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Archive for the ‘Web General News’ Category

Bing Introduces Seven New Casual Games

27 Jul

Bing may have been launched as a "decision engine," but Microsoft’s now trying to make sure it’s a site where people will spend a fair amount of time.  And to that end, Microsoft added seven new games to what it called the "Bing entertainment browser" this afternoon.

The seven games are of the casual variety.  Think checkers (or FarmVille), not chess (or Starcraft II), in other words, meaning they’ll be accessible to all sorts of individuals.

Otherwise, one important fact is that the games are free to play.  Also, as you may have gathered from the screenshot below, it’s possible for players to sign in using their Facebook accounts, and then see real-time feeds of how their friends are doing.  Plus show off their own scores.

That Facebook tie-in represents a clever move on Microsoft’s part, since it adds an extra dimension to these simple games.  The social/competitive nature of many people is what motivates them to play games of any sort, too.

Anyway, the games are named Belle’s Beauty Boutique, Carniball, 8 Ball Champion, Fishdom Spooky Splash, Gardenscapes, Jigsaw, and Pyramid Solitaire, and Bing’s made sure searches will turn them up as the first result.

Here’s hoping you find something you like if you devote your next break or lunch hour to sifting through them.


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Disney Acquires Social Gaming Company Playdom

27 Jul

Last week, rumors surfaced that Disney was in late stage acquisition talks with social game company Playdom. Today, Disney has announced that it has indeed agreed to acquire it.

Playdom shareholders will receive total consideration of $563.2 million, subject to certain conditions, and a performance-linked earn-out of up to $200 million.

"We see strong growth potential in bringing together Playdom’s talented team and capabilities with our great creative properties, people and world-renowned brands like Disney, ABC, ESPN and Marvel.” said Robert A. Iger, President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company.

Playdom

"This acquisition furthers our strategy of allocating capital to high-growth businesses that can benefit from our many characters, stories and brands, delivering them in a creatively compelling way to a new generation of fans on the platforms they prefer," Iger added.

"We are at the start of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way people of all ages play games with their friends across devices, platforms and geographical boundaries," said Playdom CEO John Pleasants. “Disney is an incredibly forward-thinking company that shares our vision and is the ideal partner to further our mission to bring great entertainment to people around the world."

Disney says the acquisition will help strength its digital gaming portfolio, acquire a "fist-rate" management team, and provide consumers with new ways to interact with the company on social networks like Facebook and MySpace.


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Android Developers Get New Licensing Service

27 Jul

Google has announced the release of a licensing service for Android apps in the Android Market. Android’s Eric Chu says this comes as the result of feedback from developers who want better protection against unauthorized use of their apps.

"This simple and free service provides a secure mechanism to manage access to all Android Market paid applications targeting Android 1.5 or higher," says Chu. "At run time, with the inclusion of a set of libraries provided by us, your application can query the Android Market licensing server to determine the license status of your users. It returns information on whether your users are authorized to use the app based on stored sales records."

Android License service

"This licensing service operating real time over the network provides more flexibility in choosing license-enforcement strategies, and a more secure approach in protecting your applications from unauthorized use, than copy protection."

Google will replace the current Android Market’s copy-protection mechanism with the new service. More info is available at the help center.

 


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Discovery Network Utilizing Social Media For New Show

27 Jul

I have never been a big fan of horror movies. Getting scared on purpose was never something that I quite understood. One of the scariest movies I ever saw, though, was a film back in 1995 called Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman which showed the response that the world would likely have to a global pandemic if one were ever to occur. At the time I was in college at Emory in Atlanta right next door to the CDC and the film’s storyline about the Ebola virus escaping felt very close to home. Tonight at 10pm the Discovery Channel is debuting a new show that will explore this idea of a global pandemic in an interesting new way. The show, called The Colony will take 7 volunteers and drop them into a condemned town without food or water. They are told there has been a biological disaster and are challenged to survive.

The show’s premise itself is interesting, but what adds to the intrigue of the entire program is that they are pursuing a very smart strategy to let anyone take part in this social experiment by signing up for an online simulation of a global pandemic, that uses your own Facebook friends as characters in the "unfolding drama of the survival of humanity." This technique of using your real friends as the backdrop for a fictional experience created online is something that has been growing in use through efforts such as the popular "Elf Yourself" holiday greeting card campaigns last holiday season.

IMB_DiscoveryOutbreak1

  As this virtual experience around The Colony unfolds, it will be interesting to watch how it adds a real dimension to viewers of the show and (hopefully) synchronizes the experience so what is happening in your virtual version of The Colony mirrors what is happening in the show. The virtual experience so far has a combination of fake updates from your friend networks intermixed custom videos that seem to have been created to support the show from people like Cali Lewis. If this part of the social experiment works to engage viewers, we will likely see more networks and programs in the fall using this fictional virtual experience as a way to engage their most passionate fans. Assuming we all survive, of course.

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iPhone 4 Releasing To 17 More Countries This Week

27 Jul

Waiting for iPhone 4? you may be in luck if you happen to be in one of the following countries… Beginning this Friday, customers can purchase iPhone 4 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. iPhone 4 will be available for purchase through Apple’s retail and online stores and Appler Authorized Resellers.

iPhone 4 is currently available in France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model. See more HERE

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Amazon Launches Potentially Powerful Facebook Integration

27 Jul

Amazon has launched a new feature in beta, which lets you tap into your Facebook network. The feature says it lets you, "Connect to Facebook to get Amazon recommendations for you and discover your friends’ Favorites and Likes".

Facebook Amazon IntegrationTechCrunch’s Leena Rao shows a screenshot which says connecting Amazon and Facebook lets you:

- discover Amazon Recommendations for movies, musick, and mroe based on your Facebook profile

- See upcoming birthdays and find your Facebook friends’ Amazon Wish Lists more easily

- Get gift suggestions for your friends based on their Facebook profiles.

- Explore your friends’ profiles and see who has similar interests.

Amazon also makes it clear that your personal data will not be shared with Facebook. That includes account information, purchase history, and the company will not attempt to contact your Facebook friends.

Of course that doesn’t stop people from complaining about privacy. See the comments on this post on the Amazon integration on the Facebook Platform Page.


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Google Maps Being Featured On Virgin Flights

27 Jul

The Red Touch-Screen Entertainment Platform Upgrades Include an Open Tab Service, Next Gen Google Maps and the First-Ever Digital In-Flight Shopping Platform. With this latest upgrade, travelers access to a host of new amenities, including next generation, enhanced terrain view Google Maps, an open tab service for the airline’s one-of-a-kind on-demand menu and the first ever seatback in-flight digital shopping platform.

Travelers on Virgin America flights this month will also see a host of new amenities and added features including these Google Maps upgrades: Virgin America’s previous Google Maps platform led the industry with interactive maps with multiple levels of zoom.  The enhanced system will feature terrain view maps with fresher images and eight levels of zoom functionality, so travelers can see the actual topography over which they are flying.

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Another Author Sells a Million Kindle Books

27 Jul

When Amazon released its earnings last week, some were disappointed, but it was still clear that the Kindle has been doing pretty well. Amazon sold three times as many Kindle books in the first half of 2010 as it did in the first half of 2009, and it was recently revealed that Amazon is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books.

Kindle"The Association of American Publishers’ latest data reports that e-book sales grew 163 percent in the month of May and 207 percent year-to-date through May," Amazon said. "Kindle book sales in May and year-to-date through May exceeded those growth rates."

The company also noted that five different authors have sold over 500,000 Kindle books. These include Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts. James Patterson has sold 1.14 million e-books to date, 867,881 of which were Kindle books.

The company announced today that Larsson has now surpassed a million.

"Larsson’s books have captivated millions of readers around the world and ignited a voracious interest in the lives of its main characters Lisbeth Salander and Michael Blomqvist," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. "It’s been exciting to have been a part of introducing so many people to these great books."

Amazon notes that the "Kindle Million Club" recognizes paid Kindle book sales. Free ones don’t count, so that says even more about Kindle book sales.


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Google Makes Changes to AdWords Partner Reporting Policy

27 Jul

Google has announced some upcoming changes to the way its third party partners provide reports and information about AdWords to their clients.

"In order to provide the best online marketing experience, we want to make sure that you understand how each dollar you invest in AdWords is performing," says Jason Shafton of Google’s Inside AdWords Cew.

Google AdWords - New Partner reporting changes"If you work with another company to manage your AdWords campaigns, you should be able to find out how much of your advertising budget (cost) was spent on AdWords, how many times your ads appeared (impressions) and how many times users clicked on your ads (clicks)," he adds.

These requirements will be included in Google’s legal terms and agreement starting in February.

Google says that while most partners already provide advertisers with the proper information, some will need to make adjustments.

More info about the changes can be found in the AdWords Help Center.


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FCC Launches Consumer Help Website

27 Jul

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched a Consumer Help Center website aimed at providing people with a variety of information.

The Consumer Help Center allows people to learn about different issues in telecommunications, find out what’s going on at the FCC, get tips for making choices for purchasing communication devices and services, file comments on issues and file complaints to report problems.

"Our new Consumer Help Center makes it easy for consumers to learn about our work and take action," says Joel Gurin, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the FCC.

 

 

"Here, in one place, consumers can do a number of things such as read about consumer issues, get practical advice for avoiding problems, file a complaint, comment on our rulemakings, or read what our FCC experts are saying in our Consumer Blog."

The Consumer Help Center includes:

*Everything consumers need to know about Bill Shock and Early Termination Fees — two common issues that affect wireless customers;

*Savvy Traveler tips — advice on making phone calls when traveling abroad;

*Broadband Speed Test — consumers can test the speed of their broadband service;

*Fact Sheet Library – more than 150 consumer Fact Sheets on telecom subjects;

*Links to additional resources on a range of issues, including privacy

*Links to file a complaint to the FCC or comment on our rulemakings;

*Blog posts about consumer issues — with consumer comments welcome;

*News releases, statements, and FCC actions.

The site will be updated to include new FCC consumer initiatives as they are launched.

 

 


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