YouTube is trying to create more incentives for media partners to keep content on the video-hosting site. Today, YouTube announced the integration of Content ID, which is an advanced set of copyright policies and content management tools, with YouTube Insight, a free tool that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they upload. One way to look at this is that YouTube is trying to offer this extra data and analytics to keep partners on board.
According to YouTube, over 1,000 partners are using Content ID to reveal user-uploaded versions of their videos on YouTube. The partners can then determine whether they to want block, track or make money from them. YouTube Insight shows stats, video rankings, demographics, discovery sources and other metrics for videos, giving partners a broader picture of how viral the content is. For example, YouTube says Sony Music learned that the JK Wedding Entrance Dance video is the music label’s 8th most popular video on YouTube via the Content ID and YouTube mashup. → Read More
Starting next Sunday, October 4th, you’ll be able to pick up the Gateway LT2016U through Verizon for $150 after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year data plan. The machine will come preinstalled with a 3G Gobi chipset from Qualcomm, which will work here in the US and abroad as well. → Read More
Ah – there we are. Just as the long rumored Motorola Sholes started to slip off the radar after failing to make an appearance at Motorola’s big (read: somewhat underwhelming) Android announcement earlier this month, it has moseyed its way right through the FCC. Now that the FCC has verified that the Sholes wont melt your brain or ruin all nearby radio equipment, when can we expect it to launch? Well, these things aren’t exactly definite by any means – we’ve seen plenty of devices clear the FCC only to launch as much as 6 months later – but we’d imagine the Verizon is anxious to get their first Android device out the door. With the Sprint Hero and Motorola’s other Android device, the Cliq, going on sale on T-Mobile come October, it wouldn’t be a bad time for Verizon to hop in and throw down. [Via IntoMobile] → Read More
Friends, it’s been a long, hard weekend. You’re back in your cubicle – or maybe you’re just really, really hungry – but you guys have come out of the wringer and are ready for a breath of fresh air. And so we present a small man in glasses rapping about MacBooks and, more importantly, ladies. → Read More
The one major draw of having GPS navigation software on your smartphone is that the phone is probably connected to a network that can give more info than just directions, but the screen is just so damn small. TomTom knows this and just launched its second Internet-connected GPS device, the 4.3-inch XL 340S LIVE. This guy uses AT&T as its data provider and can update the users on a whole range of info: fuel prices, weather, traffic levels, traffic incidents, and more. But there’s a small catch. → Read More
A well-meaning law, yes, but one that just misses the mark. I refer to, of course (as if you have any idea what I’m talking about), the Road User Amendment Rule 2009 in New Zealand. It would make it illegal to use a cellphone as a navigation device while inside a car. → Read More
Never underestimate the power of two-way sync and large social networks. A week ago, MySpace turned on two-way sync with Twitter, allowing members to post their status updates to Twitter directly from MySpace. Those updates appear in Twitter with a short link back to MySpace, using MySpace’s own link shortener, “http://lnk.ms/.”
MySpace status updates are now flooding Twitter. Those MySpace short links account for 17 percent of all passed links on Twitter, according to Tweetmeme, making it the No. 2 link shortener after bit.ly, which rules with 68 percent. The day of the launch, lnk.ms accounted for 8.56 percent of all passed links on Twitter. MySpace has had its own short URL for about six months, but it’s only now taking off with two-way sync. → Read More
Earlier this summer live video streaming service Ustream scored a big win as it was endorsed by Facebook as its preferred live video service. The app gives celebrities and brands a way to create their own live streams without having to build custom Live Stream Box applications, which also launched in June. Ustream on Facebook is only available to brands and celebrities at this point (you have to apply to the program if you want it), but it’s already seeing some impressive stats — to date, the app has seen nearly 4 million total viewers and more than 6 million hours streamed.
The app’s growing roster of celebrity users includes Miley Cyrus, CBS Mountain Dew, The Jonas Brothers, Ashton Kutcher, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Honors Society, Ashley Tisdale, Reba McEntire, Diddy’s White Party, Hurley Pro and U.S. Open surfing competitions, Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Global Summit, as well as a number of other live concerts and even Duke University’s office hours. Facebook executives have used the app as well, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg streaming from Brazil during a talk and COO Sheryl Sandberg using it for her Advertising Week keynote. → Read More
Well here’s a nice price on a tiny computer. Acer’s AspireRevo nettop is now available at Newegg for $199.
The machine features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive (5400RPM), and NVIDIA’s ION graphics chip. → Read More
Last week we showed the highlights and 10+ minutes of video footage of an exclusive hour-long TechCrunch interview with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Now for the rest of that interview. The video was just a teaser. I spoke with Ballmer for another 50 minutes on the record, doing a deeper dive into five key areas of Microsoft’s product strategy: Big Opportunities, Operating Systems/Browsers, Mobile, Search and Developers.
This post is about big opportunities at Microsoft beyond their dual cash cows of Windows and Office. Microsoft generates around $20 billion a year in pre-tax profit, and spends nearly $10 billion on research and development. When Microsoft thinks about increasing (or sustaining) those profits, they have to think big. And they have to think long term.
Ballmer says he thinks about new business opportunities in three buckets: expanding current businesses (short run), building things from scratch (long run), and big aquisitions (short cuts). → Read More
Some pretty big iPhone news to share with y’all this morning: the iPhone will no longer be exclusive to O2 over in the UK, becoming available on Orange “later this year.” So for all of you in the U.S. who one day hope to see the iPhone on a different wireless provider (like, say, Verizon Wireless, differences between CDMA and GSM notwithstanding), well, you now have a precedent. → Read More
Panasonic has been toying with the idea of bringing 3D TVs to our homes for quite a while now, and today the company announced they will be showcasing a 50-inch full HD plasma TV [press release in English] that’s capable of producing high-quality 3D pictures. End consumers will have the chance to test the TV out during next week’s CEATEC 2009. → Read More
The Acer A1 has shown up over on Expansys’ German web site for 390 Euro ($571). The availability just says “Pre-order” so no word on when it’s actually shipping. Under the hood, there’s an impressive array of bells and whistles: 768MHz Qualcomm CPU, Android Donut, 512MB of ROM, 256MB of RAM, 3.5-inch 800×480 touchscreen, 7.2 Mbps download speeds, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 5-megapixel camera, 3.5mm audio jack, and expansion via microSD. No word on whether we can expect to see this phone in the US, either, but it’d be a nice option for sure. Acer A1 (translated) [Expansys.de via Brighthand] → Read More
Livebookings, European-based restaurant reservation service, has secured $16 million in a new funding round from Germany/Pan-European VC firm Wellington Partners. Niklas Eklund, Livebookings’ CEO says Livebookings is “at a point” where it clearly sees itself scaling globally.
It’s also clearly benefiting from credit-crunched restaurants now switching to online reservations to fill their tables, something Livebookings says has risen by 91% this summer compared to last, but there is plenty of growth left in the market. Only 7% of restaurants currently use online reservations, according to the company. → Read More
Apple has announced that the App Store for the iPhone / iPod Touch has now seen more than 2 billion downloads of applications, with a half billion programs in the last quarter alone.
In addition, the company revealed that the total number of apps in the store currently exceeds 85,000, and that they are now available to more than 50 million customers in 77 countries. → Read More
So finally the official word is in, with a very short blog post by CEO Marko Ahtisaari: Dopplr has been acquired by Nokia.
Update: Nokia’s press release
Update 2: Dopplr angel investor Martin Varsavsky on the deal: ‘Nokia as a force of good in the European start up scene’
No word on price, but when Michael Arrington broke the news last week on TechCrunch, he wrote that Nokia had picked up the fledgling company for between €10 million and €15 million ($15 million – $22 million based on current exchange rates). → Read More
Last week we showed the highlights and 10+ minutes of video footage of an exclusive hour-long TechCrunch interview with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Now for the rest of that interview. The video was just a teaser. I spoke with Ballmer for another 50 minutes on the record, doing a deeper dive into five key areas of Microsoft’s product strategy: Big Opportunities, Operating Systems/Browsers, Mobile, Search and Developers.
This post is about big opportunities at Microsoft beyond their dual cash cows of Windows and Office. Microsoft generates around $20 billion a year in pre-tax profit, and spends nearly $10 billion on research and development. When Microsoft thinks about increasing (or sustaining) those profits, they have to think big. And they have to think long term.
Ballmer says he thinks about new business opportunities in three buckets: expanding current businesses (short run), building things from scratch (long run), and big aquisitions (short cuts). → Read More
Voicemail. You hate it. We hate it. Damn near everyone hates it – at least, we all hate it in its current form. It’s an antiquated system desperately hobbling on its last leg in an industry where technology moves forward at a nearly absurd rate. While our phones get bigger and better each and every month, our voicemail system has, for the most part, remained the same for over a decade. That’s not to say there hasn’t been progress. There certainly has – but it’s isolated. A handful of smartphones (the iPhone, the Samsung Instinct, and a couple of BlackBerry handsets) have embraced visual voicemail, which does away with the archaic process of dialing in for your messages by bringing your messages to you. In 2008, YouMail rolled out an independent visual voicemail system aimed at smartphones that didn’t have it out-of-the-box. This morning a competitor out of the UK, HulloMail, took a huge step forward with the launch of a native BlackBerry application. → Read More
“All Washington Post journalists relinquish some of the personal privileges of private citizens. Post journalists must recognize that any content associated with them in an online social network is, for practical purposes, the equivalent of what appears beneath their bylines in the newspaper or on our website.”
That’s an excerpt from The Washington Post’s new social media guidelines. PaidContent has the entire thing. You really should read it, because it’s a hoot.
These guidelines came about because Raju Narisetti, a WaPo editor, had some tweets recently that revealed *gasp* that he had opinions about issues. When word leaked out that he had his own opinions and was sharing them on Twitter, apparently the WaPo top brass scrambled quickly to get this under control. That included Narisetti deleting his Twitter account. Pathetic. → Read More
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