WebProNews

Tag: Technology

  • Amazon.com Launches Kindle DX Globally

    Amazon.com Launches Kindle DX Globally

    Amazon.com said today it is making its larger electronic reader, Kindle DX available in more than 100 countries.

    Kindle DX features a 9.7-inch electronic paper display, about 2.5 times the surface area of the original Kindle. Kindle DX with Global Wireless is available for pre-order starting today for $489 and ships January 19.

    "Kindle DX is great for personal and professional documents, cookbooks and textbooks – anything that is highly formatted. Documents look so good on the big Kindle DX display, that you’ll find yourself changing ink toner cartridges less often and printing fewer documents," said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle.

    Kindle-DX

    Kindle DX wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers and personal documents to a high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle DX includes a built-in PDF reader, auto-rotate option and storage for up to 3,500 books.

    The Kindle Store offers international customers over 300,000 English-language books, which are typically priced less than physical editions.

    The store also offers more than 100 newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, Newsweek, and Financial Times, available for single purchase or subscription.
     

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    > Barnes & Noble Says No Nook For Holidays

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    > Walmart Wins Thanksgiving, Amazon Wins Black Friday

     

  • Cisco Showcases Big Video Plans

    Cisco Showcases Big Video Plans

    Cisco has quite a large presence at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year. The company is showcasing some interesting new video experiences at the event.

    Today Cisco announced new customers, features, and professional service options for the Cisco Eos social entertainment platform. The company also announced that it is providing a medianet (a media-aware IP video network infrastructure) to NBC during the network’s coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Winter Games, February 12-28.

    Ned Hooper"Video is rapidly expanding from a lean-back experience confined to the living room, to a new breed of exciting video experiences available on any device or screen — anytime, anywhere," said Ned Hooper, chief strategy officer and senior vice president, Consumer Business at Cisco. "The network is the platform to make this happen, and as a result, we are enabling new experiences that allow consumers to easily capture and share their lives and connect with the people and content that matter most to them."

    Cisco also announced today its data for Flip Video obtained during the 2009 holiday season, which highlights huge growth in video usage over the past year. The company says, "There were more than one million Flip Videos uploaded through FlipShare software in December 2009. These uploads represent three million minutes of Flip videos viewed, which is equivalent to more than six years of continuous video streaming, representing an increase of 395% from December the year before. In addition, there were 42,000 gigabytes of video streamed in December, up from 525% the year prior, indicating an increase in HD video usage."

    Cisco says it will be sharing its vision and progress towards developing an "entirely new category" of video communication called “home telepresence”, while at CES. This uses consumers’ existing HDTV and broadband connection to deliver a unique natural video communication experience from the living room, according to the company.

    "With Cisco’s best-in-class telepresence technology and networks such as Verizon’s advanced, all-fiber-optic network, we believe we will deliver a video communication experience to consumers unlike anything they’ve seen before," said Marthin DeBeer, senior vice president and general manager for Cisco’s Emerging Technologies group. "Home telepresence will make a difference in consumers’ lives by allowing them to enjoy natural video communications with family and friends wherever they are located. To ensure that early home telepresence users will have plenty of friends and family to communicate with, in addition to calling other home telepresence users, they will be able to place calls to PCs using a webcam and video chat service."

    More details about Cisco’s announcements can be found here and here.

    Watch for more WebProNews coverage of CES, with exclusive video interviews coming soon.

    Related Articles:

    > CES About to Kick Off the Year in Technology

    > The Truth About CES

    > Looking Back on CES

  • CES About to Kick Off the Year in Technology

    The Consumer Electronics Association is hosting the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, and WebProNews will be there to provide coverage. Last year we came away with about 25 video interviews and product demos. This year, our entire video crew will be out there, so expect a lot of good stuff.

    Look for a lot of new innovations in mobile, television, cars, and apps. There will no doubt be a lot of cool things unveiled.

    Consumer Electronics Show - 2010As usual, there will be quite a few celebrities in attendance at the event. This year, a guest might bump into Stan Lee, Drew Carey, James Worthy, Chris Mullin, or Methods of Mayhem’s Tommy Lee. A full list is here.

    Keynotes will be delivered by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro, Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally, Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini, Nokia President and CEO  Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, and Hisense Chairman Zhou Houjian.

    There will be many, many exhibitors such as Adobe, AMD, Cisco, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Ford Motor Company, Garmin, Intel, Kia Motors, Kodak, LG Electronics, Marvel, Microsoft, Monster, MOtorola, Opera, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Sanyo, Sprint, Taser, and lots more.

    The nearly 400-page directory for the event gives you a pretty good idea about the breadth of information and technology that will be covered at this enormous event.  

    You can find some of our past CES coverage here (articles). Our video coverage can be found here.

    Related Articles:

    > Scoble on TV Experience and CES

    > The Truth About CES

    > Looking Back on CES

  • Online Music Most Popular Digital Content Among Kids

    The majority (79%) of kids age 2-14 have purchased some form of physical or digital content in the past year, with 31 percent acquiring both physical and digital content, according to a new report from The NPD Group.

    Video rental services and online music services were the most popular among kids ages 2-14 in the past year, with 19 percent using an in-store video rental service, 12 percent using an online video rental service, and 14 percent using an online music service. Paid subscriptions to online video game rental services and paid subscriptions to online gaming websites ranked among the lowest.

    Forty-one percent of kids who own some form of digital content said music was the first type of content they downloaded, with 38 percent saying it was game downloads.  The average age when kids make their first digital purchase is 7 years old. Girls are more likely to download single songs and also slightly more likely than boys to first buy ringtones.

    Anita Frazier
    Anita Frazier

    "Forty-three percent of digital downloaders were six years old or younger when they acquired their first digital content," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group.

    "Since parents are the first touch point for children this age, it is important for companies to develop marketing strategies that reach parents as well as kids."

    The report found digital content to be an additional source kids turn to when they want to supplement their physical collections, which is supported by the fact that less than 1 percent of kids only purchased digital content.  In terms of money spent on this content by kids, $0.85 of every content dollar spent went to physical items, while $0.15 went to digital.
     

    Related Articles:

    > YouTube and Universal Making a Music Video Site?

    > YouTube is Going Through Changes

    > MTV Offering…Music Videos?

     

  • USA Today Rolls Out New Homepage

    USA TODAY has introduced a newly designed homepage, the first major redesign for the site since 2007.

    The new site offers improved navigation and a cleaner feel with the aim of making it easier for users to find content. The new homepage loads 25 to 35 percent faster allowing users to get to news content quickly. Initially the redesign is launching just on the homepage and more changes will be visible over the rest of the site in the coming weeks.

    The top part of the homepage displays main stories and unique content and includes a listing of the sites most popular stories.  Below that , there is a row of multimedia content featuring graphics, videos, and photo galleries. Further down, content is grouped by print and online-only sections to include: News, Money, Life, Sports, Better Life, Weather, Tech, Travel and Opinion.

    "Over the last few years we at USATODAY.com have been listening to feedback, watching users engage with our site and analyzing usage patterns," said Jeff Webber, publisher of USA TODAY.com.

    "We believe these improvements to USATODAY.com improve our home page, better serving our readers and offering new opportunities for our partners."
     

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  • Google Gives Alex Over a Million Books

    Spring Design, the makers of the Alex eReader device, announced it has entered into an agreement with Google, which will see it gaining access to over a million Google Books. Alex users will be able to read these books online or download them using the Android-integrated browser and search applications.

    "We are pleased to work with Spring Design and the Alex, which is an exciting new reading device, that combined with a wealth of free public domain books from Google, provides great value to eReaders," said Google Product Manager, Brandon Badger. "Our relationship with Spring Design is helping to expand the Alex eReadernumber of ways people access eBooks and search for information online, whether for business, education or entertainment."

    "Our agreement and strategic alliance with Google opens the doors to more readers around the world," said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design. "We are excited to be part of Google’s initiative to digitize and deliver the world’s books and look forward to the markets and opportunities these efforts will open up for readers as well as independent authors."

    Alex users can access the Internet to search and read eBooks, while simultaneously browsing the web in full color. Users can click links within eBooks that lead to relevant web-based information or multimedia content found online. EPUB digital books can be searched and downloaded using Google API apps.

    Spring Design proclaims that Alex is the first and only open Google Android-based eReader platform with full featured Internet browsing, WiFi connectivity, audio and video playback and image viewing in popular formats, and the ability to run a growing number of Google Android Applications.

    Financial details of Google’s agreement with Spring Design were not made available.
     

    Related Articles:

    > Google Books Suffers Defeat In French Court

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  • Zillow Grows More Than 50% In 2009

    Zillow Grows More Than 50% In 2009

    Real estate website Zillow.com said today it broke multiple records for site traffic and user activity in 2009.

    An average of 8.2 million unique users visited Zillow each month during 2009, which is an increase of 57 percent year-over-year.

    "2009 was a wild year for real estate, with continued home value declines, government intervention, record low mortgage rates, and an enormous amount of consumer uncertainty about what the future holds," said Spencer Rascoff, Zillow’s chief operating officer.

    Spencer-Rascoff "As a result, people flocked to Zillow for information and advice. Uncertainty always benefits information providers, and 2009 was the year that Zillow solidified its place as a clear leader in providing millions of people with real estate information."

    Other highlights include:

    • 37 percent year-over-year growth in page views
    • 3.9 million for-sale, rental and Make Me Move listings are posted on Zillow currently, up 43 percent-year-over-year.
    • The Zillow iPhone App has proved to be popular with more than 870,000 downloads since its launch in April 2009. Over 2 million homes are viewed on the app each month.
    • 171 U.S. newspapers began using Zillow’s search and listings technology to power their real estate websites in 2009.

    "It’s clear to us that more and more people want Zillow’s real estate information on location, while touring neighborhoods and homes, and we expect this trend to magnify in 2010," Rascoff said.
     

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    > Zillow, Newspapers Form Huge Advertising Network

    > Zillow.com Reducing Staff By 25%

    >Google Maps Offers Real Estate Listings

  • Consumer Groups Want Antitrust Probe Of TV Everywhere

    Free Press and a number of other consumer groups are calling on federal antitrust authorities and Congress to investigate agreements among large media companies to stifle competition for online television programming.

    In a report, Free Press details how giant cable, satellite and phone companies and many programming networks, led by Comcast and Time Warner, are colluding on TV Everywhere that requires consumers to pay for cable TV subscriptions to access online programming.  Free Press maintains TV Everywhere is designed to eliminate the threat of online competition, limit consumer choice, and build on the cable TV model it says gouges consumers.

    Marvin-Ammori "This is a textbook antitrust violation," said Marvin Ammori, a law professor at the University of Nebraska, senior adviser to Free Press, and author of the report.

    "The old media giants are working together to kill off innovative online competitors and carve up the market for themselves. TV Everywhere is designed to eliminate competition at a pivotal moment in the history of television. The antitrust authorities should not stand by and let the cable cartel crush Internet TV before it gets off the ground."

    In a blog post by the President of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Kyle McSlarrow, wrote, "TV Everywhere, specifically, would provide a new service at no extra charge to consumers who subscribe to a multichannel video programming service – whether provided by cable, satellite or telephone companies:  the ability to watch TV programs on PCs or laptops, and potentially other Internet-connected devices.  It could significantly increase the amount of high-value video content available online – something the FCC has said would help drive broadband adoption."
      Related Articles:

    > Comcast Adds HBO To Online Programming

    > Time Warner, Comcast To Offer Shows Online

    > NBC Provides Substantial Funding To Mobile Ad Network

  • Smartphone Owners Frustrated By Poor Mobile Site Functionality

    Smartphone owners are more comfortable making purchases from their handsets, but poor mobile site functionality is still a frustration for many, according to a new survey by Compete. 

    While m-commerce is set for strong growth in 2010, consumers are still more likely to abandon mobile purchasing on sites that are not optimized for the on-the-go experience, similar to shopping cart abandonment in the early days of ecommerce.

    Compete’s Q3 Smartphone Intelligence survey found that eight percent of smartphone owners that tried to purchase a product on their device were unable to do so. Nearly half (45%) of those that abandoned the process said that they did so because the site would not load, and an additional 38 percent left the site because it was not developed specifically for smartphone users.

    "Retailers are beginning to recognize that smartphone use is no longer limited to an exclusive group of tech savvy consumers," said Danielle Nohe, director of consumer technologies for Compete.

    "As these devices proliferate – and people grow more comfortable transacting, site owners must redesign around mobile shopping ease-of-use. We see this as a win for both consumers and businesses."

    Smartphone-activities

    Key findings from the survey include:
       

     

    • 37 percent of smartphone owners have purchased something non-mobile with their handset in the past 6 months.
    •     19 percent of total smartphone owners have purchased music from their device, 14 percent have purchased books, DVDs, or video games and 12 percent have purchased movie tickets.
    •     The most popular mobile shopping-related activities are still research related – 41 percent of iPhone users and 43 percent of Android users are most likely to check sale prices at alternative locations from their mobile phones while they are shopping.
    •     The second most likely activity is accessing consumer reviews, with 39 percent of iPhone owners and 31 percent of Android owners investigating reviews from their handset before they purchase.

    Related Articles:

    >Google Launches Custom Search For Smartphones

    >Buy A Blackberry From Walmart Get A $100 Gift Card

    >Apple And LG Rank High In Consumer Satisfaction