It is not easy being Paris Hilton. You have to spend so much of your time focused on the "being Paris Hilton" part that it leaves very little time for much else. Like considering the state of the nation. Or remembering what pictures you tweeted a month ago.
My fingers flicker with sympathy because Hilton seems to have got herself into a slight pickle. A slight pickle that might be less slight than her much-loved sex video.
For people worried that they may be accused of illegally sharing "The Hurt Locker," a movie about defusing bombs, the hope was that efforts to chase them down would fizzle out.
No such luck. The film's producers are finally moving to acquire the names of people they accuse of using peer-to-peer services to share unauthorized copies of the movie that won this year's Oscar for "Best Picture." Qwest Communications on Monday notified a customer in Denver that the Internet service provider has received a subpoena from lawyers representing Voltage Pictures, the production company that … Read more
Google and AOL announced Thursday that they have extended--and expanded--their global partnership.
The two companies have signed a five-year renewal of their contract that will see Google continue to offer its search services to AOL's "content network and properties." Google will also continue to provide AOL with its advertising products across all of the latter's sites.
In addition, Google will now power AOL's mobile search, while AOL will make all of its video content available on YouTube.
The companies have agreed to a revenue-sharing agreement, but they didn't divulge the details of that deal.… Read more
NEW YORK--Just having the latest and greatest 3D-enabled TV won't guarantee you a virtual court-side seat this weekend when CBS Sports broadcasts the U.S. Open tennis tournament in 3D. You'll also have to subscribe to DirecTV's satellite TV service.
Avid sports fans can now feel like they're part of the action in their own living rooms thanks to 3D TV broadcasts of live sporting events, such as the U.S. Open. But exclusive distribution deals limit who gets to see what.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Tennis Association, which hosts the U.S. Open and … Read more
I followed Apple's music event keynote live on my MacBook and as CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated the upcoming Ping social-networking service for iTunes 10, I had a strange sense of deja vu. Ping lets iTunes users connect to friends, share their now-playing lists publicly, and make recommendations. It's built into the iTunes desktop client software and accessible from mobile devices as well.
Where have I heard this before? Let's see, iLike was kind of a social network. The Rdio subscription service has a social-networking element. But I'm thinking earlier than that. MySpace? No, that was more … Read more
Facebook Credits is making its way to Target stores, the retailer announced on Wednesday.
Starting on Sunday, Target stores nationwide will feature Facebook Credits gift cards in increments of $15, $25, and $50. The Credits can be used on the more than 150 games and applications available on Facebook. The retailer said cards will also be available on Target.com.
Nearing its first birthday, Microsoft's Windows 7 is starting to grab more customers than its predecessor, Vista, according to new stats released Wednesday by Net Applications.
For the month of August, Windows 7 grew to take in a 15.87 percent share of devices accessing the Internet, while Vista dropped to 14 percent. That's only the second month in which Windows 7 started to outshine Vista. In July, the newest flavor of Windows grabbed 14.46 percent of the market, compared with Vista's 14.34 percent share, according to Net Applications.
Microsoft's push to convince customers … Read more
Amazon is talking to major media companies to create a new subscription service to deliver movies and TV shows over the Internet, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The service, which would be accessible via Web browser and devices such as Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players, and the Xbox game console, has been pitched to media giants News Corp., Time Warner, Viacom, and NBC Universal, according to the Journal. Amazon's Video on Demand service offers digital downloads of movies and individual TV episodes, but the new service would focus on offering older content in a model similar … Read more
The official Google blog on Tuesday posted a link to an experimental music video for the Arcade Fire song "We Used To Wait" that shows off the capabilities of HTML5 with Google's Chrome browser.
I gave it a run earlier this afternoon. After I followed the instructions to close other applications and enter my home address, the video took about 15 seconds to start. My first impression was a flashback of visiting shady Web sites back in the days before pop-up blockers existed: a cascade of no fewer than eight browser windows opened, and trying to close … Read more
SAN JOSE, Calif.--App stores have transformed portable devices. Could TVs be next?
Samsung Electronics think so. The Korean company is here pitching Samsung Apps, an application platform and marketplace, to media and content providers, as well as individual third-party developers.
Samsung Apps, as the platform is called, has been rolled out in other countries, but the company came here for its first developer conference, called Free the TV Challenge, to introduce its new software development kit to more than 100 developers in the United States.
Since app stores have become a given for portables--no phone maker would dream of launching a new smartphone today without access to one--Samsung says people want that same experience when flipping through channels from the couch.
"Consumers want and expect choice and control. Not just on the go, not just in front of computer, but in the living room," Eric Anderson, Samsung vice president of content development, told the group gathered in the ballroom of the Fairmont hotel.
Part of Samsung's pitch to developers on Tuesday was that its position in TVs and mobile phones will provide a large enough window for developers. Samsung already sells 45 million TVs a year and 200 mobile phones, so the implication is that if its TV app store takes off, the developers in on the ground floor will have their apps broadcast to a large chunk of TV owning people or people who will buy one in the next few years.
So far, there are 88 apps already available on Samsung's TV platform, but the company says there will be 200 by the end of the year. Samsung has been selling Web-connected TVs with apps from the likes of Yahoo, Netflix, Blockbuster, Facebook, Twitter, and others since 2009. By opening the platform up to third parties, it expects that number to increase exponentially over the next few years. … Read more
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