Author Archive | Ed Oswald

Social Networks: Not Just for Kids Anymore

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 15, 2009 at 9:26 am

A study released Wednesday (PDF) by Pew Internet shows social networking adoption among adults is growing at a substantial rate, although the under-18 crowd still makes up two out of every three users. 35 percent of adults are now thought to have social network profiles, up from just 8 percent in 2005.

The figures may be a bit misleading though. Even among the adult population, there is a large disparity. While three out of four 18-24 year olds have a profile, only 7 percent of those over 65 do.

Like kids, adults are using social networks for personal use more than business use. However, some seperate their personal and business profiles over several networks, the report indicates.

Half have profiles on MySpace, and 22 percent on Facebook. Professional networking site LinkedIn is used by 6 percent.

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Windows 7 Beta Gets its First Patch

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 14, 2009 at 11:44 am

It wouldn’t be a Microsoft product without it! Users of Windows 7 Beta who may have not downloaded a patch for an MP3 corruption issue that was available shortly after the products public release are now getting it via Automatic Update. The issue would permanently alter an MP3 file played through Windows 7: the first few seconds of the audio would disappear. However, this would only occur if a user edited the MP3 files metadata, so it didn’t affect a lot of users. Nonetheless, the patch is out (see this Knowledge base article), so the problem should be fixed. Other problems are addressed in this patch, mainly dealing with multimedia issues.

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Blockbuster to Offer Movie Downloads

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 14, 2009 at 11:15 am

The movie retailer has teamed up with Sonic Solutions to begin offering a sale and rental download program for consumers. Approximately 10,000 movies would be available through the service, and the company is mulling a subscription based plan in the future according to reports.

Blockbuster was locked in a tit-for-tat with Netflix over online movie rentals for quite awhile, before eventually acquiescing due to financial difficulties. However, it has shown life once again and has begun to play on Netflix’s turf.

This follows another announcement from Blockbuster called the MediaPoint player, which was essentially its response to Netflix’s Roku. Of course, its rival is still further ahead in digital distribution, having deals to place its movies on TiVos, Microsoft’s Xbox 360s, and select Blu-ray players.

Blockbuster isn’t planning to be behind for long, also aiming to get its content on consumer electronic devices real soon. No word on pricing or availability yet, though.

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Here We Go Again – MicroHoo Search Deal Close?

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 13, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Harry earlier today passed along the news that former Autodesk chief Carol Bartz is the new CEO of Yahoo. So how long did you think it would take before somebody revives the MicroHoo talk? Apparently about two hours.

Our good friend and colleague Kara Swisher over at AllThingsDigital is reporting that sources withing Microsoft are telling her that a search partnership is very close to being done. In fact, the proposal is all ready to go: all that needs to be done is the presentation to the Yahoo board.

Current talk pegs the signing as soon as January 27, which would be the company’s earnings announcement. What better way to boost your stock price than brag about a new CEO, hopefully decent earnings, and the completion of a deal that your investors have been asking for over a year?

It would also make a good first showing for the new CEO. She’d start out on the right foot and show that she’s in tune with the problems plaguing the beleagured search company.

Let the next round of speculation begin…

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FCC At Odds With Obama Over DTV Switch

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm

While the Obama team has asked Congress to delay the February 17 switch to digital television, FCC chairman Kevin Martin has publicly come out against any type of postponement. His argument is somewhat sound: he suggests that any delay could confuse consumers, and possibly have the negative side effect of giving consumers a reason not to take any future deadline seriously. Messaging for almost a year now has advertised the date, and media outlets are increasingly ramping up their coverage of the switch. Indeed, the digital converter box coupon program is in trouble, and as much as 7 percent of those who receive over-the-air programming may not be ready, but is it our fault that they procrastinated?

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What’s Up With Sling? Five Execs to Leave

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 13, 2009 at 10:06 am

slinglogoCalling it an exodus would be pretty accurate. Five top executives of Sling Media have decided to leave the company, seemingly triggered by the expiration of an agreement to keep the executive team there after DISH’s acquisition of the company a little over a year ago.

CEO Blake Krikorian, co-founder and Senior Vice President of Business Development Jason Krikorian, President Jason Hirschhorn, Chief Creative Officer Ben White, and Vice President of Sales Greg Wilkes have all left the company, and sources indicate the departures are immediate.

For all intents and purposes this leaves Sling without any executive direction, save for those higher up in DISH. It’s a shame too — I really do not see a future for Sling as a standalone product without Blake at the helm.

No doubt, within a few years Sling will only be a feature in DISH boxes. It’s already happening as the company plans to add the functionality to its DVRs in the near future.

PaidContent was first with the news, and got an interview with Blake on his decision to step away from the company. “I’m out of there now. I want to just cut it … it’s best just to get it done because it’s not easy. It’s like a break up but it’s time to get on. It’s bittersweet, for sure.”

One has to wonder what exactly was going on behind the scenes. No transition period? It’s two founders just walking out the door? Something tells me that it wasn’t on very good terms… call it a educated guess.

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Julius Genachowski to Chair FCC

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 13, 2009 at 7:23 am

Reports indicate President-elect Obama is set to tap Juilus Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commision. Genachowski has experience with the agency: he served as general counsel to former chair Reed Hunt, who served during the Clinton Administration.

Obama and Genachowski are close associates. He was the President-elect’s chief technology counsel and they were classmates at Harvard Law School. Obama likely picked him due to his previous experience in technology, as he has served in an executive capacity at IAC.

Interest groups like Free Press seem to be happy with Obama’s selection.

“Under Julius Genachowski’s leadership, the FCC’s compass would point toward the public interest,” the organization’s executive director Josh Silver said. “The challenges facing the next FCC are enormous — a vast digital divide, an open Internet in jeopardy, consolidated media ownership, newsrooms in economic freefall and entrenched industries invested in maintaining the status quo.”

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Analyst Predicts the Inevitable: Sony to Drop PS3 Price

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 12, 2009 at 8:59 pm

And they pay this guy to say this? Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter has really gone out on a limb and predicted that Sony will cut the price of its entry level PS3 to $299 in April. This would come ahead of E3, and would likely be answered by a $249 Xbox 360 Pro package from Microsoft. No word on whether Nintendo plans to join the fray — but my bets are they will not. There’s still a ton of demand for the thing, so why make less money on it when people are buying it at the current price anyways?

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Obama Fighting the Anti-BlackBerry Forces

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 8, 2009 at 11:59 am

President-elect Obama is still fighting to keep his BlackBerry, the addictive electronic device that has helped him keep in constant contact with friends and advisers from his Senatorial days right through the campaign, the New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny reports. Saying “they’re going to have to pry it out of my hands,” Obama is arguing that it would keep him up-to-date on what is going on outside of the presidential bubble. I’ve argued previously here that I think Mr. Obama should keep his BlackBerry, and its worth repeating. Here’s hoping that our 44th president wins this battle…

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Where Does Macworld Expo Go From Here?

Posted by Ed Oswald on January 8, 2009 at 7:53 am

Macworld Expo 2009With Apple pulling out of Macworld Expo after this year, that has become the big question for IDG — the event’s sponsor. Steve Jobs’ presence at the show was what made the show a worthwhile stop on the tech trade show circuit, and without that Macworld loses a lot of its draw.

One of the first things it can do now since it is free of Apple is possibly move the show back east. Once upon a time there used to be two events: the main show in January, and then another smaller event in Boston during the summer.

In a town hall event at the close of the show, that was mentioned. What got even bigger applause was the suggestion that IDG may consider bringing the show back to New York City — the original East coast location.

IDG is calling the Apple-less Macworld 2010 the beginning of an “evolution,” which will focus on the things that make the Mac ecosystem tick rather than what Steve is announcing on stage.

This could actually benefit exhibitors. They would no longer be overshadowed by Apple, and would be able to get much more face time with the media. I don’t see how that could be a bad thing, unless the tech media decides en masse to stop going to the event.

Exhibitors and instructors seem to still be giving the show a shot: about 60 exhibitors are already signed up for the 2010 show, and almost all instructors will be returning as well.

The next several months will be critical to the survival of Macworld. If they cannot secure enough exhibitors by this summer, I can almost guarantee that Macworld 2010 will be the last.

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