Read all 'News roundup' posts in Webware
June 30, 2008 6:00 PM PDT
FriendFeed's new iPhone app is now hand and eye-friendly.
(Credit: FriendFeed)Here are some news tidbits from today that were too small to fill out entire posts. We've grouped together three that are worth your time.
FriendFeed puts out an iPhone app. Social aggregator FriendFeed has launched an iPhone-friendly version of its news feed (http://friendfeed.com/i). Previously users had to use a service like FFtoGo to get the stream of news reformatted to match the resolution on the popular handheld device. The new look incorporates image sharing, using a bit of a work-around with Mail2FF, a service that posts e-mailed photos and messages to your activity stream or private rooms.
Netvibes adds Google search, trend tracking. Netvibes users will find a new Google search box in their start pages. Any search will show up with results that keep the user in the Netvibes environment, and will be saved as a new tab. As TechCrunch noticed, the company also soft launched a new section called Buzz that tracks some of the most favorite links using Netvibes' starring system. Results can be honed down to within the last hour or the last two days.
A Spore with more parts. Too cheap to shell out $10 for the full version of EA's Spore Creature Creator? Computer maker HP is offering a free demo version that has a few more parts than the standard demo offering. Like I said when I checked it out earlier this month, this is one piece of software that's got a fully connected Web 2.0 presence with a community site and YouTube integration.
June 26, 2007 10:42 AM PDT
- AOL relaunches its news service. AOL relaunched its news service with an all-new design earlier this morning. In addition to adding an extra column, it now features some Web 2.0 goodies such as a tag cloud of popular story headlines, and the most-read stories and comment threads. The service will also aggregate news from other sites. Read more about it here.
- CircleUp launches embeddable widget. CircleUp [review], the social-planning service has a new widget called MyQuestions that lets people add their questions and subsequent list or responses to blogs, Web sites, or social-networking profiles. Users can interact with these widgets and respond without having to leave the site.
- MediaMaster adds iTunes importing. Users of MediaMaster [review] are now able to import music from their iTunes music libraries. They can also view their songs in a new list view that shows all their tracks. The team is currently working on a Facebook app to let users share their music libraries on user profiles, similar to Last.fm's efforts.
May 31, 2007 10:36 AM PDT
- BBC to broadcast in 'Second Life'. BBC's show The Money Programme will broadcast on Friday both on regular television and in the MMORPG Second Life. This episode of The Money Programme deals with with the economies that have sprung up as a result of these micropayment-filled virtual currency markets, including World of Warcraft, Lord of the RingsOnline, and Second Life. The social network has played host to several other real-life events in the past, including concerts and business meetings.
- Warner to put ad-supported video archive online. Warner music is putting together a platform to deliver music videos and other music-related content for free. Users will also be able to purchase digital copies with an integrated marketplace that will be made available on mobile phones as well.
- Yahoo's chief technology officer resigns. Farzad Nazem, who had resided as Yahoo's CTO since 1996 has left his post at the Internet media company. His interim replacement will be Jerry Yang, who co-founded the company in 1994.
- Mass deletion sparks LiveJournal revolt. Popular publishing platform LiveJournal is currently experiencing a user revolt due to their deletion of hundreds of blogs the company deemed inappropriate. The service, which hosts approximately 13 million journals, has been deleting selected journals containing content that promotes pedophilia, or other topics or items that violate the terms of service. Many users who have had the content deleted are up in arms over LifeJournal's "delete first, ask questions later" approach.
[All stories via CNET News.com]
May 9, 2007 10:14 AM PDT
- StumbleUpon/eBay talks heat up. The Wall Street Journal is reporting (registration required) that a deal between eBay and StumbleUpon to acquire the social networking and content recommendation service is getting closer. No agreement has been made on price, but the rumored amount brings it somewhere near $75 million dollars. If acquired, StumbleUpon's content preference algorithms could be employed on eBay's auction listings to give eBay users a new way to get recommendations on things they might want to buy. (CNET News.com Blog)
- Last.fm launching video service. As reported by the Register in March, Last.fm will release a music video service this week. Last.fm users will be able to make their own sharable music video playlists, using high-quality video content from a number of legal independent content providers, with mainstream content from Warner and EMI on the way later this year. The new video service will still leverage Last.fm's music recommendation technology to introduce people to new music. (via ReadWriteWeb)
- Windows Live Messenger now on the Xbox 360. Owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 can chat with others using Windows Live Messenger, now a part of the 360's system software. Live Messenger buddies show up alongside the regular friends list, and can live video chat via the Xbox 360's Live Vision camera. 360 users also get special status messages that show what game they're playing for anyone who sees them using the PC client. (via Crave)
May 4, 2007 10:52 AM PDT
- Microsoft eyeing Yahoo deal. The New York Post is reporting that Microsoft has recently become very interested in trying to buy out Yahoo. Yahoo's projected sales price is reported to hover around $50 Billion. Such an acquisition would include popular Web properties like Flickr, Hot Jobs, and Microsoft rivals like Yahoo Messenger and Mail. (CNET News.com)
- Popular on YouTube? You may soon get a profit cut. YouTube is offering its most popular users with recurring content the chance to share revenue from ads adjacent to their videos. A revenue sharing program for the video hosting service has long been rumored, although this new system differs from Revver, which lets anyone get a cut based on how many people watch their videos. YouTube users who want to get in on the revenue sharing action have been encouraged to keep doing what they're doing, as the service is taking a "don't call us, we'll call you" approach to selecting new participants. (CNET News.com)
- Microsoft hints at general plan for IE 8. Makers of the most popular browser used on the Internet have started talking about the next version slated for release in the next two years. Security is the dominant focus, along with interoperability with popular Web standards. Here at Webware, we're more excited about the next version of Firefox, which is planning to extend the functionality of popular online Web apps offline too. (CNET News.com Blog)
- No Facebook, YouTube for Canadian government workers. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty apparently does not like government workers poking or watching episodes of LonelyGirl15 while on the job, and has subsequently banned both of the popular sites from government offices. There is already some protest from some government employees who claim they need access to the sites for work-related projects. If they can amass something like the revolt that came with the Facebook newsfeed fiasco, maybe McGuinty will change his mind. (CNET News.com Blog)
Update: Fixed Dalton McGuinty's title.
May 3, 2007 11:36 AM PDT
- Brightcove and CBS News parner up. CBS' News division has teamed up with Brightcove to play popular news content like CBS Evening News on Brightcove.com. This is one of the many sites and services CBS is partnering with as part of their "Interactive Audience Network," which is marketing speak for taking their shows off the television and putting them online. They've also been working with YouTube and AOL to expand online offerings of CBS programming. (CNET News.com)
- MySpace sexual preference bug causes stir. A small bug on MySpace that removed the option for users to select "Gay" as their sexual preference led to a small uproar last night. MySpace figurehead and founder Tom Anderson posted a bulletin acknowledging the bug, and noted that not only would it be fixed, but that "MySpace does not hate gay people..duh."
- Microsoft closes Tellme Deal. Tellme is now officially owned by Microsoft after the initial announcement of the purchase back in May. Tellme is working on a variety of voice and telephone related projects, including their slick mobile phone app which we chose as one of our Top 5 offerings at the Web 2.0 Expo last month. (CNET News.com Blog)
- AOL slips to No. 3 on Internet. AOL is now the third most popular Internet Service Provider (ISP) behind AT&T and Comcast. The company's focus on providing a portal service (one that looks quite familiar) as of last year has moved them away from offering a connection to the internet and towards content like music and news. (CNET News.com)
March 28, 2007 12:19 PM PDT
- Original Signal rolls out meme tracker. The single-page aggregation service has added a new front page to their Web section. The page displays the top 10 most popular stories at any given time. The new service uses an algorithm that decides when a story is worthy of being on the front page without any additional user interaction required beyond browsing the site. Something similar was done with Spotplex, which we checked out last month.
- eJamming launches. The virtual garage for musicians to 'jam' in different geographical locations launched their AUDiiO service this morning. The app has versions for both Windows and Mac OS X, and is free during the testing period. Previous coverage here.
- Google updates mobile search. Google has simplified and optimized search results for fewer clicks while using the mobile version of the search engine. They've also added location memory, so you don't need to reenter what area you're searching in. What may be the neatest addition is a personalized version of Google's mobile homepage, which can be set up with your favorite tools or services.
- Museum takes a cue from Flickr. Web services such as Flickr and Gmail have pioneered the use of tagging, making it easier to sort through large collections of pictures and words. Taking a cue from this movement, museums are beginning to add tags to pieces of art with description-based words. Steve, a collaborative research project, offers free open-source software for them to get started. The goal is to make collections easier to sort through for people who can't remember the name or creator of a work of art. (CNET News.com)
- Adobe Remix goes live. Adobe's free Web-based video-editing tool is now available to all Photobucket users. The tool, which we covered last month, lets Photobucket users string together and edit video clips taken from their digital cameras. Since our hands-on, Photobucket teamed up with PumpAudio to provide more music tracks to add to videos. The company also redesigned their front door earlier in the month, placing more emphasis on user photos.
March 22, 2007 12:56 PM PDT
- NBC and News Corp. push new Web rival to YouTube. If you can't beat 'em join 'em, which is what AOL, MSN, Yahoo and MySpace are doing to combat media juggernaut YouTube. The companies have combined forces and are gearing up to launch a new online video service this summer. Besides user-submitted clips, expect to find full-length TV shows and paid-for movies from two major studios. (CNET News.com)
- HP to acquire photo start-up Tabblo. Photo sharing and printing service Tabblo is being acquired by Hewlett-Packard. In our hands-on we noted the ease and simplicity of its built-in printing options, and apparently HP took notice too. HP purchased competing photo-sharing service Snapfish a few years ago, and intends to keep it and Tabblo as separate brands. (CNET News.com)
- Site wants to become YouTube of games. Flash games site Kongregate (previous coverage) has a received $1 Million in funding and has opened up the site to everyone (it was previously a private beta.) The site now hosts over 300 games. (CNET News.com)
- Picnik adds new features, Picasa Integration. Picnik, the Web-based photo editing and browsing tool we checked out last month, has added some neat new features like tinting, focal change, and drawing right on photos with a doodling tool. Also new is the ability to sync up with Picasa Web albums using the newly released Picasa Web Album API.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
March 21, 2007 4:32 PM PDT
- Google rolls out pay-per-action. Google's got a new advertising scheme, and it's set up to help small-time advertisers avoid the dangers of click fraud. Instead of just paying by the click, advertisers can set up predetermined actions the user must go through, such as purchasing an item or browsing a certain section of the site. The new system has sparked controversy in the blogosphere as a potential destroyer of smaller affiliate marketing services.
- Congoo launches News Portals. Premium news content distributor Congoo (previous coverage) has rolled out a customizable single-page-aggregation service that pulls stories from user-selected topics. Users can also create their own newsfeed by using keywords that filter upcoming stories.
- RateItAll and MuseStorm team up to make MySpace list widgets. MuseStorm makes widgets and various ways to track their activity, and RateItAll lets users rate things. The two have teamed up to create sharable widgets for MySpace profiles that let people share interesting lists they find on RateItAll in a scrolling top-10 format. Users can then track widget statistics using MuseStorm. (via SexyWidget)
- Mashable rolls out in-house Techmeme competitor. Dubbed "Mashtracker," the new service combines Megite story aggregation technology with stories on Mashable to provide users with related stories and discussion from around the Internet. It's a neat way to see similar news items, as well as alternate takes from various bloggers and news services. See also Techmeme and Tailrank.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
March 15, 2007 10:58 AM PDT
- NCAA tournament clips on YouTube. Just because Viacom has gone lawsuit-happy with YouTube, that doesn't mean CBS wants to keep its content off Google's video-hosting service. CBS will be adding highlights, press conferences and specials available "immediately" following live TV coverage. YouTube users will also be able to vote on and rank their favorite game clips.
- Google adding search privacy protections. Google will be "anonymizing" search queries connected to your IP address and browser cookies about 18 to 24 months after they were created. Currently, all three pieces of information are grouped together and archived indefinitely. The new policy will be in effect by the end of the year. (CNET News.com)
- The New York Times to provide "reader" service for non-subscribers. The The New York Times reader, a small application that serves up a digital copy of the newspaper's printed version, is rolling out the service to the general public later this month. The The New York Times reader service has been available as a free beta app since September. From now on, the service will be free for paid print subscribers and will cost $14.95 a month for everyone else. (The New York Times)
- SkypePrime and SkypeFind now out of beta. Ether-competitor SkypePrime and social bookmarking tool SkypeFind have left beta and gone into the most recent version of Skype as built-in features. SkypeFind is the more interesting of the two for the casual user, adding a user-built directory right into the service, complete with user reviews like you'd find on Yelp or InsiderPages. (CNET News.com)
- Cisco serves up $3.2 billion to buy WebEx. Cisco Systems is purchasing WebEx, the business communications company. Cisco intends to utilize WebEx's technology to serve small- and medium-size businesses with its hosted collaboration tools, a subject we've ranted about previously. (CNET News.com)
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
