MG Siegler
MG Siegler writes about technology trends and new media for VentureBeat, with a focus on mobile topics, social elements and key news stories. Before that, MG wrote about technology on his blog, ParisLemon. Originally from Ohio, MG attended the University of Michigan where he studied film. He's previously lived in Los Angeles where he worked in Hollywood and in San Diego where he did web development. He now lives in San Francisco.
Recent Posts
Yahoo Messenger comes to the iPhone just in time for Push Notification
One of the best things about the iPhone 3.0 software is it will finally make instant messaging viable on the platform. That’s because with Push Notifications finally working, you no longer will have to have an instant messaging app open all the time to receive… Continue Reading
After a funding failure, hi5 “kind of died” today
When work began today, social network hi5 had over 100 employees. Right now, that’s closer to 50, a source tells me, confirming TechCrunch’s earlier story. But why did a site with 62 million unique monthly visitors have to lay off 50 percent of its employees… Continue Reading
Apple splitting the iPhone into high-end and low-end versions?
Rumors have been building over the past few months that Apple was not only working on a new iPhone, but that it could have more than one version of the device in the works. Third-party usage logs and code within the iPhone 3.0 software seem… Continue Reading
Poor economy killed Wikia Search
Wikipedia has been one of the biggest successes in the history of the Internet. So has Google. So on paper it makes some sense that combining the two would result in a service that would also be hugely popular. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out so… Continue Reading
Disney on Hulu would leave CBS as the odd network out
The premium video streaming site Hulu works first and foremost because it has great content. And it looks to be on the verge of getting even better.
A deal to bring Disney’s content to Hulu is “basically done,” a source familiar with the negotiations tells Silicon… Continue Reading
See who’s talking about you, not just at you on Twitter
What looks like a small tweak made to Twitter’s user interface today, is actually a fairly big change.
The “Replies” tab has been changed to “@USERNAME.” While you may think they’re the same thing, this tab will now show anytime someone says your name anywhere in a… Continue Reading
Could this be Apple’s netbook? Probably not, but let’s hope.
Despite Apple’s insistence that it isn’t ready to enter the market anytime soon, the public (or at least the press) remains obsessed with the possibility of an Mac netbook. This obsession apparently exists in Russia too, where a magazine has published a picture purported to… Continue Reading
March of the Diggs: Trent Reznor to be on Digg Dialogg
Every so often, the social voting news site Digg holds a “Digg Dialogg,” a chance for Digg community members to submit and vote on questions that will be asked of an interesting and/or powerful person. The latest announced guest is certainly interesting: Trent Reznor, founder… Continue Reading
Twitter quakes as San Francisco shakes
Earthquake news and Twitter have long gone hand in hand because of Twitter’s instant mass-communication ability. Today, an earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay area (where Twitter’s headquarters is located, along with many of its original users), and Twitter traffic went nuts.
Below, see what my… Continue Reading
After trying it out, I have a good feeling about Hunch
I am an extremely indecisive person. This sometimes frustrates other people, but it frustrates me even more because I absolutely hate wasting time. And being indecisive means I sit there thinking about decisions for far too long. Hunch, a new startup that helps you make… Continue Reading
Microsoft makes an ad for people who were going to buy a PC anyway
By now, you’ve probably seen Microsoft’s new “Not cool enough to be a Mac person” ad. (If not, I’ve embedded it below.) On the face of it, it looks like a decent ad. It plays on the one thing that will catch people’s attention in… Continue Reading
Apple and AT&T hope suckers will clear out iPhone 3G inventory
Allow me for a second to call anyone who doesn’t read sites like this one a sucker.
You see, if you are reading, you know that it’s looking more and more likely every day that a new version of the iPhone will launch in the next… Continue Reading
Apple WWDC: June 8-12. iPhone and Snow Leopard to be featured
Apple has just officially unveiled the dates for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). It will be June 8 – 12 in San Francisco. As expected, the focus looks like it will be on the iPhone OS and Mac OS X Snow Leopard, judging from… Continue Reading
Skype for the iPhone next week?
There are well over 25,000 applications now in Apple’s App Store. But there are still a few notable omissions. One of those is the hugely popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application Skype. But that could change as soon as next week, GigaOM’s Om Malik… Continue Reading
Get your Lady Gaga downloads in now. iTunes variable pricing starts April 7.
Since its launch, Apple’s iTunes store has had one price for almost all music tracks: $0.99. This uniformity has kept things simple for customers, and no doubt helped the store rise to its current place as the number one music retailer in the United States…. Continue Reading
Video: AT&T employees relentlessly pat themselves on the back for “fixing” SXSW
On Saturday night at SXSW a couple weeks ago, I was seriously considering seeing how far I could throw my iPhone.
The thing just was not working. And it hadn’t worked since SXSW started on Friday. It wasn’t Apple’s fault; it was AT&T’s. The network —… Continue Reading
Twitter’s suggested user list: You don’t have to be rich, just famous
Over the past few months there’s been a bit of a stink over Twitter’s “Suggested Users” list. That was probably to be expected because it’s helping people on that list gain massive amounts of followers, while everyone else has to gain them the old-fashioned way:… Continue Reading
The tweet heard ’round the world: Obama’s Twitter account comes alive!
It had been two months and six days since the last tweet from Barack Obama’s Twitter account. The world has changed a bit since then — most notably, Mr. Obama is now officially the President of the United States. That, of course, is the likely… Continue Reading
Blogs are red, huge web sites are blue . . .
Do you ever notice how a lot of websites you visit frequently look the same? Well, it’s not just their layouts, it’s also their colors. The design site Antrepo4.com has created a list of the biggest blogs, design sites, game sites and overall sites organized… Continue Reading
OS X Snow Leopard about to don a fresh coat of “marble”?
Developer builds of Apple’s next operating system, OS X Snow Leopard, have been going around for months now. In going along with what Apple stated was a goal for the new OS, most of the changes from its current OS X Leopard (not to be… Continue Reading