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Google Launches Its Challenge To Wikipedia With Wide Release Of Knol

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:13:38 -0600

After several months in beta Google NSDQ GOOG is giving its content site Knol its wide release. While the site appears to be a challenge to Wikipedia Google is stressing that the articles and entries have a professional quality. The way Google is maintaining this difference between Knol and Wikipedia is that all entries must have be identified by the writers name. While Wikipedia does rely on editors and the community to police the site Google is trying to go a little further. The articles on Knol can have multiple authors which under Googles structure is called moderated collaboration.Like Wikipedia any reader can make suggested edits to a Knol entry. But the author may then choose to accept reject or modify before these contributions become visible to the public. This allows authors to accept suggestions from everyone in the world while remaining in control of their content Google says. The first entries on the site include topics on diabetes and lung cancer both written by doctors who provide some details about their background. Another post a voluminous guide on How To Backpack is written by an author who includes no details about his expertise only his name and a photo. More details in this GoogleBlog post.Our mobile application for Blackberry and other Smartphones brings you the latest headlines when youre on the go. Go here to download.

Source: paidContent

Max Levchin To Facebook Developers Need More Certainty And A Payment System Would be Nice Too

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:25:23 -0600

Slide was not too happy when Facebook temporarily pulled one of its most popular applications Top Friends from the social networking site for exposing too much profile information to people who were not friends. Ahead of today&#8217s F8 developer conference I asked Slide CEO Max Levchin what Facebook could do to make developers&#8217 lives ...

Source: TechCrunch

Liveblogging Eric Schmidt Interview at Brainstorm

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:25:23 -0600

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is on stage right now at Fortune&#8217s Brainstorm conference being interviewed by Fortune&#8217s David Kirkpatrick. Here are my notes liveQ What is Googles next great revenue stream? Schmidt How about text ads? Q The biggest knock against Google is that it is a one-product company. how do you respond ...

Source: TechCrunch

MySpaces DeWolfe Says New Music Joint Venture to Launch in September

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:13:22 -0600

MySpace&#8217s upcoming music joint venture with 3 of the 4 major labels EMI is still a holdout but from what we hear they may be ready to fold soon first announced in April will launch in September. Chris DeWolfe CEO of MySpace mentioned that date and gave other details about the joint venture in an ...

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook Growth Explodes Globally Levels Off In The US

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:25:23 -0600

Comscore has just released the latest data on Facebook growth patterns which clearly show that Facebook&#8217s recent push to expand abroad has paid off. The site has seen extremely high growth rates across Latin America The Middle East and the Asia Pacific. Europe which accounts for a much larger user base continues to ...

Source: TechCrunch

You cant talk online advertising without the G word

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:13:21 -0600

Panelists at Fortune Brainstorm session on the softening ad market almost succeed in avoiding talk of Googles digital dominance.

Source: CNET News

Qualcomm Patent Ruled Invalid in German Nokia Case

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:01:35 -0600

The companies have been at legal loggerheads since failing to renew a technology license pact that expired on April 9 2007.

Source: NYTimes - Technology

VMwares second free hypervisor

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:25:22 -0600

Especially for midmarket customers focused on the up-front kick-the-tires figure FREE is a very attractive number.

Source: CNET News

Magnetic guitar cables prevent pops jack damage

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:25:22 -0600

Belkins new magnetic guitar cable connectors are useful for on-stage spazzes and musicians who like to switch instruments often.

Source: CNET News

iPhone 3G network issues frustrating early adopters

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:25:22 -0600

iPhone 3G users around the world are reporting problems with signal strength and quality of service on their new handsets but no specific issues have been identified.

Source: CNET News

hi5 Gains 25MM Extra Visitors in 6 Months

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:13:37 -0600

San Francisco-based social network Hi5 is touting some data from comScore today pertaining to its Q1 and Q2 2008 performance. It claims to have grown 79% since the start of the year. Which on its face seems like an impressive figure. It charts an increase of unique monthly visitors from 31.4 million circa December 2008 to 56.4m this past June. 25m more visitors in the space of 6 months looks quite good yes?Indeed it looks especially sunshiny if sized up against the growth charts of Facebook roughly 35% MySpace 10% Bebo 12% et al. Again this data comes from a singular source. While some of the hi5 membership are based within the US the vast majority are located elsewhere taking advantage of the networks renowned support for literally dozens of languages. Such fast-paced international growth doesnt only mean good news for hi5 itself but the broader market in general. The global race is coming on strong.That being said however its necessary to put hi5s ascent into perspective. It may be showing commendable grow in the sheer volume of unique visitors recorded. But perhaps the most standard metric for the market is the simple statistic pertaining to registered members. In that case hi5 is still quite far from a commanding leadership role. For instance Facebook is now said to have a membership surpassing 120 million. MySpace has been showing slowing growth for some time hence its seeming paltriness of its 10% rise over the last half year but it still maintains a very close position to Facebook. For all intents and purposes both giants are more or less neck-and-neck at this point. Now the game for gold and silver is very much about sustaining current trends since it is unlikely that a second major boom will endure for them specifically.So on one hand we see hi5 making considerable strides. On the other those strides dont make so vast a splash as they may seem to. Of course one could take a quick look at the numbers espoused by comScore for spring and summer 08 and see that hi5 has itself a nice solid following and think that its placement among the top 10 international networks is largely irrelevant. And in some sense this is true. Hi5 has quite a few strong points particularly in the Latin American market. But the fact is that now that we see the world-is-flat ideal making its way more and more into the mainstream consumer realm competition is competition. How a network exercises its position and how well it is able to climb the proverbial ladder after transforming from sapling to a literal tour de force is key to long-term strength and long-term validity. Thats why points for sheer numerical popularity are part of the game. And in that sense Hi5 is not dominant varietally and nor is it seen posting MySpace-like levels of revenue.If youre curious about hi5s future though its safe to say that the network will remain a strong contender. It has shown to be very quickly willing to bridge itself with projects like OpenSocial and has even allowed its language translation efforts to be tapped through that very system. It also acquired PixVerse recently to pursue cross-network chat. And internal development is proceeding apace. Suffice it to say that well still be hearing regularly from hi5 if not more so.---Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking BlogcomScore Report Shows Global Growth of Social NetworksFacebook Apps Contribute 37% of Recent GrowthSocial Networking Grows Significantly in the U.K.Mindtouch Wiki Software Surpasses 100000 InstallsGoogle Growth In Europe Outpacing The UScomScore Reports 89% Increase for Facebook UsersSkype Co-Founder Resigns as CEO

Source: Mashable

35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:49:39 -0600

Weve discussed some tactics to get your company better engaged with social media. Lest you think theres a limit to how you can connect with business and customer facing audiences weve assembled this list of more than 35 companies who are experimenting with social media in a host of different ways.This list is by no means exhaustive and it represents a wide variety of businesses industries and social media tools. As you can see engagement takes many forms. Some are likely to generate more discussions with the company while others might result better connections between customers. Some will fade away over the next 6-12 months while others will continue to grow and evolve.There are no rules to what form your engagement has to take. Look at your company identify its strengths what types of conversations energize employees and determine how you can best growshapebuildjoin your own community.If you have other examples of corporate social media engagement please share them in the comments.Blendtec is famous for its bevy of inexpensive Will It Blend videos posted on YouTube and shared by millions.Adobe maintains a list of interesting company related websites and conversations on the social bookmarking site Delicious.Best Western sponsors a blogOn the Go with Amy where the author travels the country writing about her experiences.Cadence recently relaunched its website that now prominently promotes the companys community.Cisco hosts 12 blogs addressing a variety of audiences for their global business.Coca-Cola Conversations is a blog written by company historian Phil Mooney that focuses on Coke collectibles.Dell leverages a variety of social media platforms for customer engagement including an island in the virtual world of Second Life.Ford publishes news releases with lots of multimedia content and employs a social media news release format to display them in their newsroom.Fujifilm recently launched a social network to build a community of photo enthusiasts around its newest camera.GM uses blogs to communicate directly with its customers around topics ranging from design to green tech.H&ampR Block created a Facebook fan site to aggregate its social media activities engage customers and offer tax adviceresources.HP used Twitter to power a scavenger hunt at a recent conference.HSBC built the HSBC Business Network to connect entrepreneurs using blogs videos and forums.IBM was the first large enterprise to embrace employee blogging and now boasts thousands of blogs related to every facet of its business.Intel has also developed many social media touch points with its software communities which includes blogs Twitter and virtual worlds.Intuit sponsors the Tax Almanac wiki where anyone can find and contribute to this resource for tax information.Jeep connects with customers via a community page with links to photos on Flickr the companys MySpace and Facebook pages and a list enthusiast groups.JetBlue employs social media as part of its training for JetBlue University as this video explains.Johnson &amp Johnson uses this blog to show another side of the company with frequent video posts and interviews.Lenovo launched Voices of the Olympics Games to aggregate posts from the athletes competing in Beijing.Marriott CEO Bill Marriott posts regular updates and stories from his travels to Marriott properties around the world to fuel the content for this entertaining blog.McDonalds maintains a blog to highlight the companys corporate social responsibility efforts.National Geographic uses Googles new virtual world Lively to bring people together around its new show LA Hard Hats.New York Times is beta testing a Firefox add-on that allows users to share and comment on stories through a decentralized social network.Nike started a social community on Loopd to connect athletes interested in surfing BMX bike racing and similar activities with the brand.SAP sponsored a global survey of social media professionals to learn more about social media worldwide.Sears partnered with MTV to create a social network around Back to School shopping.Southwest Airlines employees share their stories and communicate directly with customers through the Nuts About Southwest blog.Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz&#8217s blog is the example most often cited for what the CEO blog can be.Starbucks started MyStarbucksIdea so that customers can submit ideas for the company which are then voted on by other users the best of which will be implemented by the company.Toyota started its own virtual world to promote its products in Japan site is in Japanese.Visa launched The Visa Business Network application on Facebook to connect small business users and to help them promote their businesses to a larger community.Wells-Fargo blogs target two audiences one examines the companys history and the other is for students interested in getting their finances in order.WWE has a F

Source: Mashable

European Intellectual Property Scholars Copyright Extension Harms Innovation

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:13:31 -0600

Following the EUs misguided proposal to extend performance copyrights on songs from 50 years to 95 years a group of professors from intellectual property legal and innovation positions have gotten together to send a highly critical letter pointing out why such a copyright extension is not necessary and in fact will be quite harmful. Heres a snippet of the letterUnanimously the European centres for intellectual property research have opposed the proposal. The empirical evidence has been summarised succinctly in at least three studies the Cambridge Study for the UK Gowers Review of 2006 a study conducted by the Amsterdam Institute for Information Law for the Commission itself 2006 and the Bournemouth University statement signed by 50 leading academics in June 2008.The simple truth is that copyright extension benefits most those who already hold rights. It benefits incumbent holders of major back-catalogues be they record companies ageing rock stars or increasingly artists estates. It does nothing for innovation and creativity. The proposed Term Extension Directive undermines the credibility of the copyright system. It will further alienate a younger generation that justifiably fails to see a principled basis.Hopefully European politicians will actually pay attention to this condemnation of the proposed extension. Permalink Comments Email This Story

Source: Techdirt

Googles Wiki rival Knol open to the public

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:49:25 -0600

Google says Knol authors can also add New Yorker magazine cartoons to their pages and make money off ads.

Source: CNET News

Entrepenuer Media Deal Hitting Last Minute Snags Report

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:25:40 -0600

Entrepreneur Media the Irvine CA-based parent of Entrepreneur magazine has been hitting last minute snags in its deal to be sold to Austin Ventures NYPs Keith Kelly is reporting. Earlier last month we reported that it was being bought by AV the majority and another private equity firm for close to $200 million. That other PE firm is Boston-based Castanea Partners. Now NYP says the two PE firms are willing to pay up to $160 million $120 million in cash up front and another $40 million in earnout. Jim Casella former CEO of Reed Business Information and earlier at IDG is expected to take over Entrepreneur Media the story says. Why the delay? While they try to hold down their own equity outlay and risk they have found that banks are getting increasingly skittish about issuing debt it says. More when we find out more...RelatedAustin Ventures and Another PE Firm Buying Entrepreneur MediaEntrepreneur Media For Sale Hopes of Around $200 MillionAV Launches Another Rollup Fund $50 Million For Corp. Social Networking With Dachis

Source: paidContent

Record labels ask judge for ruling against Lime Wire

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:25:33 -0600

Warner Bros. Records Sony and others file for summary judgment in a two-year-old case against the peer-to-peer software company Lime Wire for promoting infringement among other complaints.

Source: CNET News

Gates and Bloomberg to announce $500 million anti-tobacco donation

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:25:33 -0600

Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg are expected to announced a $500 million donation to fight tobacco use in developing countries according to a CNBC report.

Source: CNET News

How Congress Might Accidentally Ban US Companies From Doing Business In The US

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:37:24 -0600

A couple of years ago we wrote about a proposal to restrict search engine companies from doing business in foreign countries whose Internet policies the United States government deems repressive. In March we noted that it was back. Jonathan Zittrain has written up an analysis of the latest version. It would supposedly prevent US companies from aiding the censorship and surveillance operations of repressive foreign governments. It would target Internet Restricting Countries which are countries that are directly or indirectly responsible for a systematic pattern of substantial restrictions on Internet freedom. Now I understand that the intent is to target truly repressive regimes like China and Cuba but I have to wonder about how this is being defined. After all you could argue that the United Statess gambling ban is a substantial restriction on Internet freedom. Ditto for the recent FISA bill which allows warrantless dragnet surveillance of Americans international calls. Likewise some European countries restrict Internet freedom with regard to Nazi memorabilia. And of course the Australian government forces its ISPs to censor online pornography. Will American companies be prohibited from doing business in the United States France Germany and Australia? Somehow I doubt it. All of which is to say that putting the US government in charge of drawing up a list of countries with bad Internet policies seems like a bad idea. The list will wind up being a political football rather than an objective assessment of countries internet policies and in any event it will hurt American businesses a lot more than it will promote human rights abroad. Timothy Lee is an expert at the Techdirt Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Timothy Lee and other experts on challenges your company faces click here. Permalink Comments Email This Story

Source: Techdirt

A Quick Look at the Beats by Dr. Dre Noise-canceling Headphones

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:25:23 -0600

Thought this might be interesting for the jet-setters in the Web 2.0 world. Monster Cable the makers of cable just sent us the new Beats by Dr. Dre a pair of noise-canceling &#8220studio&#8221 headphones aimed at the mid-range audio consumer. At $349 these are priced at exactly the same point as the Bose QuietComfort 3 ...

Source: TechCrunch

Cisco Acquires Digital Home Software Firm Pure Network For $120 Million

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:01:31 -0600

Cisco NSDQ CSCO which has snapped up companies like Linksys Kiss and others over the last few years has now bought out Seattle-based Pure Networks a provider of home networking-management software and tools for $120 million. Pures software allows home users to set up and manage a home network and connect a range of digital devices apps and services within the home and share digital media. Pure has been working with Linksys in the past. It was funded by Intel NSDQ INTC Capital Bessemer Venture Partners Mayfield and Ignition Parthers among others. More details in the release.SeattlePI Pure Networks encountered some rough waters in 2006. At the time of its $12.5 million venture round the company chopped a portion of its staff to get lean and mean .Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.

Source: paidContent

Glam Media snags Google exec

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:01:22 -0600

Michael Adair is now vice president of corporate development and finance for the woman-oriented publisher.

Source: CNET News

Glass Lewis gives 3 Yahoo directors thumbs down

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:49:22 -0600

Institutional investor advisory service Glass Lewis recommends an against vote on re-electing Yahoo directors Roy Bostock Ron Burkle and Arthur Kern when shareholders gather on August 1 at the annual meeting.

Source: CNET News

AOL plugs Goowy widget ads into ad network

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:49:22 -0600

Widget ads get a big boost AOL will distribute them free on its Platform-A ad network.

Source: CNET News

Earnings Rose at AT&T but Revenue Misses Forecast

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:37:31 -0600

AT&T said its second-quarter earnings rose 30 percent but its revenue missed analysts estimates.

Source: NYTimes - Technology

COPA anti-Net porn law down but not out

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:37:21 -0600

The Justice Department is dealt a legal setback in enforcing Web harmful to minors law. But the U.S. Supreme Court could prove more friendly if a 2004 ruling is any indication.

Source: CNET News

Mobile Search Trends Show Economic Decline And Rise In Pizza

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:37:21 -0600

V-Enable a voice-enabled mobile 411 system conducted a study by taking a random sampling of 20000 searches in major metropolitan areas from customers of several V-Enable partner carriers including Alltel and MetroPCS. The findings clearly represent interesting trends caused by the recession. For one thing people are eating more pizza! The results ...

Source: TechCrunch

Locify Streamlines Your Geo-Aware Lifestyle The Startup Review

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:25:36 -0600

Editor&#8217s Note This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion please see the details here.STARTUP DETAILSCompany Name Locify20-word Description Location-enabled mobile browsing and a free and open way to create location-based services for mobile phones.CEO&#8217s Pitch Locify is location-aware platform for mobile phones. Users can start exploring what is &#8220here&#8221 or &#8220there&#8221 and any developer can add geo-services or geo-resources for Locify users.Developing location based services is now as easy as writing XHTML pages. Locify now offers fully-functional services such as Wikipedia Near Geocaching Show Me on the Map Twittering Your Location FireEagle location update etc. And all these services are well documented to inspire other developers to enhance them or create new services.Location matters. Locify yourself. Take the ride!Mashable&#8217s Take We&#8217re seeing mobile Web services that are aware of your location more and more frequently. If they happen to carry the right balance of technical utility a critical mass of users and ample privacy controls they can become downright killer applications. We already have a growing array of applications having to do with everything from social networking services to historic landmark referencing to fuel pump scouting and so forth. So it seems only fitting that some startups seek to bundle various services together to make things a little easier and a little less scattered.Manchester UK-based Locify appears to be traversing that route. It works with both GPS-enabled and non-GPS devices and can be accessed by going to www.locify.comm. There are also software download options that you can install through a connection to your PC if that&#8217s your preference. A BlackBerry-specific version of Locify is available though it is said to be in an &#8220experimental&#8221 stage.I explained that Locify is sort of a bundle of services all formatted to a relatively uniform menu system. Which I think is an altogether fair assessment of its general utility. But at its most basic level it is a platform eminently expandable so far as XHTML can take a developer today. For the time being Locify sports a decent variety of items to choose from. Geocaching for trailblazers and treasure hunters. Twitter support. Wikipedia search. And of course some basic mapping too. But it will naturally need to expand its sights. Given the simplicity of Locify&#8217s code base more additions will likely be made in the not too distant future. See the Locify feature page with videos for a deeper look at what it has to offer.To its users Locify is a free investment. One need only have a compatible mobile device. Registration is optional. Keep in mind though a Locify account will get you access to more features than you would otherwise have at hand.Sponsored by Sun Startup Essentials

Source: Mashable

NYTCo. Call Despite The Dismal Economy Online Ad Prices Are Holding Up

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:49:29 -0600

In progress Opening the call by immediately citing the troubled economy and the challenges faced by the newspaper industry at large Janet Robinson NYTCo.s president and CEO sought to highlight a few bright spots. Even with the decreased operating income and revenue Robinson pointed to what she said was the NYTs continued brand strength reflected in 2 percent growth in circulation revenue in the face of raising newsstand and home delivery prices. The newsstand price will rise again on August 18 from $1.25 to $1.50 Robinson noted.On NYTimes.com 17.7 million uniques up roughly 40 percent Robinson said pointing to figures from Nielsen Online. But on the ad side the economic slowdown has affected advertising in particular in the airlines and autos area. Trying to offset what she described as softness in display digital investments are expected to riseand therefore lead to increased costsfor the About Group. -- From the Q&A-- Asked about the online ad situation Martin Nisenholtz SVP Digital Operations insisted that pricing has generally held firm. Weve seen decent price increases on major display units. There has been a bifurcation between premium positions and remnant which largely includes banner. At NYTimes.com we dont see any cannibalization from the remnant business. At About.com weve seen softness in display mainly due to execution issues which current investment proposals are attempting to address. -- Of the major ad categories entertainment cutbacks particularly hurt the June numbers. The category represents a little over 10 percent of the companys ad revenues. Executives said that other categories have followed previous trends. More to comeRelatedEarnings NYTCo Q2 Continues Slide Internet Up 12.8 Percent

Source: paidContent

Industry Moves Caroline Little Joins Guardian U.S. Team Joins Our Board

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:49:29 -0600

Caroline Little who till earlier this year was the CEO of Washington Post NYSE WPO Companys online division and left has now joined Guardian News & Media GNM the UK-based media group whichpublishes the Guardian among others. She will start next month in the role of Special Advisor GNM US. As you know our company ContentNext Media was acquired by GNM earlier this month and Little will also be joining our new board as well. With GNM she will help develop Guardians U.S. forays and of course also help guide our company as we grow.Little joined WPNI in 1997 as general counsel and went on to serve as COO and president. Little became CEO and publisher in January 2004.RelatedIndustry Moves WPNI CEO Caroline Little Resigns WaPo Online Editorial Now Reports To Weymouth

Source: paidContent

OReilly study uncovers multiple reasons for open sources impressive rise

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:37:21 -0600

OReilly Research has uncovered a list of reasons for open sources steady rise. But one area in particular - reduced lock-in - may explain much of its benefits.

Source: CNET News