Archive for March, 2008
With the high-definition format wars over, Dell is offering a laptop with Blu-ray for under $900. Aimed at movie buffs, the Inspiron 1525 with optional Blu-ray drive starts at $879.Dell’s reasoning: As retailers and video-rental companies expand their high-definition offerings, Blu-ray is the new “must-have” technology to help consumers get the most out of the viewing experience.
“Like everyone else, Dell was inhibited by the dual-standard situation. Dell wanted to make sure it didn’t overcommit before the technology decision was made between Blu-ray and HD DVD,” said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates. “Now that it is clear what the standard is, Dell is building to that. Of course, Dell has always been a major supporter of Blu-ray.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on Newsfactor.
March 30th, 2008
Apple is talking with the major record labels about a change in the iTunes Store business model that would give customers free access to the store’s complete music library, according to the Financial Times. The catch is that consumers would pay a premium for Apple’s iPod and iPhone devices.The rumored model is akin to the “Comes with Music” deal Nokia inked with Universal Music last December. Apple could not immediately be reached for comment, but the British newspaper reported the negotiations hinged on a dispute over the price Apple would pay for access to the labels’ libraries.
“Rumors of Apple getting into the ‘all you can eat’ music business have been around almost as long as the iPod itself,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch. “The real challenge that Apple would face is taking this from something that appeals to music aficionados to something the mainstream could appreciate.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on Newsfactor.
March 20th, 2008
Facebook rolled out new privacy features on Wednesday to give users more control over who sees the information they share. It made two changes: a standardized privacy interface and new privacy options available through this interface.”In theory, this is good. But Facebook has had situations in the past where they’ve announced things that sound good in theory, but in practice have not worked out,” said Ari Schwartz, deputy director at the Center for Democracy and Technology. “We have to see how the controls actually work and test them out.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on Newsfactor.
March 20th, 2008
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling that Novell can proceed with an antitrust suit against Microsoft 
. The justices declined to hear Microsoft’s appeal, with Chief Justice John Roberts recusing himself because he owns Microsoft stock. The court did not offer a reason for declining the case, its standard practice.The suit dates back to 2004. Novell sued Microsoft, claiming the software giant “deliberately targeted and destroyed” its WordPerfect word-processor and Quattro spreadsheet applications because they are compatible with operating systems besides Windows.
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March 19th, 2008
CBS Television Stations on Monday launched a local ad network with blogger and social-media sites. Dubbed the CBS Local Ad Network, the partnership is the first between a major media company’s television stations and localized social-media mavens.The network initially launched in Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Denver and Chicago. CBS will continue to roll out the program over the next several weeks in other major markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Jonathan Leess, president and general manager of the CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group, is inviting local social-media sites and bloggers to share in the ad revenue. Leess said the network “opens up exciting new avenues for our advertising partners to efficiently extend their reach to valued local audiences while associating themselves with our CBS brands and content.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on CIOToday.
March 18th, 2008
On Tuesday, the European Commission cleared Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick without conditions. The EC review began six months ago and concluded the transaction is not likely to harm competition for online advertising.With that approval, Google quickly closed its acquisition of DoubleClick.
The EC reasoned that Google offers free search capabilities and sells advertising through its AdSense network. DoubleClick, by contrast, sells ad serving, management and reporting technology to Web-site publishers and to advertisers and agencies, with a focus on relevant placements.
“The commission’s in-depth market investigation found that Google and DoubleClick were not exerting major competitive constraints on each other’s activities and could, therefore, not be considered as competitors at the moment,” the EC said. “Even if DoubleClick could become an effective competitor in online intermediation services, it is likely that other competitors would continue to exert sufficient competitive pressure after the merger.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on Newsfactor.
March 15th, 2008
Google isn’t wasting any time leveraging its newest asset. After officially closing the $3.1 billion DoubleClick acquisition earlier this week, the company rolled out a new product: Google Ad Manager.Ad Manager is a free hosted ad- and inventory-management tool that publishers can use to sell, schedule, deliver and measure their directly sold and network-based ad inventories. The new tool is currently in beta.
Google Senior Product Manager Rohit Dhawan said the tool helps publishers address the challenge of effectively managing their inventory and ensuring all their clients’ ads appear on time. Google Ad Manager is looking for a niche with publishers who have small sales teams.
Click here to read the rest of this story on Newsfactor.
March 15th, 2008
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