BBC Ties Facebook, Twitter Into iPlayer
The iPlayer, which is a popular video-on-demand service offered by the BBC in the UK, is getting a lot more social. A new beta version ties into both Facebook and Twitter (for starters), offering users the option to let friends know what they're viewing and recommend different shows.
This integration was accomplished through the creation of a new login called a BBC iD, and it's supposed to offer a bit beyond the standard click-here-go-there functionality, effectively creating a "social recommendation ecosystem."
A post on the BBC Internet Blog explained, "[U]sers can then connect with Facebook, Twitter or any other social network that we choose to partner with in the future, . . . Basically, we use your external social graph to connect you with your friends within the iPlayer site, and make it scalable for other BBC Online services in the fullness of time."
A whole lot of people will probably take advantage of this solution. Facebook and Twitter are well-liked, of course, and since the iPlayer acts as a window to fun shows like Top Gear and Doctor Who, it also sees quite a lot of use. Combining everything seems like a natural step.
Anyway, other new iPlayer features include a fancy "Favourites" feature, improved inter-device communication, and the option to sync a program's playback among a group of friends.
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Wed May 26, 2010 09:05 am
Sony Brings More Newspaper and Magazine Content to its E-Readers
 Sony just announced that it is expanding its selection of newspapers and magazines in its e-book store. Starting today, users of Sony's e-readers will be able to subscribe to 20 new newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, San Jose Mercury News, PC Magazine and Foreign Affairs. With the newspaper business in turmoil, it only makes sense for these papers to try to get a better foothold on more devices.
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eInk vs. LCDs
For users who don't own an e-reader yet but are looking into getting one, the question right now is to either wait for the iPad and go with a regular LCD screen for reading books, or to choose a more traditional (and cheaper) e-reader like the Kindle or Sony Reader that feature electronic ink. While some users don't mind the blacklit LCD screens of their phones to read, others can't fathom reading any long-form content on these screens.
Fighting Off the iPad
For Sony, Amazon, B&N and others who are currently betting on electronic ink for their devices, one of the best ways to distinguish themselves from Apple is to offer more content over their free wireless connections and to play up the advantages of eInk. In this context, adding a newspaper like the New York Times (which is also a favorite of Steve Jobs and features heavily in Apple's iPad ads and other promotional material) makes a lot of sense. For the newspapers, getting on more dev/> [...]
Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:00 pm
Investment in iPad and iPhone App Startups Up 220%
 Despite Antenna-gate and Android-boom, it appears as though venture capitalists and angel investors are still pouring money into startups developing iPhone and iPad apps. That's the findings of a recent CB Insights report that examines the investment in the Apple ecosystem over the last 12 months.
According to CB Insights, investment in pure play iPhone and iPad startups has grown over 220% over the last year as compared to the previous year.
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"Pure play" companies are those whose sole focus is building applications for iPhone and iPad. Between 2008 and 2009, there were 11 investment rounds over 10 companies, with almost $38 million raised. This year, over the same time period, there were 17 investment rounds distributed over 16 companies for a total investment of $120.6 million.
 The average deal was $7.5 million, up from an average of $3.4 million in the previous year.
Almost 60% of the deals were led solely by VCs and 18% by angels. Interestingly, VCs and angels partnered in about 25% of the investments in pure play iPhone and iPad startups.
The CB Insights report does not give a breakdown of the types of apps these startups make, and as it's focused solely on pure play startups, it doesn't account for developers working /> [...]
Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:43 am
Conversations Key to Establishing Brand on Twitter
 As the social Web expands, it becomes continually easier for large corporations to communicate with their customers wherever they spend their time online. Facebook and Twitter have attracted big brands because that's where the customers are, but failing to use these services to their own unique potential is just as easy as setting up an account. Some new stats released by digital agency 360i second this notion - showing that brands on Twitter are failing to truly grasp the essence of the popular micro-blogging service.
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"Many brands use the channel to pass along information, but fail to capitalize on opportunities to truly connect with consumers via two-way conversations."
- 360i Perhaps the largest benefit of engaging customers on Twitter is the ability to have one-on-one conversations and provide personalized customer service and communication. After analyzing some 1,800 tweets sent between last October and March of this year, 360i says that while just under half of consumer tweets are conversational "@ replies," only 1% of these are directed at brands.
"The opportunity for marketers to become part of the conversation remains vast," the company says in its recently released whitepaper, Twitter & the Consumer-Marketer Dynamic. "For example, many brands use the channel to pass along information, but fail to capitalize on opportunities to truly connect w/> [...]
Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:55 pm
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