Music Video Site Vevo To Launch on December 8th

Vevo has to be one of the most anticipated launches of the year and it is all set to go live on December 8th. The source is the Vevo twitter account. The announcement comes a day after Hulu said it too would make a foray into the music video space, with a deal to put up some music videos from EMI on its site.

If you have been living under a rock for the past 6 months, then Vevo is a new music video joint venture between the major record labels and YouTube. At launch the site will include music from Sony and Universal. This is a big move because the most popular sites at the moment on YouTube are the music video channels. Vevo allows YouTube to make even larger revenues because its a lot easier to place advertising against a quality peice of content like a music video, instead of the user generated content on its normal site.

Team Vevo email:

Dear member of the VEVO VIP pre-launch mailing list (Note: that would be anyone who signed up at Vevo.com for updates),

We are excited to tell you that VEVO will launch the evening of Tuesday, December 8!!

We’ve been working night and day for months to bring you the best music video and entertainment experience we can dream up, and in just about 3 weeks you can see it online for yourself!

The VEVO service at VEVO.com and at YouTube.com will go live in coordination with our launch event in New York on December 8th. We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as it’s up and running so you can start having some fun :)

We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on!

In the meantime, please keep in touch and let us know what you think about all things VEVO!

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

imeem_logoIt 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.

New Twitter ReTweet Beta

RT 1 ReTweeting is the pretty much the equivalent of digging something multiple time – only with Tweets. When most uses see a retweet it must be from somebody that they are connected with. Now however, Twitter are testing a new Beta program which changes how retweeting works.

Basically,when a person who you are indirectly connected to, I.e. a friends of a friend, tweets something and a person you’re following retweets that tweet, it will be displayed in your timeline. As a member of this Beta I think this is a great idea. I’m finding that my community has grown (almost doubled) and the retweets are always valuable and worthwhile. This is definitely of increasing the quality and social worthiness of Twitter which I approve of.

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NEC Flat Screen Perfects Dual Monitors

NEC is a company that’s been around for a while, and chances are if you’ve worked in anything related to tech from design to IT, then perhaps you’ve come across an NEC product. Known for innovation, they’ve really outdone themselves with the creation of the NEC CRV43.

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Rather than struggle with a dual monitor setup, NEC went ahead and just combined the screens into a massive 43in. curved display that not only gives you the same dual monitor feel, only with out the need for two screens, but it also fully immerses you with the curved design making it easy to follow your work on the screen. Now while I love the concept, and the idea of reducing two monitors into one is ideal, it’s the price tag that worries me.

I can probably pick up two monitors for under $500. Both of them would be LCD screens, at least 20in+, so the price tag of approximately $5,000 seems just a little steep. Now not sure about you all, but I don’t come around 5k all that easily, so again, what is it that really makes this monitor stand out? Aside from being curved, HD, and having a seamless display? You be the judge.

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Apple Tablet Has Been Delayed Till Late 2010

apple tabletIt has been reported that Apple plans to postpone the launch of their much anticipated tablet PC from an original March 2010 launch to late 2010.

Sources also indicated that in addition to Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), Quanta Computer and Pegatron Technology are expected to be manufacturing partners for Apple’s two tablet PC models – one of which will have a 10.6-inch TFT LCD panel while the other will have a 9.7-inch OLED panel.

LG Display currently is making OLED panels using its 4.5G production line and LG Display’s five-year US$500 million panel purchasing contract with Apple includes supply of OLED panels, the sources pointed out.

Since 9.7-inch OLED panels are currently priced at about US$500 and panel costs normally account for about 30% of the device’s total cost, Apple’s 9.7-inch OLED tablet PC is expected to have a cost of about US$1,500-1,700 (based on today’s prices), the sources estimated. However, OLED panel prices are dropping rapidly and are expected to reach an acceptable level for notebook products by 2011, so the sources believe Apple’s delayed schedule may include such considerations.

The sources estimate that Apple’s tablet PC cost will drop to around US$1,200-1,500 by the second half of 2010 with the retail price reaching about US$2,000. The price could be more flexible if bundled with telecom providers’ 3G services. Meanwhile, the 10.6-inch LCD panel-based Apple tablet PC is expected to priced in the US$800-1,000 range.

Microsoft Office 2010 – Public Beta Open

Microsoft Office 2010 has just entered its public Beta phase in the early hours of yesterday morning and is now available for download from the Microsoft website. I suggest you head over there now and get a copy of the anticipated program. Nobody is too sure how long the public Beta will last and I cant see it being too long. Perhaps just a couple of weeks. After all, they don’t need to wait ages for enough people to download it – this is Microsoft!

Here are some screenshots of Office 2010 Beta:

Office 2010

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Facebook Definitely Coming to the PS3

PS3-Update-Rumor-Shot_02 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!

Safe Internet Downloads on Softonic

softonicThere’s nothing like finding that application that helps get you through your day. Whether it’s a productivity application, or a business appliation, or a creative application, whether the need, it’s nice to know that there are alternatives to the costly pay versions. Sometimes freeware or shareware is just as good to get the job done and we turn to the internet for those downloads.

Now I admit in the past I had been going to Download.com, and found what I needed on there. But recently I was introduced to Softonic, and it’s equally as impressive as Download.com, but I’m just not a fan of the interface. I found it confusing, kinda clunky, and Download.com seems to have gotten the site structure of its heirarchy better laid out.

Still there’s tons of great apps on the site, which also features apps you should have. Sometimes you find apps that you didn’t now you needed, and that’s when you know that a site is bringing value to you. That value comes in what Softonic covers; Windows, Mac, Phones, Palm OS and Pocket PC’s.  Seems like a healthy library, and growing everyday.

Give it a try and let us know which one you like better.

Online Real Estate App

Real estate, whether it’s hot or not, one this is true, it’s all about the location. With that in mind, for those of us that are seeking a place to hang our hat, to call our home, there’s lots of apps out there that can help us find that dwelling. Whether your single, married, roomates, there are apps out there that can help you find the right place for you. In the UK there is one specific app that we had a chance to play with, and that’s MousePrice.

MousePrice is an extremely web and mobile app that can share pricing of real estate, provide you quotes, and some basic information based on your needs. The web app is a very simple website that asks you three questions before you submit and move onto your information. In an effort to increase transparency in the industry MousePrice puts as few roadblocks between you and the results. Finding the properties available in the area you selected then makes it easy for you to find the place that best fits your budget.

Alternatively the mobile app for the iPhone works just as effectivly. After inserting some basic information on the location you want, or using your specific location at the moment, it will map out, using GPS, the entire area providing you drop pins to click on in order to get your information. Once the information is displayed, properties in green mean the value has gone up, property in pink means it’s gone down, and yellow properties simply mean that there is not enough information to accurately give you the most recent information.

Interested? Well if you’re in the UK looking for a bit of real estate, I’d be curious to hear if you’ve used this and if you like it. If you’re a real estate agent, do you find this effective for what you do? Leave a comment and let us know.

Acer Liquid A1 Released To UK Customers Before End Of November

acer_liquid_a1The new Google Android phone on the market is the Acer Liquid A1. Instead of waiting a few months for Google Android 2.0 it has decided to move forward with 1.6 and get this great phone into market.

The Acer Liquid A1 is scheduled to be released in the next few weeks in the UK and is priced at £286 before tax. With the Acer Liquid A1 no contract is required based on that pricing.

Features include:

  • 3.5 inch WVGA touchscreen
  • 3G data access
  • Wifi and built in GPS
  • Bluetooth 2.0
  • 5MP camera
  • SnapDragon processor

There’s still no word on whether a Google Android 2.0 upgrade option will be made easily available to Liquid A1 users.

Roomba Pac Man: Robot Pac-Man Game

The vacuum, long an instrument for chasing cats, has now been turned against its own. What better use for automatic home appliances than to have them chase each other in classic video game style?

Five Roomba vacuum robots and a software, originally developed to control unmanned aerial systems is all some dudes from the University of Colorado needed to create a quite unusual Pac-Man clone.

Seesmic for Windows: Best New Twitter Client Optimised for Windows 7

Here at Crenk we have been lucky enough to have access to the new Seesmic for Windows. Seesmic is a Twitter and Facebook client that lets you track and update you streams from one simple location and via multiple accounts.

At the Microsoft PDC09 conference yesterday, Seesmic announced their new native Twitter client for Windows. This application is engineered for Windows and optimized for Windows 7. Seesmic for Windows provides users managing Twitter the best experience available by combining the best features what Windows 7 has to offer.

We can offer all our readers access to the new Seesmic for Windows (Currently Closed Beta), by clicking the link here.

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