Google is integrating its Google Talk/IM functionality into GMail. It doesn't replace Google Talk (because there's no VoIP yet). But it does: Potentially differentiate GMail Offer the first (that I know of) browser access to IM/chat Potentially expose more GMail…
Just because it's fun to speculate about such things — and there's a history here — I'm repeating hearsay. SiliconBeat discusses an unsubstantiated rumor about a possible Google acquisition of now tainted "social networking" (read: dating) site Friendster. Back in…
While I didn't actually watch the Super Bowl, I did of course watch the commercials here. (You can also watch and vote for favorites at AOL.) I counted at least three ads touting mobile content: Motorola/Verizon, Sprint and ESPN; in…
What is FON? No it's not a Spanish dessert — that's flan — although it is based in Spain. FON is an effort to build a global Wi-Fi network of hotspots with existing broadband connectivity — "members" are referred to…
This piece in Reuters discusses the VW-Google partnership to develop a "prototype vehicle which features Google Inc.'s satellite mapping software to give drivers a bird's eye view of the road ahead." Nvidia is also part of the deal. There's lots…
Yesterday we wrote about network-affiliated local television stations using their Web sites as distribution points for network content. NBC Universal has announced it will redesign all of its local station Web sites to handle multimedia content such as video and…
One of the more controversial issues in the Yellow Pages business is the subject of companion directories. At last year's Directory Driven Commerce event, Joe Walsh spoke adamantly against the increasing number of mini directories and their impact on the…
With online newspaper revenues and traffic on the rise, newspapers are increasingly putting more emphasis on their online news production. More specifically we're seeing an overhaul of many newspaper operations to change the mind-set that online is an afterthought. Its…
Social search is something that has gained a lot of attention and business activity in the past year, especially from Yahoo! (Flickr, MyWeb, 360). The next logical place for social search is video, and it already has been applied to…
With all the media coverage and business activity surrounding online video, and with the Super Bowl coming up, one would expect the annually hyped set of ads to get some broadband play. PaidContent has a roundup of where you can…
Following Neal's comments earlier about direct distribution of content that could increasingly render middleman distribution channels unnecessary, CBS has done something similar with its famous "Survivor" reality show. Though CBS is a distribution channel itself, in this case it is…
Amid gloomy reports (WSJ sub. req'd) about the health of print newspapers, there's some very good news in online revenues and traffic growth for newspaper sites. According to Nielsen and the NAA:Both the overall number and percentage of Internet users…
Speaking of "click-to-call," here's a Mercury News piece on Google's "click-to-call" initiative. According to the article, the company is working with Florida-based VoIP Inc.Click-to-call is not PPCall. There are many companies using click-to-call, which is about connecting calls between individuals…
Recently I found myself "stuck" with some extra tickets for a Coldplay concert in Sacramento. So I did what everyone told me to do — put them up on Craigslist. Not a nibble. At the same time I posted the…
Swedish search and directory company Eniro has signed an agreement with Woize International to use the U.K.-based firm's technology to offer a click-to-call feature on its online product porfolio. You can read the press release here. Eniro plans to offer…
When Yahoo! Answers launched it was immediately clear that people would be asking for local recommendations and seeking answers to questions with local implications. Now, consistent with Yahoo!'s strategy to push user-generated content from anywhere within Yahoo! to anywhere else…
When StepUp launched a couple of years ago with the intention of delivering real-time inventory information and product availability to the Internet it was met with considerable skepticism, along the lines of "yeah, how are they gonna do that?" and…
Here's a fun and timely one: The Windows Live Local Super Bowl mashup. (So there's a football pun/joke in there, but I'm going to leave it alone.)Here's the official MSN/WLL word on the site:[MSN has] created a Super Bowl mashup…
A couple of days ago I met with Simply Hired. Beyond some interesting things that they were telling me about their roadmap, I was fascinated by the "vertical"' vs. "horizontal" search discussion we had. My personal belief is that the…
I saw this article this morning but was racing out to a meeting at StepUp.com and so I didn't have time to do a post earlier. From Reuters:The Paris-based World Association of Newspapers, whose members include dozens of national newspaper…
