media

Marketing, editorial blur on the Web

SAN FRANCISCO--On the Web, marketers are becoming editors. Editors are becoming marketers.

That's what you might take away from the first Conversational Marketing Summit held here Tuesday. And, if you're like most people, your first question might be, "What is conversational marketing media?"

The simple answer is: see the first paragraph.

But the concept is better when illustrated. In one example, Yahoo's photo-sharing site Flickr recently worked with Nikon to host a "Nikon Stunning Gallery," which was filled with professional photos from the camera maker. The stunning gallery then allowed people in the … Read more

Is Facebook ready to stuff its treasure chest with more booty?

Another day, another clump of Facebook financial dirt.

Kara Swisher at All Things Digital wrote early Tuesday that "according to sources," Facebook is considering the possibility of a massive new investment round. If this turns out to be true, it could lift the company's much-talked-about valuation even further into the stratosphere. Facebook's last investment round, a $25 million bounty in 2006, pushed its pre-money valuation to about $525 million. This rumored new round, which Swisher claims is "well beyond" that scope, could solidify Facebook's position in the $6 billion to $10 billion club (… Read more

Microsoft gives Media Center Extender another try

Microsoft plans another go at the media center extender concept, but it's unclear whether the new features will be enough to lure more buyers than it did with the first go-around a few years back.

As in the past, the devices are designed to connect to a TV in one room to access music, photos and video from a computer in another room. It's the same idea as the Apple TV, which even Steve Jobs says is more a "hobby" for Apple than a real business.

A real question exists as to how many buyers are … Read more

Yahoo-Blue Lithium click on Web display ads

Yahoo agreed to buy advertising network Blue Lithium for $300 million this week, a deal that adds to a string of industry acquisitions and signals a growing new direction for online ads.

Blue Lithium, based in San Jose, Calif., specializes in selling performance-based display ads across a network of Web sites. Like search-related text ads, performance banners let advertisers pay for exposure to customers only when people respond to the ad, whether it's by agreeing to receive more information or by taking some action. The privately held company, which also sells behavioral targeted ads, is ranked the fifth largest … Read more

Use the Web to keep two PCs in sync

Featured on this week's Real Deal podcast: Synchronizing two computers. If you want to know how to keep yourself sane if you regularly use more than one PC, tune into this show for a rundown of my tips on how to keep files, bookmarks, and e-mail synchronized over the Web.

Products mentioned:

FolderShare LogMeIn SimplifyMedia Orb FoxMarks Del.icio.us Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

If you want to join the ongoing discussion, come on over to the Real Deal forums.

Real Deal subscription links:

For RSS readers: http://www.cnet.com/i/pod/realdeal.xml iTunes: Subscribe

Apple's lock on the media...

There's no other company quite like Apple. They have security that rivals defense contractors and there is a whole legion of websites dedicated to gathering inside information and publishing company "secrets." It's not muckraking either, most of these investigators are devout Apple fans with a thirst for any undisclosed information about their favorite company. The most perplexing aspect of Apple's cult-like position in our society is the way the company manages to consistently invoke the press' interest.

It's still unclear exactly what Apple will be introducing at their press event tomorrow, but the mainstream media is already talking. Usually when companies host a media event to launch a new product, the product is the news. For Apple, the event itself becomes news. In today's San Francisco Chronicle, the lead headline on the front page of the Business section reads, "What news awaits the apple faithful?" The article goes on to surface the various rumors that have been percolating on the various apple rumors sites. Even the headline itself, invokes the almost religious zeal that Mac aficionados hold close to their heart.

Toshiba's big and clever hard drives

Toshiba has announced new ranges of hard drives that it believes are larger or cleverer than anything that came before them.

First up is EasyGuard, which is all about hoarding and protecting your data. The first product in the range is an external 2.5-inch laptop hard drive with a massive 320GB capacity and a 'freefall' sensor that protects the read/write heads in the event of shocks or drops.

The second EasyGuard product is a "ruggedized" (but not freefall-enabled) external hard drive with a fingerprint reader (pictured). The idea is that this'll keep your data secure, … Read more

CNET Live - Episode 21 - Show Notes

Never ever drink St. Pauli Girl N.A. It's a mistake. Believe me, my stomach is reminding meright now. It's not even alcoholic!!

But aside from that we had a great showtoday. All your calls, and good calls too. Of course we did a few of our regular segments. Here's all the notes.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

Things we Crave

Pool convections system 2

Creative TravelSound i50

First Look

Burton Lil Buddy Speaker Cooler

Download of the Week

Media Coder.

Insider Secrets

Portable Apps.

Make Photoshop portable

Your calls

Stream music with Bluetooth using these … Read more

Nokia takes on Apple with music store

Yesterday, top cellphone maker Nokia announced Ovi, an umbrella brand for a forthcoming set of online services. Among these services is a new Nokia Music Store, which will offer both over-the-air and PC-based downloads, with two-way sync between device and PC. The service will launch in Europe, featuring a catalog of "millions" of tracks. Individual song downloads will cost 1 Euro and full albums 10 Euros. A subscription, PC-tethered, streaming-only service will also be available for 10 Euros per month. (The whiz-bang Flash site introducing Ovi is here. A press release is here.)

The service leverages Nokia's … Read more

What the heck will they blend on YouTube next!?

Apparently, blenders aren't just for smoothies and margaritas anymore.

Ever try blending golf balls? Light bulbs? Cell phones? A rake handle? An iPod? I bet not, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you have watched Tom Dickson from Blendtec blend some of these things on YouTube.

A few months ago, I used the "Will It Blend?" campaign for an article on Marketing Profs.

Since then, the campaign has continued on (Tom blended an iPhone this summer, for instance) and is now arguably one of the best examples of YouTube-based social-media marketing (SMM) to date.

The YouTube-based … Read more