Mereja

Category: Internet

  • Safari expands mobile browser share lead despite heated competition

    Safari Mobile Browser Share
    Apple (AAPL) may be under more competitive pressure than it’s faced in a while but that doesn’t mean its iPhones and iPads aren’t still the dominant devices for browsing the mobile web. The latest numbers from NetMarketShare show that Apple’s Safari browser has actually increased its lead among smartphone and tablet users and now accounts for 62% of mobile web browsing, followed by Google’s (GOOG) Android browser at 22% and Opera Mini at 8%. Safari’s share actually marks a significant increase from the previous month when it accounted for 55% of mobile browsing, so it seems that Apple’s dominance of the mobile web isn’t in danger of shrinking anytime soon.

  • Samsung continues to inch away from Google, teams with Mozilla on browser engine

    Samsung Mozilla Browser Engine
    Samsung (005930) would love to lessen its dependence on Google (GOOG) services and now the company plans to team with Mozilla to create a next-generation browser engine that will presumably power non-Google web browsers on future Samsung devices. Mozilla says that the new engine, dubbed Servo, “is an attempt to rebuild the Web browser from the ground up on modern hardware” that entails “addressing the causes of security vulnerabilities while designing a platform that can fully utilize the performance of tomorrow’s massively parallel hardware to enable new and richer experiences on the Web.” Needless to say, giving a Servo-powered future version of Firefox a prominent place on Samsung devices would do wonders for Mozilla’s mobile browser market share and would give Samsung an alternative to both the default Android browser and Google’s Chrome on its smartphones and tablets.

  • Anonymous threatens cyberwar on North Korea, steals 15,000 passwords

    Anonymous North Korea
    Notorious hacking group Anonymous has targeted pedophiles, corrupt governments and financial institutions, however its latest target may be its most audacious yet. The group says that it has begun a new initiative called “Operation Free Korea” and is demanding controversial leader Kim Jong-un resign and install free democracy in the Asian country. Other demands include having North Korea abandon its nuclear ambitions and for the government to give universal and uncensored Internet access to its citizens. Anonymous hackers claim to have access to the country’s local intranets, mail servers and Web servers and are threatening to wage war if their demands are not met.

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  • Google faces potential fines in Europe over its privacy policy

    Google Privacy Policy European Union
    Six European Union data protection regulators are reportedly planning to launch “coordinated” simultaneous enforcement actions against Google (GOOG) due to its failure to change its privacy policy. The company was given four months to comply with regulators’ recommendations, however it has failed to do so. An investigation led by France’s National Commission for Computing and Civil Liberties, in cooperation with regulators in the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands found that Google’s unified privacy policy may be in violation of the European Data Protection Directive. It is now up to regulators in each country to investigate the matter and decide the appropriate action that should be taken.

  • HBO admits piracy is a ‘compliment’ that doesn’t hurt sales

    HBO Online Piracy
    While some companies are looking to end piracy across the entertainment industry, one major player doesn’t think it’s quite the crisis it’s often made out to be. HBO’s hit show Games of Thrones is the most-pirated TV show on the Internet with more than 4 million illegal downloads per episode, however the company’s programming president Michael Lombardo believes piracy is a “compliment” to the show and has actually helped sales. In February, Game of Thrones season two was released to record-setting DVD sales, becoming the company’s biggest first-day home video release with sales of 241,000 units, an increase of 44% over season one, and sales of individual episodes reached 355,000, up 112% from season one.

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  • 100 Websites You Should Know and Use (updated!)

    In the spring of 2007, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH, gave a legendary TED University talk: an ultra-fast-moving ride through the “100 websites you should know and use.” Six years later, it remains one of the most viewed TED blog posts ever. Time for an update? We think so. Below, the 2013 edition of the 100 websites to put on your radar and in your browser.

    To see the original list, click here. While most of these sites are still going strong and remain wonderful resources, we’ve crossed out any that are no longer functioning. And because there are so many amazing resources out there, please add your own ideas in the comments. Happy surfing!

    BUSINESS + E-COMMERCE

    AUDIO + VISUAL

    LITERATURE, MEDIA + CULTURE

    POLITICS, NEWS + GLOBAL ISSUES

    EDUCATION

    SCIENCE + TECHNOLOGY

    And now, the original list from 2007, created by Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH. While most of these remaining thriving websites, we’ve crossed out defunct websites and added notes when possible:

    CURIOSITY & KNOWLEDGE

    GRAPHICS, MUSIC & ARTS

    E-COMMERCE EXPERIENCE

    SEARCHING & FINDING

    ONLINE RESOURCES

    TOP INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE CREATORS

  • Yes, Marketers, There Is Life After Mommyblogging

    “We buy stuff too.” That’s the rallying cry I’ve heard from widely read female bloggers over age 49, who are frustrated that a well-established cadre of younger women with young children — known as “mommybloggers” — garner extensive promotional contracts with major brand advertisers, while Boomer-aged women online are often ignored.

    What marketers seem to be missing is that Boomer women are actually outspending younger generations online — and not on the products that might come to mind when you picture the 50+ set. Boomers averaged $650 spent online vs. Gen X at $581 and Gen Y at $429, according to Forrester Research. They are buying beauty products, electronics, experiences, vacations, and health products.

    To make sense of the confluence of disposable income and increasing online time among this generation and what it means for marketers, I’ve drawn on my own experience and the rise of the mommyblogger.

    I began working in digital marketing to women when I was 22. Back then we had message boards to share the woes and joys of life, not Facebook or blogs. Along the way, I’ve marketed everything from makeup to presidential candidates, but the bulk of my work has concentrated on reaching mothers of young children, that sweet demographic of women 25-45 with kids at home and lots and lots of consumer goods to purchase. In 2008, Bryan McCleary, director of external relations for P&G, endorsed a mom-centric marketing worldview when he said, “It’s official: Mom bloggers are the new influencers.” In 2013, the world of “influencer marketing” is a crucial element of the marketing mix. Increasingly, we don’t make purchasing decisions based on impersonal Consumer Reports or television commercials; we turn instead to our trusted web of friends and confidants online for their knowledge and experiences.

    Marketers seem to have missed — or ignored — the arrival of Boomers online. Perhaps their entree into the digital world was quieter and more gradual than their younger counterparts. Perhaps this generation is different than any other generation we’ve seen come of age, in terms of their disposable income and longer life expectancy. They just don’t fit into the traditional marketing bucket reserved for 50-65 year olds — they are more active, more vibrant, and healthier, than any generation that has come before. Perhaps there’s just not a convenient way to talk about this demographic — “mommyblogger” is a convenient brand identity that immediately helps people understand what they do and who they are. While some bloggers in the older demographic use “Boomer” and some use “midlife,” neither term is quite comfortable. Chloe Jeffreys of GenerationFabulous.com says that midlife bloggers don’t particularly care for the term “midlife”: “I fought until I was 51 and then I realized I’m probably not going to live past 102!” Though these women might not know quite sure how to label themselves and their experiences, their might online is not lessened, and marketers need to understand that.

    “The ad model hasn’t shifted from targeting 18-49 year olds, but the next time you walk into an Apple store, take a look at who’s there,” says Anne Marie Kovacs of the BoomBox Network. Chances are, it’s men and women over 45. Apart from the fact that those between the ages of 50 and 65 spend twice the amount of money on healthcare than the 18 to 25 year-old set and three times as much money on housing, 50 to 65 year-olds also spend an amazing 78% more money on shopping. Simply put, marketers should follow the money.

    What do these women want marketers to know? They want marketers to better help women age well; it’s about looks, finance, dreams, work, parents, and kids.

    I’ve heard from many of these bloggers that the elder caregiving explosion is a popular marketing message to boomers online, often as proxies for their elderly parents, who are not net savvy. Informal, unpaid caregivers contributed $450 billion in help to older adults — and two out of three say caregiving has impacted their work. There is obviously a huge market opportunity to provide a variety of services to these caregivers. AARP reports “42 percent of U.S. workers have provided care for an aging relative or friend in the past five years. About half (49 percent) of the workforce expects to be providing eldercare in the coming five years.” Most of these caregivers are midlife women.

    Caregiving is a huge impact on midlife women, but it’s just one element of a whole life. Just as mommybloggers write about everything on their blogs, midlife bloggers aren’t beholden to only talking about the sandwich generation.

    Think about beauty and fashion. One of my favorite new blogs, Une Femme De Certain Age, highlights great fashion and looks for the second half of your life: in her eyes, a footloose life spent traveling and exploring. Barbara Grufferman writes The Best of Everything After 50, talking to Boomer women about health, style, finance, sex, and design. Sound like other blogs you’ve read authored by women in their 20s and 30s?

    Then there’s food. On her blog, A Boomer’s Life After 50, Judi Freedman covers everything from heart health to cooking, to dealing with raising adult children and the recent loss of her mom. Hers is an authoritative voice, one well worth the attention of a brand marketer.

    Work, personal finance and entrepreneurship is a huge focus. Darryle Pollack, 63, a former TV journalist turned blogger is launching The WHOA network, a video network that helps women honor their age, says, “at this point in life it’s almost shocking to realize how much energy and drive I have. All the women I know: even if they haven’t worked before, they’re working now, and they’re using digital media to find that path. Traditionally, women who are past childbearing age sort of faded into the woodwork and that is SO not happening now.”

    All women who use social media to connect want the same thing: a community of friends where they can talk openly about their opinions, hopes, and dreams as those things apply to them. And they want to be recognized for the value they bring to these conversations.

    From my vantage point as a Gen Xer, I’m thrilled at the increasing breadth of women’s voices online. Even the original cadre of “mommybloggers” have reached an age where their kids are older, and their lives and blog content are expanding too. Gen Xers may just find themselves in a similar position as they approach 50.

    The fullness of a woman’s life demands a 360-degree view from marketers; her interests cannot be contained to a narrow lens or a defined age group.

  • Microsoft mulls using accelerated 3D graphics standard for next Internet Explorer

    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    It looks like Microsoft (MSFT) is considering following Google (GOOG) and Mozilla in supporting the WebGL standard for accelerated 3D graphics for the next version of its web browser. CNET has found that the leaked build of Windows Blue features an early build of Internet Explorer 11 that contains “some infrastructure in place to support WebGL” but that also “lacks actual support at this stage.” CNET also notes that supporting WebGL would represent an about-face for Microsoft, which had previously criticized the standard over alleged security risks. WebGL is one of the standards that Mozilla is using in its efforts to port Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 onto its Firefox browser.

  • This Is the Most Honest Cable Ad That You’ll Never See [VIDEO]

    You’ve seen this ad before. A harmless-looking guy asks you if you want fast, reliable internet and a choice of all the best HD cable channels – all at a reasonable price. Well, sure, golly, gosh – of course I do!

    The only difference with this ad is that it’s honest. It’s an ad for “Your Local High Speed Internet & Cable Provider,” and they tell it like it is. They’re going to suck you dry and provide passable service as best, and you’re going to like it.

    [ExtremelyDecentFilms]

  • NYPD Tell Its Cops to Stop Screwing Around on the Internet

    It seems like there’s a new story every day about some idiot criminal misusing social media in a way that gets them arrested. Recent examples include the guy who posted photos of money and booze, all while ducking out on child support. Or how about the mom who tried to sell her kids for $4,000 on Facebook. Maybe you remember the moron who posted about his hit & run, or the various idiots who have threatened to assassinate the President on Twitter. The list goes on and on.

    But it’s not just criminals who can be bozos online. Those on the other side of the law can also find themselves in hot water over social media posts.

    That’s why NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly was forced to issue a new, three-page internal order outlining new guidelines for cops and how they behave on the internet. The NY Daily News obtained a copy of the order, which bars police officers from “disclosing or alluding to their status as member of the department” on the internet.

    Another thing that officers are no longer allowed to do: post photos of themselves in uniform, unless it’s a photo of an official event.

    Officers in violation of the new rules may be subject to disciplinary actions – even termination.

    According to the Daily News’ report, here are some of the recent events that led to the need for such a decree:

    Capt. Jeffrey Schiff, commanding officer of the 76th Precinct in Brooklyn, recently left the department vulnerable to litigation by tweeting the names and mug shots of paroled convicts.

    Last August, 17 cops were disciplined for posting racist and offensive comments on a Facebook page called “No More West Indian Day Detail.” About 150 comments were posted — some calling revelers “savages” and “animals.” Investigators found that about 20 of the people who posted matched the names of NYPD officers.

    A recent story from Pennsylvania shows just how easy it is to be forced out of the police force due to a social media post. A Confluence police chief was forced to resign after a somewhat racy but ultimately innocuous photo emerged on Facebook. The photo featured the chief posing with a woman who was holding multiple firearms. The woman turned out to be his wife, but the damage was already done.

    Everyone, including the police, has to be careful about what they post online. Once it’s public on Facebook or Twitter, it’s virtually impossible to take back.

    [Photo via NYPD, Facebook]

  • Does Your Internet Seem Slower Today? It Might Be Due To A Massive Cyberattack

    The most popular form of cyberattack anymore is the Distributed Denial of Service attack. These DDoS attacks rarely affect anyone outside of those attempting to access the attacked Web site, but a recent DDoS attack is proving to have widespread effects.

    The BBC reports that Spamhaus, an anti-spam outfit, and Cyberpunker, a Web host that will host anything including spam sites, got in a spat recently after Spamhaus blocked a few of Cyberpunker’s servers. In retaliation, Cyberpunker reportedly launched a massive DDoS against Spamhaus.

    So, how does this affect the Internet at large? Spamhaus’ DNS servers are under attack, and these servers are what helps convert IP addresses into domain names. Spamhaus hosts servers all around the world so these attacks are slowing down the Internet for everyone.

    What’s terrifying about all of this is that Cyberpunker is launching attacks that peak at 300 gigabits per second. To put that into perspective, Spamhaus CEO Steve Linford says that a 50 gigabit attack is enough to bring down a major bank. How is Spamhaus still online then? The distributed nature of the company’s servers ensures that it can stay up amidst the attacks, and companies that rely on Spamhaus’ services, like Google, are reportedly offering up servers to absorb a lot of the traffic.

    The attacks have been going on over a week now, and show no sign of slowing down. It’s already being called the biggest cyber attack in history. It’s gotten so bad that five national cyber-police-forces are launching investigations into the incident. There’s no telling when the attacks will die down either. Cyberpunker is reportedly coordinating the attacks, but the actual traffic is said to be coming from criminal outfits in Eastern Europe and Russia.

    We’ll continue following this story, and let you know of any developments. It will be interesting to see what will happen if things escalate. Maybe Danny Hillis wasn’t too far off the mark when he argued that the Internet needed a Plan B just in case something like this happened.

  • Google using ‘white spaces’ spectrum to deliver Wi-Fi to South African schools

    Google White Spaces
    We’ve already seen the potential to deploy so-called “Super Wi-Fi” networks over white spaces spectrum in the United States and now Google (GOOG) is working to use the same technology to deliver Internet connectivity to ten schools in South Africa. The Verge reports that “launching the test network is Google’s most direct effort yet to demonstrate the potential of white spaces… as a means of delivering faster internet connectivity to the developing world and other rural areas.” For those unfamiliar with spectrum jargon, “white spaces” are bands of unused television spectrum that let signals travel farther and penetrate more deeply into buildings than the standard 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi spectrum bands. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission first authorized the spectrum for unlicensed use on wireless devices back in 2008.

  • Spotify reportedly interested in expanding to streaming video service with orignal content

    Spotify Video On-Demand Service
    Spotify is reportedly planning a major change that will put it in direct competition with Netflix (NFLX) and other video streaming services. According to Business Insider, the on-demand music service is interested in expanding to become an on-demand video service alongside its music offerings. Spotify is also said to be looking for partners that will help it fund and create exclusive content such as original TV series, similar to how Netflix has found success in producing its own content with its hit show House of Cards. Spotify is used by more than 20 million people, and has over 1 million paid subscribers in the U.S. and more than 5 million worldwide.

  • Julius Genachowski Stepping Down As FCC Chairman

    Julius Genachowski has served as FCC Chairman since his appointment in June 2009. Over the years, he has spearheaded a number of projects, including the ambitious National Broadband Plan. Now he’s leaving that all behind.

    The New York Times reports that Genachowski has announced his resignation from the FCC this morning. He’s expected to formally leave the Commission in the coming weeks.

    This isn’t the first departure from the FCC in recent weeks. Commissioner Robert M. McDowell recently announced that he would be leaving the Commission after serving since 2006. Both departures leave the FCC with two open spots that are to be filled in the coming months.

    Aside from the National Broadband Plan, Genachowski’s departure throws the fate of other FCC pet projects into question. For one, the FCC was trying to sell unused TV airwaves to mobile carrier operators. Broadcasters resisted the sale, however, and it remains to be seen if Genachowski’s successor will continue to push for the sale.

    Another plan with an unclear fate it the City Gigabit Challenge. It pushed for each state to offer at least one gigabit network by 2015. It could be just the kick the Internet needs in the US, but his successor may not encourage such an endeavor.

    Despite such concerns, Genachowski is confident in the FCC’s ability to continue its work:

    “While there are challenges ahead in this fast-moving, globally competitive sector, a revitalized FCC is prepared to continue taking them on. I’m deeply grateful to President Obama for his vision, friendship, and the opportunity to serve our country. I’m proud of what we’ve done together to harness technology to advance the American dream for the 21st century. I know you’ll continue to fight hard to fulfill this agency’s vital mission, and I look forward to continuing to work together until my last day at the agency, and to count you as family and as an inspiration for long after that.”

    Hopefully that work includes delivering broadband to the 19 million Americans who still don’t have it.

  • Solving the Internet’s Congestion Problem

    An open, neutral internet has been a force for sweeping social change: democratizing information, commerce, and access to jobs, triggering GDP growth and a rising standard of living. Our collective ability to equally access and innovate on internet platforms, from search and social networks, to content and commerce sites, is fundamental to continued growth.

    It is not a given.

    With internet innovation comes congestion. The amount of content shared and accessed by the world’s 2.4 billion Internet users is constantly increasing — in volume, and in size. It is outpacing the internet’s, and Internet Service Providers’, ability to efficiently deliver it.

    Internet penetration and usage continues to expand at exponential rates. But the issue is not just a growing internet population. It’s the growing fidelity demands of today’s internet population, as they transition from text, image, and standard-definition media-sharing, to high-definition (and even 4K) file transfer. Innovation in content quality has surpassed innovation in internet delivery. Today, billions of people are increasingly using the same pipes to deliver billions of HD media files. We’re facing a congestion crisis.

    Barriers to TCP Innovation

    The way that the Internet combats congestion is through a protocol called TCP. TCP is a regulator that’s designed to allocate Internet capacity evenly across all applications that use it. This ‘congestion control’ keeps the Internet from being overwhelmed. Every single computer, smart phone, smart TV, and web server — every single internet-connected object or device — relies on this protocol. So, in order to upgrade the TCP protocol, you would have to upgrade the entire world’s internet devices. Billions of them. Simultaneously. No practical solution for TCP innovation exists.

    The All-You-Can-Eat Internet

    Today, the primary business model for the consumer internet is all-you-can-eat usage. This has successfully driven widespread internet adoption, and Internet Service Provider (ISP) profitability. However, the model separates subscriber revenue from the cost of the network. The same person can use more internet bandwidth without increasing revenue gains for the network. As more powerful applications for the internet emerge, congestion builds with increased usage, which has the potential to result in diminished margins for providers.

    Congestion, rather than raw usage, is the key driver of this phenomenon; given that the Internet Service Provider network is largely a fixed-cost asset. Like any fixed-cost asset, such as the Interstate highway system in the U.S., it is cheap to operate and expensive to upgrade. It is congestion, like rush hour on the roads, that drives the necessary upgrades and cost of the network. Congestion, or the threat of it, forces more capacity (capital expense) to be added to the network, in a never-ending race to keep up with internet growth.

    The Challenge:

    If we want to create a sustainable future for the internet, we need a new way of solving the congestion problem. Today, the solution is simply to add more capacity. Thus, we have seen the internet’s core evolve (from the original 56kbps links of the ARPANET backbone, to T1 (1.5Mbps) lines, and on and on to the multi-Gigabit links of today’s core network). Likewise, consumer connections are increasingly capable. Dialup has been replaced with DSL and cable; emerging FTTH offerings promise upwards of 1Gbps. More internet has been at the heart of every serious solution to the congestion problem, but the internet keeps inventing new applications to fill this capacity; in turn, increasing demand for internet capacity.

    We need a better solution. Is it new pricing models for the consumer internet that try to re-couple network cost to revenue? Do we need a new set of incentives that can help manage the internet’s growth? Do we need new economic models where applications pay consumer networks for access to users? Do we need government regulation to ensure a level playing field on the network for applications, giving tomorrow’s innovators the same access as yesterday’s Googles, Facebooks, and Amazons? I’ve heard arguments for all of the above.

    Or do we need better technologies that can be more efficient at using the internet we’ve already got?

    What the Business Community Needs to Do:

    ISPs are spending more and more money to provide bandwidth. These costs are being passed on to the business community, as well as to individual households and mobile plans. We are all impacted by internet congestion. And it will take cooperative innovation to fix this problem, and restore the health of the internet. As business leaders, we must get involved and lead this change.

    The pricing models and economic systems underpinning the internet will not be easy to change, and have served us well so far. Regulation will inevitably bear unintended consequences. Only through technology do we have the power to solve the problems facing the internet, while preserving its ultimate value.

    One of the best technologies that we can apply to the issue of internet congestion is something called distributed computing. Full disclosure: I am the CEO of BitTorrent, Inc., a distributing computing company. Needless to say, I believe in this technology. Here’s why:

    Distributed computing systems work with unprecedented efficiency. You don’t need to build server farms, or new networks, to bring an application to life. Each computer acts as its own server; leveraging existing network connections distributed across the entirety of the internet. BitTorrent is a primary example of distributed computing systems at work. Each month, via BitTorrent, millions of machines work together to deliver petabytes of data across the web, to millions of users, at zero cost. And BitTorrent isn’t the only example of distributed technology at work today. Skype uses distributed computing systems to deliver calls. Spotify uses distributed computing systems to deliver music.

    The idea of distributed computing isn’t a new one. In fact, the principles of distributed computing are the core principles of the original internet, which was designed as a distributed system of loosely coupled elements. The internet was designed to be simple at the core, and intelligent at the edge. And these core properties are what proved to be the internet’s advantage over the centralized phone network it replaced.

    As we look to solve for congestion, and the future of internet innovation, we can look to the past. The principles of the original internet, and the principles of distributed computing, allow for:

    Resilience, resource pooling, and infinite-scaling
    Distributed technologies follow the original design principles of the internet, distributing data to make it more resilient. Distributed networks are people-powered and efficient, allowing users to reliably pool resources and scale infinitely. Because resources are widely distributed, they can rely on other parts of the network that are not congested. Effectively, the entire built network is utilized. This reduces congestion pain points.

    User-network prioritization
    Distributed technologies put users in control; allowing people to express intent to their networks (e.g., to prioritize specific content over others), and prioritizing their needs from inside the network. This means your Skype conference call takes network precedence over your software download, running in the background. This also means that these activities don’t compete for bandwidth.

    Greater security, data control, and privacy
    Today, much of our download information is stored on servers, and within ISP network infrastructure. Adding more bandwidth requires adding more machines; each of which is vulnerable to theft or attack. Distributed systems decentralize information. There are no intervening servers. This gives users control of their data, and their privacy.

    Support for new and emerging applications
    Distributed technologies support new and emerging applications, by adding network efficiency. Skype and Spotify could not exist without distributed computing. Nor could platforms like Facebook or Twitter, which rely on distributed technologies for system updates.

    Re-imagine any application using these principles — from content delivery to social networks, storage to search — and you’ll see that distributed technologies make the internet better.

    We have inherited more than two decades of open internet innovation; and with it, unprecedented opportunity, access, and growth. Now, we have an obligation to uphold this legacy. We have the tools at hand to preserve it for generations to come. And now, we need to employ them.

  • iCloud revealed as America’s most-used cloud storage service

    iCloud Most Popular
    Apple (AAPL) may not have the best reputation for online services but that hasn’t stopped its iCloud online storage service from becoming the most-used cloud service in the United States. A new report from Strategy Analytics shows that 27% American web users user iCloud, giving it a lead of 10 percentage points over runner-up Dropbox, which is used by 17% of American web users. What makes Dropbox’s share remarkable is that, as Strategy Analytics notes, it “has no associated content ecosystem,” which should seemingly put it at a disadvantage compared to iCloud, Amazon’s (AMZN) Cloud Drive and Google (GOOG) Play. So the fact that Dropbox ranks only behind Apple for the title of America’s most-used cloud service is impressive, especially for a company that Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer recently dismissed as a “little startup.” Strategy Analytics’ full press release is posted below.

    Continue reading…

  • YouTube mulls creating paid subscription video channels

    YouTube Subscription Channels
    Would you pay a monthly subscription fee to watch Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style parodies? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some content on YouTube that you’d be willing to pay for at some point. The Wall Street Journal reports that YouTube executives are batting around the idea of letting YouTube content creators start their own subscription-based channels to give them additional revenue streams besides advertising dollars. Robert Kyncl, a YouTube vice president, acknowledged to the Journal that it will be tough for content providers to get users to “take out a credit card” before watching their videos but added that there will be “a lot of experimentation” and that “over time, a lot of people will figure it out.” The Journal says that YouTube isn’t even close to making a formal announcement about subscription channels, however, and that the idea is still in its preliminary stages.

  • HBO may expand HBO GO offering to non-cable subscribers

    HBO GO Cable Cord-Cutters
    Cord-cutters rejoice: HBO’s chief executive Richard Plepler this week indicated that the company may expand its offering of HBO GO to non-cable subscribers. The executive revealed to Reuters that in the future it may team up with Internet providers to offer the popular streaming service to customers.

    Continue reading…

  • Google expands its high-speed Fiber service to second Kansas location

    Google Fiber Expansion
    Google (GOOG) on Tuesday announced plans to offer its high-speed Internet service in a suburb of Kansas City. The company has been granted approval to launch Google Fiber in Olathe, Kansas, a city 25 miles outside of Kansas City with a population of about 128,000. Olathe is the third city to receive Google’s critically acclaimed Internet service and second location in Kansas. The company launched Google Fiber last year in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, granting residents access to gigabit Internet for only $70 per month. Google hopes its Fiber service will put pressure on cable and phone companies to innovate further and offer customers faster Internet speeds. Google did not announce a release timeframe for Olathe residents, noting that it still has “a lot of planning and engineering work to do.”

  • Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a subscription music service

    Amazon Music Streaming Service
    Amazon (AMZN) is the latest company rumored to be prepping a subscription music service, according to The Verge. Although the streaming music business has not yet proven to be all that profitable, a number of companies have expressed interest in joining a growing field of services. Amazon already offers a robust music store with features such as cloud music storage and a Cloud Player, however the company has reportedly reached out to various music companies about the idea of starting an “on-demand” subscription music service similar to Spotify. Earlier reports have indicated that Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) are also in talks with record labels to launch competing music streaming services.