that a December launch date for a Mac version is fast approaching.

Google Chrome’s product manager, Nick Baum, writes:

“The extensions team has been working hard to get BrowserActions ready, and
they’re already working great on Windows and Linux. We’ve noticed that many
of you have updated your extensions to take advantage of the new UI. We’d
like to encourage the rest of you to do so as well!

You can find the latest docs here:
http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/browserAction.html

Why make the switch now? The earlier you switch, the more time you will have
to polish your experience for our Beta launch in early December. We realize
this means dropping Mac support for a couple of weeks, but we already have
people working on that. If you prioritize the Windows and Linux versions,
we’ll bring you cross-platform parity as soon as we can!”

The post provides an interesting clue to the future of Google Chrome for Mac. We can only hope the early December beta launch date is accurate.

Facebook Coming to the PS3

Dean Sherwin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:50:26 +0000

The PS3 is an all round entertainment machine which in many regards it can act as a fully functioning PC for internet, movie and music usage. When it first came out all you could hear was how “it’s not just a console. It’s and entertainment centre” and all that lark. So now we’ve got our hands on an apparent screenshot of a Facebook client running on a PlayStation 3. interesting.

I mean all it is is a logo and a bit of detail which I guess could have been done by a skilled Photoshop user but here’s the interesting part:

TechCrunch claim that the image can be traced back to the official Sony website.

So was this an image uploaded too soon? A test gone wrong? Well we don’t really know for sure but I do have a gut feeling this is straight up. After all, the PS3 is essentially a computer in its own right so if anything, social networking is overdue.

Here is a screenshot of what it might be similar too. This is a screenshot of the Facebook client currently in testing for the XBOX 360 (we’re also waiting on Twitter for that console). It doesn’t look to bad indeed although a bit of cleaning up wouldn’t go amiss.

Google Acquires AdMob and Gizmo5, Plus Playfish Acquired by EA

Steven Finch — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:16:58 +0000

It has been a very big day in acquisitions for both Google and Accel partners. Google has announced that they have acquired Admob and Gizmo5. Admob is a mobile advertising network in which cost Google $750 million.

AdMob founder Omar Hamoui sent the following letter to customers:

Today we announced that AdMob has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Google for $750 million. We are extremely excited about this new partnership and what it means for our advertiser, developer and publisher partners.

AdMob’s people, products and tools will continue to work to deliver successful campaigns for you and to effectively monetize your mobile traffic – no interruptions. Our product and engineering teams will keep building great products for our customers. Our sales team will keep working with our thousands of advertisers to deliver successful campaigns. Our business development team will keep working to maximize ad revenue for the more than 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications that make up AdMob’s publisher network.

After our deal closes, AdMob will work with Google to accelerate the pace of innovation in mobile and do an even better job for you. We believe this deal will benefit our advertisers, developers and publishers by:

*Increasing our investment in building innovative and engaging ad units across platforms and to further improve targeting and tracking.

*Building even more powerful relevance and optimization capabilities, and more powerful technology and tools to monetize mobile traffic.

*Increasing the effectiveness of display advertising on mobile devices by leveraging Google sales team, infrastructure and relationships.

*Improving the already high level of service and support we deliver to our advertisers, developers and publishers.

Im very surprised that Admob sold out to Google on this occassion. I know that $750 million is not an average sum of money, but with Googles track record of advertising products that aren’t Adsense is pretty terrible. Back in February 2007 Google purchased Adscape, which still hasn’t really taken their in-game advertising product to the next level. Additionally, Google killed Feedburner’s very profitable advertising network and replaced it directly with a much worse product for the type of market, Google Adsense. Accel partners won out big on this acquisition as they and Sequoia Capital were the early investors.

Gizmo5 Acquisition:

Gizmo5 was the other company in which Google purchased today, but for only around $30 million in cash. Gizmo5 is a VOIP infrastructure. In previous months Gizmo5 was in talks with Skype about a potential sale, mainly because Skype was having big issues with their current infrastructure. This is a very interested move for Google, I’m not entirely sure why they purchased VOIP infrastructure. The only possible solution is that they are thinking about tying it in with their current Google Voice offering.

EA purchase Playfish:

After lengthy negotiations, Electronic Arts closed it’s anticipated acquisition of social gaming startup Playfish for $275 million in cash. An additional $25 million in stock will be set aside for retaining the top talent at the startup, and another $100 million in earnouts are part of the deal as well if the business hits certain milestones. This has no reaffirmed how lucrative this market current is. I would not be surprised to see a Zynga IPO or Playdom acquistion in the first half of 2010.

Danish Give up on Fighting Piracy

Dean Sherwin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:59:02 +0000

The fight against piracy has been ongoing in Europe since late last year when countries such as the Netherlands started to ban Pirate Bay. In Ireland, the main ISP Eircom, limited internet access to just 20 minutes per day for any of their customers found using the service and the owners of Pirate Bay were wanted men in the Scandinavian countries.

However, it appears as though the Danes are now “throwing in the towel”.

The main reason for this is the lack of adequate evidence which they can use to prosecute. Because, in terms of the law, the internet and the piracy associated with it are fairly new, there are no constraining laws which make it easy to prosecute. As it stands now, if the defendants don’t actually admit to having being organisers in piracy then they’re free to go.

To be honest, I’m still waiting to see if there will ever be a real prosecution and take down of a main service – anywhere.

Google Open Sources Its Own Development Programs

Dean Sherwin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:29:32 +0000

It’s a great day when Internet giant Google open sources the programs it uses to build well-known favourites such as GMail, Docs and Google Maps. It announced on its blog that it will be making a lot of it’s own development software available to developers all over the world. This release comes as Google are undoubtedly upgrading their own tools especially with the upcoming launch of Google Wave.

The first of the three tools they released is called Closure Compiler which helps developers trim down code and optimize it for better performance. There is also a plug-in for Firefox released alongside this so they can view heir Java Script code in the browser.

The second one is called Library which is a tool to help build Java Script Apps. Here is what Google said on their official blog about the program:

The Closure Library is a JavaScript library that provides many features that are useful for building web applications across browsers. It helps to abstract browser differences and provides clean class and function interfaces for common tasks. Besides DOM interaction and UI tools, the library includes tools for arrays, objects, string manipulation and much more. The library also implements a name spacing and import standard, which helps keep scripts small and load fast when used with the Closure Compiler.

The third and final release until further notice was Templates. This is an app that is for creating HTML elements that can be used within Java Script.

Closure Templates simplify the task of dynamically creating HTML and have an easy-to-read syntax. They allow you to write templates for reusable HTML and UI elements that can be used within JavaScript or on the server side in Java. They also have excellent run-time performance because they are never parsed on the client side.

Over the next month or so there is undoubtedly going to be a big rush of new Java apps and programs onto the market thanks to the Google outsourcing. Be sure to stay in touch with Crenk to stay informed!

Google Celebrate Anniversaries of Children’s TV Shows

Dean Sherwin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:29:25 +0000

Google has always been known to mark special occasions such as Christmas, St. Patricks Day, 4^th of July and many others depending on what country you live in, by creating a new Google logo, or doodle as they have become known, for their homepage.

Well for two days in a row they have been celebrating the anniversaries of two famous children’s TV shows.

Yesterday they had a Wallace and Grommet logo to mark the 20^th anniversary of their creation:

And today, Google.co.uk is displaying the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street to mark the 40th anniversary of the show.

Takes me back…

Random Posts

Fast Internet: 100 Mb Broadband Speed Going Into Sweden

Dean Sherwin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:05:06 +0000

A while back, the Finnish government announced that it was making high-speed internet access a legal right for all of its citizens. They have a point in making such legislation.

Because the Internet is playing a bigger part in work, education and society everyday it’s essential that everyone has access to it. Now the Swedes are adopting the same approach by promising their citizens 100 MB broadband in just over ten years. Imaging how many movies you could download with that!

In all seriousness though, I think this is great news. When the web grows more complex and starts to broadcast SuperHD videos (due in the next few years) we’ll need a seriously fast connection to keep up. At them moment, the base connection in Sweden is 20kb/s which is extremely slow. You’d have to go back to 1998 to get an internet connection that slow by using dial-up. I don’t even want to imagine loading a web page with that – let alone download a movie.

So come 2010 all the Swedes will be downloading ABBA at lightening speed!

New Mac Ads That Hate on Windows 7

Steven Finch — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:49:00 +0000

Apple has released 3 new ads that take aim at Windows 7. What do you think of the ads?

New York Times Report That Online Advertising Brings in Nearly a Quarter Of Their Revenues

Steven Finch — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:37:47 +0000

Over at Techcrunch they reported yesterday that the New York Times are now receiving nearly a quarter of their total revenues from online advertising.

The New York Times announced third quarter earnings this morning. Total revenues were down 17 percent to $571 million. Of that advertising revenues decreased 27 percent to $291 million, and the online advertising portion was down 8.2 percent to $68 million.

Last quarter, advertising revenues declined an even steeper 32 percent, and online advertising was down 15.5 percent. So maybe this is the first step on its way back to positive territory. Here are the year-over-year declines in online advertising revenues for each of the past four quarters.

Annual Decline In Internet Advertising Revenues

4Q08: -3.5%
1Q09: -6.1%
2Q09: -15.5%
3Q09: -8.2%

Another interesting data point is that because its print advertising revenues are shrinking at a faster rate than its Internet advertising revenues, the Internet portion is actually a bigger percentage (23.5%) of the New York Times’ total advertising revenues than it was year ago (when it was 18.6%).

I have been a firm believer that print business will slowly leave only the major players in each market and all the smaller business will have to move online or close. However, with these latest figures I now think even the major players could be in big trouble!

Has Rivals Techcrunch and Silicon Alley Insider Partnered??

Steven Finch — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:03:55 +0000

I noticed this morning that in the Silicon Alley Insider RSS feed that they were not just promoting Techcrunch content, but linking directly to their articles!

Have these two key rival in the technology news space partnered to try to catch up to Mashable in terms of traffic numbers?

Ever Wondered Who The Best Looking Girls In Tech Are? Well Manolith Is Here To Tell You!

Steven Finch — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:56:22 +0000

I know how at all those technology conferences it seems as though it is just a sausage fest. Well Manolith have put together a list of the hottest girls in tech. Now I just wish they went to the same technology conferences as me!

Microsoft Start To Sell Computers and Third Party Software on Their Online Store

Steven Finch — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:39:01 +0000

In a very surprising move, Microsoft has started selling computers and even third-party software via its online store.

This is a small part of a much broader push for Microsoft as they think that stores like Apple’s might bring in much higher margins for them and their products. Microsoft had said it would sell PCs at its brick-and-mortar stores, but it plans to open just two of those this year, including a Scottsdale, Ariz., location that opens later Thursday.

Early on Thursday, though, Microsoft revamped its online store, which had been an outlet only for Microsoft products. The remake of the online store comes just as Microsoft is launching Windows 7.

Clicking on laptops brings up a list of 10 models, organized by price, including two models below $750. The site also offers three Netbooks and a single desktop model, Lenovo’s $999 A600 all-in-one.

On the software front, Microsoft is selling Norton 360 and Adobe Photoshop, along with Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products. Accessories include a lot of Microsoft keyboards, mice, and Webcams, along with flash drives and blank DVDs from other companies.

The Greatest Typo Ever

Steven Finch — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:44:36 +0000

This was posted the other day over at The Next Web, I thought I would let all our readers know just in case they havent seen it.