Modern Media Mom » consumers

Headlines for February 8th, 2010

[modern media mom] — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:00:32 +0000

Facebook Dumps Microsoft Ads, Keeps Sleazy Advertisers – "Facebook says it has dumped Microsoft banner ads, but what the social network really needs are fewer sleazy advertisers, not less Microsoft."
Nook back on sale – "Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader, which sold out over the winter holidays, is available online once again, the company said Monday.
The Nook is also expected to show up in most B&N stores by midweek."
Macmillan books coming back to Amazon – "After a week-long absence, new copies of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and other books published by Macmillan are available for purchase on Amazon.com.
Since last Friday, Amazon had limited the availability of Macmillan releases in a dispute over e-books, with Macmillan calling for a new pricing system that would end the $9.99 rate Amazon had been setting for best-sellers on its Kindle e-reader. Macmillan and other publishers believe $9.99 is too low and threatens the value of books overall."
Consumers lose interest in iPad after Apple’s unveiling – survey – "Despite a highly publicized public debut, potential customers lost a great deal of interest in Apple's new touchscreen iPad after it was unveiled, a new study has found."
Google Ads Level the Playing Field – "While the annual Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet offers an enticing alternative to the Super Bowl for those who aren't football fans, almost everyone loves to watch the NFL championship game just for the $2 million per 30-second spot advertising spectacles. Super Bowl ads get as much, or more, attention and analysis as the game itself."
China Closes Hacker Training Site, Arrests Three Members – "Chinese police have shut down what they called the country's biggest hacker training Web site and arrested three people linked to the site, local media said Saturday."

Headlines for January 12th, 2010

[modern media mom] — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:03:27 +0000

About 1% Of Google Android Apps Bad – "Unlike Apple, which errs on the side of caution when reviewing apps for its App Store, Google considers the Android Market to be an "open distribution channel" and has said that there is no pre-approval process for Android apps and minimal automated scanning to ensure compliance with Google's security model."
Body scanners will transmit and store passenger images – "A document obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) using Freedom of Information Act laws, clearly demonstrates that scanners used at US airports will store and transmit passenger images."
Baidu: Hacking war breaks out between Iran and China – "Iranian hackers brought down Baidu, China's biggest search engine, this morning, and battle ensued – but nobody has any idea why.
The Iranian Cyber Army attacked Twitter – which has been used by Iranian opposition supporters – in December. But Baidu hasn't been known for sensitive content in the same way."
The New Necessities: Food, Clothing, And A Giant TV – "The recession has squeezed consumers into giving up a lot of things — but gadgets, TVs and smartphones have managed to remain essential, maybe more so than pants."
Complaints greet Google Nexus One phone – "Google is being inundated with complaints about its Nexus One phone.
The touchscreen smartphone was launched on 5 January and can be bought directly from Google and used on almost any phone network.

But confusion over who should answer customer queries has led many to file complaints on support forums."

Headlines for January 4th, 2010

[modern media mom] — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:01:02 +0000

AppMakr To Make Anyone An iPhone App-Builder – "Companies like WordPress and Six Apart created popular tools to let anyone become a blogger. Now startup PointAbout wants to do the same for building iPhone applications with a new service called AppMakr.
Where developing iPhone apps can typically cost upward of $10,000 and take weeks or months to build, AppMakr promises to deliver a quality app in less than an hour for only $199. Users of the online service, formally launched today, enter a site Web site address or keywords and get back a sample iPhone app built with that content in less than 30 seconds, according to PointAbout."
Spending on Movie Tickets Surpassed DVD Sales in 2009 – "Last year was the first since 2002 that U.S. consumers spent more money buying movie tickets than buying movies to watch at home, underscoring the changing economics of Hollywood."
8 tech trends to watch this week at CES – 'If you like bold predictions, here's one, courtesy of the president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, which hosts the massive Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week:
"In my 28 years of attending the CES and participating in it and being a part of it and running it for most of that time, I can honestly say there will be more innovation at this show than any one in history," Gary Shapiro said.

This from the head of the yearly show that has launched such big tech ideas as compact disc players, high-definition television and Blu-ray."
Freescale Tablet – "2010 may be the year of the tablet. A company called Freescale Semiconductor has designed a tablet computer that it claims can be sold for under $200. Manufacturers can buy the design from Freescale and customize the seven-inch touchscreen computer. Some features include GPS, webcam and up to 64 gigabytes of storage. An even bigger announcement could come later this month if, as anticipated, Apple unveils its version of the tablet computer."
Google’s Chrome Tops Apple’s Safari in Browser Use – "For Apple, non-Mac OS usage of is Safari browser has long felt like something of an afterthought. The company made a big push when it first rolled the browser out for Windows machines, but Apple's software team has since seemingly turned is focus elsewhere. Google, on the other hand, has been all about Chrome in the past year or so–after all, the browser will be morphing into its own operating system, later this year."
Google Nexus One Phone Speculation Hits Critical Mass – Is this the week Google drops Nexus One, its supposedly game-changing Android mobile device? If all goes according to plan — and by "plan," we mean endless, unconfirmed speculation — Google will introduce Nexus One at a press conference in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday.

Headlines for November 18th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:00:33 +0000

Feds Mull Rules, Fees to Spur Net Access – "Federal regulators are considering whether the government should take greater control of the Internet and ask consumers to pay higher phone charges in order to provide all Americans with cheaper access to broadband Internet service."
Microsoft Bing Investments Starting to Pay Off In Market Share Gains – "Microsoft's Bing search engine continues to make incremental gains in search share, with new numbers bringing Bing's share closer to double digits."
Word of The Year: Should It Be Unfriend Or Defriend? – "But the decision by the dictionary sparked some debate on Facebook as well as other social networks, such as Twitter, as to whether or not the word of 2009 should be "defriend."
Reactions on Twitter were mixed, ranging from the benign to the more impassioned."
How Microsoft Blew It With Windows Mobile – "Microsoft Windows continues to dominate the PC market with a 90 percent market-share stronghold, but when it comes to smartphones, Microsoft is getting beat up worse than a mustachioed villain in a Jackie Chan movie.
Windows Mobile has lost nearly a third of its smartphone market share since 2008, research firm Gartner reports. Windows Mobile had 11 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, and last quarter Windows Mobile’s market share plummeted to 7.9 percent."
Casio Unveils ‘Toughest’ Digital Camera – "Casio introduced Wednesday what it is calling "the world's toughest camera" in the Exilim G EX-G1.
The digital camera was said to have been developed with "endurance engineering as its cornerstone."
Casio’s Exilim G EX-G1 ($300 suggested retail) is said to be the world’s toughest camera.
Casio’s Exilim G EX-G1 ($300 suggested retail) is said to be the world’s toughest camera.

The EX-G1, which will ship in December at $300 suggested retail, is the first in the company's new Exilim G camera line and features a 0.78-inch (19.9-mm) slim-line, low-profile, stainless-steel frame design."
Google to pop Chrome OS cherry tomorrow? – "Google plans to steal some attention away from Microsoft’s annual developer shindig by unveiling more details about its Chrome OS tomorrow."

Headlines for September 21st, 2009

[modern media mom] — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:00:38 +0000

MySpace unleashes two-way syncing with Twitter – “MySpace announced in a blog post on Monday that the company will now offer two-way syncing with Twitter. The service is being rolled out immediately.”
Facebook shuts down thorny marketing tool – “The social network says it will shut down Beacon, a program that tracks users’ activities on other Web sites. When it launched in 2007, Beacon was immediately attacked by users as a privacy violation.”
Google Doodle Mystery Solved: Happy Birthday, H.G. Wells – ABC News – “You might have noticed an unexplained set of doodles on the Google home page and a couple tweets from our official Twitter stream, @google, over the last two weeks,” the company said. “We’re finally acknowledging the reason for the doodles with an official nod to Herbert George, who would be 143 years old today.”
Apple Examines iPhone Battery Woes – “Users are complaining that the iPhone OS 3.1 software decreases battery life, hinders logging in to Exchange accounts, and causes random shutdowns.”
FCC chairman Genachowski outlines Net neutrality rules – “The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission outlined rules on Monday that would prohibit Internet providers from selectively blocking Web content and applications.”