8 May 2010

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com

WEB NEWS

evelynrusli
MAY 08, 2010 01:14A.M.

Amid rows of baked goods and gallons of orange juice and coffee,
developers and entrepreneurs gathered today at the Computer History
Museum for ReadWriteWeb’s mobile summit. The meeting, organized as
an “unconference,” created an adhoc setting for a candid discussion of
mobile trends, including augmented reality, mobile video, location based
services, the internet of things (sensor, RFID data), and native versus
browser based apps. CEO of ReadWriteWeb, Richard MacManus,
believes that the number one mobile trend is the internet of things, and
the growing importance of sensors and how that data can be leveraged: WEB NEWS
“It’s when real world objects get connected to the internet via sensors or
RFID tags… I just think there is going to be so much data going onto the iPod touch Edges Out Zune HD
web and what people do with that data and what developers create based
on that data is going to be a huge trend.” in Reader Poll [Mashable]
MAY 07, 2010 10:37P.M.
It was a long day filled with dozens of group sessions and countless
ideas, but there was a recurring theme that permeated many of my
discussions: the long shadow of Apple (and often, other internet giants,
like Google and Microsoft). For example, the CEO of Redhook Wireless,
Ted Morgan told us, “What you’re seeing is an amazing platform war
between Apple and Google and those two companies are fighting to carve
up the Internet…those two guys are going to dominate most of what
happens and then everyone else tries to figure out either how to supply
them, get bought by them or be the third player.” To get a better
sampling, see video above (pardon the quality, it was all shot on my flip
cam).

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

votes)

Week 3:
- Pandora vs. Last.fm
- WINNER: Last.fm, 1187 votes (Pandora: 1156 votes, Tie: 122 votes)

Week 4:
- Twitter vs. Facebook
- WINNER: Facebook, 2484 votes (Twitter: 2061 votes, Tie: 588
votes)

Week 5:
- WordPress vs. Typepad
- WINNER: WordPress, 2714 votes (Typepad: 267 votes, Tie: 357
votes)

Another edition in our Faceoff Series wrapped up today, and it was a Week 6:
close match. We asked you to vote on two top MP3 players, the iPod - Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard
touch vs. the Zune HD. - WINNER: Windows 7, 3632 votes (Snow Leopard: 3278 votes, Tie:
121 votes)
The results are now in, and Apple’s iPod touch bested the
Microsoft Zune HD, although both players turned in a respectable Week 7:
finish. The iPod touch garnered 54% of the vote to the Zune HD’s 42%, - TweetDeck vs. Seesmic Desktop
with a low tie vote at just 4% of the total. - WINNER: TweetDeck, 3294 votes (Seesmic Desktop: 1055 votes,
Tie: 260 votes)
Were you surprised by the winner or the overall results of the vote? Let
us know in the comments. And of course, be sure to tune in next week for Week 8:
the next edition of the Faceoff Series! - Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs
- WINNER: Microsoft Office, 1365 votes (Google Docs: 994 votes,
Tie: 315 votes)

Week 9:
- Apple iPhone vs. Google Android
- WINNER: Google Android, 3323 votes (Apple iPhone: 1494 votes,
Tie: 228 votes)

Week 10:
- AT&T vs. Verizon
- WINNER: Verizon, 1161 votes (AT&T: 538 votes, Tie: 118 votes)

Week 11:
- Google vs. Bing
- WINNER: Google, 2180 votes (Bing: 519 votes, Tie: 97 votes)

Week 12:
- iPod Touch/iPhone vs. Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP
Faceoff Series: Overall Results - WINNER: iPod Touch/iPhone, 704 votes (Sony PSP: 639 votes,
Nintendo DS: 482 votes, Tie: 108 votes)
Week 1:
- Mozilla Firefox vs. Google Chrome Week 13:
- WINNER: Firefox, 4600 votes (Chrome: 3310 votes, Tie: 911 votes) - Digg vs. Reddit vs. StumbleUpon
- WINNER: Digg, 14,762 votes (Reddit: 11,466 votes, StumbleUpon:
Week 2: 2507 votes, Tie: 1032 votes)
- Tumblr vs. Posterous
- WINNER: Tumblr, 1809 votes (Posterous: 1496 votes, Tie: 256 Week 14:

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

- Old versus new Twitter retweets votes)

- WINNER: Old style retweets, 1625 votes (New style retweets: 699
votes, Tie: 227 votes) Week 25:
- iPad vs. Netbooks
Week 15: - WINNER: iPad, 3098 votes (Netbook: 1969 votes, Tie: 605 votes)
- Gmail vs. Outlook
- WINNER: Gmail, 3684 votes (Outlook: 980 votes, Tie: 590 votes) Week 26:
- Amazon Kindle vs. Apple iBooks
Week 16: - WINNER: Apple iBooks, 1227 votes (Amazon Kindle: 928 votes,
- Boxee vs. Hulu Tie: 118 votes, Neither: 276 votes)
- WINNER: Hulu, 626 votes (Boxee: 591 votes, Tie: 106 votes)
Week 27:
Week 17: - Next-gen iPhone vs. Droid Incredible
- Nexus One vs. iPhone 3GS - WINNER: iPhone 4G, 9765 votes (Droid Incredible: 8175 votes, Tie:
- WINNER: Nexus One, 6743 votes (iPhone 3GS: 2818 votes, Tie: 592 1318 votes)
votes)

Week 18:
- Foursquare vs. Yelp vs. Gowalla For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on
- WINNER: Foursquare, 1182 votes, (Yelp: 661 votes, Gowalla: 509 Twitter or become a fan on Facebook
votes, Tie: 143 votes)

Week 19: Reviews: Bing, Boxee, Chrome, Digg, Facebook, Firefox, Foursquare,
- AIM vs. GTalk vs. FbChat Gmail, Google, Google Buzz, Google Docs, Gowalla, Gtalk, Hulu,
- WINNER: GTalk, 2189 votes, (AIM: 1257 votes, FbChat: 511 votes, Pandora, Posterous, Seesmic Desktop, StumbleUpon, Tumblr,
Tie: 203 votes) TweetDeck, Twitter, TypePad, Windows, WordPress, Yelp, aim

Week 20: Tags: apple, iPod Touch, microsoft, MP3 players, PMPs, zune hd
- Music Ownership vs. Music Subscription
- WINNER: Ownership, 533 votes (Subscription: 299 votes, Tie: 237)

Week 21:
- Match.com vs. PlentyofFish
- WINNER: Plenty of Fish, 430 votes (Match.com: 334 votes, Tie: 187
votes)

Week 21:
- Google Buzz vs. Facebook Vs. Twitter WEB NEWS
- WINNER: Facebook, 3353 votes (Twitter: 1828 votes, Google Buzz:
1298 votes, Tie: 651 votes) Heroku: Ruby Platform Sees 50
Week 22: Percent Increase in Apps Since
- HTML5 vs. Adobe Flash
- WINNER: HTML5, 3892 votes (Adobe Flash: 1779 votes, Tie: 660 November [Read Write Web]
votes) MAY 07, 2010 09:39P.M.

Week 23:
- Project Natal vs. PlayStation Move
- WINNER: Project Natal, 1268 votes (PlayStation Move: 668 votes,
None: I don’t like motion controllers: 170 votes, None: I prefer the Wii:
150 votes)

Week 24: The number of apps hosted on the Ruby platform Heroku has increased
- Chatroulette vs. Hot or Not 50 percent since November, pointing out how cloud-based platforms are
- WINNER: Chatroulette, 742 votes (Hot or Not: 281 votes, Tie: 99 becoming the norm for the capabilities the services provide in terms of

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

testing and reliability.

Heroku had more than 40,000 apps on its platform last November. Now
more than 60,000 apps are using the Heroku service.

Heroku’s success is not alone. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and

Rackspace are rapidly expanding. AWS announced its expansion to the
Asia Pacific region this past week. In its announcement, AWS featured
Kim Eng, one of Asia’a largest security brokers. The firm said the
availability of the AWS service helped minimize its latency for its KE
Trade iPhone application.

Sponsor

Flightcaster uses Heroku to serve the application. But the actual data
analysis is done through Amazon S3 where Hadoop manages the data
analytics. The data is passed from Heroku to Amazon S3 and then back
to Heroku where it is served back to the customer making the request.

Heroku is an example of a service that is making it infinitely easier for

developers to develop and manage applications. It’s part of a new breed
of platforms emerging that are growing in popularity.

Rackspace developer Mike Mayo built the company’s latest iPad app for We’ll see if Heroku will grow 100 percent over the span of a year. That
customers to monitor Rackspace cloud networks. He said the cloud would mean 80,000 apps. Seems plausible, doesn’t it?
provides a way for developers to test with better efficiency. For example,
using cloud platforms, apps are continually tested for bugs. Those bugs Discuss
can be fixed one at a time as they pop up. That’s easier than doing a build
and then fixing the 20 bugs that are discovered.

Heroku

Heroku is a Ruby-on-Rails platform that according to the company web

site “eliminates the need to manage servers, slices or clusters.”
Developers focus on the code and that’s pretty much it.

Heroku hosts the Flightcaster application, an interesting example of a

service that uses two cloud providers to serve its app. Flightcaster is a
service that checks your flight to see if it is on time. It can predict up to
six hours in advance if your flight will be late.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

WEB NEWS
Creating new columns is relatively easy, though we think the horizontal
ShinyTweet is a Shiny Twitter scrolling could use a little bit of work. We do like how when you add a
new column, it automatically scrolls the device to display that column.
Client for iPad [Mashable]
MAY 07, 2010 08:00P.M. Check out this video to see ShinyTweet in action:

We also like the support of geolocation and the fact that you can read
links or view images inline. We do wish pinch zoom was extended to
manipulating column size itself. Also, while the app is pretty fast, we
have a feeling it could be faster.

ShinyTweet supports search columns but it doesn’t load in any saved

searches associated with your account. It also doesn’t support Twitter
Lists, which is a feature we think would make the app a lot better.

Still, for $1.99, this is a good alternative for users who aren’t satisfied
with the likes of Tweetdeck or Twitterrific for the iPad.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on

Twitter or become a fan on Facebook
This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights
a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup
considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made
possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the

latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a
nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront
costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old,
and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign
up today.

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for

their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced
the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for
hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a
Name: ShinyTweet USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”

Quick Pitch: ShinyTweet’s goal is to provide a highly usable columned Reviews: App Store, Facebook, Google Maps, PHP, TweetDeck, Twitter,
Twitter interface with support for multiple Twitter accounts. Twitterrific

Genius Idea: ShinyTweet is Twitter client built specifically for iPad that Tags: ipad, ipad apps, ipad apps review, shinytweet, twitter
takes advantage of customizable columns and supports in-line links,
official and old-school retweets, geolocation via Google Maps and
multiple accounts. It’s currently $1.99 in the App Store [iTunes link] and
its a nice option in the still nascent iPad Twitter client market.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

WEB NEWS

RWW Mobile Summit: Speed

Geeking [PHOTO] [Read Write
Web[PHOTO]]
MAY 07, 2010 07:25P.M.

We are just about to begin the last few sessions here at the RWW Mobile
WEB NEWS
Summit and we just completed an experiment called “speed geeking.”
From the Tips Box: HTML Much like speed dating, summit attendees rotated every five minutes to a
variety of tables feature demos from over a dozen companies. While
Signatures, Distracted Reading, wandering around and snapping photos, I overhead a lot of great
discussions about the various products from both the presenters and the
and Movie Trailers [From The attendees. So far the Mobile Summit is going great as fascinating debates
and discussions are coming from every corner of the event. Check out a
Tips Box] [LIfehacker[From photo of the speed geeking after the break.

The Tips Box]] Sponsor

MAY 07, 2010 08:00P.M.

Readers offer their best tips for custom HTML Gmail signatures,
minimizing online distractions while reading, and getting to the movie
on time whilst avoiding the previews. More »

----

Discuss

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

engineers working on video encoding and processing; the third, David

Leso, was a technical founder at two startups before this.

There’s definitely a need for this, but Nowmov isn’t the first startup
WEB NEWS that’s trying to solve it. ffwd has also tried to turn Internet video into a
channel-surfing experience, and Magma is focused on video curation,
jason though it isn’t really a ’lean-back’ site. And YouTube is always trying to
MAY 07, 2010 07:15P.M. bolster its own recommendation algorithms to keep people watching.

Interesting sidenote: Ashton Kutcher is actually directly responsible for

this site existing; the Nowmov guys were considering working on another
idea until Kutcher told Y Combinator founders Paul Graham and Jessica
Livingston that he wanted something like this. Kutcher decided to invest
in and advise the startup, and Nowmov became a reality.

Online video streaming is great. But when it comes to zoning out in front
of a flashing screen to kill a few hours, TV has it beat by a long shot
— building an interesting playlist of YouTube videos simply requires too
much effort. Nowmov, a Y Combinator startup that’s launching today, is
looking to change that: visit the site, and you’ll find an endless stream of
(hopefully) compelling YouTube clips — no brainpower required. The
site has already built up an impressive roster of angel investors,
including Jeff Clavier, Paul Buchheit, Shervin Pishevar, Ron Conway,
CrunchBase Information
Charles River Ventures, and Ashton Kutcher.

Nowmov
Nowmov’s site is very, very simple, at least from the user’s perspective.
As soon as you browse to Nowmov.com, the site will begin playing a
Information provided by CrunchBase
YouTube video. Move your mouse and you’ll see a basic set of controls
that let you pause the video, jump to the next clip, and share the video
you’re watching with friends (the site supports keyboard commands, so
you can just tap your arrow keys to jump between clips). But for the most
part, you shouldn’t really need these controls — the whole point of
Nowmov is that you can lay back as if you were watching TV, without
having to figure out what you want to watch next. Nowmov uses some
trickery on the frontend to reduce loading times, so even when you do
decide to skip to the next clip there isn’t a jarring pause.

Nowmov decides which videos to play by analyzing the Twitter public

timeline and looking for commonly shared YouTube links (in the future,
the site plans to use other sources to gauge popularity, and will also draw
video from sites other than YouTube). For now the site isn’t doing any
personalized recommendations — it constantly updates its playlist and
uses cookies to ensure that you don’t see the same clip twice, but there
isn’t an algorithm that learns which videos you like. That will change in a
future version, when the site plans to produce personalized channels of
content (think of it as a Pandora for videos).

The team has quite a bit of experience with video. Two of the company’s
co-founders — Thomas Pun and James Black — were longtime Apple

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
WEB NEWS
gd
MAY 07, 2010 07:04P.M.
Yesterday, AdAge ran a story that Facebook was preparing to roll out its
first true location-based service (beyond its for-fun Presence thing). The
story said that the social network was partnering with McDonald’s for a
special Facebook app that would allow people to check-in to restaurants
and get deals. But apps that use location to emulate Foursquare on
Facebook have limited appeal. Much more interesting is what Facebook
itself is planning to do with location. AdAge offered a little bit about that
in their story, but didn’t go too deep.
Today, they have a new story that, to be honest, seems more like a recap
of yesterday’s, but with less of a focus on McDonald’s. According to their
sources, Facebook will start allowing users to update their status
messages with their location as soon as late May — yes, a few weeks
away.
What’s still not clear from all of this is if this location ability will be more
like Foursquare or more like Twitter? What I mean by that is,
Foursquare is predicated around the idea of checking-in to a specific
venue (as are Gowalla, Loopt, and others). Twitter, meanwhile, allows
you to tag a tweet with your location — not really a check-in. To me, this
Facebook location system sounds more like the latter.
That said, when tied in with the aforementioned McDonald’s app (and
apps that other brands will undoubtedly build), the Facebook location
plan could turn into more of a Foursquare-like one. We’ve heard that
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8 May 2010
Facebook has been toying with a lot of potential ideas, including
federating check-ins from Foursquare and Gowalla. There’s also been
talk that they’ve been thinking about acquiring companies like Loopt and
Foursquare (though they supposedly cooled on both of those ideas).
And there’s something else to consider. While Facebook may indeed be
allowing location-tagging in status updates, it could open these up to
other apps besides just the ones brands build. For example, you could
use Foursquare to update your status and put your location in this new
location field — just as it works on Twitter right now. Again, this would
be the federated model.
Given what Facebook has been doing in recent weeks with its Open
Graph initiative, on the face of it, this seems like the most obvious
solution. Facebook doesn’t want to destroy startups, they want all
startups to use them as a central point to distribute their services. They
want to seize control of information on the Internet (not necessarily in
an evil way).
Plus, with all the recent privacy concerns about Facebook, launching an
inclusive location service seems like possibly the worst idea in the world.
AdAge wonders if they would make it opt-in or opt-out — if it were opt-
out I think the blogosphere would explode.
When I reached out to Foursquare for comment about Facebook’s
supposed May location launch, co-founder Dennis Crowley gave me the
vague, “First i’ve heard of it… looking fwd to seeing what they launch.“
Facebook, meanwhile, gave me even less; “We don’t have anything to
share around timing. We’ll keep you posted when we do,” a
spokesperson said in an emailed message.
I don’t doubt AdAge is on the right trail with the status update location
feature, I just think they’re sources may be limited in their scope (as you
might expect focusing on the marketing side of things) of what Facebook
is planning. I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook’s location play is more of
a challenge to Twitter — which is supposedly thinking about adding place
information as well.
If I were Foursquare (or Gowalla, etc) I might be more afraid of what it
sounds like Google is doing with Latitude. They’re supposedly going to
add the check-in feature — and Latitude is built-in to the Maps
application on all Android phones. They’re now growing by 30% each
month, and already have 3 million active users (3 times what Foursquare
has).
It’s easy to be wary of the enemy you can see. But it’s the one you can’t
that could pose the real threat.
CrunchBase Information
Facebook
Foursquare
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

Twitter WEB NEWS

Information provided by CrunchBase HOW TO: Add Facebook “Like”

Buttons to Your WordPress Blog
[Mashable“Like” Buttons to
Your WordPress Blog]
MAY 07, 2010 06:30P.M.

WEB NEWS

This Week’s Most Popular Posts

[Highlights]
[LIfehacker[Highlights]]
MAY 07, 2010 07:00P.M.

This series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting.

Learn more about Rackspace’s hosting solutions here.

This week we peered into the coolest corners of Google Maps, tortured
our batteries for testing purposes, wrote a power user’s guide for
Windows 7’s taskbar, learned the mental games that drive great liars,
and more. More »

Facebook officially unveiled its new Open Graph API and tools a few
weeks ago, making it possible for developers and end users to easily hook
their own sites into Facebook’s broader ecosystem.

In just the first week, Facebook’s social plugins were integrated into
more than 50,000 websites. We expect that number will continue to
increase at a rapid rate, especially as businesses and e-commerce sites
figure out how to best harness the power of Open Graph.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
Although Facebook has ample documentation to help you implement the
“Like” buttons onto your own website or blog, it’s still easier on some
platforms than it is on others. Posterous and Typepad users, for instance,
have “Like” buttons as a built-in option. Today we’re going to look at
some of the ways you can implement Facebook’s Like buttons and other
social plugins into your hosted WordPress blog or website.
Option One: Edit Your Theme Files
As we will discuss later in the article, there are already dozens of
Facebook Like plugins for WordPress available on the web and in the
official WordPress.org Plugin Repository. These solutions are certainly
the easiest way to add a “Like” button or other social plugins to your site,
but they won’t necessarily give you the type of control you can get by just
inserting a few lines of code into your theme files.
Why would you want to do this? Depending on your blog or website’s
design, you may want buttons or other social information to be displayed
in a particular way or in a particular area. While some of the plugins will
let you create CSS classes that can then be edited in your theme, for some
developers, it might just be easier to add a “Like” button directly to your
theme files.
WPBeginner and Devlounge both have good tutorials about how and
what code to insert in your theme, but the gist is:
Within your single.php file, in the post loop, add the following line
wherever you want the button to appear:
You can adjust the parameters like show_face=true/false and
colorscheme=dark/light depending on your preferences. Again, you
can see the official Facebook documentation or the two tutorials above
for more detailed information.
Option Two: Use a Plugin
This is the option that will be easiest for most users to implement. Right
now, there are scads of Facebook “Like” button plugins and other social
plugin tools available. It’s great to have options, but it can also make
finding the best plugin for your site more difficult.
Here are a few we tried and liked (and to be clear, this is not intended to
10
8 May 2010
be an exhaustive or definitive list):
• Like – This plugin supports multiple languages, gives a number of
display options and can be shown at the top or bottom of a post, on
pages and on the front page, all based on what settings you select.
• Facebook Like Button – This plugin has a nice settings panel that
makes it easy to see and adjust how you want buttons to appear.
• Facebook Like Button Plugin – We like that this plugin supports a
shortcode, which means that you can indicate what posts to include
a button on or not, in the post itself. You can also set default global
options.
One plugin that I really like is the Facebook Social Plugins by Olivier
Lussier. It has the standard Facebook “Like” button options similar to
the other plugins, but it also includes widgets that support other
Facebook social plugins.
For instance, you can have a widget that is a “Like” button for any page
showing that widget. This is a great option for people who don’t want to
have buttons in the bottom or top of their posts but still want people to
be able to “Like” an item.
You can also include a “Like Box” for a Facebook Page you have set up.
So if you have a Facebook Page associated with your website or company,
etc., you can include that box on your website.
Other widgets include an Activity Feed, a Facebook Comments box and a
Recommendations listing. These options may need to be customized to
fit your individual site or theme, but it makes integrating these social
plugins pretty fast and painless.
How are you integrating Facebook into your WordPress blogs? Let us
know!
For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on
Twitter or become a fan on Facebook
Series supported by Rackspace
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

“nostalgia” status, but here’s a little summary of our memories so far.

Continue reading…

Rackspace is the better way to do hosting. No more worrying about web

hosting uptime. No more spending your time, energy and resources
trying to stay on top of things like patching, updating, monitoring,
backing up data and the like. Learn why.

Reviews: Facebook, Posterous, Twitter, TypePad, WordPress

Tags: facebook, Facebook Like, web development series, Wordpress,

wordpress plugins

WEB NEWS

devin
MAY 07, 2010 06:30P.M.

WEB NEWS

Why CBS Loves the iPad

[INTERVIEW]
[Mashable[INTERVIEW]]
MAY 07, 2010 06:04P.M.

It’s been an emotional journey, friends, but I think we’ve found that our
attachment to these gadgets of yore is not merely a sentimental one.
Indeed, many commenters have chimed in to let us know that some of
these devices are still in use in their households. Admirable! We’ll be
adding to the series as time goes on and more of our tech lapses into

11
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
The early success of the iPad has brought smiles to the faces of not just
Apple investors, but also commercial content providers. In the first two
weeks of release, ABC saw its iPad app downloaded more than 200,000
times and streamed more than 650,000 TV episodes on it.
Other networks, like CBS, are also embracing the iPad by offering
support for HTML5 video for certain programs. I had the opportunity to
speak to Anthony Soohoo, senior VP and general manager of CBS
Interactive, about CBS’s plans for the iPad, HTML5 and the future of web
video.
While the iPad and big commercial content distributors are often
discussed in the context of publishers, broadcasters are equally excited
about the opportunities that the device and others like it. Mr. Soohoo
told me that CBS sees the iPad as potentially opening a door to a new
device category that can change how users consume media and
entertainment.
CBS Loves the iPad
Mr. Soohoo said that CBS is really excited about the iPad because it is a
personal, interactive and ultimately mobile device that the company
believes can help it better connect with viewers. It goes hand-in-hand
with CBS’s “TV Everywhere” strategy that aims to make content
accessible to viewers from wherever they are.
This is why CBS thinks the iPad is different from other devices that have
come before it:
• It’s instant on – You don’t have to wait for the computer to boot
up, you don’t have to mess with a different set-top box, you can just
grab the iPad, press the home screen button and go. This makes it a
better option for watching television, getting additional
information about a show or actor or communicating with others
about a show.
• It’s mobile – Comparing the iPad to the transistor radio, Mr.
Soohoo noted that the iPad is a television that can be carried from
place to place in a way that other devices with its level of viewing
12
8 May 2010
experience just cannot.
• It’s interactive and personal – CBS sees lots of opportunities
for its advertising partners in conjunction with the iPad. The
interactive, contextual and personal experience of the product
means that advertising can go beyond just commercials and be
more targeted, more compelling to viewers and ultimately more
successful for advertisers.
Another aspect of the iPad that stands out for CBS is that the user base is
already at one million. That’s important for a content company as large
as CBS because while there are other interactive TV initiatives — like
Roku, Boxee and others — those products haven’t achieved the reach
that the iPad has.
That isn’t to say that CBS won’t be looking at these sorts of technologies
and products in the future, but a reason that the company is so excited
about the iPad is because it has already struck a chord with consumers.
CBS on the iPad Now and in the Future
Right now, CBS.com has only limited iPad support. A few shows like
Survivor have been converted to HTML5 and can be played on the iPad,
but most of its catalog is still Flash-only.
Mr. Soohoo told me that CBS’s take on the whole Adobe-Apple dispute is
that it wants to evaluate both platforms fully before choosing one over
the other. To that end, CBS wants to support both formats to better serve
its viewers.
CBS is currently working on converting the rest of its catalog to HTML5
and plans to have its HTML5 offerings at parity with its Flash offerings
by the start of the fall TV season.
Additionally, Mr. Soohoo told me that CBS plans to release an iPad app
but that it first wants to make sure that the amount of content available
is roughly equivalent to the amount available on the desktop version of
the site. Other CBS Interactive properties like TV.com are also expected
to become a more integrated part of the iPad experience.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

Live Content?

While more and more commercial content providers are offering up their For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable
content to users on the web, live content is still on the periphery, usually Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook
relegated to special events or to sports. I asked Mr. Soohoo about CBS’s
plans to bring live content to the iPad and he explained that while CBS is
evaluating its options, it doesn’t have any plans to bring live broadcasts Reviews: Boxee, Facebook, Hulu, Twitter
en masse to the web or the iPad.
Tags: apple, cbs, Flash, HTML5, ipad, television, tv, tv.com
That said, Mr. Soohoo did point out that CBS has had a lot of success in
connecting with users via the website in tandem with what is airing on
TV. The live viewer vote for the song Bon Jovi played at the Grammy
Awards this past March was one example. Another was a special live feed
of a performance Paul McCartney played for David Letterman; the
website carried live access to an extended set that it couldn’t broadcast
on the regular show due to time restrictions.

CBS already sees a large number of its audience members interacting

online while watching live broadcast television and it expects iPad
owners to embrace that activity even more. So we can’t expect live live
feeds yet, but we can expect interaction during real-time broadcasts.

Prepare for Fall

WEB NEWS

Hawaiian Hardwood Company

Grows RFID [Read Write Web]
MAY 07, 2010 06:00P.M.

Throughout the summer, more content will be available on the iPad, but
the big push will come in time for the fall season.

We expect that CBS won’t be alone in its active embrace of the iPad and
HTML5 video; we’re sure that other networks like ABC, Fox and NBC
will be either announcing or expanding their strategies in this arena as
well.

Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods is mounting an intriguing new project to

Broadcasters have traditionally been slow to embrace new technologies use RFID to track the growth and sale of its heirloom Koa trees and
— consider that Hulu didn’t appear until October of 2007 — but in this lumber. The project is designed to allow investors in the company to
next generation of online content, fueled by mobile platforms and track the growth of their investment.
devices like the iPad, content publishers are hitting the road running.

An RFID tag will be attached to “each tree to track ownership, growth,

What do you think about CBS’s plans for the iPad and HTML5? Let us maintenance and the lumber yield from each tree owner’s stand,”
know.

13
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

according to the company.

WEB NEWS
Sponsor
Open Links in Your Mac’s
Current Browser Instead of the
Default [Annoyances]
[LIfehacker[Annoyances]]
MAY 07, 2010 06:00P.M.

“(HLH’s) GPS / GIS system will locate each tree by an exact

set of geographic coordinates allowing the tree owner to
locate their trees on maps and by satellite imagery. It is only a
matter of time before you will be able to go on line and use
these coordinate to look at your specific trees from space.”

In other words, you can watch your trees mature via Google Earth.

The company planted the first 140-acre section with Koa trees in 2009.
We all have our favorite browser, many of us switch between a few,
In the coming half a decade, the plantation will fill the entirety of a 2700-
especially for specific tasks. This Applescript will open any link you click
acre site on Hawaii Island’s Hamakua coast on the big island of Hawaii.
in whichever browser is currently running, rather than always opening
This site was once the personal royal forest of King Kamehameha I. It
with your system default. More »
will eventually support the growth of 1.3 million tropical hardwoods,
primarily Koa, indigenous only to Hawaii.

The business set-up is designed to allow different sized investors. The

product is sold, on the hoof as it were, in units of 100 trees.

WEB NEWS

Why Much of Your Favorite TV

Content Still Isn’t Online
[Mashable]
MAY 07, 2010 05:18P.M.

Discuss

14
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
Radhika Marya is a multimedia journalist and pop culture enthusiast,
with newspaper and radio experience. She will receive an M.S. degree
from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism this
month.
It’s no secret that TV watchers are moving online. As reported earlier this
month, a Retrovo survey indicated that 83% of younger viewers watch
most of their shows online. And Nielsen’s last 2009 report said online
video consumption went up by 16% from 2008.
Then why are so many TV networks keeping most of their episodes
offline? And why does it still take a while for popular shows to air in a
foreign market — even when they’re on an affiliate — in an era of torrents
and other illegal downloads?
We talked to some researchers, as well as executives from Fox, ABC and
BBC America to get a sense of why some of these practices are still in
effect today. Here’s what they had to say.
The Reasons for Limited Online Episodes
Bill Bradford, senior vice president of Fox Digital, says it’s pretty
standard for most TV networks to post only the five most recent episodes
of a show’s current season online. On Fox’s website, the majority of
online viewing happens within a week after a current show airs. In most
15
8 May 2010
cases, Bradford says viewers tend to stay within the window of the last
five episodes.
Meanwhile, Albert Cheng, executive vice president of Digital Media at
Disney/ABC Television Group, says a variety of factors — such as
distribution rights and guild agreements — help decide which episodes
go on the web.
“The majority of users of ABC.com’s full episode player typically watch
shows within the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours that they become
available online,” Cheng says.
But what about new viewers who might have just started watching a
show’s previous seasons via Netflix and other platforms? Or those who
want to catch up with the early episodes of a newer show? Both Cheng
and Bradford agree on one solution: iTunes.
While file sharing is an issue, both executives — who acknowledge that
piracy comes about when consumers don’t have access to content —
believe the combination of ad-supported episodes on their websites and
purchasable downloads on others helps reduce illegal viewing.
“Once we create a legitimate place for our viewers to view the content,
the piracy does go down,” Bradford says.
Why the Lag Time in Foreign Markets?
The Internet has made it possible for consumers to access everything
from music to TV shows more quickly than they could two decades ago.
However, the TV business still follows some practices that cause delays
when a show airs outside its country of origin. This is something both
researchers and network executives attribute to licensing agreements
with foreign distributors. But what about instances where a show airs on
an affiliate channel?
Richard DeCroce, senior vice president of Programming for BBC
America, says there are numerous reasons why lag times exist when a
BBC show heads stateside. BBC America currently airs sci-fi cult classic
“Doctor Who” two weeks behind the BBC’s schedule. Other shows air a
few months apart, and episodes of “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross”
and “The Graham Norton Show” come to the U.S. within about a week
after their UK broadcasts.
One major factor behind the delays? Marketing.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
U.S. promotion for the new season of “Doctor Who,” which involved
bringing the series’ actors and writers over to the states, couldn’t happen
until the UK premiere.
“They simply wouldn’t have been available,” DeCroce says. “We believe
that as a result of the press and marketing efforts, it created the highest
telecast in BBC America’s history.”
The BBC and BBC America do try to close gaps in airtime as much as
possible, depending on demand, and there have been some instances
where shows have aired within a day of each other.
But in other cases, BBC America also prefers airing multiple seasons of a
particular series (such as “Top Gear” and “Survivors”) back-to-back, also
leading to the delays in broadcast. Since British TV seasons tend to run
on the shorter side, this approach gives American audiences something
closer to the number of episodes they’re used to watching.
“Being a fully digitally distributed channel, you can imagine the
challenge in the digital landscape,” DeCroce says. “If people find a show,
you need some consistency and a longer run –- because by the time they
find you, the show might be over.”
BBC America, which does not post full episodes online due to affiliate
agreements, uses content like exclusive “Inside Look” segments during
commercial breaks, to attract viewers to the channel.
“You can’t get that by streaming that on a site that gets you the channel,”
he says. “So we’re actually kind of super-serving the most loyal fans of
this content.”
The Issue of Profitability
Researchers are aware of why TV companies have some restrictions on
access to their programming, but they say networks could take better
advantage of digital platforms — and should try opening up more
content.
Right now, most online TV revenue doesn’t compare to broadcast
revenue. David Klatell, a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate
School of Journalism, says online revenue is still very low, especially
when compared to reruns sold to syndicators.
But Sheila Murphy Seles, of the Convergence Culture Consortium at
MIT, says there are instances where online TV can be profitable. She
feels online viewers are a new audience for the networks to reach, and
that networks should test business models even when small numbers of
consumers are watching something on the Internet. She points to CBS,
which was able to sell online and TV advertising for NCAA basketball
this spring.
“After a few years of testing the waters, CBS found that making all the
games available online was the best way to go – and they made a ton of
advertising revenue,” she says.
16
8 May 2010
She believes digital distribution allows companies to see what models
work in real-time.
“You can make adjustments in near real-time too,” she says. “The
problem is that real innovation is being stalled by the antiquated
licensing deals that networks, cable companies, and studios insist on
attaching to content.”
What Can We Expect?
It looks like most broadcast executives aren’t planning to change their
current approaches to the digital marketplace just yet. But they are open
to evolving if it becomes necessary.
ABC plans on exploring various platforms for consumers interested in
accessing their shows via other means. Cheng says while some viewers
will be happy with basic cable, others may want to watch shows via an
iPad application or watch behind-the-scenes extras on their phones.
“We have to maximize what each platform can do for us as well as our
viewers,” he says. “Otherwise we’re leaving opportunity on the table —
and serving up consumers for competitors.”
Meanwhile, BBC America is happy with its progress on the digital front.
Despite restrictions preventing it from posting full episodes on its site,
and despite airing content on a lagged schedule, DeCroce says the
channel has seen positive returns on its iTunes page for at least 18
months.
“The channel is the place where you can aggregate the most people and
then send them to other platforms,” he says. “This is our model right
now, and we will evolve as necessary.”
For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on
Twitter or become a fan on Facebook
More web video resources from Mashable:
- Exclusive: Tour the “If I Can Dream” Command Center
[VIDEO]
- Top 10 YouTube Cover Songs
- Top 10 LEGO Movie Tributes on YouTube
- 10 Best LEGO Music Videos on YouTube
- The 10 Best “Get a Mac” Ads
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, CostinT, iStockphoto, subju
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
Tags: abc, bbc, cbs, Fox, online tv, television, tv, video, Web TV, web
video
WEB NEWS
Our Favorite YouTube Videos
This Week [Mashable]
MAY 07, 2010 05:15P.M.
Raise your hand if you thought it was Saturday this morning. That’s what
I thought. As the minutes tick away toward the weekend (minutes, mere
minutes, separate you from sunshine and lazy brunches), avail yourself
of this generous selection of YouTube-generated silliness.
We’ve got everything this week: music, sports, science and randomness
galore.
And remember folks, pay it forward — share your favorite vids in the
17
8 May 2010
comments. Happy Friday!
Very Mary-Kate, “Zac Efron”
Brenna Ehrlich: A friend recently told me about this hilarious web
show, which basically mocks Mary-Kate Olsen. While I couldn’t care less
about the Olsen twins, I have to say — this series is pretty freaking funny.
Check out this episode, in which Zac Efron calls Mary-Kate “a goblin
wrapped in a bedsheet.”
(Thanks to @LeahKonen for this truly bountiful gift.)
Simpsons, “Kesha Tik-Tok”
Adam Hirsch: It’s about time someone made an awesome music video.
Symphony of Science – “The Unbroken Thread” (ft.
Attenborough, Goodall, Sagan)
Barb Dybwad: Disclaimer: This video is NOT NEW! But it was new to
me this week to discover that the dude who made the amazing “A
Glorious Dawn” video remix of Carl Sagan has a whole project of auto-
tuned science videos. You can watch them all and snag free downloads
here.
Paul Dateh: Top 40 violin mashup
Tamar Weinberg: This guy cloned himself successfully. Wow.
Little girl Dunks Thru Her Legs
Adam Ostrow: In this video, a little girl emulates the iconic Michael
Jordan brand image as well as the between-the-legs dunk that has
become a staple of the Slam Dunk Contest. I’m almost as excited as the
two guys who helped her orchestrate it.
President Obama Jokes About Jay Leno’s Ratings
Lauren Indvik: Who knew President Obama could be so delectably
vicious? In all seriousness, though, it’s refreshing to see a political figure
who takes a risk with humor.
I Film Myself Catching Andrew McCutchen’s 16th Career
Home Run
Jenn Van Grove: I’ve never had the chance to catch a home run
(despite being a big Padres fan), so the fact that this guy not only caught
the home run ball but was able to film the whole thing just boggles my
mind. What are the odds?
For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on
Twitter or become a fan on Facebook
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com
Tags: humor, pop culture, viral video, youtube
WEB NEWS
The Augmented Reality
Industry’s Jan Brady Complex
[Read Write Web]
MAY 07, 2010 05:00P.M.
I’m starting to think that the Augmented Reality industry is very close to
developing a Jan Brady complex. If you know what a “Jan Brady
complex” is, then skip to the next paragraph. For those who didn’t grown
up with the 1970s-era television show The Brady Bunch, a Jan Brady
complex refers to the middle sister Jan Brady who constantly
complained that her older sister Marcia received all the attention. Still
with me? Good.
Sponsor
Guest author Matthew Szymczyk is the CEO and founder of Zugara, an
interactive marketing agency that consults Fortune 500 brands -
including Lexus, Sony PlayStation, Reebok and Toyota - on their
strategic utilization of emerging media and technology. Zugara also
develops its own proprietary Augmented Reality solutions and
18
8 May 2010
technologies. Video demos can be found here.
This idea came about through conversations with people in the AR
industry, and also watching presentations and discussions from just
about every high profile name in the biz. Some of the thought leadership
and insight into AR and its future is just mind blowing. But therein
(partially) lies the problem. People in the AR industry (ourselves
included at Zugara) tend to talk more about the what ifs than the how
and when.
• How can AR be monetized right now? If not now, when?
• When will AR start showcasing true utility and practicality over
endless gimmicks?
• How and when will AR become integrated into our daily lives?
Most of these questions are discussed from the what-if end, which results
in a lack of investment into the AR industry. Despite the hype for AR,
social gaming services like Zynga, location-based-services like
Foursquare, and a host of other emerging media and technologies are
garnering all the VC and startup capital. So why does AR still have so
little respect from the investment community while these other emerging
technologies get all the monetary love? Why is Marcia getting all the
attention while Jan isn’t? Having met with a few VCs, here are my
thoughts:
• AR overall is cool but also seems very gimmicky. This hasn’t been
helped by the recent onslaught of marketing-based AR initiatives
that have no long term value and are really just quick PR grabs by
brands. Though there is value in owning the proprietary tech - and,
in turn, licensing revenue - it’s not sustained revenue that will
attract major investment.
• Despite AR being a hot technology for almost two years now,
there’s very little in regards to stats, analytics or other measures to
show that AR itself is a technology that helps to increase purchase
intent and decision-making, raise brand awareness and so on.
Where are all the AR leaders with case studies on past campaigns
and general AR stats?
• In VCs’ eyes AR is still struggling to break from the academic and
research realm and into bona fide businesses. As a result, you’ll
commonly hear this from VC’s: “AR is still too early stage.” Really?
More early stage than Foursquare?
To break out of the Jan Brady complex, the AR industry must be able to
define, from a investor point of view, what Augmented Reality is. Is it a
technology that will be integrated into location-based-services platforms
like Foursquare, or is it a platform that will incorporate location-based
services and real-time ads? Or will it be a hybrid of the two? That is a key
question since there’s quite a big difference between a technology
that’s cool and a technology that can be monetized.
Searching for other emerging technologies and efforts to monetize them
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR craig.kirchoff@gmail.com 8 May 2010

garners the following results: WEB NEWS

• Microblogging Monetization: Twitter Plans To Monetize Search, The Simplest and Cheapest Free
Google Adwords-Style, 432,000 results
Web Hosting Services [Ask
• Social Games Monetization: Social Gaming Execs Discuss Growth,
Monetization, And The Future Of Facebook Games, 181,000 results Lifehacker] [LIfehacker[Ask
• Location-Based Services Monetization: Foursquare Sets Sights On Lifehacker]]
Monetization, Launches Local Business Dashboard, 34,000 results MAY 07, 2010 05:00P.M.

Do the same search on Google for “Augmented Reality Monetization”

and you get 28,000 results - most of which direct you to general mobile
marketing-based monetization efforts. The only recent article of note is
around Layar and its plan to monetize its technology through a store.

I’ve never seen more passionate people at conferences than those who
are 100% behind AR (and I’ve been to a lot of conferences over the years
for new and emerging technologies). But what we as an industry need to
do is to start connecting the dots better for not only investors, but for
companies that are looking for more than a spinning 3D model off a
marker. Once companies start seeing the true value and utility in AR
then there will be kind of long term investment that will connect the dots Dear Lifehacker,
for VC and jump-start investment capital. I have a single HTML file that I would like to post online. I don’t need
scripts, or web editors, or any of that. What is the best (and cheapest)
Until the AR industry can start proving that it’s an emerging technology way to post a plain, non-dynamic webpage? More »
of the future that can be monetized in the present, every time someone
complains about the lack of respect all I’m going to hear is “Marcia,
Marcia, Marcia!”

Discuss

19