In its fifth acquisition of 2010, Google has acquired a fledgling video service that could offer some backup to its YouTube property. The Internet giant snapped up Episodic for an undisclosed amount.
Google hasn’t officially announced the deal, but the San Francisco-based startup was so “thrilled” to join the Google family that its cofounders shared the news in a blog post on Friday. The post hints at Google’s motives for buying what Episodic describes as its “comprehensive platform for broadcasting live and on-demand video to the web or any web-enabled device.”
“The Episodic team will join Google and continue its work to bring a great video experience to the web, mobile phones, and IPTV devices,” wrote Noam Lovinsky and Matias Cudich. The cofounders promised no service interruptions for customers.
Read the rest of my article on TopTechNews.
April 5th, 2010
When your iPod battery dies, it’s time to get a new iPod. Never a popular strategy for Apple, the company is moving to avoid the backlash of potential battery failures with its self-described “magical” tablet device.
Apple has issued what appears to be a guarantee replacement policy that could help it instill consumer confidence in the pricey iPad. If the iPad’s battery doesn’t last as long as the device itself, Apple will send you a new device. So instead of replacing the failing battery, Apple will replace the iPad itself.
“Apple has been criticized for the idea of using sealed batteries in devices. Although it’s been a nonissue for most consumers, this guarantee streamlines the customer-service process for the consumer,” said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group. “If you buy an iPad and have a problem with the battery and need it replaced, you don’t have to think twice about what to do. You just take it to your Apple Store and you get another one.”
Read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.
March 15th, 2010
Retail brokers are keeping their friends close — and some are keeping their enemies closer, collaborating with competitors for shared slices of a shrinking tenant base.
Whether these partnerships forged by hard times, like X Team International, a retail real estate brokerage alliance made up of small and mid-sized boutique firms, represented in South Florida partner by the Fort Lauderdale-based Rotella Group, will succeed in preserving business remains unclear. But the fact these arrangements exist reflects the profound shift in an industry that’s still getting squeezed.
Even in the competitive retail leasing industry, it’s now seen as a smart move to work with competitors rather than throwing them under the bus to land deals, because those opportunities are fewer and further between.
The X Team venture, for example, leverages Rotella and other brokerages’ strength to retain retail clients in a roster that includes Home Depot, Dollar Tree and Quiznos.
“By forming an alliance of retail brokerages, we know what’s happening from one end of the country to another,” said Bill Rotella, president of the Rotella Group. “If I have relationships in Florida that can help X Team members on the West Coast, I make an introduction. This helps us compete against the larger brokerages.”
Read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.
March 15th, 2010
U.S. regulators are reportedly digging deeper into Google’s planned AdMob acquisition. The Federal Trade Commission is asking for sworn statements from the search giant’s competitors and advertisers in what could signal plans to hold up the merger. The news comes as part of a wave of government scrutiny against the maturing company.
According to Bloomberg News, the FTC is seeking to learn whether Google’s proposed purchase of the mobile-ad technology provider would lessen competition in the market for Internet advertising on mobile phones. The FTC couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Bloomberg didn’t identify the names of two companies that said they were asked to sign statements for the probe. However, it’s likely that the FTC spoke with companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, Jumptap and Millenial Media, all of which have stakes in this growing space.
Read the rest of my story on TopTechNews.
March 12th, 2010
In a move to shake up the online gaming industry, OnLive has announced PC and Mac versions of its on-demand, instant-play games will roll out in June during the E3 2010 show. Here’s the rub: Gamers don’t have to buy a console, and they can get broadband speeds.
OnLive delivers games to HDTVs over an Internet connection via a small browser plug-in for PCs and OnLive’s MicroConsole TV Adapter, which will roll out later this year. The company is billing its game service as a way to find, purchase or rent video games from publishers like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft 2K Games, THQ and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
“The idea here is that you buy or rent the games and stream them. That’s pretty challenging when it comes to gaming because you need very quick responses,” said Michael Gartenberg, a partner at the Altimeter Group. “OnLive is an interesting twist. The question is how it’s going to work in real time over the network.”
Read the rest of my story on CIOToday.
March 12th, 2010
The wait is over. Cisco Systems on Tuesday finally took the lid off its hype machine to reveal … a new router. Cisco is positioning its CRS-3 Carrier Routing System as the foundation of the next-generation Internet that will pave the way for rapid growth of video transmissions, mobile devices, and new online services.
The CRS-3 offers three times the traffic capacity of the its predecessor, the CRS-1, Cisco said, and promises to accelerate the delivery of new experiences for consumers, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace. That’s a lot of hyperbole, but analysts said it’s believable.
“It’s too bad Cisco led up to this router announcement with so much hype. People were expecting Armageddon or something. They had this countdown timer as if something big was going to happen,” said Zeus Kerravala, a vice president at Yankee Group. “At the end of the day what Cisco announced was a big, fast router. But that’s what Cisco does. We expect Cisco to release bigger, faster routers. It’s what they built their company history on.”
Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.
March 10th, 2010
Older versions of Internet Explorer are under attack. Microsoft 
warned Tuesday afternoon that cybercriminals are actively exploiting a security vulnerability that lets attackers execute malicious code from remote locations.
Microsoft’s internal investigation reveals that the latest version of the browser, Internet Explorer 8, is not affected. Likewise, Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 4 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 is not affected.
Here’s a quick list of affected versions for IT administrators looking to implement a workaround to mitigate the risk: Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, and Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7.
“In addition to Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday updates today, the company also issued an advisory for a new zero-day vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer,” said Josh Talbot, security intelligence manager for Symantec Security Response. “Symantec has observed exploitation of this vulnerability in the wild and has created Trojan.Malscript!html and JS.Downloader detection to mitigate this attack.”
Read the rest of the story on NewsFactor.
March 10th, 2010
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