Twitter strengthens media ties with Twitter for Newsrooms

Twitter has always had an awkward relationship with the media.

On one hand, the service is a great resource for lightning-fast news gathering and dissemination. But if left unchecked, even a seasoned journalist can fall prey to its half truths, hoaxes and overwhelming deluge of information.

To fix that the microblogging service has launched Twitter for Newsrooms. The new site is designed to provide members of the press with a hub full of frequently asked … Continue Reading

Are mysterious MacBook Air shortages signaling a refresh?

It looks like it’s time for a new Macbook Air model.

Reports are trickling in that Best Buy and Amazon are suddenly scaling back their MacBook Air shipments. For those not adept at reading Apple’s tea leaves, this typically means a model refresh is on the way.

The big box retailer tipped its hand late Sunday when its web site changed the MacBook Air’s status to “Not Available for Shipping.“

Best Buy usually tries to … Continue Reading

HP launches TouchPad-exclusive magazine to promote webOS

Hewlett-Packard is getting into the magazine business!

Er… sort of.

The hardware giant is preparing to launch Pivot, a monthly digital publication exclusively offered on its forthcoming TouchPad tablet. Rather than running pure advertorial, the hybrid magazine/app guide will offer visually-driven features, reviews, columns and other content written by professional journalists and guest writers.

At first glance, Pivot appears to be yet another digital lifestyle magazine, but there’s actually a lot more going on. HP … Continue Reading

Apple drags Samsung patent fight to Korea

The legal spat between Apple and Samsung escalated Friday as the iPhone-maker filed yet another patent lawsuit against Samsung.

However, unlike Apple’s previous filings against Samsung in the U.S., today’s motion was filed in South Korea’s Central District Court.

Full details of the dispute have yet to be disclosed, but Apple spokesman Steve Park tells the AP that the suit is intended to “protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal [its] ideas.”

Though the announcement … Continue Reading

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings joins Facebook’s board

Is this the beginning of a new power trio for the web? Facebook announced Thursday that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has joined its board of directors.

Hastings is also a board member for Microsoft. And Microsoft, which bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook in 2007, has a search partnership with the social network. Facebook and Netflix, meanwhile, have been talking about a partnership that would integrate Netflix with the site. These three companies were already … Continue Reading

Apple will “probably” lose its App Store case

A ruling on Apple’s exclusive rights to the term “App Store” is due soon, and the outcome isn’t looking favorable for the Cupertino-based company.

Presiding U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton told the court that she will “probably” deny Apple’s motion, according to a Bloomberg report.

The conflict started in March shortly after web retailer Amazon announced it was launching an app store of its own, imaginatively dubbed “Amazon Appstore for Android.” Shortly thereafter, a chagrined … Continue Reading

Android finally gets Hulu Plus, but only on six devices

Buyout or not, it’s still business as usual for Hulu. Today the online television hub debuted its Hulu Plus service on six Android phones.

Like its iOS and desktop brethren, the Android app lets users stream Hulu’s huge catalog of television and movies on compatible devices. However, the service currently only supports a smattering of Android handsets.

Google’s Nexus One and Nexus S made the cut, along with HTC’s Inspire 4G, and Motorola’s Droid II, … Continue Reading

New bill demands carriers finally explain 4G

Still not sure what 4G really means? A new bill put before Congress today intends to push wireless providers to dish all the dirty details about their data networks.

If passed, the Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act would effectively force providers to quantify the speeds behind current marketing terms like 4G. Championed by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the bill also calls for disclosure of network reliability, minimum speeds, and even network conditions that might adversely … Continue Reading

Ford expands Sync app support for 2012 line

Ford is betting big on the smartphone. The U.S. automaker has announced that its upgrading some of its 2012 fleet to play nice with apps.

“Mobile app growth is literally skyrocketing,” Ford’s president of operations, Mark Fields told Reuters.  “This is a trend that we cannot ignore, especially as a Nationwide Insurance study shows that one in four Americans who download apps admits to using them while driving.”

The new addition for the 2012 line … Continue Reading

Best Buy reveals cloudy ambition with Music Cloud

Electronics retailer Best Buy announced the launch of its own cloud-based music service for the U.S. today, dubbed Music Cloud. The new service will let users register and stream their music libraries for on-the-go listening through iOS, Android, and BlackBerry devices.

Though the service got some subtle marketing last week (and is already running in the UK), today’s announcement throws the tarp off of a modest demo and an ambitious strategy for the U.S. market. … Continue Reading

Does Hulu have a user attention problem?

Hulu has released yet another peek at its monthly performance from comScore’s Video Metrix report. Long story short, the premium video hub is still growing in terms of unique visitors, while the amount of time spent on the site seems to be dropping.

For March, Hulu claimed the number three spot in terms of popularity, beating out other online video contenders like Yahoo, Microsoft, and CBS. In terms of traffic, this came out to 41.6 … Continue Reading

StumbleUpon adds Facebook, comments to its web-based recommendations

StumbleUpon, an application for discovering and rating web content, is fine tuning its web experience. As part of the app’s growth outside of its proprietary toolbar, StumbleUpon is announcing updates to its web-based interface, like Facebook compatibility and new content sharing tools.

In general, StumbleUpon works as a recommendation engine for web pages. Previously, users had to install a toolbar to rate sites (either with a thumbs up or down), or recommend them to other … Continue Reading

Joost: For sale, or just fortifying?

The buzz in the online vid biz is that Joost, a once touted video portal, might be headed for a buyout. After two years of going it alone, the company is rumored to be in talks with Time Warner Cable and satellite providers for a possible deal, reports CNet’s anonymous source.

Though this is still considered speculation (a Joost spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on rumors), it’s fair to say the company has seen … Continue Reading

Netflix nails Q1, expects competition from kiosks

DVD rental company Netflix just blew the lid off its first quarter earnings. The Los Gatos, Calif. company netted $394.1 million in revenue in Q1 2009, representing a 21 percent leap year-over-year and a 10 percent bump compared to last quarter. These figures easily beat street estimates, which had the company pegged around $390 million for quarterly revenue.

Oh, but there are still a few dark clouds on the horizon.

In spite of this good … Continue Reading

YouTube RealTime: Great for socializing and ads?

I have to admit, I was a little skeptical when I heard YouTube was working to bring real-time interactivity to the site. But now that I’ve tinkered with the feature (dubbed “YouTube RealTime”), it’s clear that the popular online video portal was ripe for social chops. After all, half the fun of discovering content on YouTube comes from sharing it with friends.

As I mentioned yesterday, the crux of YouTube RealTime is its omnipresent toolbar. … Continue Reading

Government shakedown for music-sharing service LimeWire?

Congress is winding up to give LimeWire hell again. The peer-to-peer file-sharing service apparently still poses a risk to users who store personal information on their computers, according to the House Committee on Government Reform.

As a free service that allows users to share locally stored files over the internet, LimeWire has been a lightning rod for controversy. Over the years, the service has been scorned as a method for trading copyrighted content like music … Continue Reading

YouTube goes real-time with new notification toolbar

It looks like YouTube has been bitten by the real-time bug too. After the recent real-time overhauls of sites like Facebook and FriendFeed, YouTube is now tinkering with a similar notification feature imaginatively called “YouTube RealTime,” reports TechCrunch.

Much like Facebook’s news feed, YouTube RealTime allows users to track the activities of friends within the site. The feature aggregates actions like comments, online status, and viewing habits, and then broadcasts them to a persistently updated … Continue Reading

eBay's Q1 earnings dip despite Skype, Paypal boost

eBay has just released its first quarter financials for 2009, beating analyst estimates. But, like many other tech companies, the online auctioneer wasn’t exactly immune to the lagging economy.

By the numbers, the San Jose, Calif.-based company cleared $2.02 billion in revenue for the quarter, representing a $171 million loss year-over-year. Though a sizable decline, these figures still beat analysts’ predictions which pegged the auction site around $1.94 billion.

On a per-share basis, eBay’s Q1 … Continue Reading

Study finds file-sharers buy ten times more music

A new report from BI Norwegian School of Management shows illegal file-sharers are more likely to purchase music from legitimate sources than other web users.

I know, I know. The whole thing sounds questionable, but here’s how it comes together: Ars Technica reports that researchers monitored the music download habits of 1,900 web users age 15 and above. Over time, the study found that users who downloaded music illegally from P2P file-sharing sites like BitTorrent … Continue Reading

Report: Interest in online video up, channel loyalty down

Maybe Hulu’s expensive Superbowl ad wasn’t such a bad idea. Consumer interest in computer-based television viewing is on the rise, according to a recent study from consulting firm Accenture. Furthermore, as the number of ways to watch TV expands, consumers are caring less about channel loyalty and more about ease of access for their favorite shows.

Overall, Accenture’s report found that television viewership is quickly splintering across a number of platforms like computers, phones, and … Continue Reading