Google's new Wave

Google's new large venture is Google Wave - a kind of mix between email and chat and the future. It's easier to read the Tech Crunch article than a summary by me, but they're pretty excited about it.


Read more:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-drips-with-ambition-can-it-fulfill-googles-grand-web-vision/

Read about WaveProtocol:
http://www.waveprotocol.org/

MS Ba-da-BING

Microsoft is launching it's new search engine: Bing.com
It can't be any worse than Live Search - which is awful. Competing with Google is always going to be a challenge. As I've blogged about recently Wolfram-Alpha is taking on the search giant, but with a different slant on searching.
Bing will try to be intelligent about searches, by using the current date, time etc. to make your search results more relevant. It will also provide related search results and search terms.

It's explained well with examples here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/may/28/microsoft-bing

EDIT
More information here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/28/microsoft-search-bing-google

EDIT 2
And more about how it works:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/29/microsoft-bing-search-engine

Facebook runs a fifth of all UK ads

Apparently Facebook ran 21.6% of all ads in the UK. That's a lot of ads.

Read more:
http://www.nma.co.uk/new-measure-of-ad-views-finds-facebook-runs-a-fifth-of-all-uk-ads/3000814.article

Is adding the third dimension worth it?

This journalist on the Guardian website reckons that the new spat of 3D films isn't anything big and isn't going to be here to stay, and that cheaper technology is far more important.

I'm inclined to agree. I saw UP in 3D the other day and it being in 3D added nothing to the film what-so-ever. (Excellent film by the way.) Coraline (Which is a beautiful film.) made much better use of 3D, but I still think it would have been a great film without 3D.

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/may/28/up

Spotify goes offline

Spotify are developing an Android app that allows you to listen to your music offline as well. Going on the Tube, but still want to hear that funky music - no problem: The app will cache a few tracks for you, whilst you're offline.

Read more:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/28/spotify_offline_and_mobile/

Will the web get clever on our streams?

An interesting article on social network data streams and the semantic web. I think it's all about creating standards and the data-mining after.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/activity_streams_poetry_or_nihilism.php

Pre-rolling on YouTube

YouTube are going to trial pre-roll ads in the UK. I'm dead against this and I think it's one of the things that has made YouTube so successful is a lack of these forced ads. I guess this trial will see some large scale feedback on the subject.
Personally I think the way forward is highly targeted ads, like facebook provides. The video that someone is watching can mean far better targeted ads, than I currently see on YouTube.

Read more:
http://www.marketingvox.com/youtube-pilots-pre-rolls-across-uk-network-content-044166/

BOO! The Sound of Twittering?

Is AudioBoo the sonic version of Twitter? In the three months since it launched it's become the popular way to say something online. Stephen Fry using it must have been a springboard for its success. But then again our very own Mr Mason has AudioBooed already, which can only have increased its popularity:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/11729-eye-of-the-tiger

Will people find vocally twittering as popular as the 140 characters? Only time will tell, but with iPhones becoming ever more popular, it's probably easier than typing in the 140 characters.

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/26/audioboo-youtube-twitter

Twitter to remain ad-free

Twitter will stay ad-free says founder Biz Stone. Apparently they've still got plenty of money and therefore time to find a way to monetise Twitter. Time will tell if there is any money to be made, and if they can find it in time!

http://www.marketingvox.com/twitter-to-remain-ad-free-founder-says-044139/

Google's unreliable service

Google's been slow, GMail has been down, UStream was down when we wanted to use it today. What's the future for these unreliable online services? Can we trust them? Without any guarantees, I don't know. At least Rackspace have 99.9% guaranteed up time.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8051262.stm

Up launches Cannes Film Festival 2009

Disney-Pixar's UP will be the opening film of the Cannes Film Festival, the first time that an animation has opened Cannes.

Read all about it here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/13/pixar-up-cannes-film-festival-review

Pandora makes money!

Pandora is finally making some money and it's all thanks to its iPhone app. It makes most of its money from affiliate schemes with Amazon and iTunes. This has been increased significantly by the addition of an iPhone app.
I'm glad to see that some of these great online music apps are being monitised finally, as they've provided me with great music over the years and I hope that other apps / sites can follow suit.

Read more:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/07/the-iphone-is-accelerating-music-sales-for-pandora/

NB Unluckily Pandora is only available in the US due to licensing issues.

Summer Movie Marketing Campaigns

Some interesting points about the effectiveness of summer movie marketing campaigns.


http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/22987.asp

Duke Nuked

This is sad news :(
3D Realms has closed due to expiration and non-renewal of funding. This means that the ultimate game - Duke Nukem Forever, which has been in development for 12 years, won't ever see the light of day.
The original 3 games were classics and favourites of mine. Duke Nukem & Duke Nukem 2 were 2D platformers, with Duke Nukem 3D being a seminal 3D shoot-em-up and one of my favourite games.

Read more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8037688.stm

Orange Wednesday proves popular

Apparently the Orange Wednesday offer has been used 14m times so far. It has certainly increased my cinema visits, as I am now a regular Orange Wednesday visitor. When the cinema is the same price and renting a DVD why wouldn't you go?

http://www.nma.co.uk/orange-cinema-offer-has-been-used-14m-times/3000420.article

Shifty lives up to its name

The marketing campaign for the film Shifty, which involved the facility to email a friend with an official looking email regarding use of narcotics, has been ruled "irresponsible" by the Advertising Standards Authority. The complaints were upheld and Metrodome have since removed the "Stitch up a friend" functionality from the website.
The online space may be more flexible and attract more controversial campaigns, but there is still a fine line to tread when you're pushing boundaries.

Read more on BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8035314.stm

ASA Ruling:
http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_46218.htm

Tween.com launched

Alloy Media + Marketing have launched tween.com. Building on teen.com, tween.com caters specifically to the 8-12 year old market. The network includes many of Alloy's sites and has just added CandyStand.com, a leading online entertainment and gaming site.

Read more:
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2305402/

WolframAlpha in action

Check out WolframAlpha in action:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/see_wolfram_alpha_in_action_-_video_and_screenshots.php