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Category: IT Management

IT Management News

  • New York Times Releases Details Of Online Payment Model

    After a long debate, the New York Times has officially settled on an online pay model and and implementation timeline. The meter system will be introduced at the beginning of next year.

    The model will allow users to access a certain number of articles free each month. After the set viewing threshold, users will be required to pay. Print subscribers will have free access online. Says the Times:

    This will enable NYTimes.com to create a second revenue stream and preserve its robust advertising business. It will also provide the necessary flexibility to keep an appropriate ratio between free and paid content and stay connected to a search-driven Web.

    Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman and publisher of the New York Times, said, “Our audiences are very loyal and we believe that our readers will pay for our award-winning digital content and services.” According to Nielsen Online, the Times is the #1 newspaper site in the world, so they may just have enough support to do this.

    Romenesko also has posted a memo to the Times staff on the upcoming change (via). In the memo, Sulzberger acknowledges that this move will be lauded by some and criticized by others, just as the management debated it. Ultimately, he says, this move will be judged by its implementation, which is why they’re giving themselves so long to run up to the process. In the meantime, they will also work on improving the site, its users’ experience and its stickiness.

    Sulzberger explains their reasoning behind this pay model choice, echoing some of the press release wording:

    We also selected the metered model because it offers a number of important virtues from a financial and growth perspective. It allows NYTimes.com to remain a vibrant part of the search-driven Web, which has proven to be an integral reason for why we have become an industry leader in display advertising. This flexibility enables us to create a proper ratio between free and paid content and to aggressively build on our very successful digital advertising business.

    He also says the Times will not join a consortium.

    I’m glad they’ll keep some of their content free—I’m hoping that such features as their blogs will remain free without counting toward the article limit. The Times is a valuable, venerated resource.

    But personally, I won’t be paying for a subscription, or using the site enough to incur use fees the vast majority of the time. Will you?

    Comments

  • Star Trek Online Has People Tweeting In Klingon

    Twitter…the final frontier. These are the voyages of game-maker Atari. Its 2-month mission: to explore strange new social networks, to seek out new geeks and new game players, to boldly go where no ad campaign has gone before!

    [Cue intro]

    If you’re a Trekkie, you’re probably already well aware of the pending February 2nd launch of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Star Trek Online." Well, according to ClickZ, its creator, Atari Inc., has decided to reach those that don’t quite go as far as greeting each other with "Live Long and Prosper," by launching a number of social media initiatives to promote the game.

    YouTube, Facebook, and secret access codes on game sites, have all been part of Atari’s marketing efforts, but my favorite has to be its Twitter strategy:

    For Twitter, the New York-based company has created a microsite-app combo, dubbed "Tweet in Klingon," that allows viewers to type English phrases and have them tweeted in fictional Klingon language.

    And you thought Foursquare updates were annoying. Wait ’til people realize they can start tweeting in Klingon. Better yet, they start updating their Foursquare status in Klingon. Race ya to become the Mayor of Adigeon Prime! :-P

    Comments

  • ICANN Urges Adoption Of IPv6

    ICANN Urges Adoption Of IPv6

    The available number of unallocated Internet addresses using the older IPv4 protocol has dropped below 10 percent, according to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

    ICANN says there are just 24 address blocks (each block is about 16-million IP addresses) that it has not yet allocated to the Regional Internet Registries around the globe.
    Rod-Beckstrom.jpg

    "This is the time for the Internet community to act," said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

    "For the global Internet to grow and prosper without limitation, we need to encourage the rapid widespread adoption of the IPv6 protocol."

    IPv6 is the new protocol the Internet engineering community designed to deal with the increased demand for IP addresses, which are the unique identifiers that allow computers to communicate with one another over the Internet and to which DNS servers translate domain names. IPv4 addresses contain only 32 bits of data, while IPv6 addresses contain 128 bits.

    "Quite simply it comes down to the fact that IPv6 is the future of the Internet," said Beckstrom.

    "The Internet now defines communication and commerce and to accommodate its explosive worldwide growth we need to act now to guarantee an online future that accommodates growth with few limitations."

    Beckstrom also said it is important for people to understand that many blocks of IPv4 addresses that have been allocated to registries have not yet been distributed to the public, so there will be no immediate global shortage of IPv4 addresses at the consumer level.
     

    Related Articles:

    >ICANN Approves International Domains

    >Respected Security Expert Becomes ICANN CEO

    >ICANN Becomes More Independent

  • Amazon Opens Kindle to Third-Party Apps

    Amazon Opens Kindle to Third-Party Apps

    Amazon announced that it is inviting software developers to build and upload "active content" that will be available in the Kindle Store. In other words, look for something like an app store for the Kindle in the future.

    The company is releasing a new Kindle Development Kit, which gives developers access to APIs, tools, and documentation to build such active content. The kit starts limited beta mode next month, but developers can currently sign up to be notified when that begins.

    "We’ve heard from lots of developers over the past two years who are excited to build on top of Kindle," said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "The Kindle Development Kit opens many possibilities–we look forward to being surprised by what developers invent."

    Kindle Development Kit

    Participants in the beta will be able to download the kit, access developer support and text content on the Kindle, as well as submit finished content, once the beta goes live next month.

    "Those wait-listed will be invited to participate as space becomes available," says Amazon. "The Kindle Development Kit includes sample code, documentation, and the Kindle Simulator, which helps developers build and test their content by simulating the 6-inch Kindle and 9.7-inch Kindle DX on Mac, PC, and Linux desktops."

    On a related note, Amazon is apparently giving a money-back guarantee on Kindle devices. People can get their money back and keep the Kindle if they "don’t love it." It’s unclear how this "love" will be determined by the company, but Amazon has reportedly confirmed the legitimacy of the deal.

    Related Articles:

    > Amazon Kindle Publishers and Authors to Get More Royalties

    > Amazon Kindle Breaks Monthly Sales Record

    > Amazon In eBook Deal With Best Selling Author

  • Nokia Now Offering Free Map Navigation

    Nokia said today it’s releasing a new version of Ovi Maps for its smartphones that includes walking and driving navigation for free.

    The move by Nokia to offer free navigation on its smartphones is widely seen as a way for the handset giant to boost sales and better compete with the likes of Google, which already offers free Google Maps Navigation in the 2.0 version of the Android operating system.

    The new version of Ovi Maps includes car and pedestrian navigation features, such as turn-by-turn voice instructions for 74 countries in 46 languages, and traffic information for more than 10 countries, along with detailed maps for more than 180 countries.

    "Why have multiple devices that work in only one country or region? Put it all together, make it free, make it global and you almost double the potential size of the mobile navigation market," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Nokia.

    "Nokia is the only company with a mobile navigation service for both drivers and pedestrians that works across the world."

    Ovi-Maps

    Ovi Maps is available for download for 10 Nokia handsets, including the Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia E72, with more Nokia smartphones to be added in the coming weeks.

    In addition, starting in March, new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones will include the new version of Ovi Maps, pre-loaded with local country map data, allowing users to view maps offline.

    "The large-scale availability of free-of-charge mobile phone navigation offerings using high-quality map data will be a game changer for the navigation industry," said Thilo Koslowski, Vice President Automotive and Vehicle ICT at Gartner.

    "Such offerings will accelerate mass market adoption for navigation solutions and shift innovation focus to location-based services that go beyond traditional routing benefits."

     

    Related Articles:

    > Google Unveils Nexus One "Super Phone"

    > Google Reader’s Mobile Interface Upgraded

    > Critical Local Search Factors To Pay Attention To

     

  • Motorola Slates 20-30 Android Phones For 2010 Releases

    People who like to try new cell phones on a regular basis should brace themselves; this year, Motorola’s going to do its best to make it rain Android devices.  In an interview today, one exec committed to releasing something like two dozen smartphones based on the mobile operating system.

    Android LogoSpiros Nikolakopoulos, Vice President of Mobile Devices in charge of Asian and international retail distribution, told Damian Koh, "There will be between 20 and 30 smartphones globally and, at this moment, all of them will run Android."

    Of course, that doesn’t mean that every single one will be on display in malls around the U.S.  Nikolakopoulos continued, "[N]ot all will be available everywhere as it depends on the company’s partnership with the various telco operators in each country."  So we may wind up with some near-identical phones that are just for sale in different regions.

    Still, it sounds like Motorola’s going to put out about all the Android phones it can.  And since the company’s been interested in Android since at least September of 2008, it’s a good sign for both the manufacturer and Google that the relationship remains so strong.

    Look for Android’s market share to increase quite a bit over the next 12 months as a result.

    Related Articles:

    > Google Delays Launch Of Android Phones In China

    > Google Unveils Nexus One "Super Phone"

    > AdMob Determines Android Is Growing Faster Than Ever

  • Boston Logan Airport Offering Free WiFi

    Boston Logan Airport Offering Free WiFi

    The Massachusetts Port Authority Board has voted to allow free WiFi for travelers at the Boston Logan International Airport.

    "One of the most frequently asked questions from our customers is: ‘Why don’t you have free WiFi at Logan?’ said Thomas J. Kinton Jr., CEO & Executive Director of Massport. "Well, we are pleased to be able to now say ‘We do!’ "

    Boston-Logan

    A secure WiFi system was installed through out the airport six years ago at a cost of several million dollars. The charge of $7.95 for the service allowed the investment to be recovered. For the next two years, Massport will continue its partnership with service provider, Advanced Wireless Group, and the free WiFi will be supported by advertising and sponsorship programs.

    During the two month period when free WiFi was available as part of a Google sponsorship, use of the network increased nearly six-fold. Users who did not subscribe to a roaming service viewed a Google promotional page be fore accessing the Internet. Under the new system, roaming subscribers will get access and those using the free service will view advertising before accessing the Internet.
     

    Related Articles:

    >Google And Virgin America To Offer Free WiFi During The Holidays

    >American Expands In-Flight Internet Service

    >Google Offering Free Wi-Fi In Airports During The Holidays

     

  • Video Advertising Takes to the Highway

    If you’re interested in new trends in advertising, you may be interested in the possibility that you will be seeing trucks driving around playing full HD videos. Hopefully you won’t be so interested that you stop paying attention to the road.

    Flick Studio is making these trucks with the hopes that companies will be interested in purchasing them for their own advertising purposes. The idea comes from trucks that are already out there, which feature rolling ads. This takes the concept to a whole new (and likely expensive) level.

    Information about FlickTruck is scarce. The FlickTruck site only shows a couple videos (which offer no real details) and a GPS tracker tracking the journey of one of the trucks, "Flick-2". However, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas recently, WebProNews spoke with David McDonald of Flick Studio (FlickStudio.com or FlickTruck.com).

    As you can see, it’s a truck with 3 big TVs built in. The displays are higher than 1080p. The are WUXGA and can be viewed easily in broad daylight.

    Flick Studio began producing the trucks six months ago, and currently there are only two of them. Those are just to drive around executives who are interested in the technology. Who knows where they will go from there?

    Related Articles:

    > Checking Out Boxee’s Version of the Future of TV

    > A Close Up with Sony’s New Personal Internet Viewer

    > The World’s Smallest USB Drive and Portable Hard Drive

  • Broadband Users Less Likely To Abandon Job Search

    Americans who use the Internet are more likely to continue active job searches and less likely to drop out of the labor force than those without Internet access, especially among those who user broadband services, according to a new study by the Phoenix Center.

    The study found broadband Internet users are at east 50 percent less likely to give up on job searches because of discouragement than those who do not use the Internet. Dial-up Internet users are about one – third less likely to drop out of the labor force.

    Lawrence-Spiwak

    "By connecting Americans to jobs and information about job opportunities, Internet usage feeds hope and encourages frustrated workers to keep on looking even when job prospects are dim," according to Phoenix Center President Lawrence J. Spiwak. "These findings suggest that broadband connectivity can contribute to economic recovery."

    "Our study also shows the enormous potential benefit of community broadband centers for those who are not connected at home," Spiwak adds. "While broadband use at home delivers significant benefits, shared facilities can be a valuable solution to connectivity gaps in unserved and underserved communities."

    The Phoenix Center says the new study provides insights to policymakers at a time when unemployment is  high, with government estimates suggesting the unemployment rate, when broadly defined, now exceeds 17%. In fact, large numbers of Americans have given up looking for jobs because they think none are available.

    The U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is responsible for the government’s monthly data on employment and unemployment, estimates that adding "discouraged workers," as defined by the Bureau, who had quit looking for work as of December 2009, would boost the current U.S. jobless rate above the frequently reported 10 percent level.

    Related Articles:

    > Open Internet Heavily Promoted at CES

    > Internet’s Possible Future in the US Gets Ready to Be Decided

    > FCC’s Net Neutrality Site Gets a Blog

     

  • White House Releases iPhone App, Mobile Site on the Way

    The White House has announced the release of the official White House iPhone app, as well as a plan to launch a mobile version of WhiteHouse.gov. With the app, iPhone and iPod touch users can access content from WhiteHouse.gov.

    Content that is accessible includes live video streaming of events such as the President’s upcoming State of the Union address scheduled for next Wednesday. Also accessible via the app are the White House blog and briefing room site.

    White House iPhone app"Mobile internet access is an important way Americans are staying informed. Mobile web usage grew over 100% in the last year in the United States and higher worldwide," writes Dave Cole on the WhiteHouse.gov blog. "As part of President Obama’s commitment to an open and transparent government, the White House App makes getting all the latest news and media from the White House easier than ever. And of course, we’ll continue to look for new and emerging technologies to engage the American people and make information about the President and his administration easily available."

    It seems like the White House’s move toward mobile is a bit late, considering the website was changed nearly a year ago, but mobile accessibility is of growing importance to websites in general as more and more people spend less of their Internet time on their PCs and more on their phones.

    There is no word from the White House on if they intend to release apps for Android, BlackBerry or other devices.

    Related Articles:

    > White House Sides With Google In China Standoff

    > White House Still Cool with YouTube

    > The President Dips Into the Google Pool

  • Bing Might Replace Google As iPhone Search Engine

    Allow us to save you a couple of moments by verifying that today isn’t April 1st and that pigs haven’t taken to the sky.  Now, there’s little left to do aside from break the news: Apple and Microsoft are supposed to be in talks to make Bing the iPhone’s default search engine.

    Bing logoBusinessWeek’s Peter Burrows and Cliff Edwards spoke to "two people familiar with the matter," and found out that Google might get bumped from its position as default provider.

    The pair reported, "The talks have been under way for weeks, say the people, who asked not to be named because the details have not been made public."

    Assuming this is true, it’s likely that the increasing popularity of Android is one of the biggest factors to influence Apple’s decision.  Microsoft, which spent at least $100 million launching Bing and has Google beat by $90 billion in terms of market caps, probably offered Apple more money, too.

    Still, even the unnamed sources of this rumor haven’t declared that a new arrangement is far from a sure thing.  So for the time being, we’ll just have to watch, wait, and hope that a deal between Apple and Microsoft wouldn’t be a sign of the apocalypse.

    Related Articles:

    > Bing Improves Its Autosuggest Feature

    > Bing Makes Out Well In Search Spend Report

    > Bing Gets A Bunch Of New Search Features

  • Amazon Kindle Publishers and Authors to Get More Royalties

    Amazon announced details of a new program in which it will provide a new 70% royalty option for the Kindle, meaning authors and publishers can earn more royalties from every Kindle book that is sold. Under this new option, authors would get 70% of the list price, net of delivery costs. The option will not replace the current option of the DTP standard.

    "Today, authors often receive royalties in the range of 7 to 15 percent of the list price that publishers set for their physical books, or 25 percent of the net that publishers receive from retailers for their digital books," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. "We’re excited that the new 70 percent royalty option for the Kindle Digital Text Platform will help us pay authors higher royalties when readers choose their books."

    Could higher royalties help push e-reader devices further into mainstream usage? Many think they are going to get much more popular anyway. When authors and publishers can get more money out of Kindle books, it’s going to help push more publication of e-books, if not Kindle-specific titles.

    Rory Cellan-Jones at BBC News has an interesting piece, which asks, "Is publishing about to have an iPod moment?" It looks at the very real possibility that e-readers will become much more mainstream.

    "…2010 is supposed to be the year that publishing’s digital revolution really gathers pace," he notes. "There is now a wide range of e-readers on the market – in the UK devices like the Sony Reader, the Cool-er, and Amazon’s Kindle are all making it relatively easy to download and read e-books."

    We recently got an up-close look at the latest Cool-er devices at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas. You can check that out below.

    As for the Kindle itself, DTP authors and publishers will be able to select the royalty option that best meets their needs. For that new 70% option, books must meet the following requirements:

    – The author or publisher-supplied list price must be between $2.99 and $9.99

    – This list price must be at least 20 percent below the lowest physical list price for the physical book

    – The title is made available for sale in all geographies for which the author or publisher has rights

    – The title will be included in a broad set of features in the Kindle Store, such as text-to-speech. This list of features will grow over time as Amazon continues to add more functionality to Kindle and the Kindle Store.

    – Under this royalty option, books must be offered at or below price parity with competition, including physical book prices. Amazon will provide tools to automate that process, and the 70 percent royalty will be calculated off the sales price.

    The option is only for in-copyright works and is not available for books published previous to 1923, which are public domain. The option will only be available for books sold in the United States.

    Related Articles:

    > Amazon Sells More Kindle Books Than Real Books On Christmas

    > Amazon Kindle Breaks Monthly Sales Record

    > Amazon In eBook Deal With Best Selling Author

  • Online Grocery Shopping Set To Double In The U.K.

    An increasing number of shoppers in the U.K. are going online to buy groceries according to new research by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).

    The research found 13 percent of adults shopped online for groceries in 2009, an increase of 63 percent over the last three years.

    Although shopping online for groceries has become increasingly popular over the last few years, this section of shoppers represents less than one in four of those who buy goods and services online. This means there is a significant opportunity for grocery retailers to expand their online sales.
    Joanne-Denney-Finch
    "People are increasingly mixing the channels they use for their weekly or monthly shop. Many are choosing to visit their local store on a regular basis, while purchasing a number of bulk items, like tinned foods and toiletries, online less frequently," said Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive, IGD.

    Online shopping for groceries in the U.K. is set to double to $ 11.7 billion by 2014. More demanding shoppers leading busier lifestyles will encourage greater online usage, while the development of online shopping from mobile devices should attract new shoppers and create new purchasing opportunities. Improvements in website capability and capacity, including enhanced search functionality and increased tailoring, will also drive growth.

    The research concluded online grocery shopping will not overtake the dominance of the in-store environment and that the number of shoppers using supermarkets will actually increase over the next five years.
     

    Related Articles:

    >Cyber Monday Deals Attract Online Shoppers

    >Walmart Wins Thanksgiving, Amazon Wins Black Friday

    >Online Retailers See Strong Cyber Monday Sales

  • Kaboodle Adds Real-Time Product Search

    Online social shopping service Kaboodle said today it is re-launching its website to improve its product-discovery engine.

    Kaboodle says it has improved its end-user experience by offering real-time product search, which provides the ability to see products that are the most popular based on user-set parameters, such as items from a specific store, within a specific category, and related items.

    Users will be able to see a timeline around product discovery on Kaboodle, creating relevance, context, and value by knowing something is popular based on a particular time frame.  This is the beginning of an ongoing initiative to create and improve Kaboodle’s real-time product search and will lead to the rollout of more upgrades throughout the year.

    Kaboodle

    With the re-launch, Kaboodle has made its "Add to Kaboodle" easier for retailers to embed directly on their sites. Users can still add products via the "Add to Kaboodle" button from anywhere on the web in one click.

    "Our enhanced product discovery engine provides an even richer, more relevant and more personalized shopping experience for our users, making it easy for shoppers to find the great products added by our fast growing community in a very simple way," said Manish Chandra, CEO and co-founder of Kaboodle.

    "Today’s launch marks another key milestone for us, and in 2010, Kaboodle continues its mission to lead the online shopping space through both business and technological innovation."
     

    Related Articles:

    > Yahoo May Pursue Real-Time Search With OneRiot

    > Real-Time Search API Mania

    > Real-Time Search Engine Attracts $7 Million Funding

     

  • Click Fraud Rate Spikes In Q4

    Click Fraud Rate Spikes In Q4

    The average attempted click fraud rate increased from 18.6 percent in the third quarter of 2009, to 25.7 percent in the fourth quarter according to a new report from Anchor Intelligence.

    The jump in the attempted click fraud rate in Q4 was due to more activity by click fraudsters looking to take advantage of the increase in holiday ad spend online. The spread of botnets, which are used for automating traffic and coordinating click fraud activity, spiked late in the quarter.

    Click-Fraud

    "As botnets become more flexible and resilient, click fraud will be increasingly difficult to identify without a collaborative and systematic, network-based approach," said Ken Miller, CEO of Anchor Intelligence.

    "By releasing this report, we hope to provide a barometer by which the industry can assess the level of threats to online advertising while also conveying the importance of advertising with ad networks and search engines that partner with third-parties to certify their traffic quality."

    Highlights from the report include:

     

    • In Q4 2009, the attempted click fraud rate peaked at 25.7%.
    • The 5 countries with the highest attempted click fraud rates in 2009 were Vietnam, U.S., Egypt, Canada, and Australia. In particular, the U.S. and Canada accounted for the vast majority of traffic volume, making these two countries the largest sources of attempted click fraud by volume.
    • Anchor predicts that click fraud attempts will increase in 2010 as cybercriminals increasingly exploit the growth and adoption of social networks such as Facebook and tools such as Twitter.

      Related Articles:

    > How Search Engines Manage Click Fraud

    > Botnets Driving Click fraud Traffic

    > Massive Click Fraud Ring Shut Down

  • Google Delays Launch Of Android Phones In China

    This morning, Google gave another sign that it’s not kidding about cutting its ties with China.  The launch of two Android phones in the country – which had been scheduled to take place tomorrow – has been postponed indefinitely.

    Google AndroidIn some respects, this development could be bigger than any decision to take down the Google China site.  Google’s share of the traditional search market is far smaller than Baidu’s, after all, and mobile phones have become the primary way many Chinese people access the Internet.

    Plus, whereas no one expects search technology to advance in leaps and bounds on a regular basis, it’s likely that new and improved Android devices will allow the mobile operating system to make headway at least twice a year.  So if the postponement of tomorrow’s launch represents the start of a trend, Google will be abandoning a significant growth opportunity.

    It’ll be very interesting to see whether the launch of the two Android phones has really just been delayed, then, or if a cancellation takes place.

    Investors seem to be at peace with Google’s move, at least, given that the company’s stock is up 0.12 percent so far this morning.

    Related Articles:

    > Google Tailors Mobile Search Suggestions To Location

    > Google Tries To Carve Out Its Place In Mobile

    > AdMob Determines Android Is Growing Faster Than Ever

  • Will Apple and Google Have Some Real Smartphone Competition?

    Back in November, Sony Ericsson announced its new smartphone the Xperia X10. It has been much anticipated by mobile enthusiasts, and is expected to give other popular phones (like the iPhone) some interesting competition.

    At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony Ericsson was of course demonstrating this device, and WebProNews dropped by the company’s booth to check it out first-hand. Check that out in the following clip.

    "The XPERIA X10 is a fantastic example of our make.believe philosophy because we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible and demonstrating that anything consumers can imagine, we can make possible," Rikko Sakaguchi, EVP and Chief Creation Officer, Sony Ericsson said. "With the X10, we are raising the bar we have set ourselves with entertainment-rich phones like Aino and Satio by making communication more fun and playful, multiplying and enriching opportunities to connect."

    A couple of the device’s interesting features include "Timescape" and "Mediascape". Timescape provides the user with a chronological collection of all of their communication  (email, Facebook, text messages, phone calls, etc.) on the phone in a single place. Mediascape provides a similar functionality but stores music, videos, and photos. It also has some cool facial-recognition functionality.

    "The XPERIA X10 and the family of phones launching in the first half of 2010 underpin our commitment to an open and multi-platform strategy that maximises choice for the consumer and delivers the best possible consumer experience," says Bert Nordberg, President, Sony Ericsson. "The reaction from our global operator partners to the XPERIA X10 has been extremely positive and we will be rolling out across the world including Japan from the first half of 2010."

    It is currently unknown when the device will become available in the U.S. It is expected to hit Canada in Q1 and Q2.
     

    Related Articles:

    > Checking Out Boxee’s Version of the Future of TV

    > A Close Up with Sony’s New Personal Internet Viewer

    > The World’s Smallest USB Drive and Portable Hard Drive

  • Travel And Weather Websites See Big Gains In December

    During December 2009, winter weather hit the country driving holiday travelers online, according to Compete’s latest top 50 website rankings.

    Six of the top 20 highest growth website categories in December were travel and weather related.  The airport travel category attracted 40 percent more unique visitors in December (2.1 million) than the previous month.  News sites related to weather and traffic also saw big growth, increasing visitors by 34.8 percent over November to reach 52.5 million unique visitors.

    Weather.com still has a clear hold on the online weather market. The popular forecast site attracted 33.6 million unique visitors in December, a 46.7 percent increase month-over-month and 22.1 percent growth over 2008. Wundergroud.com also continued steady growth, reaching 6.98 million unique visitors in December, which represents 19.3 percent growth year-over-year.

    Top-50-Websites

    Shipping services attracted consumer’s attention in December as they logged on to track shipped packages and research shipping rates. UPS.com led the online shipping sites with 25 million unique visitors, a 51.9 percent increase month-over-month and 17 percent year-over-year growth. USPS.com trailed, attracting 23.4 million unique visitors, while 15.5 million unique visitors clicked on FedEx.com.

    While the top 50 websites in December once again remained largely unchanged, there were two notable moves among the group. eBay moved up the ranks to take the number five spot on the most popular site list. With 88.5 million unique visitors in December, the site was previously ranked number eight edged out Amazon (85.9 million unique visitors) by growing 19.6 percent month-over-month.
     

    Related Articles:

    > The Top 50 Websites in the US

    > Online Shoppers Have Bigger Holiday Budgets Than Offline Shoppers

    > Compete Builds "Twitter Down" Case

     

  • eBay Declared ’09 Mobile Retailer Of The Year

    The last eBay-centric article to appear on WebProNews concerned mobile transactions during the holiday season; the company was quite proud of its stats and had made some noise about them.  Now, there’s essentially been outside confirmation of its impressive performance, as eBay was declared the 2009 Mobile Retailer of the Year.

    eBay

    Mobile Commerce Daily is the entity that awarded eBay this title, and Giselle Tsirulnik, its senior editor, supplied quite a number of reasons for the judgment in an article today.  For starters, eBay’s sales were impressive, with about 1.5 million items changing hands thanks to mobile transactions during the holiday season.

    Then there was a nifty promotion using a Mobile Boutique to consider, the success of the eBay iPhone application, and the introduction of the separate Deals application.  Plus, as Tsirulnik wrote, "EBay-owned online ticket marketplace StubHub went mobile in 2009," and PayPal took a lot of steps forward, too.

    All of which appears to put eBay in an admirable position moving forward, since the growing popularity of iPhones and Android devices is sure to have people buying more stuff online in the future.

    Of course, there are other factors to consider when thinking about a company’s success or failure, and eBay critics will be pleased to hear that it’s not having a good day on the stock market.  Despite getting the Mobile Retailer of the Year award, eBay shares are down 2.43 percent right now.

    Related Articles:

    > eBay Declares Mobile Success For Holiday Season

    > eBay Fined $2.6 Million Over LVMH Sales

    > eBay Previews Possible Geotargeting Feature For Sellers

  • A Close Up with Sony’s New Personal Internet Viewer

    At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony introduced a new "personal Internet Viewer", called the Dash. This is a device that you can put on your nightstand or your kitchen counter, and access web content via Flash-based applications.

    While attending the show, WebProNews stopped by Sony’s exhibit to get a closer look at the device. Abby Johnson provides that look in the following clip:

    The device currently has over 1,000 free apps available, and it is open source, so anyone can create apps and submit them. Users can access things like weather, traffic, social networks, movies, music, etc. It has built in stereo speakers and a headphone jack.

    The Dash will ship in April, and will retail for about $200. The question is, will consumers be interested in a device like this?


    Related Articles:

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  • Online Book Piracy Nearing $3 Billion

    Online Book Piracy Nearing $3 Billion

    Publishers could be losing between $2.75- 3 billion due to online book piracy, according to a new report from Attributor.

    Attributor’s FairShare Guardian service monitored 913 popular books in 14 categories in the fourth quarter of 2009.  FairShare tracked the number of successful downloads completed for each of the 913 titles on four file sharing sites that make download data available (4shared.com, scribd.com, wattpad.com and docstoc.com). Across those four sites, a total of 3.2 million downloads took place.

    Across the top 25 one-click hosting sites a total download figure of over 9 million copies was projected with an estimated loss of $380 million. Each book’s retail price and category information was collected from Amazon.com.

    Sales-Lost

    Among the 14 book categories tracked, piracy was most common in the business and investing category with an average of 13,000 free downloads per title. The professional and technical category trailed followed by science, computer and Internet.

    The 913 titles in this study represents works from publishers totaling 13.5 percent of the U.S. book publishing market. Projecting the $380 million value to the entire industry results in total potential piracy of $2.8 billion.
     

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