Apr 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
Nearly half of the world’s smartphones will be using Google’s Android operating system by the end of 2012, according to the research firm Gartner. Google will lead the race with Apple, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) and Microsoft by the end of...
Apr 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
Google is preparing a major overhaul of video sharing website YouTube by creating “channels” to compete with broadcast and cable TV, according to a news report. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the plan could cost as much as $100 million....
Apr 7, 2011 | Uncategorized
Blockbuster has been sold at auction to satellite TV chain Dish Network for just $320m, after the once dominant video chain was pushed into bankruptcy by online competition from the likes of Netflix and LoveFilm. Dish Network, a provider of subscription-based...
Apr 7, 2011 | Uncategorized
Tesco has become the first general retailer to start a used car buying website. The supermarket giant claims it can offer low prices by controlling costs. It will show detailed pictures of vehicles for sale – including any scrapes and dents – as well as a...
Apr 7, 2011 | Uncategorized
LivingSocial has raised $400 million to fund expansion, as the US online coupon seller looks to take on its larger rival Groupon. The investment round, led by current investors Amazon and Lightspeed Venture Partners, and new ones like Institutional Venture Partners,...
Apr 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
Last week, the UK’s struggling Sport Media Group finally went into administration. The Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers were never top on the sales figures from British the newsstands, but their slow death is a reminder that the challenges to the business...
Apr 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
Twitter is reportedly considering Facebook-style pages for brands on the micro-blogging service, opening up ways for advertisers to deliver tailored messages to their followers and serving as a central hub for companies to coordinate campaigns. Marketing Magazine...
Apr 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
Google is offering to buy the last vestige of Nortel, its patent portfolio, for an initial bid of $900m in an auction that starts in June. The bankrupt Nortel Networks is offloading its remaining patents and patent applications for a cash purchase price of at least...
Apr 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
Chinese search engine Baidu is shutting down Youa, its e-commerce subsidiary, giving existing merchants have one month to migrate to either Rakuten China or Yaodian 100. WSJ reports that Baidu is believed to be secretly building a new e-commerce platform which will...
Apr 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
Advertising group Interpublic has revealed in its annual report that it owns a stake in social networking site Facebook. The Financial Times quoted sources saying the company paid less than $5m for the stake – thought to be less than half a per cent – in...
Apr 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
Finnish group Sulake, owner of the Habbo Hotel virtual world, said it made a record net profit of €1.6m in 2010, on revenue up 20% at €56.2m, driven by sales of virtual goods and games. The Helsinki-headquartered company said 2010’s numbers represented the best...
Apr 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
Car giant Ford has embarked on a new social media campaign, featuring a puppet named Doug and some of the talent behind major US comedy shows, including The Simpsons, The Office: An American Workplace and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Doug, is a ‘spokespuppet’ with an...
Apr 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
Microsoft is to take an anti-competition complaint against Google to the European Commission. The software maker claims that Google used its dominant position in the search market to restrict the growth of Microsoft services. It cites a number of practices, including...
Apr 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
Being a Murdoch carries some heavy burdens, but some exceptional opportunities. The announcement of James Murdoch getting promoted to deputy chief operating officer could be a game-changer for the group that has struggled to get online right. Long before the MySpace...
Apr 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
With Facebook evolving into a major rival, Google is meeting the challenge by building its own social network centered on its lucrative search business. Google’s newly launched “+1” (plus one) service is Google’s version of the Facebook...
Apr 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
Microsoft has finally taken a major step into the burgeoning ad exchange space—a space where rival Google has a head start. The software giant has opened Microsoft Advertising Exchange for business in the US market, and that remnant inventory from its properties MSN...
Apr 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
Orange has launched a mobile volunteering iPhone app, backed by Prime Minister David Cameron as part of his ‘Big Society’ initiative. The ‘Do Some Good’ app allows volunteering through a mobile phone. The app will include twelve different charity ‘actions’ that...
Apr 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
The Guardian’s bullish push into the US market accelerates as editor Alan Rusbridger announces a New York-based initiative that will be ‘significantly larger than anything we’ve done in the states before’. ”Newspapers have been fighting to find their role in the...
Apr 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
The classified ad titles of Autotrader were a perfect example of how media created a market place that bought buyers and sellers together. Then came the web, and the model simply didn’t transfer that comfortably. Google made everything discoverable, the barriers to...
Mar 31, 2011 | Uncategorized
It’s official video has crossed its tipping point – and not the ubiquitous viral YouTube video clips, but long form TV-style content. Latest online video viewing data from Nielsen show US online video use leaping 45% year on year as people switch from TV screens to...
