Facebook, CNN reconnect for Obama State of the Union address
Facebook’s Connect service — a service that lets other web sites integrate status updates and other features from Facebook into their own interfaces — seems to be gaining traction of late. And it should get an extra boost during President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union speech this evening. Cable news company CNN will be letting Facebook users comment on CNN’s live web video feed of the event.
Here’s how it works: Facebook users approve… Continue Reading
Taboola clinches $4.5 million, and CNN to boot
Taboola, a Tel Aviv-based video discovery startup, has just launched its “ViDiscovery” product, which analyzes the context and content of videos, and the viewing and behavior patterns of users in order to recommend videos. It has also secured $4.5 million in a second round of funding. The company aims to make money by running targeted ads with relevant videos.
Viewers watching a Sarah Palin interview on CNN, for example, will see a gray pop-up tab that… Continue Reading
CNN’s cool hologram technology also used tonight
In addition to its Magic Wall touchable maps, CNN is also using some cool hologram technology tonight to interview guests from afar. The guests appear to be in the room and move about in three dimensions, even though their images are being beamed in from somewhere else.
USA Today says CNN has 44 cameras and 20 computers in each remote location to capture 360-degree imaging data of the person being interviewed. Those images are processed by… Continue Reading
Roundup: Google goes deeper into TV ads, CNN uses Facebook Connect, Flickr’s new homepage and more
Here’s the latest action:
Google starting to catch on to this TV ad thing? –It’s been almost two years since the search advertising giant made its first foray into television advertising. In order to grow, it’s going to need more time slots (inventory) to sell. It took a step in that direction this week, striking a deal with Harris Corp., a company that will help add and manage new inventory. Google TV Ads also made a deal… Continue Reading
Is political debate driving people to Twitter and changing its nature?
Twitter started out as a service in which you were given 140 characters to give mundane updates about your activities at any given moment. That’s why you still see the “What are you doing?” question above the text input box on the site. But somewhere along the way that input box evolved into a forum for more meaningful discourse. Political debate in particular seems to be popular and may be driving usage of the micro-messaging… Continue Reading
New CNN show pushes the limits of Twitter — literally
One anchor for the cable news channel CNN has become enamored with the micro-messaging service Twitter over the past several weeks. He used tweets (Twitter messages) to complement his coverage of the recent Hurrican Gustav and now the network has apparently decided to take it one step further, basing a whole show around the real-time citizen journalism/opinions that take place on Twitter.
The show, called Rick Sanchez Direct, is scheduled to debut this afternoon, Sanchez let… Continue Reading